Jack in the Car Wash...

I really don't know what to say, but this is Jack when we go through the car wash...

Thoughts and Prayers Needed...

My dad has an aortic aneurysm in his stomach, so they are putting in a stent today. It should go well, but we still would appreciate if you kept us in your thoughts and prayers today. I will let you know how the procedure goes. Thanks ~ all of us.

Camp Belding...

Camp Belding was a success. 9 boys showed up for bug tattoos, scavenger hunts, running around, making survivor necklaces, running around, hot dogs, cake, ice-cream and sleeping over in the tent. The boys had a ball...even if it was 90 degrees and 99% humidity!

This was Sam's camping cake. My friend, Amanda, made it for him. When he first saw it, he was absolutely amazed! He kept saying, "This is so awesome!" The other boys thought it was "very cool" and very excited that everyone got a sleeping bag and some chocolate rocks to eat.

The final touch was lighting the candles on the bonfire. It looked amazing!
The boys slept outside in the tent...it was steamy, wet and hot. Jason slept out there with the kids. About 2 am, something was killed in the forest...we are thinking a rabbit got caught by the fox that we have wandering out here. Well, that spooked Jas! He was up, in the tent, looking out with his flashlight. Then 3 deer came running out of the woods and stood in our driveway huffing. Something had spooked them! Jason suddenly got concerned about how he was going to protect 5 boys for whatever was out there (even if the house was just 10 feet away!) The deer then decided to eat some leaves and grass and munch loudly while doing so! Jason finally got to sleep sleep by 4:00 am and then the boys woke him up to 6:30...short night for the guy!

The Completed Meerkat Diorama...

Went to the second grade zoo display the other day to check out Sam's finished meerkat diorama. He did a great job! He was so excited to show it off to his fans that stopped by to check it out. (even if some thought it was a kangaroo!)

I was walking into the school for the zoo dispaoy with another parent and asked what their child's animal was..."A dolphin," he replied and then asked about Sam's. "A meerkat," I shared..."What in the world is a meerkat?" he asked. "Sam can tell you all about it.".....so, I wasn't the only one who didn't know about this little guys!

Brothers...

The night after Jack's accident and stitches, Sam, Jack and I were laying on my bed talking about the day. We talked about how when Sam saw Jack and realized that he would need stitches, Sam lost it. Sam started crying and pacing and saying he thought he was going to throw up. He shared that I kept saying to him (calmly), "Sam, you need to pull yourself together and take some deep breathes." He went on, "You kept saying that to me and I just couldn't do it!"

Looking back, I think I was probably doing a little self talk! If you know me, I can't handle blood, especially cuts or slices and ones that are brought on by accidents. Jack's accident falls into all of those categories! I am proud to share that I did pull myself together and took a lot of deep breathes...

Sam went on to explain why he was so upset, "I just love you so much, Jack and I was so worried about you!" Then he paused and said, "I can't believe I am going to do this." He leaned over and gave Jack a kiss on the cheek. Jack then looked up at him, reached over and gave him the sweetest little hug and a kiss on Sam's cheek. It was so sweet. Then Sam laid back on the pillow and said, "Um, let's not share this moment with anyone else that's not in the room."

A Year of Preschool...

Jack had his last day of preschool last week. I can't believe the year is already over!

This is Jack's first day of school picture...I forget how tan we are in August and September!

This is Jack's last day of school pictures. He grew up in such a short amount of time! Makes me so sad...

Love this picture...reminds me of a senior picture! Check out all those band-aids from his garage door accident. :(

Stitches...

The other day, Jack went out on an adventure and had an accident. He tried to open the garage door on the detached garage. He stood on the cement foundation at the base of the garage, held on to the garage door railings and proceed to push the garage door button to open it. In doing so, the rollers slid his hand up on the metal railing, which sliced his pinkie finger and scraped up the others pretty well. Jack had to get four stitches in that little finger and he was a real trooper the entire time. The entire incident makes me sick to my stomach for so many different reasons! He is doing well and has adjusted to only being one handed for the time being.

If You Build It, They Will Come...

Jason has been working on a clubhouse for the boys. He has had a few friends over to help him out (and design it), but he has built most of it on his own. The boys are so excited and Jas is pretty proud. Now I just have to pray that no one falls out of it and breaks something!!

Toads...

The boys have discovered toads out at our place. Sam was a bit hesitant about them, but Jack "jumped" right in after them! The pictures are blurry because I had to take them real fast because they would jump out of the boys' hands as soon as they would open them!

This is Sam's toad...Mr. Toad.

This is Jack's toad...Father Toad.

OOPS - Jack lost Father Toad! No fear, he picked him right up. Sam put Mr. Toad back where he found him, but I had to really encourage Jack to let his go (No, Jack you cannot take him up to your room!). He would put the toad on his back, "Do you want to see his belly?" and it would just lay there...not a good sign! :)

A Little Lesson...

