cheese

these 2 have fun doing anything. especially when it's avoiding bath & bedtime.

hey batter, batter!

we played ball yesterday evening. i can't believe how good my little man did at hitting the ball. he sure made his daddy proud.
we have a future all star here i think (doesn't every parent think that?!)!
on another note, papaw had chemo today & the doc wasn't happy with the looks of things. he said it looks like the cancer has spread to his skin & papaw will start radiation this week or next. hopefully, we can get it taken care of. hope everyone is having a happy monday!!

garden time

papaw's garden this year is truly a family affair. the chemo has wiped him out & he's not able to do as much. papaw must have a garden. if he didn't have a garden, things just wouldn't be right.
yesterday, cousin linc came out & tilled. today after lunch, we all got our hands dirty.
it's hard for papaw to stand by & let us do anything. we can't do it quite to his liking.
miss gracie loves playing in the dirt & planting the veggies.

ben was the water boy today.

damaw was on kid patrol.

kristen did a great job tilling for the first time (at least i think so). i think papaw just gets nervous when us girls are behind anything that moves.

i attemped to plant the corn, but my rows were all over the place (so papaw had to take over). aunt peggy spread the fertilizer.
so far, we have cabbage, onions, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower and corn planted. still need some green beans, more corn and whatever else he tells us.

after all the hard work, the boys took a rest on the swing. it had been 2 weeks since we saw papaw & his lump on his neck has doubled in size. he doesn't go to the store or anywhere now because he is too embarrased. it's pretty gruesome looking. one thing though, the kiddos have never even asked about it. they don't seem to notice. i wish the doctors could just get that cancer out. it's so frustrating & sad to see him going through this. i just wish he'd get better.

slumber party

last night we went camping in our living room. we got out the kiddos' easter presents from namaw & poppy - sleeping bags! these are not your run of the mill slumber bags like i had growing up. oh no, these are air matress sleeping bags. after hand pumping them up, it was past everyone's bedtime. after testing out the jumpability, ben said it was time to sleep & did just that.

gracie, on the other hand, never did settle down. she did lay down for a picture though.

i look forward to camping out in the yard with them soon!

it's a sunshine day

what a pretty day today was! we soaked up the sunshine today playing in our yard. gracie's favorite spot has to be the sand box. the kiddos worked long & hard together filling up the sand pails & dumping them out.
beano was really concentrating on filling up the pail.

ben was the first to call it a day because he was dirty. gracie loved every minute of it & would have stayed out there all evening.

a beautiful day

what a weekend! a beautiful wedding, one heck of an adventure for us.

we had a great plan to drive through the night while the kiddos slept. our first stop was at a gas station about 15 minutes from our home. there, we realize we have a tire with no tread & the steel belt is showing (should check tires more often, i know). so, we drive home & move 2 sleeping kids and lots of luggage from the van into our truck. an hour later we are on the road again. everything seemed to be going smooth & we hoped that would be our only hiccup along the way. not so. driving at night through the hills in kentucky & west virginia feels like a roller coaster ride. i drove for a bit through west virginia, but about had a nervous breakdown due to the curves & all the deer just grazing along the side of the road. the kids woke up about 2 am & were awake for our flat tire on the interstate in west virginia. thank goodness a emergency vehicle stopped to help, since we didn't have a flashlight & couldn't see anything. once we got back on track, a mile down the road there was an odd man standing on the side with a flashlight. i'm glad we didn't get a flat there! the rest of the trip there was pretty uneventful, until we realized we had messed up our destination on the navigation system and ended up on some waaay back road. when we finally arrived to our hotel friday afternoon, we bought 4 new tires, ordered some pizza, & relaxed!

the weekend was full of fun things; jumping on the beds,
pizza for breakfast,

swimming in the pool. check out that kiddie pool!

the wedding was just beautiful. it was a beautiful day, beautiful ceremony, beautiful couple. i am so glad we got to share in their special day.

there were huge rocks at the winery to climb & play on.

nathan & heidi
this is how we made it through the ceremony.
sitting in the back row with shades on&
bribing the kiddos with lollipops.
the mr. & mrs. walking down the aisle
they did it!
sam & kristen looking good!
hot mama of the groom
someday it will be her up there...
luke giving his best man speech. great job, bud!
their first dance as husband & wife.
time to take off the shoes & boogie down!!
check out his dance moves!kinda reminds me of napoleon dynamite..

we had a love connection at the wedding. ben made his first girlfriend, an older woman(4 years old), julia.
they hit it off right away. they played outside, danced & even kissed!!! too bad she lives so far away. gracie, on the other hand, was not so much a fan of the girlfriend. miss julia threw a rock at her & gracie threw some back. a little jealousy there!
me & my sweetie pie

after the long trip & no nap on wedding day, ben was ready to call it a night pretty early. the kids jumped right into bed at the hotel.

the drive home was much better. we only got a chip in the windshield. even with all the bumps along the way, it was a great road trip and we had a funtastic time.

flowers for mama

here's the dandylions (as ben calls them) he picked for me. better than roses any day!

some big shoes to fill

gracie has been clomping around in daddy's size 15 shoes today. she's a silly little girl.
we are getting ready to make the trek to pennsylvania for cousin nathan's wedding. we are looking forward to the big event, but i am dreading the 12 hour drive with the kiddos. it will be an adventure no doubt. hope everyone is having a great week!

easter eggs & lots of cooking goin on..

we decorated eggs this morning. 18 eggs were not enough for our 2 kiddos to color.
everyone hunkered down coloring their eggs.
gracie was thrilled every time an egg was removed from the color & a new egg was dropped in.
mr. ben hard at work on his eggs. he was very careful with the eggs this year.
a little hand grabbing at the finished products. most of the eggs are cracked from her little hands banging them together..
the baking is done for tomorrow's easter lunch at papaw's. we made ham, corn pudding, peas & dumplings, green bean cassarole, brocolli & cauliflower salad, slaw, a jello salad, cherry delight and a breakfast cassarole. i have not cooked so much in my life! thank goodness i didn't have to clean my house too.
the kiddos helped with a lot of the food. here they are making the green bean casserole (they mainly ate the fried onions off the top, so the cassorole is at bit lacking)
we hope everyone has a happy easter weekend!!