Christmas, a snack, blocks, a ring, and Skype. Sound thrilling?

I thought I'd win you over with my title this time. This is a completely random post, and I thought I'd fill you in on all the categories with the title.  Fair enough?

This morning Caleb asked me to push the button on my present.  Translation: pretend you are pushing a button on the cabinet.  Luckily, I'm a genius and knew what he was going for.  When I pushed the "button" he started singing "Oh Christmas Tree"

It went like this....

"OH Christmas tree, OH Christmas tree I love your owa branches.. na na na naaaaa na na na na, na na na naaaaaa na na na na.. Oh Christmas tree oh Christmas I love your owa branches"  (repeat)
We're really into Christmas over here I guess.  Caleb asked Ben this morning if his favorite song was "Oh Come oh Come Emmanuel".  And, he requested "Joy to the World" before bed the other night.  We NEED summer to come ASAP!  I don't want it to be Christmas anymore.  Unfortunately not everyone in my neighborhood feels the same way since 90% (or so.... MAYBE a slight exaggeration...;) ) of the street still has Christmas decor up.  What is going on!??!  A couple weeks ago someone down a street near our house who had a huge display of reindeer going up in the air and santa on his sleigh finally took his decorations down.  I thought that was pretty intense for mid-March, but maybe I'm just a scrooge.

 I was trying to get a picture of Grace smiling at ME, but the little stinker was straining to see Caleb. Apparently he's funnier than me.... what??  She was eating Triscuits here.  I LOVE triscuits.  They are a healthy snack (with THREE ingredients) AND, they are super tasty.  I used to think I hated them.  It's not true. They're delicious.

 And here she is eating those little puffs that dissolve in your mouth.  I bought those because I was feeling lazy-- it's a suuuuper easy snack.  But, I really hate giving them to her because I don't get what they are and there's about 500 ingredients in them.  I try to keep my babies healthy.  I try to be healthy too.  But, I really really like treats.  For example, I just ate a Hershey bar.  I had oatmeal for breakfast though..... maybe they can cancel each other out??

I sent this picture to Ben while he was at work.  He replied "WOW! Good job Caleb" I wrote back and said... "Actually, I made it"   BAHHAHA! I felt ridiculous for sending it.  I think I took it becuase I was playing with Caleb (sort of... I guess I was mostly playing with his blocks), and I thought Ben would like to see what we were doing??  

I've APPEARED to be unmarried lately.  My ring was waaay too big.  Back in January it FLEW off my finger and landed in someone's driveway in the dark.  That was the last straw.  I hadn't been wearing it for a while already-- only when I went out, but after that I stopped wearing it completely.  I hated not having it on.  I finally got it resized, and it was soooooooo shiny and wonderful when I got it back.  I forgot how much I love my ring.

  Random: I don't know if you can tell in this picture-- but my pinky does not straighten.... it's really weird.  There's my "something you didn't know about me" cool fact of the day.

This is how Ben was skyping his parents last weekend.  I thought Grace up there was so cute, so I had to snap a picture.  Aren't they precious?  Caleb gets pretty hyper when they are on the computer and starts running around the living room like he's nuts.  I think he thinks they can see him..... but with skype there's only a small area where they can see you.  Ben sometimes draws a face on his finger and puts that in his parents' line of view.  I think they love it.......

That's all.
Enjoy your weekend!  I'm enjoying mine!
-Melanie

Happy Friday!

Ok, I'm not THAT excited about it being Friday.  Let's be real... when you're a stay at home mom, Fridays take on a whole new meaning.  The new meaning is "it's the same as every other day".   When I used to nanny, Friday was my FAVORITE day because it meant 2 days of total FREEDOM.  In motherhood, there are no days off.  But, I'm ok with that and wouldn't want to do anything else.  Except sometimes... like when Caleb poops in his pants twice in the same day.  Yes, that was today and the other day.  I guess it's good to be regular... but I think we're coming to the point where he's a little TOO regular... amen?? 

Back to Fridays.... Fridays mean Ben is home tomorrow, so that's a treat. He's the best. around. Ben bought me pink roses out of nowhere last week, isn't that sweet?  I've never had pink roses before. I know a lot of people (women) get upset when you brag about your husband, but I think that's silly.  I think it's good to brag about your husband.  I think that the norm is to talk poorly of your husband or talk about what an idiot or how childlike he is... or maybe go on and on about the little things he does that bother you (for example when he leaves clothes on the floor.  NO, Ben NEVER does that ;) ).  I think our husbands could use their wives bragging a bit more.  So, feel free to keep bragging about your husband on facebook or at ladies night out or when you have guests over.  I'm sure he loves it, and you'll love him more when you do it.  Deal?  I'll start.  I think Ben is the greatest.  He loves the Lord, he loves me, he loves our kids, and he's really good at losing games, which he has to be living in the same house as me. Right Ben??  Who's currently winning UNO?!  

Today during breakfast Caleb told me I had a scary face. Like this "Mom, your face is scary"  OUCH.  I know that I had crazy hair, no makeup and my pajamas on, but really Caleb, scary??  I told him he could instead say,

"MOM, you're SO beautiful this morning"

"Mom, thanks for this great breakfast!"

"Mom, you're so kind!"

I think I came up with some others.  I'm sure he'll opt for one of those choices next time.  I'm seriously going to get scary if he doesn't quit telling me I am. 

