a simple truth.

Moon Pies

taste better

on a special, sunny day

under the shade of a few trees,

and it’s good till

the very last

bite.

The Paper Mama: Valentine's Photo Contest

I know I just posted a contest, but I saw this and just couldn't resist. I'm sorry. I love Valentine's day. It's pretty much my favorite holiday because I am a total girl and love all the hearts and cutesy things that go along with Valentines day. I love to decorate with Valentine's day stuff.. if we had a Target here, I am sure I would be all over their Valentine's day section. Please, if you have one, PLEASE don't tell me how adorable their stuff is. I will have to get in my car and drive an hour to get to one if you do.

Anyway, this contest is for a Valentine's Day photo card. I chose a picture I had taken last year when I made heart ice for our Valentine's Day lunch. I thought it was adorable. And if the phrase doesn't strike a chord with you, just remember, it's ice.

I dedicate this to my sweet husband. I love him so!

Paper Mama Photo Challenge: Birthday

This week's Paper Mama Photo Challenge is Birthday! How appropriate! Benjamin JUST turned two the 19th! I still can't believe how big he has gotten and how time has just flown by! He has been such a joy to watch grow up in the last year. This picture is one from his birthday party. We had pizza because it is pretty much his favorite food ever. He was very focused on eating his share {because he was ready to get down and play with the balloons again!}

just a few things.

Today was really, really exciting and fun.

We took Benjamin to the Circus. Actually, Carl won two free tickets. And we only had to pay for the cheapest seat for Ben since we would hold him in our laps.

I was probably the most excited person in our section. And loudest. And I was totally okay with this. {It remains unknown as to whether the people around me were okay with this}

Benjamin enjoyed his day as well. It was a lot of driving {4hrs round trip}, but he did really well!

After spending a fantastic day with my two favorite boys, I’m feeling pretty blessed right now.

God is so good to me… I am so undeserving!

But thankful all the same!

Catch a falling star…

There are moments in these adventures of bringing up Benjamin where I really wish I had my camera with me. Those precious, fleeting moments that you watch go by in the blink of an eye, and you wish you had your camera just to capture it to keep it forever. Sometimes the moments are just so much easier explained or retold when you have pictures to go along with your words. Well, today I had my camera during one of those moments. It was a moment of sheer curiosity and pure innocence… the beauty of childhood, the sincerity of a two-year-old’s mind… It stole my heart.

Can’t you just see it starting? He look on his face like “Wow…” The way he’s reaching out like he’s amazed and unsure at the same time.

He stretched his hand out like he was actually holding sunlight, and he was still amazed.

He was talking as he did this. He was saying “Oooh, pretty!” and “Stars!”

That’s right. My sweet, darling boy thought that the specks of dust, positively shining in the stream of sunlight, were tiny stars.

So, today, Benjamin was catching stars in our living room.

And I am so glad I had my camera.

It’s Official: I have LOST my mind!

That’s right, folks. You read it. I have officially lost it. It’s been a long time coming, that’s for sure. And I am sure a lot of you are probably thinking I’ve lost it long ago, but believe me… I had not lost it until today.

Take a look at my Facebook status from earlier today:

“Dinner (mexican fiesta soup): On Stove”…. well, yeah. It was on the stove all right. You know, it really helps things cook if you actually turn the right burner on, don’t you think?

Yep.

Thanks to my husband, who was tasting it (“This is COLD!”), we were able to correct that mistake quickly. It’s on the stove now… the correct burner is on.

So dinner is going to be a little late.

And I wouldn’t be surprised if I did something to further prove my point that I’ve lost it in the future. Boy howdy! How embarrassing!

Dinner was a fiasco.

Lately Benjamin has been getting into these moods where he won’t eat what he doesn’t want to eat. We don’t freak out about it because… well there are other things to freak out about and not eating something isn’t it. We have our rules, though. He can’t have a snack before bed if he doesn’t eat his dinner (at least an acceptable amount of it), and if that’s the case, we usually save it for him to eat later (because like I said – it’s a mood, and his moods change).

Tonight, we had spaghetti. He loves spaghetti. --- wait, let’s rewind.

Tonight, Benjamin wanted pizza (again). We didn’t have anymore pizza. This crushed him. He looked in the fridge for the pizza box and it was gone and he was just absolutely crushed. Once he saw the spaghetti, though, he was over it and just wanted the spaghetti.

Like I said, he loves spaghetti. He ate all the spaghetti on his plate and then looked at our plates and said, “Boar sketti?” (more), totally ignoring the steamed veggies on his plate. We told him to eat a carrot and he can have more spaghetti. Well, this didn’t go over so well with Mr. Benjamin and he refused. But eventually, he ate one and seemed happy that he did, especially when more spaghetti came upon his plate.

