Jacey Chronicles: Happy Snow Day!

Happy Snow Day, everyone!

Well, all winter long, I have been aching to take Jacey somewhere with snow. I have thought and planned and schemed about a way to make it happen. After several failed attempts at snow filled spring break vacations, I even considered waiting til it snowed in West Texas and loading my little man up for a road trip. It's just that he's finally old enough to really enjoy and appreciate snow. And, he's almost 3 years old and has never had the pleasure. Well, much to my surprise, we got a little snow here in Austin today. I know, it's nothing like what some of you are used to and certainly not like what most of us have experienced at one time or another but, it's still snow! We bundled up and went out for about 20 minutes the first time and almost an hour the second. We made a little snow man, had snow ball fights (which Jacey calls mud balls), made snow angels, ate snow (which Jacey calls ice cream and holds as if it is an ice cream cone, licking it just the same), and generally had a grand time. Here are some pics... (low res for email) The big guy is passed out cold from all the morning's excitement but we're hoping to do a little cardboard box sledding down the hills behind our house this afternoon with our cousins!

Jacey Chronicles: Little Thoughts

Here are a few thoughts about cute things Jacey is up to these days...

» Jacey is doing great with the potty training! He says that he's either making a snakey or a river for us and usually tells who, in particular, he's making it for. I love it when he makes me a snakey but makes Russ wipe his butt! Russ taught him how to pee standing up and he cracked me up one day when he did a hip thrust/shake at the end of peeing. When I giggled at him, he said, "Just like daddy does!"

» At the end of most of his sentences, Jacey says, "all day." I wanna go play with Joseph all day. I went to cooking class all day. etc.

» Instead of pretty please, Jacey says, "Goody please!"

» Jacey says that his cousins are his brothers, even Lillie. I tried to explain to him that Lillie is a girl so she would be a sister but he argues and says she's his brother too.

» When he toots, he always turns to us and says, "Just toots!" so we won't ask him if he needs to go poop.

» We were at Tokyo Steakhouse for Nan's birthday and they have a little stage for live bands to perform. Jacey and Lillie hopped up on the stage and Jacey said, "Ladies and gentlemen! It's Lillie Hanel!" and walked off the stage to allow her to perform.

Jacey Chronicles: Christmas Cheer

This holiday season has been so much fun with Jacey. We tried as much as possible to focus on the true meaning of Christmas rather than on all the hype and Santa and such. He is really into the nativity story so I bought him several books about it. Mom got him a fantastic block nativity set last year and he played with it every day, lining all the characters and animals up across the living room floor.

We went to church early in the month to the Walk through Bethlehem and he got to see a real baby in a manger with people dressed up as wise men and Mary and Joseph. It was so awesome and really brought the story to life for all of us.

About a week before Christmas, I happened to ask Jacey what he thought Santa might bring him and he told me a nativity. I was so proud and impressed with him. Of course, Santa brought him the nativity and a tool workbench like daddy but the first thing he did on Christmas morning was to plop himself down in front of the nativity and play with it for half an hour.

Jaceys favorite songs this holiday were Jingle Bells and I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas. He sings Jingle Bells... "Jingle bells, jingle bells, I smell mommy's feet, Hey!" He sings "I don't want no stinky stinky toys, I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy!"

The night we bought him his santa outfit, he put it on and told me that santa needed a sleigh. I asked him what he'd like to make the sleigh out of and he told me to put the loveseat in the middle of the living room floor. I wasn't sure where it was all going but I played along and he directed me precisely where to put the loveseat. Then, he moved anything that was on the floor around the loveseat and located his little stuffed rudolph the red nosed reindeer and placed him on the floor in front of the "sleigh." He climbed onto the loveseat and told Russ to put some presents on his sleigh. Here is what it looked like. Hysterical!

Jacey Chronicles: Yarn Pile

I recently taught myself to knit and found a great buy on Craigslist of a garbage bag full of yarn for $5. I got the yarn home and poured it out in the entry way to see what I scored. Jacey jumped into the pile and began making snow angel motions and rolling around in it!

