Sunday, September 28, 2008

Running Like the Wind...

...Or maybe just like a very, very mild breeze from having the window open a crack.

Lucas and I have taken up running, in the most liberal sense of the word. We both got new running sneakers, and one of us just bought a new pair of black yoga pants that I thought would be perfect for running due to their completely awesome feature of being virtually tag-less and seamless, which in reality just means there's no drawstring to hold them up if and when I manage to go faster than standing still. We only manage to make it around the block to the apartment unit's mailbox before we have to walk it out a bit, which means we are both out of shape and that I have the endurance of a four year old that's totally not on board with running just for runnings' sake.

Which is to all to say, I dream of running with the wind whipping through my hair and heart pumping, but the reality is that I don't burn enough calories to eat a popsicle by the time we're done.

I need help...any suggestions on how to make this running thing stick? I want Lucas to get some exercise, too, so I don't want to throw him in his jogger, but we need to get further than our apartment complex. My big booty is depending on your good ideas... ;-)

Saturday, September 27, 2008

X Marks the Spot


We took a trip through our local farm's corn maze yesterday and it was loooooooooong. Even the smaller half of the maze was loooooooooong, so when we came upon this X drawn in the dirt I exclaimed that "X MARKS THE SPOT! We won! We finished the maze!!"

And all the little kids bought it and headed for the exit and the cider donuts. And fudge. Ummmm...fudge.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Road Trip!

Shot Gun! What? Wait a minute...I'm always the only adult on road trips...guess that guarantees me a front seat. Oh well! Good enough!

We, the boy and I, are going to visit a friend tomorrow in another state. And while we're there we'll also visit my best-buddy Target and my BFF Coldstone. For the record, it is HIGHLY unfair that I need to travel out of state to see any of them: Jenn, Target OR Coldstone. But, that's okay, it gives us a good reason to get out dodge for a day or two.

ALSO? I'm looking for ideas on a birthday gift for my mom. Throw me anything ya' got...I'm at a loss and she does SO MUCH FOR ME (and even the words SO MUCH FOR ME are an understatement...trust me.) She's not into girlie things...no spa days for her. She loves to garden but I get her a gift card to our local greenhouse for every holiday so I'd like to try for something else this time around. Any ideas? Anyone?

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Awwww

I just got this lovely badge for my blog from Ms. Single Mama. My very first one! Thanks a million!


Ms Single Mama
Single Parent Blogs Kick Butt

Yesterday's Post in Pictures

Oh, what a beautiful day to snap a photo or fifty.



Too bad the bottom branches of this tree were almost five feet from the ground. I could barely get near those beauties.
Oh look! Something purple! How pretty!


There's my little helper, now. That apple in his hand will be the only one he picks that day.
Still munching...


Looking down because I asked him to look up...and smile. You'll notice he's not so good at following my high-pitched commands.

He's lucky he's cute.

The ill-fated bag of apples that will soon meet their maker on my car's unforgiving floor mat. They did taste mighty delicious in that apple crisp, though.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Yummmm...Apples...

So. Wednesday I dressed us in fall colors and cute mud boots and grabbed my camera and off we headed to the apple orchard. Because apple orchards are prime real estate for picture taking, not just for picking apples. Lucas and I chose the very biggest bag and the nice little old lady at the register explained to us where to pick and why all the apples had funny looking spots on them, which honestly made me want to chose a smaller bag but it was too late...we were committed to the 1/2 bushel. Off we trucked through the orchard to the far end to find the very best apples. The little old lady was right, every apple was damaged from a hail storm early in the season. Lucas was helpful for about a millisecond, long enough only to pick an apple for himself to eat. But not with the the skin on, heaven forbid he might choke on the skin, and so I (gross) peeled off the skin with my teeth (which of course lodged the apple skin in between my teeth, even more gross). So while he gazed off into the sunshine whining about how HE WANTED TO GO HOME NOOOOW!! I very gently picked the most perfect apples from the center of each tree, hoping they would be less damaged than the ones on the outside. Once our ginormous bag was full and I had snapped a few pictures of Lucas eating his apple and swatting at gnatty-bugs, we headed back towards the farm stand to pay; me carefully balancing our precious bag of apples and my camera equipment, him complaining that the WALK WAS TOO FAAAAAR!!

Ah! But the fun doesn't end, because the nice little old lady told me we couldn't pay there, we had to drive down the road to another stand to pay, and if I were a dishonest person, I would have taken that as my cue to head straight home. But no. We schlepped over to the next farm stand to pay there, and wouldn't you know it!? They also had a TRAIN TABLE! Which means I was stuck there for another twenty minutes while Lucas flitted around a dusty broken train table that is ever so much more interesting than his own fully loaded train table at home, don't you know? We were finally back on the road again grooving to the Jonas Brothers (don't make fun...we're hooked) and we were about a block from our apartment when the garbage truck ahead of us slammed on it's brakes, which in turn made me slam on my brakes, which in turn made all those apples that I had just lovingly picked fall to the floor of my car in a sad bruised heap, which in turn made me swear.

