Snow Day!

Jonathan's dreams came true when it finally snowed here in Dacula!  I think that we had up to 3 1/2 inches.  We had to make 2 snowmen b/c the first one bit the dust soon after it was constructed.  I think that we made the lower 2 balls too heavy, a novice mistake I am sure.  We also made snow angels, threw snowballs, and used the next door neighbor's sled (which I cracked...sorry) until way past dark.  Sarah wasn't crazy about the snow and didn't appreciate it like Jonathan and I did.  We ended the night with a chili dinner with our insane friends who live 5 minutes up the road (on a normal day), but who drove 30 minutes to eat a homemade snow day meal with us!  Love you guys!

Enjoy the pictures, we didn't take too many, we were sledding. 

Whew- what a day!

It has been a crazy day!  It started off early with me trying to get 2 children and myself awake, dressed, and to the church by 8:00 am, in the misting rain.  To those who work full time and have children in school.....I am amazed anew at your abilities.  We made it by 8:10.  (that is pretty good for me)

After church, we (the children and I) met several friends (loud and fun friends) for lunch at Barbaritos.  Then, I took the kids to my in-laws, dropped by Walmart, attended a baby shower, went back to pick up my kids, and made it home in time to meet a high school friend of mine (and her new man :) ) at our house for a quick visit.  Needless to say, the kids were in bed by 9! 

It was a day filled with laughter, a little stress, and more laughter.  The best laugh occurred when my child asked me what a shower was.  I told him that it was when women all got together and got gifts for the new baby.  I told him that it wasn't really any fun for children, b/c all we did was talk and eat cake. 

He wanted to know if we talked about things "LIKE FANNIES".  

Huh????  (in the child's defense, we talked about bra sizes and boobs at lunch)


Anyway- it made me laugh.  Enjoy the pictures from our recent trip to my Mimi and Granddaddy's house and the Aquarium.

 

 

Things that have amused me recently....

This time of year can be crazy.   I decided to write a quick blog on things that have made me smile or laugh in the past few days.  Hopefully they will bring a smile to your face.  Enjoy!

1.  Christmas specials that come on after my children are supposed to be in bed.  This means that I get to watch them uninterrupted. 

2.  Chinese Hot Tea- I drink a cup each night to unwind.

3.  My children both singing "Deck the Halls" together.  Sarah tries....she likes the la la la part.

4.  Jonathan after watching Sesame Street the other day.  "Mom- why is Dorothy (Elmo's fish) still alive???"  Poor kid- he has never had a fish that lived longer than a few days.  (photo from: muppet.wikia.com)

5.  Watching "Super Why" with Jonathan yesterday.  Wyatt (Super Why) had to try and talk a farmer out of wishing that his house was made of sausages.  (He had already wasted one of his 3 wishes by wishing that his wife's nose had sausage stuck on it) Watch  part of the same episode and try not to laugh.    sausage nose part   Really- I thought that it was funnier than my son did. 

6.  And my favorite:

Jonathan:  "I really don't like Mrs. --------"

Me: " Really, why not?"

Jonathan: "Because she wears glasses"

Me:  "Jonathan!  You can't not like someone just because they wear glasses.  I mean a lot of people wear glasses!  Pops wears glasses, you like him, don't you?"

Jonathan: "Well- yeah.  But he has a big tummy.  I like glasses with big tummies!"

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Come again????

I haven't been very good about blogging recently because I really haven't had anything "blog-worthy" happen to me in a while.  Until yesterday!

I am Jonathan's Sunday School teacher.  We have about 20-25 children each week, aged 3-5.  It can get pretty crazy at times, especially for just 3 teachers.  But, we do our best. 

Anyway, it was my turn to teach.  The lesson was about the Angel's message to Mary and then to Joseph.  Since Joseph was a carpenter, the book suggested that we have a little construction center set up.  I was able to locate a box of toy construction tools that Jonathan's preschool uses.  I was so excited!  So was Jonathan and Sarah (they got to play with it at the house).  It had hammers, saws, hard hats, paint brushes, safety glasses, even 2 little fake carpenters' pencils.  It was awesome.

