something fun

I always seem to be behind on all the latest things.  I rarely get out shopping anymore, and when I do, the only fun things I get are more of necessities like make-up and shampoo.  I remember I used to go shopping every Sunday to get the latest deals at Limited and see how much I could save between store discounts and coupons.  Now I'm lucky to step foot in a clothing store once every three months.  At least I'm saving money, right?!  Well, to get back to the point of this post, have you heard of Thirty-One?!  A bunch of my students and even teachers have been sporting these super cute lunch totes and I have been dying to get my hands on one.  One of my parents happened to be having a Thirty-One party and I was able to order my own lunch tote!  It came today and I'm so excited. I got the thermal tote in the Wild Zebra pattern with a turquoise monogram.  I'm excited that I have 12 more days of school to enjoy it!

memorial day

We spent the evening at Nana and Pap's pool.

The other night as I was going out to water my ferns on the front porch, a bird came flying out of one of them and scared me half to death.  Jason did some investigating and a bird has built a nest in it.  The other night there were two eggs and tonight there were three.  Hopefully we will get to see the babies when they hatch.

camping

We decided to camp out last night!

We put Bryce to work setting up camp.

Eating marshmallows by the fire (candlelight, ha).  We didn't have any wood for the fire pit.

Getting settled for the night.

We read books by lantern light.

We watched lightning bugs before we fell asleep. 

And in an effort to get a little more sleep since the sun came up at 5:30, I let Bryce watch Caillou on my phone.  Those thirty minutes may have been the only sleep I got last night, ha!  Jason is still out there sleeping and Bryce and I are inside playing. 

Macy even joined us in the tent last night.  I would say our first camping trip was a success, but I don't think we are ready to leave the backyard yet!

enjoying the weather

Sometimes shots from the back are just as cute as shots from the front!

Bryce insists on wearing a helmet while bike riding (safety first).  Unfortunately we only have a football helmet (Go Hokies)!

We have had a pretty mild spring around here.  Yesterday was pretty hot and humid, but tonight was nice so we played outside for a while. 

gifted

So I'm totally biased, but I do think Bryce is pretty darn smart.  He is very creative, has a great imagination, and already thinks outside the box.  Tonight at dinner Jason squeezed some jelly onto Bryce's plate to dip his biscuit in and he said it looked like a hot air balloon.  It really did!  When I was getting him ready for bed he was playing with his Bumbo seat and it got turned upside down and he asked me if it was a sun.  See below for yourself.  Pretty creative, huh?

We've been working on recognizing numbers and letters for a while.  Tonight during Bryce's bath I quizzed him.  He only knows the numbers 1 and 2, but look at all of the letters he knows.  I didn't get around to asking him all 26 so I'm sure there a few more.  Bryce recognizes his name and can spell it, but he doesn't recognize all the letters individually. I love that he can also give you a word for most of the letters that he knows! 

While I do find academics to be very important, and I want Bryce to be well educated, I never want him to be too stressed out about learning it fast enough.  I hope that he will always be as relaxed and carefree as he is in his swing with the wind blowing in his hair and the only care in the world is if I'm going to push him higher!

And on a totally random note, I was brushing Bryce's teeth and noticed that he has a molar coming in.  He is up to nine teeth on the bottom and 8 on the top. 

a new shirt

It would have been better if I put the pictures in the right order, but oh well.  Bryce got a new souvenir shirt from aunt Vickie's Myrtle Beach trip.  It was white and it wouldn't have have fared well at the dinner table with a bowl of spaghetti so we took it off.  Bryce was not happy about taking it off so Jason also ate his dinner without his shirt on.  I didn't snap a picture of him, ha!

  New shirt and some cool new camo "flippy flops" (as Bryce calls them) that I snagged at Target for $7.  Thanks for the shirt, Vickie.

saturday

Bryce and I worked hard cleaning the front porch yesterday.

He mostly enjoyed cleaning the door while I cleaned the rest.

He would have stayed out there with me all day!

Showing off how wet he got.  This was the first of many outfits yesterday.

Yesterday evening we went to Relay for Life. 

We did a little walking, but mostly a lot of eating!

potty training

Showing off his potty prize!

In my mind, potty training should come easy for Bryce because he seems so smart to me.  I know it really has nothing to do with that, and I just need to wait until he is ready, but I'm ready already!  Some days he shows interest in sitting on the potty (his little one or the regular big one) and other days he kicks and screams and there is no chance.  He usually gets rewarded with some type of candy treat for trying or actually going (always pee....he never wants to poop).  We have had a bag of sports balls hanging on the bathroom door as an incentive to get him to poop on the potty since that seems to be the bigger challenge.  Some days he would sit on the potty for hours to earn the ball and other days he could care less.  Tonight he looked as though he may be going in his diaper so I got him in time and put him on the potty and he went!  I know he's only been 2 for a couple of months and I shouldn't stress about it, but that's what I do!  Sorry for the long rambling post, but it's just one of those things I needed to document for me!

 

Go Nuts!

We made it out to our 3rd Squirrels game of the season on Sunday.  It happened to be a giveaway day so we got there early and the kids got a free jersey.  Bryce and Chase sported theirs throughout the game.  I'm fairly certain Bryce will be able to wear his well into middle school, ha!  I can even fit into it!

Taylor rarely makes an appearance on the blog because Bryce is usually with Chase when I'm taking pictures.  She was quite interested in me during the game so I snapped a quick picture. 

party like a rock star

We have been partying all weekend.  Last night we went up to church to celebrate Chase's 3rd birthday.

 The birthday boy in action.

 Bryce shooting hoops in the basketball inflatable.  

Today we went back up to church to celebrate Kaleb's 4th birthday!  Bryce had his first introduction to the piñata.  He was a little scared of it at first, but he took a couple of swings.  He was a little shy about running to get the candy, but he still came home with a few pieces!

 Here's the birthday boy taking a swing at the piñata.

my buddy

I'm a little late on my Mother's Day post, but I just had to post this picture of my handsome boy on Mother's Day.  I am so thankful that I get to be this little boy's mommy! 

a beautiful spring day

Today was a great day!

We headed to a local "cow drop" event today to have a little free fun.  We didn't actually stick around for the cow drop and prizes, but we did enjoy a few of the free events.  Bryce's Dada has taught him well because he only had eyes for the ducks at the petting zoo. 

The little baby goats were the cutest things I have ever seen.  They were just so small and so cute!

I was surprised at how brave Bryce was around the animals.

He really loved the bounce house.

Bryce was not thrilled with the thought of sitting in the fire truck, but Jason put him in anyways and he loved it.

Tonight we went to a baseball game to celebrate Bryce's friend Charlie's birthday.  He just turned 2!