Columbus Day PlayDate

Our sweet bud, Alligator, started kindergarten this year. So our playtime with her has been sparse. Since Monday was Columbus Day, she was out and we had them over for a play date! Little Lion and Alligator played so well together. Even our sweet Little Lamb and Little Pumpkin played well. However, Little Pumpkin was quite mesmerized by the G-man.

She did a great job helping feed him! We even had to tell her all done, I think she would have sat there forever. Cute, but not enough to make me want another one!

After lunch we headed outside to enjoy the awesome low 80's we were having! I was not thrilled about this see-saw when Papaw purchased it for Little Lion, but it has been SO much fun now that he and his friends can do it by themselves! Thank you Papaw!!! Do you remember see-sawing? Trying your hardest to bump the other person!?! Check out this video!

Little Pumpkin is proving over and over again to be my daredevil! She has figured out that it's quite a rush to lay back in the swing while you are going! SCARES me to death!

Okay, if you know Little Lamb, she is the HARDEST to get a picture of! Much less one of her smiling. So, I know there is a rope in front of her face, but check out that smile~ it's pure joy!


I just loved that the little girls were entertaining themselves with the swings! I guess that's one definition of swing yourself! *wink*

Thanks again friends for coming to play! We had a great day just hanging at home with you guys. That just doesn't happen enough.

Ready to GO!

On Friday night the kids went to Lolly and Pop's house for a sleep over! Thanks again for a night to ourselves! Little Pumpkin was determined to wear the backpack even though it was over half her size! I think she's ready for school! Sure wish I would have gotten some video of her walking with it on . . . you would have thought she was scaling a mountain! Hope this brings a smile to you.

How many hops could a hopper hop if a hopper . . .

Saturday was Mommy Lion's MOPs picnic. Her leaders did a great job of organizing and things went off perfectly.

So many of you pledged for Little Lion and Little Pumpkin to hop, those who bet on Little Pumpkin to hop were the big winners!! We'd like to see your videos of getting a one year old to hop for 30 seconds!

Little Lion hit 109, stopped a couple of times, but made it through the whole thing. We didn't get a picture of them together, but below are the day's highlights:

Field Trip!

Little Lion had his first field trip of this year yesterday. We headed to another small town 45 minutes away to a church "pumpkin patch." Now, after being in the the Northwest for 7 years, I know what a pumpkin patch looks like. Sadly, the rows of nicely placed pumpkins in the front lawn just don't cut it! *smile* Nonetheless, it was a fun little jaunt with lots of photo ops!

This is Little Lion with most of his class. Uh, can you tell who the oldest is?!? He towers over them all! And the little boy who is closest in height is actually the furthest from him in age!

Little Lion is so good about sitting still and listening during story time!
He loves to read books ~ still! I pray that continues throughout his life!

Picking out his pumpkin . . . come on . . . it's a box of pumpkins from Wally world!!!! I don't know if that's true, but we will be visiting the real pumpkin patch! Still won't be the same since we'll be going in shorts and t-shirts as opposed to our friends elsewhere! *wink*

Here's the whole class with sweet Mrs. Judy! I'm so surprised they are all at least looking at the camera , well, in that general direction! Little Lion can never remember names of the kids when we ask him who he played with. However, he told us every single kid's name in this picture! One track mind ~ must be a guy thing! JK!!! (My husband rocks! *smile*)

Miss S. with Little Lion in the pumpkins. They did this all by themselves, I just happened upon them! She loves my Little Lion . . . gonna have to keep an eye on these two!

Miss. S with Little Pumpkin, not so easy to get either of them to smile!

LOVE this one! My sweet little ones!

Trying to get a pic with my Little Pumpkin and the pumpkin; she is NOT the poser!
Pray for our photo shoot next Saturday!

Finally playing with the buds on the playground! Mr. O and Little Lion seemed to be inseparable buds. I'm so glad we were able to join in on this trip. It was fun to see him interacting with his friends and enjoy a day out!

