A Mother/Son Project

My boys love playing restaurant.  Love it.  They have quite the collection of plastic and wooden food along with a few play dishes and pans.  The other day I was in our town's little thrift store (lovingly known as The Thrift) and I found a giant bag of felt for 50 cents.  I snatched it up knowing exactly what to do with it.

Noah and Toby chose the types of food and the felt colors.  They also got the job of stuffing the pancakes and egg yolks.  It was so much fun!  I really enjoyed working on a craft project with my boys.  Next time we're going to make lunch food!

A sure sign of growing up

Toby wanted a banana but before I could peel it he started grabbing at my hands, "No, I'll do, I'll do it, I'll do it."  I handed the banana over but he couldn't get the peeling started.

"Would you like me to help you?"

"Yes.  No, I'll do it."

He held the banana out to me but then pulled it back to his chest, caught in the middle of recognizing his need for help but desperately wanting to exert some independence.  Finally he held the banana out and said, "I hold it.  You open it first, then me."

I broke the stem and then pulled the peel down just the tiniest bit before Toby screeched, "Thank you!" and  took over.  When he had the banana all the way out of the peel he did a little victory dance.

"You did it!  You must be a big boy."  I grinned at him.

He nodded, "Yup.  I have big armpits."

Girly

Several of my friends are having baby girls this summer and I am so excited!  One of my friends, Jayme (who knows all about what Panda Express does to my insides) gave me a bunch of onesies and said, "Decorate them."  Of course this kind of challenge is right up my alley so I eagerly took them home and plotted out my ideas.  Today I actually had some free time to work on one and I'm so pleased to show you my creation! 

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Before:

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After:

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Do you love it?  I cannot wait to meet this little girly!  And I'll be sure to show you the other onesies as they're made, too.

A Boy and His Backyard

"I wanna go outside, I wanna go outside, I wanna go OUTSIDE! Mama, I go outside, please?  PLEASE?  I get my boots."

I hear that excited ramble of words every day from my three year old, Toby.  He simply loves being outside.  And I simply love having a backyard for him to play in.

This afternoon as I was cleaning the house I let Toby out by himself (the yard is fully fenced in) and when I went to check on him he was having such a good time with his trucks that I had to grab my camera and sneak some pictures of my cute boy.

I am a very wealthy woman.  Rich with adorable boys!

Lookin' Toady

Noah's first grade class is reading the book Frog and Toad are Friends.  One special project they are doing is based on the story "A Lost Button" in which Toad loses a button on his jacket and while retracing his steps to find it discovers many more lost buttons.

The first graders each get a turn taking Toad's vest home and sewing a new button on it.  There is also a diary that travels with the vest where each first grader can describe their button.  According to Noah his class is having a great time trying to find one another's buttons.

Today the vest came to our house and I couldn't resist a little Toady Photo Shoot.

I like this kid so much!

Preschool

Toby and I dropped off our enrollment forms for preschool yesterday.  The head teacher was super nice and let us have a tour and some play time in the classroom.  I'm really hoping that preschool will help draw Toby out of his shell.  At home he is chatty and silly and adventurous.  But if anyone outside of our family enters the picture he completely closes up.  We're hoping preschool will help Toby feel safe to be himself anywhere.

When we left the school Toby said, "That's my school.  Not for Noah.  Not for Miles.  Just for Toby."  I often wonder how Toby feels being the middle child.  Perhaps preschool will also provide something for him that is just his.  A space to just be Toby without having to share the spotlight with his brothers.  Regardless, I'm glad he's excited about the school.  And hopefully it will be good motivation for potty training, too!

Apparently my postpartum grace period is over...

Toby had wet his pants and after getting a fresh pull-up on he spied some khaki pants nearby.  "Mama, I want new pants.  I want Daddy Pants."  I guess he associated the khaki pants with Daddy since most of Geary's work pants are khaki.  


