Unity! 8/14/10 !!!!EDITED!!!!! 2 new videos added

One of the local radio stations sponsors a 3 day Christian music festival call Unity Christian Music Festival. The boys went Friday night as part of their Daddy/Son day. The artists they saw that night were Josh Wilson (who they boys met when he autographed the cd they bought), Sidewalk Prophets, Salvador, and the finale of the night, Casting Crowns.

On Saturday afternoon we all went together as a family. It was hot and sticky!!! We went and did some of the activities to get out of the direct sunlight for awhile. Daddy helped Marc shoot a paint ball gun and some hanging targets. (This was the only activity that cost money, and it was only $1!)
There was a climbing wall for the kids to do.
This is our little Princess waiting for Marc to be done with the climbing wall.
There was a carnival games tent for kids 5 years old and older. There were 16 games. Each kid got a bag with 16 tickets for free. The kids had to decide what games they wanted to use their tickets on. There were prizes ranging from candy to trinkets.
There was also a 5 years and under tent with some games for the younger ones to play.
There was a table of Duplo blocks for the younger kids to build with.
The music groups we heard on Saturday were: Mike's Chair, 33 Miles (pictured below), DecembeRadio, Mandisa, Matthew West, and the finale, Jeremy Camp. My favorite was Jeremy Camp. We didn't know many of his songs until he started singing them. Our church band plays many of his songs, and I like them a lot. I foresee us buying some of his cds soon. ;-)
In addition to the free carnival games, there were free inflatables for Marc to do. This one was an obstacle course where he had to climb through and around things, up a big wall, and then.......
down a really fun slide!
My little cutie pie being sweet with her Daddy while her brother did his big boy activities.

I don't know if it is obvious in this picture or not, but Marc had a blast doing the bungy run! He had to strap on a harness that was attached to a bungy cord attached to the back of the wall. He had to run as fast and hard as he could and see how far down he made it. Being a little guy, he didn't make it very far and he fell on his toosh when it pulled him back. Very fun to watch!

Another free thing for the kids were bead necklaces. Samantha did really good in the beginning. I held the end of the string (with tape on it to make it stronger) while she put the beads onto the string. She quickly grew bored with it and started trying to string the beads while looking the opposite direction. Silly girl!
Marc took his beads and string back to our seats to make his necklace.
He chose to make his a red, white, and blue necklace.
After game and craft time, it was time to eat. The kids and I had grilled cheese sandwiches made with real butter on a George Forman grill.....best grilled cheese sandwich I have ever had! We chased our sandwiches down with an ear of corn cooked over the grill slathered with real butter and salt. Best ear of corn I have ever had!!
After we got down eating our dinner in the shade, we headed back to our seats for some music time! Samantha asked to get up on Daddy's "yap" while he was singing along to the musicians.
And the kids had lots of fun dancing around on our blanket. We spent some time relaxing in our seats, playing card games, playing "poonies", and enjoying the great music!
I have to admit, when Marc brought up the idea of going I was a little reluctant. As it turns out, we had a great time!! I will make a bet that we will go again next year!

Ice Cream!! 8/11/10

We have had several "things" going on around our house the last few weeks.

The first one is with Marc. His behavior has been bad, to say the least. The was he has been acting is somewhat typical for a 6-year-old boy, but I think to the extreme. He is working towards being good for a week so he can go to Chuck E Cheese. Well, the first day he was good, we decided to reward his good behavior.

The second is with Samantha. We have been trying to make the next step in potty training. We have kinda stalled out in making progress so we took the next step and put her in underwear while we are home. I make it a point to sit her on the potty every hour or so to make sure she stays dry. The first few days she still had an accident or 2 each day. The same day Marc was good, Samantha stayed dry all day! So we decided to reward her good behavior.

