Swearingen Family

conversations with Jacob

2012-01-26T17:04:00.002-05:00

Jacob is getting to such a fun age! There is a certain conversation that gets repeated often. Most usually when we are getting in the car to go somewhere.

Little J: where daddy?

me: daddy is at work.

Little J: oh. where joe?

me: Joe is at school.

Little J: oh. (repeat several times)

We also have this one occasionally:

me: What does the cow say?

Little J: moooooo

me: What does the sheep say?

Little J: baaaaaaaa

me: What do 3 singing pigs say?

Little J: La La La

me: What do you say?

Little J: no no!

me: What do cats and kittens say?

Little J: (very softly) meow

we've also added:

me: what does Santa say?

Little J: Ho Ho!

me: what does mama say?

Little J: Love you!

Chinese New Year

2012-01-24T09:08:00.002-05:00

Last evening we enjoyed our dinner with a few decorations celebrating the Chinese New Year - year of the dragon.
For dinner? Lettuce Wraps and Pork & Ginger Potstickers. So yummy.

Catching up

2012-01-19T11:22:00.007-05:00

I just realized that I haven't posted anything here for awhile. I guess we've been busy? Actually, after all the hustle and bustle and craziness of the holidays, we've just been trying to get back into a "normal" routine. This includes Joseph going to school three days a week and all of us heading off to Bible Study on Tuesdays. I'm also trying to tackle (cross-off) items on my list of projects. I don't know if I'd classify it as a New Year's Resolution but I am trying to do more of those "someday-when-I-have-time-I'd-like-to" things. I've been blogging about them here.

Here are a couple of pictures I've snapped of the boys.

Joseph's wish list

2012-01-03T16:02:00.002-05:00

A couple of weeks ago when I dropped Joseph off at school his classmates were busy cutting out pictures of things they wanted for Christmas and gluing them on paper. Joseph brought his creation home that evening but I didn't really take a good look at it until this morning when I was taking pictures of his crafts (and throwing away the originals - shhhh.) As I looked at the pictures I realized that not a single one was just a random cut out. He really would like each and every item.

Mickey Mouse Hat - um, total favorite.
Legos - always - good thing he got some.
iPad - who wouldn't and the kid loves anything electronic on which he can play games.
GPS - the kid loves a map.
Jump Castle - have we mentioned that Jump Zone is his favorite place after Disney World?
Chuggington Playset/Thomas the Train - also loves trains
Hot Wheels & Trio building sets - yep - loves/has those.

Homemade gifts & Christmas Elf Weekend

2012-01-03T15:14:00.008-05:00

I had so much fun getting into the crafty, homemade goodness of Christmas this year. Most afternoons while Jacob slept you would find me listening to Christmas music while sitting at my sewing machine or in my kitchen.

One morning my friend Jenny came over and we whipped up these great snowmen shirts for both of our families to wear as Christmas jammies. I also made our family matching flannel pajama pants.

I also made this little onesie for our niece Ava . . .

with a matching fabric tutu.
Additional projects: bacon jam, brown sugar scrub, photo books, embroidered towels, placemats and hand print ornaments for grandparents' Christmas trees (and ours).

The weekend before we left for Christmas my sister-in-law made a quick trip here so we could work on some secret Christmas Elf presents.

Our primary project was an iPad cover for my mother-in-law's iPad. We loved it so much we made one for each of us! And monogrammed them so we could tell them apart.
We also made this little Hogwarts onesie for our niece.Additional projects: jars of Christmas Scent,

and lots and lots and lotsof Christmas baking

and chocolate dipping.

Tender Tennessee Christmas

2011-12-28T10:22:00.004-05:00

Christmas was spent with our family in Nashville this year and we had a wonderful time. We were so thankful that Nanny (Christopher's great-grandmother) came down from Kentucky to enjoy the festivities. As the family continues to expand, so does the fun!

Family picture in our snowman jammies!Joseph helped Daddy pass out all the presents.A little pre-present opening snuggle time with cousin Ava.

Cousins!

One of the highlights of this year was surprising Nana with a new iPad and many accessories. She was so excited when she opened it all up!

Other memories of this Christmas: Jacob falling asleep on my lap during present opening. Both boys up by 5 am almost every morning. Joseph developing a fever and earache.

On the way home Christopher dropped Joseph and I off at the General Peds Clinic at the hospital where we found out he had an ear infection. Fortunately the antibiotics have kicked in and he's feeling much better.

DIY Lego Table

2011-12-28T10:04:00.002-05:00

Christopher's parents recently had their hardwoods refinished and, in the process of moving furniture in and out, a leg was broken on their wooden card table. They reordered the card table and when the new one arrived a crack was found on the top. My brilliant husband took the good legs off the new table and attached them to the old top. Voila! We inherited the new, cracked top with the idea of turning it into a Lego table. The boys already have a train table for their room and the thought of two big tables taking up space was, well, yucky.

Here is the before picture of the table top.

Christopher installed casters on the bottom.

I ordered 4 15"x15" Lego base boards for the top. After measuring the space, I taped off the 1" excess on the perimeter.

The table and underside of the base boards were coated with a spray adhesive. Once they were tacky I placed them on the table.

Done! Super easy project. The boys love their new Lego table and it slides easily under the train table.

Bonus - building Legos while laying on your tummy is extra fun. :)

Pre-Christmas

2011-12-21T10:46:00.005-05:00

Since we are traveling for Christmas, we had our own little family Christmas last night/this morning. We started last evening with a trip to Sonic for shakes and then a tour of Christmas light displays. When we got home the boys were allowed to open one present - their new Christmas jammies. (Another fun project with my friend Jenny.) Then Joseph and I had our annual slumber party where we stayed up too late and watched movies. Joseph made it to a rocking 2 am this morning and enjoyed Home Alone 3 very much. He added "pet mouse" to his Christmas list which was vetoed by mama.

Brown paper packages tied up with string - our wrapping theme this year.

The boys checking out the goods this morning. Fortunately they weren't at all upset that they only got to open about 1/4 of those as the rest are for extended family.

Yay! Present time!

Jacob opened his "choo choo" from his brother and wasn't interested in opening anything else afterward.

After the presents were opened we took the boys upstairs to find their new Lego table. There will be more on this great/easy DIY project later.

This was followed by a yummy Brunch of Frittata, Sausage Pinwheels and North Pole Smoothies.

Now the boys are playing and Mama is packing up for our road trip. The Christmas Baking Extravaganza is ready to go!

Christmas program

2011-12-15T13:55:00.003-05:00

It was time for the annual Christmas program at the CEC this morning. Joseph's class was the last to perform so we were able to move up to closer seats as parents of the younger children went back to work.

Jacob really enjoyed the concert and clapped exuberantly after each class performed. He especially enjoyed the party in "Joe's" room afterward.

We gave Ms. Jana her teacher gift (more to come on my year of homemade gifts later) and she gave Joseph some books and gave me this sweet ornament that he made.

