WEEK OF RIDES

LEAH'S NEW RIDE

Leah made her debut on the train at Nana and Papa's house last week! I came in to find her climbing onto it herself. She can't push the go button herself yet, (but she can do the horn one...why is that?!) but she thought that it was awesome. She was smiling and laughing the entire time.

SETH'S NUDE RIDE

I was trying to get some housework done; this is becoming increasingly difficult. At this moment, in order to vacuum, I needed everything off of the floor. As I started to vacuum, this is the sight that I was greeted by. Almost needless to say, within moments of the picture Seth, the cow, the basket of clothes and the blocks were scattered across my desperately needing to be vacuumed floor! Still giggling today!

this one's for the mommy's

Oh please enjoy this one!

I was at the home of a friend today (and I told her that they would remain nameless so as not to embarrass anyone!) As I sat on her couch, I saw these signs on the side of her fridge. I thought hm, that's kinda cool, she's putting her thoughts on paper and trying to stay on track.

I couldn't quite read all of them, so I asked her what they were. She said, "That right there, that's stupid!" Apparently, a few months ago, she left to go out of town for 4 days and her husband was left with their 1 yr. old (BAM) and 12 yr old! She returned to find that he made these signs to help him survive his days! I love it! When she told me that, I could not stop laughing. Here, these are things that we mommies truly do struggle with, and it was just so funny to see a man trying to work it out! I still can't stop laughing!

SETH'S NEW BIBLE

Thank you Papa for getting Seth his first Bible! He has been so excited about his camo bible; he was showing kids at church and Nathan had to pry it from his hands to see it!!

Please pray with us that Seth will grow into a man who loves, honors studies and obeys God's Word!

my little helper man

a couple of days ago, i left seth in his chair eating muskmelon while i went to do something. later, i went back to the kitchen to clean up and couldn't find his dish anywhere. i searched everywhere: under the table, in the trash, in the fridge, the pantry, the sink... well, no surprise to you, here's where i found it!!

i think that i almost cried! maybe his wife will thank me some day, but for now he's mine!

(he is actually asleep in my lap as i type this post!! yeah! you want to be me right now.)

Replay!

We had a very full week this week, but not one of those busy kind, just one of those crazy kind.

Here are some of the things I noticed and some of our happenings; I love my life!!

Leah has a new tooth.
I think the other one is driving her crazy right now, but I'm not sure if she's sick or just the new tooth.


Seth has an infatuation with bullion cubes.
You see, one day, he brought me the jar and asked me for one. I understood: a sparkly glass jar, gold shiny wrappings on each cube. But, I told him he wouldn't like those. He continued to whine, so I told Nathan that maybe this was a good opportunity to teach that Mommy loves you and wants what's best for you... Just trust me! So, I proceeded to unwrap one and hand it to him while reinforcing that Mommy says these are yucky and you won't like it. Then, I prepared myself for the drama to come. NOPE!! He continued licking his bullion cube for 15 minutes. My plan failed. Since that fateful day twice more he has brought them to me to ask for more! This parenting stuff is not going very well.

On Wednesday Leah came down with a fever and was sick on Thursday too!

No, there's no picture... that's just mean!


Thursday night, Leah fussed til well after 11. After she finally went to sleep, we awoke to Seth throwing up... very little sleep after that.

Again no picture, too busy at the washer!


And today, we went down to Mud Island and played in the water with Grandma!! Lots of fun.

I think that I'm getting the same stomach bug, or I'm pregnant; either way, it looks to be a full weekend!

GUeSs wHAt We'rE plAyINg

SoMe moRE FuN!!

and finally - part 3 - that you'll read 1st

We met Tami, Len, Hannah, Chris and Leah down at AutoZone Park for the Ronald McDonald Ice Cream Scoop Extravaganza Blitz. I don't remember what they called it, but it was super yummy. You can visit Tami's blog for the sentimental side; I'm too tired right now.

This was Seth's first time on the big inflated slide, and he loved it. At first he was scared at how wobbly it was, but after he and I went down, he kept yelling, "play, play, play!"

The second time, Nate got him to go up by himself

And there was also a third time!!

Apparently the ice-cream has an adverse effect on those under the age of 1, b/c my daughter decided to start taking her shirt off. What next!?! Fortunately for us parents, no one was there to hand out beads!

Part 2 - that you'll read 2nd (if anyone's reading)

This little guy was very noisy for a very long time... most of the time we were at the zoo, we could hear him! When I re-watched the video at home, Seth heard me, in the video, asking him if he wanted to go pet the monkey and kept saying "yeah!". Where was all that bravery at the zoo?

Full Day Packed with FUN!!! - part 1 that you'll read 3rd

First we went to (you'll never guess) the zoo!

Leah Drove

So Seth asked to be buckled in extra tight.

No! I'm just kidding! None of that happened. Leah doesn't drive, and Seth doesn't talk!

Now, I'm not a big fan of taking pictures of animals and pictures without people, but this was super awesome! This baby giraffe had been born 8 days ago. He was so adorable and it was so super sweet to see his Mommy come snuggle him. And, for all you mommies out there, don't worry, it's natural. Little giraffe's Mommy had stretch marks too. Although, her excuse is a little better. Little Mr. weighed 100 lbs at birth! YIKES!

Men are from Mars, Women from Venus

After a long day up at Bellevue for the prayer conference, I had to run by Wal-mart to pick up my new glasses (b/c someone broke the other pair). Well, of course it couldn't be as easy as walk-in and pick up, b/c the whoever was at lunch. So, Nana put Seth and Leah in the cart to take into the store. Now, Leah was asleep and Seth was awake, but as soon as they smelled the Wal-mart air... here's what happened! Papa found this really funny!

