Be Kind 2 Earth Day

 

Earth Day is coming up next week! Friday, April 22...to be exact.

Have you given any thought to how you will celebrate? It doesn't have to be big and earth shattering...just one small act of kindness to our beautiful earth will do just fine.....pick up a stray bit of trash.....take your kids for a walk to give them an appreciation for nature....collect a few items to recycle....use real, cloth napkins for the day (hey, you might find that you like it!).

So, if you're in on doing one nice thing for the planet (big or small) then head on over to Be Kind 2 Earth Day's Facebook Fan Page and "like" it to show your support. Then click on over here to register your state.

As for us, we'll be keeping it low key. I'm thinking of doing a flip-flop drop off at Old Navy followed by a nature walk and a picnic. The parks around here are generally super clean, but we'll bring along a grocery bag to collect any trash we might happen upon. And, if Levi has any say we'll be collecting stray leaves for a collage. The boy loves to make art. What can I say? We just might be related. ;)

I'll leave you with a little Mississippi factoid....did you know that we have 1.2 million acres of public lands just waiting for us to check them out? If you ask me, that's reason enough to go exploring!

*Photographs taken on a recent "beeventure".  Will blog about it soon....promise.

O, Christmas Tree

As promised, we went Christmas tree hunting yesterday.  The perk of going on a weekday is that it was just us.  Us being the munchkins, the mama, the daddy, and the nanno.  So we got the hayride all to ourselves.

Levi helped carry our tree.  He kept talking about what a big, strong boy he is.  Oh, my heart!

Sophia was unimpressed.

So, a little measuring up was in order.

Our Christmas tree (1st one as a family) has now taken residence in our living room.  Decorating will commence in a few days.  First, this mama has to figure out what to do about garland and a tree topper.  Pre-Stephan and Sophia, I had a little tinsel tree.  It didn't really need garland, and it was much tinier than the 7 footer now sitting in our living room.  So, you can imagine my old topper would be dwarfed.  Ideas?  Suggestions?

Success!

Levi has finally turned a corner in the whole getting-settled-into-a-new-life-funk.  He's been mostly sweet about the move and the marriage, but he's certainly had his quirky and trying moments...okay, more than just moments.  He was screaming every morning for at least 1/2 an hour...."I wanna go home!!!"  What a pleasant way to great the day.  He was also refusing to acknowledge that this was now our house.  Until two days ago he was referring to it only as "Teven's house".  If anyone mentioned that it was our or his house, Levi would scream, "Nooooo!"

But, then on Wednesday morning the screaming was oddly shorter than usual.  It was even followed by a very happy munchkin.  The happiness lasted the whole, entire day!  Thursday morning rolled around, and the screaming was almost unnoticeable.  And, the happiness returned for yet another whole, entire day.  Now, it's Friday...no screaming...just happiness....except when I tell him he can't watch a movie, but that's really a whole other post.  Over the course of the past 2 1/2 days Levi has actually been referring to it as "our house" and "home."  Oh, sweet relief!

Now that laughter is back and we're on a happy note, I thought I'd leave you with some photos of the huge snow we got the day before our wedding.  A whopping SIX inches...in February!  What's up with that?!!!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mississippi landscapes...this much snow is unusual...anytime...especially in February.  But, hey, Levi thought it was the best thing in the world, and although, it was certainly cold, it was also undeniably beautiful.

A Christmas Festival

When planning Advent activities, I highly recommend checking out some of the local festivities.  You are likely to find ample opportunity for family friendly fun.  One of our favorite museums is the Mississippi Agriculture & Forestry Museum.  This weekend they are hosting a fun and free Christmas Festival (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 5-8 pm).  You can even get a complimentary breakfast for dinner at their Christmas Diner...real grits included (the "real" part of that is very important for this southern gal).  Levi's favorites? Well, of course, he loved the grits.  But, he was really crazy about the train ride through the museum's lit up town and the carousel...

Okay, I know he doesn't look thrilled, but I promise this is his thrilled look.  He gets the most intense expressions on his face when he's enjoying something...especially something new.  See...here he is hugging one of the horsies...

While we're on the topic of local festivities, I thought I'd share a couple of my favorite ways to find out about them.

~ Subscribe to a local parenting magazine's online newsletter.  I subscribe to this one.
~ Local newspapers are an excellent source as well.  Don't turn your nose up at the smaller ones.  Sometimes you can find some jewels in those.
~ Get on all your local museum's email lists.  Museums often do something special for holidays, and by subscribing to their newsletters you'll never miss out.
~ Pretend you're a visitor.  Check out your Chamber of Commerce's website or call them to see what's going on in your area.
~And, if you live in Mississippi you should check out these sites...Visit Jackson and Visit Mississippi.

So, I'm curious, how do you find out about local, family friendly events?

It Stuck!

We woke up to quite a surprise.  The snow from last night actually stuck!  Of course, Levi was a little stunned to walk outside to such a new landscape.  But, the minute I said, "Bear, it's just snow."  he grinned really, really big, shouted, "Snowman!"  And, off he went...

Of course, about a nanosecond after handing him this teeny weeny snow ball, the munchkin proceeded to eat it.  Yum...

However he was slightly uncertain about the state of his shoes..."Keen off" is what he told me...

 

Eventually, he got over the shoe thing, and did a bit of exploring...

And, he even got to help Nanno build a snow man...

Quit your laughin'.  I know he's a pint size snow man, but really y'all this is about as good as it gets in Mississippi.

P.S. Levi still has a bit of a cold, but I couldn't very well deprive the child of what might be his only snow this winter.

