(Trying to be) Crafty

So it was a beautiful, hot day and our development's pool was closed for maintenance, our lawn was being landscaped (convenient) and we had already hit up the park for bike riding and playing. We went to staples for their back to school (Already?!?!?) specials and headed home to find something to occupy our time.

After reading my friend Sharon's craft blog I decided that Devin and I would make some multi-colored crayons. First we picked through the crayons to find all of the broken ones, as well as the restaurant and cheaper crayons. Then we had to peel them...that was the longest part! We broke them, mixed them up and put them in a mini-muffin tin and baked them for about 10 minutes at 250*. Once I took them out of the oven I set them on top of the cooling rack for a few minutes and then put them in the freezer until they were formed. After that we were ready to color....but first Devin wanted to play! We made letters, shapes, and all kinds of designs with the multi colored little discs before we settled in to make some pictures!
Of course Lolly was watching our every move. She is always interested in what we are doing. Independent cat? Not here!

Melted

Devin made this project at school. He said its for me because "I love you and you always respect me and you take care of me."

Awwwww! How do they know just when to melt our hearts?

Phone Photo Catch-up

A flower and card given to me by one of my cute little first grade students for Teacher Appreciation Week.


Daddy and Devin's gloves....I love this...its so precious!Devin and Mommy :)

Wordless Wednesday~ Guess Who

Flowers for Mommy, from Devin

Devin picked out these flowers for me while he was with my mother on Saturday. He said he "knew they were my favorite colors" and they were "just because he loves me." Aren't they beautiful?

*Mom, Thank you for teaching my son kindness and appreciation. You are the best. I love you.*

Wordless Wednesday~ Helping Mommy At Work

Show Me the Mommy

Coffee Shop

I usually get my coffee K-cups from a cute little coffee shop called Out of the Woods. They have the best assortment of flavors, and you can mix and match- awesome! They have a lot more than coffee there, such as fresh roasted nuts, candy, ice cream, lunch items, and a gift shop with all kinds of animal themed items. Devin loves to go there with me and look around. If he is a "good boy" he can get a mini pack of jelly beans when we are done. If we have enough time we sit in the front of the coffee shop and enjoy our snack.

Here he is on Friday showing off a roasted cashew:

Treat

Hi! We are still here. I know I have been ignoring my blog the past week or so. I've been getting a lot of headaches again. Boo. And Devin went through a couple days of this 3.75 "fun." He is doing better now.

In light of his better behavior this week, the nice weather, and Mommy's need for a pick-me-up I decided it would be a good day for Devin and I to go on a date. I picked him up from school at 3 and we went out for ice cream.

Here he is enjoying his strawberry ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles.

And here he is about 5 minutes later.

Nope, the boy doesn't waste ANY time when it comes to ice cream. I wonder where he gets that trait from?

Make-Up

All of the struggles of this extremely difficult week: the tears, the temper tantrums, the timeouts (his and mine on all 3) were erased this morning by one single conversation.

Devin to Mommy: I love you all the time Mommy. I love all the fun stuff, the fun tativities, the playground, going to McDonald's, and chicken nuggets and apples. You're my girl Mommy.

Mommy: Do you love me when we stay home too?

Devin: Yep. I love you matter we do.

Mommy: I love you too Devin. You're my boy.

The Best Thing

I asked Devin a couple of probing questions last night. Here were his interesting responses.

Mommy: Devin, What's the best thing you ever had to eat?

Devin: Uhhh, pancakes with (whipped) cream.

Mommy: Yeah, that is pretty good! Where is the best place you ever went?

Devin: The (Mc) Donald's Playground (he means the Playplace....you know where he is talking about!)

Mommy: What's the best thing you ever did?

Devin: Went to get a smoothie with Grandma and then got powdered donuts. Those are good!

*Ha! I am sensing a a bit of a pattern here. (FOOD!) Although, in his defense we WERE watching Food Network at the time and the Best of All Time ad is what prompted the questions in the first place!

