Weekend Fun

I'm suffering from a summer cold, I think, but that doesn't slow down the Franklins...There is NO downtime for this housefull of boys :)

We started the weekend searching for fireflies/lightning bugs while we waited for Mimi and Gran to show up. Even Hudson can catch them!!!




On Saturday, after our regular trip to Costco, we headed out to Leeds to the Bass Pro shop. Thomas participated in three of their Summer Camp workshops (earning pins in Fishing, Bird Watching, and Archery), practiced casting off of a boat, tried target shooting at the laser shooting gallery, and cooked & enjoyed delicious smores.


After teaching a roomful of three and four year olds for Sunday school the next day, I felt like taking a nap, but after vegging during quiet time, I decided a trip to the zoo was in order. The rain had cooled down the heat so I knew the animals would be out and happy. Thomas' favorite part of the zoo was playing in the water and watching the giraffes (my favorite animal). I was pleased to see camels where the bison used to be - camels just make me laugh. But the funniest thing was talking to Hudson about the animals. I would sign for him the name of the animal if I knew it. In the primate house, Hudson was calling all of them dogs. I would say "No dog -- Monkey." And he would adamently pound his leg signing "dog" and I would sign and say "No dog - that's a monkey." It ended with Hudson throwing his cup at me in frustration! This child has a mind of his own!

Bikes, Bubbles, Bye to School...a Backlog

I really need to let go of the guilt I have for not posting more regularly :) Forgive me and enjoy this post!

Here is a backlog of videos we've taken:

This first video is Thomas riding his balance bike. This is his really cool bike that doesn't have pedals. Basically, the idea is that if a child learns to balance on this bike, he'll never need training wheels. He has gotten great at gliding and he's even ridden in all the way to the park and back!


Hudson loves bubbles!!! Bubble is one of his words and he can even make them himself.


Bye to Early Arts...Here is a video of Thomas at his end of the year Art Show. Precious art and precious boy...

Happy Hour

If you haven't gone to Happy Hour at Sonic from 2-4pm then you are missing out....We started going on Saturdays after soccer. These pictures are from our first Happy Hour. I got a strawberry slush and Hudson LOVED it...The tears are from crying when Thomas and I were taking our sips! Need I say more....

Easter Fun!

Finally, here are our pictures from all the Easter fun... The slideshow starts with Thomas' school egg hunt and party, followed by our church playgroup/guild egg hunt, the Easter Walk at church and then Easter Sunday. The Easter Walk was really great. We were led through a series of scenes from the last days of Jesus' life with the kids participating. You'll see Thomas waving his palm, following Jesus on the donkey. We also witnessed the Last Supper, the events in the Garden of Gethsemene (sp?), the trial by Pilate...and ending by the tomb where the stone was rolled away. This will be a tradition for us for sure and I'm inviting everyone to join us next year! I didn't get good pictures, but we made Resurrection Cookies on Saturday night. I must have done something wrong but I will definitely do this again next year.

I sure do wish I could video the memories in my mind from this Easter. One of my favorite memories is Thomas' expression when he tasted the vinegar while we were making the cookies...he thought it was going to be sweet! And when I explained that we were leaving the cookies in the oven and we sealed the oven with tape just like Jesus' tomb was sealed, he was wide-eyed and so serious. We did the Resurrection Eggs at our church playgroup egg hunt and afterward Thomas would say that every empty egg he found was a message from God :) Finally, as you will see in the pictures Hudson caught on to egg hunting, after finding one egg at the church egg hunt to finding many eggs at home on Easter Sunday.

It was a wonderful Easter!

Good Friday

Today's service at noon was beautiful...quiet, prayerful, full of the Word (and packed - I almost felt a collective heart ache during the singing of "Were You There...").

The dean's sermon was just about the best Good Friday sermon I have ever heard...Read it or download it to your ipod (not that I have one, but this would be a good use for it if you do).

As we await Easter Sunday, may we continue look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross...(Hebrews 12:2)