• We call feet tootsies at our house when they are cute and little (belong to small children).
• Cole and Henry share a room and each have a loft bed (did I ever post pictures?).  Yes, Henry had a loft bed when he was only 2.  Yes, this is dangerous and we are bad parents.  And yes, the boys love it.
• Henry recently had a birthday and received some G-Force (he loves that movie) action figures which he likes to play with a lot.
• When Josh or I read to the kids at bedtime, we sit in the rocking chair in the hallway and read aloud to all three kids who are in their beds "quietly relaxing."
• Sitting in the rocking chair, you look directly into Cole and Henry's bedroom at the foot of Henry's loft bed.
• The kids are not supposed to get out of their beds once we start reading (but this rule pretty much gets broken every night due to bathroom needs, water needs, lap-sitting needs etc etc).  Once the kids have all gotten out of their beds several times, Josh and I get serious (ha) and really enforce the rule.  This is the point where our story begins . . .

I am sitting in the rocking chair in the hallway reading Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince out loud to the kids.  All three are supposed to be IN BED . . . NOT getting out.  All is quiet (except for me reading).  I glance up and see one little leg dangling from the side of Henry's bed toward the big wooden desk that the boys jump onto to get down.

Me:  Henry, you are not supposed to be out of bed.
Henry (in an imploring tone): It's just a tootsie!

I realize that he is not, in fact, trying to get out of bed, but instead trying to use his toes to grab a certain G-Force action figure off the desk.  His little toes are working SO HARD.  I am stiffling a laugh and watcing the struggle when I see Cole jump down, grab the G-Force guy, hand it to Henry and climb back into bed.  The little leg disappears again . . . and I continue reading.  Later that night, Josh and I couldn't resist saying that to eachother over and over at odd times . . . "It's just a tootsie!"

I love that quote -- "It's just a tootsie."  as in "Ah, Mom.  Come on.  I'm not really getting out of bed!  I just really need this G-Force guy up here with me!"