Fri-YAY

This has been a really long week. I never thought Friday would get here. I'm finally getting around to writing this and now it is almost Saturday. My Friday was pretty amazing! We ended the work week with a great day. The weather was gorgeous here in southeast Arkansas and although tomorrow should be warmer it is going to be another spring like day and I am pumped about getting back outside. Okay, maybe I'm most excited about not having to entertain Jack inside. He can run and play and hopefully crash tomorrow night. A mama has to have dreams, right? So let me get to it.

1// My Secret Pal is AMAZING! Inside this red bag is a bunch of toys like a slinky, playdoh, and a light up stick. She also gifted me this yummy mocha which was very much appreciated. I love having a secret pal to surprise Jack and I with fun things.

Also, inside the bag was this adorable Valentine shirt for Jack. His outfits are now planned for Monday and Tuesday. He'll be wearing this shirt on Monday and this newest shirt on Valentine's Day. 

2// I went with straight today and I kinda like it. I took this picture for the photo challenge I'm participating in. I've started MANY photo challenges and so far I've actually stayed on track with this one. What has helped is the Productive app. The free version lets you track five habits. I've been able to mark complete on each item since I've downloaded the app. Y'all, it's the Powersheets. By the end of 2017 y'all are gonna get sick of me talking about the Powersheets. Sorry in advance.

3// My dad got Jack and my nephew Bennett matching gators for Christmas and they LOVE them. Today was just so gorgeous that after school we let them ride. Trying to get these pictures was lots of work on my end. They don't want to stop. It is super cute when they ride together. What isn't super cute is when Jack runs into stuff on purpose. Y'all he is such a daredevil. He just goes full force into a tree and then laughs. Today I made him stop riding because he just wouldn't stop running into stuff. It is too new to break it just yet. Oh raising a boy!

Tomorrow should be a great day. The weather is going to be gorgeous so I want to spend a lot of time outside. We are going to make heart cookies also. Tomorrow afternoon I'm watching my sister's kids so her and her husband can do an early Valentine's supper. We are going to order pizza and decorate cookies. I'm also going to go ahead and give Jack his Valentine's gift so the boys can play with it outside. 

Happy Weekend!!!

What Happened to the Shoebox?

This week Jack's teacher sent home a note, a cardboard bag, and a big sheet of yellow paper. The note said it was time to make Valentine bags. When I was in school we decorated shoe boxes to put our valentines in. My mom said they made a heart pouch out of paper or paper plates. Well in 2017 they make bags. 

I blame Pinterest and moms like myself. We see cute stuff and we wanna make it for the world to see. Part of it is we love the praise but we also love having a creative outlet. 

When I saw the supplies I actually was really excited to do this project with Jack. They supplied each kid with a cardboard initial. I let him paint it red while I covered the bag in the yellow paper. By the time he finished painting it he had red paint all over himself. 

We used supplies on hand. We had a Dollar Tree wreath hung up that had cute felt hearts all around it. I tore the hearts off to use on his bag. I also cut out construction paper hearts. I let Jack place the hearts on the bag and hold them into place while the glue dried. We kept it fairly simple and we both enjoyed doing this project together. 

I've been making photo books so I've come across previous Valentine pictures. It is so fun looking back at how much he has grown. It is also fun to think about how much I've grown as a mother. 

Jack's first Valentine's Day

Jack looks just like me as a toddler in this picture. 

In 2015 I let Jack have a Valentine's bath and as you can tell he had a blast. I think we will do this again this year. The boy loves a bath and mama loves any time that he is contained. 

When you were in school what did y'all put Valentines in?

Jack is 4!

Today has been a whirlwind, Our life can be so chaotic and I have to just roll with the punches. Before I get into today's events I will need to backup to Saturday.

My friend Brooke and I went to Fayetteville to visit my college friend Betsy and attend the tailgate with her. We went for a little while Friday night and got up early Saturday morning to go to the Farmer's Market. My right side started hurting really bad. I tried to push through and even went to the tailgate but had to Uber back to my friend's house because I was so uncomfortable. I ended up in her bed until we left Sunday morning at seven. The pain never went away so I suffered through until I could make an appointment.

Monday morning at 2:45 am Jack starts throwing up all in the bed that I share with him. He has never gotten sick like a grown up. He has only ever thrown up two other times in his life. I felt so bad for him. He said "Oh Jack! You made a mess". So the first time I saw him on his birthday he was puking onto me. I quickly got us washed up and pulled the sheets. The mattress was disasterous. He was wide awake at that point so I moved to the couch and he played around me.

After about another hour of sleep I get up and dress for work. Jack is still feeling fine so the plan was for him to go to school and me also. I get to work and was able to call later and make an appointment for after lunch.  I won't go into too much of my awful doctor's appointment but I'll say I know nothing more and I hope to hear from the doctor tomorrow.

