Ice ice baby

The weekend before last, Dallas froze over. And when ice hits Dallas, the entire city shuts down. It was upper 70's Wednesday and in the 20's thursday!  Luckily it hit on a weekend so most people didn't miss too much work. We LOVED being stuck at home together. So fun!  Tons of fires, snuggles and tv. Our neighborhood was an ice rink, but we did take the jeep to 7-11 Friday night and Walmart Saturday just to get out. It was scary!!!!  

We took the kids redneck ice sledding over the weekend. It looked like snow, but was inches of thick ice. We used plastic containers and went to the field by the pool. The hardest part was getting there and  it's only 3 houses away. The boys loved it, Ben more than Briggs. Their laughter and smiles was the best sound!

Ice blocked the signal on the dish Saturday so B 'maguivered' a way to heat it. That's a curtain rod and a space heater duck taped to it (with the ladder on the ice). Football before safety when it co e's to Baylor vs Texas!!!

No snow, just ice!!!

Pumpkins

Look at me catching up- 4 posts tonight!

Rewinding a month or so...

Last month we spent some time with friends enjoying pumpkins!!!

Love this adorable shirt Michelle made for Briggs. Totally his crazy personality!

My boys at the pumpkin patch! Ben is wearing the super hero pumpkin shirt Michelle made for him. She's the greatest!

On the hay ride

At the arboretum. Last year I got the best pics of the boys in the pumpkins. Recreating it was a bad idea!

Love our friends Ella and Owen. 

The boys played dress up with ben's Captain America costume from last year. Too big for one, too small for the other. 

Playing with goo at a costume party with friends. 

Starbucks Fail!

Tuesday it was about 40 degrees out. The awesome mom in me thought I'd surprise the boys after school with a hot chocolate date at Starbucks. Total fail!  It would appear that the luke warm kid's hot chocolate is way too hot for Ben. He was a total toot!  And then he spilled his drink on his toys r us "tatalog" that he brought in and at that point his world was ruined (and all of Starbucks knew it)!  His sweater was itchy, drink too hot and catalog was ruined. And he tried to hit me or something in the car which resulted in going straight to his room when we got home. Awesome!

Briggs, on the other hand, is ready for our second date!  

Grammy!

So I'm a little late in posting. Oops. 

The week of Halloween, Grammy came for a visit!  I'm not sure who was more excited!  It was so much fun. We shopped (you're welcome Frisco businesses), ate and played. So much fun. And Grammy was here for Halloween. She got to go to ben's school fall festival and be here for trick or treating. Such a fun, fun, fun time!

We went to outback one night. Briggs are half a bloomin' onion!  Def daddy's kid!

Two seconds later he dropped the chick

Not sure who loves the other more!

Ben and Addie- at their first Halloween and as four year olds!

After school and before trick or treating, we took the boys to Build a Bear. 

Super Bear and Ranger Bear ready for their new homes

Elmo and Leo the ninja turtle ready to trick or treat!

A little fun at ikea for these two

The boys did freeze dance time with Grammy!

Grammy spoiled us all, like she does. We are sooooooooo blessed to have this amazing person in our lives!  She is so loved!!!

Sleepover

Friday night the boys asked to sleep together...in the same bed. I gave them 30 minutes max before I had to get Briggs, but they slept ALL night!  Even got up Saturday and played without waking us up. Score!

We tried again tonight. Our luck ran out. But there's hope!!!

5 years ago...

5 years ago today I found out this little guy had moved in to my belly!  And while the weeks following were scary and nerve racking, I wouldn't trade them for anything. Sweet Ben- you are the best. I have loved you more than anything for five years now. I would have given anything for you to be safe five years ago and the same is true now. You are a miracle!  Our miracle!  I read a few weeks ago that a baby born after the loss of a baby or a miscarriage is called a rainbow baby since it's the beauty that comes after a storm. I can't imagine a more wonderful rainbow than you, Ben!

It's not technically your bday, but a very special day nonetheless!  So here are some facts about you at 4 years and 4 months:

-you love tv, superheroes "guys", toy cars and planes from the Pixar movies, ninja turtles

-you're only allowed to watch Disney jr or sprouts, but could sit and watch tv all day. It's what calms you and you have to have a little tv time as soon as you come home from school. 

-you can read!  You are rocking your CVC words and try to sound out everything you see. You read the word "Frisco" on my car and almost exploded with happiness!  This teacher mama loves it!

-you are sooooo good at school, mops and cubbies. So well behaved. This angelic behavior doesn't exactly follow you home though. 

-you love to snuggle and give me hugs and kisses

-you are the heaviest sleeper!  The other day the windows were open and you were snoring as the lawn guys were outside the window. You also still hate to sleep by yourself. You love being able to fall asleep in our bed. 

-you are MESSY!  You do not care about neatness. You are a bit of a slob and oh how I wish you got that trait from daddy, but sadly, it's me!

-you're a very picky eater, but hate white milk, fig newtons, candy corn and pepperoni

-you love all those bad snacks and drinks that you shouldn't have :)

-you're a really good big brother when you want to be. But you two also fight like cats and dogs!

-you're in 4t bottoms and 5t tops

Sweet Ben- we love you!  We love your big heart to others. We love how you talk about how much you love the Lord and how much He loves you!  Each day you make my heart grow and I can't wait for it continue to grow with love for our sweet Ben!

Buddy

So mommy has a bit of an addiction to cokes from mcds. Just mcds. And they're only a buck. And mcds is close. Like three within a couple miles. So we spend many mornings running through the drive thru. Throughout our countless visits, we normally had the same cashier, Sheldon. Sheldon ALWAYS had a big smile and said "hi buddies" to the kids- normally while slipping them happy meal toys as I paid. So for over two years they've always gotten excited to see "buddy."  We love Buddy. I even ran into him at Walmart one night and he was so sweet about the boys. And it's not just me. Many of our friends know who he is and agree he's so friendly. 

I grabbed a coke after taking the boys to school for their first day and he mentioned it was his last week!  Now I made it without tears at drop off for the boys, but that almost did me in!  What would we do without him?  I told Ben the next morning and my sweet boy BURST into tears. Just about tore this mama's heart in two!  We took Buddy a little card and gift (movie tickets) as a thank you/good luck. He's in truck driving school now. 

We joke at home about how twisted our relationship is with "the dude who works at mcdonalds," but I love how God brought Buddy into the boys' lives. Doesn't matter what kind of job you have- you can make a difference. Buddy is so loved by the boys. They play mcds all the time and call themselves Buddy. Do I want them to work mcds one day?  I don't know- but- I want them to have an impact on someone like Buddy has done for them!  My favorite part was that every night the boys both pick someone special to pray for. The night we said bye they both picked him at the exact same time. :)

He asked that I send him this pic and in doing so I got his number. Today he sent the boys some pictures of the truck he's driving and said he misses seeing them. I told the boys we'd have to go see him drive a truck sometime- because what boy doesn't LOVE trucks!