My Crazy Life: Random

Kid Kwotes & Kwips

Kenna: ...so then you run over and if you can stand in the hula hoop for 10 seconds...

Brooks: But how much time do you have?

Kenna: There is no time! Like, there is no time! You just run over. There is no time to do it, they just say, it's open, and you can just go, there's no pacific time, you just do it in whatever time you want

Brooks: Oh, so there is no time?

...just, wow...

Boys, playing nerf gun war...

Grey, shouts out amid the volley of shots: ooooOOO! Right in the sweet spot! And I say sweet spot so as not to be rude!

(which is an improvement over his angry declaration this past spring when he was accidentally "hit": Sonny! We don't hit people in the penis!!!"

Grey is still outgrowing his lisp, and some days, it's way worse than others...

Grey, watching brother use scissors: Wow Brookth, you're such a good cutter! I mean, I wouldn't th-ay beth-t beth-t beth-t, but I would th-ay th-econd beth-t

{...I wouldn't say best best best, but I would say second best. It's become a new mantra for complimenting people around here:-)}

Kenna: So, how was your doctor's appointment?

Mom: Oh, pretty good I think

Kenna: So no heart disease or cancer

Mom, stifling a laugh: Not that I'm aware of, no

Words that inspire confidence coming out of the mouth of a 9 year old boy, who has tied a rope to a tree to swing off of...

Mom: Um, how do we know this is secure?

Brooks: Don't worry, I read all about tying knots in my survival book

This week's edition of "did I really say that?"...

Kenna: Here, have this (hands over water bottle)

Brooks: But it's warm!

Kenna: It's fine. Warm water is actually good for you

Brooks: It is?

Kenna: yeah, mom says the warmness brings out the minerals

Brooks, to Mom: Wow, you did a good job dealing, especially since you can't shuffle

Kenna: Grey, you're not a baby so don't talk like one

Brooks: Well you're not an adult so why are you talking like one?

Kenna: I am allowed to give you wise counsel

Mom: There, that's like our TV, with two knobs and you had to get up and turn the dial to change the channel

Kenna: uuuugggghhh! That would just be so frustrating. Like, can you imagine like, being six, and having to get up and change the channel? Who would want to do that? #whoindeed #generationlazy

Listening to "boring" classical music with unimpressed kids

Kenna: If we were watching Tom & Jerry, this would be funny right now

Mom: I don't think you can wear that shirt anymore

Kenna: But it's my favourite!
Mom: But it's getting too small

Kenna: I know, but if I pull my pants up high, it only shows my stomach if the wind blow or if I move my arms

Brian: ...if I could grow a full beard, I'd be unstoppable! It's the only thing holding me back...

lol

Kenna:...and then Robb said last year can't help you, focus on this year

Mom: hashtag truth

Kenna, rolls eyes: Did you just turn into one of those weird, cool moms?

Mom, catching up on marking: Anything that has two or more wrong, go back and make corrections

Kenna: ok, I know. "Good" isn't good enough around here (sigh)

Brooks, explaining to us a newly learned survival skill (triangulating your location)
Kenna: Also, if you follow a river, you'll always find your way

Mom: Also, if you follow a river, you'll always find water

They enthusiastically agreed, until "Hhhheeeeeyyy!"

Brian, to Darla: Your hair smells weird but I still love you

Mom, explaining to the kids that Hillary Clinton had done illegal things, and was not our favourite Presidential candidate...

Brooks: What did she do? Does she smoke or something?

Brooks, watching the Halftime Show: Oh look, here's Fiancee

Mom: It's Beyonce...

Brooks: Well, I really hope we don't die in a tragic way, like, I hope we just die of age

Mom, snickers: Yes, dying of age is probably the best way too go, all things considered

Brooks, selecting mustard from the fridge for his sandwich: Huh, I think I'm gonna try this didge-in!

Mom: That's said dee-zhawn

Grey, had Yankee Doodle stuck in his head all day, and kept emphatically repeating only one line: And with the girls be hannnnddddyyyy! And with the girls be hannnnnddddddyy! And with the girls be hannnndddddyyyy!!

Who wrote this song?!

*********

asking questions about his novel on Hudson Taylor

Brooks:...and his sister...

Mom: What was her name?

Brooks: I don't know

Mom: It doesn't tell you her name?!

Brooks: All it said was his bless-sed mother and belove-ved sister

Explaining the concept of retirement to the kids

Brooks: But what if you run out of money?

Mom: Well, usually you make sure you have enough money before you decide to retire

Brooks: Or, if you run out of money, you just eat all the food you have left in the house, and then, you know, die

such simple solutions for such complex problems;-)

looking at trails in the sky

Brooks: Do you know what made those? War planes? Or trip planes?

Brooks: No May, there is no such thing as normal cheese. Every cheese has it's own name, like Cheddar Cheese and Stinky Cheese

So we've mastered all the cheeses apparently;-)

We were throwing out old strings of lights that didn't work anymore

Kenna, playing in the lights, and supposing all the things homeless people might do with them, if they looked through our trash...

Kenna: ...I mean, they could even use them for their wedding!

Mom: uhhhh, I really don't think so. What would they even want with lights that don't work?

Kenna: Well, I don't know, but since they're homos...

Mom: WHAAAAAT?

Kenna, in a "duh" tone: Homeless people, homos...

Mom: That is HoBO's. Hobo's. Not homos

Bahahahahaahahah!

Darla: Want to hear the really cool name I got from an Adele song?
Brian: Not if you're going to play me the song

Darla: No, I'm just going to tell you

Brian: Go ahead

Darla: Riverlea

Brian, audible eye rolling: That sounds like a subdivision. Doesn't it? I live in Riverlea Place

Opening the storage bag to our artificial tree, Brooks take a deep, deliberate breath: ahhhh, the smell of Christmas!

Kenna: If you've touched fog, you've touched a dying cloud

Grey: Sonny we are not poor! My mom has two hundred and eighty three dollars!!

Driving through a bunch of connected parking lots

Grey: Mom! You'll never guess where a police was!

Mom: Where?

Grey: At a junk food place! You'll never guess which one!

Mom: mmm, McDonald's?

Grey: No, Chick Fil A! I mean, why would a police want to eat at a junk food place?!

Mom: I don't know. Why do you?

Getting out the Christmas decor

Kenna: See this book is torn, and you have to be careful with it because it's very old

Brooks: How old?

Mom: I don't know exactly, it was mine when I was little

Brooks: oh ok, so it is really old then

and a day just wouldn't be complete with my old age somehow factoring in:-)

Grey, holding scissors "incorrectly"

Kenna: Hey, a tip for you. Always hold scissors facing down, otherwise you'll fall and they'll stab you in the gullet

Brooks, randomly waving around a walmart bag: And here's another tip for you. Never put a bag over your head

Kenna: Yes, or you could die

Grey, without skipping a beat, but with the obvious tone of "stop running my life", decides to offer up a tip of his own: Oh yah? Well, here's a tip, don't eat yellow snow!

Kenna: I wish that the names could have been switched, like your last name was Bolger and that you married a Kennedy

Mom: Yeah. But then we'd have had to name you Bolger Kennedy, and that would be awkward

{looks of horror}

Brooks: No no, Rudolph is the one...

Mom: Oh yay, you said it right!

Brooks: Said what right?

Mom: Rudolph, it's RudoLLLLph with an L, not Rudoff

Brooks: Hey Kenna! I just randomly put an L in Rudoff's name by accident and got it correct!

putting on his roller blades

Brooks: Hey, what is the speed limit around here?

Oh the confidence. No worries son, I assure you, you need not be concerned

Bolgerism: Disasterized, Disasterizing

the art of destroying something neat (like a clean livingroom), rapidly.

Brooks, eating a sour warhead candy: ...I love sour! I mean, it does make my eye twitch a little, but I love it!

Grey tries on his Antman costume

Brooks: Wow. Grey has 8 abs, and boobs!

Thankfully he said it in a really impressed tone, and Grey was all too pleased with his insta-body-sculpting

Convo while out to dinner with friends...

Friend: If you could write a book on any topic, what would it be about?

*everyone pauses to think a moment*

Brian: Comedic timing

Bahahaha! Literally there is no one else who can make me die laughing while rolling my eyes. Heart him. And his "comedic timing"

While preparing desserts for a wedding

Pastor Dan (I can't recall his exact words, but jist was): Your Dad is lucky, he gets to be the taste tester

Kenna: Yah, he gets to be the one who says 'meh, that's kinda okay'

If you know Brian, you know that this is actually akin to a rave review. LOL!!

Starting to drive out of our parking spot before the kids were seated/buckled. Another car started to pull out, so I applied the brakes...

Brooks: Whoa!!

Mom: Sorry. We were going to hit someone

Grey: Uh, no. We weren't going to hit anyone, you were. You are driving, not us

This is so annoyingly Brian's child, I don't even know what to say sometimes;-)

Kenna: OH! There's a new American Girl Doll!

Mom: Oh really? What's her name?

Kenna: Mary Ellen! You can tell she's old fashioned because of her tv

...and how many times would you consider television to be "old fashioned". Mary Ellen, has a "box" tv with knobs on it. Oh the horrors of inconvenience;-)

heading into the store...

Grey: I'm just going to act normal so no one will suspect I'm a spy

Mom: Good plan

Brooks: My friend in my class is from the Philippines

Mom: Oh yah?
Brooks: Yup. He's Fill-a-pee-nee-ish

Mom: Hahhhhaaaa, no! It's FilipinOOO!

trying to tell a joke

Grey: What has four wheels and flies?

Mom: hmmmm, the Batmobile?

Grey: Nope!

Mom: Ok, so what is it then?

Grey: Don't ask me, I have no idea!

haha!

Waking me up/snuggling on a lazy morning

Darla: OW!

Brian: What?

Darla: You bit my arm!

Brian: It was just a little nibble

Darla: No, you bit me, and it hurts

Brian: You're so crabby

Darla: You need to stop biting people

Brian: I don't bite people, I only bite you

Darla, with a laugh: I would honestly prefer it if you did bite 'people' and leave me alone

Brian: You're just always so crabby

Grrrrrr!

Instead of saying "for real?" or similar when trying to figure out if people are being serious, Brooks has taken to saying: Non-fiction?

Asking me a question about her school work...

Kenna: This just says "My Shadow", if I put quotes around it, what is it? A story, or a song?

Mom: Hmmm, I don't know. It could be the title of a poem, or it could be a story...

Grey: Or it could be a legend!

discussing Hurricane Joaquin's path of doom

Mom: Well, it just seems like we'll be getting a lot of rain, but not a hurricane, because, see how it's being pulled out to sea?

Kenna: So we did all that shopping for nothing?

Mom: No, it was just our normal food - I just made sure we had everything we needed so we wouldn't need to go back out in bad weather

Kenna: Yah, but you bought Go-gurts!

Mom: That wasn't for the storm, that was just because they were on an excellent sale. The only thing I bought "extra" was more batteries because we were running low

Kenna: Oh

Brooks: I am just so disappointed it's not going to hit us, I was so looking forward to it!

Mom: I wasn't! They can be dangerous

Brooks: Yah, well, nature is dangerous, Mom, like camping! I mean, it's so dangerous camping out there, like there are all kinds of wild animals you have to kill and everything!

overhearing a conversation...

Kenna: ...no no, Mom is middle age

Brooks: No, middle age is 20, so Mom's already in old age

Kenna: No, old age is 40, so she's still technically in middle age, but sort of in old age

We have a few small gifts/rewards the kids can earn with our blessing/if-then charts...

Brooks, telling Daddy: ...and now there's a competition for the comic book, because Kenna says she might be interested in it, so it's like, who's going to have the most points, because Kenna is able to be good consistently, and me and Grey, not so much

May, not wanting to eat a "cookie" I made - no sugar, no flour, and whole food "diet" approved

Kenna, offers encouragement: Just eat it May, it's just a cookie. Well, I mean, it is a healthy cookie, so it's really not that good, but just eat it

Telling the kids we're going to get ice cream with Grandma B

Brooks, reading the signage: awwww, yogurt?

Kenna: No Brooks really, I've had it before. It tastes just like ice cream, only it's super healthy for you

Brooks, looking shocked/lightbulb moment: My prayers have been answered!!!

So apparently we need to have a discussion on what constitutes a worthy prayer request...aaaaaaannnnd what we'd consider to be the definition of "super healthy"

Guessing at a friends baby gender, all three kids decided on Boy

Mom: I don't know, I'll say girl I guess

Kenna: Why?

Mom: Well, because I was born first, and I had a girl first, so I just think it's sweet to have a girl first I guess. I'm actually surprised you didn't say girl!

Kenna: Yah, well, for their sake, I do hope it is a girl. Like, otherwise people never have any more kids

Mom, raised eyebrows

Kenna: You know, like if you have a boy first it's like "Whooooooo, I'm not having any more kids", but if you have a girl first you're like "oooooook, now we can have more kids" because when you have a boy first you're so busy chasing them around, you just can't ever think about more kids

Kenna, at 8:30am: That is the strangest thing I've seen all day! ...and I've seen a lot of strange things so far

Brooks, coming in to the tv: Who's playing?

Kenna: It's the Mets versus Walgreens

Daddy: That's actually the Washington Nationals

but she's right...that W is definitely Walgreen-ish!

heading to a friends birthday party...

Kenna (age 9): Is Abram turning 6?

Brooks (age 8): No, he's already 6! He's turning 7

Kenna: Wow, 7? That just blows my mind

Brooks, with a sigh: I know, they just grow up so fast

Grey, seeing Brooks laying on the couch, when he apparently thought there was much to be done: Brooks! Get up! We're men. We work!

Grey had come down from bed the previous night with a tummyache

Mom: How's your tummy feel today? Did the DiGize work? (an essential oil)

Grey: Yah. I mean, my tummy doesn't really hurt anymore, except if someone punches me in the stomach, or kicks me, then it still hurts

Mom: Ok, well, that's totally normal. My tummy would hurt too if someone punched me

Grey, in a "duh/captain obvious" tone: uh, yah, but that's cause you're a woman

Kenna: Brooks is really good at copying voices

Brooks: It's called vocal manipulation

Brooks, trying to convince Sonny or Grey to be Thor, so he can be Captain America: Did you know that the actor of Thor is considered one of the best looking people in the entire world?

Mom, calls out: How do you know?

Brooks: I saw it on a magazine at the store, and he is!

