A weekend of epic proportions

I could write about 50 paragraphs about how amazing Rob is as a father. Honestly, the love he shows me and our children is hard to put into words. I will just say that he is an amazing Dad. And I don't say that lightly. He plays, he runs, he makes lunch, he cooks breakfast, he kisses boo boos, he read stories, he throws them in the pool, he takes swimming lessons with Bennett, he plays hide and seek, he points out rainbows, he shows them different types of birds, he plays the guitar, he pulls wagons, he lets them climb all over him, he throws a ball, he goes down slides.... and that is just the beginning.

So, to celebrate our Dad, we had a weekend of epic proportions. Yes, I said epic!! I will let all of the pictures (and there are a lot) speak for themselves.

We started off our weekend with a picnic in the backyard. It was hot, it was sticky, it was messy.....

.... so we cooled off in our brand new slip-n-slide!

What a great new toy.

Even Daddy loved it. Can you see Rob in all four of these shots? LIke I said, epic.

Will preferred to watch from the sidelines. And look adorable.

The next morning we had Bennett's gymnastics class and so right after we went to a fabulous blueberry patch and picked blueberries.

Picking blueberries with my girl. It doesn't get much better than this.

Bennett insisted on carrying the bucket herself. Bennett having opinions? Shocking.

Even Will got in on the action.

After naps we headed to downtown KC and checked out the Clifford exhibit at the Crowne Center. That's Emily Elizabeth on one paw and Bennett on the other. Just a little perspective on the big red dog.

Will joined Bennett in digging for some bones in the sand.

Will is standing!! He can stand by himself so walking should begin any day now, right?

Clifford's bowl is slightly bigger than our dogs.

After Clifford we went to our favorite train restaurant. They bring the food to your table on a little train. That is about as exciting as it gets in the eyes of my kids.

Almost got a good one, but the hat kept slipping. Still cute.

Afterwards they were having a chalk festival across from the Crowne Center. They had balloon animals, puppet shows, chalk drawings, snow cones, music.... SO fun. And I love this shot of Rob and the kids. I love little grassy areas in the middle of large downtowns. If I close my eyes and really pretend, I can imagine that I am back in NYC. Humor me.

Bennett loved looking at all of the chalk drawings.

We woke up this morning and had presents for Daddy and I made pancakes from scratch using the blueberries we picked yesterday. Plus my grandmother's cheese egss. Rob's favorite.

We then drove out to a small town in Kansas to take a train ride through the beautiful Kansas country side. Here are Rob and the kids waiting to board the train.

Will was terrified of the train whistle.

Quite possibly my favorite picture of these two.

Fascinated by the view.

We found it!

I am kind of crazy about these two.

Afterwards we found a great hole in the wall restaurant. I took this picture because I was so happy to have sweet tea in a mason jar. I felt like I was back home. Bennett was clearly done with pictures by the time we took this shot.

More Daddy time. Snuggling in the bed with our kiddos and our golden lab, Meg.

One final Father's Day treat. A trip to our favorite ice cream store.

After baths, Bennett requested to sit with Will. That is such a rare occasion that we had to had to get a picture of it.

And finally- after picnics, slip-n-slides, blueberries, Clifford, chalk festivals, train rides, and ice cream trips- Rob ended our "Daddy Day" weekend with bedtime stories and songs.


This weekend = perfection.

So many firsts

Where to begin?? These past few weeks have been full of firsts.

1. Bennett started taking swim lessons. Okay, so they are really just riding noodles through a lazy river while kicking, but it's something. Of course my lovely but very independent and headstrong daughter has...umm..... her own ideas on how to do things. She isn't always on the same page with the other little swimmers, but she LOVES Mrs. Holly and she runs in from class and says, "Mama!! I obeyed Mrs. How-ee at swim class." Great. Maybe Mrs. How-ee can't get you to stop hitting your brother.

2. She also started gymnastics. Let me back up by saying she has never taken a class before. I really didn't think it was necessary to put her in anything before she was 2 years old, and even now it's just fun. We are mainly doing this because Will still take two naps a day and Bennett is usually climbing up the walls to get out while he is napping. So our local rec center offered a little gymnastics class for 2 year olds on Saturday mornings. This way Rob can stay will sleeping Will and I can get Bennett out and let her have some fun.

Moving on. She loves it!! She loves the balance beam and the huge trampolines. It is heaven for her and she tells me, "Bennett go to dance class right now, Mama!" I get to take the class with her and we are having such a blast sharing this experience together.

