This and That

Just a few random pictures to share...a little peak into our everyday lives! It's basically equal parts dirt and smiles.

Loves his daddy
Lincoln and his best friend at school, Ryan

My little boy grew so much this year.

Crawling

Hello, summertime!

Allen worker truck Rodeo

Dream come true...

Check out those chunky thighs!

Lincoln and Truett Bridges, fast friends!

8 months

Preschool Open House Showing off his artwork

Love this one

99 Books on the Shelf

As the unofficial start of summer, and day 1 of our 99 day countdown to Labor Day, Happy Memorial Day! Lincoln's favorites are in bold italics

Here is our official list of new books. Remember, the goal is 99 new books by Labor Day.

May 30 - Boo Hoo Bird by Jeremy Tankard

May 31 - The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

June 1 - Cars: Rushing! Honking!Zooming! by Patricia Hubbell and Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems

June 2 - David Gets in Trouble by David Shannon

June 3 - ABC USA by Sterling

June 4 - Hello Baby by Mem Fox (we love this author)

June 5 - re-reading old favorites

June 6 - This Tree Counts by Allison Formento

June 7 - Bubble Baby by Margaret Mahy

June 8 - Truck Stuck by Sallie Wolf

June 9 - Slowly, Slowly, Slowly said the Sloth by Eric Carle

June 10 - Whoo! Whoo! Goes the Train by Anne Rockwell

June 11 - Today I will Fly by Mo Willems

June 12 - Round Up: A Texas Number Book by Carol Crane

June 13 - If Animals Kissed Goodnight by Anne Whitford Paul
June 14 - More, More, More by Vera Williams

June 15 - Cars (learn to read book), Fruit (read and learn book)

June 16 - Trashy Town by Andrea Zimmerman

June 17 - Where Did Daddy's Hair Go by Joe O'Connor

June 18 - Roadwork by Sally Sutton

June 19 - Who's Hiding by Satoru Onishi

June 20 - How Do Dinosaurs say I Love You? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

June 21 - The Goodnight Train by June Sobel

June 22 - No David! by David Shannon

June 23 - L is for Lonestar: A Texas Alphabet by Carol Crane

June 24 - Fire Engine Man by Andrea Zimmerman

June 25 -The Grumpy Dumptruck by Brie Spangler

June 26 - The Wheels on the RaceCar by Alexander Zane

June 27 - The Close Shave, Seeds (both learn to read books)

June 28 - Garbage Trucks by Terri DeGezelle

June 29 - Being a Pig is Nice by Sally Lloyd-Jones

June 30 -The Patterson Puppies and the Rainy Day by Leslie Patricelli

July 1 - Heavy Equipment up Close by Andra Serlin Abramson

July 2 - Naughty Little Monkeys by Jim Aylesworth - The First Pup - The Story of how Bo Got to the White House by Bob Staake

July 4 - A Tree is Nice by Janice May Udry

July 5- Pierre in Love by Sara Pennypacker

July 6 - All Aboard by Mary Lyn Ray

July 7 - Hallowiener by Dav Pilkey

July 8 - Out of the Ballpark by Alex Rodriguez

July 9 - Pajama Day by Lynn Plourde

July 10 - The Old Blue Pickup Truck by Candice Ransom

July 11 - Book Fiesta! by Pat Mora

July 12 - Doodle Day by Ross Collins

July 13 - Boats by Patricia Hubbell (great author for boys)

July 14 - Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Rosenthal

July 15 - The Little Dump Truck by Margery Cuyler

July 16 - Mean Soup by Betsy Everitt

July 17 - Apples and Oranges going bananas with pairs by Sara Pinto

July 18 - This is the Van that Dad Cleaned by Lisa Campbell Ernst

July 19 - Fire Engines up Close by Ambramson

July 20 - Good Dog Carl by Alexandra Day

July 21 - Time to Sleep, Sheep the Sheep by Mo Willems
July 22 - Too Many Toys by David Shannon
July 23 - And to Name but Just a Few: red, yellow, green and blue by Laurie Rosenwald