So, what better way to reward both kids on a hot summer day....ice cream!! We headed to the local ice cream shop and hot dogs and french fries for dinner and ice cream for dessert. We normally don't get Samantha her own ice cream cone, but we had a coupon for a free one, so we thought, what the heck, we got her own. I told Daddy to get it in a bowl, but must be he didn't hear me and when Daddy ordered it he got it on a cone.The first few licks she took, she flinched because it was cold, She got used to it and started eating it. It was hot, so the ice cream melted quickly, so as Mommy originally said she needed, Daddy got a bowl to put it in. ;-)
I tried to get some cute pictures of Marc eating his ice cream, but he kept rolling his eyes at me every time I pointed the camera at him. Think he gets tired of always having his picture taken? ;-)
After we all got done with our ice cream we headed home and Samantha got a quick bath before bed since she was covered head to toe in melted ice cream! ;-) It was a good end to a good day!

Play-doh!! 8/11/10

The kids were getting antsy one morning so I decided to pull out the Play-doh! Samantha had never played with it before, we we had to show her what to do with it. The first thing I showed her was on to use a stamp on it, and it was Pooh Bear!Even Marc still had fun playing with Play-doh! He had fun playing with a new toy that Samantha got from our childcare provider for Christmas. The octopus had lots of different tools attached to him to use.

Samantha even had her first experience with scissors! Her hands are quite big enough to make the scissors open and close on her own, but she did great with a little help from Mommy. Now, every time she sees a pair of scissors, she wants to use them. I guess it might be time to get out our cutting box again. :-)
I think fun was had by all!
Ya gotta love Play-doh!!

Marc/Grandma Day 8/12/10

Marc has been asking when he can have a special Marc/Grandma day. Between our vacation and my Mom's work travel schedule, it has taken awhile, but we finally got a day scheduled. My Mom told Marc they could do pretty much whatever he wanted. He decided he wanted to go to the Meijer Gardens again. It was a really hot and humid day so they headed there first thing.One of the workers was nice enough to take a picture of Marc and Grandma together on their special day.
We got completely drenched playing in the water, but I bet he was keeping cool. ;-) Good thing we sent a change of clothes for him.
After the Meijer Gardens they headed to Red Robin for lunch (Yum!) Apparently Marc worked off all his energy at the Gardens and had to refuel because my Mom said he ate like he hadn't eaten in a week!
After refueling, they headed to a place called Naked Plates. It's one of those places where you paint pottery and then they fire it and turn into something for you. Marc chose to paint a plate. Then came the hard part.....choosing what to paint on it. He thought, thought, looked around, and thought some more. Finally he decided he liked the sample plate with a monster painted on it, so he decided to copy it.
I am excited to see the finished product! I am not sure who had more fun that day, Marc or Grandma. ;-)

"Happy Daddy" 7/31/10

Since we were in CA for Marc's birthday this year, we had a belated celebration with my family. My Mom and Grandma came up for some lunch, gifts, family time, and best of all, cake and ice cream!!

We made a yummy lemonade cake. Here is a link to the recipe we used: Lemonade Party Cake Marc helped me make it the day before. After lunch Marc helped me frost the cake, put the decorations on, and put the candles in.For the very first time, ever!, my little man helped light the cake. Whenever we let him do some "big boyish" it make me feel both proud and sad. Proud that he is growing up to be such a smart, caring little man and sad that he isn't my little boy any more.
I don't think there have been any candles lit in the last 6 years that anyone has gotten to blow out themselves. ;-)
For every occasion Marc makes a collage project and card. In this picture Marc is explaining to Daddy all the things he drew on his card. The cutest one was a picture of Daddy sitting at his computer. :-)
As Marc opened his gifts, the kids played with the bows and ribbons. These are pictures of Daddy's 2 cutest birthday presents.
I hope Marc had a good birthday! I know everyone else had fun.

