Let's Go Look at Books
Just a quick stop at the library after running errands, before heading home to fix dinner.
Two of our favorites in these pictures:
Lulu's Busy Day
and
Sally Goes to the Mountains
.
Gingerbread Boy
This was a first for both of us.
I'd never done an official gingerbread house before, only the graham-cracker-on-a-milk-carton kind when teaching second grade years ago. This came from a kit I got at JoAnn's and it was very sturdy and easy to put together. Sam had fun deocrating once I got everything assembled. He worked on this with me for a long time. He put each "little ball" on the roof very carefully and was dilligent about getting every last peppermint somewhere on the house. We think it turned out pretty cool!
Mahna-Mahna!
Doo-doo, doo-doo-doo.
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine who used to work for Disney posted a link on Facebook to a Muppets clip from 1970-something in celebration of the opening day of the new Muppets movie. I watched the clip and thought Sam might like it, too. I showed it to him one morning on my phone and he thought it was hilarious!
We've added Mahna-Mahna to our morning ritual now. Brian gets up and gets ready around 5:30. Sometime between then and around 7:30 or so, Sam shuffles into our room with Binkie, Blankie and Hop-Hop. I pull him up on the bed and we either go back to sleep for a couple hours, or lay there lazy for a while. Either way, we always watch a little Muppets on my phone before starting our day.
Want to take a little trip down Muppet Memory Lane? Here's the Mahna-Mahna clip:
Heard-Craig House
Sam and I recently visited the grounds of McKinney's Heard-Craig House with some friends to take some pictures.
It was a very pretty day and Sam had fun running around the garden. We need more days like this here in Texas!
Day One
School is back in session - Hallelujah!
Can you tell I'm just a little bit excited that Mother's Day Out has started? Being cooped up with Sam this triple-digit summer has been tough!
Sam's excited, too. He has two very sweet teachers, one of whom was a teacher in his class last year. When I pick him up I can tell he's had a great day. They do such a great job there and he's learning so much, academically and otherwise. He's talking so much more compared to this time last year and can tell me in detail all about his day.
Last week we went to the grocery store after school and as I was pushing the cart, browsing for our dinner ingredients, Sam told me a story about a woman who ate an apple. He mumbled something about someone being "mad" at her for eating the apple and when I asked him to repeat it he said "She ate the apple and God was MAD!".
"Oh!", I said. "You're talking about Eve!"
"No! Not STEVE, Mama!!", he said. I told him I didn't say "Steve" I said "Eve", because that was the woman's name - the one who ate the apple.
I was so happy he was a.) listening during Chapel and b.) able to retell the story to me! As a former teacher, these little successes make me very happy!
Yeah Daddy
Sam is our hero.
He stayed very calm and followed directions very well after he LOCKED US OUT OF THE HOUSE!
Brian was outside watering after doing yardwork and I went outside to tell him I had put the garage door down. I hadn't been out for more than a few seconds when I turned around and found the front door locked. It took a few seconds to realize what had happened. I turned to Brian and said, "He locked us out". I ran around to the back of the house, knowing I had shut the garage door, but hoping the back door was open.
Nope. Locked up tight.
I told Brian it was a no-go and we looked at each other like, "What are we going to do?" We knew if need be we could break a window, but not wanting to pay for a new window, we tried talking to Sam first. Sam had just finished helping Brian put knobs on the kitchen cabinets, so he knew just what to say.
Here's a transcript of Brian and Sam's discussion through the door:
B: Sam?
S: Hi Daddy!
B: How many knobs do you see on the door?
S: Two!
B: See the one on top, the one up high?
S: Yeah Daddy!
B: I need you to turn it and let us in.
S: (Sam tries turning the lock the wrong way) I can't do it Daddy! I can't do it!
B: Turn it the other way!
Ta-Da! It worked!
So far we haven't been locked out again...yet. Little Turkey.
Splash Park
Found another splash park to go to with friends.
It's just about the only thing to do in this stifling heat.
Play Dough
Sam and I made play dough this week.
We made the cooked kind, and used gel food coloring to get the awesome colors. When I took the pot off the stove to stir it and pour it out onto the wax paper I showed it to Sam. I said, "It's playdough!" He said, "Dat's not playdough. Dat's dinner!"
Thankfully, no playdough has been consumed...yet.
Bunk Mate
I've been waking up to a new face, lately.
Sam's been waking up a lot at night these past couple of weeks. We think his last molars might be coming in.
Even though he's quite the flipper, flopper and kicker when he's asleep, it doesn't bother me too much. Poor Daddy has to sleep on the couch, though. There's just not enough room for three, especially when one sleeps slideways...
New Wock-n-Woll
Yep. There's more...
Sam calls this song "new wock-n-roll" and we usually play it after the song in the first dancing video.
Not as much movement in this one, but there is a lot of shoulder action!
Let's Hear It from Sara Straka on Vimeo.
Fingerpainting
It's messy.
This was one of those art activities that Sam spent about five minutes doing, and I spent 15 minutes cleaning up.
