Little Things

There are so many little things I hope I always remember about my children -

The way they smell after a bath
The sound of Luke's little feet running down the hall to keep up with his brother
The way Fletcher prays these detailed prayers then abruptly ends them
The way Luke calls every single insect, piece of dirt, and ball of fuzz a "lady bug" but it comes out "wady bug"
The way they scream and laugh when they wrestle with Kevin
The way Fletcher pretends to already be sleeping when I go in to kiss him goodnight
The way Luke giggles when I tuck him in right up to his chin
The four of us eating together at our table and talking about our day
The way Luke likes to go check the mail and says he has "two mails" if he gets more than one thing
The way we go on a walk and we put one of them between us holding hands and we say "one, two, three" then swing them high into the air. And they ask to do it again and again.
The way they both wake up in happy moods ready for the day (I could learn something from them)
The way Fletcher brings me flowers (or weeds that look like flowers) because he knows I like flowers
The way Luke brings me the pink play ice cream because he knows I like pink
The way they both "help" Kevin get dressed and it takes twice as long
The way they both love books and going to the library
The way Fletcher changes clothes the second he walks in the door from church or school
Tickle Time
Playing Superman on mom or dad's feet, high in the air
Sitting on ducks
Bible time together at night on the purple chair in Luke's room - just the five of us (Sadie too)

Moved To Tears

A little background info: Ever since he was born, Fletcher has listened to music at naptime and bedtime to fall asleep. Specifically, he has listened to a CD called Bedtime Prayers: Lullabies and Peaceful Worship by Twila Paris. When we moved Luke to his toddler bed from his crib, we borrowed Fletcher's CD player and Lullabies CD so Luke could listen to it too. Luke loves the CD as well and says, "Turn dat ting on" (pointing to the CD player) when he gets in his bed.

So I bought a new CD player for Fletcher and decided to make him a new CD as well. They've been studying classical composers at school so I thought he might like a CD of "famous" classical music. I happened to have one on iTunes that I had downloaded for free awhile back so I made him a copy.

This may be the longest background info in the history of blogging.

Anyway, the first song on the CD (should CD be capitalized or not? It looks weird to write cd.). Wait. Where was I? The first song on the CD is "Canon in D". As we were listening to it, I told Fletcher that song was in our wedding. Later, Kevin heard it and said, "That song was in our wedding." Kevin thinks he should get extra husband points for still remembering eleven and a half years later that this song was in our wedding.

Well, the next time Fletcher starts playing the CD before bedtime, he starts crying. Really crying. Real tears. We cannot figure out what is wrong. I'm thinking he is sick. Kevin picks him up and asks why he is crying. I kid you not, this is what he said: It's just that this song is so lovely, it makes me cry. I wish I could have been there at your wedding to see it.

Yes, he used the word "lovely."

This is from my child who rejoiced with Kevin when he killed a deer. Then went with Kevin to the deer processing place to pick up the venison and watched the other hunters bring their field dressed deer in from the field to be processed and didn't blink an eye. He did say it smelled bad. Same child who didn't bat an eyelash when we went to see Charlotte's Web and Charlotte dies.

At first I thought it was just a random thing - the crying. But now he cries every single time he hears that song. He will turn on his CD in the morning before 7:00 (he isn't allowed to come out of his room until then) and we can hear him crying. It has gotten to the point that he asks us to skip that song when we start his CD at night. I showed him our wedding pictures thinking that would help, but I think that made it worse. We do have a video of our wedding, but it is on VHS and we don't have a VCR and we aren't getting one for that. I told him I would look in to converting our wedding tape to a DVD so he could watch our wedding.

I'm glad to know my boy still has a tender side. Who knew "Canon in D" could have such an effect.

I Want Her Job!

My neighbor who lives across the street from us is a toy rep. Yes, a toy rep. I didn't know toy reps exsisted. My brother-in-law is a pharmaceutical sales rep so I know what he does. But what exactly does a toy rep do?



Well, she calls on toy stores and tries to get them to purchase some of the toys from the toy companies she represents to resell in their stores. These aren't standard brands you usually see at Target or Walmart. Most of the brands are from more unique toy stores on stuff you might see online.



The best part about her job? Samples. Toy companies send her samples to take with her on her sales calls so the toy store owners can get an idea of the quality, color, size, etc.



How is that beneficial to me? Once or twice a year she has a toy sale at her house right across the street. She sells all of her samples in preparation for all of the new samples she will receive. The samples are brand new. The UPS truck is constantly at her house.



Her prices are great and as I mentioned before, the toys are somewhat unique. It is a great way to stock up for Christmas and birthday presents.

This super cute peek and play block set (which won several toy awards) retails for $40.

I bought it for $5.

This wooden stacking block set from Ryan's Room retails for around $30.

