Cheeky

Yesterday Devon asked the girls to rinse off their breakfast dishes. Neither of them wanted to do it so some whining and complaining ensued. Here's the conversation between Jenna and Devon.

Jenna: But why do we have to do it, Dad?
Devon: Because I asked you to.
Jenna: But can't you do it for us?
Devon: If every time you didn't want to do what I asked then I did it for you, what kind of message would that send?
Jenna: Service?

We had a good belly laugh but, alas, Jenna still had to clean her plate!

Happy Birthday Jenna

Jenna turned seven on the 13th. She, like her sister, had a salon party where the girls got fancy hair and nails. On her actual birthday we celebrated at Red Robin. This little princess is the life of the party everywhere she goes. She is one of the most friendly, kind, loving people I have ever met. We love you Jen Jen!

All I Want for Easter?

Jenna is a little more toothless these days. She went down the street to the neighbors' house and had it pulled. It's really nice to have our own resident tooth pullers because I sure wasn't going to do it! Our neighbor said Jenna was really brave. The tooth probably needed a couple more days of loosening but she braved her way through it and let them wiggle it out. She was well paid for her effort with two gold dollars.

Capitol or Capital?

Today Grace's class went on a field trip to the AZ State Capitol. We were discussing the trip at breakfast this morning and part of the conversation went like this:

Dad: What is the capital of Arizona Jenna?
Jenna: A

After we stopped laughing we confirmed that A is in fact the capital of Arizona, but also Phoenix.

Star Student

Jenna is the Star Student in her class this week. We made a poster all about her and today Claire and I went into her classroom to talk all about Jenna. I wanted to record what she wrote on her poster.

Favorite color: turquoise
Favorite animal: monkey
Favorite sport: tumbling
Favorite book: Harry Potter
Favorite thing to do: play with friends or play on the computer
What I want to be when I grow up: hair stylist
I am a star because: I am a cute and fun girl
I show I care for others by: making people smile
Three cool facts about me: I have a six-month-old baby sister, I am going to Samoa in June, I have the same birthday as my cousin

In the classroom today I was supposed to share funny stories about her. I am a terrible mother and couldn't remember any. For some reason I have several I could have shared about Grace but couldn't come up with any about Jenna. (At least none that didn't involve swear words.) Does that happen to any of you? Can you remember so much more about your first child and not the rest or is that just me? What I did end up sharing was the funny way Jenna used to say some of her words. Hoohoos=shoes, complano=computer, and dirt=dessert. That was the best I could do--pitiful. But it was fun to see Jenna talk all about herself. I love this age when they are happy with themselves and life is good. Makes me want to freeze time.

Another Bookworm

Grace has always loved reading but now we have another book lover in our house and I couldn't be happier. Jenna's reading has come so far just this year. She is in the top reading group at school and she is becoming quite the little reader.

Jenna's Big News

Jenna girl lost her first tooth! She even wiggled it out on her own. (It's a good thing too because you may notice in the picture that the adult tooth was already growing in.) She's pretty excited for her first visit from the Tooth Fairy!

Big sisters are the best!

This afternoon Claire was in her bed trying to settle herself down for a nap. She has been really good at going to sleep on her own until this week so it's been a bit of a struggle. I suddenly realized that she was no longer fussing so I went in to check on her, assuming she had fallen asleep. Instead, I found this:




Am I lucky or what?!

Your Not Going to Believe This

So I really do know the proper uses of your and you're but I couldn't resist. I'm sure you were all trying to figure out if there was a polite way to tell me I had totally embarrassed myself. On that note, check out the paper that we received from Jenna's reading teacher. Pay particular attention to Thursday's instructions and the first sentence of Friday.



Seriously?! This person is teaching my child to read?! Since you were thinking of ways to tactfully inform me of my error, any suggestions?

Second Place

Last night Devon said to the girls, "What a great mom you have. Do you think there could be any better mom?" (I know, he's nice to me.) Grace promptly said no but Jenna said yes. I said, "And who would that be?" She replied, "Maybe Gammy." Gammy is my mom, so I was much relieved. I suppose if I have to be second to someone in the mom category I'm glad it's my own mom. We love you Gammy!

