Dinosaurs Alive!

In the beginning of December, G and I went to an exhibit at a local museum called Dinosaurs Alive! They were animatronic and very realistic in every way. They made noise, moved their eyes, tails, arms - they did everything but walk! While G LOVES dinosaurs, this exhibits really frightened him, and actually it kind of scared me as well. They were so lifelike. He wouldn't get very close. The only animatronic dino he would touch was one that was broken. :)

The museum also had a petting zoo and a little zoo. He had a good time feeding billy goats, pot belly pigs and a donkey. They were pretty gross in mommy's eyes, so we headed back to the museum and scrubbed up. Ha! Ha! It was a good day, and we were thankful for the beautiful weather.

Last Soccer Game

In November, G had his last soccer game. He really loved soccer. He never wanted to leave the field so much so that he cried when they switched out players. Towards the end of the seasons he started to play more and kick the ball down the field. I was really proud of him. Most of all, he really looked up to his coach, Coach Joe. He was so good with the kids. I think Coach Joe's daughter wants to take gymnastics next, and he won't coach in the Spring but maybe we can talk him into it again. :) He's so good at it!! Here are some videos of G playing at his last game, and then pics at the pizza party. It was so cold at the last game, and I was running around trying to get ready that I didn't realize how cold it was outside. I win Mom of the Year. So we showed up with no coat. Geez. Anyway, another mom let G borrow their extra coat and he was so stubborn that he refused to wear it if it wasn't his. Double Geez. So here's my little boy who didn't get pneumonia that day, thankfully.

He's number 7 and the only one without a coat. :) The team name is the Green Giants.

G throwing in the ball.


G kicking off.


G kicking.

DVD Recommendation

Daddy bought G the best DVD collection for Christmas. It's called the Scholastic Treasury of 100 Storybook Classics, plus the Treasure of 20 Storybook Classics that also came with it. It is utterly amazing. It takes the classic storybooks, we are talking about Caldecott Award winners, that we loved as kids and animates them using the original illustrations, and it's NOT cheesy. Beautifully illustrated stories like Where the Wild Things Are, Harry the Dirty Dog, Alligators All Around, Chrysanthemum, etc. come to life, and they are told and sung by Academy/Grammy Award Winning Actors/Singers. B and I were pleasantly surprised. Of course this does not take the place of the real book, but it makes you want to get the real book or hey, even go to the library and read the real book.

And how B found this collection is that he follows several deal websites and found this for more than half price plus a 20 bonus DVD set as well. WOW.



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012909Q8

Christmas

Before the cruise, we opened presents. Santa was very good to us. G is a blessed little boy. Mamaw got G and B each a Coaster that you sit and ride on. I've seen them before at fairs. They can't wait to try them out!

Rudolph

G joined in on the kids program on the boat. He loved it! He said it was his favorite part of the trip; it was better than Santa, Christmas, hanging out with us and even better than playing on the beach. They did keep him busy making crafts, watching movies, riding three wheelers, getting tattoos, being made up to look like a pirate; what's not to like?!

Anyway, he volunteered to sing before both of the evening shows. They would sing Rudolph and We Wish You A Merry Christmas. We are trying to get the entire video from another parent as I missed this part, but as the kids walked out on the stage, G looked down and realized that his shoe was untied. B and I realized that this meant trouble. He kept saying that his shoe was untied, but no one heard him. We were too far away to come to the rescue. The song began and G yelled out, "Wait! My shoe is untied!" The song came to a halt while the director ran out to tie my son's shoe. Once all was right with the world, the show went on. The ship was rocking but the kids did a great job. My son continued to try to steal the show. Below are the videos, and if I ever get the video from the other parent, I'll be sure to post. It's priceless.

Rudolph, Show I


We Wish You A Merry Christmas, Show I


Rudolph, Show II


We Wish You A Merry Christmas, Show II

Cruise

Well, I will try to post more about our cruise in the following days, but here are a few photos. Meme, my sister, has more photos that I will try to get from her. She has the beachy photos, and I didn't want to take my new fancy camera to the beach. Anyway, we had a blast and so did G. We did a lot of beach time and relaxing, but it was fun.

More about Santa and Christmas soon.

Of course I knew he was a genius

During Thanksgiving, we realized G could recite the Pledge of Allegiance that they recite at school each morning. I had to catch this on video.
Note that the brilliance is from me and the wiggly thing is from Brad. LOL :)

G and daddy

G and daddy were hanging out watching a Charlie Brown Christmas when I snapped this with my new camera. I thought it was precious.

Playa

In November, we talked our friends Trek and Traci and their son E into a quick trip to our favorite place, Playa del Carmen. They had never been. My mom went as well. We all had a great time just hanging out and relaxing on the beach. After we returned home, G kept asking to go back to Mexico. Maybe daddy will buy us that condo in Mexico after all...probably not.

