orlando science center: rockwell's america

the norman rockwell exhibit at the orlando science center was very very impressive. we probably would have skipped it, thinking it was simply a presentation of his artwork and that the kids would not have enjoyed (or endured) that. but one of the moms there told us that her kids really loved exploring this exhibit, so we thought we'd peek at it. wow! i am so glad we did. we stayed over an hour while the kids climbed on the 3-D representations of rockwell's paintings. here are a few that were our favorites, or the ones that the kids actually stopped long enough for me to take a picture. :)

we first walked in to rockwell's "studio", and there were all sorts of real-life drawers full of art supplies to explore. the statue of rockwell's triple self portrait sat in the middle of the art studio.



this statue was in the "attic", a room full of dress up clothes and vintage toys... including a big train set! caroline was very concerned about the screw in this girl's foot!



caroline was not as cooperative as rockwell's subjects for this painting! :) she was really interested in the dog on the other side of the bench. but good try, daddy!!



the kids were really interested in the fake cake on the counter of this exhibit... i think those stools were just for looks because they were very unstable, and caroline slipped right off! but of course i made her get back on to get a good picture. ethan was tired of pictures by this point, so this is as good as it gets. he looks so sad that the other boy got the girl! ha!



there was a whole section on the war, based on rockwell's willie gillis paintings. the kids had fun playing in a camouflaged jeep, and i know there was more. this was near the end, and i was ready for lunch. so i hurried on!



in addition to the representations of his paintings, the creators of this exhibit did an excellent job depicting life in rockwell's day. you simply strolled down "main street" and felt like you were walking through history.

the kids thrilled on driving mom and dad in this model-T car!



the phones in the various "stores" worked, and ethan loved calling daddy and caroline. this phone system represented rockwell's painting called the gossips. of course, we didn't gossip. :) we just squealed with glee to daddy who was 10 feet away in another "store"! :)



the school room was really cute, and caroline loved sitting in her own desk! i caught a glimpse of my school-girl-self in her at this very moment, turned around talking to the person behind her. me?! talk in class?! never!



older kids would really enjoy drawing their own self-portrait rockwell-style at this little artist's area. caroline was content organizing crayons... but i thought this was a great idea. all the kids' self-portraits were displayed on the walls on "saturday evening post" cover paper.



as we exited the exhibit, we walked through a huge display of every one of rockwell's saturday evening post covers. it was pretty impressive!


well, obviously ethan was not impressed. :)


this traveling exhibit is only in orlando till mid-october, so maybe it will come to a town near you! i'd highly recommend checking it out if it comes your way...

orlando science center: daddy's theme park

we spent a wonderful few days in orlando this past week. of course i took way too many pictures to fit our whole vacation into one post... so i'll start with the orlando science center. this was my bribe to brian to take this trip. :) i knew he'd love to experience this with ethan, and i was right!


our first discovery was "kidstown", the area designed just for younger kiddos. ethan and caroline could have stayed there all day. ethan actually could've stayed at the mechanics exhibit for most of the day... it was adorable. (if fixing a car can be adorable!) you can change tires, check under the hood for various parts w/ sound affects, replace the license plates, and even slide under the car to fix the muffler.





next, we explored the orange grove factory, where the kids picked "oranges" and imitated harvesting them. the kids loved the factory noises and whistles that blew as you worked. the picked oranges go into a tube that moves the oranges along above you as you cycle. (this is the only bicycling i'm doing these days!) the oranges then plop into a bin (i know, real technical, huh?) and the kids transfer them to the conveyor belt. something may happen after that, but this area suddenly got bombarded with very-excited boys, so we moved on!





ethan and caroline stayed busy with the little red kitchen. i have actually been shopping around for kitchens for a possible christmas present for the kids, and i fell in love with this one. i found out that it is $700 from pottery barn, so i told the kids to enjoy it that day because they'd never see that one again!!



brian's favorite part about the entire museum was this water table where you can alter the flow of water with plastic dams. the kids also had fun splashing in the water and following their boats in the current. a funny story... i was with ethan in the kitchen area while brian and caroline were playing boats. she decided to join us, and brian stayed behind to finish his big levee project. :) a few minutes later, an employee walks in and sees brian playing away and notices the empty stroller with shoes in it. but no child is anywhere to be seen. he asks brian, "do you have a toddler?" brian, not wanting to be interrupted from his project, quickly says, "yes". the employee stands there and gives brian this look like, "well, where's your kid?!" as if brian was so engrossed in the water table that he lost his child. :) my husband may be no multi-tasker, but he IS mr. safety!!!!



ok... this post is already long enough, and i haven't even finished the first level of the science center! we did spend the most time in kidstown, though, and i just loved how they had so much geared toward the little ones! i will stop here for now, though there is more to come about the science center... a very very amazing norman rockwell exhibit, which i think was worth the price of admission within itself, as well as the typical science museum stuff that my husband loves. :) hope you are having a good weekend! stay tuned for more...

