Thursday, May 20, 2010

one happy mommy


Two fantastic things happend today...and obviously one is WAY more important the other but I am excited about them both!

Today was the last day of Dalton's first year at MDO...we survived and he thrived!  So proud of him and his ability to overcome his fear of being without mommy and being able to enjoy himself with his friends and teachers...Ms. Tracey, Ms. Cheryle and Ms. Jeannette!  They were each special to him in different ways and he talks about all three of them and several of the other kids in his class...we hope to stay in touch with them over the summer and look forward to seeing them in the fall when Dalton goes from being a busy bear to a gummy bear!  YIPPEE!  They ended the year just right with a water day on Thursday...sprinklers and fishing is all I could get out of him...he got to wear his swim trunks and swim shirt and buzz lightyear sandals to school!  He was very excited...they got to watch a movie on Tuesday with popcorn and everything...he kept talking about a BIG screen where they watched the movie!   He was totally impressed:)

Dalton's last day of MDO...SO BIG!  Just 8.5 months later:)

Dalton on his first day of MDO back in September!  Such a little cutie!

Also, I checked my e-mail last night and discovered that our friends at Redrock Landscape were headed to our house the following day!  Another YIPPEE!  I know it sounds silly but I am SO EXCITED...I spend SO MUCH time outside now that it's only right that I have a beautiful landscape to look at...right?!?!?  And luckily I have a hubby who understands this excitement...thank you thank you for working so hard so we can make our house feel more like a home...the home we are raising our son in, the home we are making memories in...thank you!  I felt a little bit guilty all day because Dalton has been looking forward to them coming for awhile...he still remembers the concrete mixers, planting trees, etc. from last spring!  And about 10 minutes after he left for MDO this morning a BIG dump truck arrived and dropped off a HUGE pile of dirt...No FaIr!  But lucky for Dalton there was plenty for him to get into when he returned...

the pile of red clay that the guys dug out of the flower beds...they are coming back tomorrow to make it a bit smaller...mommy and daddy hope and Dalton hopes it stays just like it is!

The redrock guys loaded it up and Dalton reloaded it and was ready to put it right back where they had just removed it from...silly boy!

On his way to the front yard with another load of dirt!

And now for the pictures...just to recap we did the concrete work and pergola last spring aka phase #1 and this spring phase #2 greenscape!  The backyard had nothing and the flower bed in the front had stuff but it was all wrong...so here goes!  Enjoy...I know I will!

THE FRONT YARD FLOWER BED...before!
Luckily we were able to use ALL of the existing plants and shrubs...just in different locations!

The NEW AND IMPROVED front flower bed...YAY!

More photos of the new flower bed...
Dalton wondering why I am taking picures of the flower bed...straight out of the bath and squeaky clean...just the way I like him best..earlier he was covered in mud!



He decided he should take some pictures too...now that's funny!  He actually got a couple of good ones!

The BRAND NEW front flower bed and new irrigation system...hopefully no more ducks swimming in the flower beds anymore!  Keep your fingers crossed!

The backyard...even more landscaping...YIPPEE!  I still can't believe three guys got this all done in one day...9 hours!
Just love it....

more to love...

kind of hard to see but even more to enjoy!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Last Friday Dalton and mommy had quite an adventure...Dalton woke up around 5:45am and came into our bedroom to tell us that the thunder was really loud!  And he was right it was so we let him climb in bed with us hoping that he MIGHT go back to sleep well...he didn't!  So about 6am mommy and Dalton headed out the bedroom door to start our day:)  We had to be at Grandma and Pa's around 9:30am so that they can head to the elementary school to watch their oldest grandchild perform her tap dance in the 5th grade talent show.  Dalton and I were scheduled to babysit his youngest cousin that his grandma normally watches.  They try to play together but his cousin wants everything that he has and he wants whatever it is that she wants and he definitely doesn't like her wanting to do the same things that he is doing...it's a vicious cycle.  One day I know they will play marvelously together but not today.  He was sweet and helped me sing her some songs before we put her down for her morning nap...we sang ABC's, twinkle twinkle and row row your boat!  We ate lunch at Grandma and Pa's and then headed to the afternoon talent show to watch his cousin...she did a fantastic job and we are so proud of her for having the courage to get up in front of the whole school by herself and do her tap dance...and of course we are proud of how she is becoming a really really really good dancer...she practices very hard!

