Date with Andrew

Today I picked up my 6 year old nephew, Andrew, from school to have a "date" with him. We've never had any time alone and this really give me a chance to get to know him better. I must say, he's probably the most brilliant little boy I've met (minus Benjamin....). I found out he loves spinach, carrots, and he tried a cherry limeade for the first time today and really liked it! It was truly an amazing afternoon and I'm having a hard time not talking about it! I can't wait to do it again soon....as long as Aunt Laura approves!

Also, my friend Natalie and I started a "What I'm Thankful for List". Every day we write down 5 things we're thankful for. Now, it can't be the normal things...but things that stood out and were special for that day. Today my list was: Nice weather, Andrew, coffee, my 6:30am Beth Moore Bible study.....early, early....big yawn, but totally love her, and last but not least, Natalie. I asked Benjamin what he's thankful for and of course his reply was his favorite friend "Luke".

Men are from Mars...Women are from Venus....

The other day Savannah was talking all jibberish. We asked Benjamin if he knew what Savannah just said. His response was "I don't know, she's a girl. I'm a boy"! The two sexes seem to always have a hard time understanding each other and this boy figured it out really early. David and I had a really good laugh over this one.

Maine Vacation - Great, Until the Plane Ride....

We took a trip last week with some friends to Booth Bay Harbour, Maine. I've never been before but had always wanted to go. The trip was great and extremely relaxing (the kids stayed with the grandparents). I've never eaten so much lobster in my life. I just sort of liked lobster before we went but after we left I love it. I'm craving it everyday. It's so cheap there so it's affordable to actually eat every day. Anyway, it was a great trip until we were getting on the plane to come home and noticed the camera David bought me for Christmas a couple of years ago was missing. Yeah, the really big one that has a huge carrying case and you would think couldn't be missed? Well, we missed it in our rush to the airport. We spent the 4 hour plane ride home just sick to our stomachs. I don't think we even said 5 words to each other the whole ride home. Bad way to end a good vacation. However, we do have good news to report. Hertz called yesterday and someone actually turned our camera in and they're mailing it to us. The good people of the world have restored my hope! Thanks to the stranger who turned it in. I said a prayer for you. May God bless you in return. Oh, so I don't have any pictures at the moment....not until we get our camera back.

Security Items

It's so funny to see the differences in Benjamin and Savannah. Benjamin is all boy....cars, trains, tackling with whoever will play tackle with him. Savannah is all about pushing her baby around in it's stroller, and making bracelets, necklaces, and hats out of bizarre things. Benjamin likes to sleep with his cars (his teddy bear too). Yes, those little hard cars. Rolling over on them and sleeping on them doesn't seem to bother him one bit. Savannah, it's her girly flowery blanket. One more example, when we're trimming their nails, we can't get it done fast enough with Benjamin, however; Savannah doesn't want you to stop. I see lots of manicures and pedicures in her future.

His car, train, and teddy bear. The last few nights he's actually gone to bed with a lot more cars than this.












See how much Savannah loves her blanket? This was done with no prompting by me. She actually wrapped it around herself in her high chair as she was eating breakfast!

First Day of School

Today was the kids' first day of school. They did very well! Benjamin was a little hesitant at first and hung out in the hallway until he saw the other kids playing with Playdo. Then there was no stopping him! He even gave me a kiss and said "bye bye Momma"! Savannah did well as well. When we got to her room I would ask her things like "Do you want to go over there and play?" and her answer every time was "uh-uh" (how she says "no"). Not long though she walked over to her teacher and let her pick her up and off she went. No tears from anyone this morning. So proud of my kiddos! This year I started writing little notes to put in their lunch boxes on cute notepads. I'm hoping at least Benjamin appreciates it. My mom did that for me growing up and I loved it!

Savannah's pose.

















Benjamin really wanted his picture taken but his forced smile certainly doesn't look he did, does it? Funny.

Update on "Managing God's Money"

Update from earlier this morning - Benjamin wants ALL the money in HIS bank and will throw SCREAMING fits because he wants to keep it all himself. That just proves to me that teaching him how to manage God's money is EXACTLY what we need to be doing right now!

Also, our household (a.k.a. Benjamin) is learning the fruit of the spirit, kindness, this week. So far he's displayed kindness by actually sharing his sucker with Savannah. I was shocked at that one because he did that one all by himself. Secondly, he's been asking for things very sweetly with lots of please and thank you's. Normally we have to remind him to say "please" and "thank you". But knowing he's going to get some pennies in his bank has changed his tune. All I have to say is, Tina, you're brilliant! (Tina is the one who came up with this idea).

P.S. As I'm sitting here watching Jimmy Neutron with Benjamin right before he's off to bed for prayers, singing, and talking about our day tomorrow, I just wanted to make a note for David and me later....he's OBSESSED with robots, the Robot Backyardigans, and Jimmy Neutron at this stage. He's definitely a guy!

Managing God's Money

We had a playdate with some friends and the purpose of it was to teach the kids about God and money. Each kid got 3 ceramic piggy banks and they painted each one. I guess we're starting him early on money management but why not? Benjamin now knows that for each "fruit of the spirit" he displays or any chore he completes he'll get a little bit of money. The first 10% goes into his "God" (tithe) piggy bank, the next 10% goes to his "Savings" piggy bank, and the rest goes to him - his "Benjamin" piggy bank. His reward is going to Target to pick something out in the dollar section. He loves the dollar section....ME TOO! :)

The group painting the piggy banks.













Benjamin painting his pigs.













Savannah painting her pig.













The final result. 1st piggy is God's, 2nd piggy is Savings, 3rd piggy is Benjamin's. Oh and the 4th the piggy is Savannah's little pig just for the fun of it.

Rash.....Sunday, Day FOUR!

Rash oh rash, please go away,
and don't come back some other day.

Each morning I wake the new patches appear
which is why mornings I've come to honestly fear.

I'm miserable with the itch and the burn
but scratching them just makes them worse so I've learned.

Benadryl and steroids, why won't you fix me?
I'm ready to be over this misery, can't you see?

The allergy that creates you we have yet to find,
which keeps this rash always on my mind.

Rash oh rash, please go away
and don't come back some other day.

Ho hum.

Emergency Rooms, Shots, and Allergies, OH MY!

In the last 2 weeks, between Benjamin and me, we've made 2 trips to the emergency room, received a combine total of 4 shots, had blood drawn and dealt with 2 allergic reactions. (Having the blood drawn from a 3 year old is something I wouldn't wish on anyone. Poor guy. He was a trooper though...well, afterwards). We got his results back from his allergy test yesterday and now know that Benjamin is allergic to walnuts and cashews, not peanuts though.

And for me, I drove myself to the emergency room last night at 12:30am because of a rash that got so bad my entire body was covered in red, itchy, fire-burning welps. There was hardly a spot on my body that you could see my true color. As soon as I walked in the ER the nurse said "holy cow, you look like a lobster". Yeah, ok, funny nurse. I seriously wasn't in the mood to be comical at that point. Especially after I had to wait an HOUR in the examining room for the doctor to see me. So what do they call emergency with that? It's amazing how it took less than 5 minutes for the shots to kick in. At that point, I was ELATED! Ahhh....relief. We still don't know what caused the rash. A new detergent, a new shampoo I used, or something I ate. Just glad to be back to (I say this lightly) "normal".