She is definitely paying attention...

Remember a while ago when I said that out of the blue Eloise said, "Oh my gosh!" and I knew she got that from me? Well, that was just the beginning of her picking up our phrases and repeating them for all the world.

The other day in the car she asked me for something and I gave her some kind of non-committal answer to her question to which she replied in her parrot tone, "Not right now." Which is for sure an answer to many, many questions around here.

When the kids are all riled up and it's time to settle down Andy always says at some point (usually to Vaughn), "It's not funny" which is the indicator that the games are over.  The other morning I asked the kids at breakfast if I could be excused from the table (we always make the kids ask, "May I be excused from the table?" at meal times [which actually sounds more like "mayibeescusedthetable?"]).  Eloise instantly said "yes" and Vaughn instantly said "no". In good fun I told them they had to agree before I could get up because Papa and I always agree. They continued the yes/no banter until Eloise finally said, "It's not funny, Vaughn!".

Today out of the blue Eloise said in a tone that sounded exactly like mine, "Pay Attention!"

As she was trying to zip up her sweatshirt today she ran into some trouble with the zipper and she after a few tries she finally said, "Darn it!" Really glad I generally use that version of the annoyance expression!

When it's appropriate, I give the kids two choices about something. To indicate that I am giving them choices, I show them my two hands and put a 'choice' in each one and ask do you chose this or this?

The other day I was reading the story to Eloise about Jesus's birth from our Jesus Story Book Bible (which is excellent by the way!) and the story came with this photo.

As I read the story, she interrupted to tell her version of the story based on the photo and she said, "Mama, Jesus is saying, do you chose this or this?" I have not laughed so hard in months.

I will tell you, it is getting a little nerve-wracking to know that my words are being documented, recorded and broadcast. It really makes me think about what I say (and it really makes Andy give me the look of death when I utter a choice word).  Also, remember when I said we could pretty much talk over the kids about how we should handle a situation? We really don't do that too much anymore and have now reverted to the age-old parent trick of s-p-e-l-l-i-n-g out anything we don't want them to know we are talking about. I really pray that 'hearing myself' come out of my kids mouths will help me guard my lips a little a lot more carefully.