Splash Pad Fun!

Wednesday was a fun day!! Laura, Stephanie, and I took the neighborhood kids (11 in all) out to the Splash Pad. We met Adriana and Jessi out there. That added 5 more kids! I didn't know if Olivia would like it because she hates to have water splashed on her face, but she enjoyed herself immensely. Everyone had a great time. All of the children played happily. Yes, it is the truth!! Here's the proof:

Olivia ran around everywhere!

Benjamin was acting like he was going to chase her. She'd get very excited!

Benjamin and Jasper sitting on the sprayers. All of the children thought that was the best thing to do!

Olivia cheerfully running away from the sprayer when it kicked on.

Benjamin "sitting" on a sprayer.

Benjamin taking a drink from the fountain. Gross!

Hanging out with the water dial.

Josiah enjoyed riding his scooter through the sprayers.

Olivia walked over the the swings and frantically made her "help" sign until I put her in the swing. She loves swinging!!

James does too! James is one of Stephanie's sons. He and Livi are very close in age and enjoy each other very much.

Stephanie is so much fun. Such a good mom!

Isaac was doing a hula dance on the sprayer. It was hilarious!

Lucy, Beth Rose, Ethan, and Olivia. The big kids mostly played on the playground and just came to the water to cool off.

The always beautiful, always smiling, Amara Grace!

Adriana's boys and Josiah.

Good times, good times.

Clones aren't always bad...

It was a very fun weekend around here. We were supposed to have a garage sale, but as garage sale fate goes, it rained. Our neighbor Stephanie, in true "Stephanie Style" said, "Hey let's have an impromptu surprise party for Jasper!" Keep in mind that it is like WayTooEarly o'clock. She said the plan was to start it at 10am. We all still thought it was a great idea.

Benjamin and I went out to the store to get a gift for Jasper. Before the pictures, I guess you need to know that the boys in the neighborhood all love Star Wars. I am not sure if it started with Jasper or not, but Jo and Amara's Dad is quite the Star Wars fan too. Benjamin has never seen it, but he is still convinced that he is an expert. *shrug*

Ok, back to the story....I had remembered seeing a Star Wars mask in the clearance aisle of Wal-Mart for $3. When I got to the store, I found that it wasn't just a mask. It was an entire costume!! For 3 bucks! I thought that it might be more fun for the boys if they all had one and could play together at the party, so I bought one for Jasper, Jo, and Benjamin. They were devastated.



Or perhaps not. The boys wore them ALL DAY LONG!! They ran around the neighborhood in them, they wore them into the night at the chai party, etc. I have never had a Clone clear the lunch table before, but I guess there is a first time for everything, right?

Benjamin even wanted to wear his out to dinner, but one must draw the line somewhere.

Jo's sister, Amara, seemed a bit sad that she didn't have a costume. I told her that she had to be Princess Leia. So, I brought her in and put her hair up in those buns on the side of the head. She makes a beautiful princess!

Benjamin had a great time. This neighborhood is amazing. Whenever I think of wanting to live somewhere else (more storage, indoor laundry room, etc), I have to remind myself that finding a neighborhood as great as this one is very rare. I love this place and my neighbors!

Outside fun with friends!

Today was a fantastic day! I am not much of an outdoorsy kind of girl, but I spent almost the whole day outside.

This morning I went to McWhorter park with Ruth Anne, Laura, and Chelsea. I hadn't ever been there before, but I really liked it. Lois Jackson is my favorite, but they don't have bathrooms.

Anyway, Benjamin, Isaac, and Ethan had fun riding their bikes and sliding Hot Wheels down the slide. Isaac was all Evil Knievel and flying down the hill. At one point Isaac slid down the metal pole from the top of one of the play things and declared, "I did it, but I almost died." We laughed a lot at this!! Luckily, all children managed to leave without breaking any body parts...or dying. I consider that a successful day out! Olivia and Benji (Ruth Anne's) did a lot of swinging and hangin' with the Mommies.

Olivia loves swinging!

Benji does too!

After the park we had lunch at Mazzio's. Livi was a wee bit tired.

She ended up laying on her tummy in the stroller with her rear end poking up. She slept through getting in the car, out of the car at the restaurant, into the stroller, and a good amount of time at the restaurant This is VERY unlike her! Trying, unsuccessfully, to eat wood chips all morning is tiring work!!

When we got home, I let Benjamin play with the the neighborhood kids and Olivia went down for her nap. I felt all excited so I decided to tackle the (small) flowerbed that I have been neglecting for about 2 years now. I weeded it, raked the leaves out and bagged them, dug up the Oleander and transplanted it elsewhere, turned the soil, planted a red bud tree in the center, flattened the soil back, and then planted Heather. I told the lady at Lowe's that I needed a plant that "wasn't going to go down without a fight." To say that I am bad with plants is being kind!

