the boys of summer...

i can't believe how much i've neglected this blog...and i'm blaming it completely on FACEBOOK! now that everyone (well, not you mom!) is on FB, it seems they're all updated regularly...say every hour...on the doings of our lives, that i don't feel quite the need to blog as often. however...i'm back...because i've promised myself (and you, my loyal readers!) that i will keep at it!

since my last post, our summer has continued to be FUN FUN FUN...despite the raging heat we've experienced!!! all i know, is that i'm glad i'm not a child spending the summer at EKC right now, where there is NO A/C!!! although...come to think of it, i might trade the cool breeze of the A/C for one day on a boat on cheat lake, with the cool breeze of camp air blowing around! but, alas, back to reality....

in early june, we joined a group of friends at butler's orchard for strawberry picking. there ended up being 17 kids (under the age of 5)! jacob was a bit hesitant at first, but within minutes, was walking up and down the rows carrying our basket, for me to fill. andrew enjoyed it for about 30 minutes, until he decided it would be more fun to set up 4 baskets as bases and talk his buddies into playing imaginary baseball! that was around the time we all decided it was time to weigh the goods, pay and get outta there! our adventure was far from over though...we decided to have lunh at panera bread. mind you, it was "lunch hour" on a weekday and if you know anything about panera, it tends to be a hub for business people. need i remind you, while we'd lost a few people along the way, to other dining options, we were walking into panera as a group of 14 KIDS and 6 MOMS!!! we lucked out and actually found three tables to push together, accommodating all of us! it ended up being a GREAT day spent with GREAT people!

of course, we've been hitting the pool quite a bit too...especially these last couple weeks...with temps hitting 100 degrees! jacob seems to enjoy the water much more now and has started jumping in! andrew started swim lessons this week. as much as he loves the pool, there is something about lessons that he is against! i realized tonight, amidst the battle to get him to participate, that it might be that when he is in lessons, he has to give up a sense of control (which we know is hard for him)...someone else is telling him what to do and when to do it. don't think he's a big fan of that....hmmmm, sounds like someone i know! regardless, he is loving the pool, which to me is MAJOR progress from last year! i have a couple videos, but they aren't loading on the blog...will try again later!

happy hot days to all!

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the graduate...

andrew & miss beth (his pre-k teacher)

so...it's official...andrew will be starting a new chapter in his life soon...KINDERGARTEN! his preschool had a nice graduation ceremony (despite several unnecessary lengthy speeches) complete with ice cream sundaes...MY KIND OF CEREMONY! i must admit, that yes, i did cry...as the children were entering the room, adorned with their graduation caps, i began to picture this very same event taking place in 2023...when andrew will graduate from high school. i couldn't help but shed some tears! we are very proud of the progress andrew has made over the past year...both socially and academically.

* last summer you may recall my struggles with andrew at soccer camp...he wouldn't leave my side and when i left, he would throw a fit and not participate. andrew now willingly participates in team sports...and has come to LOVE playing tball.

* i couldn't get andrew to even get in the pool for swim lessons last summer....he is now getting in and out of the pool by himself...jumping into the pool...going under water...and learning how to swim!!!

* andrew has always shown a love of books (must come from me!)...he is now reading, yes reading, books on his own!!!

* andrew's ability to appropriately express his emotions has improved greatly! our reward system seems to be working and life is so much better for all around the house :)

i could not be more proud of andrew as he enters this new stage in his life. i know he will blow the teachers away with his sense of humor and love of learning...and i'm confident he will make many friends and continue with his social growth. i love you andrew and i am so proud to be your mommy!!!

ok...tissue please...sniff, sniff...

grads entering the room

proudly displaying his diploma :)

with best buddy ian

with his best girls...karley & eliza

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riding the auto train

check out the train track configuration that derek made today (with a little bit of help from andrew)!

and here's andrew in the "driver's seat"

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signs signs everywhere signs....

you better watch where you're going in our house these days...you might get pulled over by andrew for not obeying the street signs he made :)

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lightening mcCLEAN

convincing a 4 year old to clean up his toys because it is time to go to bed, is never an easy task. so, what's a mom to do when she wants her kid to do something??? no...not bribe (although that works too!) turn it into a game! andrew was busy playing with a flashlight at the time clean up time came around so i made up this game for him...

i pointed the flashlight at a toy and he had to race to put it away in the correct toy bin before i was shining the light on another toy. i really didn't expect this to work, but it did...and andrew actually was having fun while cleaning up his toys. so...we named this game lightening mcCLEAN! what could be better than a game named after his favorite race car?

