A Little Saturday Photo Shoot

Ben and I were home by ourselves Saturday morning, so I thought it would be a good time to snap some pictures...we took advantage of the cloudy skies and cool weather.  Ben cooperated for about five WHOLE minutes, but we got a couple cute shots...

My favorite :)

 Shhh...be vewy, vewy quiet!

 What's in there???

Friday Night Under the Lights!

I think almost every boy that has ever gone to a football game dreams about the day that he'll get to step out on that big field and get to play "under the lights".  Last night, for two of my favorite little guys, that dream came true...the youth football league played their games on the varsity field!  What an exciting evening.  It was truly football at its best; bright lights, cold weather, warm coats and plenty of popcorn!

 Getting excited for the game to start!

 The kick-off :)

 Analyzing the game...54 is my nephew, Max

 Ty, #4, getting ready for the next play

Two tough guys after the game



Of course, the little guys and gal were excited to be there too, but their excitement for football lasts only so long.  They were so good for the entire game, thanks to lots of popcorn and cousin Ellie (I see lots of babysitting in her future)!!!

 Future Chargers sporting their school colors of blue and orange (and we didn't even plan it).

 Something must be pretty funny :)

 Talking to the camera

 Ben's telling Ellie all about something (I'm sure it was SO interesting)!

After dinner, the boys found a way to entertain themselves while we paid the bills...this was the perfect little spot for them :)



Loving this Little Guy!

So happy and proud to be the mommy of this little boy...he makes every day better!

It's Been a While...

Well, we've been busy around here the past few weeks, so I apologize for not having many posts lately.  It seems that we've been going, going, going...but of course, I haven't been taking pictures like I should! 

A few weeks ago, we went with some of our friends to a horse pull.  There is one in Iowa, over Labor Day, but we always have to leave before it starts...so, when one came up locally, we wanted to be sure and go.  It was quite fascinating!  I can't believe how strong those horses are.  It's such a mix of emotions; excited to see the pull, but sad to see the horses work SO hard.  I have a couple pictures of the kiddos, but none of the actual horse pull :)

 I'm obviously not the best photographer.  They were so cute sitting in the chair together, but I didn't do a very god job of capturing it!

All of the boys!

Ben, Addie and Katie all went to Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Jim's house last weekend.  They had so much fun without their parents...they made cookies, decorated pumpkins (straight out of Grandma Debbie's garden), played outside, went to church, and played, played, played!  Ben didn't even make it out of the car before he was telling me about his pumpkin and Grandma Debbie's cookies!  Of course, once again, I don't have many pictures. Mom took a bunch, but I only have one on my computer.

Katie and Ben decorating their pumpkins

Andy and I enjoyed our weekend while Ben was away at Grandma Debbie's.  Of course, we hate to be away from our little guy, but it was nice to have two days to ourselves.  The Extension Homemaker club I'm a member of went to Oliver Winery on Saturday.  I have been to the winery before, but it was nice to go back.  They had added several new wines to the tasting menu, and I added a few new wines to my collection!  We had so much fun!  No pictures of this adventure, but I can promise you that the eight of us had a blast.  Andy was busy having fun back home, getting things ready to go for harvest...so we both had a great weekend!

Our schedules are starting to slow down, just in time for the first virus of the school year.  Ben came down with a fever last night, so I was home today and Daddy will be home with him tomorrow.  Thankfully, this one's just a fever.  Ben is happy as can be, playing and running around like normal...just dealing with a fever...yuck! 

Hopefully he'll be on the mend soon, and just in time for the weekend.  I'm thinking this one will be a slower-paced weekend...the kind of weekend that calls for a dress code of pj's and no makeup!

Old Threshers 2011

We just got home from our annual trip to Iowa for the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion.  This was Ben's second trip out there, and this year he really got into it.  He rode the train with Papaw and Daddy, the trolley, saw the horses and of course, saw LOTS and LOTS of tractors!  This was definitely the closest you could get to Heaven for a little boy that LOVES tractors and trains :) 
Our great friends, Chad and Callie, also came out for the weekend with their three kiddos...Ben had so much fun playing with his buddies!  Once again, this was a GREAT way to finish up the summer!

 Getting ready to ride the train with Papaw!

 Chugga, chugga, choo, choo!

 Getting ready for a movie night

 "trying" to play checkers with Ty :)

 Hanging out in the sandbox!

 Of course, we had lots of time playing with tractors :)

 The stroller brigade!

 Having some popcorn (popcorn kept Ben happy many, many times during the trip)!

 Andy sitting on his dream tractor...John Deere R

 Taking a spin on the carousel

"Dad, I really, really need one of these!!!"



Going for a Ride!

If you know my little guy, then you know he LOVES to ride his four-wheeler!  A few weeks ago, great friends of ours were heading out to buy their little guy a helmet and offered to pick one up for us, for Ben.  Thankfully, he likes to wear it and never complains when I tell him he has to put it on.  It is a pretty cute sight though because it's almost as big as he is!  Oh well, safety first :)

 Trying it on for the first time!

Heading out for a ride with Daddy!

Back to Work!

Summer unofficially ended for me last week...it's back to school time!  While I am happy to have a routine back in my life, I am sad to end our lazy, sweet summer days.  Apparently, our new morning routine has started to catch up with Ben...no more 10:00 am wake-ups for this little guy :(