The Maize Maze

This is our fearless group, Daniel R., Daniel H., and Christopher and Sam, and their fearless leaders, my friend Tara and myself. We started with much confidence in the ability of our team. All the teams were named after Greek and Roman gods, and we were the warrior gods, Mars and ?. (Yah, just drew a blank...Hmmmm) Anyway, the goal was to get through the maze in good time while collecting map pieces and answering questions you find along the way.

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(whose kids are those anyway....)

So, off we go with our flag and our arrow of leadership. The arrow was to determine whose turn it was to decide which direction to go,and the flag was so that we were never entirely lost to the world. It worked out great. The boys worked so well together, no fighting or bickering about directions. They were so compliant, no one questioned any direction, even when we went in the same circle 2 times in a row. Even still, Tara and I had decided this was the boys' thing and we would just follow. So follow we did, for almost 2 hours. At about the 1 hour 45 minute mark, Tara and I both decided Starbucks was calling and we stepped in to ask for help.

The boys were getting a bit weary of not finding the end, but they still didn't want to ask for help. That's a group of boys for you. We were in there so long, even the maze masters were mocking us from their towers, very sad. However, we did ask for help to find our way out to find that we were the 4th out of 5 teams to finish. The first team finished in about 50 minutes (very impressive!), and the last team stayed past the point of getting out so they could find all the map pieces. They knew how to get out, but didn't so they could go back and find ALL the pieces. Alas, that really made us the truly last place team. (We didn't even have half our pieces AND it took us forever to get out.) When all the points and times were considered and honors handed out, we earned, the worked together best honor. Very nice, but I don't think I would have minded the quickest out award. :)

You've Had a Bad Day....

You know you have had a bad day when your children dig their own graves in your flower bed. Hmmmm......

Fortunately, it was only to be funny. I had run down the street to pick something up and this is what I saw as I walked up the drive. They think they are soooooo funny.

The Hummingbird

Today, we found a hummingbird in our garage. It was fun to watch at first, until you realized the only direction it would fly was up. It kept bumping into the ceiling, rest on the garage door and keep trying to fly up, up and away. As Sammy and I stood there, Sammy commented, "If only it had a bigger brain." I just started laughing to which Sammy continued, " You know their brains are very, very small." You gotta love my Sam, so literal. Christopher joined us and tried to help me direct him out of the garage. It didn't work, but then it decided to fly down and actually was flying out of the garage, until it tried to fly up, again....and knocked itself silly on the door ridge. It fell straight to the floor, dazed. Of course, we went to try and help it. As the mom, I thought, this thing is not long for this world. But my Christopher, with his compassionate heart for animals, picked him up and cared for him. We got some sugar water and a towel. Christopher helped straighten it's wing and watched over it. And believe it or not, the little fellow flew away. Christopher said later that God had answered his prayer, and saved his hummingbird.

Pepper, My Peppers

Check out my peppers!!!! The big red ones are mine, and Matt has the small, red, hot peppers. Hee, hee, hee...it only took 4 months, but I have red peppers. I may learn to garden yet...

We LOVE legos!!!!!

Oh yes, we do love legos. Never in my girlie world did I ever imagine there could be such passion over small plastic blocks. And yet, I find, even I love legos. They must be the best toy ever invented. They can be anything you could ever imagine, and let me tell you, young boys' imaginations are endless. So when Lego decided to open it's Concord store, we, of course had to be there. Poor Matt had to work, so that meant me and the boys had to go it alone. First, we went to the store to buy our legos that would enable us to get our commemorative r2-d2 lego block. Then we lined up to be a part of building an 8 ft. R2-D2. Then back to the store for our certificates of participation.

(Building the r2-d2)

(Huge pile of legos to build with in the classroom at the lego store.)

Oh my goodness, how happy can 2 boys be with a 6ft. lego clone trooper....his name is Rex.
(Talk about mom points... :) )

The Fourth

This is how big boys play.....

And this is how little boys play...

And this is how all the kids play...

On the fourth of July.....

Thanks to the Bumgarner's and their parents, we have been privileged to be a part of a fabulous fourth of July celebration. It starts with a trip down to the border of SC with loads of fireworks, food, and family. Where many friends congregate to cook out, hang out, and blow things up. It is quite a time. The boys have actually toned down the fireworks from the orininal 6 hours of fireworks to a mere 2 hours, give or take. They do a great job.

Easy Bake

Sammy may one day be a chef. However, today he is an "Easy Bake" chef. They made cinnamon cookies with frosting and one chocolate chip. The best part is he did it ALL by himself, including clean up. Good Job Sammy!