A Museum Outing

After four days at home from our "blizzard" (okay, even I am exasperated by the southern caution taken with this past snow), we were ready for an out of the house adventure that did not involve Target or speech therapy.  I was not quite ready to tackle an all day trip to the zoo, so we decided to check out the Porsche by Design Exhibit at the NC Museum of Art.


I had discovered this automotive art exhibit at the end of December, but illness and other craziness prevented us from going before now.  Fortunately, the exhibit was extended until February 2 (so we squeaked in and made it out on its final weekend).  It was crowded (but not horrible) plus we were able to get our tickets at the museum and walk right in.

It has been a delight for me that my boys have always done well with cultural outings.  While they are still active and have very short attention spans, I have been able to take them to Rembrandt, Titanic and other special exhibits at various museums in the past.  However, our other adventures have generally taken place with a stroller.  So this time was my first adventure to a special exhibit at a museum without the boys in a stroller, but luckily I had Mike along for the "ride".


Though we didn't get to read much of the information and the audio tour was not an option, this exhibit was AWESOME for the boys (and mommy, too).  We enjoyed checking out the many cars on exhibit, including some from the 1930s, a multitude of race cars, and cars owned by celebrities such as Steve McQueen, Jay Leno and Janis Joplin.  (Can you guess which car posted was owned by Janis Joplin?)

Note for parents-Mike and I definitely could have spent at least  an hour exploring the exhibit and would have liked to check out the audio guide which I imagine was quite fascinating.  However, moving through and seeing every car with young kids we were out in approximately 30 minutes!

After the cars, we did head over and check out a few things in the main permanent exhibits side of the museum and even got in a few of the outdoor exhibits before it started raining.

It is small steps, but I love introducing the boys to a bit of culture and hope they end up loving to explore museums as much as their mom does.

A Hale of a Snow Day

While much of the north laughs at what constitutes a southern snow day, the fact is we don't get a lot of snow in the south (this warm weather is why everyone likes to visit us in the winter ;-).  Anyway, the rare occasion where we do get more than ice or just a dusting of snow, we try to make the most of our DAY because that is as long as it generally lasts.  For the Hale family, this meant sleeping in a bit since school was canceled and we didn't have to be out of the house by 8:30.  

We enjoyed looking out our window and seeing a few inches of beautiful fluffy snow covering our yard.  Then before we played and the snow got messy, we scooped up a bowl of fresh snow and made snow cream.  Graeme likes to help me "make" in the kitchen and he was a great helper for this simple recipe.  He is now as big a fan of snow cream as he is of ice cream.

After finally convincing the boys that this unusual cold was something they wanted to try out (neither has really experienced snow since we haven't had a multi-inch accumulation of snow since Graeme was too little to appreciate much less remember it and I don't know that Liam has had any at all.  So we put on our layers and headed out.

Graeme is in a cowboy phase so he chose a long sleeve button up, his Australian cowboy hat from Papa Witt, his cowboy boats, gloves, scarf and since we can't convince him to wear a coat as a cowboy-mommy's fleece vest.  He had so much fun outside that he didn't want to come in and hardly registered any cold until he came in.

Liam was so excited to try out the snow (It's so FLUFFY!) and he loved it.  

While the snow was too soft for a snowman and didn't pack into great snowballs, we had a blast throwing the snow at each other and running around in the backyard.

We showed the boys how to make snow angels but they couldn't be convinced to lay down in the snow and make one of their own.  (The natural brilliance of children avoiding being cold in wet simply for what mommy and daddy call "fun")

Mommy and daddy engaged not only in helping the boys with their snowballs but in pelting each other as well.  Being a former softball player, it is considered a good thing to throw like a girl in our family and Mike was the recipient of a well-aimed head shot if I do say so myself :-).

The boys enjoyed learning more about the art of making a snowball from their father (okay, mostly they just wanted him to make them some ammo)

Which they used against their mother!

And each other!

We had a blast playing in our little bit of southern snow.

Cowboy Graeme and I even had a "snow"down, which he won, of course.  I take my dramatic dying from a snowball very seriously.

After some fun snow antics, we headed inside for some hot cocoa and hang out time in front of the space heater.  Then it was movie and iPad time in the back (we are still working on replacing the flooring in the living room).  Chili for lunch, more fresh snow cream in the afternoon, soup planned for dinner and that is our southern snow day.  

And we plan to have another snowball fight so watch out!

My Favorite Medicine and Addiction

We are finally getting back on our feet.  The boys are better and we are working on Michael.  We are excited to have gotten back to "normal" with preschool, speech and my occasional days at Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve.  And now that we are, we might actually have something of a decent snow storm (here's hoping we can post pictures of a snowman soon!)

One of the things that always helps me through times, especially the sick ones, has always been books.  I'm most excited to see Graeme starting to love them, too.  He requests a bedtime story every night and if not told "correctly" he will let us know.  His favorite book right now is a collection of fairy tales retold with Mickey Mouse and friends in the main roles.

Between working years and discovering motherhood I had gotten away from reading without really realizing it.  Then, some friends and I started doing a book club 3 years ago which started my journey back to reading and really expanded my tastes.  I've discovered a love of nonfiction and found many books I may not otherwise have ever read.

I've also added a few personal challenges to my reading lists over the last few years.  My first one that I started was the tackling of Agatha Christie novels.  A year ago I read a collection of letters she wrote while on a Grand Tour of the world and I realized that somehow I had never read the world's bestselling author.  Now I have read over 40 of her books and short story collections.

