Florida Sunshine

Only in Florida can you go around in pants and short sleeves and wish that you had thought to put on a pair of shorts in mid January. It was such a beautiful day outside today. I wasn't expecting an 80 degree day today. We've been taking full advantage of our weather lately by spending most of our time outdoors. We spent today playing soccer, jumping on the trampoline, and playing in the sand box.

Days like today make me never want to leave Florida. Unfortunately, today reminded me that the hot days of summer are right around the corner.

Early Morning Road Construction

Today has been a long day and it is not even 10:00 a.m.! Landon woke up at 5:30 this morning and I woke up with a horrible headache. It was due from the combination of the lack of sleep over the past two weeks and the sinus pressure that I was having. I tried to persuade Landon to fall back to sleep, but he refused. He kept telling me that the sun woke him up. I told him that even the sun is still asleep. Landon's response was, "Oh, right. Moon wake me up!" I managed to stumble my way into the kitchen and make a pot of coffee. At this hour there was no point in a coffee mug. I put a straw in the coffee pot and was good to go! If only my coffee maker actually had a coffee pot. It would have been a time saver saving me from making several trips back into the kitchen for refills! With caffeine in hand I was ready to face the day. By 7:00 a.m. we had already made a tropical island out of Moon Dough complete with palm trees and monkeys. By 7:03 a.m. Landon was becoming bored. He was begging to watch cartoons. I wasn't fond with the idea of cartoon watching. I didn't want the day to be wasted in front of the tv. I also couldn't imagine going outside to play. I knew the outside allergens would have made my headache worse. Landon started playing with his toy cars. I kept thinking to myself that it'd be great if Landon had one of those floor road mats to play on. Then an idea came to me. I could make one. With duct tape in hand I set out to make a road way. The duct tape didn't go as far as I thought it would. The roll size was deceiving. I had planned on making a road wrap around the hallway and pass under the dining room chairs. I quickly learned that the road was only going to be a short one and only passing through one tunnel. Landon didn't seem to mind. He had a blast and it kept him busy for quite some time. Now I am wishfully hoping that it tires him out so that we can take a nice long nap this afternoon!

Here I Am!

The other day I was walking around calling for Landon. I couldn't find him anywhere. I knew that he couldn't get out of the front door and the back yard is completely fenced in with no exit. He had to be in the house somewhere, but I couldn't find him. After calling out for him several times I hear Landon say, "Here I am. Boy in chair room." I could not figure out what he was talking about by "chair room" so I followed his little voice. Sure enough I found Landon in the chair room. He was underneath the dining room chair that has a floor length chair cover. He was playing with his animal toys under the chair. When I said "found you" Landon wouldn't come out, but he did show me what he was doing.

I think I may make a tent out of the dining chairs and we'll have a picnic lunch sometime this week. The simple ways that Landon can have fun amazes me. How quickly we forget the simple ways that fun can be had once we become adults. Speaking of fun, Landon's toys drive me nuts. I can't stand seeing toys in the living room. Just because I am a mom does not mean that my life has to revolve around toys. There is no need to step on a toy or to sit on a toy or even to have a living room being cluttered with toys. I think I finally found a good balance between toys and a clutter free living room. 

Target had these storage cubes on sale one week. I picked one up along with four colored bins. The bins are in cream and purple of course. Landon knows that all of his living room toys must fit into these four bins. Whatever toys do not fit must be placed in his room. He's allowed to bring his toys out into the living room, but at the end of play time he knows the toys that do not fit in the bins must go back into his room. It's an amazingly simple solution to all of the toy clutter. My life has been much easier since coming across this toy solution.