Happy Birthday, Miller!!

Can't believe you're already 20!! That makes me, what, 28? Just think, one more year, and you can have your first beer!!

Here are a few pics from a 3 year old who thinks you are the coolest person on earth.

Picking Strawberries

Last Friday I picked Henry up from school when I got Reeves. As usual, these two spent the first five minutes hugging and filling each other out on what's been going on since the last time they were together. It really is unfair to them that we don't just let them live together.
From school, we headed out to the strawberry patch. The boys were so excited. We had a picnic under the tent beforehand to get some energy for the big pick. This is what I get for asking them to make funny faces. Check out the pouty lips. I think they're practicing out to be models.And, never to be left out of any big boy fun, this is what I get when Bennett realizes what's going on.
We headed out with our buckets. I must say, this year it was so much more pleasant because Bennett could walk. It was also much dirtier, but I quickly learned there was no way to keep them clean, so I let them go to town. R and H were great strawberry pickers. There were very few that they shouldn't have picked, and once they learned that they could cross rows without destroying the plants, a whole new world opened up to them. They got to the point where they could spot the good ones from a couple of rows away. I do need to apologize to all the pickers who have come in the days after us, because, as good as the big boys were at crossing rows, Bennett was equally terrible at it. There were a few destroyed plants left in his wake, but I'm just trying to convince myself that they were already past their prime and he was merely putting them out of their misery.

Reeves doesn't quite grasp the concept of "showing off" his prize strawberry, but at least he was amenable to having his picture taken, which on some days is a rare treat for me. After rest time, we met Bryant over at David and Jenny's for dinner. The boys enjoyed their hotdogs and then headed out back to play. (And yes, that is Benny sitting in a big chair all by himself and staying in it throughout the meal. I love second children. Reeves NEVER would have done that!) I have to admit here that as good a baseball player as I bragged about Reeves being on Easter, Henry blows him out of the water. He hit two over the fence - way over the fence. He is REALLY good. Unfortunately, I was pitching, so I didn't get any pictures of it. David cooked our burgers on his Big Green Egg. I have never thought that the cooking device really made that much difference, but these were the best burgers we have ever had - EVER! Even better than any we've had in a restaurant. It might be time to seriously look into investing in one of these things. And if you happen to have one, feel free to invite us over for dinner any time.

The Simple Things

I just love it when I don't have to do all of the bedtime routine myself. It's so nice to sit back and watch the other half take over from time to time.

Oh yeah, and it's super sweet to see The Daddy cuddling with and reading to The Boys. But mostly it's just The Me, sitting silently and watching, and if I feel up to it, snapping a couple of pictures.

Playin' in da Hood

It's so nice that we take our children to such reputable, pleasant playgrounds to spend time. The embroidered pants and Children's Place fleece go perfectly with the grafitti. I guess my old 'hood is going downhill. At least neither the children, nor we, have any idea what it says.
Sensing the danger that only 16 month olds can, Tradd tried to make a break for it. The whole scene made Benny's hair stand on end. The older children, the ones who are supposed to protect our growing brood, they were content to make dinosaur nests and toss the youngsters to the maddening crowd. You just can't get good help anymore. I suppose we have to continue keeping our eyes out for them still.
Seriously, though, I just don't understand this kind of grafitti. What's the point. Oooo. Yay, you! You staked your claim on a preschool playground. Good job. No one knows what the heck it says except for your junkie friends, but I'm sure they're all thouroughly impressed because that soggy bit of ground over where you left your mark? Yeah, that's prime real estate. Thanks for spending my tax dollars to pay some government employee to cover up your bout of spray paint diarreah. Times aren't tight enough.

Easter 2009

Sunday was a perfectly glorious day to celebrate Easter. It's almost like God makes sure we have beautiful weather to celebrate the resurrection of His Son. And He certainly delivered this Easter.

The boys woke up to find their Easter baskets and the goodies therein. We didn't hide the dyed eggs this year because I was afraid that Bennett would pick them up and squish them in his hands. But next year, the tradition continues - first find your basket, then find your eggs, then you can go through the loot.

