The zoo with a friend or two

 

I love this picture, what a blessing good friends are.

A cozy corner to read, and the classic "looked good on the box" blunder

I was working in the kitchen and noticed that Cole had found a cozy corner to read his book - among the jackets in the "winter bucket."

 

 

Gingerbread House, what a fun holiday project! Mom didn't think so, actually, but hey...when you get to lick frosting and eat wads of candy, who cares what the end product looks like.

 

We never were able to get it put together, we just ate sheets of gingerbread smeared with fosting, with a chaser of gumdrops. 



My firstborn - one of my great joys

You might know from previous blogs that one of Cole's jobs is putting away all of his clean laundry. A skill that works perfectly with that is picking out clothes and dressing himself which he's been doing for about 5 months. They go so well together because it insures that I don't have to look in his drawers. I try to keep clothes pared down so that the drawers still close easily even if the clothes in them are all out of sorts from having been dug through. For the obsessive types like me, this is great. I don't see it, it doesn't bother me, and the kid comes out dressed every day...who knew. I tell him whether it's church clothes or play clothes, short sleeved or long sleeved, and he picks out what he likes and gets dressed. This will insure that if there is an orange shirt and orange shorts in the drawer, they WILL be worn together. And 99% of the time I'm able to swallow my pride and let him wear what even his fashion-challenged mother knows is a clashing outfit. But he's so proud of the skill, I try to keep my mouth clamped. It's one thing he can do to be helpful and independent and he loves it.

 

One of his funniest quirks that tickles me every time is his aversion to broken food. If it's a sandwich, he wants it whole. If it's a chip or cracker, he wants no parts broken off of it. He's so particular about this that he separates chips into piles...one for broken ones, one for whole ones. He keeps the whole ones, then presents Tyson with the broken ones with an offer to trade. Tyson couldn't care less what shape his chips are in and he always agrees to a trade. But even if Tyson has inhaled all of his chips and doesn't have any to trade, Cole will 80% of the time give his broken chips to Tyson anyway just because he doesn't like broken chips. I love this little guy! :)

Take me to the beach! (And a zoo while you're at it)

 

Headed to the beach! We decided to take a little vacation with Mimi & Grandpa to the beach last weekend...here I am, ready to roll!

 

This picture may look ordinary to you. What's extraordinary about it? Tyson and I are playing in the sand....SMILING! We have a few quirks about us...we hate to swing...we didn't like TV until now...and we don't like the beach. But Mom and Dad didn't give up...they keep hauling us down here! 6th time was the charm!

 

But let's not forget what this boy is at heart...a drummer...I found 2 pieces of bamboo washed up and quickly found a use for them.

 

We played on the beach every morning and evening and had a great time...Daddy took all of our dirt digging toys so we excavated and bulldozed and shoveled to our heart's content. And Daddy, as he has every time, got out his fishing gear. But we didn't hold our breath, he hasn't had much success in our lifetimes.

 

What ho! A fish!! He actually caught a number of them - one of which we threw to a blue heron and watched him try to fit what amounted to a 6-inch saucer down his slim throat...yes, he did it.

 

Look at these two lovebirds

 

Then look at us feeding REAL birds!

 

This could summarize Tyson's complete turnaround on his feelings towards the beach. The first time out he was ROLLING in the sand...we had to hose him down head to toe just to get him clean enough for the tub.

 

We even drove to Pensacola to go to that zoo. This picture I like to call, "Mom, don't llamas spit?" But it didn't, much to our relief.

 

Cole refused to participate in this activity until Tyson did it...then he wanted a picture taken if every opportunity after this one.

 

Look how big this boy has gotten...so brave!!

 

And the last night before we came home...the biggest shocker of them all...the boys splashed in the ocean! Again, for those of you with kids who love the ocean, this ain't no thang. For these boys, who have been to the beach 3 and 6 times respectively and have never touched even a toe in the water, this is a BIG DEAL! In the past (and in the first days of this trip) they refuse to get even within 10 feet of the water's edge without falling apart in terror. But Thomas keeps working at them, inviting them to play and showing them how fun it is. And the last night Tyson got in...which then enticed Cole to get in. Once Tyson was in you had to watch him because he was like a cat in catnip, he loved it!

