The Great Cavin Famapalooza!

Matthew and I have been wanting to do a family night in our household for quite sometime. We do spend whatever time we have together as a family but he wanted this to be something a little more family "fun" oriented that could begin a tradition. So Saturday night we designated as our first intentional Family Fun Night aka Famapalooza. We decided to make homemade pizza together and then proceed in watching The Lion King. I'm sure we will get more creative with time but Grey was so excited about it all day! Here's how it went...

Starting with the making of the pizza crust, Grey was full steam ahead! He is a ridiculously good helper might I add.

Stir Stir Stir...we sing as we stirPat it out

Beginning to grate the cheese for the top

Well, he is a Cavin.

TOPPINGS!

And again...this pizza was only for us. I'm pretty sure he licked almost every peperoni on the pizza.

I chopped the veggies but didn't get a picture of those going on. (unfortunately NONE of those were tasted) I also missed the picture of the sprinkling of basil and oregano. After Grey and Daddy took a shower, Grey was ready to eat his pizza and watch The Lion King. (I wish you could hear him say it) He wasn't going to sit down before he got to run around in my onion goggles.
Anticipating...
We ate on the living room floor which made it all the more fun!

Ahhh...pizza, bananas and The Lion King. You would have thought we took him to Disney World!

Matthew and I were so excited that Grey enjoyed himself so much. We will definitely be doing this again next month. Who knows what we'll venture into...

Bath Fun

Just a few fun pictures that I took during Grey's bath a few nights ago.

Just Plain Enjoyable

We had a really nice weekend as a family. The church has Parents Night Out twice a year and Friday night was one of them! Matthew and I made reservations at our favorite Mexican restaurant and happily dropped Grey off at the church to be fed and played with for FREE! I'm really not sure if the people in charge know what a blessing that is! We made our way to Cantina Fifteen Eleven and it was just refreshing to know we were going to have a little time to talk. We didn't waste any time as we enjoyed some meaningful conversation on the way. I love being with Matthew but most of all love to talk about what's going on in his heart. We thoroughly enjoyed dinner and some uninterrupted time together to talk and love each other through conversation.

Saturday morning we got up and made breakfast and had a special Valentine treat for Grey. He is a yard maniac and I have been looking for a big shovel and rake that are his size but more like ours. I found it at Target! He was so excited about it and of course wanted to go rake all the leaves in the yard that very instant. He also got a smiley face balloon with kisses which he is still playing with anytime he is downstairs. Matthew and I had planned to finally paint Grey's room and our sweet neighbors, Jenny and Chris (and their 3 cool kids), agreed to letting Grey play at their house for the morning while we got the work done. It turned out great and we LOVE the color. I haven't figured out all the details like curtains and we have one really big blank wall still but it will come together in time.

We had a relaxing day. We made cookies together and played outside. Matthew made dinner which was a nice treat for me. (even though I love to cook and do it often, it's nice to have a break) It's been refreshing to have a few weekends to hang out just the 3 of us. Things are about to get very busy in the next few weekends and before we know it, sweet little Tucker will be making his entrance into the family.

Should I have really taught him we should always have a little flour on our noses when we bake?

First sighting of his rake and shovel

Grey's "card" and side of the balloon from Daddy and Mommy

Deck Days

I often complain about not having a grassy, fenced in backyard. I know it's pretty ridiculous to complain about what I don't have considering all the things that we do have so I have to stop myself. One thing I can say that I have been very grateful for even though we do not currently have a grassy backyard, is our deck! Grey and I have spent lots of time on the deck in the past few days that's it's been warm. It's great because I can just let him play out there with all of his tools and trucks while I'm trying to get a few things done or I go with him and we delve into all sorts of fun activities. Nothing too out of the ordinary but way more fun because we're outside. We've been exploring with dried noodles (one of Grey's most favorite activities), playdough, and "fixing" the table with tools. It's been nice to have just a small area ouside that is safe for Grey by himself, but yet it's like a whole new wonderland to him!

Noodles

Playdough spaghetti

working on the table (I'm pretty sure this was a tragic moment to have to put on pants so oh well)

Warm Weather Weekend

The weather this weekend made a good weekend GREAT! Matthew was in Minnesota last week all week so we planned to just hang out together all weekend. Grey and I were glad to have him home and just simply enjoyed our time together. Matthew spent Friday morning with Grey while I worked at MOPS. I then got to enjoy a trip by myself to Hobby Lobby. We took a family trip to Lowes to price fences. This honestly was a fun trip. Grey totally gets in to going to Lowes so it's like some kind of wonderland for us all. I made dinner which Grey actually ate and it thrilled my soul! After Grey was fast asleep, I dominated Matthew in our new favorite game, Qwirkle.

Saturday we got up and Matthew and Grey made pancakes (pictures below). We made some Valentines (thanks Ashley for the Valentine ideas!) and played outside most of the day. I got some cleaning done and we stained a dresser for Grey's room. We even washed the cars. I made this really yummy recipe that I found online and we spent some good time around the table.

Today was much busier with church and a lunch after church. Grey and I did spend quite some time on the deck sweeping and blowing bubbles. We just really enjoyed this weather and this time!

A Privilege

I realized late in the day that today is February 4. I always tend to take note on the 4th of each month simply because Grey was born on May 4. It brings reflection on how he is growing and changing.

21 months is not a very long time in the scheme of life but for Grey, that's all he's got! Nothing truly significant stands out to me on this day. Although it is really fun to think about how much he is learning every single day...

He is talking so much. He is repeating everything he hears (yes, I have been dreading this) and is putting together short sentences. He easily communicates with me which makes us both very happy. He is starting to sing sweet songs. He can count to ten, skipping seven EVERY TIME. He says most of his ABC's and can identify letters when written. He loves to act like animals and play with his puppy. He makes his puppy copy everything he does. He gets extremely excited to see his friends and is energized by being around people. (just like mommy and daddy) He enjoys painting, tools, trains, cars, and eating snacks! (I am reducing the frequency of snacks) He climbs up and down the stairs alone, digs holes in the dirt, is learning very slowly how to jump, runs full speed most of the time. He sleeps in a big boy bed all night and for naps. He adapts well. He loves his blankies. He is very particular on the way things should be. He loves Little Einsteins and interacts with it like he's on the show. Has developed a new love for Mickey Mouse and talks about him all the time. He loves all of his grandparents and we talk about them often. He prefers his grandparents over his own parents when we are with them and I am thankful for this! He loves to help his daddy fix ANYTHING and really wants to use "daddy's tools" instead of his own. (after all he knows the names of most of the them and the difference between a phillips head screwdriver and a flathead and which is appropriate for certain tasks) He has a slight obsession with fruit snacks. He gives the sweetest kisses. He loves to read and is very particular about his book choice. He loves music and will sit in the car for 10-15 minutes after we're home just so he can keep listening. He loves to help me cook. He has such a sweet heart that comes out more and more each day.

These are just a few things Grey does now at 21 months. All of these things are fun and exciting, but the only thing that I truly care about is that the Lord is in the process of calling Grey to Himself. Oh how I pray that the Lord is calling him and one day he will believe in Jesus as his Saviour. That he will learn to love Him with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is all that matters. All of these other things are just bonuses I get to experience in being Grey's mother here on this earth. What a privilege these past 21 months have been!

*I had a couple cute pictures but for some reason I am not able to post them. I will do it at a later date*