Down on the farm....

Thought you all might like to know what's been going on down on the farm....wait, we don't live on a farm. We live on a busy street in the city. I have an Uncle Stephen who lives on a farm with a fence and lots of cows. That's close enough right? Mom says I just like to get dirty and Dad says I'm just being a boy, although that was before he found out where I created our little "Snipes" farm. Last fall, he used all the extra dirt that was in mom's pots and planters to fill in a low spot in the backyard. Yesterday the temperature reached 55 degrees, so I finally got to get outside and play, which is one of my favorite things to do. My idea of playing outside is going into our garage and pulling out the rusty, beat-up, small red wagon that has a very squeaky wheel. Inside that wagon is gold to me (not that I know what that means). About 2 years ago my Grandpa & Grandma Snipes were cleaning out their garage and sent some boxes that were my Dad's as a kid home with us. Last spring we cleaned the garage and went through the boxes (I say "we" as if I helped clean ~ if anything I probably created more of a mess). There was one box that Mom could have kept hidden, wrapped up for my birthday and I would have thought she'd put all of Toy's R Us in my hands. I found many of Dad's old toys. That's right, toys he played with as a little boy. Among those items were A LOT of tractors and farm equipment (fence pieces, etc.), some animals, G.I. Joes, and transformers.

Every chance I get to be outside, I head for the garage and straight towards that red wagon filled with my toys. From there I travel to our backyard to find an area to sit and spread out and spend several hours engaged in imaginative play (Mom's words not mine). But today I found the best place to build a farm......and it just happened to be in our own backyard!

Yesterday, Mom thought she'd take advantage of me playing in the (fenced in) backyard and work on cleaning her car out in the driveway. I was probably about 20 minutes into building my farm in the dirt area before she noticed. I'm sure the first thoughts racing through her head were about how she'd get the dirt out of my clothes, shoes, etc....but she suprisingly found it funny that I'd found my way to the fresh dirt. Then when I said, "Mom I'm making a farm in our backyard like Uncle Stephen's farm." What does she do? Run to get the camera & take pictures. We stayed outside and I played "on the farm" until Dad came home and could see my handy work. Much of my farm play included putting up a fence, arranging the animals, and using the tractors/dump trucks to move dirt around the yard. I think I ruined Dad's idea of grass growing in that spot anytime soon, because I'll need to be on the farm doing work from now til next fall. I can't wait until it rains on my farm!

DADDY'S LITTLE HELPER

Last weekend Dad started a new project of putting a closet shelving system in his and Mom's bedroom. Of course, when I heard the first hammer knocking, I rushed right in with my own tools to help.
Mom was complaining that one shelf was crooked.
And she didn't like the big mess in their bedroom. So I grabbed my tools and came to help Dad out.
First, I helped put things together for Dad. Then, he had to take it apart to find the right pieces he needed.
Are you sure this is level Dad?

(One of about a million questions asked that afternoon.)
Now I just needed to hammer it a few times to get it ready.

Dad, are you sure you cut this straight?I helped put it on a shelf that Daddy had already installed.
Apparently it didn't go there. So where does it go?
Hey Dad, what are these for?

I told him we could do it together and share.
Hey Dad, can you hand me that?
I'm pretty sure there is supposed to be a nail right here.

**As soon as the closet in completely finished we'll post a picture**

HAPPY SWEETIEHEART DAY!

I am wishing you all a Happy Sweetieheart Day. Consequently, my new favorite word this week is "sweetheart." My Mama Terry taught me that word this week and I've been using it freely. I talked to my Mom on the phone the other day and called her my "sweetheart." This morning I was running around calling my Dad a "sweetieheart." Dad couldn't understand what I was saying at first, then when he found out he call me his "sweetheart." I sternly told him that I WAS NOT his sweetheart. He was my "sweetieheart." I may be your "sweetheart," but you're all my SWEETIEHEART!

