The Word According To Luke: II

Okay, I know I write about Luke a lot. And its not that I don't adore my other children, and that they aren't the cutest, sweetest, funniest children in the world- Its just that he's the only one here all day that can talk. And Oh my gosh- this kid and the things he says!

This morning: We have just discovered that Super Mario Bros. for the Wii is coming out late November. We NEVER should have mentioned this to Luke- (I had to bookmark a YouTube video of the three-minute preview of it just to appease his unwavering excitement.) Lately he has been asking us the order of the holidays and he counts them off on his hand. He must have really been listening to us about the SMB release date because this morning he says to me, "Mom! It goes like this!" and starts counting them off: "Halloween, SuperMarioBrosWii!, Thanksgiving and ChristmasDisney!" Only a 3 year old would make a video game release date a national holiday!?!

Yesterday: He has been helping me go around the house in the morning and make the beds. Yesterday as we are pulling up his comforter, he says, "You need to do it nice and tight." "Why?" I ask. "Because I'd like some com-for-cy when I'm sleeping, thank you!" (Ha! This sounds eerily similar to what I say as I'm shutting the bathroom door, mixed with the word "comfy"...so funny! Great word!)

Last week: Luke was following Jason around and then out of the blue says, "I don't want to be a boy any more. Its too hard. I want to be a girl." Oh, buddy... if you only knew! If you only knew...

Talent Show

Its seem like lately, Luke has been pouring out the knowledge and random facts his little brain has been soaking in for the last 3 years. He knows all of his A, B, Cs and likes to spell out the names of the stores before we go in or the titles of the books we read at bed time. I don't remember Olivia being so obsesssed with letters, I just know that the Montessori teachers got them in her brain in the most fun and inventive ways. But the things that has all of us tickled is his new singing.

He will rock out a tune- and seems to know the "style" of the song so that is performance is genre apporpriate. The other day I had music playing in the house and "Three Little Birds" - the Bob Marley version came on- and he started singing. Every word and with great inflection. So of course everyone stopped what they were doing and had to join in. Such dorky fun.

And then last night we were coming home from dinner at my parents' house and "Im Yours" by Jason Mraz came on. And again- it was Luke who started belting it out, holding out the notes and even throwing in a little voice warbling when needed. We couldn't let him fly solo, so again- we all joined in and it was so fun. He was tickled and Morgan Jane thought it was hilarious! The Von Trapps have nothin' on us!

As I got him out of the car, I said, "Whoa, Bud! How do you know so many songs?" And he did the Luke shrug, and say, "Ahhhhhh, I don't know. Do you think I'm a good singer?" And I said, "Are you ever?! I love to hear you sing!" He walks into the house ahead of me and says to himself quietly, " I need to be in a talent show!"

HA! So in honor of his adorable thought- how in the world does he know what a talent show is???- I think we will be hosting the First Annual -well, maybe second- I think Olivia's concert counts since he helped! (Remember this flyer?) Yarbrough Family Talent Show this weekend. Stayed tuned for pictures... maybe even a little video. :0)

{Mu-Ah!}

To My Husband On Our Anniversary:

Our Love Transcends All Time

"So darling, say that you care

Take this heart I give gladly

Surely you know, I need your love so badly

Here is my heart, my life and my all dear

Please be mine and stay here in my heart" - Al Martino

Here In My Heart, 1952

"Love me tender,

Love me sweet,

Never let me go.

You have made my life complete,

And I love you so."- Elvis Presley

Love Me Tender, 1958

"It's right that I should care about you

And try to make you happy when you're blue

It's right, it's right to feel the way I do

Because, because I love you"- Dave Clark Five

Because, 1962

"'Cause you know it's you babe

Whenever I get weary and I've had enough

I feel like giving up

You know it's you babe

Giving me the courage and the strength I need

Please believe that it's true, babe, I love you"- Styx

Babe, 1979

"Close your eyes and give me your hand
Do you feel my heart beating, do you understand?
Do you feel the same, am I only dreaming
Or is this burning an eternal flame?"- The Bangles
Eternal Flame, 1986

Thank you for making me feel like a Princess everyday!

"Oh, I love you more today than yesterday
But not as much as tomorrow
I love you more today than yesterday
But, darling, not as much as tomorrow"- Stevie Wonder


HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! XOXO

Time Machine

Don't you love old friends?

The ones who loved you when wore Princess Leia buns and knee-highs with converse sneakers?

The ones who held your hand when you called that guy you had a crush on, and then smoothed your hair as you cried in her lap when he stood you up?

The one who you have a million pictures with when you two were in rare form?

The one who doesn't look at you like your nuts when you decided that you must, must! make personalized shirts to wear to the neighbor boys' soccer game?

The ones who would totally be up for going out dancing almost directly from the theater after you all caught the 10:30pm showing of "Save The Last Dance"?

