Grady's First Skype

Dear Aunt Jenny,
I miss you! I am going to have to talk my parents into getting a camera for our computer like Pete has so I can talk to you more. That was really fun! Don't worry...I'm going to convince them to get me one! I can't wait to see you in June!
Love, Grady

Easter

Easter Bunny's goodies...
BUBBLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

checking out the new crayons...

After church, we had lunch with Josh's family at Aunt Vonnie's house. Grady had a BALL hunting for Easter eggs! He was a little pro!

Happy Easter!!!

***Disclaimer: My corny husband decided to make a post on the blog under my name without telling me (see previous post about dyeing eggs...) NO, I would not describe the color of the ruined eggs the way that he did on a blog post for all to see. In the future, Josh will have to sign in as himself if he would like to post! ha!

Dyeing Easter Egg Experiment

This year was round 2 for dyeing eggs with Grady. We had to restrain the poor guy in the high chair, or the cups with dye would have been empty before we started. We tried to avoid a mess, but ofcourse, Josh ruined any chance of that. Josh splashed one all over the eggs and a few ended up the color of terd brennel. We survived the potential disaster and managed to keep the cups from being toppled over on us. 

Momma, I promise I won't break them!

The new meaning of egg drop soup.

Evidence of minimal mess

Some eggs just never make it to Easter.

Backyard Baseball

Dad and Erin, these are for you...

3rd Grade Cafeteria Conversations

Kids say the darndest things. When you are a teacher, you hear so many funny things... The first year I started teaching, someone told me that I needed to keep a little notebook just to write down the hilarious stories. I have had some GREAT ones over the years... WHen I taught kindergarten, I definitely had more stories than I have in 3rd grade.....but still, I get a few every now and then that are just moments that crack me up... So here's one from Friday in the cafeteria:

Most of the time, my kids want to talk my ears off at the lunch table, but sometimes, they are so involved in their conversations, that I'm not even noticed even though I'm squashed in on the end of the bench like a sardine... oh, the joys of eating lunch in a school cafeteria every day! ha!

Well Friday was one of those days that they were chatting away to each other and I was just taking up space on their bench. ha. I returned to the table from heating my lunch in the microwave and found within 3 seconds of listening in to them that they were discussing how old their mamas are... Here's the conversation that made me bust out laughing:

Boy: Hey, how old's your mom? Is she 25?

Girl A: No, she's 32.

Boy: (shaking his head...) MAN! 32! (turning to another girl...) Hey, is your mom 25?

Girl B: No, my mom's 41. And my dog's 42...in dog years.

Boy: (eyes popping out of his head and shaking his head like he'd heard some awful news...) MAN!!! Old dog and old MOM!

I couldn't help it...I busted out laughing... They were dead serious. I guess I am ancient to them! ha! Funny what kids are thinking about.

The Paci-Thief

I am a bad mama. Grady still has a paci...but ONLY in his crib when he goes to sleep at night. That's it. I know, I know...I need to get rid of it. But mamas will do ANYTHING to get sleep, it seems. When I was Grady's age, my mom told me that the Easter Bunny needed a paci for her baby...and according to Mom, I just accepted it as that, no questions asked...and that was the end of the paci for me. Hmmm....... Josh wanted to do this at Christmas and let Buddy the Elf take it to Santa for an elf baby somewhere. But I didn't think that would fly with Grady-man, and so we didn't. So now, Josh has told me that I have no choice...the paci is going bye-bye. SO, Grady and I have been having some "talks" about it at night when we are doing the bedtime routine, getting out of the bathtub, getting his pj's on, etc. I told him all about the Easter bunny and all of the baby bunnies around the world that need paci's from big boys and girls who don't need theirs anymore... (Meanwhile, Grady listens to every word I am saying very carefully with wide eyes...) I am feeling good, like he's paying attention and might be possibly comprehending just a portion of what I'm saying. And then I ask the question... "Grady, are you going to be a big boy and give the baby bunnies your paci?" He looks straight at me and says REALLY loud and emphatically as he shakes his head, "NO!" Ok, so he DOES understand me... But the boy has a mind of his own for SURE! Lately, we've figured out that his favorite word on the planet is NO. But we've also realized that it's our fault... we say it to him all the time, so he's quite used to hearing it and knows exactly how to say it himself. ANYWAY, maybe he'll change his mind about the whole give-the-paci-to-the-bunny-thing. We'll see... Here are a few of his "bunny pictures"... He would NOT let the bunny sit in his lap, or on a bench near him. He liked it "over there" but not up close and personal. Poor kid...he was probably thinking this was the paci-thief and didn't want to get too close...

