I spend the night at Daddy's home.  Mommy took me to Hank's birthday party.  Because it was held at lunch time we had pizza and cupcakes.  Yummy!  Again it was another fun party.   Most of the children were the same ones that attended Sophia's party.

Daddy and I took Mimz a baked potato.  She is starting to feel better.  GGM is all well.  She is walking with a bounce in her step, doing laundry and sweeping and mopping floors.  She must be better if she can do all that!  And she is playing Bookworm on the computer and working on jigsaw puzzles.  So glad both of my sick grandma's are better.

I spent the evening at Mommy's home.

My graduation ceremony has been changed to Tuesday evening, and they are hoping that it will be held in Mimz' park where there will be plenty of room for everyone to attend.  We probably won't get to play in the park because of the flood and wind damage.

Sophia's birthday party was at 9:30am this morning at Pump It Up.

Daddy styled my hair for me.  Cool!

Because it was early in the day, they served bagels, fruit, and birthday cake.

Sophia was the birthday girl.

  I love running around that place and guess what? 

 I will be back tomorrow for another party.  What a lucky boy I am.


Daddy and I took Mimz some potato soup.  Poor Mimz, I don't like it when she feels bad.

While Daddy drove us to Galveston I took a nap.

We were visiting friends at their bay house.

This is called beaching.

After dark we did some night fishing off the dock.  We were hopeful that we would catch something, but alas! it didn't happen.  We had a great time anyway.  I enjoy my Daddy Time.

 On April 30, 2011 Daddy took me to the gulf beach.  Four years later we came back.

Mommy had me ready for Barbara to pick me up as she went to get Anna Kate from Kristan at the Denney's near my house.  Anna Kate watched me the entire trip back to Barbara's home.  She was talking so loud, I had to laugh at what a big voice she had.  She was not crying, just making happy loud talk.

I hurried to eat breakfast, brush my teeth, and get dressed for school, so I would have all of that done before Quintin and Sparkie arrived to work on floor installation.  I was glad I had been a good boy this week, so I could have $4 to buy pizza for lunch.  Anna Kate rode to school with us but she was quiet this time.  I guess she was listening to GGF, Barbara, and me talk.

I have been looking at the newspaper with Barbara.  We looked at the sports section and cartoons.  Barbara read three cartoons to me.  We looked at pictures and talk about them.  We have looked at the food ads.  By the end of summer I should be pretty familiar with newspapers.

GGM and Mimz are both still pretty sick.  Both of them are very weak and can't wait for this to pass.  The symptoms have been fever, diarrhea, throwing up, and fatigue.  GGM thinks she might be feeling better but soon discovers she is not well yet. She had a cinnamon roll and coffee and she thinks that helped her feel better.

Mimz was going to keep me today, and was going to take me into school early and let me stay until 2pm so she would be on time to her volunteer job at the hospital, but since she is so sick, Barbara had me.  Barbara did let me stay at school until 2pm.  I was so happy about staying late.  When Barbara came into school to get me, my teacher told her all the boys were very glad I got to stay late.
Again  Anna Kate was with her and so was GGF.  And there was a bottle of apple juice for me to quench my thirst.  I have that entire bottle drank before we get half way home.

Barbara has been pretty busy today.  She has the three workers upstairs, she had me to corral and Anna Kate to constantly take care of.  GGM is staying away from us kids.  GGF watches the workers, then goes outside to work in the yard, then comes in for a nap. 

Today I fed Anna Kate some garden vegetables and she gobbled them down.  At first we had a hard time coordinating her mouth with my hand, but after just a few spoonfuls I had it figured out.  I had to be ready to aim the spoon at her mouth when she opened it.  When she quit opening her mouth, I knew she was finished.

 I was really concentrating on getting food into her little mouth.

 We played on Barbara's bed.  I wanted to play fireman, but we didn't.  It would be too crowded with Anna Kate in the mix.

Anna Kate loved being a part of our play.

We wanted to read a few pages in the book Fing, but Anna Kate would not cooperate so we barely got started before we nixed that idea.  The book is about a 6-year-old boy who was born without knees and something he befriends who lives in his attic.

I watched the workers and ask questions.  I'm good about staying out of their way.  Barbara and GGF both keep an eye on me to make sure I am not a nuisance.  

