My Little Goblin!

Halloween has brought out a new side of my child. As far as I know, the only candy Aaron has ever had was the occasional sucker that he gets at the Credit Union. But, somehow he has discovered candy!
Candy has turned my sweet little guy into a demanding little goblin! Every time he picks up his "trick or treat" bag he starts yelling "CANDY!" We went to a couple of "trunk or treats" at local churches and he was roaming around yelling "CANDY!" at everyone! This morning I asked him what he wanted for breakfast and he yelled "CANDY!" at me! Then, we were riding down the road and he was yelling (yes you guessed it!) "CANDY!" at James.
Now that Halloween is over, I hope the goblin goes back into hiding and sweet baby Aaron returns! :)

It's the Great Pumpkin, "Ar" Brown!

Aaron's Paw Paw gave him a plush Charlie Brown doll for Christmas last year. Aaron loves that doll! He calls him "Ar Brown" and carries him almost everywhere! In fact, we even made "Ar Brown" a Halloween costume and took him "trunk or treating" with us at a friend's church last night!

The other night "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" was on the television. We let Aaron stay up past his bedtime to watch it. While James and I were excited, Aaron was mesmerized! He sat in James's lap (with Ar Brown in his lap) and stared at the t.v. He would name the characters each time they came on the screen. "Doupy!" (Snoopy), "Inus" (Linus!) he would say. Then, his hero came on the screen! "Ar Brown!" he yelled excitedly!

He only made it through about half of the movie before he got bored and wanted to get down to play. But, it was a fun family time while it lasted!

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Each year around this time the radio stations start playing "Halloween" songs. The other day Aaron and I were riding down the road and "Ghostbusters" came on. I started singing along and the next thing I know I hear "ost usters! hee! hee! hee!" from the back seat. Aaron thought it was the funniest song! So, we drove on down the street yelling "ghostbusters!" and "ost usters!"
So, now whenever I ask him "who ya gonna call?" he yells "ost usters!" and then starts grinning. I can't help laughing every time. Being a mom is so fun sometimes!

Torture at the State Fair

People have different reasons for going to the State Fair. Some people like to ride the rides. Others like to look at the exhibits. Me, I go for one reason and one reason only...THE FOOD! I love the candy apples, the caramel apples, the blooming onions, the hot dogs, the funnel cakes, the turkey legs...you get the picture! It's all about the food!

Last year we felt like Aaron was just too little to enjoy the Fair. So, we didn't go. This year we felt like he was the perfect age to go, and he was! He had a HUGE time! He was in awe from the moment we arrived (it helped that a train went right past where we parked) to the time we left! He got a (pink) balloon from the pork people and stickers from the state troopers and peanut farmers. He got to ride a pony, talk to the chickens and pet a cow. It was the perfect day at the Fair, for Aaron!

The Fair for me, on the other hand was pure torture! I had my wisdom teeth removed a couple of days before we went and couldn't eat a single yummy thing! No popcorn, or candy apples. No peanuts or pretzels or turkey legs! I just couldn't eat! I did attempt to eat a funnel cake, but even that was difficult (and not nearly as yummy after you have mashed it up with your tongue!)

So, a word to the wise...unless you are just into self-torture...skip the Fair if you have your wisdom teeth removed! :)

Little Singer

My baby is supposed to be sleeping peacefully in his bed after a big day at the State Fair with Mommy and Daddy. Instead, he is in there singing to himself. One of life's precious moments!

Thank you, Jesus for...Everything!

Each night we say prayers with Aaron before he goes to bed. We usually say something like "Dear Jesus, thank you for mommy and daddy, my friends and my family and all my blessings. Amen." I guess last night Aaron was just feeling extra thankful because he started naming all the members of his family. Then, he thanked Jesus for every animal he could think of. Then, he thanked Jesus for anything that was in his range of vision (books, pants, Mommy's hair, etc.)
I hope he was feeling thankful...I hope it wasn't just a plot to stay up later! :)

Update on My "Crazy" Friends...

Here's a brief update on my "crazy" friends (the ones adopting the 5 girls). They have been having some behavioral issues with the two youngest ones this past week. Please pray for them to have guidance in dealing with these two very strong personalities!
We saw 4 out of 5 of the girls at a wedding we attended on Saturday. They were all looking pretty in pink, except 1 who was looking pretty in gray (we figured she was the rebel!)
The oldest daughter, Summer, has a special love for my son. Last night at church she was hugging and kissing on him. Between his squeals of delight, I heard her say, "I love me some Baby Aaron!"
The two middle ones are getting along well as far as I know.
Robin, the mom, apparently ran into a door or something at church last night. She came up to my husband and asked if her nose was broken. He said he was fairly sure it was! Poor Robin!
Seth, the token male :) seems to be in good spirits whenever I see him (or he's a really good actor!)
Please continue to keep this special family in your prayers!

I'm going to teach you a song...

I have one niece, Krystal, who is 12 and one nephew, Chase, who is 6. They are awesome and I love them a lot! Unfortunately, they live in Texas and before that they lived in Guam! So, I don't get to see them very often, but we try to talk on the phone a lot.

The other day I was driving home from my brother's house, and I was talking on the phone to Chase. Suddenly, he said, "I'm going to teach you a song!" "Okay" I said. "I'm listening". He then starts singing:

"Oh! I wish I were a little bar of soap" (clap clap)

"Oh! I wish I were a little bar of soap" (clap clap)
"I'd go slippy, slidey, slimey over everybody's hiney"

"Oh! I wish I were a little bar of soap" (clap clap)

Let me tell you, I almost drove off the road I was laughing so hard! Then, he says in that sweet voice of his, "Krystal did the claps".
I love my niece and nephew!

