JustJessie

Blue Eyes

What Could Be Cuter Than a Puppy?

Grant talking about a puppy, that's what!  I wish you guys could have heard him when we went to meet our puppy.  He was shin-deep in furballs and had the hugest smile you've ever seen.  He kept saying, "Oh my doo'ness!  Dey coot!  Dey so coot!"  At one point he had a pup on each hip, one licking each foot, and one more trying to climb up his tummy.  He was in puppy-lovin' heaven.

Later at home, we were all talking about the puppy, and Grant said, "My gone' do 'Catch, Puppy!'  and I frow it an' he catch it, like 'Catch, Puppy!'  Like dat, momma!  An' he catch it!"  He was so excited.  I've caught him and Grayson more than once "practicing" for playing catch.  Grayson will be standing in the den, throwing a toy.  Meanwhile, Grant will be crawling around wearing a dog-ear headband, barking, and fetching the toy in his mouth for his bubba.  These boys of mine, they're something else! 

We're Expecting!!

We're proud to announce that we're expecting a new baby boy...  A baby boy Brittany Spaniel, that is!  We've been mulling over the decision to get a dog for some time now.  Grayson is the perfect age to get his first four-legged companion, and Grant loves anything with fur!  We have researched breeds and all that jazz until we know more about it than anyone should, and we finally decided on a Brittany.  They're great family dogs, excellent bird hunters (something Jeff plans to start doing with Grayson), light shedders, and a nice size for indoor dogs.  Finding a breeder with pups available in the area was interesting, too, because as soon as they are listed in the paper, those pups are SOLD!

Find one we did, however, and he had the sweetest little furballs for us to choose from.  We don't get to pick him up until Saturday, but here he is...

We seem to have a bit of a predicament that we need your help with.  We can't agree on a name!  So here's the deal, I'm going to put a poll on the sidebar and YOU GUYS have to vote for your favorite!  Please participate, cause we need your help!

Carving Time

Remember all those purty pumpkins we brought home Sunday?  We finally got around to butchering them today.  When I say "we" I mean "I."  We usually do it as a family the night we come home from the pumpkin patch, but this year we've just been too busy somehow.  I really had fun doing it, too.  Kayla helped scrape out the pumpkin guts (Grayson and Grant were WAY too grossed out to do any such thing), and she wanted to roast some seeds, so I put her in charge of that job, too!

When it came time to wield the knives, though, I didn't let anyone else in on the fun.  Grayson BEGGED me to let him cut his own pumpkin, but I just wasn't brave (stupid?) enough for that.  He finally agreed that I could carve it if I drew the face on paper first, so he could approve my design.  His two pumpkins had to be scary enough, and we finally decided on Jack (even though he's never seen Nightmare Before Christmas) and a vampire.  Grant had his heart set on Mouse Toodles (yikes!  I wasn't sure I could pull that one off!) and Dorothy from the Wiggles.  Here's how they turned out:

They wouldn't win any contests, but the kids love them! 

Wordless Wednesday

Grantinese: Monkey & Moo, the Multipurpose Words

I've been putting off another lesson is Grantinese, because I'm afraid you all get tired of the things my kids say.  If this is the case, you may as well stop reading now.  Otherwise, let me introduce you to an all purpose word in the language of Grantinese... Monkey.  How is monkey an all purpose word you ask?  I'll demonstrate.

Monkey Cheese = Mac and Cheese.  "My wont monkey cheese!"

Monkey Wand = Magic Wand  "My do Wiggle Waggle (those are the Wiggles' magic words) wi' my monkey wand."

Monkey Bed = Jumping on the bed (from the song "Ten Little Monkeys")  "My do monkey bed and bonkey head!"

*Added later*  I almost forgot!  Monkey-phone is both a microphone to sing in and a xylophone to play on!!

The next multipurpose word you should know is Moo.  Just about any superhero name can be replaced with Moo in Grantinese.  For example, Spiderman, Superman, and Batman are referred to collectively as MooMans. 

Then there are ghosts.  As we discovered on a hayride recently, ghost in Grantinese is pronounced, "Moo Cow."  Yeah, we're still trying to figure that one out.

