last week mommy turned 36 & dalton turned 2.5 years old

Last week was oh so busy for dalton and mommy!  And tons of FUN!  Daddy started the weekend off right by letting mommy sleep in until 10:30am on Saturday morning...unheard of for mommy or daddy since dalton came into our lives!  He took Dalton on a tour around town to help keep the house quiet so I could rest...what a guy!  He also helped out even more than he usually does and that was good for mommy and Dalton!  Dalton loves his daddy:)  Church on Sunday was great and Dalton continues to LOVE the church nursery therefore mommy and daddy continue to be able to worship together...also unheard of since Dalton came into our lives!  And we ate Chinese for lunch another favorite for all 3 of us...Dalton loves the BIG FISH in the tank!  We have learned to get a table up close so we don't spend the whole dinner back and forth at the fish tank!  Of course the most popular item on the buffet for Dalton is of course french fries and ketchup...they must have known he was coming!  Oh and the chicken from the sweet & sour chicken...if they had bbq sauce and a toy we would have ourselves a happy meal!  And the ice cream for dessert is always a hit with little guy and daddy too!

Monday...mommy's birthday and Dalton's 1/2 birthday!  We frosted and sprinkled the cupcakes I had made the day before...messy & yummy!  And of course we ate some too...and of course Dalton thought they were "yummy & tasty too"!  We ate a spectacular crock pot roast, potato, etc. for dinner that I tried for the first time...new recipe!  The daddy and dalton got mommy flowers and cards for my birthday and the BIG GIFT has been...uhm a new car, a new back yard, new patio furniture, etc.  I think we have done enough shopping this summer! 

Tuesday...mommy and Dalton headed over for a play date with our good friends Katie, Maddy and Luke!  Maddy and Dalton were funny because they were just chasing each other around...pretty cute stuff!  And of course Luke wanted to be part of the fun but being just shy of a year it was a little hard for him to keep up!  However poor guy was almost ran over by Dalton by a loaded up shopping cart!  Dalton's not used to watching for mobile Luke!  We also had a yummy lunch of chicken & dumplings provided by Katie...note to self must get recipe...Dalton chowed down and that doesn't happen rarely unless it's french fries and ketchup!  And Daddy had to work late so after Dalton got up from his nap we headed to wal-mart for some quick shopping and on to his Grandma & Pa's house for dinner!  And a visit from the ice cream truck...a new obssession for Dalton waiting for the ice cream truck and his ice cream sandwich!  We have seen him a couple of times this summer and it has mainly been at his Grandparents house so now he associates their house with a visit from the ice cream truck...which of course doesn't always happen!  And of course that can sometimes be just devastating to a tired 2.5 year old...not that he would ever throw a BIG FIT...like the one he did last night!  That would never happen!

Wednesday...we had lunch with daddy's Aunt Joy and Uncle Russell!  We stopped at Big Ed's for burgers...haven't been there in a long time!  We brought the food to their house and visited for a short time!  Dalton's Great Uncle Russell also had a train set for Dalton and he had it all set up!  He wasn't scared of this one like he was this past Christmas with the one I got for our tree!  Russell wanted him to take it home so we did...just what we need one more toy!  I think Dalton thinks he gets a present everywhere he goes...probably because he practically does...I guess that's what happens when you are an only child and the only grand child on daddy's side of the family!  Plus Uncle Russell had all girls and his grandkids are all girls so he has needed someone to share his love of trains and cars with...I think that someone just might be Dalton Thomas!

Thursday...Mommy and Dalton head to Garden Ridge to do some shopping for patio furniture and put this new crossover vehicle to work for us! Yes, I was able to load all the new patio furniture in two trips in my vehicle! And after Dalton was such a great shopper especially after he found some monster truck christmas ornaments to play with! So we followed up with a McDonald's lunch and headed home for a rest! Gotta love those rests! After Dalton's rest we took him to his Grandma & Pa's so they could watch him while mommy and daddy went and had a grown up birthday dinner at The Cheesecake Factory...super yummy! And it's always nice to get away with my hubby...doesn't happen near enough but it sure is nice when we do:)

Friday morning we had a play date at Unpluggits with one of daddy's friends!  His friend is Brian and his wife Donielle and her sweet little 3 year old Sophia had invited us to join them and some of their friends to play!  So very nice of them and we hope to play with them more!  While we were there Dalton did the usual train table, slide, painting and he is really getting into play doh at home and at Unpluggits!  Luckily he has pretty much stopped eating the play doh...I thought that would never happen!  After our play date we met Grandma and headed back to Garden Ridge to spend some more of daddy's hard earned money!  Thank goodness for daddy's that work so mommy's can stay home and play with their kidos...oh and shop too! 

