Mama loves a good deal

So this weekend is tax free "back to school" shopping here in Oklahoma and as of 10:30am today I was already done shopping - woohoo! I am SO excited to have found some really sweet deals this year thanks to mail coupons, online coupon codes, free shipping, and paying no sales tax. I got each child their entire fall/winter wardrobes and a pair of shoes each and was under budget!

And can I just say that Kohl's saved my sanity with the convenience of online shopping that included free shipping, no tax, 20% off my entire order, and $10 Kohl's Cash for every $50 I spent. Woohoo!!!

Old Navy got our business for their $10 jeans sale. I love how their jeans have the adjustable inner waistband for my thin waist, long legged kids. And I lucked out finding a pair of embroidered jeans and a romper for Anna and some cool camouflage cargo pants for Ian on clearance. And with a coupon for $10 off of $50, all the better.

God sent an angel to watch over us today. Not only did Anna drop her Pappy in the store but Ian left his motorcycle toy under one of the clothes racks when got distracted by, you guessed it, a girl! I had loaded both kids into the car and had to tote them back in to search for the items. We quickly found both and both kids were happy...and Mama was SO relieved! Thank you God!

Our venture to Stride Rite was just that...an adventure. Although it was only a ten minute trip into the store - at max - it was interesting. They had their long-awaited "buy one, get one 1/2 off" sale so I was there when the doors opened today. I was floored to hear the saleswoman tell me that Anna is a size 6-1/2 and Ian is a size 10 after measuring them both. What? I know SR measures a bit big (which I like because then the kids get an entire school year and well into summer of wear out of each pair of shoes) but Ian....a size 10. Wow! He was thrilled to get to pick out his own shoes. The first pair he loved, he didn't like once he tried them on. Second try was also a really cool pair of shoes but they didn't have his size. So his third choice was a hit with him (...and with me because they were already on sale and then we got them half off the sale price). I'm so thankful he didn't pick out the horrible Star Wars shoes with Darth Vader on them or something. Instead he chose a really cool blue and green pair of shoes that he claims make him run really fast and the "suction cups" on the bottom make him bounce really high. He loved the shoes so much he not only wore them out of the store but wouldn't take them off the rest of the day. I had to pry them off of him for nap and even that didn't last long. He took them to bed with him and came out wearing just his little underwear and the shoes!

Now Anna's first experience at Stride Rite was much more....dramatic...than I remember Ian's first time. As soon as we approached the wall of shoes and a woman started towards us she let loose with the screaming and water works. And it didn't stop until she was securely belted back into her stroller with Ian next to her and some goldfish crackers in her hands. Poor thing was tired and scared. But, we found some super cute white and pink tennis shoes that seem really solid. I sure hope they are because this girl goes through shoes in literally a matter of a week or two. She is ROUGH on her shoes!

So here are the kids posing with their new shoes on. I can't believe I actually "school shopped" for BOTH kids this year. Anna was just a newborn last year. And now she's an active toddler. And Ian, well he is 3-1/2 going on 18 some days. Ha!

Colorado 2010

The family at the overlook where we enjoyed a picnic with
Mark's family and a spectacular view.

This year the trek to Colorado was marked with new adventures, lots of time at the park and the lake, and some sickness unfortunately. Here's a brief summary and some pictures.

The kids got to experience Echo Canyon just outside Pagosa and both were thrilled to get to scream and yell without their Mama telling them to quiet down. :) Ian ate his first vanilla ice cream cone (and one chocolate one) with sprinkles and loved them both. Ian and Daddy got to fish at the lake just outside the condo several times. Ian is great at casting...not so good at the patience part of the sport yet. Anna loved chasing the geese!

The kids were enjoying throwing rocks into the river.
Check out my handsome hubby with his "mountain man" look.

Ian made some new friends, including two older girls (age 6 and 8), who he was quite taken with. All the kids enjoyed tossing rocks into the river in downtown. The kids and I enjoyed a picnic by the river where we got to feed the chipmunks who call Pagosa home.

Unfortunately, though, Mark got ill midweek and was in bed for two whole days. We didn't realize how bad he was until we got back to the city and he saw the on-call doctor only to find out it was strep throat! He's on the mend now but it stunk that he wasn't feeling well for the vacation that he looks forward to each year.

All in all it was a fun time. We really look forward to next year in hopes we'll have even better weather, good health, and lots of outdoor time to go and do and see even more than we were able to this year.

Best friends - Bryson and Ian

All it takes is two older girls to make a young boy abandon fishing.


















Even at the top of a mountain my daughter can find a dog to make friends with!

Anna entertains Nana and Papa on the patio.

Mark and Anna on a "hike" to the park.

The kids enjoying a picnic by the river.

Mark and the kids by the lake. It was really cool some mornings.

Anna (my little daredevil) going down the slide by herself. Her next trick was to do this on her stomach. And, of course, she loved it!!

 (not sure why this photo won't appear the right direction as it does in my photo file...but you get the idea)

Anna grows up overnight

We returned from our annual trip to Colorado on Sunday and I think Anna decided to grow up overnight. She woke up on Monday refusing baby foods and desperately wanted our table foods for lunch and dinner. By today's lunch she was really ready! She ate half of a grilled cheese sandwich (one of her first table food favorites), two whole strawberries (diced) for the first time today, a few Cheerios for the first time, and some diced oranges (without the mesh feeder). With each bite of strawberry she'd make her "yum" noise and sign "more" to me. So I kept putting more on her plate....and she kept eating. She has now refused baby purees and jar foods (other than one jar of her favorite food...macaroni and cheese at dinner tonight) in favor of table foods. Where did my little baby go?

