Mammel! Basketball! Go Bears!

I hear that several times a day.

Luke's Uncle Samuel (Mammel) plays basketball for the Frost Polar Bears. We went and watched a game three weeks ago when they had Senior Night (since he is a senior in high school) and ever since then, Luke has been obsessed. One of his books has a picture of a polar bear in it and every time we read the book, Luke points out the polar bear and says, "Mammel!" Anytime we play basketball, Luke has to mention Mammel and yell "Go Bears!"

Tonight the Polar Bears played the Irving Universal Eagles for the Class A Division 2 Area Playoffs. Luckily the game was only about 30 minutes from us in Maypearl so of course we went to watch. Luke was SO EXCITED to get to see Samuel play basketball again.

It was a great game and I am so glad we were there. The Bears played their hearts out against a good team and the game wasn't decided until the very last minute of the 4th quarter. Unfortunately the favor went to the Eagles and the final score was 54-52. It was a heartbreaker, but every player did a great job. Especially Samuel who is good at everything he does. (That's a Stroder thing...I hope it was passed down to my child!)

Thankfully I remembered my camera this time so I tried to get some pictures of Luke watching the game and of Samuel playing the game. It was a little hard because Luke spent most of the game sitting in my lap, but that's okay. Here's what I got...

Luke and Daddy watching pre-game warmups:


The Polar Bears (Sam is #10):


Samuel shoots a free throw...it went in:


I thought this was kinda cool:


Luke plays on the sidelines during halftime:


Squeezing Daddy's legs:


Luke watching the game:


Kennett had to get in on the action:


Kennett and Luke:


Luke wanted to touch the hoop:




Samuel and his proud parents:


Luke and his Uncle "Mammel"

Football Hat

Luke calls his cap his "football hat" because there is a football on the front. He found it in the floor today (it had fallen off the counter) so he wanted to wear it. I think he looks SO INCREDIBLY CUTE with his hat backwards. Don't you agree?!

Perfecting his cheesy grin:


Looking for the truck (he loves to watch the garbage truck):


He likes using his crib for the basketball goal. Here he is "dribbling"


and shooting:

Three Kids in a Wagon

Reese, Luke, and Joshie

Playing Outside Alone

Yesterday Luke wanted to play outside so I let him go out by himself. He's very good about staying close to the porch and I can see him from the kitchen and living room windows. I left the back door open and put the baby gate up so Daisy and Lily wouldn't be going in and out of the house.

I was cleaning up the kitchen when I realized that Luke was awfully quiet outside. I went to the back door and looked out at him. This is what I found.

He was dipping a steel cup (one of those things that goes on top of steel fence posts) into the dog's water.


And watering the grass.


Sometimes he watered the basketball goal.


He had water everywhere, including all over himself. It's a good thing it was a warm day! The fun ended when he came over to me and said "Mama! Bath!" and dumped water down my leg.

Maybe he's still a little too young to play outside by himself.

"Heavy Guke"

Today was a day where I needed some caffeine this afternoon. Since I'm not keeping sodas in the house, Luke and I headed up to Race Trac to get a fountain drink. I had Luke in one arm and my keys and change in the other arm. I filled up my drink and paid and as we were walking out to the car, Luke started slipping out of my arms.

I looked at him and said, "Kid, you are heavy!"

He grinned and replied, "Heavy!" Plain as day. As cute as some of his mispronounciations are (like "menamen" for vitamin), it's so cool when he gets a word exactly right.

I said, "Heavy Luke!"

Another grin. I just love his grin, it's a mixture of devious and sweet. Then he started repeating, "Heavy Guke! Heavy Guke!"

So we're making progress in the saying of the name department!

A Family Portrait

Luke combined some of his favorite things this morning - his family and coloring! The result was his first attempt at drawing his family members from the Stroder side.



The red squiggles are "Matt" (Daddy Matt), "Ninnett" (Kennett) and "Arah" (Aunt Sarah).

The green squiggles are "Eeet" (Uncle Heath), "Bucky" (Aunt Becky), and "Nana" (Nana).

The orange squiggles are "Mammel" (Uncle Samuel), "Gake" (Uncle Jake), and "Nanana" (Aunt Hannah).

The turquoiseish squiggles are Bryan, Melissa, Austin, Hayden and Karlee. He hasn't perfected saying their names yet and while I can tell what he was saying, I can't decipher the names into words!

Here's a close-up of the drawing:

Haircut!

Luke got his hair cut today and finally we have a child who looks like he belongs in civilization again. It's been two and a half months since his last haircut and he needed it desperately. His hair is getting a lot thicker and grows really fast so I have a feeling we may have to start getting it cut more frequently as he gets older. He comes by it honestly, though; Nate and I both have very thick hair that grows very quickly.

