Building with Dad

Saturday and Sunday (September 26 & 27) Z and his Daddy went to Home Depot to purchase stuff for a project they were working on. I said they were at Home Depot on 2 days because it always takes at least 3 trips to get all the supplies one really needs to do said project Anyway, the project was to rebuild a liter box house for the garage. Well that project soon turned into a lot of playtime on Z’s part. I mean how can you concentrate when neighborhood kids are outside playing? But when it was time to get serious and work on the little figurine and car house for Z’s toys, he really became involved and wanted to help. So Z and his Daddy built this cool house/garage thing and they even painted it the color Z selected – GOLD. It was cute to see them work together.

Measuring and using the saw.

Proudly showing off the house/garage.

Time to paint.

Getting painting tips from Daddy.

New Build A Bear

Let me back up a bit and explain this one. Z’s school does one super huge fundraiser in the fall and it is the carnival. Each class at the school is to come up with a ‘basket’ idea and get donations from that class to make the ‘basket’ for a silent auction at the carnival. Since I am one of the room moms for Z’s class, we got to choose what ‘basket’ we wanted to do for our room. S and I picked Build A Bear for our ‘basket’. So on Friday, September 25, Z and I went to Build A Bear to pick up some coupons that I will be passing out to each parent in our class in hopes that would help get in more donations. So it is nearly impossible to take a child into that store and leave empty handed so I set a limit of $10 that Z could spend. He really looked at everything and after a long time of weighing all his options, he selected a dark brown bear. He named him Chocolate and has cuddled him everyday since.

 

Bear has been selected and getting ready to be stuffed.

Z is pressing the pedal to help with stuffing the bear.

Holding the heart that goes in the bear and making a wish.

Putting the heart in the bear.

Giving the bear a bath.

Scanning the bar code on the bear to create a birth certificate for the bear.

Early release day at school

Yesterday, Wednesday September 23, was a half day at school and it was raining outside. We didn’t let that stop our fun. Z and I set up his chore chart/token system and he is 100% on board! Basically he gets tokens for each chore completed on his own. And when he has 25 tokens he can trade that for $1. Do I know the way to my kid’s heart or what?!?! He got 12 tokens yesterday and he only did the afterschool and evening chores. He is so excited! And as of this morning he has earned 5 tokens. OK, back to our day yesterday…. After the chart was in place, we had cake that we made the day before, then Z read 3 books to me (that was a chore) and then we played silly games and listened to more silly songs on the computer. Next out came the paints. Z set up a table with a big book on it and that was his example of what he was going to paint. He ended up painting 3 beautiful paintings from the book. Then he made a picture for his teacher. I even got to scrapbook a few pages. We still had time before dinner so he played on Webkinz for a bit. Lastly we all went to Moonies for spirit night (fundraiser for Z’s school). It was another great day!

 

All set up and ready to go.

Having a blast painting!

Taking a long look at the picture in the book.

I am going great!

Every artist signs their name.

Finished product. Very nice!

This was his inspiration.

This will be his next picture.

Great job honey!

This is a picture of a Cheetah. He wouldn't let me look while he did this picture. He did this picture because his friend B loves Cheetahs. He can't wait for her to see it hanging in his room.

On our way to Moonies. But first we must play in the rain.

Rainy day so we stayed inside to play

Tuesday, September 22, was supposed to be a park day with friends but it was raining outside. So we made the most of it.  Z played with his homemade gun that his Daddy made for him out of a paper towel roll and toilet paper rolls. We sang silly songs, played smell my feet, baked a cake and played backgammon. We had a great day!

Silly songs we sang:

Fried Ham, Fried Ham: Cheese and Bologna: And after the macaroni: We’ll have fun with: Pickles and Pretzels: And then we’ll have some more fried ham: Fried ham, fried ham, fried ham.

You can listed to it at this link: http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2008/01/fried-ham.html

God Bless my underwear, my only pair: Stand beside them, and guide them: As they sit in a heap by the chair: From the washer, to the clothes line: To my camp cake, to my rear: God bless my underwear, my only pair: God bless my underwear, or I’ll  be bare!

