Halloween 2009

This year Lukas decided (and yes I do mean decided) to dress up as Thomas the Train. We went to Party City and he picked out his costume, and was so excited to wear it on Halloween. VRCC's fall festival was on October 25 this year. Lukas enjoyed fishing for candy, the duck pond, bouncing, basketball, face painting, car rides, and much more. We also got to go to WCCC's fall festival, which was on October 31. There he enjoyed bouncing, nerf guns, basketball, bean bag toss, face painting, golf, bowling, and much more. All in all, it was a great Halloween season.

The costume:

VRCC pictures:

WCCC pictures:

Painting Pumpkins 10-29-09

Pumpkin Patch 10-3-09

We went to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch this morning. It was a blast!! Aside from having tons of pumpkins to look at and play with, they had bounce houses, a train ride, hay rides, and lots of other things to see and do. Lukas, of course, did everything! I think the only thing we did not do was the face painting, and he wouldn't have sat still long enough to do that anyway. While there we also saw our friends the Graves and the Duhons. It was perfect weather...blue sky, slight breeze, and temp in the upper 70s.

Lukas was on the move too much to take the time to pose for the camera, so I was just taking what I could get since his pose lasted a second (literally).

Waiting very patiently for his turn on the train.

Mommy and Lukas riding the train.

Hay!

This was a pumpkin shaped bounce house, and he loved every minute of it.

Lukas and Daddy on the hayride.

He was running around tipping all the pumpkins over, and having a blast doing it!

Lukas and Lynlee (who have been in the same preschool class 2 years now) were very excited to see each other.

This was one of the things he told us was the most fun when we left. Who knew having a giant pumpkin cut-out with several cabinet doors would be such a hit?!

Ready to go find a pumpkin or two.

Loved having this wagon to pull him and pumpkins around in...so glad they provided them.

Hay again!

I do not apologize for the slight picture overload because pumpkins and kids just make great pictures. :)

First Day of School 2009

School started for Lukas and I this past Tuesday (9-8-09) at Riverside Butterfly School. Lukas is going to the two's class three days a week, and I am again teaching the toddlers two days a week. We tried out the new schedule this week, and it's great! I'm going to love having Wednesday to get some things done around the house without my ever-present little helper. Lukas had so much fun in class this week, it's going to be a great year! After practicing glueing at school he came home, and got out the gluestick and glued a few things on paper...all by himself. It was very cool (and suprising) when he ran into the kitchen with a paper and said "I glued for you!"

He's gotten so big! He was very ready for the first day of school.

Dallas Arboretum

We visited the Dallas Arboretum this past Monday (9-7-09). It turned out to be a nice day for being outside. It was hot and humid, but not near as bad as our 103 zoo trip last month. The arboretum was having a playhouse exhibit, so we were able to view 14 or 15 houses. The theme this year was storybook and fairytales. We saw houses based on Peter Pan, 1 Fish 2 Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Hansel and Gretel, Alice in Wonderland, and many more.

These are only a small sampling of the pictures we took.

Lukas ready for the arboretum, complete with zoo map. (We got him a new map after we got our tickets.)

He looks so big in this picture!

This was probably my favorite playhouse.

His smile these days is usually more of a grimace...oh well at least he's not camera shy.

Mimi, Papa, and Lukas

He LOVES Koi fish.

The water wall...he could have stayed here for hours.

The Swaynes.

We snagged a picture of just us!

He very much wanted to ride these deer.

Swing Set and "Big Boy" Bed

Swing Set

For Lukas' birthday (back in April) we asked family to contribute towards a swing set. We had one all picked out, and it went out of stock never to be restocked. So we were back at square one, and had to search a little before we bought one. We finally decided and bought one in August. Putting it together took Eric and Alan (THANKS Alan!) several hours one Saturday, and Eric working on it all throughout the following week. Lukas LOVES it!!!

Eric and Alan working. The tower was most of what they got put together.

Lukas helping with his tools.

Once the tower was complete Lukas was ready to slide!

Awesome! Although Lukas was completely not thrilled when I asked him to sit still for the picture.

"Big Boy" Bed

Lukas has always been a fantastic sleeper, not cared about sleeping in a crib vs. a toddler bed, and certainly never climbed out of his bed. So it was kind of a struggle to actually make the decision to change his bed over. I mean why mess up a good thing, right? He got Elmo sheets for his birthday, and so with those washed and ready we finally decided to change him over August 23rd. Needless to say Lukas helped direct the change over. He has done marvelously with the new freedom. It is weird when he shows up in our room every now and then in the very early morning ready to play, but if it's before 6:30 he is redirected back to bed. The pictures didn't turn out great since I took them with my phone, but it's better than nothing.

Getting to use Daddy's tools to help with this project!

The Swayne boys at work.

The "big boy" bed.

So happy with the new bed.

In other news Lukas has had an asthmatically good summer. June was rough, but July and August were great! School starts this week, so I'm a bit worried what that will bring. We'll pray for good health and see what happens.

Catching Up...

Seems like all I'm doing lately is catching everyone up on what we've been doing. Oh well, we've been busy having fun!

Lukas and I went to Mema and Grandad's house from July 28 - August 2 with Eric joining us on the 31st. We had a blast! We just hung out and relaxed, and it was great!

Tee ball!


Tee ball with Grandad!


We spent a lot of time at the piano.




Mema and Lukas playing!


Lukas is cooking Macaroni and Cheese. He has noodles in the pot, a measuring cup, and a milk carton...he was set!


Dot painting...


Exhausted!! The week wore him out!



On August 3rd the Swaynes braved the heat (it was 100 degrees outside) to go to the Dallas Zoo. We ended up picking the perfect day (minus the heat) because it was half price tickets, and they were selling souviner drinks that you could refill for free all day.

One of the many "Lukas looking at an animal" pictures...if you can't tell the giraffes star in this one.


on the turtle...


by the baby elephant...


playing in the children's area...boy was it hot!



And finally Eric's family had a reunion on August 8th. We took a neat four generation picture of Eric, Lukas, Mike (or Papa), and Buddy (Mike's uncle).




Asthma Update: While the summer started off with a rough June, after that things have calmed down. Lukas has felt great most of July and August! I'm praying that this continues when school starts in a few weeks.

What we've been up to lately....

playing and getting out ALL the toys.



building great towers.



swimming, golfing, tee-ball, and playing in the sandbox outside.



learning through puzzles, books, flashcards, and our favorite educational tv.



creating masterpieces.



This summer we've been doing all the ordinary things that we don't have as much time for in the school year. It's been wonderful and relaxing, although Lukas and I are ready for school to start. I love the freedom of summer, and the schedule of the school year. I'm so glad we get to do both. :)