Wanda and Peanut Butter Swift

Charlotte (age 3) and I (age a lot more than 3) were watching her favorite music video, Taylor Swift's Shake it Off. Then the Charz got the idea that if we put on a bunch of accessories, we can pretend to be "different Taylor Swifts" like how TS tries out different personas in the video. After we put on different headbands (it was mostly headbands, by the way) that made us look just like different Taylor Swifts in the eyes of my three-year-old, this conversation happened:

Charzie: We can change our names…

Me: To what?

Charzie: I can change my name to Wanda and you can be Peanut Butter Swift.

Me: Wanda and Peanut Butter Swift?

Charzie: Yes.

Me: Where did you come up with Wanda? Where did you hear that?

Charzie: God told me. This day. When we were at the store, God told me.

Me: God told you to change your name to Wanda?

Charzie: Yes.

Me: For real or are you pretending?

Charzie: God told me this day for real.

Me: OK. Wanda and Peanut Butter Swift.

Charzie. Yes. But we can change them back if we want to.

For whatever reason, and maybe this gives you a glimpse into the odd-ness of my family, Peanut Butter Swift didn't seem as strange of a name for Charlotte to choose as Wanda was. Oh, and apparently those names are Spanish, so we have to speak Spanish when we change our names.

Yo Gabba Abners

Chase & I put our family in the Yo Gabba Gabba theme song and it goes...

SIMON! He's smart and artsy!
JONAS! He's mad and funny!
CHARZIE! She's sweet and curly!
MOMMY! She does the laundry!
DADDY! He loves his iPhone!
Let's all come and play with the Abner fam today!
Yo Gabba Gabba, Yo Gabba Gabba,
Yo Gabba Gabba, Yo Gabba Gabba
Yo Gabba Gabba, YO!

Just Some Cute Kid Videos

Having gone back and read my last few posts, I noticed that I've been quite the downer!  But of course, dealing with The Sick hitting all five members of this household and the things that go along with said Sick will bring just about anyone down.  The kids didn't leave the house for a week and a half and I left the house once in that time.  We were all going a little crazy.  So today I have a couple fun videos of my kiddos to share.

Alright, my kids love to play dress-up.  They dress up as superheroes, knights, Ninja Turtles, pirates, secret agent guys, bad guys, police officers, magicians, and many other things.  My kids don't just dress up as these characters; they totally get into it and become the character.  Anyway, today Jonas decided he wanted to be a Ghostbuster.  So here is a video of Jonas as Dr. Peter Venkman:



Of course Simon had to jump in, too.  This next video is from a few weeks ago before The Sick.  The kids were playing with Play-Doh and Charzie kept saying she was making applesauce.  She's a cute one, she is...

Jonas Songs

Here some songs that 3-year-old Jonas has made up; a couple a while a go and a few more recently, but he sings them all (and the main lyrics are the titles):

Beetles & Bees

God is King

Punch My Bread

Punch My Pets

Clap Your Pizza

And that's Jonas for ya.  I felt the need to post something amusing after cleaning up 4-year-old Simon's middle-of-the-night-top-bunk puke and waking up this morning to Jonas freaking out because he had some "ballerina" in the potty and a drip got on the stool.  It's been a sort of groggy, sort of slap-happy morning complete with an all-out toddler tantrum from Charlotte (who was angry that I put away the iPod touch she had quit playing with).  But thankfully, thankfully there has been no more puke and no more poop... yet.

That Jonas...

Last night Jonas missed bathtime because he was helping Chase order our pretty new appliances.  So he got the nice big tub all to himself this morning while Baby Charz napped and Simon played iPad games.  As I was drying Jonas off, combing his hair, putting his lotion on and helping him get dressed, we heard a bird outside the window and had this sweet conversation...

Jonas:  What that bird doing?
Me:  I don't know.  Maybe he's building a nest.
Jonas:  That a she bird.
Me:  A she bird?  Well, maybe she's building a nest.
Jonas:  I fink she looking for her babies.
Me:  She's looking for her babies?  Maybe she is.
Jonas:  Her babies are in a volcano.
Me:  In a volcano?!?
Jonas:  Yes.  They in a volcano.  And her eggs in a volcano.  She's looking for her babies and eggs.  They in a volcano.

Well, the conversation started out sweet, anyway...

Oh, the Circus! (And Crying Jonas)

We're pretty much a circus-loving family. The kids do "circus tricks" with their daddy (Chase lays on the floor and has the boys stand on his hands as he pushes them up in the air, he flips them and even Charlotte has a little trick or few). The boys have seen the circus twice. Charlotte is a little contortionist. Simon had a circus birthday last year. The kids like Dr. Seuss' If I Ran the Circus, and I took them to see a couple Ringling Bros. clowns do a storytime at the library today where they read that book. It. Was. Awesome.

These are the clowns that came to the library.

Charlotte really enjoyed the clowns.

Simon loved the clowns.

Jonas thought the clowns were OK.

This clown juggled chickens. All the kids thought that was hilarious.

Jonas got antsy and kept climbing all over me, which wouldn't have been so bad if Charlotte wasn't trying to crawl to the clowns at the same time.

