The Apology Letter I Never Expected

Yesterday was a pretty rough day at school in our classroom, but then Norah did something I never expected.  While on the swings at recess Norah's teacher came up to me and said "Someone just slapped me on my butt.  I turned around and there was little Norah grinning at me.  I told her to never do that again".

I found Norah in line and asked her about it and said she needed to apologize.  She got very quiet and said she would.  I later was in her classroom and still hadn't seen her apologize.  After school I made her write an apology letter.  It said:

Dear teacher,

I am sorry for spanking you.  I will never do it again.  I love you.

Love: Norah

She then drew a picture on the other side of the letter with her and her teacher in matching outfits.  I never thought I would see the day that my daughter had to write an apology letter for spanking her teacher.

Kids say the darndest(?) things

Sometimes kids say funny things and I forget them later.  I really need to be better about updating them in here.

Yesterday I was sick and went to the doctor.  Mason asked me how the appointment was and I said "The doctor just said I have a virus and some allergies".  Mason said "I hope you don't have HIV.  That's a virus".

Today as we were walking to get the boys from school Norah said "Oh no.  I hope they come spray that creepy charlie in our yard".

Crazy Cat!

Me:  Does he do this every night?
Mason:  What?
Me:  Run around like a lunatic.
Mason:  Only about 50 times and they he gets tired and goes to sleep.

We are referring to our cat Zippo running laps across the whole 3rd floor and jumping up against the walls.  Levi and I hear this a lot at night and always thought it was the boys.  We have yelled upstairs several times "What are you doing up there?" and the boys always say "Nothing".  Guess we blamed them for something the crazy cat was doing.

Gross Boys

Since today was a snow day I decided to catch up on laundry.  I washed 2 huge loads of the boys' laundry.  It was about a week's worth.  When I was folding it and laying it on piles for them to put away, I noticed that they each only had 1 pair of underwear for the whole week.  I pointed this out to them when they were putting the clothes away.  I told them they have to put on clean underwear everyday and they both replied something like "Oh, I forgot".
I was telling Levi about this at dinner and he told them they were gross and need to put on clean clothes everyday.  Mason said "Maybe we do put on clean underwear and you guys just hide them so you can call us gross".  (We'll deal with the sassing later.)

What makes this even more gross is that I know they had at least 2 showers last week, which means they didn't even put on clean underwear after a shower.  This and the previous "forgetting to use shampoo when washing their hair" really makes me wonder how they will survive in life without me.

Grandkids?

Lately my children have been talking a lot about how many kids they want to have, what they will name them, etc.  So far we have been told we will have 11 grandkids!  Here's the break down the kids have told us.

Norah wants 5 kids:  3 girls and 2 boys.  They will be named Norah, Adolyn, Claire, Baber, and 1 other boy name.

Mason wants 3 kids:  2 boys and 1 girl.  He wants his boys to be named Thomas (after Edison) and Nikola (after Tesla).  Right now the girl name would be Marie, but he's still searching for a better woman inventor name.

Wesley wants 3 boys.  When I asked what he wanted to name them he replied "Whatever my wife decides".  I think we know which kid is the smartest.  :)

2013

One of the items on my "Bucket List" for 2013, was to update our family blog more often.  I don't really think anyone reads it, but I think it's a great place for me to remember things that happen to our family and cute things the kids say/do.

Last Night was Crazy!

Crazy night in the Baber household. Hope the kids aren't this hyper tomorrow. Norah: "Mason that's a crazy outfit". (says the girl wearing a dress, apron, tutu, and butterfly wings to a boy wearing a sheet and towel saying he's the queen of England) Levi: "Yep Mason. You are definitely the craziest person in the house." Wesley didn't want to be outdone so he yells "Yeah Pizzazz!" I think Levi Baber is very thankful that he gets to go to work tomorrow. :)

'Pr"

Norah recently learned who Elvis Presley. She went to bible school and came back with a family tree that said mom, dad, Mason, Presley, and Norah. At first I thought the teacher just misunderstood her, but then I caught her calling Wesley Presley. She got made at him and said "I don't care Presley". Then she got made at Mason and called him "Prason". I don't know why the "pr" turned into an insult, but that's how she was using it. Then we called her "Prorah" and she got really upset. Who needs bad words when you can just add a "pr" to the beginning of a word?

