Life's a Beach

Once Luke collected his train cars to take in the car on our way to the beach we left and enjoyed a very fun morning!

Great morning of family fun at Cedar Lake beach today...sun, breeze, sand, daddy & fruit snacks...Luke loved getting in the water. He just trotted right in up to his neck and by the time we left he was moving around in the shallow part refusing to leave. I have a feeling this may be a frequently visited spot this summer!

A boy eating popsicles, a gnome & some local produce

The boy is Luke.


The popsicles are 'homemade' and a big hit.


The gnome is a garage sale find that has become part of our family.The bird he is holding is now a separate piece due to a rough trip down Luke's slide.


This (organic, local) produce is our second delivery from the csa we joined this year. Lettuce, beets, garlic, herbs, sugar snap peas that are delicious right out of the crate. Yum!We will get a delivery of goodness for through the summer and early fall. I have already frozen soup I made with the spinach to enjoy in the fall!

PS - Yesterday, I took Luke to his school so that we could drop off his paperwork. I really wanted him to see the teachers and the inside of the building before he starts going there on Tuesday, too, so the paperwork was just a good excuse. He was a little shy at first, but then he noticed some toys and wanted down to explore. A couple of 'older' girls waved and said hi to him as he trotted across the room to look at the toy selection and when I asked him if he was ready to leave he gave me a quick but firm "NO". I hope next week goes well, but I am excited that we have found him a great place and feel good about this next step for all of us! I went to work for 1/2 day today and just LOVED being with my peers and feeling like myself in another way.

Random bits

This is the last week that Luke & I are hanging together everyday. He will start at the Montessori preschool next week a few mornings each week through the summer and then attend full time in August when I go back to work. I am happy for both of us. He is ready for teachers and friends and more fun than mommy can come up with these days, and I am ready to be in the high school mix again. So thankful that I had this extra year at home to get to know him even better, and so thankful that I have a job to go back to that I love and that he has a great school to attend.

So, here are some random bits of our life these days...

----Not sure I have ever mentioned how fortunate and happy we are to live near our parents. This weekend, my mom helped me so much just by keeping me company and Gma Susan had an overnight guest Sunday so that Steve and I could just veg out. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

----It is harder to get candid photos of him because he instantly wants the camera for himself so I get shots like this...

and this...

----He is very sensitive to others emotions and very loving, BUT bite marks like these are why we have been giving him 2 minute timeouts in the past few days. Last night he had 5 I think...
----If I am short on ideas for dinner but have a pound of bacon to cook in the freezer, my husband & child are both giddy with what I have cooked. As a female, I may never fully understand the magic of bacon, but I will cook it once in a while and watch as my family eats happily.

----It is summer here...blazing hot but we are not complaining. We are playing in water, staying in during the heat of the day and happy to be goosebump free!We are also enjoying the spring storms that pop up. Luke will imitate thunder and likes to see the rain come down.
----I love Luke. Last night before he went to bed, I was 'talking' to him about his day and his stay at Gma & Gpa's. He told me that he played with Gpa's train and sang with Gma and he must have taken the train set apart at some point b/c he kept saying 'uh-oh, choo-choo' and when I asked who fixed it he said Gpa :)

---And, of course, we are still big fans of anything with four wheels.

His pants are nearly on the ground due to his use of pockets. Cars, trucks, buses all go in those pockets and then there is a battle of the pants v. Luke to get them out again.
I hear 'Mommy' coming from his room, so we are off to the races...

An apple a day

Produce strike has ended! We have had a banana, an apple & OJ this morning... Luke has gone a while without much interest in fruits and veggies, BUT seeing as he is such a big boy now, he has decided that apples are awfully tasty and he can eat one like a grown up. Yesterday he ate down to the seeds and said 'uh oh, seed' when he reached the core. It is super wet and rainy today and we were awakened by thunder. I just let him run around the marshy front yard and get soaked in a matter of minutes and then fight me all the way back in the house. Have I even mentioned that we have a little bit of fun every day?

Strawberries, I mean the playland

We were planning to go with some friends Friday strawberry picking, but storms were popping up and we just bought some at the farm then headed to the nearest McDonald's playland. This was our first time at a playland mainly because I think that they are gross with a capital G.


Luke played for about 3 minutes, then was only interested in walking out so I corralled him a few times in order to have a conversation with a couple of grown women and then gave up and we headed to Rural King. What an exciting post, eh?

A fan with a little business

The Red Sox are in 4th place, but that doesn't matter when you look this cute in their gear. Plus, the hat helps take care of some business on the front porch...who needs a potty chair?

Bald Knob, take two

At the end of May last year, I took Luke and the dogs on an adventure to a s. Illinois sight to see, Bald Knob. http://sellshouse.blogspot.com/2009/05/this-morning.html

It is a stunning site, with views all around. It feels like being in the center of nature and is just a lovely trip to get there as well.

We went back Thursday, and it is just as stunning. Luke was everywhere, we met a local dog named Daisy May, had a nice conversation with the groundskeeper who told us about the snakes he had seen in the past couple of weeks on the grounds (copperheads and rattlers) and showed Luke his lawnmower. He actually even took us into his place and showed us a rattlesnake tail, which Luke was a little unsure of, and pointed out where the mom and babies are nested! Talk about nature...It was a very nice, calm and lovely visit.

Wow

These are the flowers that Luke came running in the house with last night yelling "Mommy" over and over...I melted. He was adamant about me getting the flowers and let me give him lots of kisses for such a sweet gesture.

This is him later that night pointing to where he wanted me to sit :)

These are very precious days with Luke. He is more and more communicative, loving, demanding, sure of himself, etc...Steve and I are just really enjoying each moment.

A car in the house?

Yes, a car in the house. $4 super score at a yard sale last week. Luke actually spotted it from the car and was yelling 'mama' as we passed the house so I turned around and picked this little coupe up for him :) He likes it just a little bit...



I will admit he was watching his favorite "Bob the Builder" as I took these pictures. Bob is totally a new member of the family :)