Daddy picked me up at 5pm on the dot.  We had just started heating up some leftover Black Pepper Chicken and rice for me to eat, when he called saying he would be here in one minute.  We scrambled to get on my shoes and I ran out so happy to see Daddy. 

He picked me up and gave me a big hug.  We left, forgetting I was about to eat some dinner.

We went over to Mimz to check on her, take out her trash, and visit for a few minutes.  She enjoyed watching me dramatically explain how GGM felt bad, would get up for five minutes and then back to bed, up five minutes and back to bed, etc.  Mimz said she understands, she is suffering with that same illness. 

This was not a routine day for any of us.
At the Tomball house, GGM is recovering from her sickness but she is still very weak and needs lots of rest.  Barbara has some aches and chills and headache so she is not at her best.  And at her house, the new wood floor installation stared at 8:30am.  She is happy to find out the workers will be able to finish two rooms completely in the next two days.  That means this weekend those two rooms (my bedroom/toy room and the Lolita room) can be put back together.  Doing the upstairs will take 3 days.

Mimz has volunteered to take care of me the rest of the week, so I won't be underfoot at the floor installation until next week.  I remember Quintin and Sparkie.  I remember Sparkie making a claw with his hand and growling at me.  That was fun.

Anna Kate was the first person to get sick on Monday.  Kristan was hit with it on Tuesday and missed work on Wednesday.  Too bad she got sick since she has so much to do at the end of the school year.   PaPa and Grandma volunteered to take care of Anna Kate today at her house.  So Barbara won't have her underfoot today either.  Barbara appreciated everyone helping her with child care today.  She has been stressed this week trying to keep everyone from getting sick.  The one good thing is Anna Kate never felt bad.  She was happy all day every day.

Well, some bad news.  Around noon, this "sickness" hit Mimz hard.  Barbara is back to normal, so she picked me up from school.   We had Panda Express Black Pepper Chicken for lunch.  So far I like everything I have eaten from that store.

I enjoyed getting reacquainted with Quinton and Sparkie.  They remembered me.  I helped a little.  Quinton showed me how to measure.  He explained about the tapping block.  I handed him a few pieces of wood flooring. 

 I stood back while they ran the saw.

 I found a piece of wood that I pretended was a rifle.  I am pretty good at entertaining myself.
But most of the time, Barbara insisted I stay back, out of their way so they could work at a faster pace than they can with me underfoot.  

GGM thinks she feels better, then it hits her again.  She might get up for a few minutes, but then she is so weak she has to go back to bed.  Hope GGM and Mimz both recover very soon.

Mommy and I helped Barbara and GGF move lots of our belongings into the one room that is completely finished.  I was really into helping with this task.  I worked hard and pretty fast.  GGM helped for maybe ten minutes, then she said she was sorry but she had to go rest.   After we did that, the workers will now only have heavy items to move out of their way.

More thunderstorms all night.  There has been flooding and even a few deaths in Texas due to flooding.   My family is all okay, but we are so very sad for other who have not been so fortunate.

 After school, Mimz invited Peyton and Brooke over to make ice cream Sundaes with me.  We had such a good time.

We each got to add what toppings we wanted on our sundae. The girl's mother sure appreciate Mimz having the girls over to play with me.  It gives her some time to do things.  

Daddy came over and grilled a healthy dinner for us.  I never forget to say my meal time prayer.

 Oh, Dear!  Anna Kate has been sick, Kristan was then sick.  Now GGM is really sick.  Barbara has a very low grade fever so she has her fingers crossed that she dodges the bullet.

Barbara snapped this picture so Kristan and Andy could see Anna Kate's throw up.  She said a picture is worth a thousand words. 

 On our roof were two big birds. They often appear on trash pick up day and get into trashcans and make a big big mess.

 Here the bird has his wings spread out.

We had a bad thunder storm last night.  There has been lots of flooding all over Texas.  We have been fortunate.  Daddy was without electricity last night.  And Barbara was without it for several hours last week. 

Daddy said he had to do some creative driving to get around water so he could get to work.
Morgan's school was closed due to high water.

Mimz' park is closed due to water damage.  My pre-school graduation was supposed to be in the park amphitheater.  I guess other plans will be made.

