Umbrella

B.F.F.

Sorry buddy, but no rain. So anxious to use his new "brellia" as he calls it.

"Here you go Mommy" says Christian. "I picked you a flower." I think my heart is going to burst!!! The boys pick me flowers often, and I think they enjoy it mostly because of my response. Weeds, flowers, grass, I love it all. I wish that I could freeze them and set them in a time capsule to share with their wives one day. I hope to encourage this sweet side as much as I can. It's so important for them to be kind and gentle to women. Their Daddy is always such a manly man in front of others, but don't be fooled. He is soft and sweet to me when its just us. I think the boys see that and I hope they remember it and are the same way.

Us

Trying to make more of an effort to go on a date with my husband at LEAST once a month. Man, it is hard to do that! So much easier to let the exhaustion/everyday/children/chores consume me and just put it off. BUT, I love this man so very dearly. I enjoy our time together. Just good conversation over a nice dinner. Do any of you know what I'm talking about? Shoot, it really doesn't even have to be a nice dinner. Just our quite time together is like therapy. His company feels good. Thank you again, God, for granting me such a man as this, and allowing me to love him so much.

Meet Lucy

We have been looking for a dog for sometime now, and didn't want to fork up a lot of dough nor could we come to a meeting of the minds as to what breed would suit our family. Then, Lucy showed up. I believe God put her in our lives. She walked right up, abandoned by her owner I later found out, and as cute as could be. Obviously not a pure bred, but she suited us. The vet did confirm that she is 3 of many things; retriever, great pyrenees, and pit bull. The rest is a mystery. She has been one of the best puppies we have ever had, what a relief, and a sweet blessing. The boys love her, and she has really taken to them. It's been a while since I've had to deal with dog hair, but she's worth it....for now. I'm sure I will post something about her in the days to come and ramble on about how she is horrible and I'm going to let my husband shoot her! Ha!

Jack's Crawling!!!!

At 9.5 months. I wasn't sure that he ever would! We are laughing at him because he has also become quite the destructive little fella as well. He loves to pull ALL of my magazines off the shelves and tear out the pages. In addition, he has started to throw things. Not out of spite, but more out of satisfaction that he can scatter the toys about in a more efficient manner. One thing is for sure, he adores his brothers. Oh how it melts my heart! The feeling is mutual. They are good at tending to him and showing him lots and lots of affection.

CAP Field Trip to the Firestation

Group picture

Oh my goodness! This ladder was so high! I could feel my chest tighten at the thought of climbing it. Gasp! Then, at the children's request, the fire chief climbed it. You would have thought he would wear a harness (and attach himself to the ladder as he went up) but NOOO! Just a stinkin' helmet! A lot of good that will do you when you go splat!

This was MY favorite part. All of the children listened closely as a kind fireman explained to them the dangers of fire and what to do in case of a fire. Then, they got to act it out. They filled the trailer full of smoke (pretend) and had the kids crawl through and went out the back door. Cool, huh?! Then they went to the meeting place; a mailbox.

After the field trip was over and we were all in the car this is what Ben said (keep in mind he has just received a thorough explanation of fire and fire safety, and listen surprisingly close. I was watching.)

"Mommy, if I see a fire do you know what I'll do? I won't turn around and run. I will go into the fire and fight it!" (With such enthusiasm on his face too! - did he listen at all? Lord, please bless Ben with a boring office job,please...)

He is so ready to be a fire fighter!!!

Ben's 4th Birthday

SUPERHERO BEN!!!!

Tonight as I was tucking him in he exclaimed to me how he wanted to be just like Christian. He says this often although sometimes it's Aaron or I instead. Very sweet, BUT Ben is great too. Let me tell you why it's great to be Ben;

Ben is a happy guy. Smiling most often and always offering hugs and kisses. This is how he has been since day 1.

A great encourager. Telling me how good of a cook I am, how beautiful I am, how great his brother is a t-ball, tell Daddy that he is the best Daddy ever...I could go on and on...

Giving. He is willing to let his brother play with anything he has disregarding previous conflicts.

Captivating. He has a way about him that grants him favor in most situations. I can't quite put my finger on it but its amazing to watch others respond to him.

Outgoing. Enjoys conversation with strangers, and loves friends. He is always the first to speak to a stranger in the grocery store, followed by telling them his whole life story. Very funny to watch since his speech is still unclear at times, but he doesn't miss a beat.

Energized. Not because he is 4, but because he really is energized. Always engaged is something, and he is constantly talking or moving until bedtime and then he practically passes out. Oh, and he like to sleep in. Not a morning person.

Intelligent. Since I am homeschooling I get to see this first hand. He is sharp as a whip. Focusing is not his thing, but he normally gets it the first go around, and then gets bored with repetition. There are times that he notices the hard to notice. He definitely throws me for a loop!

Happy Birthday Ben. Don't forget, it's good to be Ben. You are wonderfully made.

Halloween

First Halloween for my little Monkey Man!

Creepy looking!

I want to mention how awesome Christian did with his pumpkin. Can you believe this! He did bettet than me, and was in such deep concentration. I still can't believe he had the ability to do this. That just goes to show you not to put limitations on what your children can do!!! So proud.

This design suited Ben, however he did have two teethe when we started. Haha! Love this little guy. He did really good, and especially liked scooping out the pumpkin "guts."

Mine.

The Hubs

Pumpkin Patch

They took a John Deer tractor and turned it into this.

The kids got to go into the stalls and pet the animals. Very cool.

Jack loved the bunny. He loved him so much that he wanted to put him in his mouth.

This slide is made out of a large industrial gutter. Have you ever seen such a thing!!!

Notice the bottom right picture. There is a fine line between hugging and strangling.

Another cool idea - corn!!!

Christian especially enjoyed the hands on with the animals. He so loved this bunny.

This was a first for us at this particular pumpkin patch. The best one I have ever been to. We are definitely going to make this our annual pumpkin patch outing! They had some super creative ideas for the kiddos! Thanks Jackie for introducing us to this place!

Beach Vacation

Crab hunting out first night, and we caught one!!!

Buried alive!!!!

You would not believe how hard it was to get these boys in the air at the same time. Whew!

My pouter.

Silly boys

The boys have been asking me when we get to go back. They cried and whined when I told them it would be a while. All of us had such a great time together.