“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

“Mama, look! I set up a birthday party for you!”
– Emily, very excited, showing off her carefully arranged tea party set, 2 weeks after her first “non-family” birthday party

“You did? Oh, I didn’t know it was my birthday.”
– Mama, who isn’t due for a birthday for a couple months yet

“It is! It’s your… [thinking hard]… 15th birthday!”
– Emily, trying to think of a big enough number

“OK, animals, you all go in the ark so you don’t get destructed!”
– Emily, playing “Noah”

“Dear God, please help me to stay in bed and not get up and go to Amanda’s room and turn on the light and tell her to get up and take her in to my room and bounce… (pause) … because I’m not supposed to do that.”
– Emily, at nightly prayers, surprising everybody but God

“Dear God, thank you for a nice room to sleep in…”
– Emily, doing a scan around the room

“Emily, how about saying ‘Thank you’ for something you can’t see?”
– Daddy, trying to inspire her to be more creative in her prayers

“Dear God, thank you for my heart… and for You…”
– Emily, praying creatively