Oh and it was also a very important milestone in our potty training...it was the first time we left the house in big boy underwear!  He insisted...I tried to get him to wear a pull up...he insisted on big boy underwear and I figured we have to leave the house in underwear someday it might as well be today!  So we did and there were no accidents...we even went potty and Grandma and Pa's and at the school!  However, he did decided it was okay to potty in his underwear while he was outside playing later that afternoon at our house...go figure!  At least we were home:)

Dalton and his cousin before the talent show...he loves his cousins!

Saturday was the third annual Touch A Truck event that Dalton, daddy and pa have gone to.  And mommy tagged along this year to check it all out and get some pictures.  It is part of our birthday celebration with Dalton's pa...the event is always a couple of days before his birthday so it's part of his birthday package!  This year he also got a John Deere t-shirt and a package of John Deere tractors and attachments to share with Dalton.  Dalton asked if pa was going to share them with him...I told him he probably would!  We took a trip to the local John Deere dealer for our small shopping spree for pa's birthday that is one of Dalton's favorite things to do!  The weather was a little on the wet side but luckily no downpours during our adventure!  Dalton still has a serious dislike for loud noises and was quite anxious most of the time we were there...ear plugs are a must next time.  Part of the fun for most kids is the fact that they can turn the sirens on or honk the horns as much as they want...well one kids fun is another kids worst nightmare sometimes!  I tried to get a few pics but we didn't stay too long bless his heart it was REALLY LOUD!  After the event Dalton asked pa if he wanted to come back to his house and play...it was pretty cute...kind of like a play date for Dalton and pa.  So pa did and we invited grandma over to join us for lunch and enjoyed a McDonald's burger and fries on our patio since the rainy weather had finally stopped.  Fantastic fun with family!

Dalton, daddy and Pa took a walk into the Borden refrigerator truck and got a carton of chocolate milk while they were in there!  BRR!
Dalton and the two most important men in his life...I just love this special day for Dalton with they boys...I promise to not tag along next year!  Maybe it was pretty cool!  Dalton didn't want to get inside the ambulance...he was afraid the siren would come on:(

The cool bomb squad robot...unfortunately on saw on the news today where he got put to good use right here in town when there was an abandoned car with some sort of explosive device! 

The super nice guy talking to Dalton about his John Deere hat and letting him see the video that the camera on the robot took of him!

We ran into our friends Aric and Katie and Dalton's play date pals Maddy and Luke!  They were taking a break and having a snack...lots of FREE food and drink at this event!  We kept looking for our out of town friends Carrie and  Dalton's play date pals Carter and Graham but we never ran into them:(  Dalton also saw a friend from MDO...his daddy drives a dump truck and was there letting the kids climb in and out and honk the horn!

Dalton was very excited about the school bus...this one isn't noisy!  They had to wait a LONG TIME to get in and a LONG TIME to get out...one way in and one way out! 

Dalton loves to use his umbrella every chance he gets...it started misting rain again so he requested it!  Any excuse to pull out the buzz light year umbrella and rain jacket!

Our final stop...the ice cream truck!  Dalton got an ice cream sandwich and we headed home!

Sunday we had crazy weather...a HORRIBLE HAIL STORM moved through the area and there was a chance for tornadoes too!  So my good friend Jennifer from college and her daughter Rylee came over to play and dive into the tornado shelter if we needed too!  Luckily the hail at our house was small and the only thing we dived into were toys and crafting supplies!  They just live about 5 minutes from our house so we hope they will come back and play the next time the weather gets yucky out!  And of course any other time too!  We were glad for Sunday to be over until we saw the weather forecast for the rest of the week...severe weather possible several days this week!  I guess that's what happens when you live in Oklahoma in the spring time!  We'll keep you posted:)