All that is the very long version of: We went apple picking and Lucas got to play on a train table and I now have Macintosh apples growing out my ears. Pictures to follow.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

If Only Every Day Could Be This Easy

  • *We woke up at 9:55am. It turns out I am a much happier person in general when I've woken up at 9:55am.
  • *Went to Walmart where my son didn't beg for anything and didn't insist on riding in/on/under their filthy carts. Got everything on my list including a valance for over the kitchen sink which I decided had to be hung before I left for work so I grabbed a chair and hung it up dressed only in my underwear which wouldn't have been a big deal if my neighbor wasn't out smoking on his back deck. Oops. And also, why wasn't he at work.

  • *Went to Toys R Us because I'm the best mommy ever and realized all their Halloween costumes were out on display. We started trying them all on and Lucas decided for the billionth time what he wants to be for Halloween...drum roll please...
    I think it suits him, don't you? Fortunately for me Unfortunately for him, all the registers were down at Toys R Us so we couldn't make any purchases...so he still has time to change his mind. HA!
    *We drove home from Walmart with the sounds of the Jonas Brothers blasting from the car stereo. If you're rolling your eyes at me now I dare you pop over to You Tube and watch their VMA performance. They are cute as a button and wholesome as can be. The boy also ROCKED OUT on the air guitar during the entire song, which, if you haven't seen it in person, is pretty damn cute. Also? The bullet feature on blogger doesn't seem to work...guess I'll have to bullet this thing myself.
    *And finally, my mom bought him a harmonica and he's been playing me a wide variety of lovely ballads on it ever since. I say wide variety because no two songs sound the same. On the way home from all our fun he put the harmonica down long enough to remind me how lucky I am to have him, and you know what? He couldn't be more right.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Take THAT, Wikipedia...

Lucas wanted my mom to "colorate" his chalk train drawing today. I'm guessing the word is a mish-mash of color and decorate, but we're going to try to start using it in a sentence...kind of like the phrase Super Gum DOER! we picked up a while ago.

In other news, (and MAN I WISH I GOT A PICTURE!) Lucas and I spend most of our Fridays at our friend Wendy's house. She has two kids about Luke's age and the three of them get along really well. Hanging out with them is the perfect way to pass a morning/afternoon. Yesterday, after the rained stopped, the boys were playing outside and we (okay...mostly Wendy...I was quite comfy on the couch) kept peering out the windows to make sure they were fine in the yard. At one point she peered out and starting laughing. There they were: Two little boys with their pants down "watering" the tree, buns to the wind. Now, her little boy is very thin and when he pulled his pants back up they shot almost to his armpits. Lucas on the other hand was trapped with his pants and unders stuck around his knees. He is built like a little root beer barrel, and the combination of his belly and the wetness of his play clothes trapped his pants halfway up. Up the driveway he came, waddling like a penguin and hollering for help. I'm wondering when he's finally going to master the Pulling Up of Your Own Pants. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it happens before he starts kindergarten, because I can absolutely see him bellowing from the school bathroom for HELP WITH HIS UNDERS!, and that will ruin his rep with the cool kids.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Halloween Countdown

Today my son would like to be this for Halloween...



That brings the costume count to 5 so far:

Gorilla

Fireman

Banana

Spiderman

Black Venom Spiderman

Each new request finds me furiously scouring Ebay for a deal, let's just be thankful I keep getting outbid in the final seconds by other mothers who have fallen into the same trap.

I will chalk this year up to a rookie mistake, and next year, I will not mention Halloween until the night before Halloween. Consider me schooled.


Monday, September 8, 2008

Wishin'

I told my son that every day this week was going to be a Grandma Day because I was working a bunch of overtime. He wanted to know what the word "overtime" meant, and I explained that my work would pay me extra extra money to show up and work on my days off.

"I'm gonna miss you when you're gone Mom [sweet, huh?]...how much money is extra extra? [That's more like it...]

"It's pretty good money, hon...and I'm working a bunch of overtime so it'll be a nice fat check!"

"Oh, yeah! Now I don't have to wish upon a star for the Lego set I wanted...you can just buy it for me! Isn't that a great idea?!"

Oh sure...I'm not dragging my butt to work for 12 nights in a row just so he can have more toys to trip over. I think it's best he keep wishing on that star, don't you? [Although we all know I'm gonna cave and buy him those very expensive Legos...]

Friday, September 5, 2008

I Went, Even Though I'm Not a Fan of Nature...'Cause it Was Free, and I AM a Fan of Free!

Lucas and I frequent our little little town's library at least a couple of times a week, and the last time we were there I overheard another mother asking about a season's pass. Maybe you know me...maybe you can figure it out just by reading, but I'm, um, cheap frugal. And I loves me a free pass to, well...anywhere. Turns out our sweet little library offers family passes to just about everywhere in the county, and so I signed us up, and today we went here:

A real working farm about 20 minutes from our apartment.
Pretty majestic, for a farm...doncha' think?
I'm not ashamed to admit that this little beast got introduced to my foot when it bit the hand of one of the kids in our party. He was a mean little rotter...but man he takes a nice picture, huh?
Of all the things to do at this place...the boys where drawn like magnets to this table...of course.
Wild turkeys running from our tractor-pulled wagon ride from the farm.

My own sweet boy, waiting for the tractor.
"Look Mom! I can hop like this! Like THIS! LIKE THIS! Look at me look at me look at me!!!" There...now you feel like you've been there with us. Tractor Sam at the helm.
The very best part of the day? Ben and Jerry's at the cheese makers shop. Made all the rest totally worth it. Heh.