Thanksgiving

A belated Thanksgiving to you! I sure am grateful for these boys--grateful to be a mom and have these wonderful children to love!

Happy Halloween

Let me begin by saying that I don't really like Halloween. Something about witches, devils, ghosts, and zombies suggests that it is Satan's holiday. Add to that giving little children tons of candy for no apparent reason, and I'm convinced that it is.

I have softened, because even if you hate Halloween, it's cute to dress your children up as Bob the Builder or a Lion, or something like that. Who can resist playing dress ups?!?

For some reason, I always totally fail when it comes to getting cute Halloween pictures.

Here is Jacob on Halloween. You can see his latest "war wound"--a nice triangle cut in the forehead from falling onto the corner of the banister.

We went to Adam's school Halloween parade, and this was the best picture I got of Adam. 

Jacob enjoyed wandering around and visiting all the people. He was slightly obsessed with the basketball hoop.

I decided I needed better pictures, so I made the boys dress up the other day. Now this is more like it. I especially love that you can see Jacob's new top teeth. 

What a sweet little monkey! On Halloween I called him "chubba chimp."

And here are some good pictures of Adam, as a Ninja. He wasn't allowed to wear the mask at school, or bring the sword. So he ended up looking like a fire nation soldier (name that show).

Close up, dramatic shot. Believe it or not, I didn't pose him. This is ALL NATURAL.

And the two boys together. Jacob was melting down by this point, so we came full circle to Halloween!

Happy Birthday Chalupa!

Jacob turned one!

Jacob's real name is Jacob Keaton.

We started calling him "Chubba". This mutated into "Chubba chew." Sometimes Sam jokes that he is "King of the chews." It's a little sacrilegious, but I laugh every time.

And then his name became "Chubba chalupa." Which has been shortened to "Chalupa." It's very cute, but a little odd when I hear little Brynlee (age 3) call him Chalupa. It means we use that nick name more than his real name. How embarrassing.

Living vicariously

(Here's a post I wrote a month ago, and never posted)

I recently found out that I no longer need to gate the top of my stairs. Jacob is too afraid to go down them. I have tried to teach him, but he just fusses and cries all the way down.

Instead, he lives vicariously. He throws everything down the stairs. And then he looks at them longingly, as if to say "Goodbye old shoe, I cannot follow you, but I will remember you with fondness. Enjoy your visit down the stairs."

By "everything" I mean, dishes, tupperware, apple cores left on the table, toys, bags, you name it. But his favorite is to throw the shoes, especially Sam's shoes.

(Update: One day about a week ago, Jacob decided to go down the stairs. No trial and error--I walked in and he was at the bottom. He's very proficient now, going up and down without a problem. He still throws everything down the stairs, but now he goes to visit them.)

Bad guys never go there

Happy Thanksgiving

Adam's teacher sent home a "recipe book" from the children--each outlined how to make a favorite dish. Here's a few cute samples:

Ham (by Jadon)--Get a pig from a farm. Take it to a place that cuts it. Cook it for maybe 25 hours. Set a timer to know it is done. Take the parts that you wouldn't eat, like the snout and the hooves, to the dump. Eat it. It might taste like turkey.

Corn (by Ryan)--You buy seeds and then water and put the seeds in a hole. I water it. It grows for a couple of days. It looks like it's growing and then when it is all grown we use some scissors to cut off the leaves, and then after it is all cut off we take the corn in, then we cook it for about an hour or two. Then when it is done, I eat it. It tastes like real corn.

The foods described included turkey, corn, stuffing, mac and cheese, rolls, and pumpkin pie. Methods ranged from "get it at Wal-Mart" to hunting. While each was funny and cute, Adam's was the most imaginative:

Chicken (Because I am half wolf) (by Adam)
I would get the chicken at Wal-Mart. It looks gray when you buy it. I would make it by boiling water until it bubbled. Then I would put the chicken in for 3 hours. It looks reddish and brownish. Then I would put some chicken sauce on it. It looks red and it tastes good. I am half wolf and wolves like chicken. Because I am wolf, I can run fast and I can kill fast. My wolf body is kind of hard to see. It is invisible like having glasses. I can use my claws to eat the meat. My favorite food to eat is meat. I like that I get to eat chicken. I would have salad with it because salad is one of my favorite foods. Wolves don't really like salad, but since I am human too, I eat anything. And I am only half wolf.

Carpool Conversation

Adam: (fake burping) What was that?
Friend: I don't know.
Adam: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Listen again (fake burping). Now you do it.
Friend: I can't. That's your talent.
Adam: I have TONS of talents.
Friend: My talents are to do a wheelie on my bike, and front flips. You know Jesus gives you your talents.
Adam: Yeah, because he's the son of God.
Friend: And if you don't share your talents, He takes them right away. And sometimes you don't even know it.
Adam: So that's what happened to you.