Comparison

So, I’d planned to post today about us decorating the tree last night, but instead I’m posting this little (adorable, if I do say so myself) video of Jack Henry from last night…tree decorating post can wait.

I LOVE how he says “yes” and needed to record it, and I got it last night in this little clip where I’m just asking him to say a few things. NOTE: while he’s pointing to his camera and not answering my demands for words, he’s saying “That’s me!” when pointing to the camera screen…I only realized that when watching this back. He’s saying “that’s me” or “not me” a lot these days…

My sister saw this after I posted it to youtube and sent me a link to Michael Scott (from “The Office” for those of you who don’t watch it) saying “yesh” like Jack Henry does! Hayley – I found this other one, too

And more evidence:

How We Got Our Tree

aka One of the Stupidest Things I’ve Ever Done.

Gather ’round, kids…it’s story time!

I realized as we were getting the tree out this year that I’ve never told this story on the blog, so I thought now would be a good time. And since I don’t mind humiliating myself, here goes:

When I was a kid, at some point, my parents switched from a real tree to an artificial tree, and I remember that while I liked decorating the artificial tree better, for the first couple of years I hated that we didn’t have a real tree. I remember that my mom and dad loved the new tree, and how they didn’t have to clean up needles, water it, or just stand back and throw lights at it because it hurts so bad to decorate. I vowed that when I grew up, I’d have a real tree every year.

In college, when I lived in an apartment, we got a real tree both years. And not just a Charlie Brown tree; it was smallish, but a real one! There were four of us girls to take care of it, and disposal consisted of us throwing the tree over the balcony and dragging it to the trash. No big deal.

Matt and I married soon after I graduated, and on our first Christmas we got a real tree.

photographic evidence of first tree

Our second Christmas, married just over a year, we got another real tree. I loved the process of going out and choosing one, but I didn’t like watering it or cleaning up the needles. And I didn’t like the price. But, I did like having a real tree.

more evidence that we did, in fact, used to have a live tree. please note the door in the background. it's about to become an integral part of the story.

what we looked like in late 2000

That second year, after we got back to our apartment from our Christmas travels, the tree stayed up longer than I would have liked. It was probably the first week of January, and I decided one night that even though Matt wasn’t home (I think he was playing basketball with some friends in a league that night), I would take down our tree. Our apartment had a sliding-glass door right by where the tree was sitting, so my plan was this:

a) take off decorations
b) lift tree up and carry it out the door
c) let it sit on our fenced-in patio until Matt decided to take it to the trash (mind you, this same patio housed a very, very rotten pumpkin for a very, very long time, so there was a chance the tree was going to be there for a while, but I was OK with that.)

After undecorating the tree, I attempted to lift it. Riiiight. Super heavy. And if you’ll notice from the picture, this wasn’t exactly a tiny tree; it was pretty round (though thankfully, it appears from the pictures that the 1999 was slightly larger, so this could have been worse, I guess). So instead, I thought, well, I’ll just shove it out the door, and then I’ll clean up the needles that have fallen to the floor. A little bit of extra mess, but oh well. The tree will be out of the apartment.

Except, as I shoved the tree out the door it got stuck. Totally, completely, utterly not-going-anywhere stuck. Oh, and water from the tree stand was spilling all over our (rental! apartment!) carpet. Lovely. Oh, and did you know that tree sap settles in that water and when it spills out on your carpet, it makes a sticky mess? Well, now you do.

So now, the tree is stuck half-in, half-out of our sliding door. And I think I forgot to mention that it was FRIGID cold out that night, and was snowing and there was already several inches of snow on the ground, some of which, at this point, is now blowing in my open door.

Stuck in this predicament, I did what any sane new-ish wife (whose husband doesn’t have a cell phone yet so that she can call him crying to come home and fix this stupid problem!) would do: I put on gloves to prevent frostbite and I got the saw out. And then, I sawed the tree in half. Except, lucky for me, that wasn’t enough to get the entire tree out the back door, so I had to saw the portion that was still in my apartment in half AGAIN so that I could get it outside.

You can only imagine the mess this created on the floor of the apartment. Once I thawed my fingers, I got to work cleaning up the needles, soaking up the spilled water, and vacuuming up the sawdust. I am not joking when I say that even though I vacuumed thoroughly many, many times, I was STILL finding needles that August when we moved out of our apartment.

It should come as no surprise that the next fall, we purchased a massive artificial tree. One that is standing behind me now, ready to be decorated this evening by my children. Why we purchased such a massive tree I’ll never know, but it is what it is…

You Could Say We’re Going Through a Sticker Phase.

