Friday, December 1, 2017
Selah June has been really into playing doctor. So she’s all about giving us shots. But she also gets distracted. So, after telling Jeremy that she wanted him to pretend with her, and she was going to give her a shot, he said: “Where’s my shot?”
To which she replied:
“It will be ready in just a minute. You have to wait for your turn, Daddy.”
Selah June is getting really excited about Christmas. They are definitely talking at school about Santa and presents and the Christmas tree. She is super excited about her tree at home and helped me decorate it from start to finish.
It started off benign enough…. She saw a few tea cup sets and baby dolls. She saw some legos, and she saw some paw patrol toys. “Sure… Santa can definitely bring you all those presents,” we said. The only problem is that now everything she sees she wants and insists that Santa brings it to her for Christmas. And… we are trying to surprise her with a swing set built in her backyard by Christmas morning, and we’re afraid that she’s not going to be surprised and instead will be pissed. I’m hoping that that’s not the case. It might come a little early… maybe the 22nd. But now I’ve gotta get some presents for the tree as well because she doesn’t have any sense of relative cost. (YIKES!!! THIS IS GOING TO BE AN EXPENSIVE YEAR!)
Here she is in an adorable dress from her Grandma. She received two. The other one is grey with Santa. But this one had to get on her body immediately! I love this picture. It perfectly captures her innocence, humor, spirit, love of the season, and pure joy. This is Selah June 2017.
Jeremy and SJ have a tradition of getting up early on Saturday mornings (before Mommy comes close to thinking about waking up) and sneaking out of the house to go get breakfast. It used to reliably be doughnuts. Now, they’ve graduated to full-on breakfast at Grover’s. SJ loves the hash browns covered with cheese. It’s pretty remarkable how much she chows down on the stuff.
And they often pick up a toy or fun activity. Today they brought home glitter glue to make slime.
Friday, November 17, 2017
Jeremy went to Biloxi for a golfing trip with the guys, and SJ and I got into all kinds of trouble together. We built our fire bowl Grammy and Grandpa bought us for Christmas last year. While I was on the phone and a little distracted, she crawled in it and pulled the lid over herself. Child sacrifice… Just wait until the authorities get a hold of this. They’ll never believe me.
Saturday, November 18, 2017
We spent a day going on adventures getting into all kinds of trouble. I packed a bag full of snacks for both of us, and we went shopping all over town to replace light bulbs, shop for rugs, look for toy storage, and just enjoy being out and about. She was awesome. I can see that we are going to have a lot of fun shopping together. It’s going to get expensive, but it’s going to be fun. She loved seeing all the toys and the decorations for Christmas. She asked me about the Salvation Army bell ringers. And she paid close attention to every indication of Santa Claus.
The only thing I don’t like about fall is the time change. The sun seems to set so early. I barely get off work, pick her up from school, and get home before dark. We love spending time on our porch, and the weather is so perfect in November. I’d love it if we had just a few more hours a day to enjoy it. Nonetheless, we do what we can to make the most of it.
Perhaps her favorite spot is the concrete slab by the steps. She loves to hang out there like a sphinx guarding her house.
Oh to be a fly on the wall in that little mind…
I think I somehow missed the Halloween pics from this fall. All of my posts for October/November are a bit out of whack. It’s partly because we’ve been busy and partly because I’m using a new camera app that takes better pics but requires a two-step process to upload to her blog.
Daddy brought home a book of pumpkin carving patterns for our pumpkin from the corn maze. SJ chose the scary cat, and Momma spent the evening scooping out pumpkin guts and doing fine carving work to make it happen.
We decided to take advantage of my Veteran’s Day holiday – observed on a Friday this year – to go on a late fall beach adventure. October/November are the best months for Florida fun in the sun. The weather is very rarely cold, and the water is still warm from the dog days of summer.
Selah June was very excited to be going to the beach with her kids. And she also was quick to pick her nose for the camera rather than give me a smile. Our latest party trick is that we are buckling ourselves into our car seat. It takes a little patience, but she insists that we LET HER DO IT!
There’s not much of anything I like more than a couple hours of ocean breeze, lulling waves, and powdery sand between my toes. And the kids are getting more and more independent and helpful. It’s a pretty great life…
Monday, November 27, 2017
“Dad! Don’t eat all the pizza!”
Somebody came home wanting pizza for dinner. After waiting for what seemed like forever for delivery, she is now finishing her second and thinking about her third slice from Marco’s.
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
I took two days off work and planned to spend one of them with SJ all day on an adventure and one of them by myself for some much needed R&R. I really didn’t come up with any grand plan for our adventure. I just purposed to be spontaneous and fill the day with mutual fun. I packed both of us lots of snacks, and we hit the road. Of course we started it off with a good drink and some tater tots. Then we checked out Ollie’s – a new store kind of like Big Lots. We followed that up with a trip to Steinmart, Ross, and the toy store in the mall. We got gum balls from the candy machines and a Coke Zero from vending.
After she woke up from her nap, we went back out to Eyeglass World and Hobby Lobby. It was a full day of adventures. She really liked going into different stores and checking out what kind of stuff they had for sale. I can tell she’s going to be a shopper. We’re going to have some fun looking for great deals.
At the end of the day, we both ended up with a few treats. I got a new pair of boots on the cheap and some home decor stuff to finish out my living room makeover. Selah June got a purple “treasure box” with beadwork and a snap to close it up after stuffing it full of random finds.
November 2017
I’ve been jotting down little ridiculous things she’s been saying lately. Who knows… She’s truly a crazy monkey.
One of the things she’s been exploring is family relationships. At school, they’re learning everybody’s last name. This week, she’s been calling herself “Daddy’s daughter” or Mommy’s daughter.” She’s not wrong, but it’s a little strange to hear a kid refer to herself in the third person but not by name. Here are just a few examples.
“Daddy’s daughter made this.”
“Sit down so I can make it really duper hard.”
“I’ll never let you down, Daddy.”
“Don’t eat yet! You have to ask from your daughter… (15 seconds later) Say thank you, daughter! …. You’re welcome.”
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Her sneakers make her feet really stinky. Usually on the way home from school, she kicks them off and starts saying “Clean feet! Clean feet!” And then wafting through the airs comes a wave of horrible stinky feet. Consequently, we’ve been trying to give her a bath every night after dinner and before bed. She usually protests. This particular evening, she tried a particularly creative tactic.
“We don’t want bathies! We don’t want bathies!”
— She wiggles her toes and says with SJ’s stinky feet
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Abigail and Jules spent Saturday going around with us. Jeremy was out of town with the guys on a golf trip. I wanted to get a rug for the living room, and Ab offered to help me get it set up and the furniture oriented toward the fireplace. The kids had a great time playing together. I made them “butter” sandwiches, and they sat together at the bar having lunch. Jules was thirsty. (SJ is never thirsty, but she had to have a drink when Jules asked for one.)
When handing out Capri Suns to Selah June and Jules, SJ said “I want the first one! I want the first one!” I said, “Selah June, Jesus wants us to want to be last, to let others go first.” As she grabbed the pouch out of my hand, she replied, “sorry, Jesus.” (I’m in for so much trouble…)