Kids say the darndest things

So, being a mommy is THE BEST thing ever. A close second? Being an aunt to some of the coolest nieces and nephews on the planet. I love them all so much and I am thankful that my girls are growing up with great family! I grew up with some awesome cousins and I'm happy that God has blessed me with who He has.

Now, my kids say and do some of the funniest things, and there are times when I receive a text from my brother or one of my sisters-in-law that has me in stitches over something one of their kids says or does. That being said, I received this text last week from my brother about my 3 year old niece that watched him change my 2 year old nephew's diaper (My 7 year old, Jessalyn, was there also):
Joey says: Changing Tucker's diaper, Preslee walked over and said, "Is that a long tootie? I want to have a long tootie! Jessalyn, Tucker has a long tootie, do you want to have a long tootie?" Jessalyn said, "Preslee sit down."
We all got a good long laugh out of this text and Joey told us that Preslee was dead serious as she was saying this. Two days ago, my brother's wife Cassey wrote me to say:
Preslee: "Why don't I have a long tootie?" Cassey: "That's the way God made your tootie." Preslee: "I don't want God to make it. I wanted to Jesus to make it and I wanted it long!"
They are taking their two girls to Disney World next week and I told Joey that Preslee was going to be so excited! He said, Yeah, maybe it will take her mind off having a long tootie. LOL

Surveys :)

So, one of the cutest things that I am glad I started so many years ago is asking my girls the same survey every couple years. I first asked Jessalyn when she was 3 years, 5 months old. I just asked Mattilyn her first survey and coincidentally enough she is 3 years 5 months old! This makes me very happy :D
I am going to try to post both surveys on here so everyone can enjoy these as much as I do. The second survey I asked Jessalyn was just before she turned 6, so now that she is almost 8 it is time to ask her again. These just really make this mommy smile!
Since I don't see how to attach a word document, I will copy and paste the whole survey for each girl at age 3 as well as the one from when Jessalyn was almost 6. This might get a tad long, but to me it's worth it :)

Jessalyn Rose Butler - 3/12/09 – 3 years old

1. What is something mom always says to you?
be sweet

2. What makes mom happy?
me!

3. What makes mom sad?
i'm bein uggy

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
tickle me

5. What was your mom like as a child?
like me

6. How old is your mom?
(she stretched her arms out and said that old)

7. How tall is your mom?
(this time she stood on one foot and stretched tall and said this big)

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
play with me

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
work

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
me

11. What is your mom really good at?
me

12. What is your mom not very good at?
whippin my tail (i'm not even joking, this is what she said)

13. What does your mom do for a job?
write

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
broccoli (i thought for sure she would say mexican)

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
cause you hug me

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
mickey mouse

17. What do you and your mom do together?
play hide and seek

18. How are you and your mom the same?
cause we different. cause we do want to be the same and we are the same.

19. How are you and your mom different?
cause that's how God made us (i LOVE this kid!)

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
i'm gonna miss my movie. i'm not saying until you let me have smiley faces (her candy)... yeah, i bribed her to answer these questions....

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
when he bes sweet

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
the mall (wow, she DOES know me!)

Mattilyn Iris Butler – 8/8/13 – 3 years old

1. What is something mom always says to you?
I’m three

2. What makes mom happy?
from me not telling bad words

3. What makes mom sad?
when I say bad words

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
tickle me

5. What was your mom like as a child?
me

6. How old is your mom?
uh, 4

7. How tall is your mom?
(stretched her hand up) this tall

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
paint

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
go to field trips

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
me

11. What is your mom really good at?
taking sissy to school

12. What is your mom not very good at?
taking me to school

13. What does your mom do for a job?
making tags

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
taco

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
tickling her

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Dora

17. What do you and your mom do together?
we go to field trips (vacation)

18. How are you and your mom the same?
singing the ABCs

19. How are you and your mom different?
I have curly hair

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
say she loves me

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
tickling him

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
wet ‘n wild

Jessalyn Rose Butler – 9/17/11 – 5 (almost 6) years old

1.       What is something mom always says to you?
Wash your hands before you eat.

2. What makes mom happy?
When I laugh.

3. What makes mom sad?
When I be mean.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Tickling me

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Just like me

6. How old is your mom?
I don’t know… 47?

7. How tall is your mom?
Tall as that chair over there (and she pointed)

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Go shopping… Spend time with me!!!

