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!! 

October

I love the month of October for several reasons.

• pumpkins
• pumpkin patch
• birthdays
• birthday parties
• birthday parties for princesses
• cake
• cooler weather (at least for a few days)
• football
• Krispy Kreme pumpkin spice doughnuts
• Pumpkin spice lattes
• Trunk or Treat
• the colors of fall

I'm sure I could think of more, but these are the big ones.  I could devote an entire blog post to each one...but I won't.  Let's get real.  I can hardly find the time to write about the important things anymore.  That being said, I better get started while I have a free minute or two!

Simply put, October is a fun month.  It begins with my birthday and ends with Annabelle's.  I love all things pumpkin, so God couldn't have chosen a better month for me to be born.  Is there a better way to celebrate a birthday than with pumpkin spice doughnuts?  I think not.  Except this year, I had to wait a while.  When we drove to Krispy Kreme to get them, they were out.  Can you believe that?  I checked Publix every week.  Nothing.  FINALLY, Friday afternoon, I sent Heath to the store to pick up a few things and he came back with my long-awaited pumpkin spice doughnuts.  For that, he earned the husband of the year award.  I LOVE those doughnuts...and my husband.  :) 

My other October indulgence is the Starbucks pumpkin spice latte.  Mmmmmm.  So good.  But, I can't drink as many as I used to.  I seem to have developed a sensitivity to caffeine.  When I drink a lot of it (i.e. a Starbucks latte, mocha, etc...) I start to feel jittery and light-headed.  Weird.  This doesn't make me happy.  But, as pathetic as this may be, I can't NOT have a pumpkin spice latte.  So, I'm willing to feel light-headed and jittery...at least one time.  It's THAT good.

My birthday fell on a Wednesday this year.  When the kids and I arrived home from church, Heath had birthday cakes (yes, TWO cakes) on the table, party decor hung around the kitchen, and a birthday present waiting on me.  Sweet.  Now that I think about it, I guess he's actually earned two husband of the year awards.  :) 

A perfect little party.

While I can't say I was exactly thrilled about turning another year older, I can truly say that the "growing older" fact really didn't bother me this year. I feel blessed.  Blessed to celebrate another birthday, and blessed to celebrate it with such a loving family.

Biskini and Frinkles

I catch her with her eyes closed about 90% of the time. 

My kids love biskini.  I love biskini.  My husband will even eat biskini.  We had it for dinner a couple nights ago -- roasted, with parmesan cheese.  Yum.  Do you like biskini?  What?  You've never heard of biskini?  It's a vegetable (Well, it's really a fruit, but it's a vegetable at our house).  You know...green...part of the squash family...looks similar to a cucumber.  What?  Zucchini?  Oh, wait...you're right.  It is zucchini, not...biskini.  But don't tell Annabelle.

Annabelle and I sat crouched in front of the oven, checking on the zucchini when she exclaimed, "Yook at the biskini!!!!!"  My kids make me laugh on an hourly basis.  This was one of those times.  I don't know why her mispronunciation of zucchini hit me so funny, but I was immediately thrown into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.  Annabelle laughed too, not because she thought she was funny, but because I was funny.  Maybe I laughed because she was so excited about the zucchini.  Maybe it was because she said "biskini" in all seriousness. Maybe it was just that "biskini" is a funny word.  I don't know. What I do know is, this green vegetable will be referred to as biskini for the foreseeable future, simply because it makes me laugh.

And the word fun continued at the dinner table, this time with Jacob.  Just as he finished his dinner, Jacob announced, "Hey, I have two frinkles!"  Heath and I looked at each other.  Frinkles?  What in the world?  "You have two frinkles?" I asked.  Jacob quickly replied, "Yes, here and here!" He pointed to a spot on his arm and another on his leg. "Frinkles!"  I suddenly got it.  "Oh, you mean freckles!" I said.  Heath and I both started laughing.  Jacob just looked at us very matter-of-factly and responded, "Yes, freckles...see?"  He was still pointing them out.  I like it when Jacob messes up a word now and then.  He's so smart.  When I hear a "frinkle" I am reminded that he is only five and he is still little.  :)

