Before I begin my blog about the fun adventures that Luke and I have been up to, I would like to give glory to God for the responses I received from my last post. First and foremost, several of my close friends from college contacted me to let me know that, they too, loved Jesus and were also on a journey to learn more about Him. This is awesome and I cannot wait to see them so we can talk about what we have learned and where our lives are headed. I truly miss each one of them so much! :)
I also received comments from others that live right here in Thomasville that I had no idea read my blog. It was exciting to see that Thomasville is filled with God loving people.
Knowing that I have others reading my blog that are on the journey to get closer to God and to learn more about the Bible, I thought I would give you a heads up on where my study is currently going. To continue my study of God's Purpose in My Life, I am studying Joseph. The story of Joseph is fascinating. Joseph had a dream and a vision from God and others (his own family) condemned him for his dream instead of supporting him and amazingly, God still led Joseph through the steps that he needed to fulfill His purpose - which was exactly what God said He would do from the beginning. I will give more details when I post about what I have learned...I give you this quick synopsis hoping that you will join me in my study of Joseph. Joseph's story begins in Genesis 37. Please read it with me and then if you want to share with others what God has shown you through His word, let me know and I would be happy to have you post on this blog as a guest writer. What a great way to have our own Bible study community! God can work through all of us! I can always be reached at my email address - bumgarnernatasha@gmail.com - if you are interested!
And, now the adventures of my sweet Luke.
Monday, July 2nd:
We started our morning with a focus on the letter B. First, we made a BUG with the letter B and then used play doh to practice the letter B. Next, we threw Bean Bag toss (get it - BBBean BBBag toss!! :). I'm just a little cheesy....I know! :)
After a little while, we were distracted by these men fixing a water leak right in front of our house. Luke was fascinated with the bulldozer and the other machinery that they used. It was great toddler entertainment
right in front of our house.
Later, Luke and I went outside for some mowing. It was still early in the morning and the grass was wet. This is when the comment of the day came - Luke asked me to go rake out in the yard while he mowed. I said, “No,
it’s too wet. Mommy will get her feet wet.”
He said, “Well, I’m going to go get my phone and call Memaw and tell her
that you will not go in the wet grass.”
Then, he got his phone and called Memaw and said exactly what he said he
was going to tell her. Guess what Memaw
said, “She said that she wasn’t going in the grass either because it’s too
wet.” (Now, keep in mind, this was all a pretend conversation.
My mom would have FOR SURE went into the wet grass to rake. There’s no
doubt.)
After Luke took a nap, he and I visited the pool. We had a blast!I love holding him and hugging
him and tossing him through the water. His new favorite water activity was
letting me swing him up in the air like an airplane and then landing him in the
water. It was a lot of fun!
When we arrived back home, I cooked dinner while Landis and Luke played in the backyard. A highlight of the day was looking out
the window watching my two favorite boys play together. Landis was chipping golf balls while Luke picked
up the golf balls for him in his trailer on his lawn mower. Landis would count the balls with Luke as
they lined them up to hit them. It was
so sweet to watch them play together.
Oh, before I forget. Another cute saying of the day occurred when Luke and I arrived at the pool. I said, “How
do you like those apples?” Luke, as serious
as he could be said, “There are no apples in here.” J
Finally, another sweet moment - right before bed, Luke brought his new Danny and the
Dinosaur book to me and asked me to read it to him. He initiated the reading! I love this!
Here is a picture from Monday....
Gotta love the cheesy smile!
Tuesday,July 3rd:
On Tuesday, Luke and I built some towers and he knocked them down. We made a bird feeder from an empty gallon milk jug. I watched Luke mow outside a little and then we headed to City Lake Park in Jamestown.
The first thing Luke wanted to do was ride the carousel. Luke was so excited – more than I
have ever seen him before on a carousel and this was the smallest carousel he’s
ever ridden – he said, “Mommy, this is better than the motorcycles.” (I guess he’s thinking of the motorcycles
from the carnival.)
After the carousel, we waited on the train ride. While waiting, Luke ate some
crackers and enjoyed running up and down the ramps.
After waiting for 10 minutes, we were told that the train was closed for about 30 minutes so we went to
the playground. At the playground, we met a family of 3 girls. Luke had a great time playing in the weeds and trees
with them. He wanted to climb the rails more than play on the playground. He climbed across a few bridges and a few
ladders but most of all he just wanted to climb around the areas on the outside of
the playground. He got braver and braver, which was quite dangerous, so we headed back to the train. By this point, he
was sweating so much that his head looked like I had dumped water on it. J We rode the train 2
times in a row while he ate his fruit snacks. Even though we were the only people on the train, Luke still screamed as loud as he could each time we went in the tunnel. As we rode, he asked me where the engine on the train was. I thought this was an interesting question and I showed him.
