Easter

What a glorious weekend we had!  Easter is one of my favorite holidays...how can you go wrong when you combine family, spring flowers, green grass, great food and Easter egg hunts around a celebration of Christ, the risen Lord?!?! 

We spent Easter weekend at Mom and Dad's and had a great time.  Although the ground was soaked, we certainly didn't let it dampen our celebration.  Andy's parents were able to come to Easter for the third straight year, and Ben couldn't have been happier to have "Gan-pa, Gan-ma Debbie, Papaw and Gannie" all in the same location...what a treat for him!

Here are some pictures from the festivities...

 

Our future golfer!

It was so exciting to watch Ben actually get into the Easter egg hunt this year :)

Picking up a few pieces of candy!!!

Time for a swim...the kiddos needed to relax after all that hard work of hunting eggs!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter with your family and friends.  Above all, I hope you were able to take some time away from work and worries to celebrate our risen Lord! 

Friday nights!

There used to be a time, not that long ago, that our Friday nights were filled with fun and excitement!  If I let my mind wander, I can remember back to planning evenings out with my husband (I think we called those dates...it's a little fuzzy).  We would sit in a nice restaurant (child free) and TALK!  It would be nothing for us to have a 2 hour dinner conversation and not be interupted or lose our train of thought...boy, those were the days...OR, were they???

Now, our Friday nights are completely different.  We still find ourselves wanting to go out with friends and do fun and interesting things.  The only difference is now we are excited to have Ben join us.  Those quiet dinners (a.k.a. dates) are few and far between, but surprisingly this doesn't bother us.  Late nights out have turned into early nights in that we look forward to all week.  Fancy restaurants have been traded in for the local Pizza Hut; usually with our friends and all of their kiddos!

Last night, around 9:30, I came around the corner to this:

Is this what our Friday nights used to look like?  Absolutely not...but, I wouldn't trade our "new" Friday nights for anything!!! 

Spring Break!!!

This past week has been jam-packed!  We've traveled, spent time with family, worked around the house, and tried to relax a little too!  We started Spring Break with a quick trip to the Wisconsin Dells with my sister and her family and Andy's sister and her family.  We went for four days and had a blast.  The water parks are not the best place for a toddler, so Ben was able to spend the days with Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Jim.  Here are a few pictures of our water park adventure!

 Andy, Jason and Max coming out of the Hurricane

 Katie and Ellie in the lazy river

 Ellie exiting a water slide

Katie at Cubbie's Cove



We left for Wisconsin in cold, rainy weather and came home to sunshine!  This meant that we could work on some projects around our house.  I was able to mow the yard (twice!) and Andy was able to roll it...moles seem to have taken up residence in our yard!!!  Ben, of course, was right in the heart of the action.  He spent most of his time moving from tractor to mower to four-wheeler (it all depended on what mood he was in and which parent he preferred).  Here are some pictures of our little helper :)

 Ben and Daddy rolling the yard (Ben needed to have his hard hat on apparently)

Our little modification for the mower.  I'm sure parents everywhere are cringing, but just remember, we did a lot worse when we were little :)

We ended our week of vacation with a sunny, 80 degree Sunday.  We topped off the evening by grilling out and enjoying some relaxation before starting back to work.  I hate to see Spring Break end, but on the upside, summer vacation starts in seven weeks (I can do it, I can do it)!!!

Is it Spring Break YET???

Could this week go any slower?  It seems like when I need extra hours in my day, time flies...but when I'm looking forward to some time off, time crawls.  This is the case this week.  Our spring break is next week and I'm more than excited to have some time away from work!  For some reason, I kept thinking today was Thursday.  Imagine my disgust when I realized it wasn't...yuck!  Oh well, only two more days...

As for this week, what fun we've had.  One of our closest friends decided to add some excitement to their lives by welcoming their baby girl five weeks early...not exactly the plan they had in mind, but boy is she a cutie!!!  We've enjoyed getting the updates on her and hearing that she is getting stronger each and every day!

Let's see...what else has happened?  Andy and his dad decided it was time to start working in the field.  This means that Ben and I are pretty much on our own each evening.  Of course, we are more than welcome to go ride in the tractor (fun for Ben, NOT fun for mommy).  Ben did ride for a few hours the other night while I was in town...but, for the most part, we just leave Daddy to do his work without us.  Don't worry though, we're finding plenty to fill our time:

~ We have to ride the 4-wheeler EVERY night.  I think it was a mistake to park the 4-wheeler in the garage. I can't get Ben out of the car and into the house without him seeing it.  Once he's spotted it, it's all over!

