Summer of 11

Giggles at our Summer Family Vacation enjoying a S'more without marshmallows...or chocolate

 Gosh, it's really been a while, hasn't it?  Well, what can I say about our summer except that it was fun as usual, and very very HOT.  Nothing out of the ordinary there.  Something out of the ordinary that did occur was that my nephew Ron went to Australia on a school-sanctioned visit.  The whole family went to the airport to see him off, which I'm sure he just LOVED, haha.

In other news, Giggles discovered her passion for nail polish. The brighter, the better was her motto. Many thanks to our friends and family, who allowed her to paint their finger & toe nails over and over again.  Incidentally, Giggles' other motto was "You'll get the color I say you get, and you'll like it!"

No summer is complete without a fun family reunion! We had ours at the Hill Country Resort in San Antonio. Here are some of my favorite pictures.

Me and my boy

Sister #1 with her kiddos

Lovely nieces

Sister #2 and son

Best buds!

The big boys waiting for their turn at the s'mores campfire

Brother & his girls

The boys showing off their swimming skills.

Even the grandparents got in on the action! QT guiding Giggles in her cute wave runner floaty.

Kids played reindeer games...er, I mean Shamu games!

Took in some golf

Summer Days Driftin' Away

I guess I should start this off by announcing that Pumpkin is now officially a 1st grader.

Can I get a Wooot?!!!!  

His class put on a sweet performance for the parents and received some certificates and gifts from their teacher.  The following day was the last day of school.  Here's Pumpkin standing in front of the school as a Kindergartener for the last time.

 

QT & I were both very pleased with how well he was reading by the end of school.  Sure, we've always read to him and encouraged him to sound words out and read on his own, but a good portion of credit for his newfangled (and highly impressive) reading abilities goes to his teacher, Mrs. B.  Oh, I suppose some credit should also be given to the boy wonder himself, haha.  Let's not forget him!

So my little savant starts the GT program in earnest in the Fall.  What with the looming budget cuts at school districts across Texas, I'm more than a little curious at how things are going to turn out.  I'll keep you posted.

All bragging about Pumpkin aside, I should probably also mention that somewhere along the way we acquired a new dog.  He was given to us by a dear friend of mine.  His name is Kiko, and he's a sweetheart.  His birthday falls on the same week as Giggles' birthday; however, he's actually a year older than her.  He seems to have gotten into the groove of things around here very well, and the kids LOVE to play with him.  He and the cat also seek each other out often....mostly to chase each other and make a lot of noise.  Thankfully, neither one seems eager to actually hurt the other, haha.

In the final bit of news,  we've already been to Ldo and back this summer.  We're scheduled to return for another week or two before school starts.  When I return...I mean, IF I return to blog again, I'll post some pictures of us cracking cascarones on each other on Easter and also of our train ride in Austin.  For now, it's bedtime.  I've got only a few hours left before the little ones show up at my bedside demanding yogurt and cereal.

Happy Birthday, QT!

 He looks awfully excited about his cake, doesn't he?

Museum District

 

Afternoon on the town with my favorite little guy today.  We rode the rails, ate spaghetti, and looked at geodes.  Pumpkin even made a new friend at the park and invited him over to our house (as usual).

Oh, Brother!

The kids and I had a really long day today, but it was all good.

First off, Giggles and I had some friends over for a morning playdate.  The girls had a great time jumping on the trampoline, blowing bubbles, playing with sand, and chasing the dog around.  After our playdate ended, Giggles was too wound up to nap so we walked over to our neighbor's house for a late lunch in honor of an Indian holy day (I'm guessing Ramanavami).  I sampled a few Indian dishes then high-tailed it to school to pick up RT (my neighbor's daughter), Pumpkin, and AM (Pumpkin's best friend from school).

