Fun with Friends at the Coffee Shop

As mentioned before, the kids won a costume contest at the local Coffee Shop on Halloween night. Along with some of their friends who also placed, they received gift certificates for free

drinks. So several weeks later, we rounded them all up one Friday after school and headed downtown to redeem their certificates. It ended up being a beautiful fall day, so the walk was perfect! They all had a great time "chatting" and playing - and I don't think Parker minded ONE BIT being the only boy. What do you think?:

A Fun Day With Hallie

A year or so ago, some friends of ours, the Hardins, moved to China to do mission work. I have always admired people who dedicate their lives to such a work, and they are no different - especially with 3 kiddos! Hallie (their oldest) and Kinlee have always been good friends since we lived in Henderson. Hallie's grandparents worship where we do, so even after we moved here, they still continued to see eachother on occasion. Well, since their move to China, obviously, those times have been fewer and far between. The Hardins are in the states for a couple of months, so we couldn't let the opportunity go by!!! SO, last week, we headed to pick up Hallie for a day of friend fun! We first went to the park to play. Then, at lunchtime, we headed to Taco Bell. I laughed as I listened to my kids asking her questions such as:

My kids: Do they have Taco Bells in China?
Hallie: Probably in Shanghai.
My kids: Do you see lots of pandas in China?
Hallie: In a zoo, not just out on the road.
My kids: Do they have computers in China?
Hallie: (rolling eyes): Yes....
My kids: Do they have TVs in China?
Hallie: Yes, but we mostly watch DVDs - we can't understand their TV shows.
Me: Do they have different table manners in China?
Hallie: They think you'll get sick if you eat with your hands. (Of course, right at that moment, she caught me scooping up the last of Parker's nacho cheese with my finger at which she replied - "That.....they wouldn't like") OOPS! ;)
Anyway, she taught us some things about Chinese culture and even taught us a few Chinese words.

After the park and lunch, we headed home for the afternoon. The girls played upstairs for a while, watched a little TV (since it was in English), played a little on the computer (since they don't have those in China :)), and had about 2 hours of fun on the water slide! We ate supper, and then reluctantly, we had to take Hallie back to her grandparent's house. Kinlee did much better with "good-byes" than I thought she would. I was proud of her - it's hard. Thank you, Jen, for letting us borrow her for the day - they had a great time!!! (If I could spell it, I would type that Chinese word for "thank you" that Hallie taught us, but you know what it is.....)

Fun Times with the Thompsons!!!

As I stated in my post yesterday, Chad and Sandy Thompson and their crew came over for dinner this past weekend. We had a great time - great food, great company, and just plain fun! Kinlee decided early on in the day that she wanted to do something special for Cade, Chance, and Cooper. SO, she set out to create our very own "Webkinz Zoo". She even recruited Parker to help with the preparation. She definitely stuck with it longer than he did, but he was a big help, too. They proceeded to lay out all of the Webkinz, draw pictures of each animal's "habitat", and place the animal in it's own special place. Kinlee spent a LOT of time drawing, coloring, and cutting out "food" for each animal. She even made "punch cards" with each boy's name on it.

The zoo went like this: when you came upstairs, you received your Zoo card. You then proceeded to travel through the zoo (which took up Kinlee's room, the bathroom, and Parker's room). Food was drawn out of a bucket and fed to the correct animal. Each time you feed an animal, you get a punch on your card. The boys really seemed to enjoy it. Cooper went with the flow, Chance stuck with it for a while, and Cade outlasted them all.

After the feeding was over, the boys were given some pennies (I insisted that our company NOT be out any of their own money!!!) and got to shop at the souvenier shop. They bought pencils, small stuffed animals, motorcycles, etc... I would say that all in all, the zoo was a big hit!!!

Again, this is a slight repeat of my post yesterday, but I just wanted to show a few more pictures of the boys putting their prints on our handprint wall. I especially like looking at the one of me painting Cooper's hand, because everytime I would get the paint on there, he would make a fist, just to watch and feel it "squish". I think we did that 3 or 4 times before we finally got to the wall!:o) I loved it!

Thanks, Chad and Sandy, for a great night - we miss you guys - we'll do it again soon.....

The "Jealousy Bug" Didn't Win This Time...:)

This weekend, the kids and I (Mark is still quarantined) headed up to the Middle School gym to the Gibson Co. Freethrow Shoot contest. All of the schools in the area hold a school-wide competition. The winners of that go to the contest that we went to on Saturday. Then the winners of that go on to another contest, etc..... until the finalists end up in Massachusetts!

Well, when Parker left for school last Monday, he was very excited to be competing in the school-wide competition later that day. When I picked him up from school, he was still VERY excited - he almost couldn't wait to get into the van to tell me how it went. However, he wasn't excited for himself this time. His good buddy, Hunter, won the competition and was to compete Saturday at the Middle School. After he got done telling me that Hunter had shot 10 out of 10 and that we HAD to go to the shoot on Saturday, I asked him how HE had done. He said, "Oh, I was 0 for 4, but Hunter hit them all!!!" I was so proud of how excited he was for SOMEONE ELSE! Of course, I was NOT going to turn down his request (even though it meant me getting up early on Saturday morning), and we headed out. Above are some pictures of Parker and Hunter. We have both told Parker several times how it takes a true friend to be excited and not jealous at another's accomplishments. Hunter ended up winning this past Saturday, and will compete this NEXT Saturday in a Regional competition. Any ideas where we'll be bright and early Saturday morning?........Way to go, Parker - we're proud of you!!!!

Bible Class Christmas Party & Mark's new Friend!!!

Last night, we enjoyed time with some friends from church at our annual Progressive Dinner/Dirty Santa Christmas party. I think we had even MORE fun this year because we actually KNEW the people we were hanging out with! This time last year, we were new to the congregation and still putting faces with names. It is amazing how much difference a year can make! These people are to be commended (okay, maybe not for their lack of Christian attitudes during Dirty Santa), but for making us feel at home at Main St.. Thanks, guys! We had a great time.

Here are some pictures of Mark and his new-found friend Andy (aka: Andy's 1400 inch big screen TV). Mark and Andy (Andy's TV) really bonded last night. Mark and Andy (Andy's TV) found that they have so much in common and should really spend more time together heading into this new year. Mark and Andy (Andy's TV) had a great time last night - he is so glad he found Andy (Andy's TV) to fill a void in his life that he didn't even know he had!!! Thanks, Andy (Andy's TV) - Mark loves you!!!!! :)