Great Wolf Lodge

 

Since the conference and marathon were not enough for a long weekend, we decided to take on Great Wolf Lodge for the first time.  We were tired, but we were ready to play a bit.  The kids first loved the room.  They had their own room built like a cabin.  Andrew was particularly excited to have his own bed - not a bunk bed.  It's the little things....

Once that was checked out, we headed to the water park.  Over the course of the next 24 hours, we took on slides, a wave pool, a lazy river and more slides.  The kids loved it.  You'll need to check out the video to see how much Andrew enjoyed the place especially the lazy river.  Hannah liked riding slides with Daddy.  Luke liked the slides as well, but was really impressed with the Lego replica they had of the hotel.

We won't go back for awhile, but it was a very special treat to share with friends!

  

26.2

 We met our husbands in Ft Worth because the following morning, they would each run their first marathon.  Chris had run a couple of half-marathons when we were first married.  However, this is the first marathon.  

The morning of the race began bright and early.  Chris had his pre-race stuff to complete.  The yellow shirt was in hopes that it would be easier to spot him.  As it turned out, I was quite surprised as to how many yellow shirts there were.

Chris had done a great job of finding some places for us to stop and see them run.  This is the only one we made it to.  Here, the kids are waiting for their Daddies to pass.  It worked out great, but seemed to keep us on our toes to keep all seven little minds in one spot. We'd waited awhile and Mandy bribed the kids with snacks.  She called it the "sit to snack" program because when they were up, they would wonder onto the sidewalk and the path of the runners.

 Here they are!  This was around mile 18 or 19.  They were still looking good!

 Waiting again at the finish line

 Waiting again after the finish line.  Thanks, Mandy, for the snacks. They seemed to save the day.

 26.2 miles complete

Done waiting!

dot MOM

Last weekend, I had the honor, privilege and gift of having the opportunity to attend a dot MOM conference in Frisco, Texas with a dear friend of mine, Mandy.

We left early on a Friday morning.  Daddies watched the kids and were put on school drop-off and pick-up duty.  Thankfully, they were able to swap kids for a bit so they could each get some things done during the day. 

Mandy and I headed out early in the morning to make an Ikea stop.  We just had to since it was less than a half mile from the conference center. 

Then, it was off to be blessed, encouraged and challenged in our duties as Mom.  They had wonderful worship, great speakers such as Vicki Courtney, Angie Smith and Priscilla Shirer and beautiful worship led by Travis Cotrell.  The break-out sessions were also really good.  There were several to choose from.  My favorites included praying for our kids and their schools, raising boys and raising girls.  Hopefully, I can retain much of the info in the over the next several years to apply in our home.

Afterwards, we were off to navigate the Dallas/Ft Worth MetroPlex.....ugh!  After living where we live, any amount of traffic is a lot.  The plethora of construction was just an added bonus for us to navigate.  Our destination was a hotel in Ft Worth to meet our dear husbands and precious children.  Thankfully, all went quite smoothly despite the stress until we made it within a half mile of the hotel and couldn't see and that is where the GPS left us.  All we could see was a huge empty field and a lot of residential homes.  A phone call to Chris, put us back on the right track.  We just had to drive over the hill and would have been there.  It's funny now, but at the time it was not really.  We were glad to have arrived!

An Afternoon Adventure

 The Trio in traditional military garb of the 1870's

This afternoon we headed out to a neighboring town to take in a history museum on their Army base.  We had a really good time, but we had to keep moving to keep our trio interested.  However, I love taking in the history of the area and had no idea as to what initially brought such a strong military presence to this part of the country.  A lot of history that I've heard of in my history classes made marks in this area - names such as William Tecumseh Sherman, Geronimo and Santana.  So interesting to me!

Anyway, we spent our day going through the history museum.  Then, we headed down the street to an artillery museum.  Of course, the boys really enjoyed this along with the outside park full of all sort of tanks and howitzers.  I even learned a few things such as the difference between tanks vs howitzers and missiles vs. rockets.  I'm still new to all of this military stuff so there is still a lot to learn.

 Andrew

 Luke

 The Trio....

Daddy/Daughter Dance - So Special!

Last night, Chris took Hannah out for her first date.   The base was hosting a Daddy/Daughter dance fit for any princess Hannah's age.  They headed out to join a couple of friends.  The night started with a special walk through an archway with streamers over the entrance as they were announced to the audience.  They ate their fill of any sweet imaginable (I think).  Then, they headed to the dance floor.  The evening then ended with a balloon drop.  Of course, any 6 year old would have loved the evening and hold it close as a very special memory!

While they were out, I took two handsome little boys out on our own date.  For some reason, I don't think they enjoyed it as much as Hannah, but they still ate their special ice cream and liked the movies they picked out while we waited for Daddy and Hannah to come home.

