Random Thoughts and Observations

Big Boy
When Jackson and Ken are playing hide-and-seek, and Ken is the one hiding, Jack stalks around the house saying, "Where is that Big Boy?" He pretends he doesn't see his daddy, even when it's obvious there's a large man under the kitchen table. In order to extend the game, of course. Cracks me up every time. Especially when he comes to me with a goofy grin on his face and says, "Mom! I can't find Dad. Where *IS* that BIG BOY?"


Re-do
I'm in the process of redecorating Jack's room, transforming it from a Nursery to a Little Boy room...that will someday become a Big Boy room. Our generous friend Patti gave us a loft bed, so thanks to Pinterest and Disney Junior, I'm making the under-bed area a clubhouse. ("Mickey Mouse, Clubhouse! Come inside; it's fun inside!") I chose red and white polka dot material for the "stage" curtains, and after measuring, cutting, sewing, measuring again, and hanging, Ken's reaction was, "It reminds me of Minnie Mouse." Oh dear!

I realized that he's right. It does look Minnie-ish! And while Jack has a bit of a thing for Minnie, I'm not sure I want his room to resemble her polka dot dress. I am going to attempt a masculinization of the decor, and then I'll post some pictures.


Oh Dear!
Speaking of "Oh Dear," my almost three year old says, "Oh Dear!" on a regular basis. He also says, "Oh My!" I'm glad he's not using less savory expressions, but sometimes he sounds like a 75-year-old grandma when he speaks. Not that there's anything wrong with 75-year-old grandmas.


Three Good Words
Ken and I try to pray with Jack several times throughout the day. Before meals, before bed, etc. We usually pray a simple prayer, thanking God for all He's provided and asking for His intervention in any situations that come to mind.

Occasionally I ask Jack if he'd like to say the prayer. He has never turned me down. When he was younger, he would bow his head, scrunch up his eyes, and mumble some incomprehensible words. Now that he's almost three, his prayers have become much more mature. Unless we prompt him, they are always three words long:

"Dear Jesus ...[sigh] ... Amen."

To tell you the truth, I am fascinated with this prayer. In three short words, he covers all the bases.

dear

     adj. beloved, loved, adored, cherished, precious, precious treasure

     adv. at a high cost 

Jesus

     noun. from the Greek, meaning, "God is salvation."

amen

     exclamation: uttered at the end of a prayer or hymn, meaning "so be it." Used to express agreement or assent.

     noun: from Hebrew, meaning, "truth or certainty."

From the mouths of babes...

Frozen

I heard last night on the news that last year at this time Chicagoland had gotten about 3 inches of snow, total. This year? 48 inches. Plus all the sub-zero temps. I feel like we live in Antarctica. Fittingly, we're going to see FROZEN this afternoon. It will be Jack's first movie theatre experience. I wonder how it will go. To be continued...

Adventure

I like to be adventurous. I have an insatiable curiosity to see and do everything. When I was younger, my adventures were usually tied to traveling. I liked going to out-of-the-way destinations...some of them known for recruiting and harboring terrorists. 

Now that I'm in my forties and have a husband, child, dog, and mother-in-law to take into consideration, my adventures are somewhat different. Today's outing was going to pick up bagels in the middle of a snowstorm. As I pulled our baby blue minivan out of the garage and traversed the snowy streets, I thought about how much my life has changed. I wouldn't trade my past adventures for anything, but I wouldn't trade the present for anything either.

Blue Mini

Speaking of blue minivans...and my son's affection for Minnie Mouse... 

After Ken's New Year's Eve accident, which totaled his pick-up truck, we decided to invest in a family vehicle. It was nice to have a truck for moving and hauling stuff, but it wasn't very practical. It was a manual transmission, so I couldn't drive it. It only had one row of seating, so it wasn't conducive to a carseat for Jack. And with the hopes of adopting a little one in the next year, we decided the car I drove, a PT Cruiser (which is deceptively small), would not meet our needs. So we "upgraded" to a minivan.

A minivan.

People. I drive a minivan. I live in the Midwest. I make casseroles. I attend potluck dinners at my church. And I recently bought a pair of mom jeans.

But anyway...back to the blue Minivan. When we explained to Jack that we had a new blue MINIvan, he thought we were referring to Minnie Mouse. So our new Honda Odyssey is affectionately known as Blue Minnie. Thanks, Disney Junior. 

Full Circle

Now I must return to my sewing machine. Wish me luck as I attempt to masculinize my son's Minnie Mouse-inspired bedroom decor.

Happy Saturday!

Luann