The Hunt

Sara Jane has rubbed off on me and convinced me that a scavenger hunt is always fun. The boys loved it. Here they are in action.

Please notice Millie. She kept up with the boys the whole time. As Aunt toots said, "it is like she turned 2 and said forget being a baby, I am ready to be a big girl"

Happy Birthday Levi

Because the St. Louis trip wasn't enough, we had a birthday party for Levi's 8th birthday on Saturday.

3 - 4:30 - swimming with the boys (I was a little concerned when we woke up and it was storming outside - what was I going to do with all these little boys for three hours? But the sun came out and the swimming was a go)

4:30 - 5 - snack of funyons and doritors and flavored water 5 - 6 - motorcycle painting, scavenger hunt and games.

6 - family arrives, pizza, gifts, and cake and ice cream.
Hmmm, I wonder who could have done this??? Just what he wanted the new GI Joe toy. A new bike from mom and dad.

This year Pap gave Levi his short stick from when he was in the marines. The story is when you enlist you get a 50 caliber shell that is like a cane. Each month you take section off. When you have served your time and ready to leave you are left with a "short stick" which symbolizes you are ready to be done. Levi thinks it is pretty cool.

It was a good day and a great birthday party, but it is hard to believe that my baby is 8.

St. Louis

After being home for four days we decided that we were long overdue for a vacation. So we left daddy at home and off to St. Louis we went with mom and Aunt Toots. Now if you ever need a traveling companion just call these ladies, they are ready to go at the drop of a hat. Nothing will keep these ladies home.

We left on Tuesday evening and arrived in St. Louis around 12:30 am. The kiddos did great. We blew up our air mattress and went to sleep in Sara Jane's living room. This is the only place in her house for her guests to sleep. Sometime during the night Aunt Toots got up to use the restroom and I sank to the floor. The air mattress sprung a leak and we were flat. So I got up and went to the couch taking mom's robe with me to cover up, leaving Aunt Toots to fend for herself on the leaky air mattress.

This should have been our warning sign.

On Wednesday we went to the famous St. Louis zoo. It was a perfect day to go to the zoo. The weather was cool (not the normal blazing hot July weather) and a little windy. When we arrived we were expecting to see lots of animals and have lots of fun. Well several empty animal cages and quite a few two year old tantrums from Millie I was ready to go, but I stuck it out until the train ride and "felt the spirit" when I saw the exit gate to the parking lot.

It was the most disappointing trip to the zoo I have ever had, literally we saw one pacing bear, some ducks, and a peacock. Not even the penguins were swimming. So we didn't feel too bad for both Sara Jane and I leaving our cameras at home.

A leaky mattress and a no animal and tantrum throwing, independent two year old trip to the zoo. Did we listen or pay attention......no we pressed on.

On Thursday we ventured out to the Magic House (the children's museum).

If you would have asked me what I learned after leaving the magic house I would said something like, "never ever take a one year old, a two year old, who wants to be independent and wants no restraints, a three year old, who is anal about trucks and their loads and load placements, and an eight year old to the magic house at the same time with thousands of other children, all who are on sensory overload and are screaming and running in every direction."
This picture was taken during the one minute time frame that Millie was actually standing still and not running aimlessly looking for something to do.
While we were there we thought we would sit down for a nice, relaxing picnic lunch.....what were we thinking? Somehow Millie managed to get herself stuck in the high chair while she was trying to escape its holding her down powers. While mom and I were desperately trying to free her, Sara Jane ran around asking if any of the parents had a Swiss army knife or a screwdriver with them. Because all parents carry tools with them on a day trip to the museum. Finally a manager came to our rescue and took apart the highchair. The whole time he was looking for another staff member to share the moment with and saying over and over again, "nope, this has never happened before." Leave it to my Millie. While all of this was going on, Aunt Toots just sat in the corner laughing. Ok recaps - leaky air mattress, animalessness zoo trip, chaos at the magic house. Do we quit and go home like sensible people........no, we take the kiddos to fountain park on Friday to see what kind of trouble we can get into there. It actually was quite a fun and relaxing time. The only thing that happened there was that while millie was in the swing, I noticed a stream of "water" falling out while I was pushing her. It wasn't water, I'll leave the rest up to you. Oh she also learned that she can pee outside while squatting. She prefers this method over the actual Potty chair.
After all of this we had had enough and headed home. After a rude Mcdonalds manager, a gas station stop, a kmart stop, another gas station stop, we arrived home. I dropped the kiddos off with Scott said hello and mom, Aunt Toots and I headed to k-mart then to Target and finally dinner without the kids. We waited to go home until it was past bed time and Millie was asleep. :)

**Thank you Aunt Sara for the pics.....I stole them from your blog**

Some Firsts for Millie

After camp we were enjoying being home and getting back to normal. It has been unseasonably cool for July in Indiana, so last Monday when the sun was shining and the temperature was around 80 we decided that it was a good day to take the kiddos for ride in the mustang. Millies first ride. She loved it, now everytime we walk through the garage to leave she wants to go in the mustang. So we are forced to pick her up and carry her kicking and screaming to the van. Yes, she has hit the terrible two stage.
Then for dinner, I was craving some good ol fried chicken and corn on the cob. Who doesn't crave corn on the cob in July! mmm. Now I would like to tell you that I bought a whole chicken and cleaned, cut, and fried it myself.........but.......I didn't. Kroger has great chicken. Millie enjoyed her corn and chicken, just like the big boys.

