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!

 

Atticus' 3rd Birthday Party Part 2

We had Atticus' second birthday party on Saturday, April 26th at our house. Other than us and GG, the Gerland Family (Devin, Makala, Julianne, and Houston), Danielle & Jase Kalisek, and Chris and Katherine all came to celebrate. We setup the games and ate similar foods, but this time replacing a couple with chicken and vegetable kabobs. We made a new cake in the shape of a barn and silo for this party. We opened presents, did a round of the party games, blew out candles, and let the kids play for awhile while we visited. Atticus got some fabulous presents including a scooter, toys for the sandbox, more bubbles, the bubble mower, Candy Land, a toy 4 wheeler, a new ball, and a magnet of his little dog friend Bella! It, all, was really fun! And it was made very special by the people who attended! Here are some more pictures!

 Atticus still liked milking the cow as the best game of the party!

 But, they also liked the rubber ducky race! 

 Our little man before we blew the candles out on the birthday cake!

 Have I mentioned how much he loves to be sung Happy Birthday to?

 Our good friends, Chris and Katherine, did SO much to help with food for the party. They are the best!

 Present opening time!

 Since the party, Grace has deemed this as her favorite toy: a John Deere 4 wheeler from Jase!

 Chris and Katherine were excited to give Atticus his first bubble mower so he can help Vic in the yard!

 Everyone watching presents being opened.

 Danielle and I have been friends for a long time. And our two sweet babies will hopefully be friends as well!

 The Gerland Family! (this was their third party to go to on this day; this includes their own little girl's party earlier that morning that Atticus also went to!)

 We just love the Scarmardo's!

And he is 3!

Atticus' 3rd Birthday Party Part 1

We had two birthday parties for Atticus this year. I'm not sure if I will do that again - a lot of work for all those involved, including some of the guests! But, the reason I would decide to do two birthday parties again would be because of the fun people that came to each to make them so memorable! We decided to do his first birthday party at 10:30 am on April 23rd at the house. I knew that this would be mostly our friends that we play with during the week, so we definitely kid-themed it. Also, we did this a week early because Molly couldn't be in town the next week and not only do I always need hers and GG's help, but she is so much fun! I was really proud of the planning part of the party. We did a barnyard theme, since Atticus loves farm animals! For food, we had: Pigs in a blanket, apple juice boxes, tractor wheels (chocolate covered donuts), hay stacks (rice krispie treats), chicken feed (golden grahams and M&M's covered in melted chocolate), Atticus' vegetable garden (veggies!), strawberries and pineapple, Cheesy Chicks (cheese slices cut in the shape of a chick), Peanut Bunny sandwiches (peanut butter sandwiches in the shape of bunny heads), cupcakes and of course a fabulous cake! The kids got cowbells when they walked in the door and could decorate their "farm" hats with stickers. We had a relay type of game outside that included crawling under hay bales, carrying eggs on spoons, feeding the pig bean bag toss, rubber ducky races, milking the cow or goat (water through holes in plastic gloves), sack races and pin the tail on the donkey. The kids ate their lunches on the hay bales and went home with fun drinking cups filled with a couple little goodies. The kids played with all of Atticus' ranch toys and Atticus got some great gifts from his friends. I think the best part, after all of the planning, is just letting the kids play and talking to the mamas! It was such a fun day and we had such a good time with all of his friends! I'll talk as I put pictures up too!

After the relay race, the kids went back to the games to play a little more. The favorite was either the rubber ducky race or the milking the cow game.....I decided it was because both featured water!

Atticus was wet! Atticus got all kind of fun gifts from his friends and family: a barn and horses, bubbles, hand drawn pictures, books, a  barn and tractor, Memory game, a puzzle, a vet kit, paint, a minion shirt to match his friend Austin, and lots of money!

Then, it was time for lunch on the hay bales!

 

And, finally it was Atticus' favorite time of day. Time to cut the cake! Since the moment he woke up that morning and saw his birthday cake, he asked me when he could eat it. I told him, originally, that he couldn't have any until his friends were here, meaning that he could eat it at his birthday party. But, as soon as the first friend showed up, he wanted cake and continued to ask for it until we finally let him! Also, Atticus loves to be sung Happy Birthday too! He just grins and grins and is so excited to be the center of attention for the birthday song! Also, let me let you know a little information about this cake. So, I decided I wanted a 3-D type of cake. And I wanted to use his animal toys for it as well. So, after lots of discussion between Molly, GG, and I the day before the party, we decided rice krispie treats were the way to go to build the silo and barn. Molly made them and froze them. Then, about 10pm that night, when we started to decorate the cake, she took them out to find they had expanded a little upon freezing. So, when she started icing them and putting them on the cake, they would lean. It was pretty funny because Molly kept saying these were not structurally sound. Well, they worked great for the party, but over the next couple of days, they leaned more and more until they just about fell over. But, they were so cute! She used peanut butter and golden grahams for the tops of them. And we used edible Easter grass GG found for the grass. It was just a really fun cake and Atticus loved it!

 

And, then the party was over. Molly, GG, Atticus and I sat and snacked on party food and visited until Molly had to go. It was SO much fun and I can't believe this little boy is so grown up! Here's a few other pics as well!

 

 So glad Cecilia, Luke (only 2 1/2 months old!), Evelyn & Isabelle came!

Also glad that Sarah, Aubrey, and Austin came to the party!

Lydia is just the cutest and we were really glad we ran into she and her mama, Brandi recently to re-connect!

Nathan was so cute playing and having a good time. Glad he and Megan and Cole got to come!

 Grace wanted Daddy to hold her a lot during this party! (he got to come home for a long lunch just to watch!)

 I'm pretty sure only girls pose for pictures - this was the only posed one I got of all the kids!

 Oh Grace! You are the cutest!