Reading...and the BOYS next door

We have a few favorite stories that we read, but Ace the Racing Car is one of Barrett's favorites. He gets super excited when we read it together. If we ever decide to get a pet...or if Barrett has a little baby brother one day, I'm sure he will want to name him Ace!



Barrett also has become very intrigued with the neighbors next door. He can hear them in their back yard playing baseball and football. He's constantly asking, "Angie's house? Angie's house?"
At first, I thought he wanted to go see Mrs. Angie next door (because she is the one that gives him all the sweet treats), but it's the B.O.Y.S (her children) that he wants to play with. He literally thinks he is just as big as they are (8, 9, and 14). Bless his little heart...he's trying so hard to "fit in".



Big fan of AIRPANES (airplanes) and BYODS (birds)

Memories

A couple of stories I want to remember:

I had preheated the oven to cook dinner one night, and while waiting for it to heat up, I heard Barrett yelling, "I see M, I see M". He continued to say it until I met him in the kitchen. He was standing in front of the oven door with his face smashed up against it. Inside, the coils were illuminated the bright color orange and he could see the letter M within them.

I took Barrett out to the mall with me to run a few errands. I had just picked him up from school and he was wearing his typical play clothes. As we were walking through Dillards, he stopped and acted like he was trying to find a place to put his little red car that he was holding in his hand. He said, "Oh no, I need pockets. I need pockets".

Who would have ever thought that little, tiny kernels of corn could be so much fun. Yes, you guessed it...Barrett loves his corn. Lately though, he is more interested in sticking the kernels in his nose, ears, and dropping them one by one down inside his shirt (especially at restaurants or when we're out in public). Ahhhhh, corn is our friend, and yet our enemy too.

Matt takes Barrett for rides in his truck almost daily. We know we're not suppose to let him ride in the seat like a big boy, but Barrett loves being "car seat-less". He sits up tall (or stands up) in the front seat while Matt makes the block around our neighborhood.

Barrett has also become quiet the little SHADOW of Matt. He follows him around almost everywhere and the are truly the best of buddies.
Matt was working on his mountain bike the other day and Barrett tipped over his little riding train, grabbed a screwdriver out of Matt's toolbox, and began working on the wheels of the train. Priceless!
Mowing with Daddy was an interest this weekend. I thought he might be afraid of the mower, but he wasn't. He realized he had a mower and worked along side Matt the entire time they were outside.

Happy Friday

Happy Friday to everyone out there! Enjoy the weekend. I'll be walking in the Relay for Life tomorrow night/early morning (12:00 to 3:00 am). Unfortunately, Barrett will be sound to sleep at that time, so I won't get to take him with me. Let's just hope there is an opportunity on Saturday that I can take a good, long nap.

Lots of things to be looking forward to within the next few weeks (too many to list). My May calendar has something planned for almost every day (including the weekends). I'm sure this next month will zoom by.

God bless you all and have a wonderful weekend!

Puzzle Time!

We love our puzzles!!! Today, we bought a new one at Target and Barrett has played with it all afternoon. He loves it. One of his favorite puzzles is about shapes. I'll never get tired of hearing him pronounce each one of them. Triangle and square are a little difficult, but he sure gives it his best shot. Hopefully you can hear him say a few in this video clip.


Have a great weekend. We're planning on heading out to see our friend, Hayden Luke Smith. He just turned ONE today. Happy Birthday Hayden! (And yes...we've been practicing on standing still while Momma takes a picture.)

I think we need a trampoline.

We went over to our friends' house over the weekend. While the daddies cooked out on the grill, the mommies and kids played on the trampoline. Barrett loved it!!! What great exercise and fun. Now, we're addicted. I think maybe we should think about getting one for our birthdays (B's in May and mine in June).

Isn't this cute??? Braelyn is almost 4 and Barrett is going on 2, and yet, they're practically the same size!

Yep...we are definitely going to need a TRAMPOLINE someday!

