Bad sheep

Jon has been on vacation this week. We didn't make any big plans for his time off. We just wanted to relax and enjoy hanging out together. In between doctor appointments and social worker visits, we headed to West Side Market, had dinner out a couple times, took some walks, went to the mall and today we headed to the zoo.

The boys always have fun at the mall play area. I don't think Ben saw much of it though. Jon found a hat for him and he wears it so low, I don't know if he can see anything other than his feet! He loves it though.

We had a minor scare at the zoo today. Jon took the boys into the petting zoo. They weren't in there five minutes, but it was too much for Sam. With in minutes, he had blotches over half his face, one eye was swollen and tearing and his nose was running. We called the doctor and made an action plan for him. After about 30minutes, he was doing better. The blotches were gone, but his eye is still swollen and his lips look off. We gave him some medicine and are keeping a close eye on him. I'm 99% sure he will be fine, it just makes me nervous to see his lips change so long after the initial reaction. Other than that, the morning was perfect. The weather is amazing, we saw a lot of animals, Sam got up close to a baboon and both boys seemed to have a good time. We'll be sad to have dad back at work next week.

Check out Bens hat.

18 months

Sam had his 18month check up yesterday. He is right on track. He has the vocabulary an 18month old should have. He walks, scribbles, follows commands and kicks like a pro. He is 25lbs and 32". Both are just under the 50th percentile. He made it through with out any shots and doesn't have to go back until he is 2 years. That sounds so far away. I still can't believe thats in 6 short months. Time definitely go faster with each kid!

Yes, thats my boy pulling Tupperware out of the pantry so he can sit in it!

Now that Sam can pull himself up on the chairs in the living room, he loves getting up there with Ben and giving me heart attacks when he "pretends" to fall over the edge!

Resting with daddy.

My dancing machines!

Last night the boys hung out with my parents while Jon and I headed to dinner with some friends. We've had dates here and there, but this was the first time we've been out with other couples with out the kids in ages. It was great! We headed to Happy Dog. Its a small restaurant/bar that serves hot dogs. These aren't ordinary hot dogs though. They have 50 different topping selections from potato chips and bacon to fruit loops and peanut butter! It was odd, but really good. We couldn't resist capturing the moment:

Moody Women

Several women from Cross Point went to the Moody Womens Conference at Park Side church over the weekend. It was motivating, exciting, emotional, inspirational etc etc etc. We heard from Liz Curtis Higgs, who was hysterical, Susie Larson and Chrissy Toledo. The theme was From Grace to Growth. They all had a unique way to share the same message: God loves you. It doesn't matter who you are, what you've done, what you look like...He knows you, He is with you and He loves you. It was a great time and we are all looking forward to next year.

The Gang

Susie Larson with Lindsey and Katie

Liz Curtis Higgs with Corrie and I.

If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you wll be saved. Romans 10:9

Play dates

We've spent the past two days hanging out with friends and having fun. We headed up to the library yesterday. We haven't been there for a while and now that Sam is walking it was a whole new experience for him.

We headed out to breakfast this morning and then headed to a field to let the kids run off some energy. The kids had a blast and have plenty of grass stains to prove it!

Sam showing off his Tarzan moves:

Date night

Jon and I have started a date night with the kids. Last night Jon took Ben out and I took Sam out. In 2 weeks we are going to go out again, but we are going to switch kids. We love family time, but we think its important for the kids to have one on one time with us. On top of all the obvious benefits, I'm hoping this will make the transition to three kids a little easier for them.

Jon took Ben to the Metro Parks and went for a hike on one of the trails. They saw a raccoon eating worms, they counted rings on an old tree and skipped rocks on the water. It sounds like they had a lot of fun.

Sam and I kept it low key. We walked to a field and did some exploring. Sam practiced walking in the grass. After that, we went to Aladdins and shared a smoothie then went for a walk. We snuggled on the porch and did some people watching before we called it a night. Since I had the camera, I got all the pictures.

Birthdays

Yesterday was Prastis 30th birthday. She is now one of us--welcome to the club. Aaron had some family and friends over for goodies last night. I missed out on the cake because of a scheduled run (thanks for the last minute notice Aaron). Jon took the boys over to celebrate and of course forgot the camera. Thanks for letting me steal a couple pictures Corrie. We hope you had a great day yesterday.

We also want to wish Todd and Marie a happy birthday (yesterday).

