I-S-A-A-C

My little guy turned four yesterday.  Geez.  It's so strange to think that he's one more year away from kindergarten.  He's always been my little guy.  Here's a picture of what he looked like day before yesterday.

No lie.  

Today he can spell and write his name.  He can count to 11 with no mistakes, most of the time.  He can read LEGO "destructions" and build a flying reptile all by himself.  And he pees standing up.  What a proud mother I am.  

We didn't celebrate his birthday too much today.  For one thing, we just got done celebrating at his grandparents house.  He got a bike and LEGOs.  He had a cake and blew out candles.  He ate one of his favorite meals, Mamita Donna's red beans and rice with sausage.

The birthday boys

For another thing, we are having a birthday party this weekend.  So I think it's okay that we played it low key.  He got a happy meal and a chocolate cake.  And he got to play, all day.  With LEGOs and Orry and Annie.  Lucky. 

So here's to you, my little bubba dinosaur lover.  I hope you have another wonderful year full of growth, health, and happiness.  And don't forget the dinosaurs.  Lots and lots of dinosaurs.

Almost There

14 more days to go.  Eekkk!  I guess we'd better get to it, then.  18 things left to check off the list!

There was the Mercer Arboretum and Botanical Gardens.  I guess you could say that I cheated a bit by putting these as separate things to do.  They are the same place, but they are separated by a road.  But can you blame me for taking a short cut?

We had our Parish Picnic for church.  It was a fiesta.  Hands down, best photo.

The Williams Tower, near the Galleria, and a clear shot up Orry's nose.

Not on the list, but more exciting than the tower, the Water Wall.  Can't you just tell that Annie is so excited to be there?  She can't contain herself...

Almost more exciting than the Water Wall, a dead pigeon.  I think he flew into Williams Tower.  

Definitely more exciting than the above three combined, the LEGO store in the Galleria.

Orry got to fly a kite thanks to our dear friends, the Bentrups.

Ahhhh!  The new paleontology hall opened up at HMNS!!  It's super spectacular and I encourage everyone to go and see it.

Isaac got a bike for his birthday!  Thanks Mamita Donna and Papa Jeffery!  He really likes it and they both had a blast riding bikes.

Orry caught the first fish of the day!  A 16+ inch redfish.  A keeper!  We'll be eating it soon.  He was a bit grossed out by the blood. 

Added bonus, driving the boat!  Look Ma, no hands!

Look the gator!  No, seriously.  We saw quite a few gators while riding and fishing.  It was a bit unnerving fishing with them so close.  

And finally, waterballon fun.  Even though they had a hard time popping the balloons, they had a good time trying.  And they eventually popped them all.  

Will we get through all 60?  I don't think so.  But we are having a great time trying.  And tomorrow we will surely check another thing off our list as we celebrate Isaac's 4th birthday!  The time sure does fly when you are having fun.  

Leggo My LEGO

Up until this week Isaac has been very content to watch Orry build LEGO sets.  Sometimes he would peek into the big box of LEGO toys, maybe even attempt to click a few bricks together.   But this week, that all changed.  Isaac was very insistent that he put a set together.  So I humored him.  Little did I know that I would be the one with all the giggles.

 He did very good for his first try.  He put all the pieces together by himself.  I was simply there to help him find the pieces that had gone astray and to help him understand some of the symbols in the instructions.  It probably took him a solid hour, but he completed the set and was ready to work it again.  (It was a Creator set, for those of you who know LEGO.  It is one set of bricks that can be built into three different things.)  I didn't get any pictures that time because I was too busy having my mind blown at just how focused he was on completing this task.  It goes without saying that I could wipe the grin off my face.  My little boy is growing up!

So the next day, I took some photos.  This time he went for the log cabin set.  Here's how it went:

So many pieces...

Building the walls...

Putting in the table and chairs...

The fireplace, complete with bull horns

All that's missing is the roof (and can you find the chicken leg?)

Oh, and don't forget the water and the duck.

It took just about everything in Orry's power not to take over the project.  Orry is a faster builder.  He doesn't ask as many questions as Isaac.  He's had more practice.  But lucky for us we have plenty to sets to keep them both occupied.  It has actually been a strange week.  Isaac's new interest in the LEGO toys has renewed Orry's interest.  I find there is less fighting when they are together if they are both working on a set.  And they do interact with each other.  Orry has been very helpful, giving pointers and telling Isaac where his mistakes are.  It's quite nice, I must admit.  Quiet too.

Now, as for that problem of the tiny pieces that somehow always go missing....

