Jinger bells & other random things

Rebekah struggles with her "l"s, so that's how it sounds to us- "jinger bells."

You might be surprised how creative Josh is when he plays with the kids. This was his way of giving her earrings- and very fun ones at that! R was delighted!! She did try to sing Jingle Bells. In fact, she is requesting lots of things these days music-wise- I never thought I would hear my 2 1/2 yr old say, "I want to hear Destiny's Child, Mama." Apparently, Sesame Street gets lots of big names- she and Josh have been watching them all on Youtube- REM, Destiny's Child, James Blunt, just to name a few. It's hilarious- as is her very white girl dancin'!

There are more jinger bell pics later, but I don't feel like moving them. :)

This was right before Rebes got to go to her creche Christmas party- ignore her look, she was excited. You'd think she'd be used to the obscene number of pictures I take after 2 1/2 yrs of it!

These are 2 of the ladies who take care of Rebekah. (Luke does not go to creche b/c he naps at that time.) They are soooo sweet and obviously Muslim. I am committed to this group if only to hopefully get to share the gospel with them at some point.

I felt very Scottish the other day- Josh stayed back with the kids napped and I rode the bus into downtown due to horrible holiday parking. Anyway, it was raining, but that doesn't keep anyone at home! It has been said, "there is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing." (In fact, I agree. I got one of those plastic covers for the stroller and Luke is happy as a clam, even in the freezing cold rain!) Anyway, I just wanted to try the bus, figure it out, and hit some shops that are hard with strollers. I had great alone time!

This is my fave! It's an awesome CHEAP store!!!

Luke is such a stud! He puts up with so much!!!! (Notice how R's hands end up almost choking him in the following pics.) She genuinely loves loving on her little brudder. In fact, Luke was being a pill the other day in the high chair, which is actually quite rare for him. I was frustrated, so I put him in his exersaucer to give him some alone time. He actually normally recovers quickly in these situations, much to everyone's surprise. Anyway, R has become VERY protective of Luke when she thinks he's being treated unjustly.

R: Where's Lukey?

me: In his exersaucer.

R: Why did you close the door?

me: Because he needed some alone time.

R: Is he in room time?

me: yes.

R: get him, Mommy.

me: Who's the boss, Rebekah?

R: Mommy...(under her breath) and Rebekah and Lukey.

me: sigh. :)

She even cried the other day when he was crying and asked me to get him. (I was on my way to get him, just so you know!)

Don't be fooled- she is still human! She often suggests that Luke is ready for his nap, or would rather be put down. :)

Last story- yesterday was a typical "Being a Stay-at-Home Mom" day. Here is what happened: I love taking the kids to the HUB (food court and coffee shop at the U open to the public) in the am's sometimes. It gets us out of the flat and gives us somewhere warm to go. R likes to run up and down their ramp and L and I sit and watch her. Anyway, I let her hold my cell. We went home. L napped and R and I played. J came home for lunch and stayed with R while I took L to get another shot. I was 9 minutes late (they are never on time so I didn't feel the least bit bad about it- inconsiderate, I know). I checked in on the computer and it says, "You are very late." Whatever. They are nice enough and little stud kept smiling thru it all- so proud!! I brought him home. We played some more. Both kids went down for naps. R couldn't pee beforehand, so I knew she'd be ready when she woke up. I tried to fall asleep and I hear a knock. My neighbor (who is programmed into my phone) says she got a text that my cell was left at the HUB. I realize that it was foolish to let R have it in the first place. I decide we will go back after the kids wake up, even tho it was cold and raining (I mentioned the cool plastic thing for the stroller). L wakes up first, but he hasn't been taking as much of his bottle recently, so I decide not to feed him immediately, to wait until he's ready. Well, he's ready right when I hear R wake up. Being a supermom, I keep feeding him while I help her out of her bed. She says she does not need to pee. I am not convinced. Right as I sit down to finish feeding, R panicked, says, "I need to tee tee!" She RUNS to the bathroom, but can't get her jeans undone and pees all over herself. Embarrassed and hating being in wet clothes, she starts crying. I rush back there and console her, still feeding Luke, who is none too happy with all this commotion. I hold him in my left arm, the bottle with my chin, and pull off R's wet clothes as she's crying. I tell her, "It's okay. You tried, sweet girl. It's okay." I try to get her to go on the potty, but based on the amount of tee tee on her clothes, she seems done. I finish with Luke, put him down, and go to tee tee myself, having waited until she woke up to avoid making noise while she was napping. I am midstream and R says, panicked again, "I need to tee tee!" I stop, ready to have an accident myself, and throw her on the potty. As I'm doing it, the phone (as far away as it can possibly be) rings! I run, half-nude to get it, but miss it. I get the kids bundled up and we go back to the HUB. R narrates the whole time: "The birds aren't here anymore because they went where it's warmer. They don't have any sweatshirts like me....you have to step over the water so you don't get your feet wet. If you get your feet wet, they get cold, so you have to step OVER the water, like this...Why am I cold, Mommy?" We did get the phone and made it back home again. I put L down for his 3rd nap and made dinner. Oh, and I forgot to mention that in my zeal to get ahead in my Bible study due to Christmas and an impending work contract, I did 2 days of the wrong week for my Bible study!

As I recounted to Josh (who was my missed call, trying to tell me about my cell b/c he, too, had gotten a text) later in the day, "And to think, people actually think we get bored staying at home!"

Okay, I have to add this because I just heard the toilet flush and R came in. She just handed me a popcorn kernel and THEN says, "I got this out of my bottom, but it's okay." What?!?! So, we did a serious hand-washing.