After school Mimz and I drove Jolly home.  We got to see Uncle Scott, Aunt Jill, and Morgan.  That was a nice treat.   Then we drove over to Barbara's, where we got to play with Anna Kate.  She sure likes me.

 Anna Kate loves her stroller rides.  GGM, GGF, and Barbara take turns strolling with her.  If I am there, I take a turn too.  But mostly I like to ride my scooter in circles around her.

Today is Memorial Day.  We need to take some time to think about the special people who have served in our country's military.   They sacrificed for each of us.  We are very grateful.

I played with my neighbor boys again.  I spent part of the day at Dad's...

,,,and I spend the evening and night at Mimz with her and Jolly, Uncle Scott's dog.  I sure enjoy playing with Jolly.

 I must have been bitten by something...

...or got near something I am allergic to because my right ear is red and swollen.
I was so dirty after a hard day of play, I absolutely had to have a bath before bed.

I started out in my own bed, but with all the thunder, it wasn't long before Jolly and I moved to Mimz' bed. 

I played with Debra's two grandsons, Carson, and Jon Jon a good part of the day.  Debra bought all five of us a __________.  We had a blast.

Today we held another garage sale at my house.  Grandma spend the night so she could be here to help.  Barbara came over at 5am to help them stand up tables and set things on them.

I didn't wake up until after 8am.  I had already discuss that if I hollered "Mommy" she would most likely be outside and would not hear me.  That is what happened.  So I got dressed and went out to find people shopping at our sale.  Mommy had been to What-a-burger and had bought me a taquito. 
Mostly we sold my old clothes going back to my newborn clothes and some of Mommy's old clothes.  We made $230 and Andy made $20.  We were just a little concerned that it might start raining but the clouds were not dark clouds so we just stayed positive and guess what???  it did not rain until we had everything back in the garage except for two tables.  Barbara left then and was home by 1:30.  The rain ended after just ten minutes and Mommy dried the tables and brought them in.

 We found my fireman suspenders!

Barbara had to adjust them to make them large enough for them to fit me.  Yea!  I loved my fireman's outfit.

 During the garage sale, Day-Day and I played war.

In this picture it looks like we are walking patrol.  Day-Day's grandparents live in the first house you see in this picture.

Grandma left at 10:30 to go to a "happy" place.  She is going to get annoyed at us calling scrap booking her happy place but she is the one who said it was the "happiest place on earth" and Barbara isn't going to forget it. 

All during the sale I played with Debra and Lewis' two grandsons, Day-Day and Brother (their nicknames).  They are seven and five years old and are very well behaved.  We mostly played war or rode our bikes or played in my toy room.  We sat up some of my train track and played with it some.

 Mommy found a fun project for the three of us.  We painted a small crate.

 We all worked together and we got the job done.  We have three other crates that we will stack and use for storage in the garage.  I did help paint the other three crates.

There is a saying "It's no use crying over spilled milk," well, Mommy wanted to cry this evening.  She opened a new gallon of milk and poured some on my cereal.  When she went to put the milk in the the refrigerator, she hit the shelf and it fell out of her hand and the plastic contain split open.  A full gallon of milk was on the floor and under the refrigerator.   We looked at each other.  They only thing I could think to say was "could I have my cereal?"  While I ate cereal she took towels to mop up the milk and started a load of milky towels in the washing machine.  She said, "Let's look on the bright side, at least it was not a glass bottle with broken glass everywhere."

Debra and Lewis had a big cookout tonight and all of the neighbors were invited.  Mommy and JC (Carson's dad) are buying a brisket and Lewis will cook it for them, then they will swap some for ribs and other meats.   We have done this before and it is lots of fun. 

Mimz managed to get in a walk with her hiking club.  We have had so much rain, we were doubtful her walk or our garage sale would happen this weekend.  Mimz has Jolly this weekend.  I sure hope I get to see him.

I woke up early this morning.  And I woke up happy.  I was ready to get the day going, so Mommy drove me over to Barbara's so I would have plenty of time to play with Anna Kate.

While GGM fed AK her bottle, I fixed my breakfast.  I fixed pancakes.  I did it all except putting them in the microwave (and that is only because I am not tall enough) and I didn't cut them into pieces but I will do that this summer when we have plenty of time.  I ate and put my dishes in the dishwasher.  I didn't want to fix my breakfast, saying it was not summer yet, so I didn't need to start learning all that stuff, but Barbara said we had the time, so I might as well help out.  I also didn't pour my milk, because the gallon bottle was full and it is pretty heavy.