Cotton

On the drive through Oklahoma during Thanksgiving, we saw a cotton field. Living in a large city, we never see fields much less cotton, so we had a quick lesson. He loved feeling the cotton, but we left it for the farmers to harvest.

Making up is hard to do!

So since my last post was almost TWO months ago, it looks like I have some catching up to do! The holidays were fierce, fast and furious. I will do my best to catch you up and show pics and little tidbits from our travels. There's so much to tell. Stay tuned. I will go as fast as I can!

He loves this costume

So I'm convinced he's going to be a broken down Elvis impersonator when he's 35 at some club off the strip in Vegas only because he was Elvis for Halloween when he was 3...just more therapy I will have to pay for.

Below are two videos I took this morning. He wanted to wear the full gear.

He is committed

It's all my fault

He's all shook up, uh huh!

It's a busy day, but here's a post of my little king on the way to school this morning. What a little ham!! More later.

The Big Vote

Tee hee! We were buying some finishing touches for G's costume and found these. I had to take pics and share! Funny, no Palin masks to be found. Sold out??





I just thought he looked hilarious in the hat. Nothing political, just funny.

Parent's Weekend: New England

">

We haven't had a weekend alone in ages. So we loaded up to see the fall foliage on a five state whirlwind tour: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. We didn't arrive in Connecticut until after midnight on Thursday, so we woke up late on Friday and drove around taking our time and ended up in Bellows Falls, Vermont. We stayed in a Bed and Breakfast there. Everyone said that this is the best fall foliage they have seen in years. The colors were really spectacular everywhere you turned. All of the towns were so quaint with rolling hills, small churches, and no chain stores. Sometimes we thought we were in Germany as the towns felt so European - of course they were setup by the Europeans so there is a reason for that. We just took our time and took a lot of back roads and made stops where ever we saw something interesting. We stopped at several National Parks. We covered a lot of ground, so there wasn't a lot of time to rest, but it was still relaxing. We tried Vermont cheese at our Bed and Breakfast. And made a stop at the Vermont Country Store. We drove back through New York and stayed in Connecticut before leaving EARLY on Sunday. We decided we would definitely do it again. I still have an itch to go to Maine, not sure why, but it's on my list to visit someday.

A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

G and I went to the local pumpkin patch today. We have gone every year since he was born. This year he really had a blast. We took a hayride and rode on a mini tractor barrel ride. They had bounce houses, lots of animals, hay mazes, painted cut-outs, kettle corn, and pumpkins of course! We spent over three hours there, but we had to leave because it was starting to get dark. We can come back again before Halloween though. It's a really great place, and it's basically free!

Brilliant

After daddy and I have been working with him off and on for several weeks, he finally got it! G finally knows my cell phone number! In Dallas we have to know the area code as well, which makes for a really long number to memorize, but he knows the entire thing, and on Saturday night he and I worked on our address and city. So in case he ever gets separated from us he knows his entire name, my name, my cell number and our address and city. Now will he tell someone this and remember this under pressure? We shall see... :) Sometimes we call him a silly name and he's started calling himself his silly name, I just hope he doesn't tell someone that. Well, enough of that. I just hope he never gets lost!!

Fall

I LOVE Fall! I really do. I love the smells, the colors, the festivals, just everything about it. Unfortunately there isn't a lot of fall in Texas, but I take all that I can get. We went to a Greek festival last week and the State Fair of Texas on Friday. We bought mums last night and planted them. This is the first year for me to plant a fall plant, so I'm excited. G picked purple mums that have probably a hundred blooms that will open in the next week or so. They will be gorgeous.

This morning G and I decorated pumpkins. What fun! We will go to the local pumpkin patch next weekend.

Story Time

Remember Story Time at the library? I do. Mom took me almost every week. I took G to Story Time at our local library for the first time last night. It was fun and the librarian read us books about the zoo. We heard three books, sang zoo songs, and she gave us an elephant art project to take home and make. He received a story time card where he gets a sticker for every time he comes and after so many times (15, I think), he receives a free book.

After story time ended, we read some books together. I always forget about the library...I hope we can go to story time every week.

