I'm Converted

I've never been against the kid play places like Monkey Joe's and KangaZoom but I never really cared enough about them to go to one. With my mom visiting for a few days and the endless rain she brought with her, we decided to give one a try. We've both heard my big sister rave about places like this and Carley, my little sister works in one, so we knew it couldn't be bad.

Super LOVED it. He loved it so much that my mom gave him an early birthday present and the next 10 visits are on her. I can't wait to take him back. He loves balls and they have an abundance of them in all kinds of sizes. He loves to bounce and jump and he realized it could do both without a lot of effort or any pain if he fell.






I have to say that I loved it too. Who knew that putting on a pair of socks and running around could be so fun after the age of 10? I think I'm going to enjoy going back so often and I'm interested to see if Danny can participate with us. With him being as big as he is, I doubt he'd fit in most of the inflatables but I'm pretty sure he could make it down one of the gigantic slides they have. On the subject of the slides, they are so cool! Hunter had no fear as he climbed up them and I didn't have to help because falling wouldn't hurt but he was flawless the 3-4 times he did it himself.

I'm excited to say that we'll be going back soon and often. I think I'm even going to cancel my gym membership so the budget doesn't have to change. I don't go anymore anyway and this form of cardio is much more fun.

Tooting My Own Horn

I don't get to see my niece and nephew often enough but I feel like I still know them. I'm constantly on the phone with Penny and listening to their life, reading a blog about them or getting a random phone call from one of them that my sis doesn't know about. I'm a pretty good aunt and here is why...I called my big sis the other day to see what was up. We've both been really busy so I haven't gotten to talk to her as often as I want to. Little Annie was having herself a big tantrum and it was clearly audible in the back ground of the conversation. I could hear Penny practically rolling her eyes in exasperation over this little girl that would not give up the screaming. So I dug down in my brain and remembered a fact about my niece, she loves shoes, and I told my sis that she should try putting some on her. A minute later, there was blessed silence and I got a big thank you from a very happy mother. That girl and her love of shoes is after my own heart. I don't personally have an extensive collection... yet, but as she gets older and we all become more financially stable, we're going to have a great time shopping together.

Our Visit From Suburban Earth Mama

We had such a great visit. Mom is so low maintenance that she makes you WANT to take care of her, especially since she did it while I was growing up, I want to return to favor as well as be a good hostess. She came in super late on Saturday night, we set up her bed, had some good chatting and went to sleep. Sunday was a lazy day, interrupted by a fun little birthday party and it was good that Super got a chance to get comfortable with this other person in our home. Monday and Tuesday were a flurry of shopping, playing with Hunter and eating way too much food. Something I love about Suburban Mama... she loves to fill our refrigerator (and I'm in no ways complaining) and then take us out for lunch (which again, not complaining). I usually have a hard time going with the flow and letting her take us out when we have a house FULL of food. Then again, I'm more than happy to sit back and let myself be spoiled.


It's really nice to be able to sit back with your mother and actually talk about things that are important in your life now. Just a few years ago, everything was different and if you go back a few more years... yikes! But now that I'm a mother and she is finding herself lots of new hobbies, including finding the perfect piece of land for her dream home, we actually understand each other much better. It's also fun to find out how much we have in common, even if it's just something like yard work and books. We started a Monopoly game one night (she totally enabled me) and she began telling me about these books she started reading when she was the young mother of a toddler. After hearing a rough run down of them, I asked her to really tell me the story. I'm not someone that can't hear the ending or a book or a movie before I get to it myself. I'm actually happy most of the time to find out what's going to happen first.

After a few days of shopping and hanging out...I'm sad she had to leave but I'm happy we'll get to see each other soon. I love the relationship we have... it may not be perfect but it's perfect for us and it's all ours to do whatever we want with it.

It'll Be a Few Days

I have so much to update about but I slashed open my right index finger on a staple to the point that typing HURTS. So, it'll be a few days before I can really catch up because as I'm jotting this note for my regular readers, the pressure has split open my finger again. Anyone that wants to talk better call me because no emails will be returned until at least Saturday.

Movie Magic

Yes, I let the TV babysit my kid but it's also a babysitter for me. Every time Meet the Robinson's, Teletubbies or Sesame Street comes on, I can't help but have to get up and find something else to do. I can't watch it anymore. Danny can hang out with Hunter everyday and watch that movie together but I'd rather be doing the dishes or vacuuming. So, I consider it to be a magical box now that motivates me to find something productive to do. Unfortunately, when the boy knows I'm on the computer or phone and doing something for work, he must get my attention back but while I'm wiping down cabinets and scrubbing foot prints off the wall, he doesn't care. It's been a big help in getting me off my butt and working more which in turn makes me more motivated to do other things.

Suburban Earth Mama in GA

My mom is coming to visit again! I always look forward to her coming to visit. She is such an easy guest and we can communicate so well with each other. We don't even bother planning which days she comes. It usually happens something like this... " Hey, I want to come visit, can I come on this date or this date?"..."Sure, that sounds great! We'll have lots of fun!"... "Yeah we will and just let me know when you get sick of me and I'll head home"..."Awesome, I can't wait for you to come!"



That kind of easiness is actually the result of 20 years of constant complications between us but I'm so glad that we've been able to obtain this since I've reached adulthood.

Memories

I'm going through my pictures of Hunter's life and one that I want to share. I hope Danny doesn't get mad at me but these are too precious. These were taken approximately 3 months after our son was born. They are kind of hard to see but Danny is holding his leg like he would hold the boy. I don't know what kind of dreams he had that night but I couldn't resist taking a picture.




