Smarter than.....

AJ asked me this morning "Mom, what is 13 + 13?"
I quickly replied "26."
With a look of astonishment on his face he told me
"Mom, you are smarter than a FROG!"
Wow! A frog! Smarter than a frog?!
I guess I'll take it as a compliment :)

Excitement & Anticipation

As Christmas Day gets closer and closer,
the boys are increasingly excited.
Here are a few things we have been doing this Christmas season.

Each year the boys put together a gingerbread house. AJ especially loves this activity. This year they got to share the experience with Mama Fern and Papa Ron while we were at a holiday party. I had to find an out of the way place to stash the completed gingerbread house so that it wouldn't be demolished by little fingers wanting one more taste of the icing & candy.AJ has enjoyed his 'Countdown to Christmas'
paper chain he made in school.
I took this photo yesterday when we were down to 4 more days.This Advent Calendar is my favorite countdown.
Each day we open the numbered door and put a new
magnetic piece on the nativity scene.
All that is left is Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus. It's almost Christmas!
Only a few more packages to wrap,
cleaning to be done, pies to make,
pictures to take,
and cookies to bake!

School's Out

On the first official day of Christmas Break, AJ said "I wish I had school every day!"

He would be staying home today even if school were in session. AJ has his 3rd ear infection since October. What a way to begin Christmas Break!

Not Your Typical Choo Choo

Last year we took the boys to the Christmas Train and began a new tradition for our family. Riding the train is an experience you will not easily forget. Along the tracks, you see and hear the Creation Story and the narrative of Jesus' birth, death and resurrection. It is very well done.

We were excited to return to the Christmas Train this year.

Waiting to board the train with tickets in hand.

The night wouldn't be complete without a visit to the man in the red suit. Santa Claus that is! AJ sat on his lap and told him the top three things on his wish list. JJ wasn't interested in getting too close to Santa. It was chilly, but we had a great time!

AJ liked the train ride and the story of Jesus best.

JJ liked the candy stick and hot chocolate.

We can't wait to go again next year!

Programs & Parties

JJ's preschool put on a Christmas program last week. I was hopeful that JJ would have a better experience than the Thanksgiving program and actually sing & clap at the appropriate time.

Well, there was no singing or clapping for JJ in the Christmas program this year. At least I can say that while he did sit on the steps in protest of the performance, he did not make a scene. I wonder if he will be more willing to participate in these kinds of events next year. For now, we have these photos of our strong willed, only does things when he decides he wants to do them, JJ.
Finally off stage, we see a smile. Never mind that he was supposed to be facing forward and quietly watching the rest of the program.

AJ's kindergarten class had a fun "Winter" party with reindeer ears for everyone, ice cream sundaes and holiday cookie decorating. They had a blast!

Words from JJ

Tonight JJ said "The angels said 'Do not be afraid'."

My heart smiles - he does listen!

Christmas Decorations

I love decorating for Christmas and thought I would

show you my favorites.

This Willow Tree nativity tops the list.

My MIL made this garland for me a few years ago.

It has lights that cast a beautiful glow on our "great room" at night.

This ornament is my favorite new addition to the tree this year.

JJ made it at preschool. It is a "peanut" baby Jesus

in a popsicle stick manger.

Isn't it precious!

Candy Making Weekend

I was a busy girl this weekend making candy for teachers gifts and a few friends.

This is a new recipe I tried - Crockpot Peanut Clusters. Jimmie said it looked like chocolate soup :) It's soup-er easy and makes a TON of candy. The only hard part about this process (besides keeping from taste testing too much) is standing at the kitchen counter for an hour spooning candy and having a place to lay it all out.

Ingredients:

2 lbs salted peanuts

48 ounces white almond bark chocolate

4 ounces sweet German chocolate

12 ounces dark chocolate

Instructions:

Place all ingredients in the crockpot.

Cook on low for 3 hours - don't touch it.

Turn crockpot off and let sit for 20 minutes.

Stir well.

Drop by teaspoons full onto waxed paper & let harden.

Store in airtight container.

