Friday Funnies

Asher has been awfully bossy round these parts, lately. So much so that we call him Mister Bossy Man....a title that he loves. He proudly walks around saying, "I'm Mister Bossssssssy Maaaaaaaan" as if that's his superhero name. McKlayne has started getting swats on her hand for fit-throwing and Asher is constantly on her, "No, ma'am! We don't act like that." Then to me, "Momma, you need to give her a spanking. She's acting ugly. Tell her, 'No Ma'am.' "

Well...that was just background...onto the Friday Funnies.

McKlayne had to get a shot on Monday. Before we left the house I told Asher to pick out some books and pack a few supplies so that he could color, as I explained to him that we wouldn't be playing with Dr. Rusty's toys because a lot of kids have been sick...since...you know...it's flu season...and that the toys might be "yucky." When we got to the office and walked into our room, McKlayne started walking toward the basket of toys.

A: "No, McKlayne. We can't play with Dr. Rusty's toys. They feel sick today. Maybe we can play with them next time, when they feel better."

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While buckling McKlayne into her carseat, I hear a moaning behind me. Asher was standing in the front yard.

M: What's wrong?

A: more moaning....

M: Are you okay? (I was thinking...maybe he's standing in a pile of ants....so I turned around in a panic..)

A: The wind...(he continues to whine as the wind blows his hair...he tucks his head down with his arms over his head)

M: Doesn't it feel so nice? I love this wind!

A: No, the wind...it's trying to steal my pretty blonde hair!

M: (trying not to laugh) Why would it do that?

A: Because the wind likes my blonde hair and wants to trade. It's trying to steal my pretty blonde hair!

Apparently all the swooning over his "pretty blonde hair" has gone to his head!

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And, I'll leave you with this pic:

This Pottery Barn Kids magazine has been his requested potty reading material this week. Seriously. EVERY time he's sat down on the potty this week, he's asked for it. That's my boy. I'm trying to convince Charlie that it's just all the Halloween costumes that he likes to peruse.

Little Punkin...

Hurry! Go make one of these from the dishtowels in the Target Dollar Spot...such a festive, easy little dress.

(It's getting harder and harder to take pics of her these days...she won't stay still and is not quite the camera ham that her brother was and still is...is that because my second child hasn't seen as much as the camera?)

I've made all 3 of my nieces and my neighbor's little girl one....they took me like 10-15 minutes each to make...so easy! (Hope that Stella gets to wear hers before October is over :)

Houston Coupon Class

Heather and I have taught two local coupon classes...and this weekend we're going to Houston to teach one! We have a few spots left if you'd like to come and learn how to save hundreds off of your grocery bill each month. So, if you live in the Houston area and have a Kroger nearby and are interested, go here.

Go check out what Heather got this week....she feeds 5 boys each week plus a ton of other people and spends way less than what she used to.

Think couponing is for junk food only eaters? Go read this post.

Hope to see some of you there!

Friday Funnies

Charlie's Edition of Asher's Friday Funnies:

Disclaimer: we really don't want to offend anyone with the following material, we mean to express this in the most innocent, non-hateful way:

Proof that we need to be more careful about the conversations we have around Asher since he is absorbing everything he hears:

A couple was coming to look at our house, which is for sale by owner, and before they came we realized that they were Jewish, due to the yarmulke the guy was wearing. This spurred numerous questions about the Jewish culture past, present and future in our home for about an hour before they came...mainly all these questions were from Kirby.

"I've heard Jews are rich, is that true?"

"Are those who are Jews today, the same peope who were the Israelites from the Bible?"

"Will all the Jews be saved? Or how does this work, if God protects the Jews, who are his chosen people, but still reject Jesus as their King?"

And there were several more.

Asher loves to watch out the windows for people who are coming over to our house. A few minutes before they arrived, we told him that people were coming to look at our house, and he headed straight for his post. After a few seconds of waiting, he said, "When are they coming?" "In just a few minutes," we said. He then said, "Momma, when they get here, do we need to get them some juice?"

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As Asher and I were playing in the yard the other day, Asher says, "I see Mary." "Dada, look. Is that Mary?" I couldn't think of any Marys that we knew and was a little confused I looked up to see a middle eastern woman from our neighborhood walking down our street with a head scarf.

Friday Funnies

I have been meaning to start this for a while now. But, like most things I plan to do, this has taken weeks to months to actually materialize. It is my hope to collect conversations (or pieces of conversations) from these two tiny people who are always making us laugh by posting funny or sweet comments the kids make each week on Friday's.

For the most part, until McKlayne can contribute, these will be from Asher.

Several funny conversations that I can recall over the last couple months:

I made my niece, Brynn, a pillowcase dress for her birthday in July. Asher was my model since they're pretty much the same size. Throughout the project I would try it on him to see what needed to be taken in, etc. The final time I tried it on him, he looked down at himself, took in a deep breath and said, "Oh, Momma, I'm an angel!!" while twirling around in circles. Now, anytime that McKlayne or I am wearing a skirt or dress he tells us that we look like angels. He is really the angel.

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Since Heather has completely freaked me out of feeding my kids hot dogs, every time Asher asks to eat a hot dog, (other than at Jason's Deli, since ALL the meat there is nitrate free) I tell him, "No, hot dogs will make you sick." One morning I made pigs in a blanket. When Asher climbed up into his chair and saw what was on his plate, he looked at me, his nose wrinkled in total disgust, "Momma, will this hot dog make me sick?"

