Happy Birthday John

 Yesterday, we baked a race car shaped cake for John's birthday.  I decorated it this afternoon.  Ben got up from his nap before I finished and took this picture.

 Ben wanted his picture taken with the cake.

 What looks like brown icing is supposed to be purple.  I bought the Wilton black and red but thought I could mix purple.  I was wrong.

 John with his #11 FedEx racecar cake after he blew out the candles.

 Of course the black icing make everyone's teeth black.

Mollie managed to get more than her teeth black.

Ben took this picture of John with his "California duster," something to clean his car with.

Sunday morning

 Mollie loves her cowboy hat. 

Since I was taking a picture of Mollie, Ben thought I needed to take his picture too. 

Last Week

I haven't posted any pics on the blog this week but both Ben and I were taking pictures.  Here is a look at our week.

 One afternoon, we made a washer and dryer out of cardboard boxes.

 Mollie likes playing in the dryer.  This has caused many arguments since Ben wants to put clothes in and Mollie wants to hang out.  They've also used this box to play drive-thru.

 Ben took this lovely pictures of me in the laundry room.  I always smile this big while doing laundry.

 Ben took this picture of Mollie.

 Another afternoon we did chemistry experiments.  Last Wednesday night the kids had a special "Creation Exploration" program at church where they did chemistry.  We repeated some of Ben's favorites.  This picture is a balloon blowing up from vinegar and baking soda combining.  We also melted crayons with a hair dryer, made a tornado in a bottle, and experimented with milk, food coloring and dish detergent.

 Ben took this picture at lunch Wednesday before John returned to work.

 Another picture Ben took of Mollie.  Notice the green marker on her face. 

 On Friday morning we finally built Ben's birdhouse.  Ben got this birdhouse kit for his birthday from Jim, Fran, MV and Janey.  In the chaos of tee ball, I completely forgot about it.  

 Blowing bubbles while Ben worked on his birdhouse.  We are all in our pajamas.  We had breakfast outside on the picnic table and then played in the backyard in our pajamas until it got hot.

Painting his completed birhouse.  I had to help line up and tighten the screws.

Sleepover

 A few weeks ago, MV and Janey had a sleepover with their neighbors.  Ever since Ben heard about it, he's wanted to have a sleepover with MV.  When Fran texted that they were going to visit family this weekend, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity.  Fran and the girls spent the night with us Tuesday night.  The kids had a great time together playing in the sprinkler and spraying each other with the water hoses Tuesday evening.  Wednesday morning, we dressed quickly and went to the park for a breakfast donut picnic.

Ben typed a thank you note and we e-mailed it to Fran.  He wrote:  Thank you for coming to my sleepover ily BEN MARY VARNER JANEY AUNT FRAN MOLLIE

Last Week

Mama requested new pictures on the blog. I told her Ben was throwing up this weekend and I didn't take pictures. I found some pictures from last week on my camera, though, that never made it on the blog.

Dr. Mollie in her pull up giving Ernie a checkup.

I know everyone has noticed our crazy lopsided rubber tree.  I rooted this rubber tree from a cutting about 10 years ago and we've moved it and moved it and moved it.  We've been talking about how it needs pruning and one day last week I decided I was going to quit talking and trim it.  Of course I researched how to prune it first.

 Ben wanted their picture taken with the newly trimmed rubber plant.  It still looks bad.  It's supposed to grow from the places I cut it.  We'll see.

 On Friday afternoon, John and Ben washed cars.  John washed his Corvette.  Ben washed the Benmobile (Cozy Coupe).  Mollie played in the water that gathered at the end of our driveway.

I didn't let her lap up the water like a dog.  I stopped her before her tongue reached the water.

Sunday

 When I saw Ben and Mollie Sunday morning watching Veggie Tales, I immediately thought of this picture and grabbed my camera.  This was taken in March 2011, 17 months ago.

Look how much they've grown.  Ben isn't wearing the same clothes, just a larger matching set. He's had the exact same shirt two years in a row.  Boys clothes aren't very creative. 

Corvette

 After months of searching, John finally replaced his Corvette that was totaled in March.  On Friday we left Ben and Mollie with Nana and Grandaddy and made a road trip to purchase the new Corvette.  Ben and Mollie were excited about the new car.  Ben had prayed all week that the car wouldn't sell before Friday and that John would get his new Corvette.  Ben got to ride home with John in the new car.

 The new Corvette pulling into our driveway for the first time.

The new car is John's favorite Corvette color combination:  black with tan interior.  It is a 1996, eight years newer than his old car.



In the garage after a thorough washing.

Science Museum

 On Wednesday we visited the Natural Science Museum.  They currently have a special dinosaur exhibit that the kids loved.

 Looking up at a flying dinosaur.

 The toddler area had a really fast slide.  We visited the toddler area three different times.

 Of course Ben loved the bee hive.

 The dinosaurs were electronic and moved and roared.  This is what they looked like inside.

Building dinosaurs.