Liam as Thomas (3 at the time)
Wise Men
Being that tomorrow is October 31, let's have a discussion about Halloween. Let me just say that I hate Halloween. Even as a kid, I hated it. I wasn't stupid; I loved the candy.
But I was never into the costume thing. I was never creative enough to think of some grandiose costume, so I always dressed as a baby or a cheerleader.
Come on, girls, raise your hand if you ever dressed as a baby or cheerleader for Halloween! I know there were many of us!
As a parent, I hate Halloween because of the confusion that surrounds it. I hate how so many people choose to make it scary. Why can't it just be an innocent evening of fun?
Because the world tends to make Halloween all about ghosts, witches, and jack-o-lanterns, Rick and I have decided to not celebrate Halloween with trick-or-treating. Yes, we want our kids to have an evening of fun and bring home lots of candy for me to eat, I mean for them to eat.
But we feel convicted to glorify God in all that we do. Not that we'll achieve that perfectly on this side of heaven, but we strive to do the best we can. Halloween, at its core, does not glorify God. Because of that, we have chosen to take our boys to our church's festival every year. They always have a great time.
Two Sundays ago, our church announced that they want the kids to dress up as a Biblical character or creature. Upon reading that announcement in the bulletin, I began to hyperventilate.
Rick and I discussed it later that day. Basically, it boiled down to three choices:
1) Avoid the the festival, and stay home to watch the boys' disappointment while the neighborhood kids trick-or-treat. We would be parents of the year, I'm sure.
2) Attend the festival without costumes of any kind. Really, this option pleased me just fine. Until I realized that this option would also reward me the mother of the year award.
3) Suck it up, get creative, and make costumes.
We settled on option 3. Rick had the idea of dressing them as the three wise men. Bravo, Daddy! He wins daddy of the year award!
And my mom wins grandmother of the year for making the costumes. Did you think I would sew them?! Oh, no, honey, the boys would wouldn't have costumes until Easter, if we left it to my doing.
Here is a photo of our dress rehearsal today. I may be a bit biased, but I believe they are some good-lookin' wise men!
Some conversations that took place during the dress rehearsal:
Liam: We need swords!
Me: No, you don't need swords. The wise men took gifts to baby Jesus, and I'm pretty sure they didn't fight in front of him.
Jack: Garrett, I like your crown. It's pretty.
Me: Jack, your crown looks just like Garrett's.
Jack: Oh! [Ran to the mirror to check it out.]
Garrett: I'm ALL excited!
Liam's First Football Game
Liam (4) attended his first Aggie football game this weekend.
Here he and I are before the game began. I know this was before the game, because a) the sun is shining and b) so are our faces.
Here he and I are before the game began. I know this was before the game, because a) the sun is shining and b) so are our faces.
I know it's too dark to see our faces. But I have to use this photo, as it is the only photo of moi. And I'm sure you need proof that I was truly there.Here he is in Daddy's arms. Liam is screaming so loud he had to cover his own ears.
And here he's convinced Daddy to hold him up on his back.
But look closely at the others around them. Do you see anyone whoopin' it up, cheering the Aggies on? No, there are long faces, arms crossed. That is because we, the fans, are disgusted with the game. Coach Fran continues to call the same old, predictable plays. The same plays that have proven to fail us time and time again. We lost this game 19-11 to KU.But I can still thank Coach Fran, because this loss seals the deal. Bye bye, Fran. Don't let the door hit you on your way out next month.
Liam, we'll take you to another game some day, but let's wait til you can witness a winning game.
Friday Funny
While riding in the car yesterday, Garrett (2 1/2) shouted, "THERE'S MY FAVORITE MARTIAN!", while pointing to an innocent bystander.
I'm sorry, Sir Bystander. I promise we don't encourage such things around here.
Tiny Talk Tuesday
Liam (4) and I were having a discussion about Creation yesterday. Here's how it occurred:
Me: Liam, why did God give you eyes?
Liam: So I can see, silly.
M: Why did He give you ears?
L: So I can hear. [giggling]
M: Why did He give you feet?
L: So I can walk. [jumping]
M: Why did He give you hands?
L: So I can pick you flowers.
Ahhh!
For more TTT, visit Not Before 7.
The New Parenting Era
I entered a new era in parenting on Friday. For 4 1/2 years, I have had to make sure that diapers and wipes were on my person every time I left the house. But on Friday, I was able to pull diapers out of my bag.
I won't ask for applause, if you'll just join me with a sigh of relief...thank you.
Although Jack and Garrett are only 26 days apart, I decided several months ago to tackle their potty training separately. One of the boys is more compliant, and the other is, um, well, he's more stubborn. I won't name names, but I tackled the more compliant child's potty training first.
Jack (2 1/2) began potty training in July, and he's been doing very well since the end of September. Garrett announced Thursday afternoon that he wanted to use the potty and to wear underwear. And when Garrett announces that he's ready to do something, he means business! I gave him some underwear right then, and he's only had two accidents since.
Both boys still wear diapers to bed, so we're not completely finished with buying Pampers, Huggies or whatever cheap brand I find. But Rick and I are already counting ourselves a raise by the significant decrease!
And I am one happy mama!
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