Gage's First Day of School....EVER.

Oh my goodness---Gage had his first day of school today...and he did AWESOME!

...Daddy & I took Gage to school this morning, and then parted ways...

But, let me backup....Getting ready in the morning...

...brushing his teeth with Daddy...


...choosing which cologne he wants to wear...

{why yes, his eyes are closed, so perhaps that's how he chose...no, in reality, he chose BOTH, and got a tiny squirt of each...}

...playing around while (& after) Mommy did his hair...





...posing by the car...


...at the school...

{indicating with his one finger that it is his first day of school...}

Just look at this little apple with his name. His little hook for his backpack. Oh, it was so sweet to find his hook & hang up his little stuff....


Can I just say how proud I am?
This child only looked back once, and that's when I was lagging behind...you know, taking pictures...

When it was time to enter the classroom---he was all over it. This child went directly to the Lego Center to Lego Station. He was curious about the small tables & chairs, and where he would sit. Separation anxiety? What separation anxiety? I had to ASK for a hug & a kiss. ASK.

I couldn't have been more proud.
Hubby & I "high-fived" on our way out. "Our kid is so awesome!"
My heart went out to the other families experiencing tears, and clinging, and fits.
...but us? Our kid did AWESOME!

Bathroom Remodel: Almost Finished.

Okay, so there are still a few things that I want for the bathroom, but we haven't found juuuuust the right thing, or I haven't bothered to order (okay, I have found the new shutters, but haven't bothered to order them...): shutters, something over the shelf above the toilet, and the perfect seat for the vanity.

But, alas----here are the pics otherwise.
{Shannon (aka: Misguided Mommy), I know you've been waiting!}

Sunday, 8/30: Trip to the Park...

Sunday, Gage & I went to the park for just a little bit...it was so crowded & hot. We didn't last long.

Before we left, Gage was telling me how old he is going to be in his upcoming birthday...


At the park...

HOUSTON: We Have a Name Change!

.......and it is so fitting!

Remember THIS little guy???



Well, Gage has decided that his name should be "The Lone Ranger," and we shall call him Ranger.

As in.....



{above pics: some of his birthday invitations for his upcoming "Cowboy Costume" birthday party. I think that my working on the invitations & his excitement about all-things-cowboy right now is contributing to the name change!}

GoGurt, anyone?

Sucking yogurt from a tube?
No thanks, I'll pass.

Not this little guy.



Yuck.
And I have to remind him to put his mouth entirely over the opening before he squeezes the tube.

But---he loves it.
And in time, it will be VERY convenient, I'm sure.

One Week Ago...

So, last Saturday, a great deal of time was spent cleaning this castle.
After that, we had to head out for school supplies.
I think I've mentioned our trip to Target where they were out of crayons & out of regular glue.

Anyway...after that, we headed down to....


Gage ran a bit on the Katy Trail & we all just kind of walked around the stores & store fronts. It was fun.









We wrapped things up with dinner out....


It's only my FAVORITE pizza in all of Dallas.
Green Olives? YES, please!



{Gage looks thrilled, doesn't he? In his defense---it was a long day with no nap, and he was DONE.}

We had plenty to take home and plenty of leftover pizza to snack on after that.
YUM!

7 days until............

..........we get this little guy!



Meet GHOSTBUSTERS.
{AKA: Buster.}

Scary story from last Friday night...

8/21: Friday Night Fun.

Well, I got home from work late on Friday afternoon. Ran by KFC & picked up a bucket-o-chicken.

When I got home---the men were covered in dirt. Hubby found a water leak outside where we hook up a water hose, so he had to fix it, and of course Gage was helping. You know---until I got home & he had somebody to play with.
:)

Gage was so filthy. Cute, but filthy.





As the sun went down, and after Gage & I ate....Hubby thought he was done.
"Keep an eye on this while I go around and turn the water back on."
"Okay."
....."AUGH!!!! TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF! THERE'S WATER EVERYWHERE! TURN IT OFF!"
whooops.
Yes, I was yelling that at the top of my lungs b/c whoops, something wasn't connected. Poor Hubby. Just when he thought he was done.
It was around 9 o'clock at night when Gage & I sat out in the yard telling "scary" stories. I'll have to post the video at some point. I can assure you, it was a good & funny time!




Gage fell asleep on the couch before the water came back on. Poor Buddy. Yes, he slept all dirty like this. He didn't mind.

Bailin' Hay.

ADDENDUM: Okay, I admit I'm a city girl. Is it BALE hay? Or BAIL hay? I don't know. I don't know the damn difference, and around here---it doesn't make a bit of difference. I'm just sayin'...


Last Wednesday after Hubby worked, he mowed the yard.

So Thursday, when we all got home for the evening, Gage wanted to go outside & "bail hay." {FYI Gage, yo' mama is a city mama.}

But----alas, I am the mother of a little boy.
You wanna bail hay?
Let's go bail hay.
But let me put on some slackerella clothes first.

