Our Super Singer

Caleb went to New Life Camp for the first time this year. He had a blast at day camp. The days were long (9 to 5 I think), so he was exhausted by the end of the week. He got to swim in the lake a lot, play games in the gym, and of course go to the snack shack twice a day! Here he is on the last night for the closing assembly. He's holding up his ribbon, which says he got the "super singer" award. Ironically, during the closing assembly when the kids were all standing up in the crowd to sing some of the songs they had learned, Caleb chose to sit quietly and watch the others. Turtles are shy animals you know.

Front Wall Landscaping

There are a lot of home improvement projects going on right now before the baby comes at the end of the month. The first was to build a landscaping wall across the front of the house. This is the wall right after it was built, but before it was filled with dirt (from the fence project), so it looks even better now.

Moose in the Sprinkler

This is in someone's backyard in Alaska. I can't imagine. These two baby moose (meese??) remind me of my two boys in the sprinkler. They run when the cold water hits their backs but keep coming back and try to drink the water.



Bonus points if you can figure out why they picked this song for the background music. I have no clue.

Puppy Puzzle

One of the smaller presents that Ben got for his birthday was a puppy puzzle. Ben loves anything with puppies on it. He wanted to do this puzzle, so Emily and I jumped in to help him. It was 100 pieces and was much more difficult than I thought it would be. He sure does look happy though.

Octo-bike

How cool is this bike! Every kid in the US would want one. What keeps him from falling off the bike when he rides upside down though? I'm sure he's strapped in somehow. Very cool.

Birthday Presents

Here are just a few of the pictures of the boys opening some of their birthday presents. I love Ben's excitement in the first picture!

Boys Birthday Party

Here are some pictures from the boy's birthday party at Adventure Landing. This was the first time we had been to a party at Adventure Landing. We were pleased with it, although it was a little crowded and loud. We had to do the party in the late afternoon rather than the morning because that was when they had openings. That meant there were lots of teenagers hanging out on their Saturday night, especially at the go cart track.

Transformer Waffles

One of the perks of doing the grocery game is that you can get the "fancy" grocery items when they go on sale and you have a coupon. Emily picked up some Transformer eggo waffles for cheap the other day. The boys thought they were really, really awesome. Caleb got bumblebee and Ben got optimus prime. The box says there are 25 different designs, so who knows what autobot they will get next.

She was also able to get the half chocolate and half regular waffles, which probably tasted better, but let's face it, the transformer waffles were a lot cooler in the boy's opinions.

Slow Times at the Zoo Blog

I promise, I'll try to get some new posts up soon. Things have been really busy around our house with a fence project on top of regular life. The pictures just haven't made it from the camera to the internet yet. Stay tuned.

Creating the Victory

This little girl knows how to overcome obstacles. She's a true winner because she perseveres no matter what stands in her way. Even though the machine is many times her size, she finds its weakness and exploits it fully. Then she lounges in the spoils of her victory while others look on and only wish they had the courage she showed.

Bible Story Time

If you were to ask me what the one thing we have done as a family that has made the biggest impact on them spiritually, it has been reading Bible stories to them before bedtime. They love it because it is part of their routine. We started when Caleb was about 1 and a half or 2 I think and have stuck with it since. We usually just read one story (2 pages) from their kids Bible each night. They love to look over the pictures and see what is happening. We've had to get a few new Bibles because Caleb has memorized the first few we had. That is a great problem to have. the first Bible we got that I would highly recommend is the NIV Read with Me Bible, and now we are using this one, which is a little more advanced and has many more stories. I'll be honest, we chose those more for the pictures than the text. We made sure that they just stuck to the text and didn't say anything heretical, but I wanted some pictures that would help grab their attention and just help me tell the story.

[Note: I usually don't read the text written in the Bible to them, but just tell them the stories and sometimes elaborate on how that story applies to us or what it teaches us about God. I try to keep it more casual. We'll switch to a strict reading someday I'm sure.]

Bent Objects

I've found a new blog that has some great pictures. He has a real dry sense of humor. I've linked to a few in the "interesting things I've read" section, but wanted to give him the full post that his work deserves. Here's a good one for you titled "Ending a dysfunctional relationship"



Link

Picture of Ben

This is a great example of Ben's real smile, not his camera cheese smile (which is also cute in its own way).

Catch the Egg Game

Here's another fun online game. You have to catch the eggs in your basket. It's very easy to play. Just don't catch the green eggs, they are the only bad ones. I scored 739 (I've only played one round so far).

Homemade Ice cream

As part of our July 4th celebration we made some homemade ice cream. It was a huge hit with the boys. This was a first for them. I think we'll definitely have to make this a tradition. We have had this maker since we got married, but never think to get it out and use it, which is a true tragedy and shame.

Independence Day Sparklers

Here are some pictures from the boy's first experience with doing their own fireworks. We only had one box (it wasn't really planned, more of an afterthought). We went through them fast, but they had fun.

Bunny Letter Opener

I bet this guy actually enjoys getting junk mail so he can do this...

Neighborhood Fireworks

This year was the year of the fireworks in our neighborhood. For three straight nights the neighbors shot off fireworks. I'm talking about the really nice ones like you see at the fairgrounds, not just cheap stuff you can buy at the gas station tent. Two nights in a row we put the boys down for bed, darkness would fall, and the fireworks would start up. The first night we went and got them out of bed because it was such a good show and we didn't want them to miss it. The next night at the sound of the first firework they were asking if they could get up again and go watch. We gave in. On night #3 they needed their sleep and we had to stand strong (it was mostly the leftovers being shot off anyway).

