Everybody's workin' for the weekend

How come my brain keeps coming up with songs for blog titles these days? Not sure, but I do know that there is some seriously good new music out this summer. Matthew has been asking for Weezer when we're in the car. It's awesome.
Weekends when Steven is home are the best. Every other weekend I'm a single mother. We try and take advantage of Steven's presence when he's not working. Saturday morning we took Tim & Pam with us to Zilker Park, and John & Tyler Hampton accompanied us as well. Matt tried his best to give Tyler a hug, but Tyler was just not in the mood for man-hugs. With all the hug-happy girls in his life he's not used to such rejection.

We went in search of ducks to feed, but I think all the canoe-goers and herd of dogs kept the ducks away. Instead, we threw our stale bread to some fish and a few lucky birds. The boys loved watching all the dogs swimming and also treading down the rocky slope to the water. Tyler would have jumped in if John hadn't held him back. Here's Matthew happily posing with his father.
And here is Matthew not so happily posing with his mother. So unfair.

After all that fun we ate some yummy lunch at Shady Grove. My pregnant belly was telling me I needed a chili dog, so I had to oblige. Oh so good. That afternoon we hit the neighborhood pool for a good swim. Sunday after church and nap time we headed out to Leander to play with the Moran crew. The kid pool was positioned squarely underneath the slide so that led to all kinds of fun.
Matt LOVES those girls and always has a blast with them. Check out the race:

Sarah made a Thanksgiving dinner in July meal so we were thrilled to get to partake. Matt was in heaven getting to play with all the pretend food and pots and pans. I love Mary Claire in her swimsuit and chef's hat...she later put on an apron. They have a play microwave that Matt asks for whenever we go over to their house. When I told him dinner was ready he calmly said to me while sticking some bacon in the microwave, "No Mommy, I'm cookin'." Ok. He eventually made his way to the dinner table and ate until we dragged him out of there to go home.

Nope, we're still not in our house. LONG story. But, it looks like they'll get the guest bathroom functional for us so we can move back in...eventually...and they will then continue to work on the master. Yay renovation.

Me and my bowl of goodness

This past week, Matthew was very motivated to finish his dinner. He always begs me to make him some pudding, so I finally did one day while he was napping. After he polished off his plate that night I asked him if he'd like some pudding, and he about burst out of his chair. "Mmm...it's so good, I like vanilla Mommy." So he sat there and sloppily spooned large amounts of pudding into his eager mouth. Note that the spoon is from a box of Mini Wheats cereal and is an Indiana Jones spoon...it had a light in it that lit up the very first day he used it. It pooped out pretty quick, the cheap cereal toy! He still likes using it though, but mainly for pudding.

On Saturday I had planned to make chili dogs, but had forgotten to buy buns at the grocery store. I told Matt that we needed to run by the store to go get some and he quickly ran to his toy charcoal grill and retrieved his plastic hot dog bun. He said, "Here you go, Mommy! It's a bun!" So stinkin' adorable.

Whoa, look at all these geengs!

Matthew has always enjoyed playing with his Aunt Pam's set of bowls. Probably because it's the only cabinet he's allowed to play in. Normally he likes to stack them up or turn them upside down and play them like a drum set, but this particular day he decided he needed to arrange them a little differently. He took them one by one from the kitchen to the odd room as it has been affectionately named. He'd grab one, run and mumble something, put it down, and then run and come get another one. We were both laughing.

Matthew has some funny and often times frustrating quirks at the moment. He's recently decided he wants to pick out his own clothes, so I have to hold him up in the closet while he ever-so-slowly picks out what he wants to wear. But then it's like a wrestling match trying to get the darn clothes on his wiggling body. He has a potty book that he really likes and he keeps asking me to let him sit on that potty. Every time I have to explain to him that it's just a picture in the book, but he can go sit on the potty in the bathroom. No. He's all about doing things by himself thank you very much such as getting in and out of the bathtub, in his carseat, buckling the stroller, turning on the light to the bathroom, opening doors, etc. Boy, if you don't let him do it by himself you get these two angry fists of fury shaking in your face. It's funny.