I got back into town in just enough time to pick up Jack's cake. My mom fixed Jack's favorite homecooked meal-meatloaf, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and corn on the cob. It was chaos when I got home. My mom was cooking and Bennett and Jack were running around crazily with a balloon. They got even more wild when they saw me with cake and presents.

The rest of the evening was just WILD! I had to put up the cake because Jack couldn't stay out of it. Bennett had a meltdown because my mom broke the news to him that they were Jack's presents. Jack ended up opening his big gift while everyone was running around getting things ready. Since he had already opened it I decided to get it out of the package so they could play while we finished things up. The fight was on then because the boys kept screaming to each other "you have to share".

Once the food was ready Jack wouldn't sit down to eat and all I ended up getting in him was some of the corn. Bennett kept flipping out because his food kept touching (his mom was the same way as a child). My niece was screaming because she didn't want to be in her highchair. All the adults were spending their time dealing with meltdowns.

The best part was when we sang Happy Birthday to Jack. He was so excited and loved blowing out the candles. He loved having all of the attention. He couldn't sit still long enough to eat much cake and ice cream. He kept running over to his gifts and taking off the paper. I let go of there being a time to open presents where we were all sitting around.

At 6:45 Jack went and crawled into bed with zero promting and went straight to sleep. I hope he was just exhausted and not really getting sick. If you have been around here long then you know that sleep isn't Jack's thing.

Jack had a great time and loved having a day all about him. Here are a few pictures from today's events.

Christmas in July Gift Exchange

I participated in this years Christmas in July Gift Exchange. Jack and I were paired up with Courtney and Aria over at Sweet Turtle Soup. 

Jack was at daycare when the package arrived so I laid everything out for him for when he came home. When I picked him up I told him he had presents at home. He was very excited and I don't think he believed me until he saw them. 

The first thing he opened was the book Zootopia. He had just watched it for the first time on Saturday so he was familar with it. We read it right away. I'm sure I'll be reading this book many times to come.

The second gift we opened were these really cool bath pipes. I'd never seen them before but I knew he would love them. 

The third gift we opened were these really cool pop molds. We made lemonade popsicles right away. I'm made homemade lemonade earlier so I knew it would be the perfect thing to use for popsicles. They actually froze within a few hours and Jack and I both enjoyed 2 each after supper. 

White the popsicles were doing its thing, Jack wanted to play with his new bath pipes. Typically I don't give Jack his bath until after supper but he was so excited that I gave in. He loved them! I put them in the tub first but he quickly learned how to take them off and put them in different spots. These pipes will be used for a long time to come. 

Cousin Love

Since Jack is an only child I am so thankful for the relationship that Jack has with his cousin Bennett. It works out great that we live next door so Jack pratically has a live in playmate. If we are heading outside I'll call my sister to see if Bennett wants to play too. If I'm going to pick up donuts I'm gonna call them too. We live a little ways out of town so it is nice to call next door and see if I can pick them up something if I'm going up town.

Since it is summer time I'm picking Jack and Bennett up from preschool early and we typically head to get a chocolate shake or sno-cone. They are really enjoying me picking them up. We will then head home and sit outside to enjoy our treats.

Bennett and Jack are like brothers. They fight like brothers and love each other so much. They don't let anyone else even say an unkind word to each other before they are ready to stand their ground for their cousin.

They frequently ask to see the other and if one is doing something fun they are wondering why their cousin isn't there. They have gotten into physical fights a few times but are always quick to make up and be friends again. Often when one has something and the other wants it, they will just hand it over. However, they are quick to run to someone and say "I made a good choice".

My wish is that they always have this bond. Bennett is 18 months older than Jack and within the last year their ages haven't made much of a difference. For the most part they get along well, play together, and look out for each other.

Enjoy ice cream cones

PawPaw found them matching hats

Eating chocolate donuts in bed

These are just a few pictures of these two from the weekend and there are so many more. They spend a lot of time together and it just makes my heart so happy to see them love each other. I'm looking forward to seeing their relationship grow and develop. 

Does your little one have a special bond with another like a sibling, family member, or friend? How do you foster that relationship?

Jack's Summer Bucket List

Jack's Easter Basket

This year I went with books instead of toys because Jack has really shown an interest in books lately. Here are the 4 very boy books I picked for Jack's Easter basket. 

I looked everywhere for Jack's monogrammed basket that I've used in the past. Instead we went with a bluish-green basket that my Mom had on hand. 

Jack was most excited about the chocolate bunny. Mom was most excited about the jelly beans. 

I also picked up this fish. I opened it up last night but I'm missing something and it didn't work. I'm gonna try it again tonight. I guess I will need to read the directions.

At the last minute I stuck in this container of cotton candy. It was a huge hit!

I was babysitting this little cutie while putting together Jack's basket and filling 48 plastic eggs with chocolate. I was so happy she cooperated and let me get those tasks complete. 

The books were a major hit and I'm so glad I chose each one of those. They are all board books, short enough to keep his attention, and have many opportunities for you to make your own sound effects. 

