The Stockings Were hung...

             And now we wait...

FUN 101

Ok... I'm trying!

How to be fun...

1. SMILE, SMILE, SMILE... until it hurts

2. Join in when your kids are singing at the top of their lungs instead of nagging them to be quiet

3. Stop running errands and STAY home, BE home, not doing "errands" at home

4. Play with your kids when they ask, not "in just a minute"; play their game and not the organized version that you think you should be playing

5. Don't follow the rules ALL the time, just most of the time

6. TRAVEL, TRAVEL, TRAVEL any time, every time you get the chance; oh, and don't stress about packing everything you own. Just GO!

7. Let your kids eat more candy than they should sometimes 

8. Say YES sometimes, too

9. Don't buy your husband underwear and socks for Christmas :)

10. Play outside with no shoes or coat even if it is raining

11. Stay up late and watch a movie with your kids every now & then complete with popcorn & hot chocolate even if they've watched too much tv already

12. lay in bed until 9:00 with your kids & husband watching PBS even if you have oodles to do that day

13. Hold your babies as long as they will let you

14. Let your kids order whatever they want from the menu on occassion

15. Just RELAX and not always live like you have an agenda

Our Big Superman

I'm so proud of Sam today; I haven't stopped smiling from ear to ear. He had 3 cavities filled, and he was the bravest person at the dentist I've ever seen! He didn't even flinch! You read right, not even during the 3 shots he had to get! The only thing he did was squeeze his fist twice. He pretty much laid there as calm as a cat the WHOLE time. The dentist couldn't believe it either; he said he has adult patients that aren't as good as Sam. I WAS PROUD! He is seriously the "no nonsense" kind of kid; just give it to him and he will take it with no messing around (unless it's bedtime; then he stalls A LOT). The most climatic moment of the whole appointment was when he was getting in the car he said "My mouth feels really wiggly at this dentist." What a great way of explaining it. Thanks for being our big Super Man, Sam!

Oh, and don't mention it to him; after he heard me tell 3 people of the whole experience he asked me to stop talking about it. He seems to be wondering what the big deal is I guess. 

Haircut anyone?

I don't think this is exactly what Will had in mind; Sam insisted that Will wanted it just like his, so he attempted it, not with scissors but with clippers.  Maybe a little more practice will help. Wait, but I banned him from practicing for the rest of his life!!

The only way I will be able to salvage this 'do is to shave it all off so it no longer looks like male-patterned baldness with a mullet. I haven't had the heart to shave it off today, so more pics to follow tomorrow or whenever I have the guts to do it. Who knows, the top may be grown again by the time I'm ready to shave it all off.

Farewell...

Now that it's December I've taken down the sign but not without a sad farewell to the season I have so much love for. So much love for the crisp mornings and warm afternoons, yellow leaves and all those leaves filling our lawn, orange skies, colorful mountains, apple trees and the pies that come from those trees, leaving the front door open all day because it's not too cold yet, the refreshing smell and feel of fall air, and THANKSGIVING. I love it all, farewell until next year.

The best part of Thanksgiving was being with family the whole entire day doing what we do best... eating,  lounging, looking at ads, philosophizing about life and our world and our solutions to improve all of those things, playing a little sports, and just enjoying each other realizing how grateful we are to be a part of this family... 

Anything he can do, I can do better

Will finally loves his brother, and anything Sam does Will attempts it, too. The latest thing has been Sam showing him how to climb up into the rocking chair and jump off. I walked in on Sam several times lifting Will into the chair and trying to get him to jump off. The crazy thing is that Will actually does it!! I'm a lot more convinced that they will be friends and partners in crime. Will is just starting to go along with whatever Sam does. Another instance, Sam has started taking Will out of his crib with neither one of them making a peep. Will must approve of the freedom. 

Will has also flipped a switch the last few weeks and is more like a person. Still a soft, sweet person, but more like a person making an effort to communicate and show emotions. He always says "what that" about everything. He LOVES Christmas lights and every time he sees them he excitedly says "OOOOOHHHHH!" He has this hysterical cry every time he gets scared; we shouldn't laugh at him being scared, but if you could hear how funny the cry is you would laugh, too.  Surprisingly, Calvin's bark will get him going with that cry almost every time. He is our clean child; he never likes for things to be out of place. He's always picking up toys, and if he hears the clean up song he comes running to help. I won't argue with a kid like that! If I'm ever laying in the floor he'll crawl onto my stomach and lay his head on my chest until I get up. At bedtime he always touches my eyes, nose, and mouth and then gives me a great big kiss. I love it!

When did this happen???

Kind of hard to put into words, at least not without a few tears...

The last 3 days Sam has all of the sudden become a real person; he is so cooperative, communicative, fun, loving, self-entertaining, obedient, and believe it or not EASY. It's impossible for me to see exactly when he changed; it's like a morphing that happened right before my very eyes but I just didn't see it I guess. He warms my heart in so many ways, but here's a conversation that took place tonight that really did the trick....

 

First, the background... we had a little tiff tonight about him opening some cheese that I asked him not to open. I got a little angrier than was necessary as did he, and he spent about 20 minutes cooling off in his room while I was blowing off my steam in the kitchen. Ok, on with the story. Tonight at bedtime I asked how his day was and this was the conversation that followed:

Sam: I really liked playing today, but I did NOT like how the cheese thing went. 

Me: Really? What did you not like about it? 

Sam: I didn't like when you yelled at me. 

Me: I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at someone that I care about over something like cheese. Let me explain why I yelled. I asked you not to open the cheese and you did it anyways. What do you think we could do about that next time?

Sam: Next time if I want cheese I will get a cheese stick and not open the cheese. I'm sorry I yelled at you, and I won't EVER do it again. 

Then he gave me a big hug.

I know, it doesn't sound like much, but this is just an example of many about how he remembers every detail about everything that has ever happened to him. Also noteworthy to me because I love how his mind reasons things out and a lot of time he actually follows through with his idea when the situation arises again. Mostly touching because I love how he talks so openly with me about things that he's thinking about and that are important to him. I hope he always will. 

Ok, a funnier conversation tonight. As I was tucking him in he asked if I was too tired to go and do my jobs. (He somewhere got in his mind that all I do is work when he is asleep. Little does he know!!) I said I was a little tired, and he let me know it was ok if I just wanted to rest instead of do jobs. I asked what my jobs are and he informed it's mostly to put Scooter & him to bed and pick up everything. Then followed with, "but that's ok because me, Scooter, Dad, and Calvin have to pick things up, too." Thanks, Sam, for the encouragement and support.