More Jack-isms!

Jack has a funny way of describing things. Today he told me that the water in his water bottle was "nasty" - that it tasted like "bird." He also told me that he didn't like the soap in the bathroom at co-op because it smells like "weeds!" Later, he came up to me and said, "If you were my slave, I would ask you to do things." (long story behind this one.)

Anyway, as most of you probably know, Jack complains a lot about his food - mainly his dinner. We try and try to teach him gratefulness and not to complain (often singing Steve Green's musical version of Philipians 2:14: "Do everything without complaining, do everything without arguing . . ") but to no avail. Last night, I spent an hour making a homemade chicken pot pie that the family loves (well, all except for Jack.) Not wanting to endure his complaints, Paul decided to substitute Jack's plate with a plate of food that he despises: black olives, dry onion skins, grapefruit, and peanut butter dog treats (which are edible for humans, but I'm sure they're very yucky.) At first, Jack thought Daddy was serious and took a bite of everything (even the dog treats - Dad had him spit it out before he could swallow,) getting more upset by the minute. Finally, Paul handed him his real food - ta da - chicken pot pie (!) which Jack tasted and said, "Hmm, that's good." Paul then went up to his ear and whispered, "Now, are you feeling more grateful?" Without hesitation, Jack shot back, "Not really." . . (and yes, we have tried letting Jack go to bed without dinner, but the ruckus he raises is worse than the complaining! Calgon, take me away!)

 . . .The kids really enjoy playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 on the Wii. One portion of the game involves landing on a 3D "spaceship" that looks like Mario's head - it spins around with various flower gardens, activities, etc. (you don't know it's his head unless you look at it a certain way.) Jack is mesmerized by this and was talking to me about it the other morning. At one point he said, "Wouldn't it be neat if you could fly up Mario's nose and there would be streams of boogers flowing down and bats flying around?"  Leave it to Jack to always involve boogers in his conversation. . . reminded me of a Gracie-ism last month:

. . . Motherly Gracie to Jack-Jack: "You eat your boogers? You know they're high in sodium, right?"



Jack on 1/3/11 (taken by my sis.) Probably the only time he'll get to wear his puppy dog sweater this year!



 . . .Yesterday morning, when it came time for Jack's turn at prayer, he folded his hands, bowed his head and earnestly prayed, "Dear God, when I grow up to be a parent, help my children to be good!" 

. . . .A little over a week ago, he and I took a car trip up to Prescott Valley to attend the funeral of my friend's father. The night before, I was preparing Jack for the trip and (knowing he would be in childcare with the younger kids) told him that he would get to see my friend's new baby. He replied, "I've never seen a real live baby born before - I'd like to see that sometime." Then he asked me, "Was having your babies the best thing? Did you thank God for us? Are you sad that we're growin' up? 'Cuz we are growin' super-fast!"

Recent Facebook posts:
 . . . Jan. 4: Jack stuck a very small Lego up his nose this morning - brought back memories of an urgent care visit a couple of years ago for something similar. As I was sterilizing the tweezers, he was able to get it out on his own. Of course, I was very upset w/him & said, "Don't ever stick ANYTHING up your nose ever again!" "Okay!" he screamed, "I get it!" But I wonder if he really does. What should I expect from a kid who has toilet paper sticking out of his nose when I check on him at night?!



. . . Jan. 3: On the way back from the airport, Jack asked if he could have "mac & cheese, plain" for dinner. Wondering how much plainer mac & cheese could be, I asked him, "What do you mean by plain?" & he replied, "No black spots." Gracie chimed in, "You mean pepper?" "Yeah," he said, "no pepper - it's too spicy." Later, Jared asked for "mac & cheese w/LOTS of black spots." So now we have a new name for pepper in our family!

. . . Jan. 1 First New Year's with some legal fireworks - bought rip tides, smoke bombs, and lots of pop-its for the kids. Jack keeps asking if we have any more "kabooms."  

. . . Dec. 14, 2010 Our family is really diggin' Go Fish's rendition of "The Little Drummer Boy" this year. (And I've never really liked that song before.) When Jack first heard it, he said, "That song has too many 'ra-pum-pums' in it," but now he asks to hear it every time we get in the car. It's really cool! (and he continues to sing it, over and over and over again!)

. . . Dec. 12, 2010 Fri. night we went to my mom’s assisted living center for Family Night.We parked near the hospice center next door (not quite to the apt.complex.) Jack jumped out of the van & tore down the sidewalk screaming, “Watch out for the naked guy!” while Jared made comments all the way into the bldg like, “Yeah, that naked guy was nasty.” I don't think we'll ever forget our Halloween encounter (more on that in another post.) Later, during the Christmas musical show, Jack was sitting on my lap & surveying the crowd around us. He finally looked at me very puzzled  asked, “How come there are so many OLD people here?”

. . . Dec. 5, 2010 Paul was trying to pick out a Jack-friendly outfit for church this morning. He held out a henley-type, reddish-blue conservative shirt with/collar for his approval, and Jack quipped, "It's too English!" (Guess Jack was actually paying attention at the Anne of Green Gables play the other night :-). Can you say "high maintenance child?"



. . . Nov. 30, 2010 Jack: "It's gonna take a long time before I'm a parent." Me: "Yeah, you don't want to become a parent too soon." Jack: "Yeah, because parents get really old really fast!"


 . . . Nov. 26, 2010 We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Tucson w/Paul's side of the family. 30 min. into the drive, Jack complained that it was taking too long. I told him we still had aways to go, so "sit back, relax, & enjoy the ride." Knowing that I wanted him to rest, he proclaimed, "I do not sleep in the morning, & I DO NOT RELAX!" No kidding, Jack! -but it was a great day nonetheless!



. . . Nov. 22, 2010 We have a painter/"worker guy" here for a few days this week fixing all kinds of huge dents and cracks in our walls. He started at 7:30 this morning (BEFORE Jack got up.) As he was trying to fix a huge dent on the wall opposite the bottom of our stairs, he asked me, "Who's been throwing bowling balls down the stairs?" So when Jack got up, I introduced him to the culprit!! Jack has been in heaven following the "painter guy" around all day, asking questions, telling him stories (especially about what will happen at the end times,) and generally chatting away. I hope he decides to come back tomorrow.
 
. . . Nov. 15, 2010 I'm trying to unwind after a squirrely day w/the kids. This morning Jack wandered from Legos, to painting, to finding his bug vacuum & going outside to suck up cockroaches (all while refusing to wear pants.) And of course, he had to keep the cockroach alive by putting it in a snack cup w/a lid that had airholes . . right now he is in his swimsuit playing in the water while jumping on the trampoline. Also, Jared locked Jack & Gracie in the pantry while I was on the phone trying to help my mom; later I caught him crawling out of the DRYER (he is at least 5'2".) What is up with Mondays??? Hope it's not a full moon tonight!
 
 

Nov. 2010 - Jack's butchering of "Blessed Be Your Name" a.k.a. Blessed Pea Your Name!