Easter doings

Well, this post if obviously late, but better late than never, right?

Easter was a very relaxing day for us...once we figured out what time church started. I was wondering why Kevin bolted out of bed promptly at 7:15. I told him to lay back down and relax with me...for Pete's sake, the kids were still asleep! I was under the impression that we didn't have to be to church until 10 (the time regular service starts). Kevin said that they were having our Sunday School class (that is at 9). He was right! I guess I am used to our old church. They usually cancelled Sunday School when there was a special service.

So I took my time getting the children ready. I was thinking about how nice it was to have everything set out and calm. HA! At 8:53 (yes, I remember) Kevin comments, very nicely, that we really should get to going. I tell him that we've got time. It's not even 9 yet. Then he drops the Sunday School bomb on me. 8-)

This is one of those times I am glad we had 2 cars. I sent him and the children on their way and I finished getting ready. On the way to church, the sky was BLACK. It looked like it was night time at 9:30 in the morning. The roads were also very empty. It was a really creepy sort of morning. The sky exploded right as I made it to church.

The service was interesting. It wasn't the message that you would expect to hear preached on Easter Sunday. The pastor (one of the two) actually spoke about the crucifixion instead of the resurrection. I guess it all goes together anyway, huh? I also found it odd that they really didn't do anything special for Easter. But, this is a new church and we are just learning how they do things.

When we got home I hid some plastic eggs for Benjamin and Olivia.

Olivia's were very stealthily hidden...right on the coffee table and on the seats of the gliders.


Benjamin had a great time finding his eggs. However, once Olivia realized that there were goldfish crackers in her eggs, she was DONE. She stood by Kevin and said, "BA BA BA!" until he opened hers. It was cute!

We then took the obligatory Easter photo...complete with the children in their Easter attire.
Or something like that!!

We had dinner (or whatever you call a meal at 2pm. Dinupper?) with the Forringers, Meltons, and several college students. After "dinupper" we played games. I will humbly (read AMAZINGLY, AWESOMELY, HAPPILY, IN-YOUR-FACE-ABLY) announce that Stephanie and I beat the Engineer and the Physicist in a probability game that involved dice. But, I don't want to brag. ;-)

It was a really great day!! When we went to bed, we all felt like this...


P.S. I am seriously considering putting up the Christmas pictures!!

Pronunciations of a 5 Year Old...

...can be very funny!

Yesterday Benjamin got punished for disobeying me. He was rather upset that he wouldn't be able to play with his friends for the rest of the day. Benjamin pulled out his paper and pencil and headed to the table. This is the conversation that followed.

"What are you writing?" I asked.

Benjamin replies, "I am writing a note to Jasper."

Excited that my son took the initiative to do some writing, I said, "Oh, that's great! What are you writing about?"

"I am telling him that I am drownded!! He was drownded last week too."

Mother says that "drownding" the children is really quite frowned upon. I told her, "If he would only obey, I wouldn't have to 'drownd' him."

Marrying a "Computer Geek" has its perks!

...like my pretty new blog.

I found one I liked, but couldn't make it work. He read through all of that code mumbo jumbo, tweaked it a bit, and VOILA!

Thank you, Kevin!!

(I guess this could qualify as a MHR post)

Outside fun with friends!

Today was a fantastic day! I am not much of an outdoorsy kind of girl, but I spent almost the whole day outside.

This morning I went to McWhorter park with Ruth Anne, Laura, and Chelsea. I hadn't ever been there before, but I really liked it. Lois Jackson is my favorite, but they don't have bathrooms.

Anyway, Benjamin, Isaac, and Ethan had fun riding their bikes and sliding Hot Wheels down the slide. Isaac was all Evil Knievel and flying down the hill. At one point Isaac slid down the metal pole from the top of one of the play things and declared, "I did it, but I almost died." We laughed a lot at this!! Luckily, all children managed to leave without breaking any body parts...or dying. I consider that a successful day out! Olivia and Benji (Ruth Anne's) did a lot of swinging and hangin' with the Mommies.

