Memory Lane

Reading through old posts on a message board I was a member of for years, I came across some gems from my kids' younger years. Here's a little taste of what life has been like living in a house full of rannygahoots...

Cast 

Alia: 14 months old

Coren: 3.5 years old  

Scene The Living Room 

Coren appears on the stairs naked, except for a red sash slung over his shoulder and across his belly, holding a sword. Alia, who had been nursing, breaks her latch and exclaims, "Where sawd doe?" Coren races up the stairs and down again with a sword for fair Alia, who has wiggled herself off the futon. Coren tosses a sword to Alia, who amazingly kinda sorta catches it and stands, feet apart, sword at the ready. Coren moves in for his attack, exclaiming, "Taste my steel!" and they have at it, Alia holding her own against the fearsome Cap'n Moondragon. "Tang ting!" exclaims Alia as they battle. Coren turns to say something to Mama, and Alia, seeing her opportunity, growls at Coren and valiantly brings her sword up between his legs.
Thus ends a great battle.

Alia has never been a big fan of naps. Apparently, at age 2, she was having technical difficulties with her nap...

Me: What happened to your nap? 

Alia: It fell off. 

Me: It fell off? 

Alia: It fell off my face and woke my body up.

That really does explain a lot that I didn't know about naps.

Many times, it wasn't the conversations that got me - it was walking into a room and seeing something like this: 

That would be Zachary at age 7, during his climbing-door-frames stage. 

Or that fateful day in March of 2011, just one day shy of April Fool's Day, when the following transpired:

Seven minutes into taking a break and enjoying a cup of coffee I heard strange squishing noises coming from the dining room. And a certain 3 year old was being waaaaay too quiet. 

When I asked the 3 year old, who was in the dining room, what was going on in there, she said, "Nothing." 

Not wanting to move at that particular moment, I sent an 8 year old on a reconnaissance mission. She simply stated, "Alia's ... er .... green," and fled upstairs as to avoid being asked to help clean up.  

I left my coffee and my comfy futon to discover...

As I set my eyes upon this wondrous sight, I knew I had two options: either I could get angry, or I could get the camera. I got the camera, this photo, and a wonderful memory of reveling in the fabulous squishyness of green kids' paint with my youngest daughter.

I am so thankful for my odd children and the myriad strange and wonderful memories we share - and the message board that allowed me this walk down memory lane!