Springfield

This past weekend we went to Springfield for a multitude of celebrations. Saturday was my mother-in-law's 70th birthday (yes Phyllis I did just say 70!!). Saturday evening Travis's oldest sister Pam & her husband Brad hosted the family for a BBQ. The burgers were delicious, the baked macaroni & cheese divine and the ice cream dessert was absolutely to die for. I can't wait to make the recipe myself in the near future. We had planned to take the kids to the Springfield zoo on Saturday in celebration of Dawson's birthday but the never ending rain kept us indoors. We enjoyed a quiet morning in opening presents and visiting. Sunday morning we attended Hamlin Baptist church where Travis's uncle Gary is the interim preacher. I don't know that I could ever tire of listening to Gary preach. He is a gifted speaker and gave an amazing message. It was a special Sunday service as Phyllis was baptized - rededicating her life to Christ. Sunday would have also been Travis's parents 52nd wedding anniversary. Busy weekend of celebrating!

Dawson examining his gift determining the best way to tackle opening it.

Dawson practicing patience while Travis removes the ridiculous amount of wire attached to toys to prevent anyone from stealing them.

My two handsome boys - I love little D's smile :0)

Aunt Shari, Travis, GG & Dawson

The kids enjoying Dawson's new Elmo music book.
Dawson's birthday pics soon to come!

The Lost Boy

Sale Notice

Jesus the Story Book Bible is currently on sale at Lifeway Christian Book Store for $10. You can read more about it as well as read friends "reviews" here. Mema picked this up for Dawson's 2nd birthday which is just around the corner!!

Preschool 2009

This past week what we have come to know as our normal summer routine was shook up a little bit by the start of another school year. Gabrielle entered her last year of early childhood preparation prior kindergarten. Wednesday we had an informal meet the teacher session. Her teacher Mrs. G is in her 19th year of teaching at this particular school. NINETEEN years - I call that dedication and a true love for children. Mrs. G is one hip lady, full of life and has a passion for music which I was thrilled to find out.

Mrs. G made this train drawing and provided black circle stickers for wheels. The children placed one on the 1st wheel and one for each day with the last being placed the morning of school (Monday). Gabi had fun coloring the train and adding the days of the week below the wheels.

The first day of school.
Papa came over and spent the morning with Dawson so I could attend a parents meeting following drop off. He took this picture of the two of us before loading up in the van. I generally am not a fan of ANY picture of myself, but I was pleased with how a couple turned out.

Sassy outside her new school.

Walking the hall to the octopus room.
You can see the banner in the upper right hand corner.

Unloading her backpack.
Those of you who know me well will appreciate this picture.
Notice how the inside label has another childs name?
Garage sale find - enough said :0)
We are all excited for Gabrielle to embarck on this new venture. I pray that she expands her knowledge and that she makes great friendships throughout the course of the year.

Calling Martha

Martha Stewart, meet your match!

Both my kiddos tend to be right under foot as I am preparing meals. It can be frustrating at times. The other evening I was one child down so it made it somewhat easier to allow Dawson to "come along side of me" and help in the cooking. He was insistent on having his very own pan and mixing spoon. He wasn't content with having the pan empty so I added a little water which seemed to please the little guy and kept him busy for a period of time.

He must have thought that what he was cooking up was pretty good because he frequently would stop his mixing to take a taste test.

Make that darn good! There was no holding him back :)

Birmingham Installment #2

On one of our outings in Birmingham we visited the Vulcan statue.
The Vulcan statue is the largest cast iron statue in the world, and is the city symbol of Birmingham, Alabama. The 56-foot tall statue depicts the Roman god Vulcan, god of the fire and forge. It is the seventh-tallest free-standing statue in the United States.

I learned on this little venture that I am NOT as fearless of heights as I once thought. It was fantastic to go up the elevator and see the city scape, but it wasn't long before I found my way back down.

From one side you could see the city skyline.

And from the other side, the mountains.

My favorite family fun trip was to the McWane Science Center.
In summary, this place ROCKS!!!
I am talking four levels of state of the art fabulous, funness (is that even a word?)

And ... would you believe me if I told you a family membership costs almost exactly the same as to our wee little Wonderscope?!?!

First we all took turns laying on this bed of nails.

The sensation was a little - well uneasy at first, however I think I could get used to the applied pressure.

One of the kids favorite attractions was the inventors garage.

Think NASCAR in adolescent form. The kids have free reign to inspect under the hood, change the oil & tires, replace the muffler ... you get the picture.

They had a large touch tank where you are allowed to touch sharks and stingrays. Much to our dismay none of the little creatures swam close enough to touch. Dawson loved the aquarium action. He was plastered to the glass watching every move and frequently tapped the glass and said "Pishy, pishy!"

I realized after uploading pictures from our time in Alabama that I really didn't take many. Argh! I am anxiously awaiting some from my SIL. Can't wait to see what she got with their awesome HD camera.

Birmingham Installment #1

The kids and I road tripped to Birmingham, Alabama with my parents Aug 1st - 8th. The drive took us a total of 13 hours each direction. We left Kansas, drove through Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, & arrived in Alabama.
The drive was just what my parents had prepared me for
B U T FULL!!
The highways were thick with Kudzu which I found to be so pretty. If you don't know what it is, I encourage you to google it. It's a vine that was imported to the U.S. from Japan to help with erosion control. The vine grows at very rapid rates on anything it comes into contact with - trees, power lines, etc.
We drove through some scenic areas including several towns saturated with year round flea markets, the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder in Mansfield, MO and the birth home of Elvis Presley in Tupelo, MS.
Gabrielle and Dawson did remarkably well with the long drive. We did our best to keep them busy with movies, snacks, car friendly activities & a lot of conversation. I wanted to share a handful of pictures from our trip.
This group of photos was from our visit to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and Arboretum.

Little Poser :0)

I was in awe by the size of the sunflowers.
The bud was as large as the circumference of an adult face.

Just one of the many rose bushes in the rose garden.

Gabrielle taking in the sights and smells of the pretty flowers.

Cousins - Dawson, Gabrielle, Logan, Dylan, Danielle and Connor.

Other highlights that I don't have photo documentation of included:
Meeting my mom's cousin Larry and his son Eli
Seeing the home that mom's dear Aunt Ruby (my grandmother's sister) lived in
Watching Gabrielle develop a true love relationship with her cousin Logan
Witnessing my sweet son be a bully to Connor
A bug invasion that caused lost hours of sleep - only my family will understand this one!
NO TELEVISION FOR 9 STRAIGHT DAYS (with the exception of one 30 minute taped episode of Coach). Minimal computer usage (I checked e-mail, google reader & Facebook once daily which is stellar for me ... working on this one!!)
Sweet time with family!!

Installment #2 soon to come