Here is another treat I made from a Southern Living recipe -

Whole Grain Rice Krispy Treats with Dried Cranberries.

It's basically the same as the original recipe only you use Kashi cereal and sprinkle 1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries on top - yummy and reasonably healthy.

I tried to do most of the work while JJ was napping. It was challenging to keep the boys' fingers out of everything! They liked the chocolate dipped pretzels the best.

I'm going to need to fit a few workouts into my schedule this week!

Lesson in Effective Arguing

Overheard the other day after a Pez candy dispenser went missing:

JJ: AJ, you took it!

AJ: Did not!

JJ: Did yes!

AJ: No JJ, say "Did too!"

JJ: Did too!

AJ: Did not!

JJ: (silence)

AJ: JJ, say "Did too!"

JJ: Did too!

The things that younger siblings learn from older brothers and sisters is really something!

Words from AJ

"JJ if you knock over the Christmas tree, Jesus will be mad!"

My Favorite Holidays

I just LOVE Thanksgiving! It's one of my favorite holidays.


I love it for it's simpleness. I love spending the day with family. I love the FOOD! And I love to ponder all the things I'm thankful for. I'm mostly thankful that God sent his son Jesus to the earth as a tiny baby to teach us about His love and ultimately die on the cross to save us from our sins.

We had an interesting weekend. It started off with a program at JJ's preschool. His class dressed as pilgrims and were soooo cute! The only problem was that JJ didn't want to be a pilgrim. He wanted to be an Indian. Here he is expressing his displeasure with his costume.

The hat comes off.The collar comes off.

He didn't sing. He didn't play his instrument. He didn't do any of the movements to the songs. His teacher later asked him why he was crying at the Pow Wow. She said that he told her "Because I was sad, and I was mad, and I didn't want to be a pilgrim." Too bad. He would have been a really cute pilgrim. At least he enjoyed this cute turkey sandwich that I made for him. He's not so much a fan of turkey, but loves bell peppers. My picky eater is so unpredictable!

AJ had a "feast" at school too. With all the turkey talk, he was getting excited about the "real" feast we would have at Mama Fern's house on Thursday. He too is a picky eater. So I had the idea to create a chart of all the foods that would be served and let him document what he tried, liked and disliked. I was hopeful that having the chart would encourage him to at least try something new and discover that he liked it (mainly my homemade apple pie). Well, here is the chart after the feast was digested.


AJ's plate ended up looking pretty bland - turkey, mashed potatoes, and a roll. This is exactly what his Daddy's plate looks like every year (except Jimmie will eat my apple pie). Oh well, there is always next year.


The day after Thanksgiving, while our boys spent the night with Mama Fern & Papa Ron, Jimmie and I got up SUPER early to shop Black Friday at Wal-Mart. We snagged a few great deals and are now almost finished with our Christmas shopping. While we were bargain shopping, JJ woke up early with a stomach bug. He created quite a mess at Mama Fern's house, but was feeling better and wanting to snuggle by the time they brought him home. This tired mommy was more than willing to indulge him with cuddle time.



Thanksgiving is the perfect lead in to Christmas, my other favorite holiday. We have been decorating, shopping, and setting our minds on the true meaning of the season as it approaches. We put up the tree, the garland, the nativity, and a wreath on the door.

The lights went up on the house a couple of weeks ago, but we turned them on for the first time on Friday. That process went much more smoothly this year than last. We had labeled each strand of lights as they were removed last year so we didn't have to go through the frustrations we experienced a year ago. Also, we borrowed a taller ladder than we had access to last year to reach the peak over the garage. I said a prayer as Jimmie climbed up to put on the lights (and reminded myself of his insurance policies)! As the daughter of an insurance agent I'm prompted to ask, Do you have adequate coverage?!


As much as I love Thanksgiving, it can't compare with Christmas. After all, Christmas is the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ! May your Christmas season be full of hope and love!

What's In Your Laundry?

I'm sure every woman of the house finds a few things that come out of the washer & dryer: coins, a shredded kleenex, etc.

