Art Gallery 1215

I've come to love the Crayola Wonder products! I got one of the paint sets and Justin went to town with it! Here are some shots of my little artist!

Random Pictures

I've got a little bit of everything in here! There are 2 pictures of the girls with a couple of their friends from their birthday sleepover. The 2 of Benjamin in his little bathrobe were from when he was sick a couple weeks ago. Gabe has been doing a lot of hiding from my camera lately. The picture of him on the floor under his Transformers blanket was one of the only shots I could find of him! He enjoys not letting me snap his picture! Enjoy!

Rock a bye baby...er...Benjamin

Yesterday was one of those days that I was ready to pull my hair out! The kids were being ugly all morning and I had just had enough. We managed to make it through the morning and I was more than happy when nap time was upon us! I went to get the boys to take them up to bed when I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Instead of finding them playing together I found Benjamin curled up in the recliner and his big brother was rocking the recliner, stroking his head and singing to him. I ran upstairs to get my camera but when I got back the moment had passed and I thought I had lost out on this Kodak moment. Justin however didn't let me down. Nor did he stop at rocking his brother. Justin then got his Spiderman blanket and covered Benjamin up. He put a teddy bear up on the chair with Benjamin and then completed it all with a juice box. It was one of the sweetest moments I have been able to witness between my boys.

There's just something about that Name

I love to sing. I sing all the time. I have a handful of songs that I always sing to my kids...I know, they aren't the typical lullabies and I'm probably ruining them but OH WELL! Ever since Benjamin was a baby I would sing to him "Sweet Sweet Spirit". I love that song. It helped me when my baby was cranky to sing "There's a sweet sweet spirit in this place..." It was very calming. Apparently it was calming to Benjamin because he will sing the song right along with you. Now, it's not perfect, but it is one of the most precious things I have ever had the opportunity of hearing.

This past Sunday I was supposed to sing on praise team. Those weeks that I sing praise team I sing all the songs we will be singing on Sunday every day...multiple times a day. It just so happened that one of the songs that we were going to sing was "There's Just Something about That Name". Benjamin wound up sick last week. I would hold him and rock him. And what goes with rocking a baby? Singing to him. I sang "There's Just Something about That Name" to my little angel quite a bit. I really had not thought anything of it...until Monday night.

I was cutting chicken up for dinner and I started singing. Next thing I know, I hear this little voice, "Jeeesssuuus, Jeeesssuuus, Jeeesssuuus". He was singing right along with me. I couldn't believe it. I called Mom and left a message on her voice mail with Benjamin singing. Then when Brad got home we sang to him. Brad couldn't get over it. I've tried getting him to sing it again, but he won't. He told me that he couldn't because Daddy told him not too. Little booger! But he's a sweetheart at the same time!

Welcome to Hell (Gem from Justin)

Brad and I had nursery the Sunday night before last. Justin was in the nursery with us and all the kids were playing. Brad was holding Samuel on his lap and Justin was talking and playing with Samuel. It was really cute. I wasn't paying much attention because I was reading to Anna Grace.

All of a sudden I hear, "JUSTIN! We don't say that! Where did you hear that from?!"

Justin, "I don't know."

Brad, "Justin, you aren't in trouble, but we don't say that. Where did you hear that from?"

Me, "What did he say??????"

Brad whispers, "Hi Samuel! Welcome to Hell."

Me stifling laughter, "What??"

Brad, "Justin, where did you hear that?"

Justin, "From the movie Mommy bought."

Me, "WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"

Then it hit me....it's in Ratatouille. Guess we'll be shelving that movie for now....

I'm baaaccckkk!

Thanksgiving was a fabulously fun! The long story short....I was woke up at 2:30 am Turkey Day. My mom, dad, brother, sister in law, and nephews all came and surprised me! I had *no* clue that they were coming. Brad kept it a secret and so did the girls!!!! It was the best surprise ever.

I hadn't seen John and Erin since July of '04. Erin and John are expecting their first baby the end of Feb. His name is Joshua Scott, but we call him Fred. hee hee hee. I think they should name him Froshua. *grin* (side note, Erin won't let him be named Froshua, so I'm going to get a dog and name him Froshua.) *grin*

We had so much fun! Mom, Erin, and I hit Wal-Mart to pick stuff up on Thanksgiving and then came home to EAT! We did watch the Colts spank the Falcons that night. I actually didn't watch the whole game though---Erin and I decided to join the crazies and go shopping Friday morning. We went to Target, JoAnn, HHGregg, Radio Shack, Starbucks, Chic-fil-a, Sears, The Christian Supply Center, and finally Kroger. We got back and were POOPED!