Carnival Time! 7/27/10

Every summer our local library has a summer reading program. Every year we participate by reading, going to preschool story time hours, reading, going to elementary school story hours, reading, reading, and more reading.
At the end of the program, the local store and 7Up sponsors a free carnival for the participants. There are a few carnival games, like ring a can of soda.There was popcorn, chips, cookies, juice, and ice cream sandwiches to snack on. They were giving out reading tattoo. Both the kiddos wanted one, so here they are sporting their new "ink". ;-)
The local fire department brings out one of their pumper trucks and hoses the kids down! Marc looks forward to this every year. We were told ahead of time that there were going to be water activities so Marc had his suit on for when the fire truck soaked the kids.
Marc's favorite water activity was this inflatable water slide. He waited in line to gone down it about 5 times. The last time he did it he decided to mix it up a little and go down head first.
It was a very fun and free 2 hours! :-)

Clean Teeth! 7/21/10

One day Samantha told me she wanted to brush her teeth like Marc does. That afternoon I happened to be going grocery shopping anyway, so I bought Samantha her very own toothbrush and toothpaste. She got a pink & purple Elmo & Abby toothbrush and My Little Pony toothpaste. :-)
Of course, the first time we brushed her teeth it was a family affair. ;-) Everyone crowded into the bathroom to help/watch.After we got done brushing I told her to spit the toothpaste out into the sink. Well, as I was lifting her up to the sink, she swallowed it. Still, ever weeks later, she swallows it (don't worry, it's training toothpaste without fluoride) and sticks her tongue out over the sink to "spit" it out.
She feels like a big girl being able to brush her teeth like her big brother does.

Grandchildren Therapy 7/21/10

After being gone on vacation for 2 weeks, my Mom said she needed a little grandchildren therapy.....she missed my munchkins. :-) So we planned a day to meet at the Meijer Botanical Gardens.
The first thing we always do in the Children's Garden is the tree house. The kids tested their (and ours) animal knowledge in the lift the panel trivia questions in the tree. Grandma and I did pretty well. ;-)Part of the tree house is a cute little table and chairs with a tea set and dishes. It was hot out that day so Samantha made sure we were all well hydrated. ;-)
I wanted to get a picture of my little "peeps" in the bird's nest, but my littlest "peep" wasn't in the mood to get her picture taken right then.
This bridge is a suspension bridge that wiggles as you walk across it. We went round and round in circles always coming back to cross the bridge again and again and again, you get the picture. The first time she stepped onto the bridge she was a little nervous....she quickly got over that!
Gee, guess what...Marc likes that bridge too! ;-)
After we finish with the tree house we head over to a log cabin that usually has some old fashion, hand-made toys to play with. We went and played there for a few, until we got overrun with a daycare group.
After the log cabin we head over to the sand pit. Since it was so sunny and hot out we quickly found a shady patch of sand and began to play. When we took Samantha's shoes off and put her in the sand she did NOT like it! We weren't sure if she didn't like the ground moving under her feet or the feel of the sand between her toes.
After some time to get used to it, Samantha "dug" right in! She scooped up sand and poured it over Grandma's feet and into her hands and buckets. After a while we went to the other end of the sand pit where there are dinosaur bones buried and the kids dug some up.
When we left the sand pit we walked along the walking path. We found a little hut that had puppets for a puppet show. Marc didn't stand still long enough for me to get any pictures of him. I was, however, able to snap a picture of Samantha helping a butter fly give Grandma a kiss.
The last stop we always make is the water area. There are small replicas of the great lakes for the kids to drive boats around, and just plain get wet! There are also a few misters scattered around. Marc likes to stick his head directly in the path of the water. So, of course, our little miss copy cat had to do the same thing. ;-)
In the water area there is also a small fountain-looking thing of kids playing. It used to be just for decoration, but kids quickly found out that it is fun to splash around in the water. It now smells very heavily of chlorine. ;-)
I ended up with 2 very wet children! I learned early on to bring their crocs for them to wear in the water areas and a change of clothes for them to change into on the way out.
It was a very hot, but very fun day!