Bennett has twice this week already created what he calls “Sticker Man,” whereby he covers himself in as many stickers as he can. I don’t care that he does this for two reasons:

1. He stays out of trouble for a very long time while placing the stickers, and Jack Henry usually joins him (though he tears them off as fast as he puts them on).

2. We have about a million stickers, so I love that he’s using them!

doesn't his arm look funky and broken? i swear, it's not.

Today, we added temporary tattoos to the mix, too!

check out his mario kart ink! he also has mater from cars tattooed on his left hand/wrist, which is where he placed it.

Over The Top!

Yay! My sweet blog friend Joanna gave me this cute award:

And now I have to do one-word answers, which I don’t think I’m capable of, so this is a real challenge:
» Where is your cell phone? Purse
» Your hair? Messy
» Your mother? Missed
» Your father? Loved
» Your favorite food? Pizza
» Your dream last night? Strange
» Your favorite drink? @Sonic
» Your dream/goal? Achieved
» What room are you in? Office
» Your hobby? Blogging
» Your fear? Loss
» Where do you want to be in 6 years? Hmmm…
» Where were you last night? Here
» Something that you aren’t? Employed
» Muffins? YES
» Wish list item? House
» Where did you grow up? Effingham
» Last thing you did? Dishes
» What are you wearing? Pajamas
» Your TV? On
» Your pets? None
» Friends? Fabulous
» Your life? Blessed
» Your mood? Excited
» Missing someone? Mom
» Vehicle? Aging
» Something you’re not wearing? Socks
» Your favorite store? Limited
» Your favorite color? Green
» When was the last time you laughed? 5minutesago
» Last time you cried? Yesterday
» Your best friend? Awesome
» One place that you go to over and over? Grocery
» One person who emails you regularly? Kelli M
» Favorite place to eat? El Maguey

It killed me on some of those to just give one answer (or, fudge on a couple) or not explain, but I’m going to follow the rules! Thanks, Joanna!

Thanksgiving, Picture Style

Not much time here, since I’m apparently the only person I know who hasn’t decorated her house yet for Christmas! I’m working on making that happen this week, so blogging could continue to be sparse. But, here’s a quick Thanksgiving weekend recap!

whew! we made it…nothing like a 3-hour-drive early in the morning to get your holidays started right! :) i love when he has a beard!

the boys posed themselves, so we had to take pictures

unfortunately, none of them turned out that great.

this one’s kinda cute, though!

some members of the family, despite not eating their lunch, got to have scotcheroos.

i’m going to say that he really liked it. and then the sugar high kicked in…in a way i’ve literally never seen before.

hanging out with will! i bought him that stylin’ bayside soccer shirt he’s sporting!

will’s starting to crawl!

and everyone thought it was so cute until…

…he crawled right into the corner of the bar and hit his head! first major boo-boo. and he barely cried! we didn’t even know he’d done this until a few minutes later.

will and jack henry played uno together.

and will really got into the thanksgiving festivities!

siblings bowling night! i’ve never bowled so bad. i think i was better when i was 7. but it was fun anyway!

So, Guess What?

I’m going to be an aunt AGAIN!

This time, it’s Jake and Dana that are having a baby! I’m SO excited for them I can hardly stand it.

Here’s a picture of me and Jake literally moments after he told me:

he was going hunting; he doesn't always dress like this.

Andrea, Heidi and Jo: This was when Jake stopped by your house after Ang’s shower! I was totally dying to say something, but I was the first one (FIRST ONE!!) to know, so I couldn’t share. I got into the car to head back to STL and just started bawling and could not stop, I think from just being with people I knew and not being able to tell or even really celebrate with him right in the moment!

Congrats, you two! Can’t wait to see you this weekend.

Terrible Twos

As I’ve suspected in the past, along with two-year-molars comes two-year-old behavior. This was confirmed last week when Jack Henry’s first molar popped through and his behavior, that VERY day, turned into that of a toddler.

My sweet, baby-faced little pumpkin now becomes a monster during the portion of his day that is dictated by me.

sweet baby-faced little pumpkin stage.

i really liked this stage, too.

and here he is in the monster stage. notice this is blurry, which means it was an action shot. legs were a'kickin'.

And I’m pretty sure that the last shred of my sanity just packed her bags and walked out the front door a little bit ago. Sigh. I keep repeating my new mantra, “This is the last time I’ll have a 2-year-old, this is the last time I’ll have a 2-year-old, this is the last time…” but so far, it’s not helping.

