Just realized I never really posted the swing set project photos here… so here ya go!
testing the layout
ground breaking
the work crew
using his tools
setting the posts
my boys working
g-pa watching kids for us
filling the sandbox
one bucket at a time
bringing out the big guns
works much faster
end of day 1
g-pa and carly
g-pa and carly
a pic of me!
end of day 2
from the back
testing sand box
mamaw putting on the roof
testing the slide
moving toys in
end of day 3
end of day 3
from the back
picnic table mode
water table platform mode
glider attached
sand box mode
window for opening
ladder attached
flower box attached
then it snowed!
All that’s left, as of right now, is to install the fireman’s pole off the back… attach the second set of swing hangers (which we have now) and maybe add some flowers (fake or real, not sure yet) to the flower box. Then Carly is getting a baby swing for her birthday from us, and Jonah is getting a big boy swing from Mamaw and G-pa, I think, that will both get hung up.If Jonah gets the steering wheel that he wants for his birthday from someone, we’ll need to attach that too… but we’re pretty close to being DONE with this project! Yay! So fun seeing it come to life!
Jonah is now holding conversations with us! Where did my little baby boy go? Almost 2 weeks ago now, this was the 1st conversation of any real length that he had. I was sleeping in with Carly a little bit, and he and Jason were up getting breakfast in the kitchen before church.
Daddy: Hey Jonah, what do you want for breakfast?
Jonah: (spying the cake carrier full of muffins for our Sunday school class) Oooh! Muffins! Oh, I LOVE muffins Daddy. I can have a muffin, please?
Daddy: No, those are for us to take to church, for our friends.
Jonah: Oh I like go to church too!
Daddy: I know you do. We’re all going to go to church in a little while.
Jonah: (pauses for a second to think) But Mommy’s still sleeping!
I think I mentioned in my last post Jonah coming home from church one day, trying to sing us one of the songs he had learned. About all he could get out was “Stand Rock” and “Faaaaall” I finally got that video uploaded to You Tube, so here ya go!
I’ll try to get a video of him “singing” his 5 Little Pumpkins song sometime soon too. He enjoys the part at the end that says *clap* OUT went the light! hehe He’ll lay in be just repeating that part over and over.
Speaking of bed… we are giving up formal nap time. After several days of struggling with him for 2 hours to get him to go to sleep for nap time, with lots of tears (from both of us!) I decided it’d do us both good to just have a daily “quiet time”. I read him a story, give him a book and a toy and tell him he doesn’t have to go to sleep, but he has to stay in his bed and stay quiet, or I’ll come close his bedroom door (he REALLY wants his door to stay open these days, and last night was the first time I didn’t close it after he fell asleep). Wouldn’t you know it though? The last 3 days that I’ve taken that approach, he’s been fast asleep in 20 minutes or less! Whatever works I guess!
School and work junk has been keeping Jason super busy, but thanks to an extension his professor gave the class on a project they were doing, he was able to take his day off on Friday and spend it with us as a family. We went to Rocket Park, at inside Mc Donald’s for Jonah to play some more, and just generally had a great day! Here’s a little video of Rocket Park. It was a pretty awesome public park!
Carly Sitting in a Buggy for the 1st Time 10/20/09
In Carly news, she had her first taste of butternut squash last night and seems to really enjoy it! A few days ago, she also sat up in a shopping cart without a car seat for the first time! That is all totally overshadowed though, by the news that she is now a crawler! I have 2 videos; the first is kinda long and random with the kids and I hanging around in the playroom. The second one is a couple of days later when she’s really got the hang of it, and it’s much shorter.
Here is a link to the album with our Pumpkin Patch pictures from today, and a few other random fall pics. Enjoy!
Both kids in the double stroller for the first time
I took both kiddos out in the double stroller today, just down the street a few blocks, to the little swing playground.That’s literally all there is there… some swings. Jonah doesn’t care though. He likes it just the same, and it’s only about a 3 minute walk from our house.
When we got there I tried fooling around with my camera to learn how to get the right settings for outdoor shots, but think I was somewhat unsuccessful because the sky is way too bright in all of these shots. Jonah was fairly patient with me though. He made it into a game of peek a boo!
