Summer Adventures: Fun at Home

With several great road trips and outings taking place in the last few weeks, Luke and I took it easy for most of the week.  We just got in a mood of staying home - a few visits to the pool - but, mostly, just enjoying our time together!  

Here is a little bit about our fun summer adventures at home: 

Wednesday, July 18^th:

We started our Wednesday off by playing with Luke's tractors and barn in his room for a little while. Then, we headed outside for some drawing time with sidewalk chalk – while drawing, Luke did really well at trying to stay inside the lines when coloring. I drew a house and a school bus and Luke "colored" the windows in the house and the wheels on the school bus for me. He attempted to stay in the lines, which is an improvement. I drew an alaphabet trail for him and he jumped on all of the letters as he named them.  I also made him a numbers trail and he tried to name these as well.  

Later, we played hide and seek and chased Madi around the house. Luke thought it was hilarious when I would find him, pick him up by his feet, carry him around upside down and then throw him on the bed. I joked with him and told him that I was throwing him in the "dumpster." Luke asked me to put some music on so we could run.  We ran and ran and ran and did the Clapping Land song with some jumping jacks – Luke twirled most of the song until he was so dizzy he couldn’t stand up. To settle down, we made dog puppets out of brown bags. Luke did most of the gluing all by himself and then I helped him cut out the ears and draw the face.    

Around 11:00, I put Luke in the stroller for a walk.  It was HOT but Luke was still in such good spirits – he wanted to hold a stick in the stroller with him in case any dogs chased us – and one did!  The owner stopped him though before he crossed the street.  Luke fell asleep in the stroller for the last 15 to 20 minutes.  On the way back to the field (that I pass through), I saw a homeless man sitting on the side of the road.  I went to offer him my water when all of a sudden I hit a hole, which startled Luke and woke him up. He cried for a few minutes because he was scared.  I tried to get him to lay back down for his nap but he was soaked and wet with sweat and so was I. He whined and cried for awhile until I sat down with him in the rocking chair and started reading some books. He wanted me to read several books to him while he just sat in my lap and relaxed.  The interesting thing – the book he wanted me to read the most is called “The Potty Book”. It’s about a little boy who he is learning to use the potty.  Luke loves how Henry – the boy in the book puts his own shirt on and pants on and how he marches to the potty so now Luke tries to put his own shirt on and he wants me to march to the potty with him.  Also, Henry’s favorite color in the book is blue and now Luke says that his favorite color is blue too. He, at first, said his favorite color was orange.  One day before leaving the pool, I put some blue shorts on Luke and he reminded me, “Mommy, you know blue is my favorite color.” 

After relaxing and reading, Luke and I shared chicken nuggets for lunch and read some more books at the table. I asked him if he was ready for a nap and he said yes. By this time, it was almost 1:00. I thought his little 15 to 20 minute catnap would have been gone and he would be ready to rest (especially since he woke up at 5:50am).  But, oh no, I would soon find out that I was wrong.  I read some books to him in his bed and then laid down with him for a little while but he would not get still – he was all over the place so I finally left the room and told him I was staying gone until he got still.  As I watched him on the monitor, I knew the “getting still” part wasn’t going to happen. He was having a huge conversation with Minnie, Daisy, and baby Monkey.  He was nowhere ready to sleep.  So, while he rolled around safely in his bed (at least thinking that he was going to take a nap), I got our pool stuff ready.  After about 30 minutes, I went in his room and let him get up and put his bathing suit on and we  headed to the pool.

Surprisingly, to have such little sleep, he was in a pleasant mood all day and evening. He and I had a blast at the pool – it was just us – no friends that we knew, no memaw and no Daddy – it was nice to have him all to myself in the pool. (Before we left for the pool, Luke asked me, “Is Memaw going to be there?” I said, “No.”  Then, he said, “Is Daddy coming?” I again answered just plain “no.”  He looked at me and grinned and said, “Just me and you, right?” I said, “That’s right, buddy, just me and you.” He was completely satisfied with it being just me and him and that made my day.)

He was in such a good mood that he was singing the Clapping Land song on the way to the pool. Then, when we arrived at the pool, he showed me that there was a big truck parked on the grass.  J

At the pool – Luke swam all over the big pool – he chased his baseball, his gooey fish, his frog and ladybug, he climbed the ladder up and down AND one time, after watching some older boys jump in all by themselves, Luke jumped in without me holding his hands. But….because he went underwater a little and got his whole head wet, he wouldn’t jump unassisted again – matter of fact, he started sliding in the water instead of jumping – we will keep working on that going under the water fear. 

