A smell of one's own

It is bedtime protocol to feed the goldfish. Kiefer opened the container of fish food and inhaled deeply, eyes closed, like it was a scent to savor. I could not ignore the oddity.

"Eeew, Kiefer, that fish food smells so gross."

"Noooooo...it smells like my eyes."

"It smells like your eyes?"

"Yeah. I can really smell my eyes."

Spirit of the law

We were going the usual back-and-forth over who would say the bedtime prayer. The kids generally fight over who gets to say it and it's lovely. Tonight Ruby declared, "I will say the prayer and I will NOT be reverent. I will say LOUD THINGS!!!"

I said, "Uhhhh, that's not how we should say prayers; maybe someone else should say it tonight."

"Okay, mommy. You can say it."

All the motivation I need

We went on a "trek" in downtown Sonora today with our sweet 7-year-old niece, Natalie, in support of a cure for cystic fibrosis. Kiefer was taking an undeserved break in the stroller and needed some motivational coaxing to lure him out on his feet. Grandma said, "Kiefer, you can get out and walk with Natalie!" Natalie was in earshot and joined in, "Yeah, you can walk with me and we can go window shopping!"

I prefer free-range

Whilst finishing the mundane task of inflating a plastic sandwich bag with a bike pump (?), Kiefer paused and said, "Wouldn't it be cool if we had a toad in a box? You know, a box with holes in it?"

Half full

Kiefer said in joyous amazement while eating an ice cream cone: "I can't believe I'm a KID!"

3-2-1...Blast Off

Today while waiting to pick up Kiefer at school, Ruby waited for the assistant principal to walk by so she could loudly say, "Horses can fly because fire comes out of their bottoms!"

Girl, Interrupted

I caught Ruby trying to sneak the makeup bag from the bathroom counter. I said, "Hey, can you put that back, please?"

She let out a combination sigh/scoff of defeat, embarrassment and the irritation that comes from being caught. I started to laugh at her display when she said angrily, "It's not FUNNY!!"

Personal Assistant

Kiefer held up the checkbook this morning and said, "Mommy, is this our checkbook?"

Me: "Yep."

Kiefer: "You need to keep better track of this."

Nutcracker

Ruby: "Mommy, what does 'ballerina' mean? Oh, maybe it means 'bad guy' in Spanish."