I got it all set up on Sunday morning and found a yellow hard hat to wear. I was playing in the floor with several of the kids, when a newer child came into the class, a little bit late.  Being the wonderful teacher that I am, I decided to make him feel welcome. 
      "Hello (child's name)!" 
     
      Holding my screwdriver......

      "Want to come SCREW with me???"  

Yes- I am telling the truth.  I asked a 3 year old to screw with me!!!  Of course, my face turned red and I was a little speechless, so he went on to hammer with some other children.  I just hope that he didn't go home and tell his parents.  

Ah- me and my big mouth!

On a different note:
    I asked Jonathan tonight what he wanted for Christmas.  He said "I've already told him" (meaning the Santa that his aunt took him to see this weekend).   Wanting to make sure that his request would be granted, I needed more information.  So I asked him what he had requested.  Jonathan thought for a few minutes and then said "I don't remember".   I tried to get him to work a little harder on his memory.  He then replied, "Oh well- I guess we will just have to wait and see"  GREAT!

Note: I did ask his aunt who later informed me that Jonathan was stage struck and didn't ask for anything.  She tried to prompt him and thinks that he asked for a drum-stick.  Who knew????

Halloween...I'm just not sure.

I used to hate Halloween. I have several reasons for this.
1. I don't like the dark. I am still a little afraid of it.
2. I don't like to be scared. Really- I don't even watch scary commercials.
3. I am not really sure that I should support a holiday that glorifies evil.
4. It is called a holiday, but school isn't out and banks aren't closed. Does that make it a pseudo-holiday?
5. I got to trick-or-treat as a very young child, but because of convictions beyond my control, most years were spent trick-or-treating from one room of our house to the other. Mom was really good about giving out the good candy though.
6. It takes the focus off of my birthday month. :)

Since I have become a parent, my feelings are starting to change.
1. I love to dress my kids up and show them off. They are really cute, if I do say so myself. They are even cuter dressed up in little costumes. Sarah was a flower this year and Jonathan was Spiderman (again). My sweet sister actually loaned me an ADORABLE baby chick costume, but Sarah cried when I put it on her. So, Flower it was.
2. All candy that comes into this house is fair game, (mostly to Jeff). My weakness is brownies. And, after a week or two, all candy that hasn't been consumed gets put into our treasure box. Poor Jonathan doesn't even know that he has to work for the same piece of candy 2 times.
3. Family-members who live nearby wonder why we won't let them see the children in their sweet costumes.
4. I don't want my kids to miss out on any fun experience as long as they are safe.

My problem is: What am I teaching my children in the long run?

I don't get pleasant reactions from them in regards to Halloween. My oldest is grumpier, meaner, and less thankful the more candy that he receives. Shouldn't it be the opposite? And for the next week or so, I will have a dilemma each time he asks for a piece. Do I give it to him, even though he already had some an hour earlier? Do I say No and watch a melt-down?

And of course, there is the age-old issue of supporting evil. It is hard to get around the fact that scripture tells us to run from it. Most things done on Halloween night (esp after the little kids go to bed) are not good, pure, righteous, etc. Not to be holier-than-thou, but I think about this stuff.

My sweet husband isn't really a help at all in this regards. His opinion is pretty low of anything that messes up our supper/bedtime routine. If we could have Halloween around 3 in the afternoon, he would love it. :) As it is, he tolerates it. He even enjoys blaming me when people ask why we don't trick-or-treat.

I'm interested in other opinions about this subject. Am I the only mother that wants her child to experience all the fun of Halloween, but don't really know the best way to do this?

I am glad that it only comes once a year. I really don't have to think about this until next October. Maybe by then, I will have come to a conclusion.

Have a good day!
Confused

Life around here

Do you ever feel like you are in a time warp and when you look up, everything has changed??? That is the way I am around here sometimes. I mean, when did my baby boy turn into a "big boy"? When did my infant little girl get big enough to crawl and eat with her fingers?

