Well, I’ve Been Through the Desert….

On a camel with no name. I’m a dork. We went as a family to this BBQ festival yesterday-it’s called “Ham Jam”- it was pretty fun. The commercials on the radio made it sound way more fun than it was. There were tons of , how should I put this, “country folk”. So, they were fun to see. But, it was really good weather and good to get out. It’s important to get out so the kids don’t go crazy looking at the same 4 walls day in and day out. We try to do “things” on the weekend to keep it interesting. Anyway, it was also a classic car show, so there were lots of cool cars for Josh & Troy to enjoy looking at. There were a few bouncy houses, as well. Though, what I was most excited about was riding a camel!

We forgot the camera so these are from my phone….

The only really bad thing that happened was on our way back to the car, Josh got stung by something Either a wasp or bee, we don’t know.  He screamed for like 20 min. and it swelled a bit around the sting but he didn’t swell anywhere else, so now we know he’s not allergic to bees!

Here Comes the Sun

Josh has been doing very well with learning to recognize words in stories or on signs. I guess you’d call that “reading”? I bought him some flash cards from the dollar store yesterday and we tried them out. One side has the word and the other side has a picture of the word. I knew he’d know like 2 of them but he surprised me and knew 8!  All I’d do was show him the word and ask if he knew it, give him a few seconds to study it and spell it out and see what he said. These words he knew as soon as I showed them to him:

Sorry for the bad quality photo-it’s from my phone. Anyway, I’m just proud of my boy, he really enjoyed challenging himself and I could tell how good he felt when he got one right! All the time I’ve spent reading to him(since he was 7 months) is paying off!!

The World I Know

Today was Vivi’s 1st Gymboree class! She loved it, of course. It was just a lot of climbing, crawling and exploring. She’s in the 10months-16months old class. The other babies could all walk, they were all over a year old though. As much as I’d like her to stay this way forever, she is growing every day She can stand by herself for a good 5 seconds now and then falls. So, I know walking is coming very soon. I FINALLY feel a pretty big bump on her bottom gums…I really think the tooth is about to break free!

I wanted to video some of it, but I had to make sure she didn’t fall off the equipment! Here are a few pics from the day:

Ok, so that last one wasn’t from the class-it’s me at her exact age! I think we look a lot alike!

Walk the Line

Or walk the balance beam, it should be. I have enrolled Josh in some “gymnastics” lessons! They are not real gymnastics but more “movement” classes. The purpose of them is to help him burn off some energy. It is overflowing and starting to drive me insane. I picked the Thursday at 4 pm class. It is for 45 minutes. Thursday’s a good day b/c he does not have school that day and, so, he will really really need something to do those days. The time is good b/c it’s after rest time and that is when he is the most active and, as I call it, “needs to be let out”. Having him run circles in our yard was not working, so we’ll try this out.

Yesterday was the 1st class. He did so well! For the most part, he followed the teacher’s instructions and did what the other boys did. I was pleasantly surprised and very proud. I totally went in there thinking he would run all over the place and not sit still for a second. No girls in this class either, 5 boys. Hmmmm, maybe these boys are similar to Josh in their energy level?

Here are some pics of him “warming up” and such. The parents sat in a separate room from the gym. That’s why the pictures are weird looking.He is the 4th boy from the left.

Here are the videos of him in action! He’s so cute

This is the obstacle course:

I’ll Try

Totally stole this from another blog! I love it though and I’m going to try and remember some of these! I wish I had done #9. I like #26. I need to work on #29 and #40 makes me laugh!

 

50 Life Lessons

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.

8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.

12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.

16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.

17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.

18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.

19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: “In five years, will this matter?”

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.

35. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.

36. Growing old beats the alternative – dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.

38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.

41. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

42. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.

43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

45. The best is yet to come.

46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

48. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

49. Yield.

50. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

Monster Mash

Trick or Treating 2009 was a hit! Josh had a blast, Vivi could not have cared less! We took her to 3 houses. It was SO HOT and her bedtime, so my Grandmother took her back home. Josh did very well saying “trick or treat” but had trouble remembering to thank the people. He was always too into seeing what candy they gave him. Last year, he would just walk into people’s houses, so it was a definite upgrade Now we are in November, which happens to be my favorite month. It edges out December by a hair b/c of Thanksgiving. I love the food. I know Christmas and Thanksgiving have similar menus but T’giving comes first so it wins. Maybe with Vivi’s birthday being in December, it will now take the lead? We’ll just have to see!

Trick or Treating:

10

Again, this is a little late but you will remember I’ve had a busy last half of the week!