He ate that, and wanted Yogurt.

We asked him to eat another carrot… and he freaked out at the table. It was like we had asked him to cut off a toe. He was sobbing. So we explained to him that he was a big boy and he needed to eat his vegetables like a big boy before getting some yogurt and finally, finally, he ate his carrot.

He got his yogurt. He was happy. But boy did it take a lot to get there! This “Two” business is wild! I also think maybe all the changes are catching up with him. I mean, having moved and not seeing the same people all the time… being in a new house with new stuff and new people to see… yeah, I can see where all this can sort of encourage a meltdown here or there. I sure do hope this passes soon, though!

2nd Birthday Party!

Benjamin’s party was Saturday and it was a blast! There were a ton of kids there and Benjamin enjoyed playing with all of them. The biggest hit were the balloons we had blown up and tried to tape to the pillars in the fellowship hall at the building. As soon as Benjamin walked in the room, he flipped out about the balloons and pulled some off of the pillar… oh well! He had fun running around with them and so did the other kids. We ended up with a lot of balloons on the ceiling but the guys took care of that. The party wasn’t extravagant by any means and it was barely organized but it was tons of fun and Benjamin loved every minute of it!

Here are some pictures from his party! Enjoy!

(Cookies and Cream cupcake recipe can be found here!)

(Birthday banner from Old Navy)

Balloon frenzy!

We took butcher paper and crayons and laid them out for the kids to draw on… well the kids were so busy with the balloons that the adults were the ones who did most of the coloring! ha!

Birthday cupcake!

We had asked that nobody bring gifts since we had just gotten everything put away finally, but some people wanted to and we didn’t turn them away! He got some really cute gifts, including this jersey in the colors of the high school team here!

And he got this. We’re not Auburn fans, but we’re good sports.

To everyone who came and/or helped out, THANK YOU! You made the party super fun!!

Ben Turns Two

Here are a few pictures from Benjamin’s big day! We didn’t do much because we were waiting for the internet guy to show up (don’t you hate having to schedule your day around someone who’s over two hours late?), and because our party is going to be on Saturday and we’ll have a bigger celebration then. Benjamin still had a very good day, though, and I gotta say… I am so glad that Benjamin is still at the age where quantity of gifts does not matter. We could have given him just a Toy Story balloon for his birthday and he would have been just perfectly happy!

The setup for Benjamin’s birthday.

He loves this balloon!

Opening gifts.

Yay! Big gift from Nana and Papaw!

He had been wanting to open this all day.

Playing with his new trains!

I wonder where Benjamin went….

He had such a great day! Can’t wait to share pictures from the party later!

Sweet Home, Alabama!

So we made it to Alabama! And we finally have internet at the house now, so I can finally get back into blogging! I have really missed all my bloggy friends and I have been spending some time catching up on y’alls blogs. I’m trying to leave comments but you know how things are. We have been very busy around here, if you can imagine, but I am happy to say we don’t have any unpacking left to do and we finally have places to sit in the living room! We are just waiting for the rest of our furniture to get here (that would be tables and lamps for the living room), and I’m also waiting for paint to dry on these shelves I’ve painted for our DVD’s… and then I  just need to keep things tidied and all is good!

I have been so good about keeping busy lately. Part of that is because I have been getting up earlier than I used to (which actually is about the same time in Georgia that I used to get up, but it also means I am getting more work in as I’m seeing more daylight).

Benjamin has adjusted very well. You’d never know he just moved here two weeks ago! He’s made friends whom he loves very much already and he just has made himself right at home with his new church family.

Speaking of which, we are so thankful God has blessed us with the church family we now work with! They are a wonderful group of people and we are really looking forward to really working with them and getting to know them better and building relationships with them!

We do miss being close to family and we know that Benjamin does too. A lot of the time, especially when we first got here, when we got in the car Benjamin would say, “Nana? Papaw? Bailey?” It was sweet but it also broke my heart. We are looking forward to seeing Andma and Poppa and Uncle Preston this weekend for Benjamin’s 2nd Birthday Party, though!

All in all, we are very happy here. We love the house, we love the people, and we are getting into the swing of things here in LA (Lower Alabama). Benjamin and I are getting used to not seeing daddy so much during the day but we are enjoying the time spent together.

I just wanted to give a quick update and hopefully later I’ll be able to share pictures of the house and everything with those who haven’t seen it yet. Here’s a hint: If you’ve seen Micah’s old house, you’ve seen our new house, HA! We love the Paschalls!