Olivia loves swinging!

Benji does too!

After the park we had lunch at Mazzio's. Livi was a wee bit tired.

She ended up laying on her tummy in the stroller with her rear end poking up. She slept through getting in the car, out of the car at the restaurant, into the stroller, and a good amount of time at the restaurant This is VERY unlike her! Trying, unsuccessfully, to eat wood chips all morning is tiring work!!

When we got home, I let Benjamin play with the the neighborhood kids and Olivia went down for her nap. I felt all excited so I decided to tackle the (small) flowerbed that I have been neglecting for about 2 years now. I weeded it, raked the leaves out and bagged them, dug up the Oleander and transplanted it elsewhere, turned the soil, planted a red bud tree in the center, flattened the soil back, and then planted Heather. I told the lady at Lowe's that I needed a plant that "wasn't going to go down without a fight." To say that I am bad with plants is being kind!

Here is Oleander in it's new location

The red bud tree has been living in a pot since my sister-in-law gave it to me 2.5 years ago. I have not watered it, or even looked at it, since. I have thought that it was dead several times now, but it miraculously comes back every year. However, now that I have touched it, it will most certainly die!!

And this is the finished flowerbed.

Stephanie showed up right before I put the heather in. Then Laura came...then Sherene. They all dropped right down and helped me put the plants in. It was greatly appreciated!! (thanks guys!!) Then Ted, Chad, and Steve came over too. It was a regular ole' reunion at my house. I love that sort of thing!! I always wanted to live in a neighborhood where your neighbors were also your friends instead of strangers you try to avoid.

I love when the neighbors feel free to come over whenever they want. That sort of thing has never bothered me. Sherene has shown up on her own twice in the past few weeks. Once to play in the rain, and then today. A few weeks after Laura moved in she walked over one afternoon and we spent about 2 hours just chitchatting. I felt very blessed that she felt comfortable enough to do that. Stephanie and I frequent each other's homes several times a week. Linda opens her home monthly for chai parties. Perhaps I'll invite her here for tea! Jan and Lew keep up with neighborhood safety issues. And all of the children play every afternoon at every house in the neighborhood!! The children here are kind, honest, intelligent, and fun!! This is huge to me!! So, if you're reading this and you live here, thanks for being a part of making this possible.

There have been people who think it is very frightening that we live "on the south side" and can't see what it is that keeps us here. Neighbors like these are what keep us here!! We trust God for our safety, and he has provided, and then we enjoy the rest.

And, heck, who wouldn't want to live in a place where your afternoon ends like this...
A man rode by on a horse.


I channelled my inner Stephanie and yelled to him, "May the children see your horse?" He rode right over into the yard, told me he didn't speak English, and motioned for Benjamin to come to him. He put Benjamin up on his horse and walked him around the front of the yard. Then he put Jasper up on there with Benjamin. They were two VERY happy boys. At this point, Stephanie and her family came over again. The man also gave rides to Lucy, Brandon (new kid in neighborhood), Amara, and Beth Rose.


The neighborhood together again!
The children tried to feed the horse some raw carrots, but clearly the horse feels the same way I do about raw carrots...YUCK!! So, the children all begged for carrots. Yes, you read that right!!

Benjamin really enjoyed his...as you can tell by his orange mouth!

And Olivia was not about to be left out!!!

Olivia enjoyed her outside time immensely!! Here's an outside picture just for fun!

Oh, and my plums are growing again this year. Last year, being the kind animal lover that I am (HA!!), I sacrificed all of my plums to the birds. I'm a giver! Here is what they look like now.
While in the backyard, I noticed two things: my dog runs three paths in the yard and the clover that we hand dug out of the yard a couple of years ago is all back. Clover is the one plant that I cannot kill!! Argh!

