Summer Fun!

I always have a to do list a mile long. Laundry, edit pictures, mop the floors, trim the hedges, water plants, feed the kid, pay the bills, and on and on and on. We all have those lists right. And it dawned on me the other day that all I ever write on those to do lists is work. I plan and plan to get done all of those things. And in the process I often put off having fun! Ridiculous!

So this week Hulk and I made a to do list of all the fun things we want to do this summer. A few of them will cost some money like the zoo and swimming lessons. But the majority of them are really cheap or free and super easy for us to do. Some days we may be able to do two or three of the things of the list. Other days just one. But the whole point is by the end of the summer we should have tackled them all and had a blast in the process.

He helped me put the list together and came up with some great ideas on his own. I filled it in with stuff I enjoyed as a kid or projects I wanted to try with him. I'm looking forward to spending time on the to do list of fun and seeing what adventures the summer holds for us. I'll try to take some pictures along the way and share them with you.

What is on your to do list of fun????

Snow Day Success

Our snow days were quite successful. I didn't get a single bit done around the house but we stayed busy and entertained and had a lot of fun. So I'll count it as successful. Just promise not to come inspect my floors or laundry piles. YIKES!

Peanut Butter Play Dough was a huge hit with Hulk. He likes regular play dough and he likes to "make" food. So I let him help me make up a batch of the dough and then he got to play with it and eat it. Playing and eating. Two of his favorite things. I also gave him some other things like cereal, pretzels, and coconut to decorate his creations with as well as eat. Big hit!

 

The recipe for peanut butter play dough is pretty simple. In fact it's really simple because I didn't have all the ingredients the recipe called for and we were snowed in so I just created my own...

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup milk

Mix all the ingredients together until dough forms. You may have to add a bit more milk or powdered sugar to get the consistency right.

Have fun and eat your treats!

Keeping Him Busy

Keeping Hulk busy during the winter months is a bit of a challenge for me. Since we can't play outside as much he spends way to much time watching videos! I'm trying to put a stop to that. Luckily he is really into "projects". He loves making things. The hard part for me is coming up with new projects for him to do!

 

Recently we made these kid friendly stain glass things. So so simple to do and they were lots of fun for him. The only downside is that they are pretty fragile and don't stay together long after all his loving.

 

So simple to make! Here is what you need...

Washable Markers
Coffee Filters
Spray bottle of water
Hole punch
Ribbon

Have the kids color all over the coffee filters with markers. Using a bunch of different colors works best. Once the filter is completely colored you spray it with the water. You want the whole filter to be wet but not dripping wet. Squish the filter together a few times then hang or lay flat to dry. Once it's dry you hole punch it and put a ribbon through it so it will hang in the window or wherever else you want it. It looks kind of tie dyed.

If you have any project ideas send them my way. I'm having a hard time being creative...

It's Cookie Time

When I was a kid my mom always made sugar cookies with me. So now that Hulk is big enough it was time to carry on the tradition. I'll be honest. I was dreading it a little. The mess, the hassle, the mess, did I mention the mess! Yeah I wasn't really looking forward to it. But I decided I had to suck it up and just do it.

 

And boy am I glad I did! We had SOOOO much fun. Seriously one of the most fun evenings we have ever had. We both laughed so hard. I was crying halfway thru from laughing at him. He kept rolling the dough so seriously and then he would just crack up and say "this is so funny mama." And it was so dang funny and fun and just wonderful!

 

There was once when I was laughing and started crying that I was a bit overwhelmed with missing my mom. The sad tears quickly turned to happy tears. This child heals my heart. Everytime we have moments like this I'm reminded of how magical the relationship is between a parent and their child. While yes I miss my mom I know she was with us tonight. Laughing a little bit too. And I hope and pray that some day in the very distant future Hulk will have a moment with his own children and know I'm still there too.

I could get a million dollars on Christmas morning and it wouldn't matter. Tonight was the best gift of all!

Adventure

The boy is really into "adbentures" right now. Every evening after dinner he asks me "adbentures now mama?" And how can a mama say no to an adventure!?!

 

So he usually grabs a toy of some kind and I grab my camera and out we go adbenture hunting. We have a favorite place in the woods we like to go. There is a little creek and a couple bridges and lots and lots of trees. So the rule is as soon as we cross the bridge into the trees he is the boss. When we cross back over the bridge I'm the boss again. He thinks this is really cool!

