Project Life 2012 Week 15 part 2

Have a mentioned that it is baseball season??

Well, it certainly is! We are about half way through the season and it has been great! Not all wins, but certainly not all losses!! After our 2nd win, Bennett said 'Well, now we've doubled our wins from last year!' :)

We've enjoyed having Mooma and Poopa at every game!

And we've enjoyed having Nana and Pa at most games (Pa has been an excellent addition to our regular cheering section this season!)

Anyway, on April 12 I brought my camera and asked if I could stand on the field to take pictures. It is something that I like to do once a season to really get the boys in action. I don't do it every game, because to be honest, it is really hard to watch the game through the camera lens (which is something I have learned through the years, but I won't get sidetracked!)

Bennett made a great hit (twice!) and made a great run!

Our 1st base coach is very animated and fun to watch... there is no doubting what he wants the boys to do!

After celebrating at first base (Bennett has had a hard time hitting this season for some reason - he does great at his lessons, but has been choking at the plate), it was time to make it around the bases. He slid into second, rounded 3rd (and I missed the run to home plate, but he did it!) You can see Coach Kevin celebrating in front of the dugout below :)

 He's so handsome, don't you think?

Guess who got the game ball!! His coaches were so impressed with his hitting and his batting slump has officially been declared OVER! :) 

Way to go Bennett!

Go Cards!!

Project Life 2012 Week 15 part 1

This week had a couple of picture-heavy events, so I'm breaking the week up into 2 posts. Please don't complain too much... I'm not one to be skimpy on pictures :)

Easter morning - April 8, 2012

With all of the birthday celebrations, the Easter basket/bunny didn't really cross Bennett's mind until Saturday night! We managed to get the basket out and ready, though!

 The bunny always leaves a trail of jelly beans from Bennett's room to the basket - and our most patient son stops to pick up EACH and EVERY bean along the way! love it!

 The bunny did great this year! Ninjago and candy. Perfect!

 We grabbed a few family pictures outside of the church. 

And then had fun with Evie (and Gigi, Bubba, and Nana too!) at Nana's house. Nana fixed the best lunch (complete with mac & cheese!!). It was a great day of celebrating Jesus' resurrection! As Bennett reminded me 'This is the MOST important day!' 

Happy Easter (or Happy Resurrection Sunday as Brad likes to say :)

Project Life 2012 - Week 14

Hooray for Bennett's Birthday Week!! 

It started on Sunday and lasted alllllll week long, which is just the way birthdays should be, right? 
Here's the week in pictures...


Sunday, April 1, 2012

 We were so lucky to have Aunt Cork here with us during Bennett's birthday week! It was sort of a surprise trip (for her!) and we were so glad to have her here! 
We started celebrating at Shane's on Sunday night with Mooma, Poopa, and Aunt Cork. We even had an Edgar's cake! Yum!


Tuesday, April 3

Ok, not birthday related, but Bennett's art work was chosen for an art show!! He was one of only 2 or 3 boys whose art was chosen!! He did a great job :)

Ok, back to the birthday stuff.
THE BIG DAY! 
April 4, 2012... 9 years old!

 Opening presents! Mostly Lego, of course :)  He did get that shirt and shorts in the morning before school. New outfits for your birthday are fun!

 Nana came over after school to help open presents and celebrate. Bennett chose Zaxby's for dinner (carry out!) so we relaxed at home until baseball practice...

I really can't think of anywhere Bennett would rather be on his birthday than on the field! We brought cupcakes and drinks for after practice (but the pictures didn't turn out great -too dark!) I love the look on his face when people sing to him, though :)

Friday, April 6, 2012
Party day!
We planned Bennett's party right after school, so Brad and I took both cars and picked up 8 boys to bring to the party! Talk about fun! I thought no one would want to ride with Brad (since they would not be with the rest of the boys) but boy was I wrong!! The Porsche has some high attraction with the boys!! We stopped at the gas station on the way for snacks, then on to the party!  

They played tough football and whiffle ball.  

Then we celebrated with cupcakes :) Bennett requested homemade cupcakes again this year - love it!

And, just in case you didn't know that he makes me proud, Bennett chose to give all of the toys that he got from his friends for his birthday to the Children's Hospital! We noted it on the birthday invitation, asking his friends to bring lego sets for the Hospital... look at all that he collected! I'm so proud of his giving spirit!

Sunday, April 8
On Easter (real Easter pictures in the next post!) we celebrated his birthday one last time with my family. 

Evie helped open presents...

We managed to save the cookie cake from Bubba (who has been known to try it before we even get to sing!)

And he made one last wish :)

It is so hard to believe that 9 years have passed since Bennett's birth day! There really aren't words to say how special this boy is... he is kind, smart, funny, creative, and always keeps us on our toes. We are blessed to have him in our lives and excited to see how God is moving through his life.
Happy Birthday buddy!!