Jack Henry has to put his own pants on, which means that they sometimes look like this:

and, the outfit doesn't match, either. because on this day, he also insisted on picking out his shirt, and i didn't have it in me to duke it out over a shirt. you've got to pick your battles, right?

He’s obsessed OBSESSED with Elmo. That shred of sanity? She walked out humming “La La La La, La La La La, Elmo’s World.”

He also uses his favorite word, “NO!” (or sometimes his other favorite word, “NONONONONO!NO!“), to answer virtually any question or even statement that is lobbied in his direction. And, he’s using the power of “no” + being a 2-year-old to limit his diet even further, which just infuriates me.

Yes, I know, this, too, shall pass. But it passes into three, which I’m also not crazy about for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is my last experience with a 3-year-old in this house.

The light at the end of the tunnel, though, is that Bennett (the afore-mentioned 3-year-old) has blossomed into a really wonderful 4-and-a-half-year-old.

Now, simply for entertainment’s sake, here’s the rest of JH’s tantrum.

And the “I’m thankful he’s still in diapers or that would be a major plumber’s crack” shot:

So while part of me just wants to hit fast-forward on the next two years through the nonsense, the rest of me says “no way.” Because then I’d miss things like Jack Henry bringing me a marker and asking me to color with him, or him identifying and knowing that he loves the color green (so much so that his brothers are seriously annoyed that he’s used up their new green marker already), or him pretending to write his name when we’re coloring. Or the way he moves his 2-year-old booty to the beat of a song he likes. I’m trying hard to remember those moments when he’s shouting “NO!” at the top of his lungs for the umpteenth time and it’s only 8am.

On Advent.

I’m the first to admit that up to this point, we have done a lousy job of teaching our children about the Advent season. We do try to talk about the season being all about Jesus and his birth and what that means for us, but we haven’t done anything tangible in the past (except one year using an advent calendar with chocolates inside). And I want to be intentional about teaching our children about our faith.

However, I went to a workshop at our church a couple of weeks ago, where two moms who are passionate about celebrating Advent presented the ideas they’ve used throughout the years with their kids. I came away with so many plans! They gave lots of examples of ways to tie in Scripture, and I’ll include links below. They each use an Advent calendar like this with little pockets in it, so that they can tuck their thought or riddle for the day in the pocket. I am desperately in love with this one from Pottery Barn Kids but AREYOUKIDDINGME? $70??! Will have to shop ebay in the summer for a better deal and get one for next year!

I had to scale back from all of the ideas they gave to make a plan that will work for us. For one, I want to start small…we can build on this in the future. And two, we already have a schedule that seems kinda busy, so I was hesitant to add TOO many things. We won’t be doing something every day, and some days we’ll so something really small, and others we’ll have an activity of some sort.

Here’s what my plan includes. Feel free to use ideas from this list or adapt them to fit your home! As you’ll see, some are faith-based and others are just fun activities to help us wait until Christmas day! Obviously, some of these are kind of corny or a little of a stretch, but remember that they’re for little kids who will think all of this is pretty cool, and hopefully walk away with a tangible reminder of what the season is all about!

daily activities:
*plant paperwhites (I got the $6 Target kit), which should bloom near Christmas. Talk about how we’ll have to wait patiently for them to bloom, just like we have to wait for Jesus’ birth. References to waiting here and here.
*make Muddy Buddies aka Puppy Chow because it was probably really muddy in the cave/stable where Jesus was born.
*buy them new toothbrushes (I got some of the battery-operated ones) or some special soap, and tie it in with a scripture about how Jesus washes us clean.
*there are TONS of references to Jesus being the light of the world; I’m going to choose two (here’s one), and use them on separate days. One day we’ll eat by candlelight (which could get interesting), and another day I’ll give them a new nightlight (which I’d planned on buying anyway for them next year, when we do their room in Cardinals stuff!). You could also give the kids little flashlights for this topic.
*get some Lifesavers candy (my kids like the gummy ones). Talk about how Jesus came to save our lives. Tons of references to Savior, obviously.
*we’re going to build one of those kit gingerbread houses; might do a “wise man built his house upon the rock” tie-in, since the kids know that song, too.
*give them a riddle in the morning: “What happens when a snowman and a candy cane collide? Find out at dinner tonight!” Serve peppermint ice cream for dessert.
*new book – not sure which one yet, because there are so many I don’t love. We really like Mortimer’s Christmas Manger, so we’ll read that for sure. I’ll probably also get this book.
*outreach – we donate toys and food around the holidays a lot, so we’ll continue to do that, but we’re also going to have our activity one day the first week be to send Jeremy, our Compassion child, a little package. You can only send things that are flat and fit in an envelope through Compassion, so I’ve picked up a few packages of stickers from the Christian bookstore (he last time drew us a picture of Jesus after he rose from the dead, with a cross in the picture, too, so I think he’ll love these) and a little prayer card. I’ll have the boys write to him, too, or draw pictures.

