The Rainforest Cafe--August 8th

Ok, so in going back through my mountains of photos I've taken in the past month, I realized that I forgot to blog about a couple of rather important outings we've taken. One of which was to the Rainforest Cafe with Grandma and Grandpa D., Aunt Maggie, Sammie and Sarah on August the 8th. Grandma wanted to plan this special outing with all her grandkids before they all started school. My first instinct was "uh--oh" because everytime I've taken Ben to the Rainforest Cafe he has cried and not really enjoyed himself. Well, this time, I've got him AND Braden to deal with, so my first instinct about going was....well.....as you can imagine....not so enthusiastic. But Grandma wanted to go, so we planned a date.On the way to the restaurant that day, Braden pointed up at Grandma's "Travel Kitty" (which she calls this Ty Beanie Babie that travels with her wherever she goes--on all of her vacations too--poor Buddy :( (only those in our family will understand that expression--inside joke, sorry) Anyway, Braden wanted to hold "travel kitty" all the way to the restaurant. Braden is my little snuggler. You see, he has to have a good character trait to balance out that ugly temper of his--ha-ha!

When we first got to the restaurant, all was well because, you see, they have this GINORMOUS fish aquarium that has all these beautiful exotic colorful fish swimming around that you can get right up close to. Braden loved that. But when we got to the table.....his demeanor began to change....."Um, what's going on in here?"'Uh, Mom, what's that on the ceiling?' 'Help!!!! Somebody HELP me. I don't like this!'Aunt Maggie to the rescue!!! :)

Ok, so that's not EXACTLY how it all went, but it looked good anyways! :) He actually did a lot better than I had anticipated. He did look very frightful a few times and wasn't too sure about the place, but all in all, he did pretty well for a 16 month old. :) He actually played pretty well with his cousins and was distracted pretty well most of the time.... He had plenty of arms to comfort him too, especially Grandpa's! :) Ben was also a little nervous, even at 6 about going to the Rainforest Cafe. At first he still didn't want ANY part of those trumpeting elephants that turn on every 15 minutes (or however long it is)... But after a looooooooooot of talking and reassurance of the workings of a mechanical, computer operated timer on the man-made works of art, he finally warmed up to the idea (at least for this visit.) He even decided he wanted a picture of him "with the elephants" (the elephants being a great distance behind him though of course.) ...and Ben became his goofy self once again! He thought the misting stream was really cool! And of course had to take his string along to do tricks with his cousins. Actually, I packed them all one because I knew it'd be something that they all would enjoy doing together. They are kind of getting to the age where they don't have much in common anymore and don't have much to talk about, but they all love playing with the "strings." "Jacob's Ladder" is a string trick that Sammie taught them all how to do when she and Sarah spent the night with us this summer. Ben's been doing it ever since. The "string" is one of his favorite "toys." Hey, cheap too!

Royals Game

Ok, so here we go again. I haven't posted in 2 weeks and I have a ton to post--what's new, huh! Well, here goes:

Since Andy is the "Outreach Pastor" for our church, he is in charge of all activities that include the church as a whole. Pastor wanted to have a Royals game night so that we could fellowship as a church family and also invite friends who may not go to our church to come and visit with us. So Andy got it all planned and we had a "Night Out at the K!"

We had over 200 people sign up to go. Everyone pictured in the crowd above is with our church group. It was quite the turn out! The weather was perfect, and it was even "buck night" so we got $1 hot dogs, peanuts, and Pepsi. Ben loved having Mommy and Daddy all to himself tonight. He sat right between us. We left Braden with Grandma and Grandpa Dixon for the night. Ben got a little spoiled tonight--what's new? He got a hot dog, shared Mommy and Daddy's nachos, cotton candy, (ewwww!) peanuts, Pepsi, and even a GIANT Royals hand. We don't get out much. :) Towards the end of the game, Ben went down to visit with his buddy Ben H. for a few minutes. They have a blast together!After a nice evening out, we loaded back on the 2 buses, people mover and van that we all rode out to the stadium in, and went home.....zzzzzzzzzzzz.

A Jack-In-The-Box?

