Halloween part 1

We really love to celebrate holidays at our house! Jack has caught my love for them. Many times he is pushing me to figure out new ways to incorporate holiday themed activities! He looked through some holiday magazines and asked if we could make this or eat that.

We love to pick out pumpkins and carve them while listening to Halloween music. This year we carved three pumpkins. He is very much into things being spooky this year (However, it is still very much on a four year old level!) So we carved one as a skeleton, one as a cat, and one has a flaming jack-o- lantern.

We had movie night with my favorite snack,popcorn with m&ms. We watched Night at the Museum. Jack's first a little bit scary movie. We also made Carmel apples with mini-chocolate chips and new this year popcorn balls! It will be our last though! No one liked them!

Also, new (and really having much more to do with H week) we made a haunted house.

Awwww

Cole is ready to walk! I said it would be by Halloween! It is not today but it will be any day! So that lead to the wonderful tradition of going to Lonnie Young to be fitted for Cole's 1st pair of white walkers!

This time we even had four generations of McClanahans with us! Brad's beautiful and so very spry Mamaw came with us for the special event!

A big thanks to Gigi who takes us every time!

I can't believe my baby is ready to walk! Sniffle Sniffle!

There are heroes among us

This past week was H week! I will post later about the tremendous amount of fun we had but I wanted to do a special post just about one "H" in particular - Heroes! Superheroes are a BIG part of our lives right now. Jack and Cole are superheroes for Halloween. Jack was invited to a superhero birthday party and has already decided that he will have a superhero fifth birthday party as well. We tell Jack adventures of Super Jack each and every night. These stories always include Super Jack saving the day! He loves to hear these adventures and the worst punishment is to loose the privilege of a Super Jack story

While H week was upon us, I read from a book entitled The Children's Book of Heroes. A poem called "Only a Dad" by Edgar Guest about a father caught my eye. I read it and I was stunned to recognize just how much of a hero we have living right in our home. Brad does an amazing job at work. He literally does the job of three men. He does love it so I know that makes it easier but he still works very long hours and for many days in a row. This past week was the bye week. This is the first time he has had a day off in months. This could have meant that he would just whole up somewhere and lay around and only come out for food. However, this is not what happened at all. He took Jack to school twice last week. He was so excited to get to drop him off. He called me both days to give me a report and to tell me how much fun he had. After Jack's soccer game he took him to the park and then home to watch the UT/ Bama game. He finished off the night cuddling Jack in the floor to have movie night! He is not only Jack's hero but little Cole is saying "da da da da" and leaning to him to get in his cuddles as well.

During this week he got another star on his hero cape in the husband department as well! He took me on a wonderful date to Flemings. He went into work late and came home early. Also, he went on a BIG grocery trip for me,I took TWO naps and he trimmed the hedges. Yep Ladies he is mine all mine!!

During the long hours and the hard days I forget, I feel entitled, I can play 57 rounds of tit for tat and for all of that I am truly sorry! This week was a wonderful reminder that I have a wonderful man!Thank you for saving the day!

The poem goes like this:

Only a Dad

Only a dad with a tired face,

Coming home from the daily race,

Bringing home little of gold or home

To show how well he has played the game

But glad in his heart that his own rejoice

To see him come and to hear his voice.

Only a dad with a brood of four,

One of ten million men or more

Plodding along in the daily strife,

Bearing the whips and scorns of life,

with never a whimper of pain or hate,

For the sake of those who at home await.

Only a dad,neither rich nor proud,

Merely one of the surging crowd,

Toiling,striving from day to day,

Facing whatever may come his way,

Silent whenever the harsh condemn,

And bearing it all for the love of them

Only a dad but he gives his all,

To smooth the way for his children small,

Doing with courage stern and grim

The deeds that his father did for him.

This is the line that for him I pen:

Only a dad,but the best of men.

