I can blog AGAIN!!!

I am SOOOO excited!! I know I have been quiet on here and it has been for a variety of reasons...however one of the major reason is our computer (unbeknownst to us until last week) had many, many viruses and problems and I was unable to upload any pictures.  Thankfully Ben has been able to fix most of the problems and I will be able to catch up on some of the happenings around here. :-)

Below are a few pictures from Thursday nights game.  It drizzled rain the entire time so Evan and I sat in the dug out.  He thought he was such a big boy sitting with the team.
You can see in true brother style...Evan is sticking his finger in Kyle's ear in the side of the helmet. :-)

 

I LOVE this picture of my two big boys....Ben was the first base coach and you can tell both boys are paying such close attention to the game. 

 

At one point while I was at the gate taking pictures I turned around and Evan was being held up by one of the mom's looking over the fence.  Isn't his smile so sweet?!?

 

 

I have been playing with the settings and shutter speeds on my camera and I was able to get this one of Kyle throwing the ball.  Doesn't he look like such a ball player in this shot?!?

Still here!

Hello!  I can not believe it has been over a month since I have blogged.  I really enjoy posting and keeping a record of all the fun things we have done.  But it seems that "life" has gotten so busy lately.  Which is always a good things.  In my professional life I hear of so many horrible accidents and tragic stories that I do not ever take for granted our life of just being "busy".   I feel like we are really blessed to be busy with just normal, common every day life. :-)

Everyone is doing well at our house...Ben went through about 3 weeks of working A LOT of overtime.  It is always welcome and much appreciated but at the same time it puts a different spin on our household mainly because we count on each other so much in our daily routines.  And now my work is starting to really get busy. This year will mark my 8th year in my department and I have had a few changes in my job responsibilities and I have to say I LOVE it!!
The boys are great!  Kyle has started baseball and LOVES it! Ben is helping coach again this year and the boys talk, practice and play ball all the time around the house.  Evan really wants to be on the field with his Daddy and brother...I know it will just be a matter of time.

  He has lost 4 teeth (two bottom and two top).  The two top ones came out within 7 days of each other.  Something about the two top teeth sent me into a tizzy and I got so emotional about my baby boy growing up.  He is changing and growing up so much lately.  Now if we could just get him to sleep in his bed and all night life would be good. 

Evan is starting to potty train or I should say Evan is using the potty when he wants too.  He knows how, he can, but he is just stubborn and when he does not want to he doesn't.  He talks up a storm now and has just started a new thing of telling you that you are his "best friend".  It is so sweet and honestly he melts my heart when he says it.

Honesty

Earlier today I purchased a few pieces of clothes (a couple of tops and dresses) for work so tonight I was trying them all on and then hanging them up.  I didn't really think the boys were paying me any attention since they were playing between the living room and Kyle's room. I would try the new outfit on in my bedroom and then walk into their bathroom/laundry room to retrieve a hanger to hang the new item up. 

However I was wrong....when I tried on my grey slacks with a new grey and floral design printed top I went to the mirror in our bedroom. I like it!  Well when I walked out of my bedroom into the hallway wearing my new top and pants I hear this...

Kyle: (staring straight at me in the hallway) "Mama...where did you get THAT?"

Me: "Remember I bought the top today and the grey pants are Mommy's.  Why?"

Kyle: (With a complete disgusted look on his face) "Did you pay REAL money for that shirt?"

Me: (completely flabbergasted) "Yes, I did.  Why, you don't like it?"

Kyle: (shaking his head as he walks past me) "Not really....you can wear that other block dress but don't wear that. Okay?"

WHAT?!?!  When did my 6 year old start caring what I wore?  Oh yea, I guess about the time that his Mommy and Daddy embarrass him at school.  He has gotten where he wants us there and wants us to volunteer at everything but he doesn't want to talk to or acknowledge us.  I will admit it does hurt my feelings but Ben keeps reminding me that it is a "boy thing."

Yes....I am going to wear the block dress tomorrow and I put the grey floral top away in the closet.  But don't worry it will resurface one day. Maybe one day when my 6 year old is not around so I will not embarrass him with my clothing choices. Or on second thought...maybe I should wear it on the next field trip or class party! Ha, that will really get him!! :-)

Party in the crib!!

Valentine's Day!

 I can't believe that Valentine's has already come and gone this year!  It is like one minute we are celebrating January birthdays and the next it is Valentine's Day.  Anyway...on Thursday, Ben and I went to Kyle's class to do an ice cream party for his class.  The kids had a lot of fun!

