Hazel quotes

August 2013: I told Hazel that I needed to figure out where the library was before we left. She said, "Maybe at Seattle." When Noel got home from work, I told the kids to tell him where we went (the library) and they both said, "Seattle!!!" I have no idea why they think the library is in Seattle.

Hazel walked out of the bathroom one day and said, "Hazel looking good."

September 2013: Nona was chewing on a shoe and in all seriousness Hazel said, "That might be a shoe. Not a snack."

I asked Hazel if I was cool or weird. She said, "Mommy weird. Hazel cool." And so it begins...

October 2013: Hazel was standing on the tiny bear Bible and said, "Look Mommy! Hazel standing on the tiny Jesus bear!"

November 2013: I asked Hazel what kind of cupcake she wanted for her birthday. She didn't understand so I gave her choices. Her response (always in 3rd person), "Hazel want it to taste like yummy." Not a choice, but honest!

Hazel got her clothes off for the bath and came walking towards me saying, "This is the nakee one. The nakee one is coming towards you, Mommy."

I wore the same sweater 2 days in a row and on the second day, Hazel asked, "Why's mommy keep wearing that sweater?" She called me out.

I told Jude he could sit and ask rudely (for something he wanted) til the cows came home, but he wasn't going to get what he wanted. Hazel said, "Where are the cows, Mommy?"

"I was just completely, I was just completely helping Jude mommy because helping Jude is loving others as we love ourselves, Mommy." 

Hazel was standing in the hallway closing the door saying, "You go night night Buster!" to Jude who was in their room.

December 2013: Nona was sitting on the toilet. I asked her if she was going to go pee. Hazel says, "It comes out her gina."

I told the kids we were going to Grandma's for Christmas. Hazel, said, "And then Jesus will be there!"

January 2014: "I painted this pretty picture for Daddy. He will looove this "h" and these handprints."

Hazel complained her tummy was hurting. I said, "Do you need oil on it?" She said, "No I do not need oil on it. I just love Jesus."

I told Nona it was time to get dressed and she wasn't listening. Hazel went up to her, put her arm around her and said, "Sweetie pie, now you go get dressed."

Hazel saw big snowflakes coming down outside and exclaimed, "There are crumbs outside!"

I asked Hazel if she needed a kleenex. She replied, "I already have a Kleenex hanging out in my pocket."

February 2014: After seeing some deer in our back yard one night, Hazel stood by the window in the morning yelling, "Reindeer where are you? Where are you reindeer?"

We often sing "Who's the king of the Jungle?" and there's a part in there that spells J-E-S-U-S. Hazel always says, "J E Snake E S!"

Noel was gone one evening and Hazel said, "Hazel has Mommy. Hazel has 1 person here."

Jude was talking in a baby voice (which I asked him not to do a lot) and Hazel says, "Jude does not need to use that voice, Mommy." She is such a mom! Then later, Jude was copying what Hazel was saying (which he also does a lot) and she said, "Jude does not need to just copy what I'm saying, Mommy."

At bedtime, Hazel prayed, "Thank you for the carrot that Hazel did not like."

We are still working on helping Hazel with her constipation issue. One day I asked her if she had pooped yet. She said, "No. I just having a hard time pushing it out because it is really stuck."

"The sun is bothering Hazel's bless you's! The sun is making Hazel do too many bless you's!

March 2014: Hazel told me her name new name was "Lazy Mary Hazel Child Grandma".

I gave the kids lunch one day and Hazel said, "There are crazelnuts in these bars!"

"I really wish I could wear in feet pj's but I always want out feet pj's!" What? (Referring to sleepers vs. just shirt and pants).

"Maybe I will turn into a ladybug soon. Right now I am a kid but maybe after breakfast I will turn into a ladybug. I will try but I will still just be a kid. That is my message to you."

"There's some poopy crumbs. They are swimming around" (after flushing)

"Bye bye pee. Have a good sleep! Go find some poopy to snuggle with!" (after flushing her pee).

"Whoa! Hazel has really crazy hair going on!"