~ We planted some fruit trees this week.  Hopefully the deer will not destroy these trees.  So far, I have a 50% success rate...not something I'm too proud of.  These trees WILL survive, I just know it!!!

~ The sunny weather has allowed us more "outside" time, which we are definitely taking advantage of.  I just wish it was a little warmer, but I'll take the sunshine any day!

That's pretty much it for now...just trying to get Ben packed up, as he's heading to Grandma Debbie's for a few days of his break.  My mom jumps on any chance she can, to get him by himself (funny how she could care less if Andy and I are there)!  He's excited to go and she's excited for him to visit, so it should be a good time! 

Kitchen Connection

It's been a long time since I've posted a recipe (my every Wednesday ambitions flew out the window)!  I've been craving Mexican food so much this past week, so I thought I would share a  Layered Mexican Dip recipe.  I'm not sure who started bringing this dip to family dinners, but I think it was my sister-in-law Tai...so, the credit is going to go to her!

Enjoy!

Layered Mexican Dip

1 large can refried beans (or 2 regular sized cans)
1/2 c. mayo
1/2 c. sour cream
2 T. taco seasoning
1 onion, diced
1 c. diced tomatoes
1 can sliced, black olives
1 bunch green onions, diced
2 c. shredded Fiesta cheese

Spread refried beans on platter, making a nice base for the dip.  Mix together mayo, sour cream and taco seasoning.  Spread over refried beans.  Top with onions, tomatoes, black olives and green onions.  Cover with cheese and chill.  Serve with chips.

You can get very creative with this recipe...add a layer of jalepenos or some salsa or even some corn...just have fun with it!

Some fun in the sun!

Another beautiful day!  I don't know about you, but I really think Spring is finally here (or at least just right around the corner)!  Andy took off this morning to a farm sale, so Ben and I were home alone.  The weather was too nice to stay inside, so we headed out to enjoy the sunshine.  We started with a 4-wheeler ride over to Papaw and Grannie's house. Grandpa Jim delivered our new (to us) mower yesterday, and it was in Papaw's shed.  I was itching to take it for a test drive.  Ben loves to drive ANYTHING so he was more than happy to "drive" the 4-wheeler over and then "drive" the mower back.  When we got home, he was not very happy that we weren't driving anymore, so he decided to pretend!

While Ben was pretending, I was raking out my flowerbeds.  It's always nice to see my tulips and iris's poking up through the mulch...speaking of mulch, I'm definitely going to need some more this year!  Anyway, after cleaning out the beds we decided to work on the sticks in the yard.  Ben is quite the stick-picker-upper :)  He was very quick to point out the sticks, pick them up and then hand them to me...definitely a perk of having a little helper!

We lasted about 30 minutes picking up sticks before it was time to play, play, play.  Ben wanted EVERY toy out of the garage...the tractor, the bubble mower, the car, the rakes, the broom, etc...as I was trying to clean the garage, he was busy tearing out more stuff :)  It did keep him busy though, so I won't complain too much!  A happy boy makes for a happy mommy!





Ready for Spring!

What a wonderful day today was!  Our babysitter needed to take the day off which meant that I got to stay home with Ben (always a good day)!  Andy was also off for the day because he needed to get a few loads of corn hauled in.  So, Ben and I spent the morning together while Andy hauled corn.  We ventured up town for lunch with Papaw, Daddy, Denny, and Chad...and then went on over to the farm to help Daddy move some tractors so that he could start working on the planter.  Ben, of course, was in his element because he was in a TRACTOR!!!!  He was so excited to help Andy move them out of the barn.  Here are just a couple of pictures of him "at the wheel"!

After some time at the farm, Ben and I headed to his 18 month doctor appointment.  He was such a trooper!  He only needed two shots, but he was all smiles when he saw that Bugs Bunny was on the band-aid :)  After the nurses and doctor all made over him for being such a big boy, we headed to the mall for some shoes for Mommy and some shorts for Ben.  Then, it was back home for a nap for the little guy.  This evening, Ben was back outside with Andy.  All of the sudden, I heard Andy come inside and say "get your camera"...here is what I saw...

I guess Ben is ready for spring too!  Maybe he's ready to skip spring and head right into summer and swimming season!!!  I could go for that!