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 :(

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.

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 :)

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 :)

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?