Visit with a Dear "Old" Friend :)

Today Dan, Ethan, and I met my friend Laura and her boyfriend Mike at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. I referenced a dear "old" friend in this title because, although I don't consider us old, we have been friends for a LONG time! Laura and I met in the second grade and immediately hit it off as close friends. Sadly, her family moved back to Wisconsin just a couple of years later. We promised that we would stay in touch forever, and our parents were like, "Sure, you're eight years old!" But we were resolved to stay in touch and wrote letters back and forth for years and years. I have at least 4 shoeboxes full of letters from Laura stored away. Each summer either I would go visit her family for a week, or she would come visit my family for a week. That was until we were juniors in high school when it became too difficult to coordinate our schedules. Although we haven't seen each other in person very many times since then, we have managed to keep in touch. The last time we saw each other in person was a little over six years ago. It was wonderful to get to see Laura and introduce her to Ethan (she met Dan the last time we got together). We really enjoyed meeting her boyfriend too and spent the day exploring the exhibits at the museum and went out to dinner for some Chicago-style deep dish pizza. You just can't visit Chicago without having a taste of that! We had a great time and definitely plan to see each other in person more often in the future.

Glass sculpting demonstration

You could project an image of your own face on this mannequin Ethan's face on the mannequinGerman U-boat

Ethan, me, Dan, Laura, and Mike eating some yummy pizza
Mike and Laura

Ethan playing with his new trains- Thank you Laura and Mike!Laura and me

A Day Out With Thomas the Train

We took Ethan to an event called "A Day Out With Thomas" today, and he absolutely loved it! A real train engine is decked out to look like Thomas, and you can take a 20 minute ride in a passenger car that Thomas pulls. There were tons of other activities near the train station too. You could meet Sir Topham Hat (the "owner" of the trains on Sodor Island), play mini golf, get temporary tattoos of Thomas characters, color Thomas pictures, play with huge sets of plastic and wooden Thomas trains, enjoy a petting zoo, ride a miniature horse, play in a bouncehouse, ride in a "barrel train"<-I'll elaborate in photos below, eat reasonably priced food from local vendors, hear Thomas storytelling, etc. It was a really fun day- Thanks so much Sara for letting us know about the event! Ethan got a temporary tattoo of Thomas on his arm (as can be seen in a few of the photos). He loved playing with the huge Thomas the train wooden layouts that were in several locations on the grounds. Other than the actual train ride, I think that his favorite activities were petting the animals in the petting zoo (a cow, goats, llamas, a bunny, ducks, and chickens) and riding the minature horse. As Ethan was petting one of the goats, another tried to eat his hat. The cow also decided to nuzzle him once which was so cute, but I wasn't fast enough on the draw with my camera to get a photo of it.

The goat that tried to eat Ethan's hat:


Riding the miniature horse:

50th Anniversary Party

A couple who are dear friends to our family, Gene and Joyce, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this weekend. They were completely unaware that a surprise party had been planned for them, and it was a lot of fun to take part in the big surprise.

Joyce and Gene

We brought some matchbox cars and coloring books to keep Ethan occupied during the party, and he played really well with them in his booster seat.

Ethan and Daddy Stephen, Becky, Joyce, and Gene

Dan took this photo and caught Ethan with a cute, silly expression! :)
You don't see a mother/son resemblance, do you?

By the way, the dark spot on the side of Ethan's face is a Nemo sticker ;)

After the party we stopped by Ben and Nicole's house so that we could catch up with them and Ethan and Kara could play together for a bit. They got to play together for a short while before bedtime, and it was so much fun to see them interacting a lot and having a great time.

Ethan and Kara

A bit of "slap-happiness" ensued close to bedtime (I'm pretty sure that Ethan started it), and Ethan and Kara were running back and forth across the house. I caught a portion of it on our digital camera. The clip below is actually an edited (shortened) version because I could only upload a 100M video to Blogger. They continued running back and forth several more times beyond what is shown below. Thankfully they wore each other out and both went to sleep quickly!