3. Bennett has never watched a full length movie before. We are thinking about taking her to see "Toy Story 3" so we wanted to test her out. So we made a huge deal about it last weekend. We put Will to bed and popped popcorn and let her watch, "Finding Nemo." She lasted an hour, so I was really proud of her. And Rob and I loved eating popcorn with our little one snuggled between us. Every stage of life just keeps getting better and better.

4. A certain little girl had her first pee pee in the potty today. I wasn't going to start the potty training just yet. I really wanted to wait until after our trip to Virginia. I didn't want to deal with it during airplane rides or on a boat in the middle of the river. But she is SO ready. She's been ready for awhile, and she is practically begging me to take her to a potty. I know, I know.... bad Mommy. Anyway, she went tonight and was over the moon excited. And I'm gearing up for a not so fun ride on the airplane. But anyway, Go Bennett!! I am so proud of her.

5. And finally- talking about big firsts- someone is having his first birthday in two weeks. I can't even talk about that yet. I have two more weeks to process this unthinkable reality. And then I will gush about this cuddly, loving, tender, smiley, and handsome little guy who is finishing up a whole year jam packed with firsts.

How do they know these things?

Bennett has always been kind of scary in the way she recognizes logos. She has known (sadly) the Starbucks logo since she was 22 months old. I was at the grocery store with her when she was that age and a woman wearing a 5K shirt was in front of us. The back of it was filled with corporate sponsors and in the left corner was the tiny Starbucks logo. Bennett gasped and said, "There's the coffee store!!"

She knows so many. She sees a cow and screams, "I see Chick-away!" I am not proud of this. It's just the result of a ridiculously observant child and living in a world filled with marketing gurus who know what they are doing.

But today may have been the one funniest yet. Rob was home for lunch and was showing me his latest video. Bennett was watching with us. At the very end The Methodist logo of the flame and cross came on the screen for only a few seconds. Bennett laughed at the computer and said, "Oh, Daddy! There's our church."

I don't think I recognized the flame and cross as the Methodist symbol until I was 20. Right after she said that Rob put on his shoes and they were a pair he rarely wears and she said, "I like your new shoes, Daddy."

Is it sad when your 2 year old notices way more than you do?

In defense of facebook

My dear friend Brittny posted a blog post recently about why she hates facebook. It's a great post and you should check it out if you have time.

All of her points are valid and I can absolutely see where she is coming from. However, I have been thinking about her post a lot and now I have decided to issue a facebook smackdown. Two friends, diametrically opposed, sharing opinions, and capping it off with a Mexican pizza and a power nap. (We used to be roomies. I know her habits. )

Before I start I will say that I am not on it that much. I don't do farmville or yoville or any of that stuff. I don't play games and my chat feature is permanently turned off so I rarely, if ever, chat with anyone. There is nothing wrong with any of those things, I just don't choose to do them.

But I use it to communicate. I e-mail, see what my friends are up to that day, share things about myself.... thing most people use facebook for. And here are the reasons I love it.

1. It is my address book. Of course I don't chat with that girl from middle school who I was in a play with, but it's nice to know that she's there. If anything ever happens that I would like to share with her, I don't have to wonder what happened to her. I have access to her if need be. I truly look at facebook as an electronic address book.

2. Not everyone has a blog. I (obviously) have one and it is a great way for folks to keep up with me and my fam. But most of my friends don't have a blog, so whereas there is a good way for them to keep in touch with me and my life, facebook allows me to connect with them.

3. You can spend as much or as little time as you want. It is only a time waster if you let it.

4. This is the main reason I love facebook and this is something that just cannot be obtained any other way. Friday night I was driving home from a play with a friend. My Mom called my cell phone at 10:15pm. It made me nervous because she never calls me that late. She wanted to know if I had been on facebook lately. I told her that I had not, and she proceeded to tell me that the daughter of a friend of mine in Alabama was on life support at Children's Hospital in Birmingham due to a drowning accident.

As soon as I got home I got on facebook. My home page was filled with updates on Lily's condition. So many of my friends from Alabama were posting prayers and concerns about Lily. A prayer group for her was already started and Rob and I immediately joined. Rob and I began to pray earnestly. When we joined the group it had 156 members. I knew most of them.

We stayed up late checking updates. We went outside and prayed more. I felt connected. I still felt a part of my church home even though I now live in Kansas.