More convention pics

Just wanted to send you to Josie's blog for more convention pics. She got some great ones of some of the awesome performances! We had such a great worship experience, I think I might start saving for Nashville next year! It's not THAT far to drive, is it?!? *wink*

my husband rocks

It's really small in the picture, but that's what our shirts say! And I have no doubt that my husband rocks! Because of his wonderful encouragement and extreme help, I was able to go to the MOPS convention this past weekend. Above is 5 of the 7 that were able to attend.

This fountain was so cool, it would get as high as the 9th floor! Also in the atrium was the bell tower bellow. The screen reads "The Gaylord Texan Welcomes MOPS"

I could write for days on all we took in, but I won't! God stretched me so much ~ I've got a lot of growing to do in the next year! Thanks to all who made it possible. Especially my husband!

Postscript: Check out That's the way we roll for more pics!

Nine Pounds

Western Days was today. For a small town, there sure are a lot of folks that turn out. We were there early enough to get our usual place and save some room for our friends.

Now this is where the blog splits into good news and bad news. The bad news is that NONE of our friends showed up. I haven't counted all the possibilities, and maybe they were there but just in a different spot, but we ended up being alone in our spot.

The good news is that we bagged all the candy thrown our way. I had to force Little Lion to pick up candy. It was everywhere, every kind, all over! Little Lion got his bag, Little Pumpkin got one sucker and you'd have thought she was set for life. I started stuffing candy into her bag. People stopped throwing candy because there was so much on the ground, I couldn't keep up. The people next to us started stuffing candy in Little Lion's bag too (she actually kept all the Hershey's Bars!) Little pumpkin just sat in her chair, oblivious, gnawing on her sucker.

When we got home I weighed the days take. Nine pounds. Hope your evening is as great as ours is going to be!

Practicing for the Circus

We had a free afternoon Saturday and the weather has cooled down some, so we all made our way outside. We had great fun with the sidewalk chalk! Little Lion decided to ride his motorized tractor, which is not out of the ordinary. (We need to start shopping for a two seater!) I happened to see him out of the corner of my eye and knew I must catch this on film:

It's hard to tell, but he is standing with his right foot on the gas and his left foot hiked up on the back of the seat! He rode all the way around the house and then some ~ giggling and screaming the whole way. So I guess he was serious about this circus thing! *wink*

All It's Chalked Up To Be.

My driveway used to be clean. Other than lawnmower clippings, ant hills, bugs, and the truck. Anyway, I got out the sidewalk chalk when Mommy Lion wasn't looking the other day, and wrote a little love note to Mommy, quickly copied by Little Lion writing his name, and Little Pumpkin scribbling like everyone else. So that the world may know, I've posted below - I love Mommy Lion!

For the first time . . .

and I'm sure it won't be the last time!
Today, I spent most the morning cleaning and just playing with Little Pumpkin. She doesn't get very much one on one time; and she's really quite enjoyable when we do~ note to self!
Here's where the title comes in: I'm drying my hair and since it's noon, I wasn't really going to fix it, just didn't want it to air dry . . .okay long story short! As I flip my head over to dry my hair, I notice something under my bed.
Now, yes, I do "store" things under my bed, but this was not something I had put there! In fact, it didn't look like anything "anyone" had put there.
Whatever it was, it wasn't moving, so I assumed it to be dead if it ever was alive. So mustering up the courage I get down on all fours to check out this "object" from afar.
Funny, it's more than one thing . . . still not moving, so I get a little closer . . . a dragonfly, a spider, . . . that's odd how did they . . .?
Wait a frog and a lizard!?! Okay, definitely the plastic variety! But, what a scare . . .

Good news is now we are only missing the lady bug from Little Lion's collection! *smile*
This reminded me of my brother and my mom; I can not even count on two hands the things she found! You know there's the normal little boy things: rocks, dirt, bugs, worms, even snakes. But the one that out stunk them all was the dead bird in his desk drawer! UGH!
I know this is part of being a mom of a boy, but here's praying my findings are always of the synthetic kind! *smile*

Pre-school Homework?!?

Yes that's right, homework! But it was fun homework. Little Lion's pre-school sends home a poster board (11x7) each year for them to tell "ALL ABOUT ME!"
I had fun with it last year and this year Little Lion was more involved! So enjoy our blogger version! *smile*

Little Lion
all about ME!