So during the adventure we hunt for bugs and sticks and leaves and sometimes monsters or sunbeams or birds. And he tells me when to march or run real fast or give him a hug. And I willingly participate in the adventure game. And for 30 minutes each day that 2 year old feels like he is king of the world. He is on the hunt for something really "awesome mama" and he gets to call the shots.

 

And then as the sun begins to set we cross back over the bridge to the real world. Mama is once again the boss and the adventure game is over. And by that time my boy is usually pretty sleepy and worn out. So it never fails I end up scooping him up and hauling him halfway home.

I can't imagine any better adventure!

Fun Times

Today I was at work just working away. Not having a great day not having a bad day. Just a day. And then there was the little ding that says I have a new email. I open it to find this picture of my kiddo! His teacher sent it to me. They had lots of fun painting with shaving cream and she was kind enough to share a photo of the fun with me. My normal day turned to great instantly. God I love that kid!

And I love that he is doing so many fun activities each day. I so wish I could be home with him but this picture reminds me of what a good experience daycare is for him. The activities and interaction are wonderful for him. And most of all it reassures me that he is okay. He has a blast during the day and is learning lots in the midst of all the play and then I get to pick him up and we can have our own fun and learning. Removes my working mama guilt.

And dang it that shaving cream covered smiling kid just makes my heart happy!!!

National Night Out!

Last Saturday we celebrated National Night Out with our neighbors. If your community doesn't celebrate National Night Out you should. It was so much fun. Basically it is a national initiative organized by police departments around the country to encourage neighbors to get to know one another. The idea being that if you know your neighbors you are more likely to recognize when someone is around that shouldn't be. And it also makes you more likely to communicate with one another, watch out for one another, and hopefully reduce crime rates.

That may be the overall goal of National Night Out but it actually is just a really fun excuse to have a party with your neighbors. We had a blast! We had lots of food and root beer floats. The police department stopped by to visit with us all. The fire department brought a fire truck and ambulance for the kids to check out. They thought that was pretty cool. We had music and dancing. Lots of laughing and of course lots of sweating. It was hotter than heck out there! It was really nice to meet everyone, visit, spend time watching the kids play, and just having fun. I can't wait to do it again soon!

Why Buy Toys

My kid probably has several hundreds of dollars worth of toys. He has books, balls, dinosaurs galore. There are trucks and trains and automobiles. Some play music and others light up. But the most fun of all is had in a box!

Yes it is true! This kid would play in a box for hours. In fact this weekend my sister and I gave him a box and it kept him occupied for quite some time. He laughed like crazy tipping over in it. But most of all he used that imagination of his. I love that!

 

A Hulk Day

Today was Hulk's day. I promised him this morning when he woke up it would be all about him today. I scheduled no photo sessions for the day and made no other plans so we could just be together uninterupted. Other than a quick trip to Wal-Mart the rest of the day was spent on fun. No chores, no cleaning, no calls, nothing but he and I!

We so needed a day like today. I feel like every weekend lately I have either had to work or we have been running around seeing people or doing things. We haven't had just an uninterupted day in a long time. So what do you do on Hulk day you ask?

Well you go to the zoo in the morning! We even fed the ducks! You eat a picnic lunch at the park and spill lemonade all over the place and it doesn't even matter. You eat grapes and peanut butter sandwiches. You even get to have a chocolate chip cookie for dessert on Hulk day!

Of course after all that you need a little nap before you head to the pool. You swim and swim and then realize there are water slides. Which means that you need your mom to carry you up all the stairs and slide down with you. Yes indeed I hauled an almost 40 pound child up three flights of stairs 17 times so we could go down the slides. That's all he wanted to do. He loved it. I love the slides also but man my legs hurt!!! I was worn out.

He was so worn out after all that. He barely ate dinner and we snuggled up to watch Toy Story together and he fell asleep. I just put him in bed and it is 7:15. It really was a wonderful day and I'm guessing we will both sleep well tonight. Now that he is crashed I better get all the stuff done around here that I ignored all day!