The next morning the group had 700 members. My home page was still filled with updates. I felt such a part of this community even from 1000 miles away. We kept praying. Lily opened her eyes and we rejoiced along with all of our friends via facebook.

This morning the group has 2200 members. I have loved reading all of the prayers and bible verses headed sweet Lily's way. I would love more than anything to hug Lily's Mom, Heidi. But since I can't, I can post encouraging messages, let her know I am praying for her, see what everyone else is saying, and receive constant updates about her condition.

You couldn't do any of that without a social network such as facebook. It can be a wonderful networking and communication tool and that is exactly what it is for me.

Smackdown over. You can love it or hate it. My brother-in-law hates it as well and refuses to join, but Rob thinks it is because he had a mullet in high school and doesn't want his students to see pictures of him from the 80's. Hey, everyone has a reason.

I mean, seriously.....

.....is he not the cutest thing ever? I really don't know how I get anything done. I just want to hold and kiss him all day.

Someone needs to learn to share.

Okay, so when we filmed this I was so tired after a long day. I had on no make-up, I was sprawled on a bed, and my hair was a hot mess. Not something I planned on putting on our blog. But this was just too funny not to share. So here we go. Do you think my daughter is already a diva? Future Glee kid perhaps? And does Will have a fighting chance in life?

And finally....family

I know, I know..... more pictures that probably nobody cares about. But I like to have these online so I can access them if need be, so bear with me.

These are the last pictures from our trip back to Alabama. They are of my wonderful family. I cannot tell you enough how much I miss them all. We had the best time being together and just catching up and reconnecting.

First up is my cousin, Erin. She said it best in her blog. We have so many memories together and she really is more like a sister than a cousin. I have very few childhood memories that don't involve her. We were partners in crime, playmates and best friends. She moved back to Montgomery about 11 months after we moved away which is something I am still mad about. :-) We had so much fun getting together at her parents house and letting our kids play together. I adore my Aunt Beverly and Uncle Eddie and I enjoyed being back at their house that I loved growing up. I miss them all already.

Me and Erin with our kids

My Mom and her brother teaching their grandsons to play the piano.

Bennett working with her Great Uncle Eddie on her future application to Julliard.

Erin and Bennett

My Mom's side of the family. How lucky am I to have so many great relatives?


We also got to see Elliot (Erin's sister) while we were in Birmingham. I already posted Memorial Day pictures, but here is one of my beautiful, caring, compassionate, and amazing cousin Elliot with her daughter, Bradford.

I also got to see another awesome cousin, Kara. She was so incredibly gracious to invite us to have dinner with her and her sweet family on our way home. I haven't seen her in years and she had never met Will and Bennett. We couldn't stay long since we were on our way home, but we loved seeing her wonderful new home and she and her husband were kind enough to fix us an incredibly delicious home cooked southern meal. It was definitely food for the soul.

I also got to spend time with someone I can't even write about without choking up- my sweet grandmother. Nana has been my angel, my rock, my confidante, my friend, my traveling buddy, and so much more. I spent more time at her house growing up than at my own and when I moved to DC in 7th grade, I would come home and spend my summers with my grandmother. When I moved back to Alabama at age 23, she became my best friend. We had lunch together twice a week, I would go to her house to watch movies, and we would just travel around together. I love her so much and being away from her is probably the hardest thing about living in Kansas.

One of the most Godly women I have ever had the honor of knowing.


And finally... my immediate family. I have rambled on long enough, so I will try to keep this short. I love my parents more than anything and am so grateful for all they do for me and my family. Seeing how much your parents love your kids makes you love them even more. And I am thrilled that I got to see my sister and her family. I miss my sister and brother-in-law so very much and my nieces are the loves of my life and have been since the day they were born. I have such a special relationship with all three and I miss them spending weekends at my house. I hate that I am missing birthdays, dance recitals, swim meets, and so on.... but I am so grateful for the times that I do get to see them and I cherish every second.

Sutton with her "bestest cousin forevah."

Uncle Jason with his niece and nephew.

Me and Button.

Emmie and Will

My parents with their five grandchildren.


Okay. That's enough. No more gushing, and no more pictures from our trip back home. I will be back to my regularly scheduled blog later this week. If you are still reading this, you are a trooper who deserves a medal. And here's one final picture depicting how Bennett (and I) felt about leaving Alabama.