thejlbs

Beater

Jessica — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:30:10 +0000

When I decided that I didn’t want a wedding band stealing the glory of my gorgeous engagement ring, let’s face it; I just wasn’t think long-term. Like, how was I supposed to know babies and diamonds do not mix?

Babies, and all of their poop, goop, spit-up, dirt and boogers have NO PLACE in the hands of a diamond-donning lady. Am I right?

Soooo. This year I told Jim I needed just the most basic wedding band he could find. since wearing my engagement ring has now been postponed until I’m, I don’t know, 96.

He got me this perfect ring and I could not be more satisfied. No place to trap poop! Ever the romantic, I will lovingly refer to it from here on as my Beater Ring.

But Jim? Now he’s the true romantic. You see, he had the inside engraved with his very own fingerprint. And we are still trying to decipher what this actually means. I’ve got his fingerprint wrapped around my finger? He’s got a finger on me? He’s not letting me slip through his finger?

Well, no matter, it is romantic, even if it is just a beater.

Food Fun

Jessica — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:00:07 +0000

It has recently come to my attention that I am much better spoken, more intelligent and even wittier when I am well rested. Unfortunately, those traits do not apply as of late. Let’s see…Too many Oscar movies (and then the Oscars themselves) to watch. Too many children waking up TOO MANY HOURS early. And let’s not forget way too few naps going on.

In that (read: exhausted) spirit, I am going to do a bit of idea rehashing for you today. And since it is Wednesday afterall, I’m guessing you’re exhausted too. So I’m making lunch (or dinner) easy for you:

I love Muffin Tin Meals because you can trick your kid into eating all sorts of healthy things. And the challenge of filling them up makes it fun for you, I promise. I appreciate being able to actually see the distribution of food groups, too. And I like throwing in one or two brand new foods, which seem to be more readily received in this medium.

So have yourself a Muffin Tin Humpday. And now let us breath a collective sigh of relief: We only have one more Wednesday this winter!!
PS. Some good bonus activities are here. And I always love this blog for ideas – she is simply genius! (And take note, she links to many other great activity blogs on her sidebar).

The Downside Of Almost-Spring

Jessica — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:00:03 +0000

For us country folk, all this melting snow means crazy things for our travels. Like fording rivers just to get down our driveway. You think I jest, but you think WRONG.

And then there’s the daily use of my unlimited car wash pass, to absolutely NO AVAIL.

Also, the moon-like properties of our roads that leave us cringing and utterly depressed when we get about a mile away from home, only to realize we forgot something imperative to our journey that we must then turn around to retrieve. (Side note, I once wrote the Road Commission demanding a road grading THAT DAY for fear that the state of the roads would cause my newborn’s neck to snap in half. (Side note #2, the first time we saw our house, it was March. And we drove here in Jim’s Mini Cooper. Pausing now for you to laugh at our youthful foolishness).

And let’s not forget the biggest excitement of all… having to get out the owner’s manual, a quarter mile away from our home, to figure out how to get my four-wheel-drive vehicle unstuck.

Spring Fever

Jessica — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:00:36 +0000

Could it be any sunnier lately? My goodness!
All this fabulous weather has inspired us to:
Clean out our closets (Purple Heart will find 4 bags on Friday, thank you very much!)
Cut off even more hair
Buy a new sun hat to compliment the shorter hair (Heavily inspired by the 1920s)
Thoroughly clean off the porch, where we have been:
Digging in the sand
Rocking in the chairs
Reading in the sun
Swinging on the swing and
Snacking in the playhouse
And of course, we expect another major dump of snow any second now.

“Hat Cat Coming”

Jessica — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:00:42 +0000

Several weeks ago Miss Kristy, our librarian, announced before Story Hour that the Cat in the Hat was coming to OUR library. While Bastien isn’t typically a big fan of announcements, this particular one instantly sparked his interest. He visually swept the room and every entrance to it while exclaiming: “Hat Cat Coming! Hat Cat Coming!” I managed to explain that he was in fact coming, but at a later date. Though still, through the rest of the hour he would periodically go through the whole drill again.

So naturally I spent the next few weeks building up the event. We talked about it a lot, because after all, he was really excited and it was something to look forward to.

Finally, the big day came. We talked about it all day, and happily pranced into the library that night. And yes indeedy the Cat in the Hat was there.

And that’s when it became clear. What was cleverly disguised as excitement, turned out to actually be:

TERROR.

Pure, uninhibited terror.

And it only makes sense. I mean, have you seen this Cat in the Hat fella? He is Trouble. Yes, with a capital T. Leading me to conclude only one thing…I done raised this son up RIGHT.

And also, hoooo boy, do I now know how to make him sit down and be quiet from here on out.
Mwhahaha…

Makin’ Luck

Jessica — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:00:18 +0000

Five plain green tees, $1/each at Walmart.

Five swatches of $1 fabric.

An instant plan for five lucky cousins.

An easy craft to squeeze into one nap time.

I LOVE when that happens.

Outside In

Jessica — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 04:00:25 +0000

Sometimes it’s not practical to go outside. Especially with the amount of s-ick going around. Plus sometimes, it’s just fun to do the same old things a little differently. And sometimes it’s especially fun to OUTRIGHT STEAL a great idea. Like this one, from our recent preschool open house frequenting.

For the two-year-old, what could be more engaging than an entire sink FULL of snow?

And for the mom, what could be more exhilarating than NO CLEANUP?

Happy Humpday indeed.
And this has been another edition of Good Clean Fun Winter Wednesdays. Over and out.

Oh Yeah, And She’s Crawling

Jessica — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 04:00:38 +0000

She would also like to add that she’s pretty proud of herself.

We haven’t seen much of her since she put it all together. She’s got ~~a brother to torture~~ too many things to do.

Hadley’s Nine-Month Photos

Jessica — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 04:00:10 +0000

She’s cute.

And she totally knows it.

And she’s also totally going to hate me one day when she finds out I told Jim to “make sure you capture how fat her thighs are”.

But then, on some later day, she’ll totally love me for it.

That’s just the way these mother-daughter things work.

Finders, Keepers

Jessica — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 04:00:08 +0000

Every week at the library, Bastien gets a new sticker to place on his name tag. Usually they are rather small. But this week, it was a big, cheerful smiley face. Instantly coveted, I tell you.

Somewhere on the way out of the library it fell off of Bastien’s name tag. And all the way home I heard about it. Let me tell you. Its loss was stressing us all out.

So when we finally got home, I unloaded Bastien with great promises of better stickers inside the house. I then moved around to unload Hadley… when lo and behold the missing sticker appeared! Unfortunately, it was all wadded up.

And also, completely crammed into the roof of her mouth.