Come and Play

My boy and my nieces love the park/playground. They have tons of fun going down the slides, playing on the swings, and just being crazy kids. That's super. But this mama is terrified of the playground. Maybe it is the job I do every day but I know what kind of people hang out at playgrounds watching kids. I know what can happen in just a few moments and the playground brings me huge anxiety. There are to many places on a playground where you lose sight of kids or can't get to them very easily. And it just raises my blood pressure. Ugh I hate playgrounds!

 

As much as I would love to avoid the playground at all costs these cute little faces make me suck up my fears and go. They love to play. So every once in awhile I try to push the dark thoughts from my mind, load the kid up, and take him to the darn playground. And in the end the smiles are worth it and I am glad I did it. But I can tell you this. I'm dreading the next trip already!

 

My Biker Boy!

 

I have always liked motorcycles. What can I say I'm just a sucker for a nice Harley. I'm even more of a sucker for a cute guy on a Harley. In the past this could have gotten me into a lot of trouble. Wait now that I think about it it did get me into a lot of trouble. But not anymore.

 

The only reason it doesn't get me into trouble now is because the cute boy on the Harley happens to be my adorable Hulk! Monte got a new to him Harley a couple weeks back and Hulk loves it! He loves to sit on the bike. But only if it's running! He loves the power too I guess. He quickly figured out how to operate the horn and where to turn it on.

 

He had a grin from ear to ear the whole time he was on the bike. He was just thrilled and amazed by it. I think I have a future biker on my hands. While not as exciting as my days working at a biker bar and riding too fast down streets on the back of a big Harley watching him take in the Harley for the first time was pretty awesome.

That works for me! I'm pretty happy with this cute biker boy anyways.

Favorite Things

I try really hard not to spend a lot of money on toys for Hulk. And lately I haven't had to try hard since there hasn't been much extra money. I've always been a firm believer that children really like simple ordinary things. So for the most part I steer clear of the high ticket overly marketed toys. And every day that child reminds me that I'm right. Because this child is in love with Magic Grow Capsules!!!

Every evening for the past two weeks we have had to "water them" as he says. He loves to toss the capsules in the water and swish them all around.

And every evening he is still shocked that the capsules turn into something like animals or shapes or bugs. Every time one of them pops open he grabs is up and says "wook mama". So simple yet still so entertaining!

Sometimes he even covers his eyes so he can be even more surprised by them opening up.

And every single night when the bowl is full of sponge critters and the capsules are all disolved I hear the exact same thing from him. "More mama peeeeseee!"

Snow Day

 

With all the snow we have had you would think we would have been spending a lot of time outside playing in it. But that wasn't the case until this evening. The wind has been blowing so hard that it just made it too cold to be out. When it gets real cold The Hulk' asthma seems to get bad. So finally this evening the wind died down and we headed out to play!

 

The Hulk spent our entire time outside fluctuating between loving the snow and hating the snow. I think he was honestly just thrilled to be outside. Being couped up indoors has about pushed this high energy boy over the edge. But he wasn't sure what to think of the snow. At first he didn't want it on him and would scream about it being stuck to his gloves. Then he decided it was fun to throw and okay to play with. But then he tried to run around which proved difficult for him. So he wasn't a huge fan but at least he had fun and got some fresh air.

 

Rumor has it that more snow is coming our way. I suppose that will give The Hulk even more to experience and become accustomed too. I'm just hoping it doesn't cause us to be stuck inside for as long as last time!

Clickin Mama

Christmas Letters

Have you started getting the Christmas cards and letters at your house yet? They have started arriving at my house. And with each Christmas letter I open I feel a bit guilty that I never do such things. Maybe I should send a Christmas letter this year. But what would I say? Everyone else has Christmas letters filled with promotions, honor roll making children, adorable dogs, matching outfits, and perfection. Hmmm... But after spending quite a bit of time on it I think I got the perfect Christmas letter written.

Dear Family and Friends-

Happy Holidays to you all! What a year it has been! How can Christmas already be here?!? Time just flies by doesn't it.

This has been one wild year. I started off the year a single unemployed mother living off her family, quickly vanishing savings, and prayer. But luckily come February I was offered and accepted a job that I don't particularly like that doesn't even pay enough to cover my bills. It's great that I get to spend 40 hours a week there before coming home to work another 30 or so hours a week at my photography business. SUPER!!!

