Do you see what I see?

We've had a nice few days, and they have been pretty silly lately, including a lot of pretend and a few new words. Here is Jack practicing his clown faces in the mirror

and Harry windying up his hair

(can you hear Bob Marley's lively up yourself?)

Dictionary of HJ words:

Harry: windying - blowing air on anything with this Santa airplane or other similar toy

Jack: goop - nonstandard measure he uses for all sorts of counting fun (and thanx to Sid, he knows the term 'nonstandard measure') craggy used to be a favorite with some other definition but he's asked so many times for the definition that he uses it correctly now

There are others that I can't think of at the moment....

Also, I've set myself the little goal of all Christmas titles for the month - did I learn nothing from all those NaBloPoMo survivors?!? If you have any good ideas, feel free to suggest, and if you're easily offended or hate carols, I apologize in advance....it's all in fun.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

In The Midnight Hour

So, if it's after midnite, does it still count as a midnite snack?

Do you have to wake up for it, or is it still a midnite snack if you can't sleep?

And, yes HASAYers, it was delicious...sue me!

Wilson Pickett, and the Commitments - such an awesome movie

GIVE it up!

We're trying to help the boys build a sense of giving, and get organized early enough this year for donations to help others at Christmastime. (Yeah, it also de-clutters our house, so score two for the home team!) They did great with it, downstairs yesterday and upstairs tonite. We introduced it and asked that they give up at least four big, good toys each and sort of hoped there would be a sizable grand total.

Here's Harry playing on the way upstairs tonite

Not sure why I love photos on our stairs,

but it's amazing to see how they've grown (see comparison below for a big awww)

Halloween 2005, Harry standing

Jack asking if they need to include the Toy Sweep Bag
(I may try a Tricky Tuesday post and share that one then)


Here's tonite's haul....

and yesterday's. I also pulled a few 'treasures' that I'll keep.
We were really proud of them and hope to make the actual giving special.

To the tune of Bob Marley's Stir It Up

Bells will be ringing

It's official - tomorrow is the first day of Advent and I am READY, as are these two sweeties. We're trying to figure out a way to ring the bells for the Salvation Army's Red Kettles - it was a charity Aunt Libby preferred, and they love everything about it for some reason, so this will be a new attempt at being charitable this season. The giving talk has been rampant at our house, and they seem to be really getting it this year (fingers crossed and beatings to commense as needed LOL).

WalMart was doing free pix with Santa today and

Harry wanted to tell Santa his wishes for Christmas,

or did he just want to get his picture taken?

Jack wanted no part of it since it wasn't "our Santa" and Daddy was at home.

Hopefully next weekend :-)

OK, this is my favorite Christmas song - something about the heaping on of sorrows and those amazing harmonies of the Eagles. It's my last sad one, okay, maybe Blue Christmas, but it's in honor of all of you who have said you're just not into it this year. Hoping you can get your Merry on soon :-)

Eagles

Pizza Boy(S)

It was pizza and ice cream nite here, so my favorite sous chefs went to work

Harry, aka Julia Childs, sets out the ingredients and tools
and gets Jack started on the dough rolling

cheese spreading

and don't forget the flirting ;-)

All the pizza's bubbly cheesy goodness...

was nicely complimented by some pumpkin ice cream with sprinkles

Potato Pies

Another Small ADVENTure

I love me some advent calendars...not sure what it is, but I have about 10 different ones...admitting the problem is the first step, right? My mom was nice enough to gift us with this cool new one so we can start December off right on Monday. We unpacked it and made sure all the magnets worked and I hid all the characters behind the doors. The boys are totally jazzed about opening doors, stacking blocks, placing life savers, and opening the various compartments of the other advent calendars.

Jack carefully debating where the shepherd should go

Harry opening doors and generally supervising
afte all the pieces are in place

the 24 pieces organized before I hid them

Chantal Kreviazuk

Over The River And Through The Woods....

We headed to my mom's today for a delicious dinner with a dozen family and friends. The entire day was really good - and how wrong can you go starting with these faces?

The boys found all sorts of things to amuse themselves - Jack by 'borrowing' Harry's Santa Plane and Harry by making maps out of the stitches on his shoes

I didn't get any great pix, but this was their first year to sit at the big table with no little boy stuff - they did great, and Harry even interviewed everyone with 'what are you thankful for' questions :wub: He tends to be our color commentator, and on the way home, fighting sleep, he pipes up "SO, how was our Thanksgiving Day?" Tho it may not translate in type, it was pretty precious!

