Mama, do you want to type one of my songs?

We hope Grandma Robyn comes...(sobbing)

I wish Grandma Robyn can come today.

Mama - What's next?
Jeffrey - That's all.

Are you ready for some football?

Jeffrey has been obsessed with football lately. Plain and simple. Obsessed.

He watches any football game that it on TV. College or pro, it doesn't matter who is playing as long as it's a football game. Half of the time he's actually standing in front of the TV and watching the game. The other half of the time, he's running through the house making tackles, catching passes and scoring touchdowns on himself.

The football games are on well past Jeffrey's bedtime so each morning we have to watch ESPN news to find out who one the game the night before. "Mom, who won? The blue team or the orange team?" So much for my high hopes of Sid the Science Kid being the show of choice in the mornings.

A few nights ago at supper, Tyler said to Jeffrey, "Buddy, what's the rule? You can't turn around and watch TV unless your mouth is full. Keep eating." Seriously, that's now a rule in our house? Since when? I don't even think the TV should be on while we are eating, but I'm out numbered. When is Macy going to be big enough to back me up? Oh yeah, she probably won't because she'll be a "Daddy's girl."

Last week, Jeffrey peed in his pants a few times. He is definitely too big to be doing this, but yet he gets so wrapped up in playing and not wanting to miss anything, that he refuses to go to the bathroom. After the third time of peeing in his pants, Tyler had had enough and gave him the ultimate punishment. No watching Monday Night Football. You would have thought the world had ending with the fit Jeffrey was throwing.

Jeffrey knows who Faith Hill is and sits (right along side Tyler) staring at the TV on Monday nights while she is singing the Monday Night Football countdown song. I wear my heart of my sleeve for Jeffrey because every Monday night that Jeffrey sees Faith, he tells me that I am prettier than her. Bless his brown-nosed little soul.

And so, our house lives and breaths football right now. Even Macy loves it and will run after the ball with Jeff and make tackles. I suppose that just as soon as I've had enough football to drive me crazy, it will be history and the kids (and Tyler) will be on to basketball. We do live and die by the seasons around here.

C-A-R, car!

(Photography by Jeffrey while riding in the backseat of the Tahoe on the way home from daycare.)

Jeffrey and Macy have a few of their favorite books in the Tahoe that they look at nearly every morning on the way to daycare. They are simple picture books with the names of the pictures written next to them.For the last week, Jeffrey has been reading each letter and then saying the word causing a very exciting reaction from Mama and Jeffrey.

"C-A-R. Car! P-O-L-I-C-E-C-A-R. Poilice car! A-M-B-U-L-A-N-C-E. Ambulance! F-I-R-E-T-R-U-C-K. Fire truck!"

"Yay, Jeffrey. Wow buddy, that's an awesome job! I'm so proud of you for knowing your letters!"

After a few days of listening to us, Macy decided it was her turn to start reading the books to Jeffrey and me.

"Mama, listen me! 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-car! A-B-C-D-E-F-G-car!"

Some Birthday

Happy birthday dear Macy, happy birthday to you.

Yeah right is what she was thinking.

We woke up Sunday morning ready to celebrate Macy's birthday with a big party. Lots of friends and family were coming to our house for fun and food.

Our plans changed when Jeffrey woke up with a 102 degree temperature. So we canceled church, Papa Jeff and Grandma Robyn went home early, and we had to cancel the birthday party.

Not only that, but when Jeffrey woke up from his nap later that afternoon, his temperature was 104 degrees so Granny, Macy and I had to take him to the ER (which took 5 hours from start to finish, but that's a whole nother story). While waiting in the ER, Granny and Macy went to Walmart, and luckily bought a few cupcakes otherwise Macy would have been without a cake.

No birthday party and barely even a celebration. I'm sorry sweetheart. We'll make it up to you next year.

She is...

"A Stubborn Little One" - Sure, I've called her that. She is. All the time, friends are laughing and telling me how cute Macy is when she is being stubborn. Sure, it's cute when she looks at me with an owly face and refuses to ask for a sucker kindly (by saying please). Macy would rather not say please than have the sucker. Sure it's cute when you're there to bear witness for a bit, but it's not so cute when when wants one of her brother's toys and there is an all out brawl going on at home because she won't say please. Not only will she not say please, she refuses to say thank-you, just because she's stubborn. Macy has to sit in time-out when she won't say thank-you. She would rather be stubborn and sit in that time-out than say thank-you and get to play.

