Kacie's Story: "More Babysitting"

This post was written by Kacie Ashing:

     On Friday,
which was the day I was planning on babysitting my aunt LeeAnn and uncle Rodneys twins Emma and Ethan! I was going to babysit them at 6:30 that night! Mainly all that day we went with my Mimi because she watches my sister and I on Wednesdays and Fridays during the summer when school is out! Mimi, my sister, and I went bowling when Mimi picked us up from our house, and then after we finished bowling, we went to Mimis house and ate lunch. Then on Fridays we always go tubing or use the ski-trainer at the lake. Mimi and Pappy are off on Fridays, so thats when we go is on Fridays! LOL! But that's mainly what I did that day. Except when we got home to Mimis we finished my Dad's birthday present! My Dads birthday is coming up! So we made my Dad's present from my sister and I! Then it was almost 5:00! My Dad was coming to get my sister and I at 5:30! Because I had to go babysit and it takes about an hour to go to Okay where Mimi lives all the way back to Muskogee where I live!  So then my sister and I got ready to go by packing up my Dad's present and getting dressed from when we went to the lake! Then, my Dad got to Mimis and we left and went by my house to put up my Dads present Because we were too early to arrive at the twins house!

     Then later, I finally arrived at the Garlands house. Emma and Ethan were eating their dinner and Aunt LeeAnn was getting ready for her friend Nicole to pick her up! So I went into the kitchen and sat there and made funny faces to Emma and Ethan and they would just sit laugh and laugh! It was soo cute! Then I took a picture of them! Then I got Emma and Ethan out of their high chairs! Then a few minutes later Nicole walked in to pick up Aunt LeeAnn! Emma gave Nicole a hug and Ethan wouldnt so Nicole would act like she was gonna get Ethan so he would give her a hug but Ethan would run LOL! But Ethan never did give Nicole a hug and Nicole said she didn't think she had met me before and Aunt LeeAnn said she didn't know if we have met or not and Aunt LeeAnn said Nicole this is my niece Kacie and I said hi! and of course she said hi too! Then Aunt LeeAnn got her purse and her and Nicole went to wherever they were going! They didnt even know LOL!

     Then Emma and Ethan and I went into the living room to play! I got out my phone to take pictures! I turned on the screen where you could see yourself on the screen and I held the phone up to Emma and she would wave and say hi Kacie hi! LOL! She would always say hi again after their name! It was cute! So I got a picture of me and Emma but then I deleted it and got Emma and Ethan to sit on the chair together and I FINALLY got a pic of all 3 of us! LOL It took forever. But before I took the picture of all of us I couldn't get a picture of me and Ethan so thats when I gave up LOL! I was surprised that he let me take a picture of all of us! :) but he did LOL! Later, I turned on my recording deal on my phone LOL! and I said Ethan can you say Austin Mahone! Becasue that's who I like LOL! and Ethan said it perfectly as always!  Then I asked Emma if she would say Austin Mahone and she said Austin Ahome! LOL! It was the cutest thing LOL! Then I started not feeling too well. My stomach was hurting. So I called my mom and told her and she said she would bring me some medicine! and she did! She stayed for about 15 minutes to make sure I was ok and I was! Then she left.

     Then later I said c'mon guys lets go play in your room and they both said ok and we went and Ethan played drums and played with toys and Emma got the seat to Ethan's drums and stood up on it and turned the radio on and starting dancing! Super cute! Then I started videoing Emma dancing and she had on her mommys shirt! It was funny! Then I asked Ethan if he could dance and he started swaying from side to side LOL but i didnt want too many videos on my phone so I deleted it! Because videos take up too much room on my phone! Or I would have kept it! Then later I turned off the lights and said are you guys getting tired and Emma said I tired! so I rocked her but then I remembered I forgot to change her diaper and get her ready for bed so I got up and she wasn't asleep yet thankfully so I changed both Emma and Ethans diapers and I accidentally ripped Ethans diaper and I asked Ethan where his diapers were and he would just laugh then he finally said in the bathroom so I went to look in the bathroom and I found them! but right when I was on my way back into the living room Ethan ran around the corner of the hallway and I screamed, then Ethan cried and he said you screamed at me Kacie and I said I am so sorry Ethan I wasnt yelling at you. You just scared me then I felt bad but a few minutes later he quit crying! Then I didnt know what LeeAnn wanted me to put on them so I just put them in pajamas that I found that looked the comfiest! LOL