september fun with caroline!

this little girl is doing and saying new and hilarious things every day. she is on the brink of being two years old, but shhh... don't tell her that. i suspect that caroline sees herself as a 3 year old equal to her brother. while she does love her bracelets, dishes, and babydolls, you will find her most often playing with cars that go "wast" (fast) and walking around in a construction hat, safety goggles, and "eees shoes" (ethan's shoes).

caroline's speech is pretty comical. it's actually getting a lot clearer these days, but i usually feel like i need to leave a translation guide with anyone that is watching her. "gram" is "wam", "covers" are "co-co", and "caroline" is..well... i can't even type it. kind of like "ngai-ngai". she's repeating "line line", but the "l" is not there. she is using a ton of words, and once you figure out what she's saying, it makes complete sense. it's just that in between step that counts! :) she is getting close to putting two words together, but for now, it's separate. emphatic. one-word statements. and you'd better be listening! you can often hear her declare "mess!" (usually announcing something she's done) and "trash!" if there is something to be thrown away. (i'm counting on caroline to be my right-hand-girl for cleaning before too long!!) she also says the SAME things for various routines we have or for recent experiences that she remembers... like everytime i change her diaper she says, "ninks!" (stinks). and natalie and joseph did sidewalk chalk on our front porch the other day, and evvvvvverytime we walk by their artwork, caroline reminds me, "nah-nah" (natalie). "draw". "jo-jo". "draw". yes, caroline, i remember. :)

one of caroline's favorite "mommy" things right now is "chubby". does anyone remember this silly little joke from our childhood? one day, it just came to mind as caroline was messing with my face, and wow, she laughed and laughed. i couldn't even remember the words, but as long as i squished my cheeks together, she was cracking up! she usually uses it as a bedtime stalling tactic, when i'm singing songs to her and she doesn't want me to stop. after the inevitable, "ok, it's time for bed", she puts her fat little hands on my cheeks, smiles, and says, "chu-chu?!" and we do our little chubby thing. she and i don't have very many "just us" things. usually i sing her the same songs that i have always sung to ethan, and usually he's right there in the mix of things. but "chubby" is really just between me and caroline, and while it's not really that endearing within itself, caroline just turns it into something special. i know that is terribly cheesy! oh, i am so pregnant!

caroline, like most two-ish year olds (and three and four!), is very into doing things herself. after she has put on her pants or shoes by herself, she will throw her hands up in the air and announce "diiiit!" (did it!) i have a hilarious video of her doing this with some too-small clothes she found in her closet, but she is naked otherwise, and that violates daddy's no-naked-child-pictures-on-the-blog rule. SO i will have to stage a clothed version of this and post it sometime. ok, so that probably means never. but if you're ever at my house, ask to see it. :)

the other day, ethan was wearing a soccer shirt, so caroline went on the hunt for her own soccer shirt! she came into the living room pleading for help... i looked up to see this...


yes, instead of helping her, i ran to get the camera. :) she was so stuck inside that shirt. after she got it on the right way, i realized that i actually needed to get her dressed so we could go to wal-mart. well, that sista was leaving brother's soccer shirt ON! i decided to not make this a battle, considering it was wal-mart. so i stuck a bow in her hair and put on ruffly little shorts and pink shoes. i think she passed as a girl. :) here's the "i am not taking off this shirt that matches my brother's" look...


one afternoon when i was picking up our room, caroline was playing on my bed. she wanted to stay up there while i made the bed, so i told her she had to be a pillow. she was so amused with this idea that she sat behind the pillows for a good long while. (at least long enough for me to get the camera again!) she had fun playing peek-a-boo from behind those pillows... but the minute nana knocked on the door, she got down from the bed in a flash! here's that cheesy cute grin from behind the pillows...



caroline's curls are getting out of control. once she is out in the humidity, they bounce up into a nearly perfect 'do, but at home, we like to call her "caro-lion". especially after i've brushed the tangles out! anytime we head out the door, i have to attack her with a spray bottle to scrunch up her curls. she's used to it now, but i did have to chase her down the hall to do her hair! i have also invested in detangler, which helps soften her hair overall. the humidity has been wonderful for her hair (don't we all wish we could say that?!?!?), so i am fearful of what the winter will bring. caroline's head may be one big fuzz ball!!!! but then again, the humidity never really takes a winter vacation down here, so maybe it won't be so bad for caroline's hair. i still can't believe i have a daughter with CURLS. my hair won't even hold curl from a curling iron for an hour!