"An Independent Little One" - Sure I've called her that. She is. My mom just told me that she's sure that Macy skipped age 1 and went straight to age 2. Maybe she's right. I know that she started talking much before I expected her to, at least compared to the experience I had with Jeffrey. Even in the last couple of weeks, I've noticed her stating complete thoughts and putting more and more words together. Daily, when Macy talks, I'm surprised at what she is saying to me. (Where Daddy at? Daddy go work? - I miss Abby. Go Abby's house now! My go Abby's house with Grandma Robyn!- My talk Papa Jeff. Mama call Papa Jeff! - Go Anny's house. Jessi at Anny's house?) Macy crawls and climbs on everything. She always has. There is no obstacle too high -or too far away for that matter- for Macy. Though one of the most surprising things for me was when Macy learned to walk in flip flops this summer. Jeff tried walking in flip flops last summer, but couldn't quite get it. This summer, he figured it out...so of course, Macy figured it out also. She is also learning to dress herself. For awhile, Macy was often seen walking around the house with both legs stuck in one leg of her panties. When asked if she wanted help fixing them, she insisted, "No! My do it myself!" Now, she gets her panties, pants and boots on all by herself.

"A Tough Little One" - Sure I've called her that. She is. Macy is the youngest, other than the three recently added babies, of my friends' kids. She is also the youngest at daycare, but that doesn't stop her from playing with the big kids. Rough-housing is natural, second-nature for her. Right now, Jeff and Macy are very into football. They run and tackle each other all over the house. Jeff knows to be gentle when he tackles Macy, but Macy comes at Jeff full bore. She's a little bruiser. When Macy falls, she looks up and around and -most of the time- doesn't cry. She just says, "My okay. My tough." There aren't too many weeks that go by that Macy doesn't have some sort of scraped up knee, elbow, or nose. And there are often black-eyes or bruised shins, but she doesn't seem to mind as long as she gets to play with the big kids.

Macy is all of these traits and so much more. She is feisty and moody and determined. She is friendly and empathetic and jealous. She is candid and selfish and faithful. She is affectionate and generous and rebellious.

And although I've called her stubborn, independent, and tough what I really mean to say is that she my light, my sunshine She makes me feel proud and loved and thankful and lucky and amazed. Someday her stubbornness will serve her well when she is fighting for a cause she believes in and doesn't want to back down. Someday her independence will serve her well when she's on her own for the very first time and she gets a flat tire. Someday her toughness will serve her well when she gets teased and knocked down by her peers, but knows that she is a beautiful, strong young woman.

What I mean to say is that every time I pick her up from daycare, she runs to me with a smile that could melt my heart away, yelling "Mommy's here! My mommy!" So for now and always, I'll choose to call her "My daughter. My sweet little girl." Because that is what she truly is.

Trick-or-Treat

This is what trick-or-treating in Cartwright looks like! It's one long and dusty road to the the next house.

Treats

I have to tell you, when my Grandma Gayle has a party, she goes all out. I wrote a paper in elementary school about how crazy she was. She'd throw herself a surprise birthday party, make people eat spaghetti with no utensils and have grown adults drink out of a baby bottle without thinking twice about it. When she decorates, making an adult sized baby or life-size Christmas tree out of balloons is just the tip of the iceberg. My Grandma Gayle is not afraid to go all out! In fact, she made decorating for parties and weddings into a successful business.

My mom never really decorated much for birthday parties that I can remember, though she did throw great theme parties. She never helped decorate floats at Homecoming, but the poster on my locker was definitely always the most beautiful and elaborate. She did not make a business out of decorating, but could have. My mom is good at everything she does, finding the time is the problem for her.

Then, there is me. I'm too frugal to do any of it! I wonder why I would want to waste my money on decorations for a party when they are just going to get tore down a couple hours later anyway. I'll bake a pretty cool cake or create a snake or deer out of scotcharoos, but that's about my limit for parties. I wish that I would send Jeff's and Macy's friends home with amazingly crafty party favors, but never seem to get around to it. I'd love to decorate my house for Thanksgiving and Christmas like my mom and grandma always have, but where would I store all the decorations?

Crafting does not come as naturally to me as it does to my grandma and my mom. They are both just plain good at it, while I have to work a little harder. Plus, I am just not as apt to go as "all out" like they do. Going "all out" seems to be getting lost as it is passed from one generation to the next.

I did however have a moment of inspiration for the Halloween Party at Jeff and Macy's daycare. I decided it was time for me to get serious and become the crafty-cool mom that I dream of being. So, a pizza snake and spider eggs were about to be created. Seriously, I was so proud of myself for following through on creating rather than just wishing I would have done something more. (And they were a hit at daycare, making Jeff and Macy proud to have brought them! Even better than making me feel proud of myself!)

Without further ado...behold...