outings:
*driving around looking at Christmas lights (we pack up chex mix and maybe some hot chocolate this year, too, and drive around with the kids in their pjs…it’s one of their favorite parts of Christmas, and it always was for me, too)
*taking in Wild Lights at the zoo, which we’ve never done but always wanted to. I’m hoping because I’ve actually scheduled it that it will happen this year.
*Luke’s birthday dinner.

I’m going to try to locate a cheap and not-ugly Advent wreath of some sort over the next week for us to use as well.

Christmas Eve will look a lot like last year, and then Christmas Day we’ll do chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast – my donuts last year didn’t turn out well because I’m not patient letting the oil heat up.

I can’t wait to get started on this next Sunday! I’d love to hear about what you do celebrate Advent with your family, or what you think you’ll try from this list!

Bullet Points: Weekend Alone

*Boys left around 4pm on Friday. Matt was headed to deer camp (where he does not actually hunt, if you remember), and the boys were headed to Nana Jo and Papa Ron’s house for a weekend of fun.

*Did a happy dance around the kitchen.

*Ran a ton of errands, most of them fun.

*Picked up Chipotle for dinner. I want to marry their guacamole it’s so good.

*Sorted the boys’ Christmas presents.

*Wrapped a few presents.

*Saturday: cleaned out playroom. Threw away McDonald’s toys. Packed away baby/toddler toys. Held back tears.

*Lots of errands. Primarily trying to find outfits/accessories (for me; no one else accessorizes in this house, obviously) for our family pictures and do some Christmas shopping. Had a lovely time because I had the luxury of time.

*Accidentally rubbed jalapeno juice in my eye, while driving and eating an Auntie Anne’s jalapeno pretzel (first time I’d had one; it was 3pm and I’d had half a bagel all day to eat. Needed sustenance, and this fit the bill!). Burned badly and I almost had to pull over.

*Lips were on fire from jalapenos, and I dug out my Softlips chapstick thing, and right after I got a really thin layer on my lips, I totally crushed it. No idea how I managed that, but my mouth was burning for forever because I HAD NO CHAPSTICK.

*I went to Forever 21. Twice. Bought a scarf that didn’t match what I needed it to, so I took it back and bought a super-cheap sweater. I was like 15 years older than everyone else in the store. Including the manager.

*Got a massage!!

*Back to the mall to pick up one of my two favorite meals from CPK: a Pear Gorgonzola Pizza. Don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it, people. Is everyone sensing why I didn’t want to start food journaling until Monday?

*More gift wrapping!

*Sunday: worked in church nursery. Home to wrap more presents. Polished off CPK leftovers, one of the few types of leftovers I don’t mind eating.

*Boys home around 12:30. This was Jack Henry’s response to me:

resentful much? he just ran away from me, and avoided me for the first 15+minutes he was home.

Some observations:
1. I could have sworn it was Halloween. I have never seen so many totally freaky people in my whole life while out shopping (keep in mind that I’ve lived in a city for a long time and I went to a liberal arts college – and this weekend takes the cake). I kept expecting that creepy Twilight Zone music to start playing (when I was a kid, I couldn’t even hear the music without being scared).

2. I loved my time alone! Everyone says, “Aww, don’t you miss them?” and I always say, “Yes!” because that’s what I’m supposed to say, but honestly, it’s not like we were apart for a week. I was ready for them to come home on Sunday, yes, but I wasn’t pining for them the whole time they were gone; I was totally enjoying myself! And I was able to do that because…

3. The boys had such a great time at Nana Jo and Papa Ron’s. They’re well-taken-care-of and Nana Jo sends them home with clean laundry. What more could I ask for?

25 Random Thoughts

This is taken from a page in Hannah’s book…I enjoyed her list over the weekend, and I’m feeling like my head is full of randomness today as well, so here goes.

25. I have an unhealthy relationship with bread and butter. Knowing is half the battle, right?

24. I love how Jack Henry says “Santa” and I ask him multiple times a day to say it. It sounds like “see-tah” and it’s so cute!

23. I am deeply disturbed by how quickly my three boys can eat an entire bag of Goldfish crackers. Like all in one sitting.

