Wyatt Rhodes- 9yrs old

"My taste buds do not have a relationship with green beans"

Braeden - 9yrs old

Christina, a friend of Jennifer's tells this one about Braeden

Braeden: Hey can we have a donut
Me: Well.....what would your mom say?
Braeden: Well....our moms not here.

Me:(laughing) Ok I don't mind, but if I get in trouble for you having a donut before supper we both go down LOL

Grayson- 4 1/2 yrs

A couple of Grayson funnies! - 4 1/2 yrs old

Salina said he is now able to write his name and getting pretty good at it.  But when he sees a LETTER that is in his name, for example a 'G' he says, "Look Mom, that NUMBER is in my name".  ; )))  Aww what the heck, letters, numbers...

And another one (by the way for those who do not know Salina is pregnant, 5th grand baby for us!!)  and she and Joe are not quite agreeing yet on names. 

So Salina whispers to  Grayson, "Go tell Dad you like the name (her pick) for the baby".

 So Grayson runs to Joe, "Dad, I like the name ... [long pause] ..."  And then yells back to Salina, "Mom what was it again?"

Oh well Salina, it was a good plan in theory!!

Matthew - 10 yrs old

Oct 29, 2012 Matthew and Braeden walk home together every day. They are stuck like glue! Matthew called Jennifer Lawler (mom) today from school. Matthew: Mom I am going to stay after school today. Jennifer: Ok, why? Matthew: To do tutoring with Ms. Rankin Jennifer: Oh okay, well you have a good day. Matthew: Ok [silence] Jennifer: Ok ... well I will see you later then. Matthew: [silence] [long sigh ] [shuffling] Jennifer: What is wrong Matthew? Matthew in a defeated tone because he has not been able to figure this out says, "What am I supposed to do with Braeden?" Jennifer very sweetly says: Just send him on home Matthew, you do not have to worry about that. We have always suspected Matthew took his big brother duties serious but he proved it today! ; ))

Matthew- 10yrs old

Oct 20, 2012 Matthew (10yrs old) spent the night with a friend and went to the Valley game. When Jennifer picked him up this was the conversation. Matthew: If anyone asks I have a girlfriend now. Jennifer: You do? What is her name? Matthew: (Long Pause) ummm I don,t know. Jennifer: Well what did she look like? Matthew: She had a ponytail and a blue shirt. Jennifer: Why do you like her? Matthew: Becaus e she can run fast. There were 2 girls that wanted to go out with me. And there was one that was in the 11th grade. Jennifer: WHAT? Matthew: Or maybe she was 11. Oh don't ya miss the time when decisions were so simple!!

Grayson- 4 1/2 yrs old

Oct 12, 2012 Our grandson Grayson is in Pre-K, and they are learning to write their names so they sign in every day. Grayson got frustrated one day and said "Me can't do this". So to correct his grammar the teacher said "I can't do this". And Grayson said "Me neither!" LOL! He is so cute!!

Braeden- 9yrs old

Oct 2, 2012 My grandson Braeden is 9. He can analyze and evaluate things said and done with such speed, makes me think of those chippers. You put the tree branches in and immediately it spits out the chips. It is hard to be a Zabielski around him ... I mean the box story my dad always told would never work with him. It would not even take him a second to say, "But you just raised your arm up high." Things must make sense to him or they will not fly! He reminds me a lot of my nephew Scott when he was young. Yesterday he was in one of his moods, everything was wrong. Jennifer told him to stop being a negative noodle but he kept on. So she said "Braeden I am going to negative your mouth and send you to your room for the evening!" As she walked away he slumped in the chair and under his breath said, "I don't even know how you could negative a mouth." Cannot slip anything by him!

Donnie 4 yrs - Jesus will like it ...

My brother Steve remembers this:

When Donnie was about 4 the string holding his helium balloon at 6 Flags Cincinnati slipped through his fingers. Those with him -- Dana, Danielle, Laverne, and I -- all quickly turned to him to express our sincere sadness for his loss. But Donnie’s pure innocence was seeing things quite differently. His priceless retort while gazing upon the rapidly disappearing balloon as it rose higher and higher into the ever spreading and expansive azure blue heavens pregnant with towering bright and billowing cumulus clouds was, "It's okay, Jesus will like it."

Chuck 8 yrs old - A Scissors conundrum ...

One more from 8 yr old Chuck ... "I have a conundrum" he says, "what if you needed scissors and you had a coupon for scissors but you did not have any scissors to cut out the coupon?"


Well now Chuck that is quite a conundrum!!

Chuck 8 yrs old- Half Full? Half Empty?

