Tire Swing

Recent pics I love ...

John-John in his Thanksgiving outfit from school.

One of Bammy's Santa Claus gifts.

The boys on the 4-wheeler.

The boys on the tractor.

The boys pushing their cars on the ground.  I love how they get down close to watch the wheels turn.

Adults Night Out

First, Amy hired a babysitter.

Next, we had a fabulous dinner.  During the dinner, there was nothing spilled, and nobody handed me any half-chewed food items that didn't suit their tastes.

After that, we went bowling and had a combined score of maybe 300.

Finally, there was the 80s dance party. 

Best memories of the night:

• Jamming out to Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" and knowing every word while all the 20-somethings stood around wordless
• Jane getting hit on by some guy from Seattle (while Bruce looked on)
• Not being the one who had to pay (or be) the babysitter

Thanks Bruce & Jane for a super fun night out!

Nearly 2,000 miles of holiday travel yields this:

Christmas 2011

Some Pictures of Late

Luckily tonight I have been taking pictures instead of packing for myself and/or helping the children pack for our triangle TX/MS trip that starts tomorrow. 

I asked Brian to unpack John's suitcase and check for necessities.  This is what he found:

• 1 bottle of Elmer's glue
• 10 pairs of shorts
• 1 remote-control batmobile
• 1 good shirt (several others size 4T or smaller, all short-sleeved)
• 1 pair of skeleton-themed long-johns
• 1 catapult launcher

Note the important missing items: socks, underwear, etc.  I laughed until tears squeezed from my budding crow's feet.

This one is doing fine despite his 3 missing teeth.  He hasn't even needed the codeine they provided.

This one wants my attention ALL the time:  "Mama PLAY!"

It's very difficult to get anything done in the face of that.

We let John open one early Christmas present -- a bed tent!  It was a hit.

Wish us luck on the triangle trip -- MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A Big Job for the TF

John had 3 teeth pulled today.  Cost me $400 just for the anesthesia.  But it was totally worth it.  He slept from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. solid.  Now if that ain't worth $400, then I don't know what is.

He's doing fine.  Bouncing off the walls and hoping for lots of loot from the TF. 

Down Home Christmas IV

John's piano teacher does a very cool "recital" of sorts at the end of each year.  She calls it Downhome Christmas and invites everyone she knows (including her students) to come and play or sing something Christmassy.  We also had a potluck lunch.  This was a great first performance for John -- low key, no pressure, and he rocked it, of course.  In each of the songs below, he is playing the main melody and the others are just backing him up (including me!).

Here are the videos:

Away in a Manger

Jolly Old St. Nicholas 

We wish you a Merry Christmas


And the grand finale:  Joy to the World

I also played one number though we didn't get it on video at the actual recital.  But here is "Carol of the Bells" on our home piano, which I like better than Miz G's fancy baby grand.  Excuse the sidewaysness and the ugly background. 

Side story about the recital ... Brian got food poisoning from eating some bad eggs on Saturday, so he was up all night vomiting.  Again.  Poor guy.  So the next day at the recital, he wasn't feeling too hot, but he dragged himself in of course, and sat on the sidelines, green. 

At least it's a Christmas color.

John's First Piano Recital

John-John & "Miz G"

Well, it went off without a hitch!  I'm in the process of uploading the videos, but with my old computer, it takes awhile.  Check back later tonight!

A Holiday Card Option

The Newest Trick

First, prepare yourself.

John-John has pinkeye.  Which means that he couldn't go to school today.  Today was my only Christmas shopping day.  He planned this.

So I was all anxious this morning about how the day would go.  If you know me, and you know John, you know that we tend not to be the best of companions on outtings.  Or at home.  And lately, just in general.

Next, launch yourself.

This is hard.  On the one hand, I want to embrace his wildness.  I want to sit with it and be curious about it, and not judge. 

Then, use your arms to propel you higher.

On the other hand, I want to tame it, calm it, make it be seen, and not heard.

Now, revel.

So I thought that today might be a challenge, and thus I started it out at Radnor Lake State Natural Area, where I ran his butt into the ground hiking up the highest ridge in Nashville. 

Land.

He was undaunted, of course.

And gloat.

And then I -- get ready -- took. him. shopping. with. me.

Applause please.

Nobody yelled, nobody punched, nobody rolled their eyes.  It was a lovely, wonderful day spent with this boy who, at times, makes me want to get in the car and drive any direction AWAY.  Just to get quiet and peace and not be tackled while I eat oatmeal & flax seeds.  With Trader Joe's fruit and nut mix.  (Fabulous, btw.)

In fact, at approximately 12:14 p.m., while at a Books-a-Million in a strip mall, the 7yo in question looked up at me and said, "Mom!  Look at us!  We're getting along!" 

This heartened me, though it may seem sad to you that a small child has to notice such things. 

You see, while on our walk at Radnor, we talked about how we are so different.  And how that is at times good and at other times bad, depending.  I started out with examples:  You're really energetic; I'm kinda lethargic.  You're loud; I'm quiet.  You're young; I'm not that young. Et cetera.  And then he started to join in:  You're a teacher, I'm a student.  You're married; I'm not.  You're tall; I'm not tall yet.  Etc.  It was fun, actually, until it morphed into this weird critique of my body parts, which, c'mon, please, no:  Your butt is big; mine is really tiny.

And then I said this, which I think may have been equivalent to the removal of the pea from underneath the princess's umpteen mattresses:  You are silly; I am serious.  And that is great because sometimes I need to be more silly.  And sometimes you need to be more serious.  (Like when we were with the pediatrician yesterday getting diagnosed with pinkeye, and you were saying your name was Jonerthoniabuttmouth, and I was gouging out my eyes.)

It seemed that this really clicked with him.  He suddenly understood that opposites can attract or repel each other.  He recognized that we are like batteries:  If you lay us together the wrong way, nothing will work.

And just now, as I left him in bed, he said this:  Hey mom!  Listen to this song I made up --

You better watch out!

You better not make repetitive noises!

You better not cry,

I'm telling you why.

Mom is watching out for people

Who are screaming.

My special earplugs are being delivered this weekend.  I paid $10 to have them 2nd day aired.

The End.