Saturday, January 30, 2010

snow fun & cookies!

the kiddos were of course thrilled to see the amount of snow that had fallen over night.  their pancakes were eaten super fast, the layers & layers of clothing put on,


i snapped their picture (they look like they are in a line up, don't they?) & out we went. 

gracie's favorite part was once again, eating the snow.


ben just loves a good snowball fight. 


we really need to remember to pick up our sled from damaw's, but we made do today with the sandbox lid (that brown stuff on it is sand)
 & the bilibos.  


one of my favorites is always making snow angels.  so much fun to plop down on the ground & wave your hands & legs!

ben decorated my angel up a lovely shade of blue.



ahh, lovin that snow!


my little snow angel


gracie with her tounge stuck out.  seriously, this little girl has her tounge out of her mouth all the time!

there it is again.

after the first round outside, we came in for lunch, to make some cookies (gracie & i) & play mario kart (daddio & ben).   


rolling out the dough.  she was very generous with the flour to make sure the cookie dough wouldn't stick.

ben decided to join in on the fun a little later.  gracie was the "expert" though & enjoyed telling ben how to do something for a change.  of course, ben decided he was an expert right away too. 

.  making the second batch of cookies. working together, love it!


zack was patiently waiting for his favorite little girl to drop him a treat.

the finished products.  made with lots of little kid love for our neighbors. 

we packaged them up, bundled ourselves up & went door to door to deliver the goodies. 

they had to both hold neighbor john's cookies, as he is their favorite papaw neighbor in the whole wide world.  (he is pretty awesome, he & another neighbor cleared out all of the driveways on our street with his snowblower this morning)

after that, i headed inside for a nap  while daddio & the kiddos had snowball battle round 2.  what a perfect saturday!

Friday, January 29, 2010

growing up

ben likes to "talk" every night after prayers about who knows what.  tonight, we got them to bed pretty late & i thought i was too tired for this.  so i said "let's just talk in the morning."  daddio woke up to ask ben what he wanted to talk about. 
"umm, nuthin" ben said.

i laid there & realized daddio was right. i was being pretty selfish & these "talks" will soon be a fond memory. 

so, daddio started snoring & ben & i started talking about growing up. 

i told him someday he won't want me to hold him at night.  he assured me he would even when he is old (his wife may object to that).
we talked about when he was a baby & i would hold him all night long, sometimes staying awake for hours to make sure he was ok.  
"i was always ok, momma" he replied. 
yes, he was

he also told me god makes you, you are born a baby, you grow & grow, then you go to preschool & learn that's it. i told him he had it right so far, but we will keep learning & growing. 

a few more things were talked about, a few more big hugs & he went to sleep.


my little baby ben



big ben.  (yes, i just went in & snapped this picture of him sleeping)

tonight, ben & gracie got to play with "the grills"  while momma & daddio visited with lori & randy.  these 3 gals have grown up before my eyes into the most amazing young women i know.  thank you little ladies for helping mold my kids.  p.s. ben said he had fun playing chase & tickle aubrie!

sleep talkin man

daddio's snoring is extra loud tonight keeping me up.  which reminds me of a blog lori & randy showed us tonight.   http://sleeptalkinman.blogspot.com/  pretty funny i think!

our family silhouette


My Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Thursday, January 28, 2010

sheryl's artichoke dip, the best stuff ever!

new year's eve, sheryl made the yummiest stuff i have ever tasted!  it was so good i could have eaten it all myself.

here's the recipe:
2 cans of  chopped artichoke hearts
1 can drained chopped green chiles
16oz. sour cream
16oz. mayo
5-7 chopped jalapenos



gradually mix in a whole can of parmesan cheese

bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes

top with chopped green onion & chopped fresh tomato

delish!!
thank you sheryl for sharing this yummy stuff with us!

concentration



playing mariokart takes lots of concentration.

family fun night

ben's preschool gave the kiddos passes for free mini golf at walther's golf & fun this week.  tonight was the night!   the kids couldn't wait!  ben kept talking about it & was hoping all of his friends would be there. 



check out that swing!


oops - ball in the water. 


 mr. ben got 2 holes in one.  mad skills!


watch out for grace with that club!




gracie lost interest pretty quick in the game of golf.  she did like to help me by picking up my ball & running and dropping it in the hole. 

after our quick round of golf, we hit the kiddos play area & arcade games. 