Too Much Excitement!!!

All day Tuesday I kept thinking, "what a boring day". I should have kept my big mouth, er brain, shut!
To relieve my boredom, I thought I would take Aaron for a walk in his stroller. As we were walking down the next street over, I smelled smoke. I just assumed it was someone burning trash. As we headed back up the hill, I could see little wisps of smoke drifting off the roof of a house. I started to walk faster, praying that it was just from someone's grill. As I drew closer I started to see flames at about porch level. Praying that it was just a really BIG grill, I started hurrying toward the house. About the time it became clear that it was not the grill that I had been hoping for, a friend came out of his house. I yelled to him about the fire and he called 911 on the cell phone he happened to have in his hand.
I left Aaron with him and ran over to make sure no one was in the house. Then, I ran over to help the next door neighbor who was trying to unravel her garden hose. She doused the fire and soon the fire trucks came roaring down the street. She had done a good job extinguishing the flames, but the firefighters said there was still some stuff smoldering under the porch that could have reignited.
Soon, most of the neighborhood had come out to see what was going on. Aaron and I stayed around for a little while and then headed back toward our house. All the way home I thanked God that no one had been in the house. I thanked Him that we were walking by at that moment and that my friend came out of his house with his cell phone when he did. I thanked the Lord that everyone was safe and there was minimal damage.
In the future, I will think twice about complaining about boredom! Even in my own head!!!

A Child's Perspective

As you know (if you have read the rest of my blog :), there is a couple in our church that are adopting 5 sisters. Crazy or not??? The jury is still out on that one! :)

Anyway, the youngest girl, Autumn, is a member of my Mission Friends class. One night we were talking about an orphanage in S. Africa and how many of the children share the same room. Autumn piped up and told us, "each of my sisters have their own room" (really proudly) "but Mommy and Daddy have to share one" She said the mommy and daddy part with this look of horror on her face! I guess it just all comes down to your perspective!

A Cooking Accident

Last night I was trying to be a good wife and was fixing a special dinner of "honey pecan pork chops" for my husband. (Aaron had to have chicken because he is still to young for honey). As I was putting the honey/pecan topping (fresh from the stove) on the pork chops, I dribbled some on my foot. At first I didn't feel anything, then it began to BURN!!!
I threw my foot up into the kitchen sink and started running cool water over it. Aaron, who had been pulling all of the dishes out of the cabinets, came running over to see what was going on. I told him "Mommy's hurt". After running the water over it, I tried to finish making dinner. Soon, my big toe had blistered up and the pain was so bad I was crying. I put more water on it and tried to contact my paramedic husband. Meanwhile, Aaron keeps saying to me, "Mommy hurt?" "Mommy hurt?" When I was unable to reach James, I tried calling my mom who is a nurse. She didn't answer either! I tried to think of who would know what to do, since the pain was getting worse and worse.
I ended up calling a friend who is an EMT and a pharmacist. He was surprised I reached him. He was down at the Outer Banks. He advised me to run more cold water on it and then put some sunburn gel on it. James came in the house at this point and Aaron ran up to him and said "Mommy hurt!" and then was completely distracted by the Elmo book that James had in his hand! (So much for concern about Mommy!)
This whole incident got me thinking...what would I have done if it had been Aaron that was burned? I guess I need to brush up on my first aid!

Please, Don't Call DSS!

I try to be a good mother. I really do! But, there have been moments in Aaron's life when I have thought "Please don't let anyone call DSS!"

Take, for instance, a shopping trip a couple of weeks ago. We were in Kohl's and I leaned over in front of the stroller to look at some socks. When I did, Aaron grabbed a big handful of my hair! "Let go, sweetie" I said. His reply was "hee hee" and a good yank. "Sweetie, please let go of Mommy's hair" "hee hee hee" (more yanking) Then I got a little more forceful. "Aaron! Let go of Mommy's hair!" His answer? "hee hee" yank, yank. Then I started swatting behind my back for him to let go. So he started yanking harder. Soon, I was swatting at him and yelling "you let go of my hair!!!" and Aaron was pulling chunks out! When I finally got loose and collapsed on the floor, red-faced and with a lot less hair, I realized the incident had probably been captured on the store's video surveillance cameras! All I could think of was "please don't let them call DSS!"

Then, there was also the now infamous stroller incident. This was a while ago when Aaron was about 13 months old. I like to use my stroller pushing time as a "prayer walk". In the craziness of our days, this seems to be the best time to talk to the Lord. On this particular day, I had not strapped Aaron into the stroller (completely forgetting that the stroller does not have the little plastic piece that goes between the baby's legs!)
Well, he rode along for quite a while and we were making our way up the hill on the neighboring street, when it happened. The stroller got jammed on something and I couldn't make it go! I looked down and it was caught on Aaron!!! He had slipped right out and was lying there on the road making little whimpering noises and looking at me like "how could you do this to me?" I hurriedly picked him up and strapped him in TIGHT! All the while I was glancing around to see if anyone had seen and praying that no one would call DSS!

So, now you know my shameful "secrets". Please, don't call DSS!

Anatomy

Aaron is at that stage where if you ask him about body parts, he can usually show you where they are. You know the game..."Where's your eye?" and he pokes himself in the eye. "Where's your toes?" He points to his toes. And so on.
One thing that puzzles me is his concept of where the heart is. If you ask him, he always touches his head. If you ask him where Mommy's heart is, he touches my head. If you draw a heart, he can identify it with the word "heart", but he insists your heart is in your head. I don't know if he is hearing the words "hair" and "heart" as the same thing or what! Or, maybe he is telling me to "think with my heart". I guess it is just one of those mysteries of motherhood!