Science/Recess/Lunch

National Butterfly Month

In honor of this prestigious month, I offer you these beauties.  It is always a highlight to visit the Butterfly Garden at our local aquarium.

I was favoring the striking orange one against the beautiful pink calla lilies until I saw her:

Spectacular!

Ketner's Mill

We enjoyed a fun day in the Sequatchie Valley with our friends (and fellow King College alum) the Hendersons. Their son Drew is almost 3 and Nolan is just a week younger than Matthew. The big boys played with sticks and stones, and we all enjoyed delicious BBQ and kettle corn. The weather was perfect and a good time was had by all.

There is a growing phenomenon I have noticed in public gatherings of this sort: quite a large number of people carry their pets (all dogs that I saw) in front carriers, slings, and strollers. Even one cute little old man in bibbed overalls was pushing a pink stroller with a small white dog. It reminded me of P.D. James' Children of Men. Not only were these animals being toted; on more than one occasion I heard the doting of passerbys, "Oh, how sweet." This is a normal response to wee children, but animals?! Something strange is afoot.

A Zoo-y Day

We met Ms. Suzy and Colin for a final hoorah before they head back to Switzerland. Andrew and Stephen posed with Hank, the zoo's main attraction. The kids all jumped in the canoe to explore the depths of the African jungle.

While everyone else went into the barnyard to feed the goats and pot bellied pigs, my kids preferred to dig in the gravel and watch the trains. Andrew and I counted 2 engines pulling and 1 engine pushing a load of 123 coal cars (there's our math for the day!) Here is my wild bunch of chimps.
The newest attraction at the zoo is a carousel featuring endangered animals that were carved by a local group called "Horsin' Around." The boys had a lot of trouble choosing their animals.

As soon as the music started, Stephen started crying to get off. After three passes and lots of tears, I requested the operator to stop the ride. She happily let him get down.

Andrew stayed on though I don't know that he really enjoyed the ride.

It's been interesting having a crawler in the house. You would think that after having done this twice before I'd be prepared. That is not the case. The other morning I found Matthew merrily playing with the door stop, hitting it, listening to the noise. I grab the camera and while taking pictures, I notice he got the cap of the end of the door stop and was eating it. A little while later I heard the big boys say, "Matthew is standing." I run into the living room to find him standing in front of the book shelf, holding onto a lamp cord. This morning I missed him while I was drying my hair and found him underneath the boys' bunkbed. And to top it off, he pulled off another lamp this afternoon and the lightbulb shattered all over the floor. "There's no rest for the wicked...."

Two steps forward, one step back. No, unfortunately this has nothing to do with Matthew's mobility. Tonight I discovered another offending food: soy.

That is to say, I'm pretty sure that it is soy. I put some of Stephen's Whole Soy vanilla yogurt on his back (a quarter size spot) and you can see the result: redness and lots and lots of hives. The other possibilities are rice and corn.

What'll it be next?

Tribute to Our Roots

Somewhere in the upper limbs of the family tree is found Jefferson Davis, and in tribute (okay, really just because we wanted to do something outdoors and free and had never been there) we visited the Chickamauga Battlefield yesterday. It was the last major victory for the Confederacy, but both sides incurred heavy losses in the two day battle: over 34,000 wounded, killed or mission. (Actually I don't think Davis had any personal connection to this particular battle).

We traversed the 5200 acre park by van and on foot, saw plenty of cannons, and numerous signs and monuments to the various troops who fought and died (over 600 were erected between 1870 and 1910).

My personal opinion on this whole "War of Northern Aggression" mania is that it was over long ago (nearly 150 years) and it is time to realize the South did indeed lose; but seeing as I make my home south of the Mason-Dixon line, I try to keep these sacrilegious thoughts to myself.

Wilder's Monument is an 85 foot tower which we climbed (our legs felt like jello afterwards and we are both hobbling today.

The view from the top

Stephen shooting the enemies

Matthew enjoying freedom from the backpack

While Doug and Andrew played football yesterday afternoon, Stephen moved about on his "baseball motorcycle." Matthew ate grass and practised mastering his newly found skill of crawling.

I went back through Andrew and Stephen's records to see when all this happened before. Andrew crawled right at nine months and walked at 10; Stephen crawled just after 9 months and walked at 11. Seeing as we are just past the 8 month mark, Matthew may be our earliest walker - oh, dear!

Early Retirement and Other Mysteries

They must have been tired. The "whine" was free flowing at dinner last night and both were sent to their rooms until their dispositions improved. This is what I found at 5:58 PM!!!!

Andrew slept a full 12 hours and Stephen slightly more. They were in much better spirits this morning. This was all in addition to Andrew sleeping until 8 am on Thursday - a feat that has never (to my clouded memory) been accomplished. Strange things are afoot! Notice Andrew is sleeping with a copy of Tow Times. A few months ago they picked up a copy at the Tow Truck Museum and he often fell asleep with it. I sent a picture and note to the editor, and it was published in the last issue.

Here are some shots from a trip to our neighborhood creek. I'm very thankful for this happy diversion so close to our home.

We celebrated Matthew's baptism today (a duel baptism, actually, with our college friends Katie and Nate Henderson). In the hubbub we failed to get a family shot, but I managed to get a decent shot of the males.

We tried to prevent any "scenes" by explaining to the boys what would happen. After Doug said that the pastor would sprinkle water on Matthew's head, Stephen piped up, "And then he will take a whip and beat Matthew to death!"