Sam's birthday was this weekend and to celebrate, we headed to Cazador's. (Sam wanted to wear the sombrero!) He also got free fried ice-cream. Jack asked is he could have a little...Sam being the good guy he is, let Jack dig in and in and in...

Finally Sam got fed up (as you can see by the look on his face!)

Jack then spotted a bowl of whip cream and thought he would help himself to a spoonful.

Well, that bowl of whip cream turned out to be a bowl of sour cream! Not a good surprise for Jack, but a little lesson learned!

An Animal Diorama...

Sam is studying animals and their habitats at school and for the grand finale, he must make a diorama of an animal of his choice (a diorama is a shoebox with the animal and its habitat displayed inside of the box.) So, Sam and I were talking about some different animals he could choose...an alligator, a crocodile, a monkey...he said that he would think about it.

The next afternoon, I picked him up from school. He jumps in the car and states, "I know exactly what animal I am going to do for my project!" I, myself, was hoping for a shark, a dolphin (I had googled some awesome dioramas of those animals) or maybe an alligator or crocodile. "What have you decided?!" I asked excitedly...

"A MEERKAT!"

The title of the book below says exactly what came out of my mouth next...

Well, after some reading and talking with others, I now know what meerkat is. (Timon from Lion King is a meerkat...but I quickly found out that printing off a picture of Timon would not work for the diorama!) So, our mission was to figure out how to create/make a model meerkat. We headed to Micheal's, found modeling clay (best invention ever) sat down Monday night and made meerkats. I must say, I think our one big meerkat turned out pretty darn good.

These are meerkat heads (that is all that is left after being attacked by one of their main predators, the eagle or vulture...I've done my reading on these animals!) Actually, Sam is going to make a burrow and have the little meerkat heads peeking out. Good idea on Sam's part!

All the supplies are due to school today. There's an open house in a couple of weeks to view all the animals in the world. I'll post a finished meerkat diorama at that time!

(I still like the idea of doing an animal diorama of the raccoon, living in a garbage can as its habitat, eating leftover raw chicken.)

A Few Pics from our Girls Trip...

Our trip to Minneapolis was a success! We had loads of fun and laughs and of course shopping. Here are a few photos of what we did this past weekend...

We tried on shoes...

We helped each other buckle the many straps on our shoes...

We tested out mattresses...

We went green and carried out all our purchases instead of using a bag...

More pictures and stories to share later of a great weekend!

Happy Mother's Day...

Thank you to our moms that have given us so much...

Kelly Coorigan has a great thank you message to moms on her blog...it is well worth the watch..
http://blog.kellycorrigan.com/

Annual Girls Trip...

Mom, Meg and I are off for our annual shopping trip.

I am sure I will have a few stories to share on Monday...

Our first stop is at the Painted Porch for some junkin'. Meg always seems to find the perfect yard ornament that takes up the entire back of the car right away and then we have the rest of the weekend to work around it...but that's ok!

Meg is a sleep talker and boy can she get noisy. She and mom slept in the same room last trip...this is a picture of mom the next morning...you can just see her pink shirt peeking out form all those pillows.

And her is Meg...mom had put pillows, sheet and COATS over her to stifle the noise!!

Don't worry, everyone could breathe and nothing that a venti Starbucks couldn't fix for the lack of sleep!

Boys and Their Glasses...

The boys had their glasses on yesterday afternoon...what else can a mom say about these looks.

Dinner at the Beldings...

Jack came to dinner the other night dressed in his blue best. He had on new blue athletic shorts (that made him look like a surfer) a blue basketball shirt and blue drake relays wrist bands (to collect the sweat.) Oh and the topper was, blue earplugs. (I was using them for mowing earlier and left them on the counter.) He just came to dinner, never pointed them out, just acted as if it was perfectly natural to have blue earplugs in he ears. All through dinner he talked real loud and kept saying, "I can't hear you!"

I asked Sam what he thought about Jack's outfit. All he did was roll his eyes. Then he proceeded to talk to Jack by just moving his mouth and not really saying anything. Jack would look at Sam intensely and then state, "I CAN"T HEAR YOU, SAM. CAN YOU HEAR ME?" Sam just giggled and then "talked" some more. As I have said before, always something interesting going on!

Wendy Vecchi...

Wendy Vecchi was at Memory Bound this weekend and we were NOT disappointed! She is an AMAZING artist and extremely inspirational. I was in awe just being around her. She works with Tim Holtz (dreamy) Maya Road and Stampers Anonymous. I was lucky to spend all day Saturday with her while she taught classes (I was the "go for" girl as well as the "personal shopper" for those taking class.) I had an absolute ball and the day just flew. I got to take a class with her on Sunday and another on Monday. Again, time flew, but this time I came away with very inky fingers...which is so arty, according to Wendy. If she ever comes to your area, I would highly recommend taking her classes. Thanks again to Wendy for coming to Memory Bound and inspiring us all make art!

You can check out her blog here:

http://studio490art.blogspot.com/

She even mentions Memory Bound!