we are blessed to be a part of a wonderful Bible study. the older kids take care of the younger ones while we fellowship and grow in the Word. there are many blessings associated with this group, but one great blessing is that my children are growing closer to the children of families that we highly, highly respect. these kids are so sweet to ethan and caroline. they greet them so cheerfully and include them in their playing. i'm sure "tolerate" is a good word to use at times!! haha. during our labor day cookout, the older girls let caroline join them in playing dress-up. look at how proud they were of their little doll! you can't see it very well, but her get-up includes a full length sequin gown! :) my kids love these kids!!



sometimes i will realize that it's been at least 15 or 20 minutes since i've heard anything out of caroline while she's playing. this usually means 1 of 2 things... she is either sitting in the middle of a pile of books in ethan's room, just reading away... or she is really into something she shouldn't be (like the toilet or something in my room). i hesitate to run to check on her during times like this because if she IS reading or playing happily, my presence usually ends her contentedness. so i often just take my chances and enjoy the peace. well, it was getting close to naptime one day, and it was one of those quiet lapses in her play. i peeked in her room to see what she was doing, and well, i guess it was naptime. the soundtrack in my mind started playing, "i come to the garden aloooone!"



since nana and daddy both have camera phones now, the kids are really into taking "pictures" of me with their play phones allll day doing whatever i'm doing. (i guess now i know how they feel! ha!) i hear "cheeeese!" and i flash a smile, and click. they're satisfied. ethan will even stop and say, "that's soooooo cute!" after the picture. so i try to pose every now and then. :) well, the paparazzi grew weary of their job after awhile and decided to settle down in my laundry basket. now it was my turn to grab the camera. as soon as i said "cheese!", their "camera phones" went right up!


but here's a keeper. now i need to teach them to put the laundry in the basket!


we are really enjoying caroline right now. i saw on someone's blog the other day how the "two's" should not be a time that we endure but a time that we embrace. that statement really encouraged and challenged me. there are so many days that i'm sure i have the attitude of simply enduring caroline's constant requests and unintellible whinings. i am convicted when she exclaims "yowwwww-d!" because i have raised my voice at her. i want to have enough patience to sit and read the same book 30 times to her like she asks. my prayer with caroline these days is that i would embrace her. embrace these almost two-year old days. (not embrace in the sense that i ignore her need for parental guidance and discipline... i hope i am making sense.) before we know it, she is going to be talking in sentences, and she will be a big sister. wow. and she'll say her name perfectly, and we'll wonder where the days went.

splish splash!

we had a fun family day at a local water park. not a big crazy one... this was just the right size for my careful kids who hate getting water in their face (we're working on that...). brian's parents came along with us, jeff, kristie, and karina for a wonderful day. i have to mention all of them because i have no pictures of them. :( i was busy staying cool in the water, so i hardly took any pictures at all. here's a few i took of our kiddos...

the highlight for ethan was most definitely the water guns. he perched himself on top of that play area and did not leave except for lunch and the two times we made him go down the slide with daddy! he loved pelting everyone that came in his path... including a few unsuspecting moms who were just trying to keep up with their kids. one was NOT amused. even after i apologized. oh well, lady. you have to expect to get wet at a water park.




caroline enjoyed "swimming" in the no-depth area. she went down the slide a couple of times with mommy & aunt kristie (not all of us together...haha. that is a funny mental picture!), but she was not a big fan of the water in the face as you come down. so she went back to "swimming" and had a ball.


here is a great shot of ethan and daddy coming down the slide. i was glad to see ethan loved it, even though he really didn't want to go. by next summer, he'll be going down that thing by himself. i hope. :)



summer is winding down in some ways, but i know it will still be warm here for some time. the evenings are starting to be tolerable, and we may just have a cool one here before ya know it. i'd love to visit this water park one more time before we break out the long sleeves. for a day anyway. oh the tease of southern weather! have y'all had "last minute" days of summer fun? (sorry hope, this question is not for you...)

brian turns the big 3-0!

we recently celebrated brian's milestone birthday with friends and family. what a fun night we had praising God for a wonderful 30 years! we gave everybody a "thirty years- thirty questions" quiz about brian. it was a close race between brian's long-time friend and best man, jonathan, and brian's mom. it even got a little heated at times!! (like over what was really brian's "first car"? the one he drove at 16 or the one he purchased himself during college?!?!) in the end, brian's mom won, though jonathan pledged to present some evidence that he was right on a few more questions. :) sorry, jonathan. i think it was right and good that the woman that birthed and raised brian actually proved to know the most about him!! even if she did write down that we got engaged in 1994! :)


brian is not a big "cake" guy, but boy does this birthday boy love his cookie cake! it's not enough icing for me, but hey, it's not my birthday. we put thirty candles on the cake, and i'm not kidding... it really put out a lot of heat!