My other challenge that I have undertaken came about from being a mom.   I want my children to love books.  There are many books that I loved as a child that I want to pass on to my children (Charlotte's Web, Bridge to Terabithia, etc) but I also wanted to discover what had come out in the many, many, many years since I discovered books.

I decided to read all the Newbery books that have come out since I was born (plus some of the earlier ones as well).  I was quite shocked by how few I had read before I started this challenge.  I have loved many and been delighted by books like the Tale of Desperaux, Holes, and When You Reach Me.  I have been baffled at what others found so wonderful in a few.  Have you read the book that won the year you were born?

Hopefully, as my boys learn to read, I'll be able to help them find something that will spread my addiction to the next generation.

Trying to get Hale-thy

I didn't disappear again, I promise!  However, since last Thursday, our house has been a hot zone.

Liam started coughing mid-week and by end of the week, he was runny-nosed, coughing and miserable.  He was pitiful and adorably miserable.  The hardest part of Liam being sick is that he does not sleep through the night when he doesn't feel good (which means little sleep for mom :-()  And he was also a giver.  Just as he starts recovery . . .

Graeme starts coughing and getting congested, signaling FUN WEEK AHEAD.

The worst was Tuesday afternoon when Graeme started screaming.  (A note: we have been blessed with general good health and don't often have major cases of the cooties, so Graeme hasn't dealt with ear infections or even crazy head colds). I immediately called the pediatrician and got him an appointment about an hour later.  No ear infection, but the poor kid gets major pressure on his ear drums from the head congestion.  Dosed with Tylenol, and feeling like just having gone to the doctor meant he was all better, Graeme has been getting through the worst of his cold.

We canceled everything from pre-school to speech for the boys and bible study and working at the preserve for mommy.  Instead our days were full of Octonauts, Minion Rush (addictive iPad game-download with caution), Angry Birds, lots of liquids and the occasional walk in the stroller, and BOOKS!

Here's praying that the long weekend, Tylenol, Mucinex, and rest see us back to the land of the living next week!

Cold Weather (by NC Standards) Activities

It is only supposed to get to 24 degrees tomorrow with a low of 9 overnight.  Some might laugh but for NC that is COLD.  We are hoping to spend the afternoon in the Museum of History and Natural Sciences in Raleigh with cousins, but if that falls through . . . what can we do if we get stuck inside (mostly because no one really owns good cold weather gear here)?

Here are a few indoor suggestions that have worked great in the past to keep the boys away from the TV/iPad.

1.  A tea party-something I never thought would really be a cool option with boys, but is something we all love to do.  For my boys it started with the book Tea Rex by Molly Idle which is a great story for kids, boys or girls.  The premise of inviting a T-rex to the party, however, does make it a fun way to introduce tea party picnics to little guys in a way that speaks right to them.  Add fruit, sandwiches cut out in dinosaur shapes, pretzels and it's a delightful way to have lunch.

2.  Hide some stuffed animals around the house and go on safari.  We haven't done this one in a while but especially now that the boys have some that they are really attached to, this might be happening in our house tomorrow afternoon.  (This is a great one when it is dark outside as you can turn off the lights and the kids can just use flashlights)  This idea is taken from The Toddler's Busy Book by Trish Kuffner.

3.  Then there is the always tried and true activity of building up trains, tracks and buildings with the Legos.  This is especially great right now as we are in the middle of living room/dining room projects and the concrete floor is exposed.

Hopefully we will be out of the house, but if stuck inside maybe I won't go too insane!

Stay warm!

A New Year

It has been nearly 2 years since I have posted to my blog.  I had to give up something during that time, and keeping my blog going was one of the things I did.  Now, I'm working my way back.

What has been going on for two years?  The big thing has been two growing boys that need extra help.  Graeme has made huge progress with speech and his other developmental delays.  This gives me hope that we will soon see that progress start showing for Liam.

It is has been hard, but it helps to have sweet and lovely boys (most of the time) and those around that love both you and your kids no matter how difficult things are.

I hope to both share encouragement and advice, some humor and probably some grief, and just reconnect.

May 2014 be a year blessed!

After a long pause, back with a campout

Wow, so March and April have been crazy and busy and are nearly gone.  I've been meaning to get on and post but time has kept passing by.

Easter has come and gone.  We had a great trip to the coast where there was a fun outing to cousin Neal's baseball game, sunrise service, an egghunt and some baseball with Graeme.

Then this past week, Graeme had his spring play at school where he and his classmates were great little flowers.  While he apparently would practice the songs at school, when faced with a big crowd, stage fright set in and he sat there sweetly with his hands on his face and watched everyone else.  He was adorable!

Then this weekend (after a test camp in the backyard last weekend) we met up with Mike's siblings for the first annual Hale Kids Family campout at Jordan Lake.  While Molly (Mike's brother Ken's wife) and I headed back at the end of a great afternoon with the littlest Hales, the rest are braving a coming rain storm and should have some great stories to add when we see them tomorrow.

Graeme liked cousin Josh's big red bike

Liam liked hanging in the woodlands

Graeme taking a turn with the oars

Liam in a rare still moment with a pretzel

Hiking around the campsite

A deep conversation with Uncle Jon

Aunt Leanna and Aunt Katie

Uncle Jon building the campfire

Watching the campfire

Cousins Josh, Sarah and Anna

Uncle Ken checking out cousin Josh's marshmallow (Anna just chillin')

The First Annual Hale Kids Family Campout

Michael (with Emily, Graeme & Liam), Ken (with Molly, Josh, Sarah & Anna), Katie, Leanna, Jon, Nancy & Christina