Back to the Beach, Part Two

When we were driving in to Orange Beach, I was rambling on to Josh about some story of something I remembered from a beach trip with my family when I was a kid... there are TONS of those stories to tell and I'm sure he gets SICK of me telling them at times. But I have the sweetest husband and he listens to me tell them over and over. Anyway, I was all into my story and he looked over at me and said, "Julie, this place is full of memories for you, isn't it?" And he was so right. Everywhere I look when I'm there makes me think of something in the past...some "memory" that makes me laugh or smile. Being in that place makes me feel like a little kid again sometimes and I think back to all of the fun that I've had there over the years. How blessed Susan and Jenny and I were to be able to go on beach trips 3-4 times a year! Maybe it was the fact that I had not been to the beach in two years and missed it terribly...or maybe it was all those commercials on tv and ads in magazines that I've been seeing about "coming back to the beach" after the oil spill...or possibly just being there for the first time with my own little boy...but for whatever reason, I was just incredibly glad to be there and it got me to thinking about some great times we've had there over the years. SO, this is a truly random post, but one that's dedicated to Mom and Dad...to let you know how grateful I am for these memories...and for Susan and Jenny...for you two are in just about every memory, right along beside me!

100 Memories in Orange Beach to make you smile:
(note...I thought of 100, but there are 1,000 more I'm sure! And these are in no particular order)
1. playing follow-the-leader in the sand dunes (wouldn't that be considered illegal now???)
2. walking on the beach and dragging sticks behind us
3. susan dropping the stick and an old woman picking it up to copy the dragging game we started
4. trying to walk, run, and jump in daddy's footprints down the beach
5. scrambled eggs in the sand
6. feeding the seagulls old bread
7. dad's "counting contest"...some things never change. (Susan, I just wanted you to know that he still was counting on this trip, despite jenny and me rolling our eyes!)
8. laughing at old men in shorts and black socks with metal detectors
9. speaking of black socks...remember papaw's beach attire???
10. and Mamaw's "beach cooking"...country fried steak???
11. swimming in the indoor poll on all those cold spring break trips
12. staying at the Phoenix, but going to Seaside to ask if we could swim in their indoor pool...I think that's what sold Dad on good 'ole Seaside
13. And from then on, it was Seaside. I remember us all saying "I See Seaside" every trip whenever we were first pulling up and could see the name on the building.
14. driving past the "crackerboxes" and glad we weren't staying there (actually kind of sad they are not there anymore)
15. OH, the sandcastle building!!!!
16. and the guarding of our prized castles once they were built
17. wanting to beat up the sand castle destroyers that we watched destruct our creation from the balcony
18. dad helping us build moats (every castle is not complete without one of course) and us trying to fill the moat with water
19. glowing from ear to ear as people walked by and admired our creations
20. all of dad's sand animals...the turtles, the alligtors, etc.
21. burying each other in the sand... wait, that was always ME!
22. finding all of those sand dollars
23. the initial trip to the grocery store where mom dished out items on the list and we all split like a football team ready to tackle the groceries... we usually ended up with two shopping carts.
24. getting kicked out of the card shop next to the grocery store. the single most embarassing time of my life. thanks, susan.
25. "COME ON BACK TO THE RV NOW, SUSAN!" (susan's most embarassing moment at the beach...had it actually have happened, that is!)
26. playing laser tag
27. Daddy getting creamed by a 4 year old girl in laser tag
28. breakfasts at Hazels...oh, those omelets!
29. the story about the state park ranger and the python from the zoo
30. Bunny Lane....and the Bunny Relief Fund... We should write a book about that one day. Dad, it's all yours!
31. Speaking of Bunny Lane, remember mom's run-in with the scary biker-dude at that intersection where Bunny Lane meets the highway? Gosh, I thought for SURE we were going to die.
32. CRAB HUNTING at night!
33. Dad kicking sand on us while we were crab hunting
34. Me screeching while crab hunting (hmmm, and I wonder where grady gets it from???)
35. turning the crabs loose on our demolished sand castles
