It's the Little Things... like cow booties!

A week or so ago, when we went to pick up Max from his Wednesday night Bible Study at church, Max's teacher informed us that, if she didn't know us like she did, she might be a little concerned about Max- and us.

(Oh no- A parent's nightmare- what in the world did Max share in class today?!)

For the summer, each Wednesday night Bible study lesson has a theme about "TOYS"- how we can find God in all of our "toy boxes"- in our super-hero action figures (He protects us.), teddy bears (He comforts us.), etc.... all super-cute lessons! Well, it seems that in discussion during the lesson, Max informed his class that he really enjoys playing with cow booties. Now, before you seriously start to doubt our parenting abilities, let me explain...

Max LOVES this guy:

That's right, it's Woody... Woody, the cowboy, or in our house, he is known as Cow Booty. (I suppose a mash-up of Cow Boy and Woody?!... You know, "Cow Booty.") Trust me, to a three year old, it makes perfect sense. And to his Mama, it is pure adorable-ness... welllll, until he tells his teacher and causes her to question what is going on at home?! Even so, we got a big kick out of Max and his "cow booty." I'm definitely sharing that one with his prom date one day. :)

I adore the way Max creates his own three-year old "language"... 

-There were the few months he insisted on ending prayers with "Awww, man" instead of "Amen" because he was convinced he was right and we were very much wrong.

-I love the fact that he occasionally wants to go get ice cream from the "Dirty Queen." (Ok, that sounds like another teacher note to mom and dad waiting to happen.)

It's true, sometimes the mess-ups and mix-ups in life allow us to see life from a whole new, magical perspective, a cow-booty perspective. And I'm totally ok with that. :)  

Speaking of mess-ups, this is evidence of my (latest and greatest) Pinterest epic failure... (Pinterest fails- Ok, I've had a few.) And in this case, Max loved every second of my failure. Isn't that the greatest?! Someone who appreciates you, even when you fail?! We could all learn a few lessons from a 3 year old in that aspect. 

The following is what should have been "Slime":

I would actually call it more like... goop?! That's how it turned out anyway. (Pinterest made it look so easy!!) I was told to mix glue, liquid starch, and food coloring. Yeah... it didn't work, but, man, Max had a blast playing in it anyway, and that made it totally worth it:

Ooey

Gooey

Pure messy-ness!

It was especially fun to rub all over Daddy's arms. :)

To make me feel like a little less of a failure, our other activity of the week (Mini Volcanoes) was awesome and every bit as wonderful as our accidental fun with our slime (gone wrong).

Mini Volcanoes (A.K.A. Color Fizz):

Simple ingredients: Vinegar, Baking Soda, & Food Coloring

We spread the baking soda into a cake pan.

We added vinegar (mixed with a little food coloring for more fun).

And we got lots of foamy, colorful wonderfulness.

Max loved the idea that these were mini-volcanoes.

Too much fun!

What is it about pre-schoolers that they think they have to stick their fingers into everything?! The volcanoes were also fun to touch after they were all "fizzed out."

When all is said and done, it's often the mix ups and mess ups in life that lead us to who we ultimately become. And I think I have a 3 year old, who is going to be all right! (Can I get an "awww, man"?!?)

"So be sure when you step, Step with care and great tact. And remember that life's A Great Balancing Act. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed) Kid, you'll move mountains." -Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go

It's the little things like... the (RETURN) of summer dayyys!

Da-da-DUM!!! 

It's SUMMER, and the Matamoros family adventures are BACK and better than ever. (I know what you're thinking...just when you thought they couldn't get any sweeter.)

SUMMERTIME. I'm just a little excited... here's one BIG reason:

Ok, and maybe there's (one) MORE reason:

Last summer, this blog served as my super-exciting ;) "out-of-school-for-the-summer" creative outlet. I looked forward to posting all of our summer adventures every week and hoped to create a sort-of "memoir" showcasing all the joy (in even the smallest moments) that our little family shared during our time together. Most of our adventures happened without even leaving our front (or back) yard. Well, the adventures, for sure, didn't stop when school started back, but life does have a way of speeding up just a teeny bit between the months of August-May. (In fact, I could create an entire separate blog just for school adventures.... for another day... ;) )

Since I'm a couple of weeks behind (June 4th ALREADY?!), this post will be a catch-up of all the adventures (even in those "little moments") that our fam has already had in these summer days... So, hold on to your hats, ladies and gents, this is going to get good...

Summer (for me) officially started when my BFF got HITCHED!!! (We had just little fun celebrating our sweet Lauren & Sam...)

Rehearsal dinner ADVENTURE... (Our mountains had missed us!!)

Two of our favorite adventure-ers on the planet!! (Max was TOO busy dancing with the flower girls to pose for a pic... no joke!)

My beautiful LAUREN. BFF soul-sitahs! :)  

We got down with our bad selves with Lauren & Sam, and then it was finally "officially" summer. (Cue "Schooooool's out for the summmmaaaa!")


Since the weddin', here's the BIG adventures that have filled our summer days (thus far)...

We've been HAMMOCKing...

