Time for an Update!!

Wow! It's been 3 months since I posted on the Blog. My apologies. I guess all my "extra" time has been going towards Facebook lately. So I'm going to try to catch you up on the last couple of months. And this weekend I will post pictures of Luke's 4th birthday party! He's going to turn 4 on Monday, the 22nd. My, how times flies!!!

In April, Luke got a new bed!! I wanted to wait til his birthday, but we found it on Craigslist 2 months ago and couldn't wait. Greg painted it white and blue with a red door! And Luke loves it. I thought it was pretty cool til I had to change the sheets out - that's not fun.

This is what I found when I went in to wake him up for school. How sweet is that?!?!

Sometimes you just have to let a kid be a kid ....

He just wanted to play in the rain!

But if he wanted to splash in the puddles, he had to roll his pants up....



So fun!

A couple of weeks ago, I wanted to go hiking so we drove to Panther Creek State Park in Morristown. This was Luke's farthest hike to date - 1.4miles total. Downhill and back up. He did awesome!! He was obsessed, though, with finding spiders and bugs.

This at the trailhead after we hiked down 0.7 and then back up 0.7! He did awesome!! Didn't complain at all!!! We're going to have to start working our way up to longer hikes!

Also at the trailhead, a heart-shaped grassy area.

A nice view of the lake ...

That's when you wish you had a boat:

The best part for Luke, the Park had a playground!

One of our favorite summer evening activities is chalking up the driveway! I always ask Luke what he wants me to draw ... usually he says 'a shark'. But lately he says "Draw whatever you want to draw, Mommy." So it's something different every night. One night, I drew the whole solar system ... it was quite elaborate, but the rain washed it away before I thought of photographing it. I believe it will need to be recreated soon!!

What's better than an ice cream cone on a hot summer day???

That is, until it starts melting ...

Time for a bath!!

The Zoo

I couldn't wait to take Luke to the Zoo as soon as it got warm!! So last weekend we went.
He practically packed the bag for me - here he is waiting by the door...



We met Cindy and the boys there. They had so much fun together!!
(Notice how her boys will smile nicely for the camera while mine won't even turn and look at me....)


Ugly rhino...


This was my very favorite ... the red panda. Is he not just the cutest thing you've ever seen?!?!

As we walked past the giraffe and then the Zebra, we were remembering the names of the characters in Madagascar. So in this picture, they are yelling at the Zebra, "Marty!"

We caught the elephant during Zoo talk. This particular elephant weighs 15,000 pounds! And I believe he was 45 or 49 years old.

I love the big cats ...

The tiger was asleep on his back with his belly in the air...

Playing on the safari truck - one of their favorite things to do...

Then, while eating lunch, we just happened to run into Luke's best friend from school.

They are like 2 peas in a pod!

Then we rode the carousel ... Luke wanted to ride the crocodile!

The prairie dog - isn't he cute!?

And then finally, the bears were actually awake this time. I think I've only ever seen them sleeping! And I don't think this one was too thrilled that I was taking his picture ....

If you ask Luke, he will tell you his favorite animal at the Zoo was the bear.

It was an enjoyable day - but walking all over the Zoo wore us both out!!!

Luke Loves His Kitties

First of all, I wanted to share these pics of the cats ... I was so excited that they actually sat still for me to photograph them ...

Pumpkin and Comet

Comet and Pogo

All 3 lined up on the stairs.

And this one I love ....

Pumpkin and Woofie -- Luke's 2 favorite animals ....

I walked in and Pumpkin had actually been sleeping on top of Woofie. By the time I grabbed the camera to snap a pic, she sat up. But I still got a good shot!

Luke loves his Pumpkin...

So much, in fact, now he wants to hold her and carry her around ...

I can't believe she lets him pick her up like this. But she is SOOO sweet. She just sits and takes it. I've told him many times that cats have teeth and they will bite you if you continue to pester them. And if it gets to the point where she bites him, I'm going to have to say he probably deserved it!


He made himself a little pallet in the floor and then brought Pumpkin under there with him ...

What a good kitty to sit there and take it...

Then he decides to put her in this mesh bag ... poor kitty.

She still sat there and let him. It was at this point that I made him release her. She needed a break!

Too Cute!

A few funny stories I need to share:

1) This little guy is constantly cracking me up. I believe I have a budding comedian here. Lately, he's all about telling jokes. He'll say to me, "Do you know ducks wear pants?" (Or some other nonsensical statement)... Then crack himself up and say "That's a joke." I'm pretty sure he's forgotten part of the joke. But to watch him laugh at his own joke, now that's pretty funny!

2) The other day, we were sitting at a red light behind a truck. I am patiently waiting for the light to turn green when I hear my little backseat driver yell "Come ON! Let's GO!!" I don't know where on earth he learned that! :)

3) Just this week I had to travel to North Carolina for a business trip. On Thursday morning, I was preparing him for the fact that I wouldn't be at home that night. He asked me where I was going, so I told him. Then he asked 'why' (that famous toddler question) ... I told him that I had meetings to do. He pondered this for a second and then asked "Is it Show and Tell?" ... Well, yeah, Buddy, it really kinda is.


4) This same Thursday morning, I drop him off at school. And told him to give me a big hug because I wouldn't see him til Friday night. So he did. And then as I was walking away, he squeezed his arms and said, "I saved a hug for later." How sweet is that!!

The Snow Is Gone ..

As quickly as it came, it was gone again. And all that was left was part of the snowman that Greg tried to make. (see previous post)

It snowed on Tuesday and by Saturday, it was gorgeous weather - the temp was in the 60s.

We enjoyed playing outside.

He found this leaf and then carried it around everywhere!

Then he found a yellow piece of paper in the yard ...

I hope there are more days like that to come ... I can get used to this!!!

Snow Day!!

Within a few hours of the first snowflakes, there was a good accumulation on the ground. With the temperature below freezing, there was the danger of ice on the road, so schools closed early on Monday, Feb 2nd.
(That can't be a good sign for Spring -- snow on Groundhog Day)! :(



This is what our yard looked like when we got home at 12:30 on Monday...

Luke immediately jumped out of the car so he could throw a snowball...

One cool dude!

Trying to eat the snow ....

The deck ... as you can see, there's a good 2 inches there...

School was closed on Tuesday and again on Wednesday ...

Greg trying to build a snowman ... However, Luke had no interest in helping ....

His only interest was in eating the snow....

After we all froze our patooties off, we came in and got hot cocoa with marshmallows!

Yummy.

And this is the sunset on Tuesday evening... It was prettier in person with all the pinks and purples in the sky.