Concert & Sprinklers in the Park

One highlight of our summer is the Concert in the Park performances, on Wednesdays, during the month of June.  Justin packed us a delicious picnic lunch before picking me up from summer school.  Only two more days of the Summer Reading Academy and then my summer officially starts.  Well, it has only been three hours a day so I've actually felt like I've had plenty of summer, believe it or not.  The power of positive thinking...

It was a special treat to get to spend some one-on-one time with just Hadley on this particular afternoon.  It also reminded me of how easy it was when it was just the three of us.  Why did I ever get stressed?  Ha!  Wouldn't trade that sweet Canaan for the world ;)

Hadley loves to throw pennies in the fountain.  She doesn't understand the "make a wish" concept, though, and just relentlessly asks for more money. 

Our big surprise, after the concert, was a trip to the sprinkler park, for the first time. It's only a couple of blocks from where the concert takes place, so the convenience is nice.  Bowling Green just got the sprinkler park last summer, so we are feeling up-town around here!

I really didn't know if Hadley was actually going to participate.  No amount of encouragement on our part was getting her close to those sprinklers.  But out of nowhere, a girl just a little bigger than her, but much more fearless, came to our rescue.  She befriended Hadley and showed her the ropes just in time. 

And the rest was pretty much history.  I think my favorite part was watching the anticipation all over Hadley's face.  I really assumed that at a sprinkler park, water just sprayed non-stop.  I didn't expect water to come and go and get higher and lower.  So listening to her shrieks as she ran between the sprinklers when they weren't spraying, was priceless.  Kind of like, I know you're going to get me any second and I'm so scared but this is SO fun.

Yes, we were BIG fans of the sprinkler park!  I foresee many more visits to this fun venue over the years.  Can't wait for Canaan's toddler self to join us next year!

Ice Cream & a Moo-vie

On various Friday and Saturday nights throughout the summer, Chaney's Dairy Barn features kid-friendly movies in a super fun atomosphere.  The best part is that it's like being at the drive-in, but no cars are involved.  They project the movie onto the side of their barn.  Quilts and chairs are spread out everywhere on the grassy knoll, in anticipation for the big event.

We had the perfect night for an activity like this.  It wasn't too hot....I keep having flashbacks of last summer when it was record breaking temps and I was soooo preggo.  Thankful for the weather this summer!  Miss Hadley drove the "tractor."

One major highlight of the evening was the old-fashioned hayrides.  Nothing like having a tractor pull you around on a wagon, going bumpity bump through the fields with cows watching as you pass by.  Note Canaan holding on for dear life.

Hadley had to push Canaan in the swing for awhile. 

We didn't know if we were going to get Hadley away from the fun activities before the movie began.  Talk about great free entertainment.

We had to get our sweet ice cream treats and get settled before the movie began.

The Lorax was the movie that was being featured on this particular weekend.  I have to say that I thought it was adorable.  The teacher in me kept thinking that it would be a great movie to watch in science class as it talks about deforestation, photosynthesis, and overall just doing our part to make a difference.  Spoken like someone who doesn't even recycle, right??

Even though this was a really late night for us, we had the best time.  Hadley asked us at least twenty questions about the man cutting down the trees and why he was doing that.  We had to talk about how greed can make us do some pretty awful things.  Ah...teachable moments.

Baby Canaan didn't stay awake for much of the movie at all.  He was quite comfortable on the quilt, under the moonlit country sky, with the smell of the dairy barn (shew!) blowing our way.  Hoping this will be a new family tradition, for sure!

Happy Father's Day!

To the Daddy Who:

prepares Canaan's daily bottles

dresses and drops Hadley off at daycare

takes great pride in his landscaping

takes out the trash

snuggles and watches "toons"

reads bedtime stories
wrestles with Hadley

practices letter flashcards

plays Ring Around the Rosie in the swimming pool

lovingly disciplines

teaches about God's love

reminds Hadley that God makes her beautiful; not make-up

patiently explains
is generous

inspires young people

influences young ladies' lives 
is daddio of the patio & master griller 
is a gifted teacher 

Happy Father's Day to the greatest husband and daddy in the world.  We appreciate all you do for us!  Love you bunches!

VBS 2013

The theme of Vacation Bible School, this year, was Colossal Coaster World.  I helped a friend with the 4-5 year old class, and had a ball!  Don't get me wrong, Bible School is always an exhausting week.  But knowing kids are being presented with the Gospel, has a way of making all that worthwhile.  Our church's Bible School was from 6-8:45 at night.  Canaan stayed in the nursery and Hadley was in the 2-3 year old class.  My kiddos were worn out as the week went on, but we survived and had a blast along the way!

