Saturday, February 28, 2009

our new family member & gracie's room redo

we have added a new member to the family. for now, his name is mr. good guy fishy. i'm sure the name is subject to change. ben is thrilled with him! the fish was kind of a reward for potty training & also because i am a pushover and was tired of him asking me for one. day 1 with mr. good guy fishie has went pretty well. ben takes his cars & other toys over to show mr. fishie & said he will take good care of him.
gracie's room has gotten a makeover. she now has a big girl bed. the crib never really worked well for us. the toddler bed has already seen more sleep than the crib.

i also scored this huge moon at a local art gallery going out of business. her room is now for sure overcrowded with stuff. but i like it. here's another favorite item in her room. a picture given to me by my great friend karen. i love this print of the children & the guardian angel. for some reason, it always reminds me of my mom. i smile everytime i walk into gracie's room. thanks, karen!
hope everyone is having a great weekend!
-sara

Thursday, February 26, 2009

yummy cookies

aunt donna & uncle tom sent us, i mean daddio, the coolest birthday gift. a bouquet of cookies from cookies by design. i love how you can see the kids ready for daddio to open it up.
we had a hard time waiting for daddio to get home before eating any. ok, actually we sampled one before he saw it. they are so yummy!
ben is picking out the ball he wants to eat here.

thank you tom & donna for the lovely birthday gift. we have really enjoyed it. the kiddos are begging for a cookie every night!

in other news, ben got a haircut..i wouldn't let the lady take too much off. at least it's not in his eye's anymore.

Monday, February 23, 2009

stomp rockets rock!!!!

for christmas, we got all the boys on my husband's side stomp rockets. i had a few extra in my gift corner, so daddio received one for his birthday. we all had a blast launching the rockets into the air. i love this toy. it was a second to put it together & then fun right away. it's very tough & looks like it will hold up to our abuse.
ben thinking about his plan of attack....

yes, i launched it super high!!!!

gracie's delicate launch of the rocket.

it was so cold out, we took the rocket inside. ben figured out (with a little help from daddio) how to score into the basket with the rocket. he's learning about science & physics and having a great time at it. yea! we got ours from kid surplus & has been worth every penny.

ode to mimi & moe

here was ben's bedtime song tonight. an ode to his buddies.

gracie's cheeeese at the end is the cherry on top! enjoy!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

fruity tooty pizza, yummm!


my go to dessert for any event is fruit pizza. we loooove it around here.

back in my younger, wilder days when daddio & i were dating; one of his friend's sisters would make it for parties. we would always eat it the next morning. it was the perfect hungover breakfast!

it's so easy to make, too.

i use the store bought cookie dough & bake it for the crust.

for the sauce, it's a package of cream cheese, 1 to 2 cups powdered sugar & a bit of vanilla. it's especially yummy with the homemade vanilla i made for christmas.

after the cookie has cooled, you spread on the icing. next, a can of cherry pie filling. then, go to town with whatever fruit you want. we like mandarin oranges, kiwi, strawberries, grapes, and so on. it's sooo easy & delish! mine usually look like a jumbled mess (picture above), but tastes so good. the first time i took it to church, very few people tried it. i wasn't too upset, because we had lots of leftovers!

gracie's baptism




we had gracie baptized today. we've been meaning to do it for almost 2 years (yikes) now. everything went well, until she decided she wanted to nurse up in front of the church & kept putting her hand down my shirt saying "me me me!". i am having a hard time with weaning her...

for ben's baptism, i made sure to have lots of pictures with his godparents & of the day. today, this didn't quite happen. but i have great memories of how cute they both were, sitting quietly for once at church, coloring & hugging one another during the service. during the baptism, there were moments that were very touching (other than the hand in my shirt). gracie looked around at all the people, smiling & didn't fuss a bit about the water on her head. i am so thankful for our family traveling to be a part of her special day.

here she is with her wet head & the grandmas.



there was a nice carry in lunch after the church service. it was great to visit with everyone. this is my favorite picture from the day. they love to hug on each other.

here are the kids enjoying the meal. ben was a bit upset that there wasn't pizza.

it's late & i'm tired, but feel very blessed for such a wonderful day.

playing in the snow & birthday pizza

it snowed today. not much. but ben really wanted to play in it. chase & snowballs were the games of choice.
ben cracked me up trying to make a snow angel. he's pretty much just laying on the grass & leaves.


we are all getting over some illness again in our home. daddio had it the worst, but today i felt rough. so, poor daddio didn't even get his birthday cake. but we made a birthday pizza together. it was delicious!
gracie blew out the candle first, which ben thought was the end of the world.
we had to relight so big brother had a chance for a wish.
can you see ben's shirt? i cut out from an old tie a peace sign & ironed it on, then stitched around it. i think it's pretty cool. but, that's just me.

Friday, February 20, 2009

happy birthday daddio!


you are the best father to our kiddos, they love you so much. i love that you can be such a kid with them.



you are the man of my dreams. you are the best husband & friend i could ever ask for. i hope you get to feeling better so we can celebrate!


i love you always & forever sugar bear!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

the crayon pirates strike!

oh, how i love brian andreas & his storypeople. every story of his i read, i want. we have the crayon pirate print hanging up in ben's room.

it says "there was a single blue line of crayon drawn across every wall in the house. what does it mean? i said. a pirate needs the sight of the sea, he said & then he pulled his eye patch down & turned and sailed away.

the pirates were definitely at my home today. when i was on the phone with namaw & poppy picking up the kitchen, they overtook the living room. look at the destruction they left behind. they managed to color the entire living room!




the pirates were lucky i was talking to their grandparents at the time, otherwise momma might have lost it! some tears were shed, but we all worked together to clean it up. when daddio got home, ben told him he did it because he was going to throw him a party...

on another note, ben has been jumping like crazy lately. check out these action shots



i love his filthy face in this one, his expression cracks me up!


the pirates' markers have now been put up under lock & key, so hopefully no more artistic displays on my carpet. i like their work much better on paper.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

old time rock & roll

not much going on here, we spent most of the day in the car taking papaw to chemo. he's handling quite well, which i am very thankful for.
here's an oldie but goodie of our rockstar

Saturday, February 14, 2009

lollipop, lollipop, oh lolly lolly lolly

happy valentine's day!




hope you have a sweet one!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

this little piggy..


we have pigtails!!




yes, i make a big to do about everything! i can't help it..

blowin in the wind

we were without dvd players on the way to papaw's house the other day. the answer to entertainment, my friend was blowing in the wind.

both kiddos take their shoes & socks off once they get in their seats.


her home alone face.

the movie....

Monday, February 9, 2009

sunday fun

we went back home to church on sunday. miss cecee was not in the mood to sit still. i know this will come with time.

it was such a beautiful day! we played ball outside at papaws,





stepped on stepping stones,



hugged on sissy,


went for a walk




burned branches from the ice storm (they did move the truck out of the way),


gave papaw a haircut

his lump looks so much better after just 1 chemo treatment! we will go tuesday to find out if the cancer is still contained or not...

i love days like today. it was a very relaxing day filled with family time. since papaw has been diagnosed with cancer, it's given me a changed outlook on things. i'm trying not to be so rushed in all i do & to slow down and enjoy just being together with loved ones.