A lazy but Productive Sunday

Wow, today was a really awesome day.  We hung out at home, put up all of Hayden's latest art work in his bedroom, hung his planets on his ceiling and spent time in the garden.  I even fell asleep with him in our bed for 2 hours at nap time.  We also took a nice walk at the park and now Jane's friend Leon is over for dinner and I am going to cook fajitas for everyone.  It was just one of those nice spring Sundays around here.  Hayden and I have 3 days of school this week then we have a 5 day weekend for TUSD's Spring Break, so we have lots of plans to see friends, go to Pump It Up and the Zoo and see How to Train Your Dragon at the movie theater.  We also are going to dye Easter eggs and have a bunch of Easter fun next weekend, including an Easter picnic at Agua Caliente park, complete with a little egg hunt for Hayden.  I can't wait to have some extra days off for some special Mommy and Hayden time and I'm also hoping to spring Daddy from work early a day or two!  Here's a couple of pictures from our little trek to the park today. Much love to everyone!

Baseball and Snow!

The long awaited first T-Ball game was this morning and it was an absolute blast!  Hayden liked it so much more than soccer and he was really good at it.  He got to bat three times and every time he scored a home run.  When it came time for him to be on the field, he got to play the Pitcher, First base and Second base.  He got in front of the ball several times and threw it to first each time.  I wasn't sure if I was crazy about our coach since he's late sometimes, but he showed today that he really knows the sport of baseball and Hayden just loves him.  As usual,  Hayden got the "Oh my god, how old is he? Is he 2?" about 50 times from the other team that was full of rather large 3 and 4 year olds.  We are getting used to just saying, "He's 3 and he's really big."  They were all loving watching him run the bases with his batting helmet on and as he got to each base he would jump on it and throw is hands up in the air with a big smile.  He got his picture taken about 20 times from random ladies.  All of the people we played soccer with last season told us today that he has found his sport for sure.  His nickname is "Little Babe Ruth" since he and Babe Ruth share the same number, 3.  We have next weekend off for Easter but then 7 weeks of games after that, so I'm sure there's so much more fun ahead!

After the game, we took "Little Babe Ruth"  to McDonalds for a celebration Happy Meal and he ate the whole thing.  He really worked up an appetite.  He was also exhausted because he slept all the way up Mt. Lemmon to go play in the snow.  Matt and I found a nice little private road to play on and we were the only 3 people there.  The snow was a little icy since it's starting to melt now, but we had a blast making a snowman/alien creature and having a snow fight.  We also used it as a teachable moment to show him how the snow melts away and creates it's own little streams and that's the water that goes into the washes.  He thought it was really cool and we brought some snow back with us in a bottle so we can watch it melt.  Notice how he's still wearing his uniform up on the mountain?  I tried to get him to change after the game but he insisted that baseball players like snow, so he wore it up there, lol.

Here's the photos of the fun!

Smarty Pants Duffin

You know how sometimes you look at your kid and go, "how are you so smart?"  I have had a lot of those moments in the past with Hayden but lately I am in awe of the stuff this child can remember.  Lately he has taken an interest in airplanes, helecopters, etc.  He doesn't just point and say "plane" or "I saw a helecopter", he knows what kind they are, what's special about them, where they are from, etc.  His favorite plane is a Harrier Jump Jet.  He knows all about how it takes off and lands and why it's different than other planes and knows that it was first built in England.  We can read him a story or tell him something once and he remembers it months later.  I love the bits of information he comes out with and I just love hearing him tell stories about his favorite things.  Hayden will also not hesitate to tell you if you have a bit of information wrong.  He will say "No Mommy, it's actually..." or "Daddy, you forgot to say it right".  He really is just a little smarty pants!   End of Mommy bragging session   ;)

Tomorrow is our first T-Ball game and we are very excited!  We are also going to Mt. Lemmon to play in the snow afterwards, so I'm sure i will have lots to share!

Uniform time!

