thanksgiving break flu by...

we had a really nice thanksgiving, despite the fact that our house was essentially an infirmary. the Mister is recovering nicely (oh, and btdubs, his dr. finally called today and the tumor was BENIGN!! we feel so blessed and so grateful to everyone who prayed for us.) while preparing to host thanksgiving- & cook everything despite the ham and the desserts- i had to take care of my little guy who was sick with a cold and my convalescing big guy, who had to have his drain tube removed by yours truly. in all that madness, and being stretched just a tad bit thin, my wee cold turned into a not-so-wee cold and decided to team up with the flu just for an extra pinch of fun. despite my best efforts to pretend i was not being taken down by the plague, i finally made my way to the ER on sunday, when my seasonal friends (ie, cold and flu) began to interfere with my breathing. (oh, and i'd like to take a quick sec to give a shout out to my bff, asthma....holla!)

otherwise, we really did have a nice week and we even managed to make it out to the chattanooga boat parade and christmas tree lighting downtown. really fun, and probably even more so if i didn't feel like death was creeping up on me.

we also went to jack's friend, simon's 3rd birthday party- yup, 2 parties in 1 week- at the bowling alley. it was fantastic. all of his favorites were there and he couldn't have dreamed up anything more fun. let me tell you, it was quite the task having to remove him from the building when all was said and done. totes fun.

i hope you had a great holiday too, albeit a much healthier one. and now let me say that i think it's finally, officially okay to start christmas (music, decorating, yada yada yada).....come on, guys, give thanksgiving it's props...hold out til black friday, i say! am i right?! am i right!?! anyway, if you're one of those fools who started early, i'll give you a pass this year (just what you were looking for, huh, my approval)...just don't mess it up for all of us pilgrim lovers next year.

i will leave you with a few silly little things the boy has said in the last few days...i'm realizing how fleeting these moments are and how bad i am at recording them, so here goes....

- while pulling out of the parking lot of the bowling alley, leaving simon's party. "i a happy guy." followed by a self-written song all about simon and his party sung quietly while looking longingly out the window. to the tune of twinkle, twinkle....duh.

-the boy pulled out all the stops tonight while i was trying to put him to bed. he wanted to "get up". after begging and pleading in the normal fashion, he decided the best tactic would be to whimper for food.  "i want bailas." (for those of you that don't speak jack, he means 'banana', not 'you dance' in spanish- although the pronunciation is identical). I respond with the typical, "no jack, no more snacks....go to sleep."  after a long period of silence, in which i can tell he is planning his next move, i hear him pretend to eat something, followed by a soft, "thank you, monkey." yup, i wouldn't cough up a banana, so i guess a monkey who took pity on my kid did. drama class, here we come.

-still tonight, just after the banana debacle, his next attempt was that of trickery... i rolled over and pretended to be asleep with my back toward the boy. after another period of silence/ deep thought his little head pokes up next to mine and he says in his deepest voice possible, "hello mommy. i daddy." pretty sure he thought he had me fooled and that i would allow him to stay up since he was 'daddy'.  hot. mess.

-yet again tonight, antics and trickery aside, his last ditch effort was this: "momma, you so cute." in his very sweetest voice, mind you. flattery will get you everywhere, my dear, sweet boy....except at bedtime.

-and to round out the night, i finally got him quiet when i started up with a dreaded coughing fit. all i could think was, here we go again- another excuse to start chatting. but lo and behold, i simply felt the tiniest hand on my back and the gentlest kiss on the back of my head, and the littlest voice in my ear whispering, "i luh you, momma"...he's got me wrapped, i tell ya, simply wrapped.....

crafty mccrafterson.

this afternoon we are headed to a birthday party. this will be the boy's very first party (not including family). he is over the moon excited. his friend, mendel, is turning 3. not only will we be celebrating mendel's birthday, but we will get to watch his upshernish, as well. for those of you not in the know (aka me, before i read details on the invite) the upshernish is an inaugural haircutting ceremony which marks a jewish boy's 3rd birthday and formal introduction to jewish education. pretty cool, no?

