Happy Thanksgiving

Problem Solved

Miles' bald spot has been getting bigger and bigger.  We've been trying to remind him not to twirl his hair.  I've taken pictures of his bald spot so he could see how bad it was.  I've even tried to teach him how to play with his hair without twirling it.  I knew it was going to be a hard habit to break.

I've been racking my brain about what to do.  Finally it came to me.....cut his hair so he can't twirl it.  Why didn't I think of this sooner???  Before...

After...

He seems really proud of it.  I am a fan too.  I think we need to keep it short for several months to try to break the habit.

He did not want to cut it.  I was really afraid of how the hair cut was going to go, so I started promising things...anything if he would just behave.  We landed with 5 items from the Dollar Tree if he was good.  7 items if he was really, really good.  10 items if he let her use the clippers.  And he would not want me to leave out that he would get 0 items if he was bad.  He earned 7 things b/c the clippers were out of the question.

At the Dollar Tree, he bought trophies for Darrin & me for being the best mom & dad ever.  Darrin said it was totally his idea and he couldn't wait for me to get home from work and see my trophy.  My paper says "Really, Really Best Mom Ever".

Weekend Wrap Up

Well this will be short b/c it's so cold outside that I can't get our house warm....so I can't be out from under a blanket for long.  Friday night, we went out for a quick dinner at Los Portales...Miles' choice...and then back home to hang out and crash early.  Darrin didn't feel great and I'm always tired on Friday nights.

Saturday we opted to watch Colt & Case at our house instead of braving the cold at the UTM football game.  Their dad is a football coach & we thought we'd help their mom out so she could enjoy the game.  They are good friends of ours and Christa & I trade babysitting during football & volleyball season.  It doesn't hurt that our boys LOVE each other...

Case took a 2+ hour nap and just did his own thing most of the day.  All three boys were so good.

Granny & Pa stopped by for a quick visit, but then ended up going out and getting dinner for all of us.  Darrin's choice this time...Taco Bell.  It was so nice to sit down and talk with nowhere to be.  

Miles always loves wrestling with Pa...

...and he loves when Granny scratches his back...

It wasn't long after everyone left that Miles crashed on the ottoman with his butt up in the air. This never happens.  The sign of an exhausting day...

When Darrin laid him in his bed, he never moved...

We went to church this morning.  I love our church.  A group of our friends sang Ten Thousand Reasons this morning.  It was so good.  I found myself thinking during the song how thankful I am to have such great friends with sincere hearts, and who earnestly seek after God. So thankful.

After church, it was leaf raking time.  The high today was in the 30s, so we bundled up.  We had on so many layers that it took two loads of laundry to wash it all...and we do extra large loads and then some around here.

You know you have a boy when you have to clean the following out of his pockets before doing laundry...

Well, it's cold y'all and football is on.  Blogging can't compete with either of those. 

Wordless Wednesday

Photos by Julie Shell Photography

Moms' Night

Tonight was Mom's night at daycare.  Darrin & I had to go to a funeral visitation at 5pm.  I was a little concerned...and by concerned I mean secretly hopeful....about whether or not I would be able to get back in time for Moms' night.  If that were the case, neither of us thought that Miles would even realize we missed it.  I ran the possibility of missing it by him last night to test the waters.  He was not even a little bit okay with it.  So, we arrived at the funeral home at 4:50 to try to beat the crowd.  We did, and actually made it home in plenty of time.

Miles was so excited about me going with him.  Darrin & I were laughing b/c Miles was trying to prepare me for everything, which is what we constantly have to do for him.  He wanted to be sure I knew what to expect and how everything was going to go.  I'm a little confused now b/c I have no clue how his instructions related to what we did :)

First up was circle time.  We sang songs and did some motions.  Very cute...they all loved that part.

After circle time, we rotated to four different learning centers.  His daycare does a fantastic job of making learning fun.  At the math center, we played glow in the dark alien bingo.  The theme of the night was outer space.  Miles picked our spot, sat down, and immediately said, "I'm going to win."  That's my boy.

 

The next center was an obstacle course where you had to gather letters and spell out the names of the planets.  We also learned facts about each planet, which most of the kids already knew.  

We rotated to Science next & learned about gravity.

Miles had to pick a helper for Mr. Chris and he pointed to....

 ....me...

Mr. Chris is one of Miles' favorites...

In the last group, we made sensory bottles with corn syrup, stars, and food coloring.  These are the projects that find their way to the bottom of our trash can.  I am not a sentimental mom when it comes to art projects.  Goodbye sensory bottle...

Miles & his future bride, Amelia.  Her mom commented that these pictures will be good for the rehearsal dinner. 

Batgirl spotted what was happening with Amelia and made sure to jump in...

 

The night ended with story time, alien punch, and moon pies...

All Miles cared about was the punch...

I always like to see Miles in his element.  His behavior is interesting.  As I stated last year, Miles will never be the most well behaved child in the room.  It's a little humbling, but I'm learning to just let him be himself.  He is very active.  People always say that's just how little boys act, but I saw plenty of little boys sitting quietly beside their moms tonight.  When we were learning about the planets, all the kids were standing up and fidgeting b/c it was right before we rotated to the next group. The teacher was asking questions about each planet.  Miles was running through the obstacle course wildly and randomly shouting almost every answer.  I know he is listening and learning.  He hears and retains what they are teaching him.  I'm not sure what to think about his behavior.  He's not rude or disrespectful typically, he's just wild.  What do you do with a wild 4 year old?  I understand he has to learn how to act within the limits and rules, but he is just 4.  We still have two years before he starts school, so hopefully that's where some maturity will kick in.

Last year, I was excited to go and learn more about what they do at daycare.  This year, I felt like I had a pretty good understanding of what they do and how Miles learns and behaves.  Tonight was more about having fun and showing up for him.  He had a blast and was so proud to have me there.