Today after school, Hayden and I were so excited to pick up our T-Ball stuff...then we got there and about 50 other people had the same plan!  We waited about 45 minutes in line, which Hayden handled pretty well, and once i saw his face light up when his jersey came out of the box, the wait was worth it.  The team colors are black and orange this season and they are the Tigers, which they chose themselves.  As soon as we got home, Hayden tried his uniform on, which is of course just way too big. It will be in the washer in a minute on "Hot" then do 2 cycles of High heat in the dryer so I can shrink it a little!  These are the photos I snapped real quick before moving on to organizing the rest of the teams jerseys!  Our first game is Saturday, so expect lots of cute photos after the game!

Publish Post

Photos from the Park

Just wanted to share some pictures of our antics at the park this afternoon   Soon it will be just too hot for 4:00 in the afternoon trips to the park, so Matt and I are making the most out of it!  :)

Overcoming Food Allergies

Well, Hayden had a piece of bread that contains Whey today and had no reaction at all!  I have been reading a lot of research from England about food allergies and ways to slowly (around a year) overcome them.  Doctors say to start with a VERY small amount of the allergen and work your way up every week or two, little by little.  I really wasn't sure whether I even cared to try to make him overcome his allergy since the foods we feed him that are dairy-free are all very healthy and he's happy with it, but I would like to see him be able to have a bit of cake at a party or eat some chicken strips at a restaurant without a problem, so I think I will try it, just once and see what happens.  The goal is to start with bread that contains Whey and only give him one piece a day or less.  If he tolerates that for a week or two, we will move up to two a week and onward from there.  We have to start with Whey first since it's a basic protein and work our way up after that.  If he throws up or complains once, we will be done with the test and not do it again.  I don't want to cause him discomfort or pain or anything like that, so it's one try and that's all!  I just wanted to let you all know about that since everyone's usually asking about how his tummy is doing!

Today was a really nice day with the family.  We relaxed, cleaned, played and had a picnic at the park and dairy-free sorbet at Cold Stone.  It was nice to get the rest of my energy back after being sick and I can't wait to be back at school tomorrow.  I miss my kiddos and Hayden misses his friends.  Wednesday after work, I am picking up our T-Ball uniforms at the NYS office so you will definitely need to look for a photo of all that cuteness Wednesday night.  Love to all!!

Planets and Planes

We have had a whole lot of really cool experiences between last night and today!  We went to the Flandreau Science Center telescope viewing that they hold 4 nights a week and we got to look through their high-powered telescope at Mars, The Moon, Sirius and Venus.  We also saw some very cool Sattelite images of the planets we were viewing up on the screens there.  The 2 Astronomy students running the telescope were amazed at Hayden's knowledge of Space. He knew every answer the girl asked him and then even asked her to see a Sattelite photo of the Wilky Way.  I love that he is so interested in learning and the students gave me lots of cool places to look for more science things that are appropriate for him!

Today we got up bright and early and went to the Davis Monthan Air Show.  It was a really beautiful day with no clouds and a nice breeze that off-set the sun.  Hayden was literally shaking with excitement all the way to the base on the shuttle and when we got there, we walked and walked and walked!  We saw every size of Airplane, Helecopter and Military Vehicle that we could imagine and the planes doing stunts were amazing.  Hayden got to sit in a helecopter, airplane and Hummer as well.  I was also very impressed with the wonderful people putting on the show.  They all had huge smiles and answered any questions you had.  We also got to have some pretty yummy food too.  By about 1:30, Hayden was all tuckered out and Matt and I had just about enough sun to be burned for a week, so we decided to leave before we were too tired to make it back!  On the way out, the man at the gate told us that they were expecting the final numbers from this weekend to be 500,000 people! 

I apologize once again for the lack of pictures...it was very hard to get any good shots of the fun stuff with thousands of people rushing around.  Matt and I were 100% focused on having our eyes and one hand on Hayden at all times!  I definitely need a shower and a cup of tea now, so hope everyone's Saturday was as beautiful as ours...and Sid and Di, get on Skype in the morning!!!

Mommy is on the mend!

Wow, I woke up this morning feeling like a totally different person than yesterday.  The doctor gave me 1800mg of Amoxicillan per day and after just 18 hours, I was already WAY better this morning.  Hayden and I ventured out to Target to grab some sunscreen and new sunglasses for he air show for him and then I went and sat in the fresh air at the park while he played.  I love watching him meet new kids at the park and interact...it's like their own little world and it doesn't matter if they have been friends for 5 minutes, they just come up with a game and start playing. 