Luke did so good today, too. We scheduled the appointment so Nate could get his haircut right before Luke and I really think it helped Luke to watch his daddy. I wish I'd taken my camera to get the look on his face when we walked in and Luke saw Nate in the chair. It was priceless. I've never seen his eyes so huge.

Ms. Janie and I were both prepared today - Ms. Janie brought Luke some marshmallows to snack on and I had some Craisins for him. He LOVES Craisins, it's his form of candy since I don't let him have candy yet. (Other than the time he found my Sweetart candy hearts and thought they were vitamins!) He thoroughly enjoyed the marshmallows, too. As long as someone kept the snacks coming, he sat in the chair and did not cry. It was a HUGE improvement from the last two times when he sat there and cried like he's never cried before.

After the haircut we got the special treat of eating lunch with Nate before heading back home. Luke was exhausted when we got home but I had to snap a couple pictures to show off his new 'do. Doesn't he look so much better?! (Look at the pictures from my "Handsome Little Guy" post to see the before!)

Cows need to go potty, too.

We are nowhere NEAR potty training, but Luke has been very interested in going potty. I'm pretty sure his interest coincides with the fact that his BFFs Joshie and Coy are potty training. We were at Walmart a few weeks ago and I was getting wipes and the potties were right there and he started spazzing out at me - "Mama! Potty! Mama! Potty!" So I let him pick one out - that's how we ended up with a frog potty. It was the cheapest one, too, so I'm not really complaining. He likes to sit on the potty but has never actually gone to the bathroom in the potty. I'm not pushing the issue, just letting him explore and getting him comfortable with the situation.

Earlier today, Luke was in his room playing with his Mad Cow. I could hear it over the monitor going "moo! moo! a-ha-ha-ha-ha" It always makes me laugh. Anyway, I heard Luke start yelling "potty! potty!" So I go in there to take Luke to the potty and I find this...





I guess cows need to go potty, too.

Handsome Little Guy

Can I just say that I am in love with my new header? I think it really jazzes the blog up. For those wondering, I just used a fun website called http://www.scrapblog.com/. I love the idea of digi scrapping, but I'm not really Photoshop savvy so ScrapBlog is a perfect option for me. Plus it is super easy.

I took the picture I used in the header yesterday, when we were hanging out in the front yard. It was hard to pick my favorite because Luke was extremely photogenic yesterday. Here are some other pics of my handsome little man...



He loves to stand against the front door. I don't really know why!


Doing "cuckoo" from behind the tree.


I get this look from him a lot. It looks like he is thinking, "what the heck, Mom?!"


A pensive Luke, chewing on his straw.

A Picture Update

I have been a major slacker when it comes to posting pictures of my kid. I've been taking them, just not taking the time to transfer them from the camera to the computer. I finally got my act together today. Get ready for some major Luke-ness:

Last Tuesday I made a new baked pasta dish for dinner. Luke was "helping" me and he couldn't understand why I didn't give him his noodles right after they were done boiling. He was very upset by this and spent the entire 20 minutes the dish was in the oven crying for his "na-noos". Of course, I had to capture this for posterity.

Happy now that he has his dinner in front of him.I think he has some teeth working their way in because he wants to chew on everything, including the chair outside.Luke loves applesauce and asks for "da-sauce" at least once a day. He does use a spoon on occasion, but he always ends up grabbing fistfuls of applesauce. I guess he just can't get it in his mouth fast enough when he uses the spoon. Last Friday I looked over at him and he had applesauce smeared all over his forehead. Click on this picture to make it bigger to see.We went to Kroger for some fresh baked tortillas last Friday (the day before Valentine's Day) and Luke practically stopped breathing at the sight of all the V-day balloons. So I had to get him one. My mom said I'm a sucker, but hey. The kid loves balloons and he has had so much fun with it. Here's Luke with two of his favorite things - the balloon and a snack!He loves naked playtime after his shower and before we put on his jammies. He always gets a second wind, running around his room in the nude.You can totally tell that this dog has been raised around a toddler. Daisy sees Luke coming and heads the other direction. Lily, on the other hand, loves wrestling with Luke. This was from Valentine's Day...he was about to head outside to play but he had to stop for some Lily time. Ms. Lil didn't care, as long as she could keep chewing on her rawhide bone! Giving Lily hugs before heading outside.Driving his new car around the living room on Monday morning. Too bad I didn't get it on video because he was saying "vroom, vroom!"
The slide had been previously residing in the garage, but Luke wanted to bring it in the house yesterday. I put it in his room, that way if there were any accidents he would be falling on the carpet instead of the hard surface.
Sliding down, notice the ball still in his hand!

That's all, folks!!

Something you DON'T want to see in your backyard - EVER

Today has been an interesting day. I had quite a traumatic experience earlier and I just haven't yet recovered all the way.