36. riding the waves in our intertubes...mine was turquoise, jenny's was pink, and susan's was a fake-tire. we HAD to have those exact ones.
37. running down the boardwalk/steps to sink our toes in the sand for the first time on each trip
38. the "Mountain"...jenny beating the guts out of it
39. walking to the mountain with dad while mom went shopping
40. playing at zooland for free...dad made us play until we got free games for the next visit, so it was free again the next time, too. man, those people had to have hated to see us pull up in the parking lot
41. dying of thirst at zooland, but dad was determined not to pay one cent...for a game, OR a drink. ha
42. susan singing with her putter as the microphone, to Eric Clapton and Red Hot Chili Peppers at zooland
43. going bowling in foley when it was too cold to get on the beach
44. going to the movies in foley when it was too cold to get on the beach
45. playing cards in the condo for hours
46. the OUTLET MALL!!! (and Dad's benches)
47. fighting over who was going to read the guest book first
48. every member of our family running into the glass sliding door, thinking it was open
49. "I don't want to look like a DORK!"
50. speaking of DORKS, Julie's ladder exercising (and Dad acting like he didn't know me)
51. the mardi gras parades on spring break
52. the trip with the Mobleys
53. the trip with the Fishers and Pierces
54. chicken fighting in the pool
55. playing "Spoons" at Wolf Bay
56. remember the mean waitress at Wolf Bay who liked Michael Pierce??? ha!
57. remember when the bridge went out and we drove like 4 hours just to go eat at Wolf Bay? that lasted for about 3 years!!!
58. Wolf Bay gumbo. um, um good.
59. Wolf Bay cold boiled shrimp. um, UM, good!
60. The old Perdido Pass... we were so sad when it was gone
61. winning some coloring contest at Perdido Pass
62. Henny Penny, Sammy Shrimp, Spotted Cow, Pepe Pizza, and Freddie Fish
63. Susan begging Daddy to dance with her at Zeke's at the snowbird ball. ha.
64. "GLINK" (and by the way, it just beeps now...bummer!)
65. Dad forcing me to "train" in the sand for track during cold spring break mornings... yeah right...some good that did!
66. shopping for condo furniture for HOURS at Hollis furniture
67. our dream...THE BLUE HOUSE!!!!
68. the four feathers. ha. HAAAAAAA!
69. the brown blanket (that thing was so big...i think our whole family could fit on it... man, we must have looked like rednecks!)
70. remember when we rode out the hurricane? mamaw and I were determined that we were going to get blown away. Dad refused to leave and sat on the balcony watching the storm.
71. watching the SEC tourneys during spring break...and even better, watching the DAWGS WIN it in '96 the year we went to the Final Four!
72. The Fulton Family Bracket Pics originated at the beach. we'd watch the selection show and dad would get copies in the office of the bracket for us
73. shuffleboard tournaments
74. dad grilling
75. remember the big green grassy area by the pool?
76. remember SCRAM-BALL???
77. chicago pizza on the last night.... "It's Tradition" Dad would say as mom rolled her eyes in disgust! ha!
78. the beach pics in all white... still some of my favorite pics today! :) remember chief jerry holding the sea oats?
79. racing down the stairs v.s. the elevator
80. fireworks on the fourth
81. THROWED ROLLS!
82. spending all our money on junk at souvineer city
83. susan spending her life savings on fudge at souvineer city
84. susan eating boiled peanuts on the back seat of the van
85. buying hermit crabs
86. dad waking up at the crack of dawn to stake out our spot on the beach
87. paddle ball on the beach
88. getting stung by jelly fish
89. the traffic jams on the holidays....
90. HEEEEEYYYYYY UNCLE TOMMYYYYYYY! (I thought he really lived in the tunnel.)
91. scoops
92. burning so bad we couldn't stand it...putting the blue ice gel in the freezer and lathering up with it
93. susan and jenny's hairspray-sunscreen
94. playing bocchi ball for hours with josh, jon, and dad
95. watching the tradewinds be built and worrying that our view was going to be destroyed
96. cramming as much stuff as we could into the closet every time we left the condo
97. dad paying us a dollar for every hole-in-one. man, i thought i was rich!
98. the shrimp festival that year during spring break
99. remember those multi-picture-frames that we kept on giving mom and dad EVERY SINGLE YEAR to hang in the condo... bet they LOVED those... yet, they never said anything and always hung them up because they were so sweet!
100. And finally...taking Grady to the beach for the first time and having his grandparents there to share in the experience...

