Just For Fun

Just for fun, check out some photos of what we’ve been up to lately during this lovely fall weather :O)

His New Fave

Check out Daniel quoting his new favorite book, which I bought at a yard sale for a whole dime! Can you tell which one it is?

A Professional in the Making

My cousin just recently got married. She had planned a beautiful outdoor fall wedding, but her plans were interrupted a little on the account of some frigid fall temps. Instead, she had to settle for a beautiful “indoor” fall wedding. Being that the plans had changed due to the weather, things were a little cramped. As everyone huddled into the fancy barn, I began to pray that my kids behaved. I know that they are just that, kids, but you really don’t want to have a battle in the middle of someone’s most perfect day. When Daniel began to fidget, I quickly scrambled my mind for something to occupy him. In perfect mommy mode, I decided to show him pictures on the digital camera. As I whispered “Look, Daniel,” I began to show him the images; this was a great plan. As I clicked through a few images from the beginning of the wedding and an outing from the night before, I soon entered into some photos that I did not expect to see. Suddenly, I found myself becoming the one to keep quiet. My eyes were watering and my sides were hurting as I held back chuckles. What was so funny? Daniel’s photography. He had obviously acquired my camera and taken TONS of pictures of the most random items. As I scrolled through, he whispered about each picture, in such a matter of fact manner, that I was laughing even more. I stayed quiet though, and so did my son= success. His quality and composition are quite impressive, not to mention his choice of subjects. He takes after his Daddy, and I must have a professional in the making!

Dear T@rget

This open letter is crafted from the less than ideal customer service experience I had a few weeks back with T@rget. Rather than give you the play-by-play of the day, I will share my complaint letter, which has not actually been sent, but most likely should be. And should they try to find me on the web, I’ve stealthily disguised their name with a little @. Sneaky, isn’t it?

Enjoy.

Dear T@rget:

I like you; I really do, and I thoroughly consider you the lesser of all evils, hands down. Your stackable coupon policy helps me snag great deals and your dollar spot makes me smile. I do, however, have one qualm: Your Return Policy. Let’s get real here, T@rget. Sometimes, folks lose the receipt. It is by its nature a tiny little piece of paper, just like lots of other tiny little pieces of paper, thus living a nondescript life. That is not truly where my issue resides, for despite the two babies I call my own, and a husband that has childlike qualities at times, I typically manage to keep a receipt, when there is actually one to keep. What then is the rub? Your registry return policy. Because when I create a gift registry for my coming baby, I hope for the best: a gift receipt and no duplicate purchases. That, my friend, would be a perfect world. We do, however, live in a fallen world, so not every T@rget shopper completes the transaction and gift-giving as flawlessly as your store encourages.  Admittedly, in rare instances, we registry creators choose a gift that did not meet our expectations or fit the appropriate space, especially since the item might have been selected on-line, without a proper viewing. It would make sense then that you would honor me, the registrant, by choosing to bring business your way through my registry, not to mention respect my gift giver by taking back said item. Now, I am not expecting you to be like the mega-aisles-of-smiles-superstore that shall not be named and take back everything. That would be simply preposterous. Yet, when the large, unopened box I bring in has your red logo all over it, you can rest assured that it is from your company. And when I go to print off my “gift-registry log” that is oh so important for gift returning, it miffs me tremendously that you have deleted it, and not just my log, but my entire registry. I understand that you consider my event date to be past the very sacred and irrevocable 90 days, but how do you, oh keeper of baby registries, know exactly when my child passed through the birth canal and officially entered into this world? Were you there? Because I certainly did not see you, and had you been there, I just might have requested a popcorn combo for $1.50 to help me pass the time. Also, as I kindly reminded your “I only speak barely audible broken English” customer service associate on the phone, due dates are guesstimates, not facts. My baby was not born on his due date, thank you very much. He was born over a week after. Therefore, the event date, as you like to call it, was not the date of the birth, so in the world of law and birth certificates, I was still within the 90 days. And not to be ugly about it, but the Feds have more power in my mind than your red shirted associates. I am still sticking with my plan that I discussed with you to tell all future registrants to choose a due date that is months away from the actual anticipated date in order to leave more time for returns. Because, let’s be honest here, the first thing on a woman’s mind after pushing a baby out of her vagina is not to go straight home and measure the space opening at the bottom of her stairs to make sure the baby gate is going to fit, especially a baby gate that had not yet been shipped to her house. I’m just saying. It’s not priority number one. Call me crazy if you must, but for some reason this new little life takes precedence. Although this occurrence has tainted our relationship, I know we can move past this, for I have already given you more of my family’s hard earned money since this incident. I, however, will remember. The scars are deep, old friend, and the reminders are constant…..because a perfectly crafted, mint, new in box baby gate still sits in my garage, haunting and mocking me upon each and every entrance into my house.

Yours truly,

A Chagrined T@rget Shopper

My Firefighter

Did you know Thomas is a firefighter? Well, he is! But not of actual flames, unless you count the time a Goodwill trailer was in flames and he put it out. True story…..but I digress.

The fires my hubby puts out are ones within the lives of children and families as a counselor. He has worked with several companies in different cities but each job has entailed the same tasks: helping people.  Now the crises I speak us are of varying levels. He has worked with children that just can’t sit still long enough in class to listen to the teacher, thus becoming a disruption. He has also worked with children who have threatened to kill others while physically harming themselves with drugs or knives. Sometimes that help has been directly from his hands, while other times it has come from his supervisory position and knowledgeable consult. Regardless of how, an improvement was always sought.