I've been tagged!
Angela tagged me!
Me and My First Baby
Were you married at the time? Yes
What were your reactions when you found out you were pregnant? I was extremely excited, of course
How old were you? I was 30 when I found out and 31 when he was born.
How did you find out you were pregnant? The Dollar Tree pregnancy tests really do work.
Who did you tell first? Brad first, Mindy second
Did you want to find out the sex? Yes, I track my FedEx packages every day until they arrive. Why wouldn't I?
Due date: September 17, 2005
Did you deliver early or late? Three days late. Seemed like years.
Did you have morning sickness? Not really
What did you crave? Salty things.
Who irritated you the most? No one really.
What was your first child’s sex? Boy
How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy? Enough. But I lost it all. That's all that counts. ;)
Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? None.
Where did you give birth? Presbyterian Hospital Dallas
How many hours were you in labor? 7
Who drove you to the hospital? Brad
Who watched? Brad
Was it vaginal or c-section? Vaginal
Medication? Epidural.
How much did your child weigh? 8 lbs 4 oz.
What did you name him/her? G money :)
How old is your first born today? Three

Tagging Kelly
If you are new to tagging, link the Tagger and then the links/names of the people you are tagging!
Copy and paste the questions and put in your own answers.
Looking forward to reading yours!

Tractor Boy

Geez, this boy loves tractors. We feed the obsession, but man oh man...

A birthday letter to my G Monster

G,

Your birthday has come and gone and so has my little baby boy. "Where'd it go?" As you used to say. You have grown so big, and you are so smart.

Of course I remember the day you were born and how your cry was so "different" and sounded like you were struggling that it scared the nurses. You have been that way ever since - in a good way though. You constantly ask questions and are so curious about our world. You are so full of life and energy with your big smile and intense imagination. Unfortunately you understand death and loss, but you are so strong. You channel your papaw in your actions and choices and sometimes it takes my breath away - the boots, the toothpick. I don't even know if you realize what you are doing, he must be with you in spirit. It's so nice to see. Let's just hope his stubbornness isn't in there! :)

You are already concerned about sick animals, people and "narc" on the litterbugs on the highway. I see your concern for the world around us. You catch mommy when she's not looking, moving too fast and let me know when I forget something. You like order and like your bed made just right when you are in it, but if you drop something or make a mess you make sure to tell me that "it's okay." You are learning how to work me and wrap me around your finger. Sometimes it doesn't work, but of course there are times that it is just too cute to pass up.

You started a new school this year and are adapting well. I am so proud of you. You are mommy's little buddy, and I am excited about the fun times and things we will learn in the year to come!

Love,
Mommy

G is 3!

So after all of the parties, presents, and soccer games my little boy is finally three years old. We had a quiet night with my sister (meme), another couple and their nineteen month old (E). It was a nice evening. I cooked a fancy dinner and what three year old dinner couldn't be complete without sangria! G had a great day and was pooped. Patches the cat has taken to love G and sleeps with him most nights. They are quite a pair. So sweet!

Celebration of Life

At G's Montessori, they would like at least one parent to come for their birthday and bring a snack or lunch (totally optional) and also bring a poster or scrapbook with 4 pictures per year showing the seasons of each year of their life. So for G, I would need 12 photos. Of course having a graphic design background, he couldn't have an ordinary poster, so I have attached his. After we had his Celebration, the teachers said it was perfect and they asked if we could leave his to show the other parents as an example. :)

The Celebration was cute. We talked about his life over the past three years in conjunction with the months of the year and how the earth travels around the sun with the class. He loved having mommy in class with him. Meme got to come with us too so that was special. Then we passed out fruit and blueberry muffins. It was a nice day.

Pele better watch out!

G had his first soccer game on Saturday morning. We are the Green Giants! G picked lucky #7 for his jersey number. It was a lot of fun and exactly what I expected it to be. Chaos! Grass picking! Crying! Well, G didn't cry. He did pick grass though. He wanted to be out on the field, but I think he was a little intimidated by all of the kids running around. Some of the kids cried because they were tired or didn't want to play, some even cried when they were the ones who didn't make the goals. G was pretty easy going about everything. Towards the end, one of the dads said something to him and suddenly he started chasing after the ball! Way to go G! I was so proud of him. It was only the first game so we are excited to see how he progresses.

Holy Cow! I'm a Soccer Mom!

My little boy had his first soccer practice last night. He barely made the age cut (in fact, he didn't since his birthday is after Sept. 1), but they let him play anyway. I just want him to get used to some type of physical activity, learn an organized sport and have FUN. He did very well!

They all got out there with their own balls and kicked and ran. Nine children on the team. He listened to Coach Joe, and you could tell he was even trying to copy him. Too cute! But then the poor coach decided it was time for a mock game. One ball instead of nine. What a disaster! The parents stood at the goal where their child should kick to. Most children just looked around in amazement, including mine. One little boy, James, went crazy. He scored all of the goals. His parents are from South America - soccer is in his blood. He's going to be our ringer, if he can figure out which way our goal is located.:) Either the children didn't want to fight over the ball or they didn't want to share. Anyway, it will be fun. Three year old soccer can be nothing but fun. More pics will follow I'm sure. His first game is this Saturday.

My ar-teest!