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nothing to show for it

despite the cloudy, somewhat chilly weather, we are having a great time here in florida with nanny & papa. i'm not complaining about the "cold" temps though, considering it's still a good 50 degrees warmer than it is in va and we aren't wearing our winter gear! today we went to Sugar Sand Science Explorium & Playground...VERY COOL place! jacob slept in the stroller through a good portion of it, which meant andrew & i were able to spend some much needed time together...just the two of us! as cool as it was, you KNOW i took lots of pictures (as did my mom)...however, i don't have the cord to download the pics, so you'll have to wait!
derek is coming here tomorrow...and hopefully he'll bring some sun with him on the plane! i think it might be 70 tomorrow, which would be great :) i'm hoping we at least get to spend an hour or so at the beach or pool while we're here.

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puzzled

CHECK OUT THE PUZZLE ANDREW PUT TOGETHER!!! 51 PIECES IN ALL!

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what a day....fun "at play"

today marked the final day of andrew's 15 day winter break from school. yes, you heard me...15 days! the 2 weeks actually seemed to go by much faster than i had anticipated, with half of it being spent in st louis. while i complained a lot over the past 2 weeks that andrew would not be returning to school on monday along with the rest of the world, i must admit, it was kind of nice to have the 2 extra days of lazying around in the morning. tomorrow will be a rude awakening for all of us!

anyway...the point of my post tonight, is not to gripe about andrew's school calendar, but rather to tell you about the super fun day we had today at At Play Cafe in reston. since this was our first visit to at play cafe, i wasn't quite sure what to expect. a mom of one of andrew's classmates emailed me to see if we wanted to meet there and after looking at the website, i said sure. after all, just a snippet from their home page is quite appealing to any stay at home mom...especially on the 15th day of winter break...

Have you ever imagined a place where ...
~ you and a friend can have a conversation over lunch while our staff plays with your children nearby?

boy am i glad we went! andrew and his friend had an absolute blast!!! the staff was extremely friendly to both children and adults. the facility was very clean and provided a great layout for the kids to have fun with their moms close by, but not right in the action. the play area included a variety of different activities, including dress-up (and not just princesses!), a kitchen, climbing equipment, a slide and much more! a second room had play mats lining the floor, balls aplenty, a basketball hoop and ride-on toys. there was also a story time, which was included with our admission. speaking of admission, it is only $8 per child...what a bargain!!! the food was also a great deal...and quite tasty too! adults (and kids, i suppose) can enjoy a wonderful lunch for under $6. kid's meals include a 1/2 sandwich, side of applesauce and a drink all for only $3! as a money conscious mama, i was thrilled by these prices! oh, and they also offer a variety of classes. check it out on their website!

before leaving, i spoke briefly with one of the owners and she mentioned that they may be opening additional locations. hopefully one will be a bit closer to alexandria, but if not, i would most definitely travel to reston to visit at play cafe again! anyone up for lunch???

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winter wonderland this is NOT

apparently the weather understands how much i miss my parents, because we have been blessed with some "florida-like" weather! today was sunny and 60 degrees...not too shabby for the final days of 2008! after spending the morning playing in the house, i figured this was a great time to take andrew outside to ride his new bike around and burn off some of the energy he had stored up! here are some pics of the boys playing and of andrew riding his bike...

when we came inside, andrew said, "we need to make it cold outside so it can snow!"

i'm working on posting an entry about our wonderful trip to st louis....hopefully it will be up in the next days or two!

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sign of the times

while i love to have order in my life, i am the first to admit that i am not good at keeping a clean home. sure...it's not horrible, but at any given moment you could hunt dust bunnies all over the house! while i would LOVE to have someone come and clean our house (something we enjoyed before kids!), it is just not a practical expense for us these days. so...when andrew asked for a mop today, we handed it over and he got to work...
ps...notice the striped shirt with the army pants...he picked this outfit out himself!

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good clean fun

once again, i am avoiding being the "dairy queen" by blogging. i'm trying to convince myself that i'll be fine if i skip pumping tonight, but i know that i'll be regretting that decision come 4am when i can't roll over in bed because my balloons might pop! so...instead, i'll make this quick and then do my duties.

andrew and i had a blast making crayons for the bathtub (another activity in his highlights magazine). this activity was done at a perfect time, since andrew's class at school learned about the color wheel and mixing colors last week. he had so much fun mixing the food coloring to make orange, green and purple. we were disappointed to find out that after our hard work, the crayons didn't work too well. if you'd like to give it a try, here ya go...