The Snow Before Christmas

This is snow...before Christmas...in Mississippi...Enjoy.  It doesn't happen very often...

And, these are my (sockless) feet in the snow...before Christmas...in Mississippi...I almost went barefoot, but thought better of it...

You're probably wondering where the munchkin's toes are.  Sadly, they are in bed with a cold.  I didn't feel right waking the poor little fella up. 
So, is it snowing where y'all are?

State Fair

It's been raining cats and dogs around here for what seems like FOREVER. It's more than made up for June...enough now...seriously. Rain is in the forecast every day this week. So, we decided that today would be just as good as any to take Levi for his first trip to the State Fair. According to the weatherman the rain was supposed to clear up while we were there. Ahem. It got worse. No worries though. We still managed to thoroughly enjoy ourselves. We really just went for three things...the animals, the food, and the cars...and that's exactly what we got.

Levi fell in love with the cows. Now, every time we mention them, he shouts (very, very loudly with loads of enthusiasm and hand motions), "Coooows!!!!"
We finally had to tell him that the cows had to go nap-nap, so we could get some food in our bellies. The boy takes his napping seriously. So, of course, he thought the cows did too.

No trip to the fair would be complete without massive quantities of artery clogging goodness. Our lunch consisted of ALL fried food...fried chicken on a stick, french fries, fried pickles, fried green beans, fried green tomatoes (hey at least we got our greens, right?), and a fried funnel cake. It's just not possible to leave the fair without chowing down on one of these...YUM!!!
I can't believe there are actually people in this world who eat this stuff on a regular basis! Definitely a once a year kind of meal.

After filling our bellies (and our arteries) we headed for the antique car display. Levi couldn't get enough.
He dragged us from car to car and then back again...
And this...
Was his reaction to seeing this...
What can I say? The kid loves fire trucks.
And, this little boy who wanted to be carried or strolled through the entire fair had a new found sense of independence in here...y'all, I really don't think the kid would have looked back...ever.
The intensity was killing me it was so cute!
But, of every last automobile in the place, this lone tractor was his favorite. He kept going back to it. Oh, and, this little hands on hips stance...it popped up a couple of weeks ago. He does it all the time now.
After all of that adventuring of course he was whooped...
Is there anything in this world sweeter than a sleeping little one?

Who Needs A Zoo When You've Got A Backyard?

As we were walking home a few nights ago we spotted this....
I know it looks like just a turtle, but do you see that hole in the ground that she's sitting on? She's laying eggs right next to my house! It was getting dark, and my camera is none too spiffy in the evening, so this was the best photo I could get. But, how terrifically cool is that?!! We put up a little fence around her eggs to prevent lawnmower damage. Now every time we pass the fence Levi says, "Ecks, ecks, turle, turle." (Eggs, eggs, turtle, turtle) And, yes he generally repeats everything twice.
The great Google tells me that land turtle eggs can take anywhere between 45 and 90 days to hatch. The amount of time is dependent on weather conditions, species, etc. That's a stinkin' long time to wait to see little munchkin turtles. Hope nothing digs them up first. That would be a real letdown. I'm kind of looking forward to the little critters emerging one fine day. Oooo...I so hope I'm there with camera in hand.

Enamored

Yesterday found us planless for the first time in ages. Oh, what a wonderful feeling that is. We decided it was high time for a jaunt to the science museum. And a jaunting we went. Levi was enamored with the aquariums...
And, with a certain little girl with an orange balloon who plopped herself down beside him...
They were in their own little universe pointing and gasping as the fishies swam by...
She was a pretty bold little munchkin...
She kind of won him over...
And then she was off just as quickly as she came...

Sweet Surprise

On one of our daily walks, we spotted these lovelies. The best part...at the very hottest point of summer they will transform into big, fat, juicy blackberries. Mmmm, mmmm, good!
Ain't edible nature grand?!

On another note, Levi is still having teething troubles. I expect they will go on for quite some time. He's a slooooooow teether, but he's certainly a trooper.
This morning was beautiful, so as a "teething diversion" I took the little fella' out to help me dig a bit in the garden. Y'all he was so stinkin' cute. I wish my hands hadn't been too covered in mud and dirt to snap a pic of Levi "digging" in the dirt. Next time, I'll have to pull out the camera before I start digging!

Sunshine, Violets, And A Little Bit Of Attitude

Yesterday, the sun came creeping back to visit. Today is full blown gloriously beautiful.The violets have been peeking their pretty little selves through for a couple of weeks now. They might just be one of my top picks for flowers. Although, you might have noticed that I have quite a few favorites.
Levi is enjoying the weather....
Sort of. . .
He's been a wee bit cranky today. I'm hoping the nap he's currently taking will spiff that attitude right up.
Poor little fella'. I think his teeth might be bothering him. My diagnosis is based on the newly shortened fuse and the horrible sound of 8 little teeth grinding together--it's about as bad as nails on chalkboard.

Just Can't Get Enough Of It

Spring, that is. There's just something so refreshing about the earth waking up. Buds and blossoms abound.
These delicate beauties are destined to become my favorite summertime snack: blueberries.
And this lovely plant, I'm not sure what it's officially dubbed, but we call it the burning bush. It's quite an eye catcher.

All In A Day's Work

Have I mentioned how much I love Spring? Reason #1: There's more daylight in which to accomplish all those very important tasks such as sitting on the lawn mower going, "Vroom, vroom!"

Reason #2: The flowers! Eventually we pulled ourselves away from vroom vrooming to wander around and admire nature's beauty.