Autumn Blooms

Fall has come to Texas!

Gram and Pops and I took Sam back to the Dallas Arboretum to enjoy some beautiful fall color!

Sam was a bit clumsy that day. It started before we left Gram and Pops' house, when he fell in their yard and rolled over some crushed acorns. Then at the Arboretum he fell in front of Strega Nona's house, right into a big mud puddle. After we wiped off all the mud on his face, all his bumps and scrapes were easier to see. Here's a little before-and-after:

But he was a trooper about it. We stopped for lunch on the lawn, changed his shirt and enjoyed the rest of the park. The pumpkin houses were so colorful. Sam especially loved Cinderella's mice and her carriage that had turned back into a pumpkin. There were many varieties of gourds, arranged in clever scenes.

 (swans in a pond)

We were a bit early for the mums, but the pumpkins were amazing. Everywhere you looked there were more and more pumpkins!

Another special treat was the concert playing on the north side. We stopped so Sam could listen.  He sat with Gram for a while and then and of course, he had to get his groove on!

He didn't make it back to the car before falling asleep.  Too many pumpkins for one little boy...

Halloween, Round One

I think Noah would have welcomed this cute bee onto his ark with open arms. 

Sam got to dress up for Mother's Day Out today. The kids could either be someone from the Bible or an animal on Noah's ark.  We had already found this cute bee costume, so we were all set for today.  Sam loves bees and has for a long time.  He can't say his zzz's yet, but he has a bee sound all his own and points out bees, real and otherwise, everywhere we go. 

We are planning on taking him trick-or-treating this Sunday.  Granny Nell and Vic and Gram and Pops are coming over to help us celebrate and I'll be taking lots of pictures for sure.  Until then, here's a preview of our little bee.  We took these pictures out front this morning before we left for school.  I like how they turned out, but I'm kicking myself for not getting a shot of his stinger.  Oh, well...on my to-do list for Sunday!

Pumpkin Carving

Daddy carved us one great pumpkin.

Sam was only mildly interested in the carving part and wouldn't have anything to do with the touching the slimy seeds part.  But he did enjoy looking at the lit pumpkin - even asked Daddy to light it first thing the next morning. 

Homerun!

Gram and Pops got Sam a t-ball set for their yard and WOW can this kid hit!

And he does it all holding the bat backward!  Imagine how far he could hit the ball if he turned that sucker around!  In honor of the World Series - where Mama's hometown is playing against Daddy's hometown - here are some pics of our little slugger. 

Play-Doh

He wasn't quite sure what to think at first.

But eventually the squishy red stuff grew on him and he decided he might actually like this Play-Doh Mama had put out on his tray! We cut out shapes, rolled out some "worms" and Mama reluctantly attempted an Elmo face. And nothing like the smell of Play-Doh to take Mama back to the olden days!

For the Birds

I decided Sam was ready for a project.

I have a book called "Toddler Busy Book" full of ideas of fun things to do with toddlers. One suggestion for 18-24 month-olds was to make a pinecone bird feeder. We had pinecones that Great-great Aunt Carol had given me long ago and plenty of peanut butter in the pantry, all we needed was birdseed and we were ready to feed the birds.

Despite my attempts to keep from making too big a mess, we got peanut butter and birdseed everywhere. But we had fun. And Sam did really well. I was surprised at how good of a job he did spreading the peanut butter and sprinkling the birdseed on.  His favorite part was playing with a bowl of birdseed after we hung all the feeders! And now...we wait for birds!

A Little Snooze

It was Sunday afternoon.

We'd been out to McKinney for church, which always wears us out.  A trip to the Celina Pumpkin Patch was planned for the afternoon.  But first, an impromptu nap was in order.

Hey! It's Sam!

It was strange...everybody knew his name...

No one said, "Oh, who's this?", or "Is this your grandson?". Nope - everyone who saw us would say right away, "Hey! It's SAM!!". I wonder how all the teachers and staff at Gram's school knew who this little person was? Maybe,

just maybe

, it's because they've seen his picture a time or two before. Hmmm?

Hmmm?

Songs

Sam's love of music appears to be getting stronger.

I think most kids like music, but Sam just seems really into music, into dancing, into...

grooving

.

One of the first things he's been asking for when we get to Gram and Pops' house (after begging for crackers at the pantry door) is "songs". Gram puts on one of his favorite cds and Sam starts dancing. After a few shoulders rolls and some head bops, he heads on over to his wooden blocks and gets the two cylinder pieces. Then it's time to really rock it out!

Way Back When

It was a beautiful day yesterday.

It even felt like fall!  And it's still September...unusual for Dallas!  Sam  and I headed out to McKinney with our photography friends for a photo shoot at Chestnut Square.  It was a pretty place and reminded me of a very, very small Old City Park or Naper Settlement, except it was free and we happened to have the place to ourselves!  There was a large patio, surrounded by old homes.  The insides are restored and furnished with period pieces, but our group was just interested in the outside.  There was lots of shade which made for great light and each house and porch floor provided a different backdrop. 

It was a great place for Sam.  He could roam safely from porch to porch without much help from me, and I could follow at a distance, snapping photos.  And because he was able to run around and burn off some energy, he was pretty agreeable when I'd ask him to turn toward me or do something specific so I could achieve a certain shot.  He took direction surprisingly well, actually.  I asked him to knock on doors, peek in windows and "hug" posts. 

Brian and I giggled until we were in tears when we saw the top photo - he looks like he's posing for a runway show.  Just a lucky shot, of course, but what a ham!!  The last one made us laugh, too.  I had just sat down on the ground and said "Come give Mama a hug".  And so he did!