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

what a week we had last week...i am exhausted just blogging about it

We were crazy busy last week...so busy that I have been putting off blogging about it because I just didn't have the energy...surprise surprise!  And why do I feel compelled to document every moment of Dalton's life is probably partly my obsessive compulsive tendencies combined with the fear that I won't remember every single cheesy moment!  So here I go again:)

Last Sunday Dalton and mommy went over to his Grandma Beverly and Pa's house early and kidnapped them and took them to the park in their neighborhood!  I am not sure who had more fun Dalton or Pa?!?!?  There were also a couple of little boys who were really nice to Dalton and they played together and through the football a couple of times.  Dalton took advantage of the slide, swings and merry go round and pa took advantage of them too!  Check out the pics!
Dalton was completely cracked up that pa was swinging...and pa was cracked up that Dalton was cracked up...good times!

This was one creaky merry go round...so loud that Dalton put his hands over his ears as it went round and round!  These are the same swings, merry go rounds, etc. that were there when I moved  there with my parents over 20 years ago!

On Monday we had our play date pals Maddy and Luke over for some indoor and outdoor fun!  It is nice that spring is finally here and we can play outside where there is a lot more to do and a lot more room to play!  We ordered a pizza lunch and then Maddy and Luke headed home with their mommy...lucky for their mommy they still take naps in the afternoon!
Just swinging...thanks daddy for fixing the swing set just in time for our play date!
vrooom vrooom...baby Luke is not a baby anymore:)
If I recall this is Dalton being bossy to his play date pals about the magic paint...paint brushes and a bucket full of water!  It's magic....and even more fun when you add sidewalk chalk to the activity!
Maddy trying out the Harley...you go girlie!

And then we ended the day with a slumber party with Dalton and mommy...his reward on his potty chart!  Mommy has gotten smarter...we purchased a blow up twin mattress that sits just a bit higher than Dalton's mattress so he isn't able to roll over on top of me and attack me in his sleep!  Mommy hopes that it will make these slumber parties more fun for mommy!  Dalton just simply LOVES them and will talk about them and thank me for it several times the next day...whatever it takes to get this boy potty trained we are pretty much there but we haven't been brave enough to leave the house without pull ups!  Once MDO is over next week we are going to attempt big boy underwear all the time...keep us on your prayer list:)
The many sticker charts...every time he gets to 20 he gets a slumber party!  And I must admit that he has gone on the potty more times than this but I don't always put stickers...does that make me a bad mommy!?!?!?  This mommy can't do more than one slumber party per week:)
The new more efficient slumber party set up!
On Tuesday daddy took Dalton to MDO and that was quite a treat for both of them...daddy is usually at work by the time we leave for school but since he is in between semesters he was able to help out!  And when mommy picked him up he had done a special Mother's Day craft project!  I was so excited to see what it was but I didn't peak and was pleasantly surprised when I opened it on Mother's Day! 

Wednesday Dalton, daddy and mommy headed to Jenks, OK to so the Aquarium that we had heard so much about!  Some good and some not so good!  Dalton wasn't the best traveler that day so the drive back and forth weren't fantastic by any means.  And the Aquarium didn't seem to take very long to go through...perhaps Dalton is still a little young...but it was nice to get out of town as a family!  After the Aquarium we headed to McDonald's for lunch and then headed back to the River walk and explored along the way!  The things that Dalton loved the most were the HUGE sand pile at the aquarium, the John Deere Gator that the maintenance guy had at the Riverwalk, the SUPER BIG crane working at a construction site on the Riverwalk and the game room where he played lots of fun games with daddy and won some tickets and got some really GrEaT pRiZeS! 
Checking out some kind of crab...my memory fails me almost a week later:(   When we checked on these guys on the way out they were trying to climb up the walls and one turned itself over on their back and Dalton got to see what was hiding under all of that hard shell...pretty cool stuff!
Daddy and Dalton feeding the apparently starving turtles...$3 for a couple of slivers of carrots!  The turtles were fairly still until that carrot sliver came in sight and then they were jumping out of the water and on each other to get to the food!

Mommy got a lucky shot with the carrot sliver being taken by the fastest turtle in the west!

