Family Love

Though she started as a baby that didn't like to be snuggled, Molly has done a complete 180 and loves to curl up with me. Today we were on the couch and she was full of hugs

Me: I love you.
Molly: I love you more.
Me: How come I was so lucky to get a girl like you?
Molly: Because God knew you wanted me.
Me: I guess so because you're my baby.
Molly: And you're the best mommy.
Me: And I wouldn't be happy if I didn't have you in my family. . .
Molly: Because you love me. . .
Me: And you wouldn't be happy in some other family. . .

Molly: Well, it depends on which family . . .

Gee thanks Molly.

I think the thing I will always enjoy most about having kids is listening to their often hilarious renditions of songs, poems, etc when they get the words wrong. I still can't say the Pledge of Allegiance without giggling at Brenna's Kindergarten version which included her pledging her support "to the republic of Richard Stands." I'm not sure who Richard Stands is, but I'm sure he's a wonderful leader!

Today we had another doozy to add to the list, courtesy of Molly. She's getting ready for First Penance and her class has been reciting the Act of Contrition each day. She dutifully started to say it for me (while wearing a former Haloween costume angel halo which made it all the more hilarious!) This is what we heard: "O my God, I am HARDLY [heartily] sorry for having offended You . . . I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace to sin no more and to avoid the near VOCATION [occasion]of sin."

God help me because if ever there was a child with an unrepentant vocation for sin it's this one!!!

More Molly

Last weekend we were having dinner with my in-laws and somehow we got talking about the names we had considered for each girl when I was pregnant. (For the record I wanted Brenna to be Ainsley but everyone hated it. Our other options were Erin and Meghan which I then decided were too popular. So here she is as Brenna Rose. For poor Molly we never really confirmed anything. We came up with hers on the exit ramp to the hospital! I was convinced she was a boy anyway.) I commented to Brenna that her father originally wanted to name her Dean like him and his father but that I didn't want to. Molly piped right up and said "I would have liked the name Dean. You could have called me 'Dean S'." I told her that actually she would have been Dean M. since their middle name is Michael. She brushed me right off and said "But he (pointing to her grandfather) is Dean Senior, he (pointing to her dad) is Dean Junior so I would have been Dean Sophomore."

I think my father-in-law is still laughing. Molly always has a unique way of interpreting things. :) I guess the only time she's heard the words senior and junior have been in the context of high school, so in her mind if you work backward, sophomore is the next logical suffix to use!

Crazy kid. And one more Mollyism . . .

Yesterday I had to run to the Girl Scout store after school and be at a school board meeting at 6:30pm. Zipping between the two places I saw a McDonalds and decided to grab that for the kids' dinner. I was joking with them going in that they were not to tell their dad what they had for dinner.

Our conversation while standing in line . . .
Me (winking): "Okay, so no one breath a word about this pit stop. It's our secret right?"
Brenna (grinning): "Pinky swear" We all stick out pinkies
Molly (being devious): "Can I say 'Guess where we went?' and then tell him the Girl Scout store?"
Me: "No! You'll give it away because you can't keep a straight face"
Molly (indignant): "I can! I won't tell!"
Brenna: "No way - You can't keep a secret for anything!"
Me (pretend threatening): "If anyone lets the cat out of the bag then they're in trouble!"
Molly (dead serious) : "Oh thank God that won't be me. I don't have a cat."

I burst out laughing. Her facial expression made it a riot because she was so incredibly serious. She truly had no idea what I was talking about but she knew she was in the clear since she didn't even have a cat - much less one trapped in a bag for whatever crazy reason her mother was blabbing about! The man next to me had been listening and he too was laughing out loud. He later thanked Molly for the best laugh he'd had in a long time.

She still has no idea why we were laughing or why a cat had anything to do with it. I forget sometimes that kids really take things literally while we take these phrases for granted!

In the past 24 hours I have heard the following from Molly:



M: "Tomorrow we are going to learn about compound words."

Me: What words? (She didn't exactly articulate it clearly and it sounded like "compow")

M: You know - compou(nd) - just like compou (kung pao) chicken!"


And then:
M: "Grandpa said he worked for 6 presidents. George Bush, Bill Clinton, Reagan, ummmm. I don't remember the rest. He didn't name Abraham Lincoln though . . . "
(My poor father-in-law! We had no idea his Secret Service career was so lengthy that he protected Lincoln!)

And finally:

M: "I sang for my music teacher today."

Me: "What did you sing?"

M: "Beyonce. You know - the song that goes "All the single ladies! All the single ladies! If you like it than you should've put a ring on it! oh oh oh oh oh oh!"

Great.
Molly's music teacher no doubt loved it.
Especially since she's a nun.
I'll have to face her tomorrow so I'd better have a good story to explain this!