Ok, if there are any readers left at the point, bless your hearts. I ramble. I hope there are 4 of you in particular that are smiling right now! Can't wait to have many more years of memories...

Back to the Beach

The last trip to the beach that I took was exactly two years ago this week. I was SO ready to get down there again! We had hoped the weather would cooperate and be warm enough for us to make a trip...Grady's FIRST trip...to the beach for spring break. Fortunately, the forecast was GREAT for this time of year and we headed out to Orange Beach as soon as I got out of school on Friday.

SO...the beach. Hmmm... Grady's reaction wasn't exactly what we'd hoped it would be. I guess I just thought he'd be like his whole family and fall in love with the beach immediately, squishing the sand between his toes and running around all over the place, digging holes and building sand castles. Not so much! He was all smiles as we walked down the boardwalk to the sand and for whatever reason, I made the mistake of taking off his little water shoes so he could walk in the sand. Mistake number one. He FREAKED OUT when his little toes hit the sand. Started screeching at such a high pitched level that I'm sure glass broke somewhere nearby! Got that whole episode on video and plan on using it to embarass him when he's older.

Thank goodness Mom had seen a little duck beach chair at the grocery store when she got to the beach and bought it for Grady to sit in. He parked his little rear in that seat and didn't budge unless forced to pry his arms from the chair's arms with more screeching. Ha. It reminded me of my DaddyBill. Most kids are running around playing in the sand and MY child is glued to his chair like a little old man. hee hee.
Of course the water was cold this time of year and with the reaction to the sand, we didn't evern ATTEMPT to have him get in the water. You can tell by the wrinkled up nose in the picture below that he wasn't ABOUT to let go of Pete and put his feet in the water.

When DeeDee came down to the beach, she finally got Grady to sit on a towel and he warmed up a little to the sand. He was fascinated with sea shells. This picture cracks me up...notice how he makes sure his feet are not hanging off the towel one centimeter... ha!

After he warmed up a bit, he kind of enjoyed digging around in the sand with his rakes and shovels...but all done from his planted position on the towel. By the second day, he was actually touching the sand and helping build castle towers. Have a cute video of that, but it's too long to post.

Again...the wrinkled-up-nose-expression is still present in the picture with Aunt Jenny. That expression seemed to be glued to his little face!

SO...guess this was our breaking-in session. Hopefully we will have better results this summer! Thank you DeeDee, Pete, and Aunt Jenny for hanging in there with us! I'm still counting on Grady-man falling in love with the beach soon!

Building

Grady and Josh are really into building "giant lego towers" these days (well actually, JOSH is really into building giant lego towers. Grady assists a LITTLE bit and succeeds in knocking down the finished product with glee! ha ha!)

Getting Organized!

