The Joke's on Granny

So I hid the Oreo's so the kids wouldn't find them and eat them without my knowing.

Around 2:30 Venice hands me a note:  It says "Where are the Oreo's.  I Repeat. Where are the Oreos.  So I laugh and say I hid them.  So Casey and Venice go to the kitchen and I watch them hunt and hunt.  I write back on the note one word - HIGHER.  I could tell they weren't really looking in the right place.  So now they look higher and still can't find them, although they are actually looking where I hid them.  So I go to the cupboard where they are and I CAN'T FIND THEM.  I then begin to doubt where I had put them and now I am looking in the kitchen.  Then they tell me...They found them much earlier and they have been eating them.  I go to the playroom and still can't find them, but they tell me that Teiya and Xander have hidden them. I find them....and we all laugh and laugh...especially me...but Casey and Venice really enjoyed their trick.

love,
the hunter

Biggest Loser

Last nite, as we were standing in line at the Sizzler, Venice asked me how much weight she would have to gain to be on The Biggest Loser. So I told her around 100 pounds. She said, oh....

-Granny

Cheese-Its Scrabble

For last week's outing we actually stayed here - We had gotten a box of Scrabble Cheese-Its, regular cheese-its with letters stamped on them, and a Scrabble square on the back of the package - A cute idea for kids to play with words as a learning experience...

WELL - On the front of the package were several words, one of which was "F-U-N" - Venice came up to me with a couple of Cheese-Its in her hand with 2 Cheese-It letters laid on top of the words on the box, a "C" covering the "N" of "F-U-N" followed by a "K"....Venice was beaming and grinning widely with a sly chuckle...

I tried not to make a major crime out of so as not to emphasis this too much and thus embue it with a lot of emotional energy, but had a little talk with her about it being not good language and we shouldn't be using it in our home - She said "ok" and left still grinning widely...

I don't know what if anything she said to Casey, Xander, and Teiya about the word - Maybe Casey knows the word, and who knows with Xander and Teiya...

Jiichan...

Are you a Nerd or a Geek?

We had quite a discussion on nerds and geeks while the four kids were building marshmellow buildings and such.
I asked what is a nerd. Venice said, a smart but weird person. the rest more or less agreed. I asked if anyone knew a nerd, they all said yes. I asked if any of them was a nerd. Casey, with a hearty laugh...said - I am a nerd...I am weird....they all laughed. So then I asked what is a geek...hard to define. Venice said - smart and weird...I said that is a nerd...so are a geek and a nerd the same. No, she didn't think so. Finally after much struggle, she came up with a geek and a nerd are similar but a geek is more mature....so I asked Casey, was he a geek or a nerd.....much laughter...then it was decided he is a geek. I asked Xander if he was a nerd or a geek...he just laughed. They had a lot of fun laughing and trying to figure this all out.

I had bought some large marshmellows and some tiny ones. So I brought them out on the table after Teiya, Xander, and Venice had their fill of rice. I also included toothpicks and choc chips. They had a great time building structures. Casey built robots, dumb bells and other stuff. Xander did buildings, dumb bells and snow men. Teiya did buildings, a choc chip holder, and what I thot was a wagon. Venice built buildings and made smores. They had a lot of fun while building and eating. They also ate some strawberries and Teiya and Casey ate tangerines.

On the outing (which is secret)....Xander finished his project first, so I wandered around with him and the owner took us back in the deep recesses of the place. He was fascinated.
Granny

How Cement is Made

On the way to school this morning, Xander announces he knows how cement is made. I ask him to tell me how and he said, "You take a pile of dirt, magma and squishers." And with such confidence!

Job Choices

Xander and Teiya (especially Teiya) have talked about what they want to be when they grow up. Recently their choice has been to be firemen with Gibson and Xander adds the job of science experimenter

Last week, they informed us that that plan is no more. They were very very clear...they are not going to be firemen. In fact, they kept saying they didn't know what they were going to be....