You can see this song and other goofy ones at this link: http://gsleaders.org/files/sillysong.htm#GodBless

We just had a great day! 

Pretending to be Indiana Jones.

Don't make me use this.....

 

Check out my holster!

Serious look!

I see 2 smiley faces here. Do you?

Yes, those are Three Muskateer Bars and chocolate chips.

Bead playdate at our house

Last Friday, September 18, Z and I hosted a playdate at our house (7 moms and 14 kids). I had a ton of beads and rope necklaces and let the kids create until they couldn’t create anymore. They had so much fun making all the necklaces and bracelets. I had a shoe box lid for each kid to avoid beads from falling on the floor and it worked like a charm. We even had 2 babies down on the floor and there were no bead mishaps with them. After each kid finished their creation, I had them make a sticker and marker and glitter glue picture. I still have glitter glue on my ottoman but those kids had a blast. By the way, all the glitter glue came off my card table. WHEW! Of course there was playing upstairs as well. The place was a disaster so that means there was some serious fun going on. I wouldn’t have it any other way! Everyone left with smiles and beautiful necklaces.

Pulling out letters to make a word on the necklace.

This is what Z put on his necklace. He did it all on his own.

This was the tub of beads after a bunch of kids already made their necklaces.

Picture time. Z made a "Z-Bot"

Some of the other friends making crafts.

Riding Down the River…..

We have had such a drought this year but the skies opened up yesterday (9-12-09) and the rain came and came! We got so much water that it was flooding all in the back woods. This was an open invitation for boys! So while I went out with the girls, hubby took Z out in the woods. They had such a blast playing in the water. They even made a raft out of a door that was floating by. Z picked up a shovel and used it as an oar. They played for hours and rode the water for a couple miles total. How fun does that look?

This is a big puddle!

Ok, this is fun!

Daddy was jealous he couldn't ride too.

Riding down past the park.

I wish it would rain everyday!

Z wanted to take home this frog but daddy said no.

Dino Park with Mom and Dad

On Sunday, September 6, we all got in the car and headed out to Bastrop and visited the Dino Park there. Z and I had been there before last summer but this was hubby’s first time. We had so much fun walking and finding all the items on the scavenger hunt. We saw some cool dinos too! We even saw a real jack rabbit hopping around and a lizard resting on a stump. The weather was a little warm but we managed to have a great time. We stopped at McDonald’s on the way home. So my 5 year old had the best day with Mom and Dad. And we had a great day with him!

Getting eaten by a T-Rex.

Check out the teeth!!!

Feeding the dino a snack...

Did you see that dino over my shoulder?

Checking the list.....

Mom and Z.

Dad and Z.

Check this one out! He is HUGE!

This guy is really big and would eat me for a snack!

Even dinos have babies.

Fun at Zilker Park with Friends

Saturday, August 29, Z and I got up really early and went downtown to Zilker Park with my friend M and her kids, G, P and M.  We got there at the perfect time. We got a front row parking spot. The park was not crowded and the weather was very pleasant. We bought tickets to ride the train but it was going to be about an hour before it left. So the kids played on the play structure until it was time to ride the train. They had a blast! Z and P play so well together! And I just adore G and love to give her a hard time. It is all in fun girlfriend! Anyway it was train time so we all loaded up and off we went. Not to far into the ride the train jumped the track and we all had to get off. Needless to say, it was broken so we had to entertain ourselves some other way. So M had the idea to go to the Springs. We let the kids get in the water up to their knees. It was slippery but fun.

After the park, we all headed to the Cheesecake Factory and filled our bellies bigtime! Then off to Lakeshore Learning for the free Saturday craft.

It was such a great day with friends! Thanks for the invitation M!

 

Having fun!

Z and P playing on the firetruck.

Tough guys on a train ride.

That can't be good.....

M's daughter G and baby M.

Playing in the Spring.

Me and the boy.

M and her daughter G.

M and her son P.