pocket full of sunshine

miss gracie has had a rough morning. momma woke her up early to take papaw to the eye doctor & she wasn't happy. i thought just because i woke her up. oh no- almost to pap's (about an hour away), she started getting sick. it was a loong drive back to our home. we had to stop several times for the poor gal to dump out the puke bucket & clean her up. she is a trooper though & didn't fuss much.


when we got home, big brother helped her recover by bringing her a wet rag. such a sweetie. we've had a cartoon filled day this afternoon & she is feeling much better. & her lunch has stayed down. i'm so glad!


on the way to recovery!

today, she's sporting one of her "pocket shirts" i made for her to carry around her little treasures. she loves itty bitty stuffed animals & having a place to put 1 or 2 now. her "pocket shirts" are her clothing of choice anymore.



big brother & sister smiling for the camera

up me side down!

after a looong week of work, justin had the weekend off. when daddio's home, the kiddos need no toys. he is the best thing to climb on, jump from & play with ever as far as they are concerned. sometimes, i wonder why i'm not as fun but i know it's because they are with me 24/7 & i get old after a while.



last night, gracie would say "up me side down, gen!" (meaning put me upside down again)


making her up side down silly face.



big ben hanging around.



i love this picture of him. you can just see the happiness.


our funny faces.

happy birthday, little sisters!

2 super special gals in my life have birthdays a day apart from each other. i've been writing, deleting, writing some more on this post; having a hard time finding the right words. i love you both & hope you had wonderful birthdays & a great 2010!


jen,

you welcomed me as your sister with open arms, even though i could be a less than stellar roomie sometimes (sorry about that). thank you.

i loved our late night talks when justin wasn't home about anything & everything. i do treasure those times when we really got to know each other. i love you.


sometimes, when ben & gracie are playing i often wonder if that is how you & justin were growing up. he loves her so & wants to protect her just like your big brother always has & still does.

christmas was a wonderful time for us all together. the kiddos really had fun playing with their auntie jen. there's some miles between us now, but we'll be planning trips to visit you & mike in florida(when it gets a bit warmer down there :) )





kristen,

today at papaw's i was looking through pictures of all of us through the years.

what memories we have! thank you for being there by my side through them all. you are someone whom i could spend a bazillon days with and always have fun. we both have that odd sense of humor that many don't get (what's wrong with people?).


i miss you little lady & i'm here for you for whenever & for whatever, always remember that. i love ya.





to you both:
i've watched you both grow into such amazing, successful young women that i really do admire. there are no challenges that i've seen either of you back down from (you go girlies!). you both stand up for what you believe in & speak your mind. i'm glad my kiddos have such awesome aunties to look up to!

lots of love,
me


some pictures of you lovely ladies through the years:


a night out on the town!


bub & sis


at home in florida



riding around with luke


santa switch


my cousin with the pres

our snow pinata party

i had found a pinata kit at tuesday morning for $3 & thought my kiddos would enjoy making it. what an undertaking!!
well, we started it wednesday evening & completed the fun tonight.
wednesday didn't quite go as planned.


we got all the pieces for the dino cut out & taped to the balloon. as we were placing the newspaper strips, the balloon popped. this happened not once, but twice. we all lost interest by that point.

yesterday, the kiddos found another balloon & we blew it up for round 3.


due to my frustration with the popping, i decided to go for a ball pinata instead of the dinosaur (it seemed to pop where the pieces we had cut out for the dino were attached to the balloon). making a ball much easier!

we got the newspaper & tissue paper all glued on & let it dry overnight.

today, we painted the ball after playing in the snow. i just let the kiddos go to town with whatever color they chose. quite colorful!


this evening we popped the balloon & filled it with candy.


tonight, we broke the bad boy to pieces.


go, gracie, go!


ben can be a bit intimidating holding a bat in his hand!!



ahh, candy time (leftover from ben's birthday party pinata) the best part!!


next time, i will tie a string to the balloon prior to using the paper strips so i have a way of hanging up our creation. we made do with a broom stick.
the kiddos had a fun time doing this & i think we will go a ball pinata route for the next pinata party!

snow fun!!

the kiddos were thrilled to wake up to snow this morning. "can we go out & play now?" was the question ben kept repeating again & again & again. after breakfast, we went.

i couldn't help but think of the little brother in a christmas story all bundled up when i was layering ben.






they made some mighty pretty snow angels.

gracie loved eating the snow.


they would get on all 4's & eat snow.

that tongue of hers is always out!



zackers came out & played for a bit till his poor paws got cold.


daddio even got to play before going into work.


big brother giving sis a ride.


that's the look of a kid getting ready to attack someone with snowballs!

attack!


me after the attack.


my sweet, frozen little girl.


doesn't she look so happy?



of course, some hot chocolate & smarshmallows to warm up with inside.

beepworst, beefwurst, bratwurst?

the other morning, when we were having a family hug ben shouted "yuck, i smell beepworst!"
what?? i think it was the morning fresh breath he was a smelling. we asked him what he smelled & he said,"you know, beefwurst." umm, ok.

since we laughed, he now smells beepworst or beefwurst several times a day, expecting laughter from the crowd each time. he's decided it's especially funny when he smells it after a toot. what a mess.

guess what am i!!

we all had a funtastic time playing the kiddos' game the other night. it made for some cute pictures too!







i wish i would have snapped a pic of daddio when he was a cheerleader. mighty fine!


we are still working on the "rules."
ben would look at every card he chose, so his questions would be great about his animal. miss gracie would just tell everyone what they were right away.

rockin new years eve

some buddies came to visit us for a rockin new years eve. kinda a last minute thing, but we were thrilled to all get together for some fun. as soon as the "guestes" arrived, ben had to change into a rock n roll shirt & was ready to break out the beatles rock band daddio got for christmas (thanks, auntie jen!).

my little drummer boy.


everybody got into the action of rockin out! brandon even came with a special rockstar 'do.


jd &brody with his rockstar pose for the camera.



beth & embry singing a tune.



my sweetiepie getting down on the harmonica.



the boys with the champagne.


me & my sugar bear at midnight.


guess who else was still up when the clock struck 12!!



the kiddos the next morning.

what a fun time we had! thanks guys for making the trip & i hope we can make it an annual family fun party!!