Birthday Pics

I finally took out my camera to take some pics of the boy for his birthday. I think I may need to buy a new one soon after seeing the final shots. I got some really cute ones but my camera did not focus all the way so they are a little blurry. Oh well...here goes...

So excited to be 5!

He came up with this one...it made me laugh when he did it

Cutie Pie

Starting to laugh at mama standing in the rain

And then he enjoyed a sweet, juicy Georgia peach!

What A Difference

 A year makes. Today is our baby's 5th birthday and we couldn't be more proud of the handsome and wonderful little boy that he has become. We love our precious little one more and more each day and look forward to watching him continue to grow and learn. Look at how he's changed!

2012

2011

We started off the morning with him jumping into our bed and we sand "Happy Birthday" to him while he smiled and giggled. Then we gave him his bike to ride later after we exchange it because it's a little too big. He proceeded to open the package from Gamma and Grandaddy and it was so funny to watch him tear through it all yet talk about it all. It broke his heart when it was time to get dressed to go to school. Until he remembered he got to take some cupcakes for everybody :).

The little girl across the street that Bucky has grown quite fond of playing with as often as is allowed baked him some cookies last night. She came over after school and gave them to him along with a beautiful card she designed. (Excuse the white Asian kids in the picture - the sun was really bright! :) )

Monster Bookmarks

I admit it...I am hopelessly addicted to Pinterest. There are so many wonderful ideas for so many different activities and meals and, well, everything you can think of and it's hard to not look at all the cool stuff. Today (since I had nothing else to do) I made a couple of bookmarks that I have been eyeing. It took me a while to find some good instructions because people put one pin on top of another pin and the last person in the chain is stuck searching for the actual instructions. After I found the correct step by step, I got to work. I want to make more for Bucky to take to Kindergarten next year for books they are reading or for little gifts or whatever may come along. I did learn today that it may be best to cut out a lot of pieces and then line them up like an assembly line. So keep this in mind if you are interested in trying this craft. Once all the pieces are cut, it's only a matter of folding and gluing the pieces into place.

I found the tutorial with pictures here: Corner Page Bookmarks. I changed a couple of things on mine because I know that they will not last long enough for me to stress about a couple of the steps. I did not use a patterned triangle on the top because I felt like it was too busy and I wanted the pattern or different colored paper to be like the inside of the mouth. I traced the bottom of a large glue stick for the white part of the eyes and used the large dot on the black Zig Dotta-Riffic marker for the pupil. I skipped the iris because I think they look great without this extra step. Do what you want but I just wanted to share what I figured out along the way.

End of Soccer

The kiddo had his last soccer game on the 28 of April and it was a great game. Hubs and I are both thrilled that he enjoys sports so much and wants to continue playing them. He does great at them and is learning so much about discipline and playing as a team.

Warming Up

A Pic for Me :)

Dribbling the Ball

Scoring a Goal!

So Happy!

Popsicles for Pops

On 27 April, Bucky's PreK had a day for dads. All dads, grandfathers, uncles, or whoever were invited for Popsicles for Pops. Although there were only about 4 dads who were able to make it, my hubs made it and that's all that really mattered to our kiddo. He ended up being surrogate dad for a lot of the kids because he was playing with all of them. I was not there but the teachers were kind enough to put some pictures on my jump drive for me. He told me how exhausted he was when he got back home so I kindly asked him to remember this feeling when he gets home at the end of the day and I kinda stare right through him ;).

Enjoying a Popsicle

Finding a Bug

Playing Soccer

Playing "Noodle Army"

Taco Seasoning

Just last week I was making tacos and pondering a way to make my own. I read the ingredients and figured that it wouldn't be very hard; just some trial and error. If you know me well, then you know that I can sometimes have some wonderful (and creative) ideas...but getting me to do them is like pulling teeth. I can even have all the supplies and means to complete the task at hand and just never do it. This is not because I lack motivation; it's because I am a perfectionist. There I said it - Boy that felt good. Admitting it is the first step after all :). Anywho, before I had the chance to actually try and make my own seasoning I stumbled upon a recipe on...you guessed it...Pinterest. (Homemade Taco Seasoning) I tried it tonight because, as usual, I had everything necessary to make it and just happened to be making tacos with ground chicken. If you haven't tried eating ground chicken rather than beef it takes some getting used to. For me the texture is very different and the flavor is, well, absent. I add a ton of seasoning to overcome this and it is healthier (in theory) so I'll stick with it. But alas I digress...again...

So here's the ratio I found on the above recipe:
1 part chili powder
1 part ground cumin
1 part garlic powder
1 part onion powder
1/4 to 1/2 part crushed red pepper

I only used 1T of the first 4 and 1/2 t of the 5th. I will, however, make a much larger batch to stick in the freezer and portion out as needed because it was great! And it doesn't have the extra sodium and other crap that is found in store bought taco seasoning...BONUS! This is definitely a must try if you enjoy tacos or using taco seasoning on any other dishes. My hubs uses it on popcorn sometimes so it'll be interesting to see how he likes it on his next batch. Let me know if you all have any ideas or additions that will enhance or improve the flavor.

Long Overdue

Last week the kiddo lost all his toys because of his bad attitude and unwillingness to clean up his messes. I started taking everything out of his room one day and night because he was refusing to pick up his toys. He was warned that the next day he would lose all of his toys if he continued to ignore my instructions to pick up his toys. Keep in mind that it would have taken him, literally, 10 minutes to pick up. There wasn't much but he was just being stubborn and didn't realize he has met his match for stubbornness. He didn't come by it accidentally after all. So while he was in school, the hubs helped me put the rest of his toys in the room that will eventually will be the baby's room. (Thank goodness we had the spare room.) Anyway, I went ahead and cleaned up the few clothes and other random things and the hubs vacuumed so he could start with a clean slate. We weren't mad at him when we picked him up...he'd already been punished. I was done stressing about it. When he got home, he walked into his room, was quiet for a minute or so, and then came out to inform me (very calmly) that I had "forgotten" some toys. I had left them in there for him to occupy himself but went in with two grocery bags and cleaned off his shelves once he reminded us about the leftovers. So now he had zero toys. Since then he has actually been much calmer most of the time and has kept his clothes and books put away. He has been able to "earn" some toys of his choosing back by following a few rules. We came up with the rules together so he knows what they are. This may sound harsh for an almost 5 year old but these "rules" are things he is supposed to be doing anyway, like doing what we ask, brushing teeth, getting dressed, and staying in bed once he is there. If he doesn't do it, he doesn't get in trouble but he also doesn't get a star. This all came about because I was tired of the yelling and stressing and still not getting any results. So now we are trying positive reinforcement to see if that works. Whether it works or not it still makes for a more peaceful household and that is something this preggo mama needs.

One of the things I have worked on during this time was a project I started about 4 years ago that has traveled with us from state to state and still never finished itself ;). The kiddo really enjoyed helping me finish it and deciding where to put it. It was a very simple project which makes it even more confusing for me to figure out what in the hell took me so long! Here's a picture to show this simple project. Now for the kicker - I had bought and painted the letters red and blue 4 years ago. All I had to do was glue the ribbon on (which I had already bought) and hang them on the wall (with nails we already had). Yep, that's all! After completing it and hanging them, the kiddo is thrilled and that's all that really matters!