     Then Ethan picked his toothbrush up off the floor and said look Kacie I found my toothbrush and I said you sure did. I said can you go put that in the bathroom for me and he said yes! I said good boy! Then I couldnt find Emmas toothbrush so I texted Aunt LeeAnn and asked and she said Emma chewed hers up and I said ok! Aunt LeeAnn said I could just use Ethans on both of them so I did! Then we went into their room and I said guys its time to go to bed and I asked Ethan which bed they sleep in and he said they sleep by theirself and I said you sleep separately and he said yes and I said no you dont LOL then he started laughing and they both got into bed together and I covered them up and they went to sleep and I stayed in their with them and just chilled out in the chair in their room! Then Later my mom called and said Im coming over there and she said Aunt LeeAnn wasn't answering her phone then Aunt LeeAnn walked in the door and said sorry im late and I said its fine! LOL! Then mom got there and my sister was with her friend from softball Jocelynn and then we all started talking about what I would do if a stranger came and Aunt LeeAnn grabbed my face and covered my eyes and was screaming LOL it was funny

     she was showing me what to do if a stranger came LOL it was funny then she said oh Kacie I owe you money then she handed me $10 and said she will give me the other $10 soon I said ok! Then a few minutes later we all gave each other a hug and me and my mom my sister and her friend Jocelynn left.

        

BUMP!

Nothing much was going on for the twins that day. We were hangin' around the house, havin' a lazy day. Their dad was doing yard work and busy all day. The house was quiet. Emma slept on the couch.  Ethan and I, in their room, were right in the middle of our make-believe dinner when all of a sudden--

"...something went BUMP! How that bump made us jump!"

I jumped up from the table and ran to the door! It sounded like a cannon had fired--I wasn't sure. With caution, I peered out from the door. I looked all around for that thing that went bump. And the whole time my heart was going thump, thump, thump.

Ethan was tugging at my shirt. With concern, he said, "What was that? I heard a bump!"

Their dad then appeared with a devious grin. By his hops and fist pumps, I knew he was at it again. The Fourth of July was a few days away. Of course, Rodney lit a firecracker today. He buys them every year. A certain kind, I'm not sure what they're called. They aren't very big, in fact, pretty small. But the sound that they make and the things that they shake are most certainly big and tall. They have but one purpose: to deliver the most reverberating bump the neighbors have ever heard. Every time he lights one, he laughs like a kid. Every time, it tickles him just to know what he did. Over the years, I have come to love his signature jump-making bumps, his menacing but tantalizing bumps. Big Bumps, that's what we'll call them, Big Bumps.

The very first ever July at our house, his series of untimely bumps made the neighbors come wandering out.  With curious confusion, they looked all about.

On the night of Independence Day, they were all out to see the display. That's when they discovered the source of the mysterious bump that had been making everyone jump. My husband walked calmly into the street.  A few neighbors noticed him as he dropped a Big Bump down a tube there on the street. People were buzzing and carrying on, still ooo-ing from the previous display. He lit the fuse and then quickly stepped out of harm's way. I'm sure they were all expecting a colorful burst to flower nicely overhead, but instead came the powerful thump. There was a sudden bright flash that expanded and contracted like a portal to The Land of Make-Believe--

                KABOOM!


The neighbors fell silent.

Rodney laughed, raised his fist and yelled out like a barbarian, "YEEEAAAAHHH!"

 I hid my face.

