we love books...

"There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all." Jacqueline Kennedy

Jack loves to read…we read for an hour every night before bed...

I love that he loves to read…that he has his favorite books…that he can practically recite them…that one of his favorite books is Ernie’s Big Mess (because it was one of my favorites too)…I love that my Mom saved all of our books...


I love that he moves his fingers over the words when he’s “reading” to me...that he knows what's going to happen on the next page...that when he's ready for the next book he just says, "The end." and closes it...that when he knows it's getting closer to bed time, he says, "Just a couple more books!" while pointing his finger at me...

I also love how I can recite most all of his books without even opening them...and that sometimes I find myself subconsciously doing this throughout the day...and that I enjoy the Dr. Seuss books because the tongue-twisters keep me on my toes. But mostly, I love that he loves to read...

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you'll go." Dr. Seuss

Awesome...

I recently discovered 1000 Awesome Things. I may be late with the discovery but let's just say I don't get out much lately...kinda busy here :)

Everyday the author posts something new and awesome...and it's always a seemingly little thing that's "awesome-ness" is overlooked in the daily grind.

I love the newest, #520, because there's just something about sleeping with a baby on you ("in" you is kinda cool too, but I'm even more excited about when this baby girl can come out to play!) So in homage to #520, here's a few from way back...

A few other favorites are: #540, #611, #530.

swingset!

Our swing set has been put to good use since it's inaugural "raising of the flag slide", if you will. Here's the boys with some helpers during the WIP stage. Notice Jack already enjoying himself...

And our very own "Bob" the builders!

Here's Papa once we finally gave him a break to admire his work. As soon as the set was completed, it was like a magnet for the neighborhood kids, who coincidentally all called Herb "Grandpa", so now he's the honorary neighborhood grandpa!

And Jim posing with a hatchet. (Jim thought it was very cool and I could tell he wanted to play Daniel Day Lewis in "The Last of the Mohican's".)

I have no idea why they would have a need for a hatchet for this project...it must be a boy thing!

A true swing set-building warrior!

All I know is that one person in particular is more than pleased with his new toy...

Unfortunately, it looks like rain this weekend so we won't be able to get much use out of it...BUT, we do have a lot of grass seed that needs watering, so there's an upside!

(PS: You know you're old when you are excited about rain so you can get grass growing in your yard!)

First Swim Lessons

My little Nemo was so fearless in the water during our first swim lesson. I thought we’d be resolved to sitting by the side of the pool and splashing our feet in the water for 4 weeks until he was comfortable enough to venture in…but he was off before I could flip off my flops!

I guess our swimming sessions in the bathtub have paid off…I’ve created a fish!

He had so much fun blowing bubbles in the water, kicking his feet, retrieving floaties, going down the water slide by himself!

I’m happy he’s finally comfortable with the water so he will be ready for our trip to Orlando in May! Now the trick will just be getting him comfortable with airplanes…I don’t think they have a “practice class” for that.

Since this will be our first "flying" travel experience with Jack, I’ve gone in OCD mode researching what I need, tips and tricks…unfortunately, I can’t have a margarita to calm me, so I’ll just resort to making lists and checking them incessantly!

Weekend of successes!

It was a busy weekend, and by 5:00 on Sunday, we were all ready to call it done!

Jack and I took his first “swim lesson”! I was very worried because last summer he was very nervous around the water…but the only one nervous was ME because he now has no fear of the water…(more details to come)

Jim and Herb finished setting up Jack’s swingset! It took a little more work than anticipated, seeing as they had to level ground, replace some wood, screws, and rope...but it was a success and Jack is more than happy!

We also managed to pull off a surprise party for my Dad (Poppy) to celebrate his retirement. He was surprised, in one way or another, and a good time was had by all.

NOW, we’re just looking forward to next weekend when we have NO PLANS! Our "No plans-Plan" will most likely change as the week goes on to "Another busy, plan-filled weekend", but for now, we're enjoying the calm.

PS: is it just me or does "plan" look like a wierd word?!? Kinda of like tartlet! ;-)

Father & son

A man's desire for a son is usually nothing but the wish to duplicate himself in order that such a remarkable pattern may not be lost to the world. ~ Helen Rowland

Bubbles in the sink

Who knew that filling the sink up with bubbles was so entertaining!?

Messy? Yes, but really, it's bubbles! So thank you, Jack, for cleaning my counter tops...

and flinging bubbles all over...

and cleaning yourself in the process!

He also managed to find a more convenient way to get a drink of water...no more silly cups!

I love how he finds such enjoyment in the simplest things...

our weekend...

It was a b-u-s-y weekend! Our first goal was to cover the bare spots in our yard with topsoil and seed to hopefully grow grass. We had a total of 6 tons of topsoil delivered. Lots of scooping, wheel-barrowing, tilling, evening, spreading, seeding, watering...good thing we had fuel:

Luckily, we had 3 tough guys to get the job done.

Phase 2 of the weekend goal was to pick up a swing set I scored on Craigslist! After stalking Craigslist for months, I finally put a “Wanted” ad and totally scored within a couple hours!

Jim and Herb had a…well I won’t say “fun” time, but they had an experience dismantling, moving, loading, and unloading this bad boy. Thanks for giving up your Saturday... Here's what it looks like put together...I can't promise it will look the same once reassembled ;-)

Jack was SOOOOO excited as each piece was unloaded. He could hardly stand it. This week, Poppy is going to power wash and stain it to look like new, and hopefully we can reassemble it soon, because it’s bordering on just plain mean to make Jack stare at his play set in pieces all.week.long.

In baby news, our little girl is the size of a papaya this week (actually all month long). I only have 4 fruits left...which makes me kinda sad because I loved to see my "fruit" change by the week...now we're changing by the month.

She's an active little one, and Jack enjoys giving my tummy a kiss and saying hi to his baby sister...

And we also watched Up! this weekend...def my new favorite movie. Def! (Not taking into account that I've pretty much only watched Cars movie for going on 2 months straight...it was a really good movie!)

For now, here's men at work:

Transplant

We recently cut down 3 large trees and removed the stumps. The next step was to buy sod and/or seed to fill our patches. Jim was just excited to use heavy machinery, even though he was reduced to wearing my sweet sunglasses for protection! Minor detail, in fact, I think he secretly stashed them for later use...jk, he broke them instead.

This past weekend, on a whim, I started to dig out the grass around our mailbox because I’ve been wanting to make a flower bed. After a few digs, a light bulb went off: why don’t we dig up this grass and transplant it in our bare areas! Brilliant!

I didn’t think it would take more than 30-45 minutes. And we would be reusing just like Bob the Builder suggests...yeah! Little did I realize that “digging up grass” to transplant was a much more heavy-duty, time-consuming feat than I realized. I always underestimate projects! It took more like 3-4 hours! Good thing Jim was up for the challenge! ;-)

Since Jim was in charge of the heavy digging/lifting, Jack and I had the job of watering the area to be “sodded”, splashing in the mud, and watering the sod once it was placed. Needless to say, it was “work” that was more fun than actual "work".
Note: Yes he is watering the grass in his diaper. After splashing in the mud to the point that his shorts were too muddy/sticky/wet to wear, I resorted to this. Luckily, he's happier with little/no clothes!

Now we just have to hope the sod takes. Water, water, water! Good thing we have a professional sprinkler-operator on site!