151/365

Extras in the Van
This morning, our friends called to ask if we could pick up their girls for church since she had messed up her back and was in a lot of pain and they were going to urgent care to have it looked at. The boys were excited to have them ride along with us. They were even more excited when they found out the girls would be spending the day at our house tomorrow to give their mom a chance to rest.

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Up the Nose!
This morning Zach had almost finished his McDonald's hashbrown and had just a couple small pieces left. I saw him playing with them and was getting ready to tell him to either eat them or go throw them in the trash. He stopped, stared at them a second, and as I watched, shoved them up his nose!! I couldn't believe it! Why in the world would he shove it up his nose?!?! I yelled what he had done and started to get up to grab him. John was right next to him, but hadn't seen it happen since he was playing a video game. He grabbed him, but by that time Zach had sucked it farther up his nose. John thought it was just gone and clear, but having heard horror stories of one of my uncle's shoving things up their nose and my grandparents not knowing about it until much later with bad outcomes...I ran to get the nasal aspirator. Sure enough, it was still lodged up there, but thankfully I was able to get it out.

149/365

Hives!
And not of the bee variety! This morning, after breakfast I went to change Zach out of his PJ's and this is what I saw...his poor tummy covered in hives. We have NO idea what it is from. Last night we have normal stuff (baked chicken covered in BBQ sauce, mac & cheese, corn-on-the-cob, and milk to drink) and this morning for breakfast he just had a brown sugar/cinnamon poptart & milk. Things he has had tons of times! I washed his sheets yesterday afternoon, but with the normal fragrance/dye free detergents...only thing I added was a little Clorox to the sheet to try and get a stain out. John & I even looked him over closely to make sure we didn't see any stings/bites - nothing. After a few doses of Benadryll throughout the day, it is starting to look better this evening before bed. I also rewashed his sheets this afternoon just in case that was the problem (but I usually use Clorox when I wash his blankie/burp rags). Thankfully he never seemed bothered by them at all...never complained about them or scratched at them. We are wondering what is going on around here! First we have a leaky toilet in the master bathroom, then the bees trying to take over our house...and now Zach with unexplained hives! (and no, the bees were not here looking for Zach's "hives" ;) - hahaha ).

***On a positive note: The bees didn't show up this evening!! *cheer* Maybe they were scared off by my bee-slaying abilities ;)

148/365

"Always Hungry" & "100% Good, 10% of the Time"

When I saw these shirts at The Children's Place I couldn't pass them up!! They describe both the boys to a T!

***I battled the bees once again this evening! When I went into the kitchen sometime after 5pm today, there was one lone little bee on the large window. So I ran downstairs to check it out, and sure enough there were more down there - about 15 all together! The ones in the basement were once again not moving very fast and some weren't moving at all. This is just NUTS!!! After a closer look at one today, we are thinking they are worker Honey Bees (after looking at the chart HERE ). John bought some vent netting to put over where we think they are entering the house so we'll see if that works. Also going to try and find someone to come out and help us with them.

147/365

Invasion of the Bees!!

What an afternoon we have had today!! I had just finished given the boys a bath before we were to head out for church. We came back into the kitchen so I could get them something quick for dinner when Drew screamed "A Bee!" and ran out. Sure enough there was a bee flying around in our kitchen. I thought it was strange and wondered how it had gotten in the house, but really didn't think too much about it. I managed to chase it out of the house, but as I was closing the sliding glass door I noticed there were more bees around the large

in the bay area of the kitchen. At first I thought the 6-7 bees were all on the outside....but then I heard the buzzing sound. UGH!! They were ALL in the house!!! After telling Drew to get Zach and head back to the master bedroom (making sure to shut the door), I went to close the other bedroom doors and look for the bug spray. Thankfully in the Carey White Elephant Christmas gift this year, we had received a can of wasp spray. Worked on them like a charm, but left a BIG mess on the kitchen window and floor...but at least no one had been stung. After taking care of those unwanted house guests, I noticed MORE bees flying around outside! When I went out on the deck I could see that they were swarming around the exhauste tubes for our water heaters!! From the deck I was able to spray the exterior of the tubes, but not get down into the tubes very far. Evidently they were flying up the tube, in through the motor and out into the interior of our house!