Adventures of Vacation Bible School

This year I volunteered to work on the administration team for our church's Vacation Bible School. I primarily printed fliers, invitations, nametags, labels, response and follow-up cards, etc. This sounds like a potentially small task, however this year our church's VBS had 800 kids enrolled and around 500 volunteers! Amazing, huh? A couple of my friends, Melinda and Lori, worked on the core team of women that met for months and months planning out the details for the week. It's incredible to see the logistics of organizing registration, small group shepherds, crafts, snacks, recreation activities, worship time, photographs, daily newsletters, etc. for 800 kids. The week went very well, and Ethan had a blast in the childcare all week. I wasn't sure if he would get tired of being there for 3 hrs+ each day, but he loved it! The nursery workers said that he was easily the most adventurous of all of the 17 kids in his room. In some ways I'm glad that he isn't afraid to try new things and is very outgoing, but at the same time I hope that he learns to approach some new things with caution and not jump right in. The children in the nursery wing got to do special activities just like the big kids, so Ethan's room had time designated for recreation. I snuck in one day with Lori's camera and took a couple of photos. One of the nursery workers said that Ethan really enjoyed riding in the wagon during recreation time each day!

Ethan chillin' in the wagon

Ethan and Sam

Belated Footage: Ethan "Jumping" in OKC

Ethan's attempts at "jumping" crack me up and are just adorable :) While we were visiting Dan's family in Oklahoma City, I tried to shoot some video footage of these attempts with our digital camera. I was only able to capture decent footage of him trying to jump on one occasion. Here is the belated footage (it was shot on May 26th).

Father's Day Celebration and Boo Boo Exaggeration

We spent today celebrating Father's Day with my parents and Mike. Happy Father's Day Dad and Dan!! We had a yummy dinner from Olive Garden- Even though Ethan isn't very fond of pasta, he tried my manicotti and kept saying "More More" and asking "Mama Bite" (translation: I want a bite of Mama's food).
While we were there, Ethan inadvertently closed the very tip of one of his thumbs in the front door of my parent's house. I know that had to really smart, as it turned pretty red under his nail, and he was crying quite a bit. Most falls and such don't phase him in the slightest, so I could tell this was hurting him. I held him and asked if he'd like for me to kiss his boo boo. He quieted down, and I kissed his thumb. He thought that was great, so then he proceeded to run around to each person in the family room wanting them to kiss his boo boo. Daddy, Grandma, Mike, and Grandpa all kissed his boo boo. This continued off and on for an hour or two (sometimes the thumb needing the kiss changed, so I could tell that it wasn't truly hurting him anymore). It was really cute. He'd walk up to you with his thumb extended saying "boo boo, boo boo". I recorded Grandpa kissing Ethan's finger boo boo.

Trip to the Local Zoo

We went to our local zoo with some friends today- A big thank you to Dave and Megan for getting us in free with their membership!! Today was the first time that Ethan had been to the zoo in our city. He had a great time! He kept repeating "more more animals" and sometimes threw little tantrums as we left each animal enclosure until we reassured him that there would definitely be more animals to see. When we saw a peacock with its feathers fanned, Ethan said "peacock" over and over. I really enjoyed seeing the koalas, elephants, penguins, and giraffes. Ethan even got to feed a baby giraffe! For $1 you could get a piece of sweet potato to feed a giraffe. I thought that was a really neat opportunity, and Ethan loved it! We got to watch an elephant be bathed too. It was a really fun activity that completely wore Ethan out. He was asleep before we even exited the parking lot. Due to naptime constraints, we weren't able to explore the entire zoo, but we look forward to returning sometime again this summer!

Monkeying around

Ethan exclaiming "Peacock!"