To make the shows even better, the first night had lightning going off in the distance as some pretty strong storms blew over East Raleigh. It made an awesome backdrop as God shot off his own fireworks to add to our show.

Wake Forest Fireworks

On July 3rd we went to downtown Wake Forest to see the fireworks. The boys had a blast. A group from North Wake Church came around giving out candy to the kids, so you can imagine Ben was in heaven. Then some parachuters jumped out and descended on the stadium where they were shooting the fireworks. We broke out a box of sparklers and the boys thought they were really fun, but they didn't last very long. I managed to keep them from getting burned, but in the process got a burn on one of my fingers (of course). The boys were great that night and we had a blast celebrating our independence as a family.

Sighs of a Sinner

I had a post about the fourth of July fireworks for today set to be released, but I pulled it because something far better came up. Emily has started a blog and has released her first post. I've been trying to get her to write for this blog, and now you'll know why. [the invitation still stands if you ever get the urge Em]. Be sure to read her first post. It has more substance and artistry than all of my little posts from that past year put together.

(Be sure to leave her some feedback in the comments if you appreciate what she has written. I know she'd love to hear from you.)

Caleb's Birthday

For Caleb's birthday we were a little slack about bringing the camera to dinner. Oops. We had a great day though. We met at the movie theatre after work to go see Wall-E. The movie was great. It held Ben's attention throughout the move, and Emily and I thought it was really well done as well. Caleb had been talking about going to see the movie ever since he first saw the commercial.

After the movie we raced over to Texas Roadhouse, trying to beat the thunderstorm that was coming through. We made it just in time and sat down to some delicious bread and peanuts. We had never eaten there (except for takeout once), and it was great food. I can't wait to go back. They sang to Caleb, which was the highlight of his meal. He kept dropping hints to the waitress about his birthday hoping she'd sing to him.

After dinner we headed back to the house to decorate the cake and open presents. On the way home we saw the biggest rainbow I've ever seen. Caleb thought that was really special to have a rainbow on his birthday. When he opened his presents, Caleb got an electronic Uno game that he has loved. July is just a fun month of celebrations in our house.

Play Food

This is a very well done stop motion video.

Ben's Birthday

In celebrating Ben's birthday a few weeks ago we went to some of his favorite restaurants. First we all met for lunch at IHOP so he could get some PANCAKES. Later that night we went to Red Robin for dinner. The place wasn't too crowded and the Robin really hammed it up during the Birthday song. I was worried that Ben would be scared of the Robin singing to him, but he enjoyed it. He also enjoyed the ice cream treat of course. We went home and made smores for dessert. Ben had decided that that is what he wanted, but after trying them I think he prefers just marshmallows and chocolate by themselves. We had a great day of celebration. Happy Birthday Ben!

Putt Putt

Do you love putt putt, but don't like playing in the summer heat. Well then this game is for you. It is actually very well done. Not too difficult, but a few holes will give you some grief. I only played once, and scored 53. Holes 8 and 17 really gave me some trouble. Post your scores in the comments.

Unbelievable Sportsmanship

So what do you do when you hit your first home run ever in your senior year of softball, and you tear your ACL after tagging first base. Your teammates can't help you or you'll be called out. You can't move because of the pain. Watch and see how this one turns out.

Playing Pool

Amazingly, the air hockey table converts into a pool table. We tried it with pool sticks but that was a disaster, so we do more of a bowling style. Caleb is pretty good and understands the angles he has to work with to get the ball to go in the hole. Ben just likes to crash them around and see what happens.

Ball Girl Makes Incredible Catch

Watch this. Didn't it just look unbelievable? What an amazing catch!





Amazing, but fake. It's a Gatorade ad. you can check snopes.com if you don't believe me. I know, I wanted it to be real too. I still like the ad.

Happy Birthday Caleb

Insane RC Helicopter

Imagine yourself having a nice quiet picnic in the park, and then this thing comes at you. It's fluttering around erratically like a humming bird. I can see young children crying in fear right now.

Note: The video is long, don't bother watching all of it. It is just more of the same crazy flying.

Air Hockey

The boys got this activity table as a loaner from some friends. It has air hockey, or maybe we should just say hockey. It lacks the air. The boys don't seem to notice, and Ben thinks it is really cool. I think he likes the simplicity of the game. They've both played air hockey before at Chucky Cheese's and love it there.

Disappearing Baseball

via videosift.com

Watering the Grass, and the Boys

Our yard is the laughingstock of the neighborhood right now. I killed everything off in order to plant some new grass seed. All we had were weeds anyway, but tons of them.

So on Saturday when we got the sprinkler out to water the grass seed, the boys couldn't resist the temptation to play. It was a fun way to cool off on a hot day.

Campout at the Robbins

Stephen and his boys invited us to join them for a campout in the back yard a few weekends ago. It was a lot of fun, but not much sleep. We started with a very rugged hot dog dinner, with improvised buns. Then we went for rides in the cart on Stephen's bike. That was fun but tiring for me and Stephen. We hit the playground and then finished off the night with a campfire. We ate marshmallows and popcorn while sitting around the campfire and playing with flashlights. Then Ben reminded me that it was dark and he was ready for bed.

We hit the tent and the boys commenced playing and talking to each other for the next two hours. You pretty much expect this to happen on campouts though. Finally around 11 they fell asleep and all was well, until...

5:09 am the birds start chirping right over our heads!!!

The boys even agreed it was too early, but no one could sleep through all the chirping. So we got up, packed up the tents, ate some Cinnamon rolls and headed home.

Thanks for letting us join you for some good memories Ryan and Joshua.

Happy Birthday Ben

Happy Birthday Ben!