Dare Devil

Two words say it all... "Dare Devil!"

A Silly Saturday Morning

Nothing is better than sleeping in on a Saturday morning. Mommy was so surprised that I slept 12.5 hours last night. Usually I'm good for about 11 any given night - but I was a pooped puppy from this week at school. Anyway - when I wake up - I have a smile on my face and I'm ready to go. But sometimes I like to play around with Mommy in my room before we go have breakfast. This morning we listened to our nursery songs and I jumped around my crib - too much fun!


I also got to play on my new scooter that Mommy just bought me. It converts from a rocking Big Wheel, to a Parent-Push Big Wheel, and finally to a Big-Kids Big Wheel (not shown). Needless to say we had a extra special walk with Ziggy this morning as I got to show off my new "wheels" to the neighbors.

Swim'in, Work'in, and Play'in

"Water feels great Mommy - come on in!"

Me and all of my shovels & tools - I was made to be a.... ... Little RED HORSE worker

Bye Mommy - I'm gonna stay with Grannie & Poppie because they spoil me to death! Just kidding...

Treats (for Doggies)

I don't know what the big deal was with Mommy today! I get to give Ziggy his cookies (Milkbones) each day - today I just wanted to eat one of his instead of mine! If you look close in the first picture, I'm tasting a green Milkbone. As you can see in the second picture, Ziggy is right up in my face wanting to know why in the world I'm eating his cookie. Oh well... they weren't that great anyway!

Beautiful day to play...

It was a beautiful day to play outside today - who were the weathermen that said it was going to rain today? Between going on a run this morning with Mommy and Ziggy and then playing for awhile outside this afternoon - we played hard! As you can see, Mommy set up camp outfront for me to get busy... chairs, a wagon, 2 riding toys. She would have brought the little pool too, but she thought the neighbors might think we are crazy with everything out there. Of course, with a nice day like today, that meant Mommy didn't have an excuse for not cutting the grass. She took care of that when I was taking my afternoon nap. Anyway... a good day out in the sun. Back to school for both Mommy and me tomorrow though.

Whoa - is that a Blue Crab?

Whoa... is that a Blue Crab? Poppie went and got 3 dozen crabs on Saturday to cook up. I can't believe that everyone likes to eat those things. Look at their pinchers, claws and legs. They were moving all around while they were in the cooler and I was a little scared to reach in and touch them. Mommy told me NOT to touch them or they might pinch me hard. Wait until Daddy gets back - he LOVES to eat Blue Crab (figures - he is from Maryland).

Faye was a flop

Mommy blog: Just a quick update about the weekend - Tropical Storm Faye was certainly a rain storm throughout many parts of the south... except here! The only threat we felt from her was a constant drizzle of rain on Saturday. Today turned out to be absolutely fantastic. This wasn't the case in many other places, including Tallahassee where my sister Jen lives. Massive flooding and even a dozen deaths were caused by this tropical storm throughout Florida. We are approaching the height of hurricane season so keep your fingers crossed that all remains quiet in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

Buckle down the hatches...

Mommy blog: After a long, 1st week back at school, Thomas and I came home today only to buckle down the hatches and prep things for Tropical Storm Faye that is slow approaching from the east. Maybe I should have prefaced this blog with some "hurricane etiquette and information" for those of you who don't live in Hurricane Alley like we do along the Gulf Coast of Florida. Let me start over...
First, hurricanes are categorized 1 to 5 (5 being the strongest storm that usually is catistrophic) and a tropical storm is slightly weaker than a Hurricane 1. Those of you who lived in the Azores with Brian and me know full well that 1/2 the year at Lajes AB, Azores was like living in constant tropical storm winds - so needless to say, I'm used to windy and rainy. Sorry... I digress. Anyway - people along the Gulf Coast here don't evacuate for a Tropical Storm and most don't leave if it is a Hurricane 1 or 2. When you start talking about strong hurricane 2's and certainly 3's, then people start packing up and evacuating to somewhere that is not going to be hit by the storm. The exception to all of this is if you live in low-lying areas or you live along the water. We don't, so we are with the initial plan.
So, our area of the Panhandle is expected to get somewhere between 8" and 15" of rain and lots of wind this weekend. What does that mean for me? I have a very good reason why the lawn is NOT going to get mowed this weekend. That and I also have an excuse for laying around with Thomas and napping when he does. Oh wait... school is back in session and I have homework to grade. Scratch that "napping plan" and I guess I will be grading this rainy, wet weekend.
Back to the beginning of my blog - Thomas and Ziggy watched as I moved porch furniture, as well as outside play toys into the garage tonight. I tried to inform Ziggy that walks would be limited this weekend (really, downright non-existant) - he will just have to dodge the rain drops in the backyard on his own. No need to put the hurricane shutters up (that would be extreme), so this was easy to prep for without Brian here. Let's pray that this is the only storm I have to deal with this season without Brian. Have a good weekend whereever you guys are...

