Family Day

One of the best decisions we made when the boys were little was to get a zoo membership. Every time it's pretty outside and we have a day together the boys always want to go to the zoo. No matter how often we go, they never get tired of going. So this morning that's what we decided to go do since Michael took today off and we had such nice weather.

Every goat that Drew saw her ran up to and said "Hi. My name Dwew. What your name? Mommy, he's not hearing me. What's dis goat's name?" Every. Single. Goat. It was pretty adorable. He has always been such an animal lover. Ben, true to his style, hung back a bit to get the feel of things and checked things out slowly. But once he warmed up to them, he decided that he liked the goats too.
One of their favorite parts of the zoo is the Lorikeet Landing where you can give the birds some "juice." But since every Metro School (it seemed) had a field trip to the zoo today the Lorikeets were pretty shy and didn't come out to eat. Here Drew and Ben try to give them some nectar, despite the birds' unwillingness to participate.
And the biggest hit of the day by far was the carousel. Or as they kept calling it, the "ferris wheel." They laughed and smiled and waved to Daddy the whole time. Just look at those smiles. Can you believe they are both looking at the camera at the same time AND smiling? This might be a Blankinship family first.

So we are just home enjoying being back together again. All is right in our world. Thanks for checking on us!

Second Verse, Same as the First....A Little Bit Louder, A Little Bit Worse

As it turned out, the tucking-in-bed-then-leaving-the-room routine was actually working....for a whopping two nights, that is. Monday night and Tuesday night I put them to bed and they stayed in their own beds all night long and slept the whole night through!! It was great to have a full night sleep again.

But last night we got home from church kind of late, and they were really wound up. So, I did the same routine we had been doing and walked downstairs to check some emails. When I came back upstairs and it was quiet, I assumed that they went on to bed as they had been. I was wrong. Here is what I found in the corner of the room behind the rocking chair: So I guess we still have a little ways to go before we are there. But we're taking baby steps in the right direction, I think.

This week's weather has been nice and a few days I've just turned everything off and had the windows open because it's felt so nice outside. I guess the boys thought so too because this is how I found them when I came downstairs the other afternoon. They've never even thought about climbing up onto this high window sill before, so I'm not sure what sparked the interest. They just thought it was so fun to feel the wind (after they took their own pants off) and then jump down to wrestle with each other. I grabbed the camera and we had a great time just enjoying two of the simplest things in life: the spring air and each other. The best things in life really are free.

Thanks for checkin on us! Happy Spring!!

Here's a funny question:

If a tired mommy has exhausted every single trick in the book as to how to get her boys to go to sleep now that they are in their big boys beds to no avail, and she uses a last resort method of simply closing the door and ignoring anything that might be going on in the room until there is silence, what will she find when she goes back in the room?????

The answer:

Two empty beds, one buddy on the floor on top of all his blankets (can you see the top of Ben's head?), one buddy under the bed, and the remnants of a really fun party in the dark with two best friends. Good thing I took the nightlight out...or else that party may have gone on all night long.

April Showers Bring May Flowers, We Hope

Thanks for all the encouraging words and suggestions about the big boys beds. We are taking baby steps towards making it through the whole night. Every day gets a little bit better. At least that's what I'm telling myself to make it through the sleepy fog I seem stuck in. ;)

Other than that, we've just been laying low and hanging out. Not too much to report around here, and that is very nice. The constant rain of this week has kept us mostly home-bound and that has led to some pretty funny discussions. For instance, the other day we were coloring at the table and I say to Ben "Ben, can you spell your name?" I've been working on this for forever, it seems like, and usually he'll say "no, I can't do it." But this time he says back to me "B-R-E-Ubble-Yoo...pause...X-Y-Z! Yay!" So I guess we need to keep working on that one, since I'd hate it if he went to school spelling his name Brew.

And then in the car on the way to church last Wednesday night I was just sort of talking to myself and said aloud "Oh, man, I left my Bible at home." And Drew immediately says "Oh no Mommy!!! You need Jesus!" I had to laugh out loud at how it sounded. But its so true, buddy. So true.

I don't have too many pictures to share. But here are a few I took last week after the rain when our backyard was full of mud puddles. I bundled them up, gave them each a plastic fork to dig with, and we had a little bit of some messy fun. Thanks for checking in on us.