Thank Goodness for Daddys!!!

being the mother of boys has proved to be both a wonderful and also eye-opening experience! growing up, it was just my sister and i and while we were the best of playmates and had our share of "adventures", not many involved mud, worms, or the need to change clothes three times a day. in view of that, i have come to appreciate more and more my most wonderful husband who, at the end of a long day, somehow musters up the energy for bike rides, painting model cars, fishing...you name it. he is an amazing daddy and without him, i'm afraid my boys might live relatively boring lives!;) here is a sampling of the fun activites ben david and james have been up to lately...

FIRST CATCH!! (it's there...i promise:)

(ben david actually caught about 7 all by himself!) he was insistent on casting his on rod. ben kept explaining he could do that when he was bigger, to which ben david would reply: "daddy, i'm all bigger now!!"

james hooked one, with a little help:)

and yes...ben even rigged up the johnny jump up for the boys the other night. quite the hilarious scene!!

painting model trains (and some skin in the process)

eating a WHOLE piece of watermelon

(or a "big daddy" piece, as ben david would say)

fun in the sprinkler ball (thanks case, stella and ru!)

sadly, james was terrified of this after ben intentionally had him lean over the ball and get squirted in the face!!

baseball time...must wear a hat just like dad!

model race cars...thanks nana!!

What Flavor Do You Fancy???

we are on the countdown...about a month until baby #3 makes his or her arrival! this time around, ben and i decided to venture into some uncharted territory by NOT finding out the gender of our little one. this took MUCH effort on my part, but has proved to be a very fun and exciting experience. nonetheless, we have had many a conversation speculating on whether we will be a family of three boys or perhaps add a little girl to the crew.
one of my most memorable conversations with ben on this subject actually evolved one evening several months ago when we were sitting around eating a few pints of ben and jerry's ice cream (a current favorite pregnancy past time:). it went something like this:
me: "so...what are you REALLY thinking...boy or girl??"
ben: "why do you even ask? you know i am sure it is a boy."
me: "there is no way you know that...what do you base it on?"
ben: "well...it is kind of like choosing a B&J ice cream flavor for you."
me: " what?"
ben: "well...if i was to pick out the flavor i thought you were most likely to want, history has shown that 9 times out of 10, that flavor proves to be new york super fudge chunk (my favorite). so...i think i'd be pretty safe choosing that one and it being the one you wanted. HOWEVER...there is always that VERY SLIM CHANCE that on that particular night you actually wanted brownie cheesecake (another fav). so...while there is the remote possibility i could have picked the wrong flavor by choosing NYSFC, odds are, i chose correctly.
me: long pause
me: you don't know

so there you have it folks in ice cream lingo: my husband is sure we will have another "new york super fudge chunk" though i assure him there is a 50% chance it could be a "little brownie cheesecake." that being said, here is your opportunity to cast your vote!! notice the poll on the right side of our blog and take a minute to give us your opinion! you have about a month to deliberate before the polls officially close and the results are disclosed. until that time, we'd love to know just what flavor do you fancy??

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For...

ICE CREAM!! today was the first day the ice cream truck rolled through our neighborhood; a sure sign that summer is approaching. ben david's ears are quite familiar with the sound and he perked up quickly upon hearing the distance jingle. james...well, he pretty much follows suit with whatever ben david does these days! i asked ben david to run inside and get my money. he promptly returned with....a nickel. oh, to be a child again!:) after obtaining the appropriate monetary amounts, we preceded to wait for the truck to cruise down our street. here we are, dollars in hand, eyes peeled....

after a very careful explanation of how we were going to SAVE THIS TILL AFTER SUPPER, we purchased our goods and in we went for a very early dinner.

and yes james, you do have to eat those last three pieces of broccoli!!

testing, testing...

it is a toss up which face is sillier

not to be deterred, james our fearless eater shoveled dropped goods into his mouth via fingers