When John got home from work (bringing more sprays), I noticed that there were some bees in the downstairs windows as well! UGH!! It wasn't over!!! John went down to start the attach and I followed. We noticed that those bees downstairs weren't doing too well - hardly flying. So it was pretty easy to take care of the 15 or so down there. WHAT craziness!!! John also sprayed the exterior where there were any openings to try and prevent them from coming back in!

We aren't exactly sure what sort of bee they are, but MAN they were too close for my comfort!!

(one of the dead invaders)

146/365

Leapfrog "TAG" System

Awhile back, while walking through Wal-Mart, I came across a VERY discounted TAG system (like almost half price). So I picked it up to give to Drew sometime later on. Well...today was that "later on". He has really been wanting to learn to read, but gets frustrated when Mommy tries to help him, so I thought he might benefit from the TAG system since he can run the pen across each word in the story and have it say the word. He had a blast playing with it almost all day long!

145/365

Memorial Day 2009

Since it was raining today, we weren't able to be outside enjoying this free day. So John spent a good majority of the day playing Rock Band, I watched a movie ("Taken" which is VERY good btw) and the boys watched a movie of their own and played in the basement (with very few fights even!). After Zach got up from a LONG 3 hour nap, we ran out to the grocery store and then to Lowe's to get some curtain rods for the master bedroom (YEAH! our curtains for that room should be in this week). When we returned home - and thanks to a break in the rain - John grilled burgers for the boys and steaks for him & I...while I cleaned and cooked some corn on the cob that we had just picked up (our first for the season). All in all a nice, relaxing day.

144/365

The Housleys' 1st Sunday!

This morning was "Pastor" Phil and Stephanie's first Sunday back at PCBC....this time as our Pastor & Pastor's Wife! We are SO excited for the future of PCBC. :)

143/365

Girl Time!

This morning my friend, Erin and I met for breakfast at Panera and then headed off for pedicures. It was so much fun having some girl time! The moning was filled with fun conversation, yummy food and relaxing pampering. Ahhhhhh :) We also decided to get little flowers painted on our big toes. I've never done that before and it brings a smile to my face every time I look at them. Hopefully Erin and I will get a chance to do this again soon. With both of us being surrounded by boys (she has 2 young sons as well...close to my boys' ages), it is fun to do some girly things.

142/365

Evening of Rock Band 2
Our friends, the Walkers, came over for an evening of pizza, conversation and Rock Band. John has been playing with it every chance he gets and was very eager to get a chance to play with friends.

141/365

Last Day of Preschool!

Well, Drew is officially a Kindergartener now! He made it through Preschool. Today was their final day. They spent it signing each other's EC t-shirts, trying a science experiement, playing out in the gorgeous 80+ degree weather and eating lots of goodies. It was so cute, when we went to leave, Drew went around giving all his classmate a hug and telling them he would miss them. When he gave his best friend from his class a hug (the one on the far right in the picture above), they gave each other a really long hug - it almost had their teachers crying...they were awwwwing and saying "how sweet", etc. :)

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Bike Day

Today...the day before the final day of school....Drew's class had "Bike Day". All the kids brought their bikes and helmets and they enjoyed an afternoon of riding around on their bikes (and exchanging bikes to ride). And yes, I know his helmet is sitting too high on his head. We went over the "two finger above the brow" info right before he went into his class today, but he seemed to have forgotten. :)

139/365

Sing it, Zach!!

John got his Father's Day present a little early. He came home this evening talking about he was thinking about purchasing "Rock Band"....which I already had hiding in my closet for him! He was thinking it would be fun to have if we end up having people over during the long weekend. He always seems to have a way of ruining my surprises!! The boys had a lot of fun helping Daddy unpackage all the pieces and Zach quickly latched on to the microphone and started singing away.