Well Mr. Benjamin is wanting help with his new train set… y’all take care and I’ll be catching up with your blogs soon enough!

Benjamin, you are TWO YEARS OLD!

Benjamin, my sweet darling boy, you are two years old today. I really cannot express my feelings today. You’re not really a baby anymore – you’re officially a toddler by clothing standards I guess, although you don’t fit into 2T yet (you’re just now starting to fill 24 month shirts and you’re still not really wearing 18 month pants and keeping them up without a cloth diaper). Your daddy and I have really been blessed by your shining presence in our lives and we are ever thankful that God saw fit to entrust you into our hands. It’s a big responsibility but we are so happy to do our best. You are such a joy and I have really enjoyed spending more one-on-one time with you since Daddy has been going to the office during the day and it’s just me and you to hang out.

Benjamin, we are so proud of all your accomplishments in this past year. You have done so much, like really getting active, starting to talk and then beginning to speak fairly well (at least to me you do). You learned how to swim, you learned how to count and you can recognize your alphabet. You know SO much Bible trivia – that really makes mommy so proud! You are a helpful boy and you are ever affectionate. You are so friendly even to people you don’t know very well and I have been amazed at how well you have adjusted to our big move. It’s like it didn’t even happen! We get a lot of compliments on how well you behave in church and out of church, and that really does make mommy so very proud of her precious boy. You are such a good boy!

Welcome to your third year of life, Benjamin! I pray it will be a good one and we can continue this journey together! I can’t wait to see what’s around the bend for us here in Alabama and I know that you will exceed our expectations like you always do! We love you, big boy! Can’t wait for the party on Saturday!

***********************************************

(I’ll post more about our new home later!)

cherishing memories

So life has been rather full and busy lately. Full of many things. Joys, sorrows, family, friends… many, many other things. I mentioned that my Great-Grandfather passed away last weekend. Tuesday was his funeral and we traveled down to South Georgia to be there with family. It was sad, for our sakes, but joyful for his gain. My life has been blessed as I have been his Great-Granddaughter and I will always cherish him.

Benjamin and his Great-Great-Granddaddy in August of ‘09

We were able to meet my cousins’ babies for the first time, and Benjamin especially enjoyed spending time at Hayden’s house because that is where we slept. We love Hayden so much and Benjamin is now obsessed with looking at this picture on my phone:

Aren’t they sweet? Benjamin was looking at this while we were in Costco and when the screen would go dark he would say, “Oh no! Hay-nen!” He just loves his little cousin. Oh, he also met and played with his third cousin Allie… who enjoyed slinging him around the living room, and he loved it too! Oh he just loved Allie!!

sweet little cousins

I am so thankful to have been able to make such sweet memories even when Benjamin likely won’t  remember them. Thanks to my cousin Tori I have these pictures of Benjamin and Allie playing. I have a ton more and maybe later on I’ll share some more. They had a roaring good time and had everyone else in the room rolling with laughter too! What sweet memories!

Me, My aunt, and my mom (who would kill me if she knew this was up… but I love this anyway. please ignore the gut, HA!)

Granddaddy Bob holding two of three Great Grandsons… Benjamin loved to give “Hay-nen” kisses!

My Beautiful Mimi!

Crawling out of Maggie’s cage with a cup full of peanuts…

Playing with future  wife Alethia (don’t worry, she’s not related… ha!)

Sweet Baby Stella (Alethia’s baby sister) – I got to meet her for the first time! She is three weeks old!

My kindred spirit Autumn and myself. I love her so much! She is Alethia and Stella’s momma. She and her family drove up for the funeral and we are so appreciative of how thoughtful they are and how they show love and support for our family!

Don’t you just love creating memories like that? While it was all because of something that to us is sad because we miss Granddaddy, being with family and friends always brings about something to cherish and hold close. We celebrated Granddaddy’s long, full life and said goodbye to a man who means more to us than we are able to express. But at the same time, we live on, touched by his life and by his devotion to God and the church and his family and friends.

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,
His mercies never come to an end:
They are new every morning!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul;
Therefore I will hope in Him!”
Lamentations 3:22-24

They really are new every morning! Tomorrow morning comes new blessings when we embark on a new journey in our life, making new memories to cherish! We leave to Middle Georgia to pack our U-Haul and then head out to Alabama on Saturday! We are very excited (and I am very anxious!) and can’t wait to be with the good people out there in Alabama! Keep us in your prayers, please!

If I’m not around to post much, now you know why! Many blessings, friends!