Monday Minute: Trampline fun

At a baby shower for "Aunt" Sabrina...



First, I wish I could delete my awkward "huh huh huh"s that permeate this video. I reeeeaaaally hope I don't do that constantly when having small talk conversations.

Second, Jason totally freaks me out the way he plays with Drew. But I think it's good for him. If it were up to me the boy probably wouldn't even be holding his own head up by now.

Traveling Shoes

I just got finished packing the majority of my luggage for my trip to Peru. The last thing I squeezed into my overpacked suitcase was a pair of ugly, heavy shoes that I'm probably not going to wear. Not for long, at least.

Why might I cram an unncessary pair of shoes into my already overloaded suitcase? This particular pair of shoes is what I have deemed my "traveling shoes". They have seen many countries, but more importantly, they have walked on four continents. On Saturday they will have walked on five. And one day, they will have set their soles on all seven continents (only Africa and Antarctica to go!).

Unfortunately, from all that walking on all those continents, they are quite worn out. Besides being dirty (the picture doesn't really do justice to just how ugly they now are) they are just plain uncomfortable from having the lining and padding worn out inside. In fact, if you look closely you can see the worn out lining on the back of the right shoe. On top of that they are heavy. When I picked them up to put in my suitcase I actually looked inside thinking I must have stored something in there on a previous trip. I weighed them and they're over 1.5 lbs... maybe not a lot, but too much for such a small pair of shoes!

So, I will probably do the majority of my walking in a new pair of white sneakers, but I will wear these shoes at least once. Then I will start planning how I can get them to continent number six.

Wordless Wednesday: Dreaming of a White Christmas

Monday Minute: From the backseat

This is how Drew entertains himself in the backseat of the van...

Funny to hear yourself coming out of your child's mouth... and how horrible it can sound! You can guess what word he has been hearing a lot of lately... (and no, I don't mean "why"... though that will be fun later...). I'm really not sure why he starts slapping his leg while saying it... I promise we don't hit. We haven't even spanked him. (And no, I'm not opening discussion on behavior management techniques... just saying). 

I have learned that the best way to prevent kids from saying "no" all the time is to avoid saying it yourself- to find a way to rephrase the "no" into a "yes". But let's be honest, "no" is the quickest, easiest way to get to the point. Especially if your child is about to climb up to the hot stove top, or yank the angry cat's tail, or pinch his Mommy... 

And I've been finding it kind of amusing lately to watch him actually express opinions using "no". The other day Jason offered Drew a bite of macaroni and cheese, which Drew happily ate. I then offered a bite of mashed potatoes. He looked at the fork, then shook his head and matter-of-factly said "No. No. No." and turned back to Jason for more macaroni.

I'd say a few "no"s sprinkled between the "bless you"s and "thank you"s is okay.

Chip off the ol' block?

Jason's mom was in town this last week and we got to enjoy a few evenings with her over dinner and drinks. She lives out-of-state (always has since I've been with Jason) so I don't often get much time to chit chat with her. Seems that perhaps was a good thing because maybe I never would have married Jason if I had. NOT because I don't like Cathy (I love her!), but because of the stories she's been telling me about him! I'm pretty sure the thought of having children with this man would have had me running.... seems he was quite a handful! From chewing apart his crib (oh wait...), to smashing eggs from the refrigerator when her back was momentarily turned, to running his baby walker down the stairs... and laughing. She has repeated to us numerous times that he was "horrible!". Thankfully, she says, he mellowed out quite a bit. (I agree!)

With all that, I started thinking that my little mischievous pumpkin may have a bit of his dad in him (I think he knows his name as "DwoooOOOoo", with the "did you really just do that!?" tone). But really, he is quite a sweetheart. Here are just a few examples:

When we put up a tiny Christmas tree at our lake house to celebrate an early Christmas with my  parents and sister, Drew, of course, wanted to touch badly. After saying a firm, but quiet, "no" (apparently with a finger wag, according to Jason, which must have done the trick) Drew pouted then burst into tears. But, from then on, he simply looked and pointed at the tree without touching. When we pulled out the big tree at our house he never once tried to touch it. He will point to it and say "wow!" but he stays just out of reach.

A good boy gets to hold his special ornament

One of Drew's favorite phrases is "bessoo!" which means "bless you!". Jason has horrible allergies. Year round. So the phrase is pretty much a constant in our house. A week or so ago I was changing Drew's diaper upstairs when Jason sneezed downstairs. Drew shouted "bessoo!" (and of course Jason shouted back "thank you!")

Drew has also learned to say "san soo" ("thank you", though it can be confused with "bless you"). At first he loved handing me things and saying "san soo" knowing that I was about to say it. The other day, though, Jason handed him his sippy cup and Drew said "san soo!". Awwww!!

He loves bedtime and asks to go "night night". Last night we were late coming home from church and it was past his bedtime. He angrily screamed "nye nye!" the whole way home then laughed when we brought him upstairs to get ready for bed.

Just being a sweetie (and making sure B.A. Laura buys him
anything he wants!)

We stick to a bedtime routine every night- brush teeth, change diaper and put on PJs, get "deedee" (blankie), read a book, then say a prayer. When we get finished with our book I say, "now it's time to say our prayers" and he clasps his hands together. Makes. My. Heart. Melt! (And always makes me say an extra word of thanks to the Big Man).

Because of a cough, the doctor put Drew on an inhaler for a few weeks. The first little bit was rough trying to get him to sit still so we could give him the medicine. He kicked, screamed, thrashed, and cried (and made me feel like an evil monster). Suddenly, the other day, he sat perfectly still the whole time. I have no clue why but I smiled and excitedly said "good boy!". Ever since he sits still and takes it, then when he's finished, before I even get a chance to, he says "boo boy!" (good boy) and, once again, makes my heart melt. "Yes, VERY good boy!"

Wordless Wednesday: What's cookin'?

Monday Minute: No pain, no gain

Well, since I missed last week, does that mean I owe you two minutes this week? It does? Perfect!



Before I was able to get the video rolling Drew had been pushing the cooler back and forth across the living room, head down, shoulders hunched, like a football player pushing "sleds" (had to ask Jason for that word) across a field for training practice. He did at least three passes and had me giggling, then I realized I should grab a video of his antics... I'm really not sure what he was trying to accomplish. And at first I did not realize the styrofoam cooler was full of (heavy!) freezer packs and wondered why it seemed so difficult to move.

I just love how PROUD he is of himself at the end. That's my precious boy!

P.S. Please excuse the mess that is my house. I will blame it on this being the day after returning from our out-of-town Thanksgiving... and while that is true, this is really a fairly common state of being in my home.

Wordless Wednesday: A day at the zoo

Wordless Wednesday: Which is the lesser of two evils?

(P.S. No, these are not old pictures. Those are old pumpkin seeds. Put them in the fridge to roast 'em later and forgot.)

Monday Minute: Twirls

Drew randomly started doing twirls. Something he learned at school? We were just sitting around and he started twirling. He also started walking backwards down the hallway (thought he was going to do it for the video but didn't really). How fun! What I love most is Jason getting involved (minus his first comment.... we're working on that!)

Wordless Wednesday: Callaway Gardens

(Stealing Mommy's pre-race fuel)