Banku, Pho and Fried Spiders: Tummy, Tacos, Rides, Divas, and Rainbows

Hi all,

What a fun weekend we had at my parent's house! First, for all of those that were worried (wink) we didn't receive any intentional or unintentional racist remarks! Yea! Although I did insult my brother-in-law (unintentionally) when I joked about him going to smoke his drugs (cigarettes). =-(

I think the best way to share about the weekend is through pictures--or at least the most fun way!

THE TUM TUM!

Here is a picture of Bright from last week. He was wearing these super cute jeans--size 18 months-- (thanks Gala!) that he had to wear UNDER his belly or the button popped open! LOL! But then we had to roll the legs about 3 inches because they were so long. Anyway, I snapped a pic, trying to capture Bright's belly in all of it's glory. This doesn't quite do it, but it gives some idea...

My mom and I think his belly might actually be reducing in size already (wasn't expecting that for several months. His size 4 diapers are fitting loser, and check him out in this 18 month shirt--it's night hugging his belly like they usually do!

RIDES

Bright received a rocking elephant from some friends of ours (thank you!) that he just adores! He rides it all of the time and really gets going on the thing. In fact, he has a ride-on toy that he thinks should move when he forces his weight back and forth (works for the elephant!).

My mom has an old-fashioned wooden rocking horse that is WAY bigger than Bright's riding elephant, but he impressed the family this weekend with his rocking skills as he controled the mammoth beast with his girth!

TACOS!

You aren't a true Beden grandkid until you've eaten (and enjoyed) Grandma B's famous tacos! Everybody loves my mom's tacos. Wasn't sure how Bright would enjoy them but he really liked them! This was one of those "gotta take a picture" moments for our family. Bright's first tacos...

COUSINS!

Today and yesterday Bright got to meet 5 of his 8 cousins on my side of the family. They were all so sweet to him, and he ate it up like it was banku! When I first saw the below picture my first thought was "which one of these doesn't belong" (think Sesame Street circa 1981) , but then thought most would assume I was talking about color. Actually, when I had that thought I was thinking about all of the tall skinny (or at least skinny) cousins and siblings Bright has! He is definitely the only "short and stocky" kiddo in the bunch! LOL!

(Umm....yeah. Note taken. Don't put the darkest kid in front of the tree trunk!)

Bright giving cousin Mackenzie an "Atu" (hug)...sister Taevy and cousin Mia (from Guatemala) looking on.

Ring around the rosies....with Mackenzie, Mia, and Taevy.

DIVAS AND DIVOS!

My mom (I love you mom!) has put together a LARGE collection of dressup clothes and accessories for her grandkids to enjoy when they come over. MUCH to her delight (this was like my mom's ultmate! LOL!) the girls decided to dress up and put on a fashion show today. You can see how diva-ish they all are in their glam clothes. But what really cracks me up is Bright wanted to be right there in the middle of it. I joked that the girls were like his adoring harem! Yes, Bright sported some fine looking beads most of the day. =-)

All of the girls had fun getting glammed up today, but our daughter Taevy really does seem to be a fashionista in training. She works very hard at putting together her outfits everyday and tries to find new ways to use old peices (wearing too-little dresses as shirts and such). All joking aside, she really does seem to have a knack for the fasion thing and I wonder if it will in some way fit into her future career? It's serious stuff to her--not something to "play" at. Here is what we saw when we turned around and looked at her in the van on the ride home from Kansas today. Pillow on lap? Check. Extra long dog? Check. Leapard skin sun glasses to hide the fact that I'm sleeping? Check!

RAINBOWS...

When I was young, and especially right after my parents got divorced my mom was really into rainbows. She collected all things rainbow. She even named our dog Rainbow! At the time I didn't get it. Now I do. There was a tiny little rainbow that shot through the clouds for just a moment on the way home tonight. It wasn't fancy, it wasn't very bright, and it didn't stick around long. But I saw it. What a wonderful reminder of all of God's promises. I "get" why my mom would so appreciate rainbows as a newly divorced single mom of two children in the 80's. I get it now mom.

Kansas and Oklahoma have had major flooding this past weekend. We saw a lot of it on our drive to and from my parent's house. My kids even brought up how God had promised not to flood the whole earth ever again (to which we reminded them that KS and OK are not the whole world). So it was especially neat to see the rainbow tonight.

I'm not a newly divorced single mom (never hope to be) but when I see a rainbow now I think of all of God's promises for me and my family. We've got our own "stuff" to wade through and it's nice to be reminded--even through a weak little rainbow--that He will never break a promise.