A pic of her lunch...before and after. :)

Some of Anna's words at this age...

gee-gee (dog, horse or anything that resembles either animal), daddy, hi-ee (hi/hello), mama (only used when she's tired or having separation anxiety), brr (brother), sh-sh (fish), hah-hah (hot), tee-tee or nigh-night (terms used for her lovie Monkey or pacifier), and she signs "all done" and "more" at the dinner table.

She puts two words together including - Hi Daddy or Hi Doggy.

Anna can also put her own bib around her neck, can get her own shoes off and loves to undo the velcro herself, attempts to do the top buckle of her car seat by herself, and helps us get her dressed.

My son

My son is (to me) one in a million. He has the biggest heart, is quite the thinker, and has the best sense of humor. At three-and-a-half he is wise beyond his years....and sometimes just amazingly funny without even knowing it. My best stories about him often occur while we're riding in the car. Here are just a few....some funny, some sweet...all Ian.

• We were headed to Ian's school one morning this past spring and stopped at a red light. As we waited, Ian noticed my cross hanging from the rear view mirror and asked, "Mom, why do you have a cross hanging in that front window?" I replied, "It's so we're reminded that even in the car, God is always with us and will protect us while we are on the road." To which Ian responds, "I think it also tells people to get out of the way." All of us including Anna, began laughing after that one.

• As we were returning from my sister-in-law's house a few weeks ago Ian asked to hear his favorite song in the car. For some reason he thinks Buffalo Springfield's For What It's Worth is the best song around right now and asks to listen to it often. As I put the Forest Gump soundtrack disc in the player he follows up by saying, "You know, the song where they say 'Stop children, what's that sound'?" I was floored that he actually knew the real words to the song. His mind amazes me sometimes.

• Again, we're in the car not too long ago and Ian tells me that if he sees a policeman going too fast that I can pull him over and Ian will get to be a policeman for the day so he can write the policeman a ticket for speeding. (My mind couldn't help thinking how funny it would be to have Ian hop down from his car seat, slide open the van door and march over to a policeman, hand on hips, to start lecturing him on speeding.)

• It was late April and we were having dinner as a family like usual. Our wedding anniversary was approaching so Mark and I were explaining to Ian what an anniversary was. Mark told Ian that he met me about eight or nine years ago. Ian, in his wisdom, asked Mark, "So before you met Mama you were alone?" Mark replied that he was correct. Ian's response was, "No Daddy, you weren't alone. I was with you." Mark and I both looked at each other with a lump in our throats and tears in our eyes. Mark just leaned over and hugged him and said, "You know Buddy, in a way you were with me. In a way you were." That was one of the most touching moments of Ian's third year.

• As we played in the living room this past week, Ian told me randomly that when he gets big like Daddy that he will take care of me. It was so precious.

• Nearly every single time we're outside in the yard, at the park, etc. Ian will go searching for a flower to pick and give to me. He's so sweet about it. He'll hunt all around and get so sad if he can't find one for me. Recently he opted for a three-leaf clover (because he says they are lucky - wink) when flowers were no where around. His picking of flowers for me started several months ago and he just smiles so big as he hands me a flower (a weed, actually) and says, "Here Mama, I picked you a special flower." And if Aunt Laura or one of the Grandmas is with us, he will pick each of them one, too.

• Ian talks often about wanting to be a zoo keeper when he grows up. We make weekly trips to the zoo and both kids just love our time there. We've watched many of the animals grow up over the past years.

Here are just a few cute things/phrases that Ian says at this age:

"I'm sweating like a sweater." (What Ian told me on a hot day.)
Old Maybe (also called Old Lady) = the store Old Navy

Chick-So-Lay = the restaurant Chick-Fil-A

The Lawnmower Store = the store Lowe's

Tornado boots = what he calls his rain boots

Sugar and cream ice cream = vanilla ice cream

Combo = the "condo" in Colorado on vacation this summer
Honda store = where we take the van for service
Pouch = punch
Dag-Gumit = What he says when he makes a mistake
Bammit = What he says when his toys run in to each other or when they are intended to crash.
"I hardly wait." (His form of "I can hardly wait.")
Red Jay = what he calls a Cardinal (since Blue Jays are Blue, red birds must be a Red Jay - sounds logical)
Uhscusting = his pronunciation of "disgusting"

He uses the word "never" when he should use "ever" and it's so cute. Here's an example - "Mama, this is the best dinner I never had."

A new favorite phrase, "That scared my life out." Most of us know that phrase as being, "That scared the life out of me."

Ian loves to use "big words" that he hears other say, words we read in books, or those he hears on tv. Here are some of his favorite "big words" right now (that he understands the meaning of and uses properly):

magnificent, incredible, amazing, phenomenal

Ian loved to wear his rain boots in 100 degree heat this summer. He always gets to choose what shoes to wear when we leave the house (unless we're going to church) and he chooses those hot plastic boots. He sure does get the smiles from the people we see in public, though.

And the most interesting development over this summer was Ian's creation of imaginary brothers. At the start of summer there were 3 brothers. That number has since grown to 10 and now 90. I think he's read "101 Dalmatians" a few times and taken it to heart. He so desperately misses his school friends! :)