:: So Long, Summer ::

Goodbye August! I don't want to see you or your stinkin' 100-degree days for at least another year.
I must say, I am happy to see this summer coming to an end. We set weather records here almost every day, and having over 50 days with temps reaching well into the 100's is no fun. It was the hottest summer on record for our area... we beat the previous record from way back in 1916. Boo.
As you all know, my favorite season is fall. I cannot wait for fall to get here. Can. Not. Wait. I'm so ready. I seriously love fall. Seriously.
I was going through some photos on my computer, and I came across pics from our trip to the Dallas World Aquarium. We all had a super fun time. Well, we all had a super fun time, except for Benjamin. He was in a bad mood the entire day. He was only happy once we got to the gift shop, where he scored a neat little faux aquarium with plastic fish.

Granny Weez, Ben and a Big Scary Shark

Ben Before the Gift Shop






















Ben After the Gift Shop















We didn't do too much traveling this summer, but we did spend a couple of weeks with my parents, which was nice. I enjoyed having a lazy summer. Compared to last year, this summer season was much more quiet and restful. But I am ready for some change. Nicer weather and busier schedules... sounds good to me.
One of the biggest changes for me this fall is that I will begin a new job! An actual job. I know... Me. Working. Crazy right? It's a part-time job in social service, and I am super excited about it. It will be fun, and the work is right up my alley. After five years at home raising my little man, I am looking forward to being around other adults for a few hours a day.
I hope all of you had a wonderful summer, too. And thanks for following all of my adventures...

:: Swimming Hats and Hungry Monsters ::

As far as weekends go, this one has been pretty good.  We didn't go anywhere exciting and we didn't have any thrilling experiences... but it was a good weekend.  We slept in, watched TV and just hung around the house.  Not bad. Just what a weekend should be, I guess.  Relaxing. Fun.

On Saturday, while Ben was taking a bath and I was getting his clothes ready, I heard him call for me... "Mama, come look at me.  Come look at my swimming hat!" I looked through the bathroom door to see Ben wearing one of my mixing bowls on his head.  It was his hat.  His "swimming hat." It made me laugh.  

Quite a number of my kitchen utensils have found a new home in Ben's bathtub.  He has tons of bath time toys to play with... we have bought him rubber duckies, plastic boats, dinosaur water squirters... but nothing seems to be as much fun as my whisks, mixing bowls and spatulas. During the summer, I usually lose about two strainers and at least one tea pitcher to the pool in the backyard.  I'm not even going to bother with buying beach balls and floaties this year.

On Saturday afternoon, Ben climbed up on our bed with a book in his hands and began to read us his favorite book "One Hungry Monster." At first, we just thought he was going to pretend to read it... he knows certain words and can spell, but he has never actually read a series of complete sentences, and certainly not a whole book. Well, guess what? He read the book.  The entire book. He really concentrated and sounded out the bigger words... we were so happy!  I went and grabbed several other books from his closet and asked him to read each one, and he did. He can read so well.  He's only four years old, and he is reading like a superstar! So, I told him this week we would go get him a library card, and he can pick out books all by himself.  He was so excited.  I am so proud of him.

Today we went to a birthday party for Ben's friend, Gabrielle.  She turned six years old today. Ben stayed in the pool the entire time we were there.  Well, he did get out of the water for cake and ice cream, but he jumped right back in after he was done. So, he was pretty hungry and very tired when we got home. It made bed time so much easier.

So, that was our weekend... not bad, huh?  

:: Adventures in Baking with the Easy Bake Oven ::

My son wants to be a Chef. 

Actually, he tells everyone he is already a Chef. He can make scrambled eggs - and very well, I might add. Jason and I really try to encourage Ben to cook. We think it's great he's so interested in it. Plus, he really enjoys eating the food he makes himself, which is fantastic, since he can be a bit of a picky eater at times.

Ben got an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas. Unfortunately, we hadn't been able to try it out since we could not find a 100-watt lightbulb anywhere. Remember 100-watt lightbulbs? You could buy a four pack of them at Wal-Mart for about 88 cents? Well, guess what? They don't carry them anymore. Crazy, right? They have all switched to energy efficient bulbs and the closest you can find is a 90-watt bulb. So, I went ahead and bought the lightbulb and figured we would just have to leave the goodies we were baking in the oven a little longer to compensate for the lack of wattage. Turns out I was right... we had to cook the cookies we made about two minutes longer than the directions listed. It really wasn't a big deal at all.

