"He did really, really good yesterday."

Peyton's assistant teacher, Ms. Hussain said to me today as I peeked into Peyton's two way classroom window to see what he was doing after I had dropped him off.

When we went to the open house on Saturday, he clung to my leg like a monkey for a few minutes and then once he warmed up to the place, he wouldn't sit still! It was the same yesterday and today as well. I think after some time, he won't even hesitate to jump right in.


On the way to his first day of school!


A successful first day!

In honor of his first day of school, we had a special dinner for our little man.

On the Menu

Fresh Fettuccine with Meat Sauce

Tender Garden Salad with Vidalia Onion dressing

French Bread with Chilled Butter

Shirley Temples {7-Up, Ginger Ale, Grenadine and Maraschino Cherries}

Fudgy Brownies with Fresh Bananas and Strawberries topped with Banana Split Ice Cream, Whipped Cream and Sprinkles

We even had a motto for this school year:

Pretty fitting since Montessori is all about watching first then learning through using the materials! I'm hoping Peyton learns a lot this year.


Mom survived adored her first day toddler free!

And Peyton was super excited about Mom making him dinner!

In fact, he couldn't wait to eat!

"Eat!" He shouted excitedly over and over again.


But perhaps his favorite thing of all to "Eat!" was dessert {can you bame him?!}.

This morning when I pulled out his uniform, he went bonkers!

"Go bye-bye? Go truck? Outside now! Bye-bye? "

"Not yet Peyton."

"Go bye-bye now!"

"No, it's not time yet Peyton."

When I went to throw his dirty diaper in the pail out in the garage he squeezed past my legs and shouted, "Bye-bye! Truck! Bye-bye now!" while scrambling up the truck's step bar.

"Come back inside Peyton, we'll leave soon."

" No! Outside now!"

Finally it was time to go and once I opened the garage door and his truck door, he climbed up into his seat unassisted in about .2 seconds flat. I think he loves it! I know I do :-)

P.S. If you've enlarged any of the pictures with Peyton, you probably noticed that one of his front teeth is gray. We took him to the dentist and he apparently bruised his tooth. Have you ever heard of such a thing?! He is on antibiodics to help heal the area and then we go back to see if the tooth will be okay. If not, he'll have to have a root canal. Crazy! I guess he fell pretty good on it at some point. *Sigh*.

Energy in Motion

School starts this Monday for our little ball of energy. He has been climbing the walls of late and his first visit to meet his teachers today was no different. We had a hard time keeping him roped in!

Luckily, they're used to this kind of behaviour {or at least they reassured me as much when Peyton took the red rods off of the shelf to use as a hockey stick}.

The Montessori Method lends itself to exploration with its low shelves and self correcting materials {as Peyton quickly found out}; he was flitting from shelf to shelf, barely hovering over one tray before moving on to the next.

At one point, he planted himelf on the floor to check out some beading materials using different sizes of dry noodles and he was as happy as a clam...

Especially when Daddy came over to play too!

We found Peyton's cubby where he'll store his things...

Checked out the easel where he'll paint lots of pictures...

Found the basket of mats that he'll use for his work space on the floor {children use mats or sit at low tables to do their work- there are no assigned seats or teacher directed instruction}.

Explored the many materials that he'll become acquainted with on Monday...

And we were all good to go, Go, go!

Peyton even discovered the outside playground that featured some fun plastic cars {they're everywhere, these things! Give Peyton a toy car and he is in seventh heaven! Just don't try to pry him off of it!}

I think this little turkey is going to have a great time... it might take his teachers a few weeks to iron out the Curious George in him, but this will do him a world of good I think!

Burger Balm for a Sorrowing Soul

After two glorious weeks of enjoying the company of my parents, I had to bid them farewell for their return to the island nation of Indonesia. In the words of Shakespeare, parting really was such sweet sorrow. The kids are at that tender stage where they are literally growing overnight and I think it bruises my Mom and Dad's heart to not be closer to watch them leap and learn.

Soon after breathing in the warm scent of a sleepy baby girl and kissing the tossled hair of an energetic little boy, we made the seemingly quick drive to the hotel where my Mom and Dad would spend the evening prior to an extra early morning departure to the airport. Mother nature must have felt my pain because at two in the morning, the heavens opened up and poured buckets of rain down to earth and threw lightening bolts every which way.

I shuffled upstairs to feed Chloe in the pitch dark as our alarm clock flashed and I looked in at the spare room where both my Mom and Dad had rested their heads. Not a trace of their visit remained- sheets and duvet cover were neatly laundered, the bed made up and the bathroom held no remaining vestiges of their toiletries. It was as if they had never been there.

