Titanic

Well, we got the special privilege of going back and visiting the Titanic in Branson again this last weekend.  Because of the stomach bug going around in our family, it was only me and Adriana that got to go this time.  We were, however able to make a girls day of it with meeting up with cousins from out of town.  It was perfect because right now, during the month of December, its a "Princess" themed event at the Titanic, so it was perfect for a girls day. 

Last time we went, Adriana was getting sick, so she really didn't get to take it in, like I know she wanted to.  This time, she had a blast.  There are so many displays, quizzes and the listening device that everyone gets, that helps involve even my 5 year old. 

Adriana said the dogs and the Princess were her favorite parts.  Last time we went, the dogs already had gone home for the evening.  How cool is it that they have live dogs there, that you can see, pet and watch them do little tricks?  These sweet dogs were so well behaved.  We saw them in their suite, of course, taking a beauty rest.  (which you can watch online, through their webcam).  Then we later saw them riding in an old time baby stroller.  Sitting so proud.  It was so cute.  The lady pushing them around, let them get out, and they rang a bell that was attached to the front of the stroller.  They were so well behaved.  (I think they could teach Milo a thing or two!)

Later, when we were done, we went outside and the dogs were out getting some fresh air.  Being a huge dog lover, I loved seeing how sweet the staff is to the dogs and how spoiled they are.  We were able to capture this picture with them.

 

 

The Princess was also there.  What little girl wouldn't love seeing a beautiful young woman, dressed in an all white fluffy gown?  Adriana took it in.  She was so nice, and took time to talk to Adriana and told her to make a wish and send it, and then the Princess caught the wish and said it would come true.  That's so special for little girls.  The Princess made Adriana feel like she was the only one there and just took the time to talk to her.  It was such a special time. 
There is so much stuff there, I so enjoyed going again and being able to see things I missed the first time around.  There is a new Morse code display, which is interactive and fun to try to tap out your name on.  So many things, I just enjoyed it so much.  If you get a chance to go to Branson and see it, I encourage you to do so.  Such a FUN, educational experience!

For more information on the Princess Event going on right now, click on the link below!
http://www.titanicbranson.com/titanic-branson-news-events.php#princess

Fall In The Ozarks

What a BEAUTIFUL fall we have had!  Last year it seemed to be over before it started.  This year, we have gotten to experience the beautiful colors, the cool, crisp temperatures and the smell of burning leaves just a little longer this year. 

God opened my eyes this fall.  Normally we can get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life and miss out on what God lays out right before us.  Isn't God amazing?  I LOVE living in a part of the country where we truly experience every season.  Fall is my FAVORITE of all.  My heart smiles when I start seeing the fall decor out in stores in August, because I know that season is right around the corner.  I'm so thankful I got to take it in this year and truly embrace it.  Enjoy some of the pictures I got to take of the changing colors (although pictures DON'T do it justice). 

Doot, Doots

 

My Paxton boy is something else.  For a while now, he has gotten into a "routine" whenever someone leaves.  Its really something that has to be done in order and every time you say good bye.  Of course, me, Ryan and Adriana know this routine.  Grandparents have caught on and now, if we could get everyone else on board, that would be great! :) 

I don't know when or why this started, but Paxton use to give out nose kisses.   I would make the noise "doot" when our noses would touch, so I guess that's where he got the saying "doot, doots".  Its actually cute when it comes from his little mouth.

So the routine is this (brush up, in case you are asked to do this routine sometime.)

Doot, Doots (Nose kisses),

Cheek kiss and a bear hug. 

If you miss a step or forget all together, we will be in full blown melt down mode.  It means that much to him.

He's truly a loving, sweet boy.  I know I get frustrated with him over this, but I know this little boy won't want to do this forever. 

So Paxton, I will do your routine, for however long you will let me. 

We love you stinky Pete!

 

 

Paxton's First Day of School-2012

So this is my little man's second year of Preschool.  Last year was a rough year, I'm not going to lie.  He was in a class room next to mine last year, and when he would see me in gym class, music class, outside playtime and anytime he walked by my room (which was several times a day), he would go into a crying fit.  Most of the year, he would melt down when he saw me.  I thought maybe he would get use to it a few weeks in, but no, he made it a challenge for me and his teachers. 
This year, I was hoping and praying that he would mature enough over the summer, to get over that when he would see me in school.  My fingers were crossed.

He was all geared up and ready to go this morning.  He was so excited to start "high school".  Don't ask me where he got this, but over the summer, he has it in his head that he is going to start high school, while Sissy is in Kindergarten.  Of course, Adriana is always so quick to correct her brother, but if he's happy about it and thinks its high school, lets not correct him. 

