All the Sun For You

A mom, two boys, a husband, and a whole lot of adventure!

Category Archives: FUN!


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Changing a Classic, for the Better

B loves to play Peter, Paul, and Mary for Matthew.  I am not a fan, to say the least, but I sure do love “Puff the Magic Dragon.”  I’ve never listened too closely to the lyrics – I’ve just always loved the melody and the refrain/chorus.  Because B loves P, P, & M so much, it seemed like a slam dunk to put a copy of the “Puff the Magic Dragon” board book in B’s stocking this year.

B was very excited!

Until he read the book.

It’s very sad.  I mean – it makes me cry at the end.  I can’t read/sing the whole thing to Matthew without breaking down in tears.  The idea of Old Puff fading away into his cave because Jackie Paper grows up and away from him breaks my heart.  The new (2007) board book has beautiful drawings that imply that old Puff sprung back to life and made a new friend, but there are no lyrics to say that.

B asked me to sing the book to Matthew tonight at bedtime and of course I cried, even though we noticed that Puff had a new friend at the end.  It just breaks my heart so much.  After putting Matthew to sleep, I promptly grabbed his book and came out to get to work.  I just could not let this book/song that my son will grow up with end in such sadness.

New, additional lyrics were needed if I was ever going to read/sing this book again.  And it is worth reading and singing to my son!

I looked up the lyrics to make sure that the book wasn’t just condensed and it was not – the song ends just as the book does (but without the implication that old Puff made a new friend and lived happily ever after).

I came up with happy, conclusive lyrics that will tell my child(ren) that old Puff lived happily ever after.

As he should.

Because he’s a wonderful old dragon who brings much joy to us all!

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Finally!!!!

Matthew only falls asleep in his crib, in my arms, or in his car seat. He’s never fallen asleep on the floor playing, in a jumper, etc. Heck, he won’t even fall asleep in his stroller anymore and hasn’t since he was 10 months old.

But this happened today… And it was as precious as I always imagined it would be! Like Matthew himself, this moment was worth the wait!


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Our Tradition

On a whim today, we had photos taken with Santa.  Last year, this went really, REALLY well.  At this time last year, Santa advised us that the next year could be difficult and involve some fear.

There were tears.

And then B and I got in the shot and things got better.

All this tradition talk lately, and I realize that this is our tradition.  We planned last year to always get a family photo with Santa, and I was hoping to be a little more prepared with proper hair and makeup but meh… life happens.

We will have breakfast with Santa next Saturday for our official Santa photo, but I’m pretty pleased with this one!  This will be our holiday card photo… because I have got to get those out!


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(Almost) Wordless Wednesday – Playdate with Vera!

My neighbor asked me to watch one of her kids today – of course I said, “OF COURSE!”  Matthew LOVES Vera and Weston.  We only had Vera today because Weston had a doctor’s appointment, but Matthew and Vera had the best time (as always).  Matthew plays so well with other kids and he’s as gentle with Vera as she is with him – so it’s fun to watch them play and love on each other  🙂  Just watching them play together, you can tell they’re great friends and not just two kids that get thrown together because of their moms (Matthew has another friend like this, H, who he got to play with on Monday).

There was a fit and tears when Vera left this morning.  I’m not surprised – there always is!

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