days of nuwanda

Go Fish!

 
  
Jacob got an early Christmas present from us last night--tickets to the Go Fish concert! This is Jacob's favorite group; he listens to their Christmas cd "Snow" all year long, no kidding. And the concert was great! A little too loud for Grace, who has the most sensitive ears in the all the world, but the kids got into it big time. When it ended, we were disappointed b/c they hadn't sung Jacob's favorite song, "Little Drummer Boy"...but then they came out and did an encore and sang that song! How cool was that! I told Jacob they saved that song for last, just for him. :) He stood up and was singing along with them like he had a microphone and was loving it! The one guy also got on the drums, and Jacob was awestruck. (Did I mention he wants to be a drummer?!) Then we hung around and bought some souvenirs and got their autographs and pics with the group. It was so nice taking the whole family and knowing the content would be fun and kid-friendly and Christ-centered. Thank you, Go Fish, for a great concert!

  Jacob and the guy who played the drums :)

We told the lead singer (middle guy) we liked his hair, a faux-hawk of sorts, and Jacob said he used to have one, and the Go Fish guy said, "Aww, did your mean mom make you cut it?" GEEEZZZ, I will forever get flack about the haircut! :)

Check out more Go Fish concert pics here!  And here is the Little Drummer Boy song that Jacob loves so much. You should hear Harrison singing along..."bum, bum bum..."  :)

Download 09 The Little Drummer Boy

BTW, if you don't think you're familiar w/ Go Fish, they became famous w/ the "Christmas with a capital C" song a few years back, and they are played on Christian radio stations everywhere. They now do kids songs, too.

Download 05 Christmas with a Capital 'C'

Tolerant love: a boy and his dog

You all know Thorn is a great dog. He sits with Grace for hours as she rubs his ears, he sits on my feet while I work at my desk, he whines happily when he hears the schoolbus coming down the street, signaling Jacob's return home, and we call him Chewbacca for the noises he makes when Daddy gets home from work.

But in general, Thorn has kinda kept away from Harrison, and who could blame him? Toddlers are unpredictable at best, and having his eyes poked or his tail pulled isn't a favorite pasttime. But lately Thorn has given Harrison more attention and has started playing with him, and it's working. I call it tolerant love b/c Thorn still gets that look sometimes, that "Somebody help me!" look when Harrison is getting on his nerves, but he will let the little guy lay down next to him and rub his belly, and every once in a while, Thorn will bring Harrison his rope to play tug-of-war. And it's very cute. The two posed for me a while ago, and I see a growing mutual love.

Very cheesy!

...and cheesier still!

 

 

Smelling the roses

Hubby sent me 50 miniature red roses on Tuesday--just out of the blue! Now that makes for a happy wife! When they first arrived and we opened them, Grace smelled them and said, "They smell like something...kinda like roses." Well what do you know!

  "Wow, Mom. 50 roses???!!!"

Thank you, Hubby! They are beautiful, and as Grace stated, they smell just like roses. :)

Moving on up

Harrison's moving up in the toddler world--first the booster seat and then the toddler bed. Yup, we put away the crib, and Harrison loves his big boy bed. We may get a gate b/c he falls out of bed at least once a night still, but he's used to it now and just crawls back into bed w/ barely a wimper. The interesting part is naptime, when lying in a toddler bed leads to so many temptations of getting out of bed and playing, but he's catching on.

Yes, he is surrounded by Grace's princess stuff and using her blanket. Don't judge! I will get him a new blanket, I promise.

So cute with his hands behind his head.

And he had a hard fall the other day on our hardwood floors that resulted in a big fat bloody lip. It still looks pretty bad. :( He has daily run-ins with the floor, the wall, the bookcase, the door, whatever. I've never met a child so prone to run into things.

Honesty from a 7 yr old

Story written and illustrated by Jacob

 
  
P.S. That mystery word there at the end is supposed to be "pillow." And no, my son doesn't get his spelling from his mother!

A lot of nonsense, but exactly what you've come to expect

Grace in the car: "How do you turn on the wind?" meaning, how do you open the windows.

Conversation after seeing Santa...
Jacob: "He's not real, Grace."
Grace: "Well that one is real--he's sitting right there....[thinking and looking around]..but he doesn't have his flying machine."

Jacob: "Hey Mom, you do NOT want to have a staring contest with my snake. He doesn't blink for a LONG time!" Indeed he blinks very rarely, given the fact that his pet snake is stuffed.

Grace explaining that we need hooks in her closet to hold all of her purses: "We need to get a lot of hookers, Mom. We just need more hookers." I asked if we could just call them hooks, and she said, "Sure!"

Grace protesting the idea of going out to eat: "But if I eat, then I won't be hungry!" I cannot argue with that; her logic is sound.