Grey, telling his friend: You know how our Dad is a fixer? Well, he's also a breaker! He broke our whole entire house, but, now he's fixing it

Grey recently swallowed a coin, so we've had to "go fishing" for it

Brooks: Can I buy this sour candy?

Mom: How much money do you have?
Grey: I wish I had any money. Can I have money?

Brooks: No! You don't get any. Mom's afraid you're going to nibble on it

Mom: Wow guys, they're tracking a 12 ft female tiger shark named Chessie off our beach

Kenna: What?! What are we going to do?!

Mom: Nothing. They'll let us know if it's going to be a problem

Kenna: The world is just sooooo deathly! I mean, it's like with every step you take, you have a fifty-percent chance of dying!!

Kenna and Brooks engaged in a splashing battle. Grey is swimming on the periphery and no matter which way he turns cannot avoid getting small splashes on his head and face

Grey: Brooks! Brooks! Brooks! {in a very fed up tone} You're making me uncomfortable!

May is three years old...

Grey: Mom! Mom! May said a rude word!

Mom: Really? What did she say?

Grey: Booty Rattle!

Mom, stifling a laugh: Okay, well I'll tell her we only say polite things. Don't worry about it

Having her organize the pantry

Kenna: Mom, did you know we have 4 coconut milk thingys? I mean, we have multitudes of everything down there!

playing with 8 week old kittens

Brooks: Shadow and Marble look like boys to me

Kenna: Brooks! Why would you say that?

Brooks: I don't know, they just look like boys

Kenna: Well I just don't know why you would say such a thing! They are just little kittens! {compassionately} And calling things boys when they are girls is actually very mean and hurtful

word is still out on how offended the kittens were :-)

Mom: Did you learn a lot in your class about Moses? (Grey nodding) Did you learn a lot about the basket with the lid?

Grey: Yah, it was made out of tarts

Mom: Tarts?!

Grey: Yah, it looks like it was made out of tarts

Mom: Well...that's just in the picture. I think it was woven from bull rushes or something

Offering around popsicle flavours

Grey: Dad do you want a peach fla-men-ko

Mom: Flamingo?
Grey: Yah, flamenko. It's a fruit, you know

Mom: Mango?

Grey: Yah. Peach and Flamango

Watching Daddy play StarCraft

Grey: Why do they keep saying 'Eat a piece of meat, boy'?

Brooks: It's 'You wanna piece of me, boy'

getting down to the end of the toothpaste

Brooks: Uggghh! We're almost out again! I don't get it, it says it's supposed to last two plus years!

Mom: No, that is how old you have to be to use the toothpaste!

The tube clearly states 2+, so I guess that's a logical conclusion:-)

after her piano recital

Mom: Were you nervous?

Kenna: Nope! ...But I was really, like, hot

driving in the city...

Kenna: Oh look, a horse!

Mom: Huh?

Kenna: The clouds. They look like shapes! (condescendingly) You can only see them if you have imagination. Oh, see! A snake

Mom: Riiiight. Real creative. A snake.

Grey: I climbed all the way to the top! My heart was going like boom boom boom! It was like my heart was trying to escape from my lungs!!

Brooks: Where are we?

Mom: You don't recognize it the street?

Kenna: I do, I just forget what it's called

Mom: I'll give you a hint...there are 4 universal navigational directions - this is one of them

Kenna: Um, oh! Left, right...up...and down?

Mom: No! North...

Kenna: RIGHT! East Beach!

Mom wearing camo capri's...

Grey: Oh, those are cool pants, Mom. You know, womens can go to war. I mean, not you, 'cause you're too old, and fat. But skinny womens can go to war, if they want

Kids getting riled up and crazy before bed. Brian blames all negative behaviours on their Canadian roots...

Brian: I can't believe I'm surrounded by so many Canadians

Darla: Uh, no! They are just as much American. And anyway, how do you think I feel moving here and being surrounded by so many Americans!

Brian: Blessed?

seeing a map at Grandma's house of Plymouth

Brooks: Oh! Ply-mouth! I know this place, it's in my American Colonies book

Mom, smiling: It's actually Plim-ith, not Ply-mouth

"Chips" are a food group to Grey...

Daddy: Hey, don't eat all my chips

Grey: What? I'm only eating one at a time!

Brooks: Mom, I only counted four burgers!

Mom: Yes, one for you and Grey, and Kenna said she wanted two. The adults are eating steak

Brooks: There are adults coming?!

Mom: Your father and I are adults

Brooks: Oh, right

Brooks, opens a jar of olives. Mom makes him wait a minute, as she inspects - some of them looked "off"

Brooks: What are you doing? You can't throw those out!

Mom: Well, they look a little suspicious to me, just let me see...

Brooks, not wanting a single precious olive wasted: I don't even care, I'll eat it

Kenna: No, Brooks, don't you remember on the Legend of Mick Dodge? There are things in the wilderness that can kill you if you if eat them!

Mick Dodge is a survivalist style reality tv show

Mom, staring blankly across the table at no one in particular, but in Grey's general direction

Grey: What? Don't look at me, I'm not the dummo in this family!
Mom: Huh? What's a dummo?

Grey, in a "duh" sarcastic tone: A dumb person

I'm afraid to ask who he thinks *is* the "dummo" :-)

while driving...

Kenna: WOAH! WOOOOAH! OH MY GOODNESS DID YOU SEE THAT?!

Mom, about to slam on the brakes: What?! What?! What happened?!

Kenna: There was a lid from a tire, up in a tree!

Mom: Arrrgh, ok, great. That is definitely not an an emergency - so why are you yelling?! (grouchily) And it's called a hubcap

Telling me all the particulars of yet another lego creation

Mom: Ok, that's great, but can you show me later because I'm trying to watch this

Grey: Yah, but you can watch that, and listen to me, that's called doing two separates

some type of ruckus results in Grey's crying...

Brooks: Kenna! Dad says comfort people when you do damage to them!

Grey: ...and then he was yelling at me, and I couldn't do it. And it was supposed to be the best day ever, and Brooksie destroyed it!

Mom: Oh! How...?

Grey, interrupts and getting worked up: With all the shouting!

Mom: Ok, but what were you doing that was making it such a good day?
Grey, exasperated: Weeeellll, I was going to just ride my bike all day!

overheard...

Brooks: Hey, did you know Mom has a diary on her phone?

Kenna, confidently: No, she doesn't. I've checked through all her apps

...I feel my privacy is violated! And I do have a shopping list "app", which probably counts as a moms diary:-)

Mom: It's a really nice day out, don't you think?
Grey: No. I wouldn't say it's nice, really. I'd call it gorgeous

Mom: Yah! It is gorgeous!
Grey: Well, actually it's more like gorgeous and sunny

Brooks, sounding upset: Kenna wrote in her diary that Ella is my best friend

Mom: Oh? (thinking he was about to get angry at the suggestion that a girl was his best friend)

Brooks, exasperated: Well, everyone already knows that!! That's not a secret!!

Grey: Who do you think would be faster, a car or a plane?

Mom: A plane

Grey: Yes! Do you know why?

Mom: Well, probably because they have...

Grey, interrupts: No, it's becauuuuuuse, cars have to drive on roads with speed limits, but see? No roads up there! So no speed limits. So that means they can go as fast as they want to

having a 'who can eat fastest' competition

Grey: No Brooks! NO! That's cheating! You're cheating! You can't just swallow you hafta chew! MOM! Brooks is cheating!

Brooks: It's not called cheating, it's called technique

Brooks: Do you want some?

Mom: No thanks, I don't like Fritos

Brooks: You don't like Fritos?!? What kind of mother ARE you?!

Mom: uuuh, the kind that lets you eat all the Fritos?

Sent to clean her room...

Mom: What are you doing out here?
Kenna: Oh, just waiting. The kids actually like crawling under my bed, so they're getting everything out for me, even the crumbs. It's really a win-win for me

I accidentally dropped some butter from my knife...

Kenna, reporting to Dad: ...and then Mom just threw butter across the room, scooped it up off the floor, put it on her bread and ate it!! Canadians sure do weird things!

Grey: I am really sens-titive about hotness, Sonny, so don't even talk to me about hotness, or I might be burned, I am really that sens-titive

Kids of the modern age...

Grey: Can you lower down the stand you use to scan the clothes, so I can play on it?

Mom: That is called ironing. It's an ironing board

****

buying a bag of "regular" carrots for cooking...

Brooks: Woah! Kenna! Look at these way overgrown carrots!!

so maybe I buy baby carrots a little too often...:-)

Perhaps the "no rude talk" has failed in a certain aspect...

watching a funny-home-video show, and a guy naturally gets hit "where it counts". The boys die laughing, and

Grey exclaims: Wiener bam!

I suppose they are old enough to learn the "appropriate lingo" for such situations, HAHA. But Brian and I about died laughing just at that comment!

Mom, about to to start an activity with the kids: Alrighty boys, lets make some magic!

Kenna: Uuuhh, no. Magic has totally already been invented

Brooks: 'Member in my second grade math book when I had to do something Dad is an expert at? It was like, counting all the fence sides, like, 6 yards plus 6 plus 4 yards and stuff?
Mom: uh huh
Brooks: And, do you think Dad was really good at fact families when he was a kid?
Mom: I'm not sure, but I imagine he was very good at them. I wasn't
Brooks: Well, I am very good at them. I can do like 5 pages at a time, so I'm probably like Dad

Watching Kennedy family home movies
(us at gymnastics in 1992)
Kenna: Oh wow Mom, you were so tall and skinny!
Mom: That's Jared
...(and watching footage from Dec 1992. Us kids shoveling the driveway in the middle of a huge snow storm)
Brooks: Wow. You guys have had tragic lives

Brooks: We are really lucky that Dad married a Canadian
yes, I like to think of it that way too:-)

Brooks: One of my friends sisters says next year, she's going to give me a Valentine
Mom: Oh really? Who is this?
Brooks: Oh I don't know. I think her name is Samantha or something
Mom: And she wants to give you a Valentine next year?
Brooks: Yes, likely to pay me back, 'cause I gave her my extras this year
I figured out who he was talking about. Anna Marie is 3 years old - so she's welcome to give him a Valentine;-)

Heading to church for a meeting
Mom: Did you guys grab the bag with toys and stuff to play with?
Kenna: Oh, no, we forgot it. But that's ok. We can just play rock paper scissors or another made up game. We're very creative like that

Brooks, randomly: Did you know that Jewish people are God's chosen people?
Mom: Yes, they are
Brooks: And did you know that when Jewish boys turn 13, they have a sort of celebration for them?
Mom: Yes. I think it's called a bar-mitzvah
Brooks: Yah. So can you read to me about that? Miss Wooten says it's really very interesting

Grey: My real name is Lleyton Gregory David, but it's really hard to spell. Even I don't know how to spell my real live name!

Grey: I really want to challenge you in Katamino, wanna play with me? I promise I'll take it easy on you, since you're not very good at it
Mom: Gee, thanks

Kenna: I feel like my left side is healthier than my right side
Mom: What?
Kenna: Well, I had a wart on my right foot, and my right ear got infected, and I'm left handed, so I think it must be my lucky side
Mom: Interesting observations, but I don't think it works like that

Brooks, carrying his schoolbooks: Oh, Huck just ran away from me. I guess he's scared of my books
Kenna: Maybe he just doesn't like you, ever think of that?

Brooks: Did you know that Eli's Great Great Great Great Great Grandma is 99 years old?

Mom: hmm, wow, that's very old

Kenna: Uh, no! That is too many Greats. That would be like his ancestors in Egypt or whatever

Grey, at dinner: I wanna pray! K, Jesus, please make sure the world doesn't turn into, umm, {long pause}, wait, nevermind, I need to start over. Dear Jesus, thank you for making humans, and tools. Amen

Kenna: Can we have McDonald's for lunch?

Mom: No

Kenna: {sigh} It was worth a shot

Brooks: Can you remind me next winter, I'd like to take up sledding

Mom: Uh, I mean, it's a little hard to take up sledding when we never have any snow...

Brooks, sadly: Oooooh. Right

overheard while kids are dancing and singing

Brooks: C'mon, shake your money maker!

(we'll blame a current popular country song for that one:-)

Kenna: I feel like I sound so young. Like, I sound like I'm 5 but I act like I'm 10

Mom: You act like you're 10?

Kenna: Well, yes. I do have moments when I act like the boys, but thankfully that only lasts about 10 minutes or so, and then I'm back to my usual self

Reading over my shopping list

Brooks: ...cooking wine. Wine? WINE?!

Mom: Yes, I use it in recipes, like Chicken Marsala

Brooks: Kenna! Kenna!! Mom is trying to drunk us!!

On the way to a thrift store to look at/purchase an American Girl doll for $25, instead of over $115 new from the store. I was explaining to Kenna that it's been used before, by another girl, and isn't brand new, but is still in excellent condition. She decided the savings was worth it, and was ok with it being used. As we approached the store, I reminded her once again...

Mom: Just remember, it's secondhand, so it might not be perfect, but it will still be good

Kenna, in a completely panicked tone: WHAT?! It has FOUR hands?!?!

Mom: What?! No

Kenna: Oh, well you said it had a second hand, and I do NOT want a doll with four hands

Mom, inwardly both laughing and rolling eyes: Secondhand does not mean you have an extra hand, it means it's the "second time" it's being used, since someone owned it before

Kenna: oooooOOOOOhhh! Ok. I'll get it then

Kenna: Well, once when we were shopping in Walmart, Lehman and Maryn kept saying reasons why Canada was better than America, and I didn't have anything to say about how America was better. But now I've got something! America is older!

since that conversation has to be a minimum of 1.5 yrs ago...it really did take a lot of contemplation!;-)

*****
Brooks: Hey stop copying me

Grey: Hey stop copying me

Brooks: No, you stop copying me

Grey: No, you stop copying me!

(this goes on for some time, Brooks trying to break the copy cat cycle)

Brooks: I'm a smiley pig face!

Grey: Well, at least you have the courage to admit it!

selecting a radio station...

Brooks: Can you do Bobby Bones? (local radio station)

Mom: Sure

Brooks: Why doesn't Dad like country music?

Mom: Well, it's just not his style of what he likes

Brooks: Why'd you have to marry such a curmudgeon?!

Driving with a friend...

