Preschool Hayride & Family Pictures

So...first of all, it's Saturday morning around 10:30 and I just returned from running my first 5K since Luke was born. I haven't trained, I haven't prepared, I just decided to run. Fair Grove's PTO had a Family Fun Run/Walk 5K this morning and to show my support, I (with Luke in the stroller) lined up with the kids and families at the freezing cold start line at 9:00am. I ran as much as I could and had to walk some and 37 minutes and 45 seconds later, I was done. I know, I know, a terrible time, but considering I had no training and I have never run a full 5K with the stroller, I will take it. Luke talked about the birds and the dogs as we ran and he told the people we passed "Good Job." Then, during the last mile, he fell asleep...sound asleep and is still sleeping. The PTO gave him a certificate for completing his first 5K. I have to say even in the freezing cold, it was a lot of fun and was very motivating to me to want to start training with my running again. We will see what happens....

Here are some pictures....

Luke, before the race, all bundled up...

Luke after the race....sound asleep....
Me with the Tiger mascot!!! :)
And, now, my main goal for posting....

As I mentioned in a previous post, I took Thursday off for some family fun time and what a wonderful day it was. It was probably the last warm day that we will see for a long while, so I am thrilled that I had the chance to spend it with Luke (and not at work). :)

One reason I took the day off was to spend some time with Luke at his preschool for the pumpkin picking and hayride. This didn't begin until 9:30, so at 8:30, I went ahead and dropped Luke off at school. On the way, I explained to him that Mommy would drop him off, he would go to Chapel with his friends and then Mommy would come back for the hayride. I thought he understood until we got to the door of the preschool. As I handed him to Mrs. Brenda, his lip curled up and he began to cry. It wasn't a terrible, awful, wail....just a few tears cry. I did as I instruct my mother in law to do- I kissed him once and out the door I went. Knowing that I was coming right back helped me be able to leave. I ran a few errands and then arrived back at the school around 9:15. I parked and walked around to the front of the church where Luke's class and the 2 year old class were having Chapel with Mrs. Leigh. When I walked around the corner, Luke was putting away one of the props from the storytelling lesson that was occurring. I noticed that Luke was the only one of his classmates that was out of the "bye bye buggy". The rest of the toddler kids were sitting in the buggy all strapped in. Ms. Felicia saw me come around the corner, so she picked Luke up and walked him over to where I was. As soon as he saw me, he grinned from ear to ear. I sat down on the blankets with him and listened to the rest of chapel.

As we listened, I looked over in the bye, bye buggy to get a look at the "babies" in Luke's class that he talks about. To my surprise, they were younger than I expected. There are two babies that are only 14 months old. All of them except for one little girl was sitting there with pacis in their mouths. Luke will not sit in a buggy like those kids....I guess that's why they let him participate with the older kids. I really wish they would move him to the class with 2 year olds because he is SO MUCH more verbal than the other kids. Matter of fact, I never heard the other kids say one word. I did see one of the girls make the sign language gesture for "thank you" as we got off the hayride. Now, that was cute! :) And, it told me that the teachers have been practicing that with her.

After Chapel, we loaded onto the hayride. I was so glad that I went because Mrs. Brenda and Ms. Felicia had their hands full loading and unloading all of the babies. Luke and I sat at the front of the trailer to help keep the other babies from crawling out the end. The ride was very relaxing. Luke talked about the tractor and the pumpkin patch that we were going to. Ms. Felicia told me a few things about Luke - they said they love the way he says, "YES," with just a head shake, they said he helps the babies all the time, like, for example, when Avery loses her paci, he will pick it up and give it to her (this surprises me - as much as he likes pacis, I would think he would steal it for himself), they said that he whines every time they come back in from outside and they asked me if he had a wipe warmer at home. I said, "no, why?" They said that he whines a lot when getting his diaper changed. Yes, yes, that's the case at home, but I look at him and say, "Quit whining....mommy will be done in a minute" and he calms down quickly. He knows I mean business! :) The teachers were very complimentary of Luke and very sweet and obviously, very patient with all the kids.

After the hayride, Luke picked his pumpkin and then played with the flowers around the stack of hay while the other kids picked their pumpkins and took pictures. Mrs. Brenda took some pictures for us because I left my camera in the car - can you believe that???? :) After the pumpkin picking, we went back inside. Luke and I decorated his pumpkin, colored his spider, and then I took him with me. It was only about 10:30 but I sure wasn't going to leave him there until 12:00 - he would have been traumatized if I left him again.