While we were riding the train, he saw the big turtles so
he asked to go climb on them after the train ride and that’s what we did. I
let him ride on my shoulders all the way to the turtles. We were both CALIENTE!
J That’s what we call HOT! He climbed on the
turtles and then headed to the swings.
While he was swinging, he said, "You know what Mommy?" I said, "What baby?" He said, "You are precious." I just about melted. (Later I asked him, what made you think of that? He said, "Because Mammaw is precious too.") Ohhh....how sweet! While swinging, he loves for me to grab his legs and then
lift them up high and let him go. He
also thinks it’s hilarious when I tickle him while he’s swinging.
Luke had to potty after drinking a ton of water so we
headed to the potty and then headed home. We ended up playing for almost 2 hours –
it was a lot of fun but we were hot and tired!
J Luke fell
asleep on the way home, as usual!
I was so exhausted on Tuesday night – I had a difficult
time having fun while we were playing – Luke only slept for a little over an
hour and after his nap, he wanted to stay outside. It was so hot it just
drained me. I tried my best to be the energetic mommy anyway. And, during dinner....I remembered why...
We were eating dinner and Luke
said, “Mommy, you know what?” I said, “What, baby?” Luke responded, “You are my sunshine.” (and he reached to give me a hug.) I reminded him that he was my sunshine too.
Then, this was funny – Landis said, “Well, am I your sunshine too?” Luke said, “No, you are a marshmallow.” (and
grinned) Landis said, “Well, what are you?”
Luke said, “I’m a marshmallow too.” That was awesome! As they say - like father, like son! :)
Another cute moment – we went to play at Papaw’s house for
a little while and then papaw walked Luke home. While papaw was getting Luke
some juice, Luke said, “You know who is my favorite boy in the world? You are, papaw.” Now, that’s precious!
Here are some pictures from Tuesday....
Our breakfast of watermelon outside early in the AM...
Luke and Madi playing before we left for the park....
At the park....
Wednesday, July 4th:
Luke and I began our 4th of July holiday by going for a walk/run at Grimes Park. After I ran, I let Luke play on the
playground for a little while. His favorite part was swinging. We sang and sang while he swung.
After the park, we came home and made frosted sugar cookies with red, white, and blue sprinkles on them. We put a candle in the cookie and sang Happy Birthday to the USA. I let Luke blow out the candle and say a prayer for our nation. After enjoying some cookies, Luke rode his lawn mower until naptime.
After Luke's nap, we went to Granny’s house. We took Luke's 4-wheeler and he rode it A LOT. He also pulled the red wagon, put sticks in it, and played crochet. He entertained
everyone with his energy! A highlight of the afternoon came while we were playing crochet. Luke was getting ready to hit the crochet
ball and said, “Batter, batter, swing, batter.”
He swung as hard as he could and missed the ball and fell down. We both thought that was hilarious! It was so hilarious that he pretended to do
it several more times. After being at Granny's house for almost 3 hours, it was time to go!
Our next stop - memaw’s house! At memaw's, Luke rode the BIG 4-wheeler, played in Lexi’s playroom and played with
mom’s measuring roller. After several hours of playing, it was getting late, so we gave Luke a bath and put his pjs on.
Then, right before leaving, he asked to jump on the trampoline. He wanted mom and Lexi to bounce behind him and then
he told them when he jumped that he would knock them down. He laughed out loud
every time they pretended to fall. He did this over and over. He also did his front roll a few times and it was
perfect – way better than it ever was in gymnastics. When jumping, he used two feet – Ms. Amber could never get him to use two
feet - he used to just kind of skip. He had an absolute BLAST jumping
on the trampoline – he was pouring with sweat again by the time we left and cried when we had to go home! :)
Here are some pictures from our 4th of July!
Happy Birthday USA!
Riding at Granny's
Sharing Dorito's with Granny...
Playing in the yard...
And, here is a video of him jumping on the trampoline at Memaw's...
Thursday, July 5th:
Thursday morning, Luke and I painted at the living room table using his
new different sized paintbrushes. He LOVES to paint and he is the MESSIEST painter around! After painting, we played in the sandbox for a long time. We buried treasures (which were eggs). We made a path for his car
to go down in the sand. We filled the
eggs with sand and then filled the truck’s trunk with sand. It was a nice morning to play outside - so peaceful.
Later, I let Luke practice riding his tricycle. I was so proud of him! He finally
figured out how to get it going by himself and drive and steer at the same
time. He drove it up and down the hall
and around the living room several times. He was so excited and so was I. I can’t wait for him to try it outside.