Grey: Wow, you're driving slow. My mom is always speeding, driving around like crazy

Grey: You know that's not the real Santa, 'cause you can see a part of his belt here, and there is no key. The real Santa always has a key

Mom: Eyebrow raised

Grey: You know, for his workshop. I mean, I know he doesn't a'zist, but if he did...

Brooks: Oh, see that house just has candles in the windows. I like that. I like settle Christmas decorations

Mom: It's subtle, not settle:-) And, me too!

Giving the instructions for math, and handing over a pair of kids scissors

Grey: Wait, I'm going to cut it?

Mom: Yup

Grey, doubtfully: Arrre you sure I'm responsible for that?

Mom: I think you will be fine, if you are very careful

Cat doing something bad

Brooks: Ah Ha, Sawyer! I've caught you single-handed!

...and I believe that should be red-handed

we've had many conversations since the death of young friend. Grey believes he's got it all figured out...

Grey: So you think this is your real body?

Sonny: Yup
Grey: Well it might look like it is really you, but it's really not. It's really just your heart. Your heart is a'trolling your entire body, if your heart is not there, then you're not really here, so it's not really you unless your heart is a'trolling your body

Kenna: Stop being so crabby

Grey, half shouting half crying: I am not crabby, I am ANGRY!! I am ANGRY because NO ONE is getting me what I WANT! So just get me a granola!! Else I'm going to keep being angry!!

Darla: It's coming up on our engagement-iversary. Remember that day? You were so nervous. Did you think I'd say no?

Brian: No. I was so nervous because I thought you'd say yes

har har. Everyone's a comedian

Grey: Mom, know how to spell 7-11? You just take a 7, and add an 11, and that's how you spell it

Grey, after seeing Santa: But it wasn't the real Santa. It was just like, a human, dressed up like Santa. Like, he probably just had all the materials to do it, so he dressed up like him

Brooks, telling his Awana leader: My Mom has been to lots of States, but, that was in the olden days

Grey: Brooksie! Brooksie! My teacher taught me how to say thank you in Spanish!

Brooks: Oh yah? How do you say it?

Grey: I forget

having a neighbour friend guess whose stocking is whose

Kenna: Wow! You got them all right?! How did you know?

Neighbour: Well, I just went in age order from your Dad, down

Kenna: Huh, well that is actually incorrect {hushed, secretive tone}, honestly, my Mom is older than my Dad...by a lot

Kenna, in Williamsburg: I just love looking at all these houses, it's like a step back in time

Grey: But it's not. 'Cause we only drove a car to get here, not a time machine

Brooks, accuses Kenna of lying about something trivial

Grey: ugh! This just makes me want to beat you down Brooks!

Brooks, dismissively: You can't

Grey: Oh yes I can! When we get home, the fight is on!

I predict the sensitive Brooks will get more than one beat down by the little brother over the years:-)

seeing a nice new Mercedes Benz with a hood ornament

Grey: Oh look. That's a nice symbol!

Mom: Yes! A very nice car!

Grey: Yah, it almost looks like, you know, the quiet and peace sign

...it took me a minute:-)

family discussion about people with good, or lack of, character

Mom: Lets just say, it's very important to marry someone with excellent character

Kenna, without skipping a beat, and a twinkle in her eye, points at Dad: So why'd you marry him then?

Brian almost spit out his drink from laughing. She was so 'ready' for that one, like she'd been waiting to try out her new joke. We walked right into it:-)

Kenna: Wow, it's so foggy out. Are you allowed to drive in the fog?
Mom: Yes, you are allowed to drive whenever you want

Brooks: Unless you're drunk!

Brooks, looking at a package: We've never had this one, or this one, or this one
Kenna: Yes, we have, you just don't remember
Brooks: No, we have NOT had this one, for sure
Kenna: Can you just trust me? I've been on this earth longer

Kenna: I know I'm just being over dramatic, but this paper cut really hurts!

Brian, legitimately losing to Brooks playing Wii Basketball

Brooks: Ok, Dad, you can stop taking it easy on me!

Time to step up your game Daddy, that boy can PLAY:-)

Mom, eating leftovers

Brooks: What is that SMELL?! Ahhh! What is that smellll?!

Kenna: It's Mom's lunch. Don't you remember, it's what we had last night

Brooks: Well, I guess I couldn't smell last night

Kenna: It's just that nothing tastes good re-cooked, sadly

When asked what sound W makes, Grey consistently says:

"duh, duh, duh" instead of "wuh". His explanation?

Grey: No, no, it says Duh for Double U!

Yes...well, English is just confusing!

Grey, sneezing in too-close proximity

Kenna: Can you point your nostril the other way?!

Mom: Just let me throw some makeup on, and then we'll go

Kenna: I don't understand why you need to wear makeup when you're already pretty

She's definitely my favourite child:-)

Kenna, giving the kids a nonsensical "pop quiz", containing questions like "What colour are Dad's eyes" and "What is my favourite candy"

Brooks: Wow! Look at how many points Grey has!

Grey: Uh, yah, {thumbs pointing to his own chest} this guy is a genie-us, right here!

Grey, to Brooks: Well, you are half American, and half nincompoop!

Kenna: Can you do this for me? I can't get it to spread without ripping the bread
Mom: Sure (spreads butter, expertly)
Kenna: How do you know how to do that?
Mom: I don't know. I figure it's just because I have 30 years of butter spreading experience!
Kenna: Thirty - five
Don't ever tell your kids how old you are. They will never let you forget it:-)

Grey, from the backseat: Hey Mom, I have three of your biggest enemies, right here!
Mom: Oh?!?
Grey: Ennnnnnemy number one! A Kit Kat! Enemy number two, a Kit Kat! Annnnd enemy number three (dramatic pause)...a Kit Kat!
While I wouldn't call them my biggest enemies - they are definitely my least favourite candy:-)

I handed over the key to our new tenant, who has the same last name as a portion of my family
Kenna: So you met our long lost cousin?
Mom: Yup
Kenna: Did you tell Grandma about him?
Mom: Yes, I did
Kenna: What did she say?
Mom: Well, I told her online, but she said that it was interesting
Kenna: She likely was like, 'ooooh wooow. Weird!' but in like, Canadian

Stirring her red & white slushie around to turn it pink
Kenna: This will be perfect for breast care-ness month!
Mom: (chokes on her own slushie laughing so hard)
Kenna: What's so funny?

Organizing an "every man for himself" battle...
Grey: But, you know how in real live war every one is on a team
Brooks: Yah, ok, I know, but this is not the French Revolution

Given a 5 minutes until naptime warning...
Grey, crying while getting tucked in
Mom: What's wrong?
Grey: I accidentally wasted my minutes
...it's hard to fit so much fun into just 24hrs:-)

My "city kids" spending some time on a farm, doing a corn maze. Getting out of the van, upon our arrival, they were choking and gasping for breath, because of "the smell". I told them about a wonderful thing, called manure. They were disgusted...
Grey, after a couple hours: I'm starting to get used to the smell of this poop

Brooks: I just love Huck's cat-inality
Mom: Cat-inality?
Brooks: Yah, like his personality, only he's not a person!

watching a home movie of me when I was 12...
Daddy: Wow, you know your Mom was that skinny when I married her?
Kenna: Uh yah, went from totally skinny to...the complete opposite
Mom: Ooookaaaay! I was NOT that skinny when we got married
...and...rude! ;-)

Brooks: Dad said, in his day, the Cowboys were a good team, but now they stink
We're so old we have a "day and age"

Brian: Ooooooh
Darla: What?
Brian: We can't change the channel, 'cause it's taping two shows
Darla: That's ok, it's bedtime anyway
Brian: Yah, but I wanted to check who's winning the football game
Darla: That's why they invented the internet
First world problems:-)

Grey: If we ever find an otter, can we keep it?
Mom:...sure
why say no, when you can say yes :-)

Page left blank...
Mom: You didn't do this one
Kenna: Yah, I didn't think I had to, since that has never happened to me
It said "Write about the time your toy train became real and you were the engineer"
Mom: (Explains purpose of creative writing)
Kenna: Hmm, well, I still can't think of anything. Too bad this never actually happened to me, or I'm sure I'd have a lot to get off my chest

Grey, observing a beautiful sunset: Wow, that sky is showing us all of God's niceness!
It was pretty nice:-)

Grey, in an annoyed tone: First of all, you put it in my face. Second of all, I don't like that. Third of all, that is not how you treat a person. Last of all, Goodbye!
Kenna: Who is he talking to?
Mom: Uh, I don't know, I thought he was talking to you!
Kenna: Nope, I didn't give him anything

Kids, wondering at the location of where Lot's wife was turned in to a pillar of salt
Kenna: So, was it over near like, Michigan?

Brooks: Mom! Grey broke my telephone!
Mom: What telephone?
Brooks, pointing: That
Mom: Okay, well, that is two cups and a string, it's not like it can't be re-created
Kenna: Ha! Two cups and a string! When you say it like that, it sounds so b'thetic

Kenna: Was I tomboy when I was a little girl?
Mom: Yes, you were. You were very brave and tough and athletic and coordinated
Brooks: Well that's embarrassing news, for someone who doesn't want to be a tomboy!

Brooks and Grey, both crying after a wrestling match turned "he hurt my leg!" "but he kicked my face!"
Mom: {explaining that when you play rough and wrestle, injury is the risk you run}
Kenna, interjects: As the old saying goes, it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye!

labeling the ziplocs to keep our sandwiches sorted out
Brooks: What should I write on yours?
Mom: Mom is fine
Brooks: slash Darla though, right?
Mom: It's not necessary
Brooks: I'm just going to do slash D, just in case
I guess he's worried a lot of other moms will be raiding our lunch cooler. Mom/Darla - that's me.

Brooks: Mom, how do you spell camouflage?
Mom: c-a-m-o-f-l-a-..hmmm, just a second I'm not sure actually
Brooks: Well, have you ever been to Great Wolf Lodge? Then you should know how to spell Flodge
Mom: Thanks. Not helpful

Kenna & Brooks sent for quiet play in Brooks' room during nap time
Brooks, comes into livingroom: Ok, Mom, lets negotiate here...um, if you let us come down here and get the things we need for our hotel, we'll let you come to our hotel for free!
how can I pass up such a deal?

Brian and I talking about the upcoming age of neutering for the cats
Kenna: What does that mean?
Mom: Oh, it's when they get old enough to start having babies, the vet fixes it, so they can't
Kenna: But, they're boys. They can't have babies
Mom, & Dad, eyebrows raised: True. Valid point
we're gonna leave that one there for now;-)

giving Brooks a "pop quiz"
Kenna: What did the vet say the cat has in his ears? It starts with ear and rhymes with kite
Brooks: I can't think of anything! (names a few random things)
Kenna, waiting: Ok time is running out! It rhymes with kite!
Brooks: (more random guesses)
Kenna: No, ok, three two one, just GUESS SOMETHING
Brooks: But I can't think of anything!
Kenna: Jus-just SAY a word! Any word! It rhymes with kite!
Brooks: Pen-tha-notic!
Mom: Penthanotic?!
Brooks: Well yah, she said to say something. Time was running out
Mom: I think she meant to say a real word. What on earth is penthanotic? I don't think that's even a word
The boy has a gift. Not the first word he's made up! Haha

reading an article on 19 Kids & Counting, Brian looking over my shoulder
Darla: I haven't seen that show in years, I should probably check it out again
Brian: Nah, 'cause then you'll probably want 19 kids
Darla: uh, no. Do I look like I'm crazy in the head?
Brian: uhhhhh, do you want an honest answer, ooooorrr?

Grey, holding his vitamins, each a different colour: I'm the luck of the draw!

Reading a paragraph from a school book, describing various kinds of communities, like big cities, small town etc.
Mom, reading the written text: What kind of a community do you live in?
Kenna: Wha? How would we know? We're homeschooled!
{rolls eyes} - somebody doesn't pay attention

We are reading Pilgrims Progress
Brooks, talking about our recent chapter: I just picture, you know, shoulder angels. You know, and then the little devil shoulder angel is telling Christian that his burden is going to come back, but I know it won't 'cause you can't trust a devil shoulder angel

Brooks, sadly: I just don't like life
Mom: You don't like life? Why not?
Brooks: 'Cause it's always full of dead ends, and most people don't like dead ends, and I am one of those people!
All this drama over a broken dollar store yo-yo he got from a pinata

The morning after a really late night...
Brooks: I might look exhausted, but I'm totally pumped up!

Darla, about to climb into bed
Brian: The cats here, so don't kill it with your elephantitus
Darla: Elephantitus?!?!
Brian: Well you always flop into bed like an elephant...
har har

Brian: {listing off chores to be completed before we go have fun on stay-cation}
Brooks: Dad can take the fun out of anything

Grey: Hey Mom, 'member that song {singing a mash up of the two tunes} 'fat bottom girls make the whole entire world go round on a crazy train'?
Haha!

Bringing me breakfast in bed
Brian: Here, I brought you a donut
Darla: Thanks!
Brian: That's how Brian does breakfast in bed. ...uh, do you want cold cereal?
lauuuuuughing!

Neighbour, playmate: Ok Grey, come with me (tries to lift him up from the ground) Hmmmph! You're heavy for a 4 year old!
Grey: Well actually, I'm four and a half now

Grey, to Mom: I know you want to wear these shoes, but you can't, they're not your size
Someone is more than pleased with his new $5 discount footwear

Kenna: Hey, Grey
Grey: My name is David
Brooks: Well, you look just like Grey
Grey: Um, yah, well Gwey is my brudder
Brooks: Oh, but...I think it's you, 'cause I can see your chubby cheeks and fat-ish nose
Grey: Nope, it's not me, it's David

Brian: This is really good. Wow, that is two good dinners in a row. A new record
Darla: {evil glare}

Despicable Me to...
Grey - 'Spicable Me None
Brooks - Plain Despicable Me
Kenna - Despicable Me, you know, not the second one

Seeing a mansion, for sale
Kenna: Can we buy that house? Cause then we'd be close to our friends
Mom: No
Brooks: Why not?
Mom: Because we don't have two million dollars
Kenna: We don't?
Mom: No
Brooks: Awww. Well if we get two million dollars, then can we buy it?
Mom: Sure
Kenna: YAY!
These kids obviously have zero concept of money

Grey, holding toys behind his back as a big secret: I have a surprise for you
Mom: Oh yah?
Grey, in a swiping reveal: Ka-bob!
aka ta-da, apparently

Brooks: ...and this guy was like {moving hands around like a mime}...
Mom: Yah, that is what mime's do, they pretend that things are there, and act it out
Grey: No, that guy was trapped behind an invisible wall!
Mom: No, there was no wall, mime's just pretend they are stuck in a box, or whatever
Grey: No, no! He was like {moving hands} trying to get past the invisible wall, and he couldn't! 'Cause it was invisible!