                                           ............................................


I smiled as I came in and closed the door behind me. My heart resumed its natural pace. I said, "I heard the bump too, Ethan. It was a firecracker. Daddy lit a firecracker in the back yard. It's okay."

Emma slept right through it.

"A firecracker?"

"Yep, a dangerous firecracker made that loud bump."

"It was scary. Is it a dangerous bump?" he asked.  Ethan and Emma have been learning all about the most important categories for all kinds of things, all different shelves and boxes for things: what's dangerous/safe, dirty/clean, scary/not scary? Is it something we eat, or not? What's delicate or their toy? There are also Ethan's favorite categories, what talks, doesn't talk and gots eyes, doesn't got eyes.

I tried to explain in an honest, exciting, and most un-frightening way: "It was scary. And it can be dangerous. But it's fun for adults and it can be fun for kids, too. The Fourth of July is coming soon! There will be lots of bumps. It's a celebration! Like a...a big bump party! It'll be fun and scary and loud."

"Bumps are scary and...a celebration," he confirmed.

"You and Emma will have to stay by me. We'll all be careful and we'll all have fun! A Bump Party with Thing 2 and Thing 1!"

And so began, in such a manner, our on-going talk about all of the bumps that are sure to make us jump on the night of the 4th of July.

“'I know some new tricks,' said the Cat in the Hat. 'I will show them to you.
Your mother Will not mind at all if I do.'”

The next day Rodney decided to introduce the kids to smoke bombs. I thought it was a great idea to practice staying back when Daddy lights one and for them to see that it was fun and exciting. They loved smoke bombs! "Daddy's makin' a blue bump! Daddy's makin' a purple bump!" They both shouted as they jumped for all of the bright and colorful bumps.

As the big day of the Bump Party came nearer, more and more bumps could be heard. Here and there, now and then, there would be something somewhere that went bump. Ethan and Emma were both concerned, but Ethan especially needed answers about this curious bump.

"Is the bump in my room? Is the bump in the wall?"

"The bump is outside. And you're safe from it all."

"Are we scared?"

"No, we're not scared. We're safe." I explained in the best way that I could, that bumps are just loud, and jumps could be good!

"Is Emma safe?" he asked.

"Yes, Emma is safe."

"Is Mommy and Daddy safe?"

"Yes, baby, Mommy and Daddy are safe too."

                                            ...........................................

At church during Children's Time, he was sure to alert our preacher and congregation that he had in fact heard the bump, but that, thankfully, Emma was safe from the bump.

The day of the Bump Party finally came, and all day we celebrated, even when it rained. We went for a boat ride with Mimi and Pappy, Aunt Amy and Uncle Mike, cousins, Kacie and Karli, too. And when we came home, we played in the drive and made bump after bump after bump. All day, we had all kinds of 4th of July fun. The kids rode on their trikes around in the drive, and played their first hopscotch game. They drew pictures with chalk after the rain, and their Daddy took a scooter ride.

"Look at me! Look at me now! It is fun to have fun, but you have to know how."

The kids even had their very own bumps, Pop-Its bumps. Sparks of excitement fired off in their eyes. They'd throw those little bumps as hard as they could. They made their own bumps, and it made them feel good.

"You will see something new. 
And I call them Thing 1 and Thing 2."

When their daddy made a really BIG BUMP, you wouldn't believe how it made those kids JUMP! This can't be good, the kids must've thought. Their daddy may like it, but Emma and Ethan do not.  Those big bumps are scary when they are lit.  The twins "do not like them, not one little bit."

They had such a long day in the boat and driveway, boating and bumping and jumping away. It was time for the twins to go to bed. But before they laid down their little twin heads, they said, "Daddy's outside makin' bumps."

Then, they fell asleep fast in their bed, and not once did they jump.

Not even one of those bumps made them jump.

"Then The Cat in the Hat said, 'That is that.'
And then he was gone, with the tip of his hat."