Precious Moments

Matt and I drove to Springfield, MO a few weekends ago to go to a hardware trade show. We left Colin with his grandparents, so we were able to take our time and see a few sites along the way. 

I would say Precious Moments could be considered a household name. Everyone recognizes those little children figurines. But I didn't know anything about them or the artists other than that.

The artist, Sam Butcher, built and painted a chapel on a piece of property in Carthage, MO. It's a little town a few miles outside of Joplin, and it's definitely off the beaten path. But apparently it's so well visited, that maybe now the path is quite beaten ;)

The chapel offers free tours, and of course there is a gift shop available. Butcher also has a house on the property where he stays when he's not spending his time in the Philippines. 

This is the front view of the chapel. Around the chapel is a huge garden full of  Precious Moments statues.

This is the entrance to the chapel. There are two more doors like this just inside. All three doors, front and back, are carved with intricate designs. They are carved in wood from the Philippines, which is apparently one of the hardest woods.

Here is the main part of the chapel. The wall to the left is full of  paintings depicting stories from the Old Testament, and the right wall depicts stories from the New Testament. The section at the far wall contains three murals about heaven. And of course the ceiling shows heaven and all the baby angels. All of these paintings use the same Precious Moments style children. 

The area that wraps around the chapel contains stained glass windows, also scriptural references. There are 30 stained glass windows throughout the whole chapel.

The whole things is pretty amazing. There are some bronze plates on the outside of the chapel that he also carved intricate designs into. I can't believe how many different mediums this artist can work with.

The whole thing is beautiful and amazing, and it was the perfect Sunday activity as we drove back from our weekend in Springfield.

My review in short: If you ever get the chance, go see it. It's pretty awesome!

Happy Hour (Week 8/52)

This post is...about a week late, but I am determined not to give up on this goal. Therefore, better late than never!

What with Sonic being more plentiful than McDonalds around these parts, my friend Eleece and I have made it a habit to make a Sonic run for happy hour about once a week. Colin always loves these excursions because it means he gets to play in the car for half an hour while we sit and talk. It also means he gets to sip strawberry and cherry limeades at his leisure (this kid loves drinking anything through a straw).

In the picture above, he is also enjoying a tater tot. Yum!

Although we've only been doing this for a few weeks, Colin now gets excited every time we even drive past a Sonic. I know there's either a Sonic of Braum's in sight when I hear Colin squealing excitedly from the back seat...

Nap Time (Week 7/52)

How cute is this kid??

He fell asleep while eating his lunch this week. Colin has been transitioning from two naps a day to one for a few months now, and as of last week, we're down to one nap about 90% of the time. The tricky part is figuring out when to put him down for a nap and how to fit lunch in there.

He was so deeply asleep that he didn't even wake up when I cleaned his face or hands off. I was laughing so hard the whole time I was cleaning him up...

Hilarious and adorable. That's my little guy!

Buckles (Week 6/52)

Not so very long ago, Colin would shriek with glee every time the car or his stroller would come to a stop. This was because he knew he was getting out. Then came his fascination with buckles. When it comes time to get him out of his seat, I'll undo the buckles and then have to wait a good 15-20 seconds while he stares at and tries to re-buckle the buckles. 

The action shot

"Okay, I'm ready to get out now!"

Also this week, Colin learned how to say "daddy." Unfortunately, in Colin's mind daddy = both Matt and me. Oops! Looks like we'll be working on "mommy" next :)

Baby Love (Week 5/52)

A few weeks ago, Kristy and 3-month-old Landon came for a visit. They were here for a week, and we had lots of fun with them.

It was really cute to see how much Colin liked Landon. Up until this point, he hadn't showed much interest in babies, but this trip he loved looking at Landon, making sure he had his toys and blanket, and he even insisted on holding him on his lap a few times.

My own little baby is growing up :)

Colin holding Landon on his lap

Vocab 101 (Week 4/52)

Although Colin still relies heavily on emphatic pointing, nodding or shaking his head, and various sounds to communicate, it's pretty cute to watch him discover language.

He seems to get stuck on the first sound of words. For instance, the words dad, dog, duck, and done are all represented by "da". Thank goodness for context!

He can also say:
Jesus, or "gee"
cookie, or "ck"
cheese
shoes
fish
yeah
yes
no
hi
yay

"Shoe" is probably his favorite word/item. He will pick up a pair of my shoes and follow me around the house saying "shoe" because he wants me to put them on so we can go outside. Anytime we're at a shoe store or at someone else's house and he sees shoes, he picks them up and tries to put them on. Last week Grandma Ann bought him a new pair of shoes and he now proudly shows them to anyone who asks him about them.

"Cheese" is his second favorite word. This kid loves his dairy. Aside from grapes, cheese and yogurt are his favorite foods. He refers to all mealtimes as "cheese," he loves grilled cheese sandwiches, and although he likes string cheese, he prefers either shredded or sliced cheese.

Sorry, no pictures with this post, but check back next week!

First Sleepover (Week 3/52)

Last night was the first night I spent apart from Colin. Not just a night, but a whole 24 hours! And let me tell you, I missed him like crazy!

Grandma Ann had been begging me for months to let Colin stay over at her house. Since Matt and I have a 3-day trip planned for my birthday and we're leaving Colin behind, we figured now is as good a time as ever to test out the "Grandma sleepover." Saturday afternoon I packed his bag, and he was so excited he that he carried it around the house until she came to pick him up.

It was the weirdest feeling being able to stay out late, stay up even later, but most of all, be able to sleep in the next morning. Unfortunately, neither Matt nor I were able to sleep in past 8:30. Pathetic! We may have been childless for one night, but it takes a bit longer than that to break habits.