we had to blow out those candles in a hurry before we started sweating! :)
never attempt a family picture in front of a really big cake...
the kids will be distracted! i would have been too if there had been more icing!
my mom ran to the store before brian's party to pick up all the things i forgot... plates, forks, etc... and she was so proud of the "older but wiser" plates she found. till we tore off the wrapper with the big sticker on it, and we realized the plates said, "older, BUTT WIDER". my mom will probably be mortified that i am blogging about that, but we all had a good laugh over it! and in her defense, the sticker was covering up the plates. :)


here's the birthday boy digging in...


and here's our daughter also digging in...


here is brian with his mom and dad. i'm sure they have been thinking back to the day he was born and to many memories throughout the years! thank you, mama and papa d, for raising a wonderful man of God! it is a blessing to be a part of your family!


brian is really enjoying his birthday present,the new ipod touch. they came out right after his birthday, so i wasn't able to surprise him with the actual ipod... but the sheet of paper with the picture on it was enough of a surprise. :) and of course, if i had ordered it for him, he would not have had the fun of choosing what to have engraved on the back! the much anticipated package arrived yesterday, and we've been having fun exploring all its features. it really is a fun fun toy. we laughed because our pastor started a series on brian's birthday about money, God, and eternity. during sunday school, i leaned over to remind brian that he was starting that series right when all the birthday money was rolling in. so after church, he went up to our pastor and said, "can i justify the purchase of a new ipod if i put your sermons on it!?" :) (not to make light of the wonderful sermon series at all...)

so my hubby is 30. they say the best years are yet to come. these have been pretty wonderful so far, so i can't wait to see what's in store. happy birthday, honey. i love you.

it's a............

girl!
ethan and caroline are having a baby sister! our sweet baby girl's name is amelia, and we enjoyed having a little peek at our healthy 13 oz. baby today. she was very cooperative at letting us know that she is a girl (we'll work on sitting lady-like in the years to come!), but she was quite content with keeping her hands over her face through most of the sonogram. after 45 minutes of trying, the sonogram technician was very aggravated that she couldn't get a good view of amelia's face for us... i kept assuring her that we would get plenty of pictures of that face once she is born. :) her face was also smushed into my placenta like caroline's was, so we didn't get super clear pictures. but you can definitely see her little face. we can already tell that she has ethan's (and her daddy's) mouth and chin, and she may just be a good mix between her brother and sister. we'll see! it's so fun to compare their sonogram pictures!


a slightly freaky looking profile shot... but still sweet as can be!

i love this picture.
all you can really see is amelia's two fists in a sort of block.
she is a third child ready to take on those siblings! :)

we took ethan with us to the appointment this morning, and he loved finding out about his baby sister and watching her on the big screen. last night, we reviewed caroline's sonogram video so he'd know what to expect this morning. :) he was very curious about all the buttons that the tech was pushing on the machine as she measured and clicked away. here's a picture of ethan, so proud of his baby sister's noggin in the background. :)


i have a really hard time just picking up the phone and announcing, "it's a girl!" i feel compelled to make these big announcements in some kind of creative way. for ethan, we delivered balloons to all the grandparents after i got off work (my mom was NOT happy about waiting until 4:00 to find out the gender of her first grandchild!!), and with caroline we delivered "it's a girl" lollipops. well, carting two kids around town to make deliveries today was not in my game plan. (sorry, amelia!) my mom stayed at our house while we took ethan to the appointment this morning, so we brought pink sugar cookies home to her (nobody has donuts with pink icing!). kristie made me tell her over the phone so she could bring the baby a gift... CLOTHES! :) here is amelia's first gift... how sweet! thank you, auntie k!



when kristie got to our house, i was able to pull off my one surprise today. brian's mom called this morning just dying to find out, and i told her i could not tell her over the phone (though i did email one sonogram picture to her blackberry!). :) i got the run down of her schedule for the day, and i found out she would not be at her office till after lunch. so while kristie stayed at my house with the kids, i ran up to nana's office and snuck this amelia bedelia book on her desk:


glenda and i both share a love for children's books, so this was a special way for amelia to announce herself to her nana! she was so surprised when she got to her office... yay! mission accomplished! (i'm sure amelia will end up with plenty of amelia bedelia books. they were some of my favorite growing up!) by this evening, i still had not told several family members, so my dad and joy, grandma, and brian's dad (who is out of town) got the "it's a girl" phone call. :) but they didn't seem to mind!

we are so thankful that amelia is healthy. thank you for your prayers for our sweet baby girl. please continue those prayers for the remainder of my pregnancy! i would love to avoid a c-section again as God graciously allowed with caroline, so feel free to begin the prayers to that end. :) i know i am "overdue" (haha) for a belly picture on here... i will try to take one soon and share it. there is definitely a belly!! strangers already have no problem asking when i'm due, versus a more sensitively worded question "just in case" i'm not actually pregnant. it's pretty obvious already! ha!

i'm signing off to go browse for nursery ideas online! the fun begins again!!!!! :)