Rained Out

Molly's first baseball game was rained out today. That's probably a good thing since they started practicing ummm . . . yesterday! She was cute this morning though bounding downstairs to ask when we were leaving for the field on the subway. I told her we weren't taking the train and would just drive there. She was adamant saying "they keep saying there's no parking. You are supposed to take Metro!" Finally I put it all together -she thought she was going to be playing at the new stadium downtown! Sorry Molly - at 5 years old with only one practice under your belt you guys are not ready for the 40,000+ seat Nationals Stadium!

Stay turned for next Sunday when the Phillies take on the Athletics - at the local middle school.

Veggie Girl - sort of . . .

Molly was looking for a snack the other day. I was busy with something so I told her to go find something healthy since dinner was closing in. I had just been grocery shopping and said there was lots of fruit as well as baby carrots, celery, etc. She was bumbling around for a bit and then announced she was going to get some milk to have with her snack. I agreed and asked what she had decided on. "The green beans" she said.

I had bought some fresh green beans (I actually do like them raw but had planned to cook these) but was surprised she chose them over some of the other things in the fridge. I told her to hold on a minute and I'd come help because the beans hadn't been washed and I figured she'd need me to trim the stem ends or something.

So imagine my surprise when I rounded the corner to the kitchen and saw her sitting at the table with a huge bowl of - - jellybeans!

She must have seen my just-about-to-howl-laughing expression and blankly asked "What?" When I said that I thought she was talking about different green beans she shrugged, "Oh. Well these are the beans I meant but I only like the green ones so I'm just eating the green beans." I didn't know whether to laugh or just shake my head (I think I did both!) Mind you she's completely oblivious to the humor in this. She in no way was trying to deceive me into thinking she had a healthy snack, she was just being completely truthful that she was eating green beans. If I inferred something different than what she meant, well that was my problem.

She is really going to be trouble as she grows up. Miss Molly just really has her own way about her - and I guess what that makes us love her all the more!

Everyone's a Comedian!

I was making dinner tonight and I had the oven on as well as 3 stove burners with things boiling away. Evidently the combined steam affected the smoke detector (because I swear nothing was burning!) and it buzzed a few times but then stopped. I finished serving up the plates and called the girls to come downstairs. I could hear them whispering and then they both came crawling into the kitchen. Not even thinking I told them to get up and sit at the table. Molly was the one who blurted out "But Mom, we heard the alarm and thought should crawl to stay underneath the smoke!"

Hardy har har. And I swear there was NO smoke!! :)

Say What?

Molly sometimes has the funniest expressions for things. Usually it's things she's heard before but can't quite remember. For example, no matter how many times I correct her she insists on caling earlobes "earbubbles." I can't explain it, she just does. Every single time.

Earlier this evening she was complaining that she bumped her knee while ice skating and now her "knee knuckle" hurts. When I clarified that she meant her kneecap she said "No, that would be the part on top. I mean the part inside that bends - the knee knuckle."

Okay then! Sadly enough, it does make perfect sense if you think about it . . .

Career Day

Along with the leopard pajamas for Christmas came several new stuffed animals. When I say Molly is an animal lover, you can't even begin to grasp how much. How many kids asked Santa for a fox? It's basically the only animal she didn't already have! Brenna of course knows of Molly's penchant for pets and picked out the perfect gift for her sister - an animal care kit.

Molly was thrilled and immediately started giving her animals routine checkups and called Uncle Don with the exciting news that she had a new "vegetarian kit! Because I just love animals and growing up to be a vegetarian is a good way to do that, right?"


We laughed so hard that I just couldn't correct her.
She's growing up way too fast as it is and I just want to hang on to these last little girl treasures while I can!

Where there's a will there's a way!

Wednesday is the day that the 8th grade at school sells ice cream as a fundraiser. I was eating my lunch in the faculty room when the music teacher and one of Molly's classroom teachers came in laughing like crazy.

They said the kindergarten didn't get their ice cream until last and by then the lunch period was nearly over. Lunch ends with a prayer and the kids know that they are to fold their hands and say the prayer - no fidgeting with lunchboxes or walking around. Well it seems they both happened to be looking at Molly as she uwrapped her ice cream sandwich at the exact moment prayer was called. My little imp glaced right, glanced left and turned the ice cream bar vertically to fit between her palms as she folded them to pray. Then the prayer started . . .
"We give You thanks (lick) Almighty God, (lick) for all your benefits (lick) . . ."
At each pause in the prayer, she was sneaking a taste!!

That's my girl, always looking to satisfy herself before anything. She is a crazy little gal. Lord knows what I have in store with her!

Such talent!

