Family Fun & Luke's 1st Haircut

On Friday, August 19th, the Bumgarners had an old-fashioned family fun day....a whole day of just hanging out, running errands, eating meals together, and lots of having fun. Mommy and Daddy took the day off of work and focused only on us and our little boy. Such a fun day!

We began our morning slow - playing around the house - Luke rode Thomas, his red car, his bicycle and we let Max and Madi out to play awhile. Luke and I also took turns pushing the popper, the mower, and pulling the phone and the dog. Luke likes for me to push or pull one thing while he pushes or pulls something else. We call this a "parade" and then when he's ready to switch toys he will say, "trade". :)

After some playing at the house, Landis dropped me off at the Nail Salon for a quick nail fix while he and Luke visited his granny, whom Luke calls "Tia" (it's really Granny Otelia). :) They picked me back up and off we went to Evolve Salon in High Point where my super sweet hairdresser works - but, only this time, I wasn't getting my hair cut, Luke was....Landis has been against getting Luke's hair cut for weeks now, but it had to have some type of trim. The back of it was like 4 inches long....it looked terrible. When we arrived at Paula's, she agreed with Landis that Luke would look much better by keeping his shaggy hair do, so the only thing she trimmed was the 4 inch long pieces in the back. It was so NOT dramatic. It took like 30 seconds and she didn't even charge us. By the time Luke got finished looking at the penguins on the cover up, Paula was done. We took some pictures and saved the first piece of hair that was cut so we can remember this milestone in years to come.

After the hair cut, we ate lunch at McDonald's. Luke was a little bit wild by this time - he giggled and laughed and literally planted his face into Landis' ice cream cone. It was fun just hanging out with him in such a good mood. :)

On the way home, Luke fell asleep and ended up sleeping for almost 3 hours. :) While he napped, I had the chance to finish up some school work.

After his nap, Luke was in a super mood! We played around the house. One of the new things that we did was attach the little dog that Luke usually pulls to the back of his red car so it looked like the dog was chasing the red car. Luke loved this! :) He thought it was so neat - and, to be honest, it was quite cute!

Then, my favorite part - I soooo wish I had the video camera running - Luke asked to do the Elmo Slide so I turned it on the TV. You should have seen Luke breaking it down. Landis and I laughed and laughed. Luke actually slid during the sliding part, he flapped his arms, he jumped and turned around in circles (just like the song says) and then during the end where they say "Elmo Slide" over and over, he slid himself backwards all the way around the couch with a huge grin on his face. It was hilarious! I got out the camera to see if he would do it again, and, of course not, he was done! :)

Around dinner time, we headed to Olive Garden in Winston. While we waited for our table, Luke walked around the trees and the rocks and played. Then, we sat down for dinner. Luke was fairly good during dinner. He did a couple of super cute things. One time, all of a sudden, he looked over at a bus boy and waved - the bus boy smiled and waved back. He did get a little impatient waiting on his pizza and yelled out "eat pizza" pretty loud several times. Landis sternly reminded him that he needed to be quiet. :) Keeping him quiet was kind of difficult because he was in a talking mood - he repeated everything we said, "ice water", "drink", and one time, he even mocked the waitress when she laughed. The waitress did have a very funny, fake sounding laugh and it was quite loud. So, when she laughed one time - Luke looked at her and said, "ha, ha, ha". Landis and I were a little embarrassed but had to smile - it did sound exactly like her laugh. :)

After dinner, we stopped by Costco and while I shopped, Landis and Luke explored the huge store. They found a toy section that included a ton of toy bulldozers and dump trucks. Luke would run up and down the aisle pushing all of the buttons. We ended up going home with one of these bulldozers. :) The store was not very crowded so Landis and I let Luke lead us to the cashier. He, of course, ran as fast as he could - I love watching his little feet and his arms swaying as he runs as hard as he can go. :)

After loading the car and heading home, we ended our night with some Thomas rides outside and playing with his new bulldozer. It sure was a nice night to play!

When I put Luke to bed we talked about our day and we both smiled! It's not often that we all three get to spend the WHOLE day together and it was a great day! :)

Enjoy the pictures of our family fun below....

