Cup Holders??

Beckham, Ainsley and I were reading the story of Jesus being betrayed by Judas and being arrested by the Roman soldiers. Beckham asked "mom did they put cup holders on Jesus?" Cup holders? What are cup holders? His reply - those things policemen put on people when they arrest them. Oh, handcuffs!! Kids are so funny.

Build a Bear

This weekend was our first experience with Build-A-Bear Workshop. Our neighbor had her birthday party there and invited the kids. The kids had a ball!! Ainsley was a little scared of all the "factory" (her word) stuff but she loved the finished product. For those of you that don't know Build-A-Bear is a store where you pick a stuffed animal to build. It starts out flat. The kids got a kick out of seeing the animals flat. Beckham was convinced they were going to stuff it with jelly beans! That's a kid after my own heart. Once you pick the animal (there are a ton to pick from) you go to the stuffing machine. The workers put the animal on the machine and the kids get to push the magic button which fills their animal. Then you pick a heart, make a wish and put it in your animal. They sew it up then it's bath time. You take it over to a bath tub that blows air to "wash off" your animal. Since Aisnley was scared of the equipment she let the birthday girl push the button to fill her dog and let Beckham give it a bath. The rest of the store is filled with all the accessories you can buy. They have everything from clothes to suits to shoes, and even wigs!! It's a racket. Of course the accessories don't come with the party so after they build their animal they want to dress it. I have to admit the kids had a great time and I felt bad I had never taken them there (I don't really like stuffed animals they just take up space and collect dust). But the kids loved it and that's all they talked about all weekend. They couldn't wait for Monte to get home from Texas so they could tell him all about the party. Ainsley built a dog and dressed it like a ballerina. She named her Molly. Beckham made a koala bear and dressed him in a spiderman shirt. He named his Happy Birthday Balloon. Don't ask me. I tried to help him think of a different name but he refused. Oh, well.

New Red Boots

Ainsley got some new red boots. Many of you know how much Ainsley LOVED her red boots. She wore them everywhere and with everything. She wore them so much that the seams started coming apart and the soles started to fall off. Sadly I had to put them on the self because they were too beaten up to wear. Well, this weekend Monte was in Austin and he went to Allens Boot shop and found her some new red boots. She is in hog heaven!! We can't get them off her. At dinner we tried to take them off so we could put them on the right feet but she refused. She did not want us touching her boots. In fact she won't even let us take the tags off. The first thing she did this morning was put on her boots (over her footie pajamas). I tried to get a picture of it but she kept running away. The best I could do was get her back but you can tell she is wearing them over her pjs. All day we have heard her clopping around on the wood floors. I guess you can take the girl out of Texas but you can't take the Texas out of the girl. (Notice the tag on the left boot.)

Scared of Potatoes

On Tuesday night we had a bunch of storms roll through that were pretty big. If fact we were driving home from swim lessons listening to the radio when the emergency alert system came on to say there was a serve storm warning and in other parts of SC there was a tornado warning. This scared the kids. I am still not sure if they were scared of a tornado coming or of the loud annoying sound they use for the emergency alert system. I don't know how they would know about tornadoes because we haven't ever talked about them but I could be wrong. Kids pick up on things they see and hear about once (I wish I could learn like that). So the rest of the night Ainsley kept saying - "I scared of potatoes, I scared of potatoes." I would gently try and correct her saying "No, Ainsley it's TOR nado not potato." It didn't work. She kept saying potato. It was so cute. The funniest thing was when Monte walked in from work and Ainsley ran over to him saying "I'm scared of potatoes, I'm scared of potatoes" He had no clue as to what she was talking about. His reply - that's silly to be scared of potatoes. Once I translated he thought it was cute and we both got a chuckle. Blogging this story doesn't do it justice. It's one of those things you have to see and hear for yourself.

World's Best Husband

It's been awhile since I have gotten a break from the kids (and maybe that was beginning to show) so on Friday night Monte told me to take Saturday off. He told me to leave in the morning and not come home until after 5. Isn't that so sweet? It was so nice to have a day to myself. I didn't have to worry about or entertain the kids. I got to do what I wanted, when I wanted. I went to Starbucks and quietly drank a coffee and did my Beth Moore Bible Study, then went to the library. I can't remember the last time I went to the library without kids. It was a totally different experience. I could take my time and look at the books I wanted to. Then I head to a few shops. Shopping is so much easier by yourself. I actually had time to try things on. Problem with having time is I probably spent more than I would have because I had time to find "things I had to have". (Had the kids been with me I would have never even seen them or realized I "needed them". After shopping and having lunch I went to a movie with a friend. It was great to see a movie that wasn't a cartoon in the theater. We saw Point of View which was different but good. I had a great time and it was nice to get rejuvenated. I am so thankful I have such a wonderful supportive husband who encourages me to take time for myself.

I guess while I was gone the kids had a great time with Dad. He took them to Waffle House for breakfast, to Home Depot to do their monthly project and to the park. How can I compete with that? I'm glad they had a fun day with Dad.

David and Goliath

This morning when I was talking to the kids about David and Goliath I realized that lessons don't always come out like you plan. I was telling the kids about the story and Beckham asked why David killed Goliath. I went on to explain that Philistines and the Israelites were at war and that is what happens in war. The next question was why were they at war? I told them that the Philistines and the Israelites didn't like each other so they were fighting. Ainsley then chimed in by saying - I think Goliath needed a time out because fighting is bad. I tried to refocus them on the lesson about how God can do anything. He used David (who was small) and a little stone to kill a huge giant. We need to ask God and believe when we need help. Unfortunately all they could focus on was how fighting is bad and Goliath needed a time out. Though that was not the concept I had wanted them to get from it at least they learned something. Maybe next time they fight I'll put them in time out like Goliath should have had.

Home Depot Projects

The first Saturday of every month you can usually find us at Home Depot doing the project for kids. If you don't know Home Depot has a project for the kids that you can help them do (Usually it is a little too challenging for the kids and the parents that end up doing it but it's fun). This month it was the Saturday before the Super Bowl so the project was a football stool. Thankfully it was one of the easier projects. the kids enjoyed "making them" and thought it was neat to have special seat to watch the game on. If you are looking for something to do on the first Saturday of the month head to Home Depot and do a project with the kids. Next month is the race car which is one of Beckham's favorites (get there early for this one because they usually run out - they usually do it from 9-12).