While Harry was keeping the dinner conversation flowing, Jack made himself very helpful all day - he was Grammy Sue's biggest helper (right?), even resetting all the chairs after dinner.

We ate until the cows came home (so it's out of sequence, but who can argue with a big ole cow who looked hungry and pitiful?!?)

Happy Thanksgiving - hoping the day was filled with joy for your and yours!

The boys know Christmas doesn't start until Turkey Day is over,

so let the merriment begin....falalala!

Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) - Spin Cycle

So, I had to use this song, given the upcoming Elfly days :-) And since Jen's Spin Cycle was all about Thankful-ness, this one's for you...

everyday people sing their simple song

I am thankful for my loving family, through the good and the bad and the ugly, there is no greater honor and privilege than spending my days with you three.

I am thankful for my extended family, and my family of friends, and the internet which has made a whole set of virtual friendships possible. Thanx to all of you for the love, support, laughs, and tears that make it all more wonderful!

Hoping that these days bring you all the blessings and quiet moments of love that you can enjoy, and that the holiday season is full of your favorite things.

I found this picture the other nite and remembered the moment I took it - it's amazing how much their personalities have remained just as sweet and goofy as in this picture taken four years ago :sniff:...care to guess who's who??

Enjoy all these moments. God speed in your travels and celebrations!

Sly and the Family Stone

The Harry Shuffle

I'm going thru my 'blog pix' file and here's what Harry's been up to lately:

When he curls up like this I sometimes lose him among the animalsPracticing his pouty look


Experimenting with new flavors
Lemon much?

He insisted that I get a picture with his 'face red' from the amazing Firefly toothbrush - they decided yesterday that they wanted to brush in the morning like I do, so they 'don't have bad breath' Goof balls. Do you think the combination of above pouty expression and the desire to have minty fresh breath mean trouble for the girls in our area??

And this toy catalog has basically been glued to his hot little hands for the past week or so. He is pointing out the one dollhouse that is NOT for girls ;-) The boy loves him some houses!

Steve Wariner - instrumental

The Jack

Jack was in a funny mood this morning and I ran across a couple of older picture that made me a little nostalgic - how he's changed in a year!

Surfer Dude (and that's my 40yo Snoopy on the ground with his soldiers)
The Peg-legged Ghost

The cute placemat they made at school last week -

they made the little dots by painting with corn cobs

Stashing his cash last month - not sure why but it just makes me smile

and how is this for a major change?! He looks so little, right before his 3rd birthday

AC/DC

Time Well Wasted, Sunday Edition - Spin Cycle

Still catching up on Jen's Spin Cycle with this little spin on "Relax" I am from that era of Frankie Says Relax shirts, but I read the lyrics and decided to go with a tame Brad Paisley song ;-)

I started thinking about this topic and wondered what ever happened to some of the great tricks we used so long ago. When the boys were about 18 months, I taught them some breathing techniques....it actually worked for a long time, but now they both refuse to do any relaxing breathing. I try to trick them into breathing while they count to 10, it works less than half the time. 4 has a lot of bonuses, but they are on roller coasters - calm and chill to completely spazzed in a nano-second. We're all working on it, and hoping for some success. All calming trick suggestions welcomed - TIA!

I'm heading back to the gym on a more regular basis to see what it will do for my own ability to chill :-)

Harry tends to be the King of Chill - we may have even seen him in this pose in the womb ;-) He's mastered kicking back, so I'm hoping he's able to balance work and play as well as his Dad!

This is the sweet scene I woke to this morning :wub:

Wishing you a calm, relaxed week

Brad Paisley's Time Well Wasted

Well, she took everything but the kitchen sink

Harry says on our way home: I want it to be Tim McGraw when he heard another singer's voice. That boy can really ID singers these days, tho he's been pretty limited to country and kids songs so far. His latest is determining the genre "Hey, hey, it's rock 'n ROLL!"


Mary Anne over at The Stiletto Mom dumped her purse and did an inventory and offered it up as a meme. I took the bait, and here's my purse dump:

So, it's not technically a purse, but it serves the purpose.

