Little Lambs Farm field trip

Well, the highlight of my spring break was being able to go on a field trip with Keeton's class today.  These are the things that I never get to do as a working mom that I wish I could do more often.  His class went to a darling farm just down the road from our house (that I had no idea even existed) called Royer Farm.  The kids got to feed the lambs, play with the farmer's dog, pet the sheep, climb on hay bales and ride tractors.  Need I say more that this was HEAVEN for Keeton??

Indianapolis Children's Museum

Since our spring breaks were spread across two different weeks (me, solo & Jeff with all the kids), we did a mini-vacation to Indianapolis last weekend. We'd never been to the Children's Museum there before and heard it was really worth the drive and the cost ($56 for a family of four). So, we made a weekend of it and left home early Saturday, arriving at the museum a little after 12, Indy time. Oh how I wish I'd purchased the tickets online...I had NO IDEA we'd have to wait an hour to just buy tickets in! Next time I will be smarter, for sure. Anyway, the museum earns its hype--it is huge and has so much to do that I think we could have stayed longer or done a second day. Though, agfter 3 1/2 hours (plus the hour in line), our feet were tired and everyone was ready to be done with the crowds. We will definitely go back again--the drive was easy and it far surpassed St. Louis's Magic House or Bloomington's Children's Museum. If I knew we'd go three times a year, the $125 family membership would be worth every penny.

Keeton was so very excited about the dinosaurs.

There are many places where kids are encouraged to dress up...this is "dress like a dinosaur" and then you can sit in their nests.  Ella wouldn't dress up, but Keeton was a good sport!

One of the exibits was costumes (from movies, t.v., etc.)  Keeton wimped out on getting any photos taken with "real" people, but Ella hammed it up on several occassions.

 Egypt was neat and I think this is one of the permanent exhibiits.  The kids played drums and Keeton made a mad dash for this really cute cafe where the kids got to "serve" their parents food they made.  As a side note, Keeton plays in the kitchen center everyday at pre-school :).

 The race car was a fave-can't see Keeton in the picture I took of him because he was too little to be seen above the steering wheel. You can see him exiting the car to the left, though!

The indoor carousel was another lengthy line, but it was worth it.

This is a gigantic glass sculpture that spans the entire height of the museum. 

Through Keeton's eyes

We went to Indianapolis this weekend for a mini-vacation and Keeton brought along his new i-Pod touch. We discovered a little later that he took 109 photos during the car rides. I don't know if anyone else will find them as hilarious as I do, but here's a glimpse of the world through Keeton's point of view:


Self-portrait:

 Scenic shot of Indy through his window:

 An eyeball, a finger:

 Keeton LOVES himself:

 Ever important back-pack with road stuff:

 Fun trip, wahoo!

It's not you, it's me.

I feel like I am being "played"...by my house.  Remember when you were single and would do anything to impress someone who you really hoped was interested in you?  Well, I am pretty sure our house is flirting with us and then not returning our calls. 

We had our 3rd open house in three weekends today.  We've had 30 people/couples come through plus two showings this week and all anyone says is how much they love the house, the decorating, the colors, and then...they don't call, they don't make any offers. Even the people I'd think are the committment type...nada. 

Like a desperate woman who buys the right outift to impress a guy, we faithfully trudge to the store each weeked to buy balloons to attach to our open house sign.  Each time we have a showing, I carefully choose fresh flowers for our bedroom.  And still nothing.

Like a guy who plays his "going on a date music" or dons his "lucky" shirt, cologne, whatever, we've succumbed to superstition (maybe faith) and dutifully planted a St. Joseph head down in our front yard next to the for sale sign.  People swear by him, and darn it all--we are desperate.

And like that love-sick girl awaiting a phone call the day after a date, we wait in anticipation each Monday after our open houses and after each showing.  We tell ourselves it is completely reasonable to not hear anything one day later and allow ourselves to be hopeful.  When the call doesn't come, we crash back to reality and await the next "right one" to walk through our door. Or, when a realtor does call to say, "the house is beautiful, but my clients want something bigger," it might as well be, "I just want to be friends."  Or, "It's not you, it's me...we just need to see other people."

This house selling stuff is emotional and after ten years of marriage, I was not ready to be back on the "dating" scene again....even if it is with my house!

Busted

We signed Ella and Keeton up for a different soccer league this spring.  We'd been playing at an indoor facility for awhile now, but weren't too impressed, so decided to switch.  This new group practices twice a week for older kids and once a week for the younger ones, with a game each Saturday.  Because we've been, um, over exagerating Ella's age since she was four, we didn't want to play her in the K-1 co-ed group. Plus, her best friend is in 2nd grade and is playing in the 2-3 grade all girls' group.  So, once again, I gave her a birth date just slightly before her actual one to put her in this group.  I know, that isn't honest of me, but sometimes having a December birthday really stinks...she is always one of the oldest kids.  I was completely honest with Keeton and he is playing in the 4 year old group.  So, we went to the "meet your coach" event to get our schedules and all the other little girls in Ella's group are towering over her (got to remember she is darn little, as it is).  We were just about out the door when the coach asked Ella, "so you are in 2nd grade, too?"  She honestly replied, "I'm in 1st..."  Well, you can imagine the looks we got from the parents...like, "Nice" or "Doesn't that kid know she's on the wrong team?".  Oh, well....

Keeton's first school pictures

Keeton's preschool did their photos today.  Silly me thought they would be typical headshots and apparently so did Jeff, because we fought the good fight on the button down, but let Keeton wear jeans and his favorite soccer shoes.  We were wrong--awesome full length pictures and all of Keeton's glorious personality comes through! I can't get the color pictures to post, which is unfortunate because you just don't get the whole idea without the red, black, and orange shoes!

When NOT to get passport photos taken...

We had my baby nephew for an overnight adventure on Saturday:

Sunday, after we went to church, Jeff and I attended a wine-tasting fundraiser for a friend & co-worker who is running for mayor.  Then, Jeff suggested we and the kids should go get our passport photos taken...

Let me just say that it's a BAD idea to get one's passport photo taken after a few hours sleep and then three glasses of wine...it looks so awful.  Don't tell Jeff, but I am definitely getting it retaken (yes, it IS worth the 8.99!)

Seriously, I may not get back into the country with that thing.  I asked Jeff if the photo was really that bad or if I was that ugly and no one ever bothered to tell me...my driver's license looks like a glamour shot in comparison!

Matthew 21:22

“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:22)

A dear friend today e-mailed me to tell me she'd been following my blog, and likewise, my frustrations in selling our home.  In the e-mail, she told me of a pretty amazing series of events which just happened for her family (and the sale of three homes), which without God's timing simply could not have happened.

What she doesn't know is that this morning I lifted a simple prayer for some direction and clarification in this situation.  Maybe it was begging a bit, maybe it seems like a silly and frivolous thing to pray for, but I don't think it is coincidence that I got her e-mail today...and in turn, the confirmation that we may just be on the right path, if we keep the faith. Gotta love answered prayers, even in their quirkiest forms!