Lately.

Pre-bedtime interview. Chocolate-milk-drinking was more important than answering questions...


A little of our favorite song. Followed by distraction.

Beautiful Saturday and an almost-fall hike.

We have been busy bees at our house. The weather turned into hints of glorious fall, and we had to get out for an outdoor day a few weekends ago. Shepard thought the whole idea of a picnic, a playground, and hiking by the river with "castle walls" was pretty awesome. Mommy and Daddy really loved the 75 degree, low humidity day. Mommy loved carrying the little hiker somewhat less. Amazing how he can be "tired" and still have plenty of energy when the playground comes in view.

PICNIC! (or pic-a-nic as he says)

Climber.

Look at the little fishies down there.

Castle walls! (Really, ruins from an old canal)

Super Eagle-Eye Daddy spotted a green tree snake for us. Shepard got to pet it.

Exploring.

Photos and life...and watermelon

Nothing too exciting going on lately. We were able to visit with Grandma and cousins and uncles and aunt over Labor Day weekend. But did I take pictures? Nope. I did grab the camera on a few occasions lately, though. Here are some highlights.

Lawnmower! Good for 30 minutes of entertainment.

We're learning the letters of our names. It hasn't rained, so these have been around for two weeks.

Mommy, you ride in the back. I will drive you.

Riding on the "tractor" is fun!

And our annual watermelon video...

Being three and stuff

So many fun things going on in life right now. Shepard is increasingly verbal about EVERYTHING. He sorts out life out loud, as most kids his age do.

"Mommy, you have a normal car. If you hit that car in front of you, it will break."

"When I get bigger, I can drive too."
(Yes, but you have to take a very hard test, drive around with a teacher, learn what all the signs mean...and if you try to drive without doing all that, you can go to jail.) This actually happened in the car yesterday. I'm pretty sure he thinks he's qualified to drive a big car now, so I have to do everything in my power to keep him a little fearful of trying it.

I turned off the lamp in his room for night-night.  "How rude. I like it a little bit light. How rude."
He wasn't trying to be sassy. Once we adjusted the light to his liking (what do I care...just go to BED!), he said, "Now, that's just the way I like it."

"Mommy, that's a concrete truck. It pours out...and you can't walk on it because it's sparkly."

So, you see. Sometimes things make the best sense in his head, but if you hang around him long enough, you start to see where he's coming from and the connections he makes. It's like peeking into his brain, because he processes everything through questions and dialogue. I love it. I've made a promise to myself and to Jerod to answer every question. Always. Even when I'd rather just pull out a Jen Hatmaker and say "I don't know. ASK JESUS!" (She's my favorite. That's her blog link back there, but for good fun and frivolity; I like to see what she posts day-to-day on facebook.)

We started a new preschool program this week. He left behind the best day care we could have asked for (he's been there since he was 9 weeks old!), and has moved on to a program that's more structured and very close to my work. As a matter of fact, they were having a picnic on the lawn today; and I got to see him for a few minutes unobserved.

Here are his first day of preschool photos:

No more baby here. Sigh.

 

 

 Oh, and remind me to tell you about the time he called me on his hand (by dialing it like a phone...).

It's the year of the retro-post. Happy Fourth of July!

Pay no attention to the post date.

I would say it's been a crazy year, but I'm beginning to think they're ALL crazy. So, no excuses. I'm spending more time with Shepard these days due to a later bedtime, so I think my blog-time must have been in the evenings after he went to bed. But I can't remember because I'm so flippin' tired.  :)

Shepard's day care has a great tradition of doing a Fourth of July parade each year. Each class makes t-shirts and hats, the fire truck comes out, and a four-piece jazz band...and they go around the block in their strollers, wagons, golf carts, etc. ALL decked out with stars and stripes. It's great fun. Jerod got to go this year and take some photos (it was on July 3, and I had to work). It's such a big deal for the kids. When they come back in to the gym, they get sno cones and there are bouncy houses. It's a big party.

Parade-goers. Lots of parents and grandparents.

Shepard in the bouncy house

The fire fighter let the kids sit up in the fire truck!

Then, he let Shepard hold a real fire hat.

The squinty-eyed smile of late.

Passing time before the big parade.

A trip to Gigi and Pops' house

We did a mini-cation in July. It's almost hard to remember now. It rained a lot. Shepard didn't really notice. He was as happy as can be. We did have one nice day at Stone Mountain that little man is STILL talking about...he loved the cable car up the mountain! And, he got to ride a BIG TRAIN for the first time.

Here are some highlights...(click on photo to view larger)

Shepard got to play with Alina. They have learned the art of "cheeeeeese!"

Reconnecting with my old roommate, Sara. (Alina's mommy)

New friends are always fun to laugh with.

(Stone Mountain train) Here it comes!

Ready to ride the rails!!

 

The gang's all here.

Train whistles are VERY LOUD.

 

With the engineer.

Cable car. Ride to the top of the mountain and see "broccoli trees" below.

On top of Stone Mountain

Group shot. Downtown Atlanta in the background.

 

Making "Pops" look super-tall

 

It's a beautiful butterfly.

Ready to ride to the top.

Mom on Stone Mountain.

Holding on to the little climbing monkey.

Catching butterflies.

Oooh. I found a sandbox! Fun anywhere.

Carving on Stone Mountain and site of the Laser Show.

We found this awesome toy at a Charlotte park when we got home.

 

Three. The Movie.

It's epic-lengthed. Seriously. Way too long, but time is moving along so quickly that I don't want to skip anything and forget it. So, if you have 15 minutes to watch the sweetest little guy on the planet, here's your chance.