Won't be the last time

Last night John was making funny faces and allowed me to grab the camera.  The last one is my favorite.  He just looks so serious.

JHP and I both have noses that continue to run (or get stuffed in my case).  His didn't run as bad as yesterday.  He doesn't seem to be affected too much, although he didn't put up a fight about quiet time today.  So maybe he's feeling it a little.  I slept much better last night.  But my poor little nose is so tired of tissue!

I had something happen to me last week that I'm sure will be the first of many incidents involving JHP and my total embarrassment.  Thus far, we've been lucky that when John has said something that would cause his parents embarrassment, it hadn't been heard by the persons he was speaking of.  Like when he asked if that man was having a baby, speaking of a rather portly man we saw in a restaurant.  Last week, as he and I were in Walgreen's, a lady who worked there came around the corner and John said quite loudly (or so it seemed), "Momma, that lady has a really big butt."  My first instinct was to shrink into a ball right there where I'd been squatting down.  I shushed him and then tried to explain that sometimes we might think things, but we shouldn't always say them or else we'd hurt someone's feelings.  I'm not sure he got the concept...  Kind of advanced for three years old.

-EBP-

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Catch-up

Wow, it's been a long week! While I was trying to recover from my weekend away, I had to work diligently on getting stuff ready for our big bargain sale for Right at Home Moms. There was lots of little things to do that occupied most of Monday and Tuesday while John was at school. Throw in some sporadic napping and we just had to roll with it. By Wednesday, I was settled, having done all I needed to for the sale up front. Except wait for Saturday's sale, that is.

On Wednesday we went to Right at Home and then picnicked with our friends afterward. After we got home, we sat to play for a while when I discovered a box on the front steps. How fun! A surprise! From Great Aunt Susan! John waited patiently while I got the camera to document our surprise.

Inside was a 60 piece solar system puzzle, which proved to be a challenge for John. I had to guide him through setting up the edges, but once we got that set up, he was able to set some pieces himself. We didn't finish it right away. Instead we took a break so Daddy could help us later that night when he got home.

The other item in the box was a magnetic fishing puzzle, which John can't get enough of. His approach to fishing with you, however, entails him taking his turn and then during your turn, guiding the magnet in for you. You've got to watch him if you want to do it all by yourself. Friday was busy in the afternoon and John missed his naptime, which was my fault and not his. I was gone most of the evening working to get the sale ready and then bright and early Saturday morning, I was back at it for the actual sale. Thank goodness Daddy was there to pick up my slack. He covered all the bases and even treated JHP to donuts AGAIN (that made two Saturdays in a row!) for breakfast. By noon, the sale was successfully over and I got to join them for lunch out.

After a leisurely lunch, I headed out to my second event for the day at our home church FUMC. I've managed to carve out my own little ministry for myself by documenting in photos events at our church and sharing them with the church and others involved in the events. I think I've finally come to the conclusion that while someday I might take photos as a business venture, for now I'm a lot more comfortable honing my craft and using my gift for others without the pressure of a business. I have the luxury of time to concentrate on the photos instead of worrying about the business end of things. So I went to the church to catch the tail end of a car show fundraiser for a new all-inclusive playground soon to be built on our church property. It was a wonderfully successful event. And I felt successful myself when I lucked out and caught this cool shot of the top of our sanctuary, wispy clouds and all.

Saturday was finished out with a margarita, some Tex-Mex, and the realization that my scratchy throat was NOT from talking too much. This was confirmed when I had trouble sleeping last night and woke this morning with a drippy nose. Darn tree pollen! But I wasn't the only one. JHP joined me as we made our way through lots of Kleenex before we even left for church. The good news is that it's still clear snot - for now.  Sorry if that was TMI.   I've felt draggy all day and hope I can manage a good nights sleep tonight. I'd hate to start the week off feeling short on sleep, although this week is light until Friday when JHP's surgery is scheduled.

-EBP-

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Momma’s Road Trip

While I was gone, the boys enjoyed themselves – with chocolate donuts.  This is the evidence!  Good thing I left a camera a home…


Barbara and I took off east for a little R&R last Friday.  Although I have to admit, we didn’t rest that much.  We did lots of eating, lots of talking (late), lots of walking and lots of driving. We met up with our friend Terri and took in the lovely historic sites in St. Francisville, LA.   It was Pilgrimage weekend.  Friday night we started off with a cemetery tour, which was really cool and set the stage for all the homes we’d see on Saturday.  The whole weekend we saw lots of lines of old stately oaks, a hallmark of the old south plantation life.


T surprised us by showing up in a convertible, which became our fun mode of transportation for the weekend.  All of us got a bit more sun than we expected.


And since I was sitting in the back seat, I took advantage being able to unbuckle my seatbelt and sit on the back deck of the car while Terri meandered her way down this lovely drive on our way to one of the gardens.  You can see some azaleas in bloom here, but for the most part we were about a week to early to catch the massive color show.



