Some Cuteness

I haven't been very diligent about writing down the kids' amusing quotes lately, but here are a couple of cute ones...

Filia is fascinated by her brother's gecko, Roy, and our "cricket farm."  It's especially thrilling when I knock over the cricket carrier (this has happened more times than I'll admit), resulting in a wild hunt for the insects through our living room).  The other day we found one of the fugitives hiding under our computer table.  He was chirping incessantly, and Filia exclaimed, "Oh!  Hello, little cricket!  Mom, this cricket is "cricketing" for Roy!  Do you hear him?"

I asked Filia to fix the arm pad on our rocking chair, and she announced, "Mom, I think we need a MAN to fix our chair."

Every day Filia likes to settle her big brother, Tert, for his nap.  She sits on the edge of his bunkbed, singing to him, kissing him, and patting his head.  Then she prays that he will "not have any dreams about monsters or ghostses and that he will have pleasant dreams and pleasant thoughts."  :)  Tert is totally comfortable having his little sister "baby" him.  The other day he was heading to his bed and asked, "Does Filia have time to sing and pray with me?"

Filia told me today, "My tummy is hurting because it's not Christmastime!"

Filia, hanging her head after an accident, "Daddy, I used to be potty trained, but I'm not now."

"I am blond, but Stella's hair is pitch black."

Filia:  "Mom, can you draw my beautiful legs and blond hair?"  "Daddy, I'm going to be a ballerina when I grow up, and my teacher is going to say, 'Oh, Filia, here are some roses for you!'  Now I'm going to go dream about that in Shalon's bed."  

Filia:  "Mom, look at my paw prints in the snow!"

Fila makes up the cutest grammatical contractions.  One of my favorites is amn't (am not)

Poor Tert is blamed for any unpleasant odors around here.  The other day Filia was sitting on the potty, and she yelled through the house, "TERT!!!  I smell you!!!"

Filia's is a little whiz at memory work.  She can rattle off pages of catechism, the "Pledge of Allegiance," the kids' Bible and history lyrics, and a couple of Psalms with ease.  Every now and then, she adds her own embellishments.  Her paraphrase of Psalm 1 is, "Blessed is the man who walks in the glory of the castle."

The other evening Filia announced with breathless enthusiasm what she had learned in phonics that day:  "DADDY!  We painted a P..P...Goat, and it sounded like an H."  Oh well...

Filia asked for salt and PEPPERMINT on her macaroni.


Filia is 99.99 percent potty trained.  Every now and then, she'll get distracted with her play and be a little too confident about her ability to postpone bathroom trips.  When I suggested that she give the potty a try, she exclaimed, "Mom!  I DO NOT need to poop.  I went last year!!"

The other day I overheard a cute conversation during the kids' art lesson...
Filia asked Tert, "Did Moses paint these flowers?"  He answered, "Nope, Van Gogh did."

After dealing with a squabble, I was reminding the kids that they should be giving preference to each other.  Filia said, "YES!  God says that Tert should give more to ME!"

The other day she was singing praises to God "for His excellent grape juice."  (greatness)

Filia was despairing that she was locked out of the basement.  When the kids didn't respond to her knocking she exclaimed, "Shalon doesn't even know that I exist!" 

I asked Filia the catechism question "Who wrote the Bible."  Her answer:  "Adam and Eve who were inspired by their own glory." 

Filia:  "Mom, I just drew a picture of an ugly mama, and it's YOU!"  : /

Filia:  "Mom, is your tummy empty?  We should get you a new tummy and a new baby!"

Filia:  "Dad!  Why are you sleeping in MOM'S bed?!"

Filia:  "When I'm a momma I'll have pitch black hair like you, Mom, and when I'm a daddy I'll have dirt (whiskers) on my face."  

"We're going to watch Cocoahontas!"  (Pocahontas)

Admiring her tracks in the freshly fallen snow, Filia said, "Mom!  Look at my paw prints!"


 We were praying for Tert's Sunday school teacher, Mrs. W., and I reminded him to thank God for healing this dear friend of ours from cancer.  Tert was remarking on this amazing answer to our prayers, saying that he was so glad that God spared the life of the "nicest person in our whole church."

I was encouraging Tert in his note-taking at church, telling him that he was doing a great job.  He replied, "Actually, Mom, I was just writing random letters.  Those weren't words."

Tert, who is generally NOT our most motivated pupil, has been fascinated by the boys' online history course.  He told me with a grin that he was just like Charlemagne who couldn't read or write!

The other day Stephen was handing out allowances.  He ended up with a spare dollar and handed it to me.  This caused Tert to crack up.  He exclaimed, "Mom!  You're like eleven years older than I am, and Dad only gave you one dollar!!" 

Tert:  "Are we doing anything exhilarating today?" 

Tert:  "Mom, I did my abdominoes today."  (I tell him I'm doing abdominals each morning, and he confused this with his game of DOMINOES."

Yesterday I was setting up Rus' independent work.  I gave him a long list of subjects and then added, "If you're bored and waiting for me to work with you, you can go cut out your heart (meaning the model heart in his science notebook)."  Perhaps we're taking time management too seriously around here?  ;)  Or maybe the ongoing sleep deprivation is getting to me...  Feeling extra tired during a science lesson on anemia, I told the boys that iron is a good source of spinach.  : /

Rus has always been our tenderhearted, expressive little guy.  Our extended family calls him the best hugger because he greets everyone with so much affection.  He makes sure I know how much he loves our school time and, although he admits that Latin isn't his favorite, he is eager to just about anything else, especially if it involves writing stories (or even classifying them).  He requested a maze book for Christmas and announced that he finished it today.  I opened it up, surprised that it was completely blank.  When I asked him about this, he said that he did the entire book with his finger since he assumed that he'd be passing it on to his younger brothers to enjoy.  :)

Today Rus read us a sad article about storms in the "Philistines."  (Of course, he meant the Philippines).

When I served Rus some soup in a bread bowl, he said, "Oh, wow.  It's a trencher!"  

And for a little update on Lux (We call him Dopey Dwarf because of his bald head, wide eyes and droopy tongue)...  At his 4 month checkup, the doctor raved about him, saying that he responded and interacted more like a 6 month old baby.  He is in the 100th percentile for his length!