Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick

My baby does love his sticks. I noticed as these were loading he has a stick in every picture! Maybe it's an indication of his love for Roosevelt's administration, who used the phrase in the early 1900's. Or maybe it's a clue into his little personality; his little non aggressive personality which prefers non violence but who isn't afraid of standing behind his word if the time calls for it. Maybe he just likes to whack things - which I think is the more likely choice. Whatever the reason, I thought it was high time for a good Joseph "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick" Blachly post!

We had a great day today! Joseph was on his best behavior and that made for a happy mommy. Thank goodness for good days to remind me why we decided to have a kiddo in the first place. Too many Crazy Joe days in a row and one can loose sight of all the sweetness and wonderfulness in having kids. But didn't I hear somewhere that it's supposed to be all butterflies and rainbows?! Ha. ;)

We trekked over to Garland to play with Cousins Cayden and Connor and Aunt Tammy. It was really pretty out so we got to play with all the cool big boy toys outside. Joseph didn't much let me out of his sight, but that's ok...I like to feel needed! Ha! We also inherited the coolest thing ever - the boys Little Tykes plastic slide and climber. I had to sneak it into the truck all stealth like though because Conner and Cayden were determined that they weren't done with it...but of course only play with it once Tammy says it's going to be time to pass it along to Joseph soon. Wonder if they'll know it's gone?! We got it home and and Joseph LOVED it! It was great! He climbed right in the "house" part and set up camp. Then I showed him how to climb the ladder and slide down and he thought he was king of the world. It's going to be awesome to have it! Thanks boys! It's in good hands!

Today is Think Thin Thursday. Blech! I am down five pounds since I've started the Special K Challenge, but only one pound since last Thursday. I can kinda see a difference but this is only the beginning. I checked in to a membership at the local Y and am pretty pumped about getting started there. Not so much for the weights and cardio machines but for the classes. They have several that will fit into my schedule (i.e - Josh's work schedule!) and most importantly - ones that I WANT to partake in. It's cycling, yoga, flex, pilates - all of which are actually interesting to me. That is the key with working out; I just needed to find what I would want to do so it's not a struggle to go to a class I don't like. But what am I even talking about...I haven't even gone yet. But I am excited and that's a good start!

And one more thank goodness....thank goodness it's almost the weekend! That is some great news if you ask me. Off to watch The Office now; it's our fave.

Time to Ride

Our Baby David became Little David, who eventually grew to be not so little anymore...but will always be Little David to us. He became taller than his dad, Big David, but will always be Little David to us. He grew from our first baby - first sweet boy, to toddler, to little boy and now into young adult, but he will still always be Little David to us. Something happened in the recent years and our quarterback outgrew his position and was better suited for defense, and you know what that means...lots of hits. He tackled and sacked his way into Defensive Lineman of the Year as only a sophomore and now our once Baby David, our sweet Little David, our 6-foot-2, 250 pound high school junior has accepted a FULL RIDE scholarship to play with TCU in Ft. Worth.

I've always been proud of my nephew, but an accomplishment like this is beyond our wildest dreams for him. I am also the protective aunt who says he should be a Doctor or Engineer and not be getting hit on the football field...but there is no denying his talent and thirst for the sport. It's in his blood from his dad and I don't think anyone could have said anything to make any difference when it came to football, and look at where it's gotten him. I know Shannon and David think someone has blessed their sweet souls 10 times over with the good fortune to not have to pay their first-born's college tuition. To a private school no less. To a private school close to home no less. To a private school close to home and the one that his dad graduated from no less.


Not only is this kiddo polite, sweet, well spoken, and hilarious, he also very intelligent. His SAT scores were amazing and he does great in school (except for Spanish last semester - ha!). I can't wait to get together and celebrate and get my arms around him! He is just the sweetest kid you'll ever meet and absolutely deserves this. So do his parents. Love you Johnson's!

Here are a few random picture thoughts from the week. Boy am I ready for the weekend. Baby Joseph is cutting three molars (already has a fourth one in) and he is not in a great mood. I'm looking forward to some nice family time!

The week started out crafty. I've had these long sleeved t-shirts since before Christmas to make some shirts for Joseph and his friends, Blake and Ethan. I was hunting for the right fabric to cut out some appliques to sew on, and found some vintage airplanes that worked great!


Joseph helped me reorganize the fridge.


I was so tickled when I pulled out this beautiful bunch of grapes from the package. Usually they aren't as full as this one with half the bunch loose in the bottom of the bag.


This pretty message was on my teabag a couple of nights ago.


This not so pretty message was made by my loving husband for me.


And we had a sweet visitor this week. His mom and dad are busy packing, getting a new house ready and about to move this weekend. We took Ethan for a bit so Kristen could get a project done at the new house. They're just in time too, b/c the Kaufmans are expecting #2!!

Have a nice weekend guys and gals!

