Water Party

Who needs

a tv

when you

have got

a hose?

Happy Sunday!

We had a wonderful Sunday - I hope you did too!

Standing and Puzzles and Beds, Oh My!

First, Luke started standing on his own yesterday! He has been pulling up for about 2 1/2 months now but just yesterday started letting go and standing on his own for about 10 seconds. Jackson walked at 10 mths so I expect brother to not be too far behind.

Jackson has always been interested in puzzles and has recently been able to put the 'big puzzles' together - you know, the ones where you have to actually piece it together without a perfect spot with matching picture to put it in. It is so amazing to watch his mind advance and develop over time. It is such a blessing to be able to be home and witness these little moments each day.

And last, the bear got a new bed yesterday. He was so proud of it and today when we left the house he told his bed, "Now, you be good while I'm gone and don't get into any trouble. I will be back soon to nap in you!" Cute stuff :)

We spent our morning playing at the park with friends (thanks for inviting us Jessica!) After being there for about 30 minutes Jackson said, "I'm ready to go," and ran to the car. Umm, ok? Who are you and what have you done with my child?! He knew we were going to see Dad on our way to drop off these donations and was more than a little excited about that I guess - I left my camera at home so you'll just have to know that we had a fun time!

Chill Out

It has been such a hot summer. If I had $1 for every time I heard, "It is never this hot around here!" this summer I could buy myself a new couch :) Today, however, we got a break. First thing this morning,  Jackson ran out in the backyard and then right back in and said, "Mom! It's cold outside!" I checked the real feel and it was 75 - how funny is that?

I can't keep pants on this boy. You're lucky he has underwear on.

The boys had such a fun time. Luke loved crawling around everywhere and was more than happy to pick weeds for me.

We can't find a patio set we just love, so we have no chairs in the back yard what so ever. I found 2 cute ones on the cheap at Target last night but we couldn't fit them in the car with all of us in there. So, Ben decided to go back after we put the boys to bed. Wouldn't you know it - they were gone! I was so upset. I decided to call the other Target this morning and he said they had 5 left so I put the boys in the car after our picnic lunch with Ben and off we went.

You should have seen me, maybe you did, I was pushing and shoving those things in my front seat. It was a sight. Needless to say, I got them in and we are excited to have some seats  to enjoy this beautiful weather in. I'm so excited about drinking my coffee outside in the morning I could just scream!

say cheese

One little boy. So many sweet smiles.

Giveaway!

Leave a comment over here on my CSN Giveaway and you could win a $60 Gift Certificate to any CSN store of your choice!

Ben turns 1 and Play Group!

This past Tuesday we went to Ben's 1st birthday party (no, not my Ben!) He was so stinkin cute, as were all the cutie patooties there and we had a great time celebrating him and visiting with our new friends.

they were so cute playing together!

Thursday we had playgroup and decided to give the "Big Kids" group a try. This was hard for me since I have really enjoyed getting to know the Moms at Little Kids group, but Bear is just so rambunctious I thought he might be better suited playing with the older kids. He had a really fun time and I had a great time getting to know some of the other Mom's from our church. I also got to eat some delicious coconut cake so it was definitely a win-win! As you can see, someone was too busy playing to get his picture taken.

Weekend Round Up

When we lived just south of Memphis we were really close to Pawpaw and Gigi's house. We went to visit at least once a month, but usually much more often. Moving farther away from them has been really hard on us but we understand and trust Gods will for our lives. It was our first time back since the big move this past weekend and it was an adventure to say the least. Let's start from the beginning. Last Wednesday we went to see Addison down in Fayetteville as he moved into the dorms. Big man on campus - lock up your daughters!

When we pulled into the parking lot, Regina was hugging the boys and looked down at our front tire and said, "ooh, need to check that out" and sure enough, when Ben looked at it he said that we needed a new tire. Blech. Of course, since it was on the front, we could not just get one new tire, we had to get two. Double blech. So, we call around and get someone to change them and luckily they can be done by the time we head out Friday around lunch. No big deal, right? Well sorta. In order to drop the car off, we had to take Ben's Honda over...and she doesn't have air. August. Real feel 110. No air. Heaven help us! But, we managed and Jackson, being the goofball he is, thought it was super fun to ride in Dad's car with the windows down. I digress. I like to leave the house clean before we go on a trip but the boys were trying their hardest to unite their messy forces against me. Exhibit A.

