Happy Mother's Day

I love the homemade gifts that come along with being a Mom. Lucas made me 3 cards and a heart vase.

Lucas thinks I am a year younger and several pounds lighter than I am... I really love that kid!

Dear Lucas (5 years 7 months),

It's had to believe that you are now closer to being six than you are to age five. The other night you feel asleep in our bed and when I went to pick you up I couldn't believe how heavy you were and how long your legs were. You are growing like a weed. Standing next to me the top of your head comes to my elbow and you now weigh 40 lbs (you were 36 lbs at the end of July.)

The biggest change around our house has been your Aunt Sam and Caden moving out. The first day you can home from school and they were gone you burst into tears, which is quite ironic since you and Caden ALWAYS FOUGHT! We had a fabulous time while they were here and we'll still seem them all the time. I'm still taking care of Caden while Aunt Sam works, they just won't be sleeping here at night.

This month we also got a new car. Hopefully soon you will be a big brother so we went ahead and bought a car with 4 doors and 5 seats. You were so excited when you first saw the car and started screaming, "I have my own door!!!" The first few times you rode in the car you forgot you had your own door and tried to crawl into the front of the car to get out. You've also already asked, "Hey Mom, when you die can I have your car?" For an only child you are quite worried about what your inheritance will be. If you have it your way you will remain an only child. Your only prayer request during nightly prayers lately is "Dear God, please don't give me a baby brother or sister."

Ever since you turned 5 you've gotten really picky. You might as well be a vegetarian. It is a constant battle to get you to eat meat. The other day I made a roast for dinner and made you try one bite and you started chocking and saying "This tastes like hair! Why are you feeding me hair?" So all you ate for dinner were potatoes and carrots. One night you wanted to eat raw cookie dough for dinner and when I wouldn't let you I was handed a "behavior chart." You explained that if I got two more sad faces I could not be your Mom anymore.

The weather has been so lovely lately that I hate staying in doors. I miss the time before you started school when we would spend tons of time outdoors. You had a day off from school last Friday so we packed a lunch, a blanket, and a few kites and headed to Forsyth. It was so much fun. When it is nice outside I am so tempted to let you play hooky and head to the beach but you are learning so much at school I'd hate for you to miss something. You've become quite the little reader. So I send you off to school and count down the days until St.Patrick's Day and Spring Break and head off on a new adventure.

Last weekend we went to a birthday party for your friends. When we walked up to the house there was a horse in the front yard. You didn't bat an eye as you went into the house. It was like you were used to seeing horses just hanging around in residental areas and it was no big deal. During the party you would run out and ride the horse for a few minutes then run back in the house and play then run back out and ride. I think you rode the horse three times total. You have informed me that you are now a real live cowboy.

Sweet-pea, I love you to the moon and back,

Mommy

A Boy and His Pirate Ship

"New" Crayons

(Thanks for the idea Charity!)

"Mommy, I drew a picture of you!"

Proud Mama

Lucas has been really into drawing lately so I just happened to pick up his sketchpad and flip through it. I found pictures of Bob & Larry, people, and different letters. I was really tickled to find letters since I've never really worked with him on his writing (I tried a few months ago, but he wasn't into it.) I wrote Lucas' name on a piece of paper and asked if he could copy it... and he did, pretty easily. I was impressed and now I have his very first autograph. He has also been spelling words he knows to us lately like "pop" and "cat." It is all thanks to his Leapster.

Picture That

In my never ending quest to keep Lucas entertained I finally decided to try making a picture grocery list. (No, the first picture is NOT an orange, it is a tortilla.) Lucas was quite intrigued by carrying a list around the grocery store to find the food he was supposed to put in his cart. It made it into a kind of grocery store scavenger hunt. I made sure to also hand him a pen so he could cross off each item as he put it in his cart. After all, what good is a list if you can't have the satisfaction of crossing things off?

Still Crazy Haired

Lucas' self portrait.

