Thursday, March 31, 2011

puddler

Hey, remember when I said that we needed to get henry outside because of his spring fever, stir crazy antics?  Well.....we had a few hours o' sunshine several days ago with decent temps!  Add some super duper cute monkey boots (thanks to amazon.com) to the mix and we were in for some adorableness....and muddiness :)  Also, it gave me a great opportunity to work on honing in my "fine art" texture applications to portraits (something i want to offer future photography clients).  henry, of course is my most favorite subject to play with both literally and figuratively :)

AS soon as we placed his monkey booted footies on the gravel driveway, he did not stop walking (even to see where it was he was going) and he kept his little eyes firmly affixed to whatever his yellow galoshes were doing.  OH, and splashing in puddles?  I guess this must simply be an innate behavior because he didn't need anyone to show him how to do this 
oh yes, i guess he did gravitate toward the tractor....imagine that :)
henry also realized that daddy's pants work well for...
...wiping muddy hands--hehe
my personal favorite photograph
the boots :)  after some time in the mud
the butt :)  also, after some time in the mud
ps: as i wrote this post, it was snowing...again.  It can never be spring soon enough! We can't wait to get henry outside again :)








Monday, March 21, 2011

all in a day's play :)

this past weekend we took henry to the children's museum.  we played for two hours and it went by so fast, it felt like we were only there for twenty minutes.  he really enjoyed himself!

first we went grocery shopping.  henry made sure to load up on fresh produce.
especially peaches.  he cleaned them all out of those.
hmmmmm, what else do i need to pick up?
a cart full of peaches, pork loin, and light bulbs.  i think we're good to go!
(he just so happened to skip over all the dairy products) 
the car got a flat on the way home from the grocery store so henry had to change it :)
...with dada's help
 and mama too....because she knows all about changing tires....the pretend kind that is.
henry's other favorite spot was this enormous light-bright-esque thing they have.  you can plug in different colored tubes and they light up.  mom may have helped design the H :)
 
finally, we spent some serious time on the slides
going down the lumpy bumpy slide all by himself--big boy--we spent a lot of time here!
don't forget to take some time to play too!  AND henry would also like you to......
:)










Sunday, March 20, 2011

desk work.

pssst. guess what i'm doing right now?  okay.  i'll just tell you.  i'm printing off my thesis.  YES.  three copies to send out to the reading committee, and then i will meet with them in two weeks for my thesis defense.  WOOHOO.  So i am done.......ish.  I still have the defense and everything, but i really can't help but celebrate this moment somewhat.  actually, my insides are throwing a little dance party quite similar to the one henry threw in the kitchen a while back.  now, i am going to study study study and prepare myself, but, i thought i deserved some blog time first.  have you been enjoying the henry overload lately?  GOOD. because i have even more for you.  
i was in the storage room the other day...can't remember why, but i came across this little chair that my brother and i use to sit in and play with and also this small table.  in fact, henry's great-grandma bernie used to play with them when she was little--how cool is that? I thought, perfect--henry has been running around like a mad man lately, pretty sure its spring fever and we have got to get him outside, it's just so hard right now with all the gloppy sloshy slush junk everywhere, and we had been waiting for some mud boots to come in the mail, because i had to order them online because i cannot find mud boots in his size anywhere--whoa tangent.  anyway, he has been running around like crazy, so i thought this would be nice because it would encourage him to sit...at least for a few minutes, so maybe i can go to the bathroom...or cook some toast...you know-- do things.  AND tada--he loves it!  he thinks he is such a big boy when he sits at his table--heck, he is a big boy!  he even pushes the chair in when he's done :)  I decided this was the perfect photo op since he was still, so i got my camera out and snapped away while he colored.
 of course, coloring can become quite complicated when you try to color with all of the crayons at once.  but henry enjoys a good challenge :)
even great artists need a snack break.
:)




     

Friday, March 18, 2011

the belly button business...

