Day 2 - Hot Springs

Finally, I know!!! But the month of June is done yet, so I'm not THAT far behind! *wink*

Anyway, our second day in Hot Springs was spent at Magic Springs with Papaw and Ms. K. We had a blast! THANKS again Papaw. The water park area was not completely open . . . most of the kiddie areas were closed still. But I think we all enjoyed ourselves still. Both Little Lion and Little Pumpkin were an inch shy of the ride marks. So, another year or two and we'll have a blast!

Little Lion had one roller coaster he rode at least 8 times and 5 of them consecutively! Then he shocked us all by riding the one water ride all by himself ~ I mean completely by himself you'll see the pic!

There were way too many pics to load 5 at a time, so enjoy the slide show! It's my first ~ so easy! Mer, why didn't you tell me it was THAT easy! *wink*

Feel The Burn

A few weeks ago I got in some trouble. Actually a lot of trouble. But no more trouble than normal. Just let me finish!

We had church friends over for a picnic, Memorial Day. Lots of water, two pools, a water slide, etc.

The sun was just beginning to set when Little Lion asked me if he could take his shirt off. I sad no, he said why. I told him he just needed to obey. He stated that his friend had taken his shirt off to swim!

Now I could have launched in the diatribe about if his friend jumped off a cliff, would he, but the kid's five, so I took it easy on him.

I told him that if he took his shirt off he'd be at risk for pre-juvenile melanoma. He asked the same question many of you are now asking; "What's melanoma?". Now I could have launched into a diatribe of solar rays, the wave vs. particle theory of light, and Schroedinger's cat, but I took it easy on the kid.

I told him it was kind of like carcinoma, only on his skin. He asked the same question many of you are now asking; "What's carcinoma?". Now I could have launched into a diatribe of tar content of tobacco, addictions to nicotine, and the contribution of cigarette filters to global pollution, but I took it easy on the kid.

I told him it was kind of like melanoma, only in his lungs. He asked the same question many of you are now asking; "What's melanoma?" Scrub, rinse, repeat; scrub, rinse, repeat.

Little Lion finally broke down and said "But daddy, if I don't what it looks like, how will I know if I have that disease?" in near tears. Now I could have launched into a diatribe of pre-cancerous cells, moles and liver spots that change color, but I took it easy on the kid.

I told him he would get black spots on his skin. He said O.K. and went off to talk to someone else. I smiled in my victory, assuming that I had enlightened my first born and returned to my now lukewarm homemade ice cream.

That's just about the time mommy lion found me! She asked me what I had told little lion. I rattled off a few things "always buckle your seat belt?" "Don't talk to strangers?" "Every boy needs a good rake?" None of those worked and she was still standing there!

It turns out that Little Lion had gone directly to his friend, proclaiming with a confidence that I'm not quite sure the origins of, that his friend was in fact going to die from something-oma because he had taken his shirt off. The friend, of course, ran immediately to his mother proclaiming in full tears that he had to get his shirt back on FAST before the black spots came and he got that "disease".

You see where this is going right, like the unravelling of a finely crafted novel. Mommy A, asked friend/son A where said disease rumor had originated. Friend A rats out first born son B. Mother A sees father B violently slurping lukewarm ice cream, and goes to the source of the whole issue....Mother B. Mother B realizes exactly what has just transpired, and without regard to Father B's lukewarm ice cream bliss, begins to ask questions she of course already knows the answers to.

Here's the good part, Fathers A, C, D, E, F, & G all congratulate Father B on his finely crafted oration with high five's and knowing glances of approval!

I know it seems like this should be done by now, but I must leave with two pictures of my son from today, taken just a few minutes ago! Guess who was playing outside in the pool friend A at the home of Mommy A without a shirt!

I may be driving my child to alcoholism, but he's riding his own bike to melanoma!

Day 1 - Hot Springs

Monday we traveled to Hot Springs for a mini vaca with Dad and Ms. K. We started off with a trip to the Mid-America Museum. As soon as we walked in the doors I totally remembered the place!

Little Lion in front of the first display ~ the one that jogged my memory!

I didn't think I'd ever get my little engineers away from this display! All 3 of them were having so much fun. We even spent MORE time at it before we left.

Team work! Although we never did build a tower that even made it to the testing stage.

This was a great place for building team work skills! In fact it took all four of us to complete this task!

Sweet Success!

At the museum, we met up with my best friend while we lived in HS when I was a little girl. Her sweet girl is a spitting image of her! Little Pumpkin and Miss E. enjoyed the funny mirrors. I am SO bummed I didn't get a picture of the two of us! Another reason to go back I guess! *wink* Thanks Er for a great visit and remincsing.

This was as good of a together shot as I was getting! The caged lightening demonstration was just about to start! It was so cool. My pics don't do it justice, so I won't bore you. We couldn't talk Little Pumpkin to go up and get her hair to stand up . . . maybe in a few years!

That's enough for today . . .

Stayed tuned for more of Hot Springs!

Where to begin?!?

It all started last Thursday . . . with a children's church meeting at our house. Then Friday we kicked off our family reunion with a BBQ at our house. Saturday we spent most the day eastward with an extended family reunion. Sunday was church and lunch wrapping up the reunion. We spent most of Sunday at Mom's place. Then Monday we had our small group over for a memorial day get together. And finally Tuesday was pre-school graduation! Wow, it's Wednesday already?!? *grin*

Here are some highlights from graduation for grandparents and beloved family (scroll down if you dare!)

Such sweet faces!

The heart shape song.

As they all walked in for the Graduation procession they each brought a rose to their mom! So sweet! My sweet little lion was the only one to make his way through the row! *smile*

So proud!

