Kids Say the Darndest Things, Vacation Edition

 

 

One thing I love about Stateside vacations is that our extended family gets to hear the girls' silliness firsthand... 

Mom: "I think my cough is getting worse."

Lily: "It's worser, not worse."

Lily: (runs our into the living room with a light-up wand) "Is anybody in danger?"

Sam: "The kitty is a *little bit* afraid of me." (Understatement of the year!)

When Aunt MaryAnne put the candles on the cake Lily said "Oh Daddy! You're turning the same age as ME?" (5 candles)

Sammy: "Hey has anyone seen the pink earrings? I can't find them!"

Me: "You mean the ones on your ears?"

 

Sam: "Look Mom, they put cinnamon on the road!" (on our walk around the icy streets of the neighborhood here on the Cape... the discovery that sand on the road is NOT cinnamon.)

 

 

Happy Birthday to Our Favorite Mr. Aiduk!

So today is J's birthday (Happy Birthday My Love!) and we are currently making our way to Niagra Falls to see Grandma Linza and then trying to beat the snow back to Cape Cod. So the poor thing isn't getting the usual birthday pampering. Just lots of "are we there yet?"s from Lily and Sam.

But they already gave him the cutest birthday present ever so we'll forgive them... 

We were walking into the dance studio a few weeks back and Lily shouts "OH MOMMY! We should get an eagle for Daddy for his birthday!"

I was like "Oh?"

And she's like, "YES! Eagles are his FAVORITE!" 

This was news to me (and isn't technically true) but I stopped myself before I just shrugged her off with a "No sweetie" and hustled her up the stairs for ballet.

We were early for once so I actually had time to think this through ;-)

Why not? Why not let them get J a dorky "trophy" for his birthday? Sure, we aren't really knicknack people and sure they aren't the cheapest gift ever. But she came up with it herself!

So we went in to check out the prices and we settled on this sort of bedazzled gold eagle. Lily told Sam that "Daddy would like this one best, because it's beautiful!" so they finally agreed. I asked them what they wanted engraved on it and they really wanted the entire Happy Birthday Song but we settled for a shorthand version.

Kids are cute. And it's nice to see them growing up and having generous and creative ideas for blessing others!

Happy Birthday Jesse! 

Kids Say the Darndest Things | December Edition

Me: "Well we can write Santa a letter if you want. To tell him what you want for Christmas?"
Lily: (exasperated) "Can't we just Skype him?"

Lily: "After breakfast we're going to play with God." (the baby Jesus in their nativity set)

Lily: "Santa Claus... RAWR!!!" (get it... Santa Claws?)

Sam: "Do you know who brings us snow?"
Me: "Who?"
Sam: "Jack Frost and Elsa!" #riseoftheguardians #frozen

Kids Say the Darndest Things | October Kid Quotes

Sam was taking some extra toilet paper to the upstairs bathroom to "help" me ;o) She came downstairs in a panic... "MOM!!! They're STUCK! They gonna be stuck FOREVER!"

#sammytoiletpaperhands

Sam: "Mom! Can we watch Rudolf the Red Nosed Bambi?"

Jesse: "Do you guys want hot chocolate while we carve pumpkins?"
Lily: "YEAH! With mushrooms! But not the kind of mushrooms we put on pizza!"
Me: "Uh... You mean marshmallows?"

Lily: "When I have a baby, I'm going to name her Rainbow Flower Sparkly Jewel"


Tell me your kids most hilarious quote lately. I'd love a comment section full of good laughs!

Kids Say the Darndest Things: Summer Wrap Up

"My whole name is Lillian Jayce Aiguk and Sam's whole name is Sam-ian Jordan Aiguk!"

"Mommy! At school there's a boy named 'Yo High Ness' (Your Highness)"
me: "Um, do you mean Johannes?" (pronounced yo-HAH-nes)

Laying in the sun, she says: "I'm gonna get a tan-burn!"