No, it's a Braden-In-The-Box! :0) Our little Braden is quite the little handful. He has found himself very bored since Ben started school. What, with being surrounded by so many kids for the past several weeks, he doesn't know quite what to do with himself now. He follows Mommy around constantly. Did I say constantly? I meant CONSTANTLY. He is my little shadow. He certainly doesn't give me any time to worry about Ben at school because he is right there with me to keep me on my toes... or should I say his toes when I turn around and trip over him or knock him down by accident. You would never guess it, but he will not let Mommy out of his sight. I did an experiment today and counted the seconds from when I would walk out of one room and see how long it took him to drop what he was doing and come into the room I was in. There was not one time that is was more than 10 seconds. Is that normal? Now, come on! I have to say, it's very cute that he loves his Mommy so much, but the shutting the door behind him and locking us into every room I go into needs to stop. Oh my goodness. He's obsessed with the shutting the door thing now. Even if I go into the closet to pick out some clothes, there he is right on my heels to come in with me and shut the door. Plus he is still a phone addict. The other day the phone was ringing...he promptly got up from what he was doing....side stepped his little tubby belly past a couple big toys in the way and did his little half hurried run to go answer the ringing phone. I about died laughing. He almost picked it up when I dove for it knowing he'd just pick it up and probably either lay it on the ground or hang it back up. Fortunately for me I haven't had too many of the disastrous messes from him getting into things and me finding him there only because he is right under my feet so I always catch him before he does much damage. He is, however, a toilet paper unroller. Benjamin never once played with the toilet paper like I thought every child did, but Braden is making up for him. I take my eyes off him for one second to do some reading and there will be a nice little pile for me.

As for more of an update on Braden, he truly only says one word. All that "ma-ma," "da-da," and "bubba" stuff we thought we heard way back when, well that was just jibberish apparently. The only word this little guy says that he relates to anything is "ball" pronounced "baaaaaaaaaa." And everything that is round is a ball to him even apples and the moon. His phone obsession actually pales in comparison to his "baaaaaaaaa" obsession. So I guess it's official, our sons are going to make us millions playing some game involving a "baaaaaa" because both of their first words have been "ball." :) It seems very strange to me that Braden isn't saying more words by now because Ben said so many at this age, but I know every kid is different, or so I'm told. Braden just points at things and makes a noise. No matter how hard I try to get him to say the word of what he wants, he just looks at me like he's clueless and then he gets more and more frustrated because he isn't getting what he wants.

The big no-no's with Braden are shutting him out of a room that you are in (in which he bursts into tears the second you shut the door,) or going downstairs/outside and shutting the gate on the steps even for 10 seconds. He stands there like he's in jail and cries. And NEVER try to take a nice relaxing shower when he is awake. He will stand in the doorway of the shower with water misting over him until he's soaked, crying for you. What a guy! For someone who's so independent, he sure is needy. His other big thing is his temper and BOY does he have one. I have said all along that I was afraid to have another child b/c I knew it'd be like me and yep, there you have it. He's the spitting image of his Daddy, and he acts just like his Mommy. Lucky me. Paybacks are great, huh Mom! At least I know what to do with him though, I've done everything he's doing and I know exactly what he's thinking. Lucky him! Ha! I do have to say though, Braden is such a fun little guy. He has such a personality already and is so ornery that it's cute! He is my 2nd little ray of sunshine and I don't know how I lived my life without him in it! I am so thankful for my boys! :)

Kindergarden--What an Adjustment

~Not what it's cracked up to be for our little Benjamin....at least not yet...

I didn't post these pics of Ben's 1st day of school after he came inside the house and began talking about his day at school, (because I didn't think too much about it since I knew the first couple days would be kind of boring hearing about all the "rules") but he was not too happy about the way things went. He was upset that they didn't do anything fun and that he just had to listen to rules all day. He said it was nothing like Summer Adventure (school) and that it was boring! (Oh boy.....here we go)

This is Ben's 2nd day of school. I took a few photos of his first time riding the bus for Kindergarden. He is usually happy when he leaves for school because his friends in the neighborhood ride the bus with him. (Friday, the 17th). The 3rd day of school, Monday, I had Holly and Hunter for the morning (as I do usually 3-4 mornings a week.) "Spot," Ben's little stuffed puppy, went to "visit" Kindergarden with him, but had to stay in the backpack all day. He was not even allowed to come out for "rest time." (good rule, I'll have to admit)

