Friday, May 7, 2010

May 05, 2010 (125/365)

Put On A Happy Face
How can you not smile when you look at these silly expressions. We were having some fun and I was asking Etienne to show me a happy face, a scared face, an angry face, etc...
My boy loves to goof off and always wants the reaction from you when he does. I fear a class clown is in our future.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

May 04, 2010 (124/365)

Swimming Again Today
Yesterday was our first day to swim in the backyard. Today was a repeat. Why is it that for the past year I had to force him to go to his swim lessons, but put a blow up pool in the yard and I can't keep him out of it?

May 03, 2010 (123/365)

Flip-Flop Flop
So I picked up these cheap flip flops for Etienne to bang around in. Easy on, easy off, you can't go wrong. Ha! Jokes on me! Once they got wet they turned his feet black. I can't believe the amount of time it took me to get the black off of his feet. I'm sure it went on much quicker! The husband's words echo in my head..."you get what you pay for".

May 02, 2010 (122/365)

Dinner in the Driveway
Sometimes it's just not worth the fight. Playing outside is so much fun and getting Etienne to come in for dinner can sometimes lead to a major meltdown. This evening I didn't even ask him to come in for dinner. I made him some food and brought it out to him while he was playing in the cul-de-sac.
Happy boy = Happy mommy.

May 01, 2010 (121/365)

Playing With Play Doh
No story, I just like all the bright colors of the Play Doh and tools :)
What a mess this stuff makes!

April 30, 2010 (120/365)

Play Ball!
I'm not too sure what type of ball this is, but it seems to help improve Etienne's hand/eye coordination. It surprises me how well he can hit a little ball with a bat or a paddle or even a stick and I can't hit the broad side of a barn with a canon!

April 29, 2010 (119/365)

Boys, Baths and Bruises
I've come to the realization that these all go hand in hand.
Etienne is all boy. Being that the weather is getting so nice and we are able to spend more time outside, we are up to 2 baths a day. Along with playing outside comes the cuts, scrapes and bruises. Watching him play and abuse his elbows and knees just makes me cringe. It amazes me to see him fall, get up, dust himself off and state "I'm OK!" and continue playing. You are one tough cookie little man!

April 28, 2010 (118/365)

Scrumptious Strawberries
Today we went to pick strawberries. There is a farm about an hour away. We loaded up the car with the essentials...DVDs, drinks, picnic lunch, and our friends Raymond and Donni. We had fun picking. We were given a great tip before we headed out to the fields. The nice red ripe ones like to hide under the leaves. Sure enough...that's where we found the best ones. It really took no time at all to fill our bucket. We headed in and bought some great fresh produce and yummy fried pies and found a picnic table under a great big oak tree to enjoy our lunch.

April 27, 2010 (117/365)

You Wanna Be Captain?
This is such a fun age! Etienne's imagination is growing rapidly and watching him interact and pretend with other children his age is remarkable! Today we met our friend Lilly at the park. Here they are taking a rest from being captains on a ship.

April 26, 2010 (116/365)

Picnic Prayer
We met a new friend today named Daniel. While his mom and I chatted at another table. I heard Etienne ask Daniel if he wanted to have a picnic. Sure was the reply. With their milk and snack they set up their "picnic" at the next table. Once all set up, I heard Etienne say his mealtime prayer. What an amazing little guy I have!
I snapped this photo with my phone while he was saying his prayer. Notice his hands :)

April 25, 2010 (115/365)

Pop Is Smiling In Heaven!
Etienne absolutely LOVES to play with play food, dishes, pots and pans. Anything cooking related grabs his attention. My dad was a chef and I think growing up, my lack of enthusiasm for cooking was probably a big disappointment for him. Add being a vegetarian and I was a lost cause. I remember him always referring to my meatless dishes as fu-fu (tofu). As I watch Etienne "cook" I can't help but to smile and think of my dad. I know he's up there smiling down on us.

April 24, 2010 (114/365)

Fun, Friends and Feasting
What a fun day with friends! The kids had a blast running, riding bikes and playing. The adults enjoyed beer, mud bugs, great company and some yummy dessert. Thanks friends for such an enjoyable Saturday afternoon!

April 23, 2010 (113/365)

The Naked Chef
What is it with little boys and loving to be naked? Fresh out of the shower or bath Etienne runs around like a maniac. If we have nothing to do or no place to go, I usually let him remain au naturel. Recently he received a cooking set. He loves to cook and serve dinner to us. It's so cute how he'll ask to take your order, go and cook it, and bring it back and serve it to you with a polite "enjoy" and a smile. Today Chef Etienne was serving up a lot of hugs with our orders.