He has begun to seriously enjoy coloring. It is such a blessing to sit and do nothing for an hour except color with your child. He loves that I can stay in the lines, I love that he tries. We have to use separate books though b/c he feels the need to "help" you color. Also, we are both blessed to be left-handed and that makes it hard to color on the same space.

The other day, while we were coloring, he informed me that his preschool teacher had outlawed "potty talk".
"What is Potty talk?" I asked him (I really just wanted to hear his response. You don't grow up in the Mayfield house without learning a lot of "potty talk").
"It is when you say potty" he told me.
"Oh"
Then he cupped his hand to his mouth, smiled real big, and got real quiet. "But sometimes I say "Potty or Doo-doo" Then he began to laugh. I had to laugh too.

I wonder if by making it an issue, his teacher isn't just encouraging them to talk ugly. Last week in his class the letter of the week was "F". He came home one day and whispered that he had figured out a little "F" word that wasn't nice. (Mind you- no one else was in the room, don't really know why he whispered) When I asked him what it was, he giggled again and said "FART", then died laughing. I had to send him to his daddy to repeat it- Jeff thought it was as funny as I did.

His imagination overwhelms me sometimes. Jeff and I get a kick out of watching him go from a mild mannered little boy to a superhero or cowboy in a matter of 30 seconds. Like this evening, I was playing with him while Sarah was napping. We played outside for an hour. We started out playing soccer with his big plastic ball. Just about the time that I would figure out where he wanted the goals to be, he would begin yelling that we were on the same team and "Look out for the other guys!". Then after we had run around for a little bit keeping the ball from the other team, he yelled that we had to look out for the wolf. The wolf turned out to be Jack who really could care less about our adventures, he was busy barking at the chickens. Oh well- I got a chance to run around and act like a fool.

Sarah decided to go on a nursing strike last Friday. She didn't nurse again until yesterday afternoon (Sunday). Who really knows what the real problem was, I'm blaming teething. I was a bundle of nerves for the whole weekend though. I know that worrying is unhealthy and not godly, but I wasn't ready to quit nursing. I consulted everyone in the world. I felt like a goober for getting worked up over something that I had no control over, but I was at a loss. Thankfully, she seems to be ready to nurse again. I hope that she'll go until she is a year old.

Other than that, she is a joy to be around, MOST of the time. She doesn't like for Mommy or Daddy to leave the room. She is getting better about it though, will calm down after a few minutes. She has a smile that will melt your heart and can clap and wave now on command. We are working on signing the word, Please. The actual sign is: one hand, pulled flat across your chest. Her sign is: both arms flying. If you don't see her flying arms, she'll make a quick little noise. If that isn't noticed, it is all out yelling until you solve the problem. Eating with her is amusing, but tiring. You have to keep the finger food coming. She can actually chew a ton with only 4 teeth.

When we were pregnant, I just prayed that the Lord would send us who we needed to complete our family. I guess she does. Jonathan thinks the world of her, thankfully. He got a chance to take a bath with her tonight. They both thought it was the coolest thing ever! Sarah talked and laughed at him, until he would pour water over her head. Then she would get mad at him. I really thought about videoing it, but decided not to.

That is about all the random thoughts that I have for the night. Just wanted to bring some of my followers up to date. Have a good one!
Our adventure to the Ga Aquarium.

Signs of the times

At our house we use sticker charts for everything. We have one in the den for when we learn our Bible Verse of the week (sadly- we have only learned 2 all summer) and one in Jonathan's room charting several nightly behaviors. We used one for the longest time to help with potty training. The idea is that when he completes a task (ex: going to bed without whining), he gets a sticker on his chart. There is always a reward for finishing a chart.

Jonathan gets to pick the reward. Usually it is going to Brewsters (which is a special treat b/c Daddy doesn't like to spend as much on one cone when you can buy the whole Kroger gallon for the same price) or McDonalds.

Recently, we were nearing the end of one of his charts and I asked him what he would like to have as a reward. He looked around and spotted my cell phone. He picked it up, looked at it, and said: "This- A real one". I was amused and assumed it would be a passing fancy.

