Dino Party

Here are a few pictures from Will's party...It took me forever to get a pic to upload, so there is not many. I might try to do more later if I have the patience. I took cupcakes to school on Tuesday and Will enjoyed mommy and daddy visiting his room. He took a long nap and then we went to dinner at Shaggy's. Will got to open his gifts from us when we got home. He is proud to be 4 and I am so glad! A few months ago he was crying about not being 3 anymore. Now on to our next birthday boys....Daddy on the 24th and Ben on the 27th!!!

Will is 4 tomorrow!!!

Will had a big weekend as we celebrated his fourth birthday Saturday. I had been predicting a construction party but in September when a new TV show began on PBS, Will was set on dinosaurs! I enjoyed getting everything ready and Publix made an awesome looking dinosaur cake! Will chose to make up a game so we played pin the tail on the triceatops and did a dinosaur dig. I will post pics later. Tomorrow we are taking cupcakes to school and Will has stated that he wants to go eat at Shaggy's for his special day!

Blogging Break is Over!

Hello all...I have been on a blogging break. I was not planning on taking one but once the boys started school I really got to start working on some projects that I have been waiting to do. My goal is to have Ben's scrapbook of his first year done by May. I have also been catching up on our Christmas album from 2008, our family album and Will's 2nd album. It has been great to get the time to do it.

The boys have been enjoying school. Ben is sitting at the big table at school and not table with built in baby seats. He walks right in his classroom like a big boy and hands his teacher his lunchbox (which he has to carry in himself). Will loves school and has been learning to write letters. He likes showing me the letter they have learned that day. Will is also enjoying Spanish and has learned most of the color names.

The pic posted on top of the blog is from when we when to the Botanical Gardens to see the Galaxy of Lights. This is our third year to walk through it. The big change this year was that neither one of the boys were scared of Santa!

New babies, activities, etc....

I first want to congratulate my cousin Jessica and her hubby Brad on their newest addition Alexis Joy born on August 24th. She weighed 6 pounds and was 19 inches long! Jessica was going to be induced that day but her water broke at 3 AM with a 120 mile drive to the hosptial. (They live in a small town in Montana.) Jessica was a pro and delivered the baby in the back of their mini-van at mile marker 169 on Hwy 20 west! Mom and baby are doing great!

Will started choir this week and did great! I have signed up to help and usually he is clingy when I am around but he paid attention to everything his director said! He has also started Spanish at school and has learned several color names.

We are having new countertops put in next week so Chip and I are excited. When we purchased our house 4 years ago it was a seller's market...hard to believe now! Our old house sold in less than 3 days! We had just found out we were expecting and we wanted a quiet street, 4 bedrooms and a nice flat yard...well white cabinets and countertops were a "sacrifice." We are still going to have white cabinets but we are super excited about our new countertops and sink. Chip is going to tile the backsplash, get rid of the wallpaper and then we plan to glaze the cabinets...but not all at once (so don't be looking for before and after pics anytime soon....it will be a work in progress).

Nice Weather!

The boys have had special company the past 2 weekends. Last weekend Papa Lee came to visit and he went to the Kiddie Carnival with us. He always brings Will his tractor/construction magazines to look at. This past weekend Meme, Pop Pop, and Nanny came to visit. They brought some nice surprises for the boys. Will and Ben loved playing outside with them. The weather was so nice they spent almost all day Saturday and Sunday outdoors.

On Sunday August 23rd it has been 2 years since Will's last IVIG treatment!

Congratulations!

I wanted to tell Daddy congrats on recieving his 10 year anniversary award from ADTRAN today.

We also wanted to wish Gigi and Pop a belated Happy 36th Anniversary!

First day of school!!!

Today was the boys' first day of preschool! Will and I walked in his room and put his lunchbox in his cubbie and hung his backpack up. He then went right to playing with toys. When I picked him up his teacher told me he was the line leader and did a great job! Will informed me that he sang a song for his teachers....I asked which one and he told me "The Monster Mash". I hope they have a good sense of humor because Will has quite a personality at times.

Ben was very proud of his lunchbox and wanted to carry it around. We dropped him off at the door and Ms. Katrina took him straight to the baby table with built in seats for a snack. When I picked him up he started to get fussy but they said he was a happy little guy.

We just returned from a nap ride because both boys were quite tired and cranky so one trip up down the road and they were both out!

School starts tomorrow!

Today we took the boys to open house at school. Will's new teachers are Ms. Lisa and Ms. Stephanie. There will be 14 kids in his class. They were both very nice and Will had lots of fun checking out all the new toys. It was neat to see all the "big kid" circle time stuff...like all the classroom "jobs". It looks like Will is going to be the bell ringer the first day. I think he will enjoy that job.

Ben was not so sure because he thought we were leaving. He even tried to climb back into the stroller. His teachers are Ms. Luann, Ms. Angel and Ms. Katrina (who he knows from Sunday School). Ben will have 10 kids in his class. I think he will have fun once we leave the room! Both boys got balloons and played outside for a little while. I will definitely take some pictures tomorrow!

Happy 5th Anniversary!

Today is our 5th anniversary! It has been an eventful 5 years! We are looking forward to a nice dinner without kids at the new Melting Pot restaurant on Saturday. It sounds very yummy!

What a difference a year makes!

One year ago today Will had his last St. Jude visit. We continue to be thankful for healthy boys and lots of platelets. Mommy has finally calmed down and Will can play outside without me being within 2 feet of him. It took a while to calm those "oh my gosh my baby is going to hemmorage and I need to call 911" jitters.

Will has got to do lots of activities this past year that would have not been possible with low platelets or constant adult supervision. School and gymnastics are a couple to name.

We went to Point Mallard for the first time on Tuesday and Will loved the kiddie slides. It was so nice to see him running a playing like a little boy should!

