Cleaning the House is So Much Fun!!

Last month, we had family in town. After everyone left, I was tidying up the house and MVP started following my lead. He really got into it and I took the following video of him cleaning the living room.

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day last week, we spent a couple days up in Raleigh. Andy had a conference for work that he had to attend and I had some intense relaxing to do. When Andy first told me that he would have to go to Raliegh for a couple days, I immediately determined that I would go with him. It was almost embarrasing how excited I was about the prospect of getting out of the house and away from work/other responsibilities for a couple days.

We left right after church so MVP (and I) could take a nap on the drive up. Since the conference didn't start until noon on Monday, we spent some time at the hotel pool and at a local park. The pool was great because it was only about 3.5 feet deep, but it had shallow areas on both sides that were only about 5 inches deep. One side had a mushroom-shaped water fountain and the other side had air bubbles coming up from pipes, so MVP was quite satisfied to splash around and play. I am a little concerned that he is completely unafraid of the water and I had to watch him like a hawk. At least he's not quite as bold around the ocean--yet.





While Andy was in meetings, I read while MVP was taking naps and we also went shopping. It was really nice to run some errands and not have to worry about what time it was or what was going on at the office.

MVP was quite the trooper. He slept well and was well behaved at all the stores we went to. He even humored me by enjoying a Zhen Zhu (Bo Ba) drink and red bean bun from the Asian food store.

The one thing that did not go well was that I discovered that the Wide Shoe Warehouse in Raliegh has been closed. This is sad because if I had known they were struggling, I would have made a special trip to keep them afloat. It is even sadder to think that I likely missed out on a liquidation sale. Anyone with wide feet will tell you how depressing and frustrating it is to go to a shoe store only to find about 10 pairs of shoes that come in wide widths--all of which look like shoe manufacturers naturally assume that people with wide feet are purely morivated by comfort, not style. It was a sad sad discovery. It's hard to even write about this.

Love at First Sight

The other day, we snapped this picture of MVP after brushing his teeth. It reminds me of a song my dad would sing...

I love myself. I think I'm grand.
When I go to movies, I hold my hand.
I put my arm around my waist,
And when I get fresh, I slap my face.

Forget the neighborhood! It's a beautiful day at the beach!

I took MVP to the beach this morning and we had a wonderful time!! MVP played in the sand for quite a while and he gathered seashells in a bucket and proceeded to try to eat just about every one he found! (Someone please explain to me why kids do this!!!) We went down to the water (which is still pretty cold) and he had a great time! He crawled around and splashed like crazy and when it got too cold, I wrapped him up in a towel and held him as he ate a Nutri-Grain bar. He charmed some curious birds that came near us and got pretty excited over them. They would squawk at him (asking for food, I'm sure) and MVP would just point and squeal. He then saw a father playing volleyball with his daughters and it was like a moth to a flame--he had to go check it out. The family was very nice and they stopped playing and tossed MVP the ball. There were two girls, about 7 and 10 years old, and they had a great time playing "catch" with him. At one point he got tired and momentarily laid his head on the sand to rest for a bit. I took that as my cue to leave and he slept in the car all the way home and after having a bath, he slept for another 2.5 hours!!!! I was able to get some work done and I dare say it was the perfect day!

The Children's Museum

We took Mark and his cousins to the Children's Museum today. They had a wonderful time. They especially enjoyed the pirate ship, the grocery store, the teddy bear hospital and the dress-up area. When MVP saw the dog costumes, he started barking. It was lots of fun.

Another Day, Another Disaster!

This was what awaited me one morning after getting out of the shower. I guess it was my wake-up call that MVP is now getting tall enough to grab things off the kitchen table.

Fun with mullets

As the YM President, Andy got to attend an 80's dance. He purchased a mullet wig for the occasion and, needless to say, I was quite pleased with his entire ensamble. Notice the pegged pants, the loose high tops and the snazzy sweater that I had no idea was in his closet. What a find!

Here he is with his coolest 80's expression.

Of course we can't fully celebrate the mullet without an appearance by MVP. He was not amused and can't understand why one person would choose to have so much hair...in the back, at least.

Basketball!

In order to properly prepare MVP for March Madness, we snagged a couple free basketball hoops from neighbors whose kids have outgrown them and we are now teaching MVP how to "SLAM DUNK"! It's to the point now that when I ask him where the ball is and ask if he wants to slam dunk, he will immediately head toward the basketball hoop. If course he gets a big kick out of it and it's as much fun for us to watch as it is for him to play. Here's some video of his mad skills and here's a photo of the cutest Laker ever!

What's really funny is that he is getting REALLY close to walking, but is just scared enough of taking more than a few timid steps that he has to hold onto something at all times. There was one day when Andy and I caught him sidestepping toward something and neither one of us said anything because we knew that if we pointed it out he would immediately drop to his knees. All of this is perfectly fine with me because I know that as soon as he starts to walk, it's all over for me. He will be unstoppable.

Bubble Baths

MVP took his first bubble bath this week. Of course he loved it. He tried to eat the bubbles, but, thankfully, he didn't like the way they taste. Here are a couple cute pictures I took and there's a video too.
Mirror, mirror, in the tub...

Chocolate-Covered Popcorn

Just to prove that I can blog about things other than MVP, I'm sharing a recipe for Chocolate-Covered Popcorn. I'll warn you that this is highly addictive but it also makes a great neighbor gift for the holidays. Try it and let me know what you think!

1 bag microwave popcorn
1/2 cup white chocolate candy wafers
M&M's or other candies, nuts or Fritos (Fritos are my favorite mix-in!)

Pop Popcorn, put it into a large bowl and remove any unpopped kernels. Melt the candy wafers in the microwave. In a microwave-safe dish, heat wafers for one minute. Stir. Chocolate will probably not be melted yet. Place back in the microwave for 30 seconds and stir again. Repeat until wafers are melted, but be careful to not burn the chocolate. Pour the white chocolate over the popcorn and stir until well coated. It won't stir well at first, but it will become evenly coated as you continue to stir. Add mix-ins before chocolate hardens. Let the mixture dry (either in the bowl or on wax paper). Once it's dry, you can spoon it into cello bags for gifts or, if you're like me, it won't quite make it to the bags. :-)