The True Meaning of Christmas

2011-12-08T09:05:00.002-05:00

Christopher & I have been talking a lot this year of how we can focus our boys on the true meaning of Christmas. We love all the stories - Santa, Frosty, Rudolph, etc. We think the Elf on the Shelf is so creative and fun. But we aren't telling our boys that Santa brings their gifts. We want them to know that God gave us Jesus because he loves us and we give each other gifts because of that love. We want them to think about others at Christmas instead of just themselves and what they'll be getting.

As we've been talking, I've been reading a lot of great articles on the subject. Here are a few links:

The Christmas Angel - very excited about doing this next year. It's an alternative to the Elf on Shelf and encourages your child to do an act of service every day.

The Christmas Conundrum

Light 'Em Up 2011

When Christmas Gets Radical

Theology Lesson: The attributes of . . . who?

party clean-up

2011-12-06T17:46:00.001-05:00

Check out my sewing blog for my post regarding my play date clean-up today!

Holiday Entertaining

2011-12-06T16:57:00.003-05:00

I love entertaining around the holidays. There is just something about having your home decorated for the season and coming up with creative food preparations and displays. I was asked to host the December meeting for my book club and was thrilled. I had picked the book Eat Cake and decided to try one of the cake recipes listed in the back.The recipe was similar to this one except that I made it on the stove top in a large skillet which I then transferred to the oven. And I used fresh pears. I served it warm and it was so delicious. I think it would also taste delightful with a little whipped coconut cream on top.
I also hosted a fun play date this morning for some of my Bible Study friends. We were all in a small group together last year and have kiddos the same ages. Imagine ten 1-year-olds . . . and Christmas cookies.
I made a little beverage buffet, complete with chocolate dipped marshmallows and chocolate-candy cane stir sticks.
And we all contributed cookies. Afterwards we divided them up so we would each have a plate with a sampling of everything.

Kids at play!!!

Joseph - funnies

2011-12-05T12:12:00.002-05:00

Joseph seriously cracks me up sometimes. For about two weeks after we returned from Disney World I would hear him playing and quoting the Disney tram drivers.

"Please make sure children are seated on the interior of the tram. Please keep your arms inside the tram. The tram's next stop will be Film - rows 30-38." And this went on and on. He would also quote ride instructions, the Southwest pilots, etc.

Currently he is "sewing" his name onto a piece of paper. He is making the same noises as my embroidery machine while he does this, complete with the double-beep when the word is finished.

preciousness

2011-12-05T09:55:00.003-05:00

I kept Joseph home from school today because the boys have both had lower GI issues this weekend. Joseph seems to be doing much better and was great at taking care of himself all weekend but I just didn't want to chance it. When daddy went upstairs to say good-bye to the boys (who were playing unusually quietly) he found this:And they continued doing it long enough for me to sneak back up there with the camera.

tickle hands

2011-12-03T11:50:00.002-05:00

Every time I would open the refrigerator with Jacob present, he would reach in and "ticka, ticka, ticka" the side of the almond milk carton. As it was the right side of the carton (facing in towards the fridge) I could really see what he was tickling and thought it was kind of strange. Then I turned the carton around and saw these hands. I'm not sure what draws him to tickling them. But he does it. every. time.

Oh Christmas Tree

2011-12-02T14:32:00.002-05:00

It's done!

and filled with memories. . .

Decorating for Jesus's birthday party

2011-12-01T09:28:00.005-05:00

On terms Joseph can understand, as we filled his room with balloons for his birthday, we are decorating our house for Jesus's birthday party! I love how cozy our house gets during the holidays with all the lights and warm colors. I also love the traditions we are starting.

Some of my favorite things:

Our stockings hung on the mantel. They were knitted by Christopher's Nanny.

Our collection of lighted houses started by Christopher's grandmother and continued by his mother.

The latest addition - the nativity set my dad brought back from Africa, hand-carved by a villager.

Last night we went tree shopping and the boys helped pick out our "biggest, most beautiful" tree. (Joseph)

Yep - that's the one daddy. We're excited about decorating it today!

20 months old

2011-11-30T13:47:00.005-05:00

This little munchkin is 20-months-old today! I can hardly believe we'll be celebrating his 2nd birthday in 4 months. Jacob is our little clown and loves dressing up in anything he can get his hands on.

Harry Potter 3-D glasses

His pirate hat.

He loves to perform and will start blowing raspberries on the back of his hand at dinner if he thinks he can get by with it.

This is such a fun age developmentally. I remember Joseph's verbal skills booming during holiday visits with extended family and Jacob is no exception. He added quite a few words to his repertoire while we were in Indiana. My parents live about a half-mile from a train track which, given that they live in farm country in flat Indiana, you can see from the living room windows. Joseph has always been quick to jump on the couch at the first hint of a train whistle to watch it go by. This visit Jacob joined him with excited finger pointing and "choo choo!!!!" He also started saying "night, night" at bedtime and calling Joseph "Joe!" Not all of his words are completely distinguishable and some sound very much like others. So, we often play a little guessing game if he's not actually pointing at something . . . "daddy? doggie? blankie?" until we get a nod, giggle and clapping.

Jacob loves music and loud noises. He absolutely loves the drum and guitar he has already gotten for Christmas. (Thanks aunties.) I'm not sure if my current deafness has more to do with my cold or the drum pounding.

Jacob is still our early bird. We've had a few mornings recently where he slept past 7. I was hopeful. Alas, he was back up soon after 5 again this morning. He usually takes a good afternoon nap though so I really can't complain.

The biggest challenge at this age is discipline. He is a high-pitched screamer when he's mad (and sometimes just for fun). Since he is communicating a lot more his tantrums are also now usually because he's mad instead of just frustrated. We're trying to nip them in the bud and have been getting some great parenting input through a couple different Bible Studies at our church.

Jacob is our picky eater. I usually have to force a bite of something new into his mouth before he'll willingly take a bite. He may eat 2 pieces of pizza one day and refuse to eat it the next. The list of foods that I'm guaranteed he'll eat is short: applesauce, yogurt, bananas, oatmeal, pop-tarts, sweet potato fries. He will probably eat something if it's dipped in applesauce or ketchup. He is great at using a fork (when he wants to eat).

He is still our little Linus, dragging his blankie around with him everywhere and sucking on his thumb. It's still precious. Eventually we'll deal with it. :)

another fun Pinterest craft

2011-11-30T11:20:00.002-05:00

There are so many fun ideas on Pinterest that I will never do them all. But, this one was super easy. I picked up this cute frame for $2 on the Kroger clearance table and then used a pretty piece of paper I already had. It became a great dry-erase board for our kitchen table and Joseph finds it useful for helping him memorize his Bible verses.

story time with Grandpa

2011-11-30T10:52:00.001-05:00

This picture didn't really fit in anywhere else. . . but I just couldn't leave it out.

Indiana - Shetler Christmas

2011-11-30T10:40:00.004-05:00

We also celebrated Christmas with our Indiana family while were there. We had yummy appetizers and roasted a beef tenderloin. I got the idea for the fun cheese & tomato tree from Pinterest.
The opening of the presents was more of a mass chaos than in previous years. Of course the little ones loved the boxes and wrapping paper most of all.

The following morning Scout & Jacob enjoyed a rousing game of one-on-one.
Jacob is our little hat lover and I was afraid he wasn't going to give up Uncle Jon's Notre Dame toboggan easily.