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Clean up the house

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
umm…. Her children

11. What is your mom really good at?
Making art with her first daughter

12. What is your mom not very good at?
umm… making, like, stuff out of wood and stuff…

13. What does your mom do for a job?
She works at a shop with her daddy

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
coconut

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
That she loves me very much

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
ummm… umm…. I have NO idea… uhhh….. a judge on cupcake wars

17. What do you and your mom do together?3322
We make art together

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We both like to do art and we are both good at it. And we can both do it really fast.

19. How are you and your mom different?
We have different colored hair

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
She tells me, she kisses me, she hugs me

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
That he’s sweet

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Shopping 

Jessalyn Rose Butler – 8/8/13 – 7 years old

1.    .  What is something mom always says to you?
she loves me

2.       What makes mom happy?
When I be good and listen to her

3.       What makes mom sad?
When I don’t listen to her or be good

4.       How does your mom make you laugh?

When she acts silly and tells jokes

5.       What was your mom like as a child?

She was a lot like me. She loved art and she loved racing

6.       How old is your mom?

30

7. How tall is your mom?
            6 ft

8.  What is her favorite thing to do?
     spend time with her girls.. and daddy

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
     work

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
      being the best mama in the world

11. What is your mom really good at?
       racing?

12. What is your mom not very good at?
      uhhh…. Very good at adding… umm.. I don’t know anything you’re not good at (I LOVE her!)

13. What does your mom do for a job?
      she makes car tags  and she works at a Christian store

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
    Mexican

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
      cuz she loves me

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
      Arthur’s mom because she is really nice

17. What do you and your mom do together?
       go on “Jessi trips”

18. How are you and your mom the same?
       We are the same because we both like art and we both like racing

19. How are you and your mom different?
      cuz we’re different people. That’s all I can say.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?....
      Cause she kisses me and hugs me a lot

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
       Cause he’s nice and he’s a good daddy

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
       to her house

Get in my belly!!

My sister-in-law and I found out we were pregnant with our second children around the same time. We told my parents together and went through 9 (technically 10) months of pregnancy together. At my baby shower we took a picture together with 3 of my friends who were also pregnant. You can tell in the picture that I carried my daughter very high and Cassey carried her daughter very low. This past week Cassey sent me the picture from my shower so I could see how differently we carried our girls.
My now 3 year old daughter was looking at pictures on my phone this evening and she came across this picture. I asked her who was in my belly and she responded that she didn't know, so I told her it was her. I then asked her who was in Aunt Cassey's belly and she said she did not know, so I told her it was Preslee. She thought about this for a few seconds then asked, "Mama, did y'all eat us? Is that why we're in your bellies?" I literally busted out laughing and she looked at me with this really serious look on her face and said, "Mama, your lips are too small to eat me in your belly". I LOVE the sweet innocence of a child!

Jessalyn (7) loves telling jokes. I got her a children's joke book which she carries around and has read every joke to us numerous times. Tonight she made up a couple jokes and asked them to me:

Q - Mama, what did Douglas say to the town that was being really silly?
A - That is re-Douglias. Get it mama? like ridiculous, but reDouglias.

Another joke by Jessalyn:
Q - What did the shoe say to the sock?
A - Let's play football!

Now my silly child is saying that everything is re-Douglias... strange humans I am surrounded by ;)

Antelopes are tasty!

