Softball Player in the Making

The weather this week has started off beautiful. It feels like spring with a breeze in the air. This afternoon Virginia and I played in the backyard. I am loving the fenced in yard and being able to just sit on the deck and watch Virginia run around the yard. After awhile she decided to go to the front yard and play. She grabbed her tee ball set to play with. This makes mommy very happy. My sisters and I played softball growing up from 8 years old til the end of high school. Our dad was always our coach or acted as assistant coach. So secretly I am hoping Virginia will want to play softball as well. Here is a video of her hitting the ball off the tee. I was lucky I didn't get hit. Almost had a funniest home video on my hands.

Catching Up

Hey Everyone, I know it has been forever since I made a blog post. No real good excuse of why I have not been blogging. I have been keeping pretty busy and have lots of exciting news for you all. Since my last blog post we have moved, had a few birthdays, and found out that I will be having a new
      nephew next year.

First up we moved out of our apartment and became homeowners. This is the first house we have owned. It was a little crazy moving and packing. Reiggin actually ended up moving twice in one day. He helped Donnie move out of his house and then move us into Donnies house. Yep you read that right we moved into our friend Donnie's house.

It has been so nice having our own place. Virginia has a bigger room for all her toys. We even have a third bedroom that once organized will be a playroom / craft room. We also have a large fenced in backyard. This is what I missed most when we were living in the apartment. Now we are able to sit on our back deck and watch Virginia play. Another bonus is we are just five minutes from our best friends the Medinas. We are slowly making the house our own. 

We have celebrated all of our birthdays in the new house. Virginia turned three years old. It is hard to believe that my baby is now three. It seems like just yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital.  She celebrated by having friends over for a bbq and family over for a get together. It felt so good to have our own house that we could invite friends and family over to celebrate with us. Virginia was just giddy at the chance to show off her room and play with everyone. She really is budding it a social butterfly. 

Since her birthday Virginia has started the three year  old speech program at the Mary Frances Wall Center. I was worried at first how she would handle the change of having speech at home to having it at a school in a class. The biggest change is that I am not allowed to go back to the class with her. But she proved me wrong and has been a champ every week. Not one tear was dropped the first day. It did make me a little sad to see my baby grow up so fast and realize we only have three years til I will be dropping her off for her first day of school. But the school has been great and Virginia loves going every week. She is the only girl in her small class. The boys are super sweet to her. The best thing is that the school is just five minutes from our house and our friend Meredith teaches there as well.

You can tell we have all been pretty busy. Life has been great. Fall is finally arrived and I can't be happier. Hope everyone else is doing great.

North Cabarrus Park

We started our week off with a visit to North Cabarrus Park. It amazes me how many parks are in our area. I keep discovering new parks to take Virginia too. Virginia woke up and was ready to get outside. So I packed our things and headed out the door. Our first stop was at the bread store. I heard that there were ducks at the park that we could feed. (note: I have now learned that it is bad to feed ducks bread.) 

I have great memories of going with my grandparents to feed the ducks. I knew that Virginia would get a kick out of feeding the ducks as well. Once we made it to the park, Virginia was ready to get out and play. I loved the fact that both playgrounds we saw were covered. With the heat of the summer, that has been our biggest problem is finding shade. One play ground was covered by a huge yellow tent. The second playground just had a perfect location by the woods that kept it in the shade. Another plus was some locations near the playground had metal large swings that the adults could sit on and relax while the kids played. On the smaller playground I was able to sit on the swing and still see Virginia from all spots on the playground. Which is a first for me, usually I am having to follow her around the whole playground.

After playing for a bit, we decided to go feed the ducks some bread. There were ducks and geese around the pond that was right beside the playground. I was amazed at how close the geese would come to us. Virginia loved tossing the bread to the geese. I kept a close eye on her in case I needed to scoop her up and run. I know geese can be mean at times. We walked further down to the bridge and saw tons of turtles and fish in the pond. There had to be like ten or more turtles just sun bathing on the shore. I did learn later that bread is not a healthy diet for ducks. I guess lesson learned and I did find healthy food to feed the birds when we return to the park. 

Virginia was thrilled and pooped for the rest of the day. I call that one successful Monday. North Cabarrus Park is making a spot on our favorite parks list. 

Weekend Rewind

This weekend was all about family. Friday my sister Lisa came down to visit. She stopped in and we all went out to lunch at Mi Pueblo. The food was delicious. We visit Mi Pueblo a lot, it is our go to Mexican restaurant. The staff and owner are always so kind to us. This visit was no different, Virginia was wanting one of the adult beverages pictured on the table. The owner came by to check to see how our lunch was and noticed Virginia begging for the drink. Next thing we know the owner comes by and gives Virginia a virgin strawberry daiquiri with whip cream on top. Virginia was so excited and the drink was awesome. 