 

Luke's New Look

Yes, Luke had to get glasses.  That snuck up on me!  I figured at some point he'd need glasses...at least that's what we'd been told.  However, I took him to the eye doctor just before school started and he was fine.  7 months later he was not so fine.  Hmmmm, he unfortunately got his Mama's genes for that one.  He is excited, though, and can see much better.  Hope he just stays excited about the whole thing, the rest of his life.  By the way, I think he did a pretty good job picking these out and looks pretty handsome!

Frankenstein Friday

For the rest of the school year, Luke's teacher is allowing a student accompanied by a parent to do a science demonstration for the class.  I can't tell you how excited Luke was to do this (I guess he gets that love honestly).  He asked me more than once when it was going to be his turn.  Today was the day!

Finding a simple experiment that we both agreed upon was a slight challenge, but as soon as I showed this one to Luke, he liked it.  They're in 1st grade....simplicity was key!  Anyway, Luke rolled the can from the static electricity on the balloon and lifted small pieces of paper from the static electricity on the balloon.  Yes, simple!

Afterwards, his teacher had him help her with her experiment of blowing air into a long bag (I have no idea where she found those plastic bags).  They had a race to see who could put more air into their bag in 10 seconds (or so).  She, of course, always had the most and she always did it with one small puff of air at the end.  The kids would hold the bag up their mouths so the only air going into the bag was from their lungs.  She would hold the bag away from her mouth and do one small puff pulling air from the surroundings into her bag.

Luke loves this and wishes he could do it every day I'm sure!

Scientist Luke.  

I had him wear a church shirt today because he was doing a presentation in class.  The lab coat is courtesy of his teacher.  She couldn't find her safety goggles or he would have had those on as well.

 Rolling the can with static electricity from the balloon

 Mrs. Abernathy trying her hand with heavier paper pieces

 Air blowing race

Mr. Potato Head

Yes, he's been calling himself Mr. Potato Head when wearing this disguise

To Honor and Trust - A Book Review

This is the second book in the Bridal Veil Island series that I've had the privilege of reviewing.  This third installment did not let me down.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The authors have done a perfect job of making you feel like you are back in 1913 on one of the islands off the coast of Georgia.  It is very easy to see how those that were wealthy were able to live and those that worked for them lived.  These two lifestyles met in this book through a captivating tale.  A love story, life on the island and a mystery are intertwined to hold your attention and make the book hard to put down.  I also appreciated how the authors showed lives well lived by depending on their faith in God.  It wasn't preachy.  It just was well integrated into the story line as fictional examples of life well lived.

I received a complimentary copy of To Honor and Trust by Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller from Bethany House Publishers.

Raingutter Regatta Races

 Luke and Hannah participated in their first ever regatta race.  Andrew will be old enough to participate next year.  He had a good time this year of running around playing with friends and watching the races.  Daddy helped them paint their boats and install their rudder and keel.  After that, Luke and Hannah were in charge of decorating their boats.  When it came to the race, they did quite well.  Each heat raced three boats.  Here are the results

                                      Heat #1:  Luke 2nd    Hannah 2nd
                                      Heat #2:  Luke 1st     Hannah 2nd
                                      Heat #3:  Luke 1st     Hannah 1st
                                      Heat #4:  Luke 1st     Hannah 2nd

They both made it to the final round where the top 6 boats raced in their age group.  Neither one of them made the top 3, though.  I'm thinking that may have been a good thing....  Anyway, it was a fun experience, a lesson in not winning and a learning experience of how to improve their boat designs for next year.

Hannah with her boat.  It is number 56 because her birthday is on the 5th (of January) and she is 6 years old.  Her initials spell "HER" and the moon is because God is with her every night. 

Luke loves Legos, trucks and OSU.  I'm pretty sure he likes OSU because their colors are orange - his favorite color- and his teacher's favorite team.

 Practicing...

 The competition

 After Hannah's first race.  She was so proud.

 Luke and Hannah racing each other

 "Wind" power

Most of the competitors in the K-2 age division

Odds & Ends for the Week

 So, I thought I'd share some just random things that happened this week. 

Andrew decided that his knights needed to scale the cord of my mop as it waited to be used.  Today, they were even crawling along the back of the couch and guarding the hallway.  It's fun to see where these little guys have been showing up.

Hannah celebrated the 100th Day of School.  I think their 100th day was actually this past Monday, but the kindergarten classes celebrated today with a parade through the school (Luke's class celebrated it last Friday...).  Each student carried their own collection of 100 items.  Hannah wanted to take 100 Cheerios.  We nicely strung them on a ribbon, but it never made it out of the ziploc bag..oh well. She had fun and that's what was important.

Andrew got to visit the fire department today.  He loved it all.  The only things he didn't like was when the fireman put on his protective gear and began breathing through his mask.  It is a scary sound.  He was usually the leader of the pack since he was the oldest one there.  

Finally, this was the perfect end to my week.  I had asked Andrew to empty the dryer for me and take them to my room where I fold laundry.  However, he didn't come back and was gone for awhile.  This is what I found.  He was folding the laundry for me.  He'd gotten a couple of towels and a few pairs of jeans done when I found him.  He's a keeper!