A variance of Moo is also used for milk, "Moo-k."  This one is sort of our fault.  He used to say something a little closer to milk, but one day we jokingly referred to it as moo juice, and "Mook" it's been ever since. 

That concludes today's lesson in Grantinese.  Have a Monkey Day!

Pumpkin pickin'!

I love going to the pumpkin patch every year!  We are a family with about a million traditions to go with every holiday, and this is one of my favorites!  (Okay, so they're all my favorite, GIMME A BREAK!)      

We had a day full of cool things.  There were corn bins to jump in (wierd, but apparently very fun), tire swings, a petting zoo, corn maze, and of course the hayride to the pumpkin patch itself.  We've never gone this late in the season before, and I was surprised at how few and how small the pumpkins actually were.  We had a little trouble finding ones that were suitable, but I think everyone got one they were happy with!

Grayson is an old pro at the pumpkin patch thing, and Grant was right on his heels doing everything big bubba did.  He jumped right into that corn, big kids and all; he hung onto the tire swing for dear life, determined to swing all by himself; he wanted to carry his own pumpkin, but it was just too heavy for his little arms! 

All in all, we had a blast.  I love being together as a family, making memories we can all treasure.

Aloha Friday

I keep forgetting about this meme over at An Island Life, but when I saw it this morning I decided to do it again!

So, here's my Aloha Friday question:

What was your first car when you were a teenager?

Mine was a light blue, ten-year-old, Grand Am.  I named her Winnie (I had a Pooh Bear dangly thing on the mirror).  The windows were immediately covered in all manner of Janis, Jimi, and Dead stickers, and there was a yellow smiley tag on the front.  I hardly ever cleaned it, and I and all my friends smoked in it like freight trains.  It didn't take long for me to completely trash it, but I loved that little car and the freedom it gave me.  Winnie will always have a place in my heart!

The Notorious BFG

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but our local library has recently started a book club for 5-8 year olds.  As part of that, they have the option to get up in front of the group and do a "bookshare," which is basically an oral book report.  Ms. Kim (our kids' librarian) told them they could dress up and act out part of it, or just whatever they want.  What?  Dress up?  You know Grayson was all over that one. 

The book he chose to review was The BFG by Roald Dahl.  I think I've told you all how much he loves that book.  So we used some things we had around the house, and I sewed him a "bald cap" and Voila!   Unfortunately, none of the other kids dressed up, and there were a couple of big kids there making comments about the younger ones.  So I'm sad to say the BFG costume stayed tucked neatly inside our book bag. Apparently the scorn of the eight year olds was just too much for Grayson to face.

I did get a video of him practicing at home, though.  I think it's pretty darn cute!

S'more Waffles

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to find foods kids like that don't contain either high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils?  Trust me, it's difficult.  If you don't want to bring your kids up to be diabetics with clogged arteries, you have to be very diligent.  A couple of months ago, I decided to read the labels on everything I buy for our house.  Let me tell you, I was surprised!  You know that little green checkmark on the packages that's supposed to mean it's a smart choice for your family?  It means nothing.  Since cereal for breakfast is now pretty much out of the question (because even the "healthy" ones are substituting sugar for nasty artificial sweeteners, but that's another story), I've had to get pretty creative with what I give them.

I don't suppose S'more Waffles sounds like a very healthy breakfast food, but from the standpoint of the two forbidden ingredients, it's not so bad.  Here's how you make 'em.

This serves both my five year old and my two year old:

One Vann's organic, wheat-free waffle, toasted and quartered

12 semi-sweet chocolate chips (three for each waffle piece).  These don't have to be organic, but the more cocoa and less sugar the better

2 large marshmallows, cut into small pieces

All you have to do is place the chocolate chips and marshmallow pieces on top of the waffle.  We place ours in the microwave about ten seconds to soften up the toppings.  Serve with one slice of bacon each for protein, a few strawberries, and a cup of organic milk.  They'll think you're the greatest mom on earth, and you can feel good knowing that you fed them an easy to prepare, balanced breakfast to begin their day.