Working with Daddy in the Kitchen

Nicholas loves to work with me in the kitchen when I'm cooking. However, this weekend, he got a new experience of helping Daddy in the kitchen. But they weren't cooking. They were installing new kitchen countertops together!



We emptied out the cabinets underneath the countertops. Then Stuart started pulling out the old ugly pink colored counters. Nicholas loved having the cabinets empty so he could play in them!







At one point, as Stuart was working on attaching the new countertops, he needed to put some weight on the counter while he secured it to the cabinets. Nicholas had been playing knights and castles (note the foam sword in its "holster") but he quickly volunteered to be a weight for Daddy.



Daddy had some saw horses set up in the living just to hold the counter pieces up off the floor. However, that was too exciting for Nicholas to stand and he ended up climbing up on the new counter and pretended to saw and sand it with his little plastic tools. What a hard worker he is!



Nicholas has always had one dedicated cabinet in the kitchen for his toys. It started out having toys that he could use to "help" me cook. Now it is more of a collection place for all kinds of toys, pine cones, etc. I took this picture of the cabinet before we cleaned it out to work on the countertop above it.

Party at Win Kids

Today we went to a birthday party for Nicholas' friend, Reese, at Win Kids. What kid wouldn't love this place! There are trampolines, tumbling mats, foam block pits to jump into, balls, swings, parachutes, and all kinds of fun!



Nicholas' favorite part was the giant swing. There were three swings attached together so he got to swing with Emma Rae and Reese. The swing went increcibly high and all three of the kids were grinning ear to ear!

Mad Science

We went to a special library show today hosted by Mad Science. I love their programs! They teach science in fun and exciting ways. Today we learned about dry ice, flash paper, and other cool things. I love that their programs are always very interactive and hands-on.





After the show, Nicholas enjoyed hopping from mat to mat as he pretended to step on rocks in a river filled with crocodiles. He can have fun with anything :)

Just Can't Measure Up!

I have tried to have Nicholas involved in the whole process of decorating his little sister's room. However, today I don't think I taught him much - except what not to do! With the nursery walls painted pink, I ventured to try to put up a wallpaper border around the top of the room. Yes, I could wait until Stuart got home to help me but I'm pregnant and in the "nesting phase" so I'm just too impatient to wait around for help!

So I talked to Nicholas about how I would measure the walls and cut each strip to length so that I would tackle one wall at a time. Then I showed him how to soak the strip in water to activate the pre-pasted goo on the wallpaper. Of course, he loved dunking it in the water and making a mess! Then I started putting the border up on the wall while he watched. It was very frustrating trying to get the piece to stick to the wall, make sure it was straight, and smooth out the bubbles all by myself. Just as I would get a section perfect, I would have to climb down from the ladder, move the ladder over a few feet, and then sadly watch as all the work I had just done came peeling off the wall. Needless to say, Nicholas got bored with this part and abandoned me. I soon heard the television on in the other room. While I don't usually condone using the TV as a babysitter, I could tell that this would take a while and the little guy really couldn't help me with this part.

I finally learned that once I had a section looking just the way I wanted it, I needed to hold it in place for several minutes to be sure that the paste had set enough to allow me the few minutes I needed to scoot the ladder over and climb back up to keep going. The first wall was just a tiny bit too short but it was in the corner and I knew I could line up the pattern with the next piece so that it didn't show up much. So I measured out the second wall and cut my strip of border. After much frustration, I got it across the entire wall only to find that it was about an inch too short!



This would be harder to hide and although I probably could have winged it, I decided to peel the whole piece off the second wall and start over. Nicholas came to check on me from time to time and he always seemed amazed that I was still working on it. I was amazed at how long it was taking too! I tried to talk to him about persistence to turn it into a teachable moment but he was totally bored with my whole project and didn't seem to care. A few times I called him in to help me if I dropped my smoothing tool or needed him to hand me something else. He is a very good helper. In the end, the border turned out just the way I had wanted it to.



However, I'm afraid Nicholas didn't learn much from me except what not to do when it comes to measuring! Oh yeah, he also learned about some new products from commercials he watched on TV. Later in the day he told me, "Mom, you should get the new Kaboom! It does the hard work for you!" Maybe I can hire him out to be the next spokesman for Kaboom!

Water Park and Yogurt Treat

We spent the morning at a local water park with some of our friends. Nicholas loves water parks and we usually stay for hours so I always come prepared with lots of sunblock, snacks, and drinks. Nicholas enjoys playing on the slide or in the water sprays of the shallow end. Of course, hanging out in the shallow end is also the best place to shoot everyone with water guns, thanks to some friends who brought three water guns with them!



Once we made it back home, Nicholas wanted some vanilla yogurt. I also gave him a small cup of Gatorade because he seemed really thirsty. I turned my back for a bit and looked what he did!