After Luke's nap, we went back to memaw’s house. We went so that we could go to the pool. Luke rode the 4 wheeler to the pool and saw that it was closed so we changed our plans and went to Founders. We had a great time! Luke played with memaw in the pool, swam
back and forth to me and mom, and watched me and mom and Lexi jump off the diving
board. Another favorite activity of his was what we call "Sharks!". One of us would hold Luke while the other 2 of us chased him and
tried to get his feet. For over 20 minutes, Luke used the water squirters to squirt the pavement and the
pool. Then, he threw rings in the water so the girls could go get them – he has quite a
side arm - He could stand on the edge of the pool and throw the rings to the middle of the pool. The throwing exhausted him so he rested while he ate him a
huge chilly willy. He could stand it on the ground while eating it. We had a blast! For me, watching Luke's face, looking so tough and strong when he threw the rings….that was the
highlight of the afternoon.
Here are some pictures from Thursday....
Taking Daisy and Minnie for an early morning ride on the lawn mower....
More fun in the sandbox....we play in the sandbox daily here lately. One of his favorite things to do is to use a little bit of water from a squirt bottle on the sand so that we can make sand castles.
Handstands in the sandbox....do you see how messy his shirt is??? That's from the painting earlier in the AM!
Yes, he is STILL in his pajama top and underwear. The dude LOVES to hang out in his underwear. When he plays around the house, he rarely has pants on! He's a typical MALE!
Madi and Luke playing hide and seek....oh, it looks like Madi found him! Speaking of Madi - I cannot put into words how much I will miss this dog when she is gone. She will be 10 years old on July 21st and she is still a highlight of our daily life. She plays so good with Luke - she lets him pull her by the collar to put her outside, she chases him on his lawn mower, as you can see, she finds him when he is hiding. When we are dancing or chasing each other around the house, she chases and runs right with us. She's just a delight! I have to say - the best dog in the world! :)
Some more pictures of Luke playing on the trampoline at Memaw's house...
And, Luke eating the HUGE chilly willy!
Here is a video of Luke riding his tricycle up the hall:
Friday, July 6th:
On Friday, Luke and I took our annual road trip to Discovery Place in Huntersville. It is one of my favorite museums that we visit. Luke LOVED it last year but this year, he loved it even more. It probably helped that it was less crowded this year. Luke loved it so much that we officially passed our longest stay record at a museum. The past record was 4 hours. We stayed inside the Huntersville Museum for almost 5 hours playing the entire time - we paused for about 20 minutes for a lunch break. It was great! If you haven't visited this museum, you should go and plan on making a day of it. I hear that the restaurant across the street (Lupie's Cafe) is excellent! I can never get Luke to leave the museum long enough to go eat lunch somewhere else - we just pack ours!
For the most part, I will let the pictures do the talking....
Many of these exhibits, Luke visited and played at SEVERAL TIMES!
He drove the huge race car...
He cooked me some soup in the kitchen....
He drove the little red car that is suppose to be the drive thru teller at the bank....
He drove the big tractor...
He played in the grocery store....
Here's a video of him helping me check out and then getting Daddy some ice cream from the freezer section...
He helped the little babies at the doctor's office....checked their heartbeats...(and checked mine)
Gave them shots...OUCH!
He even checked the heartbeat on the balance beam...this prompted the explanation that only people and animals have heartbeats....not balance beams. :)
The blocks that you see in this picture were inside this tiny enclosed section. There was a wooden barn with wooden barn animals. Luke played inside this tiny cove for the longest time. He put the animals inside and outside the barn and then rearranged them over and over. He even "built" a fence for the animals. Then, he saw these blocks that were meant to be a puzzle and he started stacking them. He thought it was awesome that he could stack the blocks so HIGH! He got much pleasure out of seeing how many blocks he could add to the stack and then thought it was hilarious when they CRASHED! Can't you see the joy on his face??? Sometimes it's the simple things.... :)
We visited the under the sea room and Luke climbed up the ladder on the ship and then steered the ship.
Here is a video of him climbing up the ladder on the ship....
This is Luke climbing through the whale....
He tried to open the bait and tackle shop door...
There was a really neat submarine inside this section of the museum but there was fake wind blowing so it was loud inside and Luke would not go in the submarine because of that noise. Bummer! :)
Next, we went upstairs and found what the museum calls Aunt Sarah's Attic - it was a room full of old stuff. The only thing Luke found interesting was a set of mirrors and a large giraffe.
Luke worked under the hood of this car SEVERAL times....