Bedtime Routine

Our Bedtime Routine - Thomas decided tonight, as we were getting ready for a tubby bath, that he could climb up on the side of his crib... huh? Quite the adventurious one... where does he possibly get this from? Not his scaredy-cat Mommy, that is for sure. This must be a sign of his Daddy's genes. He also is becoming quite the little independant one when it comes to brushing his teeth. Now, this "teeth-brushing process" has been on going for a while - we didn't always brush our teeth every night, but I certainly attempted to remember. Anyway - in the recent weeks, as the water in the tub is filling up I get Thomas' tooth brush ready (as well as this spare one that I use as a demo) and then we sit on the floor together. I tell him we are going to "tickle" his teeth and he lets me do it for a few strokes and then insists that he can do it. I then continue to pretend to brush my teeth with the demo brush and he attempts to brush his. And there you have it in the (middle) pictures - brushing his own teeth (or trying to).

Baby Tarzan

Not too shabby for a beginner!
A Mary Washington Baby (at heart). Clearly his mother dressed him, don't you think?

Back to School

No pictures - just a Mommy Blog: Well, it is over - summer came and went! I'm not sure where the weeks went, but we are starting a new school year tomorrow morning and there is no turning back. I've got 9th and 12th graders this year so that maturity difference should certainly keep me on my toes each and every day. I've inherited a new course that I'm teaching this year - History of the Americas - in addition to AP World History. You'd think that I would try and make things easier on myself by sticking with what already works well for me, but apparently I've lost my mind yet again this year. In addition to that, I've joined forces with my good friend Kendra to co-sponsor the Junior class (c/o 2010)! Yes, we are crazy. This year the big item on our agenda is paying for and sponsoring Prom... auughhhhh! It's almost like planning a wedding - thank goodness Kendra is amazing and already has a huge grasp on this overwhelming task. What I keep thinking about is having to chaperone both HomeComing and now Prom... I hate being the dance police. I guess I better just suck it up - do you think Brian will be my date to Prom this year and help me??????????

Lunch with Poppie

Today I got to have lunch with Poppie and Grannie and we had a great time. I always laugh so much when I am with Poppie because he does the silliest things. See... we are eating lunch and "reading" the Sunday paper together and get this... he is trying to hide behind the newspaper. What a goofball - I can see him but he thinks he is hiding so I just go right along with his game. What a hoot he is.

Same B-day celebration

Happy Birthday to Aunt Jen & Uncle Ash! This weekend we had a surprise b-day party for Aunt Jen because she was turning 30! That sounds old, but Mommy told me that being in your 30s was fabulous! Anyway - our plans didn't turn out quite as planned - Uncle Ash works for the FL Emergency Management & he got "activated" this weekend because of Tropical Storm Faye. He couldn't come celebrate with us, so instead, we sent his presents home to him. We missed you! It was a great surprise though on Aunt Jen. Friends and family were here at our house celebrating. Here is a picture of me looking in at Grayton who just happens to be playing with some of my old "infant" things that I have outgrown.