I really wish the Easy Bake Oven designer people would have left well enough alone and kept the little "oven" look for the new Easy Bake Ovens. They look like microwaves now. It's "Easy Bake Oven," right? Oh well. The good news is that it works exactly the same as it did when I was a kid. I guess lightbulb-cooking technology really hasn't changed much in the last 30 years. 

The oven comes with packages of cookie and cake mixes that only require about a teaspoon of water to mix. It's super easy, and it was a ton of fun. Of course Ben's attention span didn't last the 10 minutes it took to make the cookies, but he did help take the cookies out and he washed the little pans.  I'm proud of my little Chef.

Ben waiting for the Easy Bake Oven to warm up...

 Cookies before baking.

Waiting for the cookies to finish baking.

Cookies after baking. Yeah, I know... they're tiny.

Ben LOVED the cookies, and that's what counts.

 

The Dallas Arboretum

A few weekends ago, my husband, son, Mom and I decided to check out the Dallas Arboretum near White Rock Lake. Okay, if you have never been there, you should really go check it out. It's amazingly beautiful and so peaceful.  It started raining, so we didn't get to see all of it.  We definitely plan to go back.

To celebrate the fall season, they had lined the walkways with pumpkins and mums and gourds. They had a huge pumpkin patch and even a pumpkin house.  And a hay maze, of course.  (wink.)

It is such an incredible place and I can't believe I had never taken the time to check it out before.  

So, if you have never been there, or haven't been in a while, then by all means get thy self over to the Arboretum! You won't regret it.

I apologize for the shaky videos.  My Mom always comments on how nauseous she gets watching some of my home movies.  I use a Flip Camera - which I absolutely LOVE - but it's not perfect.  It doesn't shoot long distances very well and if you move around while you hold the camera the video can get fairly wobbly. I shot about 15 to 20 minutes of video at the Arboretum, and when I made my first movie and tried to upload it, it was rejected because of the size. So, I had to edit it and split it into two videos to upload.  :)

Enjoy.

Pumpkin Patches and Hay Mazes

So, it's that time of year again - pumpkin patches and hay mazes.  It's no secret to those of you who know me that I love fall - more specifically, I love Halloween.  But since the world has shifted from when I was a kid, and people are so concerned about political correctness, there are few, if any, school Halloween carnivals anymore. They have been replaced with cheerful, and in no way spooky, pumpkin patches and the occasional hay maze.  Sure, every now and then you will find a "fall festival" some where that reminds you of those good 'ole carnivals, but they just aren't the same.  

I never missed a school Halloween carnival.  I'm serious.  The costume contests, the game booths, the haunted houses... THE FOOD!  I could have cared less about trick-or-treating.  It was the carnival I got excited about.  I don't know why they quit having them.  I was under the impression that they were actually pretty good fundraisers for the schools.  But, for what ever reason, they are gone.  My son will never know how much fun those were.  sniff sniff....

So, Ben gets to experience pumpkin patches and hay mazes.  We never pass one by without stopping.  It's a thing with me.  There is something about that sea of orange that lures me in.  I love pumpkins.  Did I mention that already?

While we were in Dallas this past weekend, we noticed a Pumpkin Patch on the way to Granny Weez and PawPaw's.  So, we took Granny Weez with us and visited the pumpkins.  It was great.  Ben got through the hay maze and we actually got a decent photo of Ben with the pumpkins. (On a side note - trying to get photos of Benjamin is like herding cats.  It's frustrating.  It's impossible.  But somehow we manage every year to get a great photo.  So, I guess it's worth it.) 

Ben decided he wanted to throw a tantrum and refused to do anything we asked him.  I was pretty much fed up with trying to control him, Jason was picking out the perfect gourd and Granny Weez was trying to buy Peppered Pickles.  (Yeah, I know - weird.  But trust me - those pickles were fabulous!)  I lost track of Ben for maybe 2 minutes and when I went to look for him, I found him chatting it up with this pretty girl and getting his face painted.  He always manages to find the pretty girls and flirt with them.  He's gonna be trouble.

I did manage to get a few minutes of video from our visit.  

And you know, that face painting of his lasted a full day on his little cheek.  Maybe there's hope for him yet.  Maybe...