At least we have our health right! Oh or not. Now that I think about it I have crazy blood sugar that seems to go up and down faster than a roller coaster. The Hulk has asthma and seems to think that seizures are a cool new thing to try too. I don't have much feeling left in my feet and I think I'm getting carpel tunnel in my wrist. But the great news is that my mammogram while unpleasant revealed that I have really healthy breasts!

Most importantly The Hulk and I have one another. His amazing ability to run into everything in his path yet avoid broken bones and make animal sounds on command make this mama proud. He has a killer smile, gives great hugs, and picks up his own toys. He is convinced that his Aunt Heather is really his dad and I just pray everyday I'm not totally screwing him up. I can't imagine life without him and hope to adopt another kidlet sometime soon as long as I can avoid bankruptcy, foreclosure or the mental hospital.

So that about sums up our year. I did leave out the bad stuff like sewer water in the house, broken tiles, trucks driving through the yard, and the utilities getting shut off on occasion. I hate to be a downer.

Have A Real Merry Christmas!

Clickin Mama and The Hulk

Now if I could just afford the stamps I would send this out....

Family Fall Fun

Last weekend I had the opportunity to hang out with my lovely nieces and get some fun fall pictures of them. It seriously was the best photo session I have ever had with them. Usually Mattie runs screaming from my camera and Kerrington won't crack a smile. But last Sunday was my lucky day! Maybe it was the costumes. Maybe is was the nice fall weather. Heck maybe the sun was just positioned correctly. I don't know what happened but it all fell into place for a fabulous day of pictures and playing. Man I love these little cuties!

 

 

Pictures and Pumpkins

This weekend I had a fun Fall photo session for kids. Pictures and Pumpkins was a pretty good success for the first attempt at a promotion and for it being incredibly cold. I was pleased with the turnout. In fact it was good enough and I've had enough people call so far this week wanting sessions that I'm doing it again on Sunday. Here are some pics of a few of the kiddos that turned out. Some wore costumes and some just came as their adorable selves. It was lots of fun to meet so many new people!

 

After I took pictures of all the other kids I thought I'd get a few of The Hulk. Well he wasn't to game on the idea of just sitting and smiling. He is more of an action kid. He also really enjoys throwing gourds of benches, knocking over scare crows, and eating props. I may not have gotten the picture I was planning on but I got quite a few that just make me laugh.

 

Boys Just Wanna Have Fun

We all know that girls just wanna have fun... the song tells us so. But I know two little boys that just wanna have fun too! And boy do they know how to do that! In fact I think just watching them have fun is super fun! These boys love to splash and spray, slide and swim. There was much laughing and screaming all around. And lucky for them their fun in the sun doesn't end up like the big burn it did for me. They fared much better than I after pool time.






By mid morning this morning I was feeling nauseaus and running a low grade temp. My blistering burn was more pain then I could handle so off to the doctor I went. It seems I have "sun poisoning" not a simple sunburn. I explained that I wore sunscreen with a high SPF and wasn't out long and he said that it is a sign of toxicity from one of my diabetes medications. So he lowered the dosage of that medication, and prescribed me some high power burn ointment, and an antibiotic so infection hopefully won't set in. Due to my diabetes I'm slow to heal so that is always a risk. Damn diabetes!!! Hopefully in a few days I'll feel better.

Enough of the downside of the sun. Let's get back to the fun in the sun boys!!!





Seriously! Who can feel bad when you can look at little faces like these. They may not take all of the burn away but they sure are good medicine!!!

Fun At The Fair

Every summer the fair comes to town and the excitement builds. The kids want to ride the rides, the men want to watch all the events, and the fat girls scream for funnel cakes! And this year was no different. Except this is the first year my kiddo was old enough to actually ride the rides!

So as usual Darby, Chris, Caden, The Hulk and I met Darby's parents and her niece at the fair. After explaining to the children that they must stay right beside us and that they could not talk to any weird carnival workers we bought our bracelets/tickets. Dear God it's expensive to ride rides!

The kids had a blast riding all the rides. So much of a blast that I got brave and convinced Chris to ride the Spider with me. I haven't been on a carnival ride since high school and now I remember why! My stomach wasn't to thrilled with my decision making but I did laugh like crazy!

After riding the rides we got our delicious funnel cakes! They were still as good as last year. Gosh I love those things. And then we wrangled the tired kiddos on home. It really was a lot of fun at the fair!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Clickin Mama