Thursday, July 31, 2008

Kids' Activities

Benaiah just getting out of bath





















Gloria helping make cookies












JB playing computer games using "Glubble", on which he has his own "homepage" and is less likely to mess up the computer and only has mom and dad-approved websites to go to.

JB and Gloria swimming - pics and video!




Gloria swimming
...and JB going back do the diving stands to jump off in the deep end (5ft).

They are both on theirway back from the ropes when I recorded this so they are a little more tired than usual, but I thought it was cute that they passed each other and said "hi". Swim lessons have been for the last two weeks and now they are over. Gloria learned how to swim and JB learned how to swim better. We may do fall lessons in an indoor pool too.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Stacking

This video shows Benaiah's love for stacking. It also shows that JB runs around naked.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Little bro included

Benaiah has so wanted to be included in the tooth-brushing action for a long time. Gloria and JB were unusually accepting of him this evening in this activity for unmentioned reasons (let's just say JB and Gloria loving little bro doesn't seem to come naturally at this stage in Benny's life). Benaiah was so happy to be practicing oral hygiene with big bro and big sis.

I love Benaiah looking at JB to make sure he gets it right.
Dentist, orthodontist, and oral surgeon visits, lots of money, the three of them together with their footy pajamas at the sink, priceless.


Sunday, July 20, 2008

Four Wheeler Justified

We took the plunge, so to speak, and got a 4-wheeler. Since our driveway is so long, it was a pain taking the little trash trailer behind the truck (as I walked behind to make sure it didn't tip over or detach) and then having to walk it back to the house, especially in this Alabama July heat (I know, as Max would say...aaaah, wooza, wooza!, which means I'm pretending to feel sorry for you but I don't really). Actually, it was a great excuse to get a 4-wheeler (thanks Nathan and Stephanie for the encouragement), which Max uses to take JB and Gloria (and sometimes Zephyr) on rides around the property. He's planning on making trails on the property (7 acres of forested land) for nature hikes and other adventures, especially since we discovered a zip-line in the woods not too far from the house. It is a fairly short zip line (longer than the ones at the playgrounds though) that goes across a ditch where a stream flows when it rains. It seems to be very well built. We'll have to take pictures of the zip-line and post them. We also hope to have a rope or tire swing, which would be perfect here with the tall trees and the downhill slope from the house. Here are pictures of the 4-wheeling anyway.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Our mess, I mean, house





Actually the house itself is in good shape, but the stuff inside of it makes it look like a mess. Last night I did a big overhaul of the living room area while Max was studying. My goal was to be able to vacuum the front hall and the living room, which both had new carpet installed in it right before we moved in. Many boxes were broken down and moved out to the porch until trash (not garbage!) day. Since there was too much stuff all over after moving, I didn't see the point of vacuuming, which meant that new carpet fluff balls and leaves from outside were everywhere too. These are pictures of the house still in the organizing and trying-to-find-a-place-for-things process, but getting there! I really like the high ceilings in this house and all of the windows.

Climbing Benaiah

This boy thinks he's invincible now that he's walking. He falls off of things, but quickly remembers that he's invincible.


And he desperately wants to do anything that JB and Gloria do.

Fun on the deck


They truly do not need clothing out here. Bug spray is about the only "clothing" they need.
We have neighbors up the driveway, but no one is able to see us unless they walk through the woods.

Speaking of woods...it's a jungle around here. When it rains it absolutely pours and things grow very quickly. JB is in heaven with his hatchet because pretty much any of the vegetation is game for whacking at...except the ones that have flowers and that were planted in front of the house. The owner of the house told us we could do any clearing of the surrounding forest we wanted because things just grow back very easily.

Monday, July 07, 2008

Two dears


You may be wondering why there is a deer head in Benaiah's porta-crib, so was Max. The deer head is supposed to emulate a deer head mount to create a cabbinish/rustic atmosphere in the kid's room. Since we haven't gotten around to hanging it up, Benaiah has taken a liking to it. We passed by it in the kid's room (still a mess) and he pointed to it and said "eh, eh, eh", which means he wants something. Once I figured out what he wanted and handed it to him, he pet it and played with its antlers affectionately. Max thought I was twisted when he saw that it was in Benaiah's porta-crib and asked me why I had a severed deer head in with the baby. Let's just hope he doesn't say "eh, eh, eh" to the mounted elk head with the three-foot high antlers.

Garbage and Trash

We've learned something new here in Prattville, AL. We have learned the difference between garbage and trash. Garbage is picked up on Tuesday and Friday whereas trash is picked up on Wednesday.

The difference? Garbage is stuff we put in bags that generally comes from whatever is in the household trash cans. Trash is cardboard, paper, and branches. Garbage (or trash) cans are pretty much non-existent around here except if you want to store trash in it on non-trash days because. They do not want us putting our trash in trash cans for them to pick up...strange. Max and I have had to refer back to the Prattville web page many times to remember the difference, but I think we've got it now. Every town is different, I guess. It was pretty much the opposite in Kansas...everything went into our big wheeled trash bins and got picked up.

Max and I are trying to figure out how to get lots of garbage (not trash!) bags and trash (not in bags!) up our long up-hill driveway. Max will probably come up with some sort of trash-and-garbage-hauling device to pull on the back of his truck. Moving can present some challenges and get the creative juices flowing.