JustJessie

Warm Biscuit Giveaway/ Dyson Giveaway

How would you like to win $50 to spend in a vintage children’s store? Kailani of An Island Life is holding a giveaway to Warm Biscuit Bedding Company. Stop by before September 28th for all the details.

Also, 5 Minutes for Mom is giving away a Pink Dyson vacuum cleaner!  I might actually vacuum with a smile if I had a pink vacuum cleaner to do it with!  Or at least without a grimace.

Okay, I had to post that to enter the contests, but you know I don't really want you to enter, because then you might win & I won't!  Just kidding!  Go enter and good luck!

Sleepover craziness!

My only niece turned thirteen Friday, and guess who volunteered to have a sleepover for her!  Me!!  Daddy and Big G were gone for the weekend, and since it was just me & the little man, I thought why not?  So she invited six of her friends, and they had a blast!  I let Kayla choose all the activities, snax, movies, etc. and I was totally shocked by what they wanted to do.  When I think sleepover, I think: manicure, pedi, makeover, prank calls, right?  Not these girls.  They wanted to craft and bake!  Now THAT is right up my alley. 

The plan was to make cut-out cookies and decorate them, make play-dough (that one surprised me), do mud masks, and watch a scary movie.  The only things on we did on the list were the cookies and the movie.  Maybe because there was about a two hour dance break in the middle of it all. 

I think their favorite part may have been that we ate the birthday cake for breakfast!  They were so full of junk food we didn't get to it the night before, so they got to have it at 9am!

They were all great, and I hope they had fun.  Kayla's mom had a sleepover for me when I was 14, and I still remember so much from that night.  I hope the same is true for Kayla when she is my age.  I hope she knows how special she is to me and that I love her for who she is, and I hope her friends all see that too.

An unusual reward

We are big on manners in our house.  We stress please and thank you, ma'am and sir, etc.  We eat around the table every night and practice table manners.  We don't burp out loud or get up without asking to be excused.  Sometimes it seems like we are constantly on the kids backs about using good manners. 

So, on occasion, if behaviour has been very good, we reward the boys with "Bad Manners Night."  It begins just before dinner and lasts until bedtime.  During this hour and a half, it's no holds barred.  We burp as loud as we can and never say excuse me.  We don't put napkins in our lap, or use utensils if we don't want to.  We get up without so much as a word to anyone else.  We speak with our mouths full as loud as we wish.  Generally, it's disgusting, but also fun because of the laughter it brings.  I have to admit, it can be a bit hard to choke down dinner amid a chorus of three burping boys (daddy included), and it's very hard to stop the compulsive reminders about chewing with mouths closed, but once in a while, it's good to just let it all fly. 

So, for your viewing pleasure, here is a glimpse into bad manners night at the Keith hacienda.  *warning - this clip may not be suitable for the weak stomached! haha*

Crazy baby

Terrible two's anyone?  Is it possible to start them at only nineteen months?  This one has.  He thinks it is hilarious to get out of bed about five times a night, or nap.  Usually he sneaks out of bed, knocks on his door, and says, "Here I is mommy!"  He thinks this is the best joke ever.  Yesterday during nap time I sneaked in to peek at him and guess where I found him.  Asleep on the floor in the middle of a pile of books, halfway under Big G's bed.  He slept that way for two hours. 

Another fave for him lately is any noise that comes from anyone's body.  He tries to make himself burp and then laughs his head off before catching my eye and saying "Scoo me."  He is a mess for sure.  This of course serves as a grand excuse for big bubba to perform any number of bodily functions.  "I was just making baby brother laugh mama!"

The truth?  If this is the terrible two's, they're pretty fun.  I mean, in the grand scheme of things, does it matter so much if I can't shower until 2:00 in the afternoon because I'm afraid of what might happen if I do it while he's awake?  I get to hear that priceless laugh a million times a day, and see that adorable smile.  I get to see a cute little diapered hiney sticking out of a pile of books in the floor at nap time.  I get to watch his fascination with his daddy grow everyday as he learns to do "man stuff."  I know this testing time is also a learning time, so I try to remember to treasure it, instead of staying frustrated.  Every day is a new test, I only hope I pass.

A Question to Ponder...

                      

As a mother of boys, I get asked MANY questions every day, especially since Big G turned five.  Sometimes I tend to answer on auto-pilot: "Because God made them that way," "Because that's the way we do things in our house," "Because they are dirty."  Then other times I am forced to think.  For example, just as I was taking these pics of my little pirate, he asked this one, "Momma, how do pirates pick their nose?  If they have a hook for a hand, does it hurt, or do they just stick the tip of the hook in there and get it out gently?"  First I laughed.  Second, I explained that not all pirates had hooks for hands.  Third, I told him they probably used their regular hand instead of the hook one.  It would have been useless to suggest that maybe they didn't pick their noses at all.  After all, if pirates used good manners, what would be the point of being one?