Love

When Jack was born 5 weeks early I decided he needed to spend those five weeks as much like the womb as possible so we just cuddled on the couch and I read and it was beautiful. After a few months, I began a journal for him. I wrote in it every month .We played all day every day and went on many adventures. However, I was also a bottle of nerves. Was I being the mother that I had envisioned? I was constantly self assessing and feeling as though I was falling short. Every bruise,scrape or boo boo I took hard. I read as many parenting books as I could get my hands on. This is something I highly recommend unless you make them into a checklist of how you are falling short as I did. How is he comparing to other children? As a former teacher, I had an eagle's eye on his progress. Once he began to talk and emerge into himself, I relaxed a lot. Jack is very clever funny and just a great kid.

Then while I was pregnant with Cole I once again began to incite an internal mental hullabaloo of questions. How would I love another child this much. How can I invest the same amount of time an energy into another? What will this do to Jack. How will our family change? What will I do with one up in the middle of the night with the other waking at daylight? Ahhhhh

So this time around, Cole did not get to cuddle on the couch or get my undivided attention for the enire day but he has gotten so much more. I am much calmer ( stop snickering) than I was with Jack. I am wiser. I have come to relax more in the fact that these children are only on loan to us from God. I do not have to do it perfectly. If anything near perfection is my goal I will only fail them. Even still I have failed them many times. I will fail them many more time. I can not be the parenting book. I felt that each day must be full, not only with activities but educational, life lessons or some type of training. These days are definitely full of some of that but I am much more aware of how fleeting this time is and the pure sweetness that I am living in. I treasure the pitterpat of Jacks feet coming to our bedroom no matter how early it is. I love that Cole likes to have two pacifiers to go to sleep. I love the sound of their laughter and even their tears while I cuddle them after a tumble. I love that Cole loves animal noises a bath in the kitchen sink and rubber ducks. I love that they light up when they see each other. We sing and dance while cooking in the kitchen. We read and make up funny character voices. We laugh at and with each other so much.

I have posted about rough days, we definitely have had our share them. I am currently reading a book entitled" If Momma Goes South We Are All Going With Her. ( A great book about the constant giving and need meeting of motherhood and relying on our Heavenly father to replenish us.) There is so much hard work and so many ways to turn your perspective to the grind, shortcomings, lack of sleep, frustrations and hardships. I have stopped over there and even set up shop a few times! However, the bottom line is the longer that I wear the hat of mother the more comfortable it becomes and I would not trade one moment.

"Every good and perfect gift comes from above..." James 1:17

We are having a blast!

Jack's school focuses on a letter a week. This is based upon a program called "Handwriting without Tears" They begin with the letters easiest to write. So far, we have had the letters "L", "F","E".

During "L" week at home we worked on coming up with things that started with that letter and practicing writing the letter. Jack was interested but I could tell we were going to have to make this a little more fun. Here is what we came up with...

During "F" week we found pictures of a lot of F words and instead of repetitive handwriting practice, I had him write the letter on a post-it note. Then I would write the rest of the word. After a few words I would have him figure out the corresponding picture. The week ended with Farm Day. He had so much fun!

I was worried about "E" week but it was his favorite so far. We decided to go on an "E" adventure. He wore his safari hat and took his binoculars. We walked down to the Hill Center and found a lot of "E"s. We took pictures of all of the ones that we found. We also made some. We really had a great time.

Two " perfect days"

Last week I had not one but count them TWO "perfect days". The first I can not write about and those who know me well already know. The rest of you may ask but I am probably NOT going to tell. So let me skim over perfect day one and hop right into perfect day number 2.

The day began with Cole trying to crawl down our flight of steps. I did catch him right before he made the BIG tumble. However, this did nothing but take my heart to my toes and definitely shred my nerves.

A few hours later while we were at lunch, I left my two darling angels( one in a highchair and one in the booth) while I went to the soda fountain machine to get drinks. I turned to see sweet baby Cole crawling across the table. I once again caught him before the BIG tumble.... but I was becoming unraveled!

