Life Lately

Here is a bit of life lately...

Rainy days equal beautiful sky's and rainbows!

I attended a "Celebrate Learning" night at Jaxen's school.

Basically, it was a chance for parents to come see work they have done.

He loved showing Zane and I around his room and all his work.

His desk is away from the other kids right now -

It was a compromise he and his teacher made to keep him from being distracting :)

We had some family fun with a blower, a soft baseball and a bat!

I took more videos than pictures - but I think you get the idea.

We traveled to Central TX for my Mamaw's funeral.

On the way, we introduced Jaxen to 90's music and he did not like it - can you believe it?!

And on the way back, we ran into torrential rain, wind, lightning and hail - fun, huh?!

Along the way, we made a stop at Bucee's and enjoyed looking around and taking a few pics.

Zane had a little accident which involved his ear, a metal display case and lots of blood!

He is fine...but it took awhile for him to calm down.

I thought we might have to buy the giant beaver to help - thankfully we did not.

 

Since most of our family was together - we took some pictures!

Mamaw and Papaw's 4 kids

My family!

Zane has recently enjoyed eating ice cream.

This is new to him.

Even a few weeks ago - he would not eat it.

But then he went to DQ with Kay and Russell, and they got him chocolate dipped cone...

and he now loves ice cream! Lol.

We made a stop for ice cream on the way home from Mamaw's funeral and he loved it!

Cute pics, right?!

Well, that's a little bit of life the last few weeks.

Remembering Mamaw

Over the last week as we said good-bye to Mamaw and gathered with family to celebrate her life and bury her body, I have been flooded with memories…

She taught me to make pies and eat toast with extra butter and syrup.

We would solve most of our and the worlds problems in an 8 hour car ride with sweet tarts and sprite.

She could rock in a rocking chair faster than anyone I knew and drink coffee without spilling a drop.

She taught me to play cards and even a little bit of piano.

She never had less than 20 butter tubs in her fridge/panty but also never had a sharp knife.

She could peel potatoes with a dull knifer faster than I could with a peeler.

She taught me to love and serve her spouse and those around her.

She always offered a helping hand when she could.

She loved sitting in front of a fireplace and playing solitaire well into the night/morning.

She packed for trips in plastic bags and enjoyed wearing high heels.

She loved green eye shadow and would buy clothes and shoes in various sizes as long as they were on sale and wear them (even if her toes were squished or she had to pin her clothes on).

She loved to visit and would talk with anyone.

She loved to sing and dance.

She would drink sweetened condensed milk from the can.

She always went first when playing cards.

She would not let you eat Thanksgiving pies before Thanksgiving.

She always left Golden Corral with at least 2 rolls wrapped up in her purse.

She did not love the trend and would not allow me to tight roll my jeans in the late 80’s and 90’s.

And so much more….

Most of all, she loved the Lord.

And her family.

I will miss her.

I am glad she was my Mamaw.

Below are a few pics of Mamaw…all with Jaxen.

Because he was cuter than I was - and I didn’t take a lot of pictures pre-Jaxen!

 

Zane - 3 Year Well Check

Zane had his 3 year well check this past week. 

I was able to go with him and Nik on my lunch hour and I'm so glad I did. 

He is a growing, healthy boy!

In case you cannot tell what Zane drew on the chalkboard, while waiting for the doctor,

there is a snake, a raptor-raptor, an alligator and puppy.

He weighs 32 lbs and 8 oz, which puts him in the 57th percentile.

His height is 37 7/8 inches, which puts him in the 58 percentile. 

No shots were needed (which is always good) but Zane has irritated skin on his bum. 

I try to keep medicine on it, and thought now that we are out of diapers (YES!) 

it would get better, but it has not. 

So she gave me a few suggestions that I will try.

He is where he should be with his development physically. 

The only concern she really has is articulation in his speech. 

It's not bad...and she said it very well could get better 

over the next few months as he grows and develops mores. 

However, she suggested getting a speech screening done for him in the fall. 

I have already made the initial call and it's a matter of waiting until July to call back and schedule it.

I have started to notice it a bit, as I hear other kids his age talk - 

but like the doctor said it's not bad and he's not too far behind. 

It's hard for me to really tell because when Jaxen was three he barely talked 

 (pointed most of the time) - so anything is great compared to that!

Speaking of speech... 

Zane always says the funniest things. 

I tried to remember some over the last month so I could mention them here:

"Mommy, my tummy hurts. I need soup!” 

I have no idea where he got that! Lol.

"I have an idea!"

