Merry Christmas!

Our photos were taken by the wonderful Liz Thomas.

Cuppa Joe

Come sit and have a cuppa joe with me! If we were chatting over coffee (or tea...or Diet Coke...whatever your poison is), I would tell you:

 

My hair has always been a little bit wavy, but since having my children it has become CURLY.  Them hormones can do some crazy things.  I was getting increasingly tired of fighting with the curls every morning, trying to straighten them.  So the last time I got my hair cut, I mentioned to my (totally wonderful) hairdresser that I was ready to just go curly.  She immediately started gushing about how much she loved the idea and how I just needed to "own my curls."  She cut my hair so that the curls would really come alive.  And let me just say....THEY'RE ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!  My hair is full-on, rockin'-it-80's-style, curlified.  And I kinda love it.

 

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Sam is pretty much done with a nap.  I still think he needs one, but we're definitely in the gray area.  If he does take a nap, we often struggle at bedtime.  So most days he just doesn't nap....which makes it pretty difficult for me to post any updates here.  I want to record some of my memories here....but not at the expense of being present.

 

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We don't have an Elf on the Shelf.  To be honest, I had thought I might get one this year, but in the end I talked myself out of it.  I love cute ideas like that---traditions that we can build on every year.  But honestly, it just feels like one. more. thing. to do at Christmas.  And really, who needs that?  So this year, I'm giving myself the grace to say no thanks.

 

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Sam has been talking about his "bird" lately.  I want us to use real names for our body parts, so we had the following conversation.

 

Me:  Sam, it's actually called a penis.  Let's start using that word.

Sam:  Peanuts.

Me:  Close enough.

 

A little while later, Sam was dancing around the living room chanting, "Peanuts!  Peanuts!  I have a peanuts!"

 

Glad we got that straightened out.

 

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I'm reading a couple of books right now.  I've always loved reading, but I haven't been able to really focus on anything since Sydney was born.  It seems like nothing really holds my attention very well these days.  I started Kisses From Katie by Katie Davis a couple of months ago.  Honestly, it's the first book that I've really been able to read past the first couple of chapters.  Then I started a Bible study about the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  Neither book falls in line with my normal reading selection--I'm usually a fiction-mystery-funny-book kind of girl.  But I'm really enjoying both of these.  What books do you recommend?

The Ponytail Progression

A couple of months ago, Shawn and Sam took a little day trip, so Sydney and I had a few hours to ourselves.  What did we do?  Why...we painted our toenails, went shopping, and tried out new hair-do's, of course! 

 

 

I was ever-so-proud of her first ponytail.  It took 3 attempts and an ENTIRE episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but we got it. 

 

Sydney's hair has really started filling in over the last few months.  It's transforming from that baby-hair look to little-girl-hair.  So when it got a little bit longer, we decided to give pig tails a try.

 

Somewhere along the way, though, Sydney decided she didn't like having her hair put up. 

Her ponytails are short-lived these days.  I have found that if I can keep her distracted and keep her hands out of her hair for at least a couple of minutes after putting it up, we are more likely to be successful in our endeavors.  But as soon as she remembers that her hair is pulled up, she takes it down.  Then she ends up walking around with this weird unicorn-ponytail-Ed Grimley-looking thing sticking out of her head.

Halloween

Halloween was so fun this year.  Sam was really excited about wearing his costume and going trick-or-treating.  I really don't think he even knew he was going to get candy.  We just told him we were going to walk to Barry and Emma's house and then Dawson's house (our neighbors), and he was good with that.  I'm pretty sure he just thought we were going to visit.  When people actually started giving him candy, I thought his head might explode. 

 

We tried to get Halloween pictures, but we of course failed miserably.  I'm posting all of our outtakes with commentary because Shawn and I were laughing uncontrollably.  Even though we don't have perfect portraits of our kids, it still made for a fun memory. 

