Easter 13

I miss the Easter Bunny!  But not the one that looked like a dairy cow standing on 2 feet.  THAT bunny made my little children (and many others in our Texas unit) cry.  On Easter morning I woke the boys up and had to promise Grant that the bunny had already left our house before he would leave his room to see his Easter basket!  Fast forward (too) many years and I now have a tween and 2 teens and no more Easter bunny.  Dennis asked when Easter baskets stop and I said NOT YET!  So we DID have Easter baskets (or Easter “Rubbermaid” tubs) but without the element of excitement like when they were little.


What do you get for boys?  Balls…tennis balls and small balls for batting practice, t-shirts, mini flashlights and candy!
I DID make a special breakfast.  2 of my 3 said, Did you find this on Pinterest?  Why yes I did. They are bunny cinnamon rolls just in case you could not tell without the almond slivers for teeth (forgot those).

We went to church and then attempted the Easter family photo.  The kids were the ones who reminded ME and even asked if we were dressing alike!!  (Now that I know they are IN, Wait until next year boys!)  The cat was walking around and even though we were trying to be quiet, the dogs heard us and pounced!  SO we decided to try for one with the WHOLE family.  While our picture taking sessions are much easier than when they were little, they are still quite a chore.  We did get a few decent ones.

We ate at my parents house and Dennis’s mother joined us.  While the ham was still cooking I hid the Easter eggs.  I had to resort to bribery and filled most of the eggs with money.  We even had 2 Golden Eggs.  Ryan said to hide them “hard” so I did and it took them quite awhile to find 30 eggs.
**while I am feeling nostalgic, one year we hid 100 eggs for 7 kids.  The first time they found 98, the second time they found 102!  The adults took turns hiding them in the backyard while the others relaxed in the front yard.  We hid them MANY times!   We have had Easter Eggs hunts in AL, MD, TX, GA (inside a small cabin) and HI (in the recreation area and in our small “house”).  For the one on Hawaii, I packed plastic eggs in my luggage along with collapsible “baskets” and all the goodies!**
ANYWAY:  The boys DID hunt eggs.  Preston found BOTH golden eggs and ended up with $14, Grant had $5 and Ryan had $6.

Someone said this should be an annual event and Preston asked, does annual mean after lunch?  Good try Preston.  We will hunt eggs for as many years as they are willing and then we will (hopefully and MANY years later), add grandchildren. 
In the middle of all our fun, we did go to church in our newly remodeled sanctuary and shared the real meaning of this day.  As much as I love my children, I cannot fathom having one go through all the pain and suffering that Jesus did, even if it would mean helping others.  What a sacrifice! 
Living, He loved me
Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified freely forever
One day He's coming
Oh glorious day, oh glorious day
*Glorious Day by Casting Crowns
Hallelujah He is Risen!
Happy Easter everyone!

Spring? Break

I stayed away from this blog and from facebook so that I would not blow a very big surprise.  My friend Bree is finally having a baby after several hiccups along the way.  Her baby shower just happened to be at the beginning of my spring break.  So I flew to Maryland to surprise her!  I stayed with my best friend Carey and my second husband Scott (and their 3 wonderful children).  I flew in Friday and surprised Bree on Saturday.

She was so excited and made us both cry. 

My other “besties” took the day off on Monday to play hooky with me.  Carey, Chris,  Bree, Jenn and I went to the Cheesecake Factory and the new casinos at Arundel Mills.  Our day started a little later than planned due to the SNOW!!!!

View of Carey’s backyard!

My lunch was good and this cheesecake was Fabulous!!!

We played the slot machines for awhile but only Carey was winning.  We had such a great time.  It was just like old times and almost made me cry because I knew I would have to leave again.  On Tuesday I got to go to my old school and see some of my former students all grown up…almost brought on more tears

Chris had to be out that day suddenly and they pulled her sub so I got to be “Chris” for the morning.  Carey and I left after lunch because she had a dr appt. but it was so nice to see everyone even for such a short time. I really did hate to leave but missed all my “boys”

While I was in Maryland, they went fishing with Kenny, Corbin, Caleb and friend Christian.  They had a great time even though it was freezing there too.

Think they brought home 49! 

We spent the rest of spring break unpacking, doing laundry and going to baseball games.  Preston and Grant were in a tournament.  They won 2 and lost one.  Grant did not get to play much since he just moved up to varsity and Preston finally came out of a hitting slump.  The weather was sunny so I did finally get a little sun on my arms, feet and face!  I need to at least look like it was Spring Break!  Tomorrow is Easter so I am sure I will take a “few” pictures!

Preston’s Hot Rod

I was staying late at work and asked Preston to pick Ryan up from workouts and take him to his play practice.  As I was driving home from work, Preston calls:

P: Hey MOM!  My truck is smoking!

Me: I am on my way, it is probably out of oil or something

P: This is embarrassing!

Me:  You will live, I had an old blue truck too and it smoked from time to time, hang on I am on my way

Next call:

Ryan: Mom the truck is on fire

Me: ON FIRE! WHAT?  are you out? did you call 911? Which side of the road are you….oh wait I see you (tons of smoke at a distance).