July 24 - Bear Feels Scared by Karma Wilson
July 25 - Peg Leg Peke by Brie Spangler
July 26 - Curious George in the Snow by Rey and Giorgio and his Star Crane Train by Jessica Spanyol
July 27 - Machines at Work by Byron Barton and Dump Trucksby Sarah Tieck
July 28 - I'm Big by Kate McMullan and Trains by Patricia Hubbell
July 29 - Never Take a Shark to the Dentist by Judi Barrett
July 30 - Opuestos by Cynthia Weill
July 31 - Hands growing up to be an artist by Lois Ehlert and Big Words for Little People by Jamie Lee Curtis
August 1 -Starry Safari by Linda Ashman
August 2 - The Uglified Ducky by Willie Clafin
August 3 - Tip Tap Pop by Sarah Lynn and Three Nasty Gnarlies by Keith Graves
August 4 - My Car by Byron Barton and The Alphabet from A to Y by Steve Martin
August 5 - Showdown at the Food Pyramid by Rex Barton
August 6 -I'm Bad by Kate McMullan
August 7 - Rattle and Rap by Susan Steggall
August 8 - Fire Safety in Action by Mari Schuh
August 9 - Trains by Patricia Hubbell
August 10 - Duck on a Bike by David Shannon, Let's Save the Animals by Frances Barry
August 11 - Guess Who by Mac Barnett
August 12 - Wheel Loaders by Derek Zobel
August 13 - Down by the Station by Jennifer Riggs Vetter
August 14 - I Broke my Trunk by Mo Willems
August 15 - Dig! by Andrea Zimmerman
August 16 - Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
August 17 - Roger, the Jolly Pirate by Brett Helquist
August 18 - Charlie the Ranch Dog by Ree Drummond and The Owl and the Woodpecker by Brian Wildsmith
August 19 - Soccer Hour - by Carol Nevius
August 20 - Shortcut by Donald Crews
August 21 - Whatch me Throw the Ball by Mo Willems
August 22 - Splitting the Herd by Trudy Harris
August 23 - An Awesome Book of Thanks by Dallas Clayton
August 24 - What We Do by Reg Cartwright and Tweak Tweak by Eve Bunting
August 25 - Dinosaur vs The Potty by Bob Shea
August 26 - Smash! Mash! Crash! by Barbara Odanaka
August 27 - Grandpa's Tractor by Michael Garland
August 28 - I'm a Shark by Bob Shea
August 29 - Truck Driver Tom by Monica Wellington
August 30 - Those Darn Squirrels by Adam RubinAugust 31 - I Knew You Could by Craig Dorfman
September 1 - Those Darn Squirrels and the Cat Next Door by Adam RubinSeptember 2- Wow! Ocean by Robert NeubeckerSeptember 3 - F is for Firefighter by Dori Butler
September 4 - The Useful Moose by Fiona Robinson and Even Firefighters Hug Their Moms by Christine MacLeanSeptember 5 - Michael Recycle meets Litterbug Doug by Ellie Bethel

A Summer of Reading

There are 99 days of summer between Memorial Day and Labor Day. My goal this summer is to read 99 NEW books with Lincoln and Sutton. As a boy mama, I know how important it is to foster a love of reading, especially for boys. I'm so glad that despite Lincoln being a ball of energy, he loves to sit and read. I'm going to keep a list on the blog and update it. We'd love you to follow along with us and suggest books your preschoolers love. I've compiled my list from several sources. We are headed to the library today, so stay tuned!

Bunny Boys

We took Lincoln's picture with the Easter Bunny his first Easter, so to keep things even and for the sake of picture comparisons, here is Sutton with the bunny, too.

Lincoln

Sutton

my boys

Looking less and less like each other

Lincoln at 5 months Sutton at 5 months

Lincoln's Easter lookback

7 months

18 months

2 1/2

2 1/2

Love this sweet boy. Even though he loves to play outside, getting dirty and sweaty, he still loves to dress up and "look handsome". Can't wait to see both my boys in their Easter Sunday best

Bluebonnets

We headed out to take some Bluebonnet pics, but it was sooooo windy and Sutton wasn't really having it. We took a few and headed home. In the car, I was scrolling through the pics and saw some really good ones. Of course, I didn't do a great job shooting b/c I assumed they would turn out poorly with the wind, etc. My friend Jennifer from high school edited a few for me (taking out some shadows and hiding Lincoln's phantom foot over his head). She has a photography business in Florida and is very talented. I can't thank her enough for taking the time to share her talent with me, gratis. Check out her work here.

PS: Could they be any cuter?

St. Patrick's Day Blake Style

In keeping with my "we don't wear character/screen tees" stance, I opted for creativity this St. Patrick's Day. Suspenders for Lincoln and a green, sequin bow tie for Sutton. They looked great and thanks to the $1 bins at Target, only cost me $2.00!

Dinner is served!

Sleepy time

I've got some seriously happy kids. Little Sutton was smiling while he slept the other night.

And in other news, Sutton is rolling all over the place. He's been rolling tummy to back for sometime now, but has just started rolling back to tummy and over and over and over. He cleared half the family room the other night. However....STILL NOT SITTING UP:)

Cookies

Sutton and Daddy taken last night before bed. Sutton is so interested in life right now that he hates to be in his carseat, or out of eyesight. He wants to be smack dab in the middle of everything. Hum...wonder where he gets it?!?!

After bath with Daddy

Lincoln's cookies

Proud and back in order

Trying them out

The older Lincoln gets the more I'm reminded of just how special this time is. He is such a sponge, picking up on jokes, sarcasm, inside jokes, accents, etc. It's funny to watch. He is also asking more and more questions about Jesus, the Bible, etc. We've been talking about being kind and helping others. We made cookies for some friends who have recently brought home new babies. I want him to serve others and not always look for people to serve him. He has such a sweet little heart that he is anxious to help. He has also been a mama's boy A LOT lately which is just fine with me.