We got to watch the koalas' feeding timeEthan feeding some sweet potato to a baby giraffeYou can actually pet the sharks in this giant tank- We didn't because we were afraid that Ethan would try to dive right in!Another "family" at the zoo ;)Ethan and Annie kept trying to help each other "escape" from their strollers by pushing on the buttons to release their trays! Fortunately their escape attempts, though fun, were unsuccessful :)

Squashed Snake- Part 2 ?!?! and Soccer Class

When I went out to the garage to load up the van this morning I was fully expecting to have to deal with the mess of a completely squashed snake. After the garage door went down on the snake last night, he wasn't moving, and half of his curled up body was inside the garage and half out. I thought that surely the weight of the garage door totally squashed him. Well, to my great surprise, there was no snake this morning! I guess that it was able to squirm away somehow. That must be a very resourceful snake. So, now I don't feel badly that I squashed and killed him, but I am a bit freaked out that he is still around and may have "escaped" into our garage rather than out. I'll keep you posted...

Since the rain finally stopped, Ethan's soccer class was able to meet outside at a local park this morning. Ethan again had a great time!

Ethan carrying around a squishy ball

RunningCatching bubblesBuilding a cone tower

A Fun Walk and a Squashed Snake

Today after Ethan's coloring class we went for a walk on a local trail with our friends Chris and Sam. The kids had a blast watching all of the doggies, rollerbladers, bikers, scooterers <-not really a word! ;), etc. go by. It was a toasty day, but a slight breeze and lots of shade made for a very comfortable temperature and a fun walk. Here is a photo of the boys in their strollers: I got a wonderful, fantastic, spectacular 30% off flyer in the mail this week for Kohl's. Have I mentioned before how much I love Kohl's? Anyhow, I completely forgot that it expired today, and I hadn't had time to stop by and shop. So, Ethan and I made a quick trip to Kohl's this evening. I had loaded Ethan in the van and was running up the garage door when I spotted something right where our driveway meets the floor of our garage. As I approached it, I could tell it was a snake all curled up- EW!! It was laying where I would have run over it with the van tires had I not seen it. I grabbed my camera and took a picture of it.
As I approached, it slithered away across the drive and into the yard. I thought that would be the last of it (and I was very glad because I would freak out if I found it IN the garage!) But, when we returned from Kohl's the yucky thing was again curled up right in front of our garage door. I pulled the van in, unloaded it, and then noticed that the snake had slithered partially into our garage. I was scared that it would come even further inside, so I rolled the garage door down. I feel badly about it now, but I was freaked out at the time- I squashed the poor snake between the inside of our garage and the driveway. Double EW!! I left it there but will have to face it tomorrow morning when I take Ethan to his soccer class. Dan has found both a possum and a huge snake in our garage before and shoved them out using a large broom (both were scary- hissing, and the snake struck at the broom several times), so I just didn't want to take any chances with this snake.

Baby Shower, IKEA, and Daddy's Impressive Artistic Skill

Mom and I went to my cousin, Vicki's, baby shower in Ohio this afternoon. It was really nice to see and visit with Venessa, Vicki, and their mom Vera Jo. Vicki is due with her first baby, a boy, at the end of July.

Decorations that Venessa made

Isn't this bouquet of baby socks just so adorable?

Vera Jo, Vicki, Mom, and Venessa

Venessa planned a couple of games for the shower including one where she placed an assortment of baby-related items out for us to view, and then we had to guess what the total amount was that she spent to purchase the items. Being the crazed coupon maniac and price-watcher that I am, I quizzed Venessa on: where the items were purchased, whether coupons were used, and what the tax rate is in Ohio. I was quite surprised that the total I came up with was about 20-30 cents off from the actual price. So, I won the prize for the game- some yummy Tastefully Simple beer bread. How lame that I pay THAT close of attention to prices!

Assortment of baby items to price

Vicki lives just 5 miles away from a new IKEA store. I have only been to an IKEA once, and I loved it! I could have spent hours and hours there if Dan hadn't been with me trying to get out of there as fast as possible. Mom was about as excited about shopping at IKEA as Dan had been, but I did manage to convince her that we should at least stop since we had driven for hours and were so close! I really only got to shop in the children's section, but I was excited to find a few sets of little containers to store Ethan's toys in, a step stool for Ethan to reach the sink upstairs, and a set of 2 cutting boards (<-obviously in the kitchen rather than the children's section! I picked these up on our way to the checkout ;). I hope to make a much longer shopping trip there with some friends in the near future.

