Hilton Head 2013

This summer, we went to Hilton Head again on vacation.  It was a really fun trip....Grandmama and Grandaddy went with us; both Mason and Chandler happened to have friends down there at the same time to hang out with; and we had bikes this time ~ fun, fun trip!

This trip was extra special because Ben's birthday happened to fall during that week.  Beachy birthday celebrations were had!

 

Ben is 4!

 Daddy taught Ben how to ride the waves ~ first time ever!

 

Fishing with Bobo...

Mommy and Anna

Ben and Anna's favorite thing to do was play in the waves.  Here they are, having a big time!!

 

Ben and Mason

Ben and Chandler

 

This beach trip was extra fun with Grandmama and Grandaddy there!

 

Our little bumblebee :)

The big excitement one day was a real sailboat ride for Mark and Chandler.  They took it out all by themselves with another dad and son, and actually had a Man Overboard situation!  It was all in fun, though, and everyone made it back safe...whew!

 

Cutie pies!

I adore this picture!!

And we wrapped up a fun week with a family bike ride to the General Store for ice cream! 

 

Kachow! Ben is 4

Last month, Big Ben turned four!  He has really liked the Cars movies with Lightning McQueen and Mater for a long time now, so we had a Cars Pool Party.  Mater + swimming = 2 of his favorite things :)

The Whole Gang!

Besides the cool cake with an edible Lightning McQueen on top (Ben wanted a "tall cake"), one of the highlights was this ballon stop light!!  Ben is crazy about stop lights and checks them out everywhere we go.  After the party, we took it off the pole and hung it up in his room ~ so fun!

Most definitely, though, the most fun Ben had was swimming with his brothers in the pool :)

Happy Birthday, Ben!

Lots of his friends and family came ~ we must have had 50 people there!  Grandmama and Grandaddy came, and Meme and Pop, Grandaddy and Mrs Alice even came all the way from Gastonia!  What a great birthday!!  We love our Ben and are so thankful for him :)

 

Ben (Age 4) and Great Grandaddy Dunn (Age 89)

School Days are Here!

I can't believe school is in full swing!!  Ben and Anna both had a GREAT first day.  I was a little nervous about Anna going for the first time ever...she's pretty attached to Mama most of the time.  However, my BABY didn't bat an eye when I left!  She sat right there and ate her snack of raisins and milk and said, "Bye Bye Mama"!  I really think that seeing Ben go to school all year last year got her comfortable with the idea.  You could tell she was so proud to have a bookbag (no help carrying it from Mama please!) and be going to school just like her big brother :)

Age 4, Mrs. Lisa's Class

Age 1 (almost 2!), Mrs. Robin's Class

Summer So Far ~ 2013

I really can't believe it, but school's starting back soon!!  Our summer has flown by...thank goodness it's not over yet ;)

Ben and Anna (and Mommy!) have really loved how the weather has been so pleasant.  I don't think there has been one day that I thought, "Ugh, it's too hot to go out and play."  So we have been outside a LOT.  Up until we went to the beach, their new (homemade out of a Rubbermaid bin) sand table was their favorite thing to play with.  After the beach, sand = old news.  Ha, ha!

Cousin Hank, along with Aunt Anne and cousin Max, came to visit and we had a ball!  Matching outfits were found for the boys and that seemed to multiply the fun by 100! 

Hank and Ben

Chandler was in lots of baseball tournaments this summer.  Here they are cheering him on. (Well, actually constantly climbing bleachers and raiding the cooler for ice to play with, but that's ok!)

 

Although it hasn't been to hot to play outside most days, it has rained a lot this summer.  So, we've found some fun indoor things to do.  Ben thought this "no mess" finger painting was cool...two paint colors, baby oil and waterbeads all sealed up in a bag taped to the table.  He squished it around for almost an hour!  Anna wasn't as impressed, so he squished hers around, too. 

 This might be my absolute favorite picture of Ben and Anna together of all time....Happy 4th of July!!

"Bunny"

Ben and Anna both have the sweetest lovies named Bunny.  Ben's is a boy bunny, of course; Anna's is a pink miniature version of Ben's.  They both have to have their bunnies for naps and night time.  Ben is pretty good about leaving his bunny in his bed during the day, but Anna wants to carry hers around the house.  When Anna's getting a tooth, Bunny's ears get chewed on a LOT.  So, since her bunny gets misplaced (dropped in random places, hidden in baskets, walked in the baby doll stroller and forgotten) quite a bit, we have two extras. 

We recently added girl bunny #3 to our fleet because Mommy couldn't keep up with washing the original two...and they NEED washing on a regular basis due to lots of teething Miss Anna is doing lately.  Here's what an "old" and new bunny look like in comparison:

Whoa!!  I don't realize how "loved" the bunnies are until we get a new one (thank goodness they still make them and I can get one here in two days from Amazon!).  But don't think a newbie bunny is going to be immediately accepted into the gang around here....oh, no!  Chewed up lovies don't phase Anna a bit; in fact, she prefers them :)  New Bunny has to be physically bound to Old Bunny for a few days so Anna will carry it around - otherwise she just throws it down...REJECT!

After New Bunny gets a little wear on her, we can untie her from the other bunny and add her to the rotation.  Much to Anna's delight :)



Bunny in the car, sharing a chocolate with Anna. 
Note to self:  Anna can now open wrappers.