Brooks, sent to go change, obviously removed all his clothing before deciding that going to the bathroom just couldn't wait...
Brooks, streaking through the house: {laughing and hooting hilariously}
Kenna: Uuuuhhh, Wow. I clearly did not just see what I just saw
Mom, laughing: Unfortunately, I think we did

Grey: I smell bacon and eggs, can we have eggs for dinner?
Mom: Well, we're having quiche, so it's like bacon and eggs all mixed together
Grey: Quiche?
Mom: Yes, you like it. Remember?
Grey: Yah, I do. But wait, there's eggs in that?
Mom: Yes, it's made of eggs
Grey: But there is no yellow part, so...
Mom: Well, I mix it all together with the veggies, so you can't see it, but it's there
Grey: Hmmm. I think I would probably like just plain bacon and eggs for dinner, you know, with the yellow part
Sorry, kid

Kenna, singing Jungle Book song: ...the bare necessities, of mother natures recipes...
Brooks, interrupts: Well, you know you shouldn't say mother nature, it's not what Jesus would like
Kenna: Uh, well, but it's part of the song. Hey Mom! Is mother nature a swear word?

Brooks: The cat is being very vice-sty today
Mom: Vice-sty? It's feisty
Brooks: Feisty? What does that mean?
Mom: The same as vice-sty, only with an f

Grey: Destiny is calling me
Mom: Destiny is calling you?
Grey: No, my destiny called me. On the phone
Mom: What did it say when it called you?
Grey: Nuffin'

Brooks: I'm on the road to fame!
Mom: You are?
Brooks: Yes. No. What does fame mean again?

Telling her brothers how to dance - but not crazy
Kenna: Do it in the mode you feel. Not too angry, or sad, but like, just think of Mom and Dad dying. So just do it like, thinking about that, sort of calm

Trying to convince Brooks not to be afraid of thunder...
Kenna: There is nothing it can do to you, and besides you have the shield of God to protect you. He won't let anything hurt you! It doesn't matter who you are, what you've done, what colour your skin is or anything about you, He will protect you and keep you safe! Well, unless you do something dumb like run into the road. Or, there could be a few more things too, like jumping out of a plane or whatever

Eating a hotdog from the Costco "restaurant"
Kenna: I don't know what it is, but Costco's hotdogs just taste so much better than ours
Mom: Really?
Kenna: Yah. They must use a rare kind of cow or something

Kenna: Did you know that armadillos make homes for other animals?
Mom: No. You mean they make homes for themselves?
Kenna: Well, yes, but they only live in one. They make homes for all kinds of other animals. It's what they do for a living
Mom: Oh, no, I didn't know that...or that armadillos needed "a living"
Kenna: Kinda like Dad, you know, building things for other people
Yeeessss. Thinking of Brian as the armadillo of the human-world makes me laugh. A lot.

Watching a robot tv show
Kenna: Why did that guy turn into water?
Brooks: Well, one thing I know is that gravity always finds a way
Mom, raises eyebrows, to Kenna: Did that make any sense?
Kenna: Nope. I don't think he knows what gravity is
Brooks: I do too!

Brooks, talking about our cat: ...He has big ears too, like the bat ear-did fox
Dad: Bat eared fox?
Mom: Are you sure that's a real animal?
Brooks: Yup. The bat ear-did fox. They can hear stuff a mile away and have fur that sticks up on their ears like this
Mom: So a fox that has ears like a bat...neat
Sounds legit:-)

Making a protein powder chocolate "frappa" in the kitchen
Grey: Is that good?
Mom: I think it's yummy
Grey: Is it from Starbucks?
Mom: No
Grey: Oh. I would only like it if it was from Starbucks

talking about the cat purring
Brooks, at 9am: Yah, he did that three times to me last night, and the night after last night
Mom: uuuh, that sounds quite impossible
Brooks: No, he did!

Overheard her, apparently talking to herself as she does a chore
Kenna: So today was a good day I think. A little disappointing in places, but...pretty good

Brooks: So, if you got enough lightning bugs together, their butts could light up the entire world!
Kenna: See, this is why I get embarrassed when you say stuff like that
Grey: Oh come on Kenna, their butts do light up!

Kenna, whining about how Grey could have been her best friend, if he'd been a girl. Now she's friendless, apparently
Mom: Well, you know what is nice to think about though, each person is here because God wanted them to be. So if God had wanted Grey to be a girl, he would have been. So, He made Grey a boy for a specific reason
Kenna: I wish I knew what that reason was

Brooks: So who was the second cutest?
Mom: Second cutest of what?
Brooks: Like, in the family. I was the first cutest, who was next?
Mom: Who said you were the cutest?
Brooks: Well, I was!

talking about the topping of a German Chocolate Cake
Kenna: It's amazing that that stuff can look like barf, but taste so good

The cat ran behind the couch...
Grey: Oh, Crab-nuggets!

Brooks: I just told her that it's not appropriate for our age to be boyfriend and girlfriend, but we can just be plain friends, so that is taken care of
He's fighting off the girls already:-)

Telling a neighbour girl...
Grey: Dis is a scratching kind of cat. We couldn't get a not scratching kind

Thrilled at a very happy surprise - getting to go to the movie theatre
Kenna: I mean, my mind is not, like, blown blown blown, but it's blown enough!

Admiring our new-to-us coffee table
Darla: I love it that it doesn't have corners!
Brian: Well, yes, this is true of all circles...no corners

Kenna: What do you mean by comfortable walking shoes?
Mom: I mean, if you can't walk a long ways without your shoes hurting your feet, don't wear them
Kenna: So what kind of shoes should I wear then?
Mom: Ones that are comfortable to walk in

When asked to show us his "Brian hair" (which typically includes swiping hair to the side and striking a pose), Grey paused for a moment, spit into each hand, used the spit & hand to arrange hair beside his face, and then he did it *again*, a second time.

Thinking that her little brothers would be a wealth of material from which to write, Grandma B suggests that Kenna might be a writer someday. Before she could even finish the sentence, Kenna quickly informs her: No, I'm a leftie

Grey: Can you fer-tect this chip?
Mom: It's called a guitar pick
Grey: Do you know my brudder, Brooks?
Mom: Yes
Grey: Ok, well, he says this is called a chip
Mom: Well, he's wrong, it's called a pick

Grey: You know when the sun brights down on you, and gives you red, like, red on your arm? That's what the sun does

After having fished a grand total of once in his entire lifetime...
Brooks, playing a puzzle "fishing" game: Hey Carter, you wanna see my side arm cast, my backhand cast, or my over hand cast?
The confidence has always been strong in this one

Driving into our old neighbourhood through a little "ghetto bit" we like to call the dodgy end of the neighbourhood, with the boys, and part of the road has been repaved
Brooks: Oh wow. Look at this! We have to tell Kenna that the dodgy end is starting to look really good. I mean, it feels like there is more sunlight over here now, doesn't it?

Grey: Can I have an orange?
Mom: No, we don't have any
Grey: Well, I want one
Mom: Ok, well we can buy some. Next time we go to the store, you remind me to get them
Grey, in a Mommy imitation tone: But that's not my job, that's your job
isn't it great to have your own words thrown back at you?

Daddy, coming home from work on Fathers Day, calling Mommy to check in
Mom: Yah, so, we'll see you in a few minutes...
Kenna, interrupts: Maybe he'd like to go out for lunch on Fathers Day!
Mom: Oh! Kenna is suggesting we go out to eat for Fathers Day! I guess she's paying
Kenna: No, I only have one dollar
Mom: Oh! Nevermind. She's only got one dollar. That's a bust.

Grey: Does thunder wuh-fect birds?
Mom: wuh-fect?
Grey: Yah, you know, like hurt them, or something

Kenna: Oh! Jillaine's birthday is on the same day as your anniversary?! That's convenient!
I guess it's convenient... 'cause we never forget it?:-)

Bolgerism: Whup Cream = whipping/whipped cream

The kids possess rudimentary knowledge of the rules of the road, which is...annoying
Brooks: Oh! Mom! Why did you do that? You're not allowed to cross the doubled yellow line!
Mom: Well, you're also not allowed to hit cyclists
back seat drivers

telling me a story
Kenna: ...so then Dad was like, 'why don't you do it properly', and I was like, 'I love you Dad, in theory, but I just like doing it my own way', so...
theoretical love only runs so deep, lol

he tripped while running
Mom: Oh, why did you fall?
Grey: I just made my arms too heavy and I fell

The excitement is intense! We will be going on the kids first camping trip! A few funny commets...
Brooks: I think that Mom will be a better camper than Dad, 'cause she's from Canada
***
Kenna: What if we get lost in the forrest in the middle of the night?
***
Kenna: Do you think we will see any wildlife in the forrest?
Mom: It's a State Park - I'm sure there are animals, I am quite sure we won't see any
***
Explaining that there will be no technology (iPad) on the trip, and early risers will have to play quietly...
Kenna: Well if we wake up early, we can just go exploring in the woods until you get up
Mom: No. You can't leave the tent before 7am.
Kenna: Will there be any clocks?

camping trip excitement!
Brooks: I just can't wait to go to the bathroom tomorrow!
Mom: Tomorrow? Why?
Brooks: You know, 'cause I'll have to like, dig a hole, and...stuff
Mom: Uh, no. This is not the wilderness. There are bathrooms
Kenna: I'm glad. I mean, going to the bathroom outside would be so totally awkward

discussing our camping trip
Brooks: Daddy grew up in the mountains, so he knows how to kill a bear
Kenna: If he knows how to shoot a gun, he knows how to kill a bear
Brooks: Well, I don't know if we should bring any guns
Kenna: Tom's prolly gonna bring a gun, so he can do it.

They started to watch a movie with Daddy, but had to pause to eat dinner...
Brooks: When can we get back to G - I - G - I - O's?
Daddy: It's G-I Joe

While I'm making lunch...
Brooks: Is there anything I can appetize on? I'm starving

Brooks: Just go for pigs sake
Mom: Pete sake, it's Pete sake, not pigs sake
Brooks: But that doesn't make any sense
Mom: Well, neither does pigs sake
Brooks: Yes it does

walking past a Redbox...
Mom: Oooo, lets see if they have Saving Mr Banks
Brooks: What is that?
Kenna: It probably wouldn't be of interest to you. It's about Mary Puppins, do you even know who that is?
Mom: Do you?
She's never seen Mary "Puppins" :-)

Driving by the perimeter of a naval base...high fences, ships and tanks are visible from the road...
Brooks, to Grey: Look, that is the Army Rebel Base
Mom: What?! No. That is just a Navy Base
Brooks: Yah, but it's still the Rebel Base
Mom: No. There are no rebel bases here. The real army won't let you have a rebel army
Brooks: Well, that is what I am going to do, someday. Be a military guy in the real army
Kenna: Well are you ok with dying? 'Cause once you get out there, you can't take it back. You can't start crying and wish that you changed your mind. Once you're out there, you're going to get killed and you can't go back
Brooks: Yah, I know
Kenna: So you think you're that brave?
Brooks: Well, not today. I will be, when I'm a army man

Kenna: So my plan is going to be, marry a Canadian billionaire, and have a house on the water
Brooks: Yah, that's actually what I am planning to do, too!
So, it looks like I'm gonna be *rich* someday...if they share...;-)

I told Kenna to grab a book and do some copy work. She chose one of her bird books
Kenna: Wow, look at my writing! It's so nice! Look Brooks, look at the verse I wrote, (quoting the written page) God gives to every bird its proper food, but they must all fly for it. Old Proverb
Brooks: Huh! Old Proverbs?! I've never heard of that one before
They are under the impression that "Old Proverbs" is a book of the Bible:-)

Grey: What's for snack?
Mom: It's not snack, it's lunch
Grey: No, the clock says it's snack
Mom: The clock says it's lunch
Grey: But the family clock says it's snack
Mom: No, it says it's lunch
Grey: Oh. But the kitchen clock...what does that say?

The Panera Bread logo...
Brooks: What is with that sign? It looks like a woman hugging a taco

Trying to phase Grey out of the "cuppady" stage (sippy cup with strawberry milk is a comfort food to him), and lets just say old habits die very hard with that kid. Grey requests a cuppady, and I decided to make him one. I deliver it to him on the couch, and do I get even a thankful glance? No.
Grey: You forgot to bend the straw, but ookaay
That child is BRIAN to the enth degree, from looks, to tone, to choice of words, to "constructive criticism"...the list goes on. BEND YOUR OWN STRAW, KID

About to start her 3rd grade math book
Kenna: Argh, math is ruining our lives. I wish math never existed. That would be the key to happiness
Mom: Yah, but then you'd be dumb your whole life, and never get a job or have money
Kenna: No, no one would notice if I'm dumb. We'd all be the same, 'cause there is no math!
Valid point, actually;-)

Boys arguing about something...
Kenna: C'mon guys, just li la soy
Mom, raises eyebrows...
Kenna: It means let it go, in Spanish
Of course it does. Thanks Frozen.

{Brian, more than a little sore after running 8 miles the previous day}...Grey steps right in front of Daddy as he's walking
Dad: Whoa! Don't do that, I can't just stop on a dime anymore
Mom: Your Dad's an old man now
Brooks: Thirty five is not old!
Mom: Well, maybe not, but he doesn't wear it well
Dad, laughing: Yah, I make it look old

Brooks: I just can't wait until my birthday! It's been a hundred years since I've had one!

about Beyblades
Kenna, to Brooks: Ok, ok, I mean I like slinging beys too, but when I'm not slingin' em I'd really like to do more girl things

Kenna: I have sixteen dollars! I mean, I know I'm not rich, but I really feel like I am!

Seeing a vehicle covered in fancy airbrushed advertising for a tattoo place...mostly naked women covered in tattoos, covering the vehicle
Kenna: Wow, who would want to drive a car like that?! Prolly some guy who smokes and loves hot tattoos on girls
Mom: Hot tattoos?
Kenna: Well, you know, regular tattoos on hot girls
oh boy! I don't think I'm ready for this type of convo!!

