Fun House

since our last trip to EnterTrainment Junction was a total flop, we decided to try again and do it right this time. same place, but different state of mind.

we just took our time and let bum lead the way. he got to decide where we went and for how long. no time limits or pressure. and the pottys in imagination station even had manuel flush toilets! win!

(nev left her phone in the car this time).

 it was the most fun i have had in ever. not kidding.

this place is amaaazing. we got to see and do everything this time thanks to mom for going along and holding the baby for us.

our strategy is going places on weekdays when kids are in school, so everywhere we go we have the place to ourselves. no waiting, no hassles. just pure bliss. 

the fun house was insane, especially the tilt room.
we thought we were alone and acted like complete idiots until someone came over the loud speaker telling nev to not climb on the bars. i was snapping a picture just as it happened and caught her expression.
slightly embarrassing, but pretty freaking funny none-the-less.

for the month of may, you get two free tickets to come back again when you buy an admission. there was a guy there from out of state who had 4 that he obviously couldnt use and he gave them to us. so we have 6 free tickets to use up. i foresee another trip here real soon. life is good. 

(doin the happy dance)

i pretty much just have two words that sums it up.

*CRAZY FUN*.

~ If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived? Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you. ~  T. Allen Armstrong.

mothers day special

i have been a horrible mother.

i am the mother of a little boy who is facinated by trains and i never even knew this train utopia existed until recently. how could i be so featherbrained. my poor little guy has suffered all this time because of my ignorance.

 i knew i had to make it right. i had to get my little guy there asap. i have already wasted too much time.

this morning across their fb page they announced that moms get free admission on mothers day! win!

 alllllllllll aboard!

(giddy laughter).

this is the same little guy who eats, sleeps, and dreams of trains daily. he knows every Thomas train and their numbers. can sing the songs word for word and rarely leaves his train table unless he is watching Thomas on tv. he is a boy with a one track mind (excuse the pun).

he has found his utopia.

a place where he knows no foreign land

a bum in his element

"peep peep"

we were in seventh heaven, gung ho, and eager to close the place down.

 until... disaster struck. it all happened during bathroom break where we were ambushed by the automatic flush toilets. the fact that nev dropped her phone in one toilet right before it flushed was a minor mishap compared to the 10 minutes i spent kneeling down trying to convince denver that the other toilet will not suck him in and gobble him up when he uses it. (due to his extreme fear of automatic flush). he wasnt buying. he was melting.

i am sure from the outside, the bathroom must have sounded like a torture chamber for the 20 minutes we were inside, and i can only imagine what people were thinking.

 but i was spent. done. in just under 2 hours i was headed toward the exit towing 2 kids in a frenzy. fail.

but its ok. its ok because thats not what mothers day is about. its about being with your kids, listening to them, holding them, kissing them, and loving them even though one flushed their cell phone down the toilet. its cuddleing in so close to them that you can hear the soft beat of their heart as your pressed againt their chest but still it don't seem close enough.

its stroking their cheeks and whispering in their ear how much they mean to you even though they are not listening. watching them sleep and breathe while tears stream down your face because you love them so much that it hurts. it must be mothers day an awful lot around here. im going to go cuddle up with my babies now. every one of them.

xoxo Happy Mother Day xoxo

~Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.  ~Charles R. Swindoll

Brownie points

Nev and Denver decided to whip up some tasty brownies on Tuesday to satisfy their "trent tooth".  i let Nev go at it on her own just to see what would happen.

sometimes the best way to learn something is to teach someone else how to do it, and she had a more than willing little student eager to learn, and taste.

i was surprised at how good everything turned out considering Nev has never done this by herself before. (she never wanted to). but it's amazing what you can do when you have the desire to do something, instead of being expected to, or knowing there are expectations. it feels good to have the freedom to experiement with something new on your own, how you want to, and not worry about the outcome. with this being said, her brownies turned out good. not great or perfect, just good. nothing a few more batches can't fix. each time will get better. and better. and maybe someday she might have the desire to start making dinner. Nev, if your reading this, i really love shake and bake chicken, baked potatos and brussel sprouts with butter and pepper:)  love ya, mean it. xoxo



Denver seen us rummaging through the apron's and wanted one of his own to wear. 5 minutes before these pics we're taken, he was running around in his birthday suit, his usual around the house attire.  

I'm the first to admit that Nev does a lot better than me in the kitchen. just yesterday i was trying a new awesome bean soup recipe in which you bake the beans instead of soaking them overnight. in light if the fact that i almost burned the house down (for the second time) I'd say they didn't turn out too shabby for my first try! Win! (at least this time we didnt have to call the fire department and alarm all the neighbors, thank goodness no one seen the smoke bellowing out our windows), i was able to maintain it, and gain control. yes! besides the fact that we all were choking on smoke and bearing burnt eyeballs that caused us to not be able to see where we were going for a bit, we were mostly ok.

hey wait a minute. as a matter of fact our smoke alarms didnt respond. ummm, i prolly better go check those things. that might be a good idea.

happy tuesday friends.

