All things bright and beautiful...

...all creatures great and small.
All things wise and wonderful
The Lord God made them all.

Today is one of those days that I want to literally climb to my roof and yodel to the heavens for joy and adoration. I haven't won the lottery. I don't have a clean house. We aren't getting ready for a world wide vacation and I haven't suddenly lost 30 lbs. But those of you know me know that it is the little things that I am most affected by. The slightest irritant can send me into a tailspin of anger and frustration for weeks. The upside to this is that it doesn't take much for me to...well, want to climb on my roof and yodel to the heavens for joy and adoration.

Here it is: Ben walked into school this morning and gave me a hug and a kiss and said, "Bye, Mama."

That's it! But oh, that is enough. No holding him. No showing him the clock and saying, "Ok, it's 8:00 and when that clock says 3:00 I'll be back to get you." No explaining ad naseum about how all children go to school and he isn't going because I have things to do...BLAH! None of it. Simply, "Bye Mama."

My challenge now? To channel the joy into house cleaning productivity!

Who else is going to teach him?

Ben and I were playing in his room this afternoon. Well, he was playing and I was cursing myself for not ordering the stupid Pottery Barn Advent Calender earlier to avoid $50 shipping to get it here before the first day of December. Ben came up and started leafing through catalogs with me and found the Williams Sonoma catalog the most interesting. The conversation went something like this:

Ben: What's this Mama?
Me: That's a machine the pours beer.
Ben: For Daddy?
Me: Sure
Ben: For you?
Me: uh huh (still cursing shipping cost of personalized advent calendar)
Ben: For me?
Me: Oh, I don't think so. You don't drink beer.
Ben: YES I DO! Every day I drink beer. It is so good for me and will make me big and strong. *thoughtful pause* Mama, you shouldn't drink beer. It is not good for YOU! It is only good for daddy and me. Me and daddy should drink our beer every day to get big and strong. Beer makes me so happy!
Me: (silence, crickets chirping. Can't laugh. Won't laugh. Not funny.)
Ben: You should just have apple juice Mama. It is so much better for you.
Me: So you drink beer with daddy every day?
Ben: Well, daddy just sometimes. I like to drink by myself.

9 Days

Wow...9 days since I have posted. That means 9 different posts I have to think of to catch up on my "30 posts in 30 days", self imposed challenge.

What have I been doing for 9 days, you ask? What could be so important that I would neglect my vast internet fan base?

Here's a hint:

That Good Old Baylor Line...

That good old Baylor Line!
That good old Baylor Line!
We'll march forever down the years
As long as stars will shine.
We'll fling our green and gold afar
To light the ways of time.
And guide us as we onward go,
That good old Baylor Line!

HEY SIC' EM BEARS!!!!!!

Baylor Bears 41
Those fightin' Texas Aggies 21

Suck it!

I have new hair

Well, not "new", but newly colored.

I have decided to go dark to honor the season.

It is a disease. I know.

What I am listening to...

Jamie Lidell!

Listen. Go. Purchase. Today.

Husband of the Year

I know I don't take much time to brag on my husband...but tonight it is past due!

Please scroll down my blog and check out the amazing roasting pan that I have been dreaming about. Guess what? I OWN IT!

This gift was made possible by a grant from the Big Daddy Kevin "You had better make a better turkey than my mother" Foundation!

Hurray Kevin!!! Thank you! Thank you!
I love you!

Milestones - UPDATED

As I sat on the couch and pondered the irony of how the Biggest Loser is a show dedicated to getting us up off of our fat behinds and get moving to lose weight YET is a 2 hour TV show that we must park our fat behinds on the couch to watch, I started to think about the other bits of irony in our lives right now.

Most notable being: BEN & His New Milestones!

You see, this week he has crossed over from being a wee bit affraid of his own shadow, to really embracing the big wild world around him. He speaks to others outside his family without shying away. He told Santa gleefully what he wanted for Christmas and he even told me this morning that he wouldn't cry when he went to school because this time HE WANTED TO GO!

But with this confidence and independance I get this: "Mommy...I will NOT give you a kiss. I don't give kisses. I BLOW kisses. Night Mama! BYE!"

UPDATE! As Kevin was leaving for work this a.m., he turned to Ben and said, "Bye Ben. Come give me a hug." To which Ben replied, "No. Bye. Love you, Kevin!"

*sigh*
and *double sigh*

Yearbookyourself.com

Hours of entertainment. I mean HOURS and HOURS that I don't have...but so much fun!

I freakishly look like my aunt Patti.