Jacey Chronicles: What are you thankful for?

At the beginning of the month, Jacey started his cooking class at Clay Madsen. It's put on by Lupine Lane. I was very skeptical when we walked in on the first day and she said we'd be making hamburgers and curly fries. Seemed pretty ambitious for a bunch of toddlers. I guess I had it in my mind that it would be something a little simpler (and more lame, now that I think of it) like pudding. Anyway, that first week, we did indeed make burgers and curly fries and the kids did such a great job. The teacher makes it fun and really easy for them to do with only a tiny bit of help from the moms.

Jacey loves to cook at home and it is even more fun to cook in a room full of toddlers. The excitement and squeals of glee just adds to the ambiance. Class always starts out with a hello song...

"Busy, busy bumble bee
will you say your name for me?

Jacey!
Jacey!
Good morning, Jacey. Good morning.
Good morning, Jacey. Good morning."

Of course, we've been doing this song around the house singing it to the couch, Elmo, and every toy imaginable.

Today, after the good morning song, our teacher Lauren read a book about Thanksgiving and went around asking the kids what they were thankful for. Since we've been working on fall and harvest instead of thanksgiving concepts, I wasn't sure Jacey would get the idea of what it meant to be thankful. I was wrong. He very definitively stated that he is thanking for...
"Mac and cheese!"

Turned out great too because that's what we cooked in class today. Later this afternoon, I asked him again what he is thankful for and he said, "Mia." Russ asked him too this evening and he said the same thing, "Mia." Of course, Jonson and Joseph are a close second as is the whole rest of the list of family that comes along when he starts naming names. Can't blame a kid for loving mac and cheese and family!

Here's a pic of my silly goose making mac and cheese (which he wanted to take to Lillie but couldn't due to impending nap time).

Jacey Chronicles: Tissue Paper

We were getting dressed today to head over and buy a birthday present for Uncle Eric. I told Jacey that we needed to get a present, a birthday card, and some tissue paper to wrap the presents at the store. He disappeared just before I could get his shoes on him and when he came back in the room, he was carrying a box of kleenex. He handed it to me and said, "I got tissue paper!"

It is a wonder to me that children can learn the English language. When you think about it, there are a million different words for the same object and many more words that have one name for multiple different objects. Try explaining the difference to a 2 year old!

J & J Strike Again: Breakfast on a School Day

In taking this RCB (Redirecting Children's Behavior) parenting class, I've reconnected with some things about the kids that I had forgotten. Namely, Joseph loves going on "dates" with his aunties. He craves and benefits from alone time spent just on him. And, when I thought of it, he and I hadn't really gone on a date since Jacey was born, maybe even since before dad got sick. I decided that it was past due so invited him to breakfast with me on Friday morning before school. The boy loves McDonald's (mostly for the toys) and their pancakes so I woke up early and snuck out of bed.

Just as I was about to head out the door, Jacey woke up crying hysterically because he had a nightmare. He said his chocolate bar fell in the waterfall... a nightmare indeed! I knew Joseph would be devastated if he didn't get to go to breakfast. So, I had no other choice but to call Joseph and ask him if he wanted to reschedule or if Jacey could come. He didn't even seem disappointed and said Jacey could go with us. We had a great breakfast and Joseph was very proud to walk into the school office after the bell had rung for a tardy slip. We'll definitely have to do more dates in the future.

Here's a pic at McDonald's of Joseph in his doggie hat, which I specially knitted for him.

Jacey Chronicles: Field Trip Friday

We've been taking field trips on Friday these last few weeks with our friends Amber and Jewel and Lillie. This Friday, we decided to go down to Zilker because Amber is very into trains lately. Jacey and Lillie took the opportunity to don their cowboy attire...



The weather was gorgeous and the kids loved chasing the birds around at lunch afterwards.