He has become pretty good on the phone. He calls his grandparents or Daddy when something exciting happens to him or he sees something neat. He called one day because he saw a deer, another morning he had to tell the family that our sunflowers had opened up! Such is the exciting world of a 4 year old.
(yes- this is ours!)

Tonight, we put the final sticker on one of his chart lines and I asked him again what he wanted as a reward. He still wanted a phone! Although I informed him that he probably wasn't going to get a one, he was still very interested in where mine came from, who gave it to me, and details of them.

Although, I think that I could pacify him with an older version that no longer works, he REALLY wants a new one. He has talked about wanting a phone for about a week now. Jeff laughs and asks me who he is going to call. "None of his friends have phones. Is he going to call their moms?" I know that he is getting bigger, but a phone? At 4 years old???? Holy Cow- I'm in for it when he becomes a teenager! :)

Sarah and her bunny from Mimi ....nothing to do with the post, just thought it was cute. :)

We like Meat?!?

If you have ever seen me in the grocery store and tried to talk to me, you may understand when I say that I am a little bit weird in there (I mean, more so than usual). I tend to focus completely on the job at hand. In fact, I'm not really all that sure that I don't talk to myself...the managers watching the cameras probably have a good laugh every time I come in.

I usually have a needs list (things that we have to have), a list from the CouponMom.com with freebies or real cheap things, and my coupons. Sometimes I have my children also, it depends on the day. While shopping, I am also looking for unadvertised deals, and things that we need that I have forgotten until that moment.


Such was the case last Thurs when I was in Publix. I was childless for about an hour and needing a few things. I was completely in my own world as I walked toward the meat dept. The butcher was putting pork chops in the cooler next to mine. I was trying to find the best deal on a pound of ground beef (I had a coupon for a $1 off if you bought Old El Paso tacos - also on sale). As usual, I looked bewildered. He very politely inquired whether or not I needed his help. Although I'm sure that I did, I told him "No, thank you". Now at this point, most people wander away from me with a amused smile on their face. He stood there for an extra second or two...probably trying to decide why my face had a green tint to it (Jonathan and I had face painted earlier that day and some of it wouldn't come off) and whether or not I was an abused wife.

I didn't know what to do in the silence that followed. Being my strange self, I looked at him and said,

"We like Meat!"

I'm pretty sure that is one of the dumbest things that he has ever heard in the meat dept. He just sort of smiled and I started to walk away. He may have said something like, "Good."

Now- most people would have continued walking. Not me. I sort of turned back around and said, "Especially when we have a coupon!"

WHAT A DUMMY!!!

Sadly, I had to return to that dept 2 more times to get something. Thankfully, he wasn't anywhere to be seen...probably laughing and pointing at me in the back room.

When I got home, I told my husband about my goofiness and laughed until I had tears coming out of my eyes!


It was a crazy ending to an insane week.

Saturday: Sarah turns 6 months (nothing really special...just in case you were wondering how old she is now)

Sunday: Father's day : lunch at the Kendricks,
dinner in Commerce with the Mayfields

Monday: Jonathan steps on a bee in the backyard around lunch time. Notice Jack acting real strange.

Tuesday: Sarah's 6 month check up. I had to carry Jonathan on my back into the office because he couldn't walk more than a step or two. His foot had swollen so big that there weren't any wrinkles. The doctor took one look at the huge blister growing on the side and checked him in also. One visit: 2 co-pays. She gave us 2 prescriptions that I had to fill in the Kroger (carried him in on my back, Sarah in the stroller).
- Jeff came home early in order to take Jack to the vet. Jack had a slipped disc in his back and would need to be on "bedrest" for 2 weeks.

Thursday: meet Amber and clan for the free 10 AM movie at the Mall of GA. We didn't leave until 3 pm (I did get to do a little shopping while she watched the kids play in the fountain)

Friday: meet my sisters and Mom for a girls night out where I had to come home halfway and feed Sarah. My fault, I haven't tried to bottle feed her again.

Anyway! I hope that everyone had a great 4th of July and this story made you smile! Have a great day!

