Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Overheard at Our House

We enjoyed a nice 3-day weekend with Steve home.  We didn't have big plans - we just puttered around the house, working together inside and outside.

1.  I was grating zucchini to freeze on Saturday, because I was back-logged in zucchini.  3 yo L was watching me, giving me a running commentary on the task, and waiting for her chance to take scraps to the chickens. 

When I was finished, she looked into the bowl of shredded zucchini and started talking to it.  "Awww, don't be scared" she said in a soothing tone. 

Um, scared of what?  Being cooked? I'd already shredded them to pieces, I doubt cooking could hurt any more than that.  I did explain to her that vegetables don't have feelings in real life.  Silly girl.

2.  Later that night, we were eating and 5 yo M told me how much he liked taking scraps out to the chickens.  He said he tossed in a piece of cantaloupe and a chicken started running with it, then another chicken chased it.   "It looked like football, Mom.  The cantaloupe was the football." 

Steve and I laughed, because he's right.  The chicken with the "football" is making a dash for the end zone, dodging all the other chickens trying to stop her.   Now all the kids talk about the "chicken football" going on in the chicken pen.  We had a lot of scraps to toss out to them this weekend, so they had lots of time to play "football".

3.  Steve brought home a used laptop for us on Friday.  He bought it since our second "kids computer" desperately needs to be upgraded.  We'll be reviewing some items in the next few months that really meant we needed a second internet-capable computer, and some of the e-books would be much easier to use on a lap top. 

The children have owned Roller Coaster Tycoon for awhile, but could not play it on their computer.  They eagerly loaded it onto the laptop, and gathered around.  When my kids play computer games, it's a spectator sport.  They all sit and watch the one who's playing and help them out with suggestions and lots of commentary.  Of course, that also means sometimes it dissolves into bickering and they have to turn it off. 

Roller Coaster Tycoon isn't any different.  But it's noisier because the younger children decided to "scream" along with the computer-generated roller coaster riders.  We soon put a stop to that, but it's harder to stop the 3 year old from doing it. 

Steve and I were talking at the table Sunday evening and she was "screaming" with the riders again, but in a quiet scream that was more cute than annoying.  Suddenly, I realized she was also throwing her arms in the air whenever the riders on the screen threw theirs up.  She sat on the arm of the loveseat, watching the screen, standing, throwing her arms up, and screaming along with the game riders. 

She's so cute at times, and so frustrating at others.  Like now, when she has emptied a shelf of DVDs (along with her almost 1 year old brother) and isn't cleaning it up.  I guess I'll go enforce my clean-up instructions now.

Trusting In Him,
April