Clown Simon (they gave out free clown noses)

Clown Jonas

Clown Charlotte

Now, this next picture is one I love. I love it because there are Ringling clowns. I love it because my kids are with the Ringling clowns. I love it because of the colors are fun, the light was bright (no flash needed!) and it's just all around interesting. I love it because it is real. Jonas is having a meltdown...


Jonas didn't love the clowns (obviously), but he was not really afraid of them either. He had been a little uneasy when he first saw them, but he ended up enjoying himself. Mostly he was crying because he was tired of being cooped up in a room where he could not run around. And I'm just a weird and mean mama because I like pictures of my crying kids. (I don't make my kids cry to get their picture, but if they are crying and it is cute or funny, I will take their picture!)

OK, I was just searching my blog to link to my all-time favorite crying kid picture and can't believe I never posted this! (It is on my Facebook, though.) This is Jonas, age 1, at the Cincinnati Zoo, way beyond naptime:

Bonus nostalgic picture, just for you!

Moves Like Jack

Jonas, age two, singing Moves Like Jagger:

Happy President's Day!

In honor of President's Day, I've uploaded a coloring page just for you! It's adapted from a drawing I did years ago of Abraham Lincoln.


Yes, I'm a weirdo. Also, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is my new favorite book. For real. I got it as a Christmas gift from my parents, sort of as a joke I assume, and it turns out to be great. Now color my picture, read that book and have a fun President's Day!

Home Invasion

Our home has been invaded...

By a robot named Robo.

He is programmed to destroy!

So Simon stepped up to defend our family.

Jonas got some punches in, too.

They tamed Robo and are now friends.

Even Charlotte likes him.

Also, the kids have matching robot shirts.

Charlotte doesn't particularly like matching her brothers even though her robot is a girl (note the bow).

The end.

An Impromptu Prayer from Simon...

Simon: Thank you, God, for our food, for Mommy and for Marshmallow Man.

Me: That was a nice little prayer, Simon!

Simon: That wasn't me, it was Slimer saying that.

He was playing with a plush Slimer toy.

Knock Knock

The boys have really been into knock-knock jokes lately. Here are two Jonas (age 2) made up:

Knock knock!
Who's there?
Pee Wee.
Pee Wee who?
Pee Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!


Knock knock!
Who's there?
Ghostbusters.
Ghostbusters who?
They're GUYS!

Yeah, he doesn't quite get it, but he sure is cute.

Simon's Halloween Drink Recipe

Here is Simon's Halloween Drink recipe:

First you put a candy in there [a cup, I assume]
Then you put a bubble gum
And add some ice
And some water
And some juice
Then you have a Halloweeeeen Drink!

What 3-year-old wouldn't love this drink?

Consequences of Being an Early Riser

Somebody got up too early this morning....


He woke up 5:15-ish and fell asleep like that a bit after 11:00. I was nursing Baby Charlotte and couldn't move him until she was finished, but I could grab the camera & snap a few pictures one-handed...

A Story for Charwit

This is a story Simon made up for Charlotte:

Once upon a time there was a Ba-Ba named Noonie. He had a rubber ducky way up high in a pool. Then a doggie comed. They had problems and they runned away. They lived happily ever after. And they had curtains.

Funny Things Simon Has Said

These are some funny things Simon has said recently:

We can ride flamingos!

We can't ride flamingos; they're for babies to ride... and little people.

(Talking about Daddy's shirt) That's just my size! My new size!

(Talking about the baby in my belly) She can play with the food in your belly!

I bounce my head on your belly cuz your belly is like a ball.

(A handyman was installing a new faucet and water leaked out in the process) There's wet in our house, Mommy!

I speak squirrel!

I don't want to reach my hand up my booty! There's poop in there!

I like to see my poop.

I lookin' tough.

I can't feel my eyebrows!!!

Can I feel your mustache, Daddy?

I Guess I'm Pretty Tall

As I was fixing my hair in the bathroom, Simon came bouncing up to me with a tape measure and said, "Let me check you!" He measured me (sort of) and proclaimed, "Mommy, you 5,000 tall!" Then he went and sat on Jonas' head.

An Email from Simon

My mom sent an email to Simon and this was his reply:

uuu00opoop0op9uiuoioo.[.0]0p-- \-j 8yhjufgufhj'7fryytfg-hj neena [Simon typing]

Simon, doggie, cars, kitty cats, cow, snake, turtle, lion, ostrich, rabbit, chick, crocodile, fish, cars, snowman, cars, snowman [Simon dictating]

Love,
Simon

Jonas Says, "Amen!"

Tonight Jonas thought himself quite hilarious when he said, "Amen!" after prayer. Naturally, I recorded him.





Oh, and he sneaked in a "Dada" at the end, too!

Better Videos

Here are a couple better videos. The first is the boys dancing in the kitchen earlier this evening while listening to Here Come the ABC's by They Might Be Giants. The second video is of Jonas using iChat to type to Daddy at work.

A Breakfast Conversation with Simon

Simon & I were eating breakfast recently when we heard something shift or fall in the pantry...

Simon: I hear somesing
Me: You hear something? What do you hear?
Simon: I hear a op-po-pus
Me: You hear an octopus?
Simon: Yes, I hear a op-po-pus. (Pause) I eat a op-po-pus.
Me: You want to eat an octopus?
Simon: Yes, I eat a op-po-pus.