Tractors

2011-11-30T10:27:00.003-05:00

Grandpa put Joseph to work on the farm while we were there. He got to help drive the big tractor, rake leaves and then help spread them on the garden.

By the end of the weekend he was driving the small tractor all by himself! I'm not sure when he became such a big boy.

Unfortunately, I cut this video off just as he jumped off the back of the wagon into the pile of leaves.

Indiana - Shetler Thanksgiving

2011-11-30T10:13:00.002-05:00

This was our year to head North for the Thanksgiving holiday. Traditionally we have shared our Thanksgiving meal with my dad's family. This year there were about 125 of us gathered at my uncle's church in Goshen.

Here is the buffet line. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the food!

I did get a picture of the separate table just for the homemade bread and Amish peanut butter. I could make a meal just off of this.

Jacob enjoying his sweet potato casserole.

Joseph enjoying his turkey and the various desserts with which Grandpa filled his plate. :)

Family Fun Weekend - Sunday

2011-11-28T20:43:00.003-05:00

This was also our last Sunday morning at home. We have been attending our Saturday evening service at church but, as it has been discontinued, we will resume attending on Sunday mornings. We had our own pre-Thanksgiving meal complete with Turkey, Sweet Potato Casserole, Green Bean Casserole, Baked Mashed Potatoes, Deviled Eggs, Pecan Pie and Pumpkin Pie. We couldn't nearly eat all of that in one meal so we had it the next night for dinner as well. (And carted a bunch of it with us to Indiana the following day!) I tried a new recipe for the green bean casserole - found here. It was so amazing!!! It called for fresh green beans and homemade onion topping but I used canned green beans and the traditional French Fried Onions. Yummy despite my shortcuts.

Family Fun Weekend - Saturday

2011-11-28T20:28:00.006-05:00

I have a little catching up to do on our blog! Before our Thanksgiving holiday travels we had a free weekend at home. It was the first Saturday in 4 weeks that we (at least 2 of us) weren't traveling! We celebrated by taking the kids out for some play time at The Wonder Place.

Big Orange Football

2011-11-13T13:52:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Daddy got to take Joseph on a special Father/Son outing. They drove up to Fayetteville and watched the Volunteers take on the Razorbacks. Unfortunately it wasn't much of a game for Tennessee but Joseph really enjoyed the experience and Daddy loved taking Joseph to his first college game.

Ready for Turkey Stuffing!

2011-11-10T11:33:00.002-05:00

post-vacation activity

2011-11-10T09:14:00.004-05:00

On our final day at the Disney parks I grabbed fresh copies of all the maps in anticipation of a fun activity with Joseph.

It was so much fun when we got home to go over the maps and remember what we did at each park. As we put little red stickers by each ride that we went on and the parades, etc. that we enjoyed, we got to relive our fun experiences.

Then I made a little cover sheet and clipped all of our maps together.

Friday - Hollywood Studios & Epcot

2011-11-09T13:50:00.004-05:00

On Friday morning the majority of our group headed to the airport to return home. The rest of us packed up and condensed our group into just one of the rental homes. After we got all that taken care of our family headed back to Hollywood Studios. We wanted to do some souvenir shopping and watch the Car Stunt Show (Lightening McQueen made an appearance!) We also ran into this crew.

Then we headed over for a final evening at the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot. On our first day at Epcot we were given the passport below.

Each country was listed along with their menu offerings. As you visited each country they would stamp your passport. We got a stamp on every country except for Belgium. The food was amazing with very few exceptions. We were so glad that our trip coincided with this festival.

We took a break on Joseph that last evening and got him his own stroller. The boys enjoyed the stroller races we had when the paths would clear a little.

Here are a couple of the temporary food booths brought out for this festival.

We also ran into Aladdin and Princess Jasmine in Morocco!!!

We had a wonderful time on our vacation. This is the third time Joseph has been to Disney World but probably the first time he'll be able to really remember it. Obviously Jacob won't so we'll just have to go again in a few years. :)

Thursday - Magic Kingdom

2011-11-09T13:21:00.005-05:00

On Thursday morning we headed out for a day at the Magic Kingdom. We decided to take the ferry in from the parking lot instead of the monorail and the Ferry Captain provided chalk for the kiddos before departure. Eli, Johnny and Joseph left their names on the sidewalk. (Joseph wrote Jacob's for him as well.)

Joseph really enjoyed hanging out with Eli & Johnny on this trip.

We all rode the Dumbo ride as well as Winnie-The-Pooh, It's a Small World, Peter Pan and The Magic Carpet. Joseph & Daddy rode Space Mountain again and we finished it up with rides on Thunder Mountain.

We got a great seat for the parade.

One last family picture in front of the castle. Right after this a surprise mini-parade came through right in front of us and we got to participate in a street dance party with Mickey & Minnie. It was a great way to wrap up our day at the Magic Kingdom. After that we headed over to Epcot again to continue our world tour of the Food & Wine Festival and spend a last evening with Chris, Megan & Cannon before they headed home.

Wednesday - Wedding, Hollywood & Epcot

2011-11-07T09:10:00.007-05:00

Part 1 - the Wedding: As I wrote earlier, our original plan for tagging along on the Glaub Wedding/Vacation festivities was to watch this little (seriously cute) munchkin during the wedding. However we found our services (mostly Christopher's) needed elsewhere in the transportation department. Christopher ran shuttle service making sure that all the family members from our rental houses and various hotels got to where they needed to go on time. Did I mention that this wedding was at 7:30 am inside a theme park? Which meant that everyone had to basically be ready by 5:30 in order to get the shuttle. So in the end Megan took Cannon with her to the wedding and our boys got to sleep in just a little and we arrived for the reception at 8 am.

Fruit & yogurt parfaits at the pre-reception.

Our table at the reception. For favors everyone received bags of green and purple m-n-m s customized with Pat & Glenda's names and the date. They also made us all CDs with the music from their reception - an assortment of Disney and Muppet Classics.

Mickey Mouse waffles!

The cake designed by Pat. Notice the kermit & miss piggy on top.

I may also have not mentioned that the wedding was a Kermit & Miss Piggy wedding and took place at the Miss Piggy fountain in Hollywood Studios!

And guess who showed up at the reception!!!

Part 2 - Hollywood Studios: After the reception we changed into comfy clothes and headed over to Hollywood Studios (after a brief walk through Epcot to grab a frozen beverage.) We got to meet some more characters, grab a late lunch at the Sci-Fi Drive-In and ride the Toy Store Midway Mania (easily my favorite. ride. ever.).

Part 3 - Epcot: Around dinner time we headed back over to Epcot to meet up with Chris, Megan & Cannon and enjoy more of the Food & Wine Festival. (Thank goodness for those park hopper tickets!) As we entered the back entrance to the park we ran into Princess Aurora/Sleeping Beauty. Joseph was quite taken with her.

(whispered - "mama, she put lips in my book!)

We ran into a couple of other old friends too.

This was the biggest day for the boys and they were such troopers. We left the house at about 7:45 that morning and didn't get home until around 10 pm. Jacob caught a 1 hour nap in the stroller. I'm amazed that we didn't have some major meltdowns that day but they were seriously great.