{and by hay, I mean grass clippings that hubby didn't bag}
{which brings me to another "aside": don't ask me about all this mowin' stuff. sometimes you bag the clippings...sometimes you don't. is there rhyme or reason? I dunno.}








Why, yes those aaarrrree fleece sweatpants that my kid is wearing.
No, he wouldn't let us put some non-fleece clothing on him.
No, he didn't want to wear shorts right then.
Yes, we do pick our battles!

Wednesday, 8/19. Dinner Out!

Okie-dokie....so Wednesday, 8/19, Megan, Susan, and I sat at La Madeleine's in NorthPark & just talked & talked, and talked.
It was so great.

....but, I didn't snap a single picture.

I did get to go see the $45K Mont Blanc "TEXAS" pen though...
okay...okay, I couldn't find a picture of the Texas pen....but it looks similar to this one, which was given to Bush back in 2002 by Lt.General Shaykh Mohammad bin Zayid al-Nuhayyan of the UAE {according to dallasnews.com, anyway... like I knew that random bit of information. right...}


Anyway...we would have started Gage's back-to-school shopping right there at the Mont Blanc store {hello!? What preschool DOESN'T need a $45-THOUSAND DOLLAR pen? duh.}, but it just wasn't covered under the umbrella of "tax-free" because it's over a hundred dollars. Hmph!

Anyway---we gals did have fun hanging out, and I still feel like there were 800 different things that I wanted to talk about but we just didn't get to those topics. We need a girls get-away weekend!!!

And when I got home....this little guy was waiting for me to snuggle him.

BURSTING with EXCITEMENT!

Okay...first of all, I could hardly contain myself when the school supply list came in the mail.

My mom may be the only one to appreciate this---but I am a NUT about school supply shopping. Staples??? One of the best places on Earth. A place where there is order, and labels, and the ability to laminate anything that's flat & won't melt....seriously---it's one of the best places on Earth.

My heart races at the thought of owning a Sharpie in every color...an endless supply of sticky notes, and binders and folders, and spiral notebooks...you get it.

So, over the weekend, we head out to Target with our school supply list in hand.

Target. Saturday.
Tax-Free-Shopping-Weekend.
Shoot Me.

Next time: I'll pay the tax on the twenty cent box of crayons.
Oh wait---who am I kidding? Target was out of crayons.
They were also out of regular school glue, 8 pack of watercolor paints, and plastic folders with brads. We were lucky enough to score the LAST box of Crayola brand washable markers (classic colors, of course) in the whole Target store over at City Place.

After Target, we walked over to Office Max. {sorry Staples, but Office Max was just conveniently located at the time.}
We found a much less crowded store & all of our remaining items. We should have just started AND finished there.
I also got this handy cute carry-case for my internship cases, and a new laptop carry case {Hubby thinks it's just hideous, but I disagree}.

What else???
Oh---Gage got a SpiderMan backpack & lunch box. He's VERY excited.

School supplies---tell me why one child requires 6 things of glue, but no scissors. For real. 4 large glue sticks & 2 bottles of glue. I have a feeling that if no cutting is involved---I'm going to get some very LARGE craft projects. No, no...I'm sure the teachers will do all the cutting....

Meet-The-Teacher night is this coming Thursday.
I can't go & it breaks my heart!
But, Hubby can handle it.

Okay, so I was super excited about school supplies.
Today is the first day of my next-to-last school semester. [does that sentence even make sense??]
I have less than a year.
I have less than a year.

:)
Happy Monday.

Saturday, 8/15: Sandy Lake Amusement Park

SANDY LAKE AMUSEMENT PARK = SLAP.
Yes, I like to call it "SLAP."

So, on Saturday, 8/15, the Hubby & I had grand plans for the room re-do. And---my mom had grand plans with her grand babies!

Darnin, Allen, Gage, Tiffany, Trystan, Aunt Loraine, Baby Lane, Aunt Billie ("BK"), and Nora all went to SLAP.

First, a few of us met up at Aunt Loraine's, and that's where I dropped Gage off into Darnin's care. When we arrived we were all shocked to see that Gage & Lane picked out strikingly similar outfits.

Lane & Gage


Gage, Trystan, Allen, Lane, & Nora


Lane is my cousin Karl's little boy.
Nora is my cousin Kory's little girl.
So that makes them Gage's....what?
2nd cousin, once removed?
3rd cousin?

Allen, Lane, Gage, Nora & Trystan


Texas Tornado Tree


Pony Rides...





Riding the rides...










Worn out yet? That was just the first half of their day.
After the dry part of the park---they breaked for lunch & headed over to the pool.




READY?


SET?


JUMP!


Those kiddos had a GREAT time.
Gage was TUCKERED OUT when Darnin' brought him home. She put him down on the couch to finish out his nap. Then treated us to BBQ take-out. It was great!

And Mom---I know that you have been waiting & waiting for these pics & this post. FINALLY I got it done!
xoxoxxoxoxoo