Thieves in the Neighborhood

We had a thief in the neighborhood this week with small beady eyes and a fluffy tail. We kept noticing our bird feeder was being dumped and we couldn't figure out why. Well, here is why...

Anna Kate decided it was a "chikmunk" named Theodore!

It's raining, it's pouring!

This morning in science, we started talking about rain. I asked Ben "What is rain?" His response..."It's when clouds are peeing!"

Date Night

No, not for daddy and mommy...for daddy and Anna Kate and mommy and Ben. We've done date night with the kids in the past but it has been a while. Anna Kate kept asking me when she could have a date with daddy so we worked out a time when we could borrow a car and each go on a date with one of the kids.
When Scott asked Anna Kate where they were going she said "Kmart, Bob Evans, Wendys, the mall and Fashion Bug". They actually only went to Bob Evans to eat. Scott said that everyone was making over her, of course! Isn't she beautiful? She picked what to wear! You can't see them in this picture but she wore her plastic high heel shoes she got for her birthday from Patty!
Ben wanted to wear his suit, of course. The one from the wedding. He was all that!!!! He opened the car door for me and the door of Bob Evans. We went to the one here in South Point and Scott and Anna Kate went one in Huntington. Both of the kids said they wanted to go to Bob Evans...I think they felt like they were treating us! At least it wasn't Wendys. Ben also wanted to take me to Kohls. He said "because it's your favorite place mom", but we came home and I played football with him with tackling and the whole works (oh my aching joints!!!!!!) and then we snuggled on the couch and watched Transformers.

Something funny about our evening...we're definitely going to have to work with Ben on what to say to girls! I was writing words for him to read and I wrote bumper. He read it with no problem and told me he was smarter than me. I said, "Ben, you shouldn't say that to a date. You have to be a gentleman." He said "I didn't mean not to be a good date. I was just saying that little brains work faster than big brains!" He's a piece of work!

I think we all had fun! I hope that when our kids get bigger they remember these things. We want them to enjoy childhood and have fond memories. They are growing up so quickly and we can hardly believe that Ben is almost 6. Sometimes, watching them grow up makes our hearts hurt!

School Days

My little man officially started kindergarten the first week of August. As you can see, my dining room becomes a classroom every morning and at first I thought it would aggravate me (I had a separate room in Lucasville), but it actually has been better than having him in a whole separate room. After all, aren't homes for living in? I can fix lunch and load the dishwasher while he is doing something on his own, but I'm also right there to answer his questions, or help him if he gets stuck. Rarely does he get stuck. I'm also there to tell him to quit using his pencil as a toy but to write with it. :-)

Here he is writing his address and phone number. I'm so glad I chose to start him a little early on his writing. He can now learn four different ways. By listening (ha! Did I say listening?), by seeing it or reading it, by saying it and by writing it. He's actually a very good little reader. He reads all of his own instructions on his papers and, more importantly, he understands them.
This is little Anna Kate after her preschool work is finished. I must say, she's not quite as excited about school as what her brother is. Although, she does like doing Ben's Spanish. She is really good for me though. Sometimes she stands and leans against my arm, and other times, she just lays in the floor and holds one of my legs. (Anybody have any suggestions about the thumb issue?)
Here Ben is doing his math which he thinks is really fun. And, can I say, that I think he is absolutely adorable in this picture?
One of the other subjects we are dong is Spanish. It's by DVD. At first, he was a little timid about doing it. He is so afraid he's going to look silly when doing anything like that. He even feels that way about playing sports. I do have him talked into Upward Basketball this year...I bribed him! He may not like it, and if he doesn't, he won't have to do it next year. But at least this will let him see if he might enjoy it.

Overall, I'm enjoying the whole school thing. I was a little worried even when I was excited. But I really have been enjoying watching him learn and I love spending the time with him. Homeschooling is definitely not for everyone but I'm so glad that Scott approached me about doing it. I think it's going to work just fine for our family.

Party, party, party!

We decided to combine Taylor and Anna Kate's birthday this time around. The girls had a great time, I think, sharing their day. It's hard to believe, but Taylor was born two months after we got married. Taylor had a wolf cake and I made Anna Kate some Tinkerbell cupcakes with toothpicks and stickers (thanks Susan for the GREAT and INEXPENSIVE idea!).