Brooks: Did you tell your phone that I want BLT's for my birthday so you don't forget?
He knows how it all gets done;-)

After being given her list of chores to accomplish
Kenna: So who is coming over?
Mom: Josh & Elizabeth
Kenna: Do they have any kids to play with?
Mom: No
Kenna: Argh! All this cleaning for just two people and no kids? So not worth it

Driving in traffic going 65 mph, a motorcyclist darts ahead of us, weaving in and out of traffic, and passing people in left lane using the shoulder...
Mom, referring to his probable immanent destruction due to irresponsible driving: Wow. That guy deserves to die
Kenna: Oh. So run him over then

Grey: How many miles did you run?
Mom: Just one mile, in 10 minutes
Grey: Oh, that's not bery as fast as a horse could do it
Mom: Truuuuue
So much for being proud of my accomplishments:-)

Brooks: It's too bad for you that you never get Mothers Day, I mean, we'll still make you a breakfast, but it will mostly just be all about Dad's birthday
That breakfast better be epic!

Mom: Ok, so if you want to see how to spell something, or the meanings of words, where would you look?
Kenna: In an atlas?
Brooks: Oh! The Bible!
*shakes head* School is going...not well, apparently

Darla: Look at this. When the kids were doing school, I sharpened all the pencils and pencil crayons, and I got a blister on my finger from holding the sharpener. It really hurts
Brian: Wow. I probably wouldn't tell anyone that
Darla: Yah, but if you saw how many pencils I sharpened...
Brian: Um, no
I guess it's embarrassing, regardless of quantity;-)

Offering me a lick of his lollipop
Grey: Mom, you have to taste this! It's tastes like water-raisin!

Looking at a pic of our little cousin in her new glasses
Kenna: Wow! She's really starting to look like her mom now! I mean, her personality was always like her mom, and now she looks like her too!
Mom: You think?
Kenna: Yah, I mean, her personality, like saying "my butt is freaking out!", I mean, I can totally imagine Lauryn, at some point in the past, saying that too
Mom: Reeeeally?
Kenna: Yup. So Kayla is just such a funny personality, just like Lauryn, 'cause you said Lauryn was hilarious when you were little
So there you have it, Lauryn, you can blame all of Kayla's "quirks" on *yourself*. Haha!

Grey: Can I sleep wiff my trophy? I just wanna look at it, and see how cool I am, and how fancy it is

Coming into our bed in the middle of the night
Grey: Mommy, I don't want you to be alone, so, can you hold me for a minute?
He's already mastered getting what he wants and making it seem like it's for your own benefit. Future politician?

Turning on the radio, mid song...
Mom, starts singing and dancing instantly: Giiive it to meee, give it to meee
Brooks: Wha? What is this?!
Mom: Michael Jackson, baby! (back to singing)
Brooks: Why are you so weird?
Kenna: She gets it from Dad's side

Brooks: What is your name, like, your real name?
Mom: Darla
Brooks: What colour is the grass?
Mom: Green
Brooks: Ok, and what direction am I pointing?
Mom: Down
Brooks: Ok, so Darla green down!! Darrrrla greeeeeen dowwwwwn!
Mom: But that doesn't make any sense
Brooks: I know. It's a joke
So, someone still doesn't "get" jokes, apparently

After staying out late at a party...the next morning
Kenna: Well, last night I had 4 cupcakes and 3 refills of root beer, and I don't feel crazy at all. Though, my head really hurts
She's attempting to make a case for "you should let us eat more sugar"

Bolgerism: Blankety-Blank. Special cuddly blanket, also known as a "comf" (comfy blanket)

Talking with a little friend, Dad's off in the distance
Friend: Which one is your Dad?
Grey: The one in the blue shirt
Friend: Which one?
Grey: In dat blue shirt
(there were a few people in blue shirts, so after a few "blue shirt" answers...)
Grey: ...you see the one with the crazy hair? That's him, with the crazy hair

Brooks: We don't even know where Heaven is
Grey: Yes we do, it's right up near Canada

Kenna: ...I've fixed this before, so I claim myself a quote'a quote professional
She's so quote-unquote grown up;-)

listening to the radio
Brooks: Oh, this is Justin Bieber. Hey, do you know what retired means, Sonny?
Sonny: No
Brooks: It means you're so old, you can't work anymore. So like, he got really old like Grandpa, and retired. But he still...
Kenna: No, he's not old, he's just stopping working
Brooks: Well, I was going to say he doesn't look like a Grandpa

Seeing a random dog being walked, wearing a black "studded" collar...
Grey: Oh look! That's a big dog. His name is Rock Star, cause he is wearing a Rock Star fingy (thingy). Wow. Cool. I've never seen a live, real, rock star dog before

Grey: Do you want to talk about animals today?
Mom: Sure. What animals do you know about?
Grey: Well...do you know that monkeys use their arms to hang on trees and swing?
Mom: Yes
Grey: So, does that like, ring a bell?
Mom: Yes, it does. I think it sounds quite correct
He goes on to talk about all he knows about monkeys, asking if all his "facts" 'ring a bell':-)

Darla: Here taste this. Its my favourite flavour of the greek yogurts
Brian: Huh, pretty good. I might need my own bowl
Darla: I add the chocolate chips to the top. It's like granola only way more tastier
Brian rolls his eyes:-)

Watching a nature show on tv, (baby cheetah caught by hyena)
Mom: Awww, the baby got killed? That's like little Grey getting eaten by a hyena. So sad
Brooks: Uh no. That is like Grey getting shot by a robber, in human life

We went to a friends house for an (invited) spur of the moment playdate...
Kenna: I don't know if we should go over like that anymore. I think we were troubling their personal business
Mom: Oh?! Troubling their personal business?
Kenna: Well, you know, I wouldn't know what else to call it, but when we got there I asked Julia where Claire was, and she was in the shower. The shower! So we probably shouldn't just show up like that.

Discussing Kenna working out to avoid sore muscles
Mom: It'll make you a man before your mother, as they say
Kenna: Well, I already am a man, 'cause I'm not scared of blood, and Brooksie is

Brooks: So, if you hadn't married Daddy, we wouldn't exist?
Mom: Yup
Brooks: Well, I'm glad you married him then, cause I wouldn't want to be killed!

Brooks: Life is sometimes hard
Mom: Yup. It is, and they say "only the strong survive"
Brooks: Yah, 'cause Kenna's wants a bird, and I want a bunny, but we can't get any pets 'cause we don't have any newspapers
Mom, not anticipating that turn of the conversation: Uh, newspapers?
Brooks: Yes. You know, for them to, you know poop on and stuff. We can't get any pets until we get more newspapers
...later on in that conversation...
Kenna: I wish Grandma {Kennedy} was our Mom. She'd let us have pets. She likes pets

During a boys vs girl "snowball" fight (using tennis balls to hurl at each other)
Kenna: I refuse to be scared by your ugliness!!

Listening to Uncle Logan's band online
Brooks: Wow. That is the best band song I've ever heard in my life! He's pretty good! I mean, for an Uncle's band, it's actually really really good!

I'm not listening/paying attention to a convo, until I hear this...
Kenna:...Dad is a spicy dude!
Mom: Dad is a spicy dude?!?
Kenna: Yah, he ate like, 800 pounds of spice and never even took a drink of water!
Mom: Ohhh, right

talking about the concept of "the best day of your life"
Mom: ...I've had a few best days, like the day I married Dad, and the day I had you, and Brooks, and Grey
Kenna: Well, I'm sure you had other great moments when you were a kid, you just don't remember them
Mom: Haha! Maybe so!

Brooks: So I have this whistle, and my bean bags. So you know what I do if they go near the lake? Blow the whistle! And you know what I do if they go near the woodpile? Blow the whistle! And you know what I do if they go near the mud? Blow the whistle! And you know what I do if they go near the trees?
Mom, interrupts: Blow the whistle!
Brooks: No! I throw a bean bag at them!

Mom: Go outside
Grey: No, Brooks said I can't go outside without him
Brooks: No, you can! But you can only go on the Bridge to Atlantis, or chop down a tree (glancing at Mom nervously)...for pretend. Don't really do it.

Brooks: I can't believe I'm just like your Grandpa!
Mom: My father
Brooks: Oh right, your father. Wait. Who is that again?

Kenna: I do talk really fast, that is one of the good things about me
Mom: I guess. But yesterday you said Cloudy With A Chance of Ball Meat Two...so maybe it's not always a good thing
Kenna: Truuuue

After instructing the kids on the correct pronunciation of ValentiNe's day
Mom: So it's tine, not time, because his name was St. Valentine
Kenna: So, like, his last name was Tine? That makes sense

Kenna: When is Spring gonna come? How are we s'posed to know if that warthog saw his shadow when we've never seen one?

Brooks: Did you know gophers can get as big as Chihuahua's?
Mom: No. Who told you that?
Brooks: Dad. When we were shooting. You know, Lehman shot one in the armpit!
Mom: Did he? I don't remember that.
Brooks: He did. It was really cute too

Grey, holding some toys: Wook at all dese treasures! I'm gonna be rich from now on!

Grey: If you cwash your car, de police will cuff ya wiff his cuffers

Onions, again
Brooks: Do Canadians say un-yuns or on-eons?
Mom: Un-yuns. Why?
Kenna: We thought Canadians said everything properly. You know, like ug-en and ah-gain
Mom: Well yah. I guess they don't say everything perfectly. But close:-)

Talking about a friends baby
Brooks: ...well it could be a girl!
Kenna: No, it's a boy!
Brooks: But it might be a girl
Mom: Well, the ultrasound said it was a boy, so it will probably be a boy
Kenna: Yes, cause sometimes they are wrong, but not usually. Although, I don't know how they can tell all that, just by listening
Haha!! Time to explain how ultra *sound* really works:-)

On Monday morning
Brooks: That Superbowl was the worst game of all time!
Mom: Oh really?
Brooks: Yes! It started out like, 22 to ZERO, and it ended up 83 to like, 8 or something. It was just awful

walking out of a store, into a cloud of cigarette smoke, from people standing outside the door
Grey, loudly: What is that smell?! It smells like someone is roasting out here! It smells like someone is roasting!

while discussing various physical and personality charasteristics of the kids...
Kenna, chimes in: Brooks is not very head strong. Bangs his head? Cries!

Mom, to Grey: ...like that, 'cause that's how grown ups do's it
Kenna: Do. Or does.
Mom: Well, Grey says do's
Kenna: Dad says we should never 'courage Grey to speak like a child
Mom: Oh, right. He's probably right
I've been *told* :-)

Kenna: So this storm coming...I think it's called Tina. Yes. Cause we've already had an "S" storm.
She speaks of Hurricane Sandy:-) Too bad snowstorms aren't named;-)

talking at dinner about how there will likely be snow on the ground when we wake up...
Brooks: But how do they know it will snow? Like, they are not God
Kenna, in her "everybody knows this" tone of authority: Well, they are the weather department, they send people all over the place. Up to New York? Yup, snowing there. Up to Canada? Yup, snowing there. So then they call here and tell the department it's coming

Mom: Maybe it has the flu, like you had
Grey: Nah, the flu has spots, and I didn't have spots

Grey: 'member when we were at da beach, and we saw a puffer fish? And den dat bawgeegull stoled your sammich?
The bawgeegull (bald eagle), also known as a sea gull, but the way he tells it makes it sound so much better:-)

talking about all the animals we saw in the Toronto Zoo
Grey: ...and did we see a troll there?
Mom: Uh, trolls don't exist, so no
Grey: But they exist, like, in the wild
Mom, laughing: No, they do not exist even in the wild

Grey: I needa tell you somethin', a hundred years ago, Brooks threw Kenna's bracelet!
Mom: Oh really? When was this?
Grey: Upstairs!

hearing a Spin Doctors song on the radio
Brooks: Hey! I know this song! This used to be Dad's favourite song, before the Goo Goo Dolls came along!
for some reason his excitement and authority on the topic made me laugh out loud...for the record, I did not know this...I confirmed with Brian, and Brooks is right:-)

coming from work really late
Brian: Know what I feel like having?
Darla: Ice cream?
Brian: No, I was thinking more like a BLT. Maybe I'll have ice cream after. Or no, I'll have it first so I can wash it down with something better
Darla: Uh no. If you are washing down ice cream with bacon, than you don't love it, and you're not having any
Ain't wasting ice cream on people who don't appreciate it! (More for me!)

Grey, pointing to the ham: Can I have more?
Mom: Of course!
Grey: Ymmmm! I love more pig butt!
Kenna: and thigh. It's pig butt and thigh

talking about a local fatal helicopter crash
Kenna: Well, still, that is very very sad for all the people on that plane
Mom, trying to avoid creating a fear of flying, since we fly fairly often: Yes, but it was a helicopter, not an airplane. Airplanes are much safer than helicopters are
Kenna: I know. Airplanes have like, those thingy ma bobs and stuff
Mom: Oh...what thingy ma bobs?
Kenna: You know, if you're going down, that thing comes out of the ceiling and you put it on your face, and then you put on your life vest, and then you search for the nearest exit and go out
Mom: Oh, right, ok....exactly

Brooks: Grey is not allowed to touch my Lego anymore, cause it's too delicate for him. He's already lost a piece
Grey: Well, I lost one of my men, so my Lego is delicate too! Duh!

While it is 37 outside, it is 70, inside...
Kenna: I know! Why don't we have hot chocolate to cleanse us from this cold!
***********
Discussing the exact meaning of "in Excelsis Deo"
Brian: Isn't it Glory to God in the Highest?
Lauren: Well Deo is God...
back and forth a few more times
Darla: Wasn't there a sword named Ex-celcius?
Dale: Uh...that was Excalibur
Haha!

