Linus

Some time ago, my family joked that Jacob was like Linus.  You know, Charlie Brown's friend -- the one who never goes anywhere without his blue blanket.  In the comics and in the movies, Linus sucks his thumb and carries his precious blanket with him at all times.  That was Jacob -- sucking his thumb and holding onto the little baby blanket we all came to know by the name Mister Monkey's Cousin.  Jacob let go of the blanket earlier this year and he is now making strides towards kicking the thumb habit.  Evenso, Jacob is still much like Linus.  Last night, as I watched the opening scene of A Boy Named Charlie Brown, I could not stop laughing.  CLICK HERE and watch the first minute or so.  Listen to Linus' observations about the clouds.

Yep.  This is Jacob alright.  Almost everyday, Jacob bites his food into the shape of a state.  "Look!" he says.  "My cheese looks like Minnesota."  The other day, he carefully ripped his napkin into several pieces, each one a different state:  Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Washington, Missouri.  It was actually pretty incredible.  I shouldn't be surprised.  When Jacob was only a few months old, he drooled a bunny on Heath's shirt sleeve.  Anyone remember this?

Now that's talent.  

And with the information he's learning through Classical Conversations, I can totally see Jacob looking up into the clouds, giving me a "Linus" answer when I ask him what he sees.  The boy has an ever expanding wealth of knowledge along with a wild and very vivid imagination.  So Jacob is, indeed, like Linus...in more ways than one.  Who knew?

A Tiger Tale

Once upon a time there was a little tiger...not just any tiger...a little Clemson tiger.  He was a happy little tiger -- one who enjoyed playing games and eating candy.  He had been talking about going to Trunk or Treat for quite some time.  He could not wait.

The little Clemson Tiger had a friend named Belle.  Belle was a beautiful, crazy princess.  She too, was very happy and she also enjoyed playing games and eating candy.  In fact, she enjoyed eating candy even more than her tiger friend. 

The tiger and the princess wandered from trunk to trunk, playing fun games and filling their bags with candy.  The tiger, being a bit prideful, never hesitated to point out that he had acquired more candy than the princess.  Belle didn't seem to mind.  She had plenty.  She was a sneaky little princess and I do believe she ate twice as much candy that night as the tiger.  The princess has an insatiable sweet tooth.

The tiger stopped at the face painting booth to get some tiger stripes. 

The princess asked for a heart.

They had tons of fun and didn't want the night to end.  But tigers and princesses need their sleep.  After playing all the games, a few more than once, the two friends headed home.  They couldn't wait to go through their candy bags.  You would expect the tiger to tear into his candy like a savage beast.  After all, isn't that what tigers do?  Well, you would be wrong.  He carefully sorted through the candy, choosing one piece to eat before getting ready for bed.  The princess, having already eaten half of hers before she even made it home, acted much more like a savage tiger than a dainty princess.  The tiger rationed his candy out.  The princess shoved it all into her mouth...at one time. 

The little Clemson tiger and Belle fell fast asleep soon after the sugar rush wore off (and after a thorough teeth cleaning) dreaming, no doubt, of their Trunk or Treat experiences and the candy they would get to eat in the days to come.  Sweet.

A few days later, the tiger and the princess emerged again.  They went to Chick-fil-A in their costumes, with one minor change -- Princess Belle became Princess Rapunzel.  Her choice.  :)

 {This picture makes me smile.  :) }

Music Lessons

I remember riding in the car with my parents as a teenager.  I begged to take control of the radio.  All I wanted was to listen to something other than oldies or the Christian station.  I wanted to be...cool.  Sometimes, I got my way.  Sometimes, I didn't.  When I did get to choose the radio station, I also had to endure speeches, mainly by my dad, which typically began with "Music isn't music anymore..." or "They just don't make music like they used to..." or "You call this music?"  "Yes, Daddy, this is music..." I would say.  Then a 15 minute debate ensued, my top 40 tunes being drowned out by our arguments. 