G's friend, Kelsey, sent him a kid's digital camera for his birthday. What a great gift! He's had the best time taking pictures. He's very imaginative. Yeah, that's a great way to describe it. The camera is waterproof and very indestructible. It even has two viewfinders so he can look out of two holes instead of one.

Ok, I'll admit that most of the 55 pictures he's taken so far were all black or white or blurry, but he's not even 3. :) Here are 10 presentable pics. I just think it's funny. Most are of bits of furniture or doors. Hey Mimi, maybe you can get inspiration for your photo classes from G. I'm sure your professor would love these!! Ha!

G's early birthday!

We had an early birthday party with the family at Incredible Pizza. It has everything. Pizza, salad, dessert, games, go-karts, mini-golf, bowling, and LOTS of people. It was fun though.

G had a BLAST! He got to see all of his immediate family including Mamaw, Meme, Granddaddy, Bernice, Uncle Brian, Aunt Kelly, and Zachary. He ate his requested strawberry cupcakes with vanilla icing that Meme made for him (after a mommy cooking fiasco that I can post later). We had tractor hats and poppers as you can see from the pics. G now understands what this birthday thing is all about. He received the most thoughtful presents including:

A scooter from mamaw
John Deere tractor with wagon from meme
Soccer Goal from granddaddy and Bernice
Books and puzzles from AK, UB and Zachary
Space Shuttle kit from Mommy and Daddy

His school will have a Celebration of Life for G on Friday. I am taking a requested "healthy" snack and bringing photos of G - four per year per season of his life. I'll do a poster or something graphically delicious, of course! Meme will get to come down for the weekend and come with me that day. That will be a treat. She'll get to see his school and hopefully take pics.

We are having a small celebration at our house on Saturday on his actual birthday. We are inviting our friend's, the M's, they will come over with their son, E. He's 18 mo. They are bringing a John Deere cake. It will be a surprise to G, and he will LOVE it!

Fun at the park

We went to the elementary school by our house to play this weekend. G is really too old for this swing but he loves it. Know why? Because he and daddy do "extreme swing" where daddy pushes him so high that it looks like an amusement ride. I allow it to happen only because he's bolted and strapped in unlike a regular swing. I just close my eyes...

If you notice in the picture of G on the slide, he is wearing his new shin guards. We signed him up for soccer. It's going to be hilarious. I can't wait to watch. Our first unofficial practice is this week with his first game on his birthday. He loves his shin guards so much that he slept in them the first night.

Awwwww!

Last night as I was tucking him in bed, he turned and looked at me with those sweet, innocent eyes and said, "Mommy, you are my best friend." Awwww, doesn't that just make your heart melt?

Now I shouldn't tell you that later he told Patches, the cat, the same thing. A mom will take what she can get, when she can get it. HA!

Big boy school!

Do you think the teacher is ready for this? LOL! Today I dropped my big boy off for preschool. He told me last night that he was scared, which is understandable. I was nervous for him. I told him that it was okay to be scared. He would have so much fun and that before he knew it, I would be there to pick him up. The big change is that I will make him breakfast and lunch everyday. He is excited about that. We talk about what he wants me to pack for him in his lunch. Today he got peanut butter and jelly, of course! On our drive to school we talked about his teacher Miss Carol and all of the animals in his classroom, and all of his new friends, about how he'd get to go outside and play and then eat his sandwich. Then he'd get to use his hew John Deere tractor nap mat, play some more and then I'd pick him up. When I dropped him off, he walked right in, and never cried even though some of the other kids were crying. The kids were all sitting in the middle of the room on a mat. There were probably 30 or so. Miss Carol took us to his cubbie. We stacked his backpack and his nap mat in there, but when it came time to leave his lunch box, he said, "No, I want to hang on to it." Funny! He thought someone might eat his sandwich. Leave it to our kid to be obsessive with his food! I'll post an update when I pick him up tonight. I am positive he'll do great and am excited about all of the things he'll learn!

UPDATE: I picked him up tonight, and his teacher was busy with the after-school care. The director said no news was good news. He didn't take a nap, but he did eat his lunch. (of course!) He did tell me that he didn't eat his carrots, I was hoping I could sneak those in and he'd eat them by the power of peer pressure. The director said that would actually work as the year went on! :) G did say that he had a time out for screaming. The director looked confused and said she hadn't heard anything. I'll try to find out more. Let's hope we don't get kicked out the first week. Just kidding... I'm sure there are more stories to be told. Next Monday night is Parent's Night. We'll meet all of the other parents and learn what we are doing wrong, etc. It will be fun. I'm sure they'll want us to volunteer for lots of projects. You know how much extra time I have right now, so I'll just have to be careful as to how much I take on, but I do want to be involved.