Emma

Max: "Dad."
Dad: "Yes, Max."
Max: "I like Emma. She always plays with me."

Fireman

Max: "Dad, when I get to be a man like you, I want to be a fireman."

Birella

Definition: (n) what you should have with you when it is raining.

Emma: "Dad, we need a birella to protect us from the rain."

New Mexican cheese

Setting: Max is eating his lunch which includes a piece of square cheese. Max is taking bites from the cheese. After a few bites:
Max: "This cheese looks like New Mexico."

Meteors

Setting: Mom and Dad were understandably proud of Max's definition of a comet. So when they visited Grandpa and Grandma Schmidt, Mom had Grandma Schmidt ask Max what it was. Not satisfied with that one answer, Grandma proceeded to ask another.
Grandma Schmidt: "Max, what is a meteor made of?"
Max: "Popcorn."

Note: Max was in fact correct based on the Veggie Tale he recently saw in which a giant meteor made of popcorn was heading towards the stalled Veggie Tale space ship.

Looking New

Setting: Emma is looking at the wedding picture for Omi and GrandBob.
Mom: "Emma, that is Omi and GrandBob on their wedding day."
Emma: "They look so......new."

Walking in Oklahoma

Emma: "When I was a baby my foster mom and I went for a walk in Oklahoma and we saw frogs."

Travel to Fiji

Setting: Recently Grandpa and Grandma V returned from a trip to Fiji where Grandpa did some scuba diving. They showed a DVD of the trip.
Max: "Maybe we can go to Fiji and my dad can teach me to scuba dive. We can go fishing and I can catch a shark and eat the whole thing."

You missed me

Setting: Grandpa and Grandma V just recently returned from a trip to Fiji. Upon arriving at Grandpa and Grandma V's house, Max visits Grandpa in his office.
Max: "Grandpa you were in Fiji and you missed me!"

Look both ways

Setting: The whole family is in the minivan when Max spies a dead animal on the road.
Max: "Look there is a animal in the road that is dead."
Dad: "Yes Max. Sometimes when animals cross the road the cars don't see them right away. And the cars cannot stop fast enough so they end up hitting the animal."
Mom: "That's why it is so important when you want to cross a road, to look both ways before you cross. Because the cars might not see you soon enough."
Pause:
Max: "That animal didn't look both ways."

Together

Setting: It's breakfast time. Emma requests some yogurt. Soon, Max requests some yogurt. Then finally Dad gets some yogurt.
Max: "Look we are all having yogurt together!"
Emma: "No Max. Mom is still sleeping in bed so we are not all together."

Open your eyes

Setting: Emma wants to wear a dress for church. Mom can't find tights to go with the dress. She offers some leggings. Not acceptable. She looks up higher in Emma's closet and spies the tights.
Mom: "Here they are. I found them!"
Emma: "Mom, you were tricking me!"
Mom: "Emma, I wouldn't trick you. I just didn't seem them."
Emma (takes a stance and cupping her fingers around her eyes): "Mom, you just have to open your eyes WIDE open and look!"

The Comet

Setting: Dinner Table
Max: Mom, what's a comet?
Mom: (stalling to consider how to answer this question)........uh, Max, what is a comet?
Max: A comet is a frozen ball of gas and dust racing through space.
Mom: (stunned silence)
Dad: (pretty much lost it)

100 Years

Setting: It's 8am. Max and Emma are still sleeping after a long day yesterday. They have school in 45 minutes so Dad opens their doors a bit to let in some light and hopefully get things stirring. Max stirs, sits upright in bed and rubs his eyes.
Max: "Good morning, Dad."
Dad: "Good morning, Max."
Max: "I didn't sleep for 100 years."

Pause:

Max: "I slept just a little while. I slept for 5 minutes."

Baby coming up

Emma: "I have a baby in my tummy."
Dad: "You do?"
Emma: "Yes, and it is coming up."
Dad: "When is your baby coming up?"
Emma: "It's coming up in 15 years... And it will be 6 years old."

Note: For readers unfamiliar with how babies are born (coming up), please refer to a February blog entry titled Embryo.

Fiji disaster

Setting: It was dinner time. Dad was telling Max and Emma how Grandpa and Grandma V. were currently in Fiji. Max asked where Fiji was and Mom proceeded to show Max on his "Map of the World" placemat.
Setting 2: A little while later, Max was preoccupied twisting and turning on his chair. He bumps his milk which proceeds to spill over the table and on the floor. He gets upset.
Mom: "It's ok Max, it was an accident."
Max: "But there's milk all over Fiji!!!"

When I was your age

Setting: Emma accidently drops Moms hand held mirror from childhood. After making sure Emma knows that she is not mad she states:
Mom: "I had that mirror since I was your age."

A little while later...

Setting 2: Max discovers some blankets belonging to Emma and him stashed in the bathroom cabinets. Both Emma and Max are overjoyed at the rediscovery of the blankets.
Max (to Mom): "I've had this blanket since I was your age!"

Anticipation

Max: "Dad, why did the ice crack?"
Dad: "It's been warm, Max. When it gets warmer the ice gets thinner and it cracks. It's going to be warmer today and the snow and ice are going to melt a lot."
Emma: "And then we can wear flip-flops!"

Snow: Tunnels of Fun

Setting: The early March blizzard allow enough snow to accumulate so Dad could create tunnels to explore. (Taken March 6th)

Reading the newspaper

Setting: Mom sits down late for dinner and is looking at the newspaper.
Max: "Mom, what are you doing?"
Mom: "Reading the paper."
Max: "Can I read the paper?"
Mom: "Sure." (while giving Max a section of the paper.)
Max: "What am I reading?"
Mom: "The front page of the Wall Street Journal."
Max begins paging through the paper
Max: "And what am I looking for?"

Truck Dreams

Setting: Max is playing with a truck on the kitchen floor.
Max: "I wish I could fly, but I'm a truck."

Handling

Setting: Max was attempting to ask Dad a question while in the car. On the second attempt, Emma interrupts Max.
Emma: "Max, Max, let me handle this, ok?"