Farewell to Summer Vacation Cookout

B, Z and I hosted a huge family cookout for our playgroup and 8 other families came to celebrate the end of summer with us. We cooked hot dogs, hamburgers, little smokies in crescent rolls, chicken nuggets, baked beans, and also had potato salad, 5 bean salad, burger fixins, and tons of drinks. Each family brought something to contribute to the feast. There was so much food! We also had so many things for the kids to do. There was the playscape, a pool filled with 250 balls to make a ball pit, bubbles, soccer balls and soccer goal, and a sand table with little policemen and firemen hiding in the sand. But the highlight of the day was getting to paint on the fence. Those kids had a blast! I think the dads were freaking out a little bit because their kids were getting so messy, but they cleaned up just fine.

Everyone left with a full belly and sweaty and tired kids. So I think it was a total success! Can’t wait to do it again next year! Thanks to all my friends who came and for the ones that couldn’t come, you were missed BIG TIME!

Looks like some of the balls were still in the pool. Not for long though!

Some of the kids throwing the balls out of the pool.

Friends playing at the sand table

What fun it is to paint on the fence!

Z showing off his fence painting.

Famiy photo after everyone left the party.

Bring a Bear to School

Yesterday at school was “bear” day. The kids were asked to bring a teddy bear to school so Z brought his Build A Bear named “Present Toes” with him. They did bear activities throughout the day and had a really great time. The kids made a bear hat and decorated them (I forgot to get a picture of him with his hat), they made large bears with moving arms and legs, and I am sure other stuff I don’t even know about yet.

I wanted to share something that Z told me about when he was decorating his bear. Apparently when he was coloring his bear’s face at school he was putting eyelashes on it. His school friends told him that was making it a girl bear and of course he disagreed with them. He was so upset because boys have eyelashes too. Well, he is absolutely correct; we all have eyelashes. I told him next time to tell the kids they also have eyelashes and that not just girls have them. Hubby and I tried to explain to him that when people draw girls they usually put eyelashes on them to show they are girls. But talk about a literal kid here. Not sure if he bought it or not

Frog Ponds and Fishing Poles at the Park

I started the day out yesterday with a FIERCE headache. Z was such a good boy and let his mommy rest on the couch. I was able to get a few loads of laundry done throughout the day so at least the day wasn’t wasted on the couch. FInally by the afternoon the headache was better and we were able to go to our regular Thursday playgroup.

D and A hosted our playgroup activity at the park in our neighborhood. D had two great crafts and the kids just loved them! They made fishing poles from sticks the kids found at the park. They also made lily pads out of paper plates and placed fish and one frog on the plate.

Those kids ran around the park having the time of their lives! Every kid had their fishing pole and not one of them used it as a weapon on a friend. I was so proud of the kids! And the lily pads were such a success as well. Each kid got to pick out their own fish stickers for the lily pad. When they kept dropping their frogs off the lily pads, they were back to the fishing poles and running around the park. It was a beautiful day for a park date. Great job D!

I ended the evening out at Super Suppers with some ladies from our playgroup. We had a great time and I made 5 hopefully delicious meals. (There are no pictures of the meals prepared )

Part of the group making fishing poles.

Z and his fishing pole

Z and M showing off their fishing poles on the playground.

Z and M racing M to who knows where.

Z picking out the perfect fish stickers for his lily pad.

Dressing for school

I have always wondered about those kids who ‘dress themselves’ and thought I would not let my kid go out looking silly. Well those days are over. I love how proud Z gets when he picks out his own clothes and gets himself dressed without any help. He is really good about picking out things that sort of match, but it is the accessories he chooses is what gets me. Yes, I just said accessories You will see.

The next pictures are what Z picked out for school the past couple days. (You can check out the first day of school attire below.) The part that makes the next few pictures precious is the shoes. Yes, they are his dress shoes. Not really sure why we even have dress shoes other than he wanted some like his Daddy.

9-19-08

9-23-08

9-24-08

Happy Birthday M!

I had such a hard time keeping this surprise party a secret from my good friend, M! Man am I glad it is over! WHEW!!! Seriously, it was so much fun and M’s hubby did a great job organizing it! M was so surprised and she had so many friends there. Z and I had to go alone because my hubby was traveling for business. What a shame. He missed a great party!

She was so surprised!

 

Kids with the blow horns and YES it was LOUD!

M opening her gift from me and D

Z with his friend M

Left to Right: me, D, M, K

Z loved this ending to a great party. Z with J on his motorcycle.

Dinosaurs at the mall

We are members of a kids club at our mall. The program is called “Kidgits” and it is a great thing for kids. They give the kids t-shirts and birthday gifts as well as other gifts throughout the year. They also host kid events at the mall and this weekend was a fabulous one!