This is Luke drinking some milk out of a grown up cup...

Here is Luke playing with Daddy's work hat and vest...


Here is our new fun trick...the dog is chasing the car...

Now....these are cute pictures. While we played outside, I checked the mailbox and I put the two magazines (a People and a Parenting) on the steps. Well, Luke went over, picked up the Parenting magazine and started "reading" by pointing to pictures and naming them. There's a super cute video of this at the bottom.



Luke enjoying the ice cream....


And...Luke's first hair cut!


Some fun in the red car playing peek a boo around the building outside....


And, riding the bicycle...

Here are some cute videos:

Video #1 - Luke "reading" the magazines...

Video #2 - playing boo around the building

Video #3 - Luke saying all of the animal sounds....this is one of my all time favorites! :)

Thanks for reading, gang! Check back this weekend and then again next week for a post about the first day of preschool!

Natasha

Toys of All Sizes

Luke obviously has his share of toys. Because he stays at home everyday with my mother in law, I've always wanted him to have enough to play with....and, believe me, I've accomplished this goal. There are some toys that he will go a few weeks without playing with because he has so many others....we just rotate the toys around so different ones grab his attention.

For educational toys, I order them or I pick them up at different places like Barnes and Noble or Peebles...my favorite brand of educational toys is Melissa and Doug and both of those places sell those.

For other toys that are just for fun....like the bigger riding and pushing toys, I used to buy them new at Babies R' Us or Wal-Mart, I've realized that there is no point in buying the brand new toys. Instead, I keep my eye out for consignment sales - a lot of times churches will have great consignment sales during the spring and fall of the year and then, of course, there are the Wee Runs sales that have great toddler toys. Some of Luke's favorite toys have come from these sales and I've paid almost nothing for them. One great example is the everlasting red car....we bought that last September for $20 (a new one would be like $50) and it is still going strong with no signs of giving up anytime soon.

On Friday, I went to a consignment sale in Greensboro and got three toys (including a Tonka ride truck, a Fisher Price push/ride wagon, a Little Tikes train) and a portable high chair for $12, yes, that's 4 items for $12 and Luke loved every one of the toys. I don't always take him with me, especially if I'm going to be clothes shopping, but, on Friday, I just looked at the toys so I took him with me to see what toys interested him. He was so excited to see that we were putting the toys that he loved in our car - I was so excited that I only paid $12 for toys that would have cost over $100 at a store. I mean the Tonka truck still made the horn noises, had a working turn signal, and makes a cranking sound when you turn it...so very cool! :)

I have some pictures of my consignment purchases below...

But, first, along the Toy theme....yesterday, Luke and I joined my neighbors (Drew, Caren, and William) on a visit to Big Toy Day at the airport in Lexington. It was really neat! They had a ton of real life "toys" to drive....and, because this is one of Luke's favorite things to do right now - drive and ride everything - he had a great time! We were so thankful that Irene didn't rain on us....

Luke's favorite parts included: the mini-tractor, the lawn mower - he kept wanting to go back and sit on this over and over - the army jeep, the huge dump truck - it was so big that I had to crawl into it first and then let Caren and Drew hand me the boys - an airplane, the inside of a very nice RV which Luke called a "big bus" and the buttons on the fire truck.

He also had fun just walking around and looking at everything as he talked about what he saw - like the "big wheels" and the "ladder" on the fire truck (which he couldn't understand why he couldn't climb....I had to explain this isn't gymnastics)....he could name everything that he saw...he is such a talker....he is now saying 4 to 5 word sentences! :)

Here are some pictures from Big Toy Day....

In order to get people in and out of the event, they provided a hay ride on the back of a big tractor...here's our ride out....we got there so early that we had to walk all the way in. :)

Luke in the army jeep...


Luke in a 1957 tractor trailer.....it was still quite tall as you can tell by the way he is looking down at me....I enjoyed looking at how antique it looked....
The mini-tractor....
Juice break....but, as you can see, he's still on the move....ALWAYS! :)
This was a tractor....
The airplane...
And, the lawn mower....can you see his mouth?? I can't get him to smile because he talks so much....he's telling us all about the LAWWWWN mower....he is a country boy, ya'll....some of his words have a hundred syllables....he gets that from his mommy.....:) I'm a country gal myself!
And...here are a few consignment sale purchases....here he is riding Curious George on the Tonka truck....he's telling me that he's cranking it...he says, "I crank it"....


