Flashback Friday: Thanksgiving

I decided to start a new feature on my blog that I will deem "Flashback Friday." I am a sentimental soul at heart who loves to reminisce by looking at old pictures, so I decided it might be fun to include some of those past memories here. I can't guarantee I will add a new post each and every Friday, but I can tell you that if the responses are positive, I will most certainly try. So with that, I bring to you my very first entry in this new category.

Peanut the Pilgrim, age 3, with preschool turkey art

Pumpkin the Turkey, age 8 months

Hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin's fitting obsession

UPDATE: Check out the first comment for this post. I was FLOORED. The author of the Spookley book and writer of the film described in the post below, Joe Troiano, found my blog. Talk about making someone's week!


ORIGINAL POST: Don't break it to my pumpkin that most people only read and sing about pumpkins in October. He and his brother became very attached to a movie called Spookley the Square Pumpkin earlier this fall and continued to watch it all through the Halloween season and into late November.

It's a predictable but cute story of a little square pumpkin who is teased because of his shape but ultimately teaches everyone that it's good to be different (remind anyone of a well-known red-nosed reindeer story?). It is based on the book of the same name, and the lonely extra on the DVD is a reading of the story, page by page. So, when I found the book for a steal (just $1.00!), I knew my little ones would be excited.

I didn't anticipate, however, what a fan little Pumpkin had become. He wanted all Spookley, all the time. No other television viewing was allowed. The book needed to be read over and over ad nauseum to satisfy his thirst for Spookley. And each reading of the story needed to be followed by a serenade of the "The Spookley Song." Yes, the movie is a musical (and the music is actually tolerable until about the 857th time). The cutest song of the bunch is a melancholy little tune called "If I Was Round" in which Spookley sings: "If I was round/ I would be/More like them/And less like me/And maybe I/Would have a friend/If I was round/If I was more like them." (Hearing Pumpkin sing every line of that one nearly melted my heart.) But I knew this obsession needed to be curtailed when Pumpkin decided he would sleep with his Spookley book, open to his favorite pages.

Hi, I'm Pumpkin, and I am reading my favorite pages of Spookley.

Wanna see?

Here, get a good look!

After a while, I started enthusiastically encouraging other books so that he could enjoy other stories, too. But I had to include the video I filmed of him one night after reading the book when he sang every word of "The Spookley Song," complete with key changes and (his added) background vocals. Now that the ritual has ended, I have to admit, I kind of miss it. Then again, there's always next year.

And now, ladies and gentlemen (are there any gentlemen out there?), here is my pumpkin, singing about another pumpkin (with translations below).

The Spookley Song

He's so odd he won't fit in, look at Spookley, look at him

Spookley the square pumpkin

All the pumpkins in the patch are nice and round, we all match

Look at Spookley, look at him, Spookley the square pumpkin

Every time in every town the pumpkins they pick are nice and round

That's true it happens every year, the best will get picked

(I guess you'll stay here)

Look at Spookley, look at him, he's so odd he won't fit in

Look at Spookley, look at him, Spookley the square pumpkin

I can't help the way I am, I wish I could look more like them

It's hard to fit in when you've found, you're a square and the world is round

(Loser!)

Look, look, look, look (he's so rectangular)

Look, look, look, look (he's so triangular)

Look at Spookley, look at him, Spookley the square

Look at Spookley (so rectangular)

He's so odd (he's so triangular)

Look at Spookley, look at him

Spookley, Spookley, Spookley, Spookley

Spookley the square pumpkin!

Root for me!

Okay, the odds of me winning a contest from a blog that a bazillion people read a day is slim to none. But hey, I am an optimist at heart. So excuse me while I take this opportunity to link to MckMama's blog so that I can enter her contest. It could benefit my awesome readers as well; up for grabs is a shiny new blog header (and I sure would love that!) and some camera extras (although I'm not sure if they would fit on my Kodak EasyShare, otherwise known as my Cheesy K-Easy, but I would be game). Wouldn't it be nice to see a pretty new blog header the next time you click over here and also see some prettier pics of my peanut and pumpkin? Well, if you agree, cross your fingers for me!

If You Give a Mom a Blog...

...she'll want to post something like this on it. One of my friends sent me this mommy's ode to the storybook staple, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff. If you know this favorite story, I think you will find it cute; I also appreciated the children's ages (which are coincidentally the same as my own boys' ages). Rather than fill up anyone's inboxes, I figured it would be more appreciated here. Enjoy!

