“Poppa!”

I was looking through some of my old photos recently and came across this one from our house in Denver.

This was before we had kids.

Apparently, these children did not approve of the cat and dog toys we had on hand for them to play with.

Good thing we had the chalkboard paint on the laundry room doors…and chalk!

home is…the honesty of young children.

I had a dream about skiing in Vail the other night.

I’m pretty sure I was skiing down Highline…

Since then, I have really been missing Vail.

{image from www.vail.com}

Baby girl is adding to her vocabulary.  Currently, anything that is alive and not a person is a “doggie”. Everything else is “nana”. She also calls me “momma” (which is alright with me).  She has been know to say “poppa” on occasion, but a lot of the time he is “momma”, too.

Recently, she added another word (I was trying to figure out if it is a noun, pronoun, proper noun, etc….if, after you read this, you know please tell me…this especially applies to my father-in-law, the former high school english teacher).

She was getting into some frames with photos in them that I have been meaning to hang up on the wall (for months).  I took the frame from her and said, “That’s your big brother at his first Christmas.”

She replied, “Bo-bo.”

I said, “Yes, that’s your big brother.”

Again, she said, “Bo-bo.”

Sounds like the little guy just got a new nickname.

home is…an expanding vocabulary and sibling nicknames.

*My little sister couldn’t say Stephany, but could say “Ne-ne”, so that was the beginning of my sibling nicknames (which evolved throughout the years).  Did your sibling have a nickname for you?  If so, what was it?  Did it change throughout the years?  Do they still call you by your nickname?

The little guy wanted to say a prayer before he ate his dinner last night.  Actually, he had already started eating it and told us that at school they say a prayer for their food at snack time. I told him he could always say a prayer for his food at home, too.  So he did.  He said a prayer for his hot dog, his raspberries, his plate, the phone, the lightbulb, the refrigerator, the stockings, the TV, the couch, the counter, the chair, and a long list of other things in the room. He even said, “…and thanks for the duck we shot…” regarding the stuffed Mallard my husband shot that is on a bookshelf in the family room. Finally, after his beautiful, long prayer he said, “Aaaaaa-men.”

Melted my heart.

On a similar note, the little guy was so excited to share his new book with his class yesterday and today.  It’s the children’s bible that they use at his preschool (which I bought from the preschool). He thinks I magically knew the exact book they read at circle time and found it for him, though.  At any rate, he took it to school yesterday AND today to show his teachers.  On Wednesdays, he goes to an optional “Create and Play” class that we call “Wednesday School”.  At Wednesday School he took it out of his backpack at some point during the morning, and I was lucky to find it on a counter when I was grabbing his backpack and coat. Today, he went to his “Regular School” and took his bible out of his backpack right when we got there.  He enthusiastically showed his teacher.  When I picked him up after lunch, he (and his teacher) told me that he got to share it at circle time and they read their bible story from *his* book.  I could tell that it made him feel really special.

I felt special too.

I wasn’t raised going to church. We went on Easter and Christmas…some years. We didn’t not believe in God, we just didn’t go to church.  Part of the reason that I bought the bible was so I could read the stories and talk to him about them at home.  He was coming home telling me about baby Moses and bad kings, and I had no idea what he was talking about! My husband and I wanted to have him introduced to spirituality and religion (heck, we promised God in a Catholic Church when we said our vows that we would raise our children to believe in God), but I can’t do it myself (the religion part) because I don’t know anything about it! It makes me feel good that I found a preschool that can add to his life in this way.

Home is…being thankful for the teachers that can teach the little guy things that I can’t.

So, over a month ago I figured out *why* I move furniture. Sure, a lot of it has to do with the fact that I am an interior designer turned stay at home mom who misses working on design projects, but I also do it when I get frustrated.

My husband has dealt with the chaos many more times than I care to imagine. The little guy is so used to it, at the ripe old age of 3, that he actually enjoys the “game” of being my design assistant. All I need to do is give him a tape measure and a tool belt to wear while I move furniture.

Earlier this year I wrote a post about longing for a designated playroom in our house. We found the grown up looking storage, but needed more space for the kids. So, when I was frustrated I moved furniture…

This is what used to be our “living room”.  It started out as an empty space when we moved into the house almost 3 years ago.  It was a “formal” (as formal as we get…really just a space that had no kid stuff in it) living room and acts as our guest room when family visits.

After baby girls birthday party, I left the tissue paper puffs up as it added color and whimsy to the room.  This gave me the idea to move all of the toy storage into the room and make it the designated playroom!

Now, it’s a space that everybody loves to hang out in…even the pets!

home is…moving furniture when i am frustrated!

*This is not the only furniture that I moved (when I say I, I mean me and my husband…there is no way I could have moved some of this furniture by myself). Notice the green chair?  That came from baby girl’s nursery…

He sees you when you’re sleeping,

He knows when you’re awake,

He knows if you’ve been bad or good,

So be good for goodness sake!

I am inspired.  I LOVE this time of year.  I love it even more now that I have my own children who find it all so magical.

I want to decorate, bake, shop, craft, entertain, wrap, listen, see, do…

I pulled out my Santa collection before Thanksgiving to get a start on the decor.  We visited Santa, and cut our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.  On Saturday I put the lights on the tree, and the little guy and I hung up the ornaments.

I also put almost all of the Santa’s back into the attic storage.

I am on the search for simplicity and Santa was getting in the way.

I am still inspired.  I still LOVE this time of year.  I’m just going to enjoy it even more without all those Santa’s watching my every move.

home is…the search for simplicity.