Dear Lucas (46 Months),

One of my first thoughts this morning was, "Oh my gosh! My baby is going to be 4 years old in just two months!" You of course wish your birthday was tomorrow. You mention your birthday at least once a day. Months ago you asked for a Race Car themed birthday party so I that was what I started planning. Now you keep flipping back and forth between that and a train party. I'm sure when it comes down to it you won't care what the theme is just that there is a cake there with candles that you get to blow out.

Speaking of trains you used to be so obsessed with them and they were all you talk about. You actually haven't played with any of your train sets lately. Also, we haven't been able to make it to the Roundhouse in the last month. Either we have been watching your Grandma or your friends or it has been raining... FOR A WEEK STRAIGHT! Lately your favorite toys are your Hot Wheels (which you call "beat that cars") and your kinex. For some reason you always seem to want to make guns out of them and pretend to shoot your parents. NICE! Should we be worried? I guess that isn't entirely fair. You also use them to make "L" and "H" for your initials. Today I suggested we make something out of the book that came with your kinex and we made a dog.

Another one of your favorite things to do is what you call "paper cutting." This basically involves you taking a piece of paper and cutting it into as many small pieces as you can possibly cut and spreading them ALL OVER THE LIVING ROOM FLOOR. The next part of the game includes me telling you to pick them up and then you usually fall limp on the floor and say something like "I can't do it, they are too heavy" or "I don't see them." Then I threaten or count to three and then you pick them up. There is the extra special "time out" bonus round to this game when you refuse to cooperate which make the game extra fun, especially when you are yelling "but I want to behave now." Since this game is OVER played at our house I decided to be brave and bring out the glue sticks again (after explaining that we DO NOT glue paper to the walls again) and let you glue things to paper. You seemed to like this new game. YAY!

Since it has been raining so much here lately you haven't gotten to go outside much in the last week and your sandbox has been sitting covered up all this time. The sandbox is a HUGE lifesaver. I am able to get quite a lot done around the house while you play in the sand to your hearts content. I am able to see you out of every window on the front of the house. I don't take my eyes off you. If for some reason I have to look away for a second or two my heart starts pounding and I obsessively check to make sure you are still in the sandbox. You know that you either stay IN THE SANDBOX or come inside. I am a pretty laid back Mom (at least I think so) but for some reason I have this fear of you being snatched. You want to climb and jump off something high? Fine! Want to play in the mud? Go for it! Want to go somewhere I can't see you? I'm freaking out inside. Hopefully one day soon we will have a fenced in yard so I can relax... just a little bit.

On Monday we started potty training AGAIN! You haven't left the house since then and so far you seem to be going along with it (except for the one time when I suggested you go try to potty yesterday and you told me "I hate you! Next Mother's Day I am NOT going to be nice to you.") I have to prompt you to go to the bathroom every thirty minutes to an hour. It sucks! Especially since last time you would go all on your own when you had the urge. When I ask you to go potty you always end up having to go and you are so proud that you went in the potty. We still are required by you to say "YAY LUCAS." So since Monday it has pretty much been you, me, and the potty and IT SUCKS. (Your Grandma Valeri is probably shaking her head right now because of how much I have said "sucks" in this paragraph... but yeah potty training REALLY DOES SUCK!) On the plus side you are told me "underwears are for the daytime and pull ups are just for sleeping." So I guess that is a step in the right direction.

You are getting WAY to smart for your own good. Since it has been staying lighter outside later at night you tried to argue that it wasn't bedtime because it wasn't dark outside. Well one night your Dad explained to you that your bedtime is 8:00 and that when you see an 8 on the clock no matter what it looks like outside it is bedtime. Well the other night you were SUPER tired so we tried to but you to bed a little early.... and by early I mean 7:45. You happened to look at the clock and you stubbornly said, "It is NOT my bedtime. It is still 7 and I go to bed at 8." I'm pretty sure we are going to be screwed when you learn how to read.