Here is a list of what I have found in ours:

An ink pen
A rock
A plastic lizard
A pull up diaper
AJ's watch - it has survived TWICE!!
A candy wrapper
A set of keys

So I'm curious. What is the strangest thing you have found in your laundry?

3 Year Olds Say The Darndest Things

JJ has given me reason to blush a few times lately. He is very observant and likes to ask questions or give his honest opinion about things. Here are a few examples:

JJ recently visited our friend the dentist to have his teeth cleaned for the 1st time. When I took him back to the office for my appointment, he promptly informed the entire staff that "It stinks in here! And the toothpaste tastes YUCKY!" They all thought he was pretty cute!

A close relative (who will remain nameless) was visiting at our house. After we had finished dinner, JJ began to stare at our loved one's mid-section. Then he said "I can see your tummy. It's FULL!" Oh boy - at least he was PC and no offense was taken!

While waiting in the checkout line, JJ was snacking on rainbow colored Goldfish crackers and "checking out" the hairstyle of the man a few people in front of us. He was a black man with long dreadlocks. JJ asked me "Is he a girl-man?" To which I replied
"Are there any green goldfish in your bag?" Yes, there were some green ones!

Never a dull moment with my little guy!

Change of Plans

No school for AJ today, so we had a few things we planned to do.

But this changed everything.

At least daddy will get home early from work today.

He can put on the spare and take our van to the tire place.

Hopefully we will only need a patch. These tires are fairly new.

Instead of running around town with the boys,

we played in the backyard.

The boys drew pictures with sidewalk chalk.

Here is AJ's rocket ship. He wrote "BLAST OFF" at the bottom.

JJ's chalk creation. He said it too is a rocket ship blasting off.
(I think this picture is upside down - oops!)

The winds are really strong today. With allergies in full swing,
our outside time came to an end with AJ getting a
breathing treatment, JJ having a runny nose and
mommy working up a good headache.

Happy Friday!

Halloween Fun

The boys were astronauts this year for Halloween. These costumes were so cute on them! The past three years I have asked (mainly AJ) what kind of costume they want, buy/order them, then intentionally keep it a secret until Halloween day. The reason I do this - so they don't have time to change their minds about it! I dealt with this once and vowed to not do it again ;)

We started our day off with a couple errands & let the boys wear their costumes. After eating lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant we took them to a local bakery for a Halloween cookie.

The best part of Hallween - Trick or Treating of course!

They got so much candy! AJ was particularly excited.

This was by far the most fun Halloween for the boys.

Words from AJ

While driving in the van this afternoon, the boys and I got into a discussion of whether or not a particular candy bar had peanuts inside it or not. JJ insisted that it DID NOT have peanuts, AJ wasn't sure, and I said that it DID have peanuts.

JJ was in the mood to argue. Before long JJ was yelling "NO, IT DOESN'T"! At that point AJ shook his head and told his little brother "JJ, it has peanuts. Mom is ALWAYS right."

You know this momma was smiling the rest of the way home. We will see how long this line of thinking lasts :)

Welcome Fall!

Fall is officially here and we are excited about cooler weather, warm clothes, soup and holidays approaching. I finally got my front porch decorated. I had to wait for a non-rainy day which set me back about a week with all the wet weather we have had lately. The boys really enjoyed selecting their pumpkins and gourds.

I tackled a very timely project last week - rearranging the boys' closet for fall/winter clothes. This involved sorting through tubs of hand-me-down clothes for JJ, organizing summer clothes into save, donate, and consignment sale piles for each child, lots of laundry, and putting all the fall clothes neatly into the closet & one dresser that the boys share. Here is a picture of what was put back into the attic.

This is the "after" picture of the boys closet. I love the divided hanging organizers. It increases the functionality of the closet so much and you can see everything well through the clear plastic. Sometimes we use them to place clothes for each day of the week, but lately I've just been stacking things that I don't hang up.

Hope you are having a great Fall and staying healthy!

One Month Victories!

Both of our boys have an accomplishment that I want to share with you.


