Eating Ninjas

John put the girls to bed tonight.

My Aunt Joyce had given us some boxes of toys that she didn't need anymore and Stephanie found a bunch of teeny tiny ninjas which, of course, she had to take to bed with her.

So when John put the girls to bed, he pretended to eat one of them. All I heard was: "Don't eat my ninjas!" and "I'm going to tell Mommy!"

She actually came out of the room crying to tell me he was really eating her ninjas. I told her he was pretending and she was just sure he was really eating them.

Daddy had to come out and show her the trick so she would calm down.

A Stephanie-izm

Driving home from Hayden's basketball game, Stephanie says, "I wish I was a bird so I could go around pecking people."

Say What?

Stephanie asked me today if she could have some pear nuts.

What????

Pear nuts.

She finally had to show me in the pantry.

PEANUTS!

Ho Ho Ho

This girl is something else. . .

Philip got a train set for Christmas. Stephanie is the only one who noticed that one of the cars says "Toys R Us" on it so she advised me that Santa does some of his shopping there.

I am so hoping she can keep believing in Santa for at least a few more years.

Meredith still has unwavering belief but one of Steffi's classmates tried to tell her Santa is just a suit. Stupid little punk. So we went with the marvelous explanation given on "The Penguins of Madagascar" and advised her that most of the Santa's she sees are his "deputies" but the real Santa is still keeping tabs on them and her. We'll see how long this lasts.

We also got some oranges for Christmas. I couldn't help her peel one right the very second she decided she wanted one but she said she could do it. So she went into the kitchen. She came back very quickly after and told me she was bleeding. She was cutting the orange with a KNIFE! Remind me to not let her sign up for "woodshop" in school.

A Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

Stephanie's class went on a field trip to Roca Berry Farm for Halloween. She got to ride on the bus with her friends. Philip and I followed them in the car. (They don't let younger siblings ride on the bus for field trips.)

My little group consisted of Stephanie, Philip, and another little girl. We walked through and did everything. Except ~ the haunted house. Stephanie walked up to the door and refused to go any farther. So another mother took my extra child with her group. They got about 4 feet inside the door, then it got dark, so they came back out.

The only rule at the pumpkin patch was they had to be able to carry the pumpkin they picked out. Philip found one right away. Stephanie kept finding newer and better ones. She did finally settle on a good one though.

Bedtime

Stephanie has been asking me to lay down with her at bedtime for awhile now. So tonight I finally did. I'm so glad.

Normally, she's running all over the place, in constant movement, and constant chatter, and so busy, and she loves to make goofy faces.

But ~ laying down with her tonight and watching her fall asleep ~ she is just SO beautiful! It was stunning to notice. I mean, I know she's beautiful but I don't often get the chance to just look at her like that.

Eyes and Ice

I took Stephanie to the eye doctor today. She has a slight astigmatism but 20/20 vision so the doctor said she didn't need glasses this year.

Then we took Meredith to her guitar lesson and I took the little kids to Earl May while we waited for her. Mainly for the free popcorn although we did look around for awhile. While we sat in the car eating popcorn, Stephanie bit her own finger. This kid is so accident-prone, it drives me insane. I keep telling her to slow down and pay more attention but not a day goes by where she doesn't hurt herself somehow.

Which reminds me ~ I need to re-thank Annette for sending us those 'ice bears' all those years ago. I probably need to go get some more.