Last week, we went in to "meet his teachers".  He kept telling me, "I promise, I promise, I promise, I won't cry".  He's too sweet.  He was getting a little nervous thinking he was going to be left behind, but overall, he had a good time meeting his teachers and playing with all the new toys in his classroom.

Call me a mean mom, but I really wanted his pictures taken with his teachers, so I "made" them hold him, obviously against his will, so that I could take this picture.  He actually cried for just a few minutes, and then I'm told he had a great day.  Its always an adjustment for him, but I'm hoping this year, he will have fun, learning and growing at school.

A Country Wedding

On June 2nd, we got the honor of being a part of one of the most beautiful weddings, I have seen.  It was truly country chic.  Ryan's youngest sister, Kara, married the perfect man for her, Baker.  This wedding was one of a kind.  Filled with many touching moments, like Baker giving Kara's kids, Jack and Riley, a token of his love for them and how he wants to raise them, love them and teach them just like they were his own kids.  They got married on Baker's parents property with a picturesque setting in the middle of a field, with the sunset in the background.  Their reception was in a barn that truly looked like something out of a magazine.  Everything was beautiful.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from that day. 

The Bride and Groom meeting for the first time.

Me and Ryan at the reception

Like Mother, Like Daughter 

The three blue eyed flower girls



snapshots of the reception in the barn.

It was so good seeing Ryan's extended family again.  Many we haven't seen since we got married almost 7 yrs ago.

Jack and Riley

The beautiful bride

Something Blue



The ceremony site.  In God's Country.

Titanic--Branson, MO

So a few weeks ago we got to go and see the Titanic Museum in Branson.  We have been wanting to go to this museum ever since we saw them building it on our honeymoon.  It is RIGHT on the main strip (Hwy 76) in Branson.  I mean, you are driving down the road, and you see this,

who wouldn't want to go and see what its all about.  Its an AMAZING museum.  Filled with so many stories and testimonies of the passengers on board.  I LOVED how they valued each passenger.  They don't look at them as a number, they look at them as a human life, that was on board one of the most magnificent boats in history. 

Here we are outside the grand Titanic.  Its HUGE. 

When you walk in, everyone is given a headset and a card.  The headset is a recording that informs you throughout the tour.  It tells of everything from how the boat was constructed to the animals on board.  Its very informative and fun to listen too.  The card they hand you is a name of a passenger aboard the Titanic.  They try to find a passenger that is close to your age, so that you may relate to the passengers a little bit better.  I guess I didn't know what to expect going in, but I was BLOWN away with the amount of info, memorabilia, pictures and displays.  I loved how you walked through the tour in the same order as the whole process of the Titanic started.  It showed the men in suits and ties, drawing the blueprints for the Titanic.  It showed the construction. Had a model of the different layers of the boat.  It talked about how differently the passengers were treated, depending on their social "class".  I LOVED every part of it.  I loved that the staff was dressed up, walked around the museum and talked to us, sharing a little bit more info about the boat. 

Its defiantly a place to bring kids.  Probably 4 and up would have more fun, but even Paxton (2) had a good time looking at all the displays.  They have a lot of interactive things for kiddos to do along the way.  We went on an evening that wasn't very busy, and one of the staff could tell that Paxton was getting a little antsy.  Keep in mind she is dressed like a maid or attendant on the ship, in a long dress, blouse and hat.  She went to the gift store, grabbed a kids book and came back and SAT ON THE FLOOR with my kids and told them stories of the little kids on board.  I LOVED this!

They had many interactive displays, one being a bowl of water that is the actual temperature of the water the night the Titanic sank.  We couldn't stand to have our hand in the water for more than a few seconds.  It was a neat for us as adults to see, but really neat for the kids to put it in prospective.  They have a big display that you can stand on, that goes through 4 stages of the sinking boat.  Its a replica of the ship deck and you can try to stand on them and by the time you get to the third and forth display, its impossible to stand on it, due to the grade of the deck.  I loved the pictures throughout and the fact that you can read about each passenger.  I was truly blown away by the majesty of the museum.  We want to go back and see it again.  Unless you had all day, there is no way you could get all the information that is in the museum.  There is so much to see and take in.  I am so grateful and honored that we got to go in and "relive" a very historic event.

If you want more information on the museum visit their website at

www.titanicbranson.com

Easter On The Farm

So this last weekend, I took the kids to an Easter Egg Hunt at a local farm here, that is open to the public.  Ryan had left town for the weekend to help his sister, Lauren, move into her new house.  This event was free and sounded like lots of fun, so me and the kids headed to it.  It was a really pretty day, and they had tons of stuff there to do.  This picture is one of when we first got there, with the beautiful tulips in the background.  (By the way, Paxton is sheilding his eyes from the sun).

