Interview with Xander 6-13-08

Q:What are your Favorite Books? A:"Zoo Books or Waldo"

Q: What is your favorite Movie? A: "scientific movies like Mythbusters" (he is anxious to watch the old Indiana Jones soon)

Q: What is your favorite game (not computer)? A: "marbles and my half way favorite is -the CC game mommy made." (using the pictionary game board to review his science, geography, and math.)

Q: What are your favorite Toys? A: "you can write L-E-G-O. Lego's -it is my most favoriteist!"

Q: What is your favorite food? A: "McChickens. peaches, grape juice, ice cream, chicken strips"

Q: What is your day like? A: "I probably like to go on the computer if mommy is still sleeping. breakfast, chores, hopefully maybe I can go upstairs and listen to my tapes while I play Lego's, eat lunch, school time, then we start working again... mommy should maybe take a nap while I play meat eaters with Josie, go have time with Daddy, after supper play and go to bed.

Q: What are your chores? A: "clean table, clean my room, open shade, cheer up Aliza, then I do the dishwasher, clean great room and do school." (he forgot Swish and swipe the bathroom)

Q: What would you save up your money to buy? "Mindstorms definitaltly" (robot intelligence that you program) "then to support Christian Countries -100$ in the offering , then a new dog"

Q: What would you do tomorrow if you could? A:"Go to the Museum with Uncle Chad, Aunt Tammy,and Uncle Cody, Auntie Jen, Grandpa and Grandma who came down here.

Q: What are you anxious to do (get) when you get bigger? A: "Mindstorm or a knife (daddy said I need to be a little older so I can be a little smarter and figure out some of the hard situations with mindstorm.)"

Q:What do you want to be when you grow up? A; "Scientist, Inventor, Soccer ball player, maybe Preacher or Scientist of God.( Laugh, )I am gonna earn a lot of money with all that work!"

Q: How do you serve your family? A: "Well , I serve Aliza by cheering her up and you served Aliza by MAKING HER (at which point I need to stop typing and control my laughter and wipe my eyes!) I serve Daddy by giving him company and you serve him because you're his wife. I clean up the house for Mommy and serve Josie by teaching her about legos and by keeping her company."

Q:Did you memorize anything this year? A:"Oh Yes! the whole thing on 'Children obey your parents'. (Eph 6) all my CC facts!"

Q: Favorite thing to do with Mommy? A: "play marbles & talking to her."

Q: Favorite thing to do with Daddy? A: "Go to the shop and work with wood glue. Watch Mythbusters and How It's Made" (his Daddy monitors & helps him with the computer quite a bit.)

Q: Favorite thing to do with Josie? A:"(laugh) its the same as my favorite toy.. Lego"

Q: Favorite thing to do with Liza? A:" (giggle) talk to each other in the car.. and my favorite thing to do with Nana was to play and chase her."

Josie is Our Child Who...

Let me see if I can attempt to capture some of our Josie's personality in 20 min:

• Some of my favorite Josie-isms? "What again?" (when she wants you to repeat something.) "I just can't know" when you ask her something she is unable to answer. She didn't say her own name until she was almost 3. She would just shake her head and say "no, too hard". When she was younger she didn't talk much until she was almost 2 1/2. Her first word she said alot when she started talking was "yeth"(yes) with a nod. When you asked her almost any question. You would have had to be there to appreciate why this was so endearing. She loves to play "pluto" (Playdough).. she calls her shoulders "shirtles".. and she has been recently been catching fish with her "fishing pool" (instead of pole)... she gave Xander his nick name of "Ya-ya" long ago. He called himself "Za-za" but she couldn't pronounce it and everyone began to call Xander Ya-ya like she did.
• She has always loved to be skin to skin... as a toddler she would pull my neck line down in public and nestle her cheek on the skin on my lower neck. When she crawls in bed with me she would lay my hand out and lay her cheek in my hand and fall asleep that way. she loves to cuddle cheek to cheek. When she does crawl in bed with me she is a snuggle bug! Every inch I give up- she follows... and we end both end up on Dan's side. She likes to take Sunday naps on Dan's chest still.
• She has been sort of a Mommy's girl until recently. Now she loves Daddy time and is about as close to Dan as me.
• the naughty things she has done? cut her hair. put lipstick on my couch repeatedly (4? times). marker on the wall. and I am not so happy about the 4 changes a day she goes through presently which i keep saying I will stop soon.
• things I will look back on and smile? the way if she does have an accident in bed at night she strips off her bottoms and throws them in the bathroom and I find her on my side of the bed with me (half naked). I actually prefer this method to the alternative of changing wet sheets in the middle of the night and retucking her in... her 12 tiny freckles on her nose.
• she loves the swing downstairs. tea parties with her kitchen set downstairs. dressing her dollies in Aliza's clothes. dresses. legos. fingernail polish. bathes. pool time. carbo crunch bars. singing her little Josie songs, dancing for an audience.. she then cutries and we clap. She loves blush and lipgloss. She picks up every worm she finds with a "awww Mommy I want to keep this lil worm OK? "
• she is very good at making everyone smile.. she says "You the best mommy (daddy or Zanner) in 'HOLE WOORLD!" ... and she is good at making her letters and I was surprised that she knew how to spell mom on the pics she drew me in the days I was recovering from 'Liza birth.
• she hates? her hair combed through (a lot of the "O-w-w" word). the sashes tied on her dresses. wet shoes. wet clothes. and most tights.
• Lately I ask her why she appears and doesn't have a shirt on and she replies... "Momma Xander and I are just playing Indians! Indians DON'T wear shirts!" I was about to argue with her but then Opening my mouth I decided that she had a point:) and let her... now I tell her GIRL Indians DO WEAR SHIRTS.
• She is not scared of heights*her daddy pushes her on the swing with her yelling, "Fly like a bird, Daddy! Higher!". She is tough- Not One to cry when she falls down. She is sweet. Eager to help out and share her things. Quite outgoing. and she is quite the tease too! She is the perfect lil' girl for us!
  

