Animal pictures by John Lawrence

All of these pictures were taken by John Lawrence when we were at the zoo. He loved having the camera around his neck and trying to get the best shot. Here are some my favorites.

Night Crawler Overnight at Zoo Atlanta

Last Friday John Lawrence and I spent the night at Zoo Atlanta with the Boy Scouts. There were 75 people in our group. We had an awesome time and learned so many cool and interesting things about the zoo and animals. Here is the description on the zoo website about the Night Crawler Overnight experience. Your group will never forget this nocturnal adventure packed with themed activities, behind-the-scenes experiences and up-close encounters with animals. Sleep in climate-controlled facilities, enjoy a continental breakfast and take a private guided tour of Zoo Atlanta.

We had a ball and got some great pictures. I took all of these pictures and the next post will have JL's animals pictures. He had my camera and he thought he was too cool with a camera around his neck.

A Can of Spray Paint

It is amazing what a can of spray paint can do. This light is on my back porch. I took it down, washed it, took it apart, painted it and put it back together. I was so excited that I forgot to take a true before shot, but you get the idea. Much better now.

Praise Town

Mac's preschool puts on Praise Town every year for the kids. They turn the school into a little town with different stations and the kids dress up as Community Helpers. This year Mac dressed up as a Firefighter. He looked so cute, but he could not walk inside the school with the outfit on. I took these pictures in the parking lot. He complained that the sleeves were too long, but really he was just embarrassed. He is a silly stubborn kid.

Anyway, I volunteered that day at school and got to work in the pizza parlor and had a great time. Some stations that Mac got to visit: the pizza parlor, bakery, movie theater, and home depot (wood working store) just to name a few.

got to see henry in the pizza parlor

in the bakery

Aunt Ellen and Uncle Eric

My boys love their Aunt Ellen and Uncle Eric. They love going to their house and spending time with their cousins. I joke with Mason that if something happens to us they could live with them and would not miss us for a second. Joking kinda of but not really.

Anyway here is a post that Ellen wrote last week about Mac and it seems the feeling is mutual. Here is another post that Aunt Ellen wrote about a spend the night party at her house.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Friend's Birthday Party=Magician, Animal Balloons and Face Painting~Mac was in Heaven.

Soccer

John Lawrence decided he wanted to play soccer this season. He played when he was 3 1/2 years old, so it had been a few years since he had played. We decided to talk to David ~Gavin's dad (JL's best friend) to see if we could get the boys on the same team.

It worked out!  David is the head coach, Mason is the assistant coach and I am the team mom. So to say JL is playing soccer is an understatement. The Walkers are playing soccer for next 3 months.

JL took a 6 week soccer class last month to learn the basics and he really enjoyed it! We are looking for a great soccer season.

100 Book Club

The first graders (8 first grade classes) at John Lawrence's school were challenged to read 100 books in 100 days. Everyone in JL's class met the goal and his teacher and the parents were so proud of the kids. The 8 classes read a total of 16,952 books in 100 days. We had a celebration for the kids and I got to spend half the day in the classroom with the kids and loved every minute of it.

They gave me a little gift as well ~I got strep throat within 2 days of being in the classroom. Maybe just a coincidence? Any chance I get to be in the classroom I take it~I love it and miss my weekly volunteer time that I was able to do last year.

Lunch and bingo

Here are two pictures of John Lawrence with Gran Jan and Pop and school.

The first picture was taken in December when Gran Jan was in town and surprised JL at school for lunch. JL loved it as much as Gran Jan.

The second picture was taken last week. Pop was in town and JL invited Pop to go BINGO night at school. Mason and I take turns going with JL because it is so fun and they have them 4 times a year as a fundraiser. It was Mason's turn to go and JL surprised him by inviting Pop instead. They had a good time!

A dinner with family

The last weekend in January we went to dinner with Mason's family for Larry's retirement dinner. My friend Jan Epling watched the boys overnight (Mason and I stayed at the Marriott for the night) and we went to Martha Jane's house for wine and appetizer~ then went to a nice dinner.

It was wonderful being together and being able to show Larry how proud we were of him. It was truly a celebration! Larry is enjoying retirement and the grand kids and kids are enjoying it as well.

Congratulations Larry!

the view from our hotel room

Mac's style

As I have said before Mac is really into clothes and shoes. So to remember the season~here is what his must haves are at the moment.

A long sleeve t-shirt, short sleeve t-shirt, jeans (are preferred) and his shark tooth necklace (he got the necklace this summer at the beach with Aunt Martha Jan). He picks his shoes now based on colors that could match his shirt. Shirts are sometimes tucked in and sometimes not. It just depends on his mood.

Two weeks ago he was obsessed with tucking his shirt in and wearing a belt. Glad that has passed. He keeps us on our toes and tries to give Mason and I fashion advice. As I am sitting here now I am wearing 2 shirts and I walked out of my bathroom and Mac told me "Mom you look really good, but you need to take that watch off".

He knows what he likes! I help him pick out his clothes, but really he typically has the final say on most days. I love his personality and would not change a thing about our Mac Mac.

I wanted him to smile for the camera and he was not in the mood~ until he started then could not stop himself.