They had lots of fun crafts and games to play there that was free, so we took advadvantage of those.  The kids enjoyed making Easter themed crafts.

Some of the other things we did while we were there was went on a hayride, saw livestock, went in a bounce house and climbed on huge haybales.  The kids had a great time and acted so good. 

The highlight for the kids was the face painting.  We waited in line for face painting for over an hour.  But the kids enjoyed it so much, it was worth sitting in the hot sun for.  Adriana wanted to get a unicorn, and I thought the lady did such a good job.

 Then Paxton is too weird about people touching him, so he just wanted a monkey painted on his arm.  The lady did such a good job and was so gentle with him.

 I was so proud of our kids that day.  Its rare these days that we are out in public without melt downs, fighting or fits, but they did so good.  Afterwards we went and got pizza and a soda.  It was such a fun day filled with many memories.

Polar Express--Nov 2011

Each Christmas season, in Branson, one of the scenic railways re-enacts scenes from the book "Polar Express". I have a friend, Hilary, that has taken her son to it many times, and her son loves it. I have always wanted to take Adriana, but with the holidays, money is just sometimes too tight to do fun things like that. We got a call saying that distant friends of ours were going to have 2 extra tickets, one adult and one child and they wanted to offer them to us. I was so happy and very grateful that I was going to be able to take Adriana on this adventure. Adriana was SO excited she couldn't hardly wait. Of course, she had never been on a train before either, so that made it all the more exciting!

The kids are suppose to dress in their PJ's, just like the kids in the book, Adriana thought it was cool to go out in public in her PJ's.
They read the book over the intercom. As you sat there riding the train, the conductor came by and punched your initials into your train ticket. Here's Adriana with the conductor.

While on board, you also got hot chocolate and a cookie (like in the book).

The train eventually made its way to the North Pole, where we picked up Santa. He came around to each boy and girl and gave out a little bell. Adriana was SO excited to get this little bell. Santa was SUPER nice and friendly. Adriana enjoyed meeting him.

We had a great time and Adriana is STILL talking about it. I had also forgotten my camera, and didn't charge my phone, so Kim was sweet enough to capture these precious moments for us and e-mail them to us. Thank you Kim!

Sweet, Growing Boy

This little guy is getting so big. He is changing more and more, right now, especially in his verbal skills. He is talking so much and saying things that are cracking us up. He is 110% boy and goes full speed ALL the time, but he has a super tender heart that is full of love. Of course, his biggest hero and friend is his Sissy. He adores her and follows her all over the place. When she is doing something tricky or something he thinks is dangerous, he always says, "Careful Sissy, Careful!". Of course, he keeps repeating it until she acknowledges him and says, "I'll be careful Paxton".
Another sweet thing is he will just come up to us, give us a hug and say, "Love you, Mommy, love you". He will go around the whole room and make sure he has told everyone that. He is also big into nose kisses, which he calls "Doot, Doot". At night, or before he lays down for a nap, or even when you tell him goodbye, he was a "Doot, Doot" followed by a cheek kiss and then a hug. It has to go in that order, and yes, no matter who is in the room, that is the order in which everyone must do it (whether he really knows you or not). He's such a loving little man.
Some of his other things he does now is, tries to stall you when you are leaving the room. The other day Ryan was getting ready for work and trying to leave the room to do so, their conversation went like this:
Ryan: "Well, I'm going to go get ready for work now"
Paxton: "Daddy!"
R: "What?"
P: "Ummm....(long pause) Clock!"
R: "I see the clock. Okay, I'm going to go get ready for work now."
P: "Daddy!"
R: "What?"
P: Ummm....(long pause) Chair!"
R: "I see the chair. Okay, I'm going to go get ready for work now."
This conversation went on for a few minutes. He really had nothing to say, but he wanted his Daddy to hang around. Of course, its cute in the middle of the day, but not in the middle of the night. He's gotten into the habit of doing this at bedtime. Adriana never went through this phase so its something new for us.
Another cute thing is that the other day he saw a picture of a picture of Joesph out of the Bible, but he thought he looked like Santa Clause. He got really excited and said, "Santa Cwause, Santa Cwause! I miss you, Santa Cwause!"
He very much wears his emotions on his sleeves. He will say, while clapping his hands, "So Happy!" or "So excited"! When he gets in trouble he lays face down on the floor and you know his feelings are hurt. He's such a tender little boy and I love to see him grow and change.
(I know us and grandparents will really care about this post, but I wanted to put down some of these things for our records. )

Shots of the Arch