Luke loved it when I would swim under his legs and come up behind him. He also loved it when I would pick him up by his bottom, twirl him around, and then toss him back down in the water. He also enjoyed it when I would pick him up really high so he could throw the ball and then I would “throw” him in the water to get it.  Luke laughed out loud when I would go under water and come up with my hair in my face all messed up – he would say, “Mommy, do that again!”  It was hilarious! (When we got home, Luke showed Daddy how Mommy messed up her hair in the pool.)

Luke also played off and on in the little pool. He and another little boy threw a torpedo back and forth and then he and a little girl threw his rings and went to get them together.  Luke would actually crawl on his hands all around the baby pool (he calls it swimming like a crocodile). Amazingly, he wasn’t interested in his cups and bowls. We threw his scooper ball back and forth a few times and we “raced” as we swam like crocodiles to get the rings.  He has become so comfortable in the water – it’s nice not to have to be holding him all the time. 

Luke took a few breaks for some snacks – we were there almost 3 hours so for the two breaks that we had, I let him get an orange creamsicle. He ate both of them by himself! He would get very messy but wouldn’t even care.  After he was done, he would go wash himself off in the baby pool water.  He also ate him some apples and some cheese its.  He had some grapes and ate a few and offered some of them to the little girl he was playing with – I thought that was sweet. I didn’t ask him to share, he just did.  He also noticed that the little girl’s older sister was being mean to her one time and he said, “Mommy, that big girl left the little girl all by herself. That’s not very nice.”  (He has a sweet heart!)

Finally, around 5:30pm, we had to get out of the water because it was beginning to thunder so Luke and I headed home.  He rode his lawn mower outside while I cleaned up the pool stuff and started laundry. Daddy went and picked up McDonald’s while Luke and I had a bath and then we all sat in the liviving room and ate together.  Luke would look over at me while we were eating and tell me I was sweet. 

At bedtime (which was 8:00-can you believe he made it that long without a nap?) – I was EXHAUSTED – way more exhausted than him evidently because he was wiggly again at bedtime.  I had to leave his room for a few minutes until he settled down. Then, when I returned, I had to be pretty stern with him again until, finally, he picked up one hand of mine and wrapped it around him and took my other hand and put it on his face and then within 5 minutes he was asleep!  Bless his heart – I know he was tired!  I laid there and watched him sleep and felt guilty that I had to be so stern with him right before bed because he is so sweet to me at bedtime. He will hug me a million times and kiss my cheeks and tell me that he wants to snuggle with me.  When I left the first time and returned, he told me, “Mommy, you don’t leave little boys in the room all by themselves.”  Oh my!  I should have said – some good mommies do, just not yours because I’m WEAK!!! J I guess I just like feeling his little hands touch me.  Sometimes I get so tired playing and I’m so ready for him to crash so I can crash but then I think about how this is one more day that he is older and more time gone that I had to hug and love on him!  Holding him is my favorite thing in the world – so to end the day with him in my arms was PERFECT!  

Here are some pictures...

Our brown paper bag dog puppet....

Here is a video of Luke being silly with his puppy dog puppet...

Luke playing in "his corner"...

Eating his creamsicle at the pool....

Thursday, July 19^th:

Again on Thursday, we took it easy around the house. We played with both blocks – built towers with the hard blocks and then Luke hammered them down. We built towers with the soft blocks and Luke drove his car through them and then knocked them down with his cars.  We played hide and seek. I pulled Luke in his dump truck. I pushed Luke in the red car while listening to the Wiggles song. We read some books, watched a Super Why in the chair together, I ran a few quick errands, we ate lunch together, and then laid Luke down for his nap.

As soon as Luke woke up, he said, “Mommy, will you help me clean up all these blocks before the bears come home" It’s a mess.” I helped him clean up and then pushed him in his red car really fast – letting go around the corners and then did my tap dance during the Wiggles song.  

Late in the afternoon, I took him to Grandaddy’s house and he played with Kiki and drove the tractor while sitting on Grandaddy’s lap – they both loved that! 

I also took him to play at Mammaw’s house while I worked out and then Mammaw brought him home and ate dinner with us. He was excellent during dinner and played so nicely with everyone – at one point, he said, “Do you want to see my moves?” (and he would run down the hall and then roll around the floor. I guess these are breakdancing moves.) He played on the big bed with Daddy and then worked at his tool shed and did some puzzles with Mammaw before bed.  It was a wonderful evening and I enjoyed our day. Here are some pictures...

Riding in the dump truck....

With Daisy....

Can you see that look of pure joy because he is dying to knock down our tower!!!

Cleaning up after nap time and before the bears get home....

Here is a video of him telling me about cleaning up before the bears get home....

