Being Present and Thankful

As a native St. Louisan one would think I'd be used to our town's yo-yo weather, however today's near 80 temps still came as a pleasant surprise. Steve and I traded our family's usual routine of attending church services, for the opportunity to relish a bonus, summer-like day at Forest Park and later enjoy Dia de los Muertos at The Missouri History Museum.

As we walked the paths and took in the kaleidoscope of color, Noah and Natalie pointed out their discoveries -- a ladybug, leaves shaped like hearts, pods filled with seeds and a willow tree perfect for climbing. I took some time to breathe, to hold hands with my husband and to Thank God for all He has given us. In those moments I felt more connected to Him than I have in weeks. A reminder that He is always present and patiently waiting to hear from us.

Yay - not too big to enjoy the Variety Wonderland playground.

It's been awhile since I've seen him smile this much.

Circus Kaput were not only talented but FAST! They created Nat's half sugar skull face in under 5 minutes.

Nat shares a colorful grin with our favorite MO Hist personality - Lindsay Newton, manager of Youth and Family programs

We enjoyed viewing the striking, eye-catching alters created to celebrate the lives of friends and family who have passed on.

Nat stands in front of an alter to celebrate Veterans

Breads and fruit and nuts are often part of the alters.

My brother's family lost their beloved, 13 year old boxer last week. Nat left Dozer a note at the pet alter.

She also wanted to remember my kitties - Bailey and Tig.

Deep Thoughts From Noah #83

Noah: "Mom/Dad, I have a question."
Steve: "What is it, Noah?"
Noah: "Are you and mom elderly?"

Deep Thoughts From Noah #82

Noah: Mom, why are you such a neat freak?
Me: What do you mean?
Noah: You always want me to clean my room.Why? It's my room.
Me: Yeah, but it's my house and I don't like looking at a dirty room.
Noah: Ok, I don't really understand your answer, but I'll take it.

Deep Thoughts From Noah #81

As I'm dropping Noah off to school...

Me: "Noah, you are a good kid. Try to listen to your teacher and not act so silly and cut up in class, ok?"

Noah: "Ok, I'll try...but it's kinda my specialty." 

Musings From Natalie #150

Natalie: "Mom, today I did something different."
Me: "Really, what?"
Natalie: "I decided to do an experiment. I wanted to see what it was like to sit at a boys' table."
Me: "How'd that go?"
Natalie: Mom! They are so different...and funny and creative. And...don't forget about the insults! There are lots of those. And, they like to throw food and try to catch it in their mouth and sometimes they get food on their face! Girls are nice, but boys are just...different. I think I'm going to do that again tomorrow."

Read & Ramble #3: BFG

Finding ways to connect with your tweens and teens can be tough sometimes. Barbie dolls and Littlest Pet Shops have packed up and left our home and watching a Minecraft screen makes me dizzy (not to mention bored. I just don't get the attraction).  However, books are still an option. Even though my kids are more than capable of reading to themselves - we still find moments to read together.

It has been awhile since we've done a "Read & Ramble" - my idea in which we read a story and then try to find a place that complements it. Last weekend in honor of Natalie's love of Roald Dahl books (especially The BFG) -- we headed to the town of giants.

Casey, Illinois - a small community located about two hours east of St. Louis holds the Guinness Book of World Records for eight of the world's largest things. We spent the afternoon touring the town, window shopping and taking pictures of ourselves with a bunch of big stuff. My favorite was the world's largest knitting needles. They each weighed 25 lbs and in order to be in the Guinness Book, they had to be used! (Cast on 10 stitches and knit 10 rows).

On our way we spotted a really, really big cross.

It really spins, too.

No world record...just big

The box can be closed, too. And, if you send out a letter from it your mail will be postmarked stating it was sent from the world's largest mailbox. I sent a letter to the kids to test it out.

World's largest pair of wooden shoes.

A big minion...they couldn't resist.

World's largest windchime -- it really works, too.

I really wanted the opportunity to climb up on this chair and sit like I was Lily Tomlin's beloved character, Edith Ann.