Nausea and despair met in the pit of my stomach to form a knot that couldn't be relieved by sleep or nourishment. Oh, how I miss them so much!

On Friday, I told Troy that I couldn't bear to be in the house nor did I have the heart to cook. So we ventured out to Main Street, Rowlett to see what there was to see.



Main Street is a quaint little road housing the library, a city hall as well as small charming stores here and there along the main route. We found Big Star Burgers along the strip and stopped in to soothe my weary heart.

The star on the front door was a nice touch to the title and theme of the place.

Troy quickly ordered us up some bacon cheeseburgers with a side of onion strings and as we waited, we took in the decor of the place.

Old movie posters lined the walls, giving the place that diner feel to it. We chatted together and let the worries melt off of our shoulders.

After feeling a little down {I am not good at goodbyes} it was good to get a nice laugh at our family dinner. Here is the title of the movie poster closest to our table:

Here is what finally lifted my spirits and gave me a giggle:

Women without men- except in their memories! Too funny.

I miss you Mom and Dad. Hope you are getting home safely! On your next visit, we'll have to bring you to Big Star Burgers so you can laugh with me at the posters too. Write me soon! :-)

P.S. Peyton has been looking for you both. I don't blame him.

Summer's Bounty

On a splendid Saturday morning, we crammed into two vehicles and made our way to downtown Dallas. On the horizon, the Farmer's Market appeared like a bright mirage in the otherwise cement wonderland. An explosion of flowers in seperated flats lined the street with dew still clinging to their delicate petals.

Stretched out before us lay hundreds of beautiful juicy jems; all fed and nourished by rays of gentle sunlight and God's good grace. We meandered through the covered canopies, taking in the vibrant colors and partaking of the succulant goodness that comes from the very freshest produce available.

There were many invitations to treat ourselves to samples of 'the goods'; so we nibbled here and we nibbled there and pretty soon, our fingers were sticky sweet with the juice of peaches, nectarines, plums, watermelon, pineapple, mango, cherries and strawberries.

What made it home with us: Asparagus, peaches, nectarines and bananas to share, strawberry-rhubarb preserves for me and some lamb chops for my sweetie.

What I wanted to bring home: One each of everything else!

Peyton enjoyed some cantalope- rind and all.

Summer is so scrumptious!

What have you been enjoying lately?

Busy Little Fingers

While this was going on...

This was happening in the other room...

Approximately one and a half days before my parents were to arrive from across the seas!

This bansai didn't see this coming in it's mellow soil filled oasis.

Poor little bansai, he was only one week old before he was literally uprooted out of existance. :-(

Guess we're not ready for plants on the end tables yet. Just don't tell his new school; they have plants AND a garden there. Oh boy!

I'm In Love...

Check out the family portrait we had Tracy Nuskey-Dodson of the Vintage Sister Studio paint of us.

I can't wait for these to come home and live with us!

Pure heaven I tell you!

The Building Blocks of Character

Peyton's personality has slowly been unfolding recently like a butterfly emerging from its chrysallis. Sometimes it makes us laugh at what he comes up with; other times we have to grind our teeth together because he's pushing every boundary in the book. He's been catching on with what things are called and how to say things in context a little more rapidly within the past few months.

For instance; last night he tried his first mint brownie and devoured it as fast as his little mouth could. When he saw that 'Daddy' still had some brownie left on his plate, he started gibbering and pointing at Troy's plate.

Troy, not falling for the easy 'gimmee that' ploy; asked what Peyton wanted and prompted him with, "Do you want more brownie? B...R...O...W...N...I...E." Troy said it slow and drew it out so that Peyton could hear the letters and pronunciation.

Clear as day, Peyton points at Troy's hand holding the holy grail of a mint brownie and said "Brownie!" There was no hesitation or mistake- he sure wanted that treat!

About two weeks ago, Chloe was on the couch having a hard time and fussing and thrashing her little legs {Troy and I call it 'bicycle kicks' because it looks like she's trying to pedal a bike}. In an instant, Peyton was at her side and leaned over to level his face with hers. "Shhhhh! It's 'kay Chloe!" he whispered and held his finger to his lips. Where did he learn the finger-to-the-lips move?! It's so funny to watch him in action!

Another funny story; we sometimes give Peyton his or Chloe's dirty diapers and tell him to take it to the trash. Sometimes he does this excitedly like it's a big game. Other times, he tries to shirk his duty by pushing the diaper back towards Troy or I and says, "All done!" Meaning in Peyton-speak, "No, thanks." Troy laughs and says that he's already trying to get out of doing chores. Oh boy, we're in for it!