The Things They Say

10/12 Gwyn: "Amials" for "animals."
10/12 Gwyn: "I don't want to go places." or "I'm tired for going to places."

10/29/12 Lem, when I woke him up in the morning: "Is it Halloween?"
               Me: "No, you have two more days."
               Lem: "Then why do I have to get up?"

11/12  Lem, on being sick: "I'm worried my blood cells are dying."
           Me: "What made you worry about that?"
           Lem: "The Magic School Bus."

11/12 Gwyn: "Mama, I have a lot of love for you."

11/12 Lem: "Gwyn, you aren't a grown up until you can use a chainsaw. I think I could use one if I wanted
          to, but I'm not ready yet."

11/12 Gwyn: "I'm sick. I have a throat."  (What she meant is "sore throat.")

11/12 Me: "Hey Gwyn, what do you have in your purse?"
          Gwyn: "Baby bottles, appetizers and candy. Everything I need!"

11/12 Gwyn's latest compliment: "You're a genius!"

11/12 Gwyn likes to pretend she's a rock star. But when she's done she says, "I'm too tired for rocking."

We had a really wonderful day today. Nothing fancy, just everything went smoothly. (I'm going to pat myself on the back for this one.) No fights. No whining. No TV.

Gwyn fell asleep on the way home from school and slept until it was time to get Lem off the bus. Of course, now it is 9:15 p.m. and she is still awake, but I think she needed the nap. She even woke up to come lie down with me, and then we both fell asleep. Heaven.

We got Lem off the bus, then we played outside until dark. We've been working on an epic driveway chalk drawing -- a giant road map for them to drive their cars on. It started with homes, then businesses, schools and parks, and then mountains, campsites, and finally the beach. The beach scene was done today, and it comes complete with a pink sun umbrella, a person surfing a tidal wave, and a shark.

The little boy across the street came over to play for a bit. Then Lem decided he wanted to get his bike out. So we all did a lap around the street -- Lem on his big blue bike, Gwyn on her little pink bike (she always says, "I want pedals."), and Cameron on his trike. Then Lem decided he wanted to take his training wheels. He searched through his tool box for a wrench, and when he couldn't find one that fit, Cameron's dad got his tools and helped him remove them.

And then ... he was off! I ran with him, holding on, but when I let go he was actually riding! And then he veered off into the grass, so he could crash gracefully. I was really surprised that he did it, but man, I guess when they are ready, they can do it.

After dinner and a bath, the kids played play dough while I made Ina Garten's amazing Ultimate Ginger Cookies. Seriously. They are amazing. Then we read, and they went to bed. No one even mentioned TV, and no one complained.

I just hope I'm not jinxing us tomorrow by bragging about today.

Uncle Paul got his play time in, too. We don't see him too often, so he made sure he got his "uncle time" in wit the kids. They loved it so much that Bean Dip informed me that Paul has been upgraded from his nickname "Poophead" to "Paul." (I believe Lindsay is still "Melon," but that one isn't so bad!)

The Tree Climbers

A trip to the Farm isn't complete these days without a little tree climbing with Uncle Mike. Both kids got a turn this time, and I think it's only making them more fearless.

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving dinner on the porch.

An after-dinner walk.

We were in Illinois for Thanksgiving. I hadn't been home for Thanksgiving in five years, since Bean Dip's first, which was a family reunion as well. It was great to be home and share the holiday with family that I haven't seen in ages, and also for them to meet Baby G.

It was a classic Thanksgiving at the Farm. The weather was warm enough that we were able to eat outside on the porch. Baby G started out in the dining room, but after everyone had filled their plates and headed outside, she realized that we were the only ones left inside. She was so confused: "But there are places for everyone to sit!" I carried her favorite chair outside, and we all sat down as a family. (She was fine with Bean Dip sitting outside though. She said, "Lembo can sit outside!" He did, choosing the head of the table.)

The food was amazing as usual. After dinner, some of us took a walk, to make room for pie. And then it was time for pie -- two kinds of pecan, apple, pumpkin, and G's new favorite -- cranberry mousse. (It was pink!) She had three pieces and another one for lunch the next day.