And don't you think our little "power dot" is getting lighter/smaller???

Easter Fun 2010

Some of you know that we travel over to Carrollton-Farmer's Branch to attend church. We've been going there for about 7 years now. Although it's a long drive, we can't imagine our lives without FBCC!!!!

Farmer's Branch area is gorgeous. Our church had their annual Easter egg hunt at the historical park and it was beautiful. We had bounce houses, egg hunts, live music, food (picnic style) and lots of running room for the children. To top it all off, Barrett's Papa and Gramsey and his Meme and Papa Barrett, were there to join in on all the fun.

After the egg hunt, we all drove back over to our house in Wylie. As an early birthday present, Papa gave Barrett his second pair of cowboy boots. The first pair he had no longer fit (although Barrett doesn't mind squeezing his feet inside of them). My dad wants to carry on the tradition of giving Barrett a new pair of boots for each of his birthdays. They're perfect. Of course (just like the last pair) he wants to wear them all the time!!!! Thanks Papa.

Saturday afternoon, we were joined by my sister, brother-in-law, and nieces, Karlee and Kelsey. They all stayed the night with us and attended church services with us on Easter Sunday! It was a fun-packed weekend!!!
God has certainly blessed me in so many ways.

This is Barrett doing a little painting on Saturday afternoon. He actually did a really good job, until my sister showed him how to drop the paintbrush and just use his finger to paint! ha ha Thanks Brandi. I'm still cleaning up little fingerprints off the floor, the cabinets, and walls of my house!

Last but not least, I had Barrett dressed up so nice. He had a starched, crisp, white shirt (tucked in neatly at one point in time), with loafers, khakis, and gel combed in his hair. That all lasted about 5 minutes (and I'm NOT kidding). Once he got out of the car and out of my arms, he took off running. There happened to be some ducks in the grassy area around the church and he was seriously ready to capture them! My little boy won't stay still long enough for me to get a sweet picture, so I tried my best to get one of him while he was on the move!!!!

Most of the pictures turned out like from Sunday morning.

Progress

Wow...what progress Barrett has been making at school. I'm so pleased with our decision to put him into a private daycare this year.
He started in the "Todds" class, where the kids have to adjust to the school's schedule. I worried about this at first, but Barrett has his routine down perfectly. He's even manage to make quiet a few friends (Wyatt being his best) and Ma-sis-son (Madison) his little girlfriend.

Just this week, he was promoted to the "Two's" class. It is a lot more structured than his other class (more work), but he seems to be doing well. He kind of favors his old teacher, Ms. Amber and Ms. Coty, so every morning we have to leave him with one of them (and Wyatt), then they walk him down to his new classroom.


He has learned sign language for all of his colors, and for words such as please, thank you, more, and smart. It's funny because the first time I saw him giving me the sign for "more" I thought something might have been wrong with his hands. Matt and I had to look it up on the Internet and teach ourselves what the common signs meant. ha ha Now I know how all those dual language parents feel doing homework with their kids!

The best news is that they are potty training!!!! Yesterday afternoon we were at home and I noticed Barrett in his "poo-poo stance" (all you parents know which stance I'm talking about). Well, I asked him if he needed to poo-poo and he told me yes. I rushed him to his potty and he actually went (both). The sweetest thing was that he accidentally shot tee-tee across the floor. I heard him say, "Ohhhhh noooooo".

Hey, who cares at this point! I'm just happy he's showing some success!

This week: March 29-April 2

**Barrett had his first Easter egg hunt and party. I was so sad I missed it, but his teachers said he had a great time. I could tell too, by the stained little shirt he was wearing! He had definitely had his share of cake, punch, cookies, and probably a handful of jellybeans!!!! I don't know that I'll ever get that shirt clean.

**Barrett was promoted at school to the TWO year old class.

**I got a new Dyson vacuum cleaner too! Hooray!!! I'm super excited. I want to vacuum all the time now!