happy st. patrick's day.  this post has nothing to do with st. patty's day though. k? k.  henry was wearing a really cute green outfit, but by the time i got home this evening to snap any photos his dad had already stripped him down (he had goulash for supper...so he got pretty messy as you can imagine).  i know, i'm a lame mom, but i think we can overlook this minor non-documentation in lieu of what i really have to share :)

you know how some babies snuggle stuffed animals or blankies, or they suck their thumbs to soothe themselves?  well henry lodges his finger deep within the comforting crater of his belly button.  i'm not kidding you, he puts his finger in his belly button constantly (its hard to dress him in a onesie, because not having access to this necessary little niche can become particularly distressing), he does it to calm himself down when he is upset, he falls asleep at night with one finger firmly rooted in there, and he will just prod at his navel absent-mindedly throughout the day.  sometimes, he will find your belly button too (which is funny until he really crams his finger deep in there). at first, i thought it was just an amusing thing he did a few times, but now i am starting to realize that it really is a self-soothing mechanism.  Is this normal? I guess there are probably worse and weirder habits a person can have.  Hopefully, though, he outgrows it before he begins dating  :)


Thursday, March 17, 2011

austin's birthday

first off, sorry, i just cannot help myself, but if you know me, then you will understand.  I AM SO PROUD of the birthday cake i made for austin this year.  number one, its a cheesecake, and number two, i have never made a cheesecake from scratch, and number three, i had to mess with the recipe because i didn't have exactly what i needed.  i.e. this type of scenario usually NEVER works out for me. 

Austin loooves caramel delite girl scout cookies so i found an awesome recipe for a caramel delite cake, however, when it was time to make it, there were no caramel delites to be found.  I was desperate.  I even posted a notice on facebook and searched online for some.  Some helpful folks told me that keebler or tollhouse made a knockoff version, so i scoured the grocery stores for those...nothing.  I tried to find some girl scout cookie "retailers" near me, and this is what a found.... http://www.abcsmartcookies.com/boothLocator.asp?cid=177.... i typed in our zip codee, and yep, the closest ones to me were 182 miles away.  boo.  so i improvised!  i bought some coconut (which I toasted), some twix candy bars, and some oreos with chocolate filling.  then i blended all these lovely treats together to create a caramel delite doppleganger.  and it worked!! woohoo.  here is the blessed cake below!  everyone loved it, especially austin, which made this cook's husband's birthday :)  and maybe her day too :) 
and another photo, yes, you better believe I had to place this masterpiece on a schmancy platter!
Austin, sooo excited for his cake. (perhaps an understatement)

AND of course a photo of henry celebrating his dada's birthday with him!  (you didn't think this post could possibly be all about a cake did you?)   
we had a fun and relaxing birthday weekend at home.  we played with henry, ate cake (of course), and homemade pizza too! austin opened his gifts and then we went for a night out on the town while henry played with his gunka and gammy.  upon austin's request we went and saw the movie Battle: Los Angeles.  Hey, it was his birthday after all :)

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

when toys take over


I shot this clip of henry (okay so its pretty long and maybe classifies as more of a short film than a "clip") in the morning right after he was fed and dressed for the day. As you can see, he has already decorated the living room with toys. there is no point in picking up or trying to keep things tidy while he plays because it will look the same way within two minutes (believe me, i have tried). So i am learning to live with the toy clutter :) we are just hanging out and playing like usual--nothing too special--just a typical morning in henry's world


Saturday, March 12, 2011

that's how we do

i just got some new equipment (i.e. toys) for my camera.  so naturally, i had to play with them and take some photos. and who is the best subject i have? duh--henry!  so i snapped some while we were hanging out, playing, and watching sesame street. :)  he wore his elmo shirt for the occasion of course.
henry decided to use his red rocking chair as a photo prop--this kid's a natural.  maybe i should find him a modeling agent...
and then sesame street became much more interesting than the silly mom behind the camera
:)
hey!  what are you doing!
and this photo was taken after i told him "no no"!  he had pushed the chair up against the couch and decided to use it as a stepping stool to climb on to the couch, and stood on it, which is a no no :)  look at that face.  seriously.  how dare i tell him no....right?
chillaxer.