A Day Out With Thomas

So if you don't already know by now Bo is CRAZY about trains! He absolutely loves Thomas the Train. So I was online the other night just looking up a few "Thomas" things and I saw where he was coming to Cordele, Ga...about 2.5 hours away from Atlanta. I casually tossed out the idea to Jarrod to see what he thought. Surprisingly he came home the next night saying he thought we should go. Now, let me just point out that this meant he would be giving up his opportunity to watch the TN/AL game! I just thought that was the sweetest thing any daddy could do.

So yesterday morning we drove down to Cordele, Ga and spent the day with Thomas. They had so many activities for the kids. Obviously there was the 25 minute train ride with Thomas, they had train tables and legos set up for kids to play on (this was his favorite), they had jump castles, they had food, face painting, a tent where you could listen to a storyteller reading Thomas stories and watch Thomas videos, it was just Thomas everywhere!

Bo had a blast! He was a little under the weather with a runny nose, but I think he forgot about it since he was having so much fun. I highly recommend doing this if you have little ones who are into trains. He doesn't travel just anywhere so it will be something you will need to plan ahead for! We have had a discussion with Santa and I'm pretty sure he will be bringing Bo a train table this year!

Rain Rain Go Away

The past few weeks, really the past month we have had NOTHING but rain...so much we actually considered gathering the animals two by two! So what do you do with a toddler indoors all day every day...besides loose your mind? Well here ya go...

We have lazy weekend mornings watching cartoons with dad!

we do a little artwork!

we play hide and seek...this is NOT one of mommy's favorite games!

maybe if I'm real quiet she won't know I'm here...

we do a little reading!

we watch a few cartoons...

we beg to go outside even though it's raining

we watch a little, I mean A LOT of Cars!

still trying to get outside!

we make a mess

we make very important phone calls (with remote controls) to Mother Nature and beg for the sun!!!

Pumpkin Patch

Last Friday we went with some friends to the Washington Farms Pumpkin Patch! It was muddy, but a beautiful day so we decided to dress the kids in old clothes, take a change of clothes for the ride home, and go! Bo had a great time. It was funny that he liked to look at the animals but didn't want to touch them. He's fearless in every other aspect, but for some reason wasn't into touching the animals. He loved picking out a pumpkin. He loved it a little too much and had a full blown thermonuclear meltdown when I had to PULL him away. It was quite embarressing, but what do you do?? All in all it was a fun day.

Be Little Family

I have gotten some great feedback on our church sermon that I posted the other day. I checked today and they have this past Sunday's sermon up on video and I would like to post a link if you are interested in watching. It was a great sermon!! Even if you can take a few minutes and watch a little bit. I think it's definitely well worth it.

Click Here

Thomas!

So Bo's new thing is Thomas the Train...it's actually trains in general, but he loves to watch Thomas. He even has a Thomas which he carries with him all the time. One of the parks we go to in the afternoons has a train come by every day around 4:45pm. Bo has learned this and now when we are at the park he will start going "ooo ooo" and looking for the train. This afternoon we were at a stop light next to railroad tracks and he immediately started "ooo oooing". One night he wanted to put Thomas in the bath with him, this caused a massive meltdown since Thomas runs on batteries and is definitely not made for the tub...trying explaining that to a 20 month old!!! That night when I was putting him to bed he wanted to take Thomas with him. I had already chosen my battle for the day and said sure. Let me clarify...we're still into Cars it's just now Lightning McQueen has a friend named Thomas!

we sleep with Thomas...

...eat with Thomas

...read about Thomas

and of course watch Thomas!

Family Life

**I actually wrote this last week, but debated on posting it or not, because it's a pretty touch subject, but the most I have thought about it, the more I know that it might be uncomfortable for some, but it's only because these are things we all need to hear. This is from two Sundays ago...

So I have to write about this 1-because I am really looking forward to this new series at church and 2-because I can't believe we're "going there"!

Sunday started a new 7 week series on Family Life. This isn't the simple "Honor your father and mother" stuff that many of us grew up listening to in church. This is down and dirty, honest to God, having it put right in your face, REAL stuff! This is going to be good and scary all at the same time.

