A Boy, His Cars and His Blankies

James has loved cars and tractors since he was a baby. Before James joined our family, we had two or three Matchbox cars for Ella. Once James expressed interest in them, our collection began to grow. Now, it is quite common for me to dig two, three or more from the depths of my purse or diaper bag to entertain James while we are out on an adventure. He loves to play with the cars at home, too. And recently, he has started to do a lot of pretend play with his cars. Mark and I think this is hilarious! Why, you ask? Ella has been playing with her baby dolls a lot. She has found a new interest in her dolls since several of our friends are expecting babies within the next few weeks. James has been watching Ella with her dolls and has adopted some of her mothering habits. The only difference is that James has been treating his cars like babies. He gives them rides in the doll buggy and covers them while they are "parking" so they can sleep. He also is very particular about parking his cars. He will spend what seems like endless amounts of time lining his cars up in a very neat row. It is so fun to watch him play and explore. And, Mark and I can't help but chuckle when we walk into a room and find a row of cars. It is a sure sign that James has been playing there. Giving his "babies" a ride.

Covering his tractor in the corner so it can sleep.

Cars that are "parking"

Here is a video of James tending to his sleeping cars. I love how he has to whisper when he lets me peek under the blankets to see the cars.

Another common theme in many of the pictures is the presence of his beloved blankies. He has four blankets that he loves to carry around, sleep with and play with. Two are his "softies" (the ones with little tags that I designed and my mom sewed) and two are his soft and silky blankies. If we are lucky, we can leave home with only one in tow. If he had his way, we'd travel everywhere with all four. On Wednesday, I met up with a bunch of fun moms and we went for a walk on a local trail while our older children were at art camp. When I got back to the school, I realized that James' softie did not make the return journey with us. At lunch time, I got to do our long walk again by myself to recover the lost blanket. I found it a good mile down the trail at the point in our walk where the need for animal crackers must have overshadowed the need for his blankie. I got a lot of exercise on Wednesday, but thanks to my recovery efforts, James took a great nap!

Play Ball!

Mark has been having a fun time playing ball with the kids outside. He's pretty excited because he sees some athletic potential in Ella which is amazing since she is half my kid! Here's a pic of Ella in mid swing.

James is very proud of his attempts at swinging a bat.

The video is of Ella doing a little batting practice with Mark pitching. She does really well with Mark pitching. She doesn't do quite so well when I am the pitcher.... I wonder why?

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband, Mark! My kids are truly blessed to have such a wonderful daddy and I am lucky to have a husband who strives to be an awesome father. Hopefully, we made him feel extra special today! We all really had a nice day today. We had a relaxing morning at home and even ate breakfast out on our front porch. The weather was perfect all day. We enjoyed the sunshine while we watched the Pine Island Cheese Fest Parade this afternoon. The kids actually got so much candy that they grew tired of picking it up! They each came home with a huge bag full and now I will have to ration candy and find a way to make some of it disappear... Later in the evening, I grilled Mark some steaks and veggies and we spent the remainder of the day playing outside. The kids didn't want to go to sleep as the sun was still shining brightly at bedtime.... I love the long days of June!

The picture above was taken this morning right after Mark put on his brand new T-shirt. James was very, very proud of the hand prints that he made. He was extra careful to point out which hand prints were his to anyone who expressed interest in the shirt Mark was wearing.

Happy Father's Day to all the great fathers in our lives! And, extra special Happy Father's Day wishes to my dad who, because I am the youngest in our family, still introduces me to people as his "baby". I love you, Dad!

Sleepy James

This is what James looks like at 11:30 a.m. when he wakes up at 3:30 a.m. and doesn't go back to sleep. This is what James sounds like when he grabs his blankies and crawls up to cuddle with daddy for just a minute when he is really tired.

Fortunately for Mark and me, he was sleeping at Grandma and Grandpa's when he decided to wake up at 3:30 in the morning and stay up for the day! James has been having trouble sleeping through the night because of all the thunderstorms we have been having. He is very scared of thunder right now. At the slightest crack of thunder, he is standing up in his crib holding his four favorite blankies and yelling very loudly, "Scared, scared, Mommy, Daddy!" When we get into his room, he promptly tells us he would like to look out the window and then go to our bed to cuddle. In his defense, we have had a string of pretty loud and scary storms in the past week. I think we will be in for some more storms tonight!

Fun at the Park with Hal and Great Great Uncle Tom!

On the last day of May we enjoyed a beautiful picnic and playtime at the park with Hal and my Great Uncle Tom. I think Hal had an especially good time playing at the park! Enjoy the pics! Mark and my Great Uncle Tom

James just had to ride the zip ride ring thing just like big sister Ella. He had a lot of help!

Monkey Mark!

A Visit From "Great Uncle" Hal!

We were fortunate to have a visit from "Uncle" Hal who was visiting family in Minnesota. Since Hal lives in California, we really look forward to the time that we get to spend with him. Despite the miles, Ella has a special bond with Hal. She and James get very excited when they receive mail from Hal and Sharleen, so you can imagine how excited they were to see Hal in person. Here are Ella and Hal in the midst of a very intense game of UNO.

Best Buds!!!

A BIG SMILE from James!
Hanging out on the swing!