Greedy little girl

Norah has turned into a greedy little girl and thinks she needs a sticker or sucker whenever we run an errand. I suppose it doesn't help that the Chiropractor's office seems to love her and always gives her 2 stickers. One day we went to the Chiropractor, Family Doctor, YMCA, and bank, so she got extra lucky.

The next day we dropped off a quick deposit at the bank drive up. Norah was in the back seat and asked if they had suckers. I said "I don't know Norah" and she replied "This is a bank isn't it?". What is going to happen if we someday go to a bank that doesn't give out suckers. I sense a major temper tantrum if that is to happen.

Crow bars?

Norah saw Levi using a crow bar the other day to tear apart the steps. She asked him "What is that?". Levi told her it was crow bar. She then said "Oh. Mason has a crow bar in his lego set. I just love crow bars, princesses, and pink". (She say the crow bars, princesses, and pink in a sweet sing song voice.)

At Grace's birthday party last weekend. Mason broke the bat when trying to smash open the pinata. They had to try hitting it with a crow bar instead. Right away Norah said "My daddy and Mason have crow bars". I had to tell everyone about the "crow bars, princesses, and pink". Also thought it was time to update my blog again so I don't forget her cute little saying.

That looks so cold.

I was painting mine and Norah's fingernails this morning. I painted her's red and put sparkly yellow over them. She really liked it and said "Mommy that looks so cold". I laughed and asked "Do you mean cool?". She said "Yeah that looks cool".

Norah's manners

I thought I did a post about this, but maybe I didn't. I'll type it out again. A few months ago Norah was trying to learn to use her manners. Please note that she always called it "musing" instead of using. I thought that was cute.

• One day she wanted to watch tv. She screamed at me "Mommy. I want the tv on!" I told her she had to wait a few minutes and she yelled "I want the tv on NOW PLEASE!! I am musing my manners!"
• At dinner one night I was trying to teach the kids not to put their elbows on the table. I was trying to tell them about table manners. Norah heard the word manners and immediately chimed in "I'll leave my elbows on the day please". According to her as long as you say please you are using your manners.
• And my personal favorite--- I was telling Mason where to find his shin guards for the soccer game. Norah kept interrupting saying "Mason, Mason, MASON!". I told her she was interrupting and she said "But I'm going to muse my manners." I told her to go ahead and she said in a very polite voice "Mason I really like your balls". She was talking about his soccer balls that were laying by the door. I still laugh every time I think about it.

Need an Update

Wow! I can't believe I haven't made a blog post since April. It doesn't seem like it's been that long. This summer sure is flying by. We've had so much going on and many funny kids moments. I'll have to remember some of my favorites and go back and blog about them.

I couldn't resist

Yesterday Mason ran into a pole at recess and busted his lips and hurt his teeth. He explained to me that this happened by playing a game at recess. Him and 2 of his friends took turns closing their eyes and having the others tell them where to walk. When it was Mason's turn they didn't tell him to turn quick enough and he ran into a pole.

At dinner he made a comment that he was going to try his best to live as long as he can. I couldn't resist and told him "you better stop closing your eyes and walking into poles". Levi and Wesley thought I was hilarious, but Mason didn't. He gave me evil looks the rest of the night.

Is Wesley really that hard to say?

I remember when Wesley was born and Mason was about 3 years old. No matter how hard he tried, Mason could not say "Wesley". He would say Wes-a-wee or Wes-a-ley or Wes-ee, but never Wesley.