Realizing he's about to get as many candies as his age...
Grey: No, no, I'm six! Ree-wee, I am. I'm six

Darla: Hey wanna help me wrap?
Brian: Well, I would, but you do it all wrong and it'll make me mad
Darla: I don't mean help me wrap, together. You wrap all those things, by yourself, however you want
He's a little ocd about it, but definitely a good present wrapper. I'm not ocd at all, and it shows:-)

noticing a very light grocery bag by the front door
Mom: Hey, you have carry the bags all the way to the kitchen, you can't leave things by the door
Grey: I would Mom, but it's a-sauce-ting me

Opening a little plastic baggie of treats from her teacher
Kenna: Oh Mom! You have to smell this! It smells like pure JOY!
it smelled generally of chocolate and mint...so she's definitely a girl:-)

Making BLTs for dinner...
Kenna: You should make yours an LT, 'cause bacon is not good for fat people
Mom: I think I'll be fine. Thank you

Grey: I wish it was white, 'cause that is my favourite colour
Mom: It is? I thought you liked green?
Grey: Well, I do, but I'm starting to get into white now
Mom: Oh, really! Well, when did you start getting into white?
Grey: After we went to that party yesterday. That's when I started to get into it

Kenna: What does charisma mean?
Mom: It's part of your personality. It's something that you have that makes people want to be around you, or like you, or copy you...stuff like that. Your Dad has lots of charisma
Kenna: Oh. I do too, I think
Brooks: So do I!
Kenna, flatly: Uh, no. You don't have any. When was the last time anyone wanted to be like you?

Kenna: How am I going to live with this?! (brothers being...brothers)
Mom: I dunno. You'll survive. Think of me, I had six brothers!
Kenna: Yah, but you also had four sisters
Mom: True, but they were also pretty annoying. Kids are just annoying, that's all there is to it
Kenna: Well, not usually girls

A convo at work
Person 1: Where are you from?
Brian: New York, actually
Person 1: Oh, I thought so
Person 2: Why? He doesn't have an accent. I would've thought L.A. or something, with the hair
Person 1: It's not about how they talk. It's about how they look at you

Christmas shopping, just Grey & I
Grey: You can park over dere, dere's lotsa spots
Mom: Yah, but if we park over there we'll have to run, or we'll be late. Can you run?
Grey: Yah, well no, probly not. I can only speed walk

Brooks: I don't want it because Sonny already touched it. He can give it to May if he wants, because they are in the same family, so they have the same germs. Except she has girl germs and he has boy germs but other than that, the same germs

Looking at a Nativity scene...
Brooks: I wonder what kind of soup was in that pot? I bet it was too hot for baby Jesus
Kenna: Well it doesn't matter, little babies don't eat soup, they eat from boobs
Brooks: WHAT?!? They do NOT!!

Kenna, running to brothers and giggling: Did you just hear Mom? She said, Hello! Hello! I think you butt dialed me! Butt...dialed...she said butt, dialed! Get it?...Butts...
hysterical laughing

Brooks: If you cross your eyes and shake your head around like this, {violent head shaking}, the Christmas lights look really cool! You should try it, Mom. Try it!
Mom: No, thank you
Brooks: No, really, try it Mom, you'll love it
doubtful...

After enduring a particularly silly dinner
Kenna: I just want to send them to adoption, can we? I mean, we'd save money...and...just...LOOK AT THEM. I really think we should
Brooks: We'd probably be bad at our adoption house, and they'd send us back here anyway, so ha ha

Kenna, to Brooks: Hghhh!! Whatever. You are really really starting to hit my nerve

Mom: The movie Titanic was the most popular movie, of all time
Kenna: Of all the Titanic movies?
Mom: No, of all movies, of any type, ever made
Kenna: Oh, like the most popular for-bitten love story?

Brian: I have a love hate relationship with stripes
Darla: Oh yah? What is the hate part?
Brian: I hate stripes
Darla: Haha, then what is the love part?
Brian: That shirt looks good on me

seeing a typical deer crossing roadsign...
Grey: Ohhh, wook. Reindeers land down here, Mom!

Brooks: Do spoilers actually make cars go faster?
Mom: Wellll, yes, I think they are supposed to, but only...
Kenna, interrupts: Mom did not go to college, so that question is too difficult for her. How is she supposed to know stuff like that?

We had a very very late night (midnight!), meaning the next day is full of arguments and tears...
Brooks: Well, Dad saaaaaaid!!!
Kenna: Oh who cares. Dad isn't even part of this
Brooks: HE IS SO!!! He is the second oldest member of this family!!
There you have it, #2. Love Forever, #1 :-D

Kenna: ...then she asked where we lived, and I said, to be exact, we live 5 miles from here. And she said, is that far? 'Cause she is 6, so Brooksie's age, so she's kiiiiinda at that stage where she doesn't really know things like that yet

Kenna: And I was like, the only good kid in my class. Every one else was being crazy, I mean, CRAAAAZY. And I was like, am I the only kid in the world with good manners, Ooooorrrr?!?
She's soooo humble;-)

Brooks: ...that is what Mr Davis and Miss Danielle said. Or, ummmm...
Mom: I think you mean Mr Davis and Miss MiKayla...
Confused his Sunday School teachers for his Aunt & Uncle:-)

Darla: I wish I had a jean jacket to wear with my maxi dress so it would be, you know, seasonally appropriate
Brian: Oh yah, that would be nice. Then you could combine the Amish look with the biker gang look
Darla, rolls eyes

Brooks: What is the most healthiest thing in the whole world?
Mom: Water, I think
Brooks: Oh, ok! So if you drink lots of water you will live until you die?
Mom: Uhhhh...yah

Grey, holding a mug of hot chocolate: Can I put this in here? (livingroom)
Mom: No way, kitchen only
Grey: But I will be bery careful! And if someone knocks it over...
Mom, interrupts: MMM, no. If someone spills that on my carpet...
Grey, interrupts: I know, I know, you'll have to beat them

Grey, wearing shorts and tee: I'm cold
Mom: Well you could try putting on winter clothes!
Grey: Yah, cause dese pants don't have bery long sleeves. Cause I need dem to have longer sleeves to reach down to my toes

Brooks, to Mom:...Well since we're half Canadian and half American...well, you're not. You were born in Canada, but you live like an American, right?

Brooks, (said in November): Oh mom, I have to tell you something really important. You know Eli? Not Eli B, Eli M. Well he would like me to come to his house, for his party. It's in June. Can I go?

Grey: Nah, I actually don't want pandies, well actually I do, but I don't want to get th-ticky, so I don't
Bolgerism: pandies, aka: pandie-cakes, aka: pancakes

Grey: No, no, Iron Man goes like this {punching motions}
Sonny, laughs
Grey: This is not funny, Sonny, this is actually bery see-we-us.

Brooks, contemplating drinking from an old water bottle he found in the van
Mom: Don't you dare! It could have mold in it!
Grey: Yah, if you eat dat, den de mold goes into your tummy, and den you die like Unc'a Greg
Kenna: But that's not how he died!
Grey: Yah, well, also if you are smelling paint, you can die like him too. Mom showed him to me in Canada, so I know. De ovv-er (other) Grey
My Uncle Greg was killed in an industrial accident, involving fumes...I am quite surprised that Grey remembered the story with some accuracy

I may have uncovered a kidnapping plot:-)
Sonny: My my my mom is talking about borrowing Kenna
Darla: Oh yah? 'Cause she is so helpful with May?
Sonny: Yeeaahhh, no, I fink she just likes her

Brooks: The baddest word in the whole universe is taking the Lord's name out of vain, right?

Brooks, trying to figure out how he can give $5 to Awanas to earn a special patch, and still have enough money left over to buy a pack of gum...
Brooks: But then I would only have one dollar left!
Mom: But that is enough for gum
Brooks: Yah, but I wanted to get one for Grey too
Kenna: Think of it this way, Brooks, would you rather choose gum or have those kids in Africa go to hell?
Nothing like a hefty guilt trip!

Talking about my volunteer job with Awanas
Kenna: Do you think you can make seven hundred pancakes?!
Mom: Yes, I probably could
Kenna: Wow. I mean, when you signed up for this, I thought you would just be helping kids with verses and stuff. I didn't realize you would be the main attraction!

Putting on a pair of cute "riding" styled boots, hand-me-down, for the first time...
Kenna: Huh? A chain? These boots are sooo gothal!

Singing Deep and Wide...
Kenna: Now lets sing it in Japanese! (begins song using a British accent) Deeeeep and wiiiide....
Brooks: No, that's Chinese!
Kenna: Ok, whatever (and continues singing in her accent)

Grey: I wook wike Bwian, do I? But I don't. My hair is getting browner and browner wike Bwian's though

Kenna: Now that our family is gone, I need to get back to brushing my teeth after every snack and lunch. I haven't been doing it when they were here, and now I'm way behind schedule

Grey, peeing in a bush...and peeing, and peeing, and peeing
Mom: Hey, are you done?
Grey: No! It's not empty yet!

Shoving the toilet plunger directly in/over Brooks' face...
Grey: Here! Smell this fing!

Driving in a new place in Chesapeake, and there is a "honk", not sure if it was directed at me, since I think I was fine, but all three kids were all over me for this heinous error...
Kenna: You know if Dad was that other driver, he'd be saying "IDIOT!!"

Pulling up beside a car at a light
Kenna: Oh my! That driver is drunk!!
Mom: What?! How do you know?!
Kenna: He's got fire and smoke coming out of that stick thing!!
Mom: Honey, that's called smoking a cigarette

Brooks: I just saw a Toyota Sabioth!
Mom: A Sabioth, eh?
Brooks: Yes, a Toyota Sabioth!

Grey: Does God call all the good angels to fight Satan? Cause Satan tries to take all your blood away, but God gives it back cause he has all the blood he has

Grey: Who sings this? Is this a Beatles song?
Mom: No, this is Zac Brown
Grey: Oh, Brown like Brownie. I know a boy named Brownie, and he's a boy. Well, he's a dog

Brooks: Does the Bible tell what will happen when this world breaks, in the future?

Guests getting ready to leave, little girl still holding a few toys
Grey, to Mom: She's going to take dose!
Mom, whispers: It's ok, she won't take them home
Grey, marches over to little girl: Miss Dah-la says no stealing!

Grey: What kind is dat blue one?
Mom: That is a...Dodge Avenger
Grey: A dodge? Like da dodgy end?
...we refer to the "other end" of Hugo St as "the dodgy end". I guess it's the only time he's heard the word:-)

Grey, crying: Buh-sie says I'm not da wascal of disastuh (rascal of disaster), but I AM
He certainly is...

Brian: ...I have a beautiful life
Darla: Well, your beautiful wife needs to go {lists off chores}
Brian: Life. I said beautiful life, not wife
Darla, runs over to "smack" him: Ooooh, I thought you said wife!
Brian: I do have a beautiful wife, but you can't put words in my mouth every time you're fishing for a compliment

Driving around our new neighbourhood...it's kind of country-ish, compared to the city...lots of small hobby type farm properties
Grey: Look there's a barn! There's a little tiny farm for little tiny animals!

Taking a big drink of his slushee
Grey: ooooooOOOOH! I got a squeeze bwain!

On the way home from soccer practice...
Kenna: And Ardyn had two braids, and I was like, how on earth did you get so cute Ardyn? She said her Mommy did it, and then she was playing with this ball...
Brooks: I think you should concentrate more on soccer and not worry about Ardyn so much
the levels of dedication around here are extremely varied...

Brooks: Ok, who makes the biggest container of mayo ever?
Kenna: uh, DLC American Wine
Mom: Wha?! Wine?
Kenna: I dunno, I was just making something up
Grey: Costco!
Grey wins

Grey, seeing a commercial: I just can't wait to twy dat hamburger wiff fwench fwies on it, 'cause I love fwench fwies!

Brooks, to Kenna: Liar, liar, dress on fire, 'cause you're not wearing any pants!

driving past Harbor Park at 7:15pm
Brooks: The lights are off! They must not be playing
Mom: Yah, if they were, they'd be on
Grey: Well, it's also bedtime so the baseball guys are probly going to bed, DAT'S why the lights are off

Talking about wild animals
Grey: What about a horse?
Mom: A horse...can be wild, or domestica--
Grey, interrupts: No, no, a horse FLY
Mom: Oh, yes. That is a wild animal I guess
Grey: Ok, what about snowmen?
Mom: Well, snowmen are not alive...

Seeing a resurrection/Easter picture in a book...
Grey: Is dis da good cross? And dose are de I don't know...bad ones?
Mom: Yes, the middle one is Jesus' cross, and the other ones belonged to criminals
Grey: And dis is da cave where he died-is in? Wiff wittle wocks and biiig wocks?
Mom: Mhmmm, that is called the tomb where he was buried
Grey: And (holding his wrists) dis is where He got big splinters in Him, right here. Splinters in His arms!

Bolgerism: Froke. Alt: Freaking or Freaked. Froke is past tense

Kenna, bringing me a broken fishing line with a hook on it at the Willow house: Look, Ma! Look what we found! This is our very first clue about the people who used to live here. I think they used to be fishermen! Can we keep it?

sending the kids out to the van to buckle up, while I collect a few last minute things in the house...I see out the window that the door is wide open, and it's raining

Mom, shouting to the van: HEY! WHY IS THE DOOR OPEN? IT'S RAINING!

Brooks: WE DON'T WANT TO HEAT STROKE OURSELVES!!!

ok, ok, haha!!

Accomplishing amazing and tricky trailer backing-up feats

Darla: Wow. How do boys learn how to do that?

Brian: Boys who want boats learn how to do that

There's always an angle...

rolling over in bed onto Brooks in the middle of the night
Mom: Hey, what are you doing in here?
Brooks: I had a terrible dream
I let him stay...in the morning...
Mom: So what was the terrible dream about that you had?
Brooks: Falling off a bald eagle
Mom: That was your dream?
Brooks, looking pained: Yes!

Grey: My savourite sing (favourite thing) is eating a big paw-corn bag and watchin a show

Grey: Wook, I'm dwinking all dis wed (red) juice! It's warming up my heart and making it all jigga-wee

Grey, handing things to his friend: Take dis Sonny. Take dis too Sonny. And take dis, Son. Heh, I call him son, cause he's my child

Watching a movie...
Brooks: I don't know what he's going to do, since his eyes are sweating
Mom: He's crying
Grey: No, he's sweating. Boys don't cwy evah, evah, evah
Mom: You cried today
Grey: Well, young boys don't, or sometimes dey do, but big ones don't!

Grey: And Dad, dere was a bumble bee horse dere!!
...it was a horse fly, actually

Looking at a house that needed quite a bit of work done...
Kenna: This house needs to be destroyed!!

Brooks: He's going to suicide his self!
Grey and his risky couch jumping maneuvers make everyone nervous

Said as he hurls a Frisbee directly at a glass cup
Grey: I hope I don't hit dat cup!
And lucky for us he has bad aim!

