Tuesday, August 30, 2011

it's been a rough couple of weeks...

for benjo's red folder.  it looks like it's been through an entire school year instead of just 3 or 4 weeks. 

i can't help but think his daddy's folder looked the same way, all bunched up in the backpack. :)

he had his first homework assignment today & couldn't wait to start it when we got home.  i hope that enthusiasm continues.  on 1 of the pages, he had to draw 2 birdies.  he asked me to draw him an example.  umm, momma is no artist.  & he copied exactly the birdies i made.

  momma needs some art class.  i think we'll let daddio help with the artwork for now.

poor boy has an ear infection & yucky cough (like the rest of us).  last night, when we were all in bed  the worries started getting him.  he is table leader this week & he was worried about letting his table down if he had to miss school (he didn't, momma sent him anyway).  he survived through the day & was wanting to have a play date with another bus buddy.  this boy has quite a social life for a kindergartner.  who knew so many kiddos (sweet kiddos too) lived in our neighborhood.  we are quite blessed!

the schoolwork he brings home is a piling up!  they have already made it through the alphabet & onto bigger things.  our artwork display is running out of room.  (i'm going to use melissa's idea & put all of his kindergarten work in a binder since there is so much - thanks, melissa!)


for momma, it's been a rough couple of weeks too.  i haven't gotten into the best routine yet.  i'm always setting a timer to make sure we or i are where we need to be.  but there's been times (today) when i'm downstairs & don't hear it.  gotta get out that old watch i guess...

& not to leave out miss gracie faye... she's loving preK - it's just the leaving annabelle part we have a hard time with.  she cried for a looong time today when we went home because she didn't get to go home with her.  she thinks everyday should be annabelle playdate day!  (& alaina after school)

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

s'more soccer

soccer pictures were last saturday.  i tried to get a picture of the kiddos together.  guess who wouldn't cooperate??


little sis will always smile for the camera.


i still did get a picture of him. ha! score 1 for mama!


after pictures, the boys had a practice & scrimmaged against another team.  ben's buddy's kip's team.  they were pysched!  & ben scored a goal. 


when he scored it, his shoelace was untied (momma tied it - thank you to my mom & dad for not teaching me the correct way to tie shoes!!).  ben now thinks that was good luck & he must play that way.  superstitions already!!

this soccer season is going to be quite an adventure for both the kiddos' teams. gracie loses interest about 1/2 way through practice & is begging me to take her off the field.  ben's team is coached by daddio & well, he is doing his best & i am very proud of him.  he has much paitience (he must, he did marry me!). 

back to school, back to school

i wonder if everyone my age thinks of that adam sandler song whenever this time of year rolls around.  i can't get it out of my head!  well, miss g started prek tuesday.  & yes, i think i shed a tear or 2.  thank goodness i had volunteered to help make copies at ben's school while she was in prek so there weren't buckets full of tears.  it's hard to believe my baby is this old! 

yes, she wore a dress with gnomes on it the first day.  that's my girl!!

striking a pose in her room.



when i picked her up, she raised up her arms & shouted "i loved it!  it was totally cool!" (for the record, "totally" is totally gracie's favorite descriptive word in the world right now & i think it is totally cute.  but, that's just me.

i have yet to have the few hours just at home alone while she's in preK, but tomorrow i will.  what to do, what to do?? i pretty sure it involves decluttering. where to start, where to start- that's the question!  (i would show a picture but i'm too embarrased!)

what a sunday & reminder to self - it's not all about me..

sunday, i woke up with the headache that has been plaguing me for weeks now.  it was a bit of a struggle to put on a happy face, get the kiddos ready & head to our new church location (for now) for the tours of the childrens' classes.  but, we did it & i was just blown away by the work & enthusiasm & love that was shown in each classroom.  it was awesome!!  gracie told me with excitement as we were leaving her room, "mommy, you need to stay & hear the music - it's totally cool!"  i loved watching & participating in the elementary kiddos groups & seeing my big b's eyes lit up, listening to the story told, & getting up & dancing & singing during the worship time.  God's love was all around.

honestly, leaving one life on sunday many thoughts were racing through my head.
1-can we really be a part of launching the
?
 us?  i haven't read the entire bible through since i was a kid! 
2-i loved our "movie church" the way it was...it had taken us a while to find that "right church" & now it's a changing... i loved every sunday at discovery listening to His word & crying & singing & laughing  & getting a great spiritual start for my week.  what will the future really hold?
3-does being a small group leader for the elementary kiddos means we don't get to go to the actual adult service for a year?  what about me?

my headache got worse.
& then we went to my moms....mr. ben was happy to see pap wasn't there (cousin luke had taken pap to his house to give my mom a much needed break).  which broke my heart.  ever since the stroke & living with pap & fighting & moving out, little ben's relationship changed.  & i thought about this at mom's outside & just cried.  we were trying to do the right thing, but was it?  i want benj to remember my papaw as the papaw that held his held learning to walk,


so excited to show him how to bat left handed. (pap's stroke was a week after this picture)



 the pap that he loved to help in the garden


& go out to with eat at windell's


not the papaw that he didn't want to see because of that summer.   