This was the only halfway decent picture I could get of the boys together all day. Good thing I took it early as both outfits ended up with various bodily stains on them. Thank heavens for OxiClean!

We went to the 9:00 service. I tried to have both boys with us in church, but Bennett just isn't quite ready to sit still and quiet for an hour or so. And since without Reeves, the nursery would be miserable for Ben, I trotted both boys off after the readings. I love the Easter service. It is so meaningful, and I always find myself fighting back tears during the hymns. This Easter was no exception.

After church we headed to Gammy and Pops' for a little down time before the big family feast at Big Laura's. Reeves pulled out the carrot bat and ball that the Easter Bunny had given him. We were all pretty impressed. He hit it way better than I could, but like his momma, he tended to pull it right down the third base line.It wasn't long before he was going all Babe Ruth on us and calling his shots. We may have to skip T-ball altogether and go straight to coach's pitch!

After a quick nap for Benny, the caravan moved over to Mt.P to hang with the whole Anderson clan. Gammy and Pops scored the biggest hit of the day when they gave the boys their big dump trucks. I can't believe these two can even stand up now as they were hunched over these things all day, pushing them not only around the yard but even through the whole neighborhood. Thanks so much, G and P, for the awesome gifts!! Benny discovered his could also double as a self propelled stroller given any slight decline in terrain.

Each year we have an Easter egg hunt. Despite this picture, Reeves was actually excited about it. I think he is just determined to appear as bored as possible in some pictures. I guess he's just practicing for those teenage years.

Leeze and Reeves both found silver eggs this year, and they were super excited to open them up and find a dollar bill inside.(You might be a redneck if the Super Special Silver Egg at your family Easter egg hunt is actually just a big plastic egg covered in aluminum foil.)

After the children hunted their eggs, we all gathered around Laura's wonderfully decorated tables and enjoyed a delightful meal of ham, mac and cheese, squash casserole, asparagus, red rice, and corn pie.

It was truly such a blessing to be around so many special family members. Reagan and Marianne were both able to be there. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures with them! We missed Sarah but hope to see her soon. Miller was, as usual, a dream. He played with Reeves pretty much the whole day. I hope his girlfriend didn’t mind, but he certainly made our day easier.

Happy Easter everyone. Hope yours was as meaningful as ours was

The 4th Annual Easter Egg Hunt

Saturday turned out to be a gorgeous day which boded very well for the Easter egg hunt we host each year with some of our dearest friends. As tradition dictates, my boys showed up late for their assigned host duties. Again, following in last year's footsteps, it took a while for Reeves to warm up to the whole idea of being social and friendly. He worked through those issues this year by "vogueing" with his Easter basket. Luckily, like all children, mine soon warmed up when they realized they would be let loose in a field full of little candy treasures. Reeves was a super egg hunter this year. Bennett quickly realized that the things inside the eggs were sugary and yummy, so he would open his each time he found one.

We put out about 2500 eggs, and after about 57 seconds the hunt was over.... and the begotiations began. I found this group already trading goodies. "I have two jelly beans. I give them to you for your one malt ball." Look out, Wall Street, these ones are growing up really fast!

Unfortunately, we had to leave early for a birthday party, but once again, I can't thank all my friends enough for all the work you do. This party was a wonderful success and I love that my family is a part of it with all of your's.

Saturday, In The Park

I think it was the 4th of April.

Not wanting to do anything too involved before I had to leave to handle my part of hostess duties for the big hunt, Bryant and I decided to take the boys down to the park on the Old Navy Base. The boys absolutely adore this place, and unfortunately, Bryant hasn't had too many opportunities to join us there, so this was a special day. Of course, R and B were ecstatic to have their daddy joining us on an "adventure", and we made the most of our limited time there. First we visited The Big Blue Playground. (I capitalize it because it is THAT important around our house.) The boys showed Daddy all the wonderful things about one of their favorite playgrounds. Bennett even took a twirl in the spinning seat, and Reeves climbed higher than he ever has on the rope structure. I think they were both showing off.
After that, we headed over to the other side of the park where they have the fountain. It was warm, so when Reeves asked if he could run through the water, we acquiesced. I did think to remove his shirt so that we could put at least one piece of dry clothing on him for the ride home - on the open golf cart. Before we knew it, Bennett was soaked too. Once he's halfway there, why not let him go all the way. He would be warmer running around in it than with me holding him.Oh well. At least we had brought a blanket so we could wrap them up. They loved it! And stayed in it, running back and forth, batting at the streams of water, and covering up the jets with their crocs much longer than Bryant or I would have guessed. Reeves did eventually admit that he was getting cold, so we headed back to the golf cart, stripped them both down and wrapped them up in the blanket - and Daddy's undershirt which he removed to at least partially clothe a naked Benny Boy. It was a pretty classy scene.
I can't wait till the weather warms up for good (although I definitely will miss a few cool days here and there). In this coastal town, it opens up a whole new wealth of fun possibilities when your plans for the day can include, "Bring bathing suit."

