Week 107: Visitin' with gigi

Over the Memorial Day weekend Chuck, Tate and I hitched a ride with Mom and Mike to Oklahoma. In the Sooner State we attended the high school graduation of one of my cousins and visited with aunts, uncles and cousins, not to mention my grandmother. Tate got to meet my cousin Randy for the first time and was reacquainted with the many other relatives who live in OK.
We got to Altus late Thursday afternoon and stayed through Sunday morning. While we were there, we attended Haley's graduation (she finished third in her class!!!). We stopped by the fire station, played with the trucks and visited with Uncle Tommy. Then there was feeding the geese who frequent the city's reservoir. We visited with Tate's great-grandma at her assisted living residence. Of course there was lots of eating and lots of playing!

Week 106: Washing the boat

Summer is nearly here. So, in preparation for the impending lake season Chuck and I spent last weekend scrubbing our boat. On day two of the boat-cleaning marathon Tate decided he wanted to join in on the fun. He helped scrub "the wedge" and the boat trailer. I must say Tate did a great job. The trailer has never looked better.

Week 105: Back to the great outdoors

Before Tate came along Chuck and I spent countless hours in the yard, mowing, building/planting new flower beds and the never-ending chore or weeding. Over the past two years we've let the landscaping slide to the back burner while we focused on our little man. Now he's getting big enough to play outside while we work in the yard. So, Wednesday, after the rain cleared away and we all got home from work/day care, Chuck, Tate and I spent some time outside.
While Chuck was mowing, Tate and I hung out in the backyard. I pulled weeds that have grown up through the pea gravel near our garden pond while Tate discovered the shear entertainment of playing with a stick found in the grass. As the wonder of the stick wore off he moved on to throwing pea gravel in the water (poor gold fish!).
As I watched Tate play I was moved to grab my camera and take some pictures of Tate in front of the pond. The only problem was he WAS NOT a willing participant. Instead of doing as I directed Tate cried and then climbed into my lap making it nearly impossible to take his picture.
I managed to snap off a few shots.
Next thing I know Chuck popped into the backyard for a break before starting on the backyard.
Of course my two boys had to take a minute to play in the pea gravel together.
Then, unprompted, Tate decided he would help with the mowing.
Kids do the darnedest things!

Too cute not to share!!!

Who knew boys play dress-up?
Definitely not me! I thought that was a game reserved for little girls. Guess I was wrong.
The other day after church we were hanging around the house. Tate had gone potty and was roaming around the house sans pants. I was putting a load of laundry in to wash when Tate toddled up and said "coat."
What he meant was, "Mom can you get my coat off the coat rack for me. I want to put it on."
So I thought, "okay he wants to wear his coat. It's a little warm, but whatever, I'll indulge him." The coat he wanted was a leather coat complete with fringe. (Did I mention it belonged to Chuck's dad. It was found in a closet or the attic at Chuck's grandpa's house as the family was cleaning out Pawpaw Hardin's house.)
Tate was really strutting around. So, being the hands-on mom that I am I decided to play along. I looked at him and decided he needed a few accessories.
Soooo, we marched into my little guy's room and grabbed his rain boats (courtesy of Chuck's mom) and a straw hat (another gem recovered from Pawpaw's house... not sure who that once belonged to... did I mentioned Chuck's grandmother never threw anything away?)
The fun was short-lived though. The coat was a little fragile... imagine that! I kept finding pieces of fringe on the floor and made the execute decision to take the coat off of Tate before it fell apart completely.
Eat your heart out Dirty Harry!!!!

Week 104: Not quite there yet

In recent weeks I've encouraged Tate to branch out a little. One thing I've been trying to get Tate excited about is dressing and undressing himself. With queues and a little help he does great. It's those times when we let him "drive" that he runs into a snag here and there.
I took a series of pictures of one of these little Tate dresses himself moments. So bare with me for a minute as you scroll down.
Let me set the scene for you: It was bedtime. Tate had been changed into his pajama bottoms and was working on the top. I'll preface this by adding Chuck was right there to assist Tate as needed.








Let's just say the dressing himself effort is still a work in progress!