Friday Funny

so excited for Friday...

!!!

makes you want to Jump huh!?! 

School Update

(this post was written early in the morning... beware of sentences below that make... no sense.)

first day of "school"

How did he get so big so fast?!?!  Oh my...

alright, now he looks... small.  ;)

we went in and this is what he found!

So, Monday morning was Connor's first day at daycare.  He goes from 8:00 to 1:00, and they provide a morning snack and lunch.  They do some playing inside and outside, and the teacher usually has a little Bible story and a school lesson (Monday's was... the color red!)

We walked to his classroom after learning how to check in, and we said hi to the ladies in the room, and the screaming boy, and the timid little girl.  Connor gave me a hug and walked over and started playing.

When I went to pick him up he was outside 'riding' a bike ~ and seemed a little disappointed that it was time to go home.  His teacher said he did very well and he ate a good lunch.

Tuesday was the same deal... he apparently loves daycare food because they stopped him at thirds for lunch.

Thank goodness for the people in our lives who are praying for us this week - I know that is the only reason we are getting through this transition so well.

:)

Our theme

Believe it or not, Bill actually referenced this song on the way to church yesterday.

It's become our theme for the week... or, next few weeks.

Grad class, music class, teaching, piano lessons... we're working on finding our groove...

and it will be alright.

 

It's going to be alright
It's going to be alright

I can tell by your eyes that you're not getting any sleep
And you try to rise above it, but feel you're sinking in too deep
Oh, oh I believe, I believe that

It's going to be alright
It's going to be alright

I believe you'll outlive this pain in you heart
And you'll gain such a strength from what is tearing you apart
Oh, oh I believe I believe that

It's going to be alright
It's going to be alright

When some time has past us, and the story if retold
It will mirror the strength and the courage in your soul
Oh, oh, I believe I believe,

I believe
I believe

I did not come here to offer you cliché's
I will not pretend to know of all your pain
Just when you cannot, then I will hold out faith, for you

It's going to be alright
It's going to be alright

Sarah Groves

It's Going to be All Right

Friday Funny

"Luke, I am your father" (father's second cousin...)

This is Luke, sitting next to Connor...

and Connor is wearing a Darth Vador shirt.

Get it? ;)

oh I'd really rather not...

Connor had a transition this week.  

And I, well, I had a sort of melt-down over the weekend, but have been doing pretty well since.

He doesn't know it, but he has made a transition.

He is no longer a stay-at-home son.  He is a daycare-in-the-morning son.

How does he feel about it?

Well, as long as Dino  

(the friendly dinosaur, in the shape of a backpack)  

gets to come, he seems just fine.

Monday he was so excited to be in the car (that's right, excited to be in the car) with Dino and looking at a book; he chattered on and on the whole ride.

When we got to our friend's house, he was so excited to see everyone ~ friends from church ~ that he barely said goodbye to me.

Tuesday, we pulled into the driveway and he literally started clapping!

It makes it a little easier for this Mama that he likes where he is during the morning.

Next week we start at the real daycare... so we'll see how that goes.

So far. So good.

But, secretly, I'd really rather be home... I know people tell me that it will somehow make me a better mom, that I will like being with adults for a change, that Connor needs it, and a million other things that are supposed to make me feel better.  But... I'd rather still be home.

I spent Monday and Tuesday morning taking notes in the library at school.

Sitting in a little kid school chair.  Seriously.

I'll update again next Wednesday on how the transition is going ~ hopefully it's still going well!

Good bye Summer...

Hello Deck!

:)

Bill and I talked about getting the deck done before school started.

School starts (for teachers) today.  The deck is done.

(some railing pieces are waiting in the wings, but seriously, we're calling it done for today) 

What a beautiful thing.

The biggest change is the addition of about three feet to the driveway side of the deck (on the right side in the picture above)  It used to end right at the door, and have a small set of steps along the side of the house.  Bill extended the beams and made a wide set of steps centered on the end.

Other changes: Obviously, all the wood is new, and Bill also built a ladder holder underneath. :)
The big beams on the railings have caps on them and are probably Bill's favorite part because he thinks it makes the project seem more professionally done. :)

WAY TO GO BILL! :) It looks great!

Can't wait for many Fall evenings sitting on the deck!

Celebrating

My last day at home with Connor for the summer was Wednesday

(Thursday I had Bible Study, and we have plans for the weekend as well)

Bill wanted a full day to work on the deck with minimal intruptions and distractions, so I decided to take Connor for the morning and come home in time for napping.

We ended up at a place called Explore and More in Gettysburg.
Here are some pictures of our trip!

big train table = LOVE for Connor

standing in a bubble (he didn't love this...but we tried it!)

color mixing station

the Construction Zone

life sized light bright :)

having fun!

first time painting

I love the little dabs of paint!

more of the art room - stamps!

this table had big magnets and other building stuff

second favorite thing after the train table was the room with the old electronics ~
he sat and played with the phone and the credit card machine for a while

this was another bubble making set  up

we spent an hour and a half at the Explore and More and then we went to lunch at the Gettysburg Outlets - Connor got to have a hot dog and chips, and lemonade out of a straw!  We got him a cool "dino" bookbag to hold his stuff for when he starts daycare, and then headed home just in time for a nap.

