New Judeism

This is Dallas.  I don't write much on here but thought this new saying was blog worthy.  For the last week or so, I've noticed Jude saying something that hasn't made much sense.  He will say "where are my drumsticks, whistle, shoes, etc... in the world?" or "what are you doing in the world?" or "Rhett, why are you crying in the world?"  In case you haven't figured it out, he's putting his "in the world" phrase in the wrong place.  I don't have the heart to correct him.  Besides, he knows what he's saying.

Other noteworthy Judeisms...just to name a few

Please, may can I (insert request for candy, chips, chocolate milk or some other request he knows is a long shot)...
Hostible (Hospital)
Bermember (Remember)
Faridgerator (Refrigerator)
a-post to (supposed to)
"Mom, PERIOD....you need to jump on the trampoline, capisce!?!"

Personality!

Rhett has been exercising his facial muscles this past week...mainly his eyebrow muscles.  That's right, he's down-right scowling at us these days.  It's at the most appropriate times too!  I refuse to believe that he is already giving us attitude, and claim it's merely coincidental that these scowls are sometimes preceded or followed by some sort of violent tantrum or kicking/screaming fit.  Oh no, not my sweet little Rhett.  NEVER in a million years would any of you believe that:).  Quite frankly it's one of the cutest things I've ever seen.  It's all I can do not to burst out into laugher.  He is also probably wondering why I'm slyly reaching for the camera when he starts his shenanigans.  I don't remember this with Jude, and Rhett is supposed to be my laid back child, so I refuse to believe this is in any way foresight into his behavioral future.

Just seconds later...

{Don't mind the giant lump on his head.}  

I also refuse to believe in mood swings:).  

A few mornings ago I brought Rhett his oatmeal {I love feeding my kids oatmeal, by the way.  So healthy and hearty.  We like ours plain sweetened by bananas.}, and he took a big bite, squeezed his little lips together and said, "MMMMMM."  I thought maybe it was a coincidence, but he continued on throughout breakfast.  I love feeding him, he is such a good eater!  He also started spoon-feeding himself this week.  He grabbed the spoon out of my hand and shoveled it right into his mouth.  Again, I thought this was a coincidence {I promise I do think my kids are smart}, but he kept doing it time after time.  He has a smile on his face {a look of accomplishment} every time.  He knows he's pretty big stuff around here:).

And of course this was documented through photography...

mmmmmmmm....

Jude will be starting preschool this January!  I can't believe it, and honestly, it breaks my heart.  Sigh.  He's surely not ready to be away from me for four hours a day twice a week, right?  Well, according to him, YES, he cannot wait.  I told him this morning that he would be starting school in a few weeks, and I just wish I could have captured the look of shear joy and excitement on his cute little face.  He's been working toward this, and I hope school won't let him down.  We told him this summer that if he wanted to go to preschool he would have to stop crying in Sunday School at church.  Every week it was the same story, tears, big ones, every time we dropped him off in his class.  He's known these people since birth, so I could only imagine the emotional torment {on all of us} taking him to a place where he knows nobody.  Shoot, I wonder if he knows I will not be staying at school with him...I better start working on that one asap.  Anyway, when we bribed him with school to get him to stop crying in church {thankfully he doesn't know that eventually we'd have to let him go to school regardless of his behavior...or suffer the consequences of DHS and jail:)} it was like the best deal EVER!  He marches his little self into class every Sunday and comes out with a smile on his face when we pick him up.  He's like a different child.  Sometimes bribery works friends...sometimes.  I'll keep you posted on how the school thing goes, hopefully it will be all that Jude's been dreaming of!  

Jude was in the church Christmas program Sunday night.  He played the bells and was hysterical!  At one point he hunkered down, took position with his feet and played that bell with all he had.  It was like he had a fever for more cow bell!  The crowd was laughing and I was about to fall out of my chair.  He also played a sheep for a song entitled, "shaggy, smelly...sheep."  The choir behind the sheep were doing motions and pointing at the shaggy smelly sheep, while Jude spent is time facing them and mimicking every hand motion they were doing.  When they said "shaggy, smelly...sheep" and pointed at the sheep, Jude pointed at the other sheep too, as if he was not one of them.  He picked up on all the motions very quickly.  After their part was over the three year olds were taken over to sit on a pew until the program was over.  The older kids sang a song and they were all jumping up.  I looked over at the pew with the 3 year olds,  and all I saw was a tiny blonde head bouncing up and down in the aisle right along with the kids up on stage.  He's the best!  He just puts a smile on my face every time I think about him.  I honestly feel guilty because sometimes I think I expect too much from him because he's so smart.  I treat him as if he's 5 sometimes, instead of the cute little 3-yr old that he is.  Sorry Juder...I love you to the moon and back, up to the stars and down to the worms.  Please forgive me for the times I've expected you to act above your age.  You are such a sweet spirited boy and a wonderful helper to momma.  LOVE YOU!  

Jude has always been pretty big into dressing himself.  He's been able to fully assemble all of his clothing from head to toe since he turned 2.  It's becoming increasingly difficult to talk him down from certain wardrobe disasters.  Lately he's really into wearing shorts overtop of his pants.  Oh yes, this is really happening.  He came downstairs yesterday, just as pleased and confident as could be, with three shirts on (one was a turtle neck), jeans and mesh shorts overtop of the jeans.  The best part, the icing on the cake, how could this get any better you ask....his jean were tucked perfectly into cowboy boots.  These cowboy boots may or may not have been made for girls.  The heel is just a bit high for my liking on a boy, but I could be wrong.  Also the boot name embossed on the inside of the boot is "Haley", so I'm pretty sure we don't like to wear these in public either:).  I'm letting him embrace his own style...at home.  He doesn't understand why we don't dress like this in public, but I'm confident that one day he'll thank me.  