One of Molly's teachers has been out for 2 days on a trip. Today she told me she was happy that Miss Gallagher was coming back tomorrow but she hoped her singing trip was fun. Now being in the school office makes me privy to a lot of information - one piece being the details of Miss Gallagher's trip - which does not involve singing at all. She's actually with her friends at a tv talk show taping. Hmmm . . . time to figure out what's going on in Molly's 5 year old brain . . .

Me: Why do you say Miss Gallagher is on a singing trip?
Molly: Because she told us that's what she was doing.
Me: What exactly did she tell you?
Molly: That she was going to sing opera. You know - sing -ing op-er-a! (she croons in her best opera-singing voice)
Me: (okay I didn't say anything because I was too busy laughing out loud!)

You see Miss Gallagher isn't away singing opera. She's away SEEING OPRAH!!!

Since Molly has no idea who Oprah is and obviously has never even heard her name, she heard the sentence "I'm going to see Oprah" as "I'm going to sing opera."

I just love this girl!!

Operator?

Molly was doing some work in a workbook and one page talked about using the telephone. The last line said "My telephone number is ____________" I read it to Molly and she said,"Oh I know! 301- . . . (she knew it but I'm not about to type it!)" The funny part was that as soon as she finished saying the number she immediately rattled off "please leave us a message and we'll get back to you!"

Okay. She didn't learn her phone number because we taught it to her - she learned it from listening to our answering machine pick up!

You see it picks up after 3 rings and I occasionally don't get to it fast enough and it starts to play before I switch it off. So I guess a series of oops moments on my part trying to find the cordless phone in time has actually turned out to be a good thing!

Reading

Lately Molly has been much more interested in reading by herself rather than being read to. It's become evident though that as "poor, neglected subsequent child," I need to work more with her on such things. It became painfully obvious today.

We were out shopping and I suggested the girls look in the toy department for a birthday gift for their cousin.

Molly: "We should get this bouquet for him!"

Me: "A bouquet? Why?"

Molly: "Because it looks really interesting."

Me: "An interesting bouquet? Show it to me."

(She holds up an I Spy type of book)

Me: "I thought you said a bouquet?"

Molly: It is - see? B-O-O-K. Boo-K.

Followed immediately by the sound of my laughter.

It's Halloween. She knows the word Boo. She knows the letter K. I guess I follow the logic but I think this learning to read thing is going to take longer than I anticipated!!

Nailpolish

The girls are not allowed to wear nailpolish to school so tonight I was removing some that Molly had on over the long weekend. It reminded me of the last week before school started when they were still with my parents. My mom had painted Molly's nails a pretty dark shade of red and Molly was describing it to me over the phone.

"It's really cool Mom. It's really red and really shiny.

And Mom . . . (brief silence) . . .

(whispering) I think I might be a diva!"

I cracked up laughing at her. You see Molly's definitition of diva consists mostly of Bratz dolls and models in Victoria's Secret window displays. I'm not ready for her to be a diva!

Animal Lover

Thursday is the feast day for St. Francis and our church always holds a blessing of the animals in the evening.

Molly must have heard about this because she came home frantic yesterday. She ran in, dropped her bag and blurted, "I need a pet and I need it by Thursday! I need to get it baptized for St. Francis!"

She wasn't impressed by my suggestion to bring some of her stuffed animals.
Dean had better sleep with one eye open tonight! (see this story - again!)

"Dear God,"

One of the side effects of Molly's chatty Kindergarten class is that they've been late going to lunch nearly every day because they have trouble lining up quietly. And because they have to eat their "healthy food" first, Molly has brought home the same 3 Oreos (now mere crumbs) each day because she hasn't had time to eat them. Last night I made cupcakes for Brenna to bring to school so I promised Molly she could have one in her lunch today instead of the cookies.

So after breakfast this morning I sent Brenna upstairs to brush her teeth and Molly was finishing her juice while I packed the lunches. I looked over and Molly was sitting at the table in her little plaid uniform with her head bowed and her hands folded and she was whispering. When I asked she told me she was praying. So I encouraged her to pray out loud so God could hear her easier (and because I was being nosey!) This is what I hear . . .

"Dear Lord, please help me and my friends get our apples back today.

Let us be better listeners and go to lunch on time.

Let us not make Mrs. M angry because we aren't being good.

Make sure everyone brings their new ears and tries real hard to listen.

I hope we can do good things and not be late for lunch

(and here she whispers really quickly)

because I have a cupcake for my sister's birthday in my lunch and I really want to eat it!

Thank you Jesus. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."

I nearly choked trying not to laugh.
Which was better than her teacher who nearly wet her pants when I did my imitation of my pious little girl. The prayer was so heartfelt and concientious that I should have known there just had to be some ulterior motive! She really wanted that cupcake!

And Mrs. M told her she could eat it first because it looked so delicious. I have one happy girl on my hands today!

