Cute Things Kids Say

My Mom:  Maggie, is your mom home from her errands?
Maggie:  No, she doesn't know Erin.

Andrew:  Look - bird!
Mr. Bittner:  Yes, it's a robin!
Andrew:  No, just bird.

(My siblings were going to Grandma and Grandpa's house to sleep over, and they were going to bring cereal for breakfast.)
My Mom: Is everyone happy with Life? (meaning the cereal)
Katie:  I am! (meaning her life!)

Comment with your own cute things!

A Rainy-Day Post

It has been a little while since I posted, and I think part of the reason is that I was planning to write a blog post on the camping trip that my family and I took about a week ago, but in my brain my plan for that was turning out to be very long.  I didn't really want to take a lot of time to write a long post, but somehow my brain seemed to be trying to keep from writing any other posts until I had fulfilled my obligation to the camping trip.  Today, however, I had decided to blog about my day when I realized that I had never done my camping trip post.  Therefore, I am shortening the trip post to one paragraph and it is as follows:

My family loves to go camping, and our trips are always enjoyable, despite the fact that half the time we manage to choose a raining weekend to camp.  Two weekends ago (the one where it rained :) we went to Charles A. Lindbergh State Park.  We had lots of fun hiking around the park, and even went canoeing!  This was our second time canoeing as a family, and already everyone can (or at least tried to :) paddle.  While on our canoe trip, we saw some turtles on a rock and also stopped at a sandbar that was perfect for skipping rocks (on Davey's first try he got nine skips!  And the most I can do is two...does this happen to all older sisters?)  Thankfully, the rain only came Saturday afternoon, and we had a good time in the camper taking naps, reading books and playing card games.  We also went to the Carnegie Library in Little Falls, which was donated by Andrew Carnegie and would be one of my favourite places to go and read if I lived a couple hours closer to it!  After the library we took a tour of the Charles Lindbergh house.  It was really cool to see where the Lindberghs lived and to learn more about them.  Mrs. Lindbergh loved to play piano, and her piano is there and kept in-tune for visitors to try!  Mama, Amanda, and I all got to play it, which I thought was really neat!  All-in-all it was a very good trip, and I hope to have many more like it.

Now, to the intended post:

This morning we - Mama, Amanda, Davey, Nathan, Katie, Grandma, Anna, and I - went strawberry picking, something we do every year (but Anna was a new addition :).  There is something addicting about finding more berries hidden under new, green leaves, and with so many pickers we had soon filled up our buckets.  When we came home it was almost lunchtime, and I ate after mixing up a batch of Amish friendship bread (I don't make extra starters, so we have decided that my stuff is really Amish selfish bread), then went swimming.  Katie's latest thing is holding someone's hands and swimming around with them, so I did that with her for a while.  Soon, however, the sky began filling with clouds, the clouds began filling with water, and the rain began to come down.  I swam a little longer - there's nothing more fun than swimming in a light rain! - but it started raining harder and Nathan and I, the only remaining swimmers, got out and dried off.  As we walked into the house, the smell of friendship bread greeted us at the deck door, and the moment was just perfect!  Well, not quite: the only thing that would make it better, in my opinion, would be eating the bread and writing - and that is how this post came about!

David's Birthday

Today is my brother Davey's ninth birthday, so I thought that I should write a little about him.  As you may or may not know, he has blond hair, blue eyes, a dimple, and a cute, almost ever-present smile.  He also says some pretty cute things, like the following (both of these happened in one day!):

Daddy:  "This is a memorial for the veterans who have died fighting for our country."
Davey:  "No, Daddy, they're veterinarians!"

After reading about peregrine falcons, Davey saw what he though might be one and pointed it out to us with the exclamation, "Look!  A paranoid falcon!"

Davey has just started his third year of baseball, and this year he and Nathan are on the same team.  (This makes games more interesting, as we have two people to watch!)  If you yell, "Go, Davey!" or something of the sort while he is going up to bat, he will turn around and smile at you.  One of the dads on his team calls him "The guy who hits to second base".  This name is well-earned, which often provides a problem for the boy who is before him in the batting order.  He also gets very excited when anything good happens during the games, and he becomes quite bouncy as a result!  Also, Davey and Nathan are usually the only players on their baseball team who tuck in their baseball shirts.  Undaunted, they continue to do it, and I believe that they haven't noticed.

Although he can be annoying at times I am very thankful for my little brother Davey.  With his love of life, stuffed animals, and chess, he creates quite the colorful character.  Happy birthday, Davey!  I hope you have a great year!

Baseball

(A poem by me)

Once again it's that time of year -

Should I cry or should I cheer?

A baseball almost hit me; that one was too near!

But I guess I'll keep watching the game.

Oh no, I have to sit facing the sun!

Squinting like this isn't any fun.

Wait - my brother just batted in a run!

So I guess I'll keep watching the game.

Now someone hit a foul pop fly

We stare as if flies up high in the sky.

I hope it doesn't fall right on my eye!

If it does, I'll stop watching the game.

I can't believe it - a double play!

This is what they practice for every day

My brother is smiling, we shout 'hooray'!

Now I have to keep watching the game.

The little boys, ages six to eight

Walk determinedly to the plate.

Until it's over my inevitable fate

Will be to keep watching the game.

Are we in the last inning now?

How many innings do they allow?

But I know that our team will win somehow

If I just keep watching the game.

Now it's over - that wasn't so bad!

If there weren't any ball games, I guess I'd be sad.

My brothers come to the recitals I've had...

I guess I'll keep watching their games.