peelosophy

By the look of this picture, you would have never thought the kids were looking forward to seeing Santa – more like he was holding them at gunpoint.  JJ and Henry actually made pictures to give Santa describing what they wanted so he would remember.  George has been talking for a month about seeing Santa so he could tell Santa he wanted a the Bat Cave.

All through line they were fine.  We got up there, Henry and JJ basically threw their picture at Santa.  Then George, looked at him with the same glaring grouch face he has in the picture, and growled “I want a Bat Cave”.

My side of the family has always gone to Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, Ill to see Christmas lights.  They have a display that is mainly white lights and the entire route is depicting the the story of Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem.  I’ve always loved it because you can tell the  lights are put up with great care and they are well thought out.

There is also a petting zoo with animals that may have been in the stable, camels the wise men came in on, etc.  Inside they have a Lego nativity and a Christmas tree room with lots of different decorated trees.

We usually all take separate cars, but this year Gramie and Pops rented a 15-passenger van for the 9 adults and 6 kids.  We started at Imos for dinner and we sang Christmas carols on the way to the lights…all very fun until the kids melted and made the 15-passenger van seemed like a  Ford Fiesta.  The kids had fun though and that’s what matters right?

Here are some pictures….

Read more…

Dear God,
Thank you for giving us what I never knew I always wanted wrapped up in this sweet little girl.  Thank you for tights, dresses, headbands, cute winter coats, all.the.shoes. and the cutest model to wear it all. I love delighting in Your creation!
Love,
Jill

Today JJ’s friend Madeline stopped by to drop off a gift for him that she picked up in LegoLand at Disney World last week.  It was a little tub of Legos – so sweet.

He told her thank you twice when she gave them to him. Then tonight he felt he needed to call her and thank her again.

He looked up her number and dialed it and this is how the conversation went….

Mrs.J: Hello

J: Hi, this JJ Peel is Madeline there?

Mrs.J: Why yes she is just a moment JJ.

M:  Hello

J: Hi Madeline, this is JJ.  Thank you for the Legos you gave me.

M: That is the third time you thanked me JJ.

J:  I know.  I really like them and wanted to tell you that my brother and I made 3 things with them already.

M:  Cool!

long  pause……..

M: You know were are partners tomorrow for school.

J:  I know.

M: That’s exciting!

J: Yeah.  Here comes a burp…..

M: What?

Me in the background:  JJ We do not burp over the phone.

J: Ok see you tomorrow.

M: Bye.

So how did I know both sides of the phone conversation?  I totally put the phone on speaker.  I figure I have a small window of time my sons will let me listen in help them with their phone skills and I took it.  Hopefully my control issues will be resolved by the time they are teenagers.

John – she was wearing her Ferrari Formula 1 T-shirt when she dropped the gift…..

It can’t decide decide if it wants to rain today.  So it’s just wet from random sprinkles.  Around here, rainy days usually equals the resurrection of a tent of some fashion.

ps. if you are coming over today, don’t come in the front door….

I have an irrational fear of zombies. Yes zombies. I guess it was perpetuated by my love of zombie movies.  Think 28 Days Later, 28 weeks later, Dawn of the Dead, etc.  Then at some point in the last couple of years I started to have zombie nightmares.

There were variations of these dreams but they all had to do with how it went down when the zombies came…..John was always at work and I would be struggling to get all the kids and two dogs into the car.  This was always the longest part of the dream because no one was listening to me (same in real life)  and I was under the gun because I could see the staggering shadows of the zombies coming down our lane.  Then, there would be times that I would have forgotten something we need at the house and had to go back which is never a good idea in a zombie movie.  We would get away alright, nobody was eaten and “turned” thankfully, but I would be scared and have no idea where to take our family and how I would find John.

After the last time I awoke scared from a nightmare (over a year ago) , John comforted me and told me about the plan for when the zombies come.  He simply said that when the zombies come, the car will be working, have a full tank of gas, and the children and dogs will listen when I put them into the car.  Then after we drive away from the house we will head straight to Sullivan, MO to our friends JP and Maria’s house.  Why Sullivan? Because, it’s rural and zombies tend to go to big cities to feed and the country folk tend to have lots of guns.  John also said not to worry about him because he would meet me there.   I think we even talked about what route would be the best way to get there.  It was a very logical conversation.

Can you believe I haven’t had a zombie nightmare since he told me about the plan?!?!  I know you all probably think I’m nuts, but I love this story.  I love it because I can see how John loved me though it.  Silly I know. But he took me kinda seriously, he could have told me there was no such thing as zombies and dismissed me.  The other thing I love is that it reminds me of how well he knows how I am wired – a planner – I like to know where I am going and he gave me a plan – and that’s apparently all I needed!

Sometimes I take mental notes and add them to my plan – for example like buying a 2010 Ford Fiesta….click here and you’ll see why.

John was changing the oil in our van.

Batman (George) came to sit car side if he needed assistance.

Since JJ has been back at school for 2 weeks now, the band of brothers has had a shift in dynamics.  Before school, I would say that JJ was the ringleader and the younger boys generally followed suit or got excited about whatever he is doing.  Now that JJ is gone all day, Henry moved up to be the older brother for 7 hours during the day.

Now, Henry and George have different relationship because they are closer in age, they are 16 months apart,  whereas JJ is a full 2 and 1/2 years older than Henry.  I feel like Henry and George either are best friends or worst enemies depending on the day, hour or moment.  In recent days, I can see how they are trying to figure out how to be themselves with each other (aren’t we all?) and find a “common play”.  It’s been rough – lots of crying, but some sweet times in between the grief.

I usually take for granted the time they are loving each other and playing “nicely”.  But lately, I feel like God has been showing me sweet moments of them enjoying each other and here is one I’d like to share with you.

Let me preface by saying, I know I say stupid things without thinking of the full ramifications.  I am not without fault especially when it comes to opening my mouth.

So here’s my deal, without fail when I run errands with the kids,  strangers fall head over heels for George.  I can’t really blame them.  Yes – he has two perfectly placed, deep dimples on his chubby cheeks, yes – his clear blue eyes mimic waters off the coast of Bali, yes – he’s at that darling age of 2 1/2, and yes -  he flirts relentlessly from the cart.

Strangers stop us constantly and complement him (or me never know which) on all the above characteristics, that’s all well and sweet.  But it’s how it is said in front of my other children that drives me mad.  The conversation is usually only complementing George, nothing is usually said about my other children.  It’s not my feelings that are being hurt – I think all of my kids are the cutest in the whole world right?  It’s when I glance at Henry when all of this is being said about George.   I can’t imagine what he feels. Ugh, it makes me sick.

One of the things I get all the time is “I will take that one (pointing to George) home with me”.  I mean can we single the kid out anymore?  Obviously, I’m more sensitive because I am their mom.  But it has made me more sensitive when I am complementing other people’s children – I usually check myself if they have siblings.

So the point of my rant is the next time you are doting on that cute kid smiling to you in the frozen food aisle -  take the extra minute to complement his brother or sister too. I guarantee you that that cute younger kid gets noticed a lot more than his older brother or sister counterpart.

Thanks for letting me vent here- it drives me crazy.  It makes me almost as nuts as when someone asks John and I, “Don’t you know how that happens?” referring to our number of children.  People can be so dumb.

p.s. This picture was taken before summer haircuts this year.  It was taken at Sams, I was so excited that their new carts could fit all 4 of the kids – I had to send a picture to John.  It’s the little things like being able to restrain all my children in the cart that I’ve come to appreciate these days – so great.