Friday, July 20th: 

AGAIN, we enjoyed some down time at home - we played tag and some silly games on the big bed. I flew Luke in the air like a plane on my legs. He loved it! 

We played with his cars, his dinosaurs, and his trains.  Luke played his keyboard while I danced to the music. He would play and I would dance and then he would stop playing and I would freeze.  He loved the freeze dance game.  Luke helped me make a “snake” out of paper – pretty much, it was a paper chain that we called a snake.  As we made it, I tried to teach Luke a little bit about patterns.  He was not too interested and did NOT catch on – I’ll try again later! J 

After playing indoors and realizing that I was not going to get my workout done for the day, I decided to push mow the yard for exercise.  Luke said he wanted to help me so I let him ride his big lawn mower behind me while I mowed.  Unforunately, his mower’s battery died, so we both took a break. I got him asleep and laid him down for his nap while I finished mowing. I definitely got the workout I was asking for! J  WOW! It was hot! 

After Luke’s nap, Daddy was home and he weed eated and mowed the field. Luke got to ride with Daddy on the big lawn mower for a little while after the real mowing was done.  We played together inside the house for awhile because it started storming and then Luke headed to bed.  It was a nice, uneventful day.  

 Here are some pictures...

The chain snake...

I love this picture....this is a genuine smile from Luke - not the cheesy kind - in those precious eyes, you can see the pure joy of childhood and innocence - that is the greatest thing in the world!

Here is a video of Luke playing with his paper snake....

We just returned from an AWESOME week at the beach with the Leslie family - it was a great trip, as usual - I have to say probably the best trip we have had so far.  Obviously, I'm crazy busy getting things put back together, laundry done, etc so I have no idea when I will get the pictures uploaded and posted - hopefully, early next week. Until then, have a great weekend and a great week!  Check back soon!

Toddy

Summer Adventures: Chuck E Cheese & Zoo Trip

Here are some highlights from our past week...

Tuesday (July 10^th):

We stayed around the house and played – we played a letter matching game, watched a few videos that I downloaded from my video camera, read some books, I carried Luke around the house upside down and tossed him on the bed, we made a rainbow out of fruit loops, we built a log cabin, played with the refrigerator letters, bult a block tower, danced and did all the motions and exercises from Luke’s highlights books

Luke took an early nap. I was exhausted too so I slept with him for the first 30 minutes and then got up to work on the blog.

After Luke's nap, we went to Chuck e Cheese with Memaw, Lexi, and Lauren and had a BLAST! 

For the most part, I will let the pictures tell the story.   

This jeep went up and down and back and forth like you were riding down a really bumpy road, Luke loved it. I think it was his favorite ride.  

The little carousel...

The jeep again...

The teapot...

This time, he has passengers in the Jeep...

On this ride, you leaned back in a seat and then watched the roller coaster ride on the TV or you could also watch the jet pack ride or a ride through a huge tunnel. Luke loved this! His eyes would get real wide as we watched and the chair moved up and down. He rode several times with me and then he rode with the girls!  

L

Luke's favorite part of the whole day was crawling through the big tunnels. He has always wanted to do that but this time, he had Lexi to help him and I felt more comfortable. And, then when Lexi got tired, Luke had memaw – who doesn’t care about hurting her knees – if Luke wants to do it, by golley, it’s getting done. Look closely - in this picture, you can see Luke and Lexi in the holes.   

There they are again...

Coming down the slide...

Still playing in the tunnels...

There's Memaw in the tunnels with Luke....

Another fun part of the day for Luke was running down the ramp near the food tables and then hiding from memaw!  He loves hills and he loves running – no matter where we are! 

After he was done playing games, we turned in his tickets. He picked out some candy, a ruler, a very cool mini-car, and some tiny star links.  (We still play with his tiny car - he goes really fast and turns circles.)

It was an awesome time! 

Wednesday, July 11th: 

On Wednesday morning, Luke and I made pig masks out of paper plates. He had to paint the plate pink and he loves to paint! He did such a good job of trying to put the plate together. 

After craft time, we pretended to buy food at a grocery store – we used his play food, his laptop (as the cash register) and grocery bags to take the food home – and, of course, the shopping cart was a key piece to our role playing. 

We tossed play dough balls back and forth. 

We read a few books in the rocking chair

Then, I let him watch Sesame Street (the whole hour of it), which I rarely let him do while I did some things around the house!

Right before naptime, we had a little dance party – we did the baby genius line dance, he did the whole thing with me.  Then I tried to teach him the cupid shuffle and the wobble dance but he was more interested in hitting the golf ball. He did do a country line dance that we found on the internet with me.  He would do the hopping part and the high 5 part. It was a lot of fun and a good way to burn some energy before naptime! 