This is not the boot day, but another classic example.  He's also sporting a drum on his head and the baby monitor on his waistband....

My babes are so fun and creative.  I love both of their spunky personalities! It makes them who they are, and I would never change a thing about either one of them!  

framed!

Okay, so many weeks/months ago my mom surprised me with some awesome treasures from my grandma's attic (thanks mom and grandma)!  She went to Indiana for a weekend to visit with my grandparents, and they cleaned out the biggest coolest attic you've ever dreamed of.  I have such great memories playing in that attic, dressing up with old clothes, hide and seek and so many other fun things happened in there.  That's where a lot of imagination and adventure took place...tons of fun with cousins and sisters!  The first thing that comes to mind when I think of the attic is dressing up like elderly people:).  My cousins, sisters and I used to dress up in the old clothes and hats from the attic and walk around hunched over with canes.  We would scwinch our faces up and use an old powder puff to make wrinkles on our faces.  We found old glasses and shawls and had a BLAST!  It doesn't sound like much fun now, but I remember doing that a lot!  So, back to my surprise...my mom brought me several old OLD frames from the attic.  She knows I love vintage pieces and she said they had planned to throw them away, but she thought of me.  I'm so glad she did.  I fell in love with these frames at first sight.  Dusty, crackly, falling apart old frames.  LOVE THEM!  I spent some time cleaning them up, painting and distressing some of them, but a few I left just as they were, in all of their vintage loveliness!  Then I simply added my photos, glass to some of them, mattes to others, backing and hooks.  They are such an awesome addition to our home.  What I love the most about them is their history.  These are pieces from my great-grandparents, great aunt Clara and my grandparents homes.  My mom remembered the "pink" frame from her house growing up.  I just love that some of that history is now hanging on my walls with photos of my children in them.  Call me sentimental, there's just something about that history.
Here are some before and some afters...

Just took pics of 2 before

Okay, so this frame came from craigslist, not my grandma's attic.  It started out gold and BOLD.  It was a framed mirror and is seriously humongous!  It was very ornate and shiny when I found it!  This was my first experience painting/distressing/redoing a frame.  My friend Aja walked me through the process and I've clearly taken a liking to it:).  I payed $40 for the mirror on craigslist, and with a few extra bucks for paint it's transformed into something I love! 

Here are a few other projects I've completed lately...

{Dresser}

This dresser was Dallas' as a kiddo.  I love using it because it was from his childhood, and I love not having to buy things like dressers!  He was forest green when we inherited him 7 years ago, but since then he's been cream, red and now this great blue/green that I picked up on the $5 mis-tint rack at home depot.  It was a lot brighter when I put it on, but toned down quite a bit through the distressing/staining process.  You'll recognize the color from the frames I redid above:). 

I was really pleased with this addition to the nursery.  I got the pulls and knobs on ebay years ago, but I think they were Restoration Hardware and I payed around $30 for 15 of them (there's another ugly dresser hiding in the garage waiting for his turn)!

I love how the red came through in the distressing.  I'm a sucker for that kind of character.  

{Pillows}

You may or may not know that I am a fabric junkie!  I LOVE fabric...vintage fabric, swatches, remnants...I love finding art through fabric!  I'm really loving Amy Butler's designs lately.  I am always finding small pieces of fabric that I like, typically only large enough to make a quilt square or a pillow, so that's what I'm making.  Here are a few of the many pillows I've made lately...

{Curtains}

Thankfully I purchased a bagillion yards of a linen-like fabric a few years ago for a whopping .50 cents a yard.  This was when we lived at our old house, and I just couldn't seem to get rid of the stuff.  It was never ending!  I gave several yards away to a friend and still had enough left over to make curtains for two giant window in my living room.  Gotta love the price tag on these!  

{wine rack}

So, technically I can't take credit for this one.  It's not even a recent project, but it's one of my faves!  I REALLY wanted the Pottery Barn wine rack a few years ago, but didn't want to pay the ridiculous  amount of $$$ for it. Well, Dallas made this one for me that summer when I was in IL.  I just love it, and it's one of my favorite pieces in my house to this day!  $20 for the wood and stain! Thanks Dal!  

Other news...

Rhett is putting his hand on this side of his face and quickly uncovering it saying "teet a too", which translates to "peek a boo!" He's getting way too big too fast!  

Rhett is also saying thank "da doo" and "ha".... for those of you who don't speak 'baby', this is thank you and hot!  Yay, he's learning so much.  I remember this stage with Jude, it all just starts happening so fast!  

My Aunt Sue and Uncle Mike came through town on Friday with my cousin Andy and his wife Natalie.  I hadn't seen Andy since 2003, and he had obviously never met my boys.  It was so great to visit with them and give them a short break on their road trip from Kenosha Wisconsin to Enid, OK!  I love family! 

Today we had a surprise 88th Birthday party for Dallas' grandpa.  Many of his family members from New Mexico were here, so my boys got to meet several of them for the first time too.  What a great family weekend!