Tuesday - Universal Studios and Hogwarts!!!

2011-11-06T18:21:00.010-05:00

On Tuesday we took a little side excursion while the rest of our group was attending to wedding-related activities. I will admit that the side excursion was for me and my love of all things Harry Potter. We started out at Seuss Landing and rode some fun rides for the kiddos. We also ran into a few of our favorite characters! A couple of these pictures are out of order as we didn't actually run into Curious George and The Man with the Yellow Hat until we were leaving the park in the afternoon.

While Joseph and I were finishing up in Seuss Landing, Christopher and Jacob went ahead and scope out Hogsmeade. He brought back samples of Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice. If you're not familiar with the Harry Potter books, these are two of the most often mentioned beverages.

The entrance to Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts Express!

Zonko's Joke Shop!

Even if you don't want to ride the rides, you need to go through the cues. You never know what you might see, especially inside Hogwarts!

We had lunch at The Three Broomsticks. Turkey legs, fish & chips and more pumpkin juice.

Hog's Head

Hagrid's Hut.

Inside Hogwart's.

Butterbeer stand.

Family picture in front of Hogwart's. I really could have stayed here all day. The village was so amazing. . . . down to Moaning Myrtle in the bathrooms.

Monday - Halloween

2011-11-06T17:54:00.007-05:00

Just a little background about our trip - my sister's brother-in-law got married at Disney this past week. The original reason for us going along on the Glaub Family destination wedding/Disney vacation was to help take care of my nephew Cannon during the wedding. Although this isn't exactly the way things turned out, we still had a great time at all the festivities. Among those, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! The entire group (about 35 people) dressed as pirates and wenches. We posed for a group picture in front of Pirates of the Caribbean ride as well. Unfortunately, I don't currently have a picture of that.

After 7 pm, anyone not wearing the wristband pictured below was kindly asked to leave the Magic Kingdom. The rest of us trick-or-treated around the Magic Kingdom, watched a special Villian parade and fireworks show and rode rides. It was a fun night.

Wench sisters! I made our wench costumes along with Christopher and Jacob's vests & belts and Cannon's cannonball costume.

Pirate Chris, Wench Megan & Cannonball . . . Cannon. You can't quite see the wick coming out of his hat.

Jacob dancing along to the parade music.

Sunday - Animal Kingdom & Epcot

2011-11-06T11:08:00.005-05:00

Bright and early Sunday morning we headed out for a day at the parks. We went to Animal Kingdom first because it was a cool, shady morning which promises lots of animal sightings on the Safari. We were not disappointed! Even the male lion was awake and looking around (which we've been told is highly unusual.)

Cousin Cannon enjoying his first ride at Disney World.

Jacob enjoyed it too! "oooooooooh! oooooooh! oooooooh!"

After we finished the Animal Safari we had a little snack break while the big guys rode Everest - the second-to-largest roller coaster in all of Disney World. Joseph went to watch some of the action and then announced he wanted to ride it. I tried my hardest to talk him out of it. Then I told him he could check and see if he was tall enough, feeling certain that he wasn't. He came back and excitedly told me he was tall enough! Daddy took him on Everest while Mama & Jacob headed over with the rest of the group to save seats at the Lion King show. Soon Joseph and Daddy showed up at the show (Joseph still had all limbs and his head attached) and Daddy informed me how much Joseph enjoyed it. Joseph wanted to ride it again. Mama put her heart/panic attack on hold while Daddy's head swelled with a bit of pride that his son shares his love of the dangerous rides.

Then we headed to Epcot for our first visit to the Food & Wine Festival. There will be much more on this later.

We tried the food and beverages, met some characters to autograph our book and then Jacob sacked out. The boys were incredible troopers the entire week.

And we're off!

2011-11-06T10:47:00.003-05:00

The highlight of Jacob's first plane ride was definitely this balloon tower at the Houston Hobby Airport.

the purple breakfast candy surprise

2011-11-06T10:22:00.002-05:00

Notice that he actually popped another vitamin in his mouth towards the end. I asked him later why he ate another "candy" and he said that he was so excited he forgot what he was doing.

On Vacation

2011-11-05T20:54:00.002-04:00

A week ago on Saturday morning we told Joseph that we would be getting on a plane and flying to Disney World later that day. I think we were a bit more excited than he was considering we've been planning this trip for about 6 months. The surprise went something like this:

mama: Joseph you need to take your breakfast candy (a.k.a. Flintstone Vitamin)

Joseph: Are we having a special surprise today? (because he eats purple breakfast candies on special surprise days. he's quirky like that.)

mama: Yes, actually, we are.

Joseph: What is it?

Daddy: Well - what do you think this is? (handing Joseph a piece of paper)

Joseph: Well - it looks like a plane ticket.

Daddy: Yes it is.

Mama: And where do you think we would take you on an airplane? (fully expecting the answer to be Disney World because he's been begging to fly on a plane to Disney World for quite some time.)

Joseph: Are we going to California? Because that would be my very best place to go!

Mama & Daddy: uh, ????????????????????

We actually video taped the whole thing but the camera is charging. We took lots of pictures of our trip and have lots of stories of our adventures. Hopefully I will be able to share many of these over the next couple of days. For tonight we'll just be recovering from our early morning, plane rides, the time changes (we are gaining 2 hours today?) and dealing with the mountains of laundry.

18 months - 5 years old

2011-10-28T18:22:00.003-04:00

I took the boys in for the 18-month and 5-year well visits at the beginning of last week and have forgotten to post their stats!

At 18 months, Jacob is:

weight: 30 lbs. 7 oz. - 90th percentile

height: 34.6 inches - 95th percentile

at 5 years, Joseph is:

weight: 44 lbs. 12 oz. - 75th percentile

height: 43.9 inches - 75th percentile

Basically both are growing like weeds. I will think that they're all set for clothes and then turn around and Joseph's pants are too short. Fortunately Jacob gets to take advantage of Joseph's many hand-me-downs.

Halloween Time

2011-10-28T08:54:00.001-04:00

Joseph headed off to school for the Trick or Treat Trail and Halloween Party.

Virginia - Brunch

2011-10-27T17:19:00.003-04:00

Sunday morning Daddy went back over to Nana & Papa's hotel and picked up the boys. They enjoyed a little cereal snack in their jammies and then we got them cleaned up for the brunch.

We did a little rendition of "If You're Happy & You Know It" to get everyone motivated for smiling pictures.

After that big fun weekend, it's no surprise that this happened about 5 minutes into our trip home.

Virginia - Wedding

2011-10-27T17:08:00.004-04:00

These are kind of in a random order. Here are the boys snuggling with daddy while we're waiting for a big family picture. Christopher's aunt arranged for a sitter and dinner for the boys upstairs at the hotel while we enjoyed the reception. They ended up staying overnight with their Nana & Papa because they were sleeping so well when we checked on them later.

A family picture of us. How often do we get one of these! And below is Christopher's brother Travis with our sister-in-law Aftin and our precious new niece Ava!

Jacob was looking for the Bluegrass Band I think. Or more grapes.

