Mom, Dada, Nic Poop Blue Apples.

I know what your thinking. WHAT is she talking about? The dog and the boys have finally driven her over the edge.

Nope, I'm perfectly sane.

Well almost.

You see, it's not me talking, it's the baby.

If you were to take all the words he says on a daily basis and put them in a sentence, that is what you would get. Oh, but he also says "Hi" and Bye-Bye" so I guess it would really be more like this:

"Hi! Mom, Dada, Nic poop blue apples. Bye-bye!"

You know, like when you exchange pleasantries with someone you bump into while at the grocery store. Instead of saying, "Hi, how are you? How's the family? Take care!" Caleb will tell you that his family poops blue apples.

Well, he doesn't usually say them all together, but throughout the course of the day, you will hear each of those words at least a couple of times, especially when you change his diaper. He squeals, "Poop!" and then laughs. He is his father's son.

And that, my friends is what I am thankful for this Thursday. Although, I just realized that today is Friday and I missed my Thankful Thursday post. All this talk about poop has clouded my brain. Regardless, I am thankful for my baby's budding vocabulary.

Forgiveness

The dictionary defines the word forgive as "To excuse for a fault or an offense; pardon."

Wow....to pardon. Have you ever thought about that? We know that the President can pardon people. We know that Governor's can. Of course, we all know that God can (at least I hope we all know, if you don't read on). But, have you ever stopped to think about your ability to pardon?

I've learned that it's easy to say that you forgive someone, but to mean it, TRULY mean it in your heart, is HARD! You know what else I've learned? Most of the time, It takes time.

God is certainly willing to forgive us, all we have to do is ask, to say we are sorry and mean it. When we do that, we are forgiven. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9. It doesn't say, "...and in time, God will forgive you." He forgives you right then and there.

But, I can't seem to do that. Why? Because I am human, I am not perfect. I think most everyone struggles with this. Think about it, who is the last person that said, "I'm sorry" to you? Did you forgive them and move on? Or, did you mull and stew over the offense? Did you still feel some resentment or a bit of anger the next time you saw them? Then guess what? You didn't forgive them.

You know what it takes to truly forgive? God. I've learned that true forgiveness sometimes requires time and most importantly, always requires God. To forgive someone and forget the offense, to not be resentful, to not feel hurt or anger afterwards is something we, as humans, can not do without God.

Something else to remember: Just as you may be the offended and in need of forgiving someone. You too, are someone who has hurt someone else. It is not possible to live your life without hurting someone at some point in time. If you are aware of a hurt you have caused someone, intentional or not, it is important that you ask that person to forgive you. Be sincere in your apology, don't just send a text or email, actually speak to the person and own up. It is so much easier to forgive someone when they say they are sorry. But, even when they don't, it's still up to us, as Christians, to pray and forgive so that we can be released of that pain and move on.

This Thankful Thursday, I am so very thankful for forgiveness, especially the forgiveness I have received.

What Halloween Means to Me

I understand that Halloween is a lot of different things for a lot of different people. For me and my family, there are no ghosts, goblins or anything scary. For us, it is a time to reflect on the previous year and/or a day of fun pretend. A day that you can be whatever you want to be when you grow up.

Each year Halloween commemorates something from the previous year. For example, when my son was 3, he loved Ratatouille, so I made a Ratatouille costume using a chef's costume, mouse ears and my eyeliner for his nose and whiskers. Whenever I see his Halloween pictures I remember him watching the movie over and over and then reenacting it during playtime.

When he was 4, he wanted to be an astronaut. He had his biggest birthday party ever and the theme was outer space/NASA. When I see the Halloween pictures of him dressed in his flight suit, I remember how excited he got whenever we talked or read books about outer space and his joy at his 4th birthday party.

This year, he went on his first helicopter ride and he also loved the

movie "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs." At first he said he wanted to be Flint Lockwood, the scientist from the movie. But, I know that he changes his mind a lot. He's 5, that's what 5 year old's do. So, my strategy is to start asking what he wants to be about a month before Halloween. I ask once a week what he wants to be and if he says the same thing three times, that's what we go with. Week 1, he wanted Flint Lockwood. Weeks 2, 3 and 4 it was a helicopter, so a helicopter he was. I have to say, this is the first year we have made a costume completely from scratch. Using only materials found around the house, we made it at no cost. Not only was the costume original, it was economical! It also created memories. All of our family working together on this costume was so fun. Of course, hubby did most of the work. He's a carpenter, so that sort of thing is second nature to him. But we all did it together and making that memory helped make this Halloween so very special.

We also have a baby in our family this year. The baby is too young to really give us any feedback, so he went as a pilot for Nic's helicopter. I love costumes that aren't typical. I thought about making him a fluffy lion or mouse or something like that. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing cuter than a little baby in a fluffy costume, I love it! But, for us, we like to do things a little different and have unique costumes. There were no other baby pilots or helicopters walking or flying the streets on Halloween night, so mission accomplished!

The one thing I have learned is that I really do prefer the costumes that are home made or at least semi-homemade. Not something you just buy. Make a memory with your child, be creative with them and next year, Halloween will be even more special.....and you'll save money to boot!