Happiwy ever after

I was playing a little game of "guess what I like about you" with the boys on a long trip from Mississippi to Tennessee, telling each of them things I loved about them. (Anaya was in the other car with Daddy.) "Sethie, I love how you make me laugh! You have a great sense of humor, like Daddy," I told him. "That was part of why I wanted to marry Daddy, because he made me laugh so much."

He chortled in glee. "I want to marry Daddy too!"

"You can't do that," I chuckled. "Remember, boys marry girls, and girls marry boys."

He was silent for a few moments. "Mommy," he burst out, "when I get big, I want to mawwy you!"

Daddy's little shadow

Due to runny little noses around our house lately, I have been lax on the "don't unroll a whole bunch of toiletpaper" rule. Seth hauled a long strand of it to me last night, supposedly to wipe his nose. Then he wrapped the remainder around his neck. "Tie it, Mommy," he begged, "so I can be a MAN!"

No wedding plans yet, thankfully

Anaya has picked several prospective husbands lately, assuring me she's going to marry little boys we know, her own brothers, or admired adults (such as Doug Batchelor, who she adores). I have attempted to explain appropriately that while some of them are ineligible as husbands, others may be possibilities someday, if they choose to grow up to be men who are like Jesus.

Last night she came to me with a new idea. "Mommy," she gushed, throwing her arms around my neck, "I wish I could marry YOU!"

This is your conscience speaking

Anaya and I have been discussing issues of dress and adornment lately. Recently we talked about shorts and skirts that are too short, shirts that don't have enough sleeves for my personal comfort (i.e. spaghetti straps), and other such clothing styles.

Then one very warm evening Anaya caught me wearing spaghetti-strap, too-short pajamas. "Mommy," she reproached, surveying my outfit. "Why are you wearing immodest clothes?"

Cloud art?

"Mommy," Anaya asked me this afternoon, "I can't find my purple crayon that I was coloring with. Do you think it could have just vanished and gone up to the angels?"

A new perspective on waterskiing

Yesterday my mom and I took the kids to the lake to swim. They were enchanted with the boats zooming around nearby.

"That boat is driving on the lake," Anaya commented after a while. "But it doesn't have a person skating behind it to make it go."

No horseplay

Last week we stopped to visit some of my parents' neighbors who have horses. Seth, true to form, couldn't bring himself to hold a handful of grass up to the fence long enough to allow a horse to nibble. He was simply too afraid of being bitten. Skyler, on the other hand, was thrilled to feed the horses. He continued even after one of the ponies accidentally nipped his hand (still wailing while holding the next handful of grass).

On the way home, Seth confided in me, "I am so scared the horsies might eat me."

"Horses don't eat little boys," I assured him, "they eat grass."

"But," he countered, "I'm afwaid they will think I am all grass!"