Ah, good times made better by a good friend- those were the days!

My fabulouso girlfriend Karly came into town for TX/OU weekend and came over to see us before she headed back out of town. When we stopped and thought about it, we hadn't seen each other in almost 2 years! Not since Bubs was Morgan's age- which is just crazy. Never again. It was so incredible to catch up and made me realize, as always, what an amazing person she is and how much I love our friendship.

The other day when my mom was here, we had one of those random discussions when she was telling me where in time she would go back to if she had a Magic Time Machine- aside from the obvious (wedding, birth of children...) She would go back to the arm of her grandfather's leather chair and have him read her Dr. Squash, The Doll Doctor, just like he used to do when she was a little girl. Where would I go? I would go back to the porch of this little house I rented with Karly and our friend Stacy when I was 21. It had three steps and a black iron railing that curved to welcome you as you came up. The concrete was painted a dark burgundy and was chipped and cracked. It was where we spent so much of our time that year. If I could go anywhere, I would sit there and have an ice cold Dos Equis that we had picked up- along with a sad looking lime- at the little market on the corner of West Lynn and 1oth on the way home from work. It would be early Fall, where it was a little chilly, but nothing that a hoodie or a scarf couldn't fix. I would look across the street at the home of our hippie older neighbor who once lent us glue (I can't remember what for) and we realized his whole living room was filled with bongos. Fabulous. I would wave at the precious, hip couple who lived next door as she arrived home. I would sit with Karly and Stac, and we would talk about our day, and where we wanted to go out that weekend. If I could, I would breathe in the Austin air and hear the faint sound of Gomez or Big Head Todd being played on the stereo in the living room. And I would enjoy that moment of just being young. Because I know at the time, all I could think about was "growing up." I would just sit and soak it in and have that back for just a while.

I am so thankful for that year.

For my girlfriends.

For that porch.

I often think about how I am blessed with such amazing, unique women for friends. And how lucky I am that they all will always be a part of my past, my present and my furture.

Us At The TX/ OU Game -October 2000

Trashy Romance

Morgan Jane is in love with the trash can from the office.

Maybe its because she's never really seen it empty until yesterday, and today she had her chance to lug it around, but its so random.

She snuggled it while watching TV.

She dragged it all around the house and set it down where she was playing.

She's so weird.

Name Game

What do you do when the name you gave the tiny baby growing inside you- and you had no way of knowing their personality or "style" would be- doesn't really fit once they start to grow up?

I know this is ridiculous- but it is starting to bug me. Morgan just isn't a Morgan. When we were down to the wire and deciding on "Morgan", I felt that it was a little serendipitous that it just so happened to be monogrammed on a set of towels in the PBK catalog that month, and the name of a line of Ralph Lauren bedding- so I was pretty much convinced that it was a nice, classic name. Right? But Lord help us, Morgan is the furthest thing from nice and classic! She's so quirky and, dare I say, LOONEY- that it just doesn't suit her. She needs something different, something a little more unique. We do call her by her first and middle name most of the time- if only because she is usually up to no good- and that seems to make it a little better. We thought about just calling her Jane, but I knew an awful girl in high school by that name, so I just can't do it. Sometimes Jas calls her Janie, but that's a little too girlie for her I think. The worst thing about Morgan is that there are NO good nicknames! I thought about calling her "Emmie"- but the same thing- its just a little too cute. UGH.

I don't want to pull an Angelina Jolie- and be like "Oh, you've already been called something for the past 3 years? Well, I don't like it! So now your name will be...."- but I figure now would be the time to switch it before she does get so old that she just looks at us like we've lost our minds! Any suggestions? All reasonable offers will be considered. :0)

On a fun note: We used to tease my parents that they gave all of us old fashioned names, and just to prove the point: Both first and middle names of both of my sisters and myself, are found on the Top 100 names of 1940. Nice.

Hunger Strike

Gandhi is living through Luke.
A hunger strike has started in our house.
And its enough to make me insane.

I am an experienced mother, I know that kids eat a ton and then don't eat at all. Sleep a ton and then don't sleep at all. Cry a ton and then don't cry at all. I should know this is not a big deal, but I am going nuts! I think it must be in our Mommy Instincts to make sure that our children eat, to get the good stuff they need to grow and develop into healthy people- so when all Luke wants to eat and drink is Starbursts and Bunny Whop- what is a Mommy to do??? He refuses to eat anything of substance, and obviously, I am not indulging in this 3 year old's Dream Diet, so he eats nothing. NOTHING.

I am channeling Super Nanny, as always, and her rule is: If you don't eat whats put in front of you, you don't eat. I am going to try to not loose it when I have "slaved over a hot stove" (shout out to my mom) and he just looks at what I made. He doesn't even flatter me by at least poking at it with his fork, or attempting to take a tiny bite. I would even take him having a bite and then spitting it out, because maybe some tiny morsel of nutrients will enter his body.