I have been practicing snapping my fingers and I have learned how to do it with fingers on both of my hands.

On our trip to school, we often talk about driving and traffic rules. I know about tailgating, traffic jams, right on red, running red lights, and a host of things like that.  By the time I am old enough to drive, I will be very wise about how to maneuver a car around in traffic.

It is Friday and I have been a very good boy, so Barbara gave me $4 to buy pizza for lunch.  Yummy!

I had my rifle in the car so on the drive home I was riding shotgun.  The bad guys were magnolia trees so I shot every one of them I saw.  They are easy to spot this time of year because they have big (bad smelling) white flowers on them.  I also know how to spot mimosa trees with their pink flowered canopy.

Anna Kate was wearing my sun hat.  She had a teething ring that was mine and she had one of my Monk Monks to play with.  She had a few happy moments today.

Anna Kate had a rough day, probably her worst day she has spent at Barbara's home.  She was only really happy if she was outside or eating.   She took very short naps.  So besides being tired we think maybe she was teething.   Fortunately for GGM and Barbara I have been a super behaved child so they didn't have two problem children to deal with.  They both said TGIF and were looking forward to this three day weekend.

 I did my best to keep her happy.

 She does like to touch my face.  We have to tell her to leave my eyes alone, but she doesn't understand.

Anna Kate was picked up around 4:40p and Mommy got me by 5:15p.  Barbara was glad to bring in the flag at that time and close the garage door to call it a day.

Mommy and I spend the evening at John John's home.  I really had a good time.  A funny thing:  Both of John John's parents told Mommy I was such a nice boy, mature, and very independent.  At the end of the evening they asked if I could spend the night.  I said, "I will, but only if my mommy could spend the night too."   They laughed... so much for independence.  


 

Mimz and I had a busy but happy morning.  Mimz said I amaze her.  She said that because we were looking at the radar and I told her not to worry because the storm was moving north ... and of course it was.  So we talked about maps and east and west.  I learn things easily and I remember so much of these little lessons.

Driving to school Mimz had the radio on.  I heard the words North Carolina.  I started saying North Caroline over and over again, in an excited way.  Mimz asked me, "What about North Carolina?"  I said, "Mimz, Michael Jordan, you know that!"  As it turns out, my dad tells me things about his favorite teams and players.  He had told me Michael Jordan played college basketball at North Caroline.  I remember so very much from the things my adults tell me.

I can't believe it... another day of rain and the forecast calls for rain the next several days.  That meant Mimz didn't get to go for a walk in the park.  She is supposed to have a hike this weekend, but the rain may cancel that event.  

Oh, boy.  This is going to be a super fun summer for me.  Mimz has already got a summer pass for us at Splash Town.  (When I told this to Kristan, she told me that Uncle Andy worked at Splash Town when he was a teenager.)  Well, today, Mimz got a very special deal on a membership to the Houston Zoo for Barbara, herself, and me.   It is her treat for us.  It was a deal for grandparents and up to five grand-kids.

Since we can't go to the park, Mimz and I went to the mall, where I rode the Carousel before heading to the play area.  I played with other children.

Mimz noticed for the first time today, that children are supposed to be under 42" to play in the area.  I am 46" tall, but I play so nicely, I don't think it is a problem.  I may not get to play there much any more, if at all.

We arrived at Barbara's around 3:15pm.  I was happy AK was awake.

She loves to play with this musical toy that I loved to play with too.  It has wheels, so having it pushed under this cabinet keeps it steady so she can play without us having to hold her and it, otherwise it rolls or she pulls it over on herself.

We had a perfect day to take Baby Girl outside.  We spend hour outside riding scooters and playing ball while AK watch from her stroller.  She never complains when she is outside.  But we did have to stop playing around 4:15pm to feed Baby Girl.

 Three months from now, I will be riding this school bus home from school.  It stops right in front of Brad's house.  Brad has a iron bench in his front yard so my family can sit there while they wait for my bus to bring me home.