Bean Dip, Abbey and Jack joined some of us later for a game of Catchphrase. Aunt Sue had the junior version, so the kids could play with us. And of course, there was some football watching.

We all really had a good time. On Friday, we packed up and headed West to St. Louis to spend time with our other family, and enjoy leftover Thanksgiving with them. It was great to see all of them as well. Bean Dip got to go see Wreck-It Ralph with Doc, which was fun for both of them. BD was super excited to ride in the Blazer. And after the movie, they went to the coffee shop for coffee and hot chocolate. I know BD liked having some time alone with Doc. And he loved the movie.

Baby G was upset that she couldn't go. I explained to her that BD needed some time by himself with Doc, and I promised her we would see the movie at a later date. I also reminded her that she had had an outing with Grandpamp, all by herself. She had gone to town with him to run some errands, and she got to ride in his truck. She actually understood that.

She was also fine because she got to go shopping with Katherine and I. Katherine took me clothes shopping for my birthday, and I happily found some things I love. After, we went to our own coffee shop, for tea and a treat for G (a fruit tart). So we all had our own special outings.

And now we are home and back to the grind. Only a month until Christmas!

Thanksgiving Project for Kids

The Friday before Veterans Day, Bean Dip came home with a family project. He had a construction paper turkey, and it was our job to "disguise" him so he wouldn't get eaten on Thanksgiving.

I will admit, I didn't exactly know what the teacher meant by disguising. But the next week, disguised turkeys showed up at G's school, and the Pre-K teacher there explained it to me.

BD decided to dress his turkey up as Harry Potter. We gave him a cape, glasses, wand and a Gryffindor scarf. BD was pretty happy with it. This past Friday was the due date, and the class voted on the best disguise. BD said the one that won was dressed up as a Christmas tree, and only the turkey's feet were showing.

I thought it was such a fun project, and it was great to see and hear how creative everyone was.

Turkey Potter

Thought-Provoking Links

This week I have read several good articles that have found their way onto my Facebook wall. I shared them on there, but I'd thought I'd share them here, since they are so wonderful.

The first is about a woman engineer who is creating an engineering toy geared specifically to girls, because, as she said, taking a "boy" toy and turning it pink doesn't exactly make it appealing to girls. The quote I loved was, "Yes, we love pink, but that's not the only thing about us." Or something like that.

http://www.upworthy.com/move-over-barbie-8212-youre-obsolete?g=2

The second is a tribute to military wives, one of the best I've seen. It pretty much sums it all up. It also might make you cry.

http://ashleighbaker.net/2012/11/this-is-to-you-the-military-wife/

The next two are about moms -- the first about how important it is to tell your daughters that you are beautiful, too, and the second about getting in front of the camera instead of hiding behind it.

http://offbeatmama.com/2012/11/telling-daughters-im-beautiful

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allison-tate/mom-pictures-with-kids_b_1926073.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

And the last is something brilliant from Sesame Street, that I found myself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHICz5MYxNQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I love these all, but the only thing I worry is, what about the boys?

The One About Kids and Makeup

I know this is a hot topic, and an inevitable issue when you have a little girl. I've read the articles/debates, but I honestly didn't think too much about it. But here we go. Baby G is three, and suddenly she is all about makeup. Now, here are my two disclaimers. I'm not a makeup wearer. I do wear powder occasionally, but that is about it. So she has watched me put that on, and I usually give her a little if she asks. The other thing is that her aunt works for Clinique. Before she moved away, we would frequently go to visit her at work, and G always got a "makeover." She has a little collection of makeup brushes from Jessica, and also her little Happy perfume.

So now, Baby G loves makeup. I had an extra powder compact, so I gave it to her. She has her perfume and some chapstick, and a little case to put it in. When she got her school picture taken last week, she took her makeup in her purse with her.

But here is the funny part. Bean Dip is jealous of all her little makeup things. Today I found another compact (mostly used up) and a brush for him. That helped, but he still likes all her stuff. Tonight he asked, "Why do girls have to be so cool?" What he meant is why do girls get all this fun stuff -- makeup, hair barrettes, purses, etc., and boys don't? I don't even know how to answer that, except to give him his own set of things as well.