At Least He'll Have Good Benefits

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"

Here's my little Benny, practicing to be a mailman. Who knew he would make a career choice so early.

Maybe I Could Have Parked a Little Closer to The Curb

Yesterday started out as a pretty good day. We were going to the playground at 11:00, so we didn't do anything other than mess around the house in the morning. The boys played great together. Reeves was super sweet to both me and Benny. He shared his toys, always said "please" when he was supposed to, did what I asked him to. We talked about going to the playground, and he remembered that it was Moultrie Playground. He was excited to play in the sand there and pointed out to me that this is not the playground with the brontosaurus dinosaur. That's Hambry Playground. We left to go and the boys were happily chatting away in the backseat, even holding hands at times.

I was so pleased and happy.

Then we parked and the mask came off. Reeves started screaming that he didn't want me to take his seatbelt off!! He wanted to go home!! He wanted to stay in the car!! Fine. I got Bennett and our lunch out, locked the doors, and headed to the playground. After depositing lunch and the younger child with friends and waiting what would be a more than sufficient time for the older one to calm down, I went back to get him. I swear to you, at this point I was thinking that Rosemary had a better baby than I did. I could hear him as I was approaching the car. Seriously. Who did he think was listening? So I got him out, threw him over my shoulder and carried him inside the fence. I promptly laid him down in his unmitigated wailing state to join more pleasant people. I figured he would get over it soon enough. Well, "soon enough" ended up being a good 15 or 20 minutes. I had no idea he could possibly hold out so long. But, once he decided he was over it, he proceeded to have a wonderful time playing with all his friends, and blessedly wearing himself out in the process. Although there was one point where something happened to make him mad and he told me that he just wanted to go home and be a baby. Whatever, dude.

For the rest of the day, he returned to his old congenial self. On Wednesdays, he has choir and then he spends that night with the Bairs. Benny and I usually eat dinner out there and head home around 7:00. And here's where this precious angel totally (almost) made up for his horrendous behavior earlier in the day. Benny has his blue blankets that he adores. He must have at least one to go to sleep. (We have four identical ones.) Anyway, Judy called me around 8:30 to tell me that Reeves had told her she had to call Mommy because he had found Bennett's blue blanket and he needed it to go to sleep. She said he was very worried about it. He got on the phone and told me, "Mommy, you bogot Bennett's boo bwanket." I assured him that it was ok because I had an extra one at home, and he was already asleep with it. "But Reeves, Bennett is very lucky to have a big brother like you who looks out for him like that."

Benny and the Shoes

As soon as this boy gets up, he heads straight to the shoe basket and pulls out his blue crocs for us to put on him. It's not that he doesn't like being barefoot, it's just that I think he has an insatiable love for these shoes. He never pulled out the Scooter Reds for us to put on him, he's not all that concerned with socks, he just wants his crocs. If we don't put them on him, he carries them around, silently, until one of us finally gives in.

Of course, there is also the obsession he has with other people's shoes. He loves, loves, loves to walk around the house in Daddy's shoes. Occasionally he'll put on mine, but he usually goes only for Daddy's. Maybe he likes that they're roomier. Then there are the ties. When Bryant walks in the door, that is the first thing to go, thanks to Bennett's Tie Removal Service. This used to be Reeves' job, but I guess by the time you're three, you're way too old for silly things like that.