 

We started the process by trying to get the kids to stand by themselves.  A silly notion, really.  Notice that I tried to create a nice backdrop with my fake pumpkins and my little fall tree that I created from one of my tomato stands.  Thank you, Pinterest.

 

 

We couldn't manage to get any without Shawn's arm in them.  I would also like to point out that one of my children is standing still as requested while the other one is...well...being held by her father's arm.

And there she is giving her daddy those eyes.  He's a sucker for them...

 

 

...and she knows it!

And we've lost her.

 

 

So then we decided we'd have better luck if Shawn got in the pictures on purpose.  Marginal.  It was at this point that Sam started wondering if this was all there was to trick-or-treating.

Notice Molly sitting in the background.  We tied a cape around her neck too.  We thought it would be cool for Sam to have a sidekick like all good superheroes should.  Unfortunately, the cape kept falling around her neck so it looked more like a giant bib.  Also, we've lost the antennas.

 

 

Not particularly happy about having them back on.  Sam's getting antsy.  At this point, kids were walking past our house in their costumes while Sam was stuck taking pictures.  Cruel and unusual treatment.  The other parents, however, seemed to really enjoy our situation.

 

 

So then we switched it up to see if Mom could have any better luck.  Not so much...

 

 

We tried to get Sam to put his arms out like he was flying.  Very Superman-like.  But really it just ended up with him roaring like a dinosaur.

Going.....going.....

 

 

...gone.  We've lost them.

 

 

When I was growing up, we had a designated picture spot in our yard.  Every Easter, graduation, prom, homecoming or other random occasion, we would all stand in front of the big magnolia tree in my parents' front yard.  Going through old pictures, you can see fashion trends fade, hairstyles change, braces come and go....and the tree growing right along with the children.  I need to figure out what our "picture spot" is.  Maybe the key to getting good family pictures is having a spot.

 

We did finally get to go trick-or-treating.  Sam loved flying down the sidewalk, Sydney loved walking like a big girl, and Molly loved seeing all of the children--so many potential friends!  It's hard to say who had the most fun.

Cuppa Joe

Come sit and have a cuppa joe with me! If we were chatting over coffee (or tea...or Diet Coke...whatever your poison is), I would tell you:

 

 

Remember my carrots?  They're long gone now, but I actually was able to harvest a couple!  I had been steadily keeping an eye on them, hoping we might actually be able to eat one. I knew I didn't have enough to prepare for a meal or anything, but I thought Sam and I could at least snack on one. But I had no idea how to know when they were actually ready to be picked. Nothing I read had any good recommendations.  One night, the suspense was killing me, so I finally caved.  

Shawn refused to eat it because it looked weird. I think he was afraid it had some kind of genetic mutation that would implant in our DNA and cause us to sprout a third arm or something.  There were two more in my garden. I left them a bit longer so they could get really big.  One was kinda normal looking, but the other one was hollow and had a spider living in it.  Carrot fail.  Shawn suggested that we NOT grow carrots next year.  I think we should grow MORE so we can practice.

 

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Colored bubbles---that's one of those things that sound like a really cool idea...until your own kid has them. 

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Potty training:  I hesitate to comment on it for fear that the mommy gods will strike me down, but I think we're kinda there.  Sam did great with #1 right out of the gate.  But he has refused to poop in the potty.  We begged.  We pled.  We bargained.  We threatened.  Shawn told him as soon as he could use the potty all the time, we'd go see the fishies again.  So every morning when we would put his underwear on, Sam would remind me that he wanted to go see the fishies again.  And I would remind him of his deal with Daddy.  Then I would ask him if he was ready to put poop in the potty.  He would think about it and say, "Well...not yet."  And I would go beat my head against the wall. 

 

Fast forward a few weeks.  Since discovering Scooby Doo while we were on vacation, Sam is a man obsessed.  A couple of weeks ago, Shawn and I told him that we would let him watch one Scooby Doo on the days that he put poop in the potty.  But on the bad days---NO SCOOBY DOO.  I think it only took one day before he got the message.  Since then, I'm proud to say we've been accident free. 