When we left the preschool, we went to the playground in Wallburg. It was gorgeous outside and we had the whole playground to ourselves. I got some super cute pictures of Luke going down the red slide all by himself. They had one piece of equipment that was designed for 2 - 4 year olds so it was very safe. Luke climbed and slid on this one several times. One time, I helped him climb the big steps to another piece of equipment and then thought that he could slide by himself - oh my, not the case, he slid down sideways and landed on his bottom. It scared him so he cried for a minute and then he was back on track in no time. While at the park, we swang and when we swing, we always sing. I have the cutest video of him singing "Skit-a-me-rink" at the bottom. I also got some really cute pictures of him giggling and smiling. I would pick the swing up way up high, kiss him on the head, and then let the swing go and he would laugh and laugh out loud. It was so cute! :)

After Luke was done sliding and swinging, we headed to Wendy's for lunch. Luke ate some fries and nuggets and apples. We had a great time on our Mommy and Luke lunch date - just talking about what we did that morning. I try my best to treasure these moments. Luke's my little sidekick. :)

On our way home from lunch, Luke fell asleep and stayed asleep when we arrived at home. I put him in his bed and he slept for over 3 hours. Even though he slept that long, he woke up kind of whiny. It took him a little while to really get happy. At 4:00, we got ready and headed to Archdale to meet Andrea for our family pictures. It was the perfect temperature and the location that she was taking the pictures was gorgeous with tons of fall colors all around. I really thought this photo shoot was going to be great - Luke had a good nap, the weather was perfect, and the setting was gorgeous. But, oh no, this photo shoot was FAR from perfect. Luke was a stinker!!! He wanted to explore - pick up leaves, pick flowers, play with the sticks, try to go in the old barns, look at the bugs on the tree stumps - he wanted nothing to do with the camera, with smiling, or definitely with sitting still for family pictures poses. Every time we would ask him to sit down with us and smile, he would wiggle, wiggle, wiggle and try to get away to go pick something up. Then, when Andrea tried to take pictures of him exploring, he would barely look at the camera. Many times he would turn his back to the camera - almost like he was doing it on purpose. Because of his bull headedness, we had to get really creative. We tried everything - bribery, throwing him in the air, tossing him upside down, chasing him, tickling him, told him to look up for airplanes and birds - at one point, I held him for a picture while Landis danced around behind the camera and then we switched. By the end (an hour and a half later), Landis and I were sweating and Luke was ready to go home. Sweet Andrea was patient and kind and extremely understanding. She also reassured us that she had taken some really good pictures. I didn't believe her UNTIL later that night - she posted some "sneak peek" pictures on her Facebook page and they were great! She got one great family picture and two super pictures of Luke! She told us that she had several more that we would receive on the CD in about 2 weeks. Landis has the photos on his Facebook...I will try to transfer the "sneak peek" ones to my blog soon and then will definitely post some from the CD once I receive them.

I have to say - if you need a family photographer, I highly recommend Andrea Mills. She was super! She is reasonably priced and gives you full rights to all the pictures that she takes without you having to pay any extra cost after the initial photo shoot fee. :) That's awesome! :) You can find her on Facebook under Andrea Mills Photography - you could also google that name to find her other website.

After we left the pictures, Luke was all of a sudden in a great mood - that figures, doesn't it??? :) He ate a great dinner - talked and laughed and scarfed down some grapes and pizza. He sang some songs - this time, he started singing, "I've got the love of Jesus down in my heart." (Now, that's awesome!) He laughed, made silly faces, and smiled 100 times - I guess he was making up for the million times that we asked him to smile for pictures and he didn't. Boy, what a stinker!! :)

After dinner, he played and played. He is going through a phase where he loves his stuffed animals. So, he will get them, throw them on his bed, and then jump on his bed and "snuggle" with them. It's quite adorable. While he was doing this, I had him practice his counting. He can now count to 3 every time you ask him. He doesn't have one to one correspondence - but he is able to rote count to 3. We are working on going to 5 right now. He can also identify the "biggest" object in a group and the "smallest" object in a group. For example, he had 4 stuffed animals on his bed and I said, "Find the biggest one." He pointed to the biggest one the first time. Then, we did the same thing for the smallest one and he picked the correct one. I am very proud of that!

Later on, we played with his blocks from his dump truck. He built him a tall tower. While he was playing with the blocks, we worked on colors. I asked him to take a yellow block to daddy and, he took the blocks apart until he reached a yellow one and took it to Landis. YAY! I then asked him to find a red block and take it to daddy. He, again, took the blocks apart until he found a red one and took it to Landis. Because he had to remove some of the blocks to get to the colors he wanted, I know that this is not just guessing. He knows red and yellow because (1) he loves his red car and (2) yellow has always been his favorite color. We are working on green ("like the grass") next.

By bedtime, we were all tired (in a good way). Even with the struggle during pictures, it sure was a great day! :) The day reminded me of some of those great summer days that Luke and I used to have - beautiful weather, lots of outdoor time, tons of fun things to do, lots of snuggle and giggle time, and some learning time. It just doesn't get much better than that!

Here are some pictures of our fun day!

Luke playing at the Wallburg park...