Well, that was my long, rambling post for today. It was such a great day. I enjoyed all of the wonderful weather....however, my skin is quite pink. So, tomorrow I may be singing a different tune!!! Either way, I love my outside day!!

Sister Time...and babies too!

I forgot I had this sitting in the "Draft" folder. I'm glad I found it!

Back in April (yup, April!), I went down to New Orleans for a Sister Weekend. Kelly was coming in from Georgia and I hadn't seen her in almost 3 years!! So, we all decided to meet up and just have some sister time. Later in the weekend, Jenny's babies joined us. It was a very special time!

Kelly and Jenny

Me and Jenny in front of St. Louis Cathedral

Me and Jenny

Me and Jenny....again!

Jenny kissing the voodoo dude.

Kelly and Brandyn playing a Contact Guitar Hero. Notice Brandyn about to strike! Oh, and I'm totally digging Kelly's glasses!

The June Bug!

Sweet June.

That boy loves his Momma!

And, as you can tell, she's pretty smitten too!

Happy June.

Kelly, Jenny, Allie (in Kelly's lap), and Kaylie.

Brotherly love.

Allie loving on the babydoll.

Allie loving on the real baby! She is fiercly protective of June Bug. It is adorable! Well, except when she tries to correct Jenny for correcting June. ha!

Carseats, Cuddles, and Cutlery

Olivia is now riding in her "big girl carseat." On Thursday, I washed all of the padding. It hasn't been used for about 2 years now, so it really needed it. Then Kevin put the seat back together. We put Olivia in it and decided to go for a practice run.

Benjamin thought that having her sitting like him was great!!


Olivia, on the other hand, was not really digging it.


She eventually came around.

She really liked being able to see the cars going by. She told several of the cars "bye bye." It was cute.


She really liked it when Daddy finally took her out of the seat!
And Benjamin wanted his picture to be taken in the car too! Equality, you see!

Olivia was very cute this morning. She is not used to seeing Kevin in bed because he is already up and leaving for work when she wakes up in the morning. So, this morning I brought her in our room and put her on the bed. She played around for a minute or so and then she heard Kevin snore. She was very excited.

She crawled up there by his head and sat as close as she could to him.


Then, she "loved on Daddy."



And when he responded to her cuddle she was so excited that she could hardly stand it!! Daddy almost lost a nose in the deal! LoL!


This little girl ADORES her Daddy! From the time he gets home from work until the time she goes to bed, she is right at his heels...or, as anyone here can tell you, on his shoulders. She just squeals when she sees him get home from work, and sobs terribly when he leaves. It's so nice to see how much they love each other. That's how it should be with Dads and daughters, right?

*sigh*
:-)

And what post would be complete without a picture of a boy and a sword!?!
Goodnight!!

Benjamin, Tests, and Prayers

Today was part 1 of the big Hudson PEP test. We haven't really made a big deal out of it with Benjamin. We just told him that he is going to go to Hudson PEP and do some worksheets there just like he does in class.

So, "for fun," a friend and I gave our kids a practice test yesterday. Benjamin got very upset during a couple parts of the test because he wasn't sure of the answers. This reaction disturbed me. Today his teacher assured me that he does not do that in class. I think that he reacted that way because he is used to me sitting at the table and telling him which answers are wrong. During the practice test I wouldn't help him because I wanted to see what he could do on his own. He did well.

As I was driving him to school this morning I was telling him that if he gets sad or frustrated that he just needed to take a breath, pray, and ask Jesus to help him be calm. He sort of mumbled, "Okay."

This afternoon when I picked him up, we were walking out of the school and he said, "Mommy, today I prayed to God and asked him to please help me." I asked Benjamin if he had gotten worried and he said, "No! I just asked God to help me get all of the right answers and He did! I think I got them all right!" :-)

It was a very touching to me. I often forget to go to God FIRST when things are getting to me. And here is my little guy catching on to the idea right away. I was proud of him and happy for him.