Archive for November, 2009

Whew! We are home after a crazy 4 days of traveling. We were in the car for a total of about 20 hours between Wednesday night and Sunday night. That's a lot of driving! The kids did great, though, and I did, too. My back didn't even give me any trouble! Here's what our trip included:

-Driving to Memphis Wednesday to spend the night with my Granny so we wouldn't have as far to go Thursday morning.

-Getting up early Thursday and driving down to Philadelphia, MS, to visit with Jay's family at his 96-year-old grandmother's house and eat a wonderful Thanksgiving lunch. The kids had a great time playing with their cousin Hannah, who is 2 1/2 now!

-Continuing on to Brandon, MS, to Jay's mom's house to spend Thursday and Friday night with her. We had a great visit and even did a little bit of shopping on Friday, then let the kids play at a park since it was such a a beautiful day.

-Getting up early Saturday morning to drive the 6-hour trip to Nashville, where we met up with my family to visit my brother Joseph and his wife Nicole. Nicole is also pregnant, but is unable to travel, so we were so glad to see them! We also went to the Opryland Hotel to see it all decorated for Christmas!

-Driving back to Memphis late Saturday night to see most of the rest of my extended family on Sunday.

-Finally, driving home from Memphis Sunday night.

I am so glad we were able to see so many people in such a short time! The next time we see them, we will have a new baby! I have just over a month left until my due date, and we are getting excited. We have been so blessed!

I am feeling thankful today. I have a lot to do (I really shouldn't be sitting at the computer right now!), but all the things I am doing remind me of how much I have to thank God for. I have a wonderful house (that needs cleaning), a healthy pregnancy (along with a doctor appointment today), financial security (to pay the bills that are due), lots of family (which we are getting ready to visit), and growing kids (which need to be fed and taken care of). I also have a wonderful husband who takes care of our family so well, and I am so very thankful for the love that we share! Jay and I have been so blessed, and I take so much for granted. It is good to sit down and be reminded of how much we have to be thankful for. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration!

Well, I finally did it. It wasn't easy, but it was time. She is 4 years old, after all. Today I took Eliza to my mom's for her very first haircut. My mom has experience with this sort of thing, and I trust her with my own hair, so why not Eliza's? The stringy blond ends of Eliza's hair have been with her since she was a tiny baby, and I admit, I was kind of attached to them. Perhaps I thought if she could just keep this one remnant of babyhood, then I could keep her from growing up quite so fast. True, her hair has been looking a little ragged lately, but not too bad. She used to have curls, once upon a time:

2006

2007

2008

Until recently, the tips of her hair would still curl a little, reminding me of the curly-headed baby she used to be. I knew that once her baby hair was gone, that would be the end of the curls. And I haven't been ready to let them go…until now. After all, Eliza will be a big sister soon! Maybe it's finally starting to dawn on me that we will have a new baby in just a few weeks. Well, I still can't quite get my head wrapped around that, actually! :)

Here are some before and after pictures of Eliza's new 'do. I will hopefully post another picture later this week after her hair has had some time to adjust.

Before and After

Does she look different?

This story was related to me by my mom, who heard it from James' Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Stacy. So pardon me if I don't get all the details right, but it was too funny not to share:

Mrs. Stacy had just finished telling her first-grade class how God is like the air: He's all around us, even though we can't see Him. At this point, she sees James raise his hand, and he asks, "Excuse me, can I say something?" She gives him permission, so he continues: "You just used an analogy." (I think he might have come up with another example here to illustrate what an analogy is, but I'm not sure.) She tells him that, yes, it was an analogy. Another little boy turns to James and says, "Wow, James, you're smart!"

Analogies came up this week at the dinner table, when Jay was trying to explain something else to the kids. (I don't remember what it was now.) He said something about coming up with an analogy, and James said, "What is an analogy?" We spent the rest of the meal trying to help him understand the difference between analogies and simple descriptions ("No, 'A pie is like a circle' is not an analogy, it's just a description.") James was finally able to come up with his own analogy, indicating that he had the concept down. (I don't think Eliza ever quite got the concept, but she tried; she has a few years!) A lot of James' intelligence comes from a curiosity that needs to understand things. He is not satisfied until he really knows what you are talking about. Thankfully, Jay delights in explaining things (often using analogies!), so we get to have some interesting dinner and car-trip conversations. I do a fair share of explaining things myself, but I find it's even more fun listening to Jay's explanations!