My beautiful little baby is 10 months old! She is still so sweet-natured and laid back. I always get that from the nursery workers at church, they just love how calm she is. She STILL has NO teeth. I’m getting a little worried but my Dr. has assured me this is not abnormal. I don’t know what they could do for her if it was abnormal. I don’t think they could just make teeth grow. She is quite a climber, as you will see in the video I included. We will really have to put the crib tent up soon. I do not want to have her climbing out in the middle of the night!

She eats mostly table foods now. She loves everything she has tried. If it’s something safe for her to eat, she’s had it. We are still careful with meat that we give her since she has no teeth, so she mainly eats baby food meat. She also likes the Gerber “hot dogs”, they are really soft and easy for her to eat.She feeds herself really well, too. She loves to try and feed me pieces of her food, that is a new trick. It’s really sweet. I’ll say “Can Mommy have some?” and she’ll put a piece in my mouth. I don’t eat those Gerber hot dogs, though!

She “talks” a lot but the only real words she has said are “mama” & “dada”. She has said them to the correct person! She has also started pointing at things and when she does sometimes she’ll point then babble something. Like she’s asking what it is or telling me what it is Cute. She understands many more words than I realize. Like, I can ask her where Rosco is (one of our cats) and she’ll start looking down and all over for him. Same for when I ask where Josh is. She has this book that speaks out loud when you open it.  I repeat what it says just out of the blue and she’ll crawl around and find the book and open it to the page I said-it’s amazing!

She takes 3 8 oz. bottles a day, eats 3 full meals and has at least one snack a day. During the mid-morning and mid-afternoon she has water spiked with a splash of juice. Not that I need to defend that decision but it’s 100% juice not from concentrate, usually with no sugar added, for those who were wondering. A little secret for you: A little bit of the right juice won’t harm your children!

She crawls with her belly off the ground now and is cruising around furniture. She even lets go for a few seconds. So, soon she’ll be taking those first steps. Again, I’m in no hurry! I love the age she is and the stage she’s in- I want to keep her this way forever!

Pics: I am not as happy with these pics as previous sessions! She was not cooperative and when she was, she didn’t smile!

Video:

It’s Halloween

Here are the pics from Josh’s parade today. He looked really cute and was the only one of his kind that I saw! I saw tons of superheroes and princesses/fairies. There were a few firemen too.  Josh chose this costume and he chose well, I liked that he was the only one.  Vivi did not get dressed up today but Saturday she will be, can’t wait!

Please notice in the picture of kids that Josh is not in, the little boy dressed up as a gnome! So CUTE! Very original. I also liked the girl close to Josh in a couple of pics dressed up as an Indian (whoops-Native American) princess.  That girl is always dressed up really cute for school

All The Pretty Ponies

Last Saturday, I took Josh to the St. Johns County Fair. It’s the county south of us. It was fun but a lot smaller than the Greater Jax Fair we went to last year. That fair will be here in a couple of weeks. I guess since it’s still so warm to be “fall” the fairs don’t take place until later in the year. He rode the bumper cars for the 1st time (he calls them pumper cars) and a pony for the 1st time! He looked really cute and very relaxed. He loved it!

Tomorrow he has his Halloween parade @ school! It was so cute last year to see all the kids dressed up. I’ll leave his costume a secret and tell you that Vivi will probably be dressed up too-I haven’t decided yet, though. I mean, she will be for sure on Saturday but maybe or maybe not tomorrow. It should be a fun week/weekend. My Grandma’s coming tomorrow and of course GA/fl is this weekend. I don’t have much hope for us winning, but you never know!

here are the pics:

October

How convenient, a song by a popular band(U2) that is perfect for my title. Ahhhh, it is finally fall! Football, festivals, decorations in stores for holidays that are kinda far off, and who can leave out sweating in 89 degree heat while pumpkin hunting?? OH! I’m sorry, you don’t sweat when hunting for a pumpkin? You must be lucky enough to live in an area of the country that has something called “seasons”. I know, if you’re reading this and a native of Florida you may not be familiar with the concept of a “season”.  There are 4 of them, usually, and here in Florida there are only 2! I think Florida’s invented it’s own seasons:

1) Springer

2) Sumwinter

I know all of you are very smart and can guess why I call the “seasons” here those clever names It’s so true and I really miss my seasons back in Georgia. I did a post very similar to this one last yr…complaining about lack of seasons. Usually, I get agitated when I read other blogs and the author goes on and on about the weather-it’s just so redundant or boring- but I feel a little piece of me has been stolen with no true Autumn here to speak of.

I did take my children to the pumpkin patch @ Josh’s school yesterday. It was a lot of fun I got so many good pictures! It’s SO crazy to think about last year when I took Josh and he was my only child-what did I ever do without my angel Vivian??