Smiles

Why is this adorable boy smiling... Because the sun is shining of course! Well since it's night it isn't shining now but earlier it was and he was all smiles! We got to play outside without jackets this evening! Last week we had a foot of snow and today we played outside and enjoyed the sunshine. Go figure. Good old Kansas.

Almost all the snow is gone! Hopefully we are done with snow for the year. I'm really over it! Hulk and I are much happier when we can be outside without being cold. In fact as I was putting Hulk to bed tonight and saying prayers he thanked God for sunshine and recess!

Some other wise words from Hulk...

"Mama do not drink this water in the bath tub. I fink there is pee in it!"

"Here hold this baby doll. No with two hands mama. Pay attention."

"I fink you should hug on me now."

"Mama I show you how to do it. Wisten to me, are you wistening?

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!

Mr. Mom

 

Hulk has suddenly turned into Mr. Mom. He is always asking me to play babies or mom with him. It cracks me up. He tells me you lay down and go waa waa and be the baby. I'm the mama. Poor kid doesn't have a clue he would be the dad. Someday he will get it figured out.

While I can pretend to be a baby remarkably well I don't fit into the baby stroller. Shocking I know! The stroller was left over from Amara's stay and Hulk has latched on to it and LOVES it! So he will load Buddy up and stroll him all over the house. He usually starts out very gentle but then things progress from Mr. Mom to Mr. Maniac! The day these pictures were taken he took the stroller in the kitchen and was swinging it around and around as fast as he could. I explained to him that Buddy probably wouldn't like having the wheels off the ground, that it might scare or hurt him.

This seemed to get Hulk's attention because he stopped right away and looked at me so seriously and said. "No mama Buddy wikes it a lot. See Buddy's smiling. Take a picture of smile mama." And with that I did.

Let's all say a little prayer that Buddy can keep on smiling....

Then There Were Two

Hulk has a biological sister that is 13 months older than he is. Her name is Amara but I'll probably be calling her Firecracker on the blog. Anyways Amara is now staying with us for a bit. Her mama is having some problems right now so we are happy to give her a nice place to stay for a bit. She has an hilarious personality, a ton of energy and a lot of love to share. She and Sylas have hit it off and spend the majority of the day laughing. I'm learning all about "girlie" things and have even allowed pink into the house. Today I found a boa feather on the floor and tripped over a pair of play high heels so I think there is a girl officially in the house! This has been a whirlwind adventure and I'm sure it will continue to be so. I just keep praying for guidance and keep taking it a day at a time.

Behind The Times

Oh I'm so behind on blogging and well life. But the good news is because I've been really busy! Lots of photo sessions, yard work, and chasing the kidlet. The weather has cooled off which means we have been out in the yard a ton lately. We have been transplanting flowers, moving rocks, planting grass and catching snails. The kidlet loves snails!

We have a catch and release program going. He can catch any critter he wants and put it in the bug box. But in the morning before heading out for the day he has to release them all. Most of the time this works out okay. However, the past couple days the snails have all been dead. I don't know what the deal is with that. But tonight he caught things and then before bed we let them go. Trial and error in the catch and release program.

We have been struggling lots lately with listening to the mama. Hulk is super head strong. Part of this I love because it means he is a leader, outgoing, social, and a great advocate for himself. I like knowing that he doesn't always walk in a straight line and follow the crowd. I'm good with that. However, there is a certain amount of compliance that I expect from him. Lately he has really be struggling with that. Which means I'm struggling. Which means lots of time outs and lost video time and fits and you know how all that goes. But I'm sure it will pass soon. It always does.

Tonight I put him to bed and heard him singing a little song I'm sure you all are familiar with. He just added a special verse just for me. Enjoy!

Old McDonald had a farm
EIEIO
And on that farm he had a mama
EIEIO
With a no no here
and a no no there
here a no there a no
everywhere a no no
EIEIO

God I love him. I swear one day I'm going to miss this!!!

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!!!

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!

 

Favorite Things (Kid Edition)

My boy likes a lot of different things. But the older he gets the more obvious his favorite things become. He is now able to voice his opinions and is very clear on his love of the following things.

1. The red blanket you see in the picture above. This blanket was actually given to me by my Aunt Adair. It is a super soft corduroy material. It seriously is so soft and warm and wonderful. And I never get to use it anymore. The boy has snagged it as his own and hauls it with him to bed each night. During the day he usually brings it out to snuggle with it or cover up with it.
   
