Spring Break 2010

Well it was a cool start to beach season, but we had a great time with the DiPiazzas and Grandma in Destin! We had a few "warmer",beautiful days and were very thankful for a heated pool! Tucker had a blast in the sand and playing with his cousins. Abby was a trooper by sharing all her toys that Tucker referred to as "mine." The guys had a fun fishing trip and brought home dinner one night. We even encountered a black out on the last evening. Don't even want to know how the spring breakers handled that one! It was a great getaway though! We only wished we could have stayed longer! Tucker is ready to go back!

Daddy just chillin

Tucker and Daddy in the pool

Our fishermen

Daddy's catch

Tucker, Grandma and Abby waiting to go to dinner

Lunch after a morning on the beach

Had to be like the big kids and have a pair of goggles! Thankful for extras!

Snoozing Daddy

Beach time! Thankful we made it out each morning before the springbreakers!

There was some craziness going on down there!

Catch Up!

Well, it has been awhile since we have posted an entry. I finally up loaded a bunch of photos from the past month and realized how much I hadn't posted!
Our big boy is just that. He has grown quite a bit since fall. Keeps getting taller and stronger. Some days he is stronger than Momma! Not good during a tantrum! Which we have definitely entered into the "I can do it" phase. Sometimes he'll let you know he wants to do something himeself while other times he'll just get so upset and you'll have no idea why! Very dramatic! Thank goodness he is a talker and will eventually tell you what is going on. For instance this morning he had a major fit over Mommy having honey nut cheerios because he wanted some. Yet he never even asked. He finally could tell us he was mad and he was mad at Mommy. Then he finally could say you ate the cheerios (no I didn't eat them all)! Wow! How simple it would have been to start there! But that is the phase we are in. Tucker knows what he wants and wants to do what he can to get it! He continues to be very curious about things and aware of things. He'll talk about things he and "my friends" do at school and the things they say. He continues to love school or Mother's Day Out. We have enrolled him in 3k next year where he'll go three times a week and actually focus on school activies. He will be going to chapel, music and learning spanish. We are very excited about all he will learn next year. We continue to work here at home as well. Tucker continues to love reading! He could have to sit and read to him certain books all day. And he knows what books he wants to read. Every time we go to the library he has to check out the same too books (Bob the Builder's White Christmas and Diego Saves Christmas- yes celebrate holidays all year!). He has great comprehension and recollection of books. He is very interested in reading and wants to know what the words say. Since he already knows his letters, we are starting to try and work on sounds of letters and site words.We keep telling him he can read by just looking at the pictures and telling us the story. No worries though- he has plenty of time to learn. Plus, we need all the time we can to still spell things out to other adults!
One thing he isn't interested in is potty training. We keep working on it but he has very little interest. The only thing he wants to do is wear the underwear. The problem comes in with school. They only allow pull ups until the children are completely trained. And I am wanting to stay away from those except at night. So, we are waiting until late may to just jump fully into underwear and accidents. We think he'll get it then! Hoping and keeping fingers crossed! We know that when he is ready he'll get it and so we are waiting for that day to come as well!

Resting after a week of being sick! Fevers are no fun!!

Helping Daddy open his birthday presents!

He loved his Tucker decorated wrapping paper!

Tucker, February 2010-

Snapshots of the Week

Few shots around the house this week! We've had a few really busy weeks here at our house. But we are finally enjoying a little down time. Here are a couple of pictures...

Some down time with Daddy- a little evening reading!

Found Tucker like this one afternoon- he had cleared the shelves...

so he could do a little reading!

Our little Handyman- fixing the grocery cart's tire

and then the dishwasher. He worked hard on this one!

Took a moment to flash a "cheese"

Then back to work! Can't tell you how many times

this dishwasher has been worked by our handyman!

The Greatest Show on Earth

We had a great time today visiting the circus! This was Tucker's first trip. Gamma and Pop Rhodes were very kind to take us all (including Aunt Becca and Uncle Matt). Tucker loved it all and had such a great time that by the end he fell asleep on Aunt Becca's lap! We're On Our Way! Counting all the school buses.
View from our seats

We love the elephants! Tucker even wore his elephant shirt to show them.

What a Two year old can do in 5 minutes...

Tucker's new love- dumping everything out in his room! He can do this very quickly if you don't keep your eye on him! :)

Yes- he even unmade his bed! He loves to get up on it and pull everything off!

Sleep Over with Abby

While Abby's family traveled to Pasadena, she got to hang out with us for a couple of days! What fun Tucker had having a "big sister" around! We even tried to teach Abby the phrase "Hookem' Horns!" but that didn't turn out right for us! Oh well! We still had fun with Abby!

Trying to go for a "sleigh ride" for our "snowy day"

Tucker learned about Cinderella from Abby and now loves to watch it!

Camp Outs and Wild Gorillas

Tucker's newest loves...

Recently, Tucker has started enjoying The Berenstain Bears (thanks to Chick-Fil-A). Luckily, Mommy has a whole stack for him to choose from- titles saved from when she was little and loved them. We started with Santa Bear and have moved through quickly- Forget Their Manners, Too Much TV, Momma's New Job, Moving Day, The Golden Rule, Nursery Rhymes, etc. Yet, Tucker's favorite seems to be Go to Camp. Last night, he spent pillow talk time discussing how he was going to go to camp to see Grizzly Bob. He walked through how he would wait in our driveway and watch for Bob's bus to take him to camp. He said he would talk to Grizzly Bob and go watch for the animal spirits (part of Grizzly Bob's story telling at the camp out-we have to read this page about 10 times). Needless to say, I believe Tucker has gained a great comprehension of this book! Watch out future camp counselors!

Finally, our newest movie to enjoy and obsess over is Tarzan! We watched on tv one day when we were home sick. Then, Mommy found it on sale at good old Wally World! Needless to say, we have had to watch it every day since. We now listen to Tarzan songs in the car and talk about how Tarzan didn't talk when he was a baby but talks when he becomes a boy. When buying one of Tucker's favorite cereals (Gorilla Munch), Tucker informed us that it was Tarzan cereal! Guess we should be thankful that we have a break from watching Halloween DVD's and Polar Express!