It's a Bunny Bonus Day when Mommy forgets to put one of the spares away...two bunnies, whoo hoo!

 

 Bunny in the pool bag after swim lessons (she's there for moral support:)!

Bunny and Elmo, getting a stroller ride....

Anna and her Great Grandmother "Nana", and Bunny...on Mother's Day

Mommy, Anna and Bunny on Mother's Day

Finally, this post wouldn't be complete without the bunny that started it all...Ben's little bunny buddy :)

 

April and May Catch-Up

One of these days, I will catch up and “stay up” to being current on this blog.  Lately, though, it seems like I’m always posting old news.  I just hate to let anything special get left out, because I know one day, this blog will be the only pictures we look back at…why?  Because currently there are 11,589 pictures of the kids on my computer.  Most likely, we won’t be leisurely browsing back through those, ha ha!!

So with that, here are some good times from this spring.

Feeding the Geese in the Holston River

 

Anna ate more bread than she threw in!

 Ben's favorite ~ pancake breakfast!

Walks with Elmo (fashionably wearing Anna’s pink PJ’s) before it got so hot …Anna held Elmo’s hand for half the walk, so cute!

 

Celebrating Daddy's birthday with a yummy fruit pizza!

 

As school wrapped up, we had Muffins with Mom and Donuts with Dad. Also, since Ben has a summer birthday, we celebrated a liitle early with ice cream cone cupcakes and animal masks.

Ben's the lion in the middle!

 

 

Here's Ben with his teacher, Mrs. Linda.  She was such a fun teacher, and really loved Ben :)

My little buddy is growing up fast!

School Pictures 2012/2013 ~ A Pleasant Surprise!

Ben's "school picture" for this year came out super cute....definitely NOT reminiscent of some of the beauties I have from my school days!  I love the contemporary style of the photographer, and I even took Anna to have hers done, too, even though she's not in preschool yet.  I'm always surprised how she can get them to give such a natural, beautiful smile.  These were a few months ago, so Anna has more hair now and Ben has less (haircut!), ha ha!!

Ben ~ Age 3

Anna ~ 16 months

Miss Anna ~ 18 months

Anna and Curious George at the library for Mother Goose story time.

Oh dear!  We're starting to close in on age 2!!  Our sweet girl is growing so quickly, and we adore every single day.  She's sweet, giving hugs and kisses all the time; kind, often bringing Ben his favorite blanket and lovie "Bunny"; fun, always dressing up in whatever she can find - hats, shoes (mine, hers, Ben's), Ben's clothes, jackets, even Mark's stuff she found in the dirty clothes one time!!  THAT looked hilarious!



I was cleaning out Ben's small winter clothes and she insisted on wearing them.
Good thing we weren't going anywhere!

Giant Plastic Easter Egg Half = Hat

She loves saying her family members' names:  Dada, Mama, BOBO!  She is getting really close to being able to say Ben and Maymay (Mason), too! Just this past week she has added bowl and more to her vocabulary, and started using the word Mama to get my attention instead of just babbling it.  Mama sure does love that!

 

Hat, purse, Bunny in the buggy...Check!  Ready for grocery shopping :)

Anna loves Elmo.  Whenever she spots a book, stuffed Elmo, plastic toy, with his face on it, she gets excited and points, saying, "OHHHH!"  Just today she actually said, "Elmo"!!  Her favorite, though, is "Bunny".  We have three of them in rotation because after a day or two, they are filthy and need to be washed.

Usually, Bunny is the only thing in Anna's crib, but for this nap she wanted Elmo, too.  Precious!
(Yes, Elmo is wearing her PJ's.  He's also wearing a diaper.  Ha!!)

One exciting thing lately was Anna's dedication at church.  She looked so beautiful in her sweet pink dress...



 

Grandmama and Grandaddy Morin, and Mimi were there, too!

 

 

One last silly ~ Anna and big brother Ben hamming it up for the camera :)

 

Spring Cuties, 2013

I honestly could not believe my eyes.  On a chilly morning at Winged Deer Park, Ben (our Ben Williams!!) sat for a mini photo session with NO complaints, ALL beautiful smiles, and even helped us with a difficult Anna (poor sweetie was getting the sniffles) like I've never seen before.  The picture of maturity and a showcase of proper parenting, he shined like no other 3.5 year old getting their picture made in Easter clothes ever has before.  Bahahahah!!  Just kidding - yes, he did fabulous, but I must admit he was bribed with an entire two boxes of Fruit Roll-Ups.  Yes, two...the kind that are square and the kind that are a foot long.  It was critical that he acquire BOTH.  Well, it worked, and I was surprised because bribes usually only work for three minutes :) Totally worth it though!

Awww, look at that sweet brother!!  I'm glad we have a photo of this moment, because this is not a common occurance at home, ha!

Technically these are Easter pictures, but Easter was early this year so it was a bit chilly :(  I made Anna's dress and hated to cover it up, but we needed a sweater for most of the time!

Handsome Fella!

My favorite of them all!!!!

Sorry, couldn't resist this precious one with Daddy - he really knows how to get her to laugh!  After this, we jumped back in the car (that we left running with the heat on) to warm up and off to Ingles for Fruit Roll Ups!