Welcome to 2012!

A few days before Christmas, our family was watching Elf, and Ben's wheels started turning at the part where Santa tells Buddy that some people don't believe in Santa, and that "There's a rumor going around that it's the parents."

Buddy: "That's impossible- parents couldn't do all that in one night!"

Shortly after, he said, "Mom, is it really the parents?"
I asked, "Well, do YOU think Dad and I could do all that in one night?"
Ben's response was, "No. I think Santa really is real." And that was the end of the conversation.

Last week, Ben lost a tooth. I told him that if his tooth wasn't under his pillow, the Tooth Fairy couldn't come and give him money for it.

Ben: "Mom, are you the tooth fairy?"
Me: "Ben, why would I want your lost teeth?"
Ben: "Well, it just doesn't make sense. How does she get under my pillow?"
Me: (thinking fast) "She has a force field. That way she doesn't get squished!"

Ben caught Josh in a secret yesterday, after the Easter Bunny came.

Josh: "Wow, these are really great squirt guns!! Daddy did a good job. . . I mean, the Easter Bunny did a good job on them, didn't he?"

Ben: "I caught you, Dad! You just told the secret!"

Then, this morning, Claire asked if she could go see the Easter Bunny. I told her she could when she is ten. Ben got all sorts of excited, and asked if he could meet the Easter Bunny too, and Santa too, when he is ten. . . It makes me a little sad that Ben's already starting to question things like this. The good thing is he's got a very active imagination, and he's sharp as a tack!

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Claire's animals have started marrying each other. And she's pretty worried about who she's going to marry, too.

Claire: "Mom, my Dottie is a boy, and Ben's Blackie is a girl, and they are married. And my Cookie is a girl, and my Tiger (side note: Tiger is actually a lion) is a girl, and they are married."

Claire: "Mom, I'm gonna marry Dad when I get big."
Me: "I already married Dad, so you'll have to find someone like Dad instead." :)

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Mitchell has learned to use leverage to get himself where he wants to be. Whether it's a fist full of carpet and a push from his foot, or grabbing the couch or laundry basket that's close by to pull him around- he is now officially mobile! And so stinkin' cute, I just can't stand it!!

Leapin Lizards!

Yesterday Ben, Claire and I all went swimming. This is one of the things we love to do, especially in summertime when the park is just too darn hot- cool off in the pool and play! While we were swimming around, I noticed a little lizard hanging out on one of our pool noodles. This year, we've had a couple of lizards drown in the pool, unfortunately. For fear that this would turn into one of those situations I got hold of the noodle and let the lizard go free on the cement walk surrounding our pool.

He sat there for a few minutes, so we all gathered round to watch what the little lizard would do. He was so cute and tiny, and his tail matched the sky perfectly. Much to our surprise, he turned around and leaped back into the pool! He started swimming toward Ben, who got a little nervous because he's split-- he likes the lizards, but doesn't exactly want them touching him. I quickly grabbed another pool noodle, and the lizard climbed back on. The lizard just hung out on the noodle, watching us.

Torn at what to do, we put a half inch of water and a couple of larger flat rocks into a bucket, and put the lizard (quickly dubbed "Little Blue Tail") into it so we could finish our swim and not have to worry about saving any more animal lives. Ben even gave him a leaf, which he figured was Blue's favorite toy. The kids would swim for a few minutes, then they'd have to get out and check that Blue was doing okay.

The kids got infatuated with the idea of keeping the little lizard for a pet. It took a lot of talking in the afternoon and evening hours to help them realize that Little Blue Tail wouldn't be happy with us, he'd miss all his lizard friends (we must have 10 or more lizards living in our yard right now- no complaints!), and he couldn't be happy in a bucket with nothing to do but sit on a rock or swim. Plus we didn't have any lizard food, and Blue would die, and that would be too sad.

Outside we quickly went to free our Little Blue Tail. He climbed up on a rock, so I reached in and pulled out the rock he was sitting on, and put it on the ground. He sat there for a minute while the kidlets said their goodbyes to Little Blue Tail (no tears, thankfully). Then when I opened the door to go inside, Blue bolted towards the door!! I got the kids inside before Blue could reach the door (man, those lizards can RUN!!!), and closed it, hoping that Blue would go find his family, and maybe some bugs to eat.

I've never seen a lizard like him before! I almost wanted a pet lizard myself. . . . Almost, but not quite. :)