Boy Child Shoveling to His Heart's Content
After I let him down, I asked him if he wanted to swing, and he said no. Uh Oh I thought. It was because he wanted to shovel though. So he ran around scooping up pebbles with his shovel for a while, and then eventually he did ask to swing.
Girl Child Enjoying the Warm Breeze
Carly and I just chilled in the shade while Jonah played. I could see us doing this fairly often this summer.
With my mom hanging around and helping out last week, we got WAY more done than any couple with a nearly 2 year old and a 1 week old should! My mom is a major DIY handy-woman, and just couldn’t contain herself when she came to stay. By the end of the 1st day she was just itching to get started on some projects. Who am I to complain?! I knew it’d happen, so that’s why I had already started a list of little projects around the house that needed doing, that just haven’t gotten done, for whatever reason. She actually started working on things while we were still in the hospital! My to-do list that my mom tackled this week… as you’ll notice, she didn’t leave us much to do after she left! hahaShe got Jason involved in a lot of the projects too, and some of these he actually did on his own.
Install Handheld Showerhead & Caulk Around the Ring
Install Blinds in Our Bedroom
Fix Drippy Master Toilet
Fix/Oil Master Closet Door Knob
Fix the Storm Door Alignment so it’ll Actually Close
Remove the Satellite Dish
Remove the Antenna
Put a Piece of Screen Over the Chimney to Keep Birds Out (need to call chimney sweep first to get current nesting birds out)
Put Hinges on the Sandbox Door
Re-Configure the Sandbox Lid Boards to Make an Easier To Open Lid
Dig Out the Rose Bush in the Front Flowerbed
Dig Out the Bush Stumps in the Front Flowerbed
Check on the Roof Leak and Seal Where Possible
Hang the Letters for Carly’s Name in the Nursery
Fix the Wet Bar Cabinet Door that’s Sagging
Install Trim Around the Guest Bath Mirror (need to buy trim)
Change Light Fixtures in the Guest Bath (need to buy light fixtures)
Install and Overhead Light in the Garage (Bonus! They ended up re-wiring a bunch of stuff and putting in 2 new outlets too!)
Paint the Nursery Furniture (need a non-muggy day to paint)
Some Projects she thought of that I hadn’t -
Replace the Missing Toe Kick Under the Dishwasher and End Cabinet in the Kitchen & Install Trim
Fertilize the Yards
Replace Missing Pickets on the Fence
Replace the Damaged Board Around the Garage Door (We discovered ACTIVE termites there! Yuck! so had to get that treated first, so that project is sitting unfinished right now.)
Clean Some Previous-Owner Junk Out of the Attic
It was such a busy week that I’m probably forgetting some of the other stuff that got done, but we always appreciate having my mom come stay for a while! Jonah CERTAINLY enjoyed having his Mamaw around to play with, and to “help. work. hammer. outside. saw. ears. noise. loud.” with!
We had playgroup this week at a pizza buffet and then went to a little park nearby for the kids to burn some energy. A friend of mine sent me this picture that she took of Jonah. My first thought was, “Man he’s growing up too fast, but at least he can’t see over the steering wheel yet!” hehe.
But seriously, this is just the toddler play set that they had there… he was way more interested in the big kid play set that was 3-4x as tall… he even went down the big twisty slide on the big playground and climed the little rock sculpture thing (not like a rock wall, but it was molded plastic to look like a big boulder, about as tall as I am!) He wanted me to push him on the big kid swings, but at least he still seemed to prefer the baby swings… I guess cause he could go higher without the fear of falling out.
He’s wearing 3T shirts now (18 month pants and shorts still for the most part) and can almost put on his own size 8 shoes. He wants to brush his teeth, brush his hair, and is starting to learn to drink from a regular cup now (still kinda messy, but he’s getting there). His vocabulary just totally blows my mind! He helps around the house with the laundry and dishes and feeding the dog… what happened to that little squirmy baby that couldn’t hold his head up? Again I’ll say… at least he can’t see over the steering wheel yet!
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Pre-School Resources
These are some of my favorite go-to resources when I'm putting together fun lesson plans and activities for Jonah and Carly. In the new year, I'm trying to be more diligent about that, so the more resources I have on hand to make it easy for me, the better! Let me know if you know of any other great sites! No Time for Flashcards First School Letter of the Week