Phrases...

Finally, I have a moment to spare. It seems the minutes fly into hours, hours into days, and days into weeks. This morning our entire crew attended church together for the first time since the end of October. We enjoyed seeing all of the familiar faces, especially the ones belonging to our lovely cousins. Ha Ha! I must admit that the best phrase of the entire morning was, "Yes, we're so happy to be back!" and "Hallelujah, Our Aly has stayed healthy during her "hibernation" this entire season of flu, RSV, and pneumonia!" Thanks to all of you for your prayers! She was so happy to be back with all those loving angels who care for her in the Joy Zone!

We would have made our debut last week, but Mason ran fever. His least favorite phrase became, "Mason, no school for you; you're running fever, again!" He's much better now, especially since he finished up all of his missed work this week and was granted a special sleep-over at his friend's house on Friday night. His favorite phrase was a silent one as I handed him the phone when Jonathon called and I was shaking my head yes to spending the night!

A funny phrase that we love to hear is from Cam, "I hun-gee (hungry), Mommy!" But a popular phrase that lately depicts all of the lost teeth that are flying out of my children's mouths might remind you of a familiar Christmas carol for it seems that all the three little Rumuly's "want for Christmas [their birthdays] is their two front teeth." Kassidy was hilarious about her twin's first lost tooth when he would NOT open his mouth for her to see. She has experience; she has lost two teeth recently. She repeated, "I do not believe it until I see it!" Cam finally opened his mouth for Ethan to look which confirmed the fact that he had indeed lost a tooth. The next morning, Cam exclaimed, "I got co-n (coin)," when he saw what the tooth fairy had left for him.

Ethan and Mason laugh and joke using many silly phrases. Sometimes William and I cannot stand their craziness, mostly because it's nonsense to us. But Ethan speaks in strange ways with his fellow second grade friends, too. He and Jared even have crazy names for each other, "Mwasta Bwebe" and "Darth Bwebe;" note the familiar Star Wars names with the very silly sounds added.

Even Aly Sue has favorite phrases. Although our girl cannot speak, she has clear ways to communicate to us what she needs. When she is wet, dirty or just plain tired of being in her chair, she coughs and clears her throat until Ms. Linda turns her chair towards her room when she promptly "kicky feets" and smiles. She also loves any phrase involving words like Disney, fairy, or princess. One early morning after our trip, I was telling Ms. Linda a story in which I repeated "Disney World" several times. One minute earlier my sleepy angel could not be awakened by my kisses covering her face, but "Disney World" caused her eyes to fly open, curled up a large happy smile, and had her lifting her head as if to tell me she would eagerly get out of her bed for another day at her Magic Kingdom. Seriously while on the trip, this girl allowed me face privileges for sunscreen!

Hmm...Phrases like "I love you" can be heard throughout our house, too. But one that the children find funny is when William tightens his diaphragm to access the low voice of Gaston (from Beauty and the Beast) saying, "You WILL marry me, Belle!" My response is not what you might expect but true to character, "I will NOT marry you, Gaston!" HeHeHe!

In our house, lots of times, "I'm sorry" is forced as is "You're forgiven." Certainly, "Excuse me" should be used more often. Cam joins his brothers and sister, saying "S, er (Yes, Sir) to William. Usually, everyone is generous with "Thank you." And after two months of hard work to fix our house, Dad's happy phrase showed his relief of a job well done and finally finished, "I'm done with everything on your list!" Hooray! And a big, "THANKS, Dad!"

Truthfully, we all have favorite phrases and familiar terms. Every weekday morning, our house hears a sigh of relief and an eager "hello" as William or I greet Ms. Linda into our home for the day. The kids love to hear "snack time" or "time for Martha Speaks." I am sure William least likes to hear from any of his family, "I am tired;" although he never complains. I bet most mothers of young children will agree with my favorite, "It's time for bed!" and "Goodnight, little honey."

Have a happy week, and share some happy phrases this week. I'll try to do the same, especially as our family looks towards Spring Break at the end of the week. Happy phrasing, M&R7