Camp

What can I say, we had a blast. I didn't take very many pictures because I forgot my camera most of the time, but I have a few highlights.

Week One -

We rented Bro. Ed Mcfarlands cabin for the week and were quite comfy and cozy. Especially Amelia. As you can see she thoroughly enjoyed sitting on the potty and watching Blue's Clues on the laptop at the same time. Still working on the potty training issue.

Week Two

During this week we were the camp principals and stayed in conquers hall. Millie was only with us for the first night ----Hallelujah---she stayed at moms for the rest of the week. Thank you mom!!! But she thought she was going to get to sleep with Levi in his top bunk.

Levi loved it. His favorite things; free ice cream and driving a golf cart. One evening at altar call I looked around for Levi (he sat on the front row with his buddies) and couldn't find him. I thought he had gone to the restroom...again. Then I spotted him with Donovan Oliver and Dominique Chandler.Now they are probably talking about what they are going to do as soon as they get the all clear to leave the tabernacle, but they sure looked precious.

On Friday night, the last night of camp for the summer, the place was packed out. There was standing room only. Levi was on the front row and I was sitting about 6 rows back with all the other wives. It is during the preaching, Bro. Joel Urshan, and I see Levi get up and walk towards me. He gets to my aisle and I promptly tell him to go sit down because there is no room for him. There are at least 10 people in between us. Then I see it. He opens his mouth and blood starts to ooz out and he shows me where he has lost a tooth, and is holding it in his hand. He then proceedes to climb over everybody to get to me, and we then climb over the rest of the people to get out of our pew, remember I am at the front of the church, and make our grand exit out. People are laughing and watching us the whole way out. Only my children.

As for Scott and I, it was a great time. We stayed up late and got up early........Scott had to ring the bell.......and it reminded us that we are not that young anymore and require and enjoy our sleep.

Home and Away

We are home.
We are tired.
We are doing laundry.
We are packing.
We are going to have to do it all again next week.

Packing

After church tomorrow morning we are heading up to the campgrounds for the next two weeks. So my washer and dryer are hopping trying to get laundry finished, and my house looks like a we are moving out. It is amazing how much stuff we need. I have to take clothes, both play and dress outfits for everyday. Food, towels, pillows, blankets, my toys and First Steps stuff, Millies bed, iron and ironing board, toys, computer. This is why I like staying at home, it is just too much work to pack and unpack.

While we are up packing and getting ready Millie is resting soundly in her bed. I love sleeping babies.

Therefore I will be MIA from the blogging world. So if you check daily, mom, for updates it is going to be a while until my next post. Hope it warms up!!!

Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July to all!!!! I am very thankful for my freedom and I don't take it for granted. Our day was spent inside due to the rain all day, but a good Phase 10 game was played.

Strange Happenings

Some strange events have been happening in our life lately.

Remember when you were a kid and you couldn't wait to get to the bottom of the cereal box to find the prize. You know that ever so valuable toy. The other day Levi was eating his bowl of cheerios and reading the box when he asked if he could get the prize out. I agreed, because now the toy/prize is on not in the cereal ,but in the box, you just have to pull out the bag of cereal. He was a little confused when he pulled out this discover cash card worth five dollars.

I am really just amazed that General Mills is giving away debit cards. You even have to go online and activate it. Levi just layed it aside, I had to explain to him that it was worth money and he could buy something with it. A credit card....really. Start teaching them young I guess.

I never dreamed that I would take my daughter to school on July 1, in Indiana, wearing a jacket. Yet the other day I did. It stayed in the 60s all day.

While Millie was at school Levi and I went to the dentist, and ran some errands. For lunch we stopped in at good ol McDonalds, while eating a little boy and girl (maybe 3 and 4) came up and sat across from us and started talking. I looked around for mom or dad and didn't notice an adult looking for anyone. They started talking to us when, from across the restaurant, a woman yells, "Caleb honey, I know that lady looks nice, but you can't talk to strangers, you never know what she could be." I just look up in shock and it seemed like the whole restaurant was staring at me. I wanted to to yell back, "Do you all know Jesus?" Honestly lady, keep your kids with you. A 2 and 3 year old do not need to be walking around McDonalds by themselves, if you can't keep your kids in check, eat at home or go through the drive through. Some People.

Strange things are happening.

Party Time

The elmo party is over and the twins are spending the night. (They texted me today and asked if they could, just because they loved us) (I love being the favorite aunt!!!!) We went to see the Columbus fireworks, which were actually pretty good. Because of the traffic what should of been a five minute drive home actually took 45 minutes, and we probably would have still been sitting at a stop sign behind a teenager who wouldn't get out there and go, but I jumped out of the van and directed traffic so that Chris could get out. I literally had to run and jump back in the van while Chris was driving, the teenage girls that I stopped didn't appreciate me being traffic director, but it helped us get home so I was all for it.

Everyone has left and we are in our pajamas. The girls are singing "I'm a soul man" and playing with Millie's toys, well I actually think they are just wishing that the new toy pizza would miraculously turn into a real one. I think we either need to go to bed or watch a movie.

Elmo Party

Four days early we celebrated Miss Millie's 2nd birthday with an Elmo party complete with friends and family, well mainly family, but Deacon, Jordan, and Miss Jessie from CMO stopped by. It wasn't much, but she got cake and presents, so what else could you ask for especially with kid number 2.

It is hard to believe that my little girl is going to be two years old, well at least when she is acting sweet. When she is throwing a tantrum or screaming because she wants it her way, then I know that she is in the terrible twos.