He poured his red Gatorade into his vanilla yogurt cup. I guess he didn't like the way his concoction tasted because he then offered it to me. He knows it drives me crazy when he wastes food like this so he buttered me up by saying, "I made this special treat just for you because of all of the cooking you do for our family!"

Sweet Big Brother!

Nicholas and I were talking today about things that we needed to get done before his baby sister arrives. He is very excited and very involved in preparing for the baby. He always talks about "his" baby even with strangers in line at the grocery store! Today he told me, "I'll get up at night and help make her bottle or watch her while you make the bottle." How sweet! He's going to be an awesome big brother!

Working on the nursery

This weekend we did a lot of work on what will become our baby girl's nursery. I've been incredibly busy the last few weeks cleaning out stuff from the guest bedroom. I try to use the rule that if I haven't used something in a year then it needs to go. That's harder than you might think. I have pack rat tendencies and I can rationalize how I might have a use for these things sometime in the future so I should just hold on to them. But we only have so much space in the house and I don't want things to be cluttered so some of my "treasures" will just have to go. I've been selling things on Ebay or giving them away on Freecycle. All of the shelves and drawers in the bookcases and desk are now empty. The closet is still quite packed with my hobby things but there is only so much I can stand to part with right now.

The walls in this room have been a challenge for us. The walls in our house have a standard splatter/knock-down finish that most walls have. The previous owners had put a wallpaper border around this room at a chair rail height. Under the border they smoothed the wall texture so that the border would look better. So when we removed their border we were stuck with the challenge of making the wall texture uniform - either all smooth or all textured. Neither way sounded like much fun. We decided to try a smooth texture on the wall. Well that took quite a while to do and it never looked completely smooth. I hated it and I spent the most time in this room since it has been my "hobby room" where I stash all of my craft and scrapbook supplies. So later I decided I'd add a texture to the walls to cover all the imperfections in our smoothing technique. I couldn't handle doing the splatter/knock-down finish by myself so I chose a sand texture. I bought special paint that was essentially like paint with sand in it. It covered the smooth wall ugliness beautifully and rather easily. However, as we were looking at converting this room into the nursery, Stuart decided that the sandpaper texture to the walls was too scratchy for a baby's room. So he decided to try the splatter/knock-down approach. I was happy because the walls would finally match the rest of the house but I dreaded yet another project.

We got all of the furniture out of the room and Nicholas loved climbing on it. He managed use a little desk as a step to help him climb up into a shelf on a book case. He loved his little cubby hole and he called it his "pirate bed".



Stuart and I worked on masking off the room with tarps and painter's tape. We had to be sure that all of the doors, window, and ceiling was protected from the splatter he was going to put on the walls. Nicholas loved having the Little Giant ladder out - like father, like son!





Oh no! Be careful, little guy! Please don't be so daring!!!



Stuart and I worked on the masking part of the project for a long time. Nicholas was worried about us being thirsty so he showed up at the door with two glasses of milk that he had fixed for us all by himself. What a sweetie!







Today Nicholas got to help paint the baby's room. He got a real treat because he got an entire blank wall to paint however he wanted. He learned how to load the roller with paint and roll it on the wall and he also got to use a paint brush. He did great and kept the paint where it needed to be and not on the doors or himself. What kid wouldn't have fun going crazy with paint on a wall!







We also wanted him to help paint so that he could have an active part in making the room nice for his little sister. He said he was doing it to make his little sister happy but then asked how would she know that he did it for her since she isn't here to see it. I told him that was why I was taking pictures so we could show them to his little sister someday.

Happy Father's Day

Well, Stuart got to spend much of Father's Day working on the nursery. Poor Daddy! I couldn't even get to his Father's Day present until later in the day because I had stashed it in the closet in the nursery and we had taped the door up to work on the walls. Poor poor Daddy! Once his work in the room was done and he was absolutly exhausted, I was finally able to get to his present. We gave him his crown to be "King for the Day" and his gift of his favorite shave cream and cologne from L'Occitane. Not the most exciting gift but he said it was just what he was hoping for. We love you, Daddy!



We spent the rest of the day playing in the pool. Nicholas is doing a great job of swimming across the pool by himself even though he hasn't had a lesson since last summer. Nicholas hasn't napped in several days and we've kept him up later at night than usual. And with all of the playing in the pool, the little guy was pretty tired. We all got cleaned up and ordered pizza for dinner (Daddy's favorite!). Shortly after we had finished eating, we found Nicholas asleep on the couch. He was pooped out!

Come Take A Picture of my Beautiful Bed!

Nicholas does not always nap in the afternoon anymore. Usually I can at least get him to have some quiet down time in his room though even if it doesn't actually sleep. Today I thought for sure he would nap because he hasn't had as much sleep as usual these last few days. But instead, I heard him calling me from his room. He said, "Mommy! Please come take a picture of my beautiful bed that I've made!" I was a little afraid of what he might have done to his bed but I tried to ignore him thinking he would forget about me and just go to sleep. Nope, he just got louder, "MOMMY! PLEASE COME TAKE A PICTURE OF MY BEAUTIFUL BED!" So curiosity got the best of me and I finally went in his room. He hadn't done much except put some Tinker Toys along the back of his bed. He was very proud of how he had decorated his bed and asked again for me to take a picture of it. So of course I did.

