A Day at the Zoo

We spent the day at the St. Louis Zoo today with some friends. The kids LOVED looking at all the animals and really did well considering the long, hot day! Some of their favorites today were: playing in the water at the Children's Zoo, watching them feed the Sea Lions, visiting the Zebras, Giraffes, Penguins, Hippos and the Elephants and of course, riding the Zoo Train.

Here was our day in pictures . . .

Cardinals Mania

Jackson's renewed addiction is "being a Cardinals player". Fortunately, he has a couple Cardinal's outfits . . . since he has wanted to be a Cardinals player (which requires corresponding attire) the last two days straight! We go outside and I pitch to him, over and over and over! And one of the benefits, he wears himself out running around the bases, over and over and over! Because of course, "he is being Albert Pujols" and he "always hits a home run". He is actually getting pretty good at hitting the ball. He said yesterday, while I was pitching to him, that he was practicing holding is bat "way up high just like Albert does". And he told our neighbor tonight, after I said that he had to wait 2 more years to play t-ball through the park league, "But I will be big in 3 minutes . . . as big as the sky . . . and I will be Albert Pujols." Of course, Kinsey wanted to be just like brother and wear his hat and carry around his bat.

A Fishy Obsession!

David's article from our church newsletter this week . . .

We were able to buy Jackson his first fishing rod a month ago. I love to fish and hunt. And I love that as he grows I can share my passions for the outdoors with him. Lately all he wants to do is practice his casting. There is a little red fish-shaped casting weight for his Spiderman fishing rod that gets thrown around the yard, caught in trees, tangled in unimaginable ways, and it has been know to zoom past our heads at a dangerous clip. Every once in a while, he does it just right. But most of the time the cast isn't much like a cast at all. It takes a little bit of fine motor skills and coordination to hold the button down while flinging the rod in the right direction, making sure not to snag anything behind you while you release the button at just the right moment for the lure (or weight) to fly to the desired location. We work on it over and over. We still have work to do. Here's the problem . . . I can be a little impatient. I keep having to remind myself (or Kristin reminds me) that it takes a lot of work and practice and Jackson won't get it on the first try. But I so badly want him to get it. Nonetheless, even though the casting isn't perfect, his grandpa and I were able to take him out in the boat for the first time. He didn't do great, but that wasn't the point. We spent time together sharing a love for the outdoors.

I wonder if God ever gets impatient with me when I don't get it. Though he teaches me over and over I still want to try it my way and my line gets tangled or slams into the ground, or worse, someone else gets the brunt of my mistake. (I hooked my dad in the nose once!) Praise be to God that he never gives up on me! He wants me to be the best fisherman that I can be and will continue to work with me to perfect my cast, but it's going to require a lot of patience on his part and a lot of humility on my part. I'm just glad that even though I'm not perfect he still takes me on the fishing trip. Following God makes me a better dad. Wanting to be the best Dad I can be teaches me a lot about how to follow God.

David Jarrett
Creative Arts Minister

Fishin' Trip

Jackson took his first fishing trip on a boat at Forbes Lake today. Papa and Grammy came to visit last night and brought their fishing boat. Jackson has been obsessed with practicing casting his fishing pole with a casting weight this past week so he was VERY exciting to go this morning!!

Another Morning at the Park

We enjoyed another morning at the park and picnic lunch with friends. I was able to snap a few cute pictures of the kids enjoying their day!

Happy Mother's Day!

Kinsey Grace-18 Month Pictures

Petting Zoo

The FFA does a petting zoo every year at the high school. Jackson's preschool class went through this morning and the rest of the family was invited to tag along. So, of course, we did! Jackson has been asking to go to the petting zoo since last Friday, so to say the least, he was EXCITED! Of all things, he couldn't wait to see the sheep! I have no idea why he picked that. He went around with his HS student teacher and we followed distantly behind. Surprisingly, he petted every animal and really enjoyed it. Kinsey LOVED checking out all the animals and peeking through the fence at them, but didn't touch a single one. I tried to get her to pet them and even pet the horse to try to get her to, but she wouldn't have any of it. But, boy, was she wide-eyed and excited to see them though!

Kinsey Grace-18 Months

Kinsey was 18 month yesterday . . . we can't even believe it!

A few developmental highlights to share . . . she repeats just about anything you say, so trying to keep track of her new words is pretty much impossible. But a few she says often and clearly: trash (she likes to throw it away), ucky (yucky), bird, tweet, Elmo, doggy, cat, baby, hi, bye, night-night, thank you, please, patty-cake, belly, eyes, clap, shoes, all done, drink, juice, eat, and fruit. She still does quite a bit of signing and one of her new favorites is "elephant". And she is getting pretty good at making animal sounds.

Kinsey has been watching her brother a lot and has become quite the little climber in the last few months. She can climb up on any chair, on the trunk behind our chair 1/2 and over the top of the chair, and even up on the kitchen table! If she is quiet for too long, you better find her!!

She has also really taken to being a little mommy. She loves to carry her baby dolls around the house, give them drink, cover them with their blanket, take them for a walk in the stroller or even rock them in the cradle.

She goes for her 18 month well-baby checkup next Thursday. And we are going to try to get some 18 month pictures taken while Jackson is in preschool in the morning.

Here is a video of her singing the Batman Song . . . with Jackson asking to be called "Batman" every time he is in costume, you would never guess how she has learned it : )

The Things Kids Say . . .

A couple funny things Jackson has said this past week . . . I am blogging them because I don't want to forget!

On the way to Effingham today, we pointed out the giant cross along the interstate. And we hear him say from the backseat, "Did a really HUGE Jesus die on that cross?"

The other night before bed we read the story of Sodom and Gomorrah out of his Children's Bible, he was very intrigued with Lot's wife who was turned into a statue of salt. He asked lots of questions about why this happened to her, I tried to explain it was because she did not obey God and that was her consequence for making a bad choice. So the next day, Kinsey was not obeying me and I hear him say, "Mommy, Kinsey is going to turn into salt because she is not obeying you!"