Yesterday, I was reminded of those car rides. While Heath was browsing itunes, he came across several Christmas albums in the new release category.  Among them was the latest from teen heartthrob, Justin Bieber.  Always curious to see "what the kids are listening to nowadays," I asked my husband to play a Bieber song.  His response?  "Paula, are you serious?"  He humored me and clicked "play."  As we listened to Drummer Boy, Heath made a speech, much like my dad, about how "this is not music."  It was almost as if listening to that song was causing him physical pain.  He went on and on about how horrible it was.  He was right.  It was terrible.  I was laughing hysterically, in part because the song was so ridiculous and in part because of Heath's reaction.  As Heath continued in his rant against this "music," Jacob spoke up.  He was staring at me with a half -horrified, half -serious look on his face.  "Plus," he said.  "I heard the word 'stupid' in that song TWO times!!"  "You did?" I replied.  "YES," was his answer.  Heath confirmed.  You see, "stupid" is one of the words we try not to use at our house.  To Jacob, that is the "s-word."  He stared up at me and said, "Mommy, why were you laughing at that song?"  Ouch.  That one stung a little.  I must confess, I never heard the words.  I wasn't really listening to the lyrics.  But, Jacob was.

I told him I was wrong for laughing and thanked him for calling me out on it.    You can be certain, I'll be more careful next time.  This is the very reason why the radio station in our car is tuned to XM's The Message 95% of the time.  Just flipping through the stations, it's possible to hear every bad word in the book, words much worse than "stupid."  Little ears soak up everything they hear and I have been made very aware of this fact many, many times.   

One thing I guess I can be happy about is the fact that Jacob did call me out.  That shows that even though I was in the wrong, I did something right. 

Thank you, God, for using this instance as a reminder that my children are always watching me.  Please help me to always set a good example.  I pray that you would grant my children the passion and the courage to forever stand up for what they believe in and for what is right.  Amen.

Pumpkins!!

Pumpkins -- the quintessential items of fall decor.  They are fun to decorate with.  They are fun to carve.  They taste delicious in pies, cakes, doughnuts, cookies, muffins, scones, lattes, etc...  I realize it may sound silly, but their bright orange color just makes me happy.  What's not to love?  Pumpkins are great!

Given my affinity for pumpkins, naturally, a favorite activity for our family is to visit the pumpkin patch. 

Jacob chose his pumpkin fairly quickly.  He stepped off the hayride, ran out into the field, picked up a pumpkin, and he was done. 

Annabelle took her sweet time.  She walked all over the field searching for the perfect one.  "How about this one, Annabelle?" I said (several times).  "This one is just the right size for you."  Every time, I received the same answer:  "No."  Finally, much like an olympic weight-lifter, she grabbed a pumpkin that I'm sure weighed almost as much as she does and announced, "I found it!" 

The pumpkins are the highlight of the pumpkin patch as far as I am concerned, but the farm has a lot more to offer -- a hayride, farm animals to see and pet, a duck race, tricycle race, playground, a giant sandbox, and more.  We spent the entire day there.  It was a perfect, fun-filled, fall afternoon with friends.

 Let the duck race begin!

Hello, my name is Belle. It's my birthday and I am three years old.

The other day, Annabelle fell down and scraped her elbow.  Whenever she hurts herself, she immediately asks me to kiss it.  Then, after I kiss the boo-boo, she tells me it feels better.  Not this time.  I kissed her boo-boo just like I usually do, after which she said, crying, "That does NOT make it feel better!"  "What?!" I thought to myself.  "A kiss always makes everything better...no matter how tiny or big the scrape."  That's when I knew.  My baby is growing up.  **sniff, sniff**

Annabelle enjoys playing dress up -- especially when she's dressing up like a princess.  A couple weekends ago, she insisted on wearing a tiara into Target so she could look like her favorite princess -- Belle.  I let her.  While we walked across the parking lot to the entrance, she and I had the same conversation we always have before going into Target.  "Annabelle," I said.  "When we get inside the store, you HAVE to sit in a buggy."  At this point, Annabelle usually whines and says she doesn't want to ride.  This time, she didn't whine.  She didn't cry.  She didn't even scream.  She stopped walking, looked up at me, her tiara falling off her head, and announced, "Belle doesn't ride in buggies.  Belle is a big girl and she walks."  Well, okay then.  I obliged for a little while.  I knew Annabelle would never stay right with me.  Annabelle would run from one end of the store to the other, giggling with delight as I chased her, looking like a complete idiot.  But I wasn't dealing with Annabelle.  I was talking to Belle, the princess.  Belle did behave herself...for a short while.  I let her walk alongside me until she began to get into everything.  When I could see she was getting an itch to run, I decided it was time to take charge.  She threw a marvelous fit, but as she found out that evening, Belle can and does indeed ride in buggies. 