My Only Request

This Mother's Day I had one thing on my mind.  Breakfast in bed?  Not a big deal.  Chores?  Would be nice if someone else did them, but no.  Relaxation?  Hmm, maybe. 

Snowcones.  Yep, that's right.  All I wanted to was to hunt down an ice cold, sugary snowcone.

Here I'm enjoying a coconut snowcone.  I can thank my smart mother for my love of the coconut flavored cone.  As a child who grew up in the hot hot South, snowcones (or snowballs, as they are also called) were a familiar summer treat.  The coconut flavor (as well as pina colada) is clear and thus is not capable of staining clothes.  

Clearly I didn't inherit my mother's sensible side.  Luckily no one spilled on themselves (with the exception of my child-like hubby).   But even if we did, nothing could have ruined our day.  We were headed to the beach!  

I know that by now you must think that we are beach bums.  And I'd have to say that you might be right.  We just can't help but head down there when we have free time.  Somehow, the waves and the wind seem to make you forget all about everything.  Just what a mom with an overworked brain needs every once and a while.  And here's the special treat that magically appeared on the beach.  

Well, to some passerby it might seem like magic.  To me it was more like a simple combination of gratitude and kindness.  Love built that sandcastle.  And I loved it!  

It was a great Mother's Day.   I'll leave you with more pictures of our snowcone/beach adventure.

I hope all you mothers had a happy Mother's Day.  May you all be celebrated every day of the year.  

25 down, 35 to Go

Only 35 more fun things to do before Orry turns 6.  Only.  Ha!  There are only 34 days until his birthday.  So I guess that we are more or less on top of it.  I'm not even sure that Orry remembers that we are counting down, but we shall keep moving forward.

And now for a look back:

Making wooden models (a stealth plane)

Making cookies 

Zoobilee and the new exhibit Dinosaurs

Orry won his first game of Settlers of Catan

A trip to the Children's Museum

And now for what was probably the best thing we were blessed enough to be able to do:

Meeting more cousins!!

I have to show this picture because this one came next:

Oh Annie, so predictable...

We've done more things than I have pictures of.  For example, just yesterday Troy and Orry made smoothies.  I didn't get a picture, but let me paint for you a picture.  They made them with strawberries, blueberries, yogurt, and cooked broccoli.  (I know, I know.  But it shouldn't surprise you.  Troy is, after all, the "sardine-hiding-in-a-burrito" chef.)  Makes me want to puke just thinking about it.  I did taste them and next to stinky tofu, it was the only other food that made me want to barf.  Strange thing, Orry and Annie ate them without complaint... !!!  We were stunned.  I still want to barf.

As we keep going down the list (which you can find here), I think I'll take charge of the rest of the food related activities...

The Graphic Novel

Remember when your box of cereal used to come with cool stuff inside?  Well, I do.  And it turns out that it still happens, just not so frequently.  A while back Orry got a few comic books from some boxes of cereal.  They were the Justice League.  He loved them.  He probably read them 2, 3,10 times.  So at our next visit to the library, I asked the librarian where we could find more comic books.  Silly mom.  Now they are called graphic novels she tells me.  Oh, my bad.

So we checked out the small "Graphic Novel" section that they have and we found a few to try.  I am just amazed at how they hold his attention.  Wait, no I'm not.  There are tons of cool pictures and loads of those fun speech bubbles.  Here's how I found him this morning.

Whenever I just need some quiet time, I just suggest to him that he head to his room to read a comic book (what can I say, old habits die hard) for 30 minutes.  And it works.  They're like magic.  

I'm just glad that he loves to read.  He's a read-in-the-car kid.  He's a read-all-the-words-in-the-grocery-store kid.  (Yes, I can see that Lucky Charms are "magically" delicious.)  He's a read-your-emails-over-your-shoulder kid.  And now he's officially a graphic-novel-reading-fool.  I know Orry, you are not really a fool.

Here are some of the ones he's been enjoying.  The series that he enjoys are Billy Blaster and Benny and Penny.  He also liked reading Journey to the Center of the Earth (in graphic novel form), as well as Perseus and Medusa (both boys really like looking at this one and I'm almost positive that it has something to do with the slightly scary pictures).  

Like I said earlier, I'm just thrilled that he loves reading.  And don't worry, it's not all comic books.  He also really loves books from the non-fiction section.  Some of his favorite subjects are dinosaurs (of course), rocks, and insects.  But to the list we've added the graphic novel and that's alright with me.  

Let us know what your kids like to read (Or what you like to read.  I'm always in need of a good recommendation).  And tell us if you have a summer reading list!  I think we'll have to make one of those for Orry.