& guess what- brenna was there!!! ben & brenna were both thrilled to play with each other outside of school & stuck by each other's side the rest of the evening.  it was nice to talk to her family & hear the love is mutual.  apparently, the only thing she tells them about school is ben.



we played some ski ball & poor grace couldn't roll the balls hard enough,
so she took matters into her own hands.

score!


mission accomplished.


there's a fun little play area for the kiddos at the golf center kinda like a mcdonald's play place.  some spots gracie could barely climb, but she kept at it till she made it.  i was proud of her determination.  one time, another preschool buddy noticed she was having a hard time & did his best to pull her up.  it was pretty sweet to watch them.



they both went down the big slide!! that's something for my kiddos.


at the end of the night, ben said this was his favorite day ever (i think because of brenna) & asked if we could do it again someday.  i think so!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

little red dress



this is my goal.  i just love this dress.  i am waaay overweight & out of shape.  size 6 by summertime?  reaching for the stars here i know.  but, i think if i can get there, i'll order it. hopefully by summer that $117 price tag will be cut in half;  or sold out so i don't have to spend the $$ .  but this is my goal.



 that dress reminds me of my freshman year prom dress that my great aunt dee & grandma made for me that i oh so loved. 


i thought it was perfect.  so was my prom date above (just kidding, that's papaw).


us freshman gals above taking the junior-senior prom by storm.  what big hair we had!

that year, i had seen a picture of tori spelling wearing her prom dress in one of my prom magazines & wanted something just like it.  my wonderful aunt & grandma took it upon themselves to make me my own one of a kind dress. 

we even made my platform shoes extra special by adding ribbon that tied up. here is aunt deedee making the finishing touches on my shoes & me showing off my garter.  no comment on that.  or that hair. 


the back had a big ole bow.  maybe someday gracie will want to wear my couture dress..

a workout with some old friends (& hopefully some new) starts next tuesday & the diet has already begun.  i can do it. i can do it.

Friday, January 22, 2010

the future's so bright..


i've gotta wear shades.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

our family rules

last year, i came across this project to make & display your family rules.  well, i've been wanting to do it ever since.  i let the kiddos help me, so our paper is quite bubbly & not so straight, but it has their loving touches in it.  the paper is a bit busy too, but they picked it out. here it is: 


gotta go get big ben from preschool! 

Sunday, January 17, 2010

some land pics

justin went for an adventure walk yesterday on our land. 

any place look good for a home ya think??


view from the road











maybe this one above??





so pretty i think!  this summer, we will do some camping out & having fun on our future homesite.

date night!!


oh, what a night!  our first child free night ever!!!!! can you believe it?  ben was very concerned that we would come back with a baby after date night, because that's what people do.  where does he get this stuff?
the kiddos had their first all night slumber party at grandma deedee & papaw paul's over the weekend with darby. & momma & daddio had a first date night in months.
we called up our friends dave & kate and headed to their home.







from there, we went to the casino to listen to some tunes & gamble on the boat.


this was kate's first time on the boat. poor thing lost $1. justin was the big winner of the night with $4! woo hoo!  we saw 2 managers from the guy's work there.  kinda odd!

fast eddy's was the final stop of the evening. my friend from highschool, jason was playing. his band is red eye max.  i was pretty impressed! he opened for kenny chesney over the summer! way to go jason, we look forward to the debut cd & hearing you on the radio!  it was great seeing my old friend & the path he is on.  watch out, brad paisley!
here's one of his songs from youtube.

thanks, dee, paul, janet & darby for watching our kiddos. they had a blast with you guys!
thanks, dave & kate for our date night. we had a wonderful time!

the crew at night's end