Say cheese!

As if I don't have enough pictures of the kids, I couldn't resist buying this years school pics. They let me get Weston's photo taken too, even though he's not in preschool yet. And I was glad they also took pictures of them together.












One of my all-time favorite photos of Ben as a child was one taken of he & Jon when they were pre-schoolers. I plan to res-stage this photo down to the shirts and poses in a few years when the boys are that age. Aren't those the most precious smiles?




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Mother's Day Weekend - Take 1

On Mother's Day weekend, Mom & Bruce came to Greenville to spend some time with us, or more specifically their grandbabies. Saturday afternoon, we headed downtown to Artisphere and enjoyed the great art & music and of course the kiddie crafts. {hence the mask}


We ran into the McGriff's downtown and Slade & Jackson made a beeline to the fountains and both ended up soaking wet.










After a few hours, we headed back home to make homemade icecream and get the kiddies to bed. Homemade ice cream is the bomb and we were eating the dreggs for sure.


Sunday started off with a real bang after Bella left us "presents" in the dining room, which Mom stepped in and inevitably tracked throughout the house. Then we found our biscuits in the pantry. It kinda went downhill from there. I did, however, get a precious gift from Jackson that he made at preschool. He was so proud of it and had been dying to let me open it since he brought it home on Thursday.







And we finally remembered to take a family picture!







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So Weston's been playing in the tupperware lately. And reaching for things lately. And is so quick to grab things that we can hardly get a picture that's not blurry:



{Notice the close proximity o the fridge door...}

Well last night, just as the fridge door was shutting, he stuck his tiny finger in that door jamb with lightening speed. We had to literally open the door to get his finger out. It was a bloodbath, but thanks to our combined years of scouting, we gauzed and taped it up and then were reassured by the on-call nurse that we didn't need to rush to the ER. Nothing hurts more than when your child is in pain!




Thursday, I took Weston by the pediatrician just to confirm that he didn't need stitches and his finger would not be crooked for the rest of his life. All was well & we are well on our way to healing. He wouldn't leave the bandaid on so this is what we got to look at:




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Poo-poo prize

Last night's prize for Jackson's successful pottying: Billy-Bob teeth for the family.


{We are desperately running out of treats from the Dollar Store.}

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Mother's Day Do-Over

After a series of unfortunate events last Sunday, Ben decided that we should scrap that day and do a Mother's Day Take 2 this Sunday.

{Just a sampling of last weeks calamities: our dog who never has accidents, left several surprises for me to find on Sunday morning, on our oriental rug no less, which Mom stepped in and tracked throughout the house. Secondly, the breakfast I had planned was foiled because someone put the biscuits in the pantry rather than the fridge. And it went downhill from there...}

SO this Sunday was declared Mother's Day and Ben outdid himself in making it a super special day for me. Starting out, he let me sleep in as late as I pleased, and when I awoke at 11am, I found a tray of freshly made hot coffee, fruit and two slices of homemade pound cake.

We played hooky from church and enjoyed hanging out as a family, watching old home dvds. "Old" meaning 2010. We got to relive Jackson's first birthday, his first steps, his first beach trip, all of it. It was so amazing to see how much he's changed in just a few years; and how soon Weston will be doing all of these same things. And we were even laughing at things we did as parents that just seem so funny.

We got chinese takeout for lunch {extra points for me not having to cook today!} and I got to sunbathe on the deck while Weston napped & Ben and Jackson ran some errands. Two glorious hours of sunbathing.




The boys returned from their errands bearing a gorgeous bouqet of flowers, and a hand-made music box that Jackson helped make for me.











And Ben, inspired by Pinterest, also made me a picture frame key hanger, which he is nearly finished painting & distressing. {photo to come}
After dinner, we made a family trip to Target where I spent 80% of my time in the bathroom watching this:




He wanted his "poo-poo prize" so bad that he refused to get off the potty after 15 minutes. As in rolling-around-the-bathroom-floor-naked-and-screaming that "I need to poopoo, Mommy let me POO-POO". Touching everything. Germs everywhere. Crying wolf just so he could get those damn Teddy Grahams.

Back home, we tag-teamed baths and bedtime and I came downstairs to find the living room & playrooms picked up. Ben knows I can't relax for the evening until everything is orderly so it was just one last little way to serve me on Mother's Day.

I am so thankful for my loving hubby and my precious children. I had a wonderful "Mother's Day" and feel very appreciated and loved.

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2nd Annual Strawberry Pickin'

For the 2nd year in a row, we spent a Friday morning at Sandy Flats picking strawberries with {part of} our playgroup. This year, however, my load was not around my mid-section as it was last year, but on my back instead:


I was itching to use our new backpack carrier -- it was a real steal for $10 at a yard sale. And it was super comfy...the first 15 times I squatted down to pick strawberries. After that, it was a major quad & core workout to squat & not topple over. I kept my sidekick happy with fresh strawberries, which ended making me look like I had gunshot wounds all over my shoulder & back.



Jackson could not have had more fun. He & his buddies ran up & down the rows, eating waaay more than they picked. Last year they actually enjoyed picking them. This year, the kids were more interested in running & eating. And refusing to look at the iPhone.





And I wasn't the only one who looked wounded after berry picking:



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Jackson dates

So after keeping both boys for 2 days while I was in Charlotte having a girls weekend, Ben really felt like Jackson gets put on the back burner way more than we are comfortable with. Ben noticed that Weston's schedule trumped whatever Jackson was doing at any given time, and felt like he was constantly saying "Jackson, no, not yet." or "Jackson calm down." or "Your brother has to be fed before we can do that." I totally get this and I do feel like I am seemingly prioritizing Weston over Jackson.

While this is not a bad thing -- its definitely teaching Jackson that he's not the center of the universe -- we still wanted to do something special with just he & us. That way, he gets our undivided attention and it can be all about him.

Last week, I took Jackson on a Mommy Date to Dillard's Farms for ice cream. They are finally open for the season and we frequent that place several times a week mid-summer. We both got Moose Tracks ("white" as J calls it) and had fun getting sticky, commenting on the biiiiig trucks that drove by, looking for the moon and listening to J daydream about his birthday party coming up and how he wants a "Spiderman Bounce House". (Got that, Gigi & Poppy??)



Ben has been eager to take Jackson to a Greenville Drive baseball game and this made for the perfect opportunity to do so. On Sunday afternoon, the boys loaded up and headed downtown to watch some baseball. I didn't get many details but I do know that Jackson was interested in the actual game for about 10 minutes and loved eating hotdogs, popcorn & drinking his coke. He also came home with a souviner baseball.







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