Perma Smile Saturday

This past Saturday was one of those summer days that leaves a perma smile on your face. We, thanks to do the dude's random, but much appreciated tiredness, slept until 8:15, had breakfast and headed to a pool that Cara recommended. Rather than spend the money on Pirates Cove, she told us to alter my goal and settle for Cook Pool. It was well worth it. Water heaven. We snagged Riley from across the street, which increased dude's fun factor by 100%. Oh how we love having a permanent play mate so close to home.

So, the entire place is kid friendly. Minus the above featured water gym. Can you tell why not one of the 27 children at the pool were frolicking in this plastic hurricane like feature? Every 3 minutes it dumps. And freaks the crap out of all the kids. Including mine.

This was their reaction EVERY time the bucket dumped. "Wooooah! Look at dat!" Every three minutes for 2 hours.

After watching the boy on the left jump into the shallow pool, Dude and Riles decided that was a game for them. Cute stuff.

Again, "Woooah! Look at dat!"

We all headed to the adult pool to watch Daddy (and Mom) do fabulous tricks off the diving board. Well, my jumps could hardly be classified as fabulous...or jumps really. I hadn't been on a diving board since 8th grade, so I pretty much just stepped off and screamed.

Dad made impressive splashes to make up for my lack of coordination.

That night we dined with the McKinsters and Lindy and Matt at the Taste of Lone Tree and chowed on s'mores and some tasty adult beverages at our pad afterward. The twins experienced their very first marshmallow. It was a double thumbs up. We all slept well that night. With perma smiles on our faces.

Farmer's Market Ingredients...Cooked

That pretty produce I sheepishly purchased at the Farmer's Market last week didn't go to waste. I was determined to make something edible out it and make my hubbie proud. And so I searched my good friend Google and found recipes that would do the trick. The Sheas walked over to share in our skirt steak, grilled eggplant and summer squash, mozzarella and tomato salad, served with a salad topped with the purple pepper the fabulous cheese focaccia bread on the side. It gets better. I even whipped up an apple crisp (another item on my check list) and as evidenced below, master baker Maria approved of my handiwork. Mission. Accomplished. I might just hit that farmer's market again tomorrow. With my head held high.

Play Time with Jackster

Jack. He's our bud. He's our funny little bud. And he's finally at an age where he and Dude can wrestle, run, climb, laugh and speak each other's language. We had a play date with Sir Jack last week. There were fountains to soak ourselves in, which only took Dude about 45 minutes to warm up to, but he did. Jack, on the other hand, has no fear in the world. Megan and I have quite an enjoyable time comparing our polar opposite children's idiosyncrasies.

School Daze

My little man. Is going to pre-school. Next week. Per #30 on my check check list, my brain has start processing this reality. I know, it's only 3 mornings per week, but he has his own cubbie. With his little name on it. And he's going to walk through the halls with 8th graders. Big big 8th graders. And he's going to go out for recess and go to the computer lab. And he's going to love every single second of it, minus sharing attention with 14 other 3 year olds. Ms. Yvetta, get ready lady. He likes his attention.

We had "back to school night" on Wed. The three of us dressed up and went to meet his teacher, see his classroom, walk the halls, turn in our ridiculous stack of paperwork and convince dude that THIS is the place to be. That didn't take long. He would have stayed in his classroom the rest of the night if we let him. And he immediately took to his teachers, blinking at them uncontrollably (this is a new habit dude has picked up....when he's SUPER excited about something, he starts blinking like it's going out of style). Kinda like how a dog wags his tail when he's happy. Dude blinks. Tim says we should just keep him in sunglasses until it passes.

The school visit was a success. Dude will share a classroom with our buddy Riley, a boy named Ryker, a boy named Ryder, Cameron and Camdyn, to name a few. Seriously? Rylan, Riley, Ryder and Ryker? All in one enclosed space? We're thinking about giving dude a new name for the school year so he'll have a sense of identity in his classroom. First day of class is next Wednesday. My brain should be 90% wrapped around this concept by then. Happy back to school for all you all too! Can't believe it's already upon us.

Maria's been through this a few times already, but she cordially agreed to take cheesy pictures with me.

Dude and Riles in front of their little cubbies where he'll hang his little Cars backpack with a change of clothes for when he inevitably pees his pants.

