already????

today is the kiddos' last day of preschool & pre-k.  then there will be 1 big boy kidergartener & 1 big girl pre-k'er.  oh my, where is the time going?  i am so proud of them both of the children they are growing up to be & decorated the house up with streamers & signs (no balloons, all we had were water balloons & they were too hard for momma to blow up).

when ben woke up, i came in with the bubble gun to celebrate.   "can you turn that off?" he said, "it's kinda annoying."  that's me, annoying mom.
i will not cry, i will not cry at his pre-k graduation.  oh, who am i kidding- i probably will.

fine toothed comb

daddio & i were talking tonight & we were talking about living life & memories.  he brought up this poem by Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks that he remembered from middle school:
Sadie & Maud

Maud went to college.
Sadie stayed home.
Sadie scraped life
With a fine toothed comb.

She didn't leave a tangle in
Her comb found every strand.
Sadie was one of the livingest chicks
In all the land.

Sadie bore two babies
Under her maiden name.
Maud and Ma and Papa
Nearly died of shame.

When Sadie said her last so-long
Her girls struck out from home.
(Sadie left as heritage
Her fine-toothed comb.)

Maud, who went to college,
Is a thin brown mouse.
She is living all alone
In this old house.

my other momma's day gifts

like most kiddos, mine loove rocks. they can play for hours looking for "just the right one." i was given a handful of these treasures from them.  this one was just extra special that benj gave it to me that he found in the creek at namaw & poppy's.

 (see the heart on it?) beautiful.



TBALL!!!

two games down, a whole lot to go! 


game #1 - it was a bit tough to watch.  i think the other team was out of our league...

benj up to bat.  daddio coming in to help him out a bit (looking good in his work pants & boots there :) )

running, running! 

in the "dugout" 

miss grace would have rather been anywhere but there.  oh my, how she wore me out!!



game #2 - much better

decorating the field before the game.

 swing, batter batter!!  i don't know if benj should be batting left or right... last year, he was writing left handed.  this year, right.  whatever i guess.

 my favorite team - the green hornets!!! (they chose the name that night because the other team had a name of purple slurple)

 gave it all he had!!  proud of ya, buddy!!!

little miss pretending to be asleep after the game.   

today, another game & momma is secretly hoping for rain....

derby day & momma's day

last weekend, we had the pleasure of driving down to great uncle carroll & aunt charlotte's home in kentucky for a derby party.  it was so nice to see family we don't get to visit with often & meet some new friends too.   (& guess who won the race drawing there ---- me!!)  man, this home has lots & lots of history.  the bricks were all made on site for this beautiful manor.  a kiddo's dream home for hide & seek (we lost ben for a second & i think my heart stopped for a bit). 

this was the first home with electricity in kentucky (i think).  old edison cells. 

the old ice box.  that goes waaay down.  ben got to help be part of the rescue of a groundhog, which he thought was super cool.

climbing up the stairs.  i love her camo boots & my old jeans on her!!

up some more stairs

not so sure about this...

mr. photogenic - can you just not smile for me, stinker??

check out that view!!

hi up there, namaw & ben!!!

daddio & gracie looking out from the attic.

outside steps - for a carriage perhaps??

momma & gracie & a new friend



& then sunday, mother's day, we spent the day at namaw & poppy's.  a fun filled day of playing in the creek, skipping rocks. 

gracie girl, you will always be my baby...

i just love her joy in this picture.  having fun 4 sure!!

ben was hard at work planting flowers for namaw.  



gracie's hand & her latest worm friend.  wormie the fourteenth or so..

the men that cooked the mother's day meal.  mucho good! thanks!

& my mother's day present - a nap & a "new" van!!! toyota - i'm lovin it!!  i couldn't wait to find the perfect sticker for the back of it.  i'm such a dork!  thank you, thank you thank yoU!!!

 & here is the sticker i found from tracy zeller jewelry. 

(it says God, in case you are like my sweet hubby & couldn't figure it out)

writes like his daddio..

well, the first time i found benjo's autograph on the wall i thought it was cute.  now i think he's on a mission to mark his territory.  all over the house.  he never did this as a toddler, but now at 5 really feels the need i guess.

his writing looks just like his daddio's i think.  (they told justin to print at work because his cursive is so messy).

our computer chair (ben with his signature backward N)

our coffee table (that we have sitting out of the way so there is more room for the kiddos to play).  i guess at least he is learning to write some words! (cat & up)

one little man is going to have some cleaning to do after school today. 

coloring eggs a few days late...

with all the hustle & bustle the week before easter, we never managed to decorate any eggs!  so, yesterday (tuesday), i boiled 6 eggs & let the kiddos have some fun.  i never would have imagained it would take over an hour to decorate just six eggs.  but it did! 

ben's favorite egg.  camo.  poor guy got some of the dye in his eye & looked a bit beat up by the end of all the egg decorating fun..

hmm...what color should i use next?? 

a nice, pretty blue egg, just like her eyes! 



easter time

easter this year was quite busy for us.  on saturday, we went to damaw's & papaw's where the easter bunny dropped off some big eggs & we had some yummy food momma made (if i do say so myself) .

sunday, we went to the movie church (aka discovery church / one life west).

this year, we got to help out in the older kiddo class & it was awesome.  ben & gracie joined in on the learning & fun too.  we all made ressurection eggs, which is a great way to help tell the story of easter for younger kiddos (& parents too!)   i was amazed at the knowledge these kids had about the easter story.

coloring up some pictures..

 the fellas & their funny faces..

 the girlies & their silly faces...

after church, we headed up to namaw & poppy's for some more family fun & tons & tons of yummy food. 
of course an intense egg hunt was held. 

monica, my main egg challenger!!

the kiddos looking so sweet after the hunt!

 a nice & shiny egg (we had to take that one home!)

counting her eggs...

 despite my look above, i am so thankful for the fun weekend we were able to have celebrating christ's ressurection with our families.