Nana has the grapes!

Virginia - Pumpkins

2011-10-27T17:06:00.002-04:00

The boys with their "Virginia" pumpkin!

Virginia - Rehearsal Dinner - part 2

2011-10-27T17:02:00.002-04:00

I found a couple more pictures on my Iphone that I forgot about from Friday night. . . .

Virginia - Rehearsal Dinner

2011-10-27T09:48:00.004-04:00

This past weekend we road-tripped it to Abingdon, VA for Christopher's cousin, Sarah Rae's, wedding. It was a jam-packed weekend of wedding events and we enjoyed every one. Afterwards we returned home exhausted but with our hearts full of fun family time.

Nanny with cousin Ava.

Nana holding Joseph who was playing Angry Birds.

The Groom's Cake. So fitting.

Jacob especially loved the Bluegrass Band.

pumpkin-time again

2011-10-27T07:57:00.003-04:00

You may remember Joseph's Owl Pumpkin from last year's Woodland Creature contest at his school. This year their class's theme is spiders! Mama just loves spiders. Anyway - on our way home from a wedding in Virginia last weekend (more on that soon) we stopped of in Nashville at the Sherwood's annual Pumpkin Carving. We have missed this for the last few years and were so glad the timing worked out. Mama stenciled and Daddy carved. Then we carefully trucked our pumpkin back home and finished decorating it. Can you say interstate pumpkin - purchased in Virginia, carved in Tennessee, decorated in Arkansas? Last night Joseph tried on his costume for the Trick or Treat Trail happening at school this week and posed with the completed pumpkin.

baby shower

2011-10-18T18:07:00.003-04:00

A neighbor, friend and I hosted a baby shower this past weekend for another neighbor who is expecting twin girls next month. We are so excited about these little blessing joining our neighborhood!!!

Halloween costumes

2011-10-13T23:03:00.003-04:00

My sewing machine has been buzzing and whipping up some pretty fun Halloween costumes. So far, all the costumes produced have been for other people. I have to start on ours in a major way next week. We have a pretty fun Halloween planned for this year . . . and I'll just leave you with that until pictures are posted.
Here is Jacob modeling the costume I made today.

Haircuts!!

2011-10-13T12:56:00.002-04:00

We have a big family wedding coming up next weekend so I took the boys out for haircuts this morning. Joseph is a pro at getting his haircut but this was Jacob's first time! We didn't take much off of Jacob as I am still clinging to the baby look. It was just trimmed up enough to get it out of his nose and eyes. He did a really great job of holding still.

Congraduation

2011-10-12T10:10:00.003-04:00

I've been told that we're having a congraduation here on Thursday at 2:30 pm. I'm not sure what a congraduation is or whether it has anything to do with a graduation.? I guess I'll find out at 2:30 on Thursday. I do know that it involves these things . . . . . . . which have been lined up at my back door for about three days now. (The most amazing part is that Jacob has actually left all these items lined up just like that.)

Reason #4253 that I love Pinterest

2011-10-07T18:23:00.002-04:00

Because sometimes you come across an excellent idea for organization. An idea, for which, you already have all the necessary parts. And you stop everything else to do the project immediately. Because, suddenly, it's urgent. Even though those cards have just been sitting in a basket for the last 10 months and given just a passing glance, it'll bug you if they aren't organized TODAY.

TaDa!!!!!

Memphis Zoo

2011-10-03T19:02:00.008-04:00

Sunday morning we left Nashville early so we could get to Memphis and pick up a friend at the airport. Jonathan & Christine Butcher became our good friends while we all lived in Charleston and now we have all moved away. Jonathan flew into Memphis for a conference so we were able to spend some time with him enjoying a BBQ lunch and some animal sightings at the zoo before dropping him off at his hotel and heading home.

meeting baby Ava and another stop on the birthday train

2011-10-03T18:21:00.006-04:00

We drove to Nashville this past weekend and jam-packed it with family visits and Christopher's 20 year high school reunion activities. Our first (and very exciting) stop was at Travis & Aftin's home to meet our precious new niece. She is the first baby girl on the Swearingen side of the family and we all fell in love with her.

We also chugged Joseph's birthday train over to Nana & Papa's home for another party with our family. (I think the birthday train has now left the station for this year.)

Nana ordered a Toy Story cake which he loved.

He also hammed it up for some pictures.

No one looks very excited in this picture. In fact, they all look like bored little angels.

Ok - there's our clown!

(Joseph was trying to be a very good big cousin and hold still while holding Ava)

when a train delivers your food . . . .

2011-09-29T10:28:00.001-04:00

riding the birthday train . . .

2011-09-28T21:57:00.006-04:00

yesterday we had a busy day writing thank you notes for the presents we received at the party on Saturday.
we also made chocolate chip cookies for Joseph to take to school today for his friends. According to Joseph, "all kids LOVE a chocolate chip cookie."
Joseph has been so excited about his birthday, so I wanted to make sure it lived up to his expectations.The birthday balloon fairy visited during the night and Joseph woke up to a room full of balloons!
Then daddy delivered his warm birthday cinnamon roll.
It was time for school and he left with cookies and thank-you cards in-hand.
After school, Daddy & Joseph met Mama & Jacob at a restaurant for dinner. Much to Joseph's glee, we were given the #5 for our table.
We went to All Aboard for dinner. A very fun restaurant that delivers the food to your table via train!
After dinner we returned home to open presents.
And Joseph got to stay up late and play.
We can't believe that Joseph is already five years old. He is a great helper and is usually eager to do his chores.

Joseph loves going to his pre-school three days a week and we can tell a huge difference with him socially. His pre-school class last year used a kindergarten readiness program and about half the class went on to kindergarten. He is in a more advanced class this year so we have no doubt about his readiness for kindergarten next year. They have been studying shapes (pentagon, hexagon, cube, cylinder, etc.) and Johnny Appleseed. Last week they did an apple taste test between red, green and yellow apples and this week they made applesauce. They're also gearing up for fall. His current homework is to take a nature walk with his family and then bring to school a sampling of what he found.

Joseph loves to learn on his own and works hard on math, writing and reading. He can read surprisingly well for his age and I only have to help him occasionally when he texts his Papa or instant messages Daddy during the day. He also loves to type up signs on the computer and print them out. We currently have several signs hanging up around the house - along with his shape flashcards. (Our house really looks more like a pre-school with all the books, signs, post-its and toys. . . . . 'tis the season.)

Joseph likes to be in charge of everyone and everything and gets quite frustrated when he gets corrected for correcting his brother. He would like to make the rules. Since Daddy and Mama were both oldest children, we understand the feelings, but still can't allow the behavior.

Joseph is very sweet and still loves to snuggle and hug and leaves love notes all over the house. He is passionate and focused when "working" on the computer, building something fantastic or "drawing," which really consists more of him writing fancy math problems all over a paper. He is obsessed with calendars and clocks and "always knows what day it is." He has a wooden calendar in his room that he updates every morning before he comes downstairs.

He loves to go to Bible Study on Tuesday mornings with me and tells me all about his lesson on the way home. We've been able to have some great discussions recently about God and I love watching him process the stories he hears at church.