"I am learning all the time, the tombstone will be my diploma". ~Eartha Kitt

the sun is shining!

finally we can put up the umbrellas for a while and enjoy the sunshine.

we met up with a home school group today in yellow springs. the kids made terrariums.

denvers turned out slightly dilapidated due to the closeness of the play yard which i reckon made it mighty hard for him to concentrate. 

it was a nice day for it though, and nev met up with some pretty cool girls her age who she got to run around in the woods with and got all muddy and scratched up.

but thats how ya know they are havin fun.

as for me and london, we just sat and watched all the kids run mad.

and would it have been couth of me to pass right by the dairy farm for a hot meal and fresh made ice cream, and not stop? nope.



i must admit their pulled pork sandwich is to die for and a fizzie cold soda has never tasted better.

i love spending our days lolly gagging. no real agenda or design. just letting the heart guide the way and see where we end up.

i believe letting children lead the way, and listening to their hearts,  always pays off.

this generous portion of sunshine was greatly taken advantage of today and might even get us through the next few days of rain without much gripe.

~ and when they ask why the kids aren't in school today, we'll tell them it's cause the sun is shinin!

~Paige H.

Bust my Buffers!

Denver's Thomas the Tank obsession is off the charts these days. he's gone as far as getting Percy tattooed on his arm!  nothing can deter this guy, he knows no fear. he's gone mad!

Sis couldn't let him do it alone, she got one herself to show her dedication and support.

nothing can break this bond! 

don't mess with these two, they are unstoppable. true life dare-devils!
tough as nails.

he even wore his tank top sleevless shirt (per Nev) today to make sure he was able to sport his new tattoo after all the hard work.

now and then he would look under his jacket sleeve makin sure it didn't disappear.

after lunch he had his jacket off before even stepping past the threshold of the door, and sprinted straight to the mirror to check it out some more. flexin his muscles, turning side to side to get a good look at every possible angel.

bleak, dreary monday mornings are good for tattooing little people and having pizza for breakfast, just cause.

 i so love mondays.

i know this Thomas the Train phase soon shall pass, and will one day be a distant memory. all i can do is soak it all in as much as i can while its here, take plenty of pictures, play with him and supply him with the tools needed to feed his imagination.  and maybe one day he will be tattooing his body with real ink, coloring his hair, and piercing his eyelids.

and maybe, i might just be okay with that. because he will always be beautiful. inside and out.

and in my opinion, as long as he is brought up with the utmost love, patience and  affection, it will be okay.

they are going to be okay.



*give a child the oppurtunity to learn by freedom, and he will teach himself to fly. ~ Erica Trent

Popcorn 101

 i started an "interesting fact" war with Nev on facebook where i listed a few cool facts about popcorn in which inspired us to dig out the ol' popcorn popper and glutton ourselves in the heavenly realm of butter, flavored salts and popcorn popping. it's been a long time.  

Denver has never tried popcorn before but must have figured it was going to be something yummy because every so often through out the evening he made a point to tug on my leg saying "it's popcorn night, isn't it mama?" sometimes it's the little things that seem to excite us so much around here.  

i dug out the popper, washed it off, and gathered up all the ingredients needed, with Denver right on my tail. we put in the oil and the corn, and plugged it in.

   

they eagerly waited and finally the first kernel popped..   

here are a few interesting facts about popcorn you may not have known...

*Every kernel of popcorn contains a tiny amount of water. when a kernel is heated, this water turns to steam. The pressure grows until...pop! the kernel explodes with a rush of steam. The kernel turns inside out and the inside expands like white foam.

*Popcorn is scientifically known as Zea mays everta.

*Popcorn that do not pop are called "old maids, or "spinsters".

*When popped, popcorn comes in two basic shapes. Snowflake and mushroom.

*A cup of air-popped popcorn would have 31 calories and a cup of oil-popped only 55 per cup. 

i love the smell of popcorn, possibly even more than i love the taste. it reminds me of back when i used to work at a movie theatre in my teen years. funny how our minds can store smells and remind of us certain times of our life, even if it was decades ago.

maybe the kids are making some"popcorn smell" memories of their own.

here's to popping 'Zea mays everta' on saturday evenings in the Trent homestead.

 how about a different flavor seasoning each week, and throwing in some herbs and spices like the Native Americans did:)~

it turned out amazing. and at the same time Denver was enlightened by the art of popcorn popping, tasting and throwing. i forgot how good popcorn tasted, and am glad we have been reunited.

after the crunching and munching finally ceased, i attempted to put the bowl up on the counter in hopes denver had had enough and go get distracted in doing other things.

a little later i heard some ruffel-duffel in the kitchen, went and looked in, and found this..

Aha! caught red handed.!

i think denver has found a new love.
 i think we all have.

xoxo

~we are not popping popcorn to teach math, we are popping popcorn because it tastes good~.