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Adorable

Walking!

Graham started walking this week! He took his first 2 steps with my sister on Thursday night (3.24.11) and worked his way up to 3 while she was here. He started standing and clap for himself on Friday. You could tell by the big grin on his face he was and is very pleased with himself!

Tonight Jason and I sat down with him and stood him between us. He smiled and tried to take off before getting his balance. But he was all smiles and ready to go each time we stood him between us. He ended up taking about 5 steps at one time tonight. He is totally going to take off before long! I can't believe how early he's trying this! He won't be 10 months for another three days. He's getting so big so fast!

Getting ready with a little bit of thumb...

And...

he's...

off!

The poor guy is actually totally accident prone! He's just trying to do too much before he's really ready! He currently has a bruise on his left ear, above his right eye, on both his cheeks and in the middle of his forehead...and those are just the ones on his face! He is always trying to climb something, pull up on something or push something to walk with...he never sits still. He's such a little stinker...but then just looks at you and smiles with his crinkly eyes and wrinkly nose and you just can't help but love him to pieces.

My sweet baby boy

15. Fly a kite with the boys

Number 15 on the bucket list was a fun one! Fly a kite with the boys. I couldn't even tell you when the last time I flew a kite was, but we had so much fun with the boys tonight!

I had told my mom a while back about my bucket list and how flying a kite was on the list. She chuckled and told me about flying kites as a kid and getting them tangled in trees and power lines. She started calling me every day that it was windy telling me what a great day it would be to fly a kite! I had never noticed before how windy the month of March is in Indiana. And as we "march"ed towards the end of the month I started to get nervous that I would miss the opportunity to fly a kite this spring with the boys. So I set out this afternoon to look for a kite after getting the reminder call from my mom about what a great day it would be to fly a kite!

I tried to think of where I would be able to find a kite that would be suitable for flying and the only place that popped into my head was Walmart. So the boys and I headed to Walmart. I looked all over the toy department, the outdoor department and even asked an employee (which is a whole other blog topic) but was unable to find a kite. So we got some gum started to leave. On our way back to the van my mom called. Guess where she was...Walmart. Guess what she found...KITES!

Jack's Toy Story kite

So arrangements were made, dinner was put on hold and Jason, my parents, my sister and I all took the boys to Broad Ripple Park and flew some kites! Jack was a natural! He ran all over the field keeping his kite up in the air. We laughed so hard at his little legs pumping all over and cheered him on loudly as he ran from one side to the other all down the field. Being the awesome Mamaw that she is, Mom even bought a kite for Graham and stood patiently with him for gentle breezes to launch his kite.

Jack running in the field flying his kite

Mamaw and Graham flying his kite

The boys flying their kites together

Jack bending over pulling the kite out of a dive...great save!

After flying the kites everyone came back to the house for pizza and soda. Jason and I are so lucky that we get to share wonderful spontaneous memories like these with family. And I'm so glad that I made that bucket list...because of it we're actually allotting time for us to have fun together doing little things as a family.

Gotta love

almost being three.

Not sure where he gets his attitude!

77. Attend the St. Patrick's Day Parade

What a fun and exciting day we had today! I have lived in the Indianapolis area my entire life and can't believe all the things I have never taken advantage of in and around the city. Well my bucket list is my attempt to remedy that situation and today we took crossed the St. Patrick's Day Parade off the list!

It was such a perfect day...sunny and warm. We got downtown and found the perfect place to park...at a meter just a couple blocks from the parade route. It's like we were meant to go today. There were already quite a few people lining the streets as we walked along looking for a good place to sit. We wanted to be near the beginning of the route (everyone ALWAYS runs out of candy by the end...that's a parade fact) but still on the east side so we could leave a little before the end to avoid traffic. We walked south on Pennsylvania until we crossed Vermont and found a little spot between an older couple and a trash can. We fit, so we sat. Only a half hour until the parade started, now what?!

A picnic perhaps?! I did bring a picnic lunch to enjoy while we were waiting for the parade to begin which would have been great except for two things:

1. When I said "we fit", we just fit, there was not much room
2. As soon as we sat I realized Graham had pooped and I'd left the diapers in the car

Luckily I was able to obtain a fresh diaper and change Graham while Jack munched on the lunch that was brought. Although I forgot a blanket for us to picnic upon, we were able to finish up our lunch and have everything packed away by time the parade started. It was hectic but it made the time pass by quickly and gave the kids a decent lunch.