I'm hanging in there. We'll see how long this lasts. If only I knew what he was protesting against! His 7 pm bedtime? That "Super WHY" is not shown on Saturdays?...

Yes, Sir

The other night I was talking to my girlfriend, D, and we got on the topic of boys. Mine and hers. Her little boy is two weeks older than Morgan Jane. He's s doll, with a capitol "D". Cute blonde hair, killer blue eyes. We have decided he needs to break some hearts before he can even look in Morgan's direction. Ha!

Anyway, it just so happens that she is reading Dr. James Dobson's book, "Bringing Up Boys"- and mentioned how much she loved it. We got on the topic of manners, character- and how we both wanted to make sure our boys grew up to be strong, responsibe gentlemen, not sissy-metro-men. Then it just so happens that my mom gave me the cutest book the other day, "How To Raise A Gentleman" by Kay West. I read it in about an hour- it was so funny and well-written, and the thing that I found so interesting is that other than the chapter called, "When Nature Calls: Bathrooms, Belching, Boogers, Gas, Spitting and Scratching" (nice.), the book covers behavior that should be expected of girls, too.

I liked that she, as a mother of boys, knows that they are not girls, and will behave accordingly- so its our job to understand them, and teach them the proper time and place for being a guy.

"Do not laugh at, nor appear too horrified by, your son's ability to belch "Happy Birthday," but impress upon him the rudeness of doing so in public."

If you have children, I highly recommend this book! It covers everything you can think of: how you should enter a row if you are late, or need to excuse yourself (tushy towards the row in front of you) to the appropriate response at a birthday if your child opens something he a)doesn't like b) already has or c) just opened. Its a million little things that we all just know, and sometimes forget need to be taught. Just the other day O asked another little girl why she wasn't at a birthday party she had attended over the weekend. It wasn't until then that I realized I had never taught her that she shouldn't talk about parties or play dates with children that weren't in attendance. I waited until that evening and talked to her about it- I love that she is so sensitive and realized right off the bat that it could make people upset and feel left out.

One lesson down, 1,000,000 to go!

Here are some of the ways you know you are raising a gentleman:
"He does not gloat over a win, or sulk over a loss.""He does not express anger, disappointment or frustration by throwing, kicking, punching or breaking something."

"He does not take the last helping without offering it to someone else.""He does not yell "MOM" directly into the receiver when the caller asked for his mother, nor does he chomp gum or food while on the phone.""[When a guest at a party] he does not assist in blowing out the candles unless it is requested, and he does not ask for the biggest slice of cake or the piece with the special decor."

So, Operation Proper Gentleman is in affect, and Miss O will be learning right along with him. Thank goodness for 3-year-old independence- he already loves to open the door and hold it! Now, if I could just get him to always remember to flush the potty...

The Best Of Friends

Now that school is back in session, and we are living a more scheduled life, we have been making sure we spend Friday mornings with Lysh and H. And the nicest change has happened: Luke and H actually play together like big kids. These two have gotten SO BIG lately, and their friendship has grown, too.

She is his best friend. She is someone he asks me to call and see if she can come over to play every day. She is someone he relates almost anything we are doing to: "H goes to Hobby Lobby, too!" "H washes her hands, too!" And most importantly, she is someone who shares his deep love of "chickenfries" and PBS Kids.

They have always been really sensitive to each others' little quirks. They both have "lovies"- H's Woobie and Luke's Bunny. I've always thought it was so cute that even when they were very little, they would bring them to each other when they were upset, or made sure that they weren't forgotten when the play date was coming to a close. And they are also so funny about milk! They have created a silly name for it, combining each of their special nicknames together: "Minima" for H or "Bunnywhop" for Luke becomes "MiniWhop". I find this not only extremely endearing, but a little bit genius, considering they made this up on their own and only use it in the presence of each other.

They (for the most part!) play really sweetly together. They think up things like surprise birthday parties for their stuffed cats and cows, or imaginary shopping trips for batteries and hoagie rolls (Priorities, people!)

Its been so fun to see them grow up together this far, I can only imagine how much fun they'll have over the next few years!

The First Time They Met!

(ah!!! remember this???)L+H= BFF

Bring It!

I just finished out monthly calendar that hangs in the kitchen and, Whoa!
October is going to be super busy, but super fun!
There's our anniversary, many a birthday to celebrate, and the kids start in a bunch of new activities!

And Halloween... did I mention HALLOWEEN!!
We are thinking of having a party since I've talked to a bunch of friends who want to get together and then trick-or-treat that night! May as well take advantage of the fact that its a Saturday night!
Here's another sneak peek for you.... Is it Luke? Is it Luigi???? You'll have to wait to find out...