With Mrs. Sheila the director of First Friends! She celebrated 10 years directing at First Friends! So glad she is there ~ here comes Kate! *grin*

Little Lion with his teacher Mrs. Judy. Can't say enough about her ~ she was such a great teacher! We pray that we get another like her for Kindergarten!

Pop the photographer with the kids!

Lolly & Tia

Aunt Amy came all the way from Florida!

Well, she did, just not necessarily for Little Lion's graduation. All the same it was great she got to be here for it ~ she's so much fun!

Family shot!

All pictured out! Loving the hat! *smile*

Wow, you made it through all that!?! *wink* I plan to post more from the weekend after I recover some more! *grin*

Mother's Day ~ belated!

Yes, I did celebrate on time. Just didn't post in a timely manner ~ which seems to be my life recently; behind on everything! Anyway, I had a great Mother's Day. We decided a few years back that I wanted Mother's day to be quiet and relaxing for ALL of us!

So pick up a picnic lunch and head to the park. We don't have to wait for hours at a restraunt, or fight cranky kids to eat or sit still! They can run and play and I can sit and relax! *smile* Praising Jesus the rain held off for us to enjoy the park!

This year our friend the V-family came along!

I love this pic of Little Pumpkin ~ Pure joy!

And our sweet AJ! What will we ever do without them?!?

Of course, what's Mother's day without a picture of the family that makes me a mother!

After all the fun we could stand, we headed to my mom's for the evening. A fun game of Phase 10 (dice style) and then Pizza King pizza! YUMMY! My brother surprised my mom and me!

My mom and her kids ~ excuse the off centeredness. But it was the best one of all of us!

And finally I leave you with me and my mom! It was a great day thanks to my sweet hubby for hanging in there and just letting me do what I wanted! I love you! And mom, thanks for having me! *wink*

Last night Little Lion asked if we could go swimming in the pool. Not exactly what pool he was thinking we would go swimming in, but I understood where he was coming from!

Our weather is warming up and the forecast is 90 tomorrow! So a pool isn't such a bad idea. After saying no, I recanted and told them both to go get their swimming suits on. Without any hesitation or questions they both took off. Daddy Lion started the water in our bathtub!

They were delighted! A few floaty toys and some bubbles was all they needed. (Guess I need to head up to the attic to get the summer box down for the rest of the pool toys!)

This is also not a bad way to get your tub semi-clean!

Little Lion was having so much fun posing for the camera!

While on the other hand, Little Pumpkin was too busy for pictures! This is the only time she slowed down enough for me to get one. She's cute even when she cries. Here's to summer which is right around the corner!

Encouraging sibling rivalary?

I love lazy Saturday mornings!

Daddy Lion had to step in for Little Pumpkin!

Can you see the joy of victory?!?

GO FISH!

So we have been waiting for this concert since January! I heard they were coming to a local church (an hour away). Finally had an insider get me tickets (thanks again Andria). And now the day had arrived:

No this pic is not out of order! She fell asleep on the way there! Check out her glasses ~ such a diva! After dinner at Daniel Boone's (very yummy, would recommend!) with my friend (and insider) we headed to the church.

My insider and her fam! Don't you just love those rosy checks! He was such a charmer, with that personality and those dimples ~ he's sure to be a heart breaker. *wink* He actually fell alseep.

This was Little Pumpkin's first concert! She did great. We were at an angle, but had the perfect view ~ no tall people in front of our short people! *smile* (Learned that lesson from Toby Mac concert).

Daddy and Little Lion getting ready for the show to start!

GO FISH! (Jason, Jamie and Andy)

Waving our flags during American Kid!

After the concert, the kids loved checking out the stage. Snazzy is their best selling cd, but I would recommend any of them!

Too much commotion to get everyone looking at the same time, but hey 3 out of 5 ain't bad! *wink* This was after getting their signature. The church did a great job of the whole night. After the concert, there were games the could win candy at and Ms. April and the Barnyard (I think). She was a great storyteller and super silly. We headed home about 9 sure the kids would fall asleep. Didn't happen! But that's okay . . . good naps today!

31 cents

Doesn't get you much, but last night it got you a scoop of yummy Baskin Robbins ice cream! They do this every year and we haven't missed one yet! Our local clown couple: Melody and Happy were on hand. The firemen were there accepting donations. So after filling our tummies, painting our tattoos, picking our balloon "animals" and donating our money; the kids were not exactly still for the picture!Which cracks me up since it was their idea! Not even the "heavy" thunderstorms could keep us away from our 31cent ice cream. It was difinitely worth it, even if my picture didn't turn out. Hopefully another fun night for their memory banks!

mmm, Burritos, that sounds good!

This past weekend I was on a short road trip with some of my MOPS girls for some training. What a great time we had. Unfortunately, the only time I got my camera out was at dinner Friday night! Check out these burritos!!!

My fearless co-coordinator, Jaime! I don't think she ever resorted to the fork like the rest of us!

Alison, one of our MOPPETS coordinators. She's picky so she had tacos.

Our awesome mentor mom, Sharie, setting the example! This place was her idea!

Jenny, the finance girl ~ she split one with me. Now that's the type of girl to have in charge of finances! *wink*

Josie's in charge of publicity and has rocked as a discussion group leader. Don't let her fool you she's not all prim and proper! *smile*

I wasn't going to post mine, but figured I'd be ridiculed if not. SO here I am chowing down on a Chipotle gourmet burrito! I would highly recommend them, just make sure you go with a friend. And if that wasn't enough, we went to Braum's afterward! (Just for you Kelly!)