Where's a Walker When You Need One?

Mia and I walked through the mall and they are already setting up for Christmas. We saw Santa's house and Mia looked in the window and waved excitedly to him. This is a big change for her. Two years ago she slept under her bed the week of Christmas so he couldn't find her. She thought he was Santa CLAWS and last year when she saw him at the mall she ran backwards into a pillar and fell down crying. I commented to her about the change and she told me that she is four now. She is only scared of Santa when she was three. I add when she was two. She says that she wasn't scared when she was one because she was in my tummy then. I tell her when she was in my tummy and when she was born then turned one, two, three, and now four. She asked for three more birthdays really soon. I said she will be old then. Her reply was "Yes, Mom, I will be like you!"

I almost forgot, last week Mia told me that Poop is another word for Mom. Gee, Mia, I love you too.

Burnin' Down the House

Monday Emma dug through the Halloween container and put on a swimsuit, batman mask and cape. Then she attached the edges of the cape to her wrists with rubber bands. Charlie was on a business trip and Justin had scouts and baseball. (Emma wore her outfit to pick up Justin from baseball.) When we got home I decided to take it easy and just have flautas for dinner. I was heating them up in the toaster oven when suddenly the toaster burst into flames. I turned off the toaster and unplugged it. Flames grew. Emma danced around me screaming that there was a fire. I went to the garage for the fire extinguisher, but the garage lights went out. I went back to the kitchen. The fire was bigger. Emma still danced around in her costume. I suddenly found the situation very entertaining. I stifled a laugh and debated dousing the flames with salt or flour. Instead I grabbed large oven mitts, opened the back door and set it down outside on the patio. End of story... I have a new toaster. I really like having a toaster oven for reheating pizza or other food that I want crispy, but I miss having a pop up toaster too. Solution? A 2-in-1 toaster. Justin said he doesn't like our new toaster, he loves it. He is really excited that the toast actually pops up out of the toaster a little. As long as it doesn't burn down the house I will be happy.

Halloween 2009 and The World According to Mia

This year was a pretty laid back Halloween. Mia wanted to be the same thing as last year. Justin wanted to just wear dark clothes with his devil mask he has had for years. Emma put a little more thought into her costume. She has almost every princess dress, except Ariel and Belle. So she decided to be Belle so that should could get another dress. Any guesses what she will want to be next year?

A couple of days ago Mia and Emma had this conversation.

Mia: Emma, the lion's den is called Lea Tarps.

Emma: What?

Mia: What is lion's den called?

Mom: La Brea Tar Pits.

Mia: See, Emma.

Emma: That's NOT what you said.

Mia: Yeah, tar pits.

Sometimes I wonder what goes on in kid's heads. Now I think that there isn't much in there yet. It is like a big incomprehensible jumble. Mia came up to me and said "I have a confession... A human that makes a joke. Then the human says the joke. That's it. No more. Then you watch a movie that has a confession with a human in the movie that says what a confession is. That is what a confession is. Bye-bye. Giggle, giggle."

I hope that clears up the meaning of confession for you. She is like a walking dictionary.

Deja Vu

Once my father-in-law asked if we had any refried beans. I looked and said no. He said that was okay, he had just found some baked beans and made himself a burrito. This is typical to me. He is a no fuss guy. He wanted food and found some. The details didn't really matter. It was close enough for him. Emma reminded me of this the other day. She asked me for a burrito. I was busy helping Justin so it took me a few minutes to get to the kitchen. When I got there Emma told me never mind, she had gotten it herself. She made a burrito with a tortilla, a piece of string cheese, and Honeynut Cheerios.

Love It

Emma came up to me the other day and said in a stuffy, adult voice "here's my card." This is what it said.

Emma.Elizabeth.Hibbits.ww.com

11 Years and Counting

I can't believe it has been 11 years since we were married. Two weeks ago was our anniversary. We got to go to the Magic Castle with some friends. It was amazing and so much fun. I have been so blessed in my life. I can not say enough how much I love my family. I am so excited to see what else is in store for us. Here's looking forward to many more years to come!

Thanks Ashley, for taking our pictures. You are fantastic! Whitebalance Photography.

Charlie, Charlie, Charlie

Charlie is so funny to me sometimes. You may not think this is very funny, but it really makes me laugh. He comes up with things that he thinks are rational and normal, but really are not. For example, a few years ago Charlie worked at a place that would have big catered meetings. He would eat at the meetings and thought that all that food was going to waste. He told me he wanted to bring Tupperware to work to be able to save it and bring it home. This pains me even to think about it now. I was mortified that the thought had even occurred to him. I forbid him from ever doing it and even called my sister so that he could hear from another source that this was not "normal" office behavior.

Normally we do dinner and a movie with the kids on Friday nights. We rent a movie and get take-out. We all look forward to Fridays and love our little tradition. We will pop popcorn and have little containers for everyone. Last weekend we took the kids to the theatre. We talked about getting popcorn, but Charlie hates when we get a huge tub of popcorn and little trays to pour it in to share. Then he had an epiphany. We could bring our popcorn containers from home! I looked at him incredulously and asked if he was serious about us each carrying in a big popcorn container that say "popcorn" on it. Oh, Charlie.

Here are some pictures of Justin at baseball. Such a little cutie. Go Cardinals!! So far undefeated.