3!

Last Thursday, November 18th, I gave Jameson a small party. I am in charge of our playgroup, so I thought, “Why not?” Instead of our regular playgroup at the church, we had it at our house, and did a small party. There were no gifts or invitations. The kids just got a surprise when they showed up of being at a party. They patiently observed the piñata.

They all got turns pulling the strings to release the candy. I had Jameson help me stuff it, so he would know what was inside and be excited for it to come out. There were small crowns and sheriff badges. Along with disc shooters and Halloween candy. Best way to get rid of all that Halloween candy your kids got. Just stuff it in a piñata and give it to everyone else to take home. 🙂 It worked out great. They each got to pull a few ribbons, and it wasn’t until the last ribbons were pulled that the bottom opened. (By the way, this type of piñata is one of the best inventions ever.)

Once the candy came out, everyone was ready to decorate their cakes. I made little dinosaur cakes for everyone and let them frost them and decorate them. A couple of them ended up with a whole bottle of sprinkles on theirs, or a whole tube of frosting. That’s the way I do it. Fill them full of sugar, and send them home.

I also made some little cupcakes for us adults to eat. They had a surprise caramel kiss in them, making them delicious.  (You can see one of the dinosaur cakes at the top of the picture.) Now before you think I went all out, just know this: I have a cake pan that makes 8 dinosaurs at a time. Then I used the left over batter for cupcakes. Not too much work at all.

The only work was that my oven has been out of commission for a week, because we have a bad breaker that needs to be replaced. So I had to go borrow a friend’s oven. It worked out, though, because then we got to chat while they baked.

We will have cake and presents on Thanksgiving for him. He doesn’t know that neither of these celebrations are actually on his birthday, nor does he care.

Are you tired of all the Kinect commercials yet? Well, you can thank one of our good friends for that. And, it’s because of him, Jameson is able to enjoy this game. He is playing Kinectamals.

He loves to play Kinect, and it wears him out. So it’s a win win. The only hard part is when he is in control and won’t hold his hand steady to pick options. We’re working on that.

(Nov. 16th)

Jameson has a new love. His “packpack.” Grammy got this for him this summer, and this is the first time he will actually put it on. Now that he will, it’s hard to get it off of him. It has to go everywhere, and it’s full of his most prized possessions. His cars and action figures from his favorite movie.

Or is it?

(Taken Nov. 14th)

Time to show Jameson’s fun side rather than the unruly child that comes out every once in a while. We are frequently shot by his laser. Can you tell who is hero is at the moment?

So I respond with my only weapon at the moments. Dish soap bubbles…

The other night, I had my church binder out, and Jameson found some stickers. He found some that were circles (I think they were “I love primary” stickers), stuck it to his arm, and that was now his button for his laser. I love his imagination right now.

I think there is some type of fade switch in my child. You know. Like the kind you install in your house to make the lighting dim? Well, I think Jameson has one. Except his switch keeps getting brighter and brighter, and never goes dim. They say, “Terrible two’s and terrific three’s ,” right? I don’t think so.  It should be the “Unforgiving, three’s.” Jameson’s switch isn’t turning to terrific. It’s just getting higher and higher, and so is my stress level. For instance, here was my day.

I was planning on going to a Mom’s craft fair this Saturday. It has a bunch of vendors with items for Mom’s or children. Some crafts, classes, activities, products, you get the picture. Logistics didn’t work out, because Kevin had planned on going shooting in the afternoon, so I took the kids with me.

Jameson was so great, and Ella slept most of the time. He loved going to all the different tables, and being able to participate in crafts at some of them. He kept telling me, “I’m being a good boy, Mom!” And he was. I was so grateful. Except when I was ready to leave, and he was still looking. After 3 hours, we were finally able to leave without too much of a fight. We got in the car, picked up some lunch, and headed to our next stop.

Well, Jameson fell asleep on the way to the store. You would think, with both kids asleep, I would have just headed home. Nope. I was up north and needed to go to all the stores while I was up that way. So we entered the dollar store, after I pulled Jameson from his slumber out into the cold air. I think I lost him about 10 time,s one of which my mother-in-law called me in the middle of. So sorry if I was short on the phone. I was a little stressed. There were some other kids there running the isles, and Jameson felt he needed to follow his “friends.”

