Papaw Dale Part II & Some Sing Alongs

Two weekends ago (I know, I know, getting behind on my updates again!) - we had some awesome family time just hanging around the neighborhood. With Papaw Dale's house right next door, we have plenty of space and activities to keep us busy right at our house.

It was the weekend of the ACC tournament so Jason Tussey came over to watch the game with us - just like old times. I timed it perfectly so that Luke was taking his nap during the entire Carolina game so I was actually able to watch the game, which I enjoyed. In celebration of the TarHeel win, we decided to get a game of corn hole going, get out Luke's lawn mowers, grill out, and have a campfire. It was an absolutely gorgeous spring day - mid 60s and plenty of sunshine! :)

While we watched the game, we looked out our dining room window and noticed that Papaw Dale was already preparing for the big family event. He got the fire pit positioned with several chairs placed around it, set up the corn hole game, and even put out spotlights so we could see when it got dark. We joked with dad by yelling out the window - "Hey Clark, what are you doing over there?" (Anyone who has ever watched any of the National Lampoon Vacation movies knows that Clark Griswald is always taking the time to prepare for big family events that usually end up being a disaster in some way shape or form.) Well, thank goodness Dad sets up family events better than Clark because this fun family time was perfect! There was no disaster about it! :)

We were all outside ALL DAY! Luke rode his green lawn mower and pushed his red lawn mower most of the time. He did manage to work in a few other activities-he played bean bag toss, practiced riding his tricycle, rode the big lawn mower (blades off) with daddy, played with play-doh in the grass, played with Blaine in the sandbox, and probably the most entertaining part was when he watched Blaine ride his bike. Blaine hasn't ridden his bike in quite awhile so it was quite entertaining to watch Dad chase Blaine around on his bike while trying to teach him/remind him how to ride it safely. The good news - Blaine never gave up and, after not too long and a few minor falls, Blaine was riding in circles around the house. Luke said a few times, "Blaine is being silly." And, yes, it did look a little silly at times but Blaine was having fun and so were we! Way to go, Blaine! :)

We grilled the hamburgers at our house, so while we grilled, Luke played on the deck with Blaine, Tussey, Daddy, and Papaw (I was in the house preparing the fries and condiments). Before we knew it, dinner was ready and we all ate together. Luke gobbled up his hamburger and fries and thoroughly enjoyed himself around the big crowd.

After dinner, we went back outside to roast some marshmallows. Papaw Dale had all of the ingredients for Smores so we couldn't wait to roast us a fat marshmallow. I roasted a big marshmallow for Luke. He enjoyed watching it catch on fire. He also enjoyed eating the burnt edges of the marshmallow. He wasn't too interested in the messy Smores part but he liked the taste of the sugary, roasted marshmallow. Luke was absolutely adorable sitting in his small wooden chair with his jacket and hat on just watching the fire.

Before we knew it, it was bedtime for the Lukester. I think he was actually ready because he had played so hard all day. As we said our prayers, we thanked God for the fun day of being surrounded by family. There's nothing better for a small child like Luke to be surrounded by people who love him and boy was he on this day! It was a perfect day - simply perfect! :) Just another one of those days that will go down as a cherished one - we seem to have a lot of those lately! :)

Here are some pictures of our time with Papaw Dale - Part II...

Luke playing bean bag toss....

Just chilling in his small, brown chair....


Riding and riding and riding - notice Blaine is upright on his bike in the background....

Blaine practicing hard WITH a smile!

Still riding...
Looking back at Blaine with a tiny grin...





Playing Play-Doh with papaw Dale...

Running around outside - (believe it or not, Luke only went in Papaw Dale's house one or maybe two times) - even though he asked SEVERAL.
Talking to us around the fire - notice the spotlight in the background....
Standing by the fire...

Getting a little sleepy...
Before I close with some Luke sing alongs, here are a few special, funny, journal worthy moments that I want to share -

-Last Saturday night, I had the best dinner I have had in months. What made this dinner so special you might ask??? Well, in addition to the great food - grilled filet mignon and baked potato, I had the best company as well - Luke, of course. Landis wanted to eat inside so he could watch the basketball games but Luke and I decided to eat outside on the back deck. Earlier that day, I bought him a fold up Thomas the train table with two chairs (just his size). For our delicious dinner, we sat at the Thomas table on the back deck and enjoyed the gorgeous night. As I ate my steak and Luke ate his chicken nuggets, we had some super mommy and son bonding time as we talked about our wonderful day. Gang, it just doesn't get any better than that - it was a perfect dinner, just perfect!