The kids had so much fun with each other. It was great watching them all. Speaking of kids...Justin and Benjamin discovered that Uncle John is a big kid and LOVED wrestling around with them. I have a video of Justin jumping off the couch on to John. Sometimes he flipped right off and others he landed on John and inflicted some pain. =)

Sunday we went to church and after we had Christmas. Mom and Dad bought all of our kids new bikes for Christmas and then filled their stockings with all sorts of cool things! THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!!!!!! They love their bikes. Justin is doing awesome riding his. The girls got beach cruisers and Gabe got a really cool red bike with handle brakes. =) The winter has not stopped the kids from riding their bikes either. They have had them out in the cold and in the snow. Justin tried riding his through the snow a couple weeks ago....silly kid! John and Erin spoiled the kids with a ton of stuff too. They got Haeley a MP3 player, some remote control cars and trucks for the boys, and Jasmine got 2 nice art sets with canvases and real paint! She is jazzed!

They stayed until Monday morning. I tortured myself though because I followed them out of town. We went to the gas station together and then to Starbucks so I could get one more cup of coffee with my Momma. I forgot to mention that they took Justin back to VA with them. Brad had to go to VA that week and so Justin flew back to IN with Brad. It was so hard watching him go. I knew he would be fine, but that didn't make things ANY easier! When I got home and walked into my empty house I felt terrible! I climbed the stairs in my foyer and just sobbed. I wanted to curl up in a little ball on the couch. My house had been bustling for the past 4 days with my family and everyone was having a blast and then they were all gone. =(

I did relish the one-on-one time I got to have with Benjamin though. He loved it! AND Benjamin decided to take the opportunity to poo poo in the potty for the first time that week! I was so excited when I saw what he had done!!! It was great! And he was so proud of himself. You've got to love that!

The kids were excited to see Justin when he came home and I think he was equally excited to see them---not me. Just them. Little booger!

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Brad's birthday was on the 3rd we had to celebrate it on the 4th though. I made him a roast, bisquits, and a homemade German Chocolate Cake. Mmmmmm......It was soooo good! Jasmine and Haeley did help some with the cake. He got a couple movies for his birthday. I think more than anything he just enjoyed being home with the family.

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I got my Christmas present from John and Erin on Brad's birthday. They bought me an 80GB iPod. I *love* it lots and lots and lots! Then, I got to open up all of the stuff from Mom and Dad. It was fabulous! I got a bunch of accessories for my iPod. There was a bluetooth stereo hook up and a iPod adapter thingy for the stereo and a bluetooth headset for it all!

I was so jazzed. Then I discovered a problem. I needed iTunes. Why is that a problem??? Hmmm....let me think. OH! WAIT! I remember now! We are on dial up and it was going to take me 14 hours to download it. Yes, you read right. 14 hours. I wasn't playing that game! The next day we went to my girlfriend Sarah's house for lunch and I took the external hard drive and downloaded it at her house.

Can you guess how long it took? Less than five minutes. GRRR! Just one more reason to STRONGLY dislike dial up!

BUT, I got my iTunes and it transfered all the music on my computer and I loaded my iPod and I'm loving it !!!!!!!! I even let Justin watch "Finding Nemo" on it. I'm such a nice Mom. =)

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There will be more to come later, but my pinky on my left finger is hurting...I'll put more up tomorrow night! Hope you enjoyed this!

Over and out.

The Name Game and other fun songs...

Benjamin and Justin love the Name Game Song. In fact they love it when we do Daddy…. "Daddy Daddy Bo Baddy, Banana Fanana fo Faddy (fatty) Fee fi fo Faddy Daddy!”

They really think it is hilarious and last night Benjamin was trying to do it. He would say, “Do Jamine! Jamine Jamine Jamine!” And then he would just tickle himself and laugh.

We also did “Ooey Gooey” For those of you who don’t know it…

“Ooey Gooey was a worm. Ooey Gooey liked to squirm. Ooey Gooey squirmed to far; Ooey Gooey got hit by a car. OOEY GOOEY!!!!”

They all cracked up on that one!

I hope these post okay!!!

I haven’t been able to access my blogger control panel to post because my internet connection has been so stinkin so slow!  Oh well.  I’m sorry that I haven’t posted in almost a month!!!!  I don’t know how time got away from me.  I’ll try to update in sections….I hope you enjoy!

 

Banner Banner Bo Banner...

Okay, so I'm trying to customize my banner and everytime I do, it comes out HUGE!!!! Hopefully I'll get it figured out and it will look the way that I want. =) =) =)

Grocery Shopping

Why is it that I go to Kroger and get the grocery cart that has the car on it for the boys, but they don't sit in it? I spent the last half of my grocery trip with Benjamin on my hip! I don't get it!!!! I got the couple things I needed, but of course forgot some things so I'll have to make another trip. WHOO HOO! I'm so excited!