Last night on the way home from church, I was awed by the beautiful full moon.  Jacob and Annabelle liked it too.  Annabelle has always been fascinated by the moon.  I asked Jacob if he knew what caused the moon to be so bright.  "I don't know," he quickly answered.  "The moon doesn't shine like the sun," I said.  "The sun's rays reflect off the moon and make it appear to be shining."  Jacob interrupted me to say, "Oh I know that,"  Then he continued.  "...and when there is a lunar eclipse, the earth blocks the sun's rays and makes the moon look red."  This from the kid who, two nights before, said he had frinkles.  I was astonished.  "That's right, Jacob," was all I could say.  He must have read about that in a book because I don't remember ever talking about lunar eclipses with him. 

And then, again, he reminds me that he's only five....

The sticker on his head came from a banana peel.  It says, "Place sticker on forehead.  Smile."  And that's exactly what Jacob did.  He follows instructions so well.  :)  What am I talking about?  Yeah...if I'd have found that sticker on my banana, it would have been on my forehead.  Goofiness runs in the family.

Right under the moon, we noticed a particularly bright star.  Thanks to the Google Sky app on Heath's phone, we discovered that it wasn't a star at all.  It was Jupiter.  When we walked inside, Annabelle begged to go back outside to "see da pwanet."  Heath took her out again.  Like I said, she's always been fascinated with the moon...and the stars...and now, apparently, the planets.  She woke up somewhere between 4:30 and 5:00 AM, stumbled down the hall and over to my side of the bed.  "We can go outside to see the pwanet!" she whispered.  As I walked her back to bed, she talked in a high whisper about Jupiter and how Daddy took a picture of it with his phone (he didn't -- he was using Google Sky) and how she wanted to go outside and see that pwanet again.  I tucked her back in bed, told her we couldn't see it anymore, and kissed her forehead.  Amazingly, she seemed ok with that.  But, three hours later, when she woke up for the second time, the first thing she said was, "I want to go see the pwanet!"

They Grow Up So Fast

This morning while I was getting ready in the bedroom, I heard the sound of clinking glass coming from the kitchen.  Someone was up to no good.  Heath peeked around the corner and saw Annabelle dangling from the kitchen counter, leaning over the glass snack jar.  She got down and proudly walked into the bedroom with a tiny box of raisins.  "Annabelle," I said.  "You are not allowed to get your own snacks."  She looked at me, popped a couple raisins in her mouth and replied, "Oh...only Mommy and Daddy do dat?"  "Yes," I said.  "Only Mommy and Daddy can touch the snack jar."  She looked at me for a minute, munching on her raisins like a valley girl chewing a piece of Dubble Bubble.  "Yeah...well...Mommy, I opened this box of waisins by all myself," she chimed.

She is a little over a month away from turning three, yet already, she seems to act more like a 13 year old.  What am I going to do with her?  They do grow up so fast.

Annabelle loves to play with her baby dolls.  After all, she says she wants to be a "real Mommy" when she grows up.  One of her favorite pastimes is looking through the American Girl catalog.  When a new catalog arrives in our mailbox -- oh, happy day -- she is overjoyed.  As soon as she sees the dolls on the front cover, she eagerly grabs it from my hands, plops herself down on the floor or the couch and begins making a mental wish list. And let's not forget...she's two.  I can only imagine what she'll be like a few years from now.  I'm pretty sure she'll need to have a steady, paying job by the age of three and a half (not to mention a much larger bedroom) just to support her American Girl interests. 

...And she has such a positive outlook on life.  Earlier today when I discovered her standing on the open dishwasher door, I yelled, "Annabelle, get off of that!  You're going to break it!"  She listened...and obeyed, but as she stepped down and closed the dishwasher, she said, in a little high-pitched voice, "Ok, Mommy, I will....but if I break it, it's ok.  You will say, 'OH, MY!' and then we can go buy a new one."  

...And she shows such concern for others.  The other day, she accidentally hurt her brother somehow.  I think it involved a rocking horse rocking over his foot.  When he started hollering, she ran over to him, took his face in her hands and said, sweetly, "Jacob, don't cwy!  Don't cwy, Jacob!  It's just an accident, ok?  It's just an accident." 