JJ has been staying dry at night while wearing real underwear for a full month! I was reluctant to put him to bed in underwear at first, but Jimmie convinced me to give it a try. JJ had been keeping his Pull Up dry for about a week. So we took the plunge and he has done great! He seems like such a big boy now!


It has also been one month since AJ got his new glasses. He has adjusted well to wearing them all the time. And we have yet to make a warranty claim - YEAH!!

Hometown Fair

Several weeks ago we were treated to a night at the fair. My hometown has hosted the county fair each fall since before my grandmother was born. It has been years since Jimmie and I have been and the boys have never been. So this year we decided it was time to make the trip back home and experience the fair. Papa T and Nana met us there with my grandmother, Mama Connie. She had tuckered out by the time we took this photo, but it was fun to have her "along for the ride."

The boys rode all the kid rides and had a blast!

Thanks Nana & Papa T for buying the tickets!

Most of my pictures turned out blurry from all the action. So this is all I have.

AJ loved the cotton candy and his foot long corn dog. JJ liked the funnel cake.

It was fun to revisit a place with so many memories. Jimmie and I remembered our first date being at the county fair 17 years ago! Not much has changed since then. I hope we can make this recurring event for our boys to remember too.

While Waiting In The Pick Up Line

Every afternoon JJ & I arrive at the drive through line behind AJ's school to wait until the bell rings. We get there about 30 minutes early so that we are one of the first cars in line. Thirty minutes can be quite a long time for a toddler to spend in an idle vehicle.

For the past two days, JJ has needed to pee at some point during our wait. When your newly potty trained son tells you that he needs to pee, you had better be prepared to take action. I actually have a travel potty seat stashed in my van that has been used on more than one occasion :) But it requires a supply of baggies that I had run out of :(

Plan B - a Sonic cup. Those who know me well know that I pretty much always have a Sonic cup with me. The past two days I have surrendered my Sonic cup for JJ to relieve himself in. Once AJ joined us in the van we promptly hit the nearest Sonic to replace my Coke before happy hour was over.

A side note - As I dumped the ice out of my cup today JJ told me that "God made the ice cold."

Words from JJ

JJ - Mommy, girls are not my best buddies.

Me - Oh, Why not?

JJ - Because girls use the girl bathroom.

Me - Well mommy uses the girl bathroom. Don't you like mommy?

JJ - (Pause) Yes.

My Son, The Kindergarten Bachelor

One day on the drive home from school AJ shared a new idea with me.

He said "Mom, I want to have a 'Girlfriend Club'."

Oh really, I thought. I asked him "What is a girlfriend club?"

He explained "It's where I invite ALL my girlfriends over to my house. We will play in the backyard together. And then they will all line up and I can decide which one is my BEST girlfriend!"

(I'm so glad he couldn't see the look on my face or hear me laughing.)

Kind of sounds familiar, don't ya' think? And this is from the same child who was concerned about being "girl trapped" at the lunch table just three weeks ago. I don't think it bothers him anymore ;)

Any of you with young daughters better be on the alert if you receive a playdate invitation from AJ!

Someone Looks Different

AJ has new glasses! Don't they look good on him? Ever since we saw the eye doctor a couple of weeks ago, he has been so excited for the glasses to come in. He has spent the weekend getting used to them and gets to wear them to school for the first time tomorrow.
AJ said he liked these frames the best because they looked like his daddy's. I like them because they come with a 2 year full replacement warranty (we will see how many times we have to use it! :)

Empty Beds

**Update**

Here's the scoop: It was all AJ's idea. He said that they were both scared of the thunder and he suggested that they get under JJ's bed. AJ told me that he talked to his brother "really nice" like this (imagine the sweetest, most innocent little boy voice)

"JJ, Do you want to climb under the bed and sleep a little?"

Isn't that so precious?! Moments like this make the bickering, pestering and fighting a distant memory. At least for five minutes! :)

When we put the boys to bed tonight, we could hear thunder in the distance. Both of the boys are a little scared of thunder & lightning. JJ wakes up every time it storms during the night - AJ usually sleeps straight through. So we wondered how our evening would turn out once the lights were out in the boys' room.