That is his pumpkin that he picked and decorated.








This is Luke's "surprised" face that he makes when we sing the song, "If you are surprised and you know it, then you...."
Here's one of those smiles BEFORE we left for pictures that I would have loved to have seen during the pictures....
Here he is eating dinner and being silly...



Playing peek a boo...
I love this look....not quite sure why he does this....
Being silly...
And, now two great videos!

Video #1 - Luke singing "Skit-a-me-rink"....

Video #2 - Luke doing his face for the song, "If you are confused and you know it, then you...." (I tell him to say, "I don't know.") Remember, we do all kinds of emotions to the tune of "If you are happy and you know it..." It's a great way to teach him about emotions and give him some new vocabulary words.

Have a super weekend everyone! I look forward to posting some Halloween costume pictures next week. :)

Toddy

Celebrating 32!

This past weekend, I celebrated my 32nd birthday! It's hard to believe that it's already been two years since I celebrated the big 3-0! Time sure does fly when you are having fun.

The weekend was beautiful and we definitely took advantage of the gorgeous weather when planning our birthday outings. On Saturday, I spent my day celebrating with my two favorite men - Luke and Landis. We started our morning out by going to the BBQ Festival in Lexington. It was a chilly, yet beautiful fall morning. We arrived at the festival around 9:30 and it was already fairly crowded. We started out at the rides before the lines got long. Actually, there were no lines at all. Luke had the chance to ride the little train like 4 times!!! And, he rode the big red strawberry with daddy with no waiting. After the rides, we walked around and looked at the tons of vendor tents and browsed through a few of the stores in downtown Lexington. We ended our browsing with a trip to Lanier's Hardware - which is always a favorite place of ours. We never leave that store without buying something and this time was no exception. We ended up buying a collegiate corn hole game. It is regulation size, wooden, with the tarheel feet painted on it and Carolina blue trimming. It's very nice. We took it home with the plan of enjoying it with some friends and family later in the weekend.

After the festival, we stopped for lunch and then headed home for Luke's nap. While Luke napped, I made a birthday purchase that was not really for me but for my favorite little boy, the Lukester. He has been saying "4 Wheeler" for a few weeks now ever since he rode his friend, Silas', four wheeler. When I saw that the four wheelers were on sale at Wal-Mart, I had to get him one. He rode and rode this all weekend. This was a major highlight of my birthday - seeing his face light up when he saw that 4 wheeler. :) Recently, Luke's area to ride has increased. My dad owns the house beside of us. The renters who were previously there have moved out and now the house is empty. So, we let Luke ride his 4 wheeler on the large paved carport and drive way behind that house. It's the perfect place for him to ride. He does such a good job of steering. :)

After a day of watching Luke ride his 4 wheeler, we grilled hamburgers with our friends, Jamie and Eric, and their little boy, Tanner (who is only 4 months older than Luke). The boys had a great time playing together and the grown ups had a great time watching them. Before Tanner left, we asked the boys to hug and they gave each other the sweetest hug I have ever seen. I totally wish I would have had my camera ready. It was an example of how kind hearted both of these boys are - the hug was the sweetest thing. Unfortunately, by the time we ate our dinner, it was already dark outside so we didn't get a chance to play our new corn hole game. But, we knew we would play on Sunday.

On Sunday, I continued my birthday celebration with a visit from my mom and my dad. For lunch, I cooked homemade chili and both of my brothers (Brad and Blaine) and my dad came over. Then, for dinner, my mom, Kim, and Lexi came over and we ordered pizza. With memaw around, I had the chance to sneak away from Lukester duty and Landis and I had a great time playing a few games of corn hole. He beat me every time by a lot!!! I have some practicing to do. Kim and Landis also played a few games while we played with Luke in the sandbox and on the slide. At dark, we ate our pizza, goofed off inside the house being silly with Lexi and Luke, and then everyone headed home. It was a really fun night - a great way to end my weekend full of celebrations!

You know the older you get, what is important on a birthday begins to change. I remember the days where it was important to me to go to a fancy dinner on my birthday. Now, the most important thing to me is to be with my family on my birthday and that's what I did this weekend. I had two days full of quality family time making my first weekend as a 32 year old one of the best weekends of the year!

Here are some pictures - some from my birthday weekend and some from last weekend....

Luke loves to watch a You Tube video that shows Elmo riding a tricycle. In this picture, Luke is watching this video with Landis...

Mom and Kim playing with Luke in his red car....

The pictures above and below were actually taken last weekend at mom's birthday party at my house....

Luke helps mom blow out her candles...


Playing around the house with Thomas...
and with the flowers....
Luke riding the train at the BBQ festival...







Luke and Daddy riding the big strawberry ride....


Luke on his new 4 wheeler....

