What's Going On

So we have been busy busy around here, with one or both of us traveling somewhere for 3 days a week for the past 5 weeks!! Chris' traveling and doing lectures because of the Templeton award has been everything that we thought it would be: good (seeing friends, meeting new people, networking, getting good feedback, etc) and tiring (early morning and late night flights, packed schedules, meetings over breakfast and lunch, long days, arriving home just in time to go teach at LCU or leaving right after class with no down time in between). So around here we're good, but tired. Trying to keep laundry done, get some rest and remember what day of the week it is.

(Chris and Jayce, with Jayce making his "cheese" face.)

Jayce is keeping us entertained as usual. He is still talking, but saying funny little things that we don't remember saying, or saying enough for him to pick up on.

For example:

-The other day I stopped to get our mail as I was pulling in the driveway. There wasn't any, and I mumbled, "No mail?" to myself as I got back in the car.

To which, Jayce responded, "Dustin get it."

It's true that sometimes when we are out of town and we don't have our mail held, our friend Dustin will get it for us. But Jayce isn't a part of this conversation between Chris and I (or so I thought), so I was really amused that Jayce thought this was an appropriate thing to say in response to there being no mail in the mailbox.

-A few weeks ago when we drove past the train tracks, Jayce declared, "Choo choo lives."

I was surprised by this mostly because I don't think I've ever talked to him about where someone (or something) lives. We usually talk about going to someone's house or that grandma is at home or something like that, but not that they live somewhere. So I said, "What Jayce?" just to make sure I'd heard him correctly.

He responded, "Silly mom. Choo choo lives." He now says this whole statement EVERY time that we pass the tracks. It's like he's saying, "duh mom, it lives there." Well, if people still said duh, it would be like that.

He also declared a few weeks ago, when asked if mom drives fast or slow, that "Mom drives crazy."

Though this is funny, I couldn't really figure out where it came from, until yesterday. When I informed Jayce that he was driving me crazy.

To which he responded, "Mom drives crazy." Funny kid, I guess the statement kind of works either way.

If you were wondering what ever happened to that sewing machine that I brought home a few months ago, it is still just sitting there, waiting for a part that I don't plan to order. This is because the last time that I was home, my mom gave me her old sewing machine, the one that she received as a high school graduation present. She had been planning on getting rid of because she only uses my grandma's when she needs to sew something, but she let me have it instead. I think its's kind of sweet, her using grandma's, me using hers. So the old Brother is just sitting for now, missing it's bobbin holder. Anyone want it?

That said, I have started taking on some sewing projects. I started a new series on Lemon Tree called Shut Up and Sew, to try to encourage others (and myself) to stop thinking that sewing is too hard or too much trouble to deal with and just give it a shot. So far I've done pumpkins,

burp cloths,

and pillow cases, so I'm on a bit of a roll! I like it, but so far I have only taken on easy projects and I'm okay with that.

Just a little of what's going on around here.

More soon!

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Halloween Pjs

I love Halloween pjs on my little boy so so much.

I don't know what it is about fall/Halloween pjs in particular that get me so excited.  It must be that when they first make their appearance in the stores, it means that summer is almost over, and fall and winter (and all of their fun holidays) are soooo close!  They just make me want to snuggle up with Jayce even more than I already do.

Today, I dedicate my whole post to my darling in these darling pjs.

 

 

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Photography is the Best Prize

You may remember me getting all giddy a few weeks ago about winning a free photography session in Evansville with Sarah Wellmeier Photography. Well I've seen the images, and let me tell you they are stunning!!! These are just the sort of "mom snuggling her little buddy" pictures that I have been wanting for so long.

She did a post with more pictures on her blog, which you can see at this link. But you can't blame me too much for baiting you with these, can you?

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Patiently Waiting

I have said before how we have a cornfield in our backyard. This doesn't bother me the way that I had originally thought that it would, actually, I kind of like it. It makes for beautiful scenery, gives us a bit of privacy and provides a sound barrier from the road behind us, is a quiet substitute for a neighbor, etc. But for Jayce, the best thing about the corn field is that it is eventually cut down by a very big tractor.

This year, that tractor came at a rather inopportune time for Jayce. Concessions had to be made.

I could not resist such an unusual photo op. I won't be posting the pictures of when he jumped up and ran over to the window, but I am still laughing over them.

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Post-Bedtime Troublemaking

Jayce took a long nap the other day, which was great at the time, and I was grateful for it.  But I knew that it could mean trouble that evening, when he needed to be sleeping.  It was.

At first he wasn't very tired, so he kept calling us upstairs for one reason or another, as 2 year olds do.  But then he was quiet, very quiet, for about a half hour.  We assumed he had gone to sleep, as parents do when their child is quiet in bed for a while.  But we were wrong, very wrong.

Jayce started yelling for Chris, calling, "Da-ad, wash hands.  Wash hands, Dad!!"  So he went up to check on him.

He hadn't been sleeping.  Not at all.  He had grabbed ahold of his box of toiletries that sits on his changing table and pulled them into his bed.  Every bottle of lotion and medicine had been opened, including a big tub of Vaseline.

So he did, what I guess any kid his age would do in such a situation.  He painted himself in it.  He smeared it all over his crib rails in huge globs.  More globs littered the crib sheets.  The blankets and bears were covered, as was the carpet and...well...everything!

We're still finding it everywhere.  Some on the bathroom floor, some on the wall, under the crib rails, etc.  I think in the initial panic/cleanup session we were so busy taking care of the big globs and getting the crib to be suitable for bedtime again, that we weren't cautious enough with the small smears.  I even have most of the stains out of everything by now.  Most of them.

 

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Illinois Farms

We spent a few different weekends at farms of friends around town.  One had apple picking, cider making, horses, chicken, the whole deal.

The second had corn fields, bean fields, gator rides, a tree house, and ride in the combine.

It is a good place to have a little boy, especially one who can't get enough of any of it.

 

 

 

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Bed Golf

These pictures are actually a few months old at this point, Jayce's hair is a good indication of that, but this afternoon was still worth posting about.  The day that I walked into our bedroom and found Jayce like this, my first words were, "Jayce, no.  We do not golf on Mom and Dad's bed."  Chris had just gotten home, and he turned to me guiltily and said, "Actually...I kind of let him...do this."  Since he was using these really light weight balls, I decided to just let it ride and snap a few pictures since he was having such a hilarious time.

Jayce started off with just a big pile of balls in the middle of the bed and was just kind of hitting them randomly.

But then, Chris started lining them up in a straight line, and having Jayce hit them one at a time.

He then started lining them up and calling off which colors Jayce should hit.  He obeyed, and would pick off the specific colors, even if they were buried deeper in the line up.  It was pretty funny, and I was actually kind of impressed.

Chris and I started off sitting on the floor on opposite sides of the room, with him shagging the balls and me snapping pictures.  When Jayce hit a ball towards me, I caught it and threw it at Chris instead of back onto the bed.  Chris reciprocated, so I threw a few more his way.  Eventually, Chris and I were ducking behind furniture and launching all of the balls at one another instead of refilling Jayce's little bed driving range.  We had to stop once he started crying.  And Jayce was sad too.  :)

 

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