Sunday, November 15, 2009

warm. . .

yellow. . .

beautiful November moments. . .

and memories. . .

Loving this warm weather. . . and think maybe God has had a little hand in it. . .maybe because I have no winter coat to fit over this big baby belly. . .
.



Last weekend, we spent Sunday outdoors. . .all day long. . .




Sam built a wonderful fire. . . perfect for a Mama to sit by, warming my fingers and toes. . . and begin a Kringle hat for the baby. . .




Followed by adventures in the woods. . .



and playing in great big piles of leaves. . .



piling them into the fort, and then sliding into them with loud, giddy boy laughter. . .

dogs running a-muck. . . growling, biting, barking and jumping. . .
happy to be outdoors and free. . .

smores. . . warm and gooey, and oh-so-good. . . .


and watching the geese flock, perfecting their V's for their autumn journey. . . .

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

our mischief maker

It seems, that when I'm pregnant, we have a little prankster who shows likes to play tricks with the Mama and the Dada. . .

While pregnant with Jack, I remember waking up in the middle of the night and feeling water dripping from the ceiling onto my hand. Actual water. I remember wiping it off with a kleenax and waking up Sam. In a panic he ran up to the attic (afraid the roof was leaking), 2 amish, with a flashlight. . .only to find nothing. And now, forever, I am the tortured about the phantom water drips.

And some other little things too. . . living room curtains moving (like the dogs walked passed and moved them. . .but, no dogs around). . . bathroom shower curtain blowing in the non-existant breeze. . . I heard a voice call Daddy! after Sam left for work one morning (that one freaked me out pretty good. . .and I worried all day long that he was going to be in a car accident).

The night we brought Jack home from the hospital, Sam sat straight up in bed in the middle of the night. I awoke right away. Sam went over to Jack's room and came back. He said he had heard toys being played with in his room. . . We attributed it to someone welcoming our little Jack into his new home.

With Luke, it was my keys. They went missing from their little key hanging spot just as we were leaving to go somewhere (separately). I had car keys, but no house key, so we had to stop by Hepler's to get a quick remake. Searched for them everywhere before we left, but could not find them. When I arrived home, I found them laying in the middle of the entry way. . .right in the middle of the floor (which we would have obviously seen before we left).

This time around, he's gotten us twice. First time around it Jack's new columbia sandals. A week after we bought them, one disappeared. Nowhere to be found. For a whole month I looked for that missing guy. High and low. And it was nowhere. It was a day or two before vacation, and I was peeved to think I had to go out and buy him a new pair of sandals. I sent Jack up to his room to look one more time. And down he came with it, minutes later. You found it! I was so excited. He said that he found it on the bench in the upstairs hallway. I told him to thank Dada for finding it (because obviously Sam had found it somewhere and put it there for him). . . Except Sam hadn't found it. It was just there. . .

Our latest (and most likely, last) prank happened this weekend. Sam and Jack were playing the Wii (Chicken Shoot, their new favorite game). I sat down next to Luke to do some sewing, and noticed the tv remote on the couch next to me. We're always losing those things. . .so I placed it on top of the tv (where it's supposed to be). I remember crossing the room in front of Sam (playing games) to put it there. And then I sat back down to sew. Took the boys to bed 9ish. . . and came back down with Sam to shut down the house for the night.

Did you move the remote? he asks me. Yes, I put it on the tv while you guys were playing. No, after that. Did you move the remote? It's not here. Not here. I put it there hours ago.

But, it wasn't there. It was gone.

And I knew immediately it was our little prankster. And then thought we would be stuck for a month not being able to use our tv, because it would be stuck in "gaming mode" rather than cable tv. However, after about 15 minutes of searching all the couch cushions, under furniture, on the mantle, in the kitchen. . .Sam found it on the dining room table. And I smiled. Our little prankster, trying to make us laugh. . .

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Halloween. . .


A much anticipated holiday around here. . .Jack thinks, equalling the joys of Christmas and birthdays, is the joy of getting candy on Halloween.

Jack wanted to be a Jedi this year. . .at first. . .until Mama bought all the costume material and half finished sewing the Jedi shirt. . .then he announced that he wanted to be a Space Police man. . . an unhappy Mama announced that he could indeed be a Space Police man, at school, and if he made his own costume. That made two unhappy people. . .


Unhappy until I complete his shirt. . .which he wore for the rest of that weekend. And after I completed the cape, he loved it even more. He told me Friday (flying off of the bus with it on), that he felt like a real Jedi the whole school bus ride home. Ah, magic. [And ended up wearing it all weekend long.]


Luke, on the other had, wanted to be a sign. More specifically, about a month ago, he told me he wanted a shirt with sticker signs all down the sleeves. My creative boy [sigh]. So, I bought a black sweatsuit at Walmart, and painted a silvery road with fabric paint up the leg, over his belly, and wrapping around his back. Then I added some yellow lines on the road (don't all good roads have yellow lines?), and some foamy street signs with little brown posts. The foam signs were a battle. I bought them weeks before, and attempted to hide them away from little eyes. He found them a day later, and whined that he wanted them. And grumped. And moaned. And when he finally gave in to the idea that they were going on his Halloween costume, he asked me daily, Is it done yet?


He adored his signs. And happily wore it for two days straight.


Trick or treat was at night this year. . .for the first year in a little while. And, while we were afraid it was going to rain all day, it only sprinkled on us for a moment. It was a perfect night. Cool. Leaves crunching under happy little boy feet.
Sidewalks crowded with happy little people (and so many different costumes. . .Jack only noticed one other Jedi, an Obi Wan. . .). Friendly adults sitting outside with big bowls of goodies waiting for the children to come along. . . We had a wonderful time.


Luke ran ahead of us a few steps all the way. All over town. His feet never tiring. Bouncing along from one house to the next, singing Trick or treat! and Thank you! at every home we stopped at. That little impy smile never leaving his face. He carried that little pumpkin even when it was full to the top. Loving his goodies.


And goodies. Holy mackeral! I can't believe how much (yummy) candy they brought home. Their bags were both full to the top. And happily spent the rest of the evening (after a snacky dinner out with Nan and PapPap) checking out and munching on sugary goodness.
Luke's favorites, again the buttons this year. Although he only got one package. He happily tried the peanut buttons to discover that they're pretty good too (and don't peanuts count as almost healthy?).