The first evening was VBS Kick-Off and we had face-painting and inflatables.  Hadley seems to get more and more fearless, all the time, when it comes to inflatables.  Backwards, on her belly, was her slide position of choice. 

We started out, each night, in the sanctuary for the Worship Rally.  We did the classic Pledge to the American Flag, Pledge to the Christian Flag, Pledge to the Bible, and recited our VBS motto and scripture verse.  The girls beat the boys every single night in the mission offering we took up.  Hadley was so proud of her quarter tithe each night.

We were so thankful for the super sweet nursery workers who loved on Canaan each night.  They fed him his baby food and even had him in his jammies each night when I picked him up, since it was way past his 7:30 bedtime!

Playing in shaving cream was a HUGE hit in Hadley's room.  You could literally smell their room from the other end of the church.  Her teachers said she was quite hesitant about the whole activity at first, but eventually came around.

I hoped she would get to sing a couple of songs, at Commencement, but her age group didn't.  That gives us something to look forward to for next year.  She proudly received her certificate, though.

Canaan's teachers made each baby their own little VBS themed t-shirt and even painted their footprints on the back.  Such a sweet reminder of his first VBS.  He's popping out of this 12 month t-shirt, though!  My big boy.

Thankful that our family got to attend Bible School this year, but now we are ready for a nap...and a real "vacation."  ;)

Nine Months Old

Canaan Dale is officially three-fourths of a year old.  Wow!  Our active little guy is still not crawling per say, but he gets wherever he wants to go, believe you me.  He's actually crawling backwards, so he backs himself around a room.  It's hysterical and so creative.  He gets up on all fours and scoots forward a little bit, but doesn't actually crawl forward yet.  I'm starting to worry that he won't get the hang of it, but I'm sure it will be fine.  I actually noticed just a couple of days before the 13th just how much his looks are changing.  His first little tooth has popped through with a second quickly on its way.  I think when babies start getting teeth, it really changes their looks and makes them look more like a big boy/girl.  Sigh....

Our healthy eater consumes 4 jars of baby food per day (which is expensive!) plus his cereal for breakfast.  He's not drinking as much formula now that he's eating so much more.  Hadley loves that her brother gets more and more mobile all the time.  Although, she wears him out!  She's just all over him with her hands and body.  I find it tests my patience for sure.  He can be perfectly happy, sitting and playing independently, and then she decides to crash the party.  Before you know it, he's crying.  I try to explain that she doesn't have to be quite so intrusive but she's not getting the hang of it yet.  And then she gets her feelings hurt...and it's just a vicious cycle.  Sigh...

At night, if he doesn't fall asleep after taking his bottle, I am just laying him down in his crib and he goes to sleep within a few minutes.  I am also not giving him his pacifier, as I'm hoping he won't need it all night long and then when we take it away completely, it won't be a nightmare as far as sleeping goes.  So far, so good!  He has to make his little nest for a few minutes and has definitely discovered the art of belly sleeping.  I love to watch him on the video monitor, from the comfort of the couch (ah, finally a break for mommy), get comfortable and fall right off to sleep.

It is ridiculous how much I love this baby boy.  Before I had Canaan, I really couldn't imagine being able to love anyone as much as I loved Hadley.  But after Canaan entered my life, I see now how Mama's do it.  It's indescribable and I'm so thankful God is allowing me to experience it.  I'm starting to get party themes/ideas/plans rolling for his first birthday.  How can this be?  Oh me.  I love you, Canaan!

First Dentist Visit

Hadley handles all things in life much better if she is prepared going in.  So for a couple of days before her first-ever dentist appointment, I tried my best to explain and role-play what she could expect at the dentist.  Glasgow doesn't have a pediatric dentist, and I was REALLY trying to save myself a trip to Bowling Green.  I crossed my fingers that the family dentist (in Glasgow), who none of us had ever visited before, would be good to my girlie.  Or vise-versa??

I was a little scared when the hygenist came to get Hadley and asked that I not go back with her.  As I walked back to my seat, in the waiting room, and attempted to peruse a mindless magazine, I kept thinking that at any moment I would hear these blood-curling screams and see her run, crying, into the waiting room.  Instead, in a matter of a few minutes, I heard laughter.  Not just a little bit, but deep belly laughs.  What were they doing back there??  Instantly, though, I could breathe a sigh of relief.  The hygenist did call for me to come back and speak with the dentist when the exam/cleaning was over.  Yay for no cavities!  I was so torn up by this point, though, that I totally forgot to snap a picture.  But I sure got one, a little later at Sonic, when Hadley got her special treat:  a "butter" (peanut butter) milkshake.  Yes, this was totally her request.  So proud of my big girl!