After dinner we went to music class and then went to the park and played in the sand.

It was a great day.

I can't wait for the next one!

Play-Dough

While Mom is making a mess cooking in the kitchen,

Connor usually does something at the table (strapped in, where I know he's not being mischevious)

Sometimes it's coloring, or maybe his bead toy...

Some/most days it's playdough!  He loves it!

I just give him a few kitchen utensils, some cookie cutters, and he just plays away!

Don't you just love a little mind at work?! :)

Sticker Love

Today Connor decided that stickers are okay.

Up until the point, he has started whimpering if you gave him a sticker...

Today he started putting them on his shirt!

And, after bathtime... more stickers were put on his bare skin.

This is a huge big deal because ... well, because he disliked stickers on his skin even  more then stickers on  his clothing.

But, we're over that now, that's baby stuff - being afraid of stickers.

Big Boy Connor says "I Love Stickers!"

"show me the stickers Connor"... sticks his belly out

"where are the stickers Connor?"... looks at his belly

"Now look at me and smile Connor"... smiles... and sticks his belly out.

Funny Face Friday

loves his bike

even though he can't ride it himself yet. :)

Garden Update... kind of

like any good farmer - gardener - we Bill didn't just grow stuff.

He grew stuff and then MADE something out of it.

Bill slaved away in the kitchen this morning making spaghetti sauce out of our homegrown Roma tomatoes (and some other, store-bought, ingredients)

and tonight, after Connor went to bed, we took on the task of canning. (thanks Nancy Hare for letting us borrow your equipment!!!)

whew.

we ended up with about 7 quarts.

Not too shabby.

Bill also cooked beans and froze them this morning.

He's tired of being in the kitchen.

But so proud of his finished results.

I'm also proud of his hard work - gardening and 'processing' all this great food for our family.

Camping x 2

We went camping!

Twice!

Two weekends ago, we went to Gifford-Pinchot State Park with Grandpa and Grandma Hoffman.

We survived a huge thunderstorm on Saturday night (our dinner was ruined, and our clothes were soaked, but we pushed on!)

We went to the beach on Sunday and dodged cicada killers (click here for more information) and braved the disgusting water.

Sleepless nights courtesy of the screech owl in the trees above us and bullfrogs in the lake.

Monday we ate breakfast and packed up.

"A great time was had by all"

I mean, it was nice to be with family, and Connor seemed to have a good time - but the adults agreed it was not the best camping trip we've ever had... but one we'll remember for years to come!

This past weekend we went camping with the Barton's at Prince Gallitzen State Park.

We arrived on Thursday and quickly ate some dinner, set up camp, and relaxed.

Friday we hung out and took turns in the canoe.  Connor did not enjoy his ride... but he was cracking us up in his life-vest!  We went to the lake beach in the afternoon and had a late dinner.

Saturday = repeat of Friday, but with bubbles in the morning.

Sunday we had breakfast and tore down our site - just in time for the rainstorm to start (again, it rained overnight too!)

We are thankful to be in our own beds.

:)

Thanks for a great time of camping everyone!  Maybe 2013 camping will find us in a camper... ;)

Band-aid TRAMA

So, Connor had a little incident while helping unpack from our recent camping trip.

He was helping me unpack the bathroom box, and inbetween bringing me the toothpaste, and the shampoo, he picked up Bill's razor.  I had forgot it was in there - he normally uses an electric one - so it slipped my mind to take it out before Connor started helping.

Connor handed it to me, and then went back to the box.  When he brought me the next thing, it was covered in red... so I put two-and-two together and realized he must have cut himself with the razor.

Mind you, he had not made so much as an eyebrow raise while he was bleeding.  Just carrying on like everything was normal.  I put his hand under the sink, and called Bill for help getting a band-aid for the tinny tiny little scrape on his finger.

Well, when Bill went to put the band-aid on, because it was still bleeding and we needed to keep the pressure on to help it stop - the waterworks started.  Crying, screaming, wiggling.  Tantrum is the word I'm looking for.  You would have thought we were going to make him bleed.  Oh wait...

So, band-aid #1 was abandoned in the bathroom and I took him into the office to watch some Thomas the Train and keep pressure on his finger.  When it finally stopped bleeding, he kept wanting to touch it... so, back into the bathroom I went for band-aid #2.  This time, I didn't go for a small one, I went for a regular sized band-aid.  With the help of Bill holding his hand, I was able to put it on, but it was kinda...messy.

He was again, throwing a fit until we told him he would have a hot dog and a pickle for lunch.

This is where the video finds us, at lunch, after holding his hand near his plate for a while, and he was eating peacefully... he remembered the band-aid.

"Funny Moves" Friday

YeeHaw!

Connor's got some some Funny Moves to start this Friday off right!

Helping

This past week while it was raining outside, Connor found interesting things to keep himself busy inside.

Can you tell I was dusting the living room... and he wanted to help?

hysterical!  He was cracking me up with these socks on his feet!  I use old socks as dust rags and he wanted to join in the chore fun of dusting the living room.