welcome to the mud pie kitchen

Liam and I scored our first big garage sale find on Saturday morning--a three-dollar play kitchen.

I'm always a little worried about moving toys outside. I think it's my hoarder tendencies, like I want Liam to share the joy of this garage sale kitchen with future generations. At the same time, we don't have a dedicated play room in our house and Liam loves to play outside, so I am liking the idea of creating space for him outside. It survived its first major thunderstorm (hence the mud and muck around the oven), but in general, it held up fairly well. 

That mud pie sign was a two-minute project made with a piece of scrap wood and a Sharpie. I'm thinking of hanging it on the fence and adding a chalkboard if possible.

Between the water table from last summer, his new sand box, tractors, and this kitchen, I think we're going to be spending a lot of time outside this summer.

we all scream for ice cream

On Saturday morning, Liam woke up asking to "Go see, Dramma Taren," so I offered the next best thing I could think of. We decided to take advantage the last bit of sunshine before the rain set in for the rest of the weekend, put on Liam's ice cream shirt (because we're into themed outfits these days), and drove to a little drive-in off the highway to a nearby town. Let's be honest, that banana split was good, but not nearly as good as getting to see Grandma Karen.

date day

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned this on the blog, but Craig recently moved to a different lodge that's managed by the same company that he's been with for the past three years. It's a bigger lodge, which means more responsibilities and more time spent at work. It's been tough on all of us. Last week when Mae told me she'd be taking a few days off to go to her granddaughter's graduation from veterinary school, I was calm and cool on the outside, "Don't worry about us, Mae. You need to be at her graduation"(which I truly believe), but on the inside, I was thinking, "You couldn't have picked a worse time."

Fortunately, thanks to some helpful friends and coworkers, we only had to take a few hours off from work between the two of us. Liam spent Friday morning shopping for a new dinosaur with Craig and going out for "pizza pizza," and that afternoon, we checked out Dinosaur Park.

 

 

It's kind of funny to look back at this post from just under a year ago and think about how much Liam has changed since then. He was really excited about visiting the dinosaurs this time around, climbing on tails, saying things like "Dat Buddy? Ride choo choo?" (we had just been discussing how the orange T-Rex he bought with his dad that morning kind of looked like Buddy from Dinosaur Train), and singing, "Baaaby din-saurs" to the tune of "Somebody that I Used to Know" when it came over the speaker system at Office Max later that afternoon. 

 

P.S. My thoughts go out to all of the mamas and papas in OKC tonight.

colorful stories

 

Please Note: This post was inspired by the color day posts on DesignSponge and the particularly colorful outfit I wore to work today. The yellow striped shirt and cobalt blue pants led to a "You look bright today" from more than one of my students.

 

+ A Ferret in a Garret -- This interesting tale, first written by Peter Hoffman when he was in fifth grade, attributes Jackson Pollack's inspiration to a ferret sneaking into his garret.

 

+ Dream -- This book, which explores various stages of life through colors, has a great message. I occasionally use it as a break from our regular classroom routine to discuss goal setting, and while I was a little nervous the first time I used it, it turned out to be something that my students really enjoy.

 

+Green -- I was first introduced to Laura Vaccaro Seeger when Liam and I checked out First, The Egg last spring. This is another great book, and the cutouts always amaze me.

 

+Press Here -- I had heard great things about this interactive book, and I was really excited to be the first family to check it out from our library. For whatever reason, Liam wasn't really into it. Who knows, maybe another day he'll decide it's a great book.

 

Other color-related books I'd love to check out include: One, The Dot, and this Pantone board book looks really fun.



on the farm

The night of Liam's birthday, my dad and mom called to wish him a happy birthday. When we were getting ready to hang up, my dad said, "I'll see you in a few days, buddy." As soon as we hung up, Liam started asking for his tractor jacket (a John Deere jacket my dad got him for Christmas), which we had to wash because it's one of his favorites and he wears it all the time.

When my dad offered to take Liam along to ride in his tractor the morning of Liam's birthday party, I had to let him ride along. Liam loves tractors, and he's been even more obsessed in the past week, saying things like "My John Deere!" and "Nothing runs like a Deere." As one of my coworkers said, I might just raise a farm boy yet.

the Saturday before Mother's Day

On the Saturday before Mother's Day, we laid in the hammock and soaked up some sunshine and rode John Deere tractors and played in the sand (I think it's safe to say that 200 lbs. of sand was somewhat excessive for the Little Tikes sand box, but at least we've got extra to replace the 10 lbs. that have already been scattered around the lawn.)

 

 

We listened to this song and I thought a little about this post. (Does Ronnie James Dio count as great music? Because Liam's loved Rainbow in the Dark since he was 6 months old. He also loves Otis Redding. Maybe they cancel each other out.) I watched a few of these inspiring videos, and read a few more chapters in this book. My favorite quote so far is, "I get stumped by the easy test questions--like whether I should let Sam ride his two-wheeler for several blocks without me when I secretly want to run alongside him like a golden retriever."

Cathedral Spires

Then I combatted a nap strike with a drive in the park followed by movie night with popcorn and herbs.

air popped popcorn, basil, garlic butter, and parmesan

a party for the king of all wild things

Last  weekend, Liam and I ventured back to my hometown for a little party to celebrate Liam's second birthday. I tried to keep the party pretty simple, using an old paperback copy of Where the Wild Things Are for decorations. I bought the cupcakes, but made homemade "wild"berry ice cream (it was super easy--just cream, sugar, and some fresh berries).

I had every intention of sending out invitations, but instead sent text messages and made phone calls (sorry family!) and ended up handing out copies of this photo at the party. I also made a few gold crowns, which made for some fun photo ops.

Liam came away from the party with a new summer wardrobe, more John Deere tractors than a boy could dream of, and a bouncing pig (which he loves, who knew?), but more than anything he had a blast spending the party with his grandmas, grandpas, and all of his cousins.