(As if we even have to tell you) We've, of course, been running through the SPRINKLERS...

We've already eaten a (few) POPSICLES...

 We've hung out with CELEBRITIES...

Max was really sad the fish wasn't there...

Meet Lady... Lady Bug.

We've even gotten our hands a little DIRTY...

Our new herb garden... yuuum!

And, yeah, on second thought, it's ONLY June 4th. The adventures are just beginning, so stay TUNED, and we're keeping our eyes peeled for the "little moments." :) 

"Summer afternoon- summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." -Henry James

It's the Little Things... like summer breaks!

It's been a good little while since I've posted a Matamoros family adventure. Please note: the lack of posting does not signify a lull in our adventuring. Oh no, what I think has happened is this: denial. 

Denial that these two extra-ordinary months are coming to a close. Now, coming from someone who has had some really awesome summers in my lifetime, it should say a LOT that this summer surpasses them all. Below is a BIG reason why:

My biggest reason for an amazing summer: MAX

The reason our summer was so spectacular wasn't because we took a plane to a far-away destination...

(A cardboard box plane ride in sweet Max's bedroom)

Or a train to a distant land...

(A couch cushion train ride with Max's best pals)

The real reason that this summer takes the cake is because of who I spent my days with:

On one of our "swimming adventures" this summer, we encouraged our Max to jump into the water from the side of the pool.

It took him just a few seconds to decide that he would go for it. And...

He LOVED it and jumped again and again! (I knew he would!)

Later that day, Yakko and I talked about what an amazing feeling it was to know that our Max had enough faith in us to believe and know that we would be there to catch him in the water every single time. In fact, Max jumped because he knew we would be there for him. 

Being a parent has been the biggest gift Yakko or I have ever received. Although we are far from the most perfect parents, we feel SO blessed and humbled to know that God had faith in US to be Max's parents... faith in us to be Max's two biggest cheerleaders in all of his life adventures, from the swimming pool.. to the happiest summer days... to the hardest dark moments.

And speaking of faith and hard moments, we have officially (for the first time ever) put our faith in someone else to take care of our sweet baby as he grows into becoming his own person:

Could you look a little sadder to be leaving, please?!

Max's new Elmo backpack. He was SO proud!

Mama & Max... on the first day of "school"

Daddy & Max... on the first day of "school"

That's right, our 2 1/2 year old big boy happily took his new Elmo backpack and Cars lunchbox to "school" (Parents Day Out) for the first time last week. He had a blast, while Mama and Daddy worried and thought of him all day. Some leaps of faith are just easier than others!

Summer may be coming to an end, but how blessed are we to have this happy summer image in our hearts as we step out into the next season of adventures...

 

"The best way to make children good is to make them happy." -Oscar Wilde

It's the Little Things... like a giraffe with a long long neck!

We were so excited when the "heat wave" broke for a bit this week! So excited that we planned for Friday to be our day to finally go to the zoo (a trip we've been looking forward to all summer long)! Finally some cooler temps to enjoy a day at the zoo... hooray! We daily followed the rain-soaked forecast: Friday- 40% chance of rain. Ok, great, 60% chance of no rain. 

So, Friday finally came... We woke up, charged and ready, for our day at the zoo... to the sound of... raindrops dancing on the roof. Doggone it! After scratching our heads, crossing our fingers, whispering prayers, counting our lucky stars, and answering Max's, "Wanna go to zoo?!" for the billionth time, we just got in the car- through the steady rain- and drove to Memphis. We decided we'd make lemonade out of our lemons. Gosh darn-it, we were going to the zoo.

Max has really been geared for the zoo all summer. The Kindermusik class that Max and I have attended for the past several weeks has had a "zoo" theme, we've checked out "zoo" library books, and let's face it, Max has pretended to be just about every animal at the zoo... from the lions to the zebras to the seals. Nothing was going to "rain" on our zoo parade...

Now, would you believe that right as we turned into that zoo parking lot (no joke), it was just like God turned off the faucet... not a drop of rain throughout our whole day!!

Finally at the zoo... and riding in STYLE!

Very high on our zoo priority list this year was a visit to the giraffes (with the "long, long necks"), which just so happen to be Max's favorite animals (at the moment). And did we ever get a visit with the giraffes this year, thanks to the zoo's new "feed the giraffes" exhibit (soooo cool):

Worth every penny!!! :)

We didn't leave the other animals lonely, though...

Elephants!! (My personal fave!)

The hilarious gorilla!! ("Are you talkin' to me?!")

Gators!! (Glad to view from a distance!)

Flamingos!!

Penguins!! (We were doing the "Happy Feet" dance!)

Pelicans!!

Sea lions!!

...And panda bears, oh my!!

We were regular zoo-experts by the end of the day:

...As we were walking out the gate on the way back to the car, the rain started coming down! We couldn't have had a better zoo-day!!

And the zoo animals were still on the loose this morning. Check out this "elephant" (with the "big big trunk"): 

Rubber boot front legs and a tshirt trunk... 2 1/2 year old cleverness (at its very best)! 

"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere." -Albert Einstein