2. Dried cranberries. That's what he has in his bowl in the above picture. He would eat them all day if I let him.
   
3. Dinosaurs! He loves dinosaur toys and books and puzzles and all things dinosaurs. He likes to pretend his is a dinosaur and roar at you. Dinosaurs are a huge hit! There are usually a couple dinosaurs in his bed with him each night.
   
4. Animal toys. He loves the little people animals. He calls them his "manimals". He will feed them all toy hay and then kiss them all.
   
5. Music! We pretty much have music on as long as we are awake. The child will dance everywhere and knows the words to lots of songs. Since we listen to our music on Pandora he often goes to the computer and asks for Sylas Songs if I don't have the music playing.
   

So those are the kid favorites around here. Do your kids really love anything?

A Fourth To Flip Over!

The boy has turned into a little monkey lately. He loves to jump off of everything! The newest trick is flipping. I have given up on trying to stop him. He is going to do it no matter what. So now I'm on the hunt for a tumbling class to teach him how to do it a little safer. Either way he thinks he is pretty cool stuff and loves to watch himself on the camera when he gets done. I don't know if I'm raising a monkey, a movie star, or a silly little boy. Maybe it's a combination of all three.

One Reason We Love Summer

We love summer and one reason we love summer so much is flavored ice!

Flavored ice has so many benefits. It's a delicious (low calories, no fat, sugar free) treat on a very hot day! It can keep a two year old occupied for a good 10 minutes! And while painful for him seeing his brain freeze face cracks me up every single time! No matter how many times I tell him to slow down and not eat it so fast he still does and every time he gets a brain freeze. And every time I chuckle a little bit. Horrible! What a mean mommy I am. I don't know why it cracks me up but it does. What can I say other than flavored ice, kids love it and moms approve!!!

Big Eyes!

My best friend happens to have beautiful big eyed babies! And I am lucky enough to snuggle them and love on them and take pictures of them whenever I want!

 

Those big beautiful blue eyes steal my heart! They are just delicious little babies! The way they laugh now and look at me makes me think I want another baby at my house.

 

Their funny faces make me laugh and make my heart pretty happy. Oh how I love them! I just can't get enough of their big blue eyes!

 

Happy St. Patricks Day

Happy St. Patty's Day! I hope you all wore your green. We did around here. In fact not only did we wear our green today but someone wore a helmet most of the day! Last night we went to hang out with our best buddies and Hulk got a hand me down bike helmet from Caden. Not only does Hulk love the dinosaurs on it he also loves that when he runs into walls and doors it doesn't hurt his head at all. I wish I had a video camera to record him and show you all. It's crazy. Not only does he run into things but he also roars at the top of his lungs while doing it. Because you know wearing a helmet with dinosaurs on it obviously makes you a dinosaur! Strange little child of mine.

In fact he loves wearing it so much that when I asked him to take it and his coat off for dinner he got a bit upset with me. He really didn't want to let it go. Luckily I served some of his favorite things for dinner! Nothing like strawberries and turkey to bring a smile to his face. Boy I love this kid! So much personality!!!!

What's In Your Laundry Basket

Whenever I do Hulk's laundry I always find some sort of surprise. This week was no exception.

First I found a wonderful pinwheel.

And then a cool yellow ball!

And since dirty clothes often cook it only made sense that I found a whisk!

But the best find of all was the Fisher Price Little People Virgin Mary!!!

So I've the Virgin Mary in my laundry basket.... What do you have in yours????

A Gift From Grandma

My sister and I have been spending a lot of time sorting thru things before the house sells. There is much that I will need to get rid of. But some things are just to precious to sell. A beautiful tea set that my mom had is one of those things. In fact there were several little tea sets so Heather and I each got to keep one. But one tea set went to a special little girl we know.

 

Our niece Mattie loves to have tea parties. So it seemed only fitting to pass on the tea set to her. She was a little nervous when we had her sit down to unwrap her gift from Grandma. We told her she had to be careful and boy was she. She was a little scared to touch it at first.

 

But once she saw what it was she was pretty happy. As soon as half of it was unwrapped she was ready for tea and coffee with us.

 

It's so cool to see her play with it. Our mom used to have tea parties with Heather and I frequently. I know if she was here she would love to have tea parties with her grandkids too. So I'm just thrilled that Mattie loved the gift so much.

 

She also made sure to have her dad put it away high on a shelf so her sister and Hulk wouldn't mess with it. Smart girl!

I Thought He Was Sleeping...

