Weekend at the Beach with the Stovalls

Last weekend we went to the beach with our good friends, the Stovalls. Betsy and I have become great friends since I came to Oxford. Brandon and Yancey get along great and Grace, their 6 year old, LOVES James. We had a great time just hanging out. The weather was amazing. Grace got to bring her class pet, Legs, for the weekend. He is a stuffed centipede. Legs was to go everywhere we did. Saturday morning we all headed to the Aquarium. Both James and Grace had good time. We got to see the Otters be fed, scuba divers in the big tank, and so many other fun things. James really liked the turtle tank. One of James's most fun times there was in the classroom. Grace was doing a craft and James got to play on the rubber toys. After lunch, Grace asked if she could paint James's face with the watercolor paints my mom sent her. I agreed, but didn't know how James would like it. It must have felt good to his face, b/c he sat so still for her. That afternoon we went to Fort Macon (so Legs could see it!). Sunday morning we played on the beach a little longer, then headed to Morehead for lunch. I can't wait for all of us to get to go back down!

St. Patrick's Day Cookies

I tried to make shamrock shaped cookies for St. Patrick's Day, but they turned out like circles. Oh well! James had fun "helping" me decorate.

Sand Table

My parents brought a sand table for James this weekend. It is really for water, but we put sand in it instead. It is the perfect height for James! I don't know that he is crazy about the sand yet, but likes his tools! Hopefully the sand table will help him get ready for the beach.

Brushing our own teeth!

James loves to brush his own teeth. We can be across the house and say "Do you want to brush your teeth?". James will take off walking towards his bathroom. He will put his stool in front of the cabinet. We have to help him stand on it, but then he is fine. We put a little bit of toddler's toothpaste on his tooth brush. We should probably be helping him more, but he wants to do by himself!

Homemade Edible Play Dough

I decided to make homemade edible play dough the other night. I found a great recipe that was super EASY. Is is basically cream of tarter, salt, water, oil, flour, and package of jello powder. Our play group was coming the next day, so I decided to give all the boys some. The process was very easy; however, I made a MESS! Turns out, none of the boys are ready for play dough!

Finger Painting

I have really enjoyed doing some painting with James. I want to do a "Themed" craft each month with his hands so I can see how he has gotten bigger over a year. In January we just did his hands on a sheet of paper. In February, we put his hands in a heart, and today we put his hands in a Shamrock. This was also the first time I just let him play. I found this Crayola paint that cleans up so well. He really enjoyed the sponge and even began "painting" with it!

Time at the Park

Since the weather has been so great lately, I wanted to take James to the park. There are about three in our area that we checked out. One is too advanced for him. Another one has "things" he could get on and enjoy, but no swings. Finally, we went to our local park and found the only baby swings around! Our friends Whitney and Matthew joined us!

Hanging out with Chester

My aunt came the other day and put Chester and James in the wagon together. It was so cute! She didn't understand why Chester wasn't too happy and jumped out of the wagon and ran to the door. When I found out where she had the wagon, I told her that he was being shocked by his electric collar. She felt horrible. Thankfully, Chester has "recovered". I moved the wagon onto a "safe" spot and put Chester back in. James enjoyed it, but I don't think Chester will want to get in the wagon for awhile.

The Goat

My friend Whitney goes to a farm on Friday's to get her son's goat milk. I thought since it was such a pretty day, that we could go with them and see the goats. Oh my, I wasn't prepared for this old goat who decided he liked my car!