Luke and I had just gotten home from Walmart and I was unloading groceries as I talked to my Mom Team mentor, Keely. I just happened to glance out in the backyard and I see Lily frolicking about, throwing something around. At first it looked like one of her toys, but then I realized that a)it was too big to be a toy and b)it had LEGS!!! After double checking to make sure it wasn't Daisy (just to be on the safe side - it wasn't), I started freaking out. I was in complete panic mode. After all, I am a city girl. I don't do dead animals. I don't like to look at them, not even in pictures. I think the fact that my husband takes pictures of himself with the deer he kills is the craziest and grossest thing ever. So you can just imagine the horror I felt watching my dog fling this dead animal around my backyard. Especially considering the fact that this is the same dog who looooves to give kisses. :::::shudder:::::

Somehow from inside the house I get Lily to drop the dead animal and I see it is rabbit. Already I have seen too much. I am still in panic mode because I did not know what to do. How in the world was I going to keep Lily away from the rabbit and dispose of it without actually looking at it or being near it? I called everyone I could think of - Nate was in north Fort Worth, Matt was in Corsicana, my dad was in Dallas, none of my neighbors were home...it was horrible. Nate told me I was just going to have to be strong and do it myself. The thought made me want to faint. But I ventured outside, got the shovel and made my way over to the rabbit.

This should be the part of the story where the heroine rises to the occasion, scoops up the rabbit on the shovel, and gets rid of it. Then she feels this overwhelming sense of accomplishment and is forever changed. Well...that didn't happen.

Instead, I had my eyes closed the whole time I was trying to get the rabbit on the shovel. It was heavy! At one point I had it partway on the shovel, but it feel off. I ran into the house screaming. So much for being strong.

Through all of this, Luke was oblivious to what was going on. He was watching me out the window and he didn't seem fazed at all by the rabbit, or even notice it was there. He just laughed at me when I came tearing into the house. He's used to seeing me act like a crazy person, I do it all the time to make him laugh.

By now, I've let the dogs in the house. I didn't want them out with the dead animal. I feed Luke his lunch but I don't have the stomach to eat anything. Then I hear what sounds like the garbage truck so I scoop Luke out of his seat and we run to the front window - the kid loves to watch the garbage truck go by. False alarm, but I did notice that my neighbor Danny had gotten home. I hightailed it over to his house and he came over to dispose of the creature on my back porch. For that, I will be forever grateful. I really don't know what I would have done with it sitting there all afternoon.

In case you're wondering, I do not regret not being able to do it myself. I don't need that kind of strength! There are just some things that are not going to change, and my ability to be around dead creatures is one of them. And my husband wants us to move to the country...HA!! I would never survive.

A boy, some rocks, and some water

We took Luke and the dogs on a run this afternoon. We go to the big field behind our subdivision and the dogs just love to run free there. So does Luke, for that matter. Well at the end of the field is a ditch that has been filled with water. It's not deep or wide, it just looks like a little creek running through the field, but it's not a creek. Luke loves going to the water and watching Daisy and Lily jump in and out of it. I know that if we let him, he'd be jumping in and splashing with the dogs. You can just see it in his eyes. Thankfully he hasn't given into his desires yet! (He is going to LOVE playing in water during the summer. I can't wait!)

Today we found a bunch of rocks near the "creek" and Luke had SO. MUCH. FUN. throwing the rocks into the water. He would laugh so hard every time there was a splash, and the dogs kept chasing the rocks which made him laugh even harder. I loved watching him stand there, throwing rocks, and laughing. (He has really good form when he throws, too. I'm so proud! :)

Of course, I haven't learned to take my camera with us everywhere we go so I have no pictures. What a horrible mom I am! Part of the reason of this post is to make sure I always have a memory of it...it's something I don't want to forget!

Syrup Monster

Luke has discovered the joy of pancakes with syrup.

If he is sitting at the table by himself, he will eat pancakes without syrup. No questions asked. As soon as Nate and I sit down to join him, he immediately begins begging to have his "ca-cake" dipped in the sugary goodness. He usually begs Nate, I guess he knows that his mom will be stingy on the sweetness. However, last weekend only Luke and I had pancakes (Nate had cereal) so it was either get syrup from Mom or get none at all.

Here's the Syrup Monster, asking very nicely for some pancakes:
Examining to make sure the amount of syrup is to his liking:

It doesn't so he hands it back to me for another dip.

The Luke Seal of Approval

Can you see the syrup all over his face?!

Doing Some Planting

Luke and I spent Saturday morning in Dallas. My dad thought it was the perfect opportunity to have Luke plant his own tree. A long time ago, Beth and I did the same thing with two acorns from our neighbor's front yard. My dad was so excited to have Luke plant one, too. Luke took his "job" very seriously.

Filling up the bucket with potting soil.

Daisy felt the need to supervise.

Checking out the acorn before he plants it.

Patting down the soil on top of the acorn.

Making sure the acorn gets some water.

Laughing so hard at Daisy and Lily trying to get the water.

Putting the acorn away in Boppa's greenhouse.