After the party, Kyle wanted to show us the mail man jacket and hat he got to wear to hand out his Valentine's to his class.  He was so cute!

 

After school, we picked Evan up from his class.  He had the best day and he got to eat a Happy Meal at lunch! :-)

As I was walking out with all three of my boys they all had to show me the bench that they stop at every day to talk about there day.  Apparently big decisions get made on this bench! 

After we left school and ran a few errands we met back up for dinner.  I had originally planned to cook but when I ended up skipping lunch to be able to leave early I was starving!  Ben and Evan waited very patiently (for the most part!)  on our dinner.  

Kyle, on the other hand, was too cool for a picture....

Once we got home from dinner, the boys opened all of the Valentine's they received in the mail (Thank you, everyone!) and the gifts from us.  They had a great time and LOVED everything!

Now onto planning for Easter.... :-)



My 101 dalmation...

For Kyle's 101 day of school he had to dress up as a dalmation so I got to work on another costume for Kyle to wear.  I know there was no rocket science that lead to the making of this costume but I have to say I was proud of it.  I cut all different black circle shapes out of felt and glued them on the front and back. (Fabric glue is the best invention E.V.E.R!!)  On the shirt, I gave him a red dog collar and even added a doggie name tag. :-)
Then we got a black headband and made one solid black ear and one white and black spotted ear.  I must admit it turned out really, really cute!!

And of course, lil' bit had to get in the picture and say cheese with his big brother. Aren't my boys so sweet...notice they are even holding hands. <3

Kyle's GA Day Program

 On Friday, Kyle had his Georgia Day program at school.  Kindergarten through 5th grade participated in telling the story of John Fremont.  All the students did a great job and I can honestly say I learned something because before Friday I had NO idea who John Fremont was! :-)  Kyle's class sang "I'm workin' on the railroad"....

See Evan and I enjoyed the program! 

After the program we got to go over to the gym and see all of the projects that the students worked so hard on.  Kyle did his project on the Large Mouth Bass.  He did GREAT and I am SO proud of him.

Doesn't he look so grown in the picture above?!?  I am so proud of my big boy but at the same time I wish he could stay my baby just a little longer.

Kyle's Open House

At the end of January, Kyle had a Kindergarten open house to see everything he had been learning for the first 100 days of school.  His teacher had it set up pretty neat! She had different activities set up all over the room that related to 100 such as counting in 10's, putting 100 blocks together, weighing 100 items, etc. 

She had the computers and ipads set up too.  This was a shark game that Kyle was playing on the computer but he let Evan wear the head phones to hear the music. Isn't he the best big brother?!? 

 And isn't he the cutest little boy EVER in these headphones?!?!



New Pajamas

Last night I had to stop by the store to pick up some milk before coming home.  As always, I never get out of the store with only the one item I went in for.  But last nights finds were totally worth it!  Lately Evan has been into Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  Any one that is around him for more than 5 minutes hears about Mickey Mouse constantly.  He has been asking for a Mickey Mouse shirt but I haven't been able to find one that I like.  But when I saw these pajama's I knew they were perfect!  Mickey Mouse playing football!! As soon as I got home I asked him to come over and showed them to him.  Needless to say he was over the moon excited and I had to wash and get them ready before bed time last night!

I took a few pictures after bath.  My baby is SOOOO happy!

No jumping on the couch is usually not allowed.... but isn't he cute?!?

Now Kyle is all into Angry Bird Star Wars right now.  (This is even what his birthday party theme is...) and wouldn't you know I found just the perfect ones for him also.  I have no idea what kind of goofy face he is making at me in this picture....

Then I tried to get a picture of the boys together in there new pajamas.  But as you can tell, that just wasn't happening.  This is pretty much how they are all the time.  They love each other but they are ALWAYS playing and getting one another.

















I'm glad I had to stop by to pick up that gallon of milk now....even though I was late coming home it was well worth it to see the boys SO happy and excited over there new pj's. :-)

Trainin' them right!?!

Last Saturday, As I was trying to clean up the kitchen when Kyle came and asked if he could help me which in translation meant he wanted to play in the water.  Well I called his bluff and told him that he could help me wash dishes!  I was very surprised that Evan wanted to help too!  The boys took there job very seriously and I think the cups were washed 10 times each! :-)

However I did get them to stop long enough to smile for a picture.  Aren't they the cutest little dishwashers EVER?!?! :-)

Happ Birthday Daddy!