Last time

Jon has worked by the airport for several years and we have enjoyed being able to go up there and have lunch with him when ever the weather was warm enough. At the end of the month, Jons group is moving back to their old office away from the airport. We went up for one last lunch today since the rest of the week will be colder and Jon is on vacation next week. We still plan on going up for picnics on the weekends, but it just wont be the same. Fortunately, the new office is by the Metro Parks so we'll still be able to have picnics and when its too cold for them, we'll have more restaurant options. I'm just glad that Jon is able to take lunches with his family. Here are the boys enjoying their last weekday picnic by the airport---they don't know that yet though.

Sam calls helicopters ca ca's and hasn't quite mastered the difference between a helicopter and an airplane. Any time he sees a plane he points and screams ca ca!
Taking a break to enjoy the scenery.
Ben being Ben!

Its about time!

After months and months of waiting, my brother has FINALLY proposed to his girlfriend, Marie. Fortunately for all of us she said yes! Congrats guys and welcome to the family.

I know its a repeat picture, but I don't have many good ones of them!

What they can do

I haven't put many progress reports up recently about the boys so here you go.

Ben is still working on his potty training. We finally changed strategies and just put him in big boy underwear. We ask him if he has to go potty about every 30minutes. Each time he says no--literally every time. We tell him to go anyway and he has gone every time. He has had a couple accidents and he could still care less if hes wet or worse. He just keeps on playing. He is a weird kid. He gets that from Jon!

Sams walking has improved dramatically recently. He still likes to crawl, but he finally does more walking than crawling. Most of the time he tucks his fists under his chin and waddles a bit, but every now and then we get a real walk. He can also give kisses--real kisses. He puckers up and even makes the mwaw sound. He is also a pro at high five and giving knuckles. His talking has slowed down a bit, but he is still surprising us with new words like choo choo, ball, Bob, car, shoe, truck, cup, boom and bye bye. Every morning and after nap time, I ask him if he has a poo poo or a pee pee and he has given the correct answer each time. Finally, he is working on his animals. He has learned to woof like a dog, he howls like a wolf and has mastered Tarzans yell while pounding on his chest.

Wordless Wednesdays

A little wind never hurt anyone especially when you're hanging out with dad!

More Wordless Wednesdays here and here.

The letter D

We spent March going over D stuff. We started with the story of Daniel in the lions Den and David and Goliath. We just happened to have a Veggie Tales video to reiterate the stories.

We talked about Darwin, our Compassions kid in El Salvador, Miss Debbie and uncle Dave. Dad and Dog also start with D as well as 2 of Bens favorites, Donald and Daisy Duck.

We had some Donatos for Dinner one night followed by a treat from Dairy Queen. Each Sunday we enjoy some Delicious Dunkin' Donuts. Ben does plenty of Dancing to maintain his figure!

Also on Sundays, Ben goes to church with Dad and helps him set up his Drums.

Ben did a Drawing on his Dry erase board. Notice that Ben wrote his own name for the first time! Ben also painted a Dog sun catcher. He picked out the colors and colored it in all on his own.

After sharing his Duplos with his brother, I showed Ben how to play Darts. We didn't keep score. That was mostly because Ben only hit the dart board once!

Ben learned the most important lesson he could learn in life--Duke is the best basketball team in the world and Kentucky is not!!! (Ok, maybe not the most important lesson, but its close)!

We looked at some places like Danville, where Dad was born and Dallas, because they have a great football team.

Ben also helped me with some things around the house like Dusting, Dishes and pulling clothes out of the Dryer. We looked at stuff around the house like the Dining room, Door, Diapers, Dictionary and Duplex, which are all around us.

We also learned another French word, Dents, which means teeth.
We are already running with letter E since we just celebrated Easter. We'll let you know how this month goes.

Easter

We had a great Easter. We started celebrating Saturday night by coloring eggs. Ben loves coloring eggs so much, I think when Sam is able to help out next year, we'll be buying stock in eggs just to keep up with them!
The kids got an Easter basket from us. We tried to keep the candy to a minimum, but threw in a few treats for all of us to share. The best part was the Bob and Larry stuffed animals. Ben got a set for Christmas and was nice enough to share the Larry with Sam, but they always have their eyes on which ever animal they don't have. Now they each have their own sets. I took advantage of the holiday to dress the boys alike again. Sam is usually a ham when the camera comes out, but he wasn't having it on Sunday.
After about 50 pictures, we finally got 1 with a smile.
I got to help out in the kids church on Sunday. We talked about the true meaning of Easter and celebrated Jesus and the empty tomb!
After church we headed to Gram and Paps for dinner. They pulled out a blow up toy they got a great deal on. My 3 boys (yes, 3) had a blast. I had to look away most of the time because the boys kept finding new ways to freak me out.

Sam barely slept and Ben missed a nap 2 days in a row. They were pooped and couldn't hide it any longer.