Day With Thomas

We decided to take JMS to the "Day Out With Thomas (the train)" in Lebanon Ohio on Saturday. If you can't tell his expression is nervous excitement.
This is the "real" engine that actually moved the 8 - 1930s passenger cars. Yes...1930s.
Before/After the train ride they had activities for the kids to enjoy. Mini-golf was one of them...is dad or son more excited that he made it in the hole??? They also had those large inflatable jumping tents...to say he loved those would be a huge understatement. :)
And...last thought...who taught this kid to eat pizza?

Growing boy and crochet projects

JMS painting with his water colors and paint brushes (aka Qtips). Mom gave us these to use...I think they were left from the early 80s b/c the paint didn't work too well on the paper, but it sure did stain his hands and our kitchen table. I don't know how she did it without the color wonder and washable crayola products back then.

He was so intense that he water-painted a hole right through the paper...and of course, tells me..."mommy, fix it!" Um...divert attention...distract...move on to another activity! I think I've got this mom thing figured out...for this stage, anyhow.
So...we diverted and decided to focus on our manly man outdoor tasks. Funny...b/c I think I ended up cutting this horribly long grass on this same day. So much for it being a manly activity. See how intense he is...very focused.

And of course...I have to share the fruit of my recent crocheting labors. I made my dad two beanie hats for his upcoming birthday. I can't say he has a future in modeling, but the hats do look good and fit his head. This was the first time I've tried to crochet in a round (in circles for those of you who do not crochet). It turned out...well um, round. :) I think he can pull off the colors pretty well too.

Independent Big Boy

Last night we told JMS to go to bed. Then we tried to go to bed ourselves b/c we were both exhausted. 8:30pm and the whole house is in bed!!! So, we thought...my husband went to check on him about 15 minutes later...he was up, with his bedroom light on, playing! He was told to go to bed. Then, this morning...we got up...and he changed out the dvd in the player and got it started all by himself. Yikes! As they get older the challenges just get better.

Funny Boy

We played on the back porch today; JMS likes to play with buckets of water while we are out there. Today he asked me to pick up one and pour it in the other...I told him that my arms were broken (what is up with me lying to my son?) . He came over and he rubbed my arms in four spots and said, "grease grease" each time. Then he told me that they were all better. How funny is that?

He also told me he was making dirty soup...um, that is a new one Food Network! Watch out, you've got competition.

Circus, Ducks, TV, Apple Pie, and Anniversaries

Happy Anniversary to Will and Laura...married, gosh...5 years? Congratulations!!! Also, Will safely made it home from The National Training Center (NTC) in California, yesterday. For those non-military...NTC is a training center in California's Mohave Desert that allows for mechanized army units (tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and such) to practice maneuvering around together.

I made Tanya's Apple Pie recipe yesterday...it is still to die for! Tanya this pie crust has spoiled me and now I no longer really enjoy eating the pre-made pie crusts by Pillsbury. I'm convinced that it is the two tablespoons of powdered sugar that we add to the dough. Mmm. Four thumbs up from those that devoured the pie last night!

Our television has had spurts of working...if you've been following the blog...JMS did not have any TV on Thursday...3o minutes of Diego on Friday...and we spoiled him with one movie yesterday: Monsters Inc. This is much improved from the endless cartoons he used to get to watch. He is now being more imaginative and telling us that T-rex is coming out of his walls, bugs are chasing him and we have flowers growing in the bathtub. Where does this come from?

On Thursday, we went to the park and we fed the ducks. We saw a duck that was missing a foot...of course JMS tried to chase it...how unfair! And, we fed them two loaves of bread...and then we played on the jungle gyms. It was so HOT! I don't understand why they don't plant trees around the playground. Why, do they make the slides of metal...ok, b/c they're super slick...but also flaming HOT because they don't plant trees at the playground. He had a great time. His cheeks were all red and he was a slimy sweaty mess...I had to convince him we had to go get popsicles...I was worried he'd have heat stroke.

Lastly...yesterday, the Circus was in town again. This year we took the grandparents along...other than being overstimulated...we all enjoyed it! I guess there are three circus tours...so we've seen two of three at this point. This year's show was better than last years show b/c it was more about the performances than Bello the Clown. My favorite was the acrobats that performed on swinging pendulum sticks. My dad liked the 7 motorcycles that drove inside of a giant sphere, yes...SEVEN. Mom liked the clowns that jumped around on pogo shoes (like pogo sticks but on their feet). My husband was impressed with the contortionist putting his feet behind his head and back. JMS...well, just about everything...tigers and motorcycles caught his attention the most. We also got to see the animals after the show. There were tigers, elephants, horses, dogs and pigs out for us to view. When it was time to go JMS asked, "mommy can we see the giraffes?" Sorry kiddo...this isn't the zoo, no giraffes.

Oh...and for those of you that like to read. I just finished The Quickie by James Patterson. This was a great book, despite the title. The book is written in three sections. When I hit the third section I couldn't put it down. We were on our way to dinner Friday night and my husband said, "are you going to leave the book in the car?" ...yeah, it was that good. :)

My Little Fix It Boy

Today, I told JMS that the television was broken (my first mommy white lie...). Then he asked about our second television...I told him it was broken too (my second mommy white lie...) and he went into his toy room and came out with his tools. He's been trying to fix the television(s) all morning, well...between snacks. I just think he's been watching too much television...what was my clue?---when he started asking for certain cartoons by name, and became choosy about which ones he wanted to watch. Um, you are 2! Did you forget?

I think I'll be able to pull this "no tv rule" off until Dada gets home. Then, it will miraculously work. Why...because "Dada fixes stuff."

We took JMS to see the G-Force movie a few weeks ago and something broke in the movie...it was very quiet in the theater and JMS yells, "DADA FIX IT!" We laughed at this!

Warm and Fuzzy

It makes me feel good to know that my old store misses me. :) It means I was doing something right; I think. I had a TM call me across town to tell me she missed our daily conversations about Big Brother and that she found she was talking to other people now, but it wasn't the same. Too funny...think we're addicted to the show?