So. My daughter (and son) will continue to wear her powder, perfume and chapstick when she wants. But when she said, "I have to put makeup on to look beautiful," I told her, "G, you look beautiful no matter what you wear." And she said, "Oh, thank you, Mama!"

The Family that Poops Together ...

That's right.

Baby G has taken to joining Bean Dip in the bathroom when he's pooping. She sits on the floor in front of him, and they read magazines together.

It's so sweet and so disgusting at the same time.

My sweet boy came home from school today and announced he had a surprise for Baby G. As Star Student of the week (along with Ivy), he got to pick from the prize box. And what did he pick? A Dora the Explorer puzzle for G. He said, "There were things boys would like but I know she really likes Dora."

How sweet is that? Of course, he helped her put it together, and she was over the moon with happiness.

Being Sick Means ...

Sleeping with Mama in her bed.

Ginger ale with a silly straw and chicken noodle soup.

Morning cartoons and movies in bed.

Pajamas all day long.

Tonight we tried something new. Well, really, Bean Dip tried it. That thing was Karate.

I'd received a coupon for two free weeks at one of the local marital arts academies. Tonight was the first part, an one-on-one introduction and assessment.

Bean Dip says he really liked it. The instructor said he did well. From what G and I could see from the waiting area, it looked fun. So the next part is attending the class the instructor picked out for him.

Of course, right now Bean Dip wants to sign his life away (it's a minimum six-month commitment). I'm a little leery after the whole football fiasco, but we'll see after he tries the class.

Although, on the way home, he asked, "When do I get to break boards and tables?"

We spent our Veterans Day at the Nashville Zoo. The zoo offered free admission for veterans and their families, so I took the kids to check it out. We went with the Meetup group, but ended up going around on our own after we got there. But the good thing about caravaning with the group was that we got there early, before the crowds.

It's a nice zoo. We actually did not see many animals, because the kids wanted to  go on the carousel, and play on the bouncy castles and jungle gym instead. But we did see the gibbons, which were making lots of noise and swinging from the trees. And we went into the reptile/aquarium house, which was really good. It had great displays of a lot of different animals, including the biggest snapping turtle I've ever seen and the cutest little tree frogs.

The jungle gym as fantastic -- really it was a giant playground -- but it was so big I couldn't keep track of both kids. Luckily, they were tired and didn't put up a fight when I said it was time to leave. I promised them that we will come back with Win. Then they can play with two adults to watch them.

We went to the St. Louis Zoo last year on Veterans Day. Perhaps this will be a continuing tradition.

Fall Hike

Doing a little land navigation at the trail intersection.

The kid was happy to be out in Nature.

These pictures are from a couple weeks ago, when the weather was warm and the trees were in full color. We spent Sunday afternoon at Dunbar Cave State Park, taking a little hike through the woods by the lake and cave. We did the short loop, which is about a mile long.

A Late Halloween Pic

A Monkey and Harry Potter

What Makes Me Happy: New Music

 This is my latest favorite band, The Lumineers. You may have heard this single on the radio:



I cannot stop listening to their debut album, The Lumineers, and I will be waiting impatiently for their next one. Here's another one from them:

Bean Dip's choice of president is "Rock" Obama. He voted for him in his school's mock election, for this reason that he gave Win tonight: "Obama is trying to end the war. And if he can end the war, maybe you can come home early."

If that isn't a good enough reason to vote for someone, I don't know what is. Here's to hoping for another four years.

We had a really good weekend. My parents came to visit, to help us celebrate my birthday. They were a little late in arriving, because they got lost on the way down. I thought it was hilarious. Mom said they were chatting and missed their turn, but they didn't realize it until they crossed the Mississippi into Missouri! So they were about an hour late. Mom said she hadn't turned on the GPS because she figured they knew the way, and she hadn't even brought her atlas with her. To be fair, we've missed that same turn before, but we realized it immediately.

I got some time to myself on Saturday -- I went to a baby shower for a friend. It was nice, there were only four of us and we went out to lunch at The Looking Glass, a local restaurant in Clarksville. The theme is Alice in Wonderland, and it was pretty good. Definitely a place for ladies who lunch.

