53 Shades of Freckle

Mommy: "Vanessa, I do believe you have more freckles on your face."
Vanessa: "I have fifty-three freckles."
Mommy: "Fifty-three? How do you know?"
Vanessa: "Daddy counted them last time we were at tailgating. He said there are fifty-three now. Really. He did."

My heart skipped a beat. Surely Daddy just blurted out any number.
Later, when giving him a summary of our day, I told him the story Vanessa shared. He replied that although he may have miscounted and been off by a few, he really did attempt to count each one. My heart skipped another beat.

Performance

"Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence."
~Vince Lombardi

Carving Out Time

The kids woke Wednesday morning extra excited by the snow. Vanessa ran through the house analyzing aloud why God thought today would be a great day for a snow. Zane ran around slapping a hand on a leg while claiming it was funny that it snowed. After eating a few snowflakes that seemed to be on the verge of rain, Vanessa was able to make one snowball before heading to school.

It's been time to carve pumpkins. I prefer to carve pumpkins on the front porch. But too cold and windy for me today! So inside it was! And that ended up a good thing since the kids were better able to bounce around on pumpkin designs and related activities. As Daddy carved an opening, Zane and Vanessa drew designs for the pumpkins. They helped gut them. Vanessa loved using the word gut. As Daddy carved out designs, the kids colored baby pumpkins and Mommy harvested seeds. And before baths, they took turns sawing pumpkin with a knife.

The amazing result:

After indulging in some Buckeye spirit, Daddy did an awesome job carving the pumpkin on the right exactly how Vanessa designed it.

We reminisced how Vanessa was frightened the first time Daddy pulled out a knife to cut into a pumpkin. Vanessa brought it up. What an impression!

Spinner and Spinnerette

Daddy can spin these two at almost warp speeds.

Goons at the Zoo

Vanessa had fun with the following picture using Picmonkey.com. She applied makeup. Maybe using software programs to clown around with makeup will satisfy any desire to actually wear it . . . for a little while, anyhow . . .

While at the zoo, Vanessa often asks if she can get her face painted. I always suggest we pass due to price and length of time she'll keep it on her face. So to have fun with the desire, I have a set of face painting markers at home. When we got home this time, I promised I would paint faces. Vanessa asked if she could be a witch and Zane wanted a spider on his face. It lasted 30 minutes, maybe. :-) Once we cleaned it off, Vanessa said she understands why we don't pay for it at the zoo. :-)

Herd

You may have heard that Zane is known to stand his ground and defend himself and his herd. He's also great to get back up and dust off to try again. He's truly an amazing cowboy.

Figure of Speech

For the very literal person she is, it's quite interesting to observe Vanessa's love for different forms of figure of speech. She began analyzing them a couple of years ago, and now she is very proud to use and create many. After her use of one, she often explains "That's a figure of speech. Get it?"

Recently, after picking Vanessa up from school, she bubbled over with proud news. "Mom! Guess what?! Mrs. Denner pulled my gator claw for a prize!" Avery kids earn gator claws from the school counselor. All of the gator claws are placed in a tub for a drawing on Mondays. Vanessa earned her gator claw for being a responsible student. After announcing her wonderful news, she showed me the prize she chose and went on to explain "Mom, when I heard my name on the intercom, the whole school heard it. I thought my heart was going to explode out of my chest! That's a figure of speech."

I won't be able to capture all of her examples here, but a few will take us back to this time when Vanessa was consumed. Just like at the store the other day, while window shopping, she checked out the Imaginex display and said "I've wanted this ever since the day I was born!" Well, not really, of course, but we told her to add it to her already extremely long Christmas list. :-)

Bridge to Vanessa

Although at times troubled slightly by insecurity, her mind is quite inventive and she is always looking for ways to share. When we explain there can be a time and place for something so she might want to reconsider a decision or other options, she will proclaim that she's not particularly bothered by what others think, and so she pushes forward. I admire this fierce confidence in her.

Her world of imagination and creativity is seemingly unbounded, so when I noticeably tire from her exhaustive list of ideas, she still craftily builds a bridge to my world. As she crosses back over, I try to remember that her company contributes to my purpose.

Just Giggles

Zane must think I'm my own breed. :-) In response to emptying a bag of very few pretzels into a bowl so someone would eat them, Zane asked me "Do Vickies want pretzels?"
Mommy: "I don't want any right now but feel free to eat some."
Zane: "No. Do Vickies like pretzels?"
Mommy: "Did you ask if Vickies like pretzels?"
Zane: "Yes."
Mommy: "I don't know if all Vickies like pretzels, but I'm willing to guess that some do."

Zane's Monday was a "Hold me!" Monday. So we were sitting on the chair together, again, with him partly draped across my lap and he exclaimed "Hold me!!" Sort of joking I grabbed his arm to pull him closer. He gasped "Hey. . . !" I chuckled, "Well you need me to hold you closer?" Zane replied in a very serious manner, "But that's dangerous. You could hurt me."

*Zane gets excited about sequencing numbers to 20 successfully! 

Walk to School Day

Dru loves that her friend Vanessa walks to school -- so much so that it's a special treat to swing by for the walk. These two free spirits could get lost on their way to school, though -- they talk, skip, blow dandelions (I'm sure the neighbors appreciate us), hold hands, and play rock-paper-scissors. (Notice that they should be crossing the street -- "Quick! One more time.") Good thing they have Zane and me! Well . . . me anyhow . . . :-)

Crowding in Three

The theme to the week ended up being something with crowding in three. :-) I'm crowding in three more pictures of Zane with this post. After seeing them, I know you're asking how can I avoid that?! I can't.

Last week we crowded in a three-visit service call for the third replacement of our hard drive on my work laptop. (This must be why sometimes Zane leaves out four when he counts.) We put a third water pump on the Grand Prix since purchasing in 2004. In the adorably cute words of Zane "Seriously?! Darn it."

Some brighter notes: Daddy wrapped up his third class for this semester. Daddy also had three successful interviews for a new position at OSU. Zane celebrated turning three in three big ways. I'm sure there are more happenings related to three. One thing is for sure, we won't forget the time when Zane turned three.

On Horse Poop

I'm documenting a few of the horse poop references Zane has made. Ever since our trip to Gatlinburg, when we were certain to keep an eye out for horse poop on the trails, he's been consumed. I figured we could do without a picture of horse poop -- a laughing  horse seems more appropriate for this post. :-)

Zane: "Smell my feet, Mom."
Mom [Sniff. Sniff.]: "Stinky."
Zane: "Smells like horse poop."

Zane: "What do fish eat?"
Mom: "Fish food flakes."
Zane: "No. Fish eat horse poop."

Zane [pointing at busted black walnut]: "What is that?"
Mom: "There's a black walnut in there. It fell from the tree, above us."
Zane: "No it not. It's horse poop."

While walking into the zoo:
Zane [Sniff. Sniff.]: "What's that smell?"
Mom: "I don't know. What do you think you smell?"
Zane: "Smells like horse poop here."
While watching the horses at the barn:
Mom: "What does it smell like here?"
Zane: "Smell like horse poop."

Order Up!

Sandwich Preparation

Who needs a salad when you can just dip lettuce in ranch dressing?!

A master at multitasking.

Apples dipped in ketchup -- yum!

Mom: "What would you like for lunch?"
Zane: "A banana and sandwich. Sandwich with ham. And cheese chips." [A few minutes pass by.]

Zane: "Mom, I want agua."
Mom: "You want what?"
Zane: "Agua please!"
Mom: "Is that another word for water?"
Zane: "Yep!"

Must be Spanish from Nick Jr. :-)