We finally made it out of that store with only an extra bag of candy and his favorite fairy pez dispenser. Then we headed to the store I miss the most but hate… Wal Mart. It’s about a 35 minute drive with no traffic from our house. So I was trying to get some things for his birthday (without him noticing), and in the process he found a Big Buzz. This was after examining the other toy isles for a good 15 minutes.  Well, when I told him it was time to go, he lost it. I pushed too far, and I realize that, but my patience were gone. Really not a good combo for us both. He started his tantrum, on the floor. Yelling as loud as he could over his crying, “I want Big Buzz.” So since I had stuff I needed to buy, and this store isn’t just up the street for me, I did what I thought best at the moment. I couldn’t just take my kids and leave, leaving my cart and all, because it takes too much effort to get there.

So, I headed for the back corner of the store, and let him sit in the corner and throw his tantrum. I happened to be at the gun counter at this point. The poor guy there, just kept looking at me with a smile. He got to watch me try and put Jameson in the cart, with stiff legs. Then try to put him in the basket part and move Ella to the front part, then back, and so on. For a time, I held him in the front part like a baby as tight as I could while he scream, tried to claw, pinch, and whatever else he could do. In this whole process, he lost both shoes which then had to be retrieved and put in the basket. Somewhere along the lines, Ella lost her binki. She won’t take any other kind, and I have to order them off the website. So that really sucked. All the while this is going on he’s yelling, “I’m being a good boy. I want big Buzz. I’m being a good boy!” Really knows how to show it, right.

Finally, he spotted his beloved fairy pez dispenser in the diaper bag, and asked for it. Upon some bargaining, he had to stop crying and sit in the cart, he calmed down and I delivered the pez. We then hurried through the store to finish and get out before any more upsets. Which didn’t happen, but it wasn’t as dramatic.

So again I ask, when does this switch start to dim, and I get my loving little boy back? Because it’s definitely not at 3. His birthday is next week and the closer we get, the worse he gets. This independence he demands is getting to me. I will say, when he is being nice, he’s extremely loving and fun. He is awesome. But, when he’s naughty, it’s bad. For both of us.

Background: He’s been in his room with the door shut about 20 minutes, and I haven’t heard a peep. I open the door to find him playing with some books he found (Christmas presents for his cousins) and his cars.

Me: “Hey Jamo. What are you doing?”

Jamo: “I’m playing cars.”

Me: “I see that.”

Jamo: “Get out of my room, Mom! Shut the door!”

Geez. When did he get so demanding and independent?

Happy Birthday to Dad

(Sorry, Paul. Not sure why you’re half naked.) I didn’t feel like digging in the cold garage for a better picture, so this is what you get. But, I did get something in the mail for you.

And also,

Happy Birthday to Jayci!

Same goes for you. This is what was already scanned on my computer. I thought it was a good one, though. Hope you have a great day! I miss you, and am so jealous of your talents. I hope you’re next transfer you can be closer, so I can learn from you. And our kids can play while we chat. 🙂 I love watching how strong you are to move to these places with Mark. I know I can do it if you can.

(November 11th)

I finally wrestled Ella long enough to put her hair in a ponytail. Her natural curl makes it perfect. It curls in a perfect ringlet.

She also has a bump on her forehead. She crawled right into the corner of the wall. This would be her first bruise. I think anyway. That means, she made it 8 months before any real bruises.

She’s just too cute not to take a picture.

I had to go to the store, and she had so many compliments on her hat. I even heard compliments in other languages. ( I know, because they pointed, then said something, then laughed and turned back to Ella.) Thanks to Grammy for always making her so cute.

Because I was cracking up! (Taken November 8th)

I was putting away the Halloween decorations and found this wig. I just couldn’t resist.

The last time this wig was worn was here…

After I was done with the wig and model shoot, Ella showed off her skills. Jameson offered to lend his hand, while they enjoyed watching a show.