more bedtime stories...

dad: ralph, do you want me to lay with you?
ralph: yes.
(5 minutes)
dad: ralph, can i go back to my bed now?
ralph: no.  and dad?  i hate your stinky breath.

lionel and ralph pushed their beds together so they could be together. lionel often sleeps in ralph's bed, all snuggled up to his brother.  then, when he goes to sleep, ralph gets out and wanders around the upstairs.

ralph: dad!  can you shove lionel back into his OWN bed?
lionel: i'm right here!  i'm not asleep!
ralph: you're in my way!
lionel: no, i'm not!  i'm on the crack!
ralph: daaaaad!
dad: ralph, can you just get in lionel's bed and sleep?
ralph: no i can't.
lionel: *sigh* i'll scootch!

dad: :)

poetry slam 2011

all year, since they came back from christmas, the first grade at st. elizabeth's school has been learning about poetry: cross stick, limericks, etc...  about a month ago, lionel came home from school and said, "i'm lionel and i'm lazy!"  i got all emotional about it, "no!  you're NOT lazy!  you work very hard and make me very proud... (and so on)"  he smiled and said, "i'm lionel and i'm little and intelligent.... and lazy!  i couldn't think of another 'l' word, so i just went with lazy."

last night, the first grade hosted a poetry reading.  at grace before dinner prior to going to school for poetry, we discussed things we were happy about and thankful for.  lionel said he was thankful for his hard work, but nervous and sad about which poem he picked to read.  he picked his cross stick poem, but wished he had picked his shape poem about the moon.  he said he was feeling bad about saying he was lazy.  i realized he might not know, exactly, what lazy means.  i explained to him the meaning of lazy, and told him that lazy is something he is not, but lovely, learning, limber, loving, lovable, or lucky are all things that begin with 'l' that describe him.  i encouraged him to simply change the word he read while reading it, but he decided to change his whole poem.  he decided to re-write his shape poem about the moon, in the shape of a moon and give it to ms. dulek to replace the poem he had originally picked.  upon arrival, he proudly marched up to her and informed her of his wishes, to which she replied, "but i have already gotten them in order.  you did a very nice shape poem, i like the moon, but can't you just read your lionel poem?"  he looked at her, then at me.  i said, "yes, lionel!  you CAN read your lionel poem!  it's great!"  when it came time to read it, he ended it with, "i'm lionel and i'm LUCKY!"  ...SO proud!!

my babies...

today ralph and i almost came to blows over his behavior.  i noticed he had been getting subtly more and more unruly.  i threatened to send him back to *gasp* border star.  we talked about being five and what it all means.  he tried to be helpful after that... for a couple of hours, anyway.

mom: i wish you could stay a baby forever, and i know it's hard, but you have to grow up.
ralph: but we can still love on each other, and you can still see my piggies whenever you want, when i grow up.  and, mom, there is one other bad thing when i grow up.  i may not be avle to sleep in that bed anymore.
mom: why?
ralph: because i will be too big.
mom: but then you can have a bed like that one (pointing to ours) and it will be your very own.
ralph: yeah, but, lionel will probably still want to sleep with me when i grow up.

cecelia has a boyfriend.  j.t. vohs.  those two have been friends since first grade, when lainey would get caught up in girl drama and cecelia would play card games with j.t.  yesterday, valentine's day, cecelia and her friend, maddie, got in a friendly fight over who would be marrying j.t.  so augie, j.t.'s friend, asked j.t. who he likes.  j.t. said, "well, i like cecelia!"  if ask either one of them, they will tell you that they are close friends, who kind-of like eachother like that.

cute!

bedtime conversation

ralph: (in the voice of Evelyn from He-Man) i could use those muscles of yours.

ralph: mom?  isn't it sad in Dumbo when jumbo's mom gets tooken away?  yeah.  it's mean.  and sad.  especially when all the other animals have their babies.

mom: ralph?  did you pass gas?
lionel: yeah.  i smelled that funky smell.

ralph: everything in our house is cool.  and the whole wide world.  and the whole silver system.

tuesdays with ralphie

on the way home from diebel's, ralph spotted The Raphael hotel.
ralph: mom!  i see our hotel!  i certainly loved the monster truck.
(there was a big truck with GIANT wheels parked right outside the hotel.  we parked behind it)

let it snow! let it snow! let it snow!