 

Scooby Doo....who knew?!

 

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Along those same lines, a few days ago, I was standing outside talking to a neighbor.  Sam was playing in the yard, and I was keeping an eye on him but not watching like a hawk.  A minute later, I turned around to see Sam standing at the edge of our property talking to our other neighbor.  They seemed to be having a nice conversation---her with her little shovel and my son without his pants. 

 

Wait...WHAT?!

 

I went over to investigate, and sure enough, my son had not a stitch of clothing on his body from the waist down.

 

"Ummm...Sam?  Why aren't you wearing any pants, bud?"

 

"Well, Mom...I just had to go pee pee, and I didn't want to get it on my pants."

 

Duh. 

 

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Enjoy the potty training mishaps?  How about another one:  A few weeks ago, I was getting ready to put Sam to bed.  I told him to go use the bathroom one last time, but he stayed gone for a suspiciously long time.  When he finally came back into the kitchen where I was, he was holding his underwear....and they were dripping.  He proceeded to squeeze them out---all.  over.  my.  kitchen.  floor. 

 

"Sam, why are your underwear so wet?  Did you have an accident?"

 

"Well, Mom...I just put them in the potty!"

 

I'm really not sure why he put his underwear in the potty, but upon examination of my bathroom, it appeared that he had swung them around over his head like a wet, germ-flinging lasso afterwards.  My bathroom was soaked.  Lovely.  I will soon be composing a letter of thanks to the makers of Lysol wipes.

 

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Listen to this song.  I had some music playing while I was cleaning a couple of weeks ago, and this came on.  I literally froze and just listened to it.  It's simply beautiful.  If you need a pick-me-up, this will most certainly provide it.

Legacy

We are saying goodbye to Shawn's grandfather this weekend.  We've been looking through old pictures and telling stories and laughing through tears.  He was a big part of Shawn's life.

Papaw Harlow was very careful with his money.  Some might even say he was miserly.  I suppose it's understandable:  he grew up during a time when money was short and luxuries were few.  He learned how to squeeze every last penny out of his dollars.  He loved a good bargain, and he loved to stock up on sale items.  It always tickled me to go to his storage room and open the refrigerator.  At any given time, there was enough spray butter and canned corn in there to feed an army.

I think one of Shawn's favorite stories to share about him is about the time he ordered a hamburger from a fast food restaurant but was given a cheeseburger.  It upset him because the restaurant charged 20 cents more for the cheeseburger.  He took his food back to the counter to report the mistake, but when the cashier offered to just exchange the cheeseburger for a hamburger, he refused.  He didn't want to waste the sandwich--he simply wanted them to scrape the cheese off of the burger and refund him his 20 cents.

In thinking about him over the last couple of days, my mind keeps drifting back to how he prayed.  When some people pray publicly, they can often seem a bit uncomfortable.  They may mumble or speak quickly or try to add fluff to their prayers.  It can come across as stiff and unfamiliar.  Not so with Papaw Harlow.  He understood what it meant to come boldly before the throne.  He spoke to God with the ease of a longstanding friendship.  When he prayed, you could hear love and affection in his voice.  He didn't come to God with a list of demands; rather, he chatted with his Friend about things that weighed on his heart.

He left a legacy for his family.  He modeled how to walk in faith.  How to ask God for what you want, but to trust that what He has planned for you is always best.

I've played that moment when his soul passed from this life into eternity in my mind.  I think when he got his first glimpse of Heaven, he probably sighed a heavy sigh.  I imagine he reached for his wallet and wondered aloud how much a place that beautiful must charge for admission.  But his Friend opened the gate, shook his head and spread his arms wide, "Come on in.  Paid in full."

C-A-T-S!