Doesn't look too bad, and it weighs in at a slim, ahem, 4 pounds :eek:

This is what is stored on the outside:

And this is the total dump (in and out)


Sure, it looks like a mess, but look at all the treasures, close up and organized
Key: (clockwise from the boys row on top)

• three packs of skittles from the summer movies and a pack of ritz snack mix
• three transformers
• two boy wallets, complete with their saved spending money and gift cards to buy Christmas gifts for others
• two US map flip books for whiling away boring waits
• my coupon folder
• my survival kit - sewing, spot removal, pain reliever, antacids, etc.
• my tape measure (the little purple circle)
• my first aid kid (I *love* me some FA kits!)
• my day spa: hand sanitizer, contact moisturizer, Aveeno hand lotion, Burts Bees beeswas lip balm (awesome), Gold Bond Ultimate lotion, nail clippers, tissues
• sunglasses, keys, phone, and check to the Girl Scouts for yummies
• in the middle, a planner that I haven't used in months and my wallet
  
  And this is my amazing first aid kit (the one in my purse, not counting the 10 or so other ones I have stashed in the glove compartment, under the seat in the wayback, in the trunk, in my gym bag, in the guest bathroom, in the pantry....I know it's a sickness :blush:)
  It's tiny but very McGyveresque ;-)

L-R, top to bottom: disinfecting wipes, Neo-to-go, empty bag, Tylenol, tweezers, antibiotic creams, bandaids in a waterproof holder, odd-sized bandaids, paper tape, scissors and FA instructions (phone for size comparison)

I'm a little proud and a little scared - this is AFTER they stopped needing all the wipes, clothes and diaper changes, snack cups, water cups and other 'baby stuff'. My bag was a LOT bigger back then ;-)

So, what's the damage at your house? If you're in need of a post, feel free to steal or spin this as you will :-)

I thought that She walked on water

I loved [her] and [she] loved me

Lord I cried the day [she] died

'Cause I thought that [she] walked on water

My beloved Gramma was born 96 years ago. She was the second of 6 children born in a completely different time. She was gentle and kind. She was funny. She was naive. She believed in the best in everyone. To know her love was the greatest gift you could ever receive. She was a wonderful cook. We teased her mercilessly, and she knew she was loved. She always said "I don't know why you love me, I'm just glad that you do." She grew up in the Southern Baptist tradition and never thought she was good enough. Her home was an aromatic blend of Avon, scented candles, chocolate pies, turnip greens and cabbage, old picture books. She loved to drink Coke with peanuts in it. I loved to sit in her kitchen and watch her cook. She was a penny-pincher. She loved Neopolitan icecream. The skin on her cheek was the softest thing I've ever felt. I can still catch her scent when I open her Manger Set every Christmas but it is fading after four year. She loved babies. She never met a stranger. She loved pepperoni pizza. She loved to read signs out loud while driving. She repeated questions a million times. She answered the phone "Joe's Junkyard, Lou speaking." She loved music but couldn't 'carry a tune in a bucket.' I think the champagne we talked her into on my college graduation day was the first alcohol she'd ever tasted. She was a fierce supporter of those she loved. She wanted things to be fair. She wore rose-colored glasses. My cousins and I would fight over who got to spend the weekend with her. She loved numbers. She was silly and sweet and playful. She proudly displayed the American flag. She had a green thumb. She loved to play Scrabble and word games. Her chocolate pies were the best in the world. She walked off a plane once with a rolling pin in her hand because I'd asked her to make the crusts from scratch. I think she made more than 30 pies for visitors while helping my mom over some surgery. She was sentimental. She cried at the drop of a hat, happy and sad. I once found her doubled over with silent laughter while watching a Ball Park frank cook. She was treated poorly by my grandfather but loved him until the day she died. The love and support that she gave us carried us all thru many trials. Introducing my boys to her was one of the proudest moments of my life. Having her bring on their first laughs was a true gift for my soul. I miss her every day.

My stepfather and I were talking recently; I mentioned how often the boys will remind me of her in some way and how surprised I always was because they never really got to know her. "They know you" he said. That was one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me.

We had a birthday party for her tonite, complete with a living room picnic, pepperoni pizza and birthday cake with the closest I could find to red roses

Happy Birthday, Granny Lou!

Randy Travis's He Walked On Water