I'm not sure you can tell by this picture, but Anna Kate kept wanting to come down the water slide with Erin. They all had a blast with this thing!
One of Anna Kate's favorite birthday presents. One of her favorite people got her this...I asked her what she was going to name her new baby and she said "Allie Abigail, because she always gets in the trash!" Later she changed her mind and said "I don't want to call her a name, I just want to call her American".

Anna Kate loved this bouncy thing and her new sunglasses too. She was having a ball on this thing!
Sunday morning, we dressed her in her new Tinkerbell top with her sunglasses. Of course, she had to take her puppy with her. The puppy took a nap in Daddy's office while she was in class. I LOVE this top. I almost cried when I picked her up from class on Sunday. She had ripped a big hole in it...never fear though, a few iron on patches of flowers and butterflies and it's fixed and colorful!

One more story from her birthday presents. Nana got her some little books. One is about Lily the Mermaid. After we read them, she said "Mommy, you know what I wanna be when I grow up? I wanna be...um...mommy, can womans be mermaids?"

A Nice Visit

Scott and I met up with some good friends...almost family...in Ashland to let Ben and Anna Kate have a play date with one of their best buddies, Bryce. The kids had a ball and Scott and I had a good time of catching up with Patty and Jayme (a.k.a. Bryce's Nana and Mommy. They are from Lucasville and we became very good friends with them. We even got to stay with Ralph and Patty during the big ice storm right after we moved there. I think Patty was a little shocked when Ralph called and told her that he was bringing us to stay with them until we had heat again. That was a very scary night...Ben was 6 weeks old and it was FREEZING in our house and I wasn't sure how I was going to keep the two of us warm under covers without suffocating my new baby. Ralph and Patty graciously took two people they didn't know in and let us stay with them for a week. So, needless to say, Ralph and Patty quickly became like family for us while we were living there.


Here is Jayme's new baby. Collin is so cute and I got to snuggle with him quite a bit. I think Scott was a bit worried because he knows how I get when I hold babies. At one point, I think he even said "uh, I think you'd better give him back." I LOVE holding babies! Especially newborns!
Here is Bryce and Ben. They were being typical boys chasing all the girls and making them squeal and scream. Even though there is a slight age difference, they play so well together and love playing. They like the same things and today they were being transformers and teenage mutant ninja turtles!
And...here is Anna Kate with Bryce. She was making him shop with her in the toy store and being quite bossy. Typical little diva! Bryce was very obliging...

We are so happy we got to spend the day with them! Thanks you guys for a fun day!

Here he goes again...

My son...he's always trying to be truthful and help as best as he knows how. Today we went to Ashland to visit a friend since we had some wheels and I took the kids to Burger King for lunch. We came out of Burger King and there was a policeman in his car. Scott and I have always made it a point to get Ben and Anna Kate to talk to policemen or firemen. We believe they need to respect them as heroes and know that they could help them one day. I asked the policeman, "Do you care if he looks in your car?" He was very obliging and rolled his window down and then turned on his lights. He asked Ben "Do you like my lights?" Ben said "Yeah, their cool". I jokingly said "...unless they are behind mommy." The policeman said "Hey, you want me to pull mommy over?" I said "Actually, I've never been pulled over." Ben said "Yeah, we never speed. Just if we're in a hurry!" Um, could it be we need to clarify what is helpful and what is not? The policeman did say "Thanks for being truthful buddy."

Birthday Girl!

This morning we all got up singing Happy Birthday to Anna Kate. She's 4 today. Four years ago today at this time I was being wheeled back for my second c-section to deliver a baby girl. I'll never forget thinking how I couldn't believe how pretty God had made both of my babies. Such round little heads, beautiful color and sweet mouths...and to think, I thought for a while we weren't ever going to have the blessing of children.

Ben was very excited for his sister this morning and Daddy went to pick up doughnuts for a yummy birthday breakfast. Ben gave her the present he got for her. It was a Hello Kitty necklace. Anna Kate had two doughnuts, or, I guess I should say the chocolate off of the top of two doughnuts. She's so much like me when it comes to food!

Happy Birthday to our princess!!!!! We love you!