Taking Measurements

During "I" week at school Devin and his class made Inchworm Rulers. I had read on the activity board that they used their rulers to "measure" things around the classroom, so I was not at all surprised when Devin came home and began to measure things around the house with his new ruler.

The surprise came when I was standing at the kitchen sink washing dishes and Devin came up behind me and said, "I am going to measure your butt, Mommy. 8, 9, 10, 11. Wow! That's big!"

Umm...thanks? At least my big butt is good for measuring...

Random Ramblings

Phew, it's been a while since I've blogged. I've been busy! Let's see...we've had a birthday, the first snow flakes, pumpkin picking, and I've been at a training for work. Told you I've been busy!

I will start with the really boring stuff- work. For 3 days last week I had to commute into Cambridge, Ma with some colleagues to attend a training for a new reading intervention program we are going to be using. The training was great, but the days were extremely loooooooong. I am not used to being out of the house for 11-12 hours, traveling 1.5-2 hours each way, using the subway etc. I had to arrange alternate care for Devin (Thanks Dad, Mom, and Carolyn!) and be really prepared ahead of time. It was a lot of work!

Friday and Sunday also brought the first snowflakes of the season. It is so early for snow! Sunday it actually snowed most of the afternoon. It did not accumulate much- mostly on cars, but it was quite a sight to see in mid-October!

Friday was Erick's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Hunny! We celebrated by going out to dinner at Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse. On Saturday Devin and I made Erick a birthday cake (I was way too busy with the training to do it on Friday). It was a nice, but uneventful birthday.

Saturday Devin and I went to Wilson Farm. It was a crisp sunny fall morning. We went for a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch and visited the animals. We also got caramel apples, vegetables, and hot chocolate. It was a fun morning.

Siesta

Middle of the Night

As I was peacefully dreaming of cost-free relaxing vacations on beautiful islands and calorie-exempt desserts, I was awoken by a shrieking little voice yelling, "Mommy! Mooooom! Mommy I have to peeeee!"

So I got up and helped the little guy to the bathroom. Both of us, in a half drunk stupor, made it there and back. As I was tucking Devin back into bed he asked me, "Can I be done sleeping now?"

"Uhhh, no Devin its 1 am. Its still the middle of the night." I told him and I kissed him goodnight and went back to bed.

A few minutes later he was coughing repeatedly and I knew it wasn't going to stop. <His asthma has been really bad lately.> I went and got the Nebulizer and medicine and brought it into his room. I entered into my "Nurse Mommy" roll and administered the Neb while Devin lay half-asleep.

When it was done, Devin asked me, "Are you going to watch the news now Mommy?"

"No, Devin. I am going to WASH the Neb and go back to bed."

"Yeah, its the middle of the night." Devin said.

Wordless Wednesday

Game Night

Since all of the shows have ended their regular seasons, Erick and I have been watching 'How I Met Your Mother' on DVD. This was at the recommendation of some friends who really enjoy this hilarious TV Comedy. (I have to agree, if you have not seen it, its definitely worth your time!)

We also have dug deep into the basement and taken out some board games. We've been playing Tri-Ominos and Sequence. We brought up Overturn, but didn't play it. My point in telling you all of this is that Devin found where I had stashed the games and wanted to play them. I created a modified version of Overturn for him where you had to say the name of the letter and then put your ring on it. It was actually a perfect game for Devin...for the whole 3 minutes and 43 seconds he lasted!
Here is a close up. Devin was sitting in the top of the game box while playing. Eh, at least we had fun!

Mommy and her Boy

Mommy and her Boy

Dirt

Devin and I went grocery shopping the other day. While we were perusing the store I said to him, "Let's make some dirt tonight!" He was quite shocked at my statement. I got excited and said, "Yes, we can even put worms in it!"

Devin just looked at me. "I'm not eating worms Mommy!" he declared. So I went over to the candy isle and grabbed a bag of gummy worms. He quickly changed his mind.

Once we got home I set Devin to work crushing the cookies. He was very good at this task. (and so serious about his work!)
He also helped me mix the pudding and put the worms in to the "Dirt."
Finally it was time to try our creation. What kid wouldn't like to eat this dirt?