If You Give a Mom a Muffin
by Kathy Fictorie

If you give a mom a muffin, she'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
She'll pour herself some.
Her two-year-old will spill the coffee.
She'll wipe it up.
Wiping the floor, she will find dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer, she'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan supper.
She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She'll look for her cookbook. (101 Things to Make With a Pound of Hamburger.)
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.
She will look for her checkbook.
The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old.
She'll smell something funny.
She'll change the two-year-old.
While she is changing the two-year-old, the phone will ring.
Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.
She'll remember that she wants to phone a friend to come for coffee.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
She will pour herself some.
And chances are, if she has a cup of coffee, her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

Peekaboo...

...I see you!

Is there really anything more fun than making a fort with your brother out of a blanket, couch cushions, and a yard stick?

If there is, these little buggers wouldn't know it.

What do your kids (or you) like to build?

The Ghosts of Costumes Past

I told you that last year's costumes were an incredible feat. And I wasn't kidding! Peanut wanted to be Dash from The Incredibles and he wanted Pumpkin to be baby Jack-Jack. I ordered his costume from The Disney Store Online according to his measurements, and I found a Jack-Jack costume on ebay. A few weeks later, they both arrived, just in time for Halloween. Of course, I wanted Peanut to try his on before the big day. Uh-oh. He was swimming in it. I looked at the measurements and size on the package. Yup, just as I had ordered it. But I wondered how in the world would a boy his size fit in this costume without another boy his size in there, too. So, I called The Disney Store and explained that their measurements were really off, and I needed a Dash costume in five days. Guess what? They rushed a new (smaller) Dash costume to us -- for free -- and told me to keep the too-big Dash costume. I was pretty impressed with their costumer service. I guess the big mouse doesn't want any mad mommies out there. We used hair mousse to make Peanut's hair look swept back like Dash's, and we used it to make a point with Pumpkin's hair to look like Jack-Jack's. We had some issues getting good pics, but here is the final product:

Dash and Jack-Jack from The Incredibles, 2007

And, just for fun, here are all of the other previous costumes my boys have donned in years past:

Peanut as Pablo from The Backyardigans, 2006

Pumpkin as himself, 2006

Peanut as Simba from The Lion King, 2005

Peanut as Winnie the Pooh, 2004

Peanut as a puppy, 2003

Halloween will probably always be my least favorite day of the year. But these little boys of mine all dressed up in their sweet costumes certainly help me to smile.

I love both peanut and plain...

Well, what else could be as sweet as plain and peanut m&ms? Neither of our boys actually eat very much candy, but when they do, m&ms are the candy of choice (although I prefer the Minis for our mini; I am well aware of the possible choking hazards). And you might remember this post which showed our entire family as m&ms. So, when I found a great deal on the yellow m&m costume and asked Peanut what he thought of the idea, he was thrilled. And I am happy that -- for the second year in a row -- Peanut has wanted to partner with his brother with their costumes.

But before the big night of trick-or-treating, we attended Peanut's kindergarten Halloween Parade. It was a big deal; even the high school band marched around the circle with them. Many of the kids' costumes were creative, and there weren't many duplicates (and no other m&ms). It took both Mommy and Daddy screaming full blast to get Peanut to look for this picture, but we were definitely not the only crazy overzealous parents there. Besides, no one really knows us at this school yet (but we didn't have any offers of friendship after our screaming, either).

In a strange twist, it was actually Peanut who wanted to come home first from our night of going door-to-door. Pumpkin was having a blast and wasn't even afraid of some of the scary scenes some of our neighbors created (although he did voice his disapproval of the googly eye glasses given out at one house in lieu of candy that Peanut is holding in the picture below). The funniest image of the evening was watching Pumpkin attempting to grab handfuls of candy from the nice neighbors' bowls when they offered with his huge rubber gloves on. Peanut ditched his gloves earlier, but Pumpkin was determined to complete the look while in public.

I have to admit that I will be excited if we can accomplish another brotherly costume choice next year. I am sure that there won't be many years left where they will want to choose a costume together since next year, Pumpkin might actually have a say.

But since I didn't have this blog this time last year, anyone care to guess the brotherly duo my boys represented in 2007? All I can tell you is that it was an incredible feat!

The Power of Prayer

First, I want to say a heartfelt thank you to all of you who expressed your kindness after reading my last post. I truly appreciated your genuine thoughts and prayers during what is always a difficult time for me and my family.


Secondly, I just wanted to update you on a previous post. Once told her baby would most certainly die of a heart condition, MckMama's baby boy was born last week -- with no signs of his previous believed-to-be-fatal heart failure. The doctors are all scratching their heads, but she isn't. She believes it might have something to do with the fact that she has had 1,595,304 visits to her blog and that she has 1187 loyal blog followers who all united in prayer for her family. It truly is a MckMiracle!

I promise that my next post will include Halloween costumes and two sweet little boys. Any guesses what they were? I'll give you a hint: I would love some right now!