Just Cheesin'

We thought we would get the camera out and take a few pictures in front of the Christmas tree and these were too cute (of Mendi and Ben)not to post. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, we made it back from spending Thanksgiving with Mendi's family. It is always great to see family and friends that we don't get to see very often, not to mention eating like kings and queens. Here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving...

Ben loved Uncle Don's tractors, and let me tell you, these are some serious tractors!

Ben talking Pop-Pop into riding the tractors

Firing it up!

What an observant driver

Tell me Nonnie isn't enjoying herself

Ben showing his truck to Dat

Jenny (Mendi's sister) and Jake

We always have a great time and we look forward to it again next year.

Happy Halloween!

Well, it has been an eventful week, full of...

Pumpkin carving...

Face painting...

and Cowboy Ben!

A special thanks to Mamaw for making the vest and the chaps. They look great!

One Vote!

I will let this video say the words, which are far better than I could say.

Fall Is Here!

Last weekend the whole family went out to Moore Farms. The kids had a blast getting to see the farm animals, going on a hay ride, picking out a pumpkin from the "pumpkin patch", and cooking out on an open fire. Here are just a few pictures from the activities.

Back to Bloggin' (End of Summer Wrap-up)

I know, I know, I have fallen down on my job to keep the blog updated, but I am now back to the world of blogging. It is pretty bad to give an end of summer update in the middle of October, but I guess better late than never, huh? It was a busy summer of just work. No real big trips or anything very exciting to speak of, but we are all healthy and have each other, so who can complain? Here are a couple of pictures wrapping up the summer. Enjoy!

Training him early!

Sure is nice to get some help mowing the yard.

Especially when your help is this excited to be mowing.

Ben's Birthday Party

First off, I apologize that I am a week behind in getting this posted. Ben had a great 2nd birthday! Thanks to all who came out and braved the heat, to make this such a special day for him. Here are a few pics from the birthday party. Enjoy....

Summer School Pics Are In...

Well, here are the latest school pictures...enjoy!

Are We Getting Close?

Are we getting close to wanting to be potty trained? I would have to say so when you get up on the big potty and start reading the latest issue of Texas Fish & Game magazine and smile about it.

Happy 4th of July

We hope that everyone had a great 4th of July holiday weekend. We are so blessed to live in this great country. Check out this neat clip from the NFL about gameday flyovers...
http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80924c91

The Little Things In Life

Isn't it amazing how it's some of the little things in life that mean the most to kids?


Here are a couple of pictures of Ben helping mommy make some cookies.


Here are a few pictures of Ben helping daddy wash the cars. Well, he wasn't really as interested in washing the cars as he was playing in the water.

Check Out The New "Do"

Ben went to get a haircut this morning and the lady that cut it even sytled it for him. It might be a little hard to see (since he wouldnt stand still) but for the first time, he had gel in his hair and had the front of it spiked up...very stylish! He kept feeling of his hair and couldn't figure out why it felt the way that it did.

Getting Away For Some Weekend Fun

We headed up last weekend to visit Nonnie and Pop-Pop. We had a great time and Ben played until he was smooth worn out. He had a blast and got to do all kinds of things while we were there, including seeing his great-grandpaw, Dat.

Here is Ben making friends with one of Dat's kittens.

Ben kept calling this kitten, Abbey, which is the name of our cat at home and looks nothing like this one.

Ben showing off his driving skills, or I should say, showing how he can touch every button in Dat's truck.

Ben showing Nonnie that he knows how to drive Pop-Pop's tractor.

And here is Ben and Pop-Pop skipping rocks into the lake.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

What a beautiful Memorial Day weekend. I believe it is now safe to say that summer is here to stay. We went out to Mamaw and Papaw's on Saturday to play. Josie and Wyatt got new fishing poles and there was supposed to be some fishing going on, but once the swimming pool was brought out, everything else went out the window.

The kids all got new swimsuits from Mamaw and Papaw,and here are the boys in theirs. Ben has Elmo's all over his and Wyatt has Nemo on his.

Here is Josie using her new fishing pole trying to catch Ben(the fish). They always have such a fun time playing together.

Here is Ben being "caught" by Josie. That is a little rubber fish that he has in his hand that is attached to the end of Josie's fishing pole. So I guess you can say that there was some fishing going on :)

A.I. Finale

Well, he did it! David Cook took it all last night. After watching David A's performances back, I was starting to get concerned. I think that they both did great, but David Cook should be able to give the show the credibility that it needs after last seasons flop.

David Cook will be Rockin' The Finale of A.I.

It is good to see the show has redeemed itself from last year's dismal flop of talent. It will be interesting to see who wins. In years past, I have been disappointed that it has turned into a popularity contest and not a singing competition, but sometimes it is better that way. Take for instance, Taylor Hicks a couple of years ago. He would have been better off not winning the show and staying true to what got him that far, instead of just falling off the face of the Earth. So I am kind of wondering if it would be better for David Cook not to win. He has been my pick from the very beginning of the season (and Mendi's for most of the season), which is no surprise because of the other "rockers" that I have picked to win in the past like Bo Bice (credit goes to Carrie Underwood) and Chris Daughtry (who knows what the heck happened there). Neither one of those guys won and they were able to continue on in their own paths as opposed to molding to the Idol label for the next year.