Luke saw Landis watching a golf tutorial video one afternoon and he saw the man doing practice swings so when Luke was playing golf, he started doing his practice swings.  Here is a video of Luke playing golf....

After Luke's nap, we continued to play around the house and when Daddy got home, we did the line dance again with him. It was an uneventful, yet full of playing time night for our family! Here are some pictures from our Wednesday...

Thursday (July 12th): 

When I saw that Thursday was overcast with only 30% chance of rain and I knew that the next week would be hot again, I decided to take advantage of the weather and took a risk and headed to the zoo. 

The joy of the whole day was the light in Luke’s eyes at each animal or event – Luke slept until almost 7:00am which is unusual for him so he was in a good mood all day.  He lit up when he saw the seal swim by, the puffins, the turtles, the snakes, the beaded lizard (that crawled right up to the glass), the otters, the fish, the bears (black bear and grizzly bear), the bison, the fox, the quails, the rat, the coati, and probably several others.  For the most part, Luke would stay in what we called the “buggy”, but was actually the zoo rental stroller as we moved from animal to animal. He actually ate his lunch and his snacks in this stroller. We stayed on the move the entire time. Every now and then, Luke would get out of the buggy and climb the ramps or climb up on steps so he could see the animals better. 

Some of Luke’s favorite parts of the visit were...(1) the garden playground – he loved sliding down the big green leaf, climbing the spider web, and then playing hide and seek in the tunnel.  He also enjoyed climbing on the praying mantis, the bee, and the walls surrounding the playground.  At one point, a girl (probably around the age of 5) came up behind him and pushed him down the slide.  I was quite irritated, especially because she was unsupervised, but Luke was scared.  He stayed away from this girl the rest of the time that he played.  The little girl stood out in his mind so much that about an hour later as we were riding along on the path, Luke said, “That blue girl she needs to be nice because Jesus wants her to be nice.”  I thought that was sweet! (He called her "that blue girl" because she was wearing a blue shirt. He identifies everyone by the color they are wearing.)  

Another funny moment - about 5 minutes after leaving the playground, I realized that I left our lunch and food bag at the playground. I told Luke that we had to turn around and go back. He was so sweet – he didn’t argue. He looked at me and said, “Oh shut! Let’s hurry Mommy!”  (Good boy – he sure doesn’t want to be without food!)  J

Luke and I rode the carousel two times. He loved it both times – he rode the elephant and the alligator – his eyes just lit up while riding!

Luke enjoyed the small things like picking weeds on the side of the trail and then using the weed to pretend to “fish” from the buggy. He would say, “Mommy, I caught one.” He would pick up handfuls of rocks and then throw them into the woods one at a time while we rode.  It was NOT crowded at all so the paths were very clear - thank goodness. 

Luke really enjoyed the new dinosaur section. He loved the noises they made and the dinosaurs that squirted water. He also enjoyed “digging for fossils” and playing in the jeep. Unfortunately we had to leave this area quicker than we wanted because Luke had to use the restroom.  He kept asking if we could go back but we already used our tickets. 

Luke rode this little electric jeep with a gorilla, elephant, and giraffe SEVERAL times – he kept saying he was driving the animals to his house. 

On the way back to the entrance, we had quite a walk or should I say, I HAD QUITE A WALK!  Luke just relaxed in the “buggy” – so much so that he dozed off for about 10 minutes and this would be the only nap that he got all day. 

He woke up as I was getting him out of the stroller. I let him stop by the gift shop and pick out something.  He chose 3 small stuffed animals – a monkey, an elephant, and a lion. He talked to them all the way home!  They are quite cute and are still a part of his daily routine!

Overall, it was an excellent trip.  The weather was perfect! We saw most of the animals that we attempted to see.  We never made it to the Africa animals because we were both exhausted!  We plan on going back again when it gets cooler, hopefully with Daddy so that Luke can go back to the dinosaurs and go see the African animals. 

On the way home, when I asked Luke what his favorite part was – he said, “The dinosaurs.”  And, I would have to agree.  J  What an awesome day!

Before the zoo pics, here are a few pictures of Luke riding his lawn mower in the rain Wednesday afternoon - he got so tired of the rain last week, that he told me he was going to put on his Carolina hat so that he didn't get wet.  Here he is....

Loving on Madi...

And, now the zoo...getting in the "buggy"...

Looking at the turtles...

Here's a video of him watching the turtles...

Watching the seal...

Video of Luke watching the seal....

Luke sliding down the leaf....

A video of Luke sliding down the leaf....

Sitting on the praying mantis....