And sadly...I had this hair and this photo. This could have been cut from the pages of the Wylie Middle School 1989 Growl! Just add braces.

What's Going On With Ben?

Every so often, I forget that to take mental stock of what is going on with Ben? I mean, some facinations, obsessions and preferences only last a week or two and if I don't grab a hold of it mentally (and write it down preferably!) then they are lost forever. So I thought I'd share with you some of the things that are going on with the mop top tot.

Our favorite things:

- ALL THINGS AUTOMOTIVE, LOCOMOTIVE and AVIATIONmotive...(I had to carry the "motive" thing!) If it is a piece of machinery that drives, flies, rolls on tracks, digs dirt, moves dirt, carries dirt and even levels dirts then it is a big win! Shocking? No, he is a boy!

- Firefighters. I made the mistake of calling them firemen one day. To which Ben replied, "they are NOT fireMEN, Mommy. They are fireFIGHTERS! His own little superheroes..and given what they do for a living...mine too!

- Microphones, guitars and drums. It looks like my little "cautiously shy" child secretly longs to be a rock star!

Our favorite sayings:

- "Listen here, son!"

- "da da da da da DA! Mom! STOP TALKING!" Is he 2 or 20?

- "Actually...." If you ask Ben a question he will typically starts his answer with, "Actually...."

- "Don't bother me, Mommy. I have a very expensive meeting to go to." Currently Ben assumes that "expensive" and "important" are synonymous. Which given how much our time is worth, he's not too far off.

- "That's red...well, really its ROJO!"

- "Always..." This is by far my favorite of his little sayings right now. He puts "always" at the beginning of every sentence that he is using the word "always" in. Much like a little Yoda. For example: "Always Mommy lets me!" "Always I do it by myself!" "Always I am just Ben for Halloween!"

- "Men, men men men manny men!" Yes my son knows the theme song to CBS's "Two and a Half Men" and when it comes on, he'll point to the TV and say, "That's Charlie" or "That's Charlie's house" or "That's Alan"

- "sunny get low low low low" - uh huh. Currently he's working on, "Apple bottom jeans and boots with fur..."

Ben is getting bigger and bigger each day and I am sad that whiskers are no longer "swiggers" and the "hoofier" is now a humidifier. He still won't eat or sleep, but at least when he's starving and awake, he's damn funny!

The Pumpkin Patch

Earlier in October, Ben and Kev and I headed to the DRI Pumpkin Patch for some Autumn Adventure! I have to say, the little mop top tot is quite impressive in his new "shades"...don'tcha think?

I tried to get him to pose while holding a pumpkin. The point and irritated expression was all I got.

What's been going on?

I have been failing miserably on my self imposed blog challenge, haven't I? Well, to sit down each day is an effort. And quite honestly, I don't do things that require great "effort" well. I normally find excuses for everything. They are usually pretty valid. But still...excuses.


One project that I have been trying to put to bed are some invitations for a friend who has this fabulous clothing store. With a little creativity and some massive help from my friend Melissa (who is the only reason my little idea became print worthy - amazing photo editing software that I must purchase), the end result is quite impressive.

Whatcha think?

I got nothing....

Recovery

We are all healing now in the Bredemeyer House. Group sickness is miserable and especially debilitating for me. On one hand, we only have one child and I have a fully capable husband so I kind of really want to lay here and heal...and sleep. On the other, what mother can lay in bed and sleep knowing that her child is throwing up in the other room? But we managed. And now we are all good!

Sadly, we missed Halloween. No costumes. No candy. No parties. No trick-or-treating. Just sickly people. Ben doesn't really know what he missed, so that is OK. But there will be a hole in his baby book where the 3rd Halloween pictures should be. I won't miss them until he is grown and has his own kiddos. But by then, I am told that I'll miss everything!

Now we are hunkered down watching the election results on TV. I live in a house divided so it always makes for good conversation every four years. Yes, I am the bleeding heart, hippie liberal who wants the world to have a coke and a smile and teach the world to sing and my husband is, well...he's just right of Atilla the Hun. Good conversation, indeed! But that's why he married me. For my fiesty nature and my hopeful idealism. That, and I am a great cook! But I beg all of you...if your candidate won or if your candidate lost, let's put the hate speak on hold for a while. It only makes your face crinkly.

Until tomorrow...

Still sick...

I tried to sit and type something that you all would enjoy and be proud of...but after 1/4 of my Cup O Noodles, I am back to gagging and have to go rest.

Perhaps another day?

30 Days 30 Posts

We are all sick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll catch up posting when I can.