Kindergarden is not what Ben thought it would be. I don't know if it's that he is bored, that it is 8 hours away from home all day long, or that he doesn't have any of his close friends in his class, but Ben is not taking very well to Kindergarden. Wednesday, the 22nd I drove him to school (so he could sleep for an extra hour) and when we got to the drop off area I looked back and he was in the floorboard of the car saying he didn't want to go inside....he wanted to go home.....he hardly ever gets to spend any time with me anymore and he wanted to spend the day with me. Talk about heartbreaking. I wanted so badly to take him home I almost couldn't stand it. I tried talking to him and reasoning with him for about 5 minutes. I told him he was going to have fun.....I told him that school was a part of life now.....I told him he would be bored at home......I told him he would be missing out on what all the other kids were going to be doing........nothing helped. I called Andy to get his input (mostly to buy myself some time and work up the courage to do what I knew I needed to do to avoid having this fight every morning for the next several months.) However, after not getting an answer on the other end of the phone line, I worked up the courage to set my foot down and told Ben I would walk him up to the front door (they don't want parents going into the building in the mornings while they're trying to get the kids to where they need to be.) I held him close to me as he cried all the way to the front door where one of the staff met me and took over. She looked at me over Ben's head and said, "It's ok, go ahead and go, he'll be just fine. It's better if you just go quickly." I had kept it together up until this point, but when I turned to walk away and let her drag him into the school crying and begging me not to go, needless to say, I lost it. I cried all the way home and for over an hour when I got there. Andy heard me crying when I came in and sat and talked about it for quite awhile before he left for work. We discussed what could be the difference in Kindergarden and Summer school. He loves his teacher, and he makes friends easily. I think it is that there is no forseeable end in sight to the constant waking up early and they haven't really started doing anything fun yet--mostly just talking about rules and what they will be doing in each of the areas (i.e. Art, computers, P.E., etc.) Kindergarden is SUCH an adjustment for all involved. I am hoping and praying that we did not do the wrong thing by holding him out of Kindergarden last year. I am so afraid that he is bored out of his mind. I sure hope it pays off in the long run.

Thursday when he woke up, he told me he "didn't want to go to school today either, just like yesterday." But I tried to stand firm and said, "Well, buddy, school is a part of our life now, and you have to go. I know it's hard to get used to, but it'll get easier as time goes on." I didn't even bother trying to take him to school that morning, I walked him to the bus stop as I do each morning, and put him on the bus with his friends (it makes it a lot easier that his close friends who live by us are at his bus stop and come by the house to walk with us to the bus stop each morning.) I guess that is more important right now than an extra hour of sleep. Although he told me just before the bus pulled up that he really didn't want to go, he got on the bus and did fine that day. When he got home, he told me he FINALLY got to play some games on the computer during "computer class" and "didn't have to listen to rules again" so that made his day a little more enjoyable. I'm sure that once he starts working on some projects in art and doing some hands on stuff instead of just hearing teachers talk and tell the rules over and over, he will begin to enjoy himself more......hopefully! Next week we have a 1/2 day on Wednesday and Labor Day weekend vacation so that will give us all a nice break.

Ben's 1st Day of Kindergarden

My handsome little buddy started Kindergarden today. I couldn't tell if he was excited about going, or just knew it was something he had to do so he was doing it. He didn't cry about going or anything, so that made it a lot easier on Mom! The first thing he said when I woke him up this morning was, "Mommy, will you wait at the bus stop for me when I get off the bus after school?" And then he said, "I think that Kindergarden won't be as long as Summer Adventure was because we only have 2 recesses instead of 3. Maybe I will only be there 3 hours or 4 hours." I said, "Hmmmmm, it might be a little longer than that." He said, "Yeah, maybe about 6 hours." Then without a fight or any whining, he got up and took his bath and was in a chipper mood while eating breakfast and getting ready. That was a blessing! I think it helped that I put Braden in the tub with him and they ate breakfast together too because all four of us went together to the school.

Ben even cooperated with getting his picture taken before we left for school. :)

This is on the way to school.

We were supposed to have "coffee talk" in the cafeteria after the kids went to the class and I told Andy I'd like him to go to it with me so he could see the principal and hear what she had to say.

When we got to the school, we went directly into Ben's classroom to put his backpack on his hook. The kids all meet in the gymnasium first thing in the morning and then are dismissed to their classrooms when everyone arrives.

When we got to the gymnasium, Ben immediately found a good friend that he had met at Summer Adventure (Josh) and plopped down beside him. They didn't get the same teacher for Kindergarden, so Ben was pretty bummed about that, but he rides Ben's bus and lives very close to us so that is great! He seems like a great kid! I am very happy to see that Ben is making good choices in the kids he is choosing to be friends with already. I hope that continues!

