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Grandma & Grandpa Hawkins

On their way back home after a weekend in Branson, John's mom and step-dad stopped in Springfield to have lunch with us after church.

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Trip To The Zoo

**photo taken by John**

While Drew was in a Zoo Class and I was at a Candy Making class, John and Zach spent the afternoon at the zoo. Zach's favorite part was just like mine - feeding the giraffes :)

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Candy Land

Now that Zach is getting older, Drew enjoys trying to teach him how to play board games...usually following the "Drew Rules" for the game ;)

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Firehouse Pottery

After the man had come and installed our new cable internet (LOVING the speed!!), the boys and I loaded up and headed to Springfield. Actually we headed to just down the hill from our old house. :) All the years we lived over there, I had kept meaning to go check out Firehouse Pottery but never got around to it. So today we finally made it over there. I am thinking it is a GOOD thing I had never been in there when I lived so close! It could have been a real habit for me to go down the hill and do some painting. lol When you walk in the door you are surrounded with shelf after shelf full of different types of pottery. You browse all the options (which each piece has their price written on them so there are no surprised at the end of your experience) and pick out the piece you would like to paint. You then go to the studio area and picked from their large selection of paints and get to work. I really loved how they have samples of different ideas all around the building. SO helpful for the uncreative like me. ;) After you have finished painting (3 coats worth to get that bright color), you leave your mess, go pay for the piece as well as your studio time and head out. Then a week later you go back and pick up your finished piece after they have had a chance to put it through the kiln. SO FUN!!! Drew really enjoyed it...except for the fact that he kept wanting to go pick more pieces to paint, but Zach was a little young and spent most the time playing with the toys they had set up in a corner (so thankful they had those!!). I look forward to going back there again sometime.

**I had ever intention of taking my camera in with me so I could get pictures of the boys hard at work...but didn't realize until we were in and getting ready to start that it had slipped out of my purse in the seat of the van. :(

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Chick-Fil-A

When we lived in Springfield, we were very close to this yummy restaurant, and man do I miss it now. :) So tonight, after church, we had to run over that way to Best Buy to purchase a cable modem (wooohooo! we dropped our DSL since it was so unstable and was up and down constantly.) . So while we were there, we grabbed dinner from Chick-Fil-A...a real treat for us.

** We are also having to switch email addresses and are dropping our landline, so if you need us, use our cell numbers. If you need those numbers, email me jenmalexander AT gmail DOT com for it.

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Bendaroos on a Rainy Day

The boys had a blast today playing with Bendaroos. What are Bendaroos? They are different colored strings covered in a wax type substance that you can bend or cut to create anything you can imagine. They will even stick to things - ei windows, lampshades, tables. Great for the imagination and great to throw in a purse or jacket (in a baggy so you don't end up with wax everywhere) to take with you to entertain the kids.

**Warning if you buy them: They WILL leave a waxy residue on whatever you press them into. I had a terrible time trying to get that wax off the table as well as the windows!

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Water Day with Friends!

This morning the boys and I went over and picked up the Walker girls so they could spend the day with us. Their mom is still in a lot of pain with a back muscle spasm, and could use the rest. They all had a lot of time playing Legos, Bendaroos and of COURSE playing in the water on the warm mid-80's day. Our new 3-lane slip'n slide was a big hit with all 4 of them, but with only 3 lanes, I went ahead and set up part of our blow-up pool (minus it's slide and arched water sprayer) to give the 4th person a place to play in the water while waiting their turn.