Then, he played with stuff called FLOAM! It was so cool! It was tiny dots that were soft and sticky and could be molded like clay. As you can see by looking at Luke's face, he LOVED this stuff!
He sure was concentrating on his creation - which, if I remember correctly, he said he was making a dinosaur tooth.
We headed outdoors to the outdoor play area. Luke played in the large sandbox while I ROASTED in the heat! It was incredibly HOT in the middle of downtown with no air flowing! Luke didn't seem to mind!
Luke built his own creation with these large linking blocks. I was very proud of how hard he worked to figure out how they fit together. His final creation was this hammer - which he used to "WORK" on several things.
Here is a video of him building with the large blocks....
Next, Luke played with the trains. He kept having to move his trains every time these other two boys would come by and push their trains through the tunnel. Luke didn't seem to mind at all - he was very sweet and gave other boys space.
He played in the water for a little while....he loved the helicopter and the rubber animals. He would pretend to fly this helicopter around in the sky....
He "worked" on the fire truck....see his screw driver????
This is Luke smiling at the giant statue of the fireman. The fireman had all of his fire gear on and Luke thought his mask was hilarious!
Luke is working on the ambulance....
For the next 20 minutes, Luke went WILD! I mean WILD! There was this little section of soft mat designed for kids to pretend to swim in. Well, Luke did everything on this mat area EXCEPT swim! he hula hooped, he did front rolls, he did jumping jacks, he did handstands - it was great entertainment! I laughed and laughed! He would look at me and say, "I'm exercising! Mommy, come exercise!" He had other parents laughing at him too!
Here is some video of his jumping jacks...
He played in the restaurant - for some reason, he heated up the banana in the microwave. That's strange!
This is him running from me when it was almost time to leave....he went and hid in between these huge letters....
He loved rolling these balls down the hills that were designed like roller coasters.
Then, he used someone else's self made car to roll down a big hill. He did this over and over!
There he is watching the car go down the hill...
After leaving the museum, Luke took a short nap on the way home and then woke up when we pulled in the driveway at our house. Even though I was exhausted, we still had a productive night. We rearranged some things in Luke's room and our bedroom and the playroom and got rid of some things. While I organized toys and drawers, etc, Landis cleaned out his closets and drawers. Luke was so sweet as we had family clean up time. He saw toys that he hasn’t seen in awhile and he would play with them in his floor in his room. He found his Leap Pad laptop and played with it for a long time. I would hear him singing with the computer – If You are Happy and You Know It, Bark Like a Dog – then, I would hear a tiny "Ruff, Ruff" from Luke. I was so proud of Luke for entertaining himself while Daddy and I did some things around the house. He would tell us that he was “working” or “cleaning” too. After Luke went to bed, I cleaned out the kitchen cabinets, the refrigerator, the freezer, and a few junk drawers. What a productive night!
(Then, as you already know, was awakened in the middle of the night to write my last blog! So, little did I know....my WHOLE NIGHT was productive!) :)
Saturday, July 7th:
After such a busy day on Friday, Luke and I decided to take it easy on Saturday.
Luke and I never left the house on Saturday morning. Matter of fact, Luke
NEVER left the house all day. Luke and I played at the house while Daddy played
golf on Saturday morning. We built with
Luke’s new Lincoln logs. We made Velcro
popsicle sticks that can be used for building and we used Luke’s tractor and
dump truck to deliver the logs all around his room. I chased Luke around the building outside on his green lawn mower.
Luke mowed the field beside of our house in fast mode. We
watched a few Super Whys together. Luke
rode his tricycle all by himself up at papaw's house. I
pushed Luke in the red car while we sang a bunch of Wiggles songs – including
the popcorn song (which meant I had to break out my tap dancing routine for
Luke several times). We painted, we
colored, we worked a few puzzles. It was
a nice morning.
After Luke’s nap, Landis and I got ready and Carolyn came
over so we could go to a wedding. We
were gone from about 4:15 to 7:30 and Luke and mammaw had a ball playing at
home (like I said, Luke NEVER left the house).
Landis and I came home and spent some time snuggling with Luke and
playing with him on the “big bed” (our bed).
We would build a house made of pillows around Luke and then pretend to
be the big bad wolf and blow the pillow house down and eat up the pig (aka –
Luke). The eating Luke up consisted of
some major tickles! Luke loved this! It was so nice to spend some time together as a family laughing. Luke got into bed LATE but that was okay - it was worth it!
Here are some pictures of Luke sitting on the back deck EARLY on Saturday morning. I went inside to get my coffee and looked outside and saw Luke sitting down on these steps just looking around and taking in the beautiful morning. He is like his Mommy when it comes to morning times outside - he wants to get outside early and enjoy the most beautiful part of the day! I thought these pictures were sweet!
