SC State Museum

We have put lots of things on hold since Ben was born, but decided this weekend we would give the State Museum a try.  Mac has started SC State History at school and it seemed like a great time to go.
I am so glad we tried because we all had a great time, even Ben.
Did you know that there was a shark a long time ago (extinct now) called the Giant White shark?  Almost 5 times the size of the Great White Shark.  I am full of interesting facts just keep reading!

This was one of Mac's favorite parts of the museum.  The civil war muskets and guns.  He also enjoyed seeing the original SC state flag. . .which he had just read about in school.  (Real life learning how cool is that!)

This was Kate's love of the day.  It is a replication of the Secession Ball, absolutely beautiful! 
Now there were many other parts in the museum not just SC history, but this was what sparked the most interest in our children.  Trip and I enjoyed this part too, but we all also enjoyed digging for dinosaur bones, learning about the SC train lines and a little about outer space.

However, I will have to say the most amazing sight all day was this little boy.  He stayed right here in this stroller for the entire visit.  Who knew that would have happened.  Kids keep you on your toes.  Maybe we will be able to start getting out more.

Veggie Straws

I know what you are thinking. Veggie Straws? Seriously Leigh!
Those of you who know us well know that we try to eat all natural, organic, no sugar, etc, pretty much no conventional food. Which of course does not always happen, but in our house what we put in our bodies is very important.
Ben is 8 years younger than Mac and 4 years younger than Kate and the food market for little ones has changed so much is these years. I was excited to try Gerber Puffs with him, but to my dismay found the ingredient list daunting.  Not only was is a mile long but it was full of nasty things. So my search began to find something little Ben could eat that didn't make his mama gasp. I am very excited to say we found these (at Walmart!) Veggie Straws. Mama and Ben are both very happy.

They have the texture of a puff but the ingredient list is much, much shorter and much, much better for Ben and the rest of us.

As you can see he really likes them. (Also notice I have nothing on the wall behind his chair in the kitchen. . .wonder why??)

We will continue to search for good little snacks for Ben and we will let you know what I find.

Outside

We spent the afternoon outside today. . .what did you do?

Ben and I sat on our black bench and watched Kate's "show".

I am sure there will be an encore later if you want to come!

Ben and I cherish all of Kate's "shows" because we know they won't go on forever.  One day she will be grown up (or 8 whichever comes first) and be busy with friends. . .like her big brother was this afternoon.

Here is Ben in his blue marshmallow suit. He and I were a little colder than our performer sister.

Hope you got to enjoy this wonderful weather today too.

The Moon

Have you every looked up at the moon. . .

. . .and wondered how it got there?

We all know that God had his hand in all the workings of the world.

But we are still trying to convince Miss Kate of that.

Because apparently in her book Uncle Chuck hung the moon!
She is absolutely smitten with him. (As you can see she was wearing his hat. )
Our conversations with Kate these days always seem to veer towards
Uncle Chuck. . .what's he doing now, when is he coming next,
and when can I go see him?
He is pretty great in my book too.

Creepy Crawly

Thought you might enjoy a little video of our new little "Creepy Crawler".  After weeks of trying I believe he finally has this crawling thing down.  Honestly, why would a hip baby ever need to crawl?  Now seriously, he can stop here at crawling. . .no walking for this little one.  I am not sure this mama could handle it.

Could you hear Mac and Kate in the background.  This boy has two of the best cheerleaders around. 
He will always have a fan club.

How does this happen?

There are not too many things that Ben likes better than being on my hip. He is there constantly because that is what keeps him from crying. I have learned quickly that with three children sometimes it is just easier to hold the baby. However when I cannot hold him for some worthless reason or another he is mostly happy to sit and play very very close to me. The other day I was cleaning up after breakfast (worthless reason) and set him down to play in the tupperware cabinet. . .look what happened!

He cannot even crawl! Everything was everywhere. I literally left him there for just a second. I do believe when he starts to crawl we will have lots of big messes to clean up.

He was not so good at helping me clean. We might need to work on that.

You can kind of see in this picture that he is thinking about crawling. . .maybe if I keep putting him in those slippery footie pajamas he won't crawl too soon! Such a sweet boy.

Do you have one of these?

Do you have one of these hidden in your trees? It is not something that many have seen. . .but because we have an eight year old boy at our house we have been lucky to spot them. Look closely.

Imagine my excitement when I saw this in my tree. I later learned it had been waiting for me for some time!  Sneaky boy.

The gracious culprit let me know there was another one hidden.  Oh, the excitement!

My sneaky eight year old and I hope you have a great day!

Christmas Brothers

After all the opening of presents on Christmas Day I discovered the sweetest thing.  Ben was being a little unruly and Mac offered to let him "help" build his new Lego.  I quickly agreed and no sooner did I discover my two sweet boys, one 8 years old and one 8 months old enjoying some brother time.

I do believe both boys enjoyed this moment as much as their mama enjoyed watching it!