Meatball

I was lucky to get the chance to play paintball recently with Man Up Ministries from Metro Community Church in Edwardsville. I went with my friend Brian Bennett on Saturday morning to Bing Field near Wood River.

The day was a little warm, but it was a great game! There were about fourteen men there, so we were able to have each field all to ourselves. By the end of the morning, we had played about everywhere we could, and found ourselves with leftover ammunition and no plans for another game. What to do?

Someone came up with a REALLY GOOD IDEA. We were on a field that had a path running straight down the middle. We devised a gauntlet: guys would line the path and fire while other guys ran down the middle. Shirtless.

These are the results of my run:





I was displaying my marks to Lilie and she was curious as to what happened. I explained that Daddy had played paintball, and that when I got shot, I got the ouchies. She thought for a moment, then asked, "You got hit with meatballs?".

"Yes," I explained after I stopped laughing. She paused again.

"And you shot dem with meatballs?"

"Yes, Daddy shot meatballs back at them." Another pause.

It's funny - Katie didn't get it either.

Fooky!

We've been reading a book before bed lately, and her favorites have migrated from the likes of 'Goodnight Moon' to the Berenstain Bears.

The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmies. The Berenstain Bears Bedtime Battles. And the all-time hit, the Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat, which over-uses the word 'spooky'. Phonetically, in Liliana's lingo, that is actually pronounced 'fooky'. And the Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat is the 'fooky book'.

We've read the book enough that Lilie is finishing sentences - and not just the easy ones, but ones that have words like 'deceiving' and 'stubble' and 'Papa's easy chair'. Then again, we've read the book enough that Katie and I almost have it memorized. Heh. Not kidding. Memorized.

Vocabulary

We are absolutely amazed by the way Liliana's vocabulary seems to grow by leaps and bounds from week to week; and we are absolutely tickled by the way she sometimes gets the words mixed up just a little.  For example:

Me:  "We are going to go play with your friends!"
Liliana:  (clapping her hands) "YEAH!  I'm so PROUD!"  (instead of *excited*)

Me:  "Would you like me to put some ice in your cup?"
Liliana:  "Yes.  That would be easier."  (instead of  *better*) 

Liliana:  (trying to get away from her Daddy who is threatening her with a Tickle Monster)  "Mommy, Mommy!  Keep me, keep me!"  (instead of *save me*)

It is also apparent that she is constantly picking up on the things we say.  Sometimes it is immediately obvious, like when she repeats words that we just said, which can be fun...for a few minutes anyway.  (Making her say, "strategy" is one of Jason's personal favorites).  But then sometimes she'll come out-of-the-blue with little gems that she's heard us use before with her.  For example, a couple of evenings ago I had put the dogs in my kitchen and put a baby gate in the entrance to keep them in there.  A few minutes later, Tari came running into my bedroom apparently after jumping the gate.  Liliana said, "Hey Tari!  How did you get out?  How did you get out, Tari? Hey, hey Tari!  (the dog is paying no attention to her and is running all around the room, rejoicing in her freedom)  TARI---Look at me!  How did you get out?!"

It took me several minutes to stop laughing.  Maybe she'll remember that next time I'm trying to discipline her and she's ignoring me.  Or maybe not.

Little Diva

Liliana is going to be in a "Little Diva" photo contest!  Here are the photos from her "shoot".  There are a lot of pictures but I couldn't pick any to *not* post.

(Stay tuned:  Early next week, we'll post the information on how to vote if you care to. )