Bounce Bounce.

Zack would not get near a bounce house to save his life. A few weeks ago I bought one of those cheap Little Tykes versions to hopefully get him used to them. He has gotten in his a few times but it is only when he is asked. Give that child a bed to jump on and he is like the energizer bunny, he goes non stop. I just don't get it.

Last week we went to a family night in the park and Zack would not go anywhere near the bounce houses they had. So I was reluctant to ask him if he wanted to attend a birthday party for a friend of ours.
When we finally did ask him, his response was a flat out "NO". It took several days of talking with him, guaranteeing him that if he did not want to bounce that was fine before he finally said he would go.

When we arrived he was busy visiting with everyone and when we were brought into the room where the bounce houses and slides were he was hesitant. He looked around a bit then headed over to put his shoes back on. The guy working the place kind enough to ask Zack if he wanted to go into the bounce house with him. He did and after a while he was getting the hang of it. Then Kris got in with him and played with him and showed him how to climb to get up on the slide.

By the time the party was over he was asking if we could come back here sometime. Yeah for success!

Kris trying to coax Zack in while Zack is telling the attendant it is scary in there.

Here he is coming down the mid sized slide by himself.

Kris and Zack coming down the big slide.
(I would show you the one of Zack and I coming down this slide but it is really blurry).



And who looks like they are having more fun the big kids or the little kids?

Messy Boy

This post is for Grandpa Bob. Why Grandpa Bob you ask?

Well...

Zack just happened to ask him for Jello Pudding Pops and the last time Grandpa came out for a visit he just happen to bring a box with him.

This is the what happens when a child really gets into eating his precious pops that Grandpa brought just for him!

Fresh Veggies.

Our garden is having its ups and downs here lately. I just don't get it. We have one raised bed and then one we just planted some stuff in the ground. Honestly we did not expect anything to grow in the ground because we don't actually have dirt here. No in our little corner of the world we have that nasty red clay. If you are not familiar with red clay let me just say this stuff is as hard as a rock and once you get it on anything it stains. Yes my poor little man has stained feet and yes I do scrub him but this stuff does not come out. Get it on your clothes and you can forget about every getting them clean again.

Getting back on track with the garden.

We planted tomato plants. They are all doing well, still not ready to pick yet but they are getting there.

My poor pepper plants (in the raised bed) are just not doing well at all. I have one pepper that is not nearly growing like it should.

My peas are dying off but I was able to pick many pods off for dinner tonight.

My green beans are still holding on but not quite ready to pick yet.

The onions are doing alright but again not even close to picking time yet.

The summer squash has been eaten and we have given some away. Everyone said it was good. I tried my hardest to choke a piece down when I grilled some up last weekend but I just could not get it down.

I picked some lettuce tonight for our salads and my goodness that was some tart stuff! We ate it anyway.

The cantaloupe is just taking over everything. It feels like every day I am having to untangle it from where ever it has crept over night. On a good note we do have two small ones growing and several buds that are getting ready to grow. Zack is waiting patiently for them to grow he loves cantaloupe.

Let me conclude this with a piece of advice for any parent that has a little one who dislikes/hates peas. Plant a few pea plants and let them taste then straight from the garden. Zack stood there in the garden tonight asking for more. They were nice and sweet so I just cut them up and put them in our salads.

The Greeter.

Last night after Kris came home from golfing Zack wanted to go for a walk so we said alright. I think the kid is trying to tell us we need more exercise.

No sooner did we step foot outside and Zack spots the neighbors standing across the street chatting. He starts yelling hello, by the time we made it across the street the little kids were all practically hugging each other! Like they haven't seen each other in years! I guess a whole 24 hours can seem like years to a child.

A few minutes later one of the neighbors asked if Zack is going to be a politician. Apparently Zack just walked up to him, shook his hand and said "nice to meet you". So I am thinking he is either going into politics OR he will become the Wal-Mart greeter!

He's weird.

Last night when David, Lilly and Indigo were leaving to go home after having a cook out here at the house. We walked them out to the car and said our goodbyes.
Zack being the nut he is yells out to them "Go down the street make a left and a right and follow your map to get home".

You just never know what will come out of that childs mouth.

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After Kris gave Zack a bath last night we did our nightly ritual of laying on the floor and reading a book. Zack said prayers and climbed into bed. I put a small blanket on him and kissed him goodnight. Thirty minutes later I hear him in there whining and I go check on him. He tells me "Mommy this blanket is just not right". I straightened it out again and cover him with it again.