More Check, Checks

That summer list I posted is slowly getting chipped away at friends. I love lists, but what I love more is checking off items on said lists. It satisfies my anally organized self in a way that I can't quite describe. So I won't. What's the latest and greatest?

#23 -QT with the dude. The nightly rain storms provided some rockin fun this past week. We got a lot smiles from people driving by this particular night. Rightly so. How darn cute is a kid jumping through puddles in red rain boots?

#18- The "old" playroom (babe's future nursery) is history. We emptied the closet and moved everything to the guest room. Welcome dude (and future dude/ette's) new playroom, down 3 steps from the kitchen.

#1 - Dude and I, along with friends Kristin, Avery and Taylor, visited the fantabulous farmer's market at Aspen Grove mall today. The colors and shapes and textures of all the home grown lovliness there was something worth experiencing. Not that I know what to do with any of it, but I'm gonna give it my very best attempt. For now, my finds are sitting in a bowl looking oh so pretty. Who knew peppers come in a scrumptious plum color?

#8- (and my most exciting update) is the completion of maternity shopping for Brooke. Hip, hip! I was so pumped to enter maternity sections. Normally I avoid those sections like the plague. I glowed inside, knowing that I'm expecting just as much as the girlies with big prego bellies. Thanks to my Kimmy and Megan for sharing in my shopping joy:) We bought a TON of options for her to choose from. It's tough shopping for a teenager you've never laid eyes on, but we tried our very best to put ourselves back in a high school state of mind and chose some ultra hip options. I think.

#29 - That box of really nice crap in the garage is now in the possession of random Craig's list stalkers. We got rid of some stools, mugs, place mats, shelves, etc. All in the matter of 2 days it was history. We HEART Craig's list, by the way. Tim has also drummed up a whole bunch of side accounting business through the free, dreamy site. Extra money = a very good thing.

The end. For now.

Catch Phrases of the Week

*We're driving home from Target and dude says, "Mommy, when we go home, I want to snuggle wif you and no blankets. A couple seconds of silence..."Doesn't that sound so nice Mom?" Melt my heart. Granted, the snuggling lasted for 12 seconds, but it was the thought that counted.

*I hand dude a Cheezit. His response, "Look Mom! It has equal sides!" What?

*We've been talking about Miss Brooke lately and trying to explain that the baby in her belly will be his little brother or sister. Last night's prayers ended with, "and bless Miss Brooke and my baby in her belly." Precious? Yes, precious.

*"Mom, I have to tell you somefing soooo cool." "What buddy" "Um....want to read a book?"

*I slam on the breaks at a stop light to avoid a photo radar ticket. Dude says, "Wow Mom! We go forward and back again. What a calamity!" My mom taught him this word and he uses it ALL the time. He grins at me every time it exits his mouth too. He knows of his cuteness.

*Dude's upstairs in his playroom...suspiciously quiet. We ask him what he's doing and his response is, "Don't talk to me right now!" Mmmmm. I go upstairs to find him stuffing as many marbles from his ball machine in his mouth as humanly possible. He makes eye contact and immediately spits them out. The marbles now live in a plastic baggie on the highest shelf in the house.

A Car Show from Dude's Perspective

Every year, Tim gets all excitable about the Tour de' Elegance car show near us. It's not a muscle car show, but rather a display of foreign built beauties that get him all revvvvved up. He brought dude last year and we decided to tackle the hot Colorado day as a fam this year. It was fun times for all - for very different reasons. Tim, of course, ate up all the finely tuned machines, I loved it because Tim loved it and dude found his own reasons to celebrate in the moment. See below for just a few.

This was the happiest car in the show, according to dude. Down on his level, this yellow car is pretty darn happy, I must agree.

In the midst of the luxurious Ferrari's displayed above, guess what dude kept pestering us to go see. Yeah. That would be the Penske moving truck. Slight disappointment from dear old dad.

This was dude's favorite, calling it the "coolest car." Don't know why, but Dad was pleased with his choice.

Some day dude. The minute it becomes legal, Dad will have you behind the wheel of one of these little guys. And Mom will stay at home to pray.