We finally get on the road, heading to Pawpaw and Gigi's with Luke screaming most of the way because homeboy does not like being in the car, when our back tire blows out - I kid you not! We were maybe 10 minutes from their house when Ben had to pull over and put us on a doughnut. We just had to laugh, because seriously, 3 tires in one day, what can you do but laugh. We were so happy to finally be there, especially the boys. They have really missed them.

As you can see, they each took their turn snuggling PawPaw

Friday night while trying to show off his mad crawling and pulling up skills, Luke got a little too excited and got his very first fat lip. Poor thing.

Something we didn't miss? The intense humidity. It was so, so humid there. I kept trying to take pictures outside and my lens would fog up!

Sunday came too soon, as it always does and we headed back home. We stopped in R'ville at Reginas where we were well fed and got to visit with Ria. Another plus was that the big boys could swim, Luke could nap and I could shop at Kroger. Woot. We had a blast visiting everyone and had a great weekend...can't wait to do it again!

A Box of Memories

Our church does a wonderful clothing ministry each year where they take donations from people within the church and then set up the family life center with tons of clothes to give to the community in need. I just love that. Anything that will bless those less fortunate is something I'm very passionate about. I felt God move in me to donate to the clothing drive when we were in church this past Sunday - if you knew how many bags of clothes I have to give away, you would be thinking big deal bethany...you needed to get rid of those clothes anyway! And it's true, it was no sacrifice for me to give my or ben's clothes away. The kicker? I felt God telling me to give the boys baby clothes too. I had two boxes of baby clothes. Ones that I thought I might consign or garage sale and another of just random stuff that nobody would probably buy and that I secretly wanted to hang on to. I dont know why, I'm just sentimental like that. As I was going through the boxes, choosing what would go and what would stay, I was flooded with memories. I mean, essentially two little lives have been lived in what was in this box. Laughs, crys, the first time they said Mama or Dada. It was overwhelming. But, the Bible tells us, "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." Col 3:2. God has been so good to us, blessing our family beyond imagination, it is my pleasure to be able to bless someone else with these clothes. So, I just gave it all away. Save a few very special outfits that went in their memory box, the rest will clothe another little boy. I hope that the love, grace and mercy of Jesus will pour out to others through these clothes and I'm so thankful God allowed me to play a tiny part in it.

Memorial

We went to Silver Dollar City a few weeks ago (Ben actually already wrote a post I just need to add pictures to it) and on the way home we stopped by this memorial right outside of Rogers. So many people in our families have served in the military, Ben's Dad in Vietnam, so it was especially moving to us. Here are a few shots I took while we were there:

Weekend Round Up

Man was it ever a crazy weekend! We have gone 90 miles an hour since we moved here and this weekend was no exception! Friday my mom came to visit and spent the day with me and the boys. We went to Target, ate lunch at Chick Fil A and then that evening headed out to the Friday Summer Fun on the square. Jackson rode his first horse.

I drank some yummy lemonade

Jackson and Nonni got red tongues from a slushie

 and we saw some of our sweet friends from church

- it was a great time!

Saturday morning was wonderful - Ben made me coffee and my mom made everyone breakfast, all while watching the boys -Heaven!

After breakfast and some play time, we headed out to the Farmer's Market and then to see Toy Story 3, Jackson's very first movie! He had the best time and was so good. I was a little worried that he might want to leave or get up but no, he was content to just sit in that seat and watch the whole movie. Of course, in true Jackson style, once it was over and the spanish version of "You've got a friend in me" started playing he went to the very front of the theater and started dancing. Oh to be so care-free again :) Saturday evening we went to a "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" with our Sunday School class and had a wonderful time getting to know and fellowship with new friends.

Today we said good bye to Nonni, went to church and then had lunch with the Davenports. The restaurant was ridiculously hot but the company could not have been better. We ended the weekend with a slice of Nonni's pie. And now? Now, I'm exhausted!
- Bethany