Saturday morning we took Matt to the park and he quickly made his way over to a little boy very close to his age who had 4 or 5 big trucks all around him. Matt sat and watched him and kept slowly inching his way closer hoping that the boy would share his toys. Matt finally got brave enough to reach out his arm to touch one of the trucks and the boy immediately snapped at him, no--mine!! The mother was busy with her infant and she gave a mild, please share comment to her older son but he just grabbed his trucks all the more tightly. Matt continued to sit there. After a while the little boy left his post and Matt befriended his mother and was able to play with the trucks. I was impressed at how patient he was.

That afternoon we went swimming at the pool and followed it up with dinner at Dairy Queen. Yum! I was drawn there solely for their new Girl Scouts thin mint blizzard, and boy let me tell you it was the best blizzard treat I've ever had! DQ will be seeing me again soon. Matthew enjoyed his chicken and gravy as he calls it, and sharing ice cream with Steven & I.

Sunday evening the Reners came over to join us for dinner, and the kids had some pool time. Good times as always. Matthew drained his juice box in seconds flat. On the rare occasion that he gets juice, he makes it count!

Yesterday afternoon Matt and I went to the house to check on the progress. The cabinets had a coat of paint of them and the faucet fixtures had been installed. I was in the hall bath taking pictures and I heard a splashing of water coming from the master bath and Matthew saying, "uh-oh!" I ran in there and he had turned the new faucet on and completely soaked himself. At least we know they work...and at least he turned it off by himself. I calmed him down and stripped him down before he could manufacture any tears and we cleaned up the mess. He went topless the rest of the evening. It's dusty, but here is the fixture:

Here's our shower...still not grouted and is dirty, but here you go:

It's really hard to get a good angle for a photo. Guess you'll just have to come see for yourself!

Let Freedom Ring

If you're Steven, that title there will send you into an exaggerated country-twang over the top version of Martina McBride's song, Independence Day. So for those who know what I'm talking about, enjoy having that little tune ringing in your head all day!

Friday morning the men headed out for a round of golf or to "beat that ball" as my dad would say. That evening after dinner and after putting Matt snugly in his bed Steven & I headed out to see the fireworks display with Zach, Joy & Ava. Us and a multitude of others gathered at Mt. Bonnell to try and get a peek at the action miles away. I stood on my toes the entire time and leaned to my right over a fence while looking through a forest of trees and saw most of the fireworks. They looked like tiny little explosions from where we were. Let's just say we'll pick a different vantage point next year.

Saturday morning the dudes headed out again only this time to give their dusty shotguns some action at the shooting range. Seriously, you'll shoot your eye out, right? Matthew took a hugely long nap that afternoon and woke up to a house full of people. He seemed happy about it but a little foggy as to why and when all these people had arrived. We enjoyed some awesome BBQ, juice boxes, sugar cookies & cake, gummy worms, watched the kids play & fight over all of Matt's toys, saw several humorous runs down the slip 'n slide, and laughed as the baby pool became a wave pool (Josh & Ava loved it and Matthew just stood there and grinned at them, it was hilarious). It was a good time, to be sure. It was great to catch up with everyone and spend a day eating, talking, and laughing at the kids.

Slip 'n slide antics...I like how Josh & Ava are racing down the lanes.

Hangin' by the pool.

Naturally, once everyone had left we remembered that we had sparklers for all the kids. I could kick myself! Ugh. So, Matt & Ava blew through two boxes of them in the backyard. They loved them. We only had to warn them a few times not to touch the pretty sparkly flames. Once that action was over they decided to walk underneath the empty baby pool. The Reners call it the turtle. We got some good video of it. Those kids couldn't stop giggling.

We had a great time. Thanks to everyone who came from near and far and thanks especially to our very own Tim & Pam for letting us have a big crowd of messy people invade their once quiet, peaceful home. You guys are the best.