Proof

[Sorry for the picture quality. It was taken with his phone.]

Thursday evening Tom picked up two of his friends from Colorado at the airport and brought them home to our house for a "guys' weekend". The only thing on their agenda was fishing and drinking.

After staying up until 2am Thursday night drinking and catching up, they set out to Lake Texoma at 4:30am. They had a fishing guide scheduled to take them to all of the best locations for fishing. They had so much fun and caught so many fish that they went back again this morning well before the sun was up.

The above picture is from today. I needed proof that Tom could catch a fish since I haven't seen him catch anything in our backyard yet.

Please think of me for the remainder of the weekend as I tolerate the rest of "guys' weekend" and all of their testosterone....ugh!

The Simple Joys

I love getting free money in the mail. Lately, being a stay at home mom has given me the time to fill out rebate forms. Who knew what satisfaction you could get from spending ten minutes filling out my name and address and popping it into the mailbox?! Today I received a $10 coupon for my next oil change plus a $10 American Express card I can use anywhere that accepts American Express. Score!

Me and Micah Monday

For today's adventure, I wanted to take Micah on a picnic. We needed to run over to Frisco to pick up his portraits at the mall, so I googled different parks between the mall and our house and found this great little spot only two blocks off of our path. And, the best part is that the park has a sprinkler playground! If you live in the area and want to visit this park, it is called Frisco Commons Park and it's right off of Eldorado and Main St. The park also has a great [dry] playground that we skipped today. We'll save that for another adventure.

Micah had fun pulling everything out of the cooler.

I think he licked every piece of ice we brought, and he giggled when I put pieces down the back of his shirt!

He got me wet with this a few times.

More Swimming

Watch this brave little man!

By next week I should have him diving off of the side into a full butterfly sprint....LOL!

Success!

Look, Mom and Dad!

The cannas that you helped me transplant from the front yard are blooming!






Thank you for giving me something beautiful to look at outside of my kitchen windows. I should have two more bloom in the next few days!

Puddle Duck

Well, the rain spoiled our afternoon plans to visit the pool today, but it gave Micah a great opportunity to use the rain boots that his cousins Will and Henry passed down to him.

If you are wondering how yesterday went, we made it. My interviews went well. It's still a slow economy here and they don't have anything for me right now, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that something will come up in the next few weeks.

Micah had a good day too. Well, at least his teacher said he had a good day. He cried from 8am-9am (I cried most of that time too), but when they went out for morning recess he was all smiles and didn't cry again until late in the afternoon when some of the other moms started to pick up their kids. When I finally walked in the door, I could hear him balling in the the very back of the daycare screaming, "maMAAAAAAA". I felt awful. His teacher said he saw me through the window as I got out of the car and he got upset. To make up for leaving him all day, we went home and snuggled on the couch and watched Madagascar 2. He was so sweet and cuddly! I'm pretty sure he was relieved that we didn't go back to daycare today.

Back to School

After a long 7 month hiatus from the working world, I have decided to go back to work. Well, the first step is finding a job. No, I take that back. The first step is getting Micah back into daycare, or baby school as they called it in Denver, so I can look for a job.

I did my research, took several tours and asked a zillion questions, and we have decided to put Micah in the daycare closest to our home. The daycare is called Kid's Corral and has a western theme throughout. (How very Texas of them...)

The staff is super friendly and Micah seems to love the place. The first thing he saw when we went for our initial tour was the playground where we had to spend our first 15 minutes in order to keep him happy. When we viewed the classroom, they let him mingle among the other 2 year olds. Several of them came up to him and asked his name and said "hi". Micah couldn't quite say his own name yet, so I helped him out. He was a little timid and shy at first with all of the kids, but as soon as he found the bin full of tiny race cars he was fine. We made two additional trips to the daycare to make sure it was the right fit for Micah. By the time we left for the third time, he didn't want to walk out of the door. I litterally had to pick him up and tote him to the car.

Tomorrow will be his first full day at the new daycare, and I'm hoping he's as eager as the last couple visits. Over the last few months, I can tell that he has become attached to his Mama. He does well when I drop him off at the gym daycare, but I never leave him for more than an hour or so. This will be the whole day away from me which hasn't happened in a long time. Everyone is telling me that I will be more upset than he will, and they're probably right. At least I hope they're right.