**Another Zach funny from yesterday: The non-funny part...he was in time out for hitting Drew...well he had been sitting for a minute or two screaming and crying that he wanted to get down off the chair. He was finally quieting down when he started asking again (at least without the screams) to get down. I told him that he was doing well with not crying, but not to "blow it" with the whining. So what does he start doing....he starts literally blowing at me!! WHAT A BOY!!! Needless to say I started laughing and so did Drew....which just caused him to continue to blow. He is such a clown and LOVES to get a laughing out of you.

138/365

Bye-Bye Pacifier!

Last night Zach bit a big hole in his last pacifier (the trying to get rid of them back in January was a big flop & Daddy ended up buying one more set that he has been using since then). Which means rather than waiting until Thursday night (when Drew would be finished for school for the summer), we are going through the breaking of the paci now! This morning Zach threw that final pacifier into the trash can. He had some problems last night (crying off and on until sometime after midnight), but this afternoon for nap there was only minor whinning and begging for a new pacifier. Hopefully it will go as smoothly tonight!!

137/365

New Playset

The boys new playset it almost all up - thanks to some extra help from Grandpa Stroud this past weekend!! John has been working on it when he can after work during the week since it seems to be raining every weekend around here...and he had gotten the two towers up as well as some of the slates on the upper deck before the weekend. He still needs to put the wood roof on the lower deck and finish putting together the picnic table under the upper (skybox) deck. He also decided to not put up the rock wall or fireman pole until Zach is a little older for fear of what the little daredevil might do on them.

136/365

Preschool Graduation

This afternoon Drew's teachers held a little graduation ceremony for the AM and PM classes in the field next to their classroom trailer. The 1st half of the hour was spent with everyone having a picnic and the kids playing and then the second half was the ceremony. It was a VERY windy day and the little caps the teachers had made kept flying off the kids hats :) It was very cute. And to top it off, when Drew's teacher lifted him up on top of the big tree stump for us to get a picture of him after she had given him the certificate, he stood up there with a big grin on his face waving his certificate folder around. He was so proud of himself :) Afterwards, he asked if Zach had seen him. It totally cracked his teacher, my parents and I up!

135/365

Zoo Trip
Today was Drew's class field trip to the zoo. Since there were a lot of parents that were able to attend, we ended up only having one other boys with us for our walk around - Ian. Since Drew's friend, Tristen and his mom didn't have anyone else with them, we decided to walk around with them as well so the 3 boys could all hang out. They all insisted we had to start with the snake house. Then it was on to my favorite - which just happened to be across from the snakes house...the giraffes! And to make it even better, at the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield you are able to purchase special crackers to feed them. We were some of the very first people to feed them that day so they were all very eager to get the treats!

134/365

A Morning Chat

Drew and Trey have enjoyed spending the mornings chatting with each other as well as playing games. Drew will be very sad to see his buddy Trey move away tomorrow morning.

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Zach's New Seat

Zach decided this afternoon while he and Drew were watching some cartoons after school that he liked to sit on Mommy's tummy while watching. There is plenty of extra padding there ;)

132/365

House Guests
Tuesday evening until Friday morning the Bethune Family will be staying with us before they move to Texas. This way they are able to finish packing up all of their house as well as do that last cleaning before BJ graduates from college on Thursday. Drew & Zach are both very excited to spend these few days with Trey, Breann and Dillon before they have to move away.

131/365

Happy Hour at Sonic with the 1/2 price drinks is a perfect end to a school day. The boys and I enjoy getting out drinks and spending some time at the Sonic playground here in Republic.

130/365

Awana Closing Ceremony
Drew received an award for completing his character building book for Cubbies. Since had already completed the other 2 Cubbie books during the previous 2 years, Drew decided that instead of repeating one of the books again, he would take on this additional book. The regular books contaned one verse they needed tp learn each week. The Character Building book contained 3-4 Bible verses to learn each week...for 20 weeks....and he learned them all!! Very few clubbers even attempt this book, let alone complete it. In fact, this year there was only one other boy that worked in the book and was almost complete, but we ran out of weeks to work on it. Drew just doubled up sections so he actually completed it (8 verses in one week!!). Drew was the only one in the whole group to finish the whole book (Trey did get his award as well since it wasn't his fault that there was a last minute shortening of the Awana year).

