thomas saves the day

Micah and I went with the Cardozas, Merritts, Hoffmans, and Collinsworths to see the show Thomas Saves the Day at the Gwinnett Center. The show was cute, short and full of Thomas so pretty much it was perfect. We watched, clapped, danced, made choo choo noises, ate popcorn, drank coke and had a fabulous time. It is very rare for me to get away time with just Micah and I enjoyed every single second!

summer fun list

Even though we did this last year I just wanted to share real quick why we make our summer fun list. I saw it on another blog and loved it because it helps you be intentional with your summer time. Now I'm all about waking up late, lazing around in jammies and doing nothing BUT I don't want to spend every day doing nothing for a couple hours and then thinking 'maybe we should do something' but have no plans so we don't do anything but continue to do nothing. So we make a list of fun things we'd like to accomplish and then do as many of them as possible. Last year I pretty much made out the whole list because 3 year old Micah didn't really care and/or understand. 4 year old Micah was all about it though. We sat at the table during Connor's nap time and brainstormed for awhile. Here is what we came up with (with plenty of room to add some extras)

For those who might not be able to read this list ;) the items are...

*Library Reading Program

*bowling

*crab restaurant

*swim lessons

* see CARS 2

*visit Mimi and Papa

*zoo

*aquarium

*go to Sawyer's house

*Stone Mountain

*train ride

*Braves game

*ride bikes at the park

*go to the mountains

*catch fireflies in a jar

*have a water party

*fly a kite

*catch grasshoppers

*go on a big water slide

*climb ropes

*eat at Scoops

*go fishing

*play at the mall and get a ring sucker

*Army Aviation Museum

*feed the ducks

*see snakes (but don't touch)

*jumpy thing at Southern Belle

*Game Time

*paint pottery

*bunk beds

*play with John Parker

*beach

*eat cracking peanuts

*jump on a trampoline

*candy store

*run in a lot of sprinklers

just dance

In Gainesville Andrew brought over a Wii and the game Just Dance 2. We all had fun playing but my favorite was watching the kids take their turn. They all loved it and Connor was ALL ABOUT IT!

joel's graduation

Friday night Joel graduated from high school and all of Zach's (immediate) family drove in for the big event. He will be attending the University of Georgia next year.

After the ceremony we came back to Zach's parents' house for cake and to take some pictures. The cake was the easy part. Somehow the easy task of taking a few pictures turned into an almost 30 minutes half ridiculous half awkward all hilarious picture session. There is no room on any blog for crazy number of pictures but I am showing you my favorite of the three brothers.

(p.s. I married into a nutty family!)

Luau

Micah's last day of preschool was Friday and they celebrated with an end of the year Luau. They had carnival games for the kids to play, two jumpy things (is there an actual name for those?) and lots of dessert, fruit and pizza! Micah has really enjoyed his time in Mrs. Emily's class and it was fun to see them celebrate together before the summer. As much fun as it was, we are excited about our "playday everyday" summer and can't wait to make our Summer Fun list again this year, which we will be sharing shortly :)







* I really really really wanted to get a picture of Micah with Mrs. Emily but there was an issue with another boy stealing a ball and not sharing and well let's just say we were not in a picture mood at the end ;)

train table

Two Christmases ago my mother-in-law and I both spotted a train table sitting on the side of the road down the street from their house. I had wanted a train table for Micah for awhile but wasn't crazy about the expense because they are ridiculous! Zach and I had figured out an ok version to create from a coffee table at IKEA but it still wouldnt have been as large or low to the ground as this. The only problem I saw was that it was FILTHY so we packed in the back of the van to bring home and there it has sat since waiting for a new house.

Well let's face it, a new house could still be who knows how much longer away and in the mean time there are trains in the living room! Last week I got the urge to get it done so I got down to business. Step one was clean, clean, clean. I scrubbed the whole thing with Murphy's Oil Soap and rinsed well with water. Steph had some leftover brown oops paint from Lowes that she graciously let me borrow and in two days it was done. We moved it into the boys room last weekend and with some rearranging (train tables are bigger than you'd think!) it is finally in Micah's room and looks and works great!

JAKES day

Yesterday we spent a couple hours at Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center for their annual JAKES Day with some friends and their daughter. I heard about the event from a parent at Micah's preschool and thought it sounded like a fun thing to do close to home. JAKES stands for Juniors Acquiring Knowledge Ethics and Sportsmanship and the day allowed children to try out different outdoor sports and learn about some wildlife as well.

Our first stop was the Birds of Prey exhibition where we saw some owls and an eagle. I gotta say one of the owls was a bit creepy looking!

Next we saw some snakes, non venomous and venomous, and at the exit of the tent you could touch/hold one if you wanted. Micah did not want. In fact, he basically bolted to through the crowd as fast as possible!

Next up was some fishing. Micah and Connor both wanted to try holding the fishing pole. Micah actually really likes to fish but there were a lot of kids around and he was really wanting to shoot a bow and arrow so we didn't stick with this for long. He did want to save the bait worms for Papa who 'loves worms'!

My little Robin Hood talked about almost nothing else but shooting a bow and arrow. He was so excited to get his chance. Of course after he did it his little copy cat had to have a shot at it too!

We ate lunch and headed home shortly after this. It was a fun outing and I'm hoping I remember to go next year!

swinging

Nana and Poppy got Connor a swing for his birthday. It is currently hanging up in our front yard and has been enjoyed many times! We've even had a couple neighbor kids stop by for a ride!

While the boys were swinging Zach climbed and hung upside down from a branch which only made Connor want to try it. He needed a little help though :)

hiding

One of the boys favorite things to do everyday is hide from Zach as soon as they hear the garage door open sounding his return from work. Yesterday Bella and William were here for a bit as well and joined in the fun. This was their chosen spot. As you can see, they are not excited at all ;)

2, 1, 1

2 boys

1 conversation

1 melted mommy heart

2 year stats

Connor had his 2 year well visit today so I am taking the opportunity to share that info along with what's going on with my cuddly connor connor!

Weight 29.8 pounds (90%)

Height 36 inches (75th)

Head 40 cm (50%) He did not get his daddy's noggin!

Along with growing like a weed Connor...

*speaks in three+ word phrases

*repeats and mimicks most anything he hears. especially if Micah says it :)

*loves to either be a ham or be an introvert. somewhat of a split personality and still gets nervous around new people!

*plays drums, guitar and sings

*enjoys being outside, getting wet and getting filthy

*is great at riding a scooter

*will slide down any slide no matter how high and climb most anything (very impressive considering his brother at this age!)

*can recognize some colors

*likes to play pretend with Micah

*favorite after bath activity is to run around naked. he calls it playing 'booty,booty'

*LOVES his daddy

*sleeps with baba (pacifier), elmo, pirate, micah's blankblank (blanket), connor's blankblank and a full size football

*wants to me to sing one or all of the following before bed I love you Lord, Wheels on the Bus, or Twinkle twinkle

*watches sports with zach. any sport, doesn't matter, as long as they are throwing, dribbling or hitting he's happy

*can spot a dozer a mile away

*says (s)top, (s)top when you aren't doing what he wants and says 'go way daisy' when she tries to get his food

*throws a frisbee pretty well (for a 2 year old)

*favorite show is Go Diego Go

*makes the silliest faces and makes the cutest silly face when he's asking question

This little boy is precious beyond words and we love love love love love him!