North Texas: "Shutdown"

...ha! You know how we do it here in Texas. Or rather how we don't do it. We don't do ice. Josh and I have been sitting here glued to the news. They are showing all the TXDOT camera views and there is one ramp that we've been watching in particular and routing for all the stuck cars. Is like a video game...except we don't have controllers. We've watched them one by one get stuck, then move a little, then get stuck again, sit and wait, then start to try to move again. We're trying to direct them and give them tips but they don't seem to hear us. ;)



We went out to check out the back yard and it was so pretty! I slip slided down the driveway and took some really beautiful pictures.

Josh is working from home for a bit until the temperature warms up some, plus he couldn't get the truck door open.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but the trees were sparkling with ice and beautiful.




What makes a regular old rusty fency a sight for your eyes? Well, a thick layer of sparkly ice of course! Our back yard was a winter wonderland and we get our daddy and husband home for a few hours this morning...what could be better?

My Weight Loss Challenge

I kicked off my new diet this week. I haven't dieted or counted calories in YEARS! It's high time to get this baby weight off and get healthy. I started a new blog for jotting down my plan, thoughts and weigh-ins. I am joining Jennifer in "Think Thin Thursdays" and instead of bogging down this blog with my diet stuff I decided to keep it all in one spot. Time to lose some weight!

http://heatherschallenge.blogspot.com/

Bumpin' Up and Down...

...in my little red wagon! Look what Joseph got! His GiGi wanted him to have a little red wagon to run around the neighborhood in, so she bought him one for Christmas. We were as excited as Joseph!



Joseph loved getting that wrench and banging it all over the place. Then we decided we would give the poor wagon more time to get banged up rather than right out of the gate, and I had to remove the wrench from the scene.




Now with this bad boy, we are talking real-live tires! We are pretty pumped at the all terrain potential of it. I mean, think of all the gardening stuff I can haul....I MEAN, all the places I can take Joseph.

Can you guess where these went? Straight into his mouth. That's always great for new little baby teeth. It was my job to distract Joseph while Josh put the wagon together - what can I say? I get a little a little distracted myself and don't always do such a good job. But alas, we got it put together and are so excited to try it out!


Aghh, how did that picture get in here? That is Joseph's wagon...not Heather's! Well, here's my excuse...after all the pumping I did (with our bike pump) to get those stupid "real-live" tires aired up, I had to test it out with a little weight. Annnnddd, I just happened to have these bags of mulch that needed to go out front. What can I say? It rode like a gem!

Grant Me the Serenity...

This was one of those days where I need a hot bath and a massage after spending the day with Joseph. He is so full of life and just goes and goes non stop. Was this what I was like? Was Josh like this? Is this pay back for something I did wrong? Kidding, kidding...it's called being a mommy.

He wants everything, it doesn't matter what it is, and really doesn't like it if he doesn't get it. He likes to stand right under my feet when I am not paying him enough attention. Heaven forbid I try to unload the dishwasher or fold some clothes. And I mean, RIGHT under my feet. He literally picks up my shoe and crawls under there to make me trip and give him a moment of my time. Of course, the other 20 hours that I spend building block towers, rolling the ball, singing, reading, running around the yard, rocking and loving on him aren't enough. And he will surely fuss at me to let me know it!

This little guy is such a character that sometimes I wonder how much harder another child could possibly be. He has trained me well and it's only been one year! Now...he has trained me so well, it's MY turn to train HIM! The Serenity Prayer is my new mantra. God, grant me the serenity...

Holy Sweet Potato, Batman!

I got a pretty intense gardening bug a few weekends ago. This wacky warm-then-cold-then-warm-again weather got my juices flowing. I felt like cleaning out the front beds and putting in some color...faithful winter pansies of course. I got out there and it was beautiful! The weather was perfectly mild and breezy. Soooo....as I was pulling up the dead sweet potato vine, I pulled out a potato! I was pretty tickled with myself! I just assumed it was a fruitless, decorative vine - so then I started reading about it.


This beautiful garden isn't mine but I just wanted to show what ornamental sweet potato vine looks like. It's the chartreuse, short plant spread along the front of this person's bed. They are great because they are cheap, and you can buy them as small as they come and they grow FAST! They add great color and come in light green, light pinky-white, and "black". They spread like wildfire but you can cut them back if they go where you don't want them. I like them because they are so light and airy looking - almost like they are floating.


Here is my very first tuber! I only had one, and looks like many people get one per plant but my other plants didn't produce one. It's common, even though I am so tickled about mine you'd think they weren't that common, and of course makes sense since it IS a potato vine. If I had wanted to I could have saved it and replanted it next spring. But again, the plants are cheapies so I opted for just getting more if they are part of my design in the spring. They are part of a group of plants called tender perennials, which would come back year after year in warm climates...but here they are pretty much annuals. They are one of my new favs!