Corn anyone???

Yesterday was full of laughter and small bouts of confusion. It began a lot earlier than most non-school days, which usually signals a rough day. We usually start our day around 8, Jonathan was up at 6:30 and never went back to sleep. At least he stayed in his room until 7, so I was able to snooze a little while Sarah babbling next to me in the bed. Around 10, we were sitting on the back porch with a neighbor when Jonathan decided to do a little gardening. We have some ancient gardening shears that I use to cut grass/weeds that the mower can't get to. Jonathan loves to use them to trim the grass, cut weeds, prune bushes, and apparently make holes in our back porch screen. We already had a small hole there and he decided to see what would happen if he cut the hole larger. Needless to say, he got in trouble. Sarah also took this opportunity to poop all the way thru her outfit (2nd one of the day) and onto my clothes. She is really good at that!

When I went to his room to talk to him about destroying our porch, I had already spoken with Jeff (via phone) on the correct discipline since it wasn't done out of meanness, just childishness. We had decided to make him take $ out of his piggy bank (which he loves to take out and count.....he is definitely Jeff's kid) and "write" an apology to Daddy. After we had written the note, he informed me that he had put something yellow up his nose.

After further investigation, he told me that it was corn. I was confused b/c we haven't had corn in about a week, popcorn in over a month, and no corn art projects have come home recently. But, he said it was corn. I looked up his nostrils for a while and tried to get him to blow his nose. Nothing. He had blown his nose earlier (while still in trouble) and said that it was bloody. I had seen the tissue, just a little blood, like an allergy.

So, after a call to the pediatrician, we headed to the doctor's office. My neighbor was able to watch Sarah at home.

The doctor said that his nose was clear and most likely, "it" had come out earlier. To be safe, she gave me a steroid sample and sent me to Walmart to get Afrin.

Our day was fairly uneventful after that. Daddy got home, we went over again that nothing goes in our noses (I didn't remind Jeff that HE often put his finger in there), ate dinner, and had Jonathan in bed by 7:45. He was asleep by 8:15- poor kid.

Naked Cleaning Day

Sometimes being a mother is not all it is cracked up to be. There are always diapers to change, noses to wipes, food to prepare, and children to play with.(And I only have 2!)But sometimes you have a day that makes all other careers seem very boring and undesirable. Today was one of those days.

It was supposed to be Clean House Friday (I try and do real cleaning on Fridays). Jonathan turned it into Naked Cleaning Day. He likes to run around in the mornings that he doesn't have preschool without underwear under his pj's (after he takes off his saturated pull-up). He watches TV, eats breakfast, goes to the bathroom, and gets dressed. Today when he came out of the bathroom, he turned left out of the bathroom toward the kitchen instead of right toward his bedroom. I was cleaning my cabinets out, so I didn't notice at first, but he had neglected to put on any clothes. He then proceeded to spend the next 2-3 hours playing in the nude. It was hilarious. He helped me clean up clutter, played with Sarah, and pretended he was a bear (maybe b/c he was bare). I finally made him put clothes on b/c he wanted to go outside and play. When I told him that he couldn't play outside without clothes, he wanted to know why I was outside in my pajamas. Yikes!

Later on, I needed to go to the grocery store. It took us 20 minutes to get out of the house! All I needed was for him to find some socks and shoes. He came out with boots and no socks. Then I noticed that he needed to change his underwear (he's learning to wipe himself). All I'm thinking is "just change your underwear, put your shorts back on and get some sandals on". He comes out with a shirt, no undies, one sandal. I send him back. He comes back out with a shirt, undies, and one sock on. I send him back a third time in a louder voice. He starts to cry. Holy Cow!

We did finally make it to the store.

After dinner tonight he spent another 20 minutes without pants on while he was waiting on Daddy and shower time.

Oh well- I love this age....sometimes.

Who said that babies are fun???

I had a crazy morning Tues and thought that I would share it with my other mother friends out there.