He has been a joy to watch as he grows and develops and learns. We love our precious boy more than we can say and are so proud of him.

birthday party!!!

2011-09-26T11:56:00.006-04:00

Joseph turns 5 this week! We had his birthday party on Saturday at Jump Zone. He told us about 9 months ago that he wanted to have his party there so planning has been fairly easy. On Friday morning we started our party prep at home and Joseph was excited to help.

First we put together the goodie bags for our guests. . .
Joseph wanted a "space" theme for his party so we did what we could with what we could find.
We made some homemade "moon dough."
We also created recipe cards in case anyone wanted to make more at home.
Our finished goodie bag ingredients . . .
And our spaced themed cupcakes . . . .

Joseph was so excited to go to his party on Saturday and wear his new rocket shirt.The table set up at Jump Zone for all the kiddos . . .
The birthday boy blowing out his candles.
Ready to open presents!

Joseph was so excited to have his friends at his party and they were excited to help him with his gifts.So - a fun and exhausting day for everyone. We have more fun planned for this week as our sweet boy turns 5!!!!

game day morning fun

2011-09-21T13:18:00.002-04:00

post its

2011-09-21T13:04:00.003-04:00

Joseph has recently discovered post it notes and how useful they are.

Useful for putting price tags on everything in the house.
Useful for remembering your address.
Useful for reminding your mama about your birthday party plans.
Useful for labeling all the exits.

And then, when your brother figures out how fun it is to frustrate you by removing all your carefully placed post its, you can leave a special post it for him.

what a weekend o' family fun does to a kiddo

2011-09-06T16:23:00.002-04:00

Weekend o' family fun

2011-09-06T16:04:00.004-04:00

This past weekend found us traveling again. We headed to Nashville where we dropped off daddy and picked up Aunt Alissa, then headed on to Indianapolis. Cousin Scout turned 1-year-old last week and her birthday party was on Saturday evening. We helped make her special cake and cupcakes and relaxed with the Shetler family.

Uncle Jon gave Joseph & Jacob a little guitar lesson.

Baby Cannon is getting so big and smiles like it's his job.

Aunt Alissa helped wrangle boys and was great fun to have along on our road trip.

Baby Cow's/Scout's first birthday cake.

She dug right in to that cake and ate the whole thing.

Then she tore in to her gifts. She took a short nap at bedtime, not wanting to miss the after-party, and was in rare form later that night after all the sugar.

17-months-old

2011-08-30T16:40:00.004-04:00

This is Jacob's normal position for watching Mickey Mouse. It's his favorite thing to watch - based on - it's really the only thing he'll sit down and watch. And by "sit down" I mean - lay down with head on chair, blankie in arm, thumb in mouth and not move until episode is over. Then we jump up and do the "Hot Dog Dance." I know some day I'll probably be posting my angst at trying to rid Jacob of his thumb-sucking. However, currently? Cutest. Thing. Ever.

Jacob is our early riser. And whoever isn't awake when he gets up is usually woken up shortly thereafter by his giggles and the sound of him running around the house.

Words: "Shoe" and "Juice" are his two latest words. "Shoe" is usually accompanied by him poking a shoe in your face. "Juice" is usually accompanied by him poking a sippy cup in your face and is followed up with a giggle when you take the cup and head for the kitchen.

Chores: Jacob has taken over "diaper disposal" duty from his brother. Sometimes Joseph still supervises but Jacob is quick to grab the dirty diaper and run for the pail. (and gets a bit irritated if anyone beats him to it.)

Teeth: We are enjoying a blissful non-teething period. Jacob has 16 teeth and we are glad to be done until his next round of molars. He's eating like a champ again and loves getting his teeth brushed.

I love watching their little minds work at this age and realizing how much they understand. As soon as I ask Jacob if he wants to sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" he'll put his fingers together to make the spider climb the spout. He also helps "wash the spider out" (whilst giggling) and "dries up all the rain." He still dances almost every time he hears music and loves to play hiding games. His favorite game though seems to be chasing and being chased by his big brother. We now let them go up and play in Joseph's room together. Joseph locks the door so Jacob can't try to navigate the stairs by himself coming down and everything goes pretty well. Every once in awhile we'll get a yell from Joseph asking us to come up and get Jacob off his table. Yes, that's our little climber. He does everything Joseph never did - tries to get into every cabinet, climbs on everything, plays with cords and tries to eat Legos. He pretty much needs to be supervised 24/7 and is a pro at reaching the things you didn't think he could get to. Hypothetical situation: Say you had a scissors and a screw driver on a table in your room and pushed them back so your precious one couldn't reach them. Then within 10 minutes he walked into your bathroom carrying both items. Again, that was just an example of something that would maybe happen at someone else's home. Not mine.

And now I should probably go check on that beautiful little mess. :)

From the innocent mouths of babes

2011-08-26T14:24:00.002-04:00

disclaimer: I don't always share the inappropriate things my children say. However, this one needs to get down in writing before I forget the particulars as it will definitely need to be recounted at future events like Joseph's high school graduation, college graduation, medical school graduation, rehearsal dinner and when he has his own kiddos.

Last night I heard Joseph yell from the kitchen, "WHO WANTS TO GET SCREWED?!"

(silence)

mama (thinking he could not have possibly said that): "what was that?"

Joseph: "WHO WANTS TO GET SCREWED?!"

mama (cleaning out ears): "what did you say?"

Joseph: "Do you want me to screw you?"

mama (don't overreact, don't overreact): "um, how would you do that?"

Joseph: "like this!" - put out arms and starts spinning in a circle - "I'm a screw!"

(mama and daddy breathe sighs of relief between their fits of giggles)

Daddy (busy putting away the groceries whilst doubled over laughing behind the open refrigerator door): "well, why don't you go in the living room to, um, screw."

Baby girl-ish-ness

2011-08-23T17:50:00.004-04:00

This past weekend we made, yet another, whirl-wind trip to Nashville. (how many of my posts start out that way?) It was for a very special occasion - a baby shower for my sis-in-law and soon-to-arrive niece. Hostess duties were split between five of us and everything came together so perfectly. We are all looking forward to meeting sweet baby Ava in about 5 weeks!!!

Popsicle Holder

2011-08-11T13:11:00.002-04:00

Joseph wanted to eat a popsicle outside the other day. A couple of minutes later I noticed that he was playing and not eating. I envisioned the popsicle on its side, dripping down the deck. But Joseph figured it out. . . . .Do you see it?

In my sink - episode 1

2011-08-11T13:04:00.003-04:00

Jacob has started depositing his sippy cup/bottle in the sink when he has finished. This is awesome. I had a total "my baby is so smart" moment. No more finding yucky bottles/cups under the couch or entertainment center a couple of days later. But his "brilliance" has progressed to putting quite a few other things in the sink as he finishes with them.

Here is: Episode 1 of Things I Find In My Sink

what we've been up to. . . .

2011-08-11T12:48:00.004-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. There are a couple of reasons for that. First - we've been sort of busy. Second - I got an IPhone and it's just been a lot easier to take pictures with that. Although, so far, not quite as convenient for posting those pictures on the blog.

