Thoughts & Quotes

Now that our jack-o-lanterns are put away and our turkeys and pilgrims are on display, I am looking forward to these next few weeks. Thanksgiving has become my favorite holiday--no presents to buy, no commercialism to wade through--just thankfulness, family, food, and football. :) Last year our Thanksgiving was one I hope to never have again. Stomach flu and hernia repair surgery sharpened my nursing skills and I earned the title in our family of "the only one who didn't throw up" during the Thanksgiving weekend. I also was the only one to eat all the turkey and fixings from my in-laws' meals-on-wheels service, while the others got by with crackers and 7-up. I will never forget standing in the middle of the hallway and not knowing whose room to go in first, since I was needed in all 3! Anyway, I have much better hopes for this year's celebration. Kaleb's birthday falls on Thanksgiving weekend this year, and I'm looking forward to that too.

Now for some fun Aaronisms I'd like to remember. Helping Daddy change the oil this past weekend, Aaron found a dried up worm on the driveway. He asked Derek, "What's inside a dead worm?" He had to break it into pieces to find out. Then he wanted to bring them inside to show me the dried up worm guts. Thankfully Derek said no to that idea. :)

While fixing lunch the other day, Aaron started thinking of all the things he can do now that he's bigger. He said, "I used to not do those things because I was too scared. But now I growed up, because things don't stay the same, right Mommy?" Sometimes 4 year olds can say the wisest things. :) Then at bedtime he says to me, "You know the girl who I love most in the whole world? You, Mommy. You are mine." I was a puddle on the floor at that point. Derek wanted a boy with each of my pregnancies, and he got his way every time. But what he didn't know was that all 3 of our boys would be mommy's boys. :) As they grow older, I am hoping to nudge them to Derek more and more. And they sure do love their daddy. But deep down, they are still mommy's boys. Even my oldest son.

Speaking of my oldest son, he is throwing me a curve ball these days. He won't wear certain pairs of pants because, "I don't like how they look on me, Mom." What is with that? He's always worn whatever I give him. He also won't wear a coat. If I make him bring one to school, he leaves it in the back of the minivan where I won't find it. Well, today it is in the 30's and windy/rainy/snowy outside. I played my Mom card, and MADE him wear his coat. I had a grumpy boy all morning. He finally cracked a smile for me when at school drop-off I said to him, "Braylen, you have a cool football coat. It's not like I'm making you wear Dora the Explorer..." Ugh, my 9 year old is officially in his "tween" years and he's letting me know it.

After Cub Scouts on Monday, Derek fingerprinted all 3 kids and filled out child ID packets for each one. It's been something he's wanted to do for a while now, and Aaron had the most fun with it. We realized that Aaron thought he didn't have any fingerprints until Daddy "put them on." Aaron kept saying, "My fingerprints stay on now!" Braylen had fun with Daddy at Scouts that night, since Derek taught his den how to lift footprints from a crime scene and other exciting police investigation techniques. Braylen said, "How could I not have fun at Cub Scouts with a daddy like mine?"

Last but not least, Kaleb has been "Top Frog" in his classroom this week, also known as "Student of the Day" for an entire week. His teacher posted pictures and fun facts about Kaleb on the bulletin board. One I'd like to remember was Kaleb's answer to the question, "Who do I admire?" He picked his older brother Braylen. Nothing makes me happier than to see my sons love each other like that. I hope they are best friends some day, just like their daddy is best friends with his brother.