I have every Wednesday and Thursday off, in the spring/summer/fall I absolutely LOVE my schedule because Kade and I spend roughly 8 hrs a day outdoors. That's if he wakes at 7:00 am, takes a 2 hour nap, and we come in at 6:00 pm. In the summer it's probably more like 10 hours outdoors. He's never watched tv for more than 10 minutes at a time. Actually, come to think of it, he usually doesn't do anything for more than 10 minutes before he's moved on to something else.

So, imagine my 2 days a week off during the winter months. 12+ hours a day, indoors, entertaining a 2 year old boy with the attention span equivalent to a small puppy. Who, by the way, has decided he doesn't need daily naps anymore. Yeah, I'm tired by Thursday night! I go to my "paying job" to get a rest!

Not that I'm complaining because I wouldn't trade this for the world! But I do struggle to come up with ways to entertain, and enrich, Kade's little--but extremely intelligent--mind! One thing we do, that neither enlightens nor enriches him, is shop. I always thought I wanted a little girl so I'd have shopping buddy. Turns out my little boy fits the bill quite nicely! And since he's figured out that "please" and "thank you" gets him a lot of things in life, he usually doesn't go home empty handed from the store :-) I'm sure Erik (the money manager of our little family) is ready for the warmer months too!!

Picture #1 was taken after one of our weekly trips to Target, our favorite store! Whenever we get in the car, Kade asks: "We going to Target, Mom?". Yeah, I may go there a smidge too often.

Picture #2 was taken today after Kade saw a bin of basketballs. "Mom, wook! Basketballs! I NEEEEEED one! Please Mama?" By the way, he only busts out the word, "Mama", when he wants something he thinks I might say "no" to. And he uses his sweetest voice when he says it. See? Highly intelligent :-)