"My belly hurts, it's going to have a baby soon!" (first food baby after a brunch of treats AND hot chocolate!)

"MOM. Today I want to be the boss of YOU, okay? Just for today." (After a particularly rough morning in Momville when I had the nerve to require that she and Sam help me put their laundry away)

Crepes = "creepies" as in "Can I please have some more cinnamon-sugar creepies?"

me: "Sam, stop eating the egg shells!"
Lily: "Why not? They're like chips!"

me: "I'm going to make lunch soon."
Lily: "Okay! Make it YUMMY!"

Dad: "Hey Sam I like your bandana!"
Sam: (incredulously) "I'M not a BANANA!"

"Can we go to the zoo to see lions and tigers and triceratops?"

We have this cool book called The Busy Body Book (amazon affiliate link here) and so we're learning about fitness and the different functions of different body parts. So on the page where it talks about how our healthy food gets digested and used by the body, I had to explain to a 3 and 4yo what an esophagus was. Sammy said, "sof-o-gus? I yike dat word. Is dat a German word?"


I hope you got a little laugh out of these two crazy monkeys! Have a great day from our house to yours! 

"Uh-Oh Spaghettios".. In Which We All Realize Certain Childhood Memories are Not What We Thought

Here's the most recent Aiduk Family self-portrait. We were on our way out the door to take the girls to their first ever sushi buffet! It was a really nice family outing. (but no, they didn't really like sushi that much)

I am still very proud of the fact that my girls eat almost everything. I am thankful that I read and followed the advice of this book by Dr. Greene when Lily was just born... the cliff notes version = feed your babies everything you eat (hopefully a wide/healthy variety of flavor threads and veggies) from a very young age. Even if they refuse at first, just have them try a bite regularly and move on. Eventually they will become accustomed to it. A good example of how this has worked for us is that at one time or another both girls refused raw tomatoes and spicy chili. But now both foods are a favorite. 

Please don't hear what I'm not saying: MY KIDS AREN'T PERFECT EATERS. They go through picky stages. They for some strange reason refuse to love avocados as much as I do. And they also don't like mashed potatoes (I KNOW)... But all in all, I'm proud of their adventurous eating and that they do in fact sometimes eat veggies.

But don't think I never grab a box of mac n cheese or that I don't get in PB&J school lunch ruts. (I'm currently in the midst of that one!)

The whole point of all this is to share the story of how Jesse recently became aware that in this [in my opinion very noble] quest to educate my children on as much of a variety of delicious food as possible, I have neglected certain areas of food that he feels essential to their development as well rounded AMERICAN individuals. 

So here's how it went down: 

Jesse: (talking to the girls about something that dropped on the ground) "Uh-oh Spaghettios!"

Lily: (looking confused) 

Jesse: (long pause) "Do you know what Spaghettios are???"

Lily: (slowly shakes head no) 

Jesse: "JESS! Did you know the girls don't know what Spaghettios are??????" 

Me: "Ew, do we have to introduce them to that crap?"

Jesse: "Lily and Sam, you are in for a treat! Next week, we're having Spaghettios AND grilled cheese for dinner!" 

(he looks suspiciously at me) "...and it HAS to be sliced AMERICAN cheese."

Me: (as I reach for the grocery list) "Double ew." 

Nothing says American heritage like "imitation pasteurized process cheese food"... mmmm "food like products"...

So I may or may not have had a hard time finding Spaghettios at the Commissary. Silly me, thought they'd be near the Cambells Soup... but no matter. These two disgusting delicious cans of fake food American culinary genius finally made their way into the shopping cart. 

(If it's possible, I have become EVEN MORE of a real-food-snob since living in Europe. As our family's resident hippie, I am definitely the activist for removing most of what I consider "fake food" from our family's pantry/fridge...but I digress...)

When "the big night" of our "special dinner" was upon us, Lily asked me what I was making and I said FAKE FOOD! :o) But I still told her it was a fun food that Mommy and Daddy remember from when we were kids.