Tonight for Ben's birthday we went to his favorite steak restaurant...Text Roadhouse! :-)  Our supper was delicious and then we took the boys down to ride the Christmas train.  In Evan's opinion, the night could not have gotten any better!  He LOVED the train ride and even more that he got to ride by himself with Kyle.  They were too cute!

After the train, of course we had to go into Bass Pro.  Kyle and Ben played all the shooting games and Evan and I checked out the reindeer. :-)

Then once we got home, we sang Happy Birthday and got to dig into the giant cupcake cake we got for Ben's birthday.  I have to say it was one of the best cakes we have gotten in a while!

Needless to say, Evan was VERY excited that we were having CAKE!! :-)

A visit with Santa

On Sunday, we met Ga Ga, MeMe and Aunt Ree in Statesboro to take the boys to see Santa.  Every year since Kyle has been a baby we have always gone to the Statesboro Mall to visit with Santa Claus.  They have a really neat set up and Santa is always so friendly and takes up a lot of time with the kids.
This year was no different! Both boys were really excited to see Santa and Evan immediately jumped up in his lap.  Evan told Santa he wanted nuggets for Christmas and Kyle said he wanted an remote control shark (REALLY?!?  What in the world is this?!?!)

See, I just love the set up they have!  It is SO fun!

In addition to the pictures that we bought, MeMe took some great pictures with my little camera.  I think they all turned out so good! (Thank you MeMe!)

As we were going into the mall we also got to see DeDe and Marti!  The boys were so excited and I think they had a great day all the way around! :-)

My big boy!

Today, my baby boy took another step toward growing up.  We unpacked the diaper bag and packed his new super-cool Lightening McQueen bookbag for school today!  He was SO excited to take take a book bag like his brother and all the big kids.  I have to admit he looks cute with the book bag on his back but I am not so sure I was ready to see him looking all "growny" like this. :-)    

Football Game!

Last Friday night Ben went in late to work so we could take the boys to their first Calvary football game.  It was Homecoming so what better game to take the boys too.  I think this picture is too cute, we told the boys to look tough after we put the boys 'eye blacks' on but Evan was so excited that he could barely stop smiling. :-)

Of course I wanted Ben and I to take pictures with the boys before we left to remember the evening.

 

Once we got to the game the boys did really well and had a ball! 

Kyle spent a lot of time with his friends playing so Ben was able to tell Evan all about the game of football.  I think some of it was over the head of a 2 year old but it was cute. :-)

This was one of the best family nights I can remember us having in a while.  I can't wait for us to go again!

Happy Halloween! (a couple of weeks late...)

Where to begin?!?  Gosh...I can't believe Halloween has already come and gone!  This year we took the boys to two different Fall/Halloween events and they had a BLAST!  First we went to the Halloween Hike at Oatland Island with Dana and Tim and Stephen and Matthew.  All of the boys had SO much fun and it was nice for the boys to trick-r-treat with friends. I think this is best picture of all four boys!

All through the nature trail they had different characters and animals to give out candy.  This was an eagle and a patriotic person.  Sometime the characters would tell little stories about themselves (ex. the Eagle eats mice, etc...) It was a lot of fun for the boys and us grown ups too!

The following weekend we took the boys to Calvary's Trunk-R-Treat.  This time Evan wanted to wear the Winnie the Pooh costume from when Kyle was little.  I think he looks absolutely adorable in it!  I really like this picture of the three of us.  Kyle says he is smiling under his mask. :-)

Of course Kyle had to go down the big inflatable slide!

Then we started going around the track trick-r-treating.  All of the vehicles were dressed up. This one was Mater...

The boys had so much fun going around and visiting all of the decorated cars getting candy.  At the end of the night both were dragging there bags of candy they were so heavy.

After the boys trick-r-treated we played a couple of more games.  Kyle and Evan really liked the milk the cow game.  I love how Evan is all leaned back on the stool after milking the cow.

Then the boys played the football game.  Kyle stood back like a big boy and threw the football.  When it was Evan's turn he ran all the way up to the football stand to throw the ball in.  It was too cute!

 

After letting the boys go to two different Halloween trick-r-treating events, we decided that for Halloween we would stay home and let our boys give out candy.  We felt they needed to be on the other side and learn the "its better to give than receive" lesson.  I have to say the boys did excellent in giving the candy away!  I made up two candy bowls (one for each).  Kyle did great in handing out his candy.  Evan, however, missed the whole two piece of candy concept.  Evan would give two handfuls of suckers.  It really was okay and as Ben said...the Trick-R-Treaters loved us and we definitely wouldn't get our house egged for lack of candy as long as Evan was around! :-)