Growing up, we went camping every summer, and usually at least one other time during the year. It was so much fun! We haven't been camping since James was a baby, and I miss it. So when my parents decided to go camping at a nearby park this weekend, I couldn't wait to visit the campsite and pretend to camp for a little while. Jay had to work late Friday, but the kids were out of school, so I took them out there Friday afternoon with my brother Gerald and sister Alayne. (My dad was at work, and my mom had gone home to get some things.) We went for a walk in the woods, played on the playground, built a fire, and roasted some marshmallows while we waited for more of the family to get there. It was an absolutely gorgeous day…perfect for being outside! When my mom and dad arrived, we started cooking supper: chili in the crockpot, hotdogs and smoked sausage cooked on portable grills, and plenty of fixin's. It was delicious! After supper the kids romped in the leaves with Gerald while I sat by the fire and just enjoyed pretending to camp. The kids were worn out and filthy by the time we got home, and I was glad to be able to give them a bath and put them in their own beds. Maybe we'll be able to go camping for real some day, but at least we got to experience some of the best parts of living outdoors! Here are a few pictures:

Playing follow-the-leader

The campsite

I really like camping, but it was nice to take a shower and get in my warm, comfortable bed. We should pretend to camp more often!

Well, I did it! I finished James' costume just in time, and it turned out really well! Here are my Halloween cuties:

I couldn't resist trying to make them matching costumes for at least one more year, so when Eliza decided she wanted to be Tinkerbell, I decided to see if James would let me talk him into being Peter Pan. He resisted at first, so I turned to bribery: I told him I would buy a set of Peter Pan movies (including the original Peter Pan, a sequel, and the Tinkerbell movie) if he would be Peter Pan. (I know, bad mom!) He thought that was a pretty good deal, so we now own the movies, and I got to make a costume. He even enjoyed being Peter Pan!

I found Eliza's dress and wings on eBay for $10, and decided that was worth not having to make her something! (Besides, I couldn't find any stretchy, green, and shimmery fabric, and the wings themselves were going to cost at least 10 bucks!) I bought her a flesh-colored bodysuit because I knew she would be cold, and I'm glad I did. I will take credit for her shoes; I covered some flats in green fabric and sewed the balls on. James' costume is completely homemade (except for the tights; I bought them online.) Sewing the tunic was a challenge…I'm just not very good with collars. His hat turned out better than I expected; it had just the right amount of stretch and even stayed on his head really well!

Jay took some of our pictures and created this; it was just too much fun not to try:

We went to Trunk-r-treat at our church and had lots of fun playing games and getting lots of candy. Afterward, we let the kids go trick-or-treating at a few houses in our neighborhood. I enjoyed showing off my kids! They were pretty cute, even if I am a little biased. :)

I do enjoy putting together costumes, although I get tired of it pretty quickly! In fact, most of James and Eliza's costumes were ones I bought or had given to me (Jay's mom has found quite a few costumes for free or very cheap), and I modified them to be exactly what I wanted; or for some I just put some things together (like cowboy stuff, and James' Mario outfit…although I did sew an "M" on the hat for that). I thought you might enjoy a trip down our Halloween memory lane:

2004- James' first time to dress up, when he was a year old; Jay's mom gave us this costume. (He was only 2 months old for his first Halloween and we decided to stay home that year.)

2005- Eliza's first Halloween…the lion and the lamb (I bought both of these, but I made the lamb's face to look more like the lion's; it just had some embroidered eyes and mouth.)

2006- Batman and a leopard (I found James' costume on clearance…it was actually real clothes! Jay's mom had given us the leopard dress and I found a leopard kit, including ears, tail, mitts, and face stickers that worked out perfectly with the dress!)

2007- Cowboy and puppy dog (My mom had most of the cowboy things, and once again, the puppy costume came from Jay's mom…I just modified it a little.)

2008- Mario and Princess Peach (James' costume was pretty easy, and all things we could wear normally except for the hat and gloves! Eliza's was more complicated, but I started with a very cheap pink dress and did a lot of sewing so that she would look just right.)

I guess I just enjoy showing off my kids, but Halloween sure is fun!