"2 kids have pj's on but 1 kid has no pj's on because 1 kid wants to eat nakee nakee." (Hazel referring to herself)

"I was just screaming in my bed when I was just asking for music class to come back and not be all done." This was after 7 weeks of Hazel standing completely frozen in the middle of the class every week while all the kids participated around her.

April 2014: Hazel came out of the bathroom and said, "I did poopy. There's some in the toilet and some on the floor." Ahhhh!!!!

After a large poop on the toilet she said, "It's really really huge and stinky and it was just ready to come out. I was doing farts in my bed and the poopy was stuck but then it was just ready to come."

"Oh! Grass! It was hiding under the snow, Mommy!"

Hazel decided one day she was done with diapers and ready for underwear (she was night trained before day trained). She put underwear on and said, "These are really really soffy and I'm all done wearing diapers." (she always says "soffy" when referring to soft things)

Hazel was trying to get Nona to make animal sounds from a book with her and Nona wasn't complying. Hazel says, "If you want lunch, you need to read this book with me. Do you want lunch?" Such a mom!! And no, I've NEVER said that!

May 2014: Hazel: "I have my shoes on the wrong feet." Me: "You do? How about you put them on the right feet?" Hazel: "No. I just like them on the wrong feet." Then in a silly voice, she adds, "Whatever you say, Hazel!"

Pretending to read a book, "We will build the play set and we will not fight over the play set and we will not fight over the swings. We will not do bad behavior."

While praying at bedtime, "Thank you for Hazel's bad behavior at nap time."

June 2014: "After lunch I will not goof off. I will just go right to sleep. I will not even goof off or anything. I will not even open the drawer or come out to potty. I will just close my eyes and go fast asleep. I will not get any wipes or diapers or anything."

"I want the blender to come back on!" (referring to the thunder outside)

Hazel was watching Nona get dressed one morning and said, "You are missing an armhole with your arm, Sweetie."

July: Hazel and Nona were talking and Hazel says, "Do you love me Nona?" Nona says, "Yeah, I do." Hazel says, "We are friends Nona bear. We are friends ourselves."

September 2014: "God and Jesus live in a different state. They don't live here with us."

I put real peanut butter on the kids celery one day for lunch (instead of sunflower butter) and Hazel says, "Mommy! This peanut butter tastes like a cookie!" Such deprived kids...

Anything that has happened in the past is usually referred to as "long day ago".

The kids were "reading" my sudoku books on my bed one day. Hazel says "But the numbers tried to help their mommy's."

Every night, Hazel and Jude give us "muffin hugs" and "muffin kisses" or "ice cream cone hugs" and "ice cream cone kisses". I have no idea when this started, but it happens EVERY night. They give us a hug and kiss and say, "Muffin hug. Muffin kiss." "Ice cream cone hug. Ice cream cone kiss."

Jude quotes

November 2013: I asked Jude what he wanted for his birthday. He said, "A cupcake." I asked if he wanted any toys or anything. He said, "No, just a cupcake with peanut butter on it." (by peanut butter, he means frosting). Easy to please!

Noel turned on the shower one night instead of the bath and Jude yelled, "Daddy made a stake!" instead of mistake and laughed hysterically.

He always calls robots "rote bots" and cucumber "cute cumber".

December 2013: I told the kids they were having mango juice and Jude said, "Like a flamingo?" Then Hazel asked for more flamingo juice.

We opened stockings and had cinnamon rolls on Christmas Eve. When we were done, Jude (in a completely monotone voice) said, "That was a fun party, Mommy." The tone just cracked me up.

February 2014: Jude told me his bunny and aardvark stuffed animals were up in the closet but he has "these animals in my bed because they are very special."

Jude told me he talked to God about using his fork and trying not to use his hands when eating. That was a big step up from his prayer the prior week, "Thank you for garbage."

Jude was playing with his trucks one morning and said, "Mater has a name. Queen has a name. Green truck has a name." Noel said, "Oh? What's green truck's name?" Jude replied, "Green truck." Duh.

March 2014: I asked Jude to hold Nona's hand. He says, "Jude's hand is getting tired!" (his excuse - he's not a good hand holder).