Eating Pop Rocks
Grey: Dese are good! If you wick 'em, dey are bery good and dey tickle your bwain!! Wike, dey go all the way up to your eyeballs!

Brooks: You know the Beatles? Did you know two of them are dead and two are alive?
Mom: Yes, I do...how do you know that?
Brooks: In Canada, you know, Holden told me
after talking about the Beatles/Rock Band for awhile
Brooks: Maybe we should buy that game, since they are the popularist rock stars, ever

explaining the rules of tag "with a jail" to me
Mom: ...I know, and then one person has to tag you in jail to get you out
Brooks: No! Not at all! Tagging is like, randomly touching anywhere on your body. You have to only touch the haaand
Mom: Oh. wow. got it
...random touching...definitely not allowed :-D

Grey, running to me at the playground: Buhsie felled down!!
Mom: Oh my, is he going to live?
Grey: No! ...oh wait! I'll go tell him to live!

Grey: Jou know who I want for my birthday? (birthday cake)
Mom: Who?
Grey: Dark Vader, so then I want two cakes
Dad: Oh really? Do you know who that is?
Grey: Uhhh, well, he's a bad guy so...
Brooks: And I want Luke Skywalker!
And none of them have ever seen Star Wars! And I find it so "Grey" that he wants a bad guy for his cake, haha!

Kenna: Why does God make the bad storm come if he knows it will knock the power out?
Mom: Well, sometimes it's just a storm, its the way the way the world works, the clouds collect the water and then it comes down...God doesn't always interfere with the natural order of things just to keep the power on, because we can fix that
Kenna: I'm guessing you learned that at college. Did you even go to college?
Mom: Nope.
Kenna: Oh, well I'm not going to college either!
Mom: Why not?
Kenna: As I understand it, you have to work from breakfast to dinner
Brooks: I'm not going to college either. I'm going to hockey camp
Kenna: Well, one thing I know is you can't get a job unless you have a college degree
Brooks: Well, I don't need a college degree, I need a hockey camp degree. I think you have to be 14 to get that, right Mom?

I do believe some of their hearts are revealed here...:-)
Brooks: I wish the power would go out everyday!
Kenna: But then we could never watch tv!
Brooks: yah, but then we could go out to eat everyday!

Brooks: You know that song...{singing} you gotta butt butt butt gotta butt butt butt?
Mom: It's light em up up up
weirdo:-)

Grey: So what is da dwealio is dat you have to work very bad (=very hard)
Mom: That's the dealio, eh? Are you going to help me?
Grey: Uhhh, nope!

Brooks, to Kenna: Wanna box? I promise I won't hit you in the face

Grey, in the house: My buwwet (bullet) went down da SEWER!!
Mom: What? Where?
Grey: Duh sewer, in dere. It went down it
Mom, a little concerned: Show me
Grey, walking over to the register in the kitchen floor: Is in dere. DAT is da SEWER down dere.

Brian: If we have any more kids, I get to name them
Darla: Yah, right
Brian: I like Robespierre...for a girl
Darla: Over my dead body
Brian: ...and Charlemagne...for a boy
oh brother

Grey: Can we have pancakes?
Mom: No, we don't have any milk
Grey: No, I want pancakes!
Mom: I know, but I can't make them, I don't have any milk
Grey: But milk and pancakes don't go togevver. Pancakes goes wiff see-wup

Bolgerism: Osh. It's short for ocean...it's just the osh 'round here

Explaining that Uncle Mike is a butcher, and how he cuts the whole cow down into smaller pieces for people to buy
Kenna: So wait, don't they have meat at Walmart here?

Kenna: Is your birthday in January?
Mom: No, February
Kenna: Oh, I saw on the calendar a birthday for Mom B, and so I thought that it must be you, since you are a Mom, and a Bolger
Mom: Well, I normally call myself Darla, so if I write Mom B, I mean Grandma Bolger, 'cause she's not my Grandma, she's yours
Kenna: Ok, that makes sense. I just thought it seemed a little weird. I did see Darla on there too, but I thought maybe it was like Auntie Darla, you, know, and Uncle Mike so I wasn't sure
That is Auntie Donna :-)

Brooks: Are me and Eli actually related?
Mom: No
Brooks: oh, I wish we were related, then we could see them all the time
Mom: You already do see them all the time
Kenna: Besides, if you were related, you wouldn't even like him, trust me
Mom: Well, liking people is a choice, it doesn't matter if you're related or not, you can choose how you treat people. Like you and Brooks like each other and you're related
Brooks: Weeeellll, I barely like her

getting out of a tight parking spot
Brooks: Are we stuck?
Mom: No, we'll be ok (maneuvers out of spot)
Brooks: Wow. Impressive. I guess those driving lessons really paid off!!
he is referring to the driving lessons I got when I learned how to drive at age 16, as he has recently learned that no one knows how to drive unless they've been taught

a drive by tour of the Scholastic building
Brooks: So this was your very first job?
Mom: Yup
Brooks: What did you do there?
Mom: Well, I basically made boxes for an entire summer
Brooks: Did they pay you to do that?
Mom: Yes
Brooks: How much?
Mom: Hundreds of dollars
Brooks: Wha?! Wow!!! Why did you ever quit there?!

reading a birthday party invitation outloud...
Brooks: "R.S.V.P. {phone number} or on facebook" (looking shocked and devastated at the same time)...but I don't have facebook!

Brooks: Look at that car from the olden days! It's from like, older than the hundreds! Older than even one two nine nine!! I wish you could take a picture of that so we could show Dad, like, actually really show him that old car!

Grey: You know dose guys up in Canada? Dey gave me dese
and they were in fact from his Aunt

pet sitting a dog
Brooks, to Daddy: Traxie doesn't listen to anyone 'cept Mom, 'cause she has the most ferocious voice

looping around a curvy on-ramp
Grey: Hang on folks-is, hang on, folks!

Darla, showing a picture/idea from Pinterest: Hey, look at this
Brian: Oh yah, that's neat
Kenna: Why do people always put ridic-lious things online?
...I thought a tree stump turned into an end table was *kinda cool*, I guess its ridiclious, though

Brooks, to his friend: You know our family has it's own special mission? It's to try every kind of ice cream ever made!
Logan: That's a dumb mission
Brooks, very indignantly: No!, It's not!

Brooks: Do you know what is definitely possible for God to do?
Mom: What?
Brooks: Have no bones and still be alive! Humans could never do that, only God

Grey: Ma! Ma! D'you know what is a daddy wong wegs? It's a spidah wiff wooooooong foots!
Grey ate the cherry off his sundae, and handed the "trash" (stem) over to Brian, who popped it in his mouth

Grey, astonished: Hey, you ate da BONES?!?! Dad jus ate dat bone!!!

Stem came out tied in a knot;-) Talents!

Kenna: I think I wanna be a tuh-fog-grapher

*photographer:-)

Brian: Ohhh! What did I tell you? Once again Brian is right! What was it that we call me...? What was it that we called that actor? (he was hinting at "genius")

Darla, smartly ignoring his hint: I don't know what we call them, but you're an idiot, sooo....

Brian: Oh sure. Well, if I'm an idiot than the rest of the world is in a looooot of trouble!

(Puds = puddles)
Grey: See dose puds? We might could gonna jump ovah dem

seems like someone might could be a southerner:-)

Grey, seeing a tattooed man: Why did dat man cuh-der'd (coloured) on him self-is?

Grey: Mom! MAAA! Wook at my watch! It's eighty four o'clock!

Bolgerism: Scribby. Scrambled eggs are Scribby eggs. Anything overly messy or chaotic is scribby, and doing messy work, or scribbling on paper is also scribby. Uses: "Don't scrib up your work". "Get your room clean it's all scribbed up". "I want some Scribby eggs".

Grey, to Mommy: I have to tell you a secwet (secret), in heaven, dere is a golden paff! (path)

Grey, after going to the bathroom: I poop like a Bo-ger kid now!

Brooks: Dad has the hairiest hair growing from his arms
Mom: Yup, he does
Brooks: He has so much hair everywhere!
Mom: Yup
Brooks: But he is not an animal, right? He is just a hairy man
Mom: Right

giving the boys pillows to lay on with no pillowcases on them
Kenna: Do not spit or drool on these, they are real live pillows!

going through a very easy (for her) portion of her standardized test

Kenna: Wow, it's like these questions are for blind people!

the kids were showing off some of their tricks

Dad: Can you do a cart wheel?

Kenna: Wellllll, not synchronized

Wow! We didn't realize that synchronization was even on the table! :-) Sure enough, they showed us everything they can do in sync

Grey: MOM! Booksie jus HIT ME!

Brooks: No! No! I did not!

Grey: Yes you DID. He hit me wiff dat dat dat FINGY MA BOB!

Mom, to Grey: Hey look, there's a plane!

Brooks: That's a jet. There are always jets at the beach

only here. haha. We love jet noise!

Kenna: Ma, what do our names represent?

Mom: uuuuhh, what do you mean?
Kenna: Well, you know, like my name represents President Kennedy, so what does Brooksie's represent?

Mom: Um, I guess New York City

Brooks: and the Brooklyn Bridge

Mom: Yes, and the Brooklyn Bridge

Kenna: So what about Grey?
Mom: Well, I guess his name represents the colour, grey

Kenna: uhhh, well that's weird, what would Lleyton represent?

Mom: I don't know...I guess a tennis player, his name is Lleyton Hewitt

Brooks: I bet Grey will be great at tennis when he grows up!

Daddy, playing Candy Crush, and not passing his level

Grey: Maybe I should try. I am weewee (really) good at games!

Grey, rubbing Mom's face: You are the mostest of better

Sonny: I'm Shom-bell-Shom (Jean Valjean)

Grey: And I'm Iron Man!

coming into the bathroom as I'm using the facilities

Grey: Good job Mom! You make me so pwoud! (proud)

So, I hate to brag about myself, but yah, I'm basically potty trained

Brooks: Hey Ma, look, I'm gonna put spaghetti in my juice

Mom: No, you're not

Grey: Yah! It wouldn't even float!!

...that was not my primary reasoning;-)

Grey's famous line, though he has nothing to offer and simply wants you to give him what you have: Wanna twade? (trade)

Brooks: There is a spider under the weigh scale!

Kenna: There really is, I think its a black widow

Grey: No, is not a black widow. Black Widow has guns

...when you know more about super heroes than you do real life...:-/

I startled him

Grey: Woah, you scay-ud (scared) me out! Don't wowwy (worry) Mom, you dis scay-ud me out!

Grey calls all elevators or escalators or alligators "ah-de-gators"

Grey, spitting accidentally while talking, and then continuing to spit while talking, on purpose...

Kenna: Can you stop it already? You're spitting microbes all over me!!

seeing a baby blue new-but-retro-looking Thunderbird, with the top down...

Grey: Woah! I jus saw Miss Miss Miss-isle! I jus saw Miss Miss Miss-isle!! Dat was wee-ud!!(weird)

*Finn McMissile from Cars 2, in the flesh, apparently:-)

talking about Jean Valjean, as he is about to die...

Brooks: So, he's really old like Grandpa Kennedy

Mom: Hmmm. So how old do you think Grandpa is?
Brooks: 36

Kenna: No, um, he's older, I think 86!

Brooks: Who was right?
Mom: He is 63, so no one

Brooks: Oh wait, but that is my number backwards, so I am mostly right

Kenna: You are not!
Brooks: I would say I am the half winner and Kenna is the half loser

...he would say that...

listening to the radio

Grey: Oh, clud (crud)

Mom: Clllllud? Why do you say oh clud?

Grey: A'cause you changed da song, so I says, oh clud

Brian, holding a complete broken spaghetti serving spoon: What is going on here? Why do we still have this?

Darla: I don't know...it was a wedding gift...it's still good for stirring juice

Brian: I think maybe it's time to let it go, it's been ten years

point taken:-)

Mom: What are you guys doing?
Grey: We're jus doing seek 'n hide!

Kenna: What did you get?
Mom: Just CD's of sermons, like ladies telling how Jesus touched their hearts and changed their lives

Brooks: Oh wow, you definitely need to listen to that!

Somebody thinks I need a little improvement, maybe? ;-)

Mom: We just have to run by Chae's really quick

Kenna: Why?
Mom: 'Cause I need to drop something off

Kenna: What?

Mom: Money

Brooks: Oh, is she starting to get poor?

Mom, laughing: No! She bought stuff for us and we need to pay her back!

Grey: NO NO NO SONNY! Sit back DOWN!!!

Mom: Woah, chill out, I said he could be excused, he's done

Grey: But he didn't boyp yet! (burp)

Mom: He doesn't need to burp, and neither do you, if you're faking it

...the universal "I'm done eating" signal, to boys

Since Maple Syrup is pricey, I often make fake stuff, homemade, like a sugar syrup with maple flavouring...

Brooks, looking at his pancakes: Is this the kind that was sapped out of a tree?

Mom: No

Brooks: oooo, YES!

...and I guess they prefer the fake stuff...

Mom: Ok, and how many of these large land groupings are there in the world?
Brooks: Seven!
Mom: Right. And what are they called?

Kenna: Con-te-nations!

Mom: What comes after six hundred and eighty nine?

Brooks: Six hundred and eighty ten!

About drinking bath water...

Brooks: But no ones even peed in it yet!

Mom: It DOESN'T MATTER, it's still DIRTY!

Really, there are no words. Lets hope we are not still having this conversation 6 years from now. I will consider that a success.

Leaving Wal Mart, passing by someone coming in the store...

Brooks: HEY, THAT MAN SMELLED LIKE FRIED CHICKEN!!!

What I really wonder is, how old they have to be before they learn to *shut up*

On the way to Wal Mart

Brooks: Where are we going?

Mom, weird voice & accent: Wheezy-world

Brooks: Mom, stop. You're so weird!

Grey: Nah, she's da bessst!

Brooks: No way, her and Dad are really weird

Mom: What does Dad say?

Brooks: He's always saying Mama-sah-lah-ma and stuff

Haha! That he does!... "your Mama's a llama" - which is an inside joke pertaining to the way it's pronounced in Canada - lamb-a, and the US - lah-ma

Mom, explaining loss of privilege to Brooks:...and you really can't blame me, every two seconds you were crying about this, whining about that, complaining that someone touched you, someone hurt you, someone stole your crap...

Grey: Stole your cwap? Stole your cwap?! (bursts out laughing) Someones stoled his cwap!!