It was fun to make this little bit of childhood nostalgia. J was a bit more excited than I was, but still..

Come to find out, our childhood memories of how delicious Spaghettios are seem to be somewhat... flawed. 

The funniest part? Lily and Sam didn't even like it that much! 

So the moral of the story is J, LJ, and SJ still wish Mommy served up more "fake food" every once in awhile... but we anomalously agree that Spagettios don't have to appear regularly on the table.

The general consensus was "Meh."

(You know you're a hippie when you have an entire blog post devoted to picking on Spaghettios. You're welcome!)

Family Fun | Kaiserslautern May Carnival

The stars aligned last week (read: J just so happened to have the night off when we wanted to go to "family day" at the Carnival!) and we got to surprise the girls with some awesome family time after kindergarten.

There was a ferris wheel, there was cotton candy the size of Lily's upper body, and there were kiddie rides galore.

The horse rides are always a favorite!

And Jesse taught the girls what *fun* it is to spin the cart on the ferris wheel. I was torn between a panic-attack from my slight fear of heights and tossing my cookies from motion sickness ;o)

But their giggles made up for it. "FASTER DADDY!!!!!" 

And speaking of "FASTER DADDY!" Lily went on her first big-kid ride. That top picture is her smiling her head off with Jesse while they got spun faster than the speed of light. She loved it! 

Despite her grumpy look with the clown up there, she was actually even more excited to see the clown than Sammy was... but I think perhaps not as thrilled when I suggested a picture with said clown. "Mooooooom..."

After we ran out of euro After we had our fill of three hours of rides, french fries, rides, cotton candy, rides, chocolate covered grapes, rides, mini donuts, and MORE RIDES we finally called it a night and dragged them home to bed. Lily specifically informed me that a) "we could just go get more money at the store, Mom!" and b) leaving the carnival was her least favorite part!

Kids :o)

On Dinosaurs, Quality Time, and Looking like a Dork as I "Weeeeee!!!" Down Little Kids' Slides

The dinosaurs are out of winter hibernation and our season pass to the Dino Park and the Japanese Gardens has already seen good use. Sam is still OBSESSED with dinosaurs... preferring dino movies/books/and toys to most others. 

And while you would think the appeal of the dino park would lose it's charm after the first 135 visits, apparently it's unbelievably exciting to see the dinosaurs every week... oh to be 3 and 4 again ;o)

This is a pretty cool stage of parenting. Not only is there light at the end of the potty training tunnel, but the girls are able to do more, express more, and communicate more. I love it!

With all this big-girl-ness going on, it's hard to resist the temptation to constantly let them play by themselves. I am by no means planning on being their entertainment, but I am almost done reading The 5 Love Languages of Children and I realized that I would like to work in more intentional quality time with the girls each day.

I've been amazed at the difference in the girls' after just a few weeks of Mommy being more involved... just a little goes a long way! I have been playing with barbies, cooking at the toy kitchen, sliding down slides that aren't really made for someone my size, and playing "soccer".

The benefits of daily quality time are obvious... but I am guilty of letting days go by where I don't play. Or taking them to the playground and parking my tush on the bench while they played and I read. Not that I don't bring a book to the Dino Park... I mean, Momma can only handle so much playtime ;o) But I do notice that everyone seems happier and more affectionate lately. I hope it's because we're all feeling the love!

["Okay everyone smile and look at the camera!" Or not.]

So three cheers for the reminder to be a more fun and involved Mom. And seeing the difference it makes in my kids! And three cheers for the Dino Park, which provides 4 hours of afternoon playtime in the sun while Dad is able to sleep (thumbs down for mid-shift) and Momma doesn't have to be a shhh-monster! 

Also, confession: When I'm at the park without backup and I have to convince them to leave without tears, I completely resort to bribery! But let's call it motivation ;o) "Hey girls, it's time to go... DO YOU WANT A POPSICLE ON THE WAY OUT???" ha.