Have you heard that country song that says, "She thinks we are just fishing." If you haven't, basically, the song talks of a dad and a daughter spending time together fishing and the dad talks about that, to the little girl, this is just another day fishing, but, for him, it's a memory that will be very special to him forever. That's how I thought of my dinner with Luke. To him, it's just another dinner. To me, it was a special moment where I just prayed that time could stand still while I cherished every second. :)

-Here's a cute conversation Luke and I had....my mother in law brought Luke to school to meet me after work so we could go for a run. When she arrived, the first thing that Luke said to me was, "Mammaw's a booger." (He says that because mammaw tells him that she looks like a booger.) I said, "Oh, well, what are you?" Luke says, "I'm a baby doll." (This also comes from mammaw he reminds him that he's a baby doll all day.) My next question, "So, what is mommy?" Luke's response, "You are a booger too!" And, we both giggle!!! :)

-Here's an example of Luke's crazy vocabulary - whether used correctly or not! :) All of a sudden, Luke brings Landis the remote control and says, "Daddy, the TV is unactivated. Will you please turn it off?" (Oh my - not quite sure where this came from.)

-Luke is now telling us that he loves us without us telling him first. He will often times turn around in the rocking chair at night and say, "Mommy, I love you." My heart just melts! :)

-While Luke was sitting in the floor playing, he all of a sudden started singing, "I once was lost and now I'm found." That's all the words he said but I knew that he was trying to sing Amazing Grace (which is not one of the songs that I sing to him.) I sang the whole first verse of the song for him so he would try to remember the words. After I finished singing it to him, he said, "We sing that Grace song at Chapel." (Wow! I sure do love Shady Grove!)

-A few weeks ago in celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday, Luke's class cooked green eggs and ham and ate them at school. I knew ahead of time that his class was going to do this so I wanted Luke to make the connection to the book. We started reading Green Eggs and Ham about two weeks before he would eat this special snack. The night before the big Dr. Seuss birthday celebration, I reminded Luke while he was taking a bath that tomorrow at school, he would eat green eggs and ham and watch the movie on TV. He looked at me confused and said, "There's no TV at school. Where will we watch it?" (oh my - he is so right - I have never seen a TV in his classroom so I'm not sure where they went to watch the movie. I was just amazed that he was thinking through the situation that much.) I also asked Luke during this same conversation if he was going to eat the green eggs and ham and he calmly looked at me and said, "Yes, I'll try them." :)

-We have really been working on manners around here. We remind Luke often to say "Please" and "Thank You." We often times make him repeat his request in a nice tone using his manners before he receives what he is asking for. For instance, "Mommy, get my milk" quickly must be repeated as "Mommy, will you please get my milk?" Of course, I model the phrase for him. Well, the manners modeling must be paying off because just this morning, I asked Luke, "Do you want some more grapes?" His response, "No thank you, Mommy." (Way to go, Lukester - great manners!) I bragged and bragged on him! :)

-Luke has a book called ABC Jamboree that talks about a different animal for each letter of the alphabet. The H stands for Hippo and tells about a hippo that is "terribly happy." (those are the exact words in the book). One day, out of nowhere, after Daddy handed Luke his milk, he said, "Daddy, this milk makes me terribly happy." :) That's cute!

-Along the same lines, we have been reading a book called "Bunny Trouble" about a bunny named Ralph that loves to play soccer instead of decorate eggs like his friends. In the book it says that Ralph goes to work on his fancy footwork while the rest of the bunnies decorate eggs. One day last week, Luke looked at me and said, "Mommy, you need to go to the living room so I can practice my fancy footwork." What???? :) It's so cute to me how he picks up the phrases from the books that we read. I guess the amount of reading that we do explains his expansive two year old vocabulary. Ya'll, we read all the time - we even "read" when we don't have the book in front of us. We have read some books so many times that Luke and I both can quote the pages so we "read" the pages to each other while playing outside, in the bathtub, at dinner. It's great! :)

And, now, here are some super cute videos of Luke singing in the car on the way home from Outback last week. Once Luke gets started on singing, he just sings and sings and sings. Enjoy our little singer...

The first two are pictures only....

#1 - Landis videoed this one using his IPhone and he didn't have it lined up correctly so you can't see him singing - just listen closely. You will hear his very country version of the wheels on the bus and notice that he has quite a few words mixed up. :)

#2 - Luke is singing a song that he and I sing all the time called "Open and Shut Them."

#3 - Luke sings the Zaccheus song.

Enjoy...

I'm so excited that today ended up being so pretty. It first looked like this weekend would be a washout, but it hasn't been so bad. Luke and I have been home alone ALL WEEKEND - no Papaw Dale, no Daddy, and no Memaw. They were all in different parts of South Carolina for different reasons leaving me and Luke here to enjoy each other's company and the outdoors. I'll post on how we have stayed busy soon. We sure are looking forward to everyone arriving back home sometime today (it's actually Sunday).

Say a prayer for our TarHeels! I will cheer for them as hard as I possibly can, but fully expect for them to go home tonight due to the absence of Kendall Marshall. Give it your best shot Heels! The Bumgarner's are cheering you on!

Have a great week, ya'll! Only 2 weeks before SPRING BREAK!! Super excited!!! :)

Toddy