Nicholas and his Beautiful Bed...



P.S. - Uncle SMO, Nicholas still loves those Tinker Toys that you gave him two Christmas' ago. He makes something with them every single day! Usually it is either a rocket ship or a sword but there is really no telling what he will come up with. And of course, I find single pieces of Tinker Toys all over the house. I think they are multiplying on their own!

Peter Cottontail Bunny

When Nicholas was born it was close to Easter and the Harrell family gave him a little blue bunny that sings "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" and a cute little outfit. Nicholas has loved on the little bunny for four years now. As a baby, he would giggle like crazy any time the bunny sang to him. Even at four years old, he still likes to have the bunny sing but now he sings along with him.

Recently, Nicholas played the bunny's song and it sounds slow and sad. He got a panic in his voice and said, "What's wrong with my bunny?" I told him that like so many of his other toys, the bunny's batteries were dying. Unfortunately, his batteries are not replaceable. Nicholas got so upset when I told him that the bunny probably wasn't going to be able to sing much longer. He hugged the bunny and said, "It's ok bunny. I still love you!" He asked if he might get a new bunny for Easter next year. I told him that I would make sure the Easter Bunny took care of that for him.

Helping Mommy Wash the Car

Today Nicholas and I washed my car. He never hesitated when I asked if he wanted to help although he didn't quite know what to do. I showed him how to rinse off the car and get it all wet. Then we made up our bucket of soap and we each got a sponge. Well, then it was time to have fun!





Nicholas had a lot of fun doing this and he even made up a cute little song on his own. Check it out!



After we had cleaned the car, Nicholas decided to experiment with other ways to have fun with a wet, soapy sponge!

Always Fun at the Duck Pond

During the summer, our PTA group has Picnic and Playdate in which each week a different mom gets to pick where we all meet to play and have snacks. This week was our first Picnic and Playdate and we met at Rheudasil park (aka The Duck Pond).

Nicholas enjoyed feeding the ducks for a while but once he got bored with that he tried to aim the little pieces of bread so they would land on at the ducks' head and back.

Of course, as our kids watch other older kids play on the playground, they learn new ways to enjoy the equipment. Nicholas now likes to climb on top of the slide tunnel, just because he can!

"Hey, Mom! Look what I can do!"



Here he is playing imaginary light sabers with some other little boys from our group.

Paper Pulp Dinosaur's Demise

I forgot to mention that last night when we went to the game, Mrs. Deb brought Nicholas' paper pulp dinosaur to him. The dinosaur really turned out well and had finally dried enough to remove him from the mold. Nicholas was so excited to show Daddy after the game but something sticky had gotten on the dinosaur (hard to imagine with all the food that boy had handled through the night). I guess he wanted to clean Mr. Dino before showing him to Stuart because the next thing I heard was Nicholas saying "OH NO!" from the bathroom. He had washed his paper pulp dinosaur in the sink and needless to say the poor guy got soft and squishy and eventually lost his head. Poor little dinosaur! He didn't even live long enough to meet Daddy and to think that he was going to get a cute coat of paint today.

Let's Go, Rangers!

Last night, Nicholas and I had the coolest time going to a Texas Rangers baseball game with our friends Mrs. Deb and Emma Rae. The Rangers played the Cleveland Indians. Nicholas had never been to a baseball game and he just loves spending time with Emma Rae so this was a real treat for him.

Mrs. Deb picked us up and Nicholas enjoyed munching on Cheez It crackers in the back seat with Emma Rae.



We got a great parking spot and walked to our seats which were just behind home plate. How awesome!



Nicholas and Emma Rae did a great job singing The Star Spangled Banner together.



I think Nicholas' favorite part of the game was all of the great food! He had a hot dog, kettle corn, cotton candy, and a lemon chill. He especially enjoyed listening to the guys walk up and down the stadium aisles and how they sort of chanted out what they were saying. He kept imitating them..."Keeetttlle cooorrrrnnn!"



Here is Nicholas enjoying his cotton candy. He also enjoyed that fireworks were shot every time the Rangers hit a home run!



There is a chant that the crowd says, "Let's Go, Rangers!" followed by a rhythm of claps. Emma Rae has been to many Rangers games so she is already quite familiar with it but to help Nicholas get the rhythm right I counted out the beat for him. Next thing I knew, the two of them had added my rhythm counting to the chant. It was working so who was I to stop them.



At some point in the game we all took a break to sing, "Deep In The Heart of Texas". Nicholas knows this well from school and you can see that he really got into it!



Thanks, Mrs. Deb and Emma Rae for inviting us to this awesome game! By the way, the Rangers lost 12-9 but it was still an awesome game :)