How to Pick a Pumpkin

Danny's advice to James before going pumpkin picking:  "The dude doesn't pick the pumpkin; the pumpkin picks the dude." (10/3/10)

No Refunds

Over the summer, Katie held a "garage sale" where she sold some of her belongings to family members and was happy with her profits.   This morning, while in our bedroom, she came across a paperweight with her photo in it that she had made in school.   She asked Tom, "Hey! What are you doing with this?  This is mine!"   Tom, having bought it at her  garage sale, replied, "You sold it to me, remember?"  While examining it in her hand, she said, "Well, I'm taking it.  I need it for my book."   Defeated, Tom said, "Then can I  have my money back?"  Already running out of the room, she yelled, "Sorry! No refunds!" as she slammed her bedroom door.   (10/1/11)

The Tweeter

I have a human twitter account. The name is Katie and she tweets everything we do from an open window in the living room or from the curb of our sidewalk. If you want my status update, just pass by my house and you can have all the info you need.  Her latest tweet from the living room window was to our neighbor: "Hi! I'm coming outside right after my mom gets dressed.  She just got out of the shower!"  (9/4/11)

Circumventing the Rule

After the constant bickering escalated to name calling, I shouted, "Alright, now everyone stop it! There will be no more name calling in this house."  Danny immediately turned to his sister and said, "Katie, I need you to come outside with me a minute.  I have something to tell you." 
(8/2/11)

The Prayer Explanation

Katie asked me, after hearing the words of the Our Father prayer, "What does 'deliver us from evil' mean?".  Trying to come up with an answer that she could understand, I said, "It means that we are asking God to protect us from bad things that can hurt us."  She inched her face close to mine, looked at me, nose to nose, and whispered with all seriousness, "You mean like alligators?" (8/6/11)

The Aged Princess

James often creates games for him and Katie to play, with one of her all time favorites being "Karate Chop Princess".  Deeply immersed in their activity, they elaborated on the original game by venturing into the future when the Karate Chop Princess is all grown up.  James, the narrator of the scene, started to say, "Okay, now the Princess is 20 years old ..." when Katie suddenly interrupted and said with great surprise, "I'm twenty? I'm so old!" (6/30/11)

The Wedding Dress

Katie and Danny were having a conversation about how one day Katie will get married.  Danny said to her, "You will have to wear a big white dress".  Katie, a bit distraught, replied, "But I don't have a big white dress".  Danny, not budging on his position, firmly stated, "Well, the girl HAS to wear a big white dress when she gets married."  Sensing that she was about to get upset, I intervened and said, " Katie, When you get married, Daddy and I will buy you the prettiest white dress ever".  Katie immediately perked up and shouted, "We can get it from Target!"  (10/17/10)