anyway, i wanted to come up with something kind of unique to bring mendel as a gift. i didn't really want to go to the toy store and buy something....i have no idea what he's "into" or what his parents would approve of. so, while searching for ideas i came across a blog that suggested making a fort kit. i'm pretty sure almost every kid in the world likes a good fort, so i decided to go for it.

here's what i did....

i bought:

-a flat sheet from target (you know the kind that comes in a matching bag? yessir, that's the one)

-a spool of ribbon

-a pack of wooden buttons

-some rope

-a flashlight

-a pack of wood clothespins

first, i cut the ribbon into 8 strips, about 10 inches long each. i sewed 2 strips onto each corner of the sheet and then sewed a button over the ribbon to make it look a little more finished.

i tied a leftover piece of ribbon around the rope.

and the flashlight.

notice my assistant...clearly he's cut out for hand modeling

i printed out (free!) labels from armommy.com , laminated them (totes optional, but if you have a free laminator at work and a wee bit of free time on your hands, i say go for it), and attached them to the gift.

i put everything back into the bag. tied it all up with a bow and ta-da! done deal....



cute, no? and speaking of cute- here is my disheveled little assistant, ready to attempt to steal the flashlight lend a hand even in the wee hours of the morning.

oh, and side note- i lit-ra-lee spent less than $15 on this little number, so that's pretty awesome, too.

all the world's a stage...

on friday the boy made his debut to the stage. he & his class performed 5 little pumpkins during their thanksgiving program & luncheon. it was utterly and completely totes adorbes. and while i did record the entire thing on the Mister's phone, you'll just have to take my word for it & enjoy these photos as- despite making every effort humanly possible- i cannot get that little ditty off of his phone and onto the computer.

regarding the performance, i will tell you this:

upon making his entrance into the room & while most of the other children were running for their mommies and daddies, the boy looked over at us, gave us a small smile, whipped his head forward and marched on toward the stage....no time for small talk, on with the show.

despite the fact that he was not able to sing most of the words- he is the youngest of the group, after all- he bobbed to the beat & did his very best to demonstrate each & every accompanying movement to the crowd. a showman, he is.

he was so very proud of himself. and needless to say we were, too.

i am simply smitten with my little pumpkin.



89 candles...

today is a very special day (despite all of the other things i've already blogged about)....

one of my favorite girls is having a birthday....and not just any ol' birthday....an 89th birthday!

who is this girl, you ask? why, my lovely nana, that's who....

there are a million and one things i could write about my nana, but for the sake of brevity, i want to share that she is the queen of all things birthday. i mean, she is the reason that i consider birthdays to practically be national holidays. she ADORES birthdays and has passed down this love to my mumsie and to me. and although my sweet nana turned 89 today, she behaves like a 12 year old on her big day. oh, and i mustn't fail to mention that for a week prior to her birthday, she stalks the mailman like a madwoman, waiting for packages, parcels and bows (oh my!)...despite the fact that she usually sleeps in pretty late, she wakes up in the wee hours of the morning and cannot wait to tear her gifts open-that is if she hasn't already sneaked a peek in the days leading up to the blessed event. (oh, and she opens gifts before cards...i mean, cards are boring, right?!) she surrounds herself with her new treasures, drinks her coffee, and waits for the birthday calls to come pouring in. (and had i not been in the waiting room of the hospital this morning i would have sung to her upon her answering the phone....just as she's done for me....every year of my life)

this party girl plans her day around her lunch and dinner dates...i mean, what's a birthday if it's not filled with good food, family & friends... am i right? and don't think little miss 89 year old will be calling it a night & heading to bed early....oh no, my friends, she will stay up very late and soak up every last nugget of birthday.

she adores the attention. the gifts. the cake & ice cream. the love. and this birthday girl deserves nothing less.

my heart breaks a little when i picture her all by herself on her big morning- opening up her gifts in a frenzy at her little dining table. she is her very happiest at this moment & i love to share it with her. so nana, here's a promise- next year, without a doubt, i will be there to celebrate your biggest & best birthday of all...the big 9-0! (and i know you will tell me that you've already started your 90th year of life, but just go with it)

i love you, birthday girl. i'm so glad you had a wonderful day.

