A morning at the 'kaybound'.

Translation: A morning at the playground.

Since Ed is home with his injury and this morning was just too nice to pass up time outside, we headed to the other side of town and played. We walked up the hill behind the park and walked a little bit along the river. Teddy recognizes it from the car, but I wanted him to see it "for real", so we walked along the berm beside the river, which is high with a steep hill of rocks leading down to it. This, of course, did make me hold his hand a little tighter, but we enjoyed it all the same. Here are a few of my favorites taken, which was hard since I took a little over 60!!!












Needless to say, we did come home a bit dirty, but pleasantly run out. It was nice to go early enough so we had the whole playground to ourselves also. So glad I took my camera!

Teddy can be such a dude.

Children has always fascinated me in so many ways. I think the biggest aspect that I love to watch is they way they act like little men or women in their mannerisms. Teddy has so many little man quirks, I just love to sit back and watch him sometimes. Here are just a few poses I've been able to get.



This one is my favorite (haha):


The newest thing he's picked up is recognizing logos on cars. He surprised me one day when he approached me with one of his Matchbox trucks and says "Cheby" I didn't understand at first, but when I looked, there was the Chevrolet emblem on the grill of the truck (Grandpop Booth would be proud!). He then came to me with a red car and says "Honda" and sure enough, there was the Honda emblem. Yesterday during our weekly trip to the produce market, he pointed to a car and said "Nissan". I'm telling you, this kid stops me in my tracks sometimes.

Father's Day.

I was trying to come up with a decent Father's Day present for Ed, so I did some googling (should that be capitalized?? Hmmm). I found a website for handmade gifts (my favorite!!). This idea is actually designed more for the traveling dad, but I was able to find away around that and aim it towards Ed. It's "survival" kit :)

Teddy colored the stickers we put on the sides.



We did some cutouts, one of a star which says "You're An All Star Dad", we traced Teddy's hand and put a string around it to let him know Teddy always thinks about him, a big XO so he'll always have a hug and kiss handy, and we put Teddy's fingerprints on a piece of paper in case Ed ever gets lost. LOL

Finally, we put some sweets in there too for him and the well, the body spray is the kind he uses and we happened to find some so we threw that in there too.

Apologies...

It has been a whole week since I last posted anything here. I haven't forgotten, just been busy and trying to decompress a little since I will soon be childless (with the exception of having Teddy...no more babysitting services here!!). I will be posting something in the next couple of days...promise!!!

A yummy and very thoughtful gift!

I was surprised to notice the UPS truck pull up outside our door yesterday and hesitantly excited. I say hesitantly, because I was not expecting a delivery. Excited because I was hoping for a knock. I was not disappointed. I was handed a heavy, rectangular box. Of course, I was prevented from ripping into it like a child on Christmas morning since I had three children in my care, who apparently all felt their needs were much more important than mine. "Shannon, Alexa won't share!" "But I had it first!" "Mama! Mama! Mama!" *sigh* Such is my life at that moment, I am counting the days until I can enjoy my own son for awhile. But, I digress. When I had my first moment of peace, I opened the box and in it was something that brought a smile to my face. Pure Vermont Maple Syrup!!!! My brother-in-law's father was so kind to think of us and had it sent. He is a fine (former, now Delawarian transplant) Vermonter and such a sweet man. God bless him, he is 94 years old(??) I question the old part since he gets around pretty darn well and has every wit about him still. His face lights up when we visit with Teddy and Teddy remembers him well and talks about him too. As a matter of fact when I called to thank Scotty for his gift, Teddy asked to say hello. So, this morning before we partook (ha!! Is that even a word??) in breakfast, I asked Teddy to show off our goody!! Afterward, as I was getting breakfast ready, Teddy reminded me he wanted "syrup Scotty sent" with his pancake. Yummmm!!!!





Thank you so much Scotty!!!

For P.J.

Since you requested pictures of Teddy laughing, here ya go...they aren't the best, but I'll post them anyway.



This is one where he was asking me to "ticklish" his neck.

This one is my favorite out of this bunch. His dimple is hidden, but it's still a great shot. It's a little off center, but hey, consider who was behind the camera.

Tub fun.

Teddy has decided to get brave in the tub, laying back in the water and actually putting his face down. He hasn't gotten brave enough to totally submerse himself, but that's fine for now. Someday he will. I think he gets a kick out of the accoustics when he lays down and his ears are under the water. I just had to get a couple of "clean" (no pun intended) shots of him in the tub (and yes, that is a bruise on his cheek, Mom hit him with the door coming in with a full basket of laundry, the same cheek he whacked on the floor a couple weeks back...poor kid!).

Teddy finally has a 'real' room!

So, we have finally done Teddy's room to the point that it really looks like a little boys room. It was timing thing, really. My sister finished refinishing the toy box we had as kids, one that was handmade by my dad. I wonder if he thought it would be around this long and know that it is cherished just because it was something he made for us. I finally nagged Ed just enough times to hang the corner cabinet, made by my father-in-law and I mounted the shelves my sister passed on to us. I was also able to snag, from online, a matching lamp and coat rack. I finally hung the wonderful, handmade alphabet plague my sister-in-law thoughtfully picked out for Teddy. The room still feels like it's missing something, but it sure looks better than it did.

This is the view as you stand in the doorway;

To the left of the door, the cross stitch picture (a train) is from a friend and the big rocking chair is in my room now;

To the right of the door;

Teddy in the rocking chair I was given by my grandparents, probably when I was just a little older than him now, in front of the alphabet hanging;


The toy box, when first brought in from picking it up at my sister's, had little wooden pieces glued to it. Teddy took care of those, picking them off (grrrrrr). They will be put back on (Sorry G!!!). The pieces were a train, a racecar, an airplane, a pick-up, and fire truck. Quite the change from the flowery decals we had on there as little girls. We will soon be putting in a twin bed with (hopefully) matching bedsheets. Maybe that's what I think is "off" about the setup thus far. So, just wanted to share how we spent our Sunday afternoon. This afternoon, I tackle my and Ed's room as I was just able to get rid of the big TV stand (we don't watch TV in the bedroom) and now I can move things around just so.