While I may be trying to get more sleep lately my little man is trying to get less. He has recently figured out how to open his bedroom door and get out of his room. This has led to him actually falling asleep later and later because he is goofing around in and out of his room rather than just going to sleep.

To try and curb this I put up the baby gate so he couldn't get out of his room even if he opened the door. Apparently that is not effective in curtailing the goofing around. Because while I thought he was sleeping he was actually doing this....

 

Oh yes indeed that would be lotion. Not only did Hulk make sure he was covered in lotion he also covered the door, gate, carpet, his bed, his dresser and some of his toys. While I wanted to be mad I had to remind myself that this is just one more story that I'll be telling when he is older and in all honesty I may miss these kind of nights some day. So I cleaned up lotion, kissed a very moist skinned boy good night and closed the door. Who knows what he will do tomorrow night!!!

My Son... The Ice Skater!

We were out at my brother's house the other day and ice skaters were on TV. Hulk was so impressed with the figure skating! I'm not sure if it was the costumes, music, lights, or ice that intrigued him so but he loved it!

 

He stood in front of the TV and copied the movements. Nothing like toddler carpet skating to entertain the adults! It is very difficult to do a triple axle on carpet!

 

I've always thought Hulk seemed to be built for football. But after watching him I'm beginning to wonder if figure skating is in his future....

 

Maybe next week we should have him watch hockey. I'm thinking he would be very impressed with the fighting on ice.

Hiding From The Cookie Monster

 

My niece has quite the imagination. She developed a game the other night for us to play. She wanted us to hide from the cookie monster. She would yell that he was coming and we all had to cover our eyes. I didn't have the heart to tell her that the cookie monster could still see us. She stills thinks that if she can't see something that means they or it can't see her. Such a fun age! So we play the silly games and she had a blast. And the rest of the grown ups had a lot of fun watching us look like fools.

Saturday Snow Day

Snow has been plentiful here this winter. While the hulk was a bit unsure of the snow at the start of the season he is now a huge fan. It has become his responsibility to rid all bushes, yard lights, vehicles, etc of snow. As soon as we go out he runs or actually waddles from shrub to shrub to knock all the snow off. He finds this oddly entertaining and never leaves a surface snow covered. In fact today he even waddled to the neighbors to clear their shrubs of snow. I'm sure they appreciated his help.

 

When Hulk isn't clearing items of snow he is pretending to be a snow monster. He will fill his mittened hands with snow, throw it into the air and then roar like a monster and laugh hysterically. The simplicity of childhood. While the cold is getting a bit old I will miss this time. He is so playful and honestly just in awe of the snow. I know summer will bring different excitement but there is something a bit magical about winter and snow. I don't know if it is the funny hats, the chubby snowsuit waddle, or the sparkle off the snow that I love but I know it's brought us lots of entertainment this season.

 

So another successful snow day in these parts....

Healthy Habits

You know we didn't do that H1N1 vaccine. We decided to skip it and just practice healthy prevention habits. We cough into our elbows now. We also fist bumb instead of shaking hands. And most importantly we don't eat boogers! Aren't ya glad we are trying to be healthy! No flu here.

 

Snowed In!

We have spent Christmas officially snowed in! We got a lot of snow. Right around 8 inches I believe. Which really that isn't so much but the high winds have caused horrible snow drifts. Some of the drifts come up to my waist. It's crazy. I haven't seen snow like this since I was a kid. The Hulk is quite mesmerized by it.

 

He runs to the backdoor and gazes out regularly and then comes to find Heather and I and takes us to view it also. I think everytime he sees it he is surprised. He was really shocked when we opened the door so he could see it up close and personal. The drift at the back door almost comes to his head which you can tell from the pics. Pretty intimidating for a little guy. We think he thought the snow was hard because he bent down to touch it and sunk right in up to his elbows. This was pretty upsetting to him so we saved him quickly and now if I go to open the door he tells me no no mama.

 

I did try to venture out today to get milk and bread. I got stuck three times going the mile to the store. So not worth the trip. Maybe tomorrow we can try again. Or we may wait till everything thaws. I love the snow but hate being stuck. YUCK! Luckily Heather has been here so I've had some adult interaction. We have enjoyed the company. The Hulk adores her so much. He follows "da da" around everywhere and mimicks the way she stands, leans against the counter, and holds her drink. I think the cuteness is wearing off and the cabin fever is kicking in. I'm sure she won't be really sad to leave us tomorrow and get back to her quiet and clean apartment. We will miss her though. Maybe I should put more snow around her car so she can't get out....

Clickin Mama