sweet success.

we are all home. safe and sound. we are so grateful. so thankful. so, so blessed.

the Mister's surgery was a success. did i mention he had a tumor? well, he did. his wonderful surgeon removed it- all of it, in its larger-than-we-thought-it-would-be glory. and even though we are dealing with a drain tube and a big ol' incision, we know how lucky we are. my Mister is home, all snuggled into his favorite chair, and i couldn't be happier.

we won't know the results of the biopsy for several days, so please be in prayer with us.

and even though he'll probably never see this, i want to thank you, dr. jennings, for your exquisite work and more importantly the wonderful prayer you said over my husband....that meant more than you know.

once again, i've been reminded that God is, what those crazy kids call, the bomb diggity.

surgery eve.

tomorrow the Mister is having surgery. we will report to the hospital bright and early.....6:30am to be exact. i have every reason in the world to be a nervous wreck. but i have a sense of peace about the whole thing. i mean, i know who is in control. and i know how much He loves my Mister.

please keep us in your prayers. for safety. for success. for the doctors and nurses. for good results. and for our little family.

i will post an update tomorrow afternoon. God is so, so good.

date night.

last night the Mister & i had a date night. birthday style.  we had a whole 24 hours to ourselves. and if you're a mommy you know how hard that is to come by. it was glorious. a very big thanks to the in-laws for babysitting- i'm pretty sure the boy loved this time as much as we did.

we went downtown to the bluff view art district for italian at tony's. delicious. we ate. talked. laughed. we had fun just being "us". we walked around and enjoyed the view- so lovely in the fall. after dinner, and a little drive around chatt, we headed home. to watch a movie. to relax. to sip starbucks & munch on red velvet whoopie pies. and to make eyes at each other from across the room.

it was so nice to just spend this time with the Mister...my Mister... so I guess my birthday is officially over, what with the last present being opened and all. it was magnificent. 30 isn't so bad. i mean, 20 has a much nicer ring to it, but it certainly didn't come with all the fun stuff I have now.

so, here's to 30. and here's to date night. and most importantly, here's to sleeping in ( for only the 3rd time in the last 2 1/2 years, i might add).....just kidding...but not really.

thank you, Mister, for a dreamy evening. let's not wait so long before the next one. i do love you so.

make dish washing detergent, not war....

ok, so i'm going to go a little bit rogue here & share a little tip on how to become a hippie  go green. not only is this WAY better for the environment & for you, but it's totes cheap-ola to make. so throw on your flowing patchwork skirt & slap on some patchouli & follow my lead.....

1 cup borax

1 cup baking soda

1 cup distilled white vinegar

2-4 tbsp. lemon juice concentrate

mix all of the above into a container with a lid....i just used the empty bottle from the last detergent i bought. it will bubble up a bit (a la 3rd grade volcano project) but that will only last a few seconds. shake it up really well each time before you use it.....it is much thicker than the store-bought stuff.....also, only use about half of what you'd normally use or it will leave a residue on dishes (or so i hear...)

i made mine a little over a week ago and it has worked perfectly! being a cheap hippie "green" has definitely paid off. far out, no?

the big 3-0

well, it happened. on sunday i turned 30. yup, 30. i know, it's so hard to believe because i look so young & vibrant, right?.....right?!?! anyway, i spent the big b-day up on the cape with my fam & my bestie. and despite the fact that mumsie & i were both sick with colds, i had a ball. we shopped, spa'd, dined with family & friends, talked, watched movies, laughed (there may or may not have been an incident where someone almost wet themselves) and bonded all over again. it was fabulous.

i received so many wonderful gifts & wishes that made me feel extra blessed & reminded me of some of the wonderful moments that have filled up all these years of mine. and despite the fact that i'm not crazy about being 30 ( i mean, 30?! yuck....) i have no doubt that this year is going to be amazing.

thanks, mumsie, for making this weekend happen. it was wonderful & i am oh-so-grateful. i love you. more than tongue can tell. xo