D. Cook has to be the most original contestant ever to grace the show, and in my opinion, should be the hands down favorite to win next week, but there sure are a lot of little young teeny-boppers in the audience that can't seem to get enough David A. (he annoys me; OPEN YOUR EYES!). They are probably the ones that text their vote for him for two straight hours as well. For some of us, it is just not that important and we just enjoy watching the show. So Rock On Cook!!!!

I attached this video clip, because it is still one of my favorite performances that he gave.

A Week Full Of B-Day Parties

This week we had fun hitting a few birthday parties. On Tuesday, we went to Reese's birthday party at Pump It Up. This was Ben's second experience at Pump It Up, and he is starting to get the hang of it. Then on Saturday, we went to Wyatt and Josie's birthday party. It was originally scheduled for last weekend, but they were both sick on their birthdays so the party was moved to this weekend. Here are a few pics of the fun.

Here is Miss Reese at her birthday party. She turned the "Big 5" and was sweet enough to invite Ben to her party at Pump It Up.

Ol' B was pumpin it up and didn't want to quit.

Here is a picture of all the kiddos at the party. Like I said, Ben didn't want to stop jumping long enough to take a picture, but once there was cake involved, it was a different story.

Ben wearing out the rockin' turtle before it decided to bite him back in the mouth.

Miss Josie Claire is now a four year old. I can't believe it!

Ol sneaky Wyatt is now two. I can't believe that either!

Wyatt and Josie each had their own cake. Notice that half of the table is blue and the other half is pink. The boys wanted to sit on the blue side and the girls wanted to sit on the pink side. Kids are so funny about little things.

We all had a great time and are thankful that each of you invited Ben to the parties. He had a blast!

Ben's Playground

Wow, I can't believe it has been over a month since the last post. The contents of this post are a big reason for it. That's right, the playground is finally finished! After about a month of working on it off and on it is finally done. This is Ben's birthday present. I know, I know, his birthday isn't until the end of July, but there is nothing appealing to me at all about working in the 100 degree summer heat on a project like this, so I decided to make an executive decision and do it while the weather is so nice. Plus, it gives Ben a couple of extra months to enjoy it. Besides, he doesn't know the difference, and you should just see how happy he is to play on it. Thanks to all of the help that I have been fortunate enough to have on this project. A special thanks goes out to my brother-in-law, Wes, man if it wasn't for you and your help, this project would have never turned out like it did. Thanks Again! Another special thanks goes out to Mendi; thank you for taking care of everything else to allow me to finish this. Also, Mendi deserves the credit for the flowers. We will see how long I can keep them alive.

I hope all is well with everyone. Enjoy the pics...it is a start to finish slide show

Happy April Fools' Day!

Have you ever wonder where April Fools' Day started from? Maybe this will help...
The origins of this custom are complex and a matter of much debate. It is likely a relic of the once common festivities held on the vernal equinox, which began on the 25th of March, old New Year's Day, and ended on the 2nd of April.

Europe may have derived its April-fooling from the French.[1] French and Dutch references from 1508 and 1539 respectively describe April Fools' Day jokes and the custom of making them on the first of April. France was one of the first nations to make January 1 officially New Year's Day (which was already celebrated by many), by decree of Charles IX. This was in 1564, even before the 1582 adoption of the Gregorian calendar (See Julian start of the year). Thus the New Year's gifts and visits of felicitation which had been the feature of the 1st of April became associated with the first day of January, and those who disliked or did not hear about the change were fair game for those wits who amused themselves by sending mock presents and paying calls of pretended ceremony on the 1st of April. In France the person fooled is known as poisson d'avril (April fish). This has been explained as arising from the fact that in April the sun quits the zodiacal sign of the fish. The French traditionally celebrated this holiday by placing dead fish on the backs of friends. Today, real fish have been replaced with sticky, fish-shaped paper cut-outs that children try to sneak onto the back of their friends' shirts. Candy shops and bakeries also offer fish-shaped sweets for the holiday.

Do you feel any wiser now? Lol, just thought you might want to know if you didn't already. Have a great day!

If you are wondering about the picture of Ben... I thought it was too cute not to share, so I just stuck it in with this post :)

Happy Easter

Sorry this is so late, but I just now had time to sit down to make this post. We hope that you all had a blessed Easter. Our family had a great Easter, from hanging out with the family to an awesome Easter service at church. How about the beautiful weather? This time last year it was snowing!!! Here are a few pictures of the Easter egg hunt out at Mamaw and Papaw's. Enjoy...

First School Picture

Here is Ben's first school picture. We have been working with him on saying cheese for the camera and I guess it is working. His teacher said he did the best out of all of his classmates. If you are still wondering, yes we are proud of him.

Family Fun

What another beautiful day it was today. We have been blessed with some really nice weather weekends here lately. Josie and Wyatt were ready for there cousin, Ben, to come over and play today, so we went over to play and to watch Uncle Wes as he worked on Josie and Wyatt's new playhouse. Here are a few pictures of the afternoon, enjoy...

Hitting The Zoo And The Park

Saturday was such a nice day that we headed to the zoo and then on to the Brookshire's Park. We all had a great time together and Ben had a blast. I am not sure if the highlight for him was the petting zoo or getting to go on the slide at the park. He is growing up so fast and really defining his personality. Mendi and I are amazed at how fast he is learning things on his own.

Getting Rid Of Some Cabin Fever

What a beautiful day. The sun has finally come out after a week of cold and rainy weather. Ben was ready to play outside with some of his toys, despite probably having another ear infection. Here are a few pics...enjoy!