The sting rays...not too exciting!
Horrible picture taking skills but mommy wants to include it anyway because of all those very sharp teeth this scary shark has...we tried to take a picture of Dalton in front of the shark tank with sharks behind him but my camera was not cooperating:(  The sharks were very interesting to watch.
Finding Nemo....
Part #2 of our Jenks day trip...
Looking out onto the river...it wasn't too full!  But the riverwalk was really nice not a whole lot for kids but it seemed to have several great eating places for adults and a great outdoor space for festivals, etc.
Daddy and Dalton behind the waterfall...look close they are there!
The John Deere Gator...one of the highlights of Dalton's riverwalk experience!

We discovered a gaming center...and this race car game!  Not for little people but Dalton played anyway and most of the time he was going the wrong way or not going at all!
Daddy trying to help Dalton and of course Dalton wanting to do it all by himself!
The alligator slapping game was much more age appropriate...
you can tell by the look on his face!
This was an old one...shooting a water from a water gun into the clowns mouth!
And as we were leaving the parking lot we discovered an extremely LARGE crane lifting an air conditioning unit on top of  the building on the right...we stayed for the whole thing.  Dalton was in amazement!

Thursday back to MDO for Dalton and time for mommy to get everything ready for our special guest...Grandma Wanda who was coming to town for Mother's Day weekend!  Dalton was VERY EXCITED and was quite sure that they would have a slumber party...lucky for Grandam Wanda that didn't happen!

Friday we met up with our old neighbors Carrie, Carter and Graham at Unpluggits!  They were in town visiting from their home in Minnesota and their daddy texted while they were here and said it was 32 and snowing where they lived!  It was a little windy and chilly here but definitely no snow!  It's funny how it takes the boys a little while to reacquaint and then they are sO SiLly!  I didn't get any pics of the boys or their mommy because my camera is about to get replaced...it is not reliable at all and makes me ANGRY!  Anyway the boys ran around, played in the sand, played playdoh and Dalton even ran into a friend named Veronica and played with her too!  After Unpluggits we headed to the new Braums by our house and enjoyed burgers and ice cream with our old friends!  And the boys were thinking they were pretty darn funny too!  We headed home and waited for Grandma Wanda to arrive...and once she arrived Dalton talked talked talked and talked! 

Saturday daddy had a meeting to go to so mommy, Dalton and Grandma Wanda made a short trip to the local Farmer's Market to pick up a few veggies!  Dalton got lucky and there was a train moving through right as we pulled up and the Farmers Market is right by the railroad track.  For some reason he wanted to wear his cowboy hat and he looked pretty stinkin cute if I do say so myself and a few folks commented about what a cute cowboy he was...this mommy must agree!  After the Farmers Market we headed to the McDonald's drive thru...Grandma Wanda likes McDonald's too!  Daddy got home shortly after lunch and started working on mowing the yard.  Dalton and Grandma Wanda hung outside watching and playing while mommy got fruit salad, garden salad and pasta salad ready for the BIG Mother's Day celebration on Sunday! 

Sunday we had a small breakfast saving room for our big feast at lunch with all of the other fantabulous mommy's in our family!  The weather was a little bit chilly so mommy spent most of the day inside with the other mommy's while the boys played outside with the kids in the chilly air!  Dalton was content riding around on the pink jeep!  Uncle Todd grilled steak and chicken as well as baked potatoes along with all of my many salads and a yummy crock pot cobbler with vanilla ice cream!  We exchanged a few gifts had some more play time and then headed home after we stopped and got Grandma Wanda her favorite treat chocolate ice cream from Braums!  And of course Dalton was screaming for McDonald's and it was close to dinner so we got a happy meal for the screaming boy and then later when the adults were hungry grandma Wanda and daddy enjoyed another one of her favorite burgers from Johnnie's!

Daddy and his mommy...Grandma Wanda!
Dalton and Grandma Wanda...he is eating a chocolate sucker and Grandma Wanda is holding up her heart shaped bird biscuit craft project that Dalton was supposed to help with but had absolutely NO INTEREST so mommy did them!
Mommy and her giggly little boy who wouldn't stop and pose for a picture with his sweet mommy for a picture even on Mother's Day!