Braden apparently decided that it wasn't quite fair that Benjamin wasn't paying any attention to him....... so he decided to go over and try to butt his way in between the kids so he could sit down beside his brother. I laughed and laughed. Ben looked over at me stuck out his thumb out pointing to Braden and said, "Mom, can you get him please." It was very funny. This is Ben's teacher saying Hi to everyone in her classroom line. She could see that some of the kids were getting very nervous and beginning to tear up, so she tried to make them a little more comfortable. She seems like a great teacher. I will post pics of "Meet the Teacher Night" another day. It was Tuesday night, but I haven't had time to get them on here yet.

As far as "Mommy" goes, I actually did a lot better today than I thought I would. I think it is probably a combination of having some peace and quiet in my house today, (from all the extra kids I've had the past few weeks) and the fact that I may have gotten a lot of my crying out when he went to Summer School. Also, Andy planned an activity for our Sunday School class for tomorrow night at our house, so I have been busy busy cleaning getting ready for that, so I may be delaying my reaction a little bit until my life actually slows down a little. Oh well. Paula's right-- Benjamin DOES still live at home. :)

When Benjamin got home, he was very glad to be home! He told me all about his day. He was very bummed that it wasn't quite as fun and exciting as Summer Adventure was. But after I told him he would start doing more stuff when he got to go to Music, P.E. and Art classes, he agreed and let it go. He is super stoked about going to computer class though and doesn't want to wait until Monday to do that. Ahhh, the joys of learning at school (it looks like he'll learn a little more about patience too along with everything else.) :)

My trip to the ER

Well today turned out to be a fun one--HA! This morning after all the kids got here, I was going about my morning chores and began to see black pulsating spots clouding up my perifial (spelling?) vision on my left eye. It then became increasingly worse and then my vision changed to make me feel like I was in a tunnel. I began to become alarmed when I nearly knocked Braden over who was standing next to me because I couldn't see him. I told Andy about it and we tried to figure out what it might be. As it became increasingly worse, I called my doctor and he said I needed to go to the emergency room. I thought, "Yeah right, I have 6 kids, two adults and one suv that seats 5, how's that going to happen???" But Andy told me to find a way and that he was taking me in. So I called two nearby friends of mine and dispersed the children to them and we headed out. We first went to Urgent Care thinking it would be cheaper, but before they saw me told me that the two doctors working in back said it would do me no good to see them, that I needed to go to the ER. Flustered, worried and frustrated, Andy and I headed to the ER. We sat in the waiting room for over and hour and a half seeing all sorts of sights and by now (of course) I was having no difficulty with my vision whatsoever. I tried to convince Andy to just take me home, that I was fine, but he insisted that we make SURE I was fine. To make a long story a little shorter, I found out that I had what the doctor called a "Visual Migraine." He thinks it might have been caused by stress, or heat, or lack of fluids, or a combination of various other things (my firstborn starting Kindergarden tomorrow could perhaps have something to do with it :) but it was nothing to be alarmed about and says they are quite common. UGGGGG! I wished I would have googled before I left the house. It would have probably saved me a whole day of wasted time and lost wages for Andy. It especially upset me that it happened on Ben's last day of summer vacation because I was really looking forward to making a fun day for the kids today. I stayed home from church tonight though and Ben and Braden and I went "swimming" together in our pool in the back yard and we played-- just the three of us. It was so relaxing and made what seemed like a ruined day turn out to have it's own special memory.

Our House has been Hoppin' Lately!

I don't think I've mentioned on my blog that my house has been quite lively since Ben got out of Summer Adventure. Shortly after summer school was over I began watching my neighbor's 2 youngest kids, Becca and Zach. It's been very different with 4 children in the house instead of two. All I can say is WHEW! Ben has loved every minute of it though. He loves having them over to play with all day long so that is great. And Braden eats up all the attention Becca gives him too. He has learned to jump right in there and play with the "big kids." They have been great to help around the house when it's clean-up time and have definately kept Ben from getting bored during his summer break. But, I have definately learned that 4 kids in one house is too many for me (at least for the size house we have now.)

