Captains Walter B. and Emmie P.

Last weekend we bought the kids new life jackets just in case they decided they would ride in the boat this summer. Walt really hates loud noises and until now cranking the motor of the boat sent him running the other way. We left the tags on the life jackets that were going back to Costco if Walt went running and had our back up plan for what the kids and I would do should they decide they were not going in the boat. On the way to put the boat in yesterday, Walt was so excited to go find the water. Then as Boyd was putting the boat in the water, Walt said, "I'm Captain Walter B, and I'm in charge of the ship!" While he was not in charge, he was the captain. He drove the boat with Boyd for most of the hour and 15 minutes we stayed out. Captain Emmie P did get a short turn of driving and she loved it too! Earlier in the day Boyd took Walt to Target to get the Superman fishing rod that he has had his eye on for a while now. So, Walt caught the little red fish that came with it at least 50 times while we were out. And each time it seemed to surprise him that he caught another red fish! It was an awesome day. We had so much fun!

Too Funny!

While pregnant with Walt I had this vision of our own personal comedian. Oh wow, he is here every day. I love it! The funniest things come from Walt's mouth as he is taking the things I say litterally. Here are some samples:

• Leaving the house for school one day I said, "let's hit the road Jack!" Walt says, "oh are we being Jack and Jill today mommy?"
• I say, "Sorry Charlie". Walt says, "I'm not Charlie, I'm Walter!"
• One afternoon Walt was eating raisin bread for a snack and decided to eat it sitting on the edge of my bathtub. He says, "this is a perfect place!"

• I am teaching Walt to ask to be excused from the table after eating. So one night he was done and I asked him what the magic words were. Walt responds, "Miska, Mooska, Mickey Mouse." The look was like duh mom. If you don't know, I was looking for may I be excused please.
• Over the last few months we were letting Rutledge's dog King outside around noon. Just about every day Walt would say, "Oh no, we forgot to rescue the King Boogie!" Usually he thought this because he fell asleep in the car while I let King out.
• On our way to Columbia to see Nanna and Papa Walt said, " Hurry Mommy, we've got to rescue Nanna and Papa!" From what Walt? "Work, we have to have fun!"
• One morning I told Walt that I had to go pee pee. Walt says, "Hurry mommy, hold it, hold it...ok push it down mommy (no clue there is nothing to push down!)...Good job mommy, You did it!"
• The night we got the new car this was the conversation Walt and I had: M:"Hey Walt, Mr. Jonathan is bringing us our new 'big truck' tonight, he'll be here in 2 hours." W:"We have to hurry and go to bed so he'll come and bring the 'big truck'!" (He thought Mr. Jonathan was like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny.)
• Boyd and Walt were washing the cars one day and Walt asked Boyd to spray him with the hose. Boyd did and a few minutes later Walt goes, "Daddy, I'm wet." Boyd says, "Oh no, like you had an accident?" Walt says, "No, like you just sprayed me with the hose!" DUH, daddy!
• During teacher appreciation week at Walt's school we wrote each teacher a note of thanks. I wanted to incorporate something that Walt does with each of his teachers into his notes. So I asked him what he does with Ms. Jann and he put his fingers to his lips and said, Shhh! I asked for something else.
• After naps one day, Walt had on just his underwear and started playing with his tool set. He stuck his drill down his underwear and announced he was Handy Manny.
  

There is no shortage of Emmie humor the days either. Emmie is the chalk bandit. We have a chalk board in the kitchen that is great for drawing on, however, Emmie, the artist, thinks the walls, furniture, or anything that stands still is a far better medium for her artwork. She is hilarious when you catch her. She either runs away dying laughing and clutching the chalk, or if she is coloring the wall next to the chalk board, she turns back to the chalk board and starts beating the it like she was always writing on it and she has no clue how the green wall became white.


And, we have quite the collection of redneck gardening photos of Walt and Emmie. They love to check the plants with Daddy after dinner, which means they are typically naked or close to.

5 Kids under 3 at the Beach!

I must say, we really have some great friends from Atlanta! A few weeks ago, we spent the weekend at the beach with Kerry, Bill, Ridley, Scott, Martha, Jay, and Baby Andrew and we had the best time. Walt was the oldest of the 5 kids and Andrew the youngest at 6 months old. Sounds exhausting, but really it was SO MUCH FUN! It was great to get some girl time with my friends I miss so much and to laugh with their hubbies. And, it was so much fun to see how much the kids have all grown and changed since we last saw them. Jay was Walt's first best friend and it was just amazing to watch them pick right back up. They had the best time chasing each other around the house with a rubber snake, doing the dinosaur puzzle over and over, and playing Elefun. Now that Emmie and Ridley are older they played together too. They held hands on the beach, and took care of baby Andrew. They were such little mommies wanting to hug, kiss and play with the real baby. It was so nice to finally meet Andrew, he has such a great laugh. Walt, Emmie, and Jay also had a good time up at the arcade. They almost caught on to playing skee-ball. We were very lucky nothing was broken as we had a couple over hand throws! Before we left we tried to get a picture of the mamas and kiddos, but as you can see from the picture, it is not easy to corral this kind of group for their millionth photo op of the weekend. :) Maybe when we get together in the fall we will get one. Thanks for a great weekend, I can't wait to do it again.

The Boss

Have you ever heard your child sounding just like you? I couldn't stop laughing this morning as I was putting on my makeup. Walt and Emmie were in the den doing puzzles while I was getting ready. This is what I heard Walt telling Emmie:
"No, No, No, Emmie! You have to clean up the dinosaur puzzle before we can get another one out. Come on, let's clean up, clean up, everybody clean up. Emmie, what did I tell you, you have to clean up first. Emmie, you're not listening." It was said in a nice tone and sounding exactly like what I had just told Walt. I do think he was enjoying his moment of being the big brother and bossing her around for the first time. This may have been more funny hearing it than it is to read it, but it was so cute and hilarious when it happened that I had to share.

Popsicles

Nothing makes me melt more than watching Walt and Emmie be super sweet to each other. They are best friends in deed so I tend to melt like Emmie's popsicles at least once a day. Anyways, last week I gave them each a popsicle on a hot day. I told them we could eat them on the front steps (meaning outside.) Walt and I came into the den carrying our popsicles to find Emmie patiently waiting for her popsicle sitting on the bottom step inside! I couldn't believe she understood. Once outside, Walt proceeded to eat his popsicle in record time. Then kindly leaned over to Emmie, who still had her whole thing, and asked, "Emmie may I please have some of your popsicle?" Sweet, sweet Emmie pats him on the shoulder and kindly obliges. They proceed to share the popsicle. I'm sure this will not last long, but this is how popsicle eating has gone for the last week. Needless I to say, I melted watching the love between them.