A couple of weekends ago, Shawn and I got a babysitter for Sydney and took Sam to the UK football game.  He's been a couple of times in previous years, but this was the first time that he really got it and knew what was going on.  We had talked about it for a few days beforehand, and Sam was super excited to go.  I have to be honest...I felt a little guilty leaving one child and taking the other to do something fun, but Sam really thought it was cool to get to do something just with us.  He was so excited to "watch football with Daddy." 

 

As we were walking towards the stadium, the band was outside getting the crowd ready.  Like a moth drawn to a flame, Sam became entranced by the flag girls and the drum line.  (Notice his "friends" in his hands.  We don't leave home without them these days.  I have to limit him to two per trip, or he would need a duffle bag to carry them.)

 

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After the band finished their little pre-game pep rally, we headed inside.  Sam asked us no less than 50 times on the way to the stadium if we were going to get a hot dog and popcorn at the game.  Priorities...

Did you know proper hot dog eating etiquette requires that you eat the hot dog separately from the bun?  It's true.  Sam did eventually eat the bun, but only after rubbing it around on the stadium bleachers first. 

 

 

My boy did really well, but around the 3rd quarter, he started to get a little tired.  It was at this point that I seriously considered bathing him in hand sanitizer.

 

 

 

I asked him if he wanted to go to the car, but he didn't want to leave.  He was watching football with Daddy!

 

But seriously, look how tired!

 

 

Sam keeps telling Shawn, "I love watching football with Daddy" and Shawn's head nearly bursts with pride every time.  I see many games together in the future for these two.

Just Like Elmo

Remember me talking about Elmo's underwear?  Since that time, Sam has mentioned wanting a pair of underwear "just like Elmo's" several times.  Shawn and I have told him each time that when he is ready to use the potty all the time and wear underwear, he can have some Elmo underwear.  We finally bit the bullet a few weeks ago and started wearing underwear all the time.  I won't say we've had complete success, but Sam has done pretty well.  It was time to make good on our promise.

One little problem:  did you know you can't buy underwear with stars on them?  It's true.  We have searched high and low.  I'm convinced that there is not a company in the entire world that makes starry underwear.  Shawn tried to just distract him and bought him some cool, cartoon underwear.  We have Lightening McQueen, Buzz Lightyear, Mike and Sully, and even Scooby Doo.  And while Sam really likes all of that underwear, he never really let the star underwear conversation die. 

We were in trouble.

My friends at work suggested I just make some.  Ok...paint some stars on some underwear.  Sure...I can do that.

I rounded up my supplies and got some crayons to keep Sam occupied.  He quickly let me know that if there was painting to be done, he would be doing it.  Fearing the worst, I stripped him down and gave him some paint.

I have a craft tablecloth.  I bought it on clearance about a year ago, and I put it on the table anytime I'm going to be doing anything with paint, glue or glitter.  It's vinyl, so I can just wipe it down when I'm done.  I like to think about what it will look like in a few years.  It will, I hope, be covered in messes and memories.



I have to say, he did a pretty good job.  We had nary a mess!  We did, however, have quite a few tears when it was time to put the paint away.

I used paper plates for my paint.  It's just better to be able to toss it all in the trash when I'm done.  


We often get supplies shipped to us at work packed in this really thick foam.  Rather than buy star stamps at the craft store, my friend Amanda just made me some.  She cut the foam into squares, printed out a few different stars, traced the design on the foam, then cut out the shapes using an x-acto knife.  They worked like a charm!  Best part, I just tossed them in the trash can when I was done.
 
I thought the bigger, simpler shapes turned out better than the smaller, more detailed ones.  I will try to remember that for future projects.
 

 Disclaimer:  I thought I was so smart for just tossing my stamps when I was cleaning up, but I probably should've saved them and stamped the front of the underwear after the backs were dry.  Sam doesn't seem to mind, though, so I'm not going to mess with what we've got.

 

I found a star stencil in some of my craft supplies, but the foam stamp-thingies worked much better.