The kids have lots of food restrictions and we often tell them they can't have something because it will hurt their tummy. They are SO understanding! One day Hazel said, "These brownies will hurt Hazel's tummy." Jude replies, "These brownies will hurt Jude's back and Jude's penis." Say what?!?!?!

June 2014: Jude and Hazel went straight from nap time to time out one day. They were sitting next to each other in timeout and I heard Jude say, "I did bad listening, Hazel, so I had to go in timeout." Hazel said, "You did?" Jude, "Yeah, I did bad behavior."

The kids were playing outside with beach towels and Jude was pretending to read the tag: "We will do no throwing fits."

August 2014: After a few naked days potty training, I let Jude wear underwear. He said, "These are BEAUTIFUL truck underwear, Mommy!"

September 2014: While reading a sudoku book, "Then they (the numbers) had to get a timeout. But they wandered off and they ate their breakfast."

October 2014: After reading about Jesus dying on the cross, Hazel said "Jesus is sad." I said, "Yeah, why is Jesus sad?" Jude exclaims, "Because he got hanged on a hook!"

Nona quotes

January 2014: While playing the piano at Grandmas, Nona said, "Nona playing this organ. Mommy dance. Nona making a sound."

"I get kitty Ruby one more snack, moooooommmmmy." (The kids like to stretch out "Mommy" at the end of sentences.

Nona constantly calls our friend, Chris, (who we call Ms. Chris) Christmas. She was playing with bubbles that Chris brought and said, "Christmas brought these for Nona!" I had no idea who she was referring to for the longest time. Hilarious.

I asked Nona if she wanted to go to Hope College, Calvin College, or Alma College. She said, "Go to Elmo College. Go to Cookie Monster College." Apparently she heard Alma as Elmo. Hilarious.

March 2014: Nona saw a minute of the show "Property Brothers" on HGTV and said, "What are those boys doing?" She calls men and women of all ages, boys and girls.

When I put Nona to bed she said, "Mommy is too sweet." and put her head on my shoulder. Melt my heart.

I told the kids there were hazelnuts in the bars I made them for lunch. Nona responded, "There are Nona nuts in these bars!"

Some maintenance guys came to do work on our house and Nona says, "Those guys LOVE Nona!"

April: Nona came waltzing in my room first thing in the morning. She had her hand in her diaper and said, "I'm touching my gine!"

Nona likes to add, "That is very nice of...!" to the end of things. "I taking this baby to the potty. That is very nice of Nona!"

"Nana and Papa go to Grandma Dorie's house. That's very nice of Nana and Papa!"

"That was very nice of Daddy to hold Nona's hand in the carwash."

Instead of "by myself", Nona says, "I do it with myself!" or "I do it for myself!"

May 2014: Nona's prayer, "Dear God. Thank you that Nona could go on the potty. Thank you that Nona did not stand up. Thank you that Nona could do a fart."

June 2014: Nona asked for spray on her bottom when I was changing her diaper. I put some on and she said, "oooooooh my bottom is spicy!". Ha!

July 2014: Nona showed me a picture of Grandpa and said, "This is Grandpa. Do you know Grandpa? Grandpa is my best friend."

September 2014: Nona ripped 2 pages out of a book. I told her no and then asked what she was doing. "I was just pretending this was wrapping paper on a present, Mommy!". Nice, Nona.

October 2014: Nona asked Jude if she could get him some toilet paper. He said, "no." She yelled, "But I'm nice!"

She put on her Sunday shoes to wear to the store. I told her those weren't good shoes for the store. She said, "But I want to pretend these are good ones."

While eating a booger (which she ALWAYS does!) she spit it out and said, "Get this, Mommy! This part of my booger is too yucky for me!"

Then and now

Almost a year ago.
IMG 0788 from Noel Snyder on Vimeo.

A few days ago.
IMG 1363 from Noel Snyder on Vimeo.

Nona - 2 1/2

Nona is FULL of personality at 2 and 1/2 years old! She is so verbal, hilarious, a major tester, sneaky,  injury prone, messy, imaginative, and more.