While we were gone, Dan and Ethan had some fun bonding time. The weather had finally cleared off at home, so I suggested that Dan see if Ethan would be interested in trying out some sidewalk chalk that I had bought for him but hadn't opened yet. Dan said that Ethan wasn't very interested in the chalk, but I found these adorable drawings on the driveway when I got home! Daddy had been drawing Ethan's favorite Sesame Street characters for him. Dan said he wished he had a black piece of chalk to finish off their eyes, but I thought they were adorable. Who knew that Daddy the engineer had this artistic side to him? :)

Prayer Request Updates

Thank you all so much again for including my family and friends in your prayers.

Unfortunately I have some very difficult and tremendously sad news to share regarding baby Kayla. Based on the recommendation from Kayla's doctors, she was removed from life support on Tuesday, May 13th and passed away just hours later. Please continue to include Venessa and Sean in your prayers as they grieve the tragic loss of their daughter.

Scott is currently undergoing a second series of chemotherapy treatments (Wed.-Sunday). I stayed with their kids, Logan and Lauren, on May 29th while Scott and Jackie traveled to Sloan-Kettering in New York for additional oncology consultations and recommendations regarding Scott's treatment. The doctors at Kettering proposed a different strategy for Scott's back surgery as well as can offer much more powerful state-of-the-art radiation technology and treatment that is not available in Ohio. Scott and Jackie are still deciding whether his surgery will be done in Ohio or New York, but they are certain that the follow-up radiation treatment will be done in New York. Please continue to pray for comfort and strength for their family and wisdom for them and Scott's doctors as they make decisions regarding his treatment plan.

Coloring and Soccer "Class"

I signed Ethan up for two classes through our local parks department, one is coloring (learning colors and shapes and just getting to play around with coloring lots of pictures) and the other is Lil' Kickers soccer. He started both this week (coloring-Tuesday and soccer-Wednesday). I think that he really enjoyed both of them!
The coloring class was advertised as being an hour long for kids 1-3 yrs old. I wasn't sure how the teacher would keep these kids' attention for that long. It turned out to be closer to 40 minutes or so, and even then many of the kids were up running all around the room rather than sitting at the tables (as I'd expect!) Ethan was really interested in coloring for quite awhile and stayed at the table the whole time. It's funny because, no matter how many times Dan and I have tried to teach him colors, he still says that everything is blue. He can say green, yellow, and orange, but he doesn't yet know what that really means. Hopefully this class will help him understand what the colors are. It's funny because he's been super-interested in letters and has known all of his capital letters for months, but he hasn't shown much interest in colors yet. The teacher passed out pictures of several items to color, one of which was a ruler. She held it up for the kids first and asked if anyone knew what it was. She said that she figured none of them would since only big kids use rulers. Ethan looked up and clearly said "ruler"! How strange!?! Dan and I have never told him nor shown him what a ruler is, so we have no idea where he got that from. That was a surprise!
Ethan's soccer class is supposed to meet outside at a local park, but since we have been getting a deluge of rain here, it was moved inside to an indoor soccer arena. I was surprised to find that the indoor fields have real grass! There are 15 kids who are 18 months to 2 1/2 yrs in his class. The instructor looked to be about a sophomore or junior in college, and he was fantastic with the kids!! They played red light/green light, ran around kicking real soccer balls along with these fun squishy balls, built towers out of soccer cones and kicked balls at them to knock them down, the instructor blew bubbles and the kids chased them around breaking them with their hands and feet, and each kid got high fives and stamps from the instructor at the end. Ethan had a blast! He loves kicking balls around our house, and while in Oklahoma City I found a couple of small soccer balls in Target's clearance section, so he now has real soccer balls to play with. I'll try to remember to take some pics at next week's class because it's so cute to see all of these toddlers running around with like 50 soccer and squishy balls all over the place.