Photography Giveaway!!

My cousin Melissa....(well technically she isn't "my" cousin, she is married to my cousin Jake....but we are all family!) She is having a photography giveaway. You should check out her website. She is amazing!! You will enjoy looking at all the adorable pictures she takes! Plus....you can enter her giveaway for a free photo session! www.simplybephoto.com

Where oh where has my little Ben gone?

I was trying to get Jack to sleep and I could hear Ben in the house. (He had been at the neighbors playing.) Five minutes later I came out of Jack's room and couldn't find Ben. I searched the house and started calling his name. No answer. I went outside and called his name. No answer. I called the neighbors.....nope, he wasn't there. Went back in the house and called his name. No answer. Walked to the neighborhood park. No Ben. At this point I became a little panicked. I drove around the neighborhood looking for him and stopped at neighbor's houses along the way. No Ben. Now I was getting angry and even more panicked! Probably 20-30 minutes had gone by. I came back home and searched the house again. This time I heard something in my bathroom....I never looked in my bathroom because it was quiet in my room so I didn't bother walking back there.....Oh Ben.....there you are....

"Why didn't you answer when I called your name???"

 "Well, I heard you, but I wanted to do this first." 

"But, Ben....mom has been looking for you all over and I was really scared." 

"Well, I just was making a diaper...see"

Yes, Ben. I see. Now stand there before you clean up so I can take a picture for my blog! Yes, my "good" parenting skills kick in and say "wait......get a picture for your blog before you get mad!" Oh dear!

Mother I love you....

Mother I love you, Mother I do. Father in Heaven has sent me to you. When I am near you, I love to hear you, singing so softly that you love me too. Mother I love you, I love you I do!

I have the greatest mom and I think this song sums up my feelings really well! Happy Mother's Day mom.

A grand day at the Tulip Festival!

We spent a day at the Tulip Festival with my mom and sisters. It was my first time there and I really enjoyed it! It was so beautiful and the kids had a fun time playing in the children's discovery garden and looking at the waterfalls. Here are the cousins "striking a pose"

The discovery garden had lots of fun things for kids to "discover" like musical nature, secret pathways, a caterpillar slide, a lighthouse,  and my boys favorite was the bear cave! When their cute cousin Chloe came into the cave I was with her and she had a look of terror on her face when she spotted the "bear". I reassured her it was pretend and she bravely nodded her head a slowly walked forward....much different than the boys reaction! I think Sam and Ben were nervous for a second but then Sam "became" the bear and started growling ferociously! He loved crawling through the cave and hearing the bear growl. They also had a fun maze for the kids to play in and Noah's Ark...but, the water that is normally on for the summer wasn't turned on yet, so I guess that was a good thing for mom! (No wet clothes and crying kids because they got wet!) 

I do think though, that Sam's absolute favorite part of the day was being able to hold a bearded dragon! He loves reptiles and would give anything to become a proud owner of lizards, snakes, frogs, iguanas.....you get the idea! I have no doubt in my mind that one day he will have a room full of reptiles....we have already housed a snake for a few days before we sent the snake back home to "his mom". He has pure joy written on his face in this picture!

I think we will make the tulip festival a tradition. We really had a "grand" day! And I think Kaleb said it best when at the end of our grand day....we were all ready for a nap! 

T-ball Days!

My wait is over....I finally have a child playing T-ball!

It is so much fun to watch Sam play. 

I have been looking forward to this for years and we are all enjoying it so much.

I get just as excited as Sam when it's time to get ready for a game. 

He is so dang cute out there and he loves playing.

I hope he continues to enjoy it because I know I will! 

Let's play ball!

Happy Easter!

I really love Easter. I love Easter candy, I love Easter colors, I love Easter candy, I love dying Easter eggs and having egg hunts, and did I mention I love Easter candy? Yes, as much as I tell myself to stop eating chocolate because it makes Jack cry more and I am still trying to lose the baby weight, I keep popping those dang Cadbury chocolate eggs into my mouth! They are much too hard to resist. Oh well... (I am eating some as I type this!) I guess I must not be too serious about loosing the weight yet! 

We were lucky enough to spread our Easter activities over two weekends. The first weekend we spent with the Webster family. We had hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch with lots of yummy food to go along with them and then we dyed eggs. I have always loved dying Easter eggs and I still get excited to do it with my kids. I sometimes think I should boil a dozen eggs for myself to color! After dying our eggs we went outside for the egg hunt. The kids had a blast looking for their eggs. (each child had a different color to find) Watching them hunt for eggs always reminds me of how much fun I had doing Easter egg hunts at my Grandma Case's when I was growing up. After the egg hunt we sat outside and visited for so long long that everyone eventually got hungry again and we went for round two on the grill and the salads. It was a great day!

Dying the eggs...

Waiting for the big hunt...

Enjoying the sunny day!

The next weekend we spent with my family and had another fun filled day of Easter activities. We started out with the egg hunt and the kids were again going nuts looking for their color coded eggs (grandmas are smart these days and want all their grandkids to get the same amount of eggs/candy/money). After their hunt we had a delicious dinner of ham and all sorts of good salads, then we broke out several boxes of egg dye and went to town dying eggs. We had glitter, rollers, stickers, tye dye, you name it and we probably had it! It was a mess, but a fun mess, and we all enjoyed spending the day together.

Treasures were found

Eggs were dyed with care

Grandpa thinks this is funny...and obviously, so does Jack!

It was a great day! 

The kids woke up Easter morning to find their baskets downstairs and then they went on another egg hunt (this one hosted by the Easter bunny) in our backyard. We visited my grandma and grandpa Case in the afternoon and went out to Kathy and Denny's for the evening. It was a fun filled day of candy, eggs, and family. I am so lucky to have two wonderful families to spend holidays with. My kids enjoy their cousins on both sides of the family so much and we love being with everyone and spending time with our amazing families!

This is my sweet grandma Case. We love her so much and I am so glad she is still here with us. I have so many fun and happy memories of spending holidays at her house. I am so glad my kids have been able to spend a little time with her. 

 

Jack was letting my grandpa hold him and was showing off for him. He was being so funny with his grunting and yelling. My grandpa was really enjoying Jack and that just doesn't happen very often with my grandpa! 

Happy Easter!

My 5 year old really loves me!

I remember my mom telling me years ago that her favorite age for her children was 5 and 6 years old because they love their mom so much. Pretty much mom can do no wrong. Well, lucky me, I am finding that to be true with Sam! Every day in school he makes me a picture or a card with me and Sam on it and he puts hearts all around us. The cards usually say "I luv you mom. Sam" If I come to help in his school class he gets so excited and smiles and waves and starts telling his friends, "that's my mom! that's my mom!" It just melts my heart! Sometimes he will just hug me and say "my mom" with a happy little sigh. Ahhhh....this is definitely love! Sadly though, I know this "mom is perfect" stage won't last and he is sure to be embarrassed to have me at school one day.....but, I am going to enjoy it while it lasts and keep hoping it will last for just a little longer...

Aren't I the luckiest mom?!

This is a card Sam made for me. It says, "I love you Mom. Its from you. Sam" I think he wanted it to say "its for you" He is such a sweetheart!

This is our house with mom and Sam downstairs and the rest of the family upstairs. He always smiles and laughs when he shows me that only the two of us are downstairs together.