Easter

As promised, Canaan's new and improved story. Improved, not perfect! (I am typing it with spelling and grammar errors included)

"Oh, no! The Easter Bunny slept late! Now he has to...
 ...hurry out of the hole and get in to his jet-bus and drive. Mrs. Bunny was in the pasenger seat and Jr. Bunny in one of the back seats and Bob Bunny in one of the other back seats and Hunny Bunny back there too.
 Then they stoppped at the first house and as fast as you can say "egg", poof! the Bunny family had alredy made it to house two thousand one hundred and fifty-nine. That is like the whole town of Adairsville. Very soon he was done and stopped at the toy store and got bob and Jr. action bunny figures and hunny a bunny doll. Next