When I got home, I had a surprise party! Well, just Mom and Dad and the kids, but they'd decorated and made me a cake. I was reallly surprised. Bean Dip was the king of the poppers, and G helped me open all my presents. Win called on Skype in the middle of it and got to be a part of it all.

Dad also fixed up my lawn mower. It stopped working right before we went out of town for Fall Break, and when we got back I had someone mow it for me. But Dad changed the air filter, the blade, and also the oil, and now it sounds like a happy mower again. I think I might have the guy cut it again for me one more time, but then mow it myself in the spring. We'll see.

While we were out doing that, our neighbors across the street came over. They have a young son and he drove over his big truck -- one that two kids can ride in. He shared with BD and G and they drove all over the yard. Then our other neighbors came over with their boy (he is also in kindergarten and rides the bus with BD) with his big dune buggy. They all had a blast and we got to chat with all the neighbors.

We went out to dinner at Olive Garden (My disclaimer: I know it's not real Italian, but I was craving pasta! And if you just take it for what it is, it's pretty good. And I love their eggplant parmesan.)

So that's about it. Mom and Dad left Sunday morning. We had a quiet day until Mason, the kindergartener who rides the bus with BD, came over and asked if he could play. BD ran over immediately. Then, of course G wanted to go too, so we invaded their house. I had to drag them home later, they had so much fun.

We ended the day with a belated movie night. We watched the Lorax and ate popcorn.

Halloween

We had a really good Halloween this year. It was great, because the kids were so excited about it. The waiting was a little tough -- every day G would ask, "Is it Halloween?" And on Monday, two days before the holiday, when I woke Bean Dip up in the morning, he said, "Is it Halloween?" When I told him no, he said, "Then why do I have to get up?"

We carved our giant pumpkin on Saturday. Well, I carved it. G supervised and BD was the videographer. We got out our "spooky" decorations, and BD declared our house the scariest one of all. And we scared at least one little kid with our fake skull.

There were not celebrations at school, and we skipped all the weekend events around town. I thought the one night would be plenty. We had macaroni and cheese for dinner, and were just starting to get ready, when we got a Skype phone call from Win. So it was great, we got to talk with him, and he got to watch the kids get dressed up. They were so, so excited.

It was dark when we headed out. We went longer than last year. I think the kids liked seeing all the other costumes and decorations just as much as getting candy. G gave up on the "trick-or-treat" and started announcing what she was instead: "Monkey!" BD got lots of compliments on his costume, and lots of older kids asked him if he was Harry Potter. One woman told him that he was very famous (which BD did not know), and then one woman said to him, "Mr. Potter. I've been expecting you." He got a kick out of that. He did look good, and his robe looked cool billowing out from him.

There was one scary house that got us all. The people had made a little haunted house on their porch, and we had to walk through to get to the candy. Strobe lights, loud noises, creepy clowns and ghosts, and no warning that perhaps it wasn't for little kids. But we made it through, the kids got their candy, and although G whimpered a bit, she didn't cry and cheered up right after. Bean Dip just talked and talked and talked about his self defense plans.

We headed home to hand out candy. But we were the only ones with a light on, on our street, so we didn't get too many trick-or-treaters. But we got enough that the kids got to hand out some candy. Towards the end, a group came, and this cute little Batman (he was probably two) freaked out at our skull. He was just screaming and screaming. So I gave him a whole bunch of candy. And explained to BD and G how different things frighten different people. The last doorbell ring was two teenage girls, and I pretty much dumped the whole bowl of candy into their bags, They were really happy (and really polite).

I let the kids eat what candy they wanted. BD ate just a few pieces, then wanted Oreos. G opened a lot of candy but only ate some. Her favorites were the five suckers she opened and held in her hand like a bouquet, licking each one in turn. We finished the night with Dora and Harry Potter, and milk and cookies.

Oh, and a good teeth brushing with new toothbrushes.

The quote of the night was from BD. Tired of all my picture taking he asked, "Is this Halloween or picture-ween?"