Throwback Thursday

More old pictures!!These are from early 2008.  When I was the youth minister at my church we held a Food Fast every year for social justice purposes. The kids signed up to come and learn about poverty and food issues around the world while also pledging not to eat for 24 hours. (We replaced our food consumption with juice, so the kids would feel hungry, but not be in danger.) This particular year Frances (4) and Henry (8 months) joined us (and ate real food while they were there).

 My friend Julie helped with the baby carrying duties.  She now has two kiddos of her own!

Frances being silly before bedtime.

Baby Henry!

Ken playing charades.

Frances at our break-the-fast breakfast.

Wordless Wednesday: Frances' Bed Head edition

Metro Richmond Zoo

We had no idea that there was a zoo in Richmond until Henry's Sunday school teacher mentioned it to us a while back.  Since we were heading to Richmond to visit Ken's grandmother, we decided to check out the zoo while we were there.
It's actually a pretty nice zoo.   It's a bit expensive, but I guess private zoos have to be in order to take care of the animals. You could buy a cup of animal food to give to various animals around the zoo.

Cousin Katie was quite enamored with Benjamin.  I guess little brothers are just more fun when they aren't yours!

They had a pretty good variety of animals. Frances likes the zebras because they are cousins to the horse (her favorite animal).

 Benjamin likes any animal he can growl at.  He wanted to spend a long time looking at this tiger because it right up close to the glass. He got really mad when we left this exhibit.

 The giraffes were in an enclosure that was below where people walked. This way people walking over the bridge were at eye level with the giraffes and could feed them.  There was also a shed-like building in with some of the giraffes where Henry and Benjamin could throw pieces of food onto the roof and watch the giraffe eat them.

 Benjamin had a hard time leaving the giraffes behind, but then he saw the sky ride and couldn't wait to get on it. It is a ski lift that goes around half of the park and you can see all the animals below you. We had some configuration problems because Katie wanted to sit with Frances and Benjamin, but also wanted to go with her mom.  Ultimately, Henry went with Aunt Sharon and Katie, Frances and Benjamin came with me and Ken rode with his cousin Tyler.

 After the sky ride, we had a brief snack and Aunt Sharon and her crew had to take off.  We walked through  a few other parts of the zoo and then opted for a "train" ride through the African portion of the zoo.

 

 Mercifully we were not attacked by the  Emus or Ostriches, but we did get to see an Ostrich egg!

 After we were done on the train, the peacock hopped on for a ride!

 Did I mention that this zoo had penguins!!!

I called this the "picture of all my favorite things."  If you look closely, in the background you can see a penguin.  The foreground containing my family should be obvious.

Memorial Day in Richmond

Ken had Saturday off for Frances' recital and Monday off for Memorial Day, so he ended up with a three day weekend!! We didn't have other plans already, so I decided that we should go visit his grandmother in Richmond. We haven't seen her for about two years, so we were overdue a visit.  I made the arrangements and we left Sunday after church.  We made pretty good time and got there a bit earlier than anticipated, but we had a nice visit with Ken's aunt and uncle who now live with his grandmother.

Frances and Gramma

Benjamin with Frances' and Gramma's feet!

Then his Aunt Patti (his mother was the oldest of 8!) showed up with her daughter unexpectedly, so we had more family to visit with.  Then Aunt Sharon arrived with her three kids and we had the makings of a pretty big party!  The 16 of us decided to go out to Cici's Pizza for dinner and we had a great time visiting, talking, and playing! Ken said it was nice to see his cousins as adults. (He is the second oldest cousin out of all I-don't-know-how-many). 

Frances and Katy

After dinner we went back to Aunt Sharon's house to spend the night.  That was interesting because Benjamin flipped out in the Pack-n-Play and ended up starting the night with me on the couch. When he fell asleep, I moved him and then when he woke up in the morning I moved him back for a little bit more sleep.  We spent the day at the Metro Richmond Zoo with Aunt Sharon and two of her kiddos.  I'll do that one in the next post.

Dance Recital, Take Five

Frances had her dance recital on Saturday evening.  As I sat with the other parents at the rehearsal on Friday, I tried to remember how many recitals she's had.  She had the red one with the teddy bear,

the purple one, the polka dotted one with pants, the blue sparkly one and then this year.

This year I was especially proud of her and her class because this is the first year that they did not need to stare off-stage to remember their moves. They actually all had the dance memorized and did their individual parts beautifully.

