4th of July

All set to watch the parade!
Ready and waiting!
Chewing on a piece of candy (one of way too many!).
Calvin loves dogs even ones that walk on two legs!
Not so sure about this dog though.


Getting lessons on how to drive Grandpa's new lawn tractor.


After a lesson from Dad Calvin was all set to drive the tractor himself. Now if he could only reach the pedals...
Handing batteries to Grandpa David...
Look, batteries!

Learning how to hold the ends of batteries and then shake them.
Why do we spend all sorts of money on toys when he's perfectly happy with batteries?

House projects

Old stove.
New stove. Thank you craigslist! Although the old stove was a little (okay, really) outdated it actually worked really, really well so it was hard to justify buying a new one. Occasionally I would check craigslist to see if a nice stove was for sale and I happened to see this one and for a great price. One quick trip to Galena and we had a new stove! An older couple had just moved into a town home a few months ago that had sat empty for more than a year so none of the appliances had ever been used. The woman said that she had to take plastic and other tags off of the stove when they moved in. She only used it a couple of times (what did they eat?) and felt like she need to buy new appliances because someone in her family owns an appliance store. Where were they a month ago when we needed a new dishwasher? See below.

The dishwasher that came with the house went kaput so we got a new one! He requires a little more upkeep but he sure is cuter than the one we had!Dan and Calvin installing the dishwasher. Unfortunately, this ended up being an all day chore. Between Dan's little helper and a trip to the hardware store the entire process took longer than expected. Who knew that electric dishwashers don't come with electrical cords, that you have to supply your own? Strange but true.
Installed and ready to clean, clean, clean!
The garden that Dan and Calvin built with the plants from Grandpa David. Calvin helped add soil to the garden and carried the plants from the garage to the garden. I'm a little surprised that any of the pumpkins are doing well because Calvin had fun pulling them out of the garden shortly after they were planted. He now leaves the big garden alone because I have a small garden (a square container that I used to grow tomatoes in) for him to play in. He loves to use his little shovel to dig in the dirt and then fling the dirt onto the ground.
Our rock collection. Instead of flower beds this house came with a rock garden. We've (okay I only helped a little so it was mainly Dan) been cleaning out the rocks to make room for some shade plants since the beds are right up against the house and don't get direct sunlight. It's kind of hard to tell from the picture but this is a HUGE pile of rocks and half of what we had to begin with. We've had 2 different people come and take some of the rocks away for their own gardens. Now we just need to find 2 more people to take the rest away.
Earlier this spring there were some interesting looking plants emerging from the ground near our garage and at the edge of the backyard. I thought they kind of looked like red asparagus. Dan wanted to get rid of the plants since we didn't know what they were but I insisted that we leave them and thank goodness we did!


Today was really hot and humid so the peonies are starting to droop. I'm hoping tonight when it cools off they will perk up again.
Tomatoes!
Hello, tomatoes!

Easter

The Easter Bunny!
Calvin wanting out the front door. He didn't really understand what was about to happen but he sure was excited to go outside.
Pointing at one egg while looking at another.
He's not sure what to do with the egg other than point at it and call it a ball. Everything even close to being round is called a ball. Pictures of balloons...ball. Eggs...ball. Nose on a stuffed bear...ball. Bubbles...ba ball (not a type-o, that's what he calls bubbles!).
Putting an egg in the basket...
So close...
Tricked you! I'll just carry it, thank you.
Stop chasing me with that basket!
Calvin listening to the treats rattle around in the eggs. Dan ended up carrying the basket around the front yard while Calvin collected his eggs.
An egg!
Thinking about putting the eggs in the basket.
Putting eggs in the basket!
Shaking the eggs.
Goldfish!
Carrying the basket, finally. Who knew it would be so difficult to get him to carry the basket.
Dan carrying the basket, again.

We had a lot of fun collecting eggs and eating the treat inside of the eggs. Mostly goldfish but there were a few jelly beans in the mix. Although Calvin doesn't know it yet he was using my Easter basket from when I was a kid. You can't see it in the pictures but I wrote my name on the handle so everyone would know that it's mine and that they should leave it alone. Unless of course you wanted to leave presents in it for me then by all means mess with it! As I recall Mom wasn't too happy with me when I wrote my name on the handle.

Cars and Trucks

Today we said good bye to our old friend Dolores. She was a trusty steed for many years. She still looks good for a 16 year old car, don't you think?

And we welcome to the family, the little white truck...

Calvin did a full inspection when we got home.
Bonus no pants picture.

I also considered posting pictures of my moustache experiment, but based on Rachel's uncontrollable laughter at the sight of it, I decided that's not a good idea.

Keep on truckin', and keep it pants free.

Happy March!

Just after this picture was taken a sticky little finger left a sticky little fingerprint on my camera lens! I should have known better than to let him get so close.
I have no idea what he was laughing at but it must have been funny!
Time for another hair cut!

There are many times throughout the day that I wish I could get the camera or video camera out to record what Calvin is doing. Of course, he stops doing what ever it is that he is doing to check out the camera as soon as I get it out. I love it when he picks up a book, opens it, and reads to me. I hope that his love of books and reading stays with him as he grows up.

I wish I could get a video of him climbing into the chair with Cricket, putting his nose against her, and whispering "hi" over and over again. She actually tolerates this for a few seconds until he starts petting her. He's gentle for the most part but the petting does sometimes turn into patting. One day Calvin and I were petting a soft stuffed animal and I was praising him on being gentle and he turned to point at the chair where Cricket normally sleeps. Apparently, Calvin thinks Cricket's name is Gentle.

I wish I could record how Calvin's entire body seems to vibrate when he gets really excited. He starts giggling and shaking his little fists when he's super excited about something.

Calvin is also learning how to save money in his piggy bank. If we give him a coin he immediately runs over to his piggy bank and puts the coin in. He's been known to put crackers and cereal in there too but we're working on that. The other day he found a coin purse (how he knew that it was a coin purse I have no idea), took it into the living room, sat down on the floor, and waited for me to get his bank.

Calvin is becoming very helpful around the house. Recently, when I was putting the dishes away he helped by taking a dish or piece of silverware out of the dishwasher and then handed it to me to put away. He did this until it was empty! Now the trick is keeping him interested in helping around the house.

Silly faces

When Calvin heard me get the camera out he came a runnin'. The first couple of pictures were okay but then the silly faces started!

Table by the window

Calvin loves to sit on this little table and look out the window. There isn't much action outside since we now live on a cul-de-sac but he still loves to look out. He also likes to sit up there with his legs hanging over the edge while I read him a story. Of course when I try to take a picture he makes a beeline for the camera and tries to get it away from me.