I am simply amazed (and sometimes exasperated) at the volume of questions that come out of his brain each day.  There are dozens of questions about nature (i.e. why do ants live in hills, do queen bees wear crowns, why do dandelions get fluffy).  There are questions about God (why did he have to send his son for us to go to heaven, does every animal that dies go to heaven or only people's pets, when we get to heaven do we have to wear clothes all the time).  There are millions of questions about body parts and bodily functions which are answered mostly by, "I don't know.  Try to remember to ask Daddy when he gets home."  I must admit, I partly do this just to watch Daddy struggle to come up with an answer suitable to a five year old.

Even though sometimes my ears and my brain get tired, I am thankful for these questions.  They lead to so many conversations we would never have otherwise.  He is growing smarter everyday through his natural curiosity and desire to learn.  And someday I know I will miss the endless chatter and the memories it brings.

Body art

Everybody loves fingerpainting.  It's just fun!  I decided it was high time to say "Who cares about the mess!" and introduce little G to the world of fingerpaint.  After all, how much mess can one little guy make, right?  heh heh.  You don't know my little guy!  What started out as a tentative placement of bitty fingertips-full of colors...                                           

Soon became an all-out session in body art!  It started out innocently enough.  A thumbsuck here, an ill-timed thrown kiss there.  Oh, and you know, when your head itches, you've gotta scratch it, right?  Well, the end result looked something like this.

Despite the mess, or maybe because of it, we had a great time.  The end result was a masterpiece which will be given to someone we love very much for her birthday.  Her gift will not only be little G's first fingerpainting, but all the love, fun, and giggles involved in making it, and wishes for the same for her.  We love you Aunt Meg!

That's m'boy!

There's nothing like the first time your child sings onstage in church.  It's different from school programs: partly because they practice so much at school and partly because when they sing at church, they aren't just performing, they are worshiping God.  There's this horrible butterfly feeling while you're waiting, far worse than you've ever had for yourself.  Then when they're all lined up mouth open wide and eyes smiling, there is a joy and pride not comparable to anything on earth.  The quintessential "That's m'boy!"

Since Big G has been able to speak, he has been making up (very long) songs about Jesus and his blessings in his life.  He has a genuine desire to worship God, and we encourage that as much as possible.  On the way to church yesterday, we spoke about how worship is pleasing to God and how it opens people's hearts to hear God's word.  So when Big G opened his mouth to sing, he knew what he was doing, and he gave it his all.  Without further ado, Big G's choral debut...

*the cutest blur in the middle is mine.  The lighting and distance were too much for my camera's digital brain.*

A morning prayer from long ago

                                                               

COMPASSIONATE LORD,

Thy mercies have brought me to the dawn of another day,

Vain will be its gift unless I grow in grace,

     increase in knowledge,

     ripen for spiritual harvest.

Let me this day know thee as thou art,

love thee supremely,

serve thee wholly,

admire thee fully.

Through grace let my will respond to thee,

Knowing that power to obey is not in me, but

that thy free love alone enables me to serve thee.

Here then is my empty heart,

overflow it with thy choicest gifts;

Here is my blind understanding,

Chase away its mists of ignorance.

O ever watchful Shepherd,

lead, guide, tend me this day;

Without thy restraining rod I err and stray;

Hedge up my path lest I wander into unwholesome pleasure,

and drind its poisonous streams;

Direct my feet that I be not enangled in Satan's secret snares,

nor fall into his hidden traps.

Defend me from assailing foes,

from evil circumstances,

from myself.

My adversaries are part and parcel of my nature;

They cling to me as my very skin;

I cannot escape their contact.

In my rising up and sitting down they barnacle me;

They entice with constant baits;

My enemy is within the citadel;

Come with mighty power and cast him out, pierce him to deat,

   and abolish in me every particle of carnal life this day.

Therapy... or something like it

What is it about squishy things in our hands that makes us feel better?  Sculpting, baking, finger-painting... Apparently even painting with shaving cream!  My boys and I started out the morning a bit on the cranky side, and what does Mommy do about it?  I whip out the shaving cream!

After all , who could stay cranky with white fluff smooshed between their fingers...

                                     

And on their arms...

                                     

And their tummies...

                                     

We had a lot of fun.  The boys couldn't believe what a mess they were allowed to make.  I think shaving cream therapy can be considered a great success.  Don't you?

                                     

Yet again, we paint...

Does it seem to anyone else that my creative wheels are spinning?  I want my boys to have new opportunities for expression everyday, yet lately we seem to be stuck in rut.  So, once again, we paint.

                            

This time we made potato stamps, something I have never actually done.  Big G dictated the shapes and I did the cutting. He really enjoyed stamping the shapes, and came out with picture that reflects who he is: colorful and busy, but still with a certain level of perfection involved (no mixed colors, stamps placed with much thought).

                            

His BROTHER on the other hand... Let's allow the art to speak for itself shall we?

                            

Excuse the blurred pic, he chose that moment to begin painting his teeth.  In true Little G fashion, primary colors soon turned to brown, and when he finally got his hands on a potato stamp... HE ATE IT!! (Thank God for non-toxic paint).