What was your child's favorite item in their Easter basket?

Mothering in the Storm

There are times in parenthood where you feel like you are in a storm. An awful storm with tornadoes and no electricity. Where everything around you seems to be failing and you feel helpless. 

I am in that storm and it stormed all weekend. 

It continued to storm yesterday, hence no Monday post. 

Jack spent the weekend refusing to eat because he only wanted chocolate. He refused to sleep until it was 5 pm and then too late for a nap. Once I did let him sleep he would sleep a few hours and then wake in the night ready to take on the world. He refused to pick up his toys. He dumped a bowl of cereal into the floor because it wasn't chocolate. He would not sit in time out. He stood firm, arms crossed, game face on, shouting no. 

It has been 3 days of this and last night at 2 am there were no signs of it getting better. 

Yesterday I took all candy products and dumped them into a bag and hid them. No more chocolate and no more sugar will be given or seen for the time being. 

When he got home from school yesterday, we skipped the snack and did early supper. He ate, not a lot, but he ate. 

I know this will pass. Mama is just tired. 

In an effort to give both of us a break (being stubborn is very tiresome for a three year old) I decided to let him play outside, even if it was a muddy mess. 

Doesn't this face say it all!

I have to remind myself that this whole growing up isn't easy. He doesn't understand why he can't eat chocolate all day. He doesn't understand why it is important to take care of our toys. He doesn't understand why waking up at 2 am isn't standard. Learning isn't easy and neither is teaching. We'll weather this. He'll learn that Mama isn't giving in and knows what is best and Mama will learn she is stronger than she thinks. 

What Jack's Wearing (Spring 2016)

Today I wanted to share with you several items I've recently purchased for Jack. We have lots of hand me downs from his older cousin Bennett that he will be rocking this spring but I also wanted to add some new items as well. All of these items were either purchased on Amazon or from Old Navy. 

Toddler Holiday Counting Activity

During this Christmas break I wanted to do some holiday learning activities with Jack that were fun. I ran across this activity at The Taylor House.

I had everything on hand to do this activity so that was a great start. 

I put red, green, and white pom poms in a holiday plate. We would pick up a card with a number on it (printable available here). I would have him tell me the number and then I'd tell him that is how many pom poms I needed. Using the tongs was a little tricky because I couldn't find my smaller pair. He finally got the hang of it and really enjoyed picking the pom poms up. 

I'm not sure that he completely understood the concept, which made it an even better learning activity. We will for sure be doing this activity throughout the week.

Gingerbread House with a 3 Year Old

First, I wanted to show you what I did for 15 minutes while my Mom picked up Jack from daycare for me. It was heavenly! Yesterday was the third day in a row where I've watched about 15 minutes of it. Hopefully by Christmas I'll have it watched. #life with a toddler

On to the Gingerbread House fiasco. I will say that it went better than last year. Last year the whole thing wouldn't stay up so it was a big improvement that the thing is still standing. Want to know why it is still standing? I put that thing together before I brought Jack in to "decorate". 

I use the term decorate very loosely because really what happened was I tried to decorate it and Jack kept eating it all off. He wouldn't be so mannerly as to pick it off the house, oh no, he just went up there and licked it straight off. 

I finally got him into "painting" the house using our fingers and the colored icing. If that dang icing wasn't so tasty. He couldn't stay away from it. He then realized that the candy was tasty and starting picking it off the house. 

You can see from this last picture where he just raked his little fingers through the icing and ate my yellow paint. He said two words the entire time we were decorating, "house" and "yummy". I'm gonna have to put the house up high or he'll eat it after it has been sitting out. The boy loves his icing. Eventually, I had to pull him away and put him in the bath. I was scared the child was gonna eat sick from all the icing. 

I did have to suffer with a sugar high kid for way too long last night and then two am rolled around and he was ready to par-ty. Too bad Mama was not. We are still working on sleep issues. Toddlers!

We Saw Santa

We made our annual pilgrimage to the mall to see Santa. As we drove I showed Jack pictures of Santa and explained that we were going to see Santa. We get inside and the whole Santa Village area trumped Santa. There were balloons people. Balloons are more important than anything. The best I could get him to do is stand beside Santa. I'll take it and my $15 dollar picture. The mall did good this year. He looks like Santa. We have seen some scary looking Santas in the past.

I also wanted to show a more colorful version of our tree this year. I love (and I mean truly love) all of these ornaments. They have meaning and usually a story behind them. My sister and I have been exchanging ornaments for around 15 years so 30 of the ornaments are from that exchange. 

Tomorrow, two of my friends and I are heading north to spend the night in Little Rock. Last year we went to St. Louis, but with money being tight, we are keeping our girls trip a lot more low key. We are going to do a little shopping and probably a lot of eating. The laughs will be a plenty and I'm so looking forward to a night out. Mama needs it!

Have a great weekend!