My favorite toys to play with are my CARS cars!

I think I need some more!

My favorite outside activity is playing in my sandbox!

I think my sandbox is shrinking though . . . or maybe I'm getting bigger.
(or maybe it's just not built for two!)

My favorite part of school is the playdough center!

I would stay there all day if Mrs. Judy would let me. *smile*

My favorite place to go is my Lolly and Pop's house.

Pop always has a silly story to tell me!
He even has different voices and disguises too!

Lolly is always ready to read me a book!
I've always loved reading books ~ I would listen for hours.

My favorite place to eat . . .
it changes hourly,
but when asked during this project Papacita's was it!

mmmmm, YUMMY!!
Tortillas and honey, could 5 years old be any better!?!

Hanging Out

Today we had a picnic at the park with my MOPS table. (plus some *wink*) It was the first day that we are back to uncomfortably warm days since IKE came through! I honestly don't think that phases the kids at all. However, it did make it hard to keep them out of the water! I thought for sure they would have the fountains turned off . . . NO!

This is all the kids minus the two littlest . . . you can only try so many times! *smile* Little Lion is officially the oldest at our MOPS functions . . .wow, where has the time gone. And Little Pumpkin looks so big in her jeans. She got into some ants yesterday; so jeans was the best way to keep her from scratching ~ she'll scratch 'til she bleeds and then some! So if you have any great itch remedies, let me know!

Little Pumpkin has NO fear! I was so proud of her today . . . I actually enjoyed myself with the other mommies! It was probably the first time I was not chasing her around or having her scream for me every time I turned around . . . progress, people, progress! *smile*

Little Lion with Ms. S! Yet another DIL possibility. . . really my options are endless! *wink* If he'll just choose one from my approved list ~ we'll all be happy~ right?!? *smile*

Little Pumpkin with Ms. A! The gap between them is quickly closing as they get older. I know we will have some great drama with the two of them! *smile* They are two peas in a pod.

Sibling love!
Can't you just feel it. *smile*

I wanna be like . . .

Every time I asked Little Lion what he wanted for his birthday he came up with something different, but always ended up saying BibleMan. Well, since we did the water park thing, a birthday theme wasn't happening. Plus you try to find BibleMan party paraphernalia . (I'm not a creative moms who can whip that up! *cough* Park Wife *cough*. But I know who to call next time! *wink*)

So, I did find the official BibleMan sword of the spirit, cape and mask. It didn't make it on his birthday, but he was ecstatic nonetheless when it came:

Now, if Little Lion wants to be a superhero, what better superhero to be than BibleMan!?! And of course, if Little Lion want to be BibleMan then so does Little Pumpkin:

She so looks up to her big brother and copies EVERY and I mean EVERY thing he does. From the way he holds his hands at the dinner table to the songs he sings while washing hands! (It's amazing to me how we know what's she singing even without words!)

I pray that my Little Lion will continue to grow towards a man after God's own heart and that my Little Pumpkin will not only follow in his footsteps, but look for someone of that caliber for her husband someday!

Power, but . . .

NO Internet!!!! How did we ever live without the Internet . . . I know some people still do it, but come on! I had to break out the cookbooks last night instead of searching for recipes online. I had to pick up the phone and call friends instead of checking out their blogs. hhhmmmmm. . . Maybe a few Internet free days aren't so bad after all! *wink*

I'm not sure how long we'll be without service, but know we are so AMAZINGLY blessed that this is all we are dealing with from IKE!

PRAISIN' JESUS!!!

We Like IKE!

So many possible titles, so few Blogs to name!

Power was out, phone was out, cable was out, everything stopped for Hurricane Ike to fly by. What a mess! We evacuated to Lolly & Pop's, mostly to watch the Oregon game on Saturday, but obviously, that didn't happen.

While the lights were out, Mommy Lion & Lolly got Me, Daddy Lion, to hang crosses? What did you think we'd do with the lights out? (KEEP IT CLEAN PEOPLE!)

The results are here:











We spent the night, the power came on after about only four hours, but our house was dark and quiet for about 30 hours. We'll head back tonight.