Tonight we are going to let Hayden stay up late and take him to the Flandreau Science Center for the night time astronomy show that they hold every week.  The whole thing is free and you get to go up on the roof with the astronomer and he lets you look at different planets and constellations, plus they have it all projected up on a big screen.  I can't wait to show him some of the planets in real life since we have been reading about them and watching You Tube planet things for months.  He is going to love it.

Afterwards, we will have to get him straight to bed so he can be up and ready to go to the air show first thing in the morning.  I'll post some pictures of the astronomy event if I can get any in the dark without disturbing the viewing.  If not, I will have tons and tons from the air show! 

T-Ball photos!

I apologize for my lack of posts this week so far.  I have a really bad case of Strep Throat that has taken over my whole body since Tuesday.  I am finally on antibiotics so I should start to feel better tomorrow.  So far, no one else in the house is coming down with it and I'm praying they don't since the long awaited Air Show is Saturday.

Hayden is really loving T-Ball so far.  He is learning the fundamentals of the game and also making new friends on the team.  Once again, he is the youngest and smallest kid but it really doesn't hold him back.  Matt finally took some photos for me this evening, so here they are.  I apologize for the short post, but I must go lay back down to get the pressure off my head.  Love to everyone and I will post more this weekend!

Fun in the Sun

Today was a very gorgeous Tucson day.  There was a slight breeze but the sun had a hint of the summer warmth to it that balanced out the temperature and just gave us a perfect day to be walking in the sun.  Matt went for his Sunday bike ride to the 50 Year Trail in Catalina State Park with his buddies and had a blast.  Jane and I took Hayden to the Tucson Festival of Books, a free event that had book characters, free books, circus performances and music.  Hayden loved the Mariachi band the best and shook his little tushie the whole time they played.  He also got his favorite treat, a massive cherry snow cone that he nearly finished.  He's not typically a sweet eater and has never had gum, soda or anything like that, so I was surprised he ate so much of it.  We definitely got the sugar-crash nap afterwards as well, which was a nice bonus! 

We have really made the rounds to all of the cool local events lately and there's a ton more coming up in the next few weeks.  Saturday is the Davis Monthan Air Show, which Hayden has been excited for for quite some time.  We have been watching the planes practice when we go to TriSports and he actually knows about 10 different kinds of planes already.  He is really interested in all things Aerospace and wants to know everything about it.  I know that the Air Show will be a long day in the sun but we are bringing a stroller and lots of sunscreen so we can stay as long as he wants.  I also just found out that we can go to the Flandreau Science Center this Friday night and check out the big telescope and meet an astronomer, so we are planning to go right at 7 when they open for a little while.  I am going to make it a surprise that he gets to see the big telescope and also that he gets to stay up late!

I have been trying to get photos of T-Ball practice for a week now and I promise I will get some Tuesday afternoon.  Hayden would like to send his love to England and let you know that he misses everyone a lot!  And of course, we love and miss you all too!   :)

***Cute Alert!!***

We attended a wedding for Matt's friend Steve and his beautiful bride, Brittney yesterday evening and it was wonderful.  They had the wedding and the reception all in Brittney's parents' back yard out in Vail.  It was put together so nicely and you would have never known you were just in a back yard.  They had gorgeous white draperies, strings of white lights, satin red ribbons and a lot of really good food.  I was really worried about Hayden sitting through the service without making noise or wanting to move around, but he sat for the whole thing, whispering to all of the people around us (who we know well from TriSports) to "please be quiet!"  The dinner afterwards took a really long time due to photos, so we entertained Hayden with 3 plates full of Watermelon and some crackers, plus Mommy's secret weapon, Hot Wheels cars from my purse.  By the time dinner came, it was 8:30 and Hayden was really tired, so we ate pretty quickly and took him home.  I certainly didn't need a tired child scene at a wedding reception!  Back to the Cute Alert, check out these photos!

Today I am in charge of food for Hayden's Godparents' baby shower and I have 72 deviled eggs and about 300 Mexican apetizers to get ready, then somehow get it over to the park for the party.  Should be fun!