Fun Day at the Museum

Today we trekked out to the Children's Museum of Oak Ridge with some playgroup buddies. The kids had an absolute ball, and I am reassured that the yearly membership I bought was well worth the money! I wanted to give Maddie a little blog time- and she did not disappoint for the camera! She had so much fun. Ben did as well, especially playing with his buddie Joseph. The favorite room at the museum is the "Rocket Room". It is really the simple things in life my children love best- I hope this always remains true. Hey, I can hope! They also enjoyed dressing up in "Granny's Attic". We finished the day with a picnic and play on the playground. Ben took a tumble and thwacked his head on the edge of the sidewalk (ouch). But, we all survived and had lots of fun!

Ben, will you do the dishes?

With hot weather in full swing, I am looking for creative ways to keep Ben and Maddie busy, but cool. This was an activity that suited Ben better. (I promise I do really fun things with Maddie- just not dangerous things- she is only one!) Maddie had a virus this week and spent a little more time than usual resting. She is much better and back to her cat-napping schedule. I am exhausted, but still feel the need to get this posting up. Well, I digress! I asked Ben to "do the dishes" and he gladly helped. Even though he was more interested in washing himself, he still had lots of fun!

Window Dressing

This is an idea I got from Family Fun magazine- which I DEARLY love. It is just tempra paint and clear liquid soap. Ben did enjoy it- although, he didn't let his artistic wings fly. I think I will let him try it again with a buddy perhaps. Of course, he wanted to paint the wood, but with some coaxing he stopped. Besides, it washes right off. I figure 20 years from now, seeing a little paint on my window sash will be endearing.

Home Sweet Home- Sweet!

Ok, this entry has nothing whatsoever to do with my family, but we have been working pretty hard on re-decorating some rooms in our house. Here is the office and the dining room. We had to add 9 in. of drywall and a french door to make the office- it is directly to the right as you come in the front door. The dining room still has a little work to be done, like white slipcovers for the chairs, and a new light fixture which is en route.

Tomato Heaven

ok, Today I realized the extent to which my son loves his tomato plant. First, when I went to pick him up from the pool (HUGE thank you to Jessica!! ) And, what I thought would be a huge battle turned out to be surprisingly easy: when I told him about seeing two green tomatoes on his plant, his eyes got as big as saucers, and he really wanted to go home. Second, when it was time to take a nap, he went right down as long as his baby tomato could come with him.

Also, note to self, I feel there is a spiritual object lesson here I know i will want to use later. He really wanted to pick his tomato. After begging him not to, curiosity got the best of him- and since it is HIS plant, I didn't fuss too much. But, when he told me that it would grow and grow and turn red- i had to explain that once the fruit was off the vine, it could not grow any more!

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he
will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.John
15:4-6

One Enchanted Evening

Tonight was a fun outing to Harmony Adoption Agency's Annual celebration. It was held at the zoo, as you can see...and it was a costume party of sorts! Look closely and you can see that we were the three little pigs. Todd was the big bad wolf- thus the Huff Puff logo on his shirt. It was fun, and a great way to meet and get to know other adoptive parents. There were 300 in attendance!! I thought the photo of Maddie and I was especially sweet. Do you think Ben's hair could get any whiter??? We had a fun night, and it was made even more special by my visiting niece, Samantha and her beau, Corey G. Ben is one of Corey's biggest fans. Lastly is a shot of Corey and Ben on the trampoline. Ben is very happy when Corey G comes to visit!!

Curacao

We recently had the great pleasure of traveling to an tropical paradise known as Curacao. It was a great time had by all and a great way to celebrate the big speed bump of life known as graduation. Good luck Sam and Cory G. What a beautiful place! We had fun and luckily were all able to go with passports in hand. The last one came at 6 pm the night before departure! whew!

First Love

Ok, it's official, my boy is in love. It is with his sunflower and tomato plants though! Every morning, it is the first thing he wants to see, and every visitor that comes to the house, must meet them. I wouldn't go so far to say he is obsessed, but it's borderline. In the third pot is what we call our mystery seeds. They literally are a mystery, because we found them on a table, poolside in Curacao on vacation. We smuggled them home, past the drug sniffing dogs, and we gave them to Ben as a surprise present from our travels! No kidding- he loved them much more than the stuffed dolphin which is incidently named Mantee. So, a love for gardening has been born.

Fun Father's Day

So far, father's day has been all in all a good day. Ben woke up daddy today with a father's day surprise- a dinosaur. Many thanks to DeeDee for helping with this creation! Maddie got in on the action by helping create a custom t-shirt for Dad. Daddy had a nice breakfast in bed followed by a convenient meal of Olive Garden Take out! Even though I would never really choose to eat AT this restaurant, the takeout is quite speedy, and seeing that we keep the menu in the car- on the way home from church a cell phone call and a run in is aweful convenient. Those marketing people must just see Sucker written across our foreheads when they concocted this scheme- but hey, it works for us. Right now at least.

We continued the day and Ben "fell apart" because he wanted to play with his friends- our neighbors, Spencer and Ryan. They are older that Ben (7 & 10) and Ben LOVES to "play" with them. His nap was circumvented by visions of playing withe them instead of napping- which was a double whammy, because they had left for Dollywood before we started the two hour nap battle royale.

So, here we stand. It is 3:00 in the afternoon, our three year old has fought the nap, and we are in for some fun times. No one could have ever explained this to me before kids- just how a few hours (napping) can change your life. Our boy has a strong will- just for the record, but he has a sweet side too- just look at these photos.









Is Maddie becoming the cutest thing- and for the record, Mom, she is wearing a BOW!!!

















Ok, because I know I will forget "these small hours, these little wonders" as Rob Thomas says, I thought I would record some things Ben said today.

"Poopie is a fine word"

Mom: "Ben, what do you love most about Daddy?"
Ben: "How he catches with me"

During communion at church this morning, he said, "Can I have some breakfast too?"

Upon escaping from "the napping room" today- Mom-"Ben get back in bed" Ben: "But I'm happy now!"

And now to my dear Maddie, you aren't saying much at your small age (13 mo) but you love to babble, and you understand much! Whe I say "How big are you?" you throw your hands up in the air and smile very big! You also know how to make lots of noise if you want something! You really like to drink from our glasses. Sippy cups are not your favorite, and you only take a bottle at night, so, maybe you are way ahead of your time! I love you!


So, there you have it, from the mouths of babes

Happy Father's Day!

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