So of course we couldn't throw it away without cutting into it and checking it out! Not quite like the sweet potato I'm used to with the creamy orange color. Apparently these ornamental sweet potato tubers are edible but I don't think I'll try it.

The pansies look great though, and added that much needed winter color. They are great because they tolerate really cold weather but they'll last well into summer if it's not too hot. Man, they smelled so good. They filled the truck with their fragrance on the way home from Calloway's and even once planted I got wafts of them for days when I walked by. So sweet! I'm already digging through my gardening magazines imagining what I can do this spring....although I am fairly limited b/c most of the yard is in shade. I do love me some digging in the dirt!

Mama and Baby Joe

Between the innocence of babyhood and the dignity of manhood, we find a delightful creature of a boy.

Merry Christmas!

...say what? It isn't Christmas anymore?! Aghhh...I knew my sense of time was off, but this is pretty bad. How come it's already mid January and I am just now posting these? Perhaps it's the little one year old I watch during the day. Oh yes, and the fact that I forgot my camera and had to steal these from Tammy. And the fact that when Tammy posted them on Walgreens to share, there were 454 pictures. Seriously folks, I kid you not. Almost five hundred pictures. Tammy is one picture taking fool. So I sifted down to our celebration at Shannon's and got these. Ahhh memories...

My sweet baby made out like a bandit! Amoung his gifts were these great alphabet blocks and an awesome Leap Frog table. It plays by itself in the middle of the night though, so I got my eye on it.


Here is my snowman that poops candy. Right out of his snowy white little bottom. It was pretty darn funny. He was part of our White Elephant gift exchange. Now, I am thinking of redefining White Elephant because the gifts this year ran the gamete from handy kitchen tools to a real-live bull castrater tool. I think we may need a few guidelines for next year. Maybe a definition of what White Elephant vs. Gag Gift is. I mean, if Josh really needed a castrater that badly then this year was right up his alley...but luckily we also threw in a Chinese Gift Exchange for even more of a twist...so believe it or not, that castrater got snatched right up. Funny, yes. Interested, no. Thank you very much.


My pooping snow man got snatched up too. I know, I know...who would want that? But whatever, because then I got to pick out something else. I should have stolen something but instead opted for opening a new gift and ended up with a book - Small Scale Farming. I am thinking the same thing as you..."this stuff was just lying around your house?" But since we are a family full of gardeners, this book was flipped though all afternoon. I ended up leaving it at my sister's house as a little surprise. See, that's the bad thing about hosting - you get a bunch of little surprises left behind.


Ha! Jessie went for the four foot, precariously wrapped gift. Everyone said don't go for the big one...but curiosity got the best of her! This was from me. We loved our little knight but he was doing more harm than protecting of our house. He is really sharp and Joseph loved to check him out...so he was donated to the White Elephant Christmas. Mom was sitting next to Little David and he leaned over to her and said "That's mine. It's going in my room. As long as it stays in the family I'll get it!" He looks good in David's room. I'll visit him often.


We played several mean games of Kerplunk.


I like this picture of dad and Michael looking stoic or bored or sleepy or something. Dad's hat is pink with sequins.


Sweet Cayden with the tow truck we gave him. I really wanted it myself!


Our sweet hostess and her baby girl. The weather was so beautiful that we spent much of the day outside. My baby got to jump on the trampoline for the first time and he loved it! Then Peter had to come and stir things up a bit so the mama bear in me came out and we got outta there. Always trying to super bounce everyone. With my fragile little boy right there. The nerve. Ha! Joseph was loving it and cried real tears when I took him off.

We squeezed Christmas in between naps so we had to jet off kinda early. It was a shame since we have so much fun when we are together, but when I tried to put Joseph down in his cousins room he just wasn't having it. Luckily dad's birthday was the 8th so we get to see each other again soon that time of the year. That post is next. After I sift through Tammy's 267 pictures of it.

He Can Do It!

Oh my goodness gracious, have we been waiting for this day or what?! Just this week Joseph took off! It started on Monday when he and I were in my bedroom getting dressed. I looked up and he was just cruising right along with the biggest grin on his face. It didn't stop after that! We knew he was close...with the five, six and seven steps he's been taking for weeks now...but now all we have to do is practice practice practice! We have a toddler!!

A Little Book Love

Oh my my! We got some rare footage the other night. This was such a special treat for us. We were putting Joseph to bed and he decided he wanted to read a story! And sit in Josh's lap while doing it! Without being a crazy head! And it lasted for more than 5 seconds!

Joseph is a really cuddly little guy most of the time, but when it comes to all those crisp pages and pretty pictures he gets so excited he can't sit still. He wants to grab and squirm so we don't usually get much story time in, if any at all. But we try!

This ladybug book is what we've found to be his favorite. Plus it's super durable construction let's him give the pop-ups a little tug without ripping. This book gets pulled off of the bookshelf and Joseph is all ears! I hope he loves reading as much as I do when he gets big.