We really didn't hear much of anything from them, so we figured they were worn out from the day's activities and had quickly fallen asleep. After about an hour of silence, I went upstairs to check on them & gaze at their peaceful faces before I went to bed. But when I opened the door to their room,

THEY WERE NOT IN THEIR BEDS!!

I quickly discovered that both of them had crawled under JJ's bed and were cuddled up together (with several stuffed animals) sleeping soundly while sharing JJ's pillow. Apparently they were hiding from the thunder ;)

I was able to pull them out from under there and place them in their beds without waking them. I could then see their faces, peaceful despite the thunder that continued to roll.

Hopefully we will have a quiet night. And I will have some questions for them in the morning.

What's That Smell?

The doorbell rang this morning. It was our neighbor who informed me that he had found a skunk under the grill on his back patio. When he uncovered it, it ran under the fence that we share and he thought that it may have gone under our sandbox.

Great. Just great.

Jimmie was at work, so when he got home I told him what the neighbor had said. He was skeptical, but thought he should check it out. After all, the boys and a friend were playing in the sandbox just last night. Better be safe than sorry ;)

He carefully peeked into the sandbox. No skunk. He tapped around the sides & didn't hear anything. He used a board to poke around under the sandbox and didn't think there was anything there. Satisfied that everything was fine, he started back around the house to the garage when he smelled something - skunk.

So now Jimmie was convinced that there was indeed a skunk under the play set. He had built the sandbox insert himself, creating a bench on all four sides of a smaller square. He knew the skunk must be in the space under the bench. After taking off both the front and back panels of the sandbox, Jimmie could see it hiding in there. He took a deep breath and poked it with an extension pole we borrowed from a neighbor. It worked!

There went one. And then another.
That's right, two skunks!
Under the fence
And across the field.
And Jimmie didn't get sprayed - thank goodness!

All the while I was taking pictures through the safety of the patio door.
Goodbye skunks. And don't come back!

We Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Birthday......

To bring you fever, chills, and vomiting.

Not by the birthday boy. But by JJ, who is missing his 2nd day of preschool to lounge on the couch with mom all day and watch movies. I had some special plans in mind to celebrate Jimmie's birthday today, all of which have been altered or rescheduled for tomorrow. Hopefully JJ's bug will be limited to 24 hours and we can enjoy the weekend.

So how old is the birthday boy?? In his own words (I would never have said this) he is now "One Third of a Century". Technically, it will be another 3 months, and 10 days before he is a third century old, but who's counting? Definitely not me because I will be turning the same age in a matter of months.

Happy Birthday, Sweetie! Thanks for getting up in the night to verify accurate medication dosing, comforting our little guy, helping me clean a disgusting mess, and allowing me to get a couple good hours of sleep. You're the best!

JJ's First Day of Preschool

JJ's first day of preschool was yesterday. He had a great day despite the rocky start we had. I wasn't sure how he was going to do when he ran into the backyard when it was time to go and I had to chase him down. All the while he was yelling "I don't want to go to school!" But I cornered him and bribed him with fruit snacks to allow me to take this picture of him. See the smirk? He is thinking that he sure does have things figured out! Look out preschool teachers! You have your work cut out for you!

Time for Change

Today was Jimmie's first day at a new job. After 8 years he felt it was time for a change. We are excited about a more consistent work schedule with no shifts after 8pm. Yeah!!


Of course he will miss a few of his previous colleagues. He has developed some close relationships over the years and it's not easy to say "Goodbye". And I know that my hard working hubby will be greatly missed. The pharmacy folks threw Jimmie a going away party last weekend. It was quite entertaining! The staff all signed a poster-sized card for him.


There was lots of "scientific" humor exchanged, some of which I was totally in the dark! Here is a demonstration of the new work attire they have envisioned for Jimmie at his new job.