Jessalyn (7) went on a field trip with her 1st Grade class today to the Jacksonville Zoo. I took her to school early, then came home and Mattilyn (3) and I began to talk about the zoo. I told her that I want to take her one day soon and we will see all kinds of animals. Following is our conversation:

Me: You will see all kinds of animals. Do you know what kinds?
Mattilyn: Like doggies!
Me: Well, elephants and giraffes and hippos and rhinos and...
Mattilyn:: and puppies?
Me: Oh, and there is a train and you can see jaguars and hyenas and antelopes...
Mattilyn: Oh! Antelopes on the train? I love antelopes! We had antelopes at Mimi's hospital the other day and one fell on the floor and we threw it in the trash.

Back story: My mama (their Mimi) had knee replacement surgery last week and we went to visit her in the hospital. Our church sent mama a huge fruit basket with all sorts of fruits and cookies and crackers, etc... Mama had just finished her dinner and had some cantaloupe leftover in addition to the other fruit. Mattilyn had eaten a banana, grapes, and a plum before finishing off the cantaloupes. One piece of cantaloupe fell on the floor and we threw it in the trash. ;)

Moral of the story: When I take Mattilyn to the zoo and we get on the train, I better sneak some cantaloupes on because she expects "Antelopes" to eat on the train!!

A new year

So there were many wackos in the world that truly believed our world would end on December 21, 2012, since that is when the Mayan calendar ended. Had I never read the Bible, perhaps I would have jumped on the bandwagon. However, God told us that no man knows the hour of Jesus's return so I didn't put any faith in all the hype about the end of the world.
On the other hand, America is traveling at a high rate straight into the dirt. I am only 29 (30 in exactly one month), but I can't believe how much my world has changed in just my few years on this earth. Years ago I found it so very interesting to talk to older people that had "seen it all". They were around when automobiles were invented, they lived through the depression, they were appalled by Elvis (or impressed), they survived the hippie movement.... the list goes on. Well, now in 30 years I have seen prosperous times in our nation, I have seen terrifying times on 9/11/01, and I have seen devastating financial times. Now is the scariest time of all. Our country has nearly completely turned her back on God. We have become a politically correct nation that is afraid to offend anyone, anyone except Christians and Jews. Well, guess what - Jesus wasn't politically correct and neither am I. We are called to be different than the world.
So many Americans are afraid now to call a spade a spade. To quote another cliche, If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it is probably a duck. This may offend some, but this is how I feel: the President that is in office right now does not have the best interest of America in mind. Our president is half white / half black and the majority of our country has made this a matter of race. Personally I don't care if he is purple with orange polka dots, he is wrong. Our country was in a mild recession several years ago. My hubby and I started really struggling with bills and things like many lower middle-class citizens did. Things are now much worse and we struggle more than we ever have before in our ten years of marriage. Again I must state that if not for my faith in God, I would feel like giving up. There have been times that I felt like giving up and I remind myself that God has everything under control. I remember that He knows how this will all end and even though we will go through some hard times, it will be worth it!
One major problem I have with the current president is his opinion on gun-control. I honestly don't understand how so many people in our country can be snowed into thinking that is a good idea. We have a right to bear arms and I intend to fight for my right. Obama wants to change the constitution and I am not okay with this. Does anyone out there truly believe that if no one could own a gun legally, all crime would stop? News flash: murder has existed since the beginning of time with Cain and Abel, the first brothers in history. Did Cain have a gun? No. Research history, people. Please. Other countries have tried this "disarm the public regime". Trust me, this NEVER turns out good for the public.
I'm not really sure why I blogged all of this tonight. It has just been on my mind for a while and I guess I just wanted to put it down on "paper". I pray that God will radically heal our nation, but sometimes I feel like we are living in Sodom and Gomorrah and God has left us to our own devices. Right now in America, it is legal to kill an unborn child, yet illegal to kill certain animals. Protect the whales and eagles, but kill the babies. Something is bad wrong with this.