Watch your face...

During my class today, I have these two boys that cannot seem to get along. I pull them outside to figure out what all their petty arguments are for. Each wanted to blame the other for the disagreements and the arguing. It was nearly a waste of time out in the hallway. So, I open the door to return to class. I am still out in the hallway, I allow one boy in and then the other. The second boy shuts the door as I start walking through it! What is he thinking??? Am I just going to stay outside while they have class? Such a close call to getting the door really and truly shut in my face!

Life...

Driving to work yesterday, the Christian radio station was talking about prayer. A lady called in and was very upset because she wasn't sure how to recognize God's voice when she was praying. She very much wanted to hear His voice. It made me start thinking about prayer and the fact that I need to prayer much more and I also desire to hear his voice.

Right after thinking about this prayer issue, I started thinking about all the blessings in my life.

• Health
• Great family
• Job-that I actually am enjoying for once in my teaching career!
• good students
• good friends
• nice home
• safe car

Visit to Mia's ~ 2010

So, this past week, Aiden and I went to California to spend some time with my Mom. We had such a great time. I had to adjust to the cold weather after coming from a heat wave in Houston and also to Aiden playing and getting dirty enough for a bath every time we went outside. The first day, we spent inside waiting for my suitcase to arrive. Our flight out of Houston left 30 minutes late, which left us running through the San Francisco airport trying to catch our next flight to Eureka. We barely made it, but our suitcase did not make it. Upon arrival in Eureka just after midnight, we were told that our suitcase would arrive the next morning and be delivered by 9 am. 9 came and went. The suitcase did not arrive until almost 4 pm and two phone calls to United Airlines to complain. I was told that maybe our delivery guy got stuck in traffic, but what they don't realize is that there is NO traffic in the tiny town of Eureka or Fortuna! Once we got a our suitcase, we changed into our warmer clothes and went outside to play.

One of the first things Aiden found was a bucket of dirt! He had great fun throwing it on top of his head. He was covered in dirt and so was the hood of his sweatshirt! One of the other times he played in the dirt, he started eating it! He also loved to eat the blackberries and plums that were growing on Mom's property.

We went for a hike the second day. The hike started by a field full of cows. The cows were very curious about us. The came over to the fence and followed us all the way down the road. After the hike, we went to the beach. Northern Cali beaches and Aiden don't go too well together. The waves are HUGE! He thought he could play in the water like he does in Texas, so we spent a few minutes chasing him before he got wet before we decided to leave.

One of the other fun things we did was go to the zoo in Eureka. It was very tiny, but they also had a petting zoo full of sheep and goats. At this point in Aiden's life, he says "guh" for dog. He says it everytime he sees a dog. At the petting zoo, each 4 legged creature quickly became a "guh". He would start saying, "Guh, guh, guh" and run to the nearest sheep or goat. Then repeat and say, "Guh, guh, guh" and run to the next sheep or goat. He liked the zoo, but he was most interested in the goats and sheep. Oh, and the only water puddle in the zoo, he decided would be fun to play in!

Overall, it was a very fun week that went by pretty quick. I think the most fun we had was playing out in the backyard in the dirt! Oh yeah, Mom had 2 small Agapanthus flower shoots in the front yard. Aiden decided one day to grab both of them and start swinging them back and forth! Then, he grabbed the flower head on one and started pulling. The flower head finally pulled off and then he brought it to me. One thing you have to know is that in the front yard, Mom only had the 2 single Agapanthus flowers. It wasn't that she had a full bed of flowers. She graciously allowed Aiden to single handedly destroy those flowers for this season. I'll leave you with a video of him pulling the flower off.

Awww Summer!!!

Being home this summer is giving me a very good idea of what it will be like to finally stay home with my baby. There are SO many things that happen throughout the day that I miss by working. He is at such a fun age right now. He is imitating everything I do. Everything-big or little-catches his attention. Some of these small things are:

• attempting to put my sock on his foot
• handing me the pillows as I make the bed
• rubbing the refridgerator door with his hand as I rub it with a cloth to clean it
• wiping his own hand over a spot where milk spilt just after I wipe it
• combing his hair with his hairbrush
• moving his lips in the same way that I am moving mine
• closing the drawer after he is done playing in it and after he sees me close it
• Having to put the megablocks away before we walk away

Right now, I can't think of anymore things that he does. I'm sure that even if I listed out every little thing he did, tomorrow he would do something new.

Aiden's first mess in the kitchen

So, today I was making some fudge to give to one of Andy's coworkers. (This coworker has given us a lot of clothes, so I was trying to say thank you). I had to make this fudge in two batches. Well, I knew it was getting close to nap time, but I was being daring anyhow. I successfully made the first batch and was getting started on the second one. I had everything measured out and ready to pour in-the cherries, the cocoa powder the butter, the evaporated milk. Just as I was trying to melt the butter in the microwave and pull it out, here comes Aiden. Now, he hasn't pulled anything off the counters yet, but he has tried to touch everything. So I know to put all the items a bit back from the edge on the counters. Today, I thought I had. But, boy was I wrong! The measuring cup with the cocoa powder was just close enough for Aiden to pull it down on top of him. 1/2 cup of cocoa powder EVERYWHERE! I haven't had much experience with small disasters like this, so I was torn between trying to take a picture for memory sake and helping him and cleaning him up. I decided I had to have at least one picture! Then, I would start cleaning it up. Here is the picture:

Aiden is ONE!!!

These pictures are from Aiden's first birthday party. They are actually posted up in the reverse order. The bottom picture is Aiden playing in the ice bucket. The picture above that is showing just how much Aiden enjoyed his cake! The picture above that is Aiden getting ready for his birthday cake. The first picture is actually Aiden taking a much needed nap after all the birthday festivities.

Cheerios!!!!!

Aiden LOVES to play in our pantry. One day he discovered the cheerios and fruit loop boxes are within his reach. He pulled down the box and went ahead and helped himself to the cheerios! I guess he was hungry...