Me: (exasperated) "Come on Lily, SMILE BIG for me!"
Lily: (equally exasperated) "I CAN'T Mooooom. I don't have as big a MOUTH as you!"

Fair point ;o) I love these two crazy girls!

Mother's Day Gratitude. So Thankful it Hurts...

There are so many things a mother is thankful for each day.

I paid special attention to them today. 

Thankful for hot cups of coffee as the girls chattered away during breakfast.

Thankful for a husband, the other half of this whole motherhood equation, who took them shopping for flowers and a let them pick out a beautiful gift .

Thankful for a tex-mex restaurant that has a kiddie play area right off of the dining room. Some good conversation with My Love while I sipped a margarita, ate a chimichanga, and laughed as my girls mostly played and sometimes munched on chips and salsa.

Thankful for a long afternoon nap with both girls snuggled up beside me on the pull out couch.

Thankful for some quiet moments to read a good book while they watched some favorite movies.

Thankful for yoga to help me unwind and stay strong for them.

Thankful for kisses... still sticky and kinda gross for the apple she was eating.

Thankful for the sun shining in through the windows as we read a stack of bedtime stories on the couch, them snuggled in close.

Thankful for an unsolicited comment as I tucked her into bed, the one who made me what we celebrate today, "You are da bestest and most beautiful Mom I ever had!"

Thankful for a quiet evening to soak in a hot bath. To think. Of what my body was capable of. To remember the way it swelled with my girls' lives. The way it hurt to bring them into this world. The way it sustained them with milk and continues to comfort them.

Thankful for the honor of being a MOTHER.

Happy Mother's Day!

Kids Say the Darndest Things, March Edition

This is the pose and face I got (without any direction) when I said "hey the light is really beautiful right now can I take a few pictures of you?" to which Lily replied "OH YES PLEASE!"

She was "ready" by the time I came back with the camera! Oh so natural, Lil ;o)

Some favorite quotes from Lily lately:

"Daddy is my favorite boy, but don't tell him." (Of course I told him, that's way too cute not to tell!)

"Mom! We don't have to get a puppy now! We have HIM!!" (She exclaimed with glee as she danced around holding Sam's Clifford stuffed animal. Mommy, the non-dog-person, is greatly relieved that Clifford will suffice for now!)

"I wish I had some coffee. But not your coffee Mom, KID coffee. Speaking of coffee, I need to go PEE!"

Sam, who wouldn't stop talking during this random little photo shoot, has been saying: 

"I yike you, I going to keep you." (She said as she wrapped her pudgy, sticky little hands around my neck and squished my face into hers. GAH)

"Is Daddy shaving his prickers off?" (translation: prickers = whiskers) 

"Ladies FIIIIIRST" (She says this now almost every time we go through any door. She holds it open and chants Ladies First in a very sing-songy voice until everyone has gone through. Even Daddy, who put up a fight and protested at being called a lady, but ultimately lost.)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When your kids make you laugh, be sure to write it down immediately OR YOU'LL FORGET! That was some of the best parenting advice I got when I was pregnant with Lily and I'm so glad I've rushed for a pen whenever I chuckle. These silly sayings will be gone in a flash! 

Kids Say (and Do) the Darndest Things

Okay, first things first: this is an un-staged hug, captured on camera!  Seriously!  I didn't even say "okay hug Sammy!" or ANYTHING!  I was just sitting there, minding my own business (I think I was trying to spot a gluhwein stand while I waited for J to finish buying our most recent artwork print for the wall) and I looked down to see what all the giggles were about and BAM - Cuteness attack. So there you go.

Back to the more serious stuff.  I mean time for some funny kid sayings and happenings..

(PS we found the gluhwein/hot chocolate stand... they are "modeling" their mustaches in this pic.. LJ is obviously grumpy that I'm interrupting hot chocolate consumption.)

