Wrapping up a fun week

I've been feeling the baby move around for about two months now. However, every time I've tried to let Nicholas feel her kick, either he won't hold his hand still for more than 5 seconds or else she stops kicking. Nicholas and I cuddle in his glider rocker when we read our bedtime stories each night. When she started kicking tonight, Nicholas finally felt it! He got so excited! Now he enjoys touching my belly and telling his little sister, "C'mon baby. Kick mama!"

Nicholas had a great time at summer camp this week. The theme was all about the sea. He did neat experiments like filtering water, sinking vs. floating, and making his own ocean aquarium to bring home. He also made a pirate hat out of folded newspaper. Cool! Friday was "water day" so he got to wear his swim suit and they were all going to play in the water. He said his favorite part of "water day" was playing catch with water balloons.

Friday night, we dropped Nicholas off at Fellowship Church for a few hours for the start of Adventure Weekend (aka Vacation Bible School). We brought him back to church this morning for the second day of activities. It was all day long and we were a little concerned about how he would hold out but he did great.

The theme for Adventure Weekend this year was "Backstage Blast" and the kids all got to participate in making their own movies. Nicholas also enjoyed the crafts. He made this cool megaphone.



Just like all famous movie stars, Nicholas also got to make his handprint in his own star on the Walk of Fame. What a neat idea! They used 12 inch black vinyl floor tiles and some modeling clay for the stars and handprints. Super cute!





We met back up with Nicholas at church at 3:30 and went into a special service for Adventure Weekend families. Nicholas was so proud to get to go into "Mommy and Daddy church" with us. We got to watch the video clips of what the kids did over the weekend as well as the completed movies they made.

Pastor Mike Johnson talked about the importance of raising our children. I like the scripture he quoted:

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
They shall not be ashamed,
But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
Psalm 127:3-5

Children are gifts from God. If we as parents train them and guide them correctly then they will, like an arrow shot well, follow a straight path throughout their lives. Otherwise, one might as well lay the arrows at the feet of his enemy and tell them "Good luck".

We have such an awesome children's ministry at Fellowship Church. The pastors and staff are all great and so passionate about what they do. They put on incredible children's services each week complete with Bible lessons and even a puppet show! Nicholas looks forward to going each week and he is learning such wonderful lessons about Jesus Christ and the Bible. We are blessed to have found such an awesome church for our family.

Look at that leaf and those messy fingers!

Nicholas and I were playing in the front yard today. He noticed a giant leaf on one of our sycamore trees. Look at the size of this leaf!



Nicholas said, "That's 100 cool!" I guess he meant 100 percent cool :) Of course, we had to bring it inside to measure it and Nicholas was amazed to see that it was longer than his new 12 inch ruler!



It was a very pretty leaf but it is sad because that particular tree is dying and Stuart is planning to remove it this weekend. I guess it's heard the news and is trying to impress up with a swan song. I explained the swan song reference to Nicholas and he loved how I acted it out for him. He loved it so much that he made me repeat it over and over and over...

This afternoon we went to our local library for a puppet show. It was based on Jack and the Beanstalk but adapted for especially for Texans so he had pinto beans! It was really cute. Nicholas was so impressed with it that he sat still for the whole hour. Can you make out his little blond head and red shirt in the crowd? Afterwards, we went up to the front to meet the puppeteer and get a closer look at the puppets.



For dessert tonight we had chocolate eclairs. Nicholas enjoyed eating his as much as he enjoyed squishing it through his fingers. We really try to teach good table manners to the boy but sometimes you just have to let boys be boys!

A New Ruler Can Make The Day

Nicholas and I went to Office Depot today for a few things. Nicholas got so excited when he found this ruler.



He has two rulers already but they are 6 inches long. He was amazed when he saw a 12 inch ruler. "Wow, this one is so long. I can't believe how long this ruler is?!" So we had to get it and it actually came with a free pair of scissors. He has scissors already too but he picked these out so they are more special to him. Of course he wanted to use his new ruler to measure everything as soon as we got home.



Then he used his scissors and other craft supplies to make a birthday card for Great Grandmother Green. He drew a picture of himself for her to see...

Look At My Tail!

Yesterday we found an awesome deal at Target - packages of 15 glow sticks for only a dollar! Usually glow sticks are about a dollar each so what a bargain! These are smaller than the ones we usually get but Nicholas loves any kind of glow stick so I stocked up and bought 20 packages! They'll last about a week around our house.

Of course, he and Daddy had to crack a bunch of the glow sticks last night. They are very bright and are still glowing well this afternoon. Nicholas attached them together and stuck them in the back of his pants as he said, "Look at my tail, Mommy!" He has been wearing his tail for much of the afternoon and even wanted to wear it to the library (fortunately I was able to talk him out of that one!).

Purple Leaf

Nicholas and I were talking recently about possible names for his little sister. No, Stuart and I haven't started talking about names but I was just curious about names that Nicholas might come up with. He first said "Alyssa" but I explained that we couldn't name her after his 2 year old cousin although I had a hard time really explaining why not. I named off a couple of girl names off the top of my head to see what he thought of them. I mentioned Jennifer and he said, "No, Uncle Steve Owen's friend is Jennifer so we can't name her after Jennifer." I guess he's got me there.

A moment later, he said, "I'm just going to call her Purple Leaf!" Umm, OK....why??? He said, "Because girls like the color Purple and I like leaves!"

So, until we come up with something better, the little baby girl in my tummy is loving being referred to as Purple Leaf....Maybe Stuart and I should really get started on picking out names!

Gone Fishin'

We got outdoors today and had a wonderful time together. We went fishing! There is an awesome little pond nearby that is just packed with sunfish. But there is a little secret to catching them...they love hot dogs! Yes, all you need is a tiny piece of hot dog on a hook and as soon as the hook gets wet, you have a fish on your line. It's pretty amazing and it's a great place for young children to learn how to fish with confidence instead of boredom.

We've taken Nicholas fishing several times before but it's been a while. So Daddy took some time at the beginnning to go over again how the fishing rod works, how to cast the line and set the hook.





Then watch out! On his first cast, Nicholas caught one! Then he cast again and caught another...and another...and another! What fun!













After a while, catching fish got boring so Nicholas played at the gazebo and in the dirt and let Mommy and Daddy have a go at catching fish. It was fun!







Nicholas also had fun looking through Daddy's tackle box. What neat little rubbery critters there are in there!



While looking in the tackle box, Nicholas noticed a little ant had crawled in and was carrying away a piece of hot dog that was bigger than himself! We all stopped and watched for a while in amazement.



While we were using his fishing rod, Nicholas found a big stick and decided that he could use it as another fishing pole. He put a piece of hot dog on the stick and tried to fish with it. The hot dog kept falling off but he didn't care. I love his creativity in making his own fishing pole!

We miss our friend

Our friend Dwayne passed away Thursday night around 10:00 pm. We will miss him. I tried to find a few children's books about death and Heaven but unfortunately they were all checked out. However, Stuart sat down with Nicholas yesterday and explained the Mr. Dwayne had died and was in Heaven now. Nicholas was sad but he said, "The good news is that Dwayne was with Jesus now so that is ok."

Stuart and I worked together and made 200 ribbon pins so that everyone in the media department at church can wear one this weekend in honor of Dwayne. Nicholas even helped to make a few. Nicholas was at our friends, the Kofinks, last night while we were at the visitation and our neighbor's house this morning while we were at the funeral. He had fun both times and is doing fine. It's still hard for Stuart and I to look at the video camera at church where we usually see Dwayne's smiling face and not find him there.