Below is Grayton and me up close to each other - I can't believe how small he seems at 6 months... was I that small once?
Aunt Jen giving instructions on how to blow out her 30 candles. Geezzz... make a wish and just blow out the candles already before the smoke alarms go off Aunt Jen!
Grandpa Sullivan flew down from DC to surprise Aunt Jen! We are both watching the Weather Channel together here to try and figure out if we are in the path of Tropical Storm Faye - good news is we might be on the west side of the storm which means we are looking good.

Is summer over already?

No pictures this time - only a "mommy blog" entry. Is summer really over already? I actually can not believe how quickly 8 weeks goes by when you are busy with a 1 year old toddler. When summer vacation first began back in early June, part of me dreaded the long weeks ahead because of Brian's absence with his deployment. I told myself, "Michelle, you need to make sure you and Thomas have a daily routine and stay busy - if not, this summer is going to creep by and it will seem like Brian will never be coming home." Well... I guess we stayed busy - the stink'in summer flew by. Now it is a little bitter sweet because tomorrow morning I will be getting up at "O-Dark-Hundred" (as they say in the military world). Aauuuuggggghhhhh! Which also means I have to wake my sleeping beauty little boy and shuffle him into the car for the 30 minute drive into work. On the other hand, I know with school starting (next Monday the students come back) I will be so busy with work and Thomas that the remaining 60+ days will fly by. Before I know it, the first grading period of the school year will be over and Brian will be back home safe! We already have a get away trip planned for Key West in mid-November (just Brian & me) and I can't wait - the beach & ocean, great food & drinks, and the best company in the whole world - Brian. The count down is on...

Big Heck Changes!

It has been a big week in the Heck household - we have finally said goodbye to two major "crutches" that my two boys have been dependant on... the doggy kennel and the bedtime bottle. As you can see, Thomas was extremely interested in us taking apart Ziggy's kennel. Ziggy on the other hand had no idea why his kennel was out on the backlawn. In the last few months, we have left Ziggy unsupervised and out from under lock & key (his kennel) and he has done great. There really is no need for it any longer. Besides - my master bedroom now has more room for "mommy & daddy" things.

Last night, I went out on a whim and decided that this would be the night we go to bed without a bottle - only a sippy cup of milk. Thomas did much better than I thought. We changed the routine just a little tonight and it worked even better. About 15-20 minutes before bedtime or bathtime, we bring the sippy cup of milk into his room and drink as we are reading stories. By the time we have walked around and said goodnight to all of the "Daddy pictures" and sit down in the rocker for some snuggles, he has drank most of it and is OK with laying down for the night. AMEN to the bottle gods!!!!! What was I thinking making two major changes like this in a matter of days? I guess I'm crazy.

Flying up north and visiting Richmond friends

Mommy and I fly up to VA this last week and went on a one-way road trip to Baltimore, MD. Along the way, we stopped and saw friends and family and had a great time. Our first stop was VA Beach where we visited Mommy's best friend from college, Katrina, and her fiance, Andrew. Unfortunately, Mommy forgot to take some pictures when we were with them... sorry you guys.
We then drove to Richmond to see Ms. Darlene and Mr. Carl (great family friends). We had way too much fun. Not only did we get to see them, we also got to see Chris, Angie, Grayson (4), Kim and Ethan (2). I rode my first "little kids" train, was "wow'ed" by an electric airplane with Mr. Carl, and Ms. Darlene even taught me how to drink from a straw. Too much fun!

Playing on the toddler playground inside the Atlanta Airport
My first "little kids" train - Mommy, Ms. Angie and Grayson also rode with me.
Mr. Carl is showing me how to operate this electric airplane
Ethan is dressed like a cowboy and is making me laugh when he screams, "Yeh, Haw!"
The 3 little boys: Grayson, Thomas and Ethan

1st Ice Cream Cone

These pictures really say it all - here is Thomas' first ever ice cream cone. I decided to let him eat it by himself after we shared the top half. He didn't know what to make of it or quite how to hold it at first. But as you can see - he loved it. He sucked every last bit of it out of the cone. Then...................

...... I took it away! Wow, was that a scene in the resturant. Oh well, at least I know he loves ice cream.