I have become very social recently. I really think that it is due to the fact that my husband is working "light duty" at the fire station. Instead of working the regular shift that we have become accustomed to (1 day gone, 2 days off), he is working real hours (7-4 pm). That means that I am an actual Mom for the next 2 months or until he goes back to his real job.

Anyway- I decided to meet a friend for lunch down near Discover Mills. We chose to meet at her work at 11:15 in order for me to be back up at the church to pick Jonathan up from preschool by 12:45. No problem, right?

The problem is Sarah. My child has become so good at nursing that she hasn't taken a bottle at all- not even when forced to. I suppose she would if she ever really had to, like if I died or my breasts became injured, but other than that, she is sticking with the boobs.

Now on Tues, feeding time would have been 11:30. I decided to drive on to my friend's work, try and nurse a little early in her parking lot, and my baby would be fat and happy for my adult lunch (meaning- no playground or sharing my food). When I drove up to her office complex, I noticed straw bundles placed all over the complex in orderly piles. Around here, that means that Russell Landscaping is nearby and it is pinestraw day. So, I drove around looking for the men who were working or a remote location to nurse. Since the guys were way in the back, I decided to park near the front of the building, sort of out of the normal flow of traffic.

We were fine for the first half. She ate well, except for the few pooping noises that she made. No problem- I would change it when she was done. When I went to change sides, I noticed that she had gone thru her outfit and onto my khaki pants. While I was changing her in the front seat of my Honda Accord (b/c we have 2 car seats in the back), she also proceeded to get the changing pad soiled as well. I put on her backup outfit, only to realize that it was too small now and her leg wouldn't straighten out b/c the footies were too short!

About the time I started on the second side, the landscapers pulled up right next to me. I covered up a little better and avoided eye contact. I decided to change parking spots b/c I was now at the landscaping stopping point and would be directly in their line of activity very soon. I tossed Sarah into her car seat, one leg out of her outfit, not buckled, spit up running down her new outfit. While locating another spot, I started to leak out of my shirt. A nice, round, wet spot.

When my friend showed up at my car door, there I sat, with my wet boob mark, poop spot on my leg, walmart child with one leg hanging out of her outfit, unsnapped b/c it was really too hot for long sleeves.

Ah- motherhood!!!!

We really did have a nice lunch (Chick-Fil-A). On the way home I saw someone who was having worse trouble than wet boob marks. 2 police cars turned on their lights in front of me and when I looked there was a person face down handcuffed lying in the grass on the side of the road. Poor guy is going to have grass stains now.

We are alive!

My daughter, Sarah Elizabeth was born on December 20. What a blessing she is. She is already sleeping some nights 6-7 hours (not consistently yet), she is nursing well, and will coo, smile, and "talk" to us (especially right after she eats). We are having a lot of fun with her.

Jonathan is doing wonderful with her. He is a very good big brother. He thinks that she is funny and makes up things that she says. For example, this afternoon in the back seat, he told me that he had asked her if that was a good hand (she was sucking her fist) and she told him "yes". Who can say that she actually didn't say that to him?

He tends to be a bit rough, but after all, he is 4! I left them alone the other day while I went to the bathroom for a few minutes. She was propped up on some pillows on my bed. When I got back into the room, she was halfway down the bed. When asked how she got there, Jonathan replied that he was dancing her feet and slid her down.... "She liked it!" Poor baby!

He is my "helper". Tonight, we had personal pizzas for dinner. We make our own dough so he was helping me roll out the dough and prepare the pizzas. I was working on one pizza and he was "rolling" out the other one - basically he was pounding it and flattening it with his hand. I heard little blowing noises and turned around to tell him, "don't spit on the pizzas". I got a little nervous when he looked back at me and said "oh- okay". Yikes!!!! Do you really have to TELL a child that?

That is all that I can write for now....my husband's arm is in a sling (shoulder surgery), my daughter is beginning to wake up for her next feeding, my thumb hurts from touching the pizza pan tonight, I'm dead-dog tired from playing at the park this afternoon with my son (who has quit taking naps....), and I've got wet clothes in the washer from this morning that never made it to the dryer. But this is what makes life fun!