Happy 4th Birthday Christian!

Yesterday morning we attended Christian's 4th birthday party! It was a spiderman theme, and they rented a huge waterslide for the kids. Shannon made this cake herself (pretty impressive, huh?). It took Christian a few tried to blow out his candles, but he did it, and then we all got to enjoy a big piece with some ice cream.

The waterslide was a big hit for the day! All of the kids went up and down that thing a hundred times, even Preston got a piece of the action.

I think what the kids enjoyed the most though was going down in large groups with one of the adults. Brian was the life of the party with all of the kids jumping on his back and riding him down the slide! I think at one point he had about 6 kids on top of him. Then they would all splash into the small pool at the bottom.

Happy Birthday Christian! I wish you another wonderful year (and all of the presents that you desire). We love you!

Poopy Talk

While we were in Avalon, Bennett started using words in a way that we didn't approve. She was calling people "poopy heads" or some other form in a derogatory manner. I was so annoyed and talked to my cousin Debbie about it. She mentioned that her three boys went through the same phase, so she told them they could use that language in the bathroom only.

I thought it was a great idea, so we implemented that when we got home. Since then Bennett has done better, and really has had much better control over the "bad words." However, whenever she is in the bathroom going poopy, she takes FULL advantage of the rules and uses the words any way that she can. Tonight before bed, she had to use the restroom, and since she likes complete privacy, the door was closed. She began singing the "poopy song" so I went to get the recorder. I hope you can hear her...

Night Out for Mommy

Tonight a group of seven girls got together over dinner and drinks at Iguana Grill. It was so nice to see everyone, since we all haven't been together in months (probably close to a year). Sadly, it took us a month to figure out a date, but it worked!

Great time ladies...thanks for the laughs!

Puzzle Mania!

Ever since we went on our summer vacation Bennett has been into puzzles. At Christmas last year, we gave her a set of four 12 piece puzzles. She mastered them in no time, but still loves to do them over and over. In preparing for our 2.5 weeks away from home, I needed small new items for the kids so I went to my favorite store...The Dollar Store! There I purchased three 25 piece puzzles that are for 3 yr olds.

When we got to my parents, I showed them to her, and she immediately started doing them. With a little assistance from us, she got them all put together. However, over the course of the week, they became easy and she was quickly putting them together unassisted. So I decided to buy a couple more, and one 100 piece puzzle (for 6 yr olds) for New Jersey.

Now that we are home, she has mastered the 100 piece puzzle, so I guess I'll have to find something bigger for her to tackle. In the midst of all these puzzles...I have found an itch to do one too. I could use a nice 1000 piece one to do along Bennett. I think I know what store I'll be hitting this week!

Sundays!

Usually Sundays are lazy days for us....drink coffee, read the paper, attend church, eat lunch, nap, etc. However today, we decided to go to lunch with some friends after church. We tried to go to a couple of places, but due to one being closed, and the other's long wait...we ended up at a great place, but one that was nicer than where we would typically go with our children.


Thankfully we were seated right away, but Preston didn't last long in his highchair before he wanted down. He sat through a two hour lunch (yes a full TWO hours), didn't eat a bite, and just wanted down from his highchair the entire time. So after I finished lunch, I walked him down the block to the local firehouse to see the trucks up close and personal. Preston is infatuated with firetrucks (really any kind of truck), but he has no desire to get inside of them, just point and look.


Initially we stood outside and looked at them, and he posed for a couple of photos. But before I knew it, everyone joined us and all of the kids were there to check out the trucks. Thankfully everyone had full bellies and were in much better moods, despite the 100 degree temperatures, so we took a few pictures while they climbed around. As always, the fireman on duty was friendly and let us check everything out.


It was a fun morning, and everyone had a good time (except Pres when we told him we were leaving). Of course, he fell asleep on the way home, and took a good long nap while Steve and I got some things done around the house.

Another good weekend comes to an end.....

Back to School Shopping

This weekend Birmingham is having a "tax-free weekend" on all school supplies and clothing. This is great since our city tax is 9%! I hate loading up on a ton of things at the beginning of the year since I always see cute things for the kids when I go shopping, but I decided to go buy a few staples since so many stores were having additional sales on top of the no tax. Going to the first store proved to be exhausting for us with both kids in tow.

They ran around wildly throughout the store, and Bennett "had to have" everything in sight. However, it was fun to watch them both try on so many items.