Preston thought his truck was making a weird noise and when he stopped at a red light it started smoking.  He waiting until the light was green and then pulled through the intersection and off into an old store parking area.  It was smoking pretty bad and he and Ryan were calling both me and Dennis.  Dennis told them to get out of the truck but Preston said, It is not on fire dad, just smoking and it is raining outside.  Then he said, hey dad there’s someone coming to my truck.  Dennis said if they are adults, they will help you.  “Dad they are saying to get out because the truck is on fire!”  Dennis; “get out"!”

By the time I got there I could hear the fire truck and the smoke was billowing way into the air. Preston and Ryan were standing away and a friend’s brother had also stopped when he saw Preston’s truck.

This is what I saw when I got there.  I was thinking just a little smoke like when your car over heats!

The fire men were great and even got Preston’s cleats and extra shoes out of the truck.

My friend, Sue said her husband showed her a picture of a truck on fire that he took on his way home from work.  Later she saw on Facebook that it was Preston’s truck.  Ron got a “great” picture of the flames.  The flames started out underneath which is why Preston did not see them but the truck driver across the street did!  Thank the Lord!

The aftermath!  Now Preston is driving Dennis’s old truck and Dennis has a “new” one.  I think it about killed him to give up the old truck.  We bought it right before Preston was born!

Very exciting day…and one where I thought we would all be home for a home cooked dinner because of the rain…HA!

I did tell Preston, “you win, my old truck smoked but it never caught on fire!”

Birthdays, Baseball and Basketball

and SNOW?  in Alabama? in March?  YES!!

My dad celebrated his birthday in February and I celebrated my birthday a few weeks later in March.  In between my dad and I took the boys to see Auburn play baseball and basketball on the same day.  I knew they were calling for colder weather but the groundhog did NOT see his shadow so I thought we would be fine.  We HAD been freezing every night watching Preston and Grant play baseball so we were used to the cold.  On the way to Auburn we had sleet and then flurries.  We we got to the game we grabbed our coats, hats, gloves, scarves and blankets.  During the game is snowed pretty hard for a short while (for an Alabama snow).  Ryan was embarrassed by my dancing to the music between innings but I was only TRYING to stay warm.  Auburn did win and so did we….free hot dogs for sitting in the row called out when the team had ?  strike outs.  (We will go back in May when it is warmer to get our hot dogs?).  We enjoyed the game and the Auburn hecklers…they were very funny – to us—maybe not so much for the other team.

See the snow???

 

The basketball game was warmer especially since heat rises and we were at the tippy top of the arena!  We had a great time at both games and will definitely do it again!

Josh Bynes of the Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens

Bo Jackson

2013…s0 far

I make a memory calendar each Christmas and we hardly ever have good pictures from January and February.  I was determined that this year we would take more but it is halfway through February and we just don’t slow down.  I have plenty of pictures of basketball games (6 a week some weeks) since that takes up most of our time.  We are hardly ever all together and looking decent.  Dennis and the boys have been working on putting a fence around some pasture land so he can bring his cows closer to home.  He has a hard time getting the boys all together to help because they are so busy.  I spend most of the weekends catching up on the laundry and house work.  I am going to stop right here to fold clothes and start another load….

Basketball is over and baseball starts TUESDAY!  Our varsity basketball team made it to the regional playoffs.  We drove 3 + hours last  night to play the team ranked 2nd in the state.  We lost by 11 but I do think we could have beaten them on a better day. 

Preston and Grant on the court together in the area tournament

Grant

Preston

Blurry…2nd place in area tournament

Warm ups before regional game

Grant played B-Team but moved up to varsity after the B team season so he got to go to the playoff game but only played a tiny bit at the end.  Preston played all but about 20 seconds of the game.  Proud of the season they both had.

At the NBHS fall sports banquet Preston and Grant both got certificates for playing on the varsity team.  Preston also got 2 individual awards:  Best Wide Receiver (16 catches for close to 200 yds) and Best Defensive Back!  Awards for both defense and offense…only one to get both.

forgot to get a picture of them all dressed up.  We almost forgot about the banquet and had to call grandparents and get ready quickly

With some friends and with all who received football awards

 

With his certificate and 2 awards!

Preston will be a senior next year! If that does not make you feel old, these next pictures WILL!

Ryan has very dark hair and has had a “mustache” for quite awhile.  It has gotten to the point where he wanted it off so he SHAVED!!!

Look closely…

Poor Ryan…he is the youngest so it became and family event!  They crack me up on a daily basis.

Valentine’s Day I cooked a nice dinner but Ryan was at play practice so it was just Me, Dennis, Preston and Grant.  Preston said something “boyish” at the table and I commented that I bet dinner time would be very different if we had all girls.  Grant did not miss and beat and turned to Preston and tapped him on the arm, they pretended to speak like girls and giggle with their hands over their mouths!  One of those “you had to be there moments” but too funny not to share.  I had tears in my eyes laughing.  LOVE my boys with or without table manners.  They are still works in progress!

Spring is just around the corner.  Dennis’s Uncle William has baby lambs and I thought we would go and hold one for a family picture…not!  They were too big to catch and the mamas and daddy were very protective.  They were cute though.

We also celebrated Dennis’s mom’s birthday in January.

We have the rest of February to try to take a few good family pictures…we’ll see.  We will be all bundled up for baseball games now.  Who starts baseball in FEBRUARY???