Playing hide and seek in the tunnel...

Playing on the bee...

Watching the lizard....

Video of Luke watching the lizard....

Luke playing in the huge bee hive...

Riding the carousel...

Riding in the jeep with the animals...

Watching the dinosaurs...

Digging for fossils...

Playing in the jeep...

Riding home with his new friends - monkey, elephant, and lion (which, by the way, he said, "They don't need names. We will call them Monkey, Elephant, and Lion.)

Friday, July 13^th:

I started my morning off with a workout while Luke played at Mammaw’s. Then, we headed to Winston for what we thought would be a quick lunch with Daddy.  Before lunch, we hung out with Daddy as he showed Luke off to everyone. Luke was unusually shy until he got around Chris and Troy. He liked them!  They threw a golf ball back and forth with him and he enjoyed that.  Troy even gave him a tiny flashlight that had a blue light. Luke loves looking at all the big machinery at Daddy’s work – he always asks to sit on them but we have to tell him no because it’s very dangerous. 

We ate lunch at Chick – Fil – A. We had no idea that it was free chicken day (if you dressed up like a cow). It was crazy FUN in there!  There were kids and adults of all ages dressed like cows – with ears, noses, spots, and even tails.  It was hilarious!  They had the Chick-Fil-A cows walking around visiting with everyone. Luke gave the cows a High 5 several times.  They gave every child a balloon.  Luke loved holding his balloon during lunch.  Luke ate so well that we let him have his favorite – a vanilla ice cream cone. 

After our entertaining lunch, we headed to the mall.  Our purpose was to run in real quick and let Luke ride the train while Daddy looked at the sales in Belks. Well, our quick trip turned into almost 2 hours.  Luke rode the train with me while Daddy shopped and then since Daddy was still shopping, Luke asked if he could rent one of the mall stroller cars.  We had nothing else to do so, of course, we rented one.  I pushed Luke around upstairs until I came to Old Navy.  I went in Old Navy and bought Luke a few outfits that were on sale.  I also checked in Stride Rite because they were having a huge sale but they didn’t have Luke’s size in any of the styles that we liked.  I had no more shopping to do so Luke and I just rode around the mall – well, Luke rode and I pushed – it was good exercise.  We checked on Daddy a few times and gave him our opinion on his clothes.  Finally, at 2:30, we were done and ready to head home.  We returned our stroller car and headed back to Tville.

The weather was finally pretty enough to go to the pool and as late as it was, I didn’t want Luke to sleep too long.  I let Luke sleep all the way home and then I ran inside and got our pool stuff and headed straight to the pool. 

At the pool, Luke had several friends there – Noah and Ellie Black and Silas Lohr – and, the mommies had fun talking Mommy talk for a little while.  Landis joined us for the last 30 minutes so that was a nice treat to have Daddy with us.  Luke played in the big pool with and without his floatie.  He drove his new car float in the big pool and the little pool.  He made everyone a “picnic” with his cups and bowls.  Noah and Silas joined him. He threw the rings in the baby pool. He and I played with the scooper balls.  We also threw the baseball back and forth. Luke loves to get in and out of the baby pool to get the ball.  Luke played with his new water squirters – the big one and little one.  In the big pool, he jumped to me and I pulled him around like a motorboat and threw him in the air like an airplane. It was a fun time! I am so glad that, even on such a busy day, that we took the time to go – especially since the weather had been so crummy lately! 

Here are some pictures of the boys at the pool...sitting on the picnic table eating their snacks...

Saturday, July 14^th:

Because of the busy Friday that we had, we decided to take it easy at home on Saturday morning.  Luke and I had a great time tickling on the bed, playing hide and seek and chasing each other around for a few games of tag.  We kept Luke’s music on so we could sing and dance when we wanted.  We practiced bouncing golf balls into an empty box.  We sorted and built towers with the blocks. We used letter stamps to draw a lizard and snake.  We read several books.  I read Luke his animal sound fact book several times and then gave him facts about an animal and asked him to tell me which animal I was talking about – he did fairly well.  I was pleased that he cared and was interested.  I let Luke watch a few Super Why shows.  He played in Daddy’s truck and Daddy pushed him in his red car.  He pulled Minnie and Daisy around in his little wagon.  He rode his tricycle and his scooter and then parked them both perfectly in the back bedroom.  He enjoys parking his riding toys. He will tell me that he is backing them up to park them. Then, we were both tired. I read him some books and laid down with him for a few minutes and then tried to leave the room and let him fall asleep on his own – to no avail – he rolled around and yelled my name 100 times. He will NOT settle down without me laying beside of him. I let him toss and turn and yell my name for over 30 minutes until I finally laid back down with him. It’s quite ridiculous the monster that I have created when it comes to naps and bedtime.  My only option is spanking him at these times everyday and I just don’t have the heart to make sleeping times that miserable for all of us. As soon as I laid down beside of him, he was asleep within 5 minutes! Unbelievable! 