Here are some recent funny Sam-isms: 
-"Noosic" = music
-"Susher" = flusher (i.e. toilet flusher)
-"Yamma-yemon" = watermelon
-"Some-Yammi" = salami

Silly story #1: 
While we were flossing teeth, Sam leaned over with no warning and licked me from my chin to my nose.  It was so gross but I was so surprised and shocked that I almost peed my pants laughing!  Ew.  (And yes, the laughing surely did NOT discourage the licking... took a few days to nip that in the bud haha)

Silly story #2:
I was teaching them to use the space bar on the computer to pause a movie themselves... so they can pause for potty breaks without me.  But they kept pressing it too long.  To demonstrate the quick nature of it, I added a sound effect while pressing pause, "see? fast, like 'BOOP!' this"  And now, they say "can I BOOP the movie?"  "I going to BOOP it back on"  And it's kind of sticking, too, because J and I have caught each other saying it instead of pause.  Kids...

Lily-isms: 
-"Coffee-cat" = copy-cat
-"Baina" = banana
-"Danks" - thanks

Lily quote #1:  
Me (looking for my lens cap) "Now, where did I put my..."
Lily: "Super-suit?"  [Name that movie, Pixar Nerds!!!]

Lily quote #2:
Jesse: "Okay, Lily, now you have to make a wish, then blow out the candle! ... What did you wish for?"
Lily:  "THE CUPCAKE!"

Lily quote #3:
(in the car) "Oh! I have a hair Mom!  I think it's mine.  I'm gonna put it with the others.  OH NO!  It won't stay!"

Side note about hair - Lily was VERY unhappy with my choice of a short hair cut.  She was all "I want the old hair back, I don't yike dis new hair" and she also likes to throw in "you have short hair Mom, yike a boy.  You should grow it yonger and yonger yike Punzel's hair"  (Rapunzel's hair.  Yeah.  We've had a lot of talks about gender-neutral hair haha)

And now, for some Lily tree-decorating-techniques...

The pictures say a thousand words, right? :o)

I hope Double Trouble brought a smile to your face today.  These posts are always so therapeutic for me... they remind me how lucky I am to be blessed with two little monkeys who don't always drive me nuts!

My Favorite Little Statue

So... kids never sit still.  All you parents know this!  And you also know how sometimes (i.e. in a public restroom) you really, really, REALLY need a way to get them to sit still for a minute so they won't touch anything nasty!

I was in such a dilemma the other day, when a neat study came to my mind.  I probably read it in Nurture Shock.  See, the kids who were asked to "sit still" could only do so for a few minutes.  But the ones who were told to "stand like a statue" (or maybe it was a soldier?) were able to stay still for over seven minutes!  (Or something... it was an impressive study but I can't remember the exact details.)  Anyways, I told Lily and Sam to stand like statues and I got blank stares.

So I said, "You, know, like the Statue of Liberty"  (more blank stares)  So then of course I end up standing in the bathroom stall like the Statue of Liberty.  

The good news?  They stood still for about two minutes.  Other good news?  They now know what the Statue of Liberty is :o)  Lily says "The Statue of Liver-terry stands yike dis... wif a book in one hand and a light in da other!"

This photo was completely unstaged.  We were in a bookstore in Ktown just browsing... and Alex showed Lily, "Hey look, here's a picture of the Statue of Liberty!" and she immediately grabbed another book and struck her pose!

It was adorable.  It also made me proud that she recognizes such an important American icon.  And perhaps I'm a little hopeful that I can now say "stand like the Statue of Liberty!" in the bathroom instead of "don't touch that!" "stay still" "STOP MOVING"  etc...

...though, I don't know which one sounds more silly ;o)

Random Photo Shoot and Kids Say the Darndest Things, June/July

This is my new favorite kid photo.  And another example of one of their impromtu "photo shoot games" that have fantastic results if I'm willing to drop everything and grab the camera!

I'm a little behind on some super funny kid quotes, so without further ado...

Lily:  Mommy, Did you stop the rain?

Me:  No, only God stops the rain.

Lily:  We say "dank-you God" and he says "welcome guys!"