After lunch we did a little shopping at Virginia's favorite store Target. I always enjoy going to Target and seeing what is in their dollar section. We scored a dry erase board with writing lines on it and dry erase markers for only two dollars. We also discovered that Aunt Lisa has a little shoe love affair. Lisa only gave me a minor heart attack as we were heading to the car. With Virginia in the cart and Lisa driving, you would have thought they were on the Concord Speedway. Virginia was loving every minute of it. 

Once home Lisa only had a few minutes before she had to leave. We squeezed in some painting time and then said our good byes. Virginia was not ready to say good bye. All day she was asking when Aunt Lisa was coming back to play. I am so thankful that Virginia has two amazing Aunts that I know will play a huge roll in her life. 

Saturday was just a relaxing day at home. Sunday we were on the road again. This time we were visiting MiMi and Papa up in Statesville. Once there Virginia was showering everyone with love including her favorite four legged friends. Virginia's favorite thing to do at MiMi's and Papa's is go swing. So we all walked out to the swing and Papa pushed Virginia to her hearts desire. 

After the swing Virginia and I took a walk down to the barn in hopes of seeing the cows. On the way Virginia got to pick some tomatoes from Uncle Carey's garden with MiMi. The cows were to busy staying cool under the trees to come visit with us. But Virginia still enjoyed walking and carrying her prize tomato. 

We ended the day with a delicious meal that MiMi cooked for us. Tossed the tennis ball awhile with the newest four legged addition Zena. Then it was time to hit the road and get home. This weekend was such a delight. We managed to spend good quality family time with both families. I love the fact that we live so close to both families that Virginia will be able to grow up knowing both families. 

Bouncy Ball

Virginia's favorite toy in the world is probably balls. When we are in any store she makes a bee line to those big bouncy ball stacks. Those quarter machines with the balls in them at the grocery stores also makes a little girl scream with delight. So I knew when I came across this super ball recipe that Virginia would be thrilled to try this with me.

In a small bowl mix together 1 Tbls. Elmers Glue and your choice of food coloring.

Mix well or in the end you will end up with a marble effect which is clue.

In another bowl mix together 1/2 tsp. Borax, 1 Tbls. cornstarch, and 4 Tbls. warm water.

Next pour the water mixture into the glue mixture. Mix these together and you will have a gooey blub. Dump out the liquid and start rolling the gooey blub into a ball. If it feels super wet roll the ball onto a paper towel. 

In the end you will have your very own homemade bouncy ball. Now it doesn't bounce super high, but it is still lots of fun for the little ones. The mixture reminds me a little more of silly putty with a bounce. The ball will lose its shape after sitting around. No worries just roll it back up into a ball and your good to go. I would store the ball in a plastic egg over night to help keep the shape. 

Balloons Away

Lately Virginia has really been enjoying painting and stamping. Each morning she wakes up and watches cartoons. Then next thing I know she is running for her paints. To keep things interesting, we have been trying different methods of painting. We started with the simple paint brush and finger painting. We have explored lids, yarn, and now balloons.

First take a balloon and blow it up. I kept our balloon small since little hands were playing. Next place paint on your lid and let your little one press the balloon into the paint. We did purple, blue, and pink.

Note: I only said a few curse words under my breath as I was trying to tie that devil balloon.

Next press the balloon to the paper and lift. It is that simple. Virginia had a blast with the balloon. I even enjoyed the painting with the balloon. It is endless the amount of things you can paint with. Just a few ideas we want to test is leaves, rocks, and bubble wrap. 

I found a quote on a blog that just rung true to me this week, " It is not about the end product but the process." I am learning to just let Virginia go for it and do what she wants. Letting her explore her creativity with no limits.

Slime Time

Last week at the library as we were searching for books on apples. I stumbled upon a science experiment book called Science Rocks! It is a huge book full of science experiments for all ages. It ranges from the material world, forces in motion, energy in action, electricity and magnetism, and the natural world. I thought it would be a blast to do a few of the simple experiments with Virginia.  First up we did Slime Time.

Fill a cup with cornstarch and pour it into a bowl.

Slowly add some water, stirring all the time. Keep adding water slowly until the mixture turns into a sticky paste. Don't add too much - you probably won't need more than half a cup.

Add food coloring until your mixture changes color, stirring it though until it is all blended in.

Then you have Slime! Pick the mixture up and see how it behaves. What happens if you squeeze or pull it? If you throw it on the floor it will stick together  like a solid, but if you leave it there  it will turn  into a liquid puddle. I add a blast playing in the slime. The texture is amazing and feels so funny turning from solid to a liquid. Sadly Virginia wanted nothing to do with the slime. Slowly I will make my little clean freak into a messy two year old girl.

Warning: Your hands will be tinted the color of food dye you use.