It was time...

Although we love the surfer look... it was time for Max to meet the clippers...

BEFORE

AFTER

What do you think?

Hiding in the Book Pile

Zoey has loved books from the beginning. I cannot tell you how many hours and hours and hours I have spent reading to her. (I also cannot tell you how many times I have read the SAME book over and over in those hours, LOL) Max is different, of course. He wasn't too interested in books and stories until about a year ago. And then, it was only very specific books. All that has changed in the past couple of months. He enjoys books more and more, although still pretty selective, but with Max, you don't just read the books, you have to interact with the books. We find him acting out the scenes to his favorite books all the time. Do you remember the Five Little Monkeys Book? Well, he has read that one over and over, and acted out what every monkey does on every page... He is very good!

The other night we were reading a book about Fall, where the characters raked up a leaf pile and the dog hid in the leaf pile. He thought it was pretty funny. And then all of a sudden, Max told me to lie on the ground while he covered me with books, making a "book pile." So the fun began... hours of entertainment for Max come from books and his imagination. Here he is, hiding in the book pile... (He insisted his face be covered as well)

Marketing

Zoey is very attached to her stuffed doggy, Buford, and has been since she was a year old. Sometimes when we would drop her off at a babysitter, and we didn't bring Buford along, we would draw a picture of him on her hand to help while we were away. Well, she draws on herself now sometimes, and occasionally I let her draw a flower or sun on me, too. Tonight, she was drawing a doggy on my leg, and then she just kept going and I looked down to see that there was an entire mural, which included a picture of a book. I asked her about the book, and she just cracked up making up a story about the book and the name of it and what it was about and then added...

"Oh, and it comes with a DVD!"

How could you pass that deal up... book and DVD.

The Perfect Snuggle

After a long week, I made some tea and sat down on the couch on Friday night to just veg out for a couple of minutes. Zoey was in her room playing and Max was down in the playroom. I sat down, put my feet up and turned on the TV to see if there was anything I wanted to watch, when I thought... this would be perfect if I just had a blanket. So, I called to Max (after all, why else do you have kids, if not to make them your personal servant for a little while) and asked him to get me a blanket. This was actually a test, to see if he understood me and would do it. He very excitedly (see, they are only happily your servant for a limited time) ran to his room and brought me his much loved Lightening McQueen blanket Grandma made him. I was so thrilled that he did it and actually gave me His special blanket that when he came I gave him lots of hugs and kisses. But he ran off! Well, he ran off to get me his two stuffed doggies so that I could have them to snuggle with too. See, to Max, the special blankey and two doggies are all you need for the perfect snuggle... How lucky I was to have him share those with me... smile.

Five Little Monkeys

We went to the bookstore and got the book Five Little Monkeys for Max. You might remember the book or song...

Five Little Monkeys, jumping on the bed
One fell off and bumped his head,
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

Well, Max loved the book at the store. He is a big fan of slapstick humor... he has always cracked up at people falling, even as a baby. He used to watch the big kids sled near our house and just laughed and laughed when they crashed. Anyway, the monkeys in the book falling off the bed are just hilarious to him. But... we didn't realize he had a plan when he went home. As soon as we unlocked the door, he ran to his room and yes, he climbed on his bed, started jumping and then "fell" off and bumped his head (just pretend, of course)! I guess I should have expected that, but honestly I didn't. I'm off to call the doctor...

8 things you may not know...

Blogging has been light lately. Lots on my mind, but not much to write about. So I thought I would have a lighter post about me:) My friend Tracy has tagged me to write 8 things about myself, that perhaps you may not know...

1 - First, this post itself is very difficult. I do not like to share things about myself. I have no problems with you asking me anything at all. I will answer and answer honestly, but to just write it here... very difficult. I often question many, many of the posts on this blog... wondering if I am letting too much of myself show. In the end, I think it is all good though.

2 - I was born in Kokomo, Indiana. Ever heard of it? Probably not. I lived there all of four weeks or so, and have never been back!! I hope to see it one day though.

3 - I grew up 15 of my first 18 years in Germany. And, heaven forbid, I DO NOT speak German!! When I first came back to the states people were appalled by that fact!! I, however, have never, ever come across on opportunity where I even would have used it if I had known, so you be the judge...

4 - Ross and I (okay so this is not specifically about me) were born in the same year and graduated high school and college in the same years as well. This isn't too uncommon except that we met after all of the schooling was done. What is funny about it is that now we can listen to the radio and hear a song and be like, "Hey this was when we were in 10 th grade!!" And then we marvel at the fact that we were living totally separate lives, miles apart, not aware of the other... Okay, Ross doesn't, just me.

5 - I pray in the shower.

6- I love really great grocery stores. A little weird, I know. They recently opened a new Whole Foods near us, and I think it is the greatest place. I don't even know why.

7 - I also love the weather and weather patterns. I check the weather everyday. When we lived in Massachusettts, I checked multiple times a day. It is my only problem with Southern California... there is nothing going on when it comes to weather.

8 - I love traditions. Family traditions, church traditions, holiday traditions... love them. It is a precious gift from my family that I want to pass along... From special Christmas ones, to Corned Beef and Cabbage on St Patrick's Day. I think it is little things like this that make life worthwhile .

So now I am supposed to "tag" eight people to do this as well... I don't even know 8 bloggers... and Tracy tagged me....so, besides my sister ...you, yes, YOU, reading this... it's your turn. Either start your own blog, and tell me about it, or put it in the comments box... I would love to learn 8 things about you!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Happy Birthday Mom (Grandma)
We love you!!

cake:pinkcakebox