Spring Break in Texas!

We had such a great time with family and friends while we were in Texas last week. Alea really didn’t want to come home . . . Here are some random pictures I took-enjoy!

Benton with his great-grandma, Nannie.

Alea skating in a princess dress!?!

Oh, the SNOW.

All eleven Perkins grandchildren-together at last!

Three cousins enjoying the tree house.

Happy Second Birthday Benton!

My baby is TWO, or DOO as he says. We had such a great time back home and ended our Texas trip with Benton’s second birthday party. We were surrounded by family and as everyone sang Happy Birthday, I was reminded of how loved we are. Callie was a gracious hostess and we feasted on nachos and cookies. We focused on a “GO” theme and that’s about what everyone did the entire party, go to the kitchen, go to the living room, go eat, go watch Benton open presents, go out in the snow . . . What? Snow? Yes, Benton’s second year was kicked off with one of the biggest blizzards Amarillo has seen in years! It was a Des Moines worthy snow and we felt right at home trudging through the big falling flakes (Samara shoveled the sidewalk-what a sweetie), stomping off the snow before taking the soaking wet shoes off our feet, and then staying inside until time to go. We did get to bring out the shorts and flip-flops the rest of the trip, just not Benton’s birthday. Ah, welcome to the Texas Panhandle.

Benton has had such a great two years of life; he brings his family so much joy! His dimples are always ready to make an appearance and a belly laugh is only a tickle away. He loves to hear funny words and if you find the right combination that will make him laugh, he’s a captive audience. He enjoys eating, mostly on mommy’s lap, eating mommy’s food but has always had a big appetite. Even when his eczema turned into a staph-infection and covered his body, he was happy and playing. And then there’s the pouting, which is so hilarious! He crosses his arms, as little as they are, pooches out his bottom lip and faces a wall until his point is made. He will also melt into the floor or do a belly flop on the floor to show dissatisfaction. His fascination lies with things that move (thus the theme of his party): trains, airplanes, tractors, trucks, cars and bikes. He’ll play all day long at his train table with an assortment of toys as long as his mom and sister are close. Which brings me to his love-Alea (Uh-uh in Benton terms). Siblings have an undeniable bond and it is so evident with Benton and Alea. They share a room and they will often time chat while they go to sleep and wake up talking to each other. He adores her and everything she says, does, wants to be and wants to do. She can talk him into or out of anything-which can be either good or bad. Happy second birthday, My Son, may we celebrate YOU this year and many, many more to come.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day 2009

Silly face picture!

Ok, so I dropped the holiday ball on this one! I completely forgot that it was St. Patrick’s Day until my neighbor mentioned her big St. Pat’s Day breakfast. Well, the kids were already dressed for the day-not in green-and we had zoo plans. This worked wonderfully since everyone else in Des Moines wore green and it’s Spring Break so we all convened at the zoo to play-oh, and see animals. I could spot my red and blue shirted kids quite quickly amidst the sea of green! The weather was surprisingly warm (74) so the kids acted as if they had just spent the last four months indoors. ??? We enjoyed many hours of animal gazing, fellowship with our sweet neighbors, lunch, feeding animals, walking, pushing strollers and finally topped off the outing by a trip to McDonalds for some ice cream. We dragged ourselves into the house in time to get cleaned up and dinner ready for dad. The kids were asleep by 6:30! Happy St. Patrick’s to everyone, hope YOU remembered to wear green!

I’ve Been Sleepin’ in the Stairwell

Ah, the children are asleep, dishes done, laundry snuggly put away, house back in order, it’s time for some relaxin’ time for ME. Wait, what was that? Oh, couldn’t be, both children are fast asleep-I know this for sure! “Greg, I think I hear Alea in the stairwell.”-I’m not getting up, I’m having ME time. “No, she’s asleep, trust me”-back to playing the Wii. There it is again . . . I’m not getting up, ME is more important! “Greg?” “It’s not her.” All’s quiet, OK, must have been a false alarm-oh the sounds of multifamily dwellings . . .

An hour later . . .

“Erin, you’ve got to come see this . . .”


I thought she was in the stairwell-just not like this!

“G”reen Eggs and Ham

So, do you like green eggs and ham? We’ve been discussing the letter “Gg” in preschool and I thought I’d share this idea (I read about-not an original) we did with Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham book. The kids had so much fun that I had to spread the funness. We died some vanilla yogurt green. Drop, drop, stir, stir so exciting! Then, we dumped the green yogurt onto a plate. Plop, plop, goo, goo this is great! Finally, we added an apricot half to the middle. Pluck, pluck, squish, squish what a treat! It was an interesting and tasty version of the green eggs and I gave them sliced ham on the side. They did so like green eggs and ham.

Kidsfest '09

Sunday, we went to a family/kid oriented activity called Kidsfest. It is basically just games, prizes, candy, coupons, advertisements and contests presented in a fun way. It made such a big impression on Alea last year, she has been talking about it ever since. We began by standing in line with a hundred or so other determined families outside in the bitter COLD. By determined, I mean, determined to get a good parking spot, determined not to stand in line once admittance was granted into the building and determined to avoid arriving during the “rain shower” that was only letting up long enough for everyone to get inside the building-how nice. Finally, the doors opened and the line quickly dissolved inside the building. Alea was beside herself, she wanted to conquer THE two things that she just couldn’t bring herself to do last year and those are: the big inflatable slide and the inflatable train. As we stepped inside, she stood in utter amazement that the slide all but greeted her right inside the door. We quickly made it to the slide and train, and I am happy to report, she both masterfully and skillfully conquered both of these obstacles. We had so much fun and even met our neighbors there, though the children took us in opposite directions. The kids rushed the stage when Dora made a guest appearance and danced until they just couldn’t dance anymore. They also got to see the crew from Star Wars and the Veggie Tales characters Bob and Larry. Benton amazed us with his “luck” at every game he attempted: landing on the ONLY white spot on the wheel, finding a green pig and picking the “extra prize” candy bar-sounds like his daddy. While we were playing, the rain shower turned into a beautiful snow and it was fun to watch from inside the warm building. Kidsfest ‘09 was such a success!

Women's Retreat '09

I attended our annual women’s retreat with the church Friday night. Thanks Greg for the support and encouragement to go and your willingness to stay with the children, I wouldn’t have done it without you! Notice this posting is NOT accompanied by pictures. Amidst silly string, toilet paper and Whose Line is it Anyway, I only snapped off 4 pictures, not 1 of which is decent enough to share on this site! Women getting together to have fun, giggling until it hurts, and just getting down right silly all while in the security of a Father that is all present, all knowing and created us to be just who we are, that’s the women’s retreat to me. I have always looked forward to women’s retreats. Even the first one-after marriage-when I cried to leave Greg, oh how times have changed! Memories were made that I will not soon forget and I want to thank the sweet “roomies” I had and say that you girls made my retreat so much fun! Callie, Lori, Mom and April, our day will come again! Until next time ladies-“press on”.