One Sunday Morning

This last Sunday morning, right before going to our last Sunday School class of the school year at church, I did a quick photo shoot. I had just bought Atticus his first cowboy hat and both kids were dressed up so cute!

I didn't really want our front porch as a background, but Atticus was insistent on posing here.

 

 

Grace was harder to convince, as she is obsessed with the sprinkler in the flower beds. She goes to it first thing when we go into the front yard to pull it to see if she can pick it up. (little blue spot on the bottom left).

 My pretty little girl, Grace Caroline.

 

My sweet boy, Atticus Vic.

Then, I attempted some pictures of the two of them. Atticus was trying hard to follow directions, but Grace was just not interested!

Paw Patrol

A month or so ago, I let Atticus watch TV for a long time one day as I scrubbed our house clean. There are some days you just need to do a lot of extra cleaning and you just need the kids to be occupied. So, for Atticus, he watched TV. And when Disney was over, I switched to Nickelodeon and kept my eye on it to make sure the right shows were being watched. Sometime Nickelodeon has some iffy shows. But, that exact day, he found one he particularly liked. It was called Paw Patrol. And on the very next day he asked to watch it again. I had no idea what he was talking about when he was telling me, but I switched it over to Nickelodeon and strangely enough at 8:30 in the morning, it was on! I recorded it and we set more to record. Since then, he has been addicted. And in the past two weeks, he has gotten even more addicted. It is the only show he wants to watch when he wakes up in the morning. He knows the theme song and the dogs and what each dog says and he even knows all the details of the shows he has seen. It is a really cute cartoon about Ryder, the boy and 6 dogs, Marshall, Chase, Zuma, Rocky, Rubble and Sky, who all have special traits that allow them to help others in need. They live in a small town and there is a town mayor and a farmer and boat captain and a baker and other kinds of people. And, there is always a theme such as "The Pups save the cake!" or "The pups save the kitty!" or "The pups save the circus!" And they all drive fun vehicles depending on what they do. So, Marshall drives a fire truck and his catchphrase is "I'm fired up!". Or there is Chase who is a police dog and says "Chase is on the case!". Or there is a recycling dog (drives a dump truck) named Rocky who says something like "Don't lose it, Reuse it!" You get the idea. And, yes, I just realized that I know all of this a little too well. So, it is a really cute show and while the same basic thing happens each episode, it is all about helping others. So, it is totally acceptable.

It's just hilarious the way he runs around the house copying what has happened in the show. Or he is yelling out the phrases such as "Atticus is on the case!" The funniest thing happened today when I didn't shut the refrigerator door and the door alarm started going off. Atticus and Grace were eating lunch and I heard it from the other room. I said "just a second refrigerator - I'm coming to close you!" (and yes, I realize I just told you that I talked to the refrigerator, but I'm home with two kids all day long. So, this is my normal.) But, before I walk in, I hear Atticus say "Mommy I'll get it. No job is too big, no pup is too small!" and he ran to shut the door. That phrase is also part of the show.

I love that he uses Paw Patrol, which he actually calls Puppy Patrol, to pretend and use his imagination. He also likes to name each of us the dog names. So, one night while in the bathtub, he dubbed Grace as Sky, me as Chase, Vic as Zuma, and himself as Marshall. Marshall must be his favorite - he is always Marshall. And he will sometimes want me to call him Marshall so he can pretend to be a dog, which of course I oblige to. But, when I talk to him, he will also sometimes tell me that dogs don't talk. And then he will stick out his tongue and pant like a dog. The funniest part about the panting? Grace now does it too. She is so stinking cute. She doesn't put her tongue out but will still pant like a dog and laugh.

So, Paw Patrol is our show right now. Thankfully, it's a good one!

An Aggie Baseball Game

The night before Atticus' birthday, we took him to his first Texas Aggie baseball game at Blue Bell Park in Olsen Field vs. Texas State. We were actually meeting a friend there as well and we had great seats loaned to us by the Cummings family. Grace stayed at the house with GG. So, we got to the game, ate some popcorn and watched about 4 innings before Atticus got restless. But, before he got restless, he would cheer for the Aggies and yell "go aggies!" So, he and I went to the playground on the side of the field to play, while Vic headed up to see our friend, Lloyd, at his seats. Atticus played and played at the playground and then we headed back to find Vic. Unable to find him, and Atticus unable to stay seated, we started walking around behind the stands. It was fun because it is so family friendly there. He found a couple of bugs to follow along the ground and we walked to the grassy area by 3rd base to sit awhile and talk and sing songs, since by that point, he focus on the game. But, he still loved watching and being in the ballpark. We even saw Lillie Dunham, a member of our church who is in her 90's and still comes to every Aggie baseball game. Jim, her son, had brought her. We couldn't really find Vic, so we just kept playing and walking around and watching the game, just he and I, until the game was over. He was really cute in his little Aggie outfit and ball cap. And he had the best time. We even saw a bunch of baseball scouts (I guess professional) seated behind the stands clocking the pitchers. I learned that's who they were from someone who sat near us. It was a beautiful, cool, fun evening! And the Aggies won 9-2! Here's to many more Aggie baseball games in out future and maybe even a little t-ball player in a couple of years!