Dora's Birthday!

Though I may not be a fan of Dora, Gavin is....so when I saw Dora's Birthday Adventure on tv, I was nice to enough to DVR it for him.  It was on around bedtime so I didn't let him watch it that night, plus I knew we didn't have anything big planned for the next day so I decided to make a day out of it.

We headed to Walmart for a few groceries and picked up some cake mix and frosting.  Then it was home to start baking.  Gavin loves cooking with me!

Of course, when we're doing any cooking, he wants to taste it....I'm always nervous of the uncooked egg in the batter, but he really wanted some.  So, I scraped off half of the batter and let him lick a little off one beater. 

Checking out our work....

While Gavin napped, the cupcakes cooled and I added the frosting.  Once he woke up,

I let him do the sprinkles.

I don't know why it's so hard to get him to smile for me on command.  I get great candid smiling shots, but if I say, 'Look at mommy and smile,' I get goofy shots. 

Our finished cupcakes!

Time to enjoy the show and the cupcakes!

And, as usual, there's Shirley, waiting for any crumbs!  She's gotten really bad about begging for food at the table since Gracie's been coming and would give her food.  I have to try harder and remember to put her outside or in the bedroom when there's food around.  She's been stealing food off the blue table recently...

Thirteen Thursday

I wrote about the 13 of Gavin's favorite shows....now it's my turn.

13 shows I love to watch, in no particular order ~

1. Modern Family
2. Real Housewives (OC and NYC)
3. Bethenny Getting Married
4. A Baby Story/Bringing Home Baby (they're pretty much the same thing, right?)
5. Intervention
6. The Today Show
7. Shows like Dateline and 48 Hours Mystery, depending on the topic
8. House Hunters
9. The Big Bang Theory
10. Friends
11. 90210 (the old rerun, not the new series....)
12. Two and a Half Men
13. Say Yes to the Dress

I obviously like TV too much because I could definitely keep going...  Oh well!  That's what I love about DVR.  What shows do you like to watch? 

Guess it's time!

Time to become Disney movie collectors, that is!  Gavin now asks to watch movies more frequently than Elmo or Thomas.  We have Cars on DVR, but he doesn't understand the commercials.  He's in there right now, fascinated by Ratatouille....just another sign he's growing up.  Guess our Disney DVD collection needs to begin! 

Let's get vloggin'

Did you know a video post on a blog is called a vlog?  I didn't....just learned last week.  I haven't posted any videos in a while so I'm going to do a couple today. 

Wipeout is a favorite show in our house.  We all laugh so hard when it's on, and Gavin loves to do his own version of Wipeout on the couch.  I grabbed the camera during a recent episode.

Love the memories we make as a family.  Fun times! 

Thirteen Thursday

13 TV Shows Gavin loves - and how I feel about them....
**I should add, we DO NOT watch all these shows on a daily basis.  He may love TV, but he doesn't get to watch it all day.**

1. Sid the Science Kid - I think Sid is the cutest character.  I love the show and think it's very educational.  I'm glad he likes Sid. :)
2. Word World - again, a favorite on PBS.  I think I love it most because it reminds me of my classroom.  Inside recess days always meant Word World was on TV, and recess lasted about 20 minutes longer than it should have....  But seriously, I love how the show is embedded with phonics and phonemic awareness.
3. Barney - eh, I could live without Barney.  Though, I have learned to really tune him out. It's a Barney CD that plays over and over in my car, and I don't even realize it's playing, even after Gavin falls asleep or if he's not in the car with me at all. 
4. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - everyone loves Mickey, but his voice can get annoying after a while.  I love how Gavin sings the theme song and yells, "Oh, Toodles!" though.  It's quite cute.
5. Max and Ruby - this has never been a favorite show of mine, but he laughs so hard at it.  I don't get it....
6. Dora - again, a show I never really liked.  Luckily he doesn't ask for it often, but he does enjoy Boots. 
7. Super Why - another show that any former teacher would love.  Whyatt and the Super Readers to the rescue!  :)  I love everything about this show - the focus on vocabulary, comprehension, decoding, letter recognition, and problem solving, just to name a few.
8. Thomas - oh, Thomas.  How I have love/hate thee?  Gavin's obsession with Thomas continues (though he's had other loves come in and out of his life.)  The show just doesn't do it for me, but I love how involved he gets and the vocabulary he's learned from the show.
9. Real Wheels - I don't even know what channel this show is on, but we found it shortly after moving here and DVR every episode (which seems to come on at the strangest hours.)  Gavin loves to sit and watch the Dairy Farm episode and the Construction episode over and over again.  Thanks to Real Wheels, I know how farmers bale hay and the difference between a loader, a backhoe, and a bulldozer. :)
10. Sesame Street - who doesn't love Sesame Street?  It's very different from when you and I were kids, but it's still entertaining and educational.  I remember when Gavin was about 15 months old and first learned the word 'Surprise!' after it was the 'Word on the Street.'  He still loves to 'surprise' people thanks to the gang on Sesame Street.
11. Handy Manny - Poor Manny and the Tools are hit or miss these days here. One day he asks to watch him, the next he cries when I turn it on.  But, I like the show - Phillipe, Turner, Pat, Stretch, Rusty, and all the others.  "Hop Up, Jump In....Come on, Let's go!"
12. The Wonder Pets - I wouldn't consider this the most educational of shows, but the pets are pretty darn cute!
13. Curious George - this is one of those shows that aren't my favorite (I'd much rather read the books) but I LOVE to sit and listen to Gavin laugh while it's on.  He thinks George is hilarious!

So, how do you feel about these shows?  Feel free to share the shows your little one watches. 

Do you think Gavin watches too much Wheel of Fortune?

Gavin loves this show! It's taught him many of his letters, so we don't mind that he watches it. We actually think it's cute how he says all the letters and waves, "Bye, Pat!" at the end of the episode. Well, recently Gavin and I got out of the house and headed to our favorite place, Melon Bean, for lunch. We had yummy bagels (plain for him, Mediterranean Turkey on Asiago Cheese bagel for me) and he played while I talked to Andrea. There was a little boy there doing a puzzle, and Gavin walked up to him and said, "Prize Puzzle!" :) I think he may watch Wheel a little too much.

Exercise TV

I'm so glad I found this channel! It's been great. You have to check your cable and see if you have it. It's an On Demand channel, so you get to pick from tons of workouts. I've been doing the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred workouts, and whoa! It's tough!!! But, I was able to lose 2.5 lbs this past week. Now if only I could be better about my eating!