mohawk time!

Kaleb wants a mohawk so bad. He loves them. I finally told him one day I'd let him wear a mohawk. I did it once before when he was in 2nd grade. So after I get it all done and he's feeling fine Benjamin reminds him that he will be sent home because mohawks can be distracting and that his teacher will not like it and that it's in the rules - no mohawks! I told Kaleb Benjamin was probably right. But I told him we'd take pictures before I changed his hair. Here's proof of the mohawk he loved so much!

Roses

When my Nanny died over 2 years ago my sweet friends came to my house while I was gone and planted three rose bushes in her memory. They actually planted a rose garden - new surround bricks, beautiful mulch, and three gorgeous bushes. Propped up on a nearby window was a card that said they bought one bush for each boy that Nanny loved so much. I can't tell you how much that meant to me. They said to remember how much Nanny loved the boys every time the roses bloom. When Spring comes and my roses start to bloom I think of my Nanny and her boys. And I think of Benjamin and what a connection he and Nanny had. Benjamin was not very found of many people but even when he was tiny he was drawn to her. When she was so sick we took him to see her, fearful of what he'd think with all the wires and her in a hospital bed. It didn't even phase him. He crawled right over those wires into his Nanny's bed. I will never forget that. Matthew and Kaleb were scared and sad but not Benjamin. It was still his Nanny. I always told Nanny that the reason the two of them had such a special bond was because they were both so rotten! And the other thing I think of when I see these roses is friendship. How very good is was of God to surround me by such incredible friends who know just what to do and when to do it. Who know when I'm hurt and who don't even need to say a word to show me how much they love me. I am a blessed woman indeed.

Easter Morning

This Easter was a little different. Matthew is getting older and the "Easter Bunny" decided that it's better to spend a little more money on something the boys could use as opposed to spending money on junk stuff to fill a basket. Every year the boys get this cool basket with candy they never eat and toys that eventually end up in a garage sale. Matthew moved up to 11-12s in baseball and they can use big barrel bats. So the Easter Bunny decided to buy him a bat. Well, that put the Bunny in a dilemma because you can't have one guy with a bat and the other with junk. Benjamin was ready for a bike and was going to get one anyway so Bunny decided to get the bike for Easter. That left ole Tub without a nice prize. His arm is broke so baseball or outside stuff is out (which is all he likes) so the Bunny got him an Ipod Shuffle. They're like $45.00 and he was so excited. The Bunny hopes this doesn't set the pace for Easters to come. Matthew was such a good sport about hunting for eggs and being all excited about it. He's a good big brother. Kaleb was funny because as he's hunting for eggs he notices our dog, Belle, chained up (so she wouldn't eat the eggs). He stops hunting for eggs to love on her. That is so his personality. The Bunny put money in some eggs to make it more fun for the big boys. Here are some pics of the morning and of them in their Easter best.

Community Wide Egg Hunt

About 5 years ago Lori and I decided to put together a HUGE egg hunt for our community as a way to share the gospel. It was a great success and has continued each year. We hide over 3,000 eggs, have booths, a huge inflatable obstacle course, and have 6 different age group hunts. We have music and a gospel presentation before the hunt (so everyone will hear) and we give away door prizes and lots of prize eggs. This year the grand prize was an Apple Ipod Touch. The prizes range from a free pizza at Wright Bros. to a Slip n Slide to gift cards. Its a big deal and we have several 100 people come each year. This was my first year not to head it up. Kandis took over but I bought all the prizes and was still very involved. It is so neat to see people hear the gospel that don't go to church. I love it. Benjamin found 3 prize eggs! I could not believe it. Kaleb found one prize egg and Matthew searched and searched but came up empty handed. No one claimed the baseball cards (which is what Matthew soooo wanted) and since we bought them as a donation I let him have them. So everyone was happy. Benjamin was so sweet because as soon as he realized that Matthew didn't have a prize egg he gave him one of his.

3rd grade egg hunt

I decided (at the last minute of course) that it would be fun to have an egg hunt for Kaleb's class. I sent a note home asking parents to send filled eggs and prizes for prize eggs. The first day I got like 2 dozen eggs. I was thinking this was going to be a flop. Then the last day I got a load of eggs and prizes. It was great. My parents and a few others went across the street from the school to the old Knox land and hid all the eggs. The kids had so much fun. I'm so thankful that Kaleb is in a sweet class. I like being around those kids.

Dying Easter Eggs

Of course we had to dye Easter eggs! My poor boys will have to dye eggs when they are in college because I love it and don't do anything alone. Rusty was happy to pass the egg dying - Christmas cookie baking torch to the boys once they were old enough to have fun with me. I always save undecorated Christmas cookies and undyed eggs for Rusty to decorate but he never does them. Every once in a while he'll do a Texas longhorn one so we'll leave him alone. This year we decided not to add water to the dye and it was so much better! I had no idea that just vinegar and the dye tablets were all you needed. It never seemed deep enough to cover the egg so I always added water. This time Kaleb suggested that we try it without the water. Eventhough it was too shallow to cover the egg all we had to do was use the wire holder to move the egg around until it had color all on it. It took much much less time to get the right color - they were so nice and bright. It did, however, turn Benjamin's hands green...for days! I love dying eggs. I boiled 4 dozen just for us. Love it!

More letterboxing

The boys and I took my Mom letterboxing with us. We went to the Henderson area and had a great time. We were worn out by the time we finished. We stopped at a museum "on the way home" and ended up staying for like 2 hours hearing stories from days past. It was interesting to Matthew, Mom, and me but not so much for Kaleb and Benjamin. We also found a geocache while looking for a letterbox...that was fun.

I cannot remember how to make my pictures straight! I'll work on that. :)