That took me aback to say the least. All I can hope is that he somehow had baptism confused with sacrifices, but who knows when you're speaking of Stephen.

In any case, everyone behaved. Matthew chatted in his sweet way; Stephen only quietly asked if he was going to have water on his head, too; Andrew jump/skipped just once and lustily sang "Jesus Loves Me" with the congregation as the pastors carried the babies up and down the aisle.

Matthew was exhausted after a busy morning with no nap.

Though each child's baptism has been special, I am so much more aware now than I was four years ago of the need for "humble reliance upon divine grace" for both me and the child.

Happenings in Virginia

I survived another solo trip to Virginia with all three kids and shaved an hour off the last time. Despite Andrew's protests that it was scary, we listened to Alice in Wonderland going and Ginger Pye coming (we actually have a little left in the latter and we're all desperate to find out what happens!). He also took inventory of all the big trucks we passed: "It is a Mack truck." "It is a Kenworth." "There are two International trucks. One is a cab-over and the other is a conventional."

Papa was working on a house in Richlands and the boys went to investigate. A large drill and a crane were busily working.

We all enjoyed the Cedar Bluff Heritage Festival. I was disappointed that I couldn't indulge in a fried apple pie, but I did find some delicious kettle korn - "festibal" food, and the boys took a train ride with Papa.The highlight of the trip, though, was the wedding. It was lovely as were the bride and groom...and most importantly for Andrew, there was cake (and lots of it). Stephen found the service less than stimulating but "got down" at the reception.I didn't take any pictures of Matthew, mostly because he was either asleep to attached to me in some fashion. He is a busy bee, though, these days. He is eager to get moving, attempting to get on his hands and knees to crawl or pulling on chairs to stand. He was doing the latter this morning but somehow ended up under the chair. What a precious smile!

As much as I love returning home to the mountains, I love coming back to my "new" home (especially when I return to a clean house thanks to my dear husband). If it weren't such a long trip, I'd be tempted to do it more often!

More Birthday Celebrations

We've had a week's worth of birthday happenings, but no one seems to mind.

After returning from our vacation, Doug and the boys checked the front door for any packages, and lo and behold found two boxes. They immediately opened the first which was a nice gift from Uncle Graham, Aunt Kali and the cousins.

The next box was large and Doug expected that it was sent from his folks. The scissors were once again employed, but upon opening the box, we found a 50 foot long garden hose. (I had returned our defective hose a few weeks ago and this was the replacement). I immediately braced myself for major disappointment, but instead Stephen exclaimed, "It's a fire hose. Oh, wow!" The boys and Doug installed the new hose, the boxes were turned into various vehicles and everyone was happy.

Andrew was a little disappointed, however, and kept asking why the UPS man had not come. Then he launched into a tale about how the Fed-Ex man was at Touch-a-Truck and therefore unable to deliver the box. Later Doug spoke to his parents and found out the box was sent via US Mail, not UPS. This only added a new strain of conversation.

Upon returning home from church today, Andrew had to check the front stoop to see if their were any packages even though I told them the mailman was resting. At lunch the conversation went from the mailman bringing the box to our door to the mailman driving a forklift because the box was so big and heavy. It's going to be a long morning tomorrow!

To further celebrate Stephen's 3rd birthday, we went to Sticky Fingers for dinner last night (ok, it was really because their was nothing in our fridge and I didn't want to go the grocery store; but the birthday made a nice excuse!).

Earlier in the day I actually asked Stephen what he wanted for dinner and he replied, "Well, I think I would like a pickle...and some water." Easy enough! Instead he ate fries and looked at his hamburger. Andrew devoured his ribs.

I asked the waitress for a balloon in honor of the celebration, and she gladly brought out 3. Matthew was enthralled with this new treat. I wish I had a video. He batted in, rubbed it, sucked on it.

And to top it off, we got a complimentary dessert - not that the birthday boy could eat it! We chose the fudge brownie sundae - Doug and Andrew took care of the brownie and I ate the ice cream. Stephen was perfectly happy with his animal crackers.

More Fun

Hanna couldn't stop all the fun. We left the rainy coast and headed inland to Columbia, SC where we stopped at the Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Gardens. It was well-worth it.


The boys' favorite was the giraffe which they were able to feed. As I was busy feeding Matthew on a park bench I missed the giraffe and his 18-inch long tongue eating lettuce from my children's hands. I did, however, witness the antics and noise of the howler monkeys and since having children of my own, I am starting to believe there may be something to this evolution business afterall.


We were able to get in free to the zoo through a reciprocity agreement of the AZA and membership to Warner Park in Chattanooga. We've visited Nashville and Knoxville and are milking the program for all it's worth.



We were delighted to be back a day early so that Stephen and Andrew could attend the highlight of the year: Touch-a-Truck. A local educational program puts on this event each year; all different kinds of vehicles park and allow children to climb in, on, and around them. It's heaven for little boys (though the dads seem to be having lots of fun, too)!


Boys on the Bus

Two Boys & and Truck
Mr. Gilly's Trash TruckPostman Pig
The Highway Patrol
Old MacDonald
Fireman Small


We also saw a FedEx truck, race car and hauler, fire boat, crane, skid steer, big rig, ambulance, cherry picker, motorcycles, and best of all - "shriney vehicles."