~~sPliSh SPlaSh~~

I thought that this bathtime was too cute to not shoot!! We've just started having them take baths. They usually take showers with one of us, so this is like a little swimming pool to them.

BATHTUB RACES - SHE'S LETTING HIM WIN!
(I myself was practicing for the 2012 olympics... balance beam)

LOOK HOW SMART SHE IS; SHE MATCHED THOSE RED CUPS!!

HE IS NOW INVENTING HIS OWN WORDS! HE LIKES TO SAY SEVERAL LETTERS IN A ROW TOO! THE OTHER DAY I OVERHEARD HIM PRACTICING CALCULUS. HE SAID, "T, O, A." WHICH WE ALL KNOW IS PART OF SOH CAH TOA... TANGENT= OPPOSITE/ADJACENT!!!

NATHAN WAS PRETTY EXCITED TO DO SETH'S HAIR JUST LIKE GRANDPA BARLEY USE TO DO HIS HAIR. HE THOUGHT THERE WAS A RESEMBLANCE. AND THE VOTES ARE IN...

HaPPy biRtHdaYs

THE BIRTHDAY BOYS
just water.... promise

Late shout out to Chip and Nathan!! The Fullertons celebrated their birthdays Friday night. Here are some shots of the families and fun.


FULLERTON JR'S
can you gues who wouldn't cooperate this time??

THE BARLEYS
it is impossible to get a good shot of our family!

BEAUCHAMP BRIGADE
sorry Tam', may you now know the difficulty of infant photography

HE GETS IT!!
at christmas, we had to teach seth about presents and opening them.
he would looked at the pretty wrapped packages and walk away.
i think he gets it now!!

Why Go to Church...

A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."

This started a real controversy in the 'Letters to the Editor' column, much to the delight of the editor.

It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:

"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32 ,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this.. They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"

Take Time To Be Holy

I have been greatly blessed today through the teachings of a man named Don Miller. Don has a little life experience under his belt. I believe that he is 86 years old and has just celebrated his 64 wedding anniversary. He is teaching a prayer conference this week at Bellevue, and my beloved parents paid for me to attend (a whopping $5 for 3 days of incredible teaching, lunches and childcare... can you beat that?)

I just wanted to share some of the things that stood out to me today, and hopefully they will bless your life as well.

1. "Be still and know that I am God!"

2. "If it's not a house of prayer, whose house is it?" (He was speaking of the church, but I was convicted and spurred on about our home)

3. He spoke of pastors teaching their flocks to pray; what about me teaching my children through word and example about prayer?

4. "Prayer Warriors start small"

5. Continually practice praying.

6. Don't get caught up in things! Put it in perspective of eternity.

7. Finally, "Don't complicate prayer. Keep prayer as simple as God made it." When we look at examples of prayer in the Bible, this point is truly manifested.

I know that these are no new things, but how great to be reminded, or perhaps given a kick in the pants. May I encourage you, and me, to take some time to get alone and communicate with your creator that loves you and wants to talk to you and to hear from you.

dAy oUT!

Well! Mommy got the itchies to get out of the house today!! I am excited to report that my house is back in order (as good as it gets anyway). So, where else to go but the mall playground! We got lunch at our favorite place, Chick-fil-A, and headed to the playground. Perhaps this was slightly too big of a task just yet. It totally wiped me out, and the kids are still crashed.

Seth thought this was pretty cool! We had a coupon for a free kid's meal, so he got his own bag for the first time!

Leah enjoyed all the adventures of the playground!! And she even climbed the stairs and went down the slide "by herself."

And this is Seth completely enthralled by the letters and numbers he just discovered on the carpet!!

Zoo Day!

Yesterday, it was time for us to get out of the house! We have been sick for over 3 weeks now, and my legs are getting itchy. Nathan decided it would be fun to go to the zoo, so we did.

Every trip to the zoo is a learning experience. Seth really enjoys the bird house, and we have a room that you can walk into and the birds fly all around you. So, on Saturday, we walked by all of the cages and he found all of the birds. Then, we went to the little room, he likes this room, so we went in and got up close with all of the birds. He loved it.

Leah even found some birds... see, she's pointing!

So, you would think: "Seth likes up close encounters with animals." Nope! You are wrong. Some of the keepers had a snake and a tortoise just outside the bird house that kids over 5 could pet. Oh My! The child clung to me and whined as though I was going to abandon him. He looked, but not too closely. So, I thought, he doesn't like animals with scales. Nope, he did the same thing with the goats and cow!

As we left the zoo, we all enjoyed playing in the "Nile River" for the first time. I think Seth equated himself with Michael Phelps and did not want to leave. On the way home Seth and I ate half of a muskmelon. We came home, ate French bread pizza and watched the Olympics. I'd say that was a pretty good day.

Sick Sunday at the Park

We couldn't go to church Sunday because of Seth's fever and coughing, but we knew we had to get him out of the house somewhere he could run free! Since we were last at Bartlett Park, they have installed a super cool new playground! I'm not sure which of us was more excited, but it was a fun fun day!

Grilling with Papa!

I love love love this video! I am so excited that the timing was right to catch it. Seth loves to go outside and use my old toy grill to help Papa when he's cooking. He imitates every step that Papa does. Please ignore the talking. I shot it through a window as Nathan came to ask what I was doing. So, you can't hear Seth and Papa, but you can hear other unrelated talking.

Thanks Aunt Feather

Seth had just gotten out of the bath in this picture. Last week he was very sick with a temp. averaging 103 for about 3 days. So Friday we went to the DR. and found out it was tonsillitis, but not strep. He is finally on the recovery side of his illness, but not all better yet.

Thanks for the new bath towel!! At first he was afraid of it (ha) but now, as you can see, he uses it after bath time. Although he looks frightened in this picture, he's not!