Project Life 2012 Week 13

This week was all about painting and baseball!

Bennett had practice and 2 games - he did great at all three!

 Post-practice team hiddle on the rocks. 

 Thursday, March 29, the Cards played the Mets, losing by 5 :(

 On the 31st we played the Giants and lost by 1 :( So close!

The other news this week is that we got the house painted!

Before!

After!

I'm also re-doing our bedroom. It was definitely time for a refresher (especially since I never intended for the room to be a beachy teal :)

Before!

 After!!  

Thanks to Angie for all her decorating expertise!  All we need now is a bedskirt (on backorder!), some accent pillows, and some curtains! I love it!

Project Life 2012 Week 12

Spring Break!! Yippee!!

Spring Break started out with the boys helping spread pine straw at church on Saturday morning. Bennett wasn't thrilled when he came home, stating that he learned 2 things. #1 Always wear long pants and sleeves when spreading pine straw. #2 He doesn't want to spread pine straw for a living. Two very good lessons, I think  :)

We relaxed on Sunday and Monday, getting ready for our big beach trip with Gigi, Bubba, and Nana!

But before we left, we went to see the Harlem Globetrotters at Samford. It was a great show!

 Bennett couldn't believe all of the their funny antics and I could NOT convince him that at least some of it was rehearsed. Nope, he thought I was crazy for thinking so :)  Anyway, this is Bull (one of our favorites) trying to make a crazy shot from right in front of our seats!

 Whew. The Trotters won, but just barely!

On Wednesday morning, we headed for the beach! Bennett rode in the Jeep with Bubba. The girls rode in a more quiet, less windy vehicle (while Brad had to stay home and work :(

 My boy and me at The Crab Trap. Yum!

 The beach was really empty the first couple of days (of course, it didn't help that we were out there earlier than most people even get up!) 

 Without Brad there, Bennett was a little bored... but he was thrilled when some kids came along and they got together a little football game. Then a handball baseball game. I  love watching him play with other kids - he makes friends so easily. I think that will be a skill that will benefit him throughout his whole life!

 Finally on Friday, Brad got to come down! We were lucky that they let him leave work a little earlier than we thought, so he got down before dinner on Friday night!  Here are the boys in the water on Saturday morning. They have so much fun together!

 Evie was SO good on our vacation (of course, she's always good, so I wasn't surprised!  I'm happy that I could introduce her to crackers and drinking from a straw (well, with the help of her mommy) on this trip :)

 Our little family. 

So happy.

 After zip lining with Bubba, Bennett decided that he wanted to try the new obstacle course. It started out kinda low...

 then got higher and higher!

I could tell that as he got higher, he was getting a little nervous, but that's probably something that only a mom could tell. He kept right on going - carefully taking each step. Taking his time when he needed to, but never really stopping. Oh, and always smiling!

The goal of the course was to climb to the very top and then walk out on the plank to ring the bell. I was so proud of him when he got there! He rang it really quick and then backed off :) but he did it! 

How did he get to be so brave?

Wow! 

My boy sure is growing up!

Spring Break was awesome! We were so happy that Gigi and Bubba and Nana wanted to go to the beach! I hope we can do it again next year :)

Project Life 2012 Week 11

I'm not commenting on how far behind I am in posting... just know that I know and we'll move on :)

March was super busy for us because baseball started - and March 10 everything happened at once! Luckily for us, everything happened on March 10 at different times, so we were able to do everything and have fun while doing it!

First, (no picture) Bennett had his testing at a new school that he is going to next year. Of course, he reported that he did great on it (which is what he always says after any test), so we were happy :)

Right after the test, we went to celebrate Evie's first birthday! Angie had planned the perfect party, complete with enough sweets for everyone! Evie opened her presents and enjoyed seeing everyone, but when it came to the cake, she was less than impressed.

 In fact, she thought it was down-right gross! So funny! I remember Bennett didn't like his cake either, but I'm pretty sure that he didn't make any 'gross-mommy-get-it-out-of-here' faces. 

Sweet girl! What a wonderful year it has been with Evie in it!

 After the party, we headed to the ball park for the first Cardinals game! 

We beat the Braves 9 to 5! Go Cards! 

The other exciting thong that we got to do this week was the Boosterthon! At our house, we LOVE the Boosterthon! I'm sure that I've written about it before on here, but it is by far our most favorite fund raiser! 

Once again, Bennett got lots of pledges (from family) and had a great time each day learning about how to be a good friend.

 Pre-Run

 Water-on-the-go!

 Cool down lap :)

He ran all 32! Way to go!!

 Post-run.

All smiles :)