Christopher was in Miami recently for a conference so my sister, Natalie, and niece, Scout, came to entertain us while he was gone. We had a great time watching our kiddos play together. Our other big challenge was entertaining them while also staying cool. Little Rock set an all time heat record of 114 during this time (the heat index was 122) so we tried to do outdoor things early in the day and then relax indoors in the afternoons.

birthday present

2011-07-26T17:18:00.000-04:00

This morning I told Joseph that the best present he could give me would be to be a great listener all day.

A few minutes ago:

Joseph: "Mama, I kept Jacob from getting on the couch. Good listener, huh?"
Me: "um, yes. thank you."
Joseph: "Happy Birthday!"

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-20T13:56:00.005-04:00

weekend fun

2011-07-19T15:34:00.003-04:00

We spent this past weekend in Nashville and, as per usual, packed in as much crazy fun as possible. Papa & Nana watched our sweet boys so we were able to see the final Harry Potter adventure our first night in town. We followed this up with celebrating Uncle Travis's 30th birthday, admiring soon-to-arrive cousin Ava's adorable nursery and helping Aunt Alissa with some projects around her fabulous new home. And after all that, we built in a little extra time to spend an afternoon at the lake with some dear friends (and Jacob's future in-laws.) "Uncle" Eddie even let Joseph drive the boat. Definitely the highlight of his day.

15 months old

2011-07-19T11:58:00.002-04:00

Although Jacob passed his 15-month mark a couple of weeks ago, we didn't have his well visit until today. Here are his stats:

Weight: 25 lbs. 14 oz.
Height: 33 inches

(to compare with Joseph at 15 months: weight: 27 lbs. 14 oz. and 33.5 inches)

Which puts him in the 50th and 95th percentiles respectively. He has certainly slimmed down since he has started running everywhere. And with this most recent round of teething he hasn't been eating quite as much as usual. I'm sure his appetite will be back full force once we get in these 4 cuspids! The last of his molars broke through about a month ago so we are up to 12 teeth in that little mouth.

He is far more curious that Joseph ever was. Once Joseph would realize that a cabinet door was "locked" he rarely tried it again. Eventually we were able to operate without safety latches. Jacob tries all doors almost daily . . . just in case.

He is still taking 2 naps on most days. Every once in awhile I'll think that we're getting close to dropping the morning nap but then the next day he'll sleep for 2 hours at both naps.

He jabbers all of the time and we are recognizing a few more words. He regularly says: hi, bye, mama, daddy, no touch, touch, diaper, uh-oh. He uses a few other words occasionally but not enough for me to think he has a good grasp on them. He still signs: please, more and all done.

He is very interactive and loves to play "So Big!" He also loves to be sung and read to. Joseph has started helping with the bed-time story reading to Jacob which is about the cutest/sweetest thing ever. They love to play/wrestle with and fight/annoy each other.

what's been keeping me busy

2011-07-06T16:17:00.001-04:00

besides my family - can be seen here.

family fun weekend - part 2

2011-07-05T12:21:00.003-04:00

so - not many pictures were taking of the rest of family fun weekend. On Sunday evening we had some neighbors/friends over for ribs (that had smoked all afternoon), some side dishes and this fabulous cake.
Joseph helped me make it and the smell of it was also the reason (excuse) for not being able to nap that afternoon. Not only did it look amazing, it was pretty yummy.

We were so tired from our big zoo day, yard work and company that we laid pretty low on Monday/Independence Day. In true holiday fashion, we stayed in our jammies all day. We played with our toys (mama reread the 7th Harry Potter book in readiness for seeing the movie next weekend), napped, ate leftovers and just relaxed. We did manage to rustle up some hot dogs, baked beans and watermelon last night to celebrate the big day though. And we watched the Washington DC celebration on TV. It was a great family fun weekend and now we're back to our regular schedule.

family fun weekend - part 1

2011-07-02T16:55:00.003-04:00

this game never gets old

2011-07-02T16:52:00.002-04:00

swimming lessons - week #2

2011-07-01T14:44:00.001-04:00

maybe he didn't get enough lunch?

2011-07-01T14:35:00.002-04:00

I'll just go ahead and take a nap here

2011-06-30T09:03:00.001-04:00

swimming lessons - week #1

2011-06-24T18:02:00.003-04:00

just jokin'

2011-06-23T14:15:00.002-04:00

Joseph is "just jokin'" a lot of the time. Sometimes the joking is appropriate. Sometimes it's an excuse for misbehavior.

Appropriate:
Joseph: "mama, I have two bites left."
me: "that's great Joseph."
Joseph: "mama, I was just joking about something."
me: "what is that?"
Joseph: "'cause I have ZERO bites left!!!!"

Inappropriate:
me: "Joseph, did you hit, smother, push. . . . fill-in-the-blank. . . your brother?"
Joseph: "no."
me: "Then why is he screaming, crying, bleeding. . . fill-in-the-blank. . . etc.?"
Joseph: "I pushed him. I was just jokin'."

7 years ago today. . . .

2011-06-19T10:19:00.000-04:00

fun with toys

2011-06-17T20:35:00.003-04:00

Jacob enjoying the "new" toy we pulled out of the attic.

Joseph enjoying the box in which it was kept.

cutest and messiest

2011-06-16T13:33:00.000-04:00

PB & N eater in the country. . .

take me out to the ballgame

2011-06-16T12:13:00.000-04:00

trying to stay cool. . . .

2011-06-13T15:05:00.001-04:00

just chillin'

2011-06-10T11:51:00.000-04:00

watching some Mickey Mouse. . .

Joseph's Wishes

2011-06-10T08:10:00.003-04:00

About once a day Joseph will say . . . ."mama, do you know what I wish?"

You just never know what is coming. Recently he wished that "fire would come out of my feet and I could fly like Astro Boy." But seriously, who wouldn't want that? That would be awesome.

This morning:

J: "mama, do you know what I wish?"
me: "no. What do you wish."
J: "I wish we had a compass."
me: "a compass?" (seriously. did I hear him right? where did he learn about a compass?)
J: "yes. a compass."
me: "and why do you wish we had a compass?"
J: "so we would know which direction we are going."

ok then. I guess he knows what a compass is. And his wish totally came true because Super Daddy reached into his bag of tricks in the garage and pulled out a compass from his Boy Scout days. Joseph doesn't get to play with it yet but he's thrilled to know we have one.

The Little Rock Express

2011-06-09T09:58:00.003-04:00

We found out earlier this week that Union Pacific's steam locomotive No. 844 would be passing through Little Rock. Originally it was due to be on display all day today so we planned a surprise lunch trip with the boys. Then last night, while watching the news, we found out that it would be leaving early due to the flooding. I was disappointed and I had been promising Joseph all week that we were going to have a special surprise today. I began wracking my brain for a great new "special surprise" idea.

This morning when I woke up I realized that I have little rooster boys who rise with the sun. We could go see the train before it left! And that's what we did . . . after a quick drive-thru at Krispy Kreme.

(yes - that is Joseph wailing in the background. despite his excitement, he gets a bit freaked out by loud noises.)

beating the heat

2011-06-08T15:15:00.002-04:00

It's been a hot one! And even though there is much to do at home, sometimes you just need to take a break with friends and cool off. Jacob enjoyed playing in the pool with his friends Charlie Belle and Reece this morning.

