Some Assembly Required

Riley received this fun bubble mower for his birthday in January (thanks Notgrass'!). We've had it in the box in the garage because we haven't been spending much time outside. Don't think for a minute that Riley was going to let the weather keep him away from that mower. He wanted to mow in weather I wasn't ready to supervise in.

Well, Spring is here and we've been spending more time outside. This evening while Russ was outside visiting with the neighbors, Riley asked if he could play with his lawn mower (not anything else he'd already drug out to play with) "Sure! If you can open it, you can play with it, " Russ said.

While they were talking, our little man was busy ripping into that box! Riley informs Russ that he's got it out of the box, holding the lawnmower handle. The next thing Russ knows, Riley has assembled that lawnmower AND put the bubbles (with the lid on) exactly where they go!!

We were a bit surprised AND impressed. He loves that thing and has mowed every day since...

Riley's Jukebox

These are the songs you might hear him sing at any given moment...but especially when he's in his bed trying to fall asleep, or just waking up.

1. Twinkle Twinkle

2. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (even when it's out of season)

3. They Eyes of Texas

4. Row Row Row Your Boat

5. Jesus Loves Me

6. Months of the year song (I sing it with my students during calendar time and now Riley knows it too!)

7. I Love You (Barney Song)

8. You are My Sunshine

9. B-I-N-G-O

10. Old MacDonald

11. ABC song

12. The Itsy Bitsy Spider

13. Days of the Week song

14. Zacchius

15. If You're Happy and You Know It

Riley, Riley, What Do You See?

Riley, Riley, what do you see?I see a (Bald) Eagle looking at me.

Eagle, Eagle, what do you see?

I see a (Spider) Monkey looking at me.

Monkey, Monkey, what do you see?

I see Sharks looking at me.

Sharks, Sharks, what do you see?

We see a jaguar looking at us. Jaguar, Jaguar, what do you see?

I see a Giraffe looking at me. Giraffe, Giraffe, what do you see?

I see an Elephant looking at me. Elephant, Elephant, what do you see?

I see a Meercat looking at me.

Meercat, Meercat, what do you see?

I see Riley looking at me!

Our first trip to the zoo was a wonderful one. We had a great time at the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco! Riley's favorites were the turtle (Galapagos Tortiose), giraffe, and the bear.

(Thank you Eric Carle, for the inspiration. Thank you Riley, for making me read this book 1000 times--here is our own "zoo" version.)

Downtown

My extra-long lunch date with Tina wouldn't have been complete without an impromptu photo session downtown of my favorite city. Here are some of my faves:
(So glad that crane swung out of the way just in time to get some good shots!)

Cookie Monsters

At my last haircut appointment, Amy told me about a place that she just knew I would like. She knows me well--this was the place:
I'd been anxious to go and planned a day to meet Tina for lunch...and dessert of course over Spring Break. Lunch was delicious.Then we were off to Cookie Lounge. Where you pick your dough and your mix-ins, your cookie size and how many, and while you wait you can read magazines or play games on the funky sectional while you have a flavored millk, milkshake, or coffee. Heaven, right? Well darn close in my book!




(Tina's toasted marshmallow milkshake was gooooood. We don't recommend ordering this if you're planning on eating one of those cookies though. We both tasted it and ended up tossing it.)

Check out Tina's version here.

Out and About

After our "stay home" day morning routine of breakfast, Backyardigans, and the new lady in my son's life--Dora, we got dressed and headed to Barnes and Noble!

Lucky for us, we were just in time for Storytime! I've thought about going and never taken him, so today was a new experience for both of us. He was a great listener, sat on the bench while I watched from behind, and even sang along! After storytime and singing, the kids did a little color/glue stick craft. It was a hit (and it was a proud Mommy moment for me too)!!

After the bookstore, we headed to our favorite drive-thru.

Grilled chicken sandwich for me and the 6-piece kids meal with fruit and milk for Riley. What would they think of me if I only ordered 54 packets of Honey Roasted BBQ sauce( I love that stuff!!)? Riley prefers that instead of ketchup now on his nuggets!

Now...I'm looking forward to enjoying Riley's naptime. Aaaaah!

These are a Few of My Favorite (Green) Things

Asparagus.

Green angel. And the green wall in my living room that I painted last summer.

Green lamp(shade) in Riley's room that will be replaced with something a little more grown up. (sigh...)

Green monkey frame Tina made for Riley's 2nd birthday.

My green flip-flops.

Green soap in my bathroom. Yum...

Riley's green raincoat from Mom. Allison's photo of him in it--fantastic!

Green in our master bath.

Green is my favorite apple.

Green leaves of my lantana coming alive in the backyard.

Riley's green boots.
Green clover. Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

A Little Diversion

I've been admiring these red bud trees for a couple of weeks and on the way home from taking Riley to school, I drove around until I found some that weren't in someone's yard and snapped a few. The morning sun was perfect!

My passenger didn't seem to mind the diversion either...

Family Lunch Date

To kick off Spring Break, Riley and I invited Nana, Mimi, and G over for some lunch. We had a great time visiting, playing, and eating a great lunch (click here for recipes). Thanks for coming over, guys!