About an hour after I cut his hair this week he looked in the mirror and said, 

"Mommy, where did my hair go? I want it back!" 

I replied and told him "Remember I cut your hair." 

"Oh yea". 

It was so funny because he was seriously concerned about his hair being gone!

"I use my big gecko muscles!" 

This is from the show, PJ Masks. 

He also has named our family - Zane is Gecko, Jaxen is Cat Boy, 

I am Owlette and Nik is Night Ninja. 

Google PJ Masks if you don't know what I'm talking about.

And since I'm on the topic of funny sayings, I will include two from Jaxen: 

“I had to go poop so much today I missed out on time with my family!”
"I've had the same laugh for 6 1/2 years - I'm trying out a new one."

Well, Zane is officially potty-trained!

We took it slow for awhile and in the last few weeks 

we completely did away with pull-ups during the day.

Even at night - all this week, he has not had pull ups on!

I know we will still probably have some accidents, and maybe even

some regression - that is normal, but I'm very excited!

Here is the thing though - Zane likes to be naked.

If we/he takes off his pants and undies to go potty he doesn't want them back on.

If he does it, he could be running around the house (or even outside)

for a few minutes before we notice! Lol.

No worries - I force at least undies on him.

 And we have only caught him completely naked outside twice (so far).  

His current favorites include: PJ Masks, Bubble Gupplies, Dinosaurs (T-Rex in particular), Chocolate Milk, Pizza, Spaghetti, Apples, Grapes, Pretzels, French Fries, Bubble Baths, his Scooter, Hide and Seek, anything with a Ball, and Wrestling with his daddy or brother. He is still a good cuddler (as long as he has his milk and a blankie). 

He is just so big these days! Nik was telling me that the past two weeks he has really seen growth in Zane, and I agree. It's weird how that happens sometimes. He is becoming more independent, stronger and just over all "older"!

Weekend In Review

This past weekend was great!

It was fun, productive, restful and involved sunshine....

all necessary for a wonderful weekend :)

Friday started off with grilled burgers (my favorite), a freshly mowed back lawn, and time getting to know our neighborhood! We have gotten to know one family who has a girl the same age as Jaxen. They actually play together quite a bit. But I also had the opportunity to visit with two more neighbors. And good news - a house sold down the street with 3 kids ages 2-9! They will move in next month. I am looking forward to the summer months in our neighborhood. 

On Saturday we were up and at the soccer fields by 8:40am. So far - Jaxen's soccer team has not won a game. But they are trying their very best...and so far, still having fun!

After soccer we ran home for a quick clothing change, bathroom break and to pack lunches. We then made our way to the TimberRidge Adventure Center. This is an outdoor activities center (including challenge courses, a lake, rock climbing, archery, and more. Too bad you had to be at least 8 to participate in most activities). Our neighbor (Sayde's mom) works there and invited us to their open house! Jaxen, Zane and I explored on our own for about an hour when we then met up with Sayde. She hung out with us the rest of the time and we had lots of fun!

About to ride the Pedal Boat with my boys!

Zane loved the Firetruck!

Jaxen got a "Spiderman Eye" and Zane got a snake painted on his arm!

They colored, did a bug-search, colored the sidewalks with chalk, went through a small obstacle course, saw snakes and worms and enjoyed the fresh (but very windy) air!

I do have to say - towards the end of our time there my littlest had about an hour long meltdown. It was pretty ugly. Especially considering we went on the pedal boats again (Jaxen, Sayde, Zane and myself) and the wind was so strong we got stuck at the side of the lake and could not get back! I was the only one pedaling and every time I would get us moving in the right direction (all while holding a screaming Zane) the wind would take us back. A worker came to rescue us (and others) and made it back safely (with a still a screaming Zane) and then they closed the lake after that! Oh, memories!

After a few hours of fun there we went home to rest! We introduced Jaxen to the movie "Little Rascals" (and I napped). The evening was spent enjoying some very yummy grilled Chicken Legs (with Frank's sauce) and chocolate chip cookies (which we shared with two neighbor families).

We enjoyed a wonderful service at church Sunday. And then I did 7 or 8 loads of laundry (I lost count). Washed, dried, folded/hung and put away! Plus I cleaned our bedroom and washed our sheets. It took me all day but it was worth it!

Zane enjoyed a bit more time outside - with no shorts. At least he had undies and a shirt on! I don't know if I've mentioned it here - but Zane has gone out front multiple times completely naked - oops! More on that (and potty-training in a later post).

Like I said, it was a wonderful weekend!