Memorial Day Weekend

We just finished having 3 days at home and it was glorious! Sadly, I cannot believe I didn't take any pictures. I still wanted to write to remember our 3-day weekend "staycation" since it's pretty unusual to have us all here at home for 3 days in a row. It should be known that Jeremiah woke up at 6am each day! He must have been too excited to play with his daddy than to sleep...bummer for us.

Saturday...J woke up bright & early, we hung out, drank coffee & ate breakfast, then ventured into Winston. We had to stop by Toys-R-Us and Target to do some LEGO scouting. Both boys got some new LEGO. Jeremiah got a Lightening McQueen set and is loving it! Then a quick trip to Costco for necessities...diapers & fruit. :)  Josh was a spray painting king for me. I now have an adorable picture collage wall on the stairwell to the basement - white frames with B&W pictures. Love it! He also spray painted our brass fireplace cover black for me. It looks so much better in our room. I just love little things that make you so much happier with how your house looks! After nap we went over to Nana & Popa's for J to see the "moos" and Leeroy. Our garden is growing so good & we'll have squash to eat Monday night for our Memorial Day cookout!

Sunday...J up bright & early again, we were heathens and didn't go to church but I did go to Walmart and buy a bunch of flowers, as well as bug spray and citronella candles. While J napped, I divvy'd all those plants up into all my pots and planters on the deck, as well as some on the front steps. It looks so good outside with a little color! Sunday evening David, Nicole, Dylan, and Anna came over to grill out. We had hot dogs & deer burgers (which were delicious!), chips, squash patties, and watermelon. Then we had the mac-daddy of all desserts with Nicole's PB Trifle. Yum, yum, yum!! The kids played hard and went to bed late, but it was lots of fun!

Monday...J was up bright & early (again!), but we let Daddy sleep in until 9. Josh was out doing some Craigslist deals while we were at home doing laundry and playing inside since it was raining! Thankfully it cleared off in time for us to cookout with Popa, Nana, Uncle Perry, Dale, Tristan, and Zane. Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, Fried Squash, Squash patties, Watermelon, chips, & strawberry pie made for an excellent meal. Jeremiah could not get enough Fried Squash! He ate & ate & ate some more! He also ate a lot of watermelon and was so soaked with the juice I had to strip him down to just his diaper and tennis shoes. He did NOT like it when I sprayed him with bug spray, but I knew those mosquitoes would just love that sticky-sweet watermelon juice he was covered in. We came home, had a bath, and he went to bed!

Thankfully this morning he slept in until his usual 8am...must have known Daddy had to go to work and wouldn't be around to play. We are still in our PJs, just relaxing. J has been playing with his race cars, Lightening McQueen LEGO, and tools all morning with no TV. It's been heavenly!

I guess sometimes it's OK to just enjoy and not worry about the pictures.

Little J's LEGO Creation

You have to check out Josh's post on Jeremiah's LEGO Creation...too cute!

Play ball!

We've enjoyed almost 2 full weeks of warm weather after a LONG winter. We haven't been able to stand staying inside, so we've been playing outside a lot. Sometimes here in the backyard, occasionally a fun trip to the park, and definitely riding the Gator a lot at Nana & Popa's house. 

Uncle Harry gave Jeremiah a t-ball set for Christmas, so we've been working on J's baseball skills lately. He LOVES all kinds of sports balls...baseballs, soccer, football, basketball, doesn't matter...just give the kid a ball!

Of course when we're not outside playing, J can usually be found in the midst of a large pile of LEGO.

Holiday Season Wrap-Up

We spent our last long weekend of the holiday season just hanging out at home with our little family. Sunday, the Wolfpack played Florida in basetball. My men were all dressed in their red & white. They look so cute!

This is what they looked like after we lost the game in OT with a STUPID fouling strategy.

Check out the last few seconds of the game...

I can't believe that kid made that shot. Ugh...it's going to be a LONG season.

I just think this picture is ironic since Josh & I went to "Cow College" or as some like to refer to it, "Moo-U"

I finally upgraded all of J's Duplo blocks out of that hideous orange container and into a basket suitable for our family room. He's loving it...can't you tell?

And yes, that is the TV remote in the basket with him. Silly boy! "Like father, like son" I suppose.

Speaking of the father, or as I sometimes call him, my LEGO Lover, he has created his own blog. He's already hi-jacked a few of my photos, so I thought I'd take one of his. Hope on over & read about his meanderings.

Getting so smart!

Some days it's just hard to believe Little J is growing up so fast! He understands everything you say to him (is not a fan of the word "No") and "talks" so much everyday too. He wants you to understand what he's saying so bad and will repeat the same thing over & over emphatically to get you to understand. Some of his words are actually starting to become a bit more clear so that I can understand him - yay!

We're having a lazy morning today (the last of our holiday break), so Josh got up with J & let me sleep in - he's a good man! I came down to find them playing with the big basket of Duplo blocks. Just in the last few minutes I have been amazed at what J can communicate & do!

1) J had something in his hand & I wasn't sure if he built it or if Daddy did. It was pretty simple, but very colored coordinated. So I said, "Jeremiah, did you build that or did Daddy build it?" His response was a very emphatic sentence of his "words" with a very clear "Daddy" thrown in there. And he was right - Daddy did build it!

2)  A few minutes later, Josh built him a Duplo airplane and handed it over. He immediately picked it up & flew it through the air with a "whooshing" sound, just like a plain does! He'll also take the Duplos that have wheels and roll them on the ground like a car/truck does. I certainly don't talk much about how planes & cars go (I'm much too girlie to even really think about that), so I guess he's just picked it up from his surroundings.  Or maybe it's just an innate boy thing.

I'm in amazement at his constant growth & develop with basically no "academic" teaching or pressure from me. Despite my early thoughts on him needing lots of academic growth & guidance, I've really come to a great mental place lately where I just want him to be a kid, play, & have fun! He'll learn through all of his experiences much more so than if I make him sit down and "learn" a different letter/number/color/whatever each week.

We received a family membership to the W-S Children's Museum for the next year & I'm so excited. This will be a great place for him to learn through play and interact with lots of other children.  Plus it's a great, now FREE to us option to get out of the house. If you are someone local that reads this blog & has a small child, I HIGHLY recommend going. And we'll be up to going with you too if you want a playdate! :)

It must be genetic...

Little J stumbled upon some of his Christmas presents. Oops! Will definitely have to be more careful next year. Anyway, this was supposed to be one of his Christmas presents, but since he liked it so much I just had to let him have it now. It's a big tub of LEGO (look honey - spelled correctly & used in correct form...I know you're proud!). I thought the Duplo Bricks might be too small for him to manage now since he was used to the Quatro Bricks...boy was I wrong, he's already a pro. This LEGO obsession must be genetic. But what a fun activity for J & J to enjoy together!