~FROM MY HEART TO YOURS~

Love ~ Ethan

HOMEWORK

At school this week I got homework. We're studying life in the ocean and talking about all the creatures that live beneath the sea. My teachers have done a neat job of decorating our classroom with fish and a really big octopus we all made. Tonight I needed Dad's artistic help (because Mom can't draw a fish, let alone follow instructions or so Dad says). Our homework was to make an aquarium using paper plates, clear saran wrap, and create my own creatures under the sea. We started with Dad drawing what he called fish and Mom ended up drawing what she called a snail (don't ask). It wasn't going well. I cut them out just as they drew them though. Mom said I could just put SpongeBob stickers in my ocean because he lives underwater, that would be easy. Dad didn't agree so he & I took a different creative track.

It said to use whatever materials we wanted inside my ocean. I love those little capsules you put in water and something grows from it. I have several packages in the bathroom drawer. Usually I get one at a time, but tonight during my bath we grew 6! A dolphin, seahorse, crab, submarine, sail fish, and an octopus. I used my glue stick to put them in my ocean after I drew bubbles and grass with my markers. Dad helped. Then Dad closed up the underworld by taping the edges all the way around the paper plate so it would stay together. He said we spent about $10 on tape. Plus what I stole when he wasn't looking.

THE END RESULT IS MY VERSION OF THE SEA!

What I Do On A Sick Day

When I don't feel good, my mom and dad always take good care of me. This past week I had a little bit of a cold (runny nose, low fever). In one day, my dad, grandma and then mom all took care of me. On this particular day I decided that my favorite sheep didn't feel good either. Mom helped me take his temperature and wipe his nose with a kleenex. I rubbed his back, just like mom does mine. Then I made him a bed on the floor in front of where I was laying and tucked him in. By afternoon we were both feeling better!

Christmas in January!

It's never too early or too late (in this case) to celebrate Christmas! Over the weekend my grandparents from Warsaw came South to visit. They drove down in Papa's big red truck and brought Libby (their dog) with them. But it's what was inside that was the big surprise!

We hadn't celebrated Christmas yet with them because we stayed home over the holidays (mommy had surgery right before Christmas). So when they came here I got to open presents again. What you see in the picture is what they brought me. A MOTORCYCLE!!!!! Daddy is jealous and mommy says this is the only kind of motorcycle that will ever be in our garage. It's red and shiney and super fast! It has a headlight and a horn! I rode it in the driveway that night in the dark and loved it. It takes a little getting used to and some supervision. I can't wait til it's warm outside and I can spend some more time with it. I'm fairly certain I'm the only 3 year old on the block with a Harley.

So Grandma & Grandpa Snipes spent the weekend with us. They sleep in the bed in our basement when they come down. I always enjoy playing with them. Unfortunately, I started getting a cold on Saturday while they were here, so I wasn't quite myself. But we had lots of fun!

A special thank you goes out to them for my Christmas gifts (I also got some nice clothes).

Leave Me Alone & See What Happens.........

For Christmas I got a small cassette player that has two microphones attached, so you can sing along. I really liked it. So much that when Mom went downstairs the other day for a couple minutes to do laundry and left me upstairs alone playing, this is what happened (or at least my version).

My animals wanted to sing with me, so I gave them a microphone. When I kept pressing the blue button that mom told me would make it play it wouldn't work. So my robot told me to open the cassette holder by pressing the red button (although I do remember mom telling me only to press the blue button to turn it on and the orange button to turn it off).

When the cassette drawer opened the tape started coming out. So I kept pulling it and it turned into a great new string to play with. It was really long, so I tied up all my robots and animals. Two toys in one! All was well, until mom came back upstairs and wasn't happy. Not that it was my fault, I didn't understand how the cassette player worked. See what happens when you leave me alone.....

Unfortunately, it was the only cassette that came with it. But mom was able to find several more with songs I liked on Ebay. So they're on their way. However, playing with this toy will now require what mom calls "supervision" until I get older and can comprehend how that cassette player works. Hey, it was an easy way to get someone to play with me!