It was dinosaur day at the mall!  We went to this activity with our friends A, D and J and met L, D and A there also. The Kidgits organizers had so many things planned for the kids. They had a 30 circle time for the kids and talked about 6 kinds of dinosaurs and they went on a dinosaur hunt at the end (a fun song activity). Then the kids got to dig for dinosuar bones to receive a prize, color dinosaurs pages, make a door hanger, make a dinosaur book, and even do ‘rubbings’ of dinosaurs using crayons. What made the event a bonus was the great goodie bag each kid received.  The kids had an absolute blast! Z and A sat through a second 30 minute circle time because it was so much fun. And D and A won the prize drawing and got a huge Build-A-Bear dinosaur. Very cool!

Mom and Z

 

Z and A listening about dinosaurs

L and D and A listening about dinosaurs

 

Z and A going on a dinosaur hunt

What a great goodie bag!

Z is serious about his dinosaur picture

Z making a dinosaur book

Love this picture!

 

The lady who talked about dinosaurs (she was awesome)

We have a reader and a book writer!

I wanted to tell everyone that we have a reader on our hands. Z has been reading words for some time now but he can now read books alone. I took him to the library on August 13 and got some books. Z picked out the usual books and then I thought I would get some easy readers. We already have some at home, but hey….why not get some more. Anyway, he picked out this book titled Happy and Honey. I told him if we got that book, he would have to read it. So he did just that, he sat on the floor at the library and read it to me from front to back all my himself! The only word he stumbled on was ‘wash’. Otherwise, he did PERFECT! I was and still am so proud of him. He is only 4 years old! He does a fantastic job sounding out words and just can’t get enough books in his life.  This is the link to the book at Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Happy-and-Honey/Laura-Godwin/e/9780689842351/?itm=1

After being on cloud 9 about reading Happy and Honey, Z decided to dabble in the book writing field. So on August 14, he and his Daddy put together a book titled The Little Blue House. (Z got the kit to make this little book for his birthday from his friends in San Antonio J and S.) Z drew the house all by himself, with only some help drawing some of the bricks since he was getting tired. His Daddy copied the picture of the blue house so they could paste it on other pages in the book. Soon after that, the book writing expanded. Now Z takes 5 pieces of paper stapled together and writes stories. Of course I help him with the spelling but it is all his imagination. Which by the way he has a HUGE imagination! And as he says, he has so much imagination that needs to get out.

front of book

page 1

page 2

page 3

page 4

page 5

the end

Here are some of the other books Z has made over the past couple weeks. There are TONS more but these are the only ones I took a picture of. He makes a few books everyday, Ijust can’t keep up with them all! And YES, I have tons of paper and staples around the house! He even has his book writing notebook with a zipper pouch that holds a protractor which he uses for drawing boats, pens, pencils, and scissors.

other books written by Z

The following book is a book he wrote to his friend A about his first day at school. Z asked me for some help with some of the words, but he also sounded out some on his own. They aren’t spelled correctly, but they were a great effort on his part! Of couse I couldn’t let his little friend have the book since it was his very first time to write a book with sounding out words on his own. Good thing her mom was understanding I was and still am so proud of him! He is growing up so fast!

First Day of School book

page 1

page 2

page 3

page 4

the end

Z made this book using actual vacations pictures and wrote comments on each page. He made this book especially for his class to help them learn about him.

And YES, he wants to be an “author” when he grows up (this week at least )

Scrapbooking Fever

We had a playgroup activity yesterday at our friends K and A’s house. Their mom had all the stuff for the kids to make scrapbook pages of thier family. Of course we had to supply the photos. Zachary really enjoys making scrapbook pages at home so I just knew this would be a hit with him! He had such a great time placing all the pictures on the pages. I had to help him with the scissors because they were the kind that cut silly patterns and were difficult to cut through the photos. Or maybe he was just too lazy to do it himself. Not really sure about that one! Now I am wondering….. Anyway, what a great playgroup activity D! The kids had a blast on the scrapbook pages and playing upstairs.

Toolman

B has been working really hard on buiding a shack in the backyard to hold tons of garage stuff including B’s riding lawn mower and Z’s Jeep. PR and E have come to town two weekends in a row to help B with building the shack. This weekend was weekend #3 and B was on his own so Z and I decided to sit outside to keep Daddy company. That was when Z decided to pretend to build stuff too. So I went and got his tools from upstairs and he began to play. Before I knew it, he had on goggles, gloves and earplugs. This was such an adorable sight so I had to run and get the camera. Oh, and the shack is still a work in process but it will be fantastic when is all finished.

Thinking of our friends and family

I just wanted to take a minute to remember our good friends, J and J, in Houston. They have their house boarded up and were going to stay behind to face the hurricane head on. I hope this afternoon finds them safe and WITH electricity! They have 2 children so I hope all is well at J and J’s house. 

Secondly, we have some dear friends here in Austin that are very sick. C and C  have been in urgent care and not doing very well. M is having a rough time with it all and can’t have visitors at this time. I just want her to know we love her very much and wish them well soon!

Lastly, I can’t believe I missed B’s birthday! We have been so busy with redoing the house, school, playgroup and recovering from vacation. But that is NO excuse for missing such an important day! I hope it was a great one! We love you very much B and hope Sept 10 was a great birthday!