I bought it for $5 too.

I could have spent more than I did. But I restrained myself.

The only hard thing is that she has two daughters and when we are invited to one of their birthday parties, I have NO CLUE what to get them because they really do have everything!

One More Pumpkin Patch

On Friday my friend and I took our kids to a nearby pumpkin patch and farm. This farm has it all figured out. In the summer it is a U-Pick Strawberry Patch. In the fall it is a Pumpkin Patch and petting farm. In the winter it is a horse drawn carriage ride/Christmas Wonderland/Pick a Tree place. I think they throw in a few private parties too. Not a bad way to make money.

On the wagon ride.

Luke and his friend Ella.

Feeding the baby animals. Luke fed them too but I had to help him so I don't have pics of that. There would have been a time not too long ago where Fletcher would have freaked out if that little lamb ate out of his hand. He's come a long way in the bravery/try something new department.

The hay bale maze for the kids.

Luke trying to hide in the maze.

Trying to impress the ladies.

Mom tries to get one good brotherly love picture, but Luke was done.

Sooner Rather Than Later

Instead of a gymnast, picture Luke. Instead of a high bar, picture the rail to Luke's crib. And now picture Luke with arms straight like hers leaning over the edge of the crib rail. Leaning. Far. Feet not on mattress. I have a slight heart attack. He did this when I went in to get him after his nap Monday afternoon.

Insert note: Children have a higher center of gravity because their heads weigh more than the rest of their body so the chances of him falling out on his head are pretty high. Good to know we sort of even out as adults.

Back to story: I was going to wait until Luke was closer to 2 1/2 to take him out of his crib and put him in a toddler bed. With Fletcher we did toddler bed and potty training right about the same time. But because of the above incident (it actually happened twice), we decided that Monday night was the night to move to a toddler bed. We just couldn't risk him flipping out. The boys' schedules are all messed up anyway because of the time change so why not add another change. Luke did remarkably well. We made a big deal of his "big boy bed" and new sheets with construction vehicles on them. He stayed in his bed all night. It took him awhile to fall asleep, but once he did, he was out.

As Kevin and I were falling asleep Monday night I was reminded of something else I had read recently on another blog (but I can't remember which one). The writer/mom was saying that as parents we measure alot of firsts - first bath, first tooth, first smile, first food, first steps, first words. But we seldom measure the "lasts" because we don't know it is the last - last bottle, last time to wear a favorite outfit, last time to rock him to sleep. I did get a little weepy realizing that Monday afternoon was the last time he would sleep in his crib and I would get to go in and take him out of his crib. Maybe I was alot weepy. (Kevin said he would remind me of this when I changed the last poopy diaper.)

I'm gonna miss this.
This picture was taken when Luke first learned to pull up in his crib. Long before I thought he could do it.

We'll get big boy bed pictures up soon.

Another One Bites The Dust

Once upon a time a deer went out into the woods to frolick and play and perhaps find some food. A nibble here, a munch there. He was enjoying the cool weather minding his own business.


Then KABLAM!




The End.

The deer went to the processor and the 8 point antlers or rack or horns or whatever you call them came home to our house. Fletcher was beyond thrilled to see Dad's trophy and the accompanying photos. This was Kevin's first deer of the season. Our freezer will have lots of venison in it.

I grew up in Louisiana and I know plenty of people who hunt all sorts of things - deer, ducks, geese, dove, etc. But my dad didn't hunt so I wasn't exposed to it directly (no mounted racks in our living room, in other words). I even went duck hunting once with a guy from college. Miserable, cold, wet, muddy experience for me. Something about hunting just gives me the heebie jeebies. I eat beef and chicken so it's not like I'm a vegetarian or anything. I just can't get past the mental part of venison. Maybe I watched Bambi too much as a child. However, I try to keep my mouth shut because I know Kevin enjoys hunting and I am sure Fletcher and Luke will enjoy it someday too. Maybe those days will have to be spa days for me...

Halloween 2009

A good time was had by all. Not too many pictures because it started raining on us. Luke was still the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom tree you saw on Friday. Fletcher decided to be Maverick frm Top Gun or as he likes to say, the "Danger Zone" guy. Thank you Kenny Loggins.

Luke would not say "Trick or Treat", but after about the third house he realized house + door + neighbor + bowl = candy for my bucket. He kept pulling candy back out and saying, "Open dis please." Fletcher is an old pro. They both got so much candy. Our neighbors were far too generous. I need a recipe for Candy Bar Dump Cake or something similar. We seemed to get lots and lots of chocolate. (I googled "leftover Halloween candy recipes" and actually found a few recipes I might try. What would we do without Google?)

The wagon was a huge help although Fletcher is probably getting a little big for it.

Here's Dad showing him the ropes.