Graham eating a carrot for lunch

Momma and Jack enjoying the parade

Our little squeeze in spot ended up being a pretty good location. We got lots of candy and beads from the people in the parade. I saw my very first soft ball coach, an old high school friend and Carol from Mother's Connection. We also saw our neighbor representing The Knights of Columbus by carrying the American flag with several other men from our local K of C. Jack enjoyed getting all the candy and seeing the fire trucks. Graham just enjoyed watching the people and clapping his hands at everyone. It was such a nice day and since we'd already eaten lunch we decided to stop by Broad Ripple Park on the way home. It really was a perfect day. I'm so glad we decided to go.

Ollie, our neighbor, carrying the US Flag

Looking north from our seats...the parade is marching south towards us

Jack: Momma, what's that?

Me: It's a trolley car

Jack: A trolley car? It's like a train car on wheels!

68. Implement "Slow Cooker Sundays"

This is the second month (2 for 2 so far!!) I've successfully created a monthly menu for my family and stuck to it. Now anyone who knows me knows that my taste in food is a little...um...limited. But I'm trying to break out of my comfort zone and vary our dinners a little so we're not eating baked chicken or pork every night.

The idea of the menu actually first came about because we never seemed to be able to stick to our monthly food budget. Even though we'd shop sales and try to be frugal it just wasn't working for us. We were still making many trips to the store, picking up items we didn't need or unnecessarily eating out. All of that kept throwing us way over budget. So I decided to create a menu then use that to make a grocery list of the month. We'd make one large trip to Sam's Club and one large trip to Kroger and then we would make another trip in the middle of the month to replace the perishable items. Jason was pretty skeptical in the beginning and didn't think it would make much of a difference. But last month we came the closest ever to sticking to our food budget and so far this month we're UNDER budget! We're so excited!

So...while making the menus I noticed that we cook a lot. And it gets old. And tiresome. And by the weekend...I just want a break. I wanted some family time. I didn't want to have to worry about coming home and cooking dinner. So I decided that I would just do a crock pot meal on Sundays so I didn't have to deal with cooking after a great day of playing! I'm happy to announce that the last eight Sundays we've had a slow cooker meal. I've already reused recipes because again...I'm not an adventurous one when it comes to food...but we're working on gathering new recipes. I have two new ones I'm ready to add to next month's menu. The ones I've tried so far are:

• Marie's Easy Pot Roast (tradition pot roast with onion soup mix)
• Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings
• Cream of Celery Pork Chops and Rice
• Paula Dean's Pot Roast (with creamy soup and bay leaves)
• Keia's Romantic Beef Stew

Yes. I know that's five recipes for eight Sundays. I said I had two new ones ready to add! If you have a great, simple recipe for the crock pot...please add it in the comments!

Now...I know it's only been two months...but I'm crossing another item off my bucket list...I have implemented "Slow Cooker Sundays".

Graham's First Hair Cut!

For a few weeks now my sister has been telling me that I need to get Graham's hair cut. I kept ignoring her until people in stores started calling him a SHE! It's not that I couldn't see his hair was getting long, I was just dreading the event after Jack's first hair cut . But it was just getting too long so we went for it. We took Graham to the same Cookie Cutter's Haircuts for Kids that Jack went to and he even got to sit in a race car just like his brother did. But the experience was totally different. Graham did an AMAZING job. He sat in the car, looked around and smiled. He was a natural!

He just sat down in the car and looked around for a minute. He tried to stand a few times but he was easily coaxed back down with a video to look at.

No one had to hold his head down in a vice grip or force him back into the seat. He just sat there like a big boy and got his hair cut. Maybe he actually wanted a hair cut so he could see where he was going!

Whatever it was, he did great. And I think he looks absolutely handsome. Look at those cheeks! Look at those eyes! Look at his cute little part on the side! I just love him and I am totally loving the new hair cut!

First hair cut!

49. Save money for an eReader

Well...I may have cheated to complete this bucket list item. I was supposed to save my money to purchase an eReader, specifically a Nook, but my friend notified me of a good deal on a refurbished one from Ben's Outlet. It was one third off and I was $30 short of being able to purchase it. I talked to Jason about what to do...should I:

1. Go ahead and charge the Nook for the discounted price and owe the credit card the difference...but save money in the process
2. Wait, let the deal pass and keep saving money to purchase it later at the full price

I ended up going with option 1. So technically I didn't save up my money and buy my new toy...I charged it...but at a discounted price! *Sigh* However...the whole point of this bucketlist item was to provide me with the experience of saving BEFORE buying instead of giving in to instant gratification and just charging it. I failed at this one. It is a harder task than it sounds. Can you think of the last mid to large ticket item you've bought outright with money you've saved up for the sole purpose of this purchase? Did you charge your last big toy?

Oh well...at least I'll be able to download the books I'm reading from the Pulitzer list onto my new Nook!