After Luke’s nap, we went to the pool – all 3 of us – me, Landis, and Luke and Heather and Silas were there also AND Taylor was there!  Luke loves Taylor!  He played with her in the water for a long time. He would ask her to spin him around and around and she did.  He also rode in his new float, which he calls a “boat”, for a long time. He didn’t want anyone to touch his boat, but, instead, he wanted to kick his way around the pool in his boat. Here are some pictures that I took with my IPhone in the pool (I have the coolest IPhone cover called Lifeproof – it is water proof so I can take pictures near the water without worrying about my phone being damaged). 

After Luke was finished with his float, he went to the kiddie pool and ate a snack. Luke and Silas sat down on the towels and ate goldfish together.  It was so cute to watch them communicate. At one point, Silas said, “Look, there’s an ant.”  Luke responded, “I know, Silas.”  Before long, they will be chatting away with each other. 

After some snacks, both boys and grownups went back to the big pool.  Silas was doing AWESOME swimming all by himself (with his floatie on) so we encouraged Luke to try it. As you know, he wouldn't do it on this day but since then is doing great! If you didn't read my last post about his swimming adventures - go check it out!  

After swimming for a little while and jumping off the side a few times, Luke wanted a big chilly willy. They didn’t have anymore so I let him try a creamsicle. He loved it!  He ate the whole thing all by himself!  

We finished the pool date with some use of the water squirters, a few throws of the ball, and then the best part of all – the boys played basketball. Landis shot the ball around with Silas and Luke.  Luke or Silas would bounce the ball and then both boys would run after it.  A few times they actually bounced the ball back and forth to each other.  After a little while, Luke wanted his shovel so he could dig in the cracks of the cement and “fix” the gate – his attention span is crazy short sometimes!  Anyway – it sure was fun watching all of the boys play together!  What a fun afternoon!

We came home, took showers, ate dinner, and finished our night with some family “tag” and “hide and seek.”  Fun fun!

Around 9:45, as Landis and I lay in bed watching TV, Landis said, “It’s amazing how life changes when you have a little one around.”  I said, “What do you mean?”  He said, “Well, years ago we never would have imagined doing nothing on a Saturday night and going to bed at 9:45pm.” Well, I think play dates at the pool, tickling sessions, hide and seek and tag are way better than any dinner date or card game with friends ever was!  I love this life!  

Here are just a few pictures...

This is where Luke put Minnie and Daisy while we were playing in the house. He said that they wanted to sit and watch.  

Luke and Daddy chilling out and playing on the bed...

And, the video of the boys playing at the pool...

Sunday, July 15^th:

Sunday was a whirlwind. As you know, I ran early in the morning on the track. Then, we went to a church that meets in the Ledford Middle School auditorium to watch my brother (Blaine) and my nephew (Caleb) get baptized.  I am so proud of both of them and cannot wait to see what the Lord does in their young lives.  They made the most important decision they will ever make in their lives!  My hope is that they fully understand that!

After church and Luke’s nap, Landis went to a funeral so Luke and I played here at home by ourselves.  We played with his cars for the longest time. Luke would park them in the garage or “roundhouse”, give them gas, and then watch them race down his race car hill.  I enjoyed the nice quiet time INSIDE (away from the heat) playing with him. He also sang some songs into his microphone.  He did a great job – he would tell me, “Ladies and Gentlemen” and then he would start singing. There is a cute video of him singing, "He's Still Working On Me" and the "B-I-B-L-E" song posted at the bottom.  

Luke mowed for a little bit outside.  He mowed the field and while he was mowing, he found some wild grape clusters.  He would pick the clusters off the vine, load them in his trailer, and then take them to our yard to “feed the bunnies.”  I watched him closely to make sure he didn’t attempt to feed himself.  J 

For dinner, my dad cooked a pot roast and brought it to our house so that we could all eat.  It was a nice dinner with all of us!  After dinner, Taylor and Blaine and Luke played so well together. Matter of fact, the grown ups stayed in the living room and talked and listened to Landis play his guitar while the kids ran up and down the halls and played with the toys in the playroom. It’s nice that Luke is getting to an age where he can play responsibly with other kids without me standing right over him. 