April 22, 2010 (112/365)

What Goes Great With Ceramics?
Friends and Wine of course!
What a great night ladies! Thanks for a much needed night out with the girls! I can't believe how fast I found the bottom of my bottle of wine :)

April 21, 2010 (111/365)

Ant Farmer
I picked this little ting up at Target in the Dollar Spot. We got many of hours of fun from this little dollar treasure! The hardest part was trying to catch the ants without getting bit. They weren't too happy about being held captive, but it only took them a couple of hours to warm up and start digging their tunnels.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

April 20, 2010 (110/365)

These Shoes Were Made For Playing
A child reminds us that playtime is an essential part of our daily routine.
-- Anonymous


April 19, 2010 (109/365)

The 3 M's
Mr. Lion, Monte and My Boy
A new part of our night time routine is tucking in Mr. Lion and Monte before I tuck in My Boy. These three are becoming inseparable. They are with each other when they go to bed and they are together in the morning when they come downstairs. I find it funny that as a baby Etienne never had a "security blanket" and now all of a sudden he has this attachment to these two stuffed animals. They are starting to venture out of the house with us. To the stores, to visit Nana, even swim. Most of the time I can convince him to leave them in the car, but they have both been to Target more than once :)

April 18, 2010 (108/365)

Time for a Haircut
The boys had their haircut today. We are so fortunate to have a little guy who doesn't mind having his hair cut. He sits so still. It doesn't hurt that they have televisions on playing some type of sports program. Today it was racing and it was showing a bunch of crashes. He wouldn't take his eyes off the television. "Mommy, look at that crash! Look at that one! There's another crash, mommy!"

April 17, 2010 (107/365)

Look...It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Super Dad!
What a great Saturday! When there are no plans and nothing to do, Daddy can come up with some of the most enjoyable outings. Today when daddy got home from work we felt like getting out and doing something. Daddy knew exactly what to do. We headed out to a local car show. Etienne had a great time looking at all the "race cars". We had a quick lunch and headed out to a small local airport, parked on the side of the road and watched some planes land and take off. Etienne loves planes and to see them up close made him one happy boy. Seeing daddy and son enjoying the planes and each other made me one happy mommy.
My Cup Runneth Over!
♥ ♥ ♥

April 16, 2010 (106/365)

I Got Nothing
This is what my camera saw today...the back side of a lens cap. I can't believe I didn't take one photograph today :(

Friday, April 16, 2010

April 15, 2010 (105/365)

This is for the Birds
We were in the craft store the other day and Etienne spotted the birdhouses and wanted one to paint. I think it will be the perfect addition to our yard. I'll post a photo of the finished masterpiece when we find the perfect place for it.

April 14, 2010 (104/365)

Exploring Sound
Etienne went to a great playdate today. He was able to bang on all kinds of things to hear the different sounds they made. The host made a genius game of matching sounds. Little black canisters that the children could shake and find the matching canister with the same sound. She also explained to the children what it was to be deaf and taught them some signs for different animals. I thought Etienne wasn't paying attention and wouldn't retain it, but he was able to show daddy some of the signs he learned later that evening.

April 13, 2010 (103/365)

Monkey in the Mirror
We were outside enjoying the evening weather. Louis was working on his bicycle tires, I was chatting with a neighbor. When I glanced over to see what Etienne was doing (he was far too quiet), I found him making faces at himself in the bumper of the truck.

April 12, 2010 (102/365)

Orange Tree Blooms
More spring stuff :)
This is a tree we brought home last year. I think if had 2 oranges on it, but we plucked them off under direction of the person we bought it from. She told us that the first few years you shouldn't let the fruit mature. It would help the tree in future years to produce better and more fruit. With looking at it this year and all the blooms turning into little baby oranges, I'm going to have a hard time plucking them off. Before doing so, I think I'll do some research.

April 11, 2010 (101/365)

Pine Tree Crosses
I love this time of year. Everything is in full bloom. April's rains feed the plants and trees and brown turns to green. I'm not particularly fond of pine trees, but this time of year has me fascinated as the tips sprout and grow up to heaven in the shapes of a cross.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

April 10, 2010 (100/365)

What A Mess!
Etienne just wouldn't take a nap today. I heard him moving around on the monitor for about an hour and a half. When I went up to tell him it was time to settle down and take a nap this is what I found. The white styrofoam pieces are from one of his stuffed animals all over him, his bed and the floor. He was all smiles and quite proud of himself. He was getting mommy's angry eyes, but he didn't seem to mind. He still couldn't mask the smile. After I cleaned up the mess, he thought he was going to get to stay up. Ha! I put him back in bed. He asked for his stuffed animals back. He was lucky to get his pillow and blanket.