Before Christmas, our house was such a wreck... Grady's toys owned every room of the house...and it was totally our fault... we just let it be that way. It looked like a toy store threw up in the living room for sure! It drove me nuts, but I was too tired to come up with a solution. Josh decided that it was BEYOND driving him nuts! We figured that Grady better start learning to pick up his stuff or we'd be doing it forever! Mom asked if we wanted something for Grady's room to organize his toys... SO....

My parents got Grady the CUTEST jungle animal cube shelf for Christmas! It has been a LIFE saver in getting all of his "stuff" organized and neat in HIS room and not all over the house! Thank you, DeeDee and Pete!

I am so impressed that the little man has caught on to it so quickly! I should have gotten into the organization thing earlier in his career! I think he's going to take after both of his perfectionist-parents. He already knows how to sort the toys into puppets, balls, blocks, cars, books, etc! He gets most of it out every afternoon when we get home, but at night when it's bathtime/bedtime, he helps us put it all up in the right places! (Makes the former-kindergarten-teacher-mama SO proud!!!)
We're working on putting his "bags" (that's what he calls his diaper bag and lunch box he takes to day care) in a certain place when he gets home. When we get home, we take off shoes and he goes to his room and puts them in the "shoe basket." Getting ready for a bath, he helps put his clothes in the laundry basket. What a little organizer! Makes me smile!

On another note...this is a late posting, but here are the big man's latest stats from his 18-month checkup (which we actually went to at 19 months). Grady is actually 20 months old TODAY! He is still a VERY big boy!

weight: 30 lbs. 6 oz. (90th percentile)

height: 35" (95th percentile)

head: 20 " (95th percentile)

Baa-kee-Ball!

We took Grady to his first MSU basketball game at the Hump yesterday and he had a ball! It was my first game to go to since Grady's been born. Great to get back to the Hump and GREAT win against Florida! Whoo hoo, GO DAWGS!
Grady loves basketball. We can be flipping throught channels on t.v. and Grady will see a basketball game on and point to the t.v. and say "Baa-kee-Ball!" He has an MSU basketball and knows exactly what it is. Maybe he'll take after his Aunt Jenny and be a basketball player! He definitely has the height! :)

Field Trip

Today's my last day of Christmas Break. SO not thrilled about that! It always goes by too fast. Grady, Mom, and I decided to go and check out the new Mississippi Children's Museum this morning.

OH.
MY.
GOODNESS.

I cannot brag about this place enough! It was so wonderful! I wasn't sure if it would be too much for Grady, but it was actually perfect. The neat thing to me was that it is perfect for a wide variety of ages. I could take my third grade class there and they would have a ball and learn a LOT from the different exhibits. From an educator's standpoint, I give it two thumbs up! Mississippi was in such need of having a place like this. I am so excited that it is finally here and that Grady will be able to enjoy it throughout his childhood. I had fun being a kid again today, too! SO, if you have kids, you MUST make a visit soon! If you don't have kids, you can rent Grady (and me...ha!) for a day and we'd be happy to tag along!

Here are some pictures... Josh had taken the memory stick out of the camera and I wasn't aware of it until I took a few pictures and it told me the internal memory was full. So, I do not have pictures from lots of the exhibits. There was SO much to do there!

Here's Grady in the "Health and Nutrition" station. He's exploring the kitchen... He loved that he could get into the cabinets... Not so at HIS house! ha!

Buttering the bread...

driving the produce truck...

checking out all the healthy fruits and veggies in the produce truck...

In the "Literacy" station, they have this gigantic scrabble gameboard and foamy letter tiles. Grady LOVED this. Of course he had no clue he was playing with letters, but SUCH a great idea for older kids.

For some odd reason, this was his FAVORITE exhibit. One station is a climbing map of Mississippi where you learn all about different resources in our state. This particular thing was a rock quarry and he LOVE putting the rocks on the chute and cranking it to watch them go up through the tunnel.

Digging for fossils/dinosaur bones...

Learning about cotton...

Yeaaa for the Mississippi Children's Museum! We'll be back soon to visit again!