22. While it’s true that Jack Henry IS saying a lot more words, an unsettling number of them sound like curse words. They are words that I am certain he hasn’t heard (unless he was somehow able to time-travel back to my potty mouth days), but they sound bad nonetheless. And I crack up like a 12-year-old boy when I hear them. That’s probably the problem.

21. If you’re having a baby boy and want him to grow up to be a football player, name him something like Colt McCoy. This is all I know about him, because I don’t follow college football that closely (yet I’ve still heard his name multiple times this season): 1. He is a boy. 2. He plays college football (at Texas, which I only know because I looked him up on Wikipedia). 3. His name is quite possibly the best name ever for a football player.

20. I am going to start a food journal, writing down everything I eat. I didn’t use to snack so much, but it’s becoming a problem, as evidenced by the couple of pounds I’ve already gained since a little before Halloween. And HELLO! Christmas cookies are is coming. I’m not counting points or calories. I start Monday. Who’s in?

19. I hate the word bling.

18. Mexican food and Matt and I were all MFEO. I am very happy to report that El Maguey has reopened near our house after a kitchen fire in July closed it down for months. We ate there Saturday night.

17. If big hair comes back into style, I’m golden. This humidity is not good.

16b. Teething (and, potentially a toddler’s teething breath, oh my) is my parenting kryptonite. Jack Henry’s first two-year molar has started to poke through, and I need to just curl up in a ball in the corner and wait it out. I’ll be doling out the Motrin freely. For his teething pain and my headache.

16a. A toddler who has just learned how to use the word “no” also falls under this kryptonite category. At the end of the day, I am useless. If someone even asks him his name now, he says “NO!”

15. CHRISTMAS IS 35 DAYS AWAY! YAY!

14. I’m getting a massage this weekend and I can’t stop thinking about how much I’m looking forward to it! Thanks, Heidi, for the gift card that I for some reason put off using, but can’t wait to!

13. I just found a box of wallet-sized wedding pictures in a junk drawer; I’m pondering what to do with them. Anybody want one? C’mon, don’t be shy.

12. I really think youngish bald guys are sexy. I think when you’re young and losing your hair and you have the confidence to just shave it all off, that’s really cool. Matt, it’s lucky for you that this is the case.

11. I rarely find a blog that is so funny and well-written that I have to go back and read from the beginning, but I did that with This Is How Mom Rolls.  Hilarious!  And, the author and I knew each other as children.

10. Corollary to random thought #23: Bennett is definitely going through a growth spurt, and the amount of food that he can put away at a meal is staggering. Breathtaking, really, when you’re looking at the food as dollars instead of nourishment for your growing boy.

9. Vanity sizing is my new best friend. Sorry to my other besties out there, but when a store can put me in a dress in a size that I haven’t worn since the eighth grade (and only for about two weeks at that), we’re going to be tight.

8. I hate when I buy a new makeup product and immediately hate it. I will never buy another tube of mousse mascara. They’re all bad.

7. Making Trader Joe’s pumpkin pancakes the other day brought to mind two things: 1. I am grossed out by that white connective tissue thingy in an egg, which, I have just learned by 2 seconds on Google, is called chalazae. 2. I don’t like when baking instructions tell you to just mix something until the big lumps are gone. That goes against my perfectionist nature; I feel like I haven’t finished the job I set out to do.

6. Phineas and Ferb is potentially the best kids’ show ever.

5. Seeing your children in emotional pain, I’ve decided, is the worst part of parenting that I’ve encountered so far. Rip my heart out.

4. Luke has made a poster for our wall to advertise the book fair he’s going to have the week of his birthday (how does he come up with these things?). I’m floored by how much he’s writing these days. He writes a couple of “chapter” books (each chapter is like a page long) every day, most of it stemming from the fact that they are working on “personal narratives” at school now. It blows me away that my kid knows what a personal narrative is.

3. I don’t get the Pioneer Woman/MckMama haters out there.  I mean, I completely understand if someone’s writing/stories/cooking aren’t your taste…that’s cool.  But writing posts on your blog (or starting new blogs just with that intent) trying to air other people’s supposed dirty laundry (that you don’t even know is fact)?  That’s just insecurity and jealousy of someone else’s success.  Here’s a little hint:  if you don’t like their blogs, DON’T READ THEM.  “Keepin’ it real” doesn’t mean telling the whole world every little tiny bit of your business.

2. I have to potty train Jack Henry sometime in the next calendar year. Ugh.

1. Do you want the last several minutes of your life back after reading this?