Category: life & everyday

The Definition of Fart  2

As Peter was putting the kids in the van the other day,  they had the following conversation:

William: Dad, what does fart mean?
Disclaimer: We prefer the word ‘toot’ in our house.  Nothing against ‘fart’ . . . we just don’t use it. 🙂
Peter: Where did you hear that word, William?
(Peter was clearly having visions of older, wiser boys who love to teach these things to their younger followers)
William (thinking he’s in trouble): I think I made it up.
Peter: No, you didn’t make it up.  You’re not in trouble.  Just tell me where you heard it.
William: Um, well, I think I learned it from you, Dad.
Peter: Really?  What did I say?
William: You just told Kate to “Quit farting around and get into your seat!”

Oh Daddy!

Writings  0

Have I mentioned Uncle A lately?  My brother, that is.  He’s quite the artist.  He sent a little book to William with a few little stories in it.

William writes his own story and sends it back.  They’ve been sending stories back and forth for a few months now.  I love that it’s teaching William to write stories and connecting him to his Uncle.

Here’s his most recent story:

The Birdie That Got Lost
By: William Damaska
Once there was a little bird that sat in its nest. It was a girl. She was laying eggs on a dangerous branch. She got out of her nest and jump, jumped on the dangerous branch. And suddenly, she felt that she was going to fall! She fell off the branch and she didn’t know which tree was her tree, so she kept walking on. She just kept waking and walking and walking and walking until her legs got tired. She landed in a dangerous place like a forest and she knew that her tree would be around here somewhere. Everywhere she looked she didn’t see a tree nest. So she walked and walked the other way where she had walked and it led her to her tree! When she got there, her eggs hatched! The End

Kate thinks she needs to have her own story book.  We were going to wait until she was four . . . but I don’t think we’ll be able to hold her off for that long.  William graciously let her use a page in his book.

Her story: Snow White and Hello Kitty were at a house. They can be there. 
And they can color on their paper. They can do their name. 
 The End.
Have a happy Saturday!

yammers  0


Annie is almost 5 months . . . and fifteen pounds. Yikes! What a little chunker. And yet, she is the smallest of my three babies at this age. We especially love her little rolls on her legs (or yammers, as we call them). She could not be sweeter.

You know, William had his thumb.
Kate had her pacifier.
It seems that Annie wants both.
Oh. my.
She has been interrupting her long naps lately by her new skill of rolling over. And we’ll find our sweet thing on her back, kicking her legs and talking to the bears that hang above her bed. Not crying or upset. Just happy. Always happy.
Annie has been expanding her taste buds with Rice Cereal. She seems to like it as much as one could love rice cereal. I got out my trusty baby food book the other day and re-read all the food-stained, dog-eared pages. Soon we’ll start on bananas and avacado!
Since our very favorite babysitter is home for the summer, Peter and I pack up Annie and leave the kids for a date every once in a while. And Annie hates it. She just can’t handle being without her siblings. Each time we get in the car, she screams her little lungs out. She wants to see them and hear them. I know this because we were driving in the dark one night and she started crying. I told William to turn on the light above him so Annie could see him and when he did, she immediately stopped crying. Insane.
I love rocking her to sleep. She has to hold my fingers with both hands and her eyelids slowly droop. Then she’ll open her eyes suddenly, just to give me a sleepy smile and then drift off again.
Tonight she discovered that she could kick, kick, kick in her bath. I watched her serious face while she tried to make a big splash and it took me back to another sweet babe kicking while he took his bath almost five years ago. sigh. It flies by entirely too fast.

Thanks.  1

Thanks, Dad, for running the race with me. And for being so proud.

Thanks, Dad, for playing rough with us. We love to wrestle.
Thanks, Dad, for always making room for us on your lap.
Thanks, Dad, for being a hero. We want to be just like you.
Thanks, Dad, for kisses.
Thanks, Dad, for being so excited when we were born that you called every number stored in your phone.
Thanks, Dad, for teaching us all the funny faces.
Thanks, Dad, for helping us ride our bikes.
Thanks, Dad, for being a safe place.
Thanks, Dad, for teaching us about God. Reading to us. Singing to us. Putting us to bed each night. Praying for us. For knowing just how we like our PB&J and chocolate milk.
We love you, Daddy.
Will, Kate and Annie Jane

Just Annie Jane  0

Our sweet little girl turned 3 months old last week. Who can believe it!? She has brought us much joy, many smiles and a ton of pictures.

While Papa and Dotsey were here a few weeks ago, we dedicated Annie Jane (officially) to the Lord. What a joy to have Papa pray over her!
I think about our three kids and how we’ve stood at the front of the church, committing to raising them to the best of our abilities to know Christ and the power of His Resurrection and I’m overwhelmed. Yet I have peace that God has entrusted these kiddos to me. Had I only known how hard this “Mom thing” was going to be . . . I’d do it all over again. In a heartbeat. But with more fear and trembling!
Grandad and Nanna brought Grandma Grace and Grandpa Roy up for the big day. We had a lot of fun together. Annie had a sweet little dress from Grandma on and the sweater she wore was mine when I was a baby. Grandma Moneyheffer knit it for me when I was a baby. I loved looking at Annie and thinking about how much Grandma would’ve loved seeing it on her.
And so we let Annie turn three months. It was a little hard. I so wanted to keep her under 2 months for longer. But I guess that’s what babies do.
See this sign? It’s William’s special signal that helps her stop crying. At least that’s what he says. The funny thing is, it actually works. Especially when he’s 2 inches from her face. ha.

Look Alikes?  1

I hopped on our old computer for a few seconds today to do something and decided to look at William and Kate’s baby pictures. So what do you think? Do the kids resemble one another? Aren’t they sweet?! We’ve been so blessed.

william in the hospital


kate in the hospital


annie in the hospital

1 month old william


1 month old kate



1 month old annie


2 month old william



2 month old kate

2 month old annie

Annie @ 2 Months  3


She’s happy.

She’s adorable.
She’s chubby.
She’s content.
It must be true.
The third one’s the Charmer!

The Chickens Strike Again  2

When he looks like this . . .

He deserves ice cream for dinner!
On an unrelated note, our littlest girl is a Chunky Monkey! She weighed 9lbs 4oz this week at the doctor! That’s 2 1/2 lbs in one month. So it seems that our favorite pajamas (the first thing that actually fit William) are getting a little snug. Sigh. It happens too quickly. We sure do love those thigh rolls, though! 🙂