Touch-a-truck

Touch-a-truck is one of those events that would have seemed very strange to us before we had kids, especially two boys. Basically, a bunch of big trucks and tractors are parked in a big parking lot, you pay $5 per person to climb on them and honk their horns. Definitely not on our to-do list before having kids. But this is the second times the boys have gone and they just love it. Therefore, it is now on our to-do list!

Giant dump truck wheel squashes pre-schooler

The boys are getting in touch with their feminine side

Zac and Mommy explore a cement mixer - Zac looks like he's ready to jump - I'm outta here...

Hopefully this is the one and only time Benji will be in the back of a police car :)

There is a picture of Shearn Yoong helping Benji down from the dump truck on the last page of the "Our Town" section of today's Morning News. We're famous!

Ear infections

Benji has struggled with multiple ear infections this winter. Though I have tried to empathize with him, I myself had never had one (not even as a young child or baby). But on Friday night I got to experience my first ear infection, and I'm here to tell you, it hurts!! I had a whole new level of empathy for him after this weekend. I've been putting tons of garlic oil in my ear, so hopefully that will help it be a short infection.

New pasttime that the boys can do together

One of the main problems of motherhood right now is that whenever I try to do more advanced activities with Benji (crafts, art, etc.), what do I do with Zachary during that time? In the end I just end up stressed out, thinking, "Is this supposed to be FUN???" But we do now have one activity that both boys enjoy at the same time: painting with watercolors. Here is a picture from our morning's painting session:

One warning to other mothers of 18 month year olds. Pouring the water out of the cup is also very fun, so be ready to clean up quite a bit of water. For me, this morning it was worth it, but if I wasn't feeling patient, probably the mess wouldn't be worth it.

Flowers of spring

One of my favorite parts of spring is waiting for each batch of new perennials to bloom. Here are some of the irises from our back yard.

Picture taken by Benji

Even if it's not perfectly centered, I like this picture Benji took of Zac last month - I like the expression on Zac's face that Benji captured. Perhaps we have a budding photographer.

New paint in the kitchen

Thanks to Shearn Yoong, our kitchen has a new look:

Psalm 121

After a particularly difficult week of motherhood, I was meditating on Psalm 121 this afternoon, the psalm assign to memorize in the Beth Moore "Stepping Up" Bible Study I am currently working on. God spoke comfort, encouragement, and HELP from these words...

Psalm 121

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;

4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;

8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

Some photos from Dallas Botanical Gardens

Me and my best friend Linda - her birthday was Friday and mine was Sunday so it was our
weekend to celebrate! BFF (best friends forever) since 6th grade - these are the friends that don't come around everyday.

May Benji and I always have fun running in the sunshine together...

What does this remind you of?

Hawaiian flowers? The beach? Well, not for Benji. When he saw my new swimsuit for this year, he immediately said it looked like a cow. Just what a girl wants to hear!

Car trips are from hell

Or otherwise known as, we drove 5 hours each way to and from Dallas with two young boys in one small car.

The actual visit in Dallas was lovely. And the trip there was pretty good. But the trip home was not.

We enjoyed seeing you Paul and Linda - but don't expect us back for another year or so to allow ample time to recover from the car trip home.

How I wish we were rich enough to fly EVERYWHERE. I know that the plane trip from XNA to Dallas is 55 minutes. 55 minutes vs. 5 hours --- no comparison; oh, expect a couple hundred bucks.

Chocolate pudding

Benji has another ear infection, so we went to the store yesterday to pick up the antibiotic to treat it and some chocolate pudding to mix it with. Though I remembered the antibiotic, somehow I forgot to buy the chocolate pudding. So we decided to make our own from scratch - which turns out to be a quite easy task. The Joy of Cooking recipe called for 2 cups of half and half. Now, I'm sure it would have tasted better if we had followed that recipe but we opted for 2 cups of rice milk (since Benji has sensitivities to dairy plus that amount of fat had me shaking with fear).

After waiting the obligatory 2 hours of cooling, I wanted to try some too (since this was my first time to make pudding from scratch after all). When I told Benji I wanted to try some too. He proceeded to ask why because "you're not sick."

I might have permanently ruined chocolate pudding for him by always mixing his ear infection medicine in it. Oh well, there are plenty of other desserts for him to enjoy in the years to come. Maybe even the variety that include the 2 cups of half and half.

The joy of weeding

Many people might not find pleasure in pulling up those nuisances in the garden. But this summer I find immense pleasure in them. This is the first summer since I had kids (almost 4 years ago!) that I am able to do small yard work chores (like weeding or sweeping the patio) with both kids playing contentedly (either by themselves or with each other). This is monumental for me!

A few days ago I spent a good 10-15 minutes weeding our back flower bed and then Benji used his plastic wheel barrow to take the weeds to the compost pile for me.

I may not be a master gardener (just look at my yard and you'll see that) but maybe I can hone a few skills now that my kids are a *little* more independent.

How cool is this.

Benji said, "How cool is this." about 5 times when getting ready for the maiden voyage of our new bike trailer. (which is evidence that I over-use the word "cool" ) But I have to admit - it is pretty cool.