Easter

we began our easter sunday with special worship at granmommie and poppie's church, followed by lunch with marmie and poppie, then dinner with the andersons and granmommie and poppie!! it was a very full, but very fun day! there were elmo easter baskets, baseball and golf games and a great easter egg hunt to top it all off.

this year, we had the privilege of sharing easter weekend with two special guests: andreas and daniel. these dear friends of ours came all the way from germany to visit! we had a great time with them and can't wait till there next visit!

above all, we rejoiced and celebrated together with grateful hearts the resurrection of our savior! it is because he lives that we live, and through faith in him can experience lives full of hope and joy. my favorite verse in the easter passage is this:

"HE HAS RISEN...HE IS NOT HERE!!" Mark 16:6

like no other god worshipped by man, our god rose from the dead. he is not found in a tomb, but is present with us daily and lives in our hearts!

Sweet Moments

my sister received a pretty fancy "real photographer" type camera for her birthday, and we have been her fortunate subjects as of late! she has a real knack for capturing some sweet expressions and moments. james tends to enjoy the limelight more than ben david, hence ben david's shots are taken "on the sly!'

here is some of her work:

(p.s...bookings are available:)

quite the ham!

amused by his cousins...

big bear hugs for kurt!
happy boys

Happy 3rd Birthday Ben David!!

on march 22, 2006...ben david entered our world, forever changing our lives! he surprised us by arriving a full 9 weeks early and weighed in at a whopping 4 lbs. 11 oz!. after a month in the hospital we were able to bring him home for good. we thank the lord for him daily and never take for granted the special gift that he is to us.

on sunday, we celebrated ben david's third year of life! we had a wonderful time with family and enjoyed a beautiful day outdoors cookout. after months of requesting a "cranky the crane" birthday cake, ben david pulled a last minute switch on me and asked for a "rescue man" cake. for those not familiar...this is a character of the "boz" movies that resembles a superhero of sorts. the closest thing i could find was a spiderman character that we put on the cake. many thanks to his daddy for adding the spider web!:) in addition, ben david picked out some thomas plates and elmo hats. quite the assorted birthday "theme" this year.

ben david received some super fun gifts...including a cool, remote control dump truck from his anderson cousins, a chain saw (not real...but very real looking and sounding:) and thomas shirt from mamie, deuce and kai, a fun ice cream playdoh shop from grandmommie and poppie, and a super neat magnet building set from marmie and poppy. he raked in quite the loot!! here are a few pics from the festivities.

the birthday boy!

"rescue man" cake

make a wish!

two little monkies!

lots of help opening presents

here annascott...let me show you how this works!

poppie and james

this picture and the one below are what happens when amy and i are not supervising ben and dan adequately:
kai learns to fly!

The Great Escape!!!

this past weekend, ben, myself, my sister annaliese and brother-law-evan made our "great escape!" we left the kids with their most wonderful grandparents (THANK YOU MARMIE, POPPY, GRANDMOMMIE AND POPPIE!!) and took off for a weekend of playing and relaxing. it all began with an afternoon of pampering at the grandover resort in greensboro, nc. while annaliese and i were treated to facials and a pedicure, the guys managed to squeeze in 9 holes of golf, a game of racquetball and some pool time. here is a pic of our luxurious hotel!!

we capped off the evening with a: delicious, quiet, no one throwing food, no one spilling their milk, no one needing their mouths wiped off, dinner!

the next day, we were off to chapel hill to watch the heels STOMP on georgia tech!! we had awesome seats and really enjoyed the game. our next stop was the franklin inn where we enjoyed being right on the "main drag" and feeling very "collegeish":). dinner that night was at four eleven where we enjoyed great italian food. again...no mouths to wipe, dishes to clean, etc. to cap off our adventure, we took in late movie...all staying out later than we had in years!;)

our awesome room!!

the next morning, we relaxed before eating one last yummy meal at sutton's soda shop. while the weather was bitterly cold and rainy all weekend, we truly did not mind a bit. we had a fantastic time!!!