Sunday, June 22, 2008

Babe Hunt

The other day, Randy and I decided to look for the 23 "Babes" that are located in Brainerd, Pequot Lakes and surrounding other little towns. We saw a couple of the Babes on display at the Governor's Fishing Opener...there are some pretty cool ones out there. If you write down the codes that are on the base of each ox you can mail them in and be entered into a drawing for an "exciting Brainerd Lakes vacation package." Today after church we planned to have a picnic at the dam in Pine River. Before our picnic we checked out one of the two ox in Pine River and after our picnic we looked at the other one. I had the camera along to get pictures of the kids by the river, so we thought it would be fun to take a picture of each ox we find. So here are the first two of the 23. Each ox has a different artist and sponsor.



"Windy"





"Babe the Green Ox"

Saturday, June 21, 2008

"Sunset"

Wow! I knew I hadn't blogged in a while but I didn't think it had been this long. These couple of weeks have been kind of busy. We got the boys' room painted(finally),scraped windows and gable ends, and painted the house. Randy's parents helped us scrape some and my parents came for an extended weekend and helped and my brother and his family came and helped for a couple of days too. I should say we helped, it felt like they did most of the work. It's hard to paint and take care of three little kids. Randy and I really appreciated all the help. Thank you again! Here are a couple pictures of the finished project.




After all our company left I did a ton of laundry. As I was pulling more clothes out of the dryer Isaiah saw my overflowing basket and said, "I think you need a couple of your friends to help you!"

The kids and I have been to lots of garage sales, although these last two weeks we've taken a break. The last time we were out Olivia bought a big box of Barbie stuff(furniture, pool, jet ski, campfire...) for $5. In the box there was a little hair drier, not for the Barbies but little girls. It didn't work and so I told Olivia we could try putting in some new batteries. We didn't have any new ones, so I took some out of another toy. The hair drier still didn't work, so I told Olivia it was broken. "No it's not. Can you find the right batteries for it?" I explained those were the right ones but the thing was just broke. She wouldn't except it. She told me a few more times it wasn't broke and she wanted me to buy new batteries. That night before bed she said, "While I'm sleeping can you look for some batteries?" When I told her again it was broken, she said "I told you ten times it's not broken!" Later when we checked on her before we went to bed, she was sleeping on her floor with the hair drier tucked under her arm! When I went to get the camera she turned on her side, but you can still it.



We've spent most of this past week outside. We were at the park three mornings and most afternoons were spent playing in our yard with the neighbors. Our next door neighbor is watching two of her cousins this summer. An 8 year old and a 3 year old(both boys). Our neighbors across the street have two boys also, a almost 5 year old and a 2 year old. The kids really enjoy having someone to play with(I don't mind it myself). Micah likes playing in the little pool. I think we might need a bigger pool though. He had a couple of big trucks in there, his lawn mower and some small sandbox toys.

Some park pictures




The kids found a baby turtle at the park last week and Isaiah really wanted to take it home. I let him. I'm feeling sorry for it now. It's been living in an ice cream bucket and I'm not sure if it's really eating anything(we've given it carrot, lettuce,grape halves). Today Randy and I told them we thought it was time to let "Sunset"(Isaiah named him Louie at first then changed his name the next day to sunset)go. They both fell apart. We'll have to talk about it again. Isaiah wants to get a little aquarium and keep him in his room. Early this week we saw a bigger turtle outside our fence digging holes looking for a place to lay eggs. Olivia said, "We should show it Sunset. It could be his mom because he doesn't have one. It wouldn't have to lay eggs."

Yesterday at the park on of the kids' friends was saying he wished it was winter. His mom told the kids he liked winter because that's when Christmas was. So, in the van today Isaiah and Olivia were saying, "I like snow. I like presents." Micah of course started copying them, but after a few rounds he decided to be his own person and said, "I like Toby Mac."

Monday, June 2, 2008

Do You Need A Hug?

On the way to the park recently,Isaiah says,"I just had an idea. We should have a clean up the world party. We could ask everyone we know. We could drive all over and pick up garbage. I got that idea because I just saw some garbage back there. Do you think that's a good idea?"

Last week when I was mowing I was perspiring quite a bit. When I stopped for a water break Isaiah said, "You have water on your face." "That's not water, it's sweat," I said kind of laughing. "It is? I didn't know you could sweat that much!"

Olivia loves playing with her Barbies and dollies. She'll often ask me if I'll be her baby's Grandma. She'll then come to my house to visit. Sometimes she'll ask me to watch the baby while she goes somewhere that's just for mommies. The other day she asked me, "Can you watch my baby?" "Sure." "If she cries can you feed her? "Do you have a bottle for her?" I asked. "Do you have milk in your body?" she asked. "No." "Okay I'll get her a bottle."

She wanted me to play Barbies with her tonight. She named the Barbies Sarah and Faith after two of my friends. It was cute to hear her pretending to be them.

I brought Olivia in to get her haircut last week. Her hair is always a wreck. Sometimes she'll ask me to fix it, but then she takes it out a little while later. After the lady cut it she straightened it. On the way home I told Olivia that when we washed it it would curl up again. She said, "I don't want to take a bath." "You don't have to take one tonight, but you have to take baths." "I don't want to wash it."



Micah hit his head the other day when he was getting down from a chair in the kitchen. He was kind of fussing and rubbing his head. I was sitting right there and rubbed his head asked if he hit it on the chair. "Yeah, bonk head chair." I asked, "Do you need a hug?" "Yeah." Then he turned and gave the chair a hug!

Micah is in the independent stage. We often hear him say, "I WILL!" with a lot of attitude. I think (hope) that he is getting in his molars. He's usually pretty easy going, but the last couple of weeks he's been pretty crabby and naughty. Thankfully he still makes us laugh.