Can't You Fix That?

When Grace was about 2 she had a funny "s" when she spoke. Because I'm a speech therapist I had several people ask me when I was going to fix that problem. I then had to tell them that it was age appropriate for her to have a less than perfect "s" sound.

Since that time there have been several words that my kids have said wrong that I know I could correct but just don't want to because they're so funny. Jenna has had several and many still survive. My favorite at the moment is "samlich" which is Jenna's version of sandwich. This week she came home from school with a paper where she had explained how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She even spelled it "samlich" because she had sounded it out herself. I'm thrilled that we now have a written reminder of her little kid speech. It will be gone all too soon!

Can't Help But Love Her

I told Devon the other day that I think I'm addicted to Jenna. He thought that was a very odd thing to say, which it probably is. The thing is that Grace is so like me that I can usually predict her behavior in most circumstances. Jenna, on the other hand, is completely unpredictable. Plus I am in love with her dimples and juicy kisses. Also, we have conversations like this:

Mom: Jenna, you probably shouldn't have any more of that slurpee.
Jenna: Why?
Mom: Because too much sugar is not good for your tummy.
Jenna: But this sugar just fills me with delight.

So You Think You Can Dance

Have you ever wished you could get rid of your inhibitions and just let your body do its' thing? Well, here's some inspiration:

Bullies in Kindergarten?!

Jenna reported this week that there are two boys in her class who have been making fun of her. They tell her she looks pregnant or that she has a baby in her tummy. She said it hurts her feelings and she cried when we talked about it. Why are kids so mean? If they only knew how much I love Jenna's little pot belly. Her face has thinned out recently and she definitely looks like a little girl now instead of the chubby baby we once knew. The pot belly is all we have left. I for one hope it sticks around a while. She would probably disagree heartily about that when she's grown but for now I love it!

Jenna's Joke

I just had to share this with all of you as well as record it for myself. Sometimes I can't get over how cute my kids are. I'm sure you all feel the same about yours.

In case you can't hear or understand it very well here it is in writing. Don't worry--the punch line isn't the funny part, it's the actions that go with it.

What did the macaroni say to the tomato?
Don't get saucy with me.

Happy Birthday Jenna!!

Yesterday was Jenna's fifth birthday. It's strange that my baby is already five. She had a Backyardigans birthday party on Saturday. I ventured out on my own this time and made the cake without Amy's help, although she gave me the idea. It looks like it was easy but it took me a long time even though it's not nearly as impressive as the microphone cake. It was perfect for the party though and Jenna loved it.


On her actual birthday Jenna got a pedicure from my sister and spent her very own money on a Strawberry Shortcake DDR (dance dance revolution) video game. She also got roller skates for her birthday so she spent half the day rolling through the house.

Like I did with Grace I think I will tell you some of the things I love about Jenna. Probably the best thing is that she is so happy. She is the most pleasant, easy-going child, which I'm quite sure she gets from her father. She's also hysterically funny but very tender-hearted and sensitive. And she's a complete cuddle bug, which I relish since I don't have a baby to snuggle. Her teacher tells me she's super smart and a joy to have at school. And two of her funny talents are that she can recite the alphabet backwards and she prefers to write things in mirror-image. In fact, she completely confused my 80-something grandma with her Mother's Day card that was written backwards. My grandma kept trying to turn it upside down until I showed her that the note read from right to left. Maybe she's Hebrew.

Life in the Miller family would be pretty dull without Jenna. She lights up any room she enters and has such a joy for life. We love you Jenna!

Miller Look-alike Meter

This is so silly but fun nonetheless.

Joke For the Day

This, of course, came from Jenna, our little goofball.

Knock, knock.

Who's there?

Orange.

Orange who?

(repeated three times)

Knock, knock.

Who's there?

Banana.

Banana who?

Didn't I say orange?

Another Jennaism

Today Jenna said, "Guess how much I love you Mom."

The answer: "a googol fillion."