Little Pumpkin discovered the computer and ABSORBS how things work, she was fairly confident finishing Mommy's game for her.











Sometimes she's way too big for her own britches!

Friday's Food for Thought

Delusions are often functional. A mother's opinions about her children's beauty, intelligence, goodness, et cetera ad nauseam, keep her from drowning them at birth. - Lazarus Long

or keeping them locked out of the house! *wink*


They were not really locked out of the house . . . just this particular door! And only for enough time for me to take the pictures of their little faces at the door! *smile*

Times Up!

Okay, I just spent all my allotted blog time catching up on everyone else's blog! So I thought I better say . . . I'm still alive and my computer does still work! *wink* Thanks for all the prayers and comments! Until tomorrow . . .

We made It!

We made it! The first day of MOPs was a huge success. Mommy Lion is co-co-ordinating for her first time. She told me yesterday she would give it a nine on a scale of one to ten! Woo-Hoo!!!

We celebrated last night with a trip to Sonic. Mommy Lion got a Caramel Crunch Blast, Little Lion got a Jr. Banana Split, Little Pumpkin got a Strawberry Shake, and I got a Lime Slush.

Yuck! I traded with Little Lion because lime slushes from Sonic are not good! I remember, from being a little boy, going to Burgerville U.S.A. in the Portland (OR) Metro Area and getting green slushes. They were lime, and the only flavor they had. For some reason I've been reminiscing about them the last week and really wanted to get to a place where I could get one! Sonic uses real limes, Burgerville was like the slushy machine at Target (remember when the only place you could get slushies was K-Mart?). Anyway, the Burgerville slushys had the green snowcone juice all mixed in and were pretty good 29 years ago! And you could sit in a train car and eat your food. Oh to be five again!

Back to the story. I ate the rest of Little Lion's Banana Split, he spilled the slush on the floor of the truck, then put a hole in the bottom of the cup trying to scoop it up. Mommy Lion gave me the last of her Blast, and after Little Pumpkin had fallen asleep, her Strawberry Shake . . . Disappeared?????

Everyone ended up happy, thanks so much for your prayers and support over MOP's!!

These ants don't bite

So we have a bit of an ant invasion in our kitchen. They have been coming in around the window above the sink and hanging out there. This morning while getting ready for church, I stopped in the kitchen for a drink. Little Lion was eating breakfast at the table, when all of the sudden he says "ow, ow, ow"

MommyLion: "What happened?"

Little Lion: "I was washing my hands and one of those little ants crawled on my hand and bit my pinky."

MommyLion: "I don't think the ant bit you."

Little Lion: "He did!"

MommyLion: "Oh, I don't think so. These ants don't bite people like the red ants. These ants are looking for food and something sweet to eat."

As I walk out of the kitchen I hear:

"Well, I'm a sweet kid."

The BIG 5!!!

As much as I don't want to admit it, Little Lion turned 5 on Monday! I'm finally out of the denial stage and ready to share with you all how we celebrated. (Okay people you know me ~ really, I was just waiting on pics!) The three musketeers. These three boys play so well together! They all had a blast at Splash Kingdom. We will be visiting this place again next year for sure!

Little Pumpkin and Little R coming out of the whale's mouth. She did this slide over and over and over and . . .
Testing out the small slides ~ Little Lion was content until Daddy Lion took him to . . .
. . . the BIG slides! Little Lion LOVED them!!! He even went down the blue one all by himself - twice! *smile* I like the idea of growing up sometimes! *wink*
Aaaaaaahh! The lazy river! Little Lion and Big R relaxing. They really did enjoy this too.
Ms. J and Little R and even Mr. S sneaking up behind in the lazy river. Little Pumpkin and I went around the river twice close to her nap time. She almost went to sleep!
The big splash is either Ms. J or I you really can't tell, but we both braved the yellow slide! I also like this pic because you can see all the slides! I tried them all except for the pink, but Ms. J said it was boring. *wink*
The boys enjoying snow cones . . . we were planning on dippin' dots, but they were sold out! Note to self: buy dippin' dots early! *smile*
I'm pretty sure this is intense joy and not pain! *smile* Hopefully we've made birthday number 5 an unforgettable experience! *wink*