Oh and later in the day she told me, "Mom, you're the best mother in the world! Well, except for Sharon. She's my best mother too because she's my godmother in case you die."

Okay then! First she wants to pick Dean off for a cat and now I'm on the chopping block so she can get to live with Sharon! This kid is crazy!!!

New Ears

Molly's class has been giving their teachers a run for their money. They're a large group and are very energetic. Many are new to the school this year and not quite in step with the whole Cathoic school discipline thing. The "old" kids (who were there last year) are also unique in that they're all siblings of older students. It changes the dynamic in that these tykes have been in and out of that building since they were babies and thus have a certain confidence there and tend to be very "cool" in their attitudes. All in all they're great kids but it's taking a while for them all to gel as a group. They have an apple chart that is used to track behavior and from what I gathered today there are no apples to be had on that chart!

So this afternoon the class was going to church to get ready for First Friday Mass next week. This will be the first time they go to Mass with the rest of the school so they're practicing where to sit, etc. So my intercom buzzes and the teacher says, "We're leaving the building now. We'll be in church asking God for new listening ears." The principal (a nun) is standing with me and we cracked up laughing.

Tonight as Dean was tucking Molly in I hear:

Molly: Daddy, I put my old ones on your dresser.
Dean: You're old what?
Molly: My old ears
Dean: You have new ears?
Molly: Yup, brand new. From God.
Dean: (looking completely bewildered)
Molly: See, all our apples came down so we had to go to church to pray for new listening ears. And it worked! God sent me new ones so I switched them and left my old ones on your dresser. But you know . . . my old ones weren't really THAT bad. Oh and Daddy? I think when we go back to church next week we're supposed to pray for new lips or something. And when we do maybe then we'll get our apples back.

I love Catholic school!

This kid knows . . .

Today I took the girls to a movie near Dean's work so we met him for lunch. Somehow our conversation came around to getting married which made Molly comment that she doesn't want to ever get married. We've had this conversation many times so today I added a little twist by telling her that she'll need a husband to buy her pretty things. She looked at me, thought a minute and then turned to Dean, batted those pretty blues and announced "Well, lucky me to have a Daddy who will ALWAYS want to buy me pretty things!" Poor guy didn't know what to say. :)

On Sunday I had taken the girls out for school supplies and while we were driving a conversation developed about women shaving their legs. Brenna was full of questions so I was detailing the logistics of sving, creams. waxing, etc. Evidently Molly wasn't enjoying the conversation because she blurted out "Can you stop talking about all if this because it's CREEPING ME OUT!" She's used the phase a few more times since then too.

She has such funny expressions!

Shopping Happy!

http://www.shopbloom.com/YourBloom/ShopHappy.aspx

Read no further - click here and watch one of the video clips and then come back.

Molly is obsessed.

Completely obsessed.

One of these tv or radio spots can stop her dead in her tracks. Every store we go in she asks, "Is this Shop Happy?" Anything I comment that I need to get she replies that it can probably be found at Shop Happy. Mind you the store's true name is Bloom but the marketing geniuses of advertising have convinced my child otherwise. I've explained that the salesfolk do not truly dance in the aisles but she will not be deterred from her vision of Shop Happy as being something akin to DisneyLand.


Well lo and behold Bloom has opened near us. I use the term "near" rather loosely because it's way to far for regular shopping, but not too far that it wouldn't make the perfect field trip for a certain little girl today. Yes, our big outing of the day was to a grocery store and my child was estatic!!!
She walked up to every employee we saw and told them "I like this Shop Happy store!"
We signed up for the "Bloom" card (their store customer card) and Molly made it clear that it was HER card for HER store. Thay also offer the self-scan tools so as we made our way around, I bought things I hardly needed because it was such pure joy to watch her scan them for me!
One sweet employee promised that next time we come she'll have a dance routine for us! Molly told her we'd be back tomorrow and the woman laughed her head off!

So you can disregard all of the neat things I've blogged that we did this summer and nothing we will do in the weeks ahead will come close to matching this. What a funny funny kid!!!!!

I even bought her their cloth grocery bag - which she now wants to use as her schoolbag for kindergarten! Talk about the best $1 I've ever spent!!!

Fortunes

I took the girls out to our favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner tonight. It was a fun "girls night" and when the fortune cookies came, we were all having fun.

Molly opened hers first and it read "You will be showered with good luck." Mine was next - "You will receive good news by mail." Then Brenna read hers - "The more you give, the more you have." I wondered if she'd understand what it meant but she immediately started explaining if she gave to others or helped them with something, the happier she would be and that meant she would have more love in her heart.

I was sitting back, basking in that brilliant child's insightfulness when Molly piped up, "And mine means that every time I take a shower, I'll get more good luck! Woohoo!!"

God help me - she's blonde inside I guess :)