 GGF and GGM sat in the shade watching me ride my scooter and watching Barbara take her turn pushing AK up and down the street.  You can see the corner of the puddle of water that stand there any time it rains, so we push that water down the street so it doesn't hatch mosquitoes and such.

Around 6pm, Barbara loaded AK and me into her car and we drove to my house.  Kristan came there to pick up her baby.  Barbara came over to help Mommy get ready for her garage sale which is scheduled for this Saturday, if the weather cooperates.  I played with Carson this evening.

Mommy drove me over to Mimz home.  I was not a happy boy this morning and I didn't want to eat.  I just wanted to go to school at 8am.  Mimz just sat down and left me alone and in just a few minutes I was ready for breakfast and my sweet self returned.   I found out Jolly, Uncle Scott's dog, is spending the weekend with Mimz.  That always makes me happy.

Mimz was glad soccer practices are over, so we don't have to spend our Wednesday evening driving that long drive to practice.  Of course, she misses watching me play during soccer games.

I played so hard today, I was asleep before 8:30pm.

 Anna Kate played hard today too.  She is curious and occasionally will play by herself. 

 She does look to make sure we are still there, then she goes back to playing.

 Every day she goes for long stroller rides.  We normally keep her on our dead end street and we take turns pushing her stroller.  She will stay out there as long as someone will push her around. 

Anna Kate was 9 months old today.  She changes every single day.  She had her well-baby check-up today.  She was 28 inches long and weight 21 pounds.  Barbara looked back on my blog and found that I was 28 inches long also and weighed 19 pound 10 ounces.  So we were about the same size at 9 months.

Mommy needed to get to work early so she drove me to Denney's to give me to Barbara.  Barbara meets Kristan every school day morning in that parking lot to get Anna Kate.  So by 7:30a Barbara and GGF were driving Anna Kate and me back to their home.   GGM was happy to see both of her great grandchildren.

GGM fed Anna Kate a bottle, while I fixed oatmeal for my breakfast.  The only thing I didn't get to do was take the hot water out of the microwave.  I'm supposed to learn how to fix whatever I want for breakfast this summer.  And if I enjoy fixing breakfast, maybe I will start helping fix lunch also. 
After I ate my oatmeal, I got to have some Fiber One bar that GGM makes.  It is yummy.  It has chocolate bark in it so it tastes sweet but it has lots of healthy things like oatmeal, almonds, coconut, and Fiber One cereal.

I hugged Anna Kate before I had to leave for school.  I happily ran into school.  I crossed my fingers that the rain wold hold off until the afternoon so we could have recess.... we had two recesses today!

 While I was at school GGM made a cake so we could have some strawberry shortcake.  Anna Kate was given a new toy... she played with that box for a long time.

 She sometimes will play in her play pen happily by herself.  Most of the time she is pulling herself up.  Once she is standing up, she often lets go and can balance pretty well.  After a second of two she will grab on the the side of the play pen, then she repeats the process.  This little girl will be walking before she is one year old.  I started walking just before my first birthday.

If Anna Kate was awake we were playing with her unless she was playing nicely in her play pen.  When she was asleep we played Hide and Seek.  Barbara is a very good hider.

I played with an old bag of slime.  I took off my shirt... I should have taken off my jeans too.

Outside I helped Barbara sweep the standing puddle of water down the street.  The object was to not get my shoes wet.  Fortunately I did not get them wet.

Anna Kate enjoyed strolling round our dead-end street.

 We checked on our cucumbers.  Our plants must have a hundred blooms.  We found a couple of inch long cucumbers.  And one pea size pepper.

Barbara and I made up a game similar to curling using this target.  I tossed the green balls.

Oh a mosquito got on Anna Kate.  I knocked it off of her and I stomped on it.  I was her hero.

We played with our balloon again.  Barbara and I swatted it 40 times in a row back and forth without it hitting the ground.  Later we tried again and we reached 100!

I like to practice writing words.  Barbara stuck that post-it-note on my back and I didn't even know it was there.

We drove to Sonic to get the Tuesday After 5pm burger special.  That was for Barbara and GGM.  GGF and I shared a grilled cheese sandwich because we didn't want a hamburger.

Barbara drove me home.  I played with Carson.  Mommy and Barbara worked on getting ready for a garage sale this weekend.  I think mainly they will be selling all of my old clothes and some of Mommy's old clothes.