Sweet Daniel quote

"Mommy, you and Daddy are both my friends."

3-year-olds and Loss

So, Daniel's pet ladybug died today. Oh, we hadn't had her long - just a little over 24 hours, and she (he?) didn't cost a thing. We found her outside and Daniel just fell in love because "See, Mama? She's looking at me. She's being nice to me. She loves me. See her, Mama? She's walking on my fingers!" And so on.

We had to leave her in the car to go to Harris Teeter, and we lost her, as she crawled in the crack between the seats. So we periodically went out yesterday afternoon to see if we could find her - nothing doing.

Fast forward to this morning on the way to preschool. An overjoyed shriek - "Mama, look! My ladybug came back to me!" He took her to school (wasn't going to lose her in the car AGAIN) and made the teacher put her in a special cup with holes in it. We got her when I went to go pick him up.

The problem is, Daniel didn't much want to put her down. Rather than let her crawl around and be a ladybug, he kept her right between his thumb and index finger. So needless to say, she didn't last long that way.

His little heart was broken. Cried and cried and cried. We prayed and asked Jesus to take care of her since we knew she was in Heaven. And he knows we'll find more outside. "But Mama....(sob, sob, sob)....she was my friend and I love her!"

Yesterday while my husband was out cutting one yard, another lady asked him if he'd mind cutting hers when he was done. Ok, fine.

She offered to pay him in, um, something other than money.

Holy crap!

Voting

Yesterday I took advantage of no-excuse primary voting and took Daniel with me.
"Mama, where are we going?"
"I'm going to vote."
"What is vote for?"
"That's how we choose who's going to be our next President. We put a mark by the one we want to win."
"Yep. Barack Obama."

I swear, I have not coached him nor said anything about how I'd vote.

I did pick the Democratic ballot, and I did vote for Obama, though.

Funny lyrics

How the song goes:
God's not dead, NO!
He's alive!

What I heard:
Bob's not dead, NO!
He's July....

...he has since corrected himself with nary a word said on my part.

Shades

Because sometimes the sun shines pretty bright in the bathtub too.

Big Boy Bicycle

And yes, as you can see, we are safety-conscious. :)

Fighting the Stinky Guy

This is from his book "Who Will Comfort Toffle?", a Finnish children's story from Aunt Kirsi. At one point Toffle 'fights the stinky guy' (the Groke), and this is Daniel's rendition of said scene. Enjoy!

Spring!

Here are some pics of our flowers, cultivated by God, Daniel & Jesús.

Boys! Sheesh!

A good one from Daniel tonight after he got out of the bath & was snuggling w/ his daddy on the couch:

"Look at me Mommy, I'm playing with my pito under the towel." Nice, buddy.

Clarification

I guess I should make something clear about the previous post. I don't have a thing against Republicans - I'm just not thrilled about the ones we currently have serving. THEY are the ones I'm looking forward to voting out. I'm registered Independent, for what it's worth.

Been tagged

Thanks to Mrs. Travis! :)

Four jobs I’ve had:
1. After-school babysitter
2. Hospital gift shop clerk
3. Microbiology Lab Assistant (thank you, Federal Work-Study!)
4. Registered Nurse

Four movies I’ve watched more than once:
1. What About Bob?
2. Thomas and the Magic Railroad (thanks to my 3-year-old)
3. The LOTR trilogy
4. Beavis & Butthead Do America (ahhh, Suite Cool!)

Four places I’ve lived:
1. Chapel Hill, NC (Ehaus!!!)
2. Rapid City, SD
3. Salisbury, NC
4. Greenbelt, MD

Four TV shows I watch:
1. Super-why (again, thank the preschooler)
2. Good Morning America
3. Noticiero Univisión (Spanish-language news - far broader, better info)
4. Wheel of Fortune

Four places I’ve been:
1. Boston in the fall (cue "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything")
2. Key West
3. Pignon, Haiti
4. Exuma, The Bahamas

Four people who email me regularly:
1. My dad
2. My friend Wendy
3. My friend from work Donna
4. My mom

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Oreo truffles
2. Sopes or picadas (same food, different word)
3. Dried mango slices - that's a new favorite
4. Anything dairy

Four places I would like to visit:
1. New Zealand (stealing from you, Brooke!)
2. Finland, along with the rest of Europe
3. Mexico
4. Argentina

Four things I’m looking forward to in the coming year:
1. Going to the beach with my hubby & son
2. Voting Republicans out of office
3. My mom's graduation from college
4. My brother coming home from boot camp

Four friends I’m tagging:
All participation is voluntary, so I'm leaving it open to anyone who wants! :)

Awesome website

I found this immigration website and really like it. It's based on fact. Click here.

Too Cool for His Own Good