Drew is such a bright boy!!!! He is always amazing me with his ability to learn things so quickly when he puts his mind to it.

~~~

Today was also Mother's Day so it was time for the annual picture of me with the boys :)

129/365

Good-bye party for the Bethune's
Originally Kendra Edge and Aubrey Olson wanted to have a picnic for all the friends of the Bethunes at a park in Springfield, but with all the rain we have been having they ended up holding the party at our house. So Saturday around 4pm, the group descended on our home :) This is by FAR the largest number of people we have had in our house so far (around 25 including 12 kids under 6!). The Bethunes are moving to Texas to work in a church in Arlington as Youth Ministers/Assoc Pastor/Music Minister next Friday morning.

128/365

We wpoke this morning to the sound of the tornado sirens going off! There was a tornado that touched down in Republic a little south and west of our house, but it missed us. It was the straightline winds behind the tornado that got us. The 70+ mph winds carried our 15 foot trampoline about 5 house down up into a tree for a few minutes and then it finally landed over a neighbor down the street's fence & in their backyard. Thankfully it didn't do any property damage, but our trampoline didn't fair as well. The enclosure net is distroyed, one of the support beams is bent and we are missing around 10 springs. Poor Zach stood at the window watching it be carried off by the wind cryin, "MY TRAMPOLINE!!!" :(

127/365

Teacher Appreciation Week

Throughout the week, Drew's class has been doing a variety of little things to show their appreciation for Ms. Lee & Ms. Julie. Monday everyone wore red and brought the teachers their favorite candy - Hot Tamales. Tuesday, the girls wore pink and the boys wore green - Ms Lee's favorite colors. Wednesday, the students were asked to wear either Lime green or yellow - Ms. Julie's favorite colors. Today the students were asked to draw a picture of each teacher gardening - their favorite hobby - to bring to the teachers. Tomorrow, is the parents' chance to say "thank you" with cards...and flowers - Ms Lee loves tulips & Ms Julie loves sunflowers. The teachers will also receive a book featuring "I love Ms Lee because...."/"I love Ms Julie because..." letters from each students as well as a picture of them with the student - this is being put together by the room mom. They will also receive baskets filled with some of their favorite things from the whole class. Each day the AM or PM class also provided lunch for the teachers.

126/365

Rise & Shine

This afternoon, at Rise & Shine, Drew's class performed for all the other preschool students. Twice a month, all the classes get together (usually in the EC library - this time it was held outside because the library was being used for Kindergarten screening) to sing songs, honor birthday people, give out good citizen awards, etc. Drew was extra excited to perform this time since he was able to pick out the song they were going to

125/365

Happy Cinco de Mayo

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, we had tacos tonight. We usually have soft shells, but decided to give hard shells a try. They were a HUGE hit with Drew. He loved getting to make his own taco and ate two...made a 3rd, but decided he wasn't hungry - lol.

Drew also took cupcakes into school today to celebrate his birthday with his class since it falls during the summer. He was so excited to get to wear a birthday sticker for the day and his teachers also gave him a new book, "Three Cheers for Tacky".

124/365

Shower Time!
After returning home from getting haircuts, the boys jumped in the shower to rinse off the little pieces of hair that ended up all over them. Drew is getting to be such a big boy! All I have to say is that it's shower time, and he goes in and starts the shower and even does a great job of washing himself.

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PCBC Kids' Day

Today was Kids' Day at our church. During the morning service they had a time for baby dedication and then I took a picture of each family that the church will print out to give to the families. During the evening service the 1st-5th grade Kids Choir performed "G.P.S." {God's Plan of Salvation}. They did an outstanding job, as usual.

122/365

A Lazy Saturday

If the boys had it their way, this is how they would spend every Saturday...in their PJs playing video games.

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Both the boys love books...which is right up my alley. Because of my love of books they aren't lacking a variety of stories to pick from. Of course, it is a certain few that they always come back to. Here Zach is "reading" a current favorite of his, "Dinosaur Roar!" by Paul & Henrietta Stickland.