Trip to the Governor's Mansion

We had a great day today touring the governor's mansion in Jefferson City. We went with a few friends and enjoyed a tour, a picnic, and a stop by Central Dairy. What is there not to love????

Before going to the mansion I read through the touring policy and prepped my kids with a few rules. One of the things I was sure to point out was that there wasn't a bathroom in the governor's mansion so we needed to make sure we went before we left home.

On the way there I asked each of my older boys to think of a question that they might want to ask the tour guide.  Jack quickly came up with the question of which governor has had the most kids - stemming of course from what it would be like to be a kid living in the mansion. A very reasonable question. Theo quickly came up with his question as well. He quickly piped in telling me that he was going to ask the tour guide 'where does the governor go to the bathroom?'.

It seems I forgot to mention that the governor's mansion had no public bathroom. In Theo's four year old mind he was thinking being governor doesn't sound like that good of a job if you have to across the street to go to the bathroom!  LOL.

Eliot's New Trick

So one of the things our family has been guilty of with Eliot is teaching him learnt helplessness. When normal babies fall over or lie on their backs they struggle and then learn how to roll over and get up. Not Eliot. As soon as he falls over one of the older kids runs to him and props him back up into sitting position. Only recently did it dawn us that we weren't sure he could get up when lying on his back. So we restrained ourselves  - and the other kids  - and let him struggle until he learnt it for himself. Here is a video of him showing off his new tricks. 

Note: He is 13 months in this video, only a good six months behind the 'norm'. It is worth pointing out that given the size of our kids' heads and their chubbiness none of them have rolled over consistently before the age of 9 months, so that may help in his defense that he is not really that far behind, at least for an Anderson!

Theo and Baseball

Jack had a baseball game the whole family was able to attend last night. It was a great game and provided us with two blogable incidents . . . both from Theo!

Incident #1-
It was really hot, and sadly I didn't come prepared as I wished I had. Quickly deciding that we needed water, Charles headed to the concession stand with Theo and Addie. He bought two waters and handed them to each of the kids. Theo opened his, and then in a very mature tone said, 'Ah, this is so refreshing.'

Hilarious, coming out of the mouth of a four-year-old.

Incident #2-
Apparently one of Jack's teammates was upset at one point. I was back a bit, but my friend Christina was near the dugout. Theo was very taken with Jack's crying teammate. He asked Christina, "Why is that kid crying?" She answered that she didn't know. He then asked her again, which prompted her to tell Theo that we should probably give the kid some space. At this point, Theo looked at Christina and said (drum roll) . . .  "Doesn't he know there's no crying in baseball? At least that is what Tom Hanks says."

The famous line by Tom Hanks from the movie, A League of Their Own has become a family favorite. We quote this line in many situations, not just baseball. For example, Charles might tell one of the kids, "Hey don't you know there is no crying in breakfast?" This comment would of course distract the kids enough that their 'crying' would stop. So in this case, Theo was eager to know why this kid wasn't following Tom Hanks's advice.


Another memory of this season will be how many friends Theo has made on our baseball team. Seriously, every time I turn around he is making a new friend; often another mom who he is talking to about his favorite action figures, or the perennial favorite are the older brothers (of whom he believes he is equal to). Here is a picture of Theo with his buds Nick and Matthew, who, in Theo's words, play for the 'unprofessional Cubs'. Not surprisingly, based on his admiration for these older boys,  the professional Cubs have now become Theo's favorite team. He even rooted for them last night when they were playing the Cardinals. Sigh. He asked Charles when he could get a Cubs t-shirt. There's one of in every family, right????

Theo and accuracy

Two funny incidents occurred yesterday in relationship to time-ing.

First, on the way home from church I asked Addie about going to large group. She has just been promoted to the three year old room and is not able to go to the large group time which consists of a Bible story and singing. She has been looking forward to this for a while now. She was very excited to tell me about it. I asked her if she went twice (since our kids stayed two hours for two different services today). She said 'no I went two times!'

I was prepared to just smile to myself but Theo quickly piped up from the backseat and told her that 'twiced meant two times'. What would we do without big brothers?????

Second, Charles popped into Theo's room to tell him that he could come out of rest time at 'two one five' today. What Charles didn't know was that I had already told Theo his exiting time today. Theo looked at Charles and said, 'I know Dad but it is actually called two fifteen.' What would we do without our kids to correct us????

The pending question from both of these stories - What would we do without Theo?????

Cardinals Game

Over the weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to attend our first major league baseball game as a family. Thanks to the generosity of a man at church quite a few tickets were donated to the church. We took advantage of this and headed to the park with a few other families. It was the most perfect night for baseball - not too hot, not too cold. The Cardinals were playing well and made the game interesting with some good hits and double plays. They were giving all kids who entered the stadium a free Molina jersey with our kids were super excited about.

Our kids had a great time learning more about America's past time and hanging out with some friends who are quickly becoming good friends. Even Charles, despite his comment that as a Royals fan he 'felt like Jesus among the Gentiles', agreed it was a great night.
Here are some pictures to remember the night:

Addie entertaining herself

Addie who found some jewelry to play with

Before the game started (we were early!)

Jack and Theo walking to our car with good friend Nolan

Jack, Nolan, and Theo (I love this pictures so much that I have contemplated adopting Nolan as a 'cousin' so this picture can be included on the family's calendar!