Went to Publix today. Good times. :) After all, Jacob does love a nice trip to Publix (almost as much as Target). Annabelle enjoys grocery store trips too. It's a good thing they both enjoy shopping because it seems our trips take twice as long as they used to. You see, we live in the retirement capital of the universe. (Ok, maybe it isn't the retirement capital, but it must be close to the top of the list.) Whenever we go to Publix, there are always lots and lots of very sweet grandparent-type (and great grandparent-type) people shopping along with us. I usually have Annabelle in the Baby Bjorn carrier facing out and whenever someone so much as glances at her, she smiles her biggest smile. Of course, that prompts people to come over and see us.....errr....see the baby. Then we usually stand there and talk for several minutes. I listen as these people take a walk down memory lane and share their stories -- stories about shopping with their children; stories about cloth diapers and baby food; stories about how things used to be. While they are talking, typically, Jacob is doing some talking of his own. "Mommy, I want some gapes....Mommy, want some bananas....mommy, want some goldfish....mommy, want some fuut (fruit) snacks," he whines. While I, sometimes, find his behavior embarrassing, the people talking to me usually think it's cute. I get a lot of comments like, "Oh...I remember those days...ha ha ha ha ha!" and "You sure do have your hands full! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Today, as I was having a conversation with a lady about the abnormally large grapes (among other things), Jacob was trying his best to climb out of the buggy. She said, "...and that's why I always went shopping at night. I made my husband stay home with the kids so I could take my time." Now, there's an idea!

I have to say, I enjoy my grocery store encounters. I love talking to people and hearing their stories. I also love that my children can brighten someone's day. Even if people don't stop to talk, they almost always smile.

SAY WHAT????

Last night on the way home from church, Jacob and I had our usual sing-a-long. About halfway home, I turned on the radio to see what was on XM Kids. Honestly, I think I could come up with better childrens' songs than some of these. Take this one for example, sung to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and done in sort of a bluegrass style:

"Stinkle, stinkle little skunky

Tell me why you smell so funky....."

I have to admit, when I heard it, I did chuckle, but I was also thinking, "Wow....this guy is actually getting rich off of THIS song??????"

Jacob loves to sing. He sings all the time. He does not, however, sing "stinkle, stinkle little skunky"...at least, not yet. Here he is singing B-I-B-L-E. You'll probably want to go ahead and pause the blog music now. :)

Jesus Loves Me is another favorite. He can sing this one while also playing a drum. Now that's talent!

He will sing just about anything he hears. Someone recently gave Annabelle a CD of personalized lullabies and he's been walking around the house singing all the songs...very, very cute.

Notice anything funny here?

Yes, Jacob is laying across Annabelle...and yet, she's still happy! This was his way of getting in the picture.