Chuck 8 yrs old made a brilliant observation or so I thought. Ya know how we hear people talk about how they believe people who say half full are optimists and half empty are pessimists? Well my nephew Chuck thinks we make too much of this. He said, "Ya know I do not really think it is that big of a deal because it is like this. If you fill a glass and drink half of it, it is then half empty, but if you fill it up only half way it is half full!"

Is that not genius?

Grayson 3 1/2 yrs old - Are you Happy?

Grayson, my grandson who is 3 1/2 woke up one morning and asked my daughter Salina if she wanted to play. Salina said, "Not right now, I am kind of grouchy, let me get my coffee first." Grayson proceeded to plop down in the living room, he plastered a big old grin on his face and said, "Well I am HAPPY!"


In a bit he went outside to play and when he came back in he said to Salina, "Mom, do this ... (and he plastered that big grin on his face). Salina flashed back a very animated grin at him and then he said, "You're happy ... lets play!"

Is this not a great motivational lesson in the old adage regarding having confidence or being happy in spite of it all, "Fake it til you make it"

Chuck 8 yrs old- The Bermuda Triangle

My great nephew Chuck (8 yrs old) was quizzing my niece Dana about the Bermuda Triangle the other day. After pondering the information she gave him he said, "When I get older and am ready to die I want to fly through the Bermuda Triangle to see if it's real. If I don't make it, it doesn't matter because I was going to die anyway." Love it!!

Braeden 8 yrs old - If all else fails resort to a joke?

Matthew is 9, Braeden is 8 and Matthew is intently playing a game on the iPad. Very intently ... so much so that he is not hearing (ignoring) every attempt Braeden makes to talk to him. Finally Braeden resorts to telling jokes feeling certain that will work. Still nothing! Braeden says, "UGGGH, Matthew I do not think you even know what a joke is!!!"

Braeden 6yrs old

Louis and I were looking at how the brace holding up the center of the curtain was torn out of the wall and Louis said I wonder how that happened? Before I could say that I think it is because the boys pull on the curtains too hard Braeden said, "The dogs get the curtains in their teeth and pull on them." Hmmmm ... I think that explanation is suspect because the dogs have never done that before until the boys moved in! Too funny the way he jumped right in there!

Matthew 7 yrs old - A Mom is a Mom is a Mom ...

The kids have it figured out, now they just need the t-shirt that says "If Mom says no ask Grandma or Grandpa or Megan. But Matthew REALLY has it figured out. He understands the power of "a Mom" and the hierarchy of the Mom figure in the family. He told me the other day as I was fixing dinner that he was not hungry and I said, "Well of course you are not after eating those 2 muffins". Now that is exactly what I said but just like there is French and Spanish and English there is also the Adult language and the 7 yr old language because here is how he translated that to his Mom. "Mom, Grandma said I did not have to eat dinner." She said, "Well I am the Mom and you have to eat dinner." As he flipped his hand towards the living room where I was sitting and cocked his head he told Jennifer, "Well she is YOUR Mom".

Then a few days later he came to me with a dilemma and I said, "Well Matthew that sounds like a discussion you need to have with your Mom." And he said, with a combination of surety and confusion in his voice, "You're a mom."

Allison-ism

Allison was trying to explain something to us and she kept saying this lady was a sidekick. That description just did not fit with the rest of the story. Finally it hit me ... she meant psychic, not sidekick!

Elliana - 7 yrs

My friend found it hard not to laugh when she was explaining to her kids the art of brushing teeth. She explains, "I AM NOT THE MAID and not required to clean the spit out of the sink after you brush your teeth!" Elliana replies, very innocently and honestly, under her breath, "more like the devil than the maid". My friend said "Oh my, oh my!" and sent her to the timeout chair. With chin on her chest Elliana walked to the chair saying "I wish I would have thinked before I talked". I am sure in her lifetime she will say that many more times, we can all attest to that! ; )

Braeden - 5yrs

Braeden, Matthew, Louis and I were playing chinese checkers. As the game progressed Matthew noted that I had Braeden blocked. He said, "Braeden, Grandma has you blocked". Braeden's face went white and he cupped his head in his hands, just so bummed and he said, "BLOCKED BY A GWILL!" (Gwill is girl in Braedenese)

Blake - September 2008

Bunni's family is not one that eats at the dinner table as a group much so holiday meals are an anomaly for the kids. One evening Blake told Bunni, "I want to have one of those meals where all the food is on the table!"

Chuck - November 2008

Laverne said she was babysitting Chuck and he was up very late. At 1030pm she told him, "Chuck, you need to go to bed before Mom gets home or when she gets here she will say "GRAAAAAANNY!" Chuck said, "She can't get mad at you ... you are her mother!"