While I'm still job hunting, he will be going to daycare on a drop-in basis. This means he will only go on the days that I have interviews so that we don't have to pay full tuition. Unfortunately, though, once the schools are back in session (around August 16th), he will be going full-time regardless if I have a job or not. The daycare can't hold a position for a drop-in child when there are children (of teachers) that can fill a full-time spot.

So, tomorrow is Micah's first day back to school and I have two interviews with recruiters. We would truly appreciate your prayers that everything goes smoothly.

Park It!

Finally! Almost 7 months after moving into our new house, we can finally park both vehicles in the garage. You see, we have a lot of junk stuff, and Tom has been working on minimizing the amount of stuff we have... especially in the garage. Most everything has a place now and is put away.

Thanks, Honey!

Swimming

One day this week at the pool, a man came up to me and asked how I got such a brave child as Micah leaped off of the side making a splash. I told him that it's all about how the parent reacts to the child's actions. If I have a terrified look on my face, it will put fear in him when he goes near the water. If I praise him (clap, cheer, fist pump) for the little things like putting his face in the water, he's more willing to try more. I also told him that I don't believe in arm floaties, swimsuits with floats sewn in, or life jackets in pools. At least not for my kid. I feel that it gives kids a false sense of confidence in the water, and then when they are old enough to really try swimming, the swimming instructor has to tear down that wall of fear of being in the water with no attachments. Now, don't get me wrong. I believe that some parents should put floaties on their kids especially if the parents don't want to be in the water and fully hands-on. I was a lifeguard for over 8 years and I know that floaties are good for some kids. They definitely made my job easier. But, I love the water and always have. While Micah is learning to swim, I will be right there with him, and I don't mind keeping my hands on him or at least an arm distance away from him.

This week Micah has made some real progress. He can swim up to 6 feet all by himself. I'm thrilled! He still has trouble getting horizontal by himself sometimes, but we're working on it. We worked really hard this week and showed Dada what we could do yesterday. Dada even took a few videos so we could share Micah's accomplishment with all of you.

His form still isn't pretty, but he's learning.

Not bad for 22 months old!

22 Month Old Portraits

Since I was trying to catch up on laundry and cleaning on Monday, Micah and I didn't get a chance to have our special outing together. Instead, I decided that I needed some new pictures to use in a couple frames that I've purchase in the last few weeks. So, this morning we were off to JCPenney for more portraits. This time I got in on some of the shots just for fun.

To view all of the photos, use the link below. The user name is Natalie Deen.

https://www.smilesbywire.com/home.asp?AC=LTPP0733116378JCP

Bye Bye Binky

It has been since Sunday on the airplane home that Micah last saw B-I-N-K-Y. I'm so proud of him for going night-night without it for the last 4 days. Let's hope that he has said farewell for good!

Everything is Bigger in Texas

Check out this huge spider I saw while I was cutting the grass a couple days ago. Everything in Texas really is bigger.




He's a really big dead spider now :)

A Visit to Grandpa Deen's House

Last Thursday we flew to Grandpa Deen's house in Illinois. We spent the long weekend on the farm and even took a trip to Springfield to visit some of Tom's friends from high school.

We enjoyed spending time with all of our family and friends! Here are some pictures from the trip.

Micah and his cousin Colby had fun climbing all over Dada

Everything is antique at Grandpa's house. Even the toys.

Micah got to meet and play with Addison (Kevin Ladage's daughter) and Gage (Alisha and Micheal Jackson's son) at the bar-b-q at Chad's house.

Back at Grandpa's house, Micah pretended to drive the tractor.

Later, Grandpa took him out for a real ride.

Mama wanted to take pictures, but Micah was only interested in the Fruit Loops in his bowl.

Uncle Andy and Micah had fun horsing around.

4th of July

For the 4th of July, we got up early, packed the wagon, and headed to the pool. For an hour or so, we had the entire pool to ourselves.