Grace wielding a lightsaber: "Dad, if you wanna get killed, I can whack you with this." It's good to know there are options, but she seems a little too matter-of-fact about it for my comfort.

Harrison missed his sister one day when she was out with Daddy. He looked up at the artwork on the wall, sat down with the crayons, tears streaming down his face, and said, "I want Dee-Dee color!" It's not fun coloring by yourself, I guess.

Grace's request for dinner one evening...
Grace: "Are we having honey bones for dinner?"
Mom: "Ummm, what are honey bones?
Grace doing exaggerated motions with her hands and speaking slowly to make sure I got it: "Bones with honey in them." DUH!

The kids colored pictures for my Aunt who was sad after her dog died. Grace brought me two pictures and explained: "This one is for the dog."
Mom: "But the dog is dead."
Grace: "But everyone knows dogs always love pictures."

Our next vehicle

Hubby had a GMC Terrain rental on his last trip to Ohio and really liked it. I checked it out when he got home and saw why. The interior is perfectly designed and driver-friendly. And it's a pretty nice looking ride. This would be a great upgrade from the extended-ultra-mega-huge-ain't-nothing-mini-about-it minivan I'm cruising in now. :)

 

There's something zombie-ish for everyone on my list

...at thinkgeek.com!

For Dad: a business guide

For Jacob: a game

For Grace: a doll

For Harrison: a bib

Even for myself: a book of poetry

And I could use a new shower curtain and bath mat, but this set is perhaps a little too frightening for the children, dont'cha think?

Two outta three ain't bad

Someone is on Santa's naughty list...and knows it! Harrison wanted nothing to do w/ Santa and SCREAMED when I put him on Santa's lap, so we quickly switched to Mrs. Claus's lap. She tried to cheer him up w/ a candycane, and it worked, only to stop the screaming but not enough to bring on a smile. Oh well. It was a free photo op w/ Santa, so I can't complain. (Thanks, Aunt Mel, for having your camera handy!)

 

BTW, Grace was ecstatic to see Santa! I thought she would be the shy one, but she really likes Santa and wasn't even the tiniest bit afraid of sitting on his lap. Afterwards, Jacob informed her that Santa wasn't real, and she responded, "Well, that one is real--he's sitting right there!" :)

Back!

Well vacation is over, work has resumed, and I have no more time for playing Barbies all day long. Such is life! Our holiday was very nice, especially with my niece and her fiance visiting from North Carolina, and my vacation days were a mix of successful (getting a few things done) and relaxing. Ang, you'll be sad to hear I didn't once pick up my crochet hook...just no time! :( But the uninterrupted time w/ my children was priceless. Grace especially loved it and asked me every day, "Is it a no work day again?" I am blessed that going back to work means sitting at my desk in my home office, when for most people, it means taking their kids to daycare and commuting somewhere. If I ever take this privilege of working-from-home for granted, someone please smack me. (Preferably not Nick--he would enjoy that too much!)

Please pray for Hubby. He's down w/ an ugly fever/cold thingie again. He was so hot yesterday, I could feel the heat just standing next to him. (Normally Hubby would like a sentence like that, but I assure you this heat was not pleasant.) Jacob said it was like being next to lava, and I concur. Today he is better, as in not on fire or smoldering anymore, but he's still miserable. I'm trying to force another doctor visit, but really, what would he say? "You have a fever, take some theraflu, drink lots of liquids, and rest." Right? What are H1N1 flu symptoms anyhow?

Lots of pics to share...later. Happy Cyber Monday!!!

Counting my blessings

 May all of you be blessed this wonderful Thanksgiving Day! I've been literally counting and listing my blessings again this week, and when I look fully into all God has given me, I am both struck with how little I truly deserve, and how serious is the responsibility of what I do with what He's given me. God is so very good! He gives, He takes away, but He never stops holding me in the palm of his hand. What else could I ever need?

Psalm 107:8-9 

Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

Ready for church

I got these two to pose before we left for church Sunday morning. Jacob wasn't cooperating, which I thought was just a teenager thing, but I was wrong. 7 year-olds are moody, too. Anyhow, here are the happy little ones. Grace's hair is getting so long and has this amazing wave. And how can it be that Doodle is almost two?

 

Tuckered out

It got very quiet yesterday morning (after playing Barbies for an hour), and I found Harrison asleep on Grace's bed. I am such a sap for sleeping baby photos. :)

What are you thankful for?

Here is Jacob's list he composed at school.

 
 P.S. That last one is Air Force, and who knew he liked the color green so much?

Truth from a 4-yr old

ok, well technically Mommy bought it, but I'm certain it's what Grace was thinking....