Funny Faces

Ace keeps on saying, "Mommy, let's make funny faces."

I finally realized that this comes from Yo Gabba Gabba.

Vainly, I always do some other kind of funny face than the one Ace is doing in this picture (and that he wants me to do). I don't want to stretch out my face and give it wrinkles!!!!

P.S. Yes, that's his paci! Not making that much of an effort to get rid of it. And yes, that's monster trucks in the background...of course.

Lucky Cousins

Ace loves his cousin Aubrey (3). We are ridiculously lucky that they live in the neighborhood right next door to ours. Unfortunately, we don't take half the advantage of it that we should. Yesterday, we got together at their park which also has a dock.

On the way out the door I said, "Ace we need to get some food for the fish." He said, "Don't forget the bread Mom." I actually had 5 pieces left I was going to throw away. What a smart cookie. Here Aubrey and Ace are feeding their bread to the fish. Since Aunt Hilary was taking the photo, Brynley (1) was being kept away from the water so she isn't pictured but she is sure getting big.

Ace Idol

Here's more singing video of our American Idol in training (Season 25)!

Translation: He's singing "Desert Song" by Hillsong:

...bring praise

I will bring praise,

No weapon formed against me shall remain.

I will rejoice,

I will declare,

God is my victory...

Mommy, I want to smell the candle.

Of course, that last line isn't part of the song but oh well. He helped me pick out a candle at Hobby Lobby by smelling EVERY single one in the store and I guess it caught his eye there towards the end.

Today, I made Ace his own CD for the car since he is always requesting one song or another that I inevitably don't have. Here's his playlist:

1. Hope Now (Addison Road)

2. What Do I Know of Holy (Addison Road)

3. So Small (Carrie Underwood)

4. Wheel of the World (Carrie Underwood)

5. Temporary Home (Carrie Underwood)

6. Mighty To Save (Hillsong)

7. Desert Song (Hillsong)

8. I Can Only Imagine (Mercy Me)

9. If You Want Me To (Ginny Owens)

Almost done

Just a quick update on the N0-Fast-Food January resolution...

I think this will be a yearly tradition for me. I am honestly NOT missing my restaurants as much as I thought I would. (Probably because Jonathan and I are working so much, we are bound to the house most of the time anyway.) ONE month is not so difficult. Now, TWO months I think would be hard and Jonathan would probably mutiny.

I shouldn't call him out but I will say that I've resisted fast food even in the face of Jonathan's creative reasoning: that fast-food leftovers don't count (when he's ordered pizza) or that ice cream shakes aren't "food". I think he abandoned the fight earlier this month BUT I will give him LOTS of credit for not whining that I won't eat out at restaurants with him.

And I will confess a hardly-mentionable transgression by me, when Jonathan put a basket of fries and chicken fingers in my lap at Monster Jam...I ate three fries and a bite of the chicken fingers. I am not counting this because they were disgusting. Plus, I had a few mouthfuls of cotton candy and a handful of popcorn. Hey, I'm not invincible and hadn't eaten dinner.

If one mini-meal that was hardly enjoyed is all I fail with this entire month, I will consider it a success!

Monster Jam

If you don't already know that Ace is obsessed with Monster Trucks, you haven't talked to us in quite a while. We decided to indulge him and take him to Monster Jam last Saturday.

They started out with four-wheeler racing. The guy in the lower-left-hand corner was jumping off his vehicle to help another guy that had just eaten the floor.
Bundled up and behaving...for now.
We were fairly close to the action which meant a lot of stairs...not so fun when Ace needed to go potty no less than 8 times. Our thighs were on fire.

He polished off almost an entire bucket of popcorn by himself. That's nutritional, right? It's corn...

His favorite was all of the crashes. Out of the 15 trucks there, I'd say that only about 5 DIDN'T crash!

Wow...not the best photo I've ever taken but Ace's face was hilarious. We have no idea why he was doing that. You can tell I was bundled too - scarf and mittens. It was COLD.

Jonathan and I need to rest before taking him to another Monster Jam event (all of the squirming, popcorn spilling, beer splashing and trips to the potty we slept till almost 10am the next morning AND took naps that afternoon). Ace had the best time though.

There goes my millions...

I have now been informed that duvets come with the sort of ties in my last post...Now I've got to go check them out and see what they've done!!! Oh well.

Thanks Kate.

My Million $ Idea

Em, this post is in your honor. Wish I had your camera and instruction-skills. Everyone should follow the Domestic Notebook.

So, I've been making Ace's duvet covers (even though I despise duvets in general because it never stays in the cover properly) and I decided to fix my own problem. I sewed loops into the corners to fasten the duvet in place!!!!

First, I cut strips of fabric (the loops are thicker and on the left, the ties are thinner and on the right).

I sewed the ties onto the duvet.
I sewed the loops onto the SEAM (so it wouldn't show or interfere with the cover).

I took the tie and put it through the loop and tied it off at each of the four corners so the duvet will stay distributed through the cover.

Please department stores, start putting these on all the duvet covers and duvets!

An even better solution would be to add more loops and more ties but I'm on a time crunch.

January Resolution

I am not making a New Year's resolution this year but I have made a resolution for the month of January: No fast food (including restaurants).

I'm putting it out there so that you can keep me accountable.

So far, I'm not craving my quarter-pounder with cheese and I've managed to resist french fries (brought home by my husband who claimed the month hadn't started yet...but it was Jan 2nd). Jonathan says he's going to do it too but go a little easier on him if you see him out - he doesn't have a choice for lunches and has allowed a cheat night for himself on the weekends.

My first tricky test will be Saturday. We're going to see Monster Jam and I've got to resist everything at the Stadium!!!

P.S. Not for weight loss purposes so don't ask me.

Big Boy Bed

(Just for LeLe.)

If there's anything Jonathan and I love to purchase, it's over-sized furniture. Show us the BIGGEST, HEAVIEST, HARD-TO-DELIVER furniture and we just have to have it. The same held true for Ace's new big-boy bed. Here it is. It barely fits in his room!

I've got to sew the duvet covers still but, for right now, Ace is happy with the sheets from Honey and a baby quilt from Aunt B. Thanks!

Delivery was not so fun. We came back from San Antonio and Ace had turned off our answering machine so we didn't get the message giving us delivery window time. Jonathan called and they said 3pm to 7pm. I got a second call from them later that day that said it would be closer to 7pm. At 7:45, Jonathan called and the lady told him that they'd still be there at 7 (he kindly informed her that it was already after 7pm and she said, "Oh, I meant 8."). What she REALLY meant was 10pm! They didn't leave until 11pm. At least, Ace was happily re-watching all of his cartoons from the day.

We he saw it he took a deep intake of breath and said, "I like it." Wish I would've gotten it on camera but we were too tired and aggravated at that point. He absolutely LOVES it. He calls it his "tunnel." It's really cute to hear him call it his "big boy bed."

Now...in the past two months, we have potty-trained and transitioned to our big boy bed. Getting rid of the paci will be next. Lord help me!