"Sorry, those pants are dirty," I said.  It was almost dinner time and it would be bed time right after that so I grabbed a pair of blue pajama pants. "How about these?" I asked.

Toby sighed, "No.  Not Mommy Pants!"


I promise, I really do get dressed in real clothes every day!  Really!

Purse Slash Diaper Bag

You guys!!!  I made a purse!!!

Can you tell I'm excited about this?  I've been wanting a pleated bag like this for over a year.  My awesome sister-in-law even bought one for me off of etsy two Christmases ago but I never really used it because it was too small for what I needed (sorry, Anita! I really do love the bag otherwise.).  I need a big bag so that it can do double duty as a diaper bag, too.

My mother's helper (don't be jealous) came over today and I decided that instead of having her do a chore for me like usual, I would just have her play with the boys to keep them out of my hair so I could do a project.  I used an old brown tablecloth that I've stopped using because it has a couple of stains and some paisley fabric that I love but never used because I never had a project "worthy" of  it.

You can see in the above picture that my lining looks awesome but my inside seams are kind of messy.  Oh, well, I still consider myself a beginner so I'm giving myself grace.  Besides, most people will never see the inside seams.

And to give my bag a little pizazz, I made a sweet fabric posie. I love how it looks girly and unpolished at the same time--so much like my life!

Anyway, I'm really proud of my bag and I couldn't help but be excited to show it to you.  Do you love it?  I hope so--I do!

An Embarrassing Moment Featuring Panda Express

A few weeks ago I had been shopping with a pregnant friend of mine named Jayme.  On our way home we passed a Panda Express restaurant and Jayme said, "Oh, I like Panda Express but no one ever wants to go there with me."


I said, "We were just there on Sunday, actually.  I don't know if I would say that I love it but I'd go there with you."   I thought for a moment and then because we're good friends and have already talked about all the crazy things your body goes through in a pregnancy, I added, "Sometimes I feel like it gives me strange poop, though."


Jayme laughed and asked, "What do you get?"


And I proceeded to describe, in detail, exactly what I meant by strange poop.  "It's just kind of greasy.  Not like diarrhea but kind of soft..." I trailed off because Jayme had a funny expression on her face.


"What?"


"Well, that's, um, interesting.  But I meant what do you order?  To eat?"


I could feel my face turning red but we both burst into laughter and couldn't stop giggling about it the rest of the way home.  TMI, indeed!

Bloggity Blog Blog

I'm having problems blogging lately. Not problems with Blogger but problems coming up with something to blog about.  I sit here in front of the computer and it's like the connection from my brain to my typing fingers has been cut.  I think I need some inspiration.  I feel like I want to tell you a true story... but what?  So you tell me.  What would you like to read?  A love story?  An adventure story? A scary story?  An embarrassing moment story?  All of the above?

Sometimes Obedience Feels Like This

Since Tobin has turned three it's like he thinks he can just do whatever he wants.  He pushes our buttons and fights back and is contrary and impish.

A few days ago I opened the door to our minivan and said, "Get in your car seat, Tobs."  And he looked right back at me and said, "No!" with a huge grin on his face.

"Toby, we need to go.  Get in your seat, now."

"No.  I not do it."

I sighed and lifted him up.  First he made his body stiff as a board and then he "went boneless" so that I almost dropped him.  But I prevailed and got him in to the car seat.

As I was strapping Toby in I said, "Toby, it makes Mommy upset when you fight me.  You need to listen and obey so that we will like doing things with you and for you.  When you listen and obey we can all be happy.  Yes, Mom?"

Toby had a pouty look on his face but he responded, "Yes, Mom." in a sad, pitiful voice.

After I climbed into my seat Geary and I looked at each other and shook our heads. "Is it because he's three?" Geary asked.  I shrugged.  And then trying to work up some enthusiasm for our trip I called to the back seat,  "Toby, are you three now?"

He was still pouting and with his little lip jutted out, he said, "No.  I'm happy."