the final game

at daddio's suggestion, i have removed my posts about the not so good lately & just focus on the good things.   i think that's probably best.

big ben had his last t-ball game.  & what a game it was!   those kids are too stinkin cute.

he was extra excited because his friends came to see him play.  they were smart & found some shade. 

& then he got a trophy!!  he held it up for the crowd to see.  that night he slept with it.  it hasn't left his side yet. 

i'm proud of ya, buddy. 

way to go purple team & thanks coach chad for being such a fun coach for the kiddos!

our long lost friends

it seems like forever since we played with some of our bestest friends (ok, maybe 3 weeks, but that's a long time). i was definately having my amy withdrawls!!
i worked with amy at whirlpool & we both became pregnant about the same time. low and behold, we both had boys and they have the best time hanging out. they are buddies, as ben says.

our friendship has grown as our children grow & i don't know what i would do without her as my friend. she is my sainity in times of turmoil - she is a rock. i thank god for her. our little girls, gracie & emily are about 3 months apart & get excited when they know we are all going to play. now that the boys are in preschool opposite days, it's harder to get together. but, we are finding the time.

we met them at the mall this evening. big hugs were everywhere. those kiddos really missed each other!

we ate a quick bite at the mall & then went for a shopping trip for costumes. miss emily is going to be a pretty cat & ethan a spooky spider.
since the kiddos were so good, we got to ride on the carousel.

miss emily checking out the crew behind her..



a bit dizzy after we got off, but we had a blast!!can't wait to play with you guys thursday night!

happy belated birthday to one of our girls!

ben (& gracie) has 3 cousins that he just loves. he calls them his "girls." the youngest, miss allison just turned 14. she is such a sweet young lady. it makes me feel super old that she is already 14, she acts much older than that! i remember when she was born & her growing up through the years. she's always been a loving girl, beautiful inside and out. here's the lovely birthday gal..
5 years ago at our wedding

& today!!

we went over to visit with "the girls" today after papaw's.
gracie got some good cuddle time in with aubrie.

allie showed us one of her birthday presents. these are shoes with toes in them. the things they have nowadays! i guess they are used for rock climbing & water activities. kindy funky..

the girls have loads of games to play. today, we played chinese checkers and slap happy. this game rocks. how fun are these big foam hands? in the game, you roll a dice & try to slap on that color circle first. it's a game from when miss allie was a kiddo & now my kiddos get to learn & play with it.

thanks allie & aubrie for such a wonderful afternoon! we love you girls, keep on being so lovely & awesome. happy belated birthday to you, miss allison!!

a fun day at the children's museum

we went to cmoe today with some friends. it was a great thing to do, as i wasn't motivated to get out of my pajamas.

the first area we entered was the ball area. ben did not want to leave. he was in heaven. balls everywhere. balls that float,
, balls to throw, balls to load, balls to dump, balls to launch,
you name it.

there's a section in the museum intitled big. there's a great big nose the kiddos can crawl through. here's miss grace inside that old nose.
the kids enjoyed pulling out a poor lady's intestines.


everyone's favorite part, was of course, downstairs, in the basement where all the balls go to. where the water is.... gracie ended up like a drowned rat; due to her need to fill up a basket with holes in it & carry it over to the large waterhole in the center over & over again. but, she had a good time. & we had a change of clothes, so no problem..
miss melissa makin some fog bubbles

after her water play, miss g decided to move on to bridge building. do i see a civil engineer in the future??


hope everyone is having a funtastic day!

third of july fun

friday night some of our friends had a cookout & all the little munchkins got to get together & play.

miss embry makes the funniest faces. ben loves her & i think she likes him a bit too!

i think he is going to be a little heartbreaker. my oh my.






gracie being a good little girl & getting drinks for everyone (don't worry, it was just water!)

the men folk hanging out on the swing.


getting ready for music time!!

i used to be so good at taking self-portraits. not so much anymore!


sheryl & my little heartbreaker, brody.




play us a song, you're the guitar man.

it was so great hanging out with you guys. we really love & miss you all! thanks for having us brandon & beth!

sweet berry pie

miss gracie helped me to make a pie with all the berries picked from papaw's house. ben was too busy watching wipeout with his dad on tv to help. she is quite the helper.

first, she greased the pie pan.

then, she helped add the ingredients to the bowel. i didn't have a recipe, just threw in some sugar, some homemade vanilla extract, some almond extract & some flour.

next, she stirred, stirred, stirred.


then she tasted, tasted, tasted. she thought it was pretty durn good prior to even being baked.
mr. ben really enjoyed the fruits of her labor.

ben's favorite cousin

ben had a great time playing with his favorite cousin darby this week.

they played mario kart (with brad), jumped on the trampoline, pretended to be pirates, had a dance party, had a dinosaur attack, played pillow fight, and the list goes on and on. they even played in the bilibos. one of the only times they get played in is when she's in town. they are perfect for eating cereal.

or just laying around.... happy sweet 17 birthday to you miss aub! hope you had a wonderful day. we love you! come over & play anytime please.

daddio's home!!

hip horray, daddio made it safely home from japan! it has been a looong 3 weeks of illness, bad weather & missing him. i'm glad his trip was shortened. the kids had been marking down the days on the calender. ben would tell people "daddy will be home when we get to the star day." (we had that day marked with a star)
we made daddio some signs for his arrival & we soooo excited to go to the airport. you can see the anticipation in their eyes!




gracie's reaction to seeing daddy was priceless; she squealed "dada!" and ran up to him. ben, on the other hand got embarrassed. he hid. i don't know why he acted that way. by the time we made it to the truck, he was daddio's boy once again. he has hardly left his side since friday (except for our date saturday night, thanks karen & kevin!).

we went grocery shopping on the day daddio got home. a cart with 2 drivers seats just isn't enough for my 2 kids!

my little rockstar

we loooove dance parties & jam sessions around here. the kids have a blast when daddio gets out the guitar & starts strumming a tune. beano will start singing, cecee starts dancing & i start laughing.

a few nights ago, i finally remembered to get out the video camera. beano was very "wild up", as he likes to say (he's often too wild up to take a nap) & the singing & dancing was quite entertaining. i've tried to translate some of the song for you. "123, oh neah (yeah). race cars, i'm super cool, i love my mama. oh neah. i'm super cool, yes i am. i'm super cool, toot on the monster" i think we have a family band in the making! please pardon my laughing, the mess in the house & on the kids, etc, etc. enjoy!