“Emily, your bracelet looks very pretty.”
– Mama, noticing Emily wearing one of her Christmas presents

“Thank you. I like it because it’s diamonds.”
– Emily, politely but incorrectly

“Actually, I think it’s probably crystals.”
– Mama, not entirely certain that it’s not plastic

“Well, Amanda’s bracelet is diamonds.”
– Emily, determined to find diamonds somewhere

“NO! It’s RECTANGLES!”
– Amanda, who knows her shapes, if not her imitation precious stones…

“Gram-gram got me a pair of shoes… gram-gram got me a pair of shoes…”
– Mama, singing her intention to use a Christmas check for weighted work-out shoes she’s wanted.

“Parrot juice?”
– Emily, from across the room, wondering why anyone would ever want to buy that!

“Did you even chew that?”
– Daddy, after watching Amanda gulp a spoonful of tortellini soup and appear to swallow it whole

“I’m chewing a tomato.”
– Amanda, opening her mouth to show Daddy

“It looked like you swallowed it.”
– Daddy

“I swallowed the drinky part.”
– Amanda

“Mama, God is up in heaven sitting on his thorn.”
– Amanda, very seriously, showing Mama she was (sort of) listening during Bible story time

“Mama, Emily bless-you’d all over me!”
– Amanda, very annoyed at being showered by Emily’s uncovered sneeze

“We could teach them sign language now, while they’re young.”
— Shannon, continuing the homeschool discussion about which foreign languages to teach the girls and at what ages

“Sign language may screw up future efforts at language education because it’s totally different in how it’s put together.”
— John

“But people teach babies sign language.”
— Shannon

“Sure, they teach them “please” and “thank you,” not “May I go upstairs and change my clothes?”.
— John

“Because babies can’t change their clothes!”
— Emily 🙂

Lunchtime

“Do you think there’s a nutritional element to her eyes?”
– Mama, to Daddy, trying to figure out what is causing Emily’s eyes to get red and swollen

“You think she has food allergies?”
– Daddy, clairifying

“But I NEED to eat!!”
– Emily, quite dismayed, thinking she might have an allergy to ALL food

“Ice ceam!!!”
– Lucas, the two-year-old son of family friends, excited about desert at a shared meal

“No, Lucas, its ‘ice cweam’!”
– Amanda, the two-year-old budding English Professor