Another 30 minutes go by and Kris is about ready to go to bed so he goes in to check Zack and the kid is still wide awake! He starts whining to Kris that the blanket is just not right. He wanted the big blanket. Kris comes out tells me to check on him soon and change blankets when Zack is finally asleep.

Five minutes later I checked on him. He was sound asleep under a heavy Afghan! Doesn't he know how hot it is? Doesn't he care he just had a bath and will now be sweating his buns off?

He has some kind of weird thing going on with blankets. They need to be in just the right position for him to fall asleep and by gosh don't even think about letting one of his feet be hanging out.

Watch what you say.

I failed to think like a child yesterday. After Zack was finished eating his lunch I told him it was nap time so he needed to go in and go potty and wash his hands.

While he was doing that I went in and changed to decent clothes to go to my dentist appointment.
When he saw my clothes he looked confused.

I told that I was putting him down for a nap then I had to go to the dentist.

A very concerned look appeared on his face and he held his hands up and said "I not have a mommy or daddy to watch me?" I quickly told him Daddy would be home Then I would leave while he was sleeping. Poor kid looked like he wanted to cry at the thought of being alone.

I guess I need to pay a bit more attention to what I say and don't say. I sometimes forget he takes things differently that I meant them.

Oh yeah and the good news "No cavities"!

A day in the life.

Not too much been happening the past few days. Zack and I have been home the whole time except for a quick trip to the grocery store yesterday.

I was going to take him to the Children's Museum yesterday but when he woke up it was quite obvious he was not really ready to be up. So we played camp out on his bedroom floor for quite a while. Nothing like pretending it is raining and we need to cover up real fast but I tell you those pretend s'mores were delish!

After breakfast my little handy man helped me to build a shoe rack. He is just so good at screwing in the screws, I couldn't help but 'need' his big strong muscles.

Later on in the day he built a huge train track on his playroom floor. I helped a bit but for the most part he built it himself. He was having a grand time playing with that. He couldn't wait to show Kris the second he walked in the door from work.

More of the same happening today except it is my turn to go to the dentist. Oh fun!

Dentist Visit.

Zack had his first visit to the dentist yesterday..

I was really dreading it. I had been trying for weeks to play it up like it was a special treat but in my head I just knew it would be trouble.

He woke up in the morning in an awful mood. Not a good way to start the new day at all. I tried to give him a lot of extra attention so that the mood would turn around, it did for the most part.

We headed off to the dentist he was doing just fine. When we walked into the waiting area he was just so comfortable he was telling a waiting parent he was going to see the dentist, then he played. Once they called his name he took my hand and started walking back. I let go of his hand in the hallway and he grabbed the hand of the hygienist. Got right up in the chair and asked her question after question, told her all about his trains at home and how he was saving his money to buy more.

Thankfully before she did anything she took the time to explain things to him. Right before she started, he looked at me and said "Mommy I sit in your lap". So we obliged. He sat in my lap but leaned back on to hers and opened his mouth wide like I taught him. He was fine, until she put the toothpaste in his mouth. He didn't like the taste. The hygienist cleaned a few teeth then wiped off those teeth before moving to new ones to make it easier on him. He whined a little but did well.

Once the hygienist was finished she told him the doc would be in shortly to count his teeth. When we were waiting for the dentist Zack asked me where the boy dentist was. LOL

When he came in the room he explained everything he was doing to Zack. They even did the alphabet together as the dentist was checking his teeth. He did brush on a vitamin directly to Zacks teeth. I am happy to report no cavities, no problems.

As we were walking across the parking lot my ever so brave little boy said "Mommy I didn't like what the dentist did to my mouf!" He really hated the taste of that vitamin stuff and let me know it for the next hour and a half. LOL

He was thrilled with his bag of goodies though, a new toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, an inflatable ball, a sticker and a new decoration for his crocs.

The creamery

We went on a trip to the local creamery today with a mommies group I am a member of. I had no clue what to expect but figured it might be a fun thing to take the kids to.

When we arrived Zack and K (the little one I babysit for) ran off to see what this place was all about. First they spotted the chickens in a coop. They both stood there amazed at those creatures. I don't think either one had a clue those creatures are some of their favorite lunches!

Then they spotted the turkeys in the pen and they were gone. By the time I got over there they were already headed over to the calf. There were lots of giggles coming from all the kids standing around the pen which housed the calf, until that feisty little bovine kicked her legs splattering mud on the kids. Then they scattered.