So I suggested several jobs....doctor, scientist, teacher, nurse, etc.....Teiya suddenly piped up...and said she wanted to be a teacher....I asked what kind and she said a swimming teacher...then she thot about it and realized to her dismay that she couldn't be a swimming teacher because she didn't have the correct goggles. I said that sometimes when people choose careers, other people help them out. I said that Jiichan and I could give her some goggles if that is what she needed for her career as a swim teacher. She is thinking it over.....

Granny

Xander Speaks the Truth

Was explaining next biz trip (planning next features, etc) to my 4 yr old, & he said, "Daaaad, you just want to make more money" - true dat

- Chris

Teiya's Mantra

So periodically, Teiya says, "I can't wait until the sleep over." I said this is the sleep over....but her definition is different. You have to be going to sleep.

She got into her pajamas about an hour ago and was ready to go to sleep...but I convinced her the others needed to be in pjs also...so now Casey and Venice are in pjs and all are eating popsicles or ice cream sundaes.
Teiya is still waiting for the sleep over.....

Granny

Xander and Crusts

He eats all around the crusts... and then eats the crusts. Whacky kid!

Xander is a Boy

In case we were wondering... Xander is a boy. He ran into the bathroom, where I was picking up after the kid's baths, and he said, "Mom, I have a big fart for you." He grunted and then said, "It's not coming." and he ran out. I went to tell Chris how funny this was and Xander then ran into Chris' office yelling, "Mom, I have a big fart for you!" He turned around and bent over, pointing his bum in our direction and ripped a big one. Then he ran out of the room.

Eye Bulbs

Xander still calls an eye, "eye bulb".

Xander's Solution

Xander has a hard time getting into pajamas these days. It's a struggle each night. He can physically do it fine, but he dawdles, cries, pouts, etc. and it can take up to 30 minutes to get it done.

So, he has figured out his own solution to the problem. For the past two days he's put his clothes over his pajamas. He said, "Now when it's night time, I can just take off my clothes and I'm already for bed!"

Other than running "hot" all day, it seems like a good idea!

Too Old?

During a discussion with Venice, I was not understanding what she was saying. As time went along, she was getting more frustrated and finally said in an exasperated voice, "Your too old to understand."

Eyeballs

Xander still calls eyes "eyeballs".

You Ate Me?

I was telling Xander how he used to be in my tummy, before he was born. He looked quiet for a moment and then horrified asked me, "You ate me?"

Sterotyping Starts Early

Funny story. We went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. There were chopsticks. While the kids were trying to figure out how to use them, Xander asked me, "Why do you know how to use them so well?" Venice answered, "Because she's from Japan and they have chopsticks there." Chris asked, "They why do I know how to use them too?" Venice confidently answered, "Because your parents taught you."

Of course!

It's illegal to sleep all day.

I was tired this morning and let the alarm snooze one time. But I knew I had to get up. Xander was with me in bed and I said, "If I don't get up, I might sleep all day." Xander replied, "You don't want to go to jail." "What?" I asked. He said, "It's illegal to sleep all day, you could go to jail." What a good motivator to get out of bed!

Good Day at School

I asked Xander how school was today.  He answered, "Great.  It was perfect!  I didn't kick anybody!"

Xander Jams Out

Today we were invited to Xander's preschool for a "Parent's Tea". When we got there, Xander was super excited and was practically bouncing off the walls. He kept telling us about the play they were about to put on. Turns out, they gathered in a circle and sang two songs (well, some did, most were running around the room, crazy with freedom). I video taped it, for what it's worth, but I'm not sure we'll hear any of it as I could mostly hear the parents talking and kids jumping in the background. But it was really cute, as Xander was really animated in his gestures.

When we got home, I talked about how we were going to leave soon to see Venice's play, which happens to be today as well. And Xander replied, "My play was really awesome, wasn't it?" Of course I answered, "Yes!" and he added, "I really jammed out."

Why Are Dinosaurs Extinct?

Xander asked today at lunch, "Why are dinosaur's extinct?"  

I answered, "No one really knows why.  Some say it got too hot.  Some think they ran out of food." 

Chris answered, "Some people think they got stuck."

Xander thought about our answers.  Then he informed us that, "No, that's not why."

"Why," both Chris and I asked at the same time.

"Because," he began, "they crawled into duck eggs and had no feet.  That's why they are extinct."

Ok, good to know!