My Little Cinderella

My little Anna Kate. She loves to sweep the kitchen and use the sweeper in the living room. If you look closely, in the pictures with the broom, she is wearing her pink princess crown. We had just gotten done with dinner and she wanted to help clean up.

In the pictures with the sweeper, she's wearing her new swimsuit I found for next year. She just asked me out of the blue to sweep. You think I'm going to stop that?

I can't believe it, but she will be 4 tomorrow. She's absolutely the sweetest little thing...don't get me wrong, she does have her moments. But, she has such a tender heart and loves to pray. She has truly been a huge blessing in our lives. I am so thankful God made her for us.

What did you make mom?

Scott and I have been starting to come down pretty hard on Ben and Anna Kate over wasting food. We've done everything from showing them pictures of hungry children in foreign countries to telling them about children living on the street in the US. They have become very picky and refusing to eat what's in front of them. We also have made a very conscious effort to make them sit at the table until they have eaten their food. No, I'm not even forcing brussel sprouts down their little mouths...I'm talking about yummy things. Like this evening, for instance. The menu? Scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuits and yummy fried apples made with brown sugar, cinnamon, butter and a splash of vanilla! Yummy, right? You would think so!

As Ben was sitting and eating, he wasn't wanting to taste the apples but Scott finally persuaded him. Honestly, he wasn't getting up until he ate it. He put it in his mouth and said "Mmmm, they don't taste like poop, they're sweet!" Considering he ate watermelon out of the trash can, it worries me a little that he thinks he knows what poop tastes like.

Out of the mouth of babes 2...

It's 12:30 in the morning and I had coffee and tea on my date with Scott so, here I am...
I decided to share what Ben said when we went to bed. We normally make it a habit to let them snuggle with me for a little before they go to bed. Scott comes in for a few minutes and we all pray and normally I give Ben and Anna Kate prayer requests to pray for, but tonight I asked them if there was something they could be thankful for and to pray and thank God for that. Anna Kate thanked God for "mading us" and Ben told us...

"I want to thank God that we don't have to walk like this" (and he stiffened his legs so that his knees wouldn't bend...sort of like a robot or the tin man with no oil). So Scott said, "Well, then you are thankful for your knees?" Ben said, "No, just that they bend." His prayer...

"Father, I come to you right now and I just want to thank you that our legs don't unbend but they bend. It makes it easier to walk. Why does it have to be easy to walk? In Jesus' name, Amen."

So, tell me why does it have to be easy to walk? And do we all remember to be thankful for the little things?

Out of the mouths of babes...

Just a few stories for you. I think my kids are hilarious sometimes but I can't enjoy the humor of what they say always until I relay it to someone else. They both become very offended if someone laughs when they are being serious so I try to take what they say very seriously.

There is a little girl at church named McKayla that likes Anna Kate and Wednesday evening she was trying to hug and hold onto her. After church, Anna Kate said "Mommy, McKayla keept hitting me at church". I told Anna Kate to tell McKayla that she didn't like it when she hit her and to please stop. Anna Kate looked at me with serious eyes and her finger pointing and said "Okay mommy. The next time she hits me I'm going to say 'McKayla stop hitting me. I don't like hitting and I'm allergic to it.'"

Ben was playing tag with some of the kids from church. He really doesn't like to lose but he hides it well when playing with peers. A girl a couple of years older tagged him and he walked over to and said "I am one slow man!"

Last one on Ben...
I try to be so careful about the games Ben plays on playstation. Friday morning, in the car he said "Mommy, when I grow up, I'm going to play the dirty games". Now, of course, I just about run off the road when he says this and I calmly tell him that as long as he lives with mommy and daddy, dirty games will not be allowed and that when he's old enough to live on his own I would like it if he would do the right thing and honor God by not playing dirty games. Now, I'm racking my brain trying to figure out where he saw dirty games...I'm completely panicked. He quickly set my mind at ease...He said with a confession type attitude "Well, mom, the other day at Nana's (imagine the horror I felt when I found out he played a dirty game at my mom's!), when I was playing hide and seek, I was in the room by the garage. I looked over and saw three pieces of watermelon in the peel in the trash can...and...well...I ate 'em". Funny thing is...I was COMPLETELY thankful that he had eaten food out of the garbage and that was what had made hide and seek "dirty".

It was very hard to suppress my laughter!!!