Once everyone was ready we were taken on a hay ride. I think we would have enjoyed this if we were not crammed in. The tour guide spoke so softly even though I was only 3 feet away from her I barely heard a word she said.

When we arrived back to the farm the kids lined up and were able to bottle feed the calf. Zack really enjoyed doing that and I know he wished he would have been able to do it longer.



We were also able to see what it is like to hand milk a cow. There was a barrel made to look like a cow which the kids all loved getting under and squeezing as hard as they could to get the "milk" out. Zack went back to that a few times to try.

Unfortunately there was a slight melt down from Zack so we did not get to go into the actual barn to see the cows being milked.

The melt down stopped cold when he heard some little boy ask his mom when they were going to bring some ice cream out.

The ice cream was yummy! Some of the best I have ever eaten. Zack gobbled all his up and ate half of mine! I would have loved to buy some of the milk from there but we were not going straight home. At least now I know where I can get fresh milk and ice cream :)

Wordless Wednesday

The Moth Whisperer

The mornings

First let me just say... I am tired!

I just do not for the life of me understand how this child of mine can function. He has been going to bed late every night for the past week or so and yet everyone of those days that he has gone to bed late he has woken up at least and hour earlier than normal. This morning it was actually and hour and a half earlier than normal.

Doesn't he know mom is tired?

Doesn't he know mom needs her time at night to wind down?

Doesn't he know that mom is not a bright eyed person in the mornings?

He gets up ready to roll no matter how much sleep he's had. Every morning he lays there yelling for me to come get him. I am awaken every morning to the sounds of

"Hello, any body there?"

"Hello, any body?"

"Hello... Echo Echo Echo."

"Mommy, I up."

"Echo, Echo, Echo."

It is such a lovely way to be forced to get out of bed in the morning. NOT

Word of the day

Today we will learn a new word from the Dictionary of Zack.

What do you call those snacks that turn your fingers orange? You know the ones with that mascot Chester.



Cheetos you say? Well you are wrong!

Word: Peritos (Per - ee - tos)

Part of speech: Noun

Definition: A processed cheese flavored snack.

Trademark of Frito-Lay


I am working hard on getting that one corrected before he gets to used to calling them that. lol

Wordless Wednesday.

"Lunch was good Mom"

Mental Torture at its finest.

The other day I had to take my truck to be fixed...again.

Kris took it to one place, they said it was not something they could fix so he took it to another place. They said it was not something they could fix but gave him the number some someone they recommend.

When we went to take it to this guy, I had no idea where it was so I followed Kris. And I followed and followed and followed. I kid you not, I didn't think we were ever going to get there. When we finally got to our destination I had to get the kids out of the car seats, remove the car seats from my truck and get them into Kris car. Not an easy task getting 2 big bulky car seats in the back seat of a small car.
On the ride back to dropping Kris off at work, he decides to get the kids in a knock knock joke marathon. It lasted the entire time we were in the car. Now this would not normally be so bad but the little girl I babysit for now tells the same 'joke' (and I use that word loosely) over and over again. After hearing it for 20 times I was getting slightly annoyed. We dropped Kris off and headed home. The joke (s) continued.

By the time we reached the house I had a pounding headache. Hmm I wonder why.

Seven hours later, Kris calls and says it is ready come pick me up.
I get the kids in the car and we head out to pick Kris up. No sooner did we get out of the driveway and the same joke marathon started again!

I wonder if I will ever stop hearing that non-joke again. It continues to play over and over in my brain. It is like a form of mental torture. I do not like preventing the kids creativity but I don't think I can ever listen to that particular joke again.

The garden

We have some signs of success in the garden. I am thrilled. We are not using any chemicals of any kind so I am thrilled we have something happening.

I did not get a picture but the lettuce we put directly into the ground is taking shape but the ones we put into a raised bed did not make it. The peas are nearly to the point of having to be tied up (but no buds yet). The onions and squash appear to be doing well but the cantaloupe it just kind of hanging out waiting to make its move.

This is one of the tomato plants that I have in containers. We are trying some in containers and some in the garden to see which we have more success with. So far it is the containers.


This is one of the pepper plants, it has 2 buds on it. So with any luck I will be able to have some peppers for some yummy fajitas!

This is some of the green beans starting to take shape. I am not sure how these are going to go over with Zack. (Mr. I hate any green beans that touch my plate.)