April 09, 2010 (099/365)

Go Fly A Kite
That's exactly what we did today with a few friends. It was a beautiful day to spend at the park. Etienne hit the wet slides before the kite was assembled and if you look closely, his bottom is completely soaked. Sad thing is, it was completely dry when he had an accident. He is doing really well with the whole potty training, but has a bit of a problem when it comes to having to stop playing to take care of business. We were having such fun, but the only way I can think to stress the importance to stop and potty while playing is when he chooses not to, we have to stop playing all together :(

April 08, 2010 (098/365)

Bulls Eye!
Smack dab right in the middle of my life!
Smack dab right in the middle of my heart!

April 07, 2010 (097/365)

Now That's a Big Toe!
I had a little problem with my big toe. I went to the podiatrist today, be numbed it up and took care of my little problem. The numbness wore off about 12 hours later (2 a.m.), and the big toe was angry! Woke me out of a sound sleep and all I wanted to do was cry. Here I am, three days later and the big toe is still not happy. It's bright reddish purple and looks like it just wants to burst open. At least I can get some relief if I sit with it up and take more Advil than I have ever ingested. This has been a definite case of it has to get worse before it gets better.

April 06, 2010 (096/365)

Ball Meets Car Tire
When we were backing out of the garage this morning to go to swim class, we heard a very loud pop. Upon further inspection this is what I found. A basketball has no chance when up against a moving car. I'm thankful that it was just the ball and not something like his bike. I'm pretty sure the lesson about leaving toys behind mommy's car didn't sink in. Since the incident Etienne has told everybody that mommy popped his LSU basketball. Yup...always the fault of somebody else.

April 05, 2010 (095/365)

Lucky Ladybug
We found this little lady in the house today. She got to spend a little time in Etienne's bug barn. We looked at her with the magnifying glass and counted her dots. Etienne wanted to feed her yogurt and rice cakes, but I thought it would be best to let her go and find her own food.

April 04, 2010 (094/365)

Cascarones
(Confetti Eggs)
Our neighbor's mom made these for our little guy. Daddy and Etienne had a great time breaking them on each other :)

Saturday, April 3, 2010

April 03, 2010 (093/365)

Coloring Easter Eggs
This is the first year we colored Easter eggs. Once we got passed all the questions, he accepted the tradition and was able to enjoy the simple task of placing the eggs in the colored water. Mommy on the other hand didn't find it so simple. If it wasn't the tidal wave stirring, glass tilting and making a mess, it was dropping the eggs and cracking them. All in all, it wasn't too bad. We were able to keep 10 of the dozen eggs. Looks like we'll be having egg salad sandwiches in a day or two :)

Friday, April 2, 2010

April 02, 2010 (092/365)

"Going to Get the Nana"
These were the words Etienne had been singing all morning. We were going to get the Nana so she could come and visit and spend the Easter weekend with us. On the way there I spotted this field of bluebonnets and knew that on the way back we would have to stop and take some pictures of Etienne and Nana. We ended up getting some really cute pictures, but Nana got roughed up a bit. Etienne needs to learn how to be gentle with his Nana. Although a little brute, he loves his Nana dearly!

April 01, 2010 (091/365)

Triple Threat
When you just can't decide what toy to play with, you may as well take 3 out of he garage. More fun outside today. It was cute watching Etienne go from one to the other then the other, sure to give each one a ride and smiling the whole time. I'm sure glad he doesn't fight the issue of the helmet...yet. Gotta protect that precious little head!

March 31, 2010 (090/365)

Backyard Bubbles
With such great weather lately, we have been able to spend more time outside. Seems like anything that is messy is great fun. Bubbles are soap, right? So when Etienne spills them all over himself I can hose him off and count it as his bath, right?

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

March 30, 2010 (089/365)

The Artist
What a budding little artist we have. Up until just a day or so ago all Etienne could do was scribble. We would get an occasional happy rock (smiley face), sad rock (sad face) or angry rock (you get the gist), but recently he's been drawing cars and trucks. This one is either a race car or monster truck. I can see it. Can you?

March 29, 2010 (088/365)

Thumbs Up
Etienne recently learned the thumbs up sign and knows that it's an indication of a good thing.
Yes indeed. A thumbs up for doughnuts with chocolate and sprinkles. Breakfast of champions. Not really. Just an afternoon snack. Actually, bribery for trying to get him to behave while grocery shopping.