Happy National Donut Day!

2011-06-07T12:24:00.002-04:00

A couple of years ago I found out about this fabulous holiday that is celebrated with free donuts. It is now permanent fixture on our family calendar. Since Joseph goes to school on Friday, Jacob & I went for our donuts with a couple of friends after Stroller Strides. Work out first = eat a donut. It all evens out. Here are a couple pictures of Jacob and his friend, Charlie Belle, enjoying their donuts. Before you feel sorry for Joseph missing out, his daddy took him for their free donuts on the way home from work/school.

recent conversations

2011-05-31T09:03:00.000-04:00

convo 1:
Joseph: It's 7:00!!!
me: what is special about 7:00?
Joseph: it's when we watch something special on TV!
me: like?
Joseph: like Glee or American Idol!
(mama thinks that it's a good thing is summer time and that we need to stop watching TV)

convo 2:
Joseph: look at my underwear. they have you on them.
WALL-E: that's cool Joseph.
Joseph: yah it is. Did you know you're in a movie too?
WALL-E: really?
Joseph: yah - you and Eva.

convo 3:
Joseph: mama, why does the Earth turn?
me: You should ask Daddy that question. He's really smart about things like that.
Joseph: well, why are you not smart?

bonus:
I joined Stroller Strides several months ago and am loving it. Not only do I get a great workout but I also get to hang out with other moms every morning. I was going to class on M, W and F which is also when Joseph is in school. However, they've recently added a T, TH class closer to home so I've been going occasionally and taking Joseph along. Our class consists of fast-paced walking with our strollers with stops at different stations to work on strength and toning of arms, legs, abs, etc. Occasionally we'll also do lunges or squats with our strollers.
So - last week I took Joseph grocery shopping with me. He wanted his own little cart which usually creates a problem. That thing is just so much fun to push while running or spinning around. I gave him strict instructions about cart-pushing etiquette and what the consequences would be for misbehavior. About half way through the store I turned around to give a little reminder about not lagging behind . . . but all I could do was laugh. Joseph was doing lunges behind his cart and was quite pleased with himself at being able to multi-task with a workout while shopping.

14 m o - part 2

2011-05-31T08:26:00.000-04:00

I forgot to add that Jacob's first molar finally popped through last week. He had been working on that one for about 3 months. I hope the rest don't take that long!

14 months old!

2011-05-30T17:23:00.004-04:00

Wow - two month have passed since we celebrated Jacob's first birthday. He suddenly seems very "little boy" and not so much "baby!"At 14 months:
He runs for his chair when we say it's time to eat. He's a much pickier eater than Joseph was but we're managing to get some nutrition in him. He was refusing to eat fruit but I offered him a fruit smoothie of bananas, blueberries and peaches and he slurped it right down. Using a straw! Also - I committed the "he's a second child" crime and gave him a peanut butter sandwich. He loved it.

He runs for the stairs when we say it's nap time or bed time. Although he is a great sleeper, I think it has more to do with the opening of the baby gate and accessing the stairs than it does to his excitement of going to sleep.

He also runs away from me when I come towards him with a diaper. Usually this is accompanied by loud laughter.

He runs to the back door when I say that daddy is home. And then he runs away from it laughing when he sees daddy.

He runs instead of just walking. It think we've covered that. He can also stand up from the floor now instead of crawling over to something to pull up first.

He says: mama, daddy, doggie, Katie, diaper, hi. He will also mimic other words but doesn't use them consistently.He has strong opinions and strong reactions. He's also quite dramatic and a frequent user of what we refer to as his "bitter beer face." This usually consists of a puckered mouth and closed fluttering eyes. It may or may not be accompanied by crying. It can turn into a bad scenario when done while walking/running.

He still sucks his thumb and carries a blanket around. (picture Linus.) I love it when he gets tired and comes to me with his blanket in his arm, his thumb in his mouth and lays his head on my leg.
He loves to dance. And he is quite the dancer. He will dance any time music comes on or if I just sing to him. He also loves to clap. When the Indy 500 cars took off yesterday, he jumped up and down - clapping and squealing.

He is a precious, enthusiastic and passionate little boy who gets into everything! And we love, love, love him.

rosemary, basil and strawberries . . . oh my!

2011-05-28T08:16:00.003-04:00

Last year the planters on our front porch contained a mixture of herbs and flowers. This year we decided to forgo the flowers in favor of more tasty options. So we increased the number of basil plants and added banana peppers, cilantro and strawberries. I somewhat doubted that the strawberries would do much but thought the vines would be a nice "spiller" over the planter. Much to our (mostly Joseph's) delight, we have a few strawberries. We check on them multiple times a day to see if they're ready. Look closely - I believe Joseph may get a taste of a "planter strawberry" later today.

sickness

2011-05-25T07:54:00.002-04:00

Poor daddy come home from work last Thursday with a nasty stomach bug. He was sent straight to his room with orders not to touch anyone or anything. He pretty much stayed there until Saturday evening and was still feeling sort of rough until Monday. Mama carried around a can of lysol, took the kiddos to the doorway for short visits and to say "good-night" and swapped out glasses of water, juice and gatorade. Of course the biggest fear was that the rest of the family would catch it . . . . however, the only casualty was Curious George.

Joseph informed me on Monday morning that his baby was sick and had thrown up. Fortunately he had thrown up in the bucket so clean-up was minimal. I provided Joseph with a towel for any future incidents. He took good care of George and I'm happy to say that his bought with the stomach bug lacked the intensity and duration of daddy's.

dancing jake jake

2011-05-23T17:52:00.003-04:00

freecycle goodies

2011-05-23T16:18:00.002-04:00

Occasionally I find a sweet deal on Freecycle and respond quickly enough to get it. This weekend I picked up 2 huge garbage bags of "toys" from a home nearby. Although some of the items were not all that great (and not all were toys), there were a couple of super things for Joseph. This electronic Battleship game was really the main reason I wanted the items. Here Joseph is playing vs. the computer (a.k.a. WALL-E).

today's homemade goodness

2011-05-23T16:15:00.001-04:00

in addition to refilling our sweet mint tea container and our stock of pesto . . . I made baked sweet potato chips and . . . .

some chipotle raspberry barbecue sauce.

saturday morning playtime

2011-05-21T12:02:00.002-04:00

a.k.a. this is how quickly we can destroy the playroom . . .

brother love

2011-05-15T18:54:00.000-04:00

this morning's homemade goodness

2011-05-10T12:38:00.003-04:00

I tried some of my mom's delicious homemade granola over the weekend and had to come right home and try my own version. I was also thrilled to see that the basil in my planters had thrived while we were gone so I also whipped up some homemade basil/spinach pesto. Add in some sweet mint tea and the humid 90 degrees outside . . . . :)

on the way home. . .

2011-05-10T12:11:00.004-04:00

. . . we had to divert from our normal route due to flooding and roads being closed. Even the roads we were able to take had water right up to the edge. We saw flooded houses and crews of people filling sandbags and stacking them in the attempt to save other homes.