The Highlights

This week has been crazy busy. It was one of those weeks where there just wasn't any time to blog. But... I thought that I would sit down and do a quick recap of the week. I'm just going to hit the highlights. :)

Monday was President's Day. I was looking for some educational activities to do with Clayton while Drew was napping, and I stumbled upon this Presidential powdered wig tutorial. It was too funny to pass up. So, Clayton and I made one. He loved it! He wanted to wear it all day. Hysterical...

You can't truly appreciate it without a full 360 degree view.

Ha ha!

While we were making the wig, I explained to Clayton that when George Washington was the president, all of the important men wore powdered wigs. He said, "So, does Barack Obama wear fake hair?" I about fell out of my chair laughing. ;)

Much to my surprise, they observed President's Day at preschool on Tuesday, too. They made an Abe Lincoln hat/beard.

I don't know whether Clayton makes a better George Washington or Honest Abe. Hmm....

For Valentine's Day, instead of getting the boys gifts, we bought a family membership to the Ft. Worth Museum of Science and History. They recently remodeled the Children's Museum and it is awesome! I'm quite certain that we will get our money's worth out of our membership. I think that the boys would be perfectly content going every week. We've been twice and we still haven't seen it all. It's huge!

They had a 4D movie about the Barnett Shale. It was a little over Drew's head, but he sure looked cute in the glasses. ;)

We had to take a few pictures in front of the 30-foot model of a drilling apparatus for Papa D. My Dad is a petroleum engineer, so it was fun for Clayton to see the kinds of things that his grandpa designs. I'm sure that my explanation didn't do it justice...


Both of the boys really enjoyed the Dino Dig area. Clayton had a ball looking for bones and Drew felt big carrying around the tools.


They had an interactive baby area that Drew really enjoyed.

Clayton loved the grocery store,

and the balancing area,

and the microscope camera projector (yes, I totally made up that terminology!),

and driving the ambulance.

Drew was content to snuggle with one of the babies in the hospital area. I said, "Give the baby some love" and he hugged it. Sweet boy...

Then he poked it's eye. Ha! Guess we'll be focusing on gentleness this week...

You stood in front of this giraffe and it measured your height using a laser. It said that Clayton was 3 feet 9 inches, which I think is pretty accurate.

Lockheed Martin was there for the Museum's Engineer's Week. They had a pretty cool exhibit that Clayton LOVED.

He got to do their fighter jet simulator and shoot at a target.

He said that was his favorite part of the day.


We had so much fun at the museum. If you live anywhere near there, you should look into a membership. It really is a good deal! That's my little spiel...

I'm so sorry that this turned into a really long post. Y'all know that I have a tendency to be, ahem, long winded and to pick too many pictures. I'm going to work on that. I promise. :)

First Annual Pink & Red Dinner :)

Did everyone have a Happy Valentine's Day??? We sure did! As I mentioned before, I love Valentine's Day. Actually, I love any reason to throw a party... Ha!

This year, I wanted to do something special to show my boys how much I love them. I saw somewhere (can't remember where... maybe Family Fun???) an idea of having a "Pink & Red Dinner" at home. I thought that sounded fun, so I started planning our meal weeks ago. Clayton was quick to jump on board with my idea! I love that he is willing to humor me and my crazy ideas. :)

I told him that we were going to make a dinner where everything was either pink or red. He said, "Cool! We could make beef 'cause it's pink in the middle!" That made his Daddy sooo proud! He felt like that was validation that we are raising our Texas boy right - to appreciate medium rare meat. Ha!

We started our day with heart shaped pancakes. (Before anyone goes thinking that I got all domestic with homemade pancake batter and some special pancake shaper, I'd like to set the record straight. In the interest of full disclosure - they were frozen Eggo pancakes cut with a mini heart shaped cookie cutter. I'm just keepin' it real, y'all!) ;)

Clayton and Wade went to get haircuts. When they came back, Clayton had something behind his back. He said, "Mama, we got you something! They grow and they're red and they smell really good!" Wonder what it could be??? :)

I decorated the dining room and got out our china and crystal candlesticks. We went all out!

Clayton & I even bought pink & red drink choices. :)

He helped me make a heart paper chain to hang from the chandelier, too.

All of my Loves at the same table...

On the menu: Spaghetti, Mashed Potatoes (with a couple of drops of red food coloring), Red Bell Peppers (with a side of pink ranch), and fruit salad (strawberries, red grapes, red apples)...

and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Yum!