WAHHHH!!!  (that was me freaking out and probably ACTUALLY being scary.)

I went into the horrible room the other day (It's like the office, play room, book room, and the "I don't know what to do with" place.  I'm working on it... sometimes...)  and found Caleb's "set up"  I'm thinking it was a choir. And two of the choir members passed out from stage fright.... or maybe they saw me coming and passed out because I'm so scary....

 

He also had the animals eating over the fence.  I thought that was SOO CUTE!

Then I put Grace in Caleb's bed, and he thought it was the GREATEST thing EVER.  He says "Mom, you can close the door now"  As if I'm going to leave her there with him.  If I didn't think it was dangerous I would TOTALLY do it just to see what he would do.  

This is where I yelled.. "OKAY!! TOO ROUGH!" (it was probably scary....NOT)

"Mom, I'm smoochin' her!" 

Then, I took this bad boy after Caleb ran over to Grace and said "MOM, take our picture!!" 

I think this might actually be the worst picture ever taken.... of anyone's children.  I laugh out loud every time I look at it. bhahhahahhahaahha.  

And finally, here is Grace showing off her "prettie"  My mother in law bought it from a lady (who you can find here on facebook) for Grace.  Isn't it adorable!?   

The end. 

-Melanie

asdfjkl;

I couldn't think of a title, so I just decided to go with the home row.

If you came to this blog from facebook, I know, I'm not supposed to be on facebook.  BUT, I didn't check things while I posted this.  Plus, keep in mind, I make the rules.  So, if my fast includes breaking the fast, then that's OK..... right???. ;)  I decided that I could post this on facebook during my fast, and I also decided the other day that I could go on and grab a recipe I had in one of my messages.  AND I checked a different message while I was at it because Ben said that it was important that I not be "rude" to people who may not have read that I was staying away from Facebook for Lent.  I thought that was fair.  I'm trying not to be a legalist about it.  The purpose of the facebook fast is to keep me from wasting time on it.... you know, the newsfeed can waste a lot of time-- and I've enjoyed that part.  So although it may seem like I'm a big cheater pants, I feel like it's going rather well.

Now that I'm done giving lots of excuses, let's move on!

The other day Caleb called to me "MOM, I'm holdin baby GRACIE!!!"
I was picturing something horrifying, but it was really quite sweet.  She even looks like she's enjoying it!  We had one of Ben's friends over the last couple of days, and as he watched Caleb going to hold Grace he was freaking out saying it was child abuse.  I think he was floored I was allowing it to happen.  But Grace was SMILING at him even though he was extremely awkward...and maybe slightly rough.  It's so sweet.... plus babies are quite resilient.  You ever notice how rough nurses are with your newborn??

Awwwwww

 And the next day he was still into it. I did have to stop him because he was actually standing up lifting her off the ground, and I was picturing a brutal face plant when he decided he was sick of holding her (not realizing that dropping her would be an issue...).  I was impressed at his strength.  I mean, she's over 18 pounds!   

This is the quilt my Gram is working on for Caleb's room.  Isn't it CUTE?!  I'm SO excited for it to be finished.  Unfortunately,  Caleb's room is always absolutely FREEZING COLD, so it's likely this beautiful quilt will be covered up by a hundred million other inferior blankets.

Ben went to Wisconsin last week to visit his Gma Kappers because she was needing surgery on her hip from a fall.  I was home with the kids and didn't feel like cooking (I have NO motivation to cook for just me and Caleb), and I didn't feel like fending like we had the night before. So, we took a trip to Culvers and brought it back home.  I was SO COLD, and I assumed my children were too.  I kept Grace's hat on because I thought she'd stay warmer...

When I took it off she was a hot mess.  Whoops.  Yeah... pretty sweaty.

I feel like this Winter I have been cold almost every minute.  I just have a chill throughout my entire body... all the time...  Maybe Winter is almost over... it is March 12 afterall.  This morning I mentioned it looked like Christmas and Caleb told our guest "It's Christmas!"  I think he just wanted some presents.

Lately when Caleb is receiving correction he says,

"Mom, I'm sleepy"

"Mom, I don't feel good"

"Mom, you're scaring me"

I promise I'm usually not scary when I'm correcting him.  These are total lies.... he's not sleepy and he feels fine... HOW is this happening already-- he's not even three!!?   I will admit though, the other day he said "Mom, I don't like when you talk like that" (he said it very sweetly), and he was right in saying that because I was speaking in a very impatient tone.  I apologized, and he was so quick to forgive.  Aren't kids neat?

He has also started saying things that don't make any sense

For example:

Caleb: Can I eat your finger?

Me: Um.. no. Why?

Caleb: Because I dropped the bat. It was on the couch before but now it isn't.

OHHHH, that explains it!  Why, sure you can eat my finger!!

Also after Bible study Tuesday he told a lady from our church

"I like your necklace!" The only problem was, she wasn't wearing one......

I will leave you with one more picture of my baby girl.  She and I went for a walk together while Ben and Caleb were at guy time when the weather was nice the other day.   As I was walking with her, I was praising the Lord for giving me a daughter. WOW. I was overwhelmed.   

Isn't she the sweetest? 

oh P.S.-- if you have a comment you really want me to see, put it on the blog and not facebook, so I can read it! =)

-Melanie