Here is Oleander in it's new location

The red bud tree has been living in a pot since my sister-in-law gave it to me 2.5 years ago. I have not watered it, or even looked at it, since. I have thought that it was dead several times now, but it miraculously comes back every year. However, now that I have touched it, it will most certainly die!!

And this is the finished flowerbed.

Stephanie showed up right before I put the heather in. Then Laura came...then Sherene. They all dropped right down and helped me put the plants in. It was greatly appreciated!! (thanks guys!!) Then Ted, Chad, and Steve came over too. It was a regular ole' reunion at my house. I love that sort of thing!! I always wanted to live in a neighborhood where your neighbors were also your friends instead of strangers you try to avoid.

I love when the neighbors feel free to come over whenever they want. That sort of thing has never bothered me. Sherene has shown up on her own twice in the past few weeks. Once to play in the rain, and then today. A few weeks after Laura moved in she walked over one afternoon and we spent about 2 hours just chitchatting. I felt very blessed that she felt comfortable enough to do that. Stephanie and I frequent each other's homes several times a week. Linda opens her home monthly for chai parties. Perhaps I'll invite her here for tea! Jan and Lew keep up with neighborhood safety issues. And all of the children play every afternoon at every house in the neighborhood!! The children here are kind, honest, intelligent, and fun!! This is huge to me!! So, if you're reading this and you live here, thanks for being a part of making this possible.

There have been people who think it is very frightening that we live "on the south side" and can't see what it is that keeps us here. Neighbors like these are what keep us here!! We trust God for our safety, and he has provided, and then we enjoy the rest.

And, heck, who wouldn't want to live in a place where your afternoon ends like this...
A man rode by on a horse.


I channelled my inner Stephanie and yelled to him, "May the children see your horse?" He rode right over into the yard, told me he didn't speak English, and motioned for Benjamin to come to him. He put Benjamin up on his horse and walked him around the front of the yard. Then he put Jasper up on there with Benjamin. They were two VERY happy boys. At this point, Stephanie and her family came over again. The man also gave rides to Lucy, Brandon (new kid in neighborhood), Amara, and Beth Rose.


The neighborhood together again!
The children tried to feed the horse some raw carrots, but clearly the horse feels the same way I do about raw carrots...YUCK!! So, the children all begged for carrots. Yes, you read that right!!

Benjamin really enjoyed his...as you can tell by his orange mouth!

And Olivia was not about to be left out!!!

Olivia enjoyed her outside time immensely!! Here's an outside picture just for fun!

Oh, and my plums are growing again this year. Last year, being the kind animal lover that I am (HA!!), I sacrificed all of my plums to the birds. I'm a giver! Here is what they look like now.
While in the backyard, I noticed two things: my dog runs three paths in the yard and the clover that we hand dug out of the yard a couple of years ago is all back. Clover is the one plant that I cannot kill!! Argh!

Well, that was my long, rambling post for today. It was such a great day. I enjoyed all of the wonderful weather....however, my skin is quite pink. So, tomorrow I may be singing a different tune!!! Either way, I love my outside day!!

Because he lives...

....I will not walk into my laundry room. That's right! The rodent is not lying in the trap as I had hoped. Kevin has relocated one of the traps in hopes of catching him warming up by the dryer. Cross your fingers!

Luckily for me, Kevin is willing to save me the trauma of walking into that room and seeing the creature and is toting the laundry back and forth for me. I can handle that.

In other news...today the boys (Benjamin, Josiah, and Jasper) decided to dig a hole. This was not just any run of the mill hole, mind you! This was a hole that started on both sides and met up in the middle. It would have worked too if it weren't for the excited jumping on top of the hole when they got close. Now, while this may sound boring to some, to a group of boys this is great fun. We're talking about fun that keeps them busy for an hour. It also helps to keep my garden aerated. So, we both win! Nothing like a little child labor disguised as happy play time! (j/k) They were proud of themselves!



Today I also worked with Benjamin some more on his math. For those who don't know, Benjamin only goes to school for 1/2 day. The school does their academic stuff in the morning and uses the afternoons for centers and playtime. I figure I can save money and he can have playtime here. In the afternoons, I do some work with him at home as well. Today we worked on double digit addition. He wasn't so sure about it, but I knew he could do it. He loves math. He surely didn't get that from me (I may have to call it quits after this double digit addition). I showed him 2 problems and he just caught right on. He did the rest on his own and got them all correct. He was just tickled with himself...well, and Mommy was tickled too!
Well, this blogging thing isn't so tough after all. Sweet!