We have a new jokester in the house- EBaby. His favorite “joke” is to crawl up with a sock in his hand, put it on his head and giggle, then he insists on placing it on top of your head, afterwards much rolling on the floor bellylaughing ensues. Rinse, lather, repeat for hours of joking fun. I don’t know what the future holds for my baby but his comedic talent is sure to take him far.

11. I know how to pour and fire my own ceramics

I am so incredibly inspired by the current craft renaissance which I see all over the place- particularly on several blogs which I love. I have a crafty spirit which has been a part of me since I can remember but I bet few people can say their crafting has been heavily influenced by drugs. No no Yolanda is not a drug addict I am the daughter of a drug addict- my Dad. An interesting component of the drug treatment program my parents went through was an emphasis on doing various crafts during recovery. I’ve always been curious about whether or not this was a standard part of most treatment programs, but they returned from the treatment center with different painting kits, ceramics, and string art.

My Mom soon began taking my brother and I to the on base craft shop where you could pour, paint, and glaze your own ceramics. We’d spend hours there every weekend coming up with all sorts of new creations. I think the most detailed thing I ever made was an entire chess set which I hand painted as a Christmas gift for my Dad. I think I gave away pretty much every single item I made during this period but my Mom may still have some of the teapots and vases we made (the chess set got destroyed during one of their many moves).

Crafting really is more than just expression for some, it can be an ultimate therapy. To take your energy and focus it on creating some new and tangible can be so rewarding. I’m proud to say that my Dad has just recently celebrated 18 years of sobriety. Though the recovery situation was pretty devastating to me as a whole (I had no clue about the whole drug thing so it pretty much rocked my world to say the least) I am glad that I learned some positive coping mechanisms from it. Focusing on crafting is definitely a therapy that I hope to incorporate in my life on a regular basis.

We attended a very lovely and creative birthday party earlier this month. One of our dearest friends turned 3 and is quite into being a fireman right now so he had a fireman party.

Here is the firetruck- its actually a refrigerator box that they painted and accessorized:

The burning building- another refrigerator box with windows and a bunch of stuffed animals inside that the kids could run in and rescue:

EBoy in the back of the firetruck with the animals he rescued:

Firetruck cake:

I thought the idea was so creative I just had to share it. They were able to make a really fun and exciting party for the kids without spending a ton of money. EBoy’s favorite part was the campfire afterwards where they learned how to make smores! It was a fun time for all, this friend always comes up with such amazing ideas I can’t wait to see what she does next year.

Thankful today for:

1. My loving and supportive husband
2. The best sons any Mom could ever dream of having
3. My health and that of my family
4. Having a home
5. Wonderful gatherings for Thanksgiving with family and friends
6. That my dad is alive and fighting even though the chemo was a failure
7. The opportunity to make a difference
8. Finally figuring out how to cook collard greens (my grandma would be so proud!)
9. The joy and love in my heart
10. Meeting so many wonderful new blog friends like you

Hope your Thanksgiving was bountiful and blessed

4 days, 1200 tissues, 20 cough drops, 10 loads of laundry, 3 cans of chicken soup, 2 humidifiers, and lots of love have finally gotten the EBoys and myself back to feeling well. We had quite the monster cold, thankfully EDad didn’t get it but it had the rest of us wiped out and sluggish. EBoy had his first ever vomitting episodes ever which had us worried but thankfully he got through them just fine. EBaby has officially gotten his first tooth and is working on his second tooth. He’s still be a trooper and total sweetheart even with a gross snotty nose (apparently the most offensive thing you can possibly do is to try to wipe his nose, don’t even THINK of trying a vaporizer unless you want a hurtin’)

I’m feeling torn here lately because as wrong as I want to believe that it is, I finally understand the spoiling of the youngest child syndrome. As an oldest child I always saw the favoritism that at times got shown to my younger brother (I exaggerated it at some points but he did have a slight preferental treatment from my Mom in other times). I swore I would treat my children equally- my oldest would know just as much love and attention as my youngest did. I’ve never doubted my oath of nonpreferential treatment until something happened- a little condition called “3 year old-itis”. Do you know how incredibly sweet and adorable a chubby cheeked super sloppy kissing always laughing cherub of a baby is next to a grumpy disagreeable 3 year old? As much as I hate to say it, there’s a hands down champion of cuteness reigning in the EbonyHousehold right now and I’m utterly addicted to him. EBoy is definitely loved and appreciated with all of his funny and interesting ways. I guess I have to face the truth- it is totally possible to love each child in completely different ways. In hindsight it wasn’t that my parents loved my brother more than me its just that he had personality traits that they could love that were different from my own characteristics.

This parenting thing really does evolve at a rapid changing pace, but I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world. The one thing being a mother of two boys has taught me is that I had absolutely no idea of just how much capacity my heart has for love. I feel this love so deeply that sometimes I think surely my heart will burst from being overwhelmed, but instead of bursting it just becomes even bigger, brighter, and more overflowing than ever before.