 

This was one of the high points for Thomas, finally getting to splash with the boys in the water. Some things just take time :)

 

Back to us! Let's talk about the real high points of this vacation...Lucky Charms and Hawaiian Punch. When asked what his favorite part of the trip was, Cole answered, "Candy and Lucky Charms."

September is for riding, climbing, creating, and our first movie night

We found Tyson a bike for $10 at a consignment sale, and although he was dying to have one, he doesn't have any interest in actually learning how to ride it. No matter, that just gives me 2 bikes to choose from...and I rotate them regularly.



 

It's softball time again! I love climbing the fence and am pretty good at it, not to toot my own horn.

 

Tyson actually made this sword by himself with Tinker Toys...handle, cross-bar, sword...pretty impressive for a little guy...although I don't think he had the end product in mind when he started.

 

We have entered the world of TV love. "Every kid loves TV", you say? Not so friends! Tyson and I have cared little to none for it our whole lives except for shows with live animals in them. Cartoons held no interest no matter the subject matter. But then we discovered Little Bear. And then we went to the library and got a few videos for our trip to the beach. And THEN we got popcorn! So one night we had a movie night and watched "A Trip to the San Diego Zoo" which doesn't even have words, it's just a guy with a camera shooting video of animals at the zoo set to music. Perfection.

These are the days we'll remember

Fishing with Daddy at the lake...this picture makes my momma want to cry...what a great Daddy we have.

 

 

Stick and fake worm...the worm had lots of adventures with us on the trail and eventually got lost.

 

No bites, but some great time together.

Musicians, Literary Critics, Bakers...the Dent boys do it all

Oh, if you could only hear these two...Cole is always a drum player, Tyson goes from drum to saxophone to guitar. In the last month, though, he is a guitar player almost all the time. They get up on whatever "stage" they've determined and sing at the TOP of their lungs and beat those drums and "play" that guitar. When they get metal pans involved it's mind-numbing. 

 

Mom saw this idea in a magazine...they're looking for suckers like her...sounded good, corn meal on a cookie sheet with trucks to drive through it. Translation: Corn dust on every surface within 5 feet of me and the little guy.



 

We would spend most of their days playing musical instruments or reading if given the option.

 

I (Cole) love to set the table...not to be helpful...but to make sure that I get every orange item available for eating. And I've assigned to Tyson that his favorite colors are green and blue, so naturally I've graciously given him his favorite colors!

 

These days are fast coming to a close, but I still take a nap most afternoons for an hour or so if Momma lays beside me until I'm asleep. If she doesn't, I just bide my time playing foot games on the wall or rolling all over my bed to stay awake. 

 

I could do this for hours. I'm only allowed to if the muffins aren't headed for the home of someone else since the germ factor in my technique is a little shady. This is really hard for my Mom, you other OCD mothers are in good company, but she tries to let go and let me be messy and learn.

Happy 2nd Birthday Tyson!!

 

I've been excited about my birthday for WEEKS, asking about it all the time. It's finally here! I'm not sure what's in those presents, but I've been regularly asking for a knife (i saw Cole use one at the table and it has become a coveted possession) and I'm hopeful that the BIG one is a BIG knife!

 

Mommy made me special chocolate chip pancakes for my birthday breakfast...marshmallows too!

 

We got to go to Sweet Tree Yogurt and get frozen yogurt with fun toppings in it. I ate every last drop.

 

 

Except for the drops that stayed on my face...

 

This lady is Queen of the Birthday Cakes. She made me an excavator cake using 2 pound cakes she made from scratch, KitKats, Twix, donuts, M&Ms, licorice with bamboo skewers in them, Dots, and icing. And crushed up Oreas for the dirt.

Daddy with his mommy

Present time! I'm really into trucks and I got several that have seen good use in the rocks behind the house. 

One of those new trucks landed me a gash in my forehead not 24 hours after I opened it...a quick trip to the doctor and some glue, and I'm good as new for my party! 

This is what I like to call "Sugar Shock" 

 



Our Cup Runneth Over

As always, many thanks to my dear friend Erin Fults at Acorn Studio for capturing some great memories of our family.