I have failed to take many pictures of all the adventures we have had since I began watching them. It's just too crazy in the house to think about taking photos when they're here, but they have done so many fun things together: played dress up in Ben's costumes, played store, army, playstation, house, legos, hide and seek, swam in our pool in the back yard, played on the slip-n-slide, rode their bikes, we've gone to the park, garage saling, Walmart, Aldi, and Party America together (with the help of Mom and Dad loaning me their van so that I wasn't cooped up in the house for 5 weeks.)..... Our next door neighbor just bought a new playset so the kids had fun the first day it was all set up playing in that. One day last week I ventured out to a community pool in the area with the four of them plus a girlfriend of mine and her two kids and we made an afternoon of it. They had a great time! Braden was a little too young for me to fully enjoy my time there (bc he wanted to walk all by himself and I had to keep my eye and hand on him at ALL times) but who can complain when you get to do something like this on a weekday during the summer--now this is the life! We'll just leave Braden with Grandma next time :) Ben and Zach weren't quite tall enough to ride the tunnel water slides this year, so while we sat and had a snack, I let Becca go over and ride them a few more times before we went back home. The boys have so much fun together. Here they are showing off their blue "Airhead" candy smiles and tongues (below)It was really a treat that we ran into my cousin Mona and her kids at the pool too! It was so fun to see them and catch up. Ben is absolutely bonkers over her son Josh and thinks the sun rises and sets in him, so he was overwhelmed to see him! It was cute!

While Becca rode the water slides many times, the boys got to get up close and personal with a very brave squirrel who has obviously found out that the place to get nourishment is by the pool concession stand. It was having a hay day gathering up all the droppings of all the people who had visited that afternoon. It would let the boys get within 2 feet of it before scampering under another table.

We also visited my friend Suzanne's neighborhood pool with her a couple times this summer. The kids were so glad to go to a "real" pool (our one in the back is mostly just to get wet in.) Braden quickly learned from watching the big boys that jumping in from the side (into Mommy's arms) is quite the exciting event! And as if 4 kids wasn't enough for me, I also took on my next door neighbor's 2 kids (Holly and Hunter) on the 9th of August. And I took all 6 kids (plus Zach's older brother, Johnny) swimming in the above neighborhood pool on Monday. My friend Suzanne thought I had lost my mind. But it really wasn't that difficult since the youngest one above Braden is 5 and most of them can swim. We actually had a good time and all came out alive. :)

I only have Holly and Hunter for a week full time because schoool starts tomorrow. And all of them will be heading off to school. Yes, even my little Benjamin is starting Kindergarden tomorrow morning. :( The dreaded day (for Mommy) has arrived. But, to look on the bright side, Braden and I will have our house all to ourselves. It will be so quiet. Whatever will I do with myself? I know-- CLEAN!!! What fun!

Happy Birthday Mom and Dad!

On Sunday, August 5th, we went out to lunch with Mom and Dad after church to Longhorn Steakhouse--YUM! It's one of all of our favorites! Their birthday's are the 4th and 5th, so they almost always have to share a birthday dinner. But, they did each get their own "birthday dessert" (well, I guess not their "own" since the grandkids ate most of it :) ) We had a nice time catching up on the latest events and watching the grandkids make huge messes, as usual. :) Ben felt a little left out from me taking photos of the other kids, so he called attention to his Root Beer and made his own quirky picture. He's so into making funny faces now whenever I want to take a picture. It's hard to catch him with a genuine smile--silly kid! Happy Birthday Mom and Dad! Bradon says, (well, not 'says', but thinks) "Ice Cream----YUM!!!"

Can you get that mouth open any wider little fella?

Paula's Baby Shower

On Saturday, August 4th, we threw a baby shower for my very good friend, Paula. I was so excited to share in this celebration of the new little life she is about to have. Little Abby will be so fortunate to have Travis and Paula as parents. Paula has been like a second Mom to Benjamin ever since he was very small and he and Paula have a special bond to this day. I am so excited for her that she now gets to have a little one of her own. Now I get to spoil hers--AND she's a girl--even better to buy clothes for!!! :) he-he! I told Paula to show me that belly of hers--oh the fun of being pregnant!!! Another of Paula's closest friends, Candace, was the brain child of most of the details of the shower. She did a great job! All I did was come and help set up. She had a lot of games planned for us and we had a fun and relaxing time celebrating with Paula. Presents! Presents! Presents! It's all about the presents! :) What a fun day!

Congratulations Travis and Paula!!!!!