We are going to be studying the life of King David, one of the most influential Kings of Israel. However the closer you look at his family life, you will see a large amount of dysfunction. And what was the #1 breakdown for King David's family disfunction..."pretense". Pretending the family problems weren't there. Or as Pastor Kevin likes to say..."There's an elephant in the room and it's now the family pet." Wooow!! Really?? He's really going there?

Pretending the family problems aren't there, pretending that the cold shoulder and silence is okay, pretending that the belittling comments don't mean anything, pretending that the walking on egg shells around the house is normal, pretending that the outbursts are okay. Is this hitting home with anyone? I bet if everyone is completely, totally honest with themselves it will hit home for almost everyone. How many people have been a member of the "Fine Family"? Think Sunday mornings trying to get to church, people running late, kids and/or parents arguing, trying to get everyone out the door, everyone mad, and as soon as you pull up dad turns around and says "Okay we're at church, put on a smile, everything is FINE". You get out of the car, start smiling, and you're all "fine". Hasn't everyone had that at one point or another. I know Jarrod and I have been there!

The "elephants" in a family undermine and destroy. Plain and simple! Pastor Kevin is challenging us the next few weeks to become an elephant-free family! NOT a problem-free family...but to deal with the elephants that have become members of our family. Dealing with the elephants is healthy! He did point out that he wants us to confess our OWN elephants, not our spouses elephants, but our OWN!

I am definitely one to "discuss" the elephants! I say that with a bit of sarcasm because I didn't say I always did it in the most appropriate way, but at least I do it! There are no passive, snide remarks from me...I will tell you how I feel, what I think, and you know where I stand. I do better with people like me because if something is bothering you let's talk about it, deal with it, and move on. Things need to be discussed, it is extremely unhealthy for a family not discuss issues or problems. I can't imagine living like that. I didn't grow up that way and yes we had our WWIII moments, but at the end of the day I always feel like I can talk to my parents about anything.

So here's an outline of the next 6 weeks...

• Belittling
• Affection & Discipline
• Over expecting & Dissatifaction of Marriage
• Inflict, Conflict
• Making a mess with a follish familiy
• Denial Dependence

Probably not the warm and fuzzy, life is great sermons that most of us are used to hearing, but that is why I love this church...it puts it out there, REAL life, there's no sweeping things under the rug here!

If you have time and are interested click here to watch Sunday's message. I highly recommend it. If you are interested I'll be happy to give you the link to where you can listen to all of the sermons in this series just let me know!

Fall

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year! I love the colors, smells, temperatures, decorations, football, food, pumpkin patches, everything about it!!! A few weeks ago I was finally able to find some of my fall decorations (lost in boxes in the garage). I was wondering how Bo would do with them, so far the scarecrows still have their heads and the pumpkins haven't been tossed through the windows!

MMO Update

So Bo has been in Mother's Morning Out now for about a month, he did miss one full week because he was sick. Last week his teacher was telling me how great he's doing. He still cries as they get him out of the car seat but as soon as he hits the door into his classroom he's all smiles. He didn't cry at all last week!!! The funniest is when he's screaming crying as they open the door to get him out, but he helps the teacher to get him out of his carseat!! Two weeks ago Ms. Kaytie told me how Bo has figured out that they change diapers close to the end of the day. So for the longest time as soon as Bo would get to the room, he'd immediately run to the changing table! Of course thinking...maybe if they change me now mommy will be here soon! I thought it was so funny, and quite smart on his part.

They have a "structured" day, as structured as you can be with toddlers :) Free time, Bible story, music, outdoor time, arts and crafts, snack, etc... Every day he gets a sheet telling me how he did, what their snack was, the letter, color, and shape they are working on, etc... I always have comments about how much he loves music (shocker)! And the last Wednesday there was a note saying "Love his dancing"!! Oh, how I would love to be a fly on the wall.

Mommy also loves MMO, I usually do my grocery shopping, any errands I need to get done, clean the house, exercise, just whatever I need for ME!!! I usually call daddy with an update at noon when I pick him up and usually I receive a phone call from my mom wanting to know how Bo's day was. It's so good for him and for mommy! Here are a few pictures of his recent art projects!