 

Then we just hung them up to dry!  Things were going really smoothly until Sam realized that he wasn't going to be able to immediately wear his underwear.  He spent the next 20 minutes or so standing at the back door crying and screaming, "I want wear star underweeeeeeeeear!!!!"

 

 

I will have to let Sam paint again.  Soon.  But outside.  He loved it and has asked several times since then when I will let him paint another picture.  Maybe I'll let him do some pumpkins.

Gulf Shores

We recently took a trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama.  I love the beach.  I love the sound of the ocean.  The smell of saltwater.  The sounds of seagulls.  Warm sand under my feet.  Give me a comfy chair and some snacks, and I could be content for an entire day.  The kids aren't quite ready for that kind of beach experience yet.  But we'll work on it.

 

Our first day was a little...challenging.  It was HOT, and there wasn't much air moving.  Additionally, the water was really rough, and it just about beat Sam to death.  (Not the he minded all that much.  He just dove in head-first, but it wore him out pretty quickly.)  Within our first 5 minutes of being on the beach, Sydney took a big wave to the face, and she was like, "Oh no you didn't!"  After that, she was pretty much mad at the beach that day.  She didn't like the sand on her hands, but she refused to stay on the blanket. 

I tried to distract her with some toys, but she just wanted to chew on them.  Which resulted in sand in her mouth.  Which she didn't really like.

 

Sam, on the other hand, really liked the toys.

 

 

 

Our next attempt was much better.  That day, there was a gentle breeze blowing, and everyone was in a much better mood. 

 

 

 

The sand even tasted better that day.

 

Pictures were a little harder to come by on this vacation...especially beach pictures.  It took one of us to keep Sydney from eating seashells and one of to keep Sam from drowning himself in the ocean.  Luckily, we were able to get pool pictures a little bit easier.  The condo that we stayed in had a really nice pool for little kids.  It wasn't very deep, and it had waterfalls, fountains and a little splash pad.  Needless to say, it was a huge hit with my two water bugs.

I freaked and fretted over sunscreen for this little gal.

 Despite my best efforts, she would have nothing to do with a hat.

Most of my attempts to get her to wear the hat ended up with this expression on her face:




But she sure loved this little splash pad!  I think this was by far Sydney's favorite part of the trip.

 

Sam liked the pool pretty well, too...

...but I'd say his FAVORITE  parts of the trip were:

 

-Riding in the alligator.  You know...those machines that take you up and down floors in tall buildings.

 

-Sleeping on the "tall bed."  The room he slept in had bunk beds--he thought that was uber cool.

 

-Discovering Scooby Doo.  Our condo had a DVD player and some DVD's.  One night we had told Sam we'd have a movie night, and he found a Scooby Doo movie.  Since that night, Scooby Doo is all that child can talk about.  Seriously.  He sings the song, laughs like Scooby, and ask for Scooby snacks. 

 

-Oh, and also helping Dad with the luggage. 

 

 

I don't think Sam really understood how the mask was supposed to work.  But he sure had fun with that thing.

Is there anything better than a snack by the pool?  And is there anything that makes you any hungrier than a day in the sun and water?

We discovered on this trip that Sydney loves peanut butter and crackers.  We had been signing with her some, but she wasn't signing back yet.  Something clicked while we were on our trip, and she figured out that the sign for "more" would get her more food.  Since then, it has really just become her universal signal for "I want."  She will scream to get our attention, point to the object of her desire, and sign "more." 

 

One of my favorite parts of going to the beach is walking on the beach at night.  I can't think of a much better way to end my day.

 

 

Sam loved it too, although he wasn't as much interested in a relaxing stroll as he was sprinting down the beach and rolling in the sand.

 

 

 

We don't know these children.  They were playing in their hole that they had dug, and Sam just went running up and plopped himself right down in the middle of it.  When it comes to playing and getting dirty, there are no strangers....just friends you haven't met yet.

 

Again with the feet pictures.  I just can't help it.

 

 

Love these kiddos!