Channeling My Inner Elementary Teacher

Today I switched out my hall frame, and as I finished it up, I realized it looked a lot like some bulletin boards I have done before. I am counting this as my scrapbook page for the day, but I'm hoping to get more done!

Marathon Monday

We had a really busy Monday. My goal was to make it to bedtime with no meltdowns. We almost made it.

We started off with storytime and a couple of errands and then it was on to a birthday party!

Jack LOVES icing. He also ate 3 pieces of pizza!

After the party we went to the park. He has been asking to go to this park for weeks, but it has been too cold or windy or we've been sick or something!

Checking out the slide. Eventually the wind picked up and we went home.

After about an hour at home, we left to meet up with friends at a new play place in town. Jack enjoyed the dress-up room. He tried on a stethoscope, but I discouraged it.

They also have some really neat climbing stuff, too.

After all of that (plus dinner) he was pretty frazzled and had a nice little meltdown. We almost made it! We went home, read some books, and he was out by 7:30. That gave me time to meet the scrapbook challenge I received to do at least 1 page a day. This was just Day 1, so we'll see how that goes.

Tomorrow we are taking it easy!

Weekend Wrap-Up

We had a very busy weekend!

Friday started off with a trip to the mall to play and ride the merry-go-round. Then it was off to run some errands before heading to Grandma and Grandpa's.

We stopped by Grandpa's office and Jack helped him do some work. He had a great time playing hide and seek, too!

That evening we went to movie night ("Ratatouille") at school.

Boris spent the week with Grandma and Grandpa, but he and Jack fell right back into their sleeping groove.

Saturday we had Grandpa Jack's 90th birthday party!

This afternoon he had a birthday party to attend. He had a great time!

And that is our weekend in (very quick) review. Jack is finally asleep and Boris is settled in on the couch!

Shoes!

I used to really like shoes. I had shoes that went with everything--and quite a few pairs that just went with one thing. Somewhere in the last three years I have gotten away from getting so many shoes (yes, really I have!), but lately I have been finding more and more that I like. At least I am finding them cheap, I guess.

It turns out that Jack also likes shoes--rain boots, specifically. His yellow rain boots (that we looked high and low for after he saw a tiny pair at the store) are getting too tight and he has been talking about these frog boots for a while. Today we had to go get him some other shoes, so we ended up getting the frogs, too. He wore them through the store before we bought them and kept them on most of the day. In fact, he even wore them to bed. Here he is at bedtime!

The beloved dinosaur shoes are getting small, so we went to find him some new tennis shoes and dressy shoes. I am SO glad his foot has slimmed down and we don't have to buy everything at StrideRite! Here are the goods!

And of course I ended up with a pair, too.

Shoe shopping didn't take us the entire day. We went to storytime and lunch before coming home. This afternoon we played a lot--bouncy balls, colorforms, drawing, blocks, instruments...you name it, he had it out. He was so into the blocks I even got a chance to do a little cleaning on his closet!

Dinosaur bowling

That's it for tonight! Tomorrow is ANOTHER busy day!

Jesse Bear

This week we finally finished up our Jesse Bear lapbook. The idea is to spend about a week on each book, but I think between regular errands, a visit from Grandma, and the ravages of the stomach bug, it took us about 3 weeks. During that time we read every Jesse Bear book we could get our hands on, played with our felt Jesse (and made him some things for his house), played "find the bear" 400 times, and even did some bear crafts at the library. All in all, time well spent.

The cover

Inside

The family book

Sponge painting--one of his new favorites!

We started Katy No Pocket today and with a little luck, we should be done with it in about a week!

Another Busy Day

It appears I've used this same title before, but it was another busy day, so that's what I'll call it. This morning Jack was up a little after seven, which is early for him right now.

Cooking a little something up for breakfast

We were the book club hosts for this month, but there was a birthday in the group so they brought treats for everyone! I don't know why I am getting this look when he has a donut in his hand.

After book club we went to buy a birthday present at the BX. Jack decided we needed lunch, so we went to Chili's. Then it was off to WalMart to pick up the pictures and get a few things. Once we were home, we read some books, played on the computer, and worked on the Jesse Bear lapbook (pictures coming soon!).

Here he is working on the "B" book.

He liked the sponge painting so much he had to do a couple of pages.

And that was our busy day. Jack was asleep before eight, so I think he still must be getting over being sick. We may get some ice tonight, and if we do, it will be a lazy day!

Back in the Saddle

Normally I update the blog each night, but Friday evening I was felled by the stomach bug. Poor Jack had to eat what he could reach in the pantry because I couldn't get off the couch. This meant he had fruit snacks for dinner. He was really broken up about that, you know. And then the toilet stopped working. I don't deal well with vomiting or plumbing on their own, and together they are a disaster in the making, so my dad came Saturday morning to fix the toilet and cart us home where I could rest and Jack could watch the good cartoon channels.

After I started feeling better Sunday, Jack got sick, so we stayed until this morning. After an entire day of cleaning and disinfecting, I thought I'd better see what was on the camera. Here it is!

Friday morning we went to crafts at the library.

Jack took over the living room at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

While I was on the couch you see back there, I was thinking that Jack looked awfully high up, but I thought it was because I wasn't wearing my glasses and I was only half-conscious. Turns out he was climbing up to play on the table.

Blanket swings are the best!

Bobey keeping Jack company after he got sick. (Jack, not Bobey. Actually, Bobey did get sick early Friday morning, so I guess we all had it this weekend.)

Boris loves sitting in the sun and looking at the yard.

Jack had fun gluing jellybeans today.

So that's our last few days. It seems weird that it is already Tuesday night, but I guess that's what happens when you spend 48 hours asleep!