{sigh}
I'm now on the look-out for art projects that don't require bathing a toddler and mopping the kitchen floor.
It's a Pa-wade!
A very memorable parade, indeed.
We returned to the exact same parade spot we snagged last fourth to watch McKinney's parade Monday morning. Sam was in a little bit of a funk, for some unknown reason, so his pictures didn't turn out particularly "smiley". But the parade was a success overall...ask him what we saw that day and he will tell you every time, "fire twucks, motorcycles, and horse poop!"
Happy Fourth!
image credit: Daddy
image credit: Pops
image credit: Daddy
Neighborhood Parade
Our Fourth of July celebration started off right in our own neighborhood.
Saturday morning we walked down to the same corner we were at last year to watch our neighborhood's parade. There were fire trucks, police cars and kids on bikes throwing candy! That night Gram and Pops and I took Sam to see our fireworks display by the big bass lake. It was an awesome show and Sam did great. He fussed right at the end (just in time for the grand finale) but that's never a surprise on a no-nap day. I carried Sam home -
all the way home
- he was sound asleep, dead weight and sweaty!
The next day we just had to make a pa-wade with our trucks and cars and Sesame Street friends. Everyone loves a parade!
Sam's First Haircut
Or "care-hut", as he calls it.
He did really well, and in fact, didn't make a peep the whole time. His stylist, Mercedes, was very nice to him. She let him watch Yo Gabba Gabba on his own little t.v. and gave him a lollipop after she was finished. She gave him a nice cut, too, and he was pretty shaggy when we went in! He's our handsome boy!
Lavender Ridge
There's a pretty little lavender farm about an hour northwest of us, so Sam and I took a trip up there this week to check it out. Sam loved the doggies, and I loved all the whimsical things there were on the farm to photograph! We stayed for a couple of hours and enjoyed the quiet time in the country. He did a great job using "zizzers" for the first time (with Mama's help) to cut the lavender, and carried the basket for me since I had my hands full, too. We loved the animals there, especially the bunnies, and it was nice to cool down and have lunch at the picnic tables in the little forest with our doggie tour guides.
We stopped and had a snack at a downtown bakery located in one of the small towns we passed through on our way home, did some fabric shopping at their quilt shop, and dropped off a package at their post office. We met lots of friendly people, too. Sam was very chatty with the lady at the fabric shop and a man in line behind us at the post office! He slept most of the way home - all that lavender-cutting and small-town folk-meetin' wore him out!
We had a great visit and plan to go back again sometime!
Sam and I went on a little farewell-for-now tour on Friday.
We stopped by my school for the last-day-of-school assembly, visited Mrs. Ellis' library for some flashlight-reading as she was finishing up her last class for the year, then had one last dinner with Daddy, Gram, Pops and Andrew before Andrew goes to Austin for a few months. Not sure how Sam's going to handle not having Andrew to boss around...
Summertime Treat
"Popsicles", he says, "wike Pops".
I made several flavors this week - blueberry, peach-mango, and chocolate pudding - and Sam thinks they're pretty cool! I took these pictures the first night we had them, out on the porch before bed. He asked to try the blueberry. They were a little tart, as you can tell from his face!
And Then They Handed Him Back
Today was the last day of school for Sam...and Mama!
Sam had a great day, even though it was a little bittersweet saying goodbye to his amazing teachers. He had so much fun this year and learned
a lot
.
Oh, and he grew. Tall.
Remember the picture on the left? It was taken August 31st,
. He was just 18 months old. On the right is his picture from this morning, the last day of school, 27 months old.
Where did my baby go?
When I picked Sam up from school on the first day, he'd been crying and looked exhausted, but still wanted to show me his stamp. I still had my camera with me from the morning, so I snapped the pic on the left. I took a similar picture yesterday after picking Sam up from school, and this time he was a much happier - and bigger - boy!
Today was my official last day of school, too. I loved my job, but it will be nice to have a break from the stress of getting Sam ready in the morning, getting him and all of his stuff in the car and to the church on time, and then making the extra little trek to my school!
Come August, though, we'll be ready to be a teacher and a student again!
Greatful for a wonderful school-year for both of us and looking forward to a fun, relaxing summer!
The Dallas Zoo - Our Little Animal
Our little critter had a great time on his first trip to the zoo!
His favorite part? His new wagon!
Please don't feed the animals!!
The Dallas Zoo - Feathers and Scales
There were those who soar and those who slither. And then there were those who flirt.
Among the birds at the zoo was the owner of this awesome pad, the stork.
And the beautiful, long-legged flamingoes.
Plump little penguins,
and Sam's favorite bird, the Bald Eagle!
In the Butterfly House!
This guy was trying to digest the meal he'd just devoured - ten whole mice!
(they're all sitting in that pouch there, underneath his throat)
And then there was this handsome bird - and old California Condor. He's fifty-eight and loves to flirt!
Some scaly critters...
Mr. Boudreaux, showing off his choppers!
Peek-A-Boo!