After about an hour of playing at our house, the kids wanted to walk over to the bridge to watch the critters swim by (the boys were loudly calling the alligators to come out, which didn't work, haha).  It was getting close to dinner time by then, and I guess Giggles had reached her limit because on our way back home, she started fussing then suddenly plopped down on the sidewalk and refused to go any further.  She wouldn't get up and wouldn't let me pick her up either.  She'd stopped crying and just sat there on the floor holding her sippy cup.  AM's mom had shown up to pick him up so I hurried over to see them off while keeping an eye on Giggles to make sure she didn't run off (she didn't).  Meanwhile, Pumpkin was still riding his bike around so I asked him to run back and make sure Giggles wasn't sitting on an anthill.  I watched him walk over to her while AM and his mom drove off.  I was just about to head over myself to pick Giggles up when I saw him reach down and help his sister up.  Then, hand in hand, they started walking home together; she quietly following him.  It was such a sweet sight.  I quickly snapped a picture with my phone then just stood and waited for them.  When they reached me, Pumpkin said that (Giggles) was ok, but she just needed help getting up.  {sniff sniff!}

Naturally, right after they got home, they both got their second winds, and we were off again to hang out with the neighbors and enjoy the beautiful Spring evening.

Happiness

Happiness is a plate of warm doughnuts on a lovely day in the Spring.

Nite-nite

I haven't been saying much about Giggles lately, but I need to because she's an AMAZING little spitfire!  She's 28 months old and has been speaking in full sentences for a couple of months.  She can count to 15, knows some colors (her favorite is yellow), and can recognize random letters of the alphabet (her favorite is K).  I took her to a trial gymnastics class, and the kid is a natural!  She tumbles, flips, climbs, and even glides effortlessly on the balance beam.  I tell you, she's completely fearless!  She loves dancing too and still enjoys her weekly classes at Gymboree Play and Music. 

She's no longer sleeping in a crib.  I took it down a few months ago after she fell out of it.  She started sleeping in our room after that, in a playpen, but we had to get rid of that too after I found out that she could climb in and out of that thing like it was playground equipment.  I moved her to an air mattress on the floor in our room, and she and Pumpkin slept on that for about 4 days, maybe 2.  They kept ending up in our bed so eventually QT was the one sleeping on the floor while the kids slept with me on the bed, haha.

After a couple weeks of that, I decided it was time for her and her brother to move back into their own rooms.  I started by completely childproofing Giggles' room (including strapping down all the heavy furniture) and buying her a "big girl" bed.  I added a cute chalkboard table, stools, and toy storage bins and threw in some stickers to update her old TV stand, and voila, cute, funky, new room! 

Her new bed sits on the floor in a bed-sized niche in her bedroom so it's impossible to fall off in any direction.  For a headboard, I used part of a little cottage play house that fits perfectly in the niche.  I finished the bed/sleeping niche off with a (homemade) fabric canopy, whimsical animal print comforter, and matching animal pillows from IKEA.  It's all very adorable, and both kids love it!  They play in it every chance they get.  Pumpkin even asked if I could do the same with his bed.

....So off I went in search of ideas.

Pumpkin's old bed

Pumpkin's new bunk beds

My first plan was to somehow transform his bed into a sleeping compartment like those found on trains.  But the ceilings in the kids' rooms are pretty tall, and I didn't want to have to alter his nice bed or install PVC tubing or anything goofy like that.  I was lucky enough one day to come across an ad for a loft bed that matched the blueberry color of Pumpkin's bed nearly perfectly.  Pumpkin had been asking for a bunk bed, and I knew he'd be thrilled even if the end result didn't resemble a train sleeper.


His room was a little harder to do because I ended up moving everything around to get it all to fit right and also took advantage of having my neighbor's electric drill to hang up other prints, lights, and shelves in Pumpkin's room. It turned out great!

Pumpkin absolutely loves his new bed and his finished room!  He and Giggles use the top bunk as a reading nook...when they're not on the floor playing with his wooden trains.

And I finally get to sleep comfortably in my own room in my own bed.  Ahhh....

Go Fish

On our way home from school yesterday, Pumpkin was telling me about the snacks they had after recess that day.

Him: "The snacks were colored like Goldfish, but they weren't Goldfish.  They looked more like ducks or chickens."

Me: "You had Chickadees! They're like Goldfish. Did you like them?" (hoping he'd say yes and I could start buying those instead of Goldfish)

Him: "They didn't really taste like Goldfish, but I ate them anyway.  At first, I put one in my mouth, and I was like (makes a face).  Then I put my tongue on it, and it tasted a little better.  Then, I put some saliva on it, and it was better.  Then, I crunched it around with my teeth, and it was pretty good after that."

I tried to remain quiet, but I was cracking up!  Thank goodness he couldn't see me laughing from the backseat or he would've wondered what was wrong with me, haha.