Saying Goodbye

So this weekend, we had to say goodbye to a very dear member of our family. It meant the world to Jarrod...this was something that gave him joy, excitement, fun, his "baby". We said goodbye to Jarrod's car. If you are a car person then you know what it means for a man to give up his baby...this was something he bought right before we got married and never in a million years did we think we'd need a "family" mobile so soon! I have a Honda Accord which I have had forever, it's a great car and it's totally paid off! The negative is it just doesn't work for traveling. To be honest even run every day errands is hard with Bo, he's getting so long and heavy.

This is something we've been discussing for a while now. I was online last Friday and came across a few cars that I thought we might be interested in just "looking" at, I had no intentions of actually buying one. We were back and forth on the car we wanted...we looked at Honda Pilots and Mazda CX9. I've always loved Hondas, they are fabulous cars, and I liked the look of the Pilot much better than the CX9. The CX9s to me looked like a bug with a shell or maybe a turtle with the "rounded" shape. It also looked a little like a station wagon on steroids. To make Jarrod happy I agreed to test drive both. After doing that I couldn't believe it, but I was VERY impressed with the ride of the Mazda (it killed me to admit this). After more research and looking I kept leaning more toward the CX9. It's safety ratings are through the roof, there's much more room for passengers on the 2nd row seat, has a 3rd row seat if you need it or they fold down for great storage, and a very smooth ride.

So we went this weekend just to look again at another CX9. I wasn't crazy about the color so I didn't think I'd actually want to purchase it. The guy pulled it around (they had just gotten it in) and I was more impressed than I thought I'd be. We looked at the mileage...only 21,000 miles okay so that sounded good. Then I asked if it had been in any wrecks...he came out with the report, no damage. Okay that sounds good too. The price...exactly in our range. At this point Jarrod and I are looking at each other knowing exactly what the other one is thinking! We come home Saturday think about it, run some numbers, do more research, and decided if we could get a good trade in on his car then we'd go for it. That's exactly what happened. I had to get past the fact I don't love the body, and it's probably not the color I would have chosen (I like light colors), but it was exactly what we were looking for. So we now have a new member of the family. Jarrod will be taking my car (which he's anything but thrilled about), but he knows it's what we need as a family! He's a wonderful husband and daddy...thank you honey for our new car, we love you!

Saying good-bye

Our new baby!

getting the carseat installed...he's putting down the 3rd row seats here.

A MUST Read

This past weekend I was talking with my cousin who is a teacher. I was telling her how the pediatrician mentioned Bo's lack of speech (although it's getting better since his visit). I was telling Beth I feel like it'll come when he's ready...he's too busy right now to stop what he's doing to learn to talk! She immediately said "You need to read Boys Adrift". As soon as she said that my uncle and aunt walked up and said they had just finished it and I had to read it!

They were kind enough to let me borrow their copy and boy were they right! I'm only in the third chapter, but as I'm reading this all I can think about is my brother (sorry) and other guys I have known in the past. It discusses how the curriculum in schools today, starting in kindergarten, is far more advanced than it should be and compared to 30 years ago it's off the charts, yet children still develop the way they did 30 years ago. He backs everything up with scientific research. Boys definitely have the "I don't care", "I hate school" attitude much more than girls do and this explains why! Again, I'm only in chapter 3 and come chapter 5 I may disagree, but I see so many things that are familiar and make sense. It also addresses the diagnosis of ADD/ADHD...doctors are so quick to diagnose a child, especially boys, and prescribe medication when these children are simply being boys! If you are a mom, dad, grandparent, teacher, etc... this is definitely something you should pick up!

Just Because!

Mommy-Bo Time

This past Friday we had our usual playdate scheduled with Nate, Noah, and Liliana. Friday morning I received a text from Kathy that Noah was running fever. So I decided Bo and I would have our own special day. Yes, we're together every day, all day but we aren't always doing "special" fun things! So we headed to the mall because I had to return a jacket I had bought for him. We went to the play area where he ran off some energy. Then we headed to the food court to eat at Chick fil A, of course, but the big treat came after lunch. I decided to let Bo ride the carousel. He'd never ridden before and I knew he'd love the music and lights. I was right! As soon as it started going his eyes got HUGE, he wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he knew it was fun and he soon started saying "WOOOOOWWWW" over and over again. It was adorable!

this is my favorite :)