happy birthday to youuuu,

my favorite man in the whole wide world!!! i love you my sugar bear!

what a cutie you were at 3 & still are.  (picture courtesy of namaw & poppy's bday card to ya)

thank you for sharing the past 10 years with me. you are my best friend and i love you forever & ever & ever!!

the zoo

a friend from gracie's class called (his mommy) friday afternoon & asked if we had any plans & would like to enjoy the zoo...we were still in our pj's (lazy momma here).  so off we went to enjoy the beautiful day!

the kiddos had a blast & got to do some extra super special things - like petting some special animals & feeding the rhino & watching the world's oldest hippo, donna, have a bite to eat. 

i just love the amozonia portion of the zoo, so awesome!  the kiddos love it too, with the animals all about.

checking out some creepy, crawlies..

good buddies!

feeding the rhino!

open wide!!

& of course, the obligatory pictures at the bat station & the giraffe statue. 

ben has a bit of allergies & is constantly clearing his throat, making a hacking noise.  buddy logan thought that was quite hilarious & decided to join in.  they were laughing so hard over it, had me snorting.  good times. thanks so much for inviting us to go to the zoo & the great time logan & samantha & dave!!

on the way home, i asked the kiddos what their favorite part was. 

gracie: "everything!"

ben: "when we were making that throat noise & cracking up." boys...

it's a beautiful day!!!

got that u2 song in your head now?? i sure do.

spring started to poke it's head here this week & we took full advantage of it.  (ok, the first day ben wanted to bring his nintendo outside to play with him...) 

taking in the day.  (we were working on daddio's birthday present outside...)

gracie tied up zak real good so he wouldn't run away. poor dog.  it took me forever to untangle that knot!

a walk down the street is always fun.

first big brother wanted to pull lil sis in the wagon.  he was extra cautious to make sure it didn't go too fast. 

then, sis wanted to give him a ride.

of course, we had to race..

ben gave his sister a helping hand.

they started to get "tired out" so momma pulled them all back.

good day of play!!

where's my pause button??

somedays, i wish i could just hit pause & soak in the moments with my kiddos & hubby & family.  just our silly at home moments playing that seem to fly by too fast.  all i got for today. 

first trip to the beauty shop

miss gracie had her first haircut today (not including the one she had given herself). 

before

during.  she held on tight to that chair & didn't move an inch the entire time.

after.  viola!  still a beauty, but hopefully with a little bit more manageable hair...

we ate at grandy's before preschool, as we didn't have quite enough time to make it back home for a bite to eat.  was full of funny knock knock jokes, mainly the interrupting cow & duck ones.  i think they made many senior citizens' days in there (it was double discount day for seniors).   ben did not have a haircut today, but woke up with it extra flippy for some reason...

happy wednesday!  only a few more days until ben has his video game privileges reinstated (even after looking at the calender & counting with me, he knows it has been 7 days since he got in trouble.  i am "tricking him" he says.)

knock knock..

everytime gracie tells a joke, it MUST start out that way - regardless of what is to follow.

last night while we were in bed & she got up to use the potty
"knock knock"
us,"who's there?"
"why did the dog cross the road? to go poop."  giggle, giggle, giggle.  oh, she cracks herself up!  i think it was extra funny for her because she got to use a bathroom word in the bathroom..