Gigi came back from Montana yesterday and the boys and I went to the airport to greet her. Will had a huge smile and ran to give her a big hug. He even sweet talked her to come over to our house to eat dinner. Luckily Daddy had made some yummy barbeque the night before.

We are relaxing the rest of the week because both boys start school next Tuesday!

Remembering Mimi

My second "mother" Emily lost her mother yesterday. We knew her as Mimi. She had been suffering but she is now in a peaceful place. I want Emily, Don, Lee, Joe and Jim to know that we are thinking of all you and praying for you at this time. I have many happy memories of Mimi and know you do to!

The picture is of Mimi and Will when he was almost 2 months old.

Fun at the Carnival

We took the boys to a local carnival for little kids this weekend. We saw a whole bunch of people we knew from church, our neighborhood and some of Chip's co-workers. The boys had a blast and rode some rides a few times. Will got to choose one treat and he got his first cotton candy! He was a mess but loved every bite. Mommy and Daddy enjoyed watching the boys have so much fun! We hope to go back soon.

"Half" Birthdays

Will and Ben both have their "half" birthdays this month. Being a December 27th baby my family use to have a half birthday for me. We did the same for the boys this past Saturday. I did not call it a birthday but I did make a rocket-ship cake. (I will post a pic later when I download it.) It turned out pretty good for my first decorated cake. Both boys got a few gifts (some were actually gifts I had for their past birthday but never gave it to them). Will's favorite was a little work bench with a drill and Ben's was some Thomas the tank engine bath squirters.

We had a nice visit with Gigi, Pop and Uncle Robby. They came to celebrate also. Pop made some homemade chocolate ice cream...it tasted just like a Wendy's frosty! Gigi left for Montana yesterday for 2 weeks. Will was heartbroken when I told him she was going on a trip. I did not mention it again. So far he thinks she is working a lot the past couple of days.

We plan to take it easy these next couple of weeks...I can't believe the boys start school on August 10th!

Mission Week

Will and I are participating in Missions and Me at our church this week. We are in the 3 to 5 year old group. We have focused on different missions everyday. Monday was about missions around the world and the kids made cards for missionaries, Tuesday was the forgotten (we missed this day due to mommy being sick but the kids went to an assisted living facility to visit and made puzzles for the residents), Wednesday we learned about local missions at the Downtown Rescue mission and decorated/filled bags with tolietry items and today we made posters for the local fire station and we went for visit and got to wash a fire engine!

Will has enjoyed the different activities. He has learned that not everyone has a home, food or even parents. I hope he will grow to love to help others! Tomorrow is a fun day where the kids are going to play on some inflatables.

My little fish

Will and I today...nevermind that the top of my head is cut off!


Will and I in 2007.

The boys have been taking swim lessons for 3 weeks now... (we only go twice a week for 4 weeks). Will has always loved the water but he is doing so much now. He can go to the bottom with some pushing downward from mommy and pick up a ring and come up on his own. He is also jumping in and coming up for a breath on his own and using his "digger arms" to swim to me.

Happy 4th of July!

We headed back out to the farm in Athens on Saturday. Will again had a blast jumping off the diving board, going down the slide and going for trail rides. Ben had fun in the pool too. He "counts" to three (more like ooo, ooo, ooo) and then steps off the side..no fear! Some of the older cousins put on a little fireworks show down by the lake. We had some good fried catfish for dinner with all sorts of sides.

We had a good time visiting with family and enjoying the outdoors. Both boys were zapped but did not fall asleep on the way home. There were a lot of fireworks to see on the drive home. We did not make it to church as planned because the boys slept till 9 and both took 2 hour naps today.

Farm Fun

We headed out to Chip's annual family reunion in Athens. The boys got to see their Papa Lee, Nana, Aunt Missy and Uncle Jim...and a whole bunch more. We got to go trail riding on the golf carts, found catapillers and fed the donkeys. We also went swimming and Will went down the slide and off the diving board for the first time. Will and Daddy went for a paddle boat ride too. Ben just enjoyed running around and getting into things. (Aunt Missy and Uncle Jim watched Ben for us a little while today.) We had a yummy supper with some homemade fried green tomatoes. We then had a surprise 60th birthday cake for Papa Lee. The boys were exhausted and both fell asleep on the way home...luckily we had already given them their bath!

Pool and Pizza

We enjoyed a fun time of pizza and swimming at the pool with Gi, Pop and Uncle Robby on Thursday. Daddy got the day to visit with his family out at the farm in Athens. Daddy and Mommy then went to the hospital Thursday evening to visit with our good friends Heather and Erik and their new beautiful baby girl Autumn. We had a nice visit and got to hold her...she was soooo small. Even after having 2 of my own you forget how tiny they are!

Ben is 17 Months

Ben is 17 months old! He is so different than Will. I guess that should not surprise me but I did not realize they would be that different. Ben is very active with climbing and running everywhere. He is also extremely strong willed and has the occasional fit. (I guess we were really lucky with the fit business with Will.) Ben is using more signs and is also saying more words. He enjoys his baths, looking at books, stacking cups and of course bothering his brother!

Ben has been taking swim lessons for the past 2 weeks. He loves the water just like his brother. I have put him under a few times and he just smiles. Ben also likes to "jump" in. He sits on the side and I count to 3 and leans in while I am holding on to him.

Guess who is 60???

Pop turned 60 today! We celebrated with some yummy fried chicken and birthday cake. Will picked out 2 gifts for Pop from the Dollar store....some paint rollers and some fake sunflowers. Pop's big gift was an Ipod Touch from all of us. The boys enjoyed playing and taking a bath at Gigi and Pop's house. We all had fun and hope Pop had a great 60th birthday!