it's all about the food, I tell you.

while on our way to Prescott last Friday, we passed by the cemetery where my paternal grandparents are buried.  I pointed it out to the kids.

"see that hill over there?"

"yeah, so.  who cares?" (it's a KID thing, don't ask.)

"well, on the other side of that hill is the cemetery where your GREAT grandparents are buried."

"oh.  so that means they're dead?"

"um, yeah.  I guess it would."

thus commenced a zillion and one questions about death and dying (mostly from the littler ones.)

what happens to your body after you die?  does it shrivel up like a prune?  once you're buried in the ground do the worms and spiders eat your guts?  because that's what Jimmy told me at school, and he knows everything.  what about your cells and stuff?  do those die too?  do your eyeballs sink into your skull?  shut uuup, that is like so disgusting.   

Phoebe, who had been rather quiet up until this point, finally pipes up, "so does everybody die?"  

before I could answer, Hannah tells her, "yep.  even mom and dad will die someday."

"oh, really? " she says, her eyes suddenly lighting up.  "so after they die, then we can eat whatever we want, right?!"

see?  told you.  all they care about is The Food.  

after that, nothing else matters ;-)

-jessica

"I'm your big helper, right mom?"

Phoebe has been asking for a while now if she could make cookies.  obviously she's too little to do this unsupervised, so it was up to me to choose a day when it would work.  a day when I had a couple of uninterrupted hours in the afternoon, as well as the patience to give step by step instructions, telling her exactly what to do and how to do it.  oh, and let's not forget the mess.   

besides, I knew I'd be left to finish off the baking, not that I would let her take cookies out of the oven anyway, but still.  who else is like me and peters out half-way through baking cookies?  either that, or the last few pans always end up a little overdone. 

turns out, I could hardly get a word in edgewise: "mom, what do I do now.  mom, tell me already, you're taking waaaay too long.  mooooom, hurry up!" she was so stinkin' hilarious, especially when it came time to crack the eggs.   she thought that was the funniest thing ever, but then in the next breath she was all, "ewww, this is so groooosss!" when the egg got all over her hands.  she did a fairly good job, but after a while lost interest.  typical.  and pretty soon her and Rowan were throwing dough around instead.  the mess, remember?  

  

I absolutely love four year-olds.  they're right on the cusp before heading off to school, and are trying their hardest to figure life out.  boy are they inquisitive!  always a gazillion questions.  

when I asked her if I could take a few pictures of her making cookies, she made this sigh slash groaning noise before finally agreeing, "uggghhhh, I suh-pose."  she acts just like her auntie Jen, drama to the max! (heh, sorry Jen, couldn't resist :)  

aaand a few more Phoebe-isms:  

Phoebe: when someone goes, "ah-choo!" you're supposed to tell them, "less you."

*

Phoebe: "I just know when Ella is lying to me."

me: "how's that?"

Phoebe: "I can smell it."

*

Phoebe, while chatting on Gary's cell phone to her cousin Whitney: "my dad says I have to say good-bye now-- he needs to use MY phone."

what a girl!

-jessica

this girl is something else I tell you.

Phoebe: my shoe feels funny.

me: do you want to take it off?

Phoebe (sighing): I'll live.

*

Phoebe: I want some breakfast.

me: but you already ate breakfast, remember? you had a piece of toast.

Phoebe (thinking for a second): that was fake toast.

*

Phoebe: can you get me on pbskids.org?

me: no. not right now.

Phoebe (whining): but why?

me: because I said.

Phoebe (arms crossed): I'm so mad I could pinch you.

*

Phoebe: mom, I love you so much. I'm going to eat you up. (commences eating noises.) I ate you up. (she hears me tell Scarlett this on a daily basis.)

me: thanks. what did I taste like?

Phoebe: like brown... furry... balls.

WHAT.

workbooks: $5.00  crayons: $3.00  stickers: $1.00  watching my daughter color the afternoon away: priceless

-jessica

PS. I added a "project 365" tab (underneath my blog header) so you can peek at my photo-a-day progress (if you feel so inclined) and chew me out if I miss a day ;)