Bubble Gum, Please!

I have learned the magic of bubble gum. Okay so it's maybe not magic, but I hate to admit it's a great bribe. Grayson has been introduced to gum and after swallowing quite a few pieces, he learned to keep it in his mouth. I fought it for a long time, and boy there were many spankings due to him sneaking it out of my purse. Yes, we have already been through the pulling it out of my mouth and now it's all over the place stage. I'm sure gum in the hair will ensue one day. But as for now, Grayson will do just about anything for a piece of gum. And he always asks so nice and politley for it that it's hard to resist. The crooked, toothy smile, the batting brown eyes, an uptipped chin, and a really sweet "May I have some bubble gum please Mommy?" always works on me! He can't wait for the day when he can actually blow a bubble. I will be glad to teach him as I am a bubble gum fanatic. Until then, I just love to see his jaw working extra hard to get the full enjoyment out of that piece of bubble gum!

Summer's Best Week at ASBC

Okay guys, let me back up a little into the month of June. I have some great pics to share, so I'll just write about our experiences, too! The last 2 weeks of June, our church did Summer's Best Week, aka VBS. It truly is Summers Best because of all the excitement and all the great activities, but for some of the children who attended, it was the BEST because they became new members of God's family. I had the privelege of praying with 10 of the over 80 kids that came forward to accept Christ! How Great is Our God!!!!


The theme was "Stowaway to Scar Island". The church's sanctuary was decked out with a huge pirate ship, the Arabella, and all the activities, crafts, and snacks during the week went along with this theme. Trevor and I had the opportunity to serve in the Drama as Captain Clueless and Nerdy Scalliwag, respectively. We had a great time getting to know some of the other people in our church that we have been serving with. Between all the practices and the 2 weeks of SBW, we became closer friends.

Grayson even got to take part in SBW this year because PreSchool Week begins with 3-year olds. He had a great time, and is still singing the songs, doing the motions, wearing his t-shirt, and talking about the Arabella and Scar Island. Even today (which is probably why I am writing this!) he had his Fisher Price Noah's Ark loaded down with people and proudly announced to Trevor and I that they were going to Scar Island!! Miss Mindy and Miss Shelly would be proud!!

Thanks to God for the talents we shared for His glory alone, to our church for supporting such an awesome outreach to children, and to our new-found friends for sharing the great week with us and making lasting memories!!!!!

Night at the Oceanfront

We needed to get out of the house yesterday afternoon to pass a little more time since Grayson decided this was one of those days he was not needing a nap. We packed up and went down to the Ocean. There was a great band to greet us as we parked and got out by the Hilton. There were people dancing, listening, sleeping. It looked like one of those moments out of a movie! As we crossed the bike path, Grayson got really excited-there was a new playground in the sand. He had a great time climbing, sliding, driving, and getting out that energy!

We continued the rest of the way down to the water's edge. The tide was beginning to come in and the waves were actually really good! As Grayson kept going into the water with his bucket (faced the wrong way to be catching any water!) he continued to be knocked over by the crashing waves and water that chased him all the way back up. He laughed and ran and swam with delight. Trevor and I enjoyed seeing his little footprints in the sand where he had run away from the waves. Unfortunately, my camera battery had died so did not a photo of his little feet! A great family night down at the VB Oceanfront! Thanks Heidi and Sue for your blogs about great beach evenings that inspired us to get out and do it more often! Love you guys!

Mommy Jayne and Daddy Trevor

Okay, so this is one of those journal entries that's really just a reminder for me for later on down the road: what is it with Grayson calling Trevor and I by our first names? Maybe it's Gran's fault because from a very young age she thought it was cute to confuse or otherwise entertain the other menbers of the family by referring to us as Jayne and Trevor. Well, the first time he did it as a toddler was cute, and I still remember the chuckle it brought. But now, it seems as if I am hearing Jayne and Trevor more and more. How do you explain to a 3-year old that yes I am Jayne, but he needs to call me Mommy. He's also giving me pet names just like I give to him. Yesterday we were playing a game and I knew it must have been my turn because I heard, "It's your turn, super girl!". I am thankful that Grayson knows that we are the Hoare family and that Daddy and Mommy have real names, but I still love to be called Mommy! I'll take a super girl every now and then, too!

The Three Baptist "F's"

We are fortunate to serve with an awesome bunch of people we now call friends. We are all a little crazy and zany in our ways which lends perfectly to the place we serve. We are all part of a cast that does drama sketches in our children's program at church. We had a summer get-together tonight and had a great time catching up. The food was awesome, the fellowship was great (although I must say that having to chase and watch Grayson didn't necessarily lend itself to many extended conversations), and fun was had by all. The older kids were able to get into the lake and do some swimming, jumping onto the inflatable, floating raft, and jumping off the dock. Grayson tried his hand at climbing up into his first treehouse on a rope ladder, and riding on a tire swing. Due to the "spiders that might get me", the ladder adventure didn't last long. But after time, the tire swing became his favorite. Thanks Mike and Kristen Henry and all our friends with Kids Thang' Drama for a great night!

My Little Monet

Okay, so I must admit that I have kept the paints away for as long as I could because I just didn't want to deal with the potential mess and the discipline that might be needed in dealing with Grayson and wet paint! I am so sorry that I kept them from him-he loves to paint and to create. He doesn't draw much of anything recognizable, but he loves to see the colors mix and change. He is now trying to create circles and squares, and although he tells me what he has drawn, it is lost on me. This latest creation really did look very good until the paintbrush started to fly and marked everything up!! The teacher in me had to say to leave him alone and let the genius work and create on his own without Mommy's input. Happy painting Grayson!

A Lemon of a Day

Today was one of those ordinary days...nothing special planned, no where to go, no where to be. It was a good thing because our car wouldn't start. Before I had a chance to think about it though, Grayson awoke with a kick of energy, running in to decide which video we were going to watch today. So, we made the best of our day and began with breakfast in bed with a DVD of his choice. We proceeded to move into the living room, where I believe we played every game we owned. We even did some cooking together in Grayson's kitchen! I haven't spent some good quality time like that with Grayson in a while. I did sneak in some dishes. To top off the day, Trevor called and we went on a little road trip with him in the "big truck". One little boy was absolutely ecstatic-good thing because that meant no nap! After special treats for the ride home, and a stop at the warehouse, we decided on one of our favorite quick evening meals--Breakfast. We enjoyed french toast, bacon, eggs, and fresh fruit. A potentially bad day turned out to be a gem, one I would do over again. A great day with my 2 special guys!

P.S.-Thanks to you Sue, I even had my camera close by to capture silly moments on this "ordinary" day!