Tom spent the afternoon working on his boat and the motor. I'm sad to say that the motor still isn't working properly, but I think Tom has finally caved and decided to let a professional look at it to see if it is salvageable. Micah and I spent the rest of the day loafing around the house, and I finally got my hydrangea in the ground. I found the perfect place for it right next to the door that leads from the garage to the backyard. I can see it from my kitchen nook window as I'm typing this :)

Our evening plans consisted of going to church and then watching the fireworks. We had a 360 view of fireworks. They were going off in every direction of our house. First, we walked down to the lake to watch a display right across the water and then we noticed that some of our neighbors were getting into the action. Then, we plopped right down on our driveway for an hour or so. Several people were shooting off a variety of flares. We even watched the kids next door set off roman candles and other sorts of small explosives. Maybe next year we'll be a little more festive and put on our own fireworks show.

As for Me and Micah Monday, it was more of a family day. Tom had the day off for the holiday, so Micah and I didn't make any special plans. Tom and I did manage to finish putting away all of the remaining items that needed to be moved from the garage to the attic and the random items in the spare bedroom to the attic as well. We gave the spare bedroom new purpose too. We have a twin bed set up on one side and all of Micah's toys on the other. We have a new playroom. Finally, I can start to reclaim my downstairs livingroom!

Paint

The third time's a charm! When we moved into this house the back wall of the living room and the wall behind the mantle were a deep burgundy color. Not my taste. I think red walls are just too dramatic. I need Pottery Barn-ish neutrals and earth tones with just a splash of color. So, the first thing we painted in the house were the burgundy walls. First, we tried a muted blue-ish green color called lyndhurst jade. Sadly, it made us feel like we were in a fish bowl or under the sea. Next, we went with a light, yet bold, green called ryegrass. I liked it. In small doses. Since it was somewhat of an Easter green we left it up through Easter while different family members came to visit. The Easter season came and went and our walls were green through the end of May. It grew on me so much that I left it over the mantle. For now at least. After two attempts at a bold color statement, I retreated to my neutrals. I chose a brown called Dapper Tan. I love it. Finally, success! I want to paint more of it around the house, but Tom is a little hesitant. I guess I'll wait a while before I start coating everything in paint again.

Micah's Big Boy Room

Choosing the paint color for Micah's room was a little less challenging. We went with Novella Blue to match his bedding. Now we just lack a night stand and chest of drawers, and then he can fully move into his new room. We've tried the bed one time during nap time. The side rails don't seem to keep him from climbing out of the bed to go find toys to play with. I have a feeling this transition will take some time.

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This morning I heard a wimper from Micah and then he started yelling, "stuck, stuck, stuck". This is what I found. Yes, I realize it is pretty dangerous for him to be climbing around these heavy pots, but the fact that his diaper got stuck was rather amusing. I'm working on a plan to secure the office doors so he can't venture in there unsupervised again, but I thought I would share a laugh with all of you.

The 28th Year

You know it's going to be a good birthday when your husband wakes you up and hands you a little green box.

...and inside the box were these!

As mentioned in a prior blog, when Tom asked me what I wanted for my birthday I told him I want to go to Sea World. He also asked if there was anything small he could get for me, and I suggested a pair of cheap, like $20 cheap, earrings to replace the cheap ones that I somehow lost during our move to Texas. I was not expecting anything like this, but I love them. I love you too, Tom. ...and these will never be left in the cup holder of the 4runner like the last pair.

Since my birthday fell on a Monday and I still wanted to do something fun and out of the ordinary with Micah, we drove down to the Frisco mall. At the mall we had one major stop on our agenda: Build-A-Bear Workshop. I know you are probably thinking this lady spoils the heck out of her kid. Buzz Lightyear last week and now a new stuffed animal. Well, maybe I do, but hear me out on this one. Way back when, before Micah was born, I went to Build-A-Bear to make Micah a teddy bear as my gift to him when he was born. Well, at the time I didn't know Micah's true birthday to enter into their system, so I listed mine. Little did I know that they would send me a gift card in the mail for a free animal for my birthday, and the gift card was only good for a 5 day period. So..., meet Dog. I know, unique name, huh. I asked him what he wanted to name him and all I got was "dog".

Tom was such a sweetie that night. He came home with more gifts. To be exact, he came home with my favortie semi-fast food, so I wouldn't have to cook along with a delicious cookie cake. Yum!

Happy Birthday to me!