& my head hurt even worse. 
& of course i could not sleep at night, my mind racing & praying.  talking to God did help.

even though i'm an only child :),  i know this life isn't about me.  it's about waay more than me.  sharing God's love.  just knowing God loves me & accepting Christ as my savior isn't enough.  the last book we read in small group was Radical - taking back your faith from the american dream by David Platt & man, do i keep reflecting back on what we read.  it wasn't an easy read for me, but it impacted us all so for the better. 
& to answer my questions after church from above:
1- wow! i get to be a part of something so awesome as sharing God's word & love with others.  it may seem daunting , but "yes we can!" :)
2 - only God knows what the future holds.  it's in his hands.  & it's so much bigger than the "movie church" that we were comfy at.  & pastor trey will still be there & the band but with so many more resources & we get to be a part of it!
3-  getting to be a part of showing God's love for my special group of children is going to rock & how rewarding is that for me & them.  it's a bit humbling to get to share in such an important time of a person's life & walk with the Lord. 

onto the visit at mom's.  i still don't know what to do about ben's relationship with papaw.  i pray & pray on that & cry & cry.  ben did show such maturity when pap was in the nursing home by even going & hugging him & telling me he forgave his papaw & i am so proud of him for that.  but i know it still hurts & i don't want my baby to hurt.  i want him to be the carefree 5 year old he should be.  i pray time heals these wounds for all of us, especially my baby boy.  that's all i got for sunday.  what a day.

Friday, August 12, 2011

kick it good!

both kiddos had their first soccer practices tonight.  gracie has been having meltdowns about soccer since she realized there would be games.  (she just wants to practice she says)  tonight, she did just fine. she tried to do everything the coach said & was so durn cute!  one time, she looked over at me & smiled & yelled "hi mom!"  love her!
some of the future mia hamm in action:
striking a pose
 stretching it out
ready for action!! 
kickin it!


concentrating 
just plain ole cute! 


daddio did an a+++ job coaching benj's team tonight.  it was a bit hectic, the boys only had 1/2 a field to practice on, so many teams out there!  & 2 moms were a bit miffed because they couldn't find our team  - which was totally my fault.  i had emailed we would meet under the pavilion for last week's practice (that we didn't have due to heat) & that's where they were up there waiting & waiting for 20 minutes.  (i would have checked the fields at that point i think)  i got a very nasty phone call as i was watching gracie practice (some not so nice language to say the least).  i found the mom that called my cell, apologized & escorted her & her son to the field.  she said the other mom had already left (didn't) because she was so po'd.   they were not happy at all! on a more positive note,  i must say i am proud of my hubby for his hard work tonight as coach & the kiddos for their great job practicing.  ben was quite excited for his daddy to be coach.  we will be working with him a bit more on paying better attention to "coach" not daddy, as he gets a bit "wild up!"
some of the future david beckham in action:
yep, that's him down in the net. 


Wednesday, August 10, 2011

we've got a big kindergartener on our hands

as i type this at 9:17pm, the talking about the day has finally quieted down (he ended up sleeping with daddio tonight).  benj had not much to say about school "it was fun" until after books were read & lights were off.  then, he was on.  & on. & on.  oh, what we learned too!

some of his tidbits:
he's thinking we should switch off everyday for bus riding - mom taking him to school.  apparently, he felt a bit carsick.  but we figured out it may have been due to the heat.  don't know yet what our plan will be.  today, i ended up showing up at school just to make sure he made it ok (he did).

1st potty break the boys were quiet & the girls weren't.  2nd potty break the boys were loud & the girls were quiet.  & some girl stuck out her tounge at him & said "girls first nnuh!" 

he has a friend that said he knows him from karate (ben's never taken karate) in his class.  we think it's from t-ball.  that boy doesn't know what it means to put a bubble in your mouth & he got on ben for not having a bubble in his mouth.  ben said he told him it just meant to be quiet. 

listening is exhausting to him. "they just go on & on & makes me so tired," he said.  we had a talk about how that's how we learn & how important being an active listener is.

there's a gracie that he is around at some point in time & she bugs him. 

ben can't wait for piano.  he's going to play a good night song to make the teacher fall asleep he thinks. 

there's a few more, but i'm not going to write them on here, but will in his baby(big kid) book because they are just priceless.