We learned a bit about formal gardening on our trip. Who knew that each formal garden should have a ruin?  I’m standing in from of the Rockery, the ruin at Rosedown.

As we made our way home Sunday, we stopped in Lake Charles to meet our friend Amy.  Lucky for us, she was working and got to steal away for a girls only lunch.  A couple hours later we were on the road home.

It’d been a year and a half since I last took a trip without JHP and it was long overdue.  The boys had a good weekend and enjoyed the time together.  They called me each morning and I called them at night.  And I really enjoyed the time away to spend time with my friends with no worries or demands.  Oh, and the best part was that I could carry on a conversation from beginning to end without interruption.

-EBP-

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The "lost" photos

I managed to misplace these. Well, maybe misplace is the wrong term. I just forgot about them and they never made it off the camera. Shame, shame, I know.

A friend offered to give John some swim lessons. So we've gone twice to a local indoor (heated) pool. On this first occasion, which was almost 3 weeks ago, the heater was broken and so no water aerobics classes were going on. So they had the cool pool all to themselves. After about 40 minutes, blue lips prevailed and they ended the "lesson". John was at first hesitant. He'd only met S once before and I didn't get in with them. But he loved the attention and getting to splash and jump in the water. The trip last Friday was a bit different. The pool heater was fixed. There were other folks in the pool. And Daddy joined us. John picked up and looked even more relaxed than the last time. He seemed to trust her more and worked a bit harder on doing as she asked, especially with the praise from the audience. Toward the end he almost seemed too comfortable in the water and not respectful enough of it. We will definitely need to be VERY watchful near pools in the near future until his ability to think and not panic develops.

-EBP-

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Lookin' it

I didn't capture what I wanted to in this photo. He was so serious playing Daddy's Jamz, looking down at the guitar while it played. He even pumped his leg up and down ever so slightly to the rhythm. He totally looked to part!

Even after a nice trip to the park today, the boy didn't nap. Instead, he played quietly for 2 hours in his room. And I got a little break. And he was in a good mood the rest of the day. Little to no fussing. Really nice!

Another success for the day was that he wore pull-ups all day (except for nap) and only had one slip. He even went potty at the park. So cool! He did start the day in some training underwear and wet those rather quickly. I really think he just wanted to see how it felt. He'd kept those dry last evening for several hours. But this morning after breakfast, he didn't even seem bothered that they were wet, which is NOT the effect I wanted. So I went to the pull-up after that and we had some success. Although, I will say it's more like training me to take him to the potty than training him to go.

-EBP-

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Daddy Bustin'

BEFORE

AFTER

John's hair had gotten really shaggy (for him, anyway!). So one of the things that we needed to get done this week during Spring Break was get him a haircut. Today was the day. And since he's so prone to sweating, I didn't feel too bad when it ended up a bit shorter than I envisioned. I suspect we'll need to use some gel regularly to get it to lay down enough so he doesn't look frizzy. And hopefully, in two weeks when it's time for school photos, he won't look so scalped. Daddy's reaction was pretty funny to me. He kept telling John how much he liked his hair cut and checking him out over and over.

The rest of Spring Break has been mostly bearable. We did the normal errands Monday and Tuesday. And today in addition to getting the hair cut, we went to a jumping place, ate lunch out, and went to a park. I didn't exactly plan to do ALL that, but it worked. But I guess John had too much excitement because he didn't want to nap when we got home. Instead he played quietly in his room for almost two hours and earned himself an early bedtime.

I wasn't really looking forward to this week of no school. John tends to get out of whack when the routine is disrupted. We've had some minor issues this week as a result, I think. First, he seems to have the "I want" really bad. Wearing me out if we are out in a store or something. Second, I really think he's left his "listening ears" at school for the break. Everything is just ignored unless you specifically tell him to listen, which totally gets old when you've got to do it every time you tell him something. He can do better, but he's just not interested, I guess. I know it could be a whole lot worse. I'm thankful that it's not.

I had grand plans of pushing the potty training this week, but I'm such a lazy slacker. And I'm just not enough of a cheerleader, either. We did put John in a training pant with plastic cover this evening and he successfully kept it dry. I'll try it again tomorrow. I really think that pull-ups keep him too dry. I'm not sure how I'll proceed, but I do know that I'm really tired of diapers.

While I was cooking dinner, the boys came up with a new game. Really, it's kind of a variation of the old game Hang On. But they called it mutton bustin'. I call it Daddy Bustin'. John did really well hanging on, although I think that Daddy was pretty soft on him.

Only a couple days until I leave for my girls weekend with Barbara and Terri. Woo Hoo! The boys will have to manage it without me for couple of nights!