Art Class, Check

I've been working on the list friends. Dude experienced his very first art class yesterday. Thrilling, I know. He thought he was going to school and was the most excited about the bus that would take him home and the bell he thought would ring when he was done painting. Neither of those things transpired, but he did create a masterpiece (with a whole lotta help from Miss Vanessa). No, I wasn't the mom who crouched in the corner watching the entire hour. I did leave.

Not that we deserve kudos for waiting until Dude was 3 before doing this, but we have been reading bible stories after dinner (#4). It's become an incentive for him to eat a bit above the pace of a tortoise. A little white timer also assists with that issue.

And last, this Mama has been putting down the lap top and getting down on the floor to play as much as time can afford. (#23). When you're kid says, "Mommy, no computer time right now plllllease! You wanna play wif me now Mom?", you know it's time to step it up in the Mom department. We played Candyland and he totally caught on! He won. Fair and square. Of course he won...no matter how hard I try, I can not beat my child at a game meant for 3 year olds. We'll try Chutes and Ladders tomorrow. I've got a fighting chance at that one.

Side note...check out my latest photo shoot at gvcreative.blogspot.com. You'll get a kick out of Mr. Jack. He's my favorite little ham.

Mamma Lamma Red Pajama

Bed time is book time. And book time usually includes a crowd favorite and a potential favorite. Mamma Lamma from cousin D is definitely a fave. See below for dude's ad lib version. That kid keeps us laughing. A lot these days. A whole lot.

Check, Check

I was paroozing some of my favorite blogs and found a post of "stuff" that the Momma blogger intended/hoped/planned/dreamed of doing before the summer was over. This blogger listed over 90 "to do's," which is WAY over my mental capacity, but I figured I'd do a min-list that resides out there in cyberspace. I keep random notes around my world with "stuff" I intend to do, but you can guess how effective that method is. Maybe it'll inspire you to do something super crazy or inspire you stay far away from anally organized lists that dictate you days. I totally get that.

Here it goes. Hopefully I won't find myself deleting this post as if it never happened in September when I'm embarrassed to admit that 2 of them are actually complete.

1. Take the dude to a Farmer's Market and actually cook a meal using what we purchase.
2. Turn this blog into a printed book.
3. Take dude to an art class at our rec center.
4. End dinner with reading bible stories to the dude.
5. Enroll duder in another round of swim lessons (the same lesson he recently completed but didn't quite pass). If FUN was the passing factor, he TOTALLY would have moved up.
6. Organize a kickball game. It's all the rage ya know.
7. Bake an apple crisp and offer a piece to Maria (if it's edible) to prove that I do know my way around the kitchen.
8. Go maternity shopping for Brooke. And love every minute of it.
9. Mail one card per week to unsuspecting friends and fam.
10. Teach dude how to pee standing up (without needing to Clorox the walls every day).
11. Go camping. Without whining.
12. Go away for a weekend - without hubbie and child. This one was Tim's idea, just so you know.
13. Take dude to Pirates Cove for some crazy aquatic fun.
14. Pray. A lot more.
15. Chow on the balsamic vinaigrette marinated steak at White Chocolate Grill.
16. Make a birthday calendar so I'll stop wishing friends a happy birthday 6 months early.
17. Visit Nanna Eleanor.
18. List the big box of really nice junk in the garage on Craig's list.
19. Plan a girls night dinner with friends and have everyone bring a friend.
20. Invite someone new over for dinner.
21. Get involved in a Small Group again so we can keep faith in the foreground.
22. Come up with a game plan for baby #2's nursery.
23. Play with the dude. Every day. Before there's another kiddo stealing my attention
24. Teach dude how to do a somersault and maybe even how to hang for more than 2 seconds.
25. Go to library story time.
26. Finish reading the Twilight series.....I'm hooked.
27. Spot clean the spots in the carpet that we touch on a weekly basis, thinking it's a blob of dark fuzz.
28. Start thinking about our 10 year Anniversary trip.
29. Make dude a new playroom so the new teeny one can have a place to rest his/her head.
30. Mentally prepare myself for the fact that my baby is starting pre-school this month. I don't want to be that mom that's weeping and longing for my child to need me on the first day of class.

I'm gonna stop there. 30 things and over 30 days before summer sadly comes to a halt. Check check.