A weekend of shoppping

Recently, Barry and I went shopping at the outlets in Allen to get some new clothes..it's amazing how we just don't have time to shop for ourselves like we used to..it seems to have been about 16 months since we had that kind of time...hmmmm...what's happened in the last 16 months? Only the most wonderful blessing in the world!!! :) Anyway, we spent a day of shopping and sweet little John did quite well...he talked to everyone that walked by, grabbed clothes off the racks, and even secretly pulled off some tags from clothes and started chewing on them. Oops! I feel bad for the next person to try on that shirt...they would find a nice, slobbery, wet surprise when they went to look at the price. heh! heh! John entertained himself most of the day...and when things got a little tough, mommy would search her purse and find something to entertain...hence the first photo...keys!! These wonderful metal and clangy devices are quite the entertainer on a restless toddler...he was quite happy with them and proceeded to show his enjoyment by trying to eat them. Sometimes I worry that he's turning my car alarm off and on when he plays with them...that would really freak somebody out in the parking lot if they were walking by...they might think my car was possessed or something! That really is funny now that i think about it! :)

The second photo is a little reward for John being so good all day. We stopped by Starbucks to get him some chocolate milk. Now, like I said, it was totally to reward John..it had nothing to do with mommy and daddy wanting a delicious latte after a hard day of shopping. :)

I love cold weather!!

I just LOVE cold weather!! And, to top off my love of this cold weather, I just love cute hats on children in the winter. I was at Target yesterday and saw several adorable hats and just had to try them out on John. I loved this one with the long "ears"...he just looked so darn cute! So, maybe this blog will turn some of you hot weather lovers into cold weather lovers like us! :)

It's all about the bikes...

You see, the title of this blog is because daddy dressed John this past Saturday...and out of all the clothes in his closet, he seems to zone in on things that are bike related. I have no idea what prompts this..maybe his passion for cycling and the fact that he CHOOSES to bike 112 miles in an Ironman after swimming 2.4 miles and then ultimately running a marathon after he gets off the bike??? That's totally normal, right?? :) Anyway, I thought John looked so cute in his Speedy Bike Club shirt and wanted to share. The second picture is after a day of playing and fun...he totally zonked out! Is there anything sweeter than a sleeping baby...I think not. :)

John taming a Lion!

Ok, I'm sure my title mislead you into thinking he was taming an actual lion..but the stuffed one in his room is pretty fierce looking so he's still a tough boy! :) You see, John and I were playing (yet again) in his room the other night and he thought it would be funny to start riding the lion. Mommy thought it was quite hysterical too and pulled out the trusty camera. I will walk you through our lion fun with some lovely captions. :)

Here he is burying his face because we were playing peek-a-boo with one another. Again, as was described in the picture where he's hiding in the laundry basket, I think he actually thought he was hiding when he buried his face. Of course I can't see him if he can't see me, right?? :)
Well, here is where the fun really begins...he was bouncing around so much on the lion that he toppled over...what an action shot, huh??

The lovely after affects of the toppled lion!

This is John when he got up from toppling over....he was laughing and ready to do it again. Ladies and gentlemen...I think we have a true boy here!

And, as he walked back over to ride the lion again, another game of peek-a-boo just happened upon itself! :)

Toys that rock!

I've decided that on the list of "toys that rock" the almighty laundry hamper should be on there! This simple piece of rectangular plastic has created tons of fun for my boy...of course, it must include an entire basket of laundry to be folded and put away before it can truly be "rocking" status...but nevertheless, it's quite awesome! This past weekend, I attempted to put away some laundry as always and John came in to "help" mommy...of course I was all proud that he wanted to help me clean up and put away laundry. Well, "helping" really means climbing in the basket and playing. :) He had the time of his life climbing in and out....trying to hide...and of course, putting the sheets over his head. This simple 10 minute task, turned into an hour task quite quickly...but it was worth it! You know, I'm starting to worry about writing these blogs, it may be impeding your thoughts on how gifted and talented my little genius is. We'll just chalk it up to creative exploring!

He really thought he was hiding..it was so funny!

What a scary ghost! It actually did scare the dogs..heh! heh!

Mommy saves the day!

On a recent Saturday morning, I got up as I normally do and began doing some odds and ends around the house until John woke up. I looked at the video monitor (oh how I love this monitor!)....and saw that John was actually awake in his bed, but he was tugging on something and his shirt looked really weird. I kept watching it for a few minutes and just couldn't quite figure out what was going on..he was making all these sounds and wouldn't stop tugging...so mommy decided I should go ahead into his room and check things out. Well, lo and behold, my precious little boy had been playing and tugging on his shirt so much that it was caught up under his arm and he had no idea how to get it back to normal. I laughed so hard and had to capture this precious moment. Good thing mommy was there to save the day!!! Who knew exposed shoulder shirts were cool on boys too??!!!

The other funny thing from that day was when John got into my closet and found my swim goggles. He started goofing around with them and eventually put them on his head. He thought it was quite funny and wore these around the house like this for a bit. Please ignore the black dirt or marker or whatever is on his sweet little nose...my precious little boy loves to scavenger through the house and get into things...even if it means getting a little dirty. Hmmm...does that help me answer the question "what are little boys made of?" I think dirt might be one of the ingredients! heh! heh!

Fun at Central Market

So, I've been meaning to write this blog for several weeks so I could show yet another fun-filled moment with our son. :) You see, every Sunday we head over to Central Market (yes, we make this 30 minute commute because fresh fruits and vegetables take up about 90% of what we buy each week and you just can't beat CM). Anyway, we do our weekly grocery shopping and we've started a new tradition with John...whenever daddy is in the checkout line, mommy heads outside to let him play with the fruit statues. :) He LOVES them!! This started one day when John was getting a little restless in the checkout line so I thought it would be good to take him outside...well, he made a beeline to the colorful statues and just ran back and forth between them. It really has become a fun little ritual and I love seeing him get so excited over them. This week when we were heading into the store, he saw them and started pointing with excitement. But we quickly distracted him with some silly song or sound mommy made and got him in the store. He seems to be understanding the routine though...as we headed to the checkout stand, he started getting all excited and trying to pull out of the stroller. Who knew something as simple as a fruit statue would be so much fun? This goes along with my "who knew" comments on ripped paper, empty water bottles, a rubber band, and the list goes on and on.

The funny thing during the trip we took the pictures is John started playing with the plants that are outside and found a leaf on the ground (insert who knew statement here :))...anyway, this leaf was quite amazing...so amazing that a little girl came up to see what treasure he had found and they started playing with it...such a precious site seeing my little one getting along with this older girl...hey, wait a minute, I don't know if mommy likes that! :)

After writing this blog and thinking about the simplicity of true joy, I ask one lingering question...have I mentioned it's the little things??? :)

Additional CM Photos