Sunday, July 8th:
I started my Sunday morning out by going to the track for a run. While I ran, I listened to the Bible Study on God’s Purpose on my phone. I started my day off in a wonderful way. It was amazing how good I felt when I left the track – there is nothing better than a good workout early in the morning along with some time with God. AWESOME!
The rest of our Sunday morning was pretty busy - I came home from the track and got everyone ready for church. We went to church, ate lunch at our favorite local restaurant and then attempted to lay Luke down for his nap, which he never did take!
I let him toss and turn in his room for about an hour and then just gave up! After he yelled my name and did handstands in his bed for over an hour, he finally yelled that he had to stinky. I thought maybe he was
fooling me but, no, he had some stinky in his underwear when I got in
there. While he was sitting on the
toilet with the most serious face, he told me the whole story (his version), “Mommy, I was sleeping in my bed
and I felt a really big poot and I thought I was going to stinky in my bed.”
Disgusting, but hilarious! I couldn’t help but laugh until I almost cried. The only part of this story that he got wrong was - he was NEVER really sleeping - I guess he thought he was! :)
After the "no nap", Luke “helped” me wash my car and then he mowed while I
finished washing it. I tried to get him
to run in the sprinklers and he ran like two times and then he wasn’t
interested anymore. Instead, he just
sweat and sweat and sweat in the heat. To
cool off, we played inside for a little while. We built some shapes, a house
for Clarabelle Cow, and a snake out of toothpicks and marshmallows. Then, because Luke didn’t take a nap, I knew
he would be exhausted, so I fed him dinner early, gave him a bath, and then we
headed to Radio Shack to get some batteries.
He fell asleep in my arms at 6:15 in Radio Shack. I even went by the car wash and used the
vacuum inside of my car and it didn’t wake him up. He was in his bed sound asleep by 6:45. I went back outside and finished cleaning the
inside of my car. It was another productive day
– I could now say that I had my house clean, closets clean, rooms organized,
and my car cleaned. My next project –
organizing the hundreds of pictures that I have developed!
Here are some pictures from Sunday....
Fun with marshmallows and toothpicks....
Is he giving me a thumbs up in this picture??? LOL!
Here is a video of us playing with the marshmallow shapes and houses....did you see Clarabelle's house above???
Ready for the sprinklers....
It was fun ONE TIME! See???
Monday, July 9th:
To be honest, I can’t remember all that we did on Monday except for
READ, READ, and READ. Luke loves the new
place that we have put the rocking chair- in my bedroom next to the window with
2 baskets of books beside of it. He will crawl in the chair and read to himself or
ask me to read him books. On Monday, I
bet we read 5 books in a row in the chair – it was a lot of fun! I love holding him in my lap and reading to
him.
The morning flew by because I went to work out and then
ran a few errands while he played at mammaw’s house. I always end up spending about 30 minutes at
her house when I get back just talking and catching up with her. She has been able to see Luke a lot this summer and I have been able to go work out without feeling guilty for leaving him!
After leaving Mammaw's house, we came home, ate lunch, and napped TOGETHER. For some reason, I was exhausted! After Luke's nap, we went to Food Lion. Luke has been
wanting to ride in one of their new shopping carts that you can “drive” and
every time that we go, they are all taken.
Well, finally, we found one and Luke’s little eyes just lit up. He was
so sweet. We had a pleasant grocery
shopping experience. When we got home, Daddy was home and played with Luke
while I cooked dinner.
Papaw Donnie came over
for dinner and Luke enjoyed playing in his car. Every time that papaw Donnie comes over, Luke will say, "Papaw, I want to play in your car and push all of your buttons." And, that he does!
Around 8:00pm, papaw Dale came over for a leftover sloppy joe and stayed long enough to build a log cabin with Luke. I have been trying to build a log cabin using the Lincoln logs for days now
but couldn’t ever quite figure it out – now that my dad showed me how, we can
build a house everyday quite quickly if we want to. Matter of fact, you have to build it quickly
because Luke’s favorite part is knocking it down. All houses that we build are destroyed in
less than a minute - I haven't even been able to take a picture of one yet!
Here is Luke reading in the rocking chair....
And, that's finally the end of my weekly novel. Since downloading these pictures, Luke and I have visited Chuck E Cheese with Memaw and Lexi and then we went to the zoo today so I can't wait to post again soon! I am also excited about my posting about my Joseph study - so please stay tuned!
Enjoy this gorgeous evening and have a wonderful weekend!
Toddy