THE NEW BACKYARD...SUMMER 2009!  Next summer we hope to fill in the grassy area up next to the house with some landscaping but until then we are done and loving it!

farm adventure...still in Missouri

While in Missouri we got the opportunity for my niece Emily to show off her horse riding skills. She is 5 years old and has been taking lessons all summer...she's a natural and one of our cousins was kind enough to talk her in-laws into letting us come out for the afternoon! I had NO IDEA that Dalton would be interested in riding and of course he wasn't interested in the BIG horses but his buddy's pony Apple Jack was a different story!

What a big boy...Uncle Todd isn't far behind! I still can't believe he wanted to ride but I am SO GLAD that he did!
Getting ready to check out the other animals on their farm! They had chickens, a cow and some goats and lots of horses...they show horses! Oh and did I mention the cat and LOTS of kittens...Dalton was very interested in those!
Cousin Madison letting Dalton and Norman the cow get to know each other.

All the cousins...can you tell which one LOVES to ride horses!

Feeding the goats...another surprise...he really liked feeding them! With this little guy you just never know!

tractor adventure #2...still in Missouri

PLEASE EXCUSE THE POOR QUALITY OF THE PICTURES...I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON WITH MY CAMERA THAT PRODUCED CIRCLES ALL OVER THE PICTURES:(

Well, to make a long story kind of short...my cousin, her husband and almost 3 year old son rent a house from some folks who do some pretty serious farming (perhaps corn, soy beans and something else)! And not far from there home is where some of the VERY LARGE farm equipment is kept so...they were kind enough to let our little guys explore...and boy did they look little next to these tractors! They only got to get in the red one and Dalton had a fantastic time with my cousins son! He is a VERY BIG John Deere fan too...so they have lots in common:) Dalton's cousin Madison trying to help him up the stairs! The boys doing their best to take turns steering the tractor!

Just another shot of some of the farm equipment...in Dalton's words "It was SOOOO BIG!".

Look how tiny Dalton looks next to that machine!

tractor adventure #1 at great grandmas

Well after playing in great grandma's tall grass for half the day her lawn man showed up in his blue tractor to mow...how exciting! We headed inside to get out of his way! Dalton got a front row seat to watch the tractor!
There he goes!

Uh-oh he moved to the backyard so guess who else moved to the backyard...grandma, Buster and Dalton!

There he goes again!

spending time with great grandma

After arriving at Great Grandma's we went swimming at the hotel where my sister and her family stayed, ate dinner at Great Grandma's and Dalton and I along with my oldest niece got settled at my Aunt Connie's house! The swimming was great...Dalton really liked jumping in the water and dumping water on his Uncle Todd's head! He only slipped a couple of times on the slippery indoor pool floor...please remember he just got his cast off the day before! Great Grandma even ventured out with my parents to watch her great grand kids swim I hope she didn't get to wet with all of the splashing that was going on...I know I sure did!

The next day we spent the morning at great grandma's house and had another great adventure for Dalton! And of course it included tractors...there are lots of tractors to be seen where great grandma lives in Missouri! Dalton's grandma and great grandma sitting in the shade!
Dalton showing great grandma his "toy" chain saw! He is very proud! That is one of my sister's girls behind him and she is carrying great grandmas poodle Buster!

Dalton trying to explain something to great grandma about the chain saw!

Dalton trying to fix something with the chain saw!

Mommy and Dalton with bubbles...yes we already made a wal-mart run to find more entertainment for the kids and yes we got a bubble mower while we were there! We left if for the other cousins we were done since Dalton already has two!

dalton's first hotel stay...we survived

A couple of weeks ago Dalton and mommy (daddy stayed behind to work) joined my parents, my sister, her husband and two girls for a road trip to see relatives in Missouri...my mom's side of the family! We made this trip back in March and survived so I say what the heck let's do it again. This time we took two days going up and only one day coming back so that required an overnight stay in a hotel! Some of you may recall that Dalton is not a fan of having anyone sleep in the room with him...this could cause a problem! Well, luckily he was over that phase or just really tired from a long day...this is the same day that he got his cast off...Yeah and everything looked fantastic...so far so good!

Other than behaving like a "rock star" while he was there he did great! Running up and down the hallway and using a VERY loud voice! And then toilet papering the room...he's still fascinated with the unrolling of the toilet paper! You may notice that he has already emptied out the Kleenex holder in the top left hand corner of the picture! He was putting most of it in the trash can...strange kid!
Will someone please tell that kid he has toilet paper stuck to his foot!
This was a little frustrating for him...ha ha!