My mom and dad came up for the performance, and Ken's dad was able to make it as well.  Henry sat with my mom, but he came down to my end of the row a few times to mention things he recognized.  He like the kids that danced to "I Want Candy" ("Are they singing about candy!?!?") and he loved the "One Eyed, One Horned, Flying Purple People Eater."  Benjamin stood in front of me for almost the entire show. After each dance he would clap for a minute and then turn around and say "MORE!"  It was so cute!!

Strawbeebees!!

 Ken had the day off Saturday for Frances' dance recital so we decided to spend the morning picking strawberries (AKA "strawbeebees" in Benjmain-speak).  My dad came along with us, but my mom stayed behind.

We rode out on the tractor to the field and got our row assignment.  Benjamin was mad about having to get off the tractor, but once he saw the strawberries, he got over it. He started picking and eating right away.  He only took one bite out of each strawberry before dropping it and moving on to the next one. 

Frances and Henry went ahead of us with their own box.  They picked a good deal of berries together before they started eating.

I washed and hulled half of the strawberries Saturday afternoon.  I made some freezer jam and then put the rest on a cookie sheet with waxed paper and booby trapped the freezer placed them carefully in the freezer.

Friday Fill-Ins

1. These three words describe my significant other: funny, kind, and mine!
2. My job is a delight!
3. Oh, how I adore three-day weekends.
4. Life is so much sweeter if one takes time to be friendly.
5. Inevitably, it will all work out.
6. My mother is someone who never ceased to encourage me.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to chillin' with the boys, tomorrow my plans include Frances' ballet recital and Sunday, I want to go visit Ken's grandmother!

You can play along here: 

Throwback Thursday

I cleaned out a corner behind my bed yesterday and I found a CD full of pictures from my old laptop that died. I had such fun going through old pictures on there that I decided to make  "Throwback Thursday" and post some of my favorites in the coming weeks.  Aren't you all just quivering with excitement!!

These are from August 2007.  We visited the JMU arboretum and fed the ducks.  Frances was almost 4. I was probably wearing Henry in a front pack. He would have been about 2 months old.

Wordless Wednesday: Altar Server edition

Frances and Henry's Nature Observations

Frances: Butterflies are bugs, Henry. Did you know that?
Henry: Yes. So are beetles, right?
Frances: Mmm-hmm.
Henry: What about slugs? Are slugs bugs?
Frances: No. Slugs are part of the "slugs and stuff" family.
Henry: Oh. OK.

Frances' First Communion

On Saturday May 12th, Frances made her First Communion. She had been asking about it since Kindergarten, so she was thrilled when the time finally came.  I was honored to be able to help with the preparation classes for First Reconciliation in the Fall and First Communion in the Spring.   All in all there ended up being 99 kids receive their First Communion this year!

 

I made this dress with some help from Gloria at Ragtime Fabrics.  Frances was so happy with it, and I am quite impressed with myself. It's nothing too fancy, but it represents my first zipper. Her head piece is from the veil I wore at my First Communion.  I had the tulle replaced more than 10 years ago, so I could wear it in my wedding.

 Papa came for this special event! He looks so proud!!

 Frances with Fr. Tom.

 Mommy, Daddy, and Frances in the Mary Garden afterward.

 My kiddos-Henry, Frances, and Benjamin

After Mass we walked to a restaurant downtown to celebrate. Lydia and Emily held hands with Frances as they walked down the street. It made such a precious picture!

Friday Fill-Ins

1. What a beautiful weekend we are expecting!
2. It's about time, right?
3. It's no surprise Henry asked for a puppy party when he turns five next month.
4. Getting out of bed this morning wasn't easy, but I did it anyway.
5. I like to try new cratfs.
6. Brown Eyed Girl is one of my most favorite songs!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a JMU baseball game with my kids and parents, tomorrow my plans include Frances' First Communion!! and Sunday, I want to relax and spend time with my family!

You can play along here:  

Friday Fill-Ins

1. After a while, I might get tired of the quiet here at work.
2. I'll enjoy it for now, at least.
3. Well, anyway, students are graduating and heading out of town.
4. I hope they remember to write to me.
5. I always try to keep up with former students.
6. My kids keep me going.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a night out with friends, tomorrow my plans include trying to finish Frances' First Communion dress and Sunday, I want to babysit some great kids and then go to a graduation party!