oh & after getting off the bus today, he got to play at his friend conner's home (he lives right at the bus stop).  conner & ben were trying to get the guys working next door with water guns until we noticed what they were up to.  then us moms got it. 

that about sums up his day.  now time for momma to hit the sack too.  these mornings are quite a change!!

some pics of the day:

zacky waking him up

ben smiling for me
waiting for the bus (i cropped out the sweet 2nd grader, gavin, that helped ben find his classroom this morning)
& off he goes!!

we already have the breakfast order in for tomorrow (cereal with blueberries), gracie sleeping in her good morning clothes, ben's clothes layed out, lunch packed & 2 alarms set.  hopefully, we get this down pat soon!!






turtles & otters & goats, oh my!

i was wanting to try & make the final days of "freedom" for my boy extra fun before the years & years of school were to begin.  i know that's not a good way of looking at it, but i have so enjoyed our ability to do as we pretty much please the past 5 years & learning as we go about day to day.  i am honestly thrilled that he loves school & hopes his desire to learn only grows.  anyways, we ended up going to the zoo  with some of benj & gracie's best buddies. 


it was fun, but they started begging for snacks before we got out of amazonia (the first part).  the turtle was not sharing his food.


the otters are always the highlight of the zoo adventure.


followed closely this time by the feeding of the goats. 


the most special part for mr. b though, was just getting to be with his friends (&sis) & play at their home.  it's the simple things in life...

Monday, August 8, 2011

let's go ride our bikes!!

gracie decided she was ready to take her birthday present out for a spin the other day.  & yes, we were living on the edge without our safety gear.  shame on us, i know.  but daddio was right there & it was nice & slow...

off they go!

i think she likes it!  slow & steady..

those training wheels will be off before we know it!


Saturday, August 6, 2011

it's alway's a holiday..

at holiday world!!!  what a treasure that place is!  i grew up looking forward to going every summer (hoping to get to go more than once), my mom even grew up going to it (around a long time!) & now my kiddos get to enjoy the fun.  it is such an awesome park that has definitely grown up over the years, but still keeps family the #1 priority (it was so cool for me to see pat koch, one of the owners, walking around greeting people & picking up trash- wouldn't see that at six flags). 
didn't our kiddos look thrilled to be there!?!?! 
 
we planned this special visit because some of our favorite people were going from back where daddio is from.  & is was miss kate's 2nd birthday!!  happy birthday kate the great!!


 first stop (tradition for me)  was a family picture with the santa claus statue.   you can see mr. ben's legs behind santa.




we then hit the kiddy rides.  the water bumpers (my least favorite ride as a kid- but they didn't have little kid ones back in the olden days).  

ben ready for attack

 all the kiddos lined up!  love a.j.'s sunglasses - he is one cool dude!!
having fun & happy on the bumper boats..

she soon lost interest.


next, was one of gracie's favorite.  the seahorsies!!  

not so much ben's.  he was already tired of me with the camera.  sorry, bud.



after that, we rode a few more in that area & then headed onto bigger things.  mr. a.j. braved the scrambler with his dad & loved it (not our kids after last year!)  & then carrie, a.j., gracie & i rode the frightfull falls (log ride).  gracie HATED it!  cried & cried!!

she did sure love raging rapids, the family water ride.  even loved waiting & walking in line.

 in her daddy's arms, one of the best places to be!


some more kiddy rides for grace.  loves those fishies..



ben was too cool for that.

& to stick his head in some bunny.



next was time for splashin safari!!!  last year, one trip, the kiddos wouldn't leave.   this year, our kids didn't last too long.  momma got the free sunscreen in gracie's eye & she was then miserable - i should have just used our own lotion that was put up in the locker, but didn't want to mess with it- live & learn.  she ended up taking a nice nap in my arms while the boys played.  when she woke up, she was ready for more for a bit & then i was done with some of the kiddos there.  a big girl pushed my gracie trying to beat her onto a slide & then another sassy cat told me to "move it!" of course, i asked both girls to use their manners (because my kiddos are always perfect- yeah, right).

ben & gracie couldn't hang at holiday world too long yesterday.  they were pooped!  ben was begging to play a game, have some ice cream & go home.  some ice cream (see her red eye),


$7 & 2 stuffed animals later we were headed home.

we stopped at subway drive through & got a bite to eat.  i kept sneaking bites of the kiddo's food & benj didn't like it one bit.  he fell asleep with a death grip on that box.  the pain i am, i kept trying to take it out of his hands.  he'd jerk, give me an evil look & grasp tighter to the box as he fell back to sleep. 




franklin family, thanks for thinking of us to join you at holdiay world - we had a blast!! too bad we couldn't hang for too long!!