Time Goes By Too Fast

Ed moved my pictures to my new laptop and as I was looking over them, I was struck by 1) how many pictures I take, and 2) how cute my kid is, and 3) how fast time goes by and how quickly my baby is growing up. These pictures represent Fletcher birth through age 2 1/2: (top to bottom) 1 week, 1 month, 1 1/2 years, 2 years, and 2 1/2 years. I'll add a few more as I look through my pics.

Ramsey Creek Park

Today Fletcher and I went to Ramsey Creek Park in Cornelius and experienced a little nature. It was a much needed respite for both of us and improved his disposition greatly, and mine as well. We saw the lake, geese, sail boats, and played on the playground. Fletcher enjoyed digging in the mud with a stick, tossing rocks into the lake, and watching jet skis go by. Mommy enjoyed taking pictures of Fletcher. We've been on the go for the past few days and it was nice to slow down and just enjoy being outside for a little while.

Back to School for Mommy

Well, I'm back in school (again). Ed and I are true 'lifelong learners.' We just keep taking turns going to school. Fletcher will grow up with his parents saying "I have to do my homework." I'm a little nervous this time. I've never taken classes while being a parent and I'm not sure how it's going to work. But since Tonya and Helen are both doing the same this semester, at least I'll have a support group! I got a great back-to-school surprise from Ed yesterday: a new laptop! Thanks baby! I love it! I am thrilled and am already enjoying it greatly. My plan: on Fletcher's school days, I'll drop him off and then go to the library to do my school work. My new laptop is wireless ready so I'm all set to use Wi-Fi! Wish me luck! From what I can tell, my class is reading and writing intensive. Urgh! I'm no product photographer (like my cool friend Danielle) but here is a photo of my new machine.

What a Weekend Should Be

Wow, Ed and I were both off this weekend, a rare occurrence. Saturday, we went to breakfast at Chick-fil-a where Fletcher got to hug the big cow and play in the playplace (no camera readily available for a cow photo). We headed to the library afterwards (yes, I am crazy for going in on my day off!) Then to the Farmer's Market where we saw some beautiful veggies and flowers. Sunday was doughnuts, a trip to the grocery store, and reading the newspaper. This is what a weekend should be!

Carousel and Learning Games

Fletcher and I have been under the weather with a little tummy bug and were experiencing cabin fever, so yesterday we ran to the newly remodeled and enlarged education store at Concord Mill to have some things laminated (if I had one of those machines, everything I own would be laminated!) and we ate lunch and rode the carousel in the Food Court. This week we have also played some new games that Mommy made: fishing for words (words written on index cards with paper clips attached that we caught with our fishing rods, then read the words together), and name the house (names of household items on index cards that Fletcher chooses from a pile, we read together and Fletcher puts the card on the appropriate item), and rhyming words matching game with picture cards. I got motivated by the books I have read recently and these were all fun to play and easy to make! Fletcher has known his upper case letters and the letter sounds forever now, but we are just learning the lower case letters and working on blends (like st, ch, etc. ) and he is picking them up really fast! Hopefully tomorrow we can get out to the library and to art class. I am off this weekend (woo-hoo!) and so is Ed. Aaron is coming this weekend to help us do some projects around the house and to watch Fletcher one night so Ed and I can go out. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Catching Up

It's been a while since I've had the chance to post so the purpose of this one will be to catch up. Some news: I will be leaving my weekend library job at the end of the month in order to have more family time and more time for day trips. I will also be taking one of the 2 classes that I need for my Media Specialist certification for teaching in the school system. I've been reading lots of education literature and have added some items to our 'home school,' reorganized and rearranged our space, and learned some cool new stuff. Fletcher was having a hard time adjusting to Ed's new work schedule which I'm sure seems completely unpredictable to a 3-year-old, but seems to be doing better now. Ed is enjoying his Lowe's job and will also be teaching online classes for ECPI this fall. The kids and I have been enjoying the summer and have had fun playing, making art, reading good books, and more. Our friend Mandy will be going to Montessori school in the fall. We will miss her terribly! Fletcher's preschool starts back after Labor Day and we're ready with new shoes and backpack, and some cool new clothes. Almost everyone I know was at the beach this past week and I have 'beach fever'! Images: Fletcher and friends had fun spraying a canvas with paint, cutting yarn and straws with scissors, and Fletcher pretends to be Johnny Appleseed after reading the story with Mommy.