Nothing like waking up to playing with an overpriced 4-wheeler to play with that was purchased at the Hillbilly Junction (where we ate the night before...don't ask) and chocolate covered donuts!

seminary picnic...one of the reasons for the trip to missouri

JUST A LITTLE BACKGROUND!

ANNUAL ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SEMINARY PICNIC, Perryville, MO
"Where friends meet friends from everywhere," the Seminary Picnic has been a family tradition in Perry County for 109 years. The event is held the first full weekend in August at the Seminary Grove off T Road, 5 acre picnic grounds with 36 acres of parking. Events include a chicken and beef buffet style meal, Hand Crafted Quilt Bingo, Concessions, Rides, Antique Carousel and Live Entertainment. Sponsored by St. Vincent de Paul Parish. For information contact St. Vincent de Paul Parish Office 573-547-4591.

As most of you know I was raised Catholic and my mother's side of the family is VERY CATHOLIC...catholic school and both grandparents worked at the seminary there in town! And the Seminary Picnic has been a part of many generations...my Grandma who is 83 was saying how it was the one time of year that she would get a new dress...so she would have something pretty to wear to the picnic! I am sad to say that Grandma was unable to join us this year because she is unable to walk that far...but other than that she is in pretty good health! I am also sad to say that I know that I went as a child a few times but I don't really remember...I hope that Dalton will and if not at least we have a few pictures. He surprised me again and had a ball...I think we were out until 10pm...that's really late for us! But he was having SO MUCH fun:) There wasn't a whole lot for his age group so we rode the same 3 rides over and over again and played the same 2 games over and over again...but again he loved it and I loved that he loved it!

Dalton and his cousin Emily riding the fun fun very old metal cars! My cousin who is in her twenties remembers riding these when she was little! Close up shot...he just steered and steered and constantly checked out the wheels...he loved it!

Dalton and his cousin Emily waiting patiently for their turn on the airplanes!

He always picked the blue one...he got lucky it had two steering wheels and he turned them both! I am so happy that he was brave enough to ride them...you just never know what he will shy away from...so glad it wasn't all the fun at the picnic!

My cousins little boy Parker, Dalton and Pa enjoying some very yummy home made ice cream!

Did I mention the second night of the picnic there was a serious down pour of rain...Dalton didn't mind! This night he played a fishing game over and over...the dinosaur was just one of his many treasures that he won!

Hungry dinosaur eating the grass...I am sure it's not just Dalton wanting to play in the large puddles of water that surrounded us! We didn't stay too late this night!

finally got around to getting some 2 year old...okay 2.5 year old pictures of dalton

This past Tuesday mommy, daddy and Dalton headed to Weatherford where Dalton's Godparents live...they are also long time friends of daddy! His Godmother is a VERY TALENTED photographer and she agreed to spend the morning with us trying to capture our little man on film! It can be quite a chore but she has done a great job and we all had a great time spending time with her and her kiddos as well...they are also our god children. We even had McDonald's lunch together can it get any better than that!

You will notice the pictures were taken on some train tracks...there tracks aren't quite as busy as the ones here in our town! So we had plenty of time to explore the train cars, tracks, etc. And of course Dalton spotted a few more things of interest to him...like a street sweeper, an excavator, john deere tractor. If you get a chance stop by her blog and check out a few that she has posted...you can find her blog on my list of blogs that I follow. Shots by Sheryl

Thank you Sheryl we had a great time and can't wait to see all the pictures!

bye bye friends

Dalton and mommy had to say good-bye to another mother and son duo this past week:( Jenny and Jackson are moving because Jackson's daddy got a GREAT new job closer to Jackson's grandparents which is GOOD NEWS for everyone but us and their other friends that they have to leave behind! Luckily it's only about a 2 hour drive and they still have family in our town so surely they will come back to visit! Dalton and Jackson have been having play dates since before their first birthday parties...we will miss them for sure.

The following are a couple of pictures from their last play date together...it was an outdoor extravaganza! Dalton is not sure how close he wants to get to the water situation a few steps away! He's checking it out!
Surprise...now Dalton knows why he was staying away from the water! Jackson got him with a bucket of water!

Dalton trying to figure out what just happened...not sure anyone has ever dumped a bucket of water over his head before unless it was in the tub to get the shampoo out!

Getting a group shot was hopeless...this was as good as it got on my camera!