1 - spray an ice cube tray with vegetable oil spray


2 - grate a bar of ivory soap (we used 3 bars total!) using the smallest holes on a cheese grater

3 - add 10-15 drops of food coloring and about 2 tablespoons of warm water to the grated soap

4 - add more warm water as needed, and stir until it looks like thick dough

5 - press the mixture into sections of the ice cube tray
6 - freeze for 30 minutes
7 - pop crayons out of tray and let them dry for a day or two before using

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Going BANANAS

ok...so i totally shouldn't be blogging right now! i should be performing my seemingly never ending duties as the "dairy queen", as i am days behind on pumping & storing milk for my girl's trip next weekend. and after that, i should be sleeping...huh, sleep, before 11pm!?!? but, instead, here i sit, typing away...i find that blogging is a way to relax at the end of a stressful day...so much more so than pumping, storing, sterilizing, etc...

anyway...enough about me and my milk mountains...

thanks to papa & gg, andrew receives a highlights (high five) magazine every month. he loves the stories and hidden pictures. everyday, when we get the mail he says, "mom, see if there's a highlights for me" and when there is, we read it over and over for days on end. each magazine always has cute activities in it too. this month...an icy treat...frozen bananas covered in chocolate.

(pay no attention to the pumping accessories on the countertop)

after one bite andrew looked up at me and said, "but mommy, i don't like bananas!" we had extra chocolate left over, so we decided to make some chocolate covered pretzels too...YUMMY!



stay tuned for more "good clean fun" from this month's highlights magazine...

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Derek takes a STAYcation

While we had a fun week with Derek home, I've never seen him so ready to head to work on a Monday morning! Our week was filled up with outings, errands, and numerous meltdowns and timeouts. Here are some highlights from Derek's STAYcation...for more photos check out this album.

Saturday, August 30...after an hour long battle with Andrew to brush his teeth and get dressed, we enjoyed a nice breakfast (brunch actually, it was 11:30 by then!) at Silver Diner and then all headed to the LEGO exhibit presented by AFOL (adult fans of LEGOs). I thought this might be as much fun as picking a hangnail, but it proved to be quite entertaining. Actually, I'd even say it was amazing! The things these people created...ALL with LEGOs...truly blew my mind! Mark your calendars for August 22-23...BrickFair 2009!



Tuesday, September 2...family trip to the National Zoo and then a lunch stop at Chipotle. C'mon...you didn't think Derek would go a week without it...did you???



Wednesday, September 3...Derek joined us for Playgroup at the Playground. Afterward, we went to Murphy's for a much needed and deserved beer (yes, it was only lunchtime!)




It was really nice having Derek home for a whole week. As Andrew says, "Daddy was home for a lots of DADurdays!"

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Did I really do that???

There are many things I've done as a mom, that I never thought I would do. This tops my list! There's no denying that Andrew is skinny...he weighed all of 29 pounds at his 3 year checkup. In an effort to get my "boy anorexic" to eat, I have turned mealtime into something a bit more fun. It started with breakfast about 2 weeks ago...it has now turned into a ritual! Every morning when I ask Andrew what he'd like for breakfast, he says with a smile "Surprise me mom!" What will I do when I have to pack his lunch for school???

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ABC book

With Jacob's morning nap running until about 11am, we find ourselves sticking around the house more in the AM. I must admit, however awful it is, that I usually use this time to catch up email and do things around the house (i.e. clean the kitchen which is still dirty from the night before). Andrew tends to play by himself or with his friends, imaginary friends that is, and keeps himself pretty busy for an hour or so.

After looking at another mom blog over the weekend (chasingcheerios.com), guilt took over and I decided that I could make better use of this morning time. I pumped Andrew up by telling him we were going to do something fun and it would be just him and me. Amidst his excitement, I gathered up magazines, large index cards, tape, glue, scissors and crayons. I was so excited to

start our project...I almost felt like a preschool teacher! I explained to Andrew that we were going to make his very own ABC book, which he was quite thrilled about. I wrote the letter, then he wrote the letter
and then we added pictures that started with that letter. What started out as a fun activity, lasted about 10 minutes, and gave us an ABC book and just that...no D-Z to this book! Andrew became bored and decided he'd rather watch his new DVD about firemen and policemen. While the activity didn't quite turn out as I had hoped, I must say it was fun and I was so proud to see Andrew writing his letters!

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