-EBP-

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The Livestock Show

We never made it to the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo last year.  But I wanted to make sure we made it this year since John is older and would definitely appreciate the experiences.  So we were moving bright and early Saturday and were on schedule to make it to the event for 10am.  The first part of the experience was a bus ride from the park ‘n ride to the Reliant Park.  John thought it was pretty cool, although he did keep asking why we were stopped.  Being in the back of the bus meant he couldn’t see where we were going.  And a bonus for us all – the ride was free.  We got there so early that no one was manning the booth to take out money to ride the bus.  We’ll definitely file little tip that away for next year.

Since it wasn’t too crowded when we got there, we decided it best to ride some rides first before the lines got too long.  As much talk as John made around his birthday about riding a Ferris wheel, once he saw it he changed his mind.  It was nice to look at, but he didn’t want to ride it.  Instead he choose these bouncing dune buggies, which I think were pretty cool.  I wasn’t sure how he’d do by himself, but he loved it with little bits of apprehension thrown in.  After this he wanted to ride a similar ride with elephants.  Our ticket money spent, we moved on...

…to Fun on the Farm!  It was a neat exhibit where you walked through various areas “performing” tasks as a farmer would and collecting things like eggs, milk, and vegetables to take to market.  Then he was paid for his items at market and got the “spend” them at the grocery.  You can see him and his earnings above.  What’d he buy?  A teeny tiny Rice Krispie Treat.

From there we moved on to the petting zoo.  This was the happiest John was at the petting zoo.  This little guy was just John’s speed.  All the other animals practically attacked you if you had any feed.  And John did NOT like that at all!  And even if you didn’t have any feed, one little deer went around chewing on clothing.  Nice!

We went inside AgVenture and saw lots of animals, from day old piglets to just hatching chicks to long-horned cattle.  And John enjoyed it all.  But I totally don’t remember why he made such a face about this little momma rabbit who was keeping watch over the three most adorable babies, one of which even yawned for us.

We took a break from the animals for a less than stellar lunch.  We really should have known better than to choose a place with absolutely no line.  With renewed energy, we continued our adventure by watching the Mutton Bustin’.  This was the fun-est thing I’ve seen lately and so impressed that these little 5-6 year olds would be brave enough to hang on to a sheep running as fast as it could (most of the time).  John enjoyed all the cheering and hollering.  Then it was on to the pig races, although by this time John wasn’t so excited about being stuck in the stands.  Shortly after that we wandered our way toward the bus.

Overall, it was a good time, although I think we might have stayed a bit too long.  We were all tired and little cranky.  We finally made it back out our house at 4pm.  It was late for a nap, so we all just rested with a book, a video, or a computer.  Soon it was time for an early bedtime – for all of us.

With this post, I’m caught up.  Really, I am.  I promise not to get so behind again.  Promise!
-EBP-

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Friday

With little to do on Friday, John and I opted to lounge around the house in the morning before meeting some folks at Chick-Fil-A. It was fun, but soon we were by ourselves. We moved to a smaller table and John played in the play area. Then it was on to ice cream before our lone errand of the day.  You might notice the scratch on his right elbow.  He learned the meaning of the words "rug burn" this week when he fell in the indoor playground.

Which involved a trip to the learning store for some new connect the dots books. Lately, he's really gotten into them. So we picked up one for numbers and one for letters, which was a new twist for him. I found it kinda cute just how seriously he studied the book on the way home sans pencil.

-EBP-

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One day at the park

We needed to make a delivery one afternoon a while ago and decided to stop at the neighborhood park where we were going.  It's one that we have talked about stopping at before but just have never done it.  The weather was nice and warm with a bright sky.  And only once we got out of the car did I discover that it was surrounded by sand.  Ugh!  I really hate sand.  It gets everywhere.  But this was beautiful newish sand and since we were already there... I opted to stay.  Since the sand looked OK, we took out shoes off and went barefoot.  Now I'd NEVER do that at our neighborhood park, which looks like it's got the original sand installed.  And since it had been dry, the sand was real loose and easy to remove.  I'd hoped John would just play on the structure, but since John's a good kid, he found something to play in the sand with, somehow knowing that I would be the one thing I wouldn't want him to do.

I managed to convince him that the play structure was much more fun.  Oh, well, I guess the mosquito hawks that were enjoying their time on the sand helped convince him of that, too.  So we played for a bit and I snapped some photos.  Then he decided it wasn't so fun to play with the mosquito hawks around and we left much earlier than I expected.

Another little story to tell, although I can't seem to remember when exactly it happened.  One day I went to pick John up at school.  I was a bit early and the kids that stay and play hadn't left the room yet.  SO there was a girl still there that I don't always see at pick-up.  Anyway, John was excited to see me and as we went to take our leave, I told John to tell everyone good-bye.  He did and in response this one little girl came running over to John saying "I love you!" and throwing her arms around him in the most dramatic fashion.  John response matched hers in dramatic flair, "Oh, I love you , too!" as he returned the hug.  The teachers and I just shook our heads.
-EBP-

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