11 of 52

Elise, Sarah, and I went out Tuesday night to celebrate a few things going on in our lives.  We had some yummy food at Bistro and had a great time catching up!  I am so fortunate to have great girlfriends.

52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with your family. Your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Now go take a picture!  

Muncie Children's Museum (aka Stop Growing Up!)

Spring Break, Day 2.  Thomas heard that there was a great Jim Davis (Garfield comic book creator) exhibit at the Muncie Children's Museum and he had been begging to go.  I decided that I didn't want to devote a beautiful summer Saturday going, and yesterday was a great day to make the trip.

It was apparent as we stepped in that my boys were too old for this Children's Museum.

That didn't stop us from looking at all the cool exhibits (like this ant hill climbing area).

Or this barn - see my farmers in the top window.

But we had seen and done it all in 20 minutes.  The boys were surprised and expected more.  I reminded them that a bunch of the exhibits they sailed right past would have been really cool if they were 3 years younger.  And, they're spoiled with so many children's museums around us.  They've kind of seen it all.

Thomas took advantage of the exhibit to study the underneath of a car.

We give the Muncie Children's Museum a thumbs up.  It would be great for the 2-7 year old crowd.  I thought the layout was great - really eye catching.  But, my boys are getting too old and I'm not at all pleased with that :(

As we were driving away we passed a restaurant with this huge Paul Bunyan.  This was pretty cool because Brennan had just finished reading a Paul Bunyan book earlier this week!

Old Friends

I love seeing old friends - especially when they bring their little ones that we have never met!  Kim and Eddy were great friends when we lived in Memphis years ago.  They hosted our baby showers for both Thomas and Brennan.  The fact that we all 4 work for the same company brought us together, but we really enjoyed getting to know each other those 2 years.  Then we moved, they moved, and now they've moved to Indiana!

Sweet baby Liliana entertained us on the piano last night.  She is such a sweet little girl.

Thomas and Brennan had a blast playing with Liliana's big sister Sofia.  What a cute crew!

We're so glad they're nearby so we can spend more time together!

Happy Pi Day

Yesterday the boys and I visited Crawfordsville, IN for Thomas's 4th quarter project.  There was a flier for a Pi Day (March 14th or 3.14) science exhibit put on by the Wabash College science and math departments and they boys were so excited.  The timing worked out well, so we headed over.

Of course, you have to have pie on Pi Day.

The physics department had some cool lasers set up.

More experiments (Brennan loved that he has the same shirt as this student).

The students had printed out Pi to the 11,000th place and hung it throughout the museum.  It was amazing how long it was, winding through different floors and rooms.

Demonstrating sound waves.

Playing with electricity.

Thomas loved the invention area the best.

It was a really fun side trip!

Lew Wallace Study - A Blog Post from Thomas

Hi I'm Thomas in fourth grade and I'm doing my Famous Hoosier project on Lew Wallace.  Yesterday we want to Crawfordsville and saw his study.  I took all of the pictures except for the ones that I am in.  My mom took those.

This placque is just outside the Lew Wallace Study and Museum.

This is a statue of Lew Wallace.  The statue is where his old beech tree used to be.  It was really huge and he sat under it and wrote most of Ben-Hur.

This is his study.

This is the front entrance to the study.

A bust of Lew Wallace.

A video of Lew Wallace's life.

His unfinished violin that he was making.  He made violins and he played.

Props from the movie Ben-Hur.

Me building a model of the study.

 One of the sides of the finished model.  Lew Wallace designed his study next to his house and his carriage house.  He used Roman architecture, Byzantine architecture and Greek architecture. 

One of Lew Wallace's paintings that he painted.

Me on his back porch

Lew Wallace was an artist, soldier, author, politician, musician, inventor, Ambassador, lawyer, and fisherman.  I hope you liked my photos of our trip to visit Lew Wallace's Study and Museum.

My Last Day of Work

Last night my team took David and me out for a wonderful dinner at one of my favorite restaurants.  It was so much fun.  It's been a busy last few weeks for everyone, so it was really great to get together, relax and say goodbye.

I reflected on my last 15 years with the company and what great experiences I've had.  15 years - how is that possible?

They couldn't let me go without a few funny moments.  In honor of my new status as stay-at-home-mom/kept woman, they sent me with some necessary treats.  Soap Opera Digest for all the daytime tv watching I'll be doing (ha ha), soothing tea to drink just before the boys get home to put me in the right frame of mind, a frame including my LEAST favorite corporate saying (that gets said each and every staff meeting REPEATEDLY), and a toilet brush decked out with all the HR processes that I'll miss so much (ha).  I told someone that the only thing I wasn't looking forward to was cleaning my own toilets for the first time in years.  Well, now I'll do it with a smile on my face.

In addition to the pranks, they also gave me a card filled with heartfelt messages (I haven't read them just yet), and a SPA DAY!!!!  I couldn't believe it.  I was shocked and am so excited!

So, I'm off to work for the last time (well, corporate work anyway).  I'm really excited about this next phase for our family.  Even if it does include that toilet brush.