• The orange wig will turn purple with prolonged exposure to chemotherapy.
• The over sized dark glasses will protect his eyes from splatter when preparing intravenous therapy, however the rest of his face is left unprotected.
• The double layer of cheap plastic comprises the preferred personal protection apparatus from biological agents.
• And the large hand shaped wand replaces his mortar and pestle.

So now Jimmie begins a new opportunity to specifically serve patients fighting cancer. After losing two family members to cancer just this year, we have increased compassion for those in the battle for their life. I'm really proud of what my husband has accomplished professionally in the last 8 years and looking forward to what the future holds in his new position.

Potty Training Update

WARNING!!!

Bathroom talk to follow. If you are not interested in hearing about JJ's bowl movements, you will need to wait until my next post.

Well JJ has come a long way in a few short weeks. He has been very successful wearing Pull-Ups the last two weeks. He is even staying dry at night, something I certainly did not expect. A few short weeks ago he wasn't willing to poop in the potty, so wearing underwear full time was out of the question. Now he is super excited to do #2 in the potty so he can hear the "plop" sound as it hits the water :) I think part of his fascination with it is seeing what it looks like and making some identifications based on the size/shape of things: spaceship poop, dinosaur poop, fish poop to name a few!

And by the way, he started out using the little potty seat but has quickly graduated to the big potty - THANK YOU GOD!

So the next step is wearing underwear during the day which will begin tomorrow. I think he will do fine. He tells us when he needs to go with plenty of time to get where we need to be. He is even using public restrooms with no problem (I'm the only one that seems to have an issue with public restrooms!)

I had been a little (okay, more than a little) concerned this summer about the whole potty training thing because his preschool has a 100% potty trained policy for JJ's class, which begins in one week. So his timing couldn't be better. This momma is breathing a sigh of relief - when I'm not doing the potty dance with JJ!

AJ Loves School

Well, it's the end of week one and the verdict is in: AJ Loves School! Yeah!! It is so fun to see him excited to wake up (on his own) early in the morning, get dressed, and make his bed without being asked. He is so proud that he can walk to his classroom all by himself when I drop him off in front of the school each day. He doesn't even argue when told it's time for bed. He knows he needs a good night's rest to do it all over again. I'll tell you - his self management skills are quite impressive at times. Now if only he would have the same self discipline where treatment of his brother is concerned :)

We feel very strongly that waiting another year for AJ to start Kindergarten was absolutely the right choice. He has been so calm and confident this first week of school. I've been so proud of him.

What a difference a year makes. AJ is much more conversational about the events of his day. I used to hear "I had fun" and "Everything was my favorite" when asked about what he did at preschool. Now we get details, the good and the bad. Like the 3rd day of school when he got a "yellow light" for saying something inappropriate in class - he actually brought it up and told me what happened. He would not have done that a year ago. A sign that he has matured quite a bit. Then he received a "Smile Gram" three days in a row - AWESOME! A "Smile Gram" is a little recognition the children get from the teachers for doing something nice in class like raising their hands before speaking, keeping their hands to themselves, etc. I think he figured out pretty quickly that he didn't like "yellow lights" and that he wanted to be a "green light" kid instead!

Something else AJ has learned to do in the last couple of weeks -

HE CAN TIE HIS OWN SHOELACES!!

What a milestone in a child's life! He has been practicing for a few months now, but it just clicked for him one Sunday afternoon. Since then he has gotten better & faster each day. My baby sure is growing up!

Happy Anniversary #12

(This is a couple of weeks late, but better late than never!)

Happy Anniversary to the man I love.
It seems incredible that we've been a couple
over half of our lives now. It's even more incredible that
we found each other attractive while sporting the
hairstyles you see here. Yes, we both have perms
and apparently enjoyed dressing alike!

We've had some fun times, and some not so fun times.
That's what married life is about.
This photo is from a Halloween party in college.
We actually won a prize!
Como podemos mirar?

Thanks for sharing life with me, sweetie. I love you!

As a side note, I can now wear my wedding ring again after
jamming my ring finger on our anniversary.
My finger was so swollen that I couldn't get it on for
over a week! I'm glad I'm not superstitious!