Weeks ago, I started asking her what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday.  Each time, she gave me the same answer:  "A Belle cake."  As much as I wanted her to choose something different, I knew she would love to have a Belle cake.  I went with it.  There was a time when I wasn't crazy about all the "princess stuff."  I never disliked it, I just wasn't a big fan.  How things change.  I have now, admittedly, embraced the whole princess scene in a huge way.  I can't decide whether this is a good or a bad thing.  In any case, Annabelle absolutely loved her princess birthday party.

Of course, she had to dress up like Belle for the party.

And she got just what she wanted -- a Belle birthday cake.

Then the fellow royalty arrived...

There were plenty of commoners in attendance as well, myself included -- grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, etc...  We kept the princesses from getting too out of control.  As we all know, Belle can get pretty wild.  :)

The little princesses got crafty and decorated tiaras with princess stickers and made their own wands.

After storytime and a princess tea party consisting of heart-shaped strawberry and cream cheese sandwiches, grapes, cheese, Chex Mix, and carrots with ranch dressing (Those are all princess foods, right?  Right??), it was time for cake.

Then presents...

The princesses frolicked around the house for a while waving their wands and playing with the new toys.  Soon, it was time for each of them to go back to their castles.  Before they left, we tried to get a group shot.  After all, it isn't often that you find so many princesses in one room.  Most of the princesses, however, were not interested in this photo op.

It was a lovely party, fit for a three year old princess.  I think all the girls enjoyed themselves and they all looked precious in their princesss dresses. 

You may be wondering where Jacob was since he isn't in any of these pictures.  I figured he would have more fun hanging out with a friend than hanging out with a bunch of princesses, so he went to our neighbor's house and had "boys club" with two other boys.  He had a great time playing with garbage trucks and LEGOs while Annabelle and her friends played with baby dolls and princess wands.  It worked out well.  And don't worry, we saved some cake for Jacob.  :)

Jacob sang Happy Birthday to his sister the next morning, on her actual birthday.  And he made this card for her, all by himself.  He told me he wanted to make a birthday card for Annabelle, so I gave him a piece of paper and he found a red marker.  Isn't it the cutest thing that he drew a picture of Belle?  So sweet! 

Princess Party -- Behind the Scenes.........

Finding princess party decorations is easy.  I knew that would be a simple task.  Disney princesses are everywhere.  I knew I could find everything I needed and more at the local party supply store.  But, if you've never planned a party at the end of October, here's a tip:  Never go to a party store the weekend before Halloween.  I got to the entrance of the party store and couldn't even walk in because there was such a crowd of people.  There was a security guard at the door and the check-out line wound around to the back of the store.  Yikes.  Thank goodness I was by myself.  Had the kids been with me, I would have turned around and walked right back to my car without even trying to enter the store.  Besides the large crowd, the spooky Halloween decor at the entrance would have given them nightmares.  I think next year I'll start planning Annabelle's party at least a month...or two...in advance.

The cake:  It was another 3 AM night.  No matter what time I start the cake baking process, I always end up going to bed at 3 AM the night before the party.  Things are never as easy as they seem.  Thanks again to Erika for helping out this year!  Heath also got in on the action, if you can believe that!  He helped lay the fondant over the cake.  First up was the smaller top tier.  It didn't go so well.  Heath and I carefully placed the fondant over the cake and...it looked awful.  We ended up with a lot of excess fondant that we weren't sure what to do with.  I was about ready to call the princess cake a total failure.  Then, we laid the yellow fondant over the bottom tier.  It turned out MUCH better.  With a few properly placed yellow polka dots, I decided the top tier didn't look so bad.  Thank goodness.  I REALLY didn't want to have to make a whole new cake.  When it was all said and done, the cake turned out much better than I thought it would.  I was pleased and more importantly, Annabelle was thrilled.  Even with the minor (and sometimes, major) mishaps, I love baking and decorating these birthday cakes.  :)  It's so much fun!

So, Annabelle, you are now three years old (even though you still tell people you are two).  The past three years have flown by.  Just yesterday, you were a teeny tiny baby and now you are a little princess...with a wild streak.  :)  And I love you for that.  You make every day exciting and new and I thank God for allowing me to be your mommy.  Happy Birthday!!  I love you!!