Bedtime is one of my favorite times of the day, not because you are finally going to bed and I get a little piece and quiet (okay I'll be honest here and admit that is one GREAT thing about bedtime) but because it is when we read together and we talk about your day. Right before bed you always pick out a few books that you want to read together and set them on your bed. You always pick different stories each night and will usually humor me by skipping any books that are REALLY LONG. I love that you enjoy books so much. One of the first things I did when I became pregnant was start buying you books and for every birthday we buy you a special book and write inside. I have already bought your book for your 4th birthday but you have to wait 2 months for us to read it. After bedtime stories sometimes we sing a song, usually "Zacchaeus" at your request and we always finish with prayers.

Sweet Pea, I love you to the moon and back,

Mama

Chalk & Nemo in the Park

Saturday evening we met up with some friends and went to check out the art in the park from the Sidewalk festival. It was AMAZING! We also enjoyed a picnic dinner (our second picnic of the day) and then watched "Finding Nemo." Lucas was WORN out from such a fun day and ended up passing on my lap after the movie started.

More Pictures Here

Happy Birthday Papa!

My Dad's birthday was on the 22nd and we helped him celebrate last night.

Lucas wanted to paint him a picture so he picked out one with a birthday theme. When he was finished painting he asked me to help write "Happy Birthday" on it and sign his name.

Glue Sticks & Honey Bears

In the living room we now have random pieces of construction paper glued to the walls. I am wondering why I ever thought it would be a good idea to give Lucas a craft box with safety scissors, water colors, and glue sticks.

Although, even if he didn't have any glue he could still find a way to get things sticky. For example take our utensil drawer, which mysteriously had a whole plastic honey bear jar dumped inside completely covering the forks.

Our Fridge Gallery

Today we added two new works of art to our fridge. On the left is from yesterday at church and it is Zacchaeus high up in his tree. The story of the wee little man is his favorite bible story and could explain why he always wants to be tiny and not grow any bigger. On the right is the turkey we made today at playgroup. It's made from tracing the hands of Curt, me, and Lucas.

Homemade Birthday Decorations

Lucas' birthday is less than a week away and I've been spending the last few evenings making a homemade pinata. Tonight when I got tired of waiting for the pinata to dry I started making a "Happy Birthday" sign. I originally planned on making the sign into "Pin the Horn on the Triceratops" but I decided against it at the last minute. I forgot how much fun it is playing with Elmer's glue and Crayola markers.

Curt's Father's Day "Craps"

Lucas was very excited to give his Daddy the special arts and "craps" project he made on Tuesday. We ended up painting it last night. Curt LOVED it!

Then at Church, Lucas made him a special butterfly picture using his hands and feet.

Lucas and I also made Curt a "Greatest Daddy" certificate that Lucas even signed. While he was "writing his name" he kept yelling out random letters. He spells his name a lot different then we go. I thought it was cute how he used straight little lines to "sign his name." (The certificate got a little messed up by the rain) We also made a "Greatest Papa" certificate for my Dad.

Curt REALLY loved everything. It was so sweet to see him get so excited by all the handmade gifts.

Shhh... Don't Tell My Daddy

Today one of the Moms in our playgroup hosted a craft meet-up. Lucas had fun making his Daddy a "crap" for Father's Day.

Wish He'd Find a New Way to Express Himself

Maybe I should change the title of my blog to "look what Lucas got into today." I'm sure a few people have been reading and thinking to themselves "wow, they must never watch their kid!" If you are one of those people, I challenge you to hang out with Lucas for a day and see just how smart and sneaky an almost 3 year old boy really can be.

I think we are going to be getting rid of all Sharpie permanent markers because no matter where we put them up or try to hid them Lucas finds them and uses them to decorate things (his legs, our TV screen, computer desk... it would be shorter to list what he has NOT colored on YET!) Today Lucas also got into my brand new mascara. He put it in his hair, on his face, on our sheets, and then closed the tube up and put it back where he found it. I guess he thought that if he put it back where he got it from we would never find out. I'll be so glad when this phase is over... This phase does end... RIGHT!?!?!

Also, in case you wanted to know THIS is a great product to use to remove waterproof mascara from faces, hands, and hair.

Painted Pots

*And yes for the record my son is wearing the same shirt he wore yesterday afternoon, but he's got nothing on this kid.