Luke was sad to see Taylor and Blaine go but cheered up for bath time.  Lately, Luke’s favorite story is Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We read the book each night at bedtime and then he asks me to tell him the story again after his lights are out.  So, in the bathtub, he always pours me 3 bowls of porridge – a large bowl, a medium sized bowl, and a tiny bowl of porridge and then he wants me to “taste” each bowl and let him know which one is too hot, too cold, and just right – just like the three bears, imagine that.  J

After bath, Daddy did some tickling on the bed while I straightened up a little and then Daddy brought him in the bedroom for bedtime.  We read and read and read and then, finally, turned the lights out.  As we were laying there in the dark, Luke spontaneously reached over and kissed me on my cheek two times. I said, “Well, thank you, buddy.”  He said, “You’re welcome, Mommy.” It was adorable! J  A great way to end a great day!

Oh yeah – I should tell you this – after we read several books, I told Luke the story of Joseph that I studied from the Bible.  Luke loved it and wanted to hear it 3 times! I also told him the story of Jesus and he loves this story too….I’m so glad he is becoming interested in these Bilble stories….speaking of the Bible…I forgot to write about this funny moment…

While I was dumping water on Luke’s head in the bathtub to rinse his hair out, he said as the water is pouring over his face, “Lord, thank you for this dumb water.” That’s funny!  I mean – he could have just said that the water was dumb. At least, he used his frustration of the water pouring in his face to thank the Lord for it.  J  Quite cute! And, most importantly, unprompted, he knew to thank the Lord for something we need.  Maybe, just maybe, Landis and I are doing something right! J 

Luke playing with his cars....look at how sweet he looks in his little church clothes...

Taylor and Luke playing in the sand...

The video of Luke singing....

Monday, July 16^th:

Luke woke up at 4:45am for no apparent reason, I tried to get him to go back to sleep but after laying in his bed until 5:45, there was no hope so we both got up. I had planned on working out early at the YMCA around 5:30 before Landis went to work but that didn’t happen due to Luke’s early wake up time so Luke and I headed to Grimes Park and downtown Lexington around 7:00am for an early morning run and playtime in the park. 

It actually worked out nicely because it was a gorgeous morning and Luke was in a sweet mood. As I ran, Luke talked about which houses needed someone to mow and we looked for people who were mowing – I think we saw 5 or 6 people mowing – that’s a lot, especially since it was so early in the morning.  I guess Monday must be mowing day in Lexington. J

Luke also asked questions about every pile of grass and sticks that he saw and wanted me to run through them. I didn’t, of course.  As we passed people, Luke told them, “Good Morning!”  It’s quite cute. 

After my little over 3 mile run, I let him play at the park. He did his usual – slid down and climbed up the slide, played peek a boo in the tunnel and in the plastic peek a boo hole, swang, picked up sticks and dug in the dirt, picked up rocks, lined up pine cones, looked for squirrels – he kept saying, “Mommy, I will give you a clue. I’m looking for something with a fuzzy white tail. You know what it is?” I thought, a squirrel, but, no, he said, he was looking for a rabbit. 

After we played for almost an hour, it was time to head to Wal-Mart. Luke almost fell asleep on the way to Wal-Mart he was already so tired.  He was excellent in Wal-Mart. I let him sit on the lawn mower outside of the store for 1 minute and told him if he was good inside, then I would let him sit on it for one more minute when we were leaving.  The bribe must have worked because he was excellent! I even stopped and talked to two Fair Grove staff members that I ran into and Luke was really good while I talked.  One cute moment – I often use the timer on my phone to give Luke a heads up on how much time he has at a park or at home before we leave.  I will tell him how much time he has, show him that I am putting that much time on my timer, and then hit start. He knows that when the bell rings, he is done.  He handles this well – he knows that I am telling him the truth, a clock will not lie, and he has plenty of warning.  While we were in Wal-Mart, near the end of our shopping trip, Luke said to me, “Mommy, you have 5 more minutes of shopping. You need to set your timer and when it beeps, we are leaving.”  That is stinking hilarious! I laughed and laughed and then politely reminded him that I was the boss and I would be finished when I was finished!  J

Luke rode his lawn mower in the backyard while I put up the groceries and then fell asleep within 30 minutes. 

After Luke's nap, Luke went to mammaw Carolyn's while I took Madi to the vet. After the vet, we came home, ate a quick dinner, played in papaw’s car for a little while and then headed to bed – it was a pretty uneventful night. 


Here are some pictures from our time at the park....

Tuesday, July 17th: 

This was a very exciting day- so exciting that it had its own post.  

 

The only thing I didn’t post about Tuesday were two comments that were super cute by Luke…

1  1.  When he woke up and saw that I had put Daisy and Minnie on his lawn mower, he said, “Mommy, I don’t want those girls on my lawn mower.”