Norah is now having the same problem, but she calls him Lesley. We get her to say Wes and other W sounds, but she can't say Wesley. We tell her "wa-wa-Wesley" and she says "wa-wa Lesley". The other day she asked me "Where is my bubba Wa-Lesley?". She that is what she calls him now "Wa-Lesley".

I don't remember Wesley ever having problems saying his own name. I wonder why it was so hard for the other 2 kids. Wesley alway gets very upset when certain members of the family pronounce his name Wezley instead of Wesley. I really didn't think it would be a difficult name.

Bullies, Guitars, and Vampires- Oh My!

Mason had a rough day at school yesterday and I received a call from his teacher. I'm glad she cares enough to inform me about what is happening. I won't get into the details, because it's really hard to deal with bullies, but I'm glad my kid is not the bully.

Anyway, he was very upset and emotional when I dropped him off for guitar lessons. When I picked him up and we got back in the car he said "I feel better after I play my guitar". I'm glad he has at least one way to work out his frustrations.

Then we went to Fareway and were getting some meat from the meat counter. He looked at the bloody steak and said "Who would want to eat bloody meat?". I said "Not me but lots of people like to eat meat that still has a little blood on it". He said "What, like Vampire people?". I thought it was hilarious and told him "No, just regular people". He still thought it sounded gross.

lack of updates

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. Rather than being cute and funny, my kids have decided to be mean and naughty. They are still cute though.

Another musical child

We always feel kind of bad that we never sign Wesley up for anything because he never shows any interest. The other day I went through a whole list of choices: soccer, t-ball, art classes, tae kwando, swimming, etc. He said no to everything, but then said "I think I want to play the violin". If you know Wesley, can you picture him playing the violin? I know he is kind of wild, but he is constantly talking about music. The other day he told me his brain is like a library, but instead of shelves of books, the shelves are songs and play in his head all day long. (So cute)

The place where Mason takes guitar lessons has a violin, but they said they could only teach him the very beginning basics. I am currently asking around to see if anywhere in town can teach a left-handed, wild, 5 yr old how to play the violin. I really hope we find somewhere. This is so exciting.

Injury

Immediately after we were done with Norah's photo shoot, her and Wesley started running towards the car. (Wesley was sick, it was quite the morning). I told them not to run because the car was parked on the street. Wesley stopped running, but Norah thought this meant run faster and directly into the street. I screamed at her to stop by she ran around the car twice in tap shoes. I slipped and fell on the ice the minute by foot hit it. My knee is completely purple and swollen. To make matters worse, when we picked up Mason from school she gave him a sad face and made up a story about falling. She did the same thing when Levi came home. With a pouty face she said "Daddy, I fall down the steps get hurt". She's such a little liar. Making up a fake fall to get out of being in trouble for being naughty. But we are all just extremely lucky that no cars were coming when she pulled this stunt.

Cutest Kid Contest

There is a Cutest Kid Contest happening in the US and Canada through March 31st. I'm not usually one for putting my kids in stuff like this, but the entry was only $10 and all money raised from votes goes to a great cause- The Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation.

I entered Norah and we tried to think of something creative. The only thing I could come up with was a beach theme, but my photographer friend (huge shoot out to the wonderful Sarah Moore) offered to make Norah a model for the Tutus and Tiaras event.

The day of her photo shoot, I asked Norah "How are you going to smile?" and she said "Like this" and gave the cutest cheesiest smile ever. She did it on cue every time. Once we got to the studio and told her to smile, she bit her lip and stared at us. Wouldn't smile for anything. I didn't see a single smile on her face, but almost every picture Sarah posted had a slight smile in them. Amazing how the photographer and camera picks those up.

Anyway, right when we got in the car I said "Norah, how were you supposed to smile?" and she said "Like this" with that same huge cute smile she did all morning. I guess she does take after me a little after all in her shyness.

PS. To vote for Norah in one of her "I'm not smiling for you poses" please go to http://www.charitymodelsearch.org/ci.php/photos/showphoto/516.