Consistently Thomas goes above and beyond, attempting to figure out what will work for each case, each individual, each family, in order to have the most impact.  He is truly amazing at what he does, and I do not brag on him enough. And being that I have this virtual stage on which to boast of his goodness, I’m going to take advantage of it!

My husband rocks. He has chosen a career in which he is extremely talented, and God has blessed him with an abundance of knowledge and skills as well. The stories he can tell about clients can scare you, for he has truly encountered some rough subjects. However, he also has stories of gentle individuals that have just had some hard life circumstances; those stories will melt your heart. His most recent job has him in a different setting than past employments. Typically he works  in the home of a family, but now he works in an elementary school, seeing students as needed or referred. Being that most everything in his job is confidential, I only get tidbits of his days. I never know names and I never meet the people that he impacts. If a client happens to be in the same place as us, Thomas can not talk with her unless she initiates the conversation. Being the type of person that I am, this is hard, for I would love to know the people that make up his day. Alas, I can’t, so anytime I get sneak peeks into his realm, I truly enjoy them, especially when they are this cute:

That’s Thomas! He has a client with low verbal skills, so he has the individual draw. On this particular day, the little boy wanted to draw his counselor, my hubby. Don’t you just love those nostrils?! I thought they were glasses at first, but Thomas corrected me. And how about those ear holes that look like earrings? This just makes me smile. I can’t wait until Daniel is able to draw such cute portraits!

And, finally, here is a photo of some origami–a brontosaurus. An older client has a hard time focusing on tasks and assignments in the classroom, so Thomas is working with his ability to follow directions and produce an appropriate product. Pretty creative, isn’t it.

Anyway, I just thought I would share….and brag…..about my husband, the firefighting counselor :O)

BOO!

Eerily Similar

I ♥ Faces– Favorite Things

Folks over at I Heart Faces are suppose to post some of their favorite things, just for kicks, so they don’t necessarily have to be faces. I decided to give you a quick look at 5 of my favorite things, in no particular order, of which I actually happen to have photos that I have taken and can therefore post. (click on the button below to see what everyone else loves)

1) The view from our living room windows during any and all seasons. It is simply serene.

2) Wesley, my paci loving, bath appreciating, wide-eyed wonder.

3) Daniel, my toothless, double crowned, snack-sneaking superstar.

4) The fact that both my boys have big toes like their daddy. Why this is so cute to me, I can’t really tell you, but the identical toes just make me smile.

5) Trips to the beach. I could be there 24/7, but the hubby is not so inclined. He humors me though and allows for brief vacations.

What are your favorite things?

We ♥ Fall

Oh how lovely the weather has been recently! Our state has certainly earned it after the weeks of rain we’ve endured. Now that fall is here, we’ve made several comfortable trips to the park with friends and family.

We are also gearing up for a Sunday School party tonight, complete with a hayride, weenie roast, and smores! I signed up to bring a dessert, and I opted to be a little festive in the process:

So how you do like my finger food ;o) ? Being that I had never made them before, I decided a taste test was in order. Although I mostly prefer all things chocolate, I think these are tasty. Want to make some too? Check out the recipe; Just don’t compare how mine look with the ones on the recipe site.

Hope you are enjoying fall too, perhaps even having your own hayride!

Peer Pressure- A One Act Play

CHARACTERS:

DANIEL: Toddler; energetic big brother with seemingly unkempt hair

WESLEY: Infant; playful, big eyed little brother

MOMMA: Mid to Late 20s; Dashing, strong, and quick minded

SETTING:

The play takes place in a typical American household’s kitchen and living room just before dinnertime and Daddy’s arrival home from work.

Curtain Rises

Daniel: (enters kitchen where MOMMY is prepping food) I want a cookie.

Momma: (gently) Sorry, but it is almost dinner time. You can have a cookie after you eat your dinner.

Daniel: But I want a cookie!

Momma: Sorry. No cookie.

Daniel: I WANT A COOKIE!

Momma: What did I just say? No cookie!

Daniel: COOK—

Mommy: Nope.

Daniel: (begins sobbing and wailing) Pllllleeeeaaasseee Mommy, cookie!!!

Momma: (matter of factly) If you are going to cry, you will have to leave the kitchen. I am making dinner and you can’t cry in here.

Daniel: (drops head, slumps shoulders, pouts lips and moves stage left to the living room, sitting next to WESLEY who is in a baby bouncer seat) Wesley, Momma is mean. We’re mad!

Wesley: (responds with big, bright eyes, coos and smiles)

Daniel: No, Wesley. Mad. Be mad. Momma mean. She not give Daniel cookie!

Welsey: (coos and smiles, even bigger than the first time, at DANIEL. Opens mouth wide and shoves in his fist gurgling with happiness).

Daniel: (sobs recommence) Wahhh!!! Wesley not mad at Momma! Wesley mean!

Momma: (Restrains a chuckle, shakes her head, and continues her task of making dinner, vowing to make note of the experience)

Curtain.

I ♥ Faces- Contemplative

contemplative: thoughtful observation; full or deep consideration; dreamily or wistfully thoughtful: a pensive mood; expressing or revealing thoughtfulness; quiet modes of apparent or real thought; can be marked by some sadness, but doesn’t have to be.

I adore this picture of Wesley. Just look at his eyes! How about those pouting lips?  His hand on his face, which was not staged, is precious. There is so much emotion on his face, but it is hard to know how to read it. Don’t you just wish you could know what this little guy was thinking when this picture was taken? I bet he is positing his views on world hunger. He’s recalling every number of pi. Or perhaps just postulating how he can gain access to more breast milk. Regardless, you can tell he is certainly thinking something!  I truly love it.

Be sure to click on over to I ♥ Faces to see how others have captured contemplation.