This is the Fisher Price wagon...you can push it, ride it and fill the seat with toys...

This is Luke inventing his own toys - using spoons as drums....he's so silly...

Riding and talking again....

Now...this is cute! :)
At the Wee Runs sale a few weeks ago, I found Luke this little race car toy...he likes this little car and track....I have some video of what it does at the bottom...in this picture, he's getting ready to fill the car up with gas...

And, finally, the bicycle....I found this at the Wee Runs sale too....this old Radio Flyer bicycle (or really, tricycle) looks terrible but it works fine, for now! I don't know how long it will last because it definitely has some things that could break at any time but for right now, it's one of Luke's favorites....we keep it in the building outside so when Luke goes outside, he will tell me....get bicycle out....I love to hear him say bicycle...he used to say, "bicycpup" (matter of fact, this was one of his first words) and now we are able to get him to say the word the right way - now, he will say bicycle, tricycle and motorcycle. :) Here are some pics of the old bicycle...the handle on the back is for me to use to push him and to help him steer...



Here are a few videos....

#1 - Luke saying "bicycpup"....this video was taken at the end of July....so basically, a month ago....he is talking so much better now...I will have more updated video of him talking later...

#2 - Luke's playing with his race car toy....

Enjoy this gorgeous day....check back soon...I have a mid-week blog post ready....

Toddy

The Bee Sting

I can't believe it but tomorrow is the 1st day of the 2011-12 school year. School staff has worked extremely hard for a week getting prepared and the day has come. Every year, I think, "Oh, I won't get nervous about the first day of school. I've done this for years." But, every year, I still get nervous. There's just something about a first day of school that brings out the jitters for everyone - school staff, kids, and parents. In my position, my biggest worry is getting all the students to and from school safely - on the correct bus, daycare van, or car. For 9 years now (this will be my 10th), everything has always worked out fine - it doesn't ever go perfect, that just doesn't happen, but it always ends up okay with all the kids getting to and from school safely.

As I sit here getting ready to make some final preparations for tomorrow, I say a special prayer (as I do each year) for the thousands of educators out there....my prayer is that you will have the wisdom and the strength to provide a successful school year for all the children - through all the ups and downs of a school year, may you keep your eye on the number one focus - making a difference in the lives of students. I also say a special prayer of protection over Fair Grove and all the surrounding schools - may God keep your staff and students safe until the doors close again in June. It's going to be a great year - I just know it!

Before I begin my school work, I wanted to add a quick post....

Several weeks ago, I was walking outside with no shoes on. Luke was also wearing no shoes and was holding my hand as we walked through the grass. Well, all of a sudden, I felt a sharp pain going through the bottom of my foot....my whole foot burned for several minutes. I never saw what I stepped on, but when I ran inside to look at my foot, I found a stinger. So, I must have been stung by a bee. I was very thankful that it wasn't Luke because he was so close to whatever I stepped on.

Because he was right beside of me, he saw my face and how I grabbed my foot in pain. He also heard me go on and on about my foot burning and wondering what happened. Then, he saw me go get the tweezers and pull out the stinger. While I was doing that, I explained to him what I was doing and I also reminded him that we would both wear shoes from now on.

Well, as you know, Luke watches everything and is a little copy cat. About an hour after the bee sting occurred, he went to the bathroom, got the tweezers and then started trying his best to imitate what I did when I was stung....it's the cutest video....check it out at the bottom....

But, first, to go along with my bee sting theme, I included some pictures of Luke riding a ladybug and bee bouncy toy at Hanes Park playground in Winston.

Enjoy....

As you know, I am super behind with my posting....matter of fact, I have about 70 pictures on my camera that I haven't downloaded yet....I am still posting pictures from this summer and actually have at least one more post from the summer. Then, hopefully, I can get to some recent posts like....

Luke's first hair cut and another road trip and play date post (both from this past weekend). And...we have some super fun weekend adventures planned the whole month of September....stay tuned....

Toddy