...And she has a love for body art.  I can't seem to keep the dry erase markers from her.  No matter where I hide them, she manages to find at least one.  And when she does, she gets straight to work,  covering her entire body, from head to toe, in ink.  She usually does this while I'm on the phone, or cooking dinner, or doing a school activity with Jacob.  Yesterday, she walked into our classroom covered in black ink.  She had a mustache, a full beard, and her legs were so black it looked like she was wearing leggings.  I didn't even know she had the marker...until she showed me her finished "masterpiece."  Oh well.  I guess I'd rather her color herself than my furniture or walls. So, go ahead, Annabelle.  Color your arms, legs, and face with dry erase markers.  We can wash it off in the bathtub.  But when you get older, don't even think about asking for a tattoo...unless, of course, you want me to draw one with a dry erase marker.  :)

Welcome to Kindergarten

Today, Jacob began his fourth week of kindergarten.  How is it going?  Great!  Just like last year, each day is different from the next, but we have a routine in place and both Jacob and Annabelle know what to expect from day to day.  Yes, it still gets crazy at times, but all is well.

The first day of school was exciting.  Jacob awoke when his alarm went off at 7:30 AM and dressed himself in the clothes we had chosen the night before.  He and Annabelle had breakfast, brushed their teeth, then....ring-a ling-a-ling....I rang the bell and it was time for school to begin.  Both kids ran into the classroom eager to find out what was in store.

First up on the day's agenda: a picture

Jacob was excited about being in kindergarten.  I heard him tell his sister several times that day, "Annabelle, I can do this because I am in kindergarten now!"  

We began the school day by saying the pledges (American flag, Christian flag, Bible), then listened to and sang a song of Jacob's choice.  On this particular day he chose Every Move I Make .  That's a favorite of Annabelle's too.  They both love all the na na na na na na na's.  After several minutes of singing, dancing, jumping, and being silly, the three of us sat down in the living room to read a Bible story, pray and go over the weekly memory verse.  Then it was back to the classroom.

 While Jacob copied his verse, Annabelle started on a Cheerios necklace.  She LOVED stringing those Cheerios.  I was thrilled that I had actually discovered an activity to keep her busy for a while -- a l-o-n-g while!  

She finished her necklace just as Jacob and I were finishing math.  After putting the math blocks away, we went right down the subject list:  history, science, spelling (with a few short breaks in between), then took a long break for lunch.  The kids played for a little while, then I read a book to them (Annabelle's choice).  While Annabelle took a nap, Jacob and I continued our kindergarten activities.  He read the first chapter of Stuart Little and absolutely loved it.

Next up was geography, then Latin and English grammar.  Then....we were done.  It was a full and very fun day.  If you were wondering, that is what a typical day is like at our house.  That is our day-to-day routine. It sounds simple, but one of Jacob's favorite things to do is check off the subjects on the dry erase board as we complete that day's lesson.

The next day was Jacob's first day of CC.  Of course, we were all excited about this too.

It's amazing the difference one year can make.  Last year, he was the youngest in his class.  This year he's one of the oldest.  It's been interesting to note the differences in his work, especially his drawing skills.  He shows quite a bit more interest this year, which makes me happy.

Since this is his second year being in CC, he jumped right in immediately and knew exactly what to do.  I was proud of him.  I think he was happy to be back.

At the end of the week, we did a science project with our neighbors.  The kids made edible cells out of jell-o and several different kinds of candy.  While it wasn't the most healthy of activities, all four kids thoroughly enjoyed creating and eating their projects.  My favorite part was the chocolate truffle nucleus.  :)

So, we're definitely off to a great start.  Jacob has already memorized John 1:1-3, as well as three weeks of history sentences about Columbus, the Pilgrims, and The Boston Tea Party.  He knows the bones that make up the axial skeleton, he can tell you about four types of tissue and three kinds of muscle.  And he's only been in school for three weeks!  I've already heard this information spilling over into his playtime.  Yesterday, while he was playing with his LEGOs, I heard him say something about a LEGO man discovering a new land.  A few days ago, he was pretending one of the men was William Bradford.  This cracks me up.  I love CC!