2.  He put both Minnies and Daisy inside his house with his piano while he was eating breakfast.  He looked at me and said, “Mommy, this is my family.” Here are the pictures of Luke eating with his family....

There have been several times that Luke and I have been somewhere and will say or do the cutest things that I will jot down or type in my phone. I found these examples typed in my phone from our time hanging out together recently....

One day, I said, "Let's hit the road jack." Luke said, "I'm not jack. My name is Luke."

While I was putting on Luke's shirt on, Luke said, "One day I will be able to put my shirt on all by myself." (Ever since he made this comment, we have been working on it so he can reach this goal.)

One evening, Daddy was fussing at Luke about standing up on something.  Landis was very serious and told Luke that he was going to bust his crown if he didn't come down from there.  Luke looked back at Landis with also a very serious face and said, "Like humpty dumpty."

Luke sometimes says, "I'm 'a working'”.

One afternoon, Luke sat on his bed and said, "I've been working. I'm sweating." (I didn't see any REAL sweat.)  

While Luke and I were sitting on the back steps eating a snack, he started wiggling around and said, "I'm getting situated."

Luke can now recognize all the letters in his name and several other letters and numbers.

At night time, he leans over and kisses me on my cheeks and says, I love you Mommy.”  I say, “I love you too. Thank you for my kisses.” He says, “You’re welcome, Mommy.” 

We were eating at McDonald's one night.  There is a very sweet lady that works there that will often help me with my food and help me get Luke's high chair because she knows that I have my hands full.  Luke calls the lady "the nice lady."  One evening, after the "nice lady" helped us sit down with our food, Luke looked at me and said, "That nice lady looks like she has a horn on her head."  I laughed and laughed. The "horn" was her McDonald's cap. 

This same night was one of those nights in which Luke had not taken a nap all day and he was exhausted. I didn't want him to fall asleep without dinner, so we stopped at McDonald's to eat. When we first got there, Luke told me that he was ready to go home and go to bed.  I explained to him, "No, we have to eat first." (It was only like 5:30pm)  Well, about 5 minutes later while we were eating, Luke heard a little boy crying and he said to me, "That boy is crying.  That boy is like me. He wants to go home and his mommy won't let him."  THAT'S HILARIOUS!  

When I’m sitting Indian style on the floor playing with Luke, he will sit in my lap and say, “I’m settling into my nest.” 

Here are some pictures that I just downloaded from my phone...some of them are from May and June. 

Cheesy smile...

 Playing in the yard...

 Playing with Tanner Hoover...

 With Hannah at the Beach...

 Landis took these pictures one night while Luke and I were talking...I didn't know he was taking these pictures but I'm glad he did...they are sweet...he captured a Mommy kissing her favorite boy moment....

One evening, Luke and I played on the playground at Fair Grove and then stopped by my office to pick up some work for me to bring home.  Here is Luke playing on the playground...he had a blast! 

 And now, here he is playing in my office...

 Here are some pictures of Luke eating his first ice cream cone from McDonald's....these pictures were taken the night that Luke told me, "That place has good ice cream."

 One day, Luke woke up from his nap ill as a hornet and he crawled back up into Daddy's chair and fell asleep again like this....

 Luke reading some books in the rocking chair that is now in our bedroom next to the window....

Luke playing on the lawn mower at Mammaw and Grandaddy's house...

 A few rare - please take a picture with Mommy moments...

As always, thanks for tuning in!  I can't believe I'm staying caught up on my summer adventure journal.  

Before I go let me say - like you, I have been glued to the TV watching the story on the horrific Movie Massacre that occurred in Colorado. I couldn't help but get sick on my stomach just thinking about the mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, and brothers and sisters that are without someone they love tonight because of the work of the Devil.  Why do things like this happen? I don't know....I have no idea.  What I do know is that God will use this tragedy to bring hope and life in ways that we don't understand.  I pray that the victims and the families of the lost loved ones will find hope and peace in Jesus and that somehow, someway, the Good News of Jesus is spread and multiplied during this horrible time.  Remember Romans 8:28 - God can use all things for GOOD.  

From another perspective - the mommy perspective - I couldn't help but also feel a gut feeling of fear - fear that my child is growing up in a world filled with evil people like this gunman.  I will pray that the Lord helps me keep my focus on my purpose and helping Luke fulfill his purpose because that would mean that I'm focusing on LIFE and GOD and not FEAR and DEATH.  I have Jesus so I have LIFE and with Jesus, I should fear nothing!  That's my prayer....along with, most importantly, like I said earlier, that God comfort these victims and families that were affected. My heart truly goes out to them. 

Have a great weekend. 

Toddy