It's comforting to know that he's a good daddy in his dreams as well as in real life.

My Addictions

I have such an addictive personality. I'm perfectly aware of it so I try to take everything in moderation. I did write try... I'm not sitting behind my computer thinking I'm the picture of perfection. Right now, one of my newest addictions is raging inside of me. No, it's not a substance like coffee.... I'm craving Monopoly. A few months ago, Josh, Danny and I started playing because hubby was tired of losing at Scrabble and ever since the first few games, I'm hooked. I secretly get a little thrill when I land on a craved property and I like the little, bitty adrenaline rush you get before you roll and you're within range of properties covered in hotels. Most times I get amazing rolls that put Danny in a bad mood when we play together. Once I even made it 3/4 of the way around the board and picked up the last 3 available properties in one turn. So, I'm home again, alone on a Monday night and I wish a neighbor or a friend would come over so we could play. Ahhh, it's so fun being the mother of a toddler and the most exciting thing you can think of to do on a weekday evening is play a board game.... I need a hobby.

Picture Time!

We got bored playing the other day so I brought out the camera. I have not been diligent about recording my family as we are all getting older so I'm trying. Big Sis Penny brought up a good point, this blog is my journal so I want to get in as much as I can so in the future, my kids and my grandkids can see what life was like "back then" and possibly learn from us. So, we snapped pictures and made goofy faces (which none of them came out clear). I'm going to keep my batteries charged from now on because what we experience together is precious.

The Bad Habits of Men

Drinking out of the carton isn't something I'm especially against. More often than not, I'll get myself a cup but I don't have a problem "sharing" a jug of something with my family members. It's a good thing too because my husband is the worst I've ever seen about doing this. I've resorted to get him his own gallon a milk but there is no stopping him when I bring home juice. Well, I guess Super has been watching his Daddy too closely.

The Artist Inside

I have always wanted to be an artistic person. I wasn't blessed with music or drawing ability (thank goodness Danny does so our kids have some hope) but that doesn't keep me from trying. Last Christmas, Suburban Earth Mama gave me a paint by numbers kit that includes everything one would need to make a nice picture of some cats and a house, well, we didn't do that.




We made these together and, no, they aren't professional or that good (I think you can even see his hand prints in the paint) but I can't get the image of my sons face out of my head. Just look at those smiles...




Cleaning up wasn't too bad. Super doesn't understand the concept of keeping it all on the paper but I think I had more fun watching him paint the floor than the canvas. He loved the red and blues. Now I just have to find a way to get more... more paint, more canvas and probably more soap. It stinks that we don't have more room in our home to set up something more permanent because I thoroughly enjoyed our painting adventure.

Why Plan Anything?

We haven't had family pictures done since Super was probably 6 weeks old. I had it all planned out that we could do it this Sunday but plans can never be made when you have a lively toddler. Uncle Brian was watching him and while on a walk, Super tripped and fell. Not any ones fault but his own (poor Uncle thought I was going to be mad) but now I have to put off our family portraits for another week. When he fell, Super got some serious road rash in the middle of his forehead. It's not as easy to see now (4 days later) but you get the idea.

I thought about covering it up with make up but I doubt he would have let me. Grandma Sue likes to tell the story about her boys going in to get their pictures done and in the parking lot on the way in, Brian slipped and fell scraping his face. What do you do? You get the pictures taken and always incorporate the cute story.

It's doesn't help that Grout Daddy grumbles when the words "taking pictures" are mentioned. This is only the second time in 21 months that I'm making him actually put forth effort for a photograph and even then he just has to be clean, wear what I pick out and smile. Although he told me he'll cooperate better this time, that has yet to be seen. But I'm tired of being the only one that takes the pictures. Looking back through all of them, I'm in a handful and yeah, I didn't want to get in during my post-baby weight loss but I wish Grout Daddy would pick up the camera occasionally.

I will say, Super has gotten much better about the camera. He actually didn't run away and was curious about what I was doing. Here is his "cool guy" look. Yes, we did give him a crew cut but it was his fault. I actually like it though. He looks exactly like my little brother did when he was really young. I'll have to post some pictures when I can get them scanned, the resemblance is uncanny.

Good Morning! I haven't brushed my hair nor am I wearing any make up but I got to be in a picture! Super wouldn't cooperate to be in it with me.

Olympian in Training

I think I have a little athlete on my hands. We were over at Grandma Sue's to watch the opening ceremony (SO cool, by the way) and he got a little restless and decided to burn off some calories. Now before you start thinking I'm crazy for letting my 21 month old son run on this contraption, he has better balance that most of us and ran on that thing for a while with only a few bumps. He went down for bed just fine so I'm hoping he hops back on there the next time we visit.

Oh, the Surprises

I have a fun filled weekend ahead of me. Saturday I have a showing which takes a big chunk of time away from my family but you have to do what you have to do, at least Sunday is for us. However, if I need a chuckle, I can just recall our adventure today. Let me preface this with the knowledge that Super loves bottles of all kinds and I let him play with the ones that won't make a mess. So, I was making us hot dogs for lunch. As I shook up the mustard bottle I heard a strange little *clunk, clunk* noise. I open it up to find a pen in the mustard. How he managed to get it in there, I have no idea but I had to laugh as I fished it out. I can only imagine what he was thinking at the time it happened. I have a feeling that I'm going to have to put that bottle on the high shelf now that he's so interested in mixing things.