Interview with JOSIE 6-7-08

Q: What are your Favorite Books? A: Waldo and Cin-er-ella
Q: What is your favorite Movie? A: Tom and Jerry
Q: What is your favorite game? A: Candy Land
Q: What are your favorite Toys?
A:Popeye(large Next Generation horse) and my table and kitchen
Q: What is your favorite food? A: Meat, Mac-a-onni and Ice cream with Cake
Q: What is your day like? A: I crawl in Mommy's bed, then we come downstairs and have tea and supper. chores, eat lunch (which she also calls supper sometimes)
Q: What are your chores? A:clean downstairs, nursery, dishes, I dunno.
Q: What would you save up your money to buy? "a new Mee hee" (horse like Poppey) and a dress up dress.
Q: What would you do tomorrow if you could? A:Go Minnesota... go my Uncles house.. an' slide in Minnesota.
Q: What are you anxious to do when you get bigger? A: Make supper
Q:What do you want to be when you grow up? A: a mommy
Q: How do you serve your family? A: May yer service(She says with a smile and curtsy) make coffee for Daddy.
Q:Did you memorize anything this year? A: (Eph 6:1-3) which she promptly quoted Children obey your parents.. honor yer fa-der and mu-der which is the firs' com-an-ment wif promis.... live long on de earf. "And Oh Gog(God) you are my Gog song."
Q: Favorite thing to do with Mommy? A:(S)FWEEP in your bed.
Q: Favorite thing to do with Daddy? A: drink Milk
Q: Favorite thing to do with Xander? A:Play he is my animal.
Q: Favorite thing to do with Liza? A: (giggle) just play wif her

Old Pins, A Helpful Three Year Old. and Cloth Diapers

How I love to look out and see my three year old hanging diapers out on our makeshift line. Some might call it a bit "jimmy rigged"/ maybe even a bit "red neck" but I would rather think of it as being wonderfully simple and innovative! We took Nana's old tie and strung it from the railing to the post and back to the railing with a gallon jug 3/4 full of water hanging over the deck to keep it tight. I have taught Xander how to set up and take down the clothes line when necessary.

Josie's job is to hang diapers, take them off the line and fold them. What a good job she does too. The diapers are close together on the line.. she has been taught to just use the very corners to hang them, and what a meticulous job she does folding them. I love to see that determined, little, three year-old serving her little sister and her family by this simple task. I hope it will be as fond of a memory for Josie as it will be for me to look back on.

The pins we are using are Josie's Great Great Grandma Anna Hofsommer's. I can't help but hope she is looking down and grinning.. how many diapers has she hung with those same pins? How many diapers did my Grandma Aune Hofsommer hang with them? And now a few generations later (after being in a box for who know how long) they are being put to good use again!

What a good job she does folding the diapers... at least three shakes- then it is folding, smoothing, and stacking. How I love this child of ours!

Doggy funeral

Xander "officiated" and spoke of how cute Nana was and how she was "just the best dog ever". Daddy and Grandpa Max had prepared a big hole at Uncle Greg's Farm by the pond. Grandma Betty got there and held Aliza as I took these pictures though my tears. I was so thankful the rain held off (and that the men got my car out of the muddy ditch).

Josie wanted to sing a "Josie made up song"... "Nana just died and ... sad... dead now.. Nana... we get a new dog. "

The kids and I took the morning and each painted a rock for her from our back yard. Xander's with a "heart and X ".. Josie's with a "J".. and mommy's with Nana's name and the short year we had her.

We will all miss her.

So hard to say Goodbye to our NANA

I am very emotional about it still... but our good puppy, Nana, died 2 days ago. It was so incredibly hard to say good bye for Xander and I. I am not sure Josie understood fully but I still get tears in my eyes as I think about her sitting and singing to her. **I'm not sure if all want to see the emotional picture above. It is of our puppy in the last hour. You will need to click on it to view it (then hit the backward arrow button to get back here). **

It was a heart wrenching hour as Xander realized what was happening. He tried to help me by putting a warm water bottle by Nana's tummy and dripping electrolytes into her mouth with the blue baby bulb. He pleaded and prayed his little heart out, walking around with his hands clasped in prayer as he paced the floors. He cried out to God, "Lord, Liza never will remember her.. she is the best dog Lord, she did nothing wrong, Please Lord Save her!" It was so hard to watch this child of mine hurt and want something so bad and see it denied. We just cried together as we held her head on our lap.

Earlier in the day we prayed for Nana and he put it so well. "Lord You know we love Nana so much , and Lord You could heal her and I pray that you would make Nana b-... well Lord, You use Your own judgement and we will praise You in her life or death. 'cause You do what is best for Nana."

We are not sure what Nana died of. We seen evidence of chicken bones in the vet x-ray and part of a rag rug she ate. X-rays were inconclusive and the vet told me to watch for fever and wait 24-48 hours and the small bones she saw should pass. She never got a fever but died about 30 hrs after the vet saw her. I believe her bowel tore.

Blonde 'Lil Liza

Its fun to see her starting to grin and the kids interact with her. She is a good baby.