Sam:  What dat is?
Me:  The cantaloupe rind.  It's yucky, we don't eat it.
Sam:  EW.  I don't like to eat da "rhino!"

This one came right after Sam randomly licked Lily's face!  "EW SAAAAAAM"

Me:  (brushing Lily's teeth)  Look at me please.

Lily:  (itching her ear)  I have an itch.  I have Lorax in my ear.  

Me:  Lorax?  You mean ear wax?  They're not the same.  

Lily:  They look the same!

Me:  (bursting out laughing)

Lily:  (devious grin)  You gonna write that in my baby book?

Me:  Yes, yes I am!  

Tickle fight!  And LOOK at that chubby chin!  Don't you just want to pinch it and kiss it?  I do...

This one might be a little much, but I feel like we're pretty comfortable with poop talk on this blog ;o) so here goes!  (it was a whole conversation Sam had with herself about her poop while I just stood there shaking my head and laughing)

Sam:  Yook!  A baby poop!  Where da Daddy poop?  In my butt!  Daddy poop coming to take care-fof da baby!

[Gross, but hilarious, right?]

More tickle fight.  Ohmygosh Lily's face cracks me up!

During the maiden voyage of the new bouncy castle, I was trying to remind the girls to be thankful...

Me:  (shouting over the sound of the fan)  Daddy's the BEST! 
Sam:  (shouting with glee)  And I'M wearing a dress!  

(No, J was not wearing a dress, but apparently it sounded like that's what I said!)

I'm going to look at this picture next time I hear the shrieking of tiny humans fighting over the one toy that duh of course they BOTH need rightthissecond... and remind myself that they will be best friends for life.

Me:  Okay go sit down, lunch is ready!

Lily:  (on her little toy computer)  But I'm BLOG posting! 

What a little punk ;o)  

I'm Totally Adding "Hotel Manager" to my Resumé

We enjoyed a really lovely final morning with my cousin Josh and Uncle Floyd today and when we dropped them off at the train station Lily asked:

"Who's coming next?  Yours Momma?"  

The girl knows what's up... Hotel Aiduk is at peak "tourist season" this summer ;o) and we're rockin' and rollin' through the guests right now.

The sheets are already washed and changed for Eric and Maria to sleep in tomorrow night!  June is a crazy month.So this was my answer to Lily-bear...

"Nope, Gigi isn't coming next.  Next it's Eric and Maria and then it's Uncle Brother and THEN it's Gigi and Grandpa and Aunt Steph and then it's Aunt Tanya!"  

I don't think I left anyone out!  If you still want to book at Hotel Aiduk you have about ten months till we relocate to a non-European location.  Just kidding I can't handle any more visitors.  

Kidding again, I could never turn friends/family away :o)  

Thanks for the fantastic visit Uncle Floyd and Josh!  It was so great to catch up and make new memories together.  Love and hugs!

I Don't Know Where She Gets it From

I was working in the kitchen on something and I hear Lily say, "I'm making a cheesecake"... she gets her "cake" (yes, her cheesecake is literally made of cheese) set out on the counter, pauses, and says,

"Oh!  I need to take a picture!"

On a completely unrelated note, I got some new props for my food photography!  Can you say pretty white dishes and some colored place mats?

Anyone want some ratatouille?  I'm so in love with the depth of flavor in this recipe!

We've got some beautiful weather today, so priority #2 is planting the garden.  Priority #1 is naptime for all ;o)

Happy Sunday!

Kids Say the Darndest Things (in the Car)

Before I got back to my regular scheduled broadcast, the girls each said something really funny while driving to and fro during our Keukenhof trip...

Sammy:  "Oh NO!  There's POOP on yours neck MOM!  Take it offa you!!!"  (in reference to the small mole on the back of my neck at the base of my hair line.  Apparently she'd never noticed it before!)

Lily:  "Mom I want to be alive!  I don't want to sleep!"  (Alive = awake)

Life with kids.  Car rides with kids.  Gotta love it!