Hey you, with the face...

Me - "Eliza Gracie"
Eliza Grace - "Yes, mommy?"
Me - "Come over here and give me some sugar, my little blue-eyed, freckle-faced girl."

Eliza Grace - "Heeeey, who are you calling freckle-faced?"

Me - "Well, I'm not talking to Will. If I were, I would say 'Come over here and give me some sugar, my green-eyed, sweaty-faced boy'."

Will - "Huh?"

Eliza Grace - "Heeey - are you making fun of me??"

Me - "Are you kidding me? The only reason I ever look tan is because all of my freckles (NOT age spots, by the way!) merge together to make me look darker! I would never make fun of you or your freckles, sweetie!"

Will - "Do I have freckles, Mommy"

Me - "Well, you have a couple here and there that are really kissable. But you have Daddy's skin, lucky boy, which means that you tan beautifully and will never need Botox."

Will - "Plus, I am really cute - see?"

Eliza Grace - "Hey, I'm really cute too!"

Me - " Yes, you are both really cute. And remember, Eliza Grace, a wise person once said, 'a face without freckles is like a night without stars'."

Eliza Grace - "Yeah, I like that one."

Will-isms part II

A few more favorites from our little man:

Borin - as in "when I was borin, and I was a baby, I cried"

Fouey - as in "one, two, fwee, fouey"

Ghost-tes -as in "mommy, there were two ghost-tes"

Songs I Sing to My Babies- I Love To Singa

When I was a kid, cartoons were so much simpler. No evil characters to speak of, with the exception maybe of Bluto on Popeye, but he was more mean than evil.

When were allowed to watch Saturday morning cartoons, my favorites were the more unique Merrie Melodies, especially the really old ones from the 1930s and 1940s. While admittedly many of them are terribly offensive with ridiculous stereotypes, there were others that were just plain fun.

One of my all time favorites is called "I Love To Singa." This eight-minute Tex Avery gem dealt with expectations, rejection and acceptance. Ok, so it was not that serious, but the song that the little owl sang has stuck in my brain for decades.

And decades later I taught it to my little ones, jazz hands and all. Eliza Grace was a performing it for family by age 2!

Enjoy "I Love to Singa." I promise it will make you smile!

Songs I Sing to My Babies- Edelweiss

Ok, stay with me here because I know this one may seem odd.

When I was pregnant with Will, I decided that since I sang Baby Mine to Eliza Grace so much, I needed to find a lullaby that was just for Will. And during this same time, Eliza Grace watched the sound of music for the first time. It was so fun sharing this movie with her and there are so many songs to love.

The scene that always got to me -and I am sure just about everyone who has ever seen it - is when the Captain is singing Edelweiss on stage and cannot finish because he gets choked up, then Maria joins in and then the kids join in and then the entire audience joins in. It would make me just weep and weep. (Dang, I am emotional, no?)

As far as I know, I am not of Austrian decent, but I doubt there is a patriot in any country that would not get choked up during that scene. So, for some reason, that song just stuck in my mind as the one I would deem as Will's lullaby.

Of course, I tweaked the final line a bit to fit my purposes. Here is the way I sing it to my Willby:

Edelweiss,
Edelweiss
Every morning you greet me
Small and white
clean and bright
You look happy to meet me

Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever

Edelweiss,
Edelweiss
Bless my sweet child forever.

And here is the original (click on the picture):

Songs I Sing to My Babies-In My Favorite Dream

This one hails from yet another Disney movie, Fun and Fancy Free, specifically Mickey & The Beanstalk.

In the story, the golden harp is stolen by Willie, the giant. At one point, the harp sings the giant to sleep so that Mickey can steal the key to the box where his friends (Goofy & Donald Duck) have been captured - thus the odd ending to the song as she directs Mickey to where the key is. Everyone on the web must be petrified of Disney lawyers, because I could not find a snippet of the song out there anywhere. But, here are the lyrics:
In my favorite dreamEveryone is so delightfulNo one's mean or spitefulIn my favorite dream

Yes, and in my favorite dreamThere my heart can go romancingDancing to a heavenly theme

But there's something else I look forward to

It's a secret, but here's a clue

He's my favorite you-know-who

You're the hero of my most favorite dream

In his right vest pocket you'll find the key
The right vest pocket, go carefully

Songs I Sing to My Babies-Baby Mine

My very favorite Disney movie ever is Dumbo.

The first time I saw Dumbo, I cried all during the scene when Dumbo goes to visit his Mother while she is locked up in the "Mad Elephant" cage. When Mrs. Jumbo takes her trunk and lovingly caresses Dumbo's head and he snuggles against her - sigh, it is just full of sweet and tender motherly love.

The song playing during that scene is Baby Mine. And I decided long ago that Baby Mine would be my special lullaby I would sing to my children. Eliza Grace heard that song nearly every day before she was born, and nearly every day since.

So all you mommies, grab a tissue and watch it again below.

Besides the original Disney version, two of my very favorite renditions are by two of my favorite singers. Enjoy!

Baby Mine - Bette Midler
Baby Mine - Alison Krauss

TRIVIA TIME: Dumbo is the only Disney movie main character that never speaks!

Jump!

I am still enjoying my Nikon DSLR camera. The kids are still enjoying the neighbor's trampoline. All the fun + none of the liability = happy Mommy!

We don't need no stinkin' gravity

C'mon mommy...you're next!

Let's take a break

Hey - Will is trying to bite my toes!

MOMMY! (giggle, giggle) 
Make him stop (giggle, giggle)

Blech. Boys can be so gross.

Swinging

Swinging into the sun...

This is what joy looks like...

...and this is what silly looks like!

Dancing

Sometimes, when the mood hits you, you just gotta dance!

The Octopus, er, Quadopus

Will said he was "shakin' his booty"

The Maize Maze

We have been doing some fun Autumn stuff lately.

Last Saturday was a trip to a nearby corn maze. To be honest, had we not paid $16 up front for the privilege to wander aimlessly through a corn field in 85+ degree weather, we would have skipped the maze altogether and opted to just do all the other fun free stuff - which included a hay ride, bounce houses and climbing in and all over farm machinery.

All in all, it was hot, sweaty, Fall fun!

Historic Yates Mill

One of the many great things about living in this part of North Carolina is that there are so many parks, trails, historic sites and cultural activities available all year round.

One the many things that I lament is that we do not take near enough advantage of all these great things to do. I keep telling myself when Will gets older we will do more stuff, but then Scott and I will be older and will we have the energy??

Regardless, I am trying to make a greater effort to do and go and see more, which is why Eliza Grace and I recently met a friend and her kids at the Historic Yates Mill County Park in Raleigh. It was their harvest celebration and we had a great time at the beautiful park, the lake and learning lots of history about the mill.

We tried our hands at braiding wheat to make ornaments, carding and spinning wool and, even though Eliza Grace did not win the corn shucking contest, we got to take four ears of corn home for dinner!

It was a great time and I definitely want to do more of the same sometime soon~

Out front at the start of our adventure

The Mill runnin'

Eliza Grace trying to "be the corn"

Allie & Eliza Grace shucking corn

Flora

Fauna

I really do not spiders but for some reason I love to take pictures of them...go figure.