James Says

Upon seeing a humane society commercial: "Why are those dogs in cages? Are those dogs in JAIL?"

It really sounds like James says "fighter-fighter" instead of "firefighter." Sam wondered if he really knew what it was supposed to be, so he asked James what a fire fighter did and James paused and then responded, "Put out fires." Next Sam asked, "Say firefighter really slowly." And at breakneck speed, James rushed out, "fighter-fighter really slowly!"

It also really sounds like James says "appost to" instead of "supposed to." Often this comes out as "you're not appost to do that!"

James: "Do you know who is the boss in my class?"
Me: "Who?"
James: "Hudson. Hudson is the boss in my class."

(Keep in mind that the kids have never seen Star Wars.)
James: "Is Yoda a person or a storm trooper?"
Me: "Well ..."
Sam: "He's an alien."

James: "Can storm troopers fly?"
Me: "No."
James: "They can just walk."

James: "Are storm troopers good guys?"
Sam: "Bad guys."
Me: "Not all of them!"

The way he pronounces "Darth Vader" and "Luke Skywalker" is really cute. I have no idea where he's picked up so much. One of the kids at preschool must be really into it.

Valentine's Day

Yesterday, James asked to do a craft and we made valentines using the same basic principle as this. They specifically wanted to use glitter. I think it had been put away since the Halloween  craft! James's is on the left, Amelie's is in the middle, and mine is on the right.

He also asked to go to church and there was conveniently a Valentine's day dance there last night that Ellie & Benny were already wanting to go to.

I wanted to get a family picture, but my camera died! The kids ran around like wild things, and Amelie slept until 9am this morning to compensate. 

Amelie and James also did Valentines boxes at school and came home with piles of candy. I waited until the last minute and ended up writing Amelie's for her even though the note home said the kids were supposed to do them themselves. (I bought the Valentines on Tuesday & we were out late at Clifford on Wednesday and I forgot that they'd have the party on Thursday because there was no school Friday. Oops. I had her do Ms. Hanney's in the morning before school.) 

Clifford, the Big Family Musical

I took the kids to see Clifford, the Big Family Musical (part of the University concert series) last night.

 There he is! James kept asking, "When is Clifford going to come out? Why isn't Clifford coming out?"

The kids at intermission. The Missouri Theater is lovely. (I don't know why James is raising his hand.)

Dot Paint

Cabell sent us some dot paints, which immediately jogged my memory that my friend Amanda had recommended them about a year ago even though I forgot all about it at the time.

The kids love them - and I love them, too - much quicker set-up and clean-up than regular painting!

Also, they are exactly like the Bingo markers I yearned to play with that my Grandma Wanda would never let me touch.

James is hard at work, but Amelie looks horrified that I'm taking a photo.

She also got us a set of board books based on Greek mythology. This one is about Midas, who wants everything to be yellow, until he paints his stuffed dinosaur.