In the middle of dinner, Clayton said, "This is the fanciest dinner that I've ever had!!!" I would have been flattered, except that his idea of eating out is the McDonald's play land...

After dinner, the boys got to take a bath in pink water. I used Crayola Color Dots for their bath water. Wade came in and said, "Why does it look like a scene from Jaws in my kids' bath tub???" No appreciation for the details, I tell ya! ;)

So... now I am red & pinked out! At least until next Valentine's....

Snow Much Fun!

I absolutely cannot get over the crazy amounts of snow that we got on Thursday & Friday! We got 13.8" total - which was a new record for our area! It was completely amazing!

Our house will most likely never see this much snow again!

We made good use of the fluffy snow by spending a lot of time playing outside in it! :) Clayton would play in 30 minute increments and then come in to get a cup of hot chocolate. We repeated this process over and over and over. ;)

Yes, I did buy a fake carrot at Hobby Lobby several months ago just in case we got enough snow to build a snowman. Yes, Wade did make fun of me. It sure did come in handy, though. Who's laughing now, Baby??? ;)

Making Snow Angels



Our completed snowman! Daddy had to work on Friday. (Apparently, you don't get to take a "snow day" when you work from home. ;) ) So... it was up to Clayton & I to complete our snowman. As I mentioned, Clayton wasn't really feelin' the process... So, my neighbor and I finished up Frosty. I'm not thinking that it is quite what Wade had in mind, but we got the job done. :)

The highlight for our boy was pelting his Mama with snowballs. Rotten thing...


We even let the Little get out for a few minutes to play. Never fear, grandmothers, his ears were covered with ear muffs and his hood. ;)

He was really interested in the snow and enjoyed it for about 10 minutes. Then he fell in a big slushy puddle and he was D-O-N-E. Can't say that I blame him...




While Drew was napping, I built him his own little snowman. I used his beanie and scarf, blue Mike & Ikes for the eyes, and a pacifier for the mouth. I think it bears a strong resemblance to our littlest boy. No?

Drew walked straight up to him and stole the binky right out of the snowman's mouth. Ha!

He wasn't too happy when I put it back on the snowman. :(

All was well with the world again, though, when I pulled out a spare for him. Ha!

This winter has been crazy! We have so enjoyed the 4 snowfalls that we have gotten! It's been snow much fun! Ba-dum-dum-ching! I'll be here all night, folks! ;)

2/11/2010

Oh, what a busy, busy day we've had a the Carpenter Casa!

1. First of all, today is my sweet Hubs' birthday!!! He's the best lookin' 31 year old that I've ever laid eyes on, that's for sure! I adore him in every way and loved every minute of celebrating with him today. I made him a cake...

2 sweet little people helped him blow out his candles...

we made snow ice cream to serve with the cake...

YUM-O! Birthday Cake + Snow Ice Cream = A Party in Your Mouth! (As Leah would say!)

Happy Birthday, Babe! I hope that you had a great one!

2. Clayton had his Valentine's Day party at preschool. I love the parties at his little school! His teachers go way above and beyond to make sure that the kids enjoy their time at school. They're the best!

Last week Clayton and I made his valentines. We used an idea that was in Family Fun magazine a couple of years ago (HERE is the link). They turned out pretty cute!





We also made a little something for his teachers. When Becca & I were little I remember my Mom melting peppermints in heart shaped molds. I decided to carry on the tradition with Clayton. I bought the molds at the dollar spot at Target last year. You just fill them with some peppermints and bake at 300 degrees for about 8-10 minutes.

Isn't that fun?

Clayton made Wade & I this little picture holder and a handprint "I love you" (in sign language) picture. I'll treasure them always. :)



3. Last, but certainly not least, today marked the Great Blizzard of 2010! The weatherman predicted 1-2 inches of snow. They were WAYYYY off! We ended up with about 10 inches of perfect, fluffy snow! It was gorgeous! Clayton spent most of the afternoon playing in it, and I'm sure will spend most of tomorrow enjoying it some more. He and Wade (emphasis on Wade) are building a HUGE snowman. It wasn't quite finished, so I'll have to post pictures tomorrow. How's that for a cliffhanger??? Ha!

My birthday boy shoveling the snow...

My cutie pie "helping" to shovel the snow...

Our neighbors (2 grown adults with no kids!) built a gigantic snowman! Wade & Clayton took that as a challenge and are determined to one-up them. Ha!


What a fun day! I foresee A LOT of playing in the snow tomorrow! YIPEE!