M: "No, those are different from the other hot dogs."

A: Very relieved, "Oh, good. Will it make me better?"

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About a month or so ago, I had been having a bad day. I was irritable at the kids. Charlie. Everyone. It was a tense day in the Apel home. I was especially irritable at Asher. I had been impatient with him and my tone towards him had been ugly. I had to stop several times throughout the day to apologize to him for "speaking to him in an ugly way." Even after all that, I still hadn't learned. Right before dinner, I was short with Charlie when he asked me a question. Being the wise man that he is, Charlie asked me to pray before dinner (knowing that I needed to examine my heart before I could offer a prayer of thanks to God.) So I started, "Lord, I'm sorry that I've just been ugly to everyone today..." then I hear this tiny little, "Meeeeeeeee!!" I look at Asher and he has one of his hands up in the air as high as he could reach, while his head was still bowed reverently, eyes shut tight. I guess he thought God needed some help in figuring out who I had been ugly to that day. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this point...I think I did both.

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A couple weeks ago, I was in the bathroom getting ready.

A: "Whatcha doing, Momma?"

M: "Fixing my hair."

A: "Oh, it's broken?"

A few of her favorite things...

McKlayne loves...okay, maybe it's more accurate to say that she's pretty much obsessed...with the new purse I made her two days ago. She will not go anywhere without it...outside, her highchair, church, to sleep, (though, this is where I draw the line) the library...nowhere...even when I try to sneak her off without it, she'll catch me, moan and dive toward it.

At Life Group last week, McKlayne started carrying around Riley's purse...and would get VERY upset if anyone tried to take it from her. Since she didn't have a purse or bag of her own, I figured it was time we fixed that.

One of the sweet college girls that frequents our house wanted to having a sewing date last weekend. She worked on a book bag while I worked on the same thing about 1/4 the size of hers for McKlayne.

Here's the entire photo shoot we took today with her new obsession:

What does she carry in her purse, you ask? Her blankie, paci and an occasional play cell phone or set of keys. It cracks me up that she knows to put them in there.

I "heart" this pocket on the front. It's my favorite detail of the purse, but I especially love how her chubby little hands dilligently try to put her paci in that front pocket, but can't quite manage to do it by themselves yet.

I also love how she prissily poises her wrists up in the air...reminds me of my college roommate, Kristen.

Whew. Pooped after all that prancing around for the pictures.

This is so that I don't forget those squishy, chubby rolls or chunky arms that I love to squeeze. They too quickly left your brother, despite how I begged for them to stay. Oh, how I will miss them once they're gone!

What else does she love?

Him.

Actually she adores him. But who wouldn't love someone who greeted you with, "Hi, Pretty!" the moment that he saw you every morning? Or how about, "Hey, Nayney! How was your nap? Did you have a good nap, sweet girl?" each time I retrieve her from her crib. I love how his inflection matches mine when he repeats things that I frequently say. (I often hear my echoed phrases throughout this house. Sometimes they're sweet and sometimes I cringe as I'm reminded of how much he's observing and soaking up everything he sees...eager to imitate. This role of motherhood regularly reminds me of the gospel-my sinfulness, the grace I've received and how much retraining I still need!)

How silly it was of me when I initially felt sad for Asher when I first found out I was pregnant with her! I felt guilty that he'd soon be replaced as "my baby". Why do we doubt God's sovereignty sometimes? He would not be the same sweet boy without her. Nor would she be the same prissy princess that we love so much, without him.

Sitting in chairs. There's hardly a Nayney-sized chair that she'll pass up without trying it out. She thinks she's so big and you can tell how proud she is each time she ever so carefully climbs into one.

Straws. She prefers straws over sippy cups because she learned how to drink from my Sonic Lime waters LONG ago. I guess you could call her a straw snob.

She looks like one here.

Her shopping cart. Both my children love this birthday gift that Honey gave her. Both of them will push it up and down the hall, loading it with groceries, dolls, animals or blocks.

Her Fun Flow Sink from Grumpy and Grammy. This is another thing that Asher and her could play with for HOURS! They usually need a bath immediately afterward since our front yard is dirt right now, but it's one of the only things they can do for a long time outside since it's just so hot!

Shoes. I loved these Riley Roos that my mom got her from MamaBargains. They're canvas and leather... so comfy and they go with everything. McKlayne would like some more, please, Mimi.

My sister got her a pair of Mary Jane Crocs for her birthday that are PRECIOUS. They are brown and match mine. She walks over to the shoebox under our bench and retrieves them when I tell her that she needs shoes before she can go outside.

Most days before I have a chance to put her shoes on, she'll go pick out a pair from the shoebox and bring them to me. What have I done? She already loves purses and shoes. Sorry, Honey...you have some expensive habits to train out of us...I mean...her.

Utensils. Yes, yet another thing to reinforce how quickly she's growing.

And these last pictures are for Natalie...did you ever think she'd be big enough to wear this? I didn't.

Can't wait to see you this weekend, Nat!

Look who's walking...

McKlayne just started walking today!

She's been taking a couple steps here and there the last few days, but today it "clicked".

Here's a video:

(You can hear big brother in the backround...who's actually on the potty...saying, "I'm ready to walk" and "Good boy, Nayne." ALWAYS has to bevinvovled, that boy!)