Grey appears to have inherited a rude humour gene;-)

Grey: Wow! What is de heck is dat?

Kenna: ...You can't judge a book by its cover, Brooks

Brooks: Its colour?

Kenna: No, its coVER

Mom: What does that mean?

Kenna: It's like when one person is weird and one person is pretty you can't judge a book by its cover...well, I mean, I know what it means, I just can't explain it

Kenna: They don't say 'Oh my guh-guh', well you know, I don't really want to say it, but they don't, so I think they must actually love Jesus a little bit

describing his throwing and catching hand in baseball
Grey: Dis one is my over hand, and dis one is my resting hand

seeing a Japanese flag bumper sticker
Grey: I know dis one! It's says nee-chee-wah!

playing "coach pitch" with the kids, Kenna mostly missing the ball
Brooks: Good job, good job. Kenna, I don't even care if you're not very good, I still say good job!!

walking on a path with goose poop on it
Grey: Is dat poo? Hey! Somebody pooped on dis woad! (road)

Mom: Are you wet?!
Grey: I ack-tilly don't want to talk about it
Mom: I actually do! You can't pee your pants!

Kenna: We're almost out of toothpaste, you better give Brooks more for his birthday
...you know how you give kids necessities of life as part of their gifts for Christmas/stockings etc...maybe I've given an extreme impression

Wii opponent is revealed...
Brooks: Oh, this guy! He's a suckerd!
Mom: A suckerd?
Brooks: Yah! I means like, you lose all the time and never win

Brooks: You know you can't beat Grandpa Kennedy, 'cause he's a Ninja
Dad: Oh, he is?
Brooks: Yah! Well, he blocks like a Ninja

Brooks: Grey is the cutest boy in this family!
Mom: He is? Cuter than you?, You're in this family. Cuter than Dad? He's a boy too!
Brooks: Dad is a parent, not a kid. Parents can't even be cute
Mom: Sure they can, just look at me, for example
Brooks, making a strange face: You are not even cute at all
Mom, cracking up laughing
Brooks: How are you kidding me? (how are = were you...)
Mom: I wasn't kidding at all, actually

After May had a very minor trip & fall, and was looking around for sympathy as she debated whether or not to begin crying
Kenna, in a motherly tone: Moe-moe, you're ok! You're being over-reactoring

Kenna: I've seen a commercial for that. Yah, it said Anna Karenina. It was all black and white and they were talking about old fashioned things
Mom: Oh really, like...?
Kenna: I don't know, war and stuff, but it was definitely Anna Karenina

Brooks: Hellllp! Helllllp!
Grey: You need a back up? I'n coming! I'n coming a back you up!

For about 9 months now, maybe longer, Kenna and Brooks have been under the impression that one two nine nine is the biggest number imaginable. That is how they say it, every time. One two nine nine. Anything "infinity" to them is described as one two nine nine, like, Mom, we can't do that, it would take us one two nine nine years!
Brooks: Can you even count to one two nine nine?
Mom: Yes
Brooks: You can?!! Ok, do it then
Mom: Well, I don't really want to, it would take a long time, but it's really not that big of a number. It's a mortgage payment

Watching video footage with me on it...
Brooks: Wow, Mom, you look better on Wii, like you have better hair on Wii
I always knew I shoulda been a cartoon character:-/

Seeing a commercial on TV
Darla: Oh brother, they're bringing Jurassic Park back again?
Lehman: Oh yah eh? What is Jurassic Park?
Darla: It's what made dinosaurs cool...from years before you were born...back when there were only 5 kinds of dinosaurs and one of them was a Brontosaurus
gotta love the wisdom that comes with age...;-)

Brooks: Once I had a bad dream, and I couldn't get back to sleep and my conscience told me to think about something else and then my mind copied my conscience so I was able to get back to sleep
*Brian snickers*
Kenna: Do you even know what a conscience is, Dad?
Brooks: Well, if he had one, he'd know
Mom: exactly, if he had one, he'd know (laughing)
Kenna, seriously: Does he?
Mom: Of course Honey, everybody does. It's something given to us by God
don't joke about that stuff, Mommy;-)

Boys in rainboots, jumping in parking lot puddles
Kenna: Stop it! You'll get me all dirty! (in a grown up tone of revulsion, to no one in particular) Boys are sooo disgusting!!

Exasperated at the mess the kids continually make...
Kenna: Guys! Come on! Mom just broomed the place!
*swept, she meant:-)

on his birthday
Mom: How old are you?
Grey, holding up 3 fingers: Three in March
Mom: Today is March! You can just say three now!

driving in the van...
Grey: c'mon Dad, hit the fast pedal! Hit the fast pedal!!
He loves racing, and winning:-)

holding up his middle fingers...
Grey: Look at my Wolverine hands!

Neighbours felling 2 large trees, and they had to fall into our yard...
Grey: There's a TANK in our yard! It's has shooters!
For the unimaginative types, it was a Bobcat

Grey: Ma! I am reading dis maff (math) book!

Pointing to a Subway sign
Grey: I can read dis!!! Is'says (finger pointing, tracing the letters) Old Navy!

handing him a grilled cheese, cut into "triangles" instead of the normal halves or squares:-)
Brooks: Wow, Mom!! Impressive sandwich skills!!

Grey, handing out snacks: Give me sa'more for da dudes!

entering information online...
Brian: Ooooo, Baron {click}, that is what I want!
Darla: You can't be Baron Brian Bolger, you have to choose Mr!
Brian: I like Baron, it has a nice ring to it (laughing)
Darla: Baron Brian, really? (laughing harder)
Brian: Well, I do have several land holdings, so yes, I actually am a Baron, and I like it (laughing soooo hard)
Darla, can't help but laaaaaauuugh: You are so dumb. Now we're going to get all kinds of paperwork with that on it
He stuck to his guns and went with Baron. "Several land holdings", LOL!

watching a movie
Kenna: Oohhhh, that part always makes me, like, shiver. Even though I know it's coming, I still shiver

taking over a game from Kenna on the Wii
Brooks: I can't believe I'm playing a girl. This is so dumb!
Mom: You can be a girl for one round, c'mon
Brooks: Well, I'm really not supposed to. Dad says we only have to be our own Mii'ers

watching a Disney Short Film...
Brooks: If you lived in that town, you wouldn't need to have a baby in your tummy, the birds would bring them right to you! Wouldn't you like that?
Who wouldn't?! :-)

Kenna: Who is your boss?
Mom: Ardyn & Sonny's moms
Kenna: No, but who is in charge of babysitters?
Mom: The moms of the kids you watch. That is what I do to make money, so it's my job
Kenna: So you're like, in childcare, then?
Mom: Yes, I'm in childcare, that is my job

Kenna: Brooks is a pretty good bird watcher, but I was telling him he was good except for one thing he needs to work on - his quietness. He's not very quiet, I mean, that boy can't keep his mouth shut
...not unlike his sister, perhaps;-)

Brooks: Mom, look! There was half an onion on my spoon and I ate it!
Mom: Wow! And it didn't kill you!
Brooks: Why would it kill me?
Mom: Well with the big deal you make about it, I'm just surprised it didn't kill you
Brooks: I've eaten a small piece before too, you know
Mom: And you're still alive, after all that. Amazing.

after seeing Up for the first time on Sunday
Darla: Wow, Brave won an Oscar!
Brian: Really? Up should have won
Darla: Well it wasn't made this year
Brian: I know, but I don't think it won when it was made
Darla: Maybe not. It's super sentimental
Brian: Very
awww, someone is a softie;-)

arguing over the Kindle's volume control with Brooks
Grey: hey!, Hey!!, HEY!!! What is wrong wiff you? I can handle dis!!

talking with Kenna about whether she's more Canadian, or more American. Mom & Dad each argue their case, and Mom comes out with a low blow to help Kenna in declaring her allegiance...
Mom: Well, you know what they call Americans? Ugly
Kenna: Well, Dad is not ugly!
Mom: Meh, he's borderline
(Brian snickers)
Kenna: Well (lists of many more relatives who are not ugly)
Mom: Ok, ok, true. But what they mean by ugly is that Americans are rude
Kenna: But Dad is not rude!
Mom: aaah, he's *definitely* borderline
Lots of laughter from Brian & I :-) Score 1 for Canada!

Mom: This is a pod of whales
Kenna: No it's a pod of Orcker's
Mom: Or-ca's?
Kenna: uh, Or-kers. They're called a pod of Orcker's
This is what happens when they get all of their marine biology from the Australian cartoon characters on Octonauts:-)

Grey: Oh wook! It's Cap-in Mare-ca Furrs a' Bencher!
If you say it really fast like that, you do get the picture...it's Captain America the First Avenger

Mom: Ok, you ready?
Grey: Yup. Wets (lets) rock and roll dis, Dad says that
Mom: Dad says what?
Grey: Dad says wets rock and roll dis

Rubbing his skinny tummy/abs
Brooks: When I take my shirt off when I'm wearing jeans, I look pretty manly

Right before dinner, kids we've never seen before came looking for playmates outside
Kenna, at dinner: So I was like, it's pretty dangerous to talk to strangers, I mean, they could kill you! But it's pretty lucky you banged into us, we don't kill anyone
Dad: You said that to them?
Kenna: yup!

Grey: Mom, Knock knock!
Mom: Who's there?
Grey: uh, no, you say, Orange who?
Mom: Oh. Orange who?
Grey: One orange pluses two more oranges!
(insert fake laughter from all)

Grey: Happy Valentime's Santa Cwaus! Fanks for all da cannies!!

Brooks: No, no, Mom, it's called first grade, not grade one
Canadian/American problems:-/

Kenna: What is this? Did we used to have a chalkboard?
Mom: uh, yah, we did

Brooks, to Mom: Hey, why are you using a kids cup?
Kenna: Why do you think? She hangs around kids all day. It's how she rolls

Grey: Ma! Watch dis! Watch how da master do's it! Count one-two-free-four bwastoff!

Kenna: And then the funny part is, he says, I'm Tow-Mater african'telligence
...that should be "average intelligence"

Brooks: Mom, what are kilometres?
spoken like a true American:-)

Driving by a house with Christmas decor still up...
Kenna: Wow. What is going on here? (shouting towards house in disgust) Take it down, people! It's almost Valentime's

Mom: Hey Gleggie
Grey: I'm not! I'm Lleyton Gley!

At the playplace
Mom: Hey, make sure you are being nice to all the other children
Kenna: Oh we are. I've actually already made a good friend

Teaching colours fail...
Grey, announces loudly: Look! A black man!
Yes, he was *dressed in* all black. Good eye Grey. Unfortunately he also *was* black. Embarrassed Mommy

Kenna: Once upon a time, Dad raced a car
Brooks: He did?
Kenna: No, it's a once upon a time Brooks. With once upon a times, things may or may not be true

seeing a cruise ship
Grey: Wow! Is'a weally weally big Jowwy Woger! (Jolly Roger)
...also pirate related he says Captain Hook like "Hacken Hook"

with 2 huge hand fulls of mini cookies
Grey: Is this one hundred of them? I need one hundred
Mom: Yes it is! But you can only have this many. That is too much
Grey: Four?! I can't have four, it's not big enough
Mom: It is enough. You can't have one hundred
Grey: Mom, I didn't have one hundred, I onwee (only) have ninety nine
Seriously?! When did this kid get so smart?

Kenna: You know that old metal car that you said your dad would have played with when he was little?...Does that mean he's from the olden days too?
she thinks we're all ancient:-)

holding a remote...
Grey: if I pwess dis button, it makes you happy. If I pwess dis button it makes you a baddie baddie.
Mom: Aw, that wouldn't make me happy
Grey: Well, dis button makes ME a goodie goodie
Mom: That is the button I like!

Kenna: ...so if I can't taste it, I don't mind. Like, Dad told me there were onions in the potatoes, and I was like, awwwwhhh!, but then I tasted them and I couldn't tell so I actually liked it
Brooks: Well, my teeth are very sensitive so that doesn't work for me
Kenna: But teeth are only for chewing
Brooks: Yah, and mine are very sensitive! They can always tell what they're eating

Overheard talking to one of her little friends...
Kenna: Well, it is. It's just your parents
Official title: Kennedy, Crusher of Hopes and Dreams

Brian, to Darla: You need to rein in all the rabbits on all your trails

*******
...painted jars from my grandma... yet another Kennedy lecture
Kenna: That's why Mom is glad she has a girl, so she has someone to give all her stuff to. Like, if I drop these jars, they would become re-available, but who would paint them? No one, she's dead. So that is why Mom gave them to me. Because you guys are too hyper

Playing "store"...
Brooks: Could I have that?...how much does it cost?
Grey: two hundred pounds
Brooks: Ok, how much does that cost?
Grey: zeewo daw-wers (zero dollars), and no hundred pounds!
Apparently, we've got a little English in us...

Grey: ooOOO!! I see da moon! Is'a HALF moon!! Dis means we get...CANNIES!!! (candies) WOOOOO!
Mommy: We do? Is that a thing? Who says?
Grey: I do

Taking a drink of soda and letting out a burp...
Grey: Say b'skews you, Mom
Mom: Oh, yes, excuse me
Grey: Ok, I'm ready to b'skews you Mom. You're b'skews'd
Mom: aww, thanks;-)

Trying to reach candy up on top of the fridge
Grey: Moooooommmy! I need a wonger (longer) chair!

Mom: Don't. Don't. Don't! Kennedy! DON'T! It means stop!!
Kenna: Oh, I thought it meant don't

Brian, laughing hard: Well...nevermind...
Darla: What?
Brian, still laughing: Nothing, nothing. I was gonna say something, but I still want to be married, so...
Darla: Well what?
Brian, still laughing: I can't. Seriously
Darla: You don't get to laugh hysterically and then NOT say what you're laughing about!
...a few minutes later...Darla: So, why were you laughing? What were you going to say?
Brian: Ah, nothing. It's not funny anymore. Had to be in the moment. It's passed.

Daddy: How old are you?
Grey: Two
Daddy: How strong are you?
Grey: Three

the plastic "face" fell off an old clock they play with
Grey: Oh no! This time machine is bloken!! (broken)

Darla: I read something online today that said men cry six times per year, and women cry thirty to SIXTY times per year
Brian: What? Six times?! That seems...really really high
Well I was more thinking the sixty thing was a little high...

For more kicks & giggles click here ('07-'10) and here ('11-'12) and here ('13-now)

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

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