Once we were home the only one interested in peace and quiet and napping was me...so in order to not get charged with neglect I got up and decided to get some newly purchased activities out of my car. Cole would not be put down without a major fuss. I consider myself the product of a long line of resourceful people. So I came up with the grand idea of letting Cole stand in Jack's Jeff Gordon race car. He loves to chew on steering wheels - go figure. As I turned to get my bags out of the car I heard a roar and vroom and then a crash but wheels still spinning. Ohhhhh yessssss, my eight month old had pushed the gas pedal and zoomed through the garage and into the upright freezer. I was ALL DONE at this point.

A mother does not get to say this. However, I did contemplate calling Brad and saying that there was an emergency and he must come home at once. After, thinking better of this idea we made it through until Brad was able to finally come home at 7:30P.M.

At this point, I knew the only logical answer was to FLEE. I put Cole down and while Brad was putting Jack down, ever so calmly I said "I gotta go- I will come back but I gotta go." I got in the car and began dreaming of the far away places that I could go but settled on Starbucks. I guess the lure of the smell of hot coffee, the taste of hot cocoa and a chocolate chip cookie and the thought of not being at home took me so far away that when I pulled out of the garage I hit Brad's car. Yep you read that right. I hit BRAD's car . I did not just give it a tap either. I wedged my car into his, so that I had to pull forward to get unstuck. This is the part where I should have gotten out, checked the damage and reported it to my sweet husband. Nope, not me, just pulled forward and then backed out while trying to shine the lights on his car so that I could make sure it was not too terrible.

This should have been the end of the night ...RIGHT.....RIGHT!!Ohh no, at 4 A.M (I guess technically the next day but for good story telling we won't split hairs) I awoke to the sight of my darling husband in his t-shirt and boxers, tennis shoes, my kitchen colander in one hand and a rolled up newspaper in the other. I MUST be dreaming! Right? WRONG

me:"Uhh dear, what's happening?"

him:"There is a mouse in the bathroom"

me: "Okaay, so what is with the colander and the newspaper"

him: "I am going to slap it with the newspaper to stun it and then trap it in the colander"

me: " And the tennis shoes?"

him:" I am NOT having that thing crawl across my foot"

me : as kindly as I could muster at 4 A.M. "Dear, I am not sure this is going to work"

him: waits about three seconds, " I am so glad that I married you-(easy ...not so fast with the awwwww doesn't she have a sweet husband) Since YOU have the answer to EVERYTHING.

For the first time ALL day I did exactly what I wanted... I went to sleep with out another word.

Football

We are DONE! We have had it! Of course we are still fans but Oh my, Oh my, Oh my!

Jack feels the same way. This morning Jack came down the stairs and ran straight for Brad " Daddddddddy, yeah Dadddy's home!!!!!!! "Then without missing a beat "Dada THAT WAS THE WORSTEST GAME EVER OF ALL THE GAMES OF THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD" ! On any normal day this would seem to be an exaggeration. NOT today folks, not today!

Nope, this won't make the baby book.

(WARNING- THIS POST IS RATED -ADULT)

Since I have started thinking about blogging the camera has been out all the time. Jack has had a lot of fun taking pictures. The following ( and the towel above) are some of his latest works of art ????


beach ball

Brad filling the bowl

a pampers box

and a door

Don't kill me Brad! I love you sooo! Just look at it this way- Jack is always looking up to you !

Bugs and Hisses

Jack is so EXCITED about Halloween! I think that it may be his favorite holiday. He hounded me for weeks to get our decorations down. I had just finished the major effort to turn the dining room into a jungle. I put him off for a little while but he would not have it. Then the big day came. We got down all of the boxes. I spent a few hours putting my brown tablecloth on and making a nice fall floral arrangement in my fall basket, fall leaves, fall wreath and pumpkin welcome mat. I am thinking "fall decorating... check" . Did I forget I had boys. He just looked at me with the most confused face and said" Where are the bats and the spiders momma?" Hmmmmm. Ahhhh yess bats and spiders. Soo here we go to Micheals. This is what we came up with.

A lot of firsts and a few lasts -part 2

Jack's first event at school = FARM DAY ( The children were asked to dress as farmers or animals)

First mustache

The first time Jack wrote his name

The first packed lunch

The 2009 1st soccer game and soccer team

The first preschool birthday party- superhero theme

First Home game 2009 season