Did you see the corn hole game????
There's a story behind this picture....Luke had school pictures taken at his preschool last week. When he got home, I asked him, "Show me how you smiled for your pictures today." He did this super silly smile where he shows his teeth...it is definitely a "fake" smile but awfully cute....this is him giving me that smile on his 4 wheeler.




Luke and Tanner playing....

Luke got two splinters while playing on the deck on Saturday...here he is showing me his splinter...
Here he is trying to get the splinter out....(obviously, he didn't...Landis got it out in the bathtub that night.)

Reading one of his favorite books, "Let's Go on a Mommy Date." If you haven't read this one, you should. It's by Karen Kingsbury (a great author for kids and grown ups.)

Luke lounging on his couch after a long day of playing....

Playing outside...



Trying to blow dandelions...





Luke is not a big fan of his high chair anymore. He constantly asks us at dinner, "Sit in the big chair at the table." So, I got out his little $5 travel high chair and put it on one of our chairs at the table and sat him in it for dinner. He is so much happier and gladly goes in his chair. Here he is eating in it....
Goofing off with Lexi and Memaw...

Before I end this blog, here are some other updates for journaling purposes....

Luke has become quite the little singer lately. He will start singing the lines of songs that we have taught him. He sings parts of the following songs: I've got the joy, joy, joy, down in my heart, the B-i-b-l-e (Yes, that's the book for me.), Skit-a-me-rink-e-rink-e do I love you, and If You are Happy and You Know It. Last weekend, I taught him the Zaccheus song (you know the same one that we sang in Sunday School - Zaccheus was a wee little man who climbed up in the sycamore tree.) Luke loves this song and will tell me, "Sing the Zaccheus song" and then he tries to do the hand motions with me.

Speaking of Zaccheus, I am so proud to say that he also really enjoys his "Baby's First Bible" stories lately. At night, he will ask me to read the "Jesus book" and I gladly say, "Of Course!" He will listen intently as I read the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark, Moses, Daniel, Jesus birth, preaching in the temple, and dying on the cross. I am so thankful that he is beginning to pick up on what Jesus did for him. My prayer is that this is only the beginning of this interest that he will have in learning more and more about Jesus.

One more tidbit about his songs that he sings....I have made up several extra verses to "If You are Happy and You Know It". I switch out Happy with different emotions such as sad, mad, confused, surprised, funny, etc. Luke sings these and does the cutest motions with each one. I hope to get this on video soon.

A few more Luke tidbits....

Luke is going through this awesome stage of wanting to "snuggle with mommy" and I love it. As soon as he wakes up now, he will tell me, "Let's go to big bed. Snuggle with mommy." So, that's what we do. For about 15 minutes, he will lay in the bed between me and Landis and just relax until he's ready to get up and go make coffee. While laying in the bed, he will roll over and hug me and say, "Snuggle with mommy." I love it!!!!

On Sunday morning, he carried his snuggle time over way into the morning. After he ate his breakfast, he crawled up beside of me on the couch with his Click, Clack, Moo book and said, "Snuggle with mommy." Wow! Snuggling with the Lukester with a book - you can't turn that down!!! :) The fact that he has the desire to read and initiates the book reading is something to celebrate!!!

Speaking of celebrations - Luke went to preschool on Tuesday and for the first time in 2 months, he did not shed one tear. On Tuesday, the kids wore their Halloween costumes to school for their Halloween party. So, my little mini-golfer was very excited about the cupcake that he was going to get. He must have remembered this because when he got to school and saw his teacher, he didn't even whine. We were so proud of him. I think he has finally learned the routine of school - mammaw leaves but then I play and have fun and then mammaw comes back. I'm very excited about his school tomorrow because I am taking the day off of work and I am going to school with him. His school is having the kids go on a hayride and through a pumpkin patch and I'm going to join Luke for the field trip. I'm very excited to spend this time with him at his school. Tomorrow afternoon, we are getting our family pictures taken by a family member of a friend of ours. Luke has a terrible runny nose so in between snot wipes, I hope Andrea gets some good shots. Andrea will give us full rights of all the pictures she takes so I will make sure to post some with her contact information if you want to try her out.

Before I go, I should also mention that we have had one small tragedy around here. The everlasting red car is in the shop. The big blue handle has almost cracked completely in half. Papaw Dale came over tonight and took the handle to his shop for some repairs. Right beside of me now is the red car without its handle and George inside. No red car pushing for a few days. Papaw Dale better work fast!!! :) Until the repairs are made, it will be more time on the 4 wheeler.

And, now, finally, some cute videos...

Video #1: Luke trying to show me his splinter.

Video #2: Luke showing me his "smile for the camera" face.

Video #3: Luke trying to blow dandelions.

Have a great rest of your week everyone. I am so excited that I only have 1 more day of work this week and then Halloween weekend will be here!!! :) I can't wait to post some pictures of Luke in his mini-golfer outfit.

Toddy