Nona is the only child so far to have a major split in her head. We didn't take her for stitches since we have a doctor friend here who glued and taped up her wound. We're hoping her scar majorly fades or disappears.
She's also the only one we've had to make emergency stops for while taking walks. We've stopped at 2 different houses for bandaids due to Nona falling and scraping up her knees pretty bad. One person we knew, one we didn't. Hey, it's a good way to meet new people! Knock on the door, show them your bleeding child, and ask for a bandaid. :)

When berry picking this summer, Nona ended every picking session with an empty bucket. She ate more strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries than I though humanly possible (straight eating for over 2 hours).

I often find myself saying, "Nona is a disaster.". She is seriously SO messy in EVERYTHING she does. I thought Jude's messy eating couldn't be touched, but Nona out does him nearly every meal. Painting usually ends with me overly frustrated. If there's anything that could make a tiny mess, Nona will find it and turn it into a big mess.

Nona takes GREAT joy in riding "Sandy" at Meijer.

While Noel was out of town, I had to leave the kids unattended to catch a shower. Normally this isn't an issue (they actually usually play really well together). However, on this occasion, Nona found the sunscreen and covered herself and my bed in it. I wasn't happy when I found her. She simply says, "I was just putting sunscreen on, Mommy!" as if that's a perfectly acceptable thing to do. Ahhhh!!!!

Caught in the sunscreen act (attempt number 2).

Nona is the most daring of the kids. She's the only one who'll try walking on this wobbly snake at the park.

She loves carrying Baby Jenny in her shirt (like a baby carrier) and is often rocking, bouncing, and snuggling her babies. She has such a natural instinct for this.

Blueberry picking was her favorite. When we were finished, she started crying and said, "Why don't I have any blueberries in my bucket, Mommy?" Ummmm, you ate them all Nona. I quickly grabbed a few handfuls, threw them in her bucket so she wouldn't leave with an empty bucket but by the time we got to the stand to pay, she had eaten those too. Silly girl.

Nona loved the dolls at Grandma Dorie's house.

Nona loves to use the phrase "I was just pretending..." to explain her behavior. She ripped 2 pages out of a book. I told her that was unacceptable. She says, "But I was just pretending this was wrapping paper, Mommy!". She wants to wear underwear and I tell her no. "But I just want to pretend this underwear is a diaper, Mommy!". Ummmmmm, no.

She always uses "she" and "he" instead of "her" and "him". 

• I want she's blanket on. (referring to her doll)
• Where's she's pacifier?
• I want he to come out of the TV so I can give he a hug. (referring to Curious George)

She made up the word "who body" (combining "somebody" and "who") which I find hilarious.

• Whobody did a bless you, Mommy? (Who sneezed?)
• Whobody farted, Mommy?

She uses "I" instead of "me".

• Let I just help you with that.
• Let I open it.

Can I take a smile of you? (Can I take your picture?)

When she wakes up in the morning or nap time, she whines in her bed "Nona got awake!" until someone comes and gets her.

I tried to explain to her that her eyes are hazel eyes. She looked at me and said, "But these are Nona eyes." Similiary, we had hazelnut date balls for lunch one day. She asked what was in them and I said, "hazelnuts". She said, "But, these are Nona nuts!". Having Hazel be a color, a nut, and her sister is proving to be confusing.

Meijer Gardens Fall Fun!

Thanks to Grandma's Meijer Garden membership, the kids get to visit quite frequently for free! They LOVE Meijer Garden's and often play pretend that they're going to Meijer Gardens. The changing exhibits keep it fresh and this great fall weather made for a great afternoon!

 It was warm enough to play in the water! Summer and Fall in the same day!

 What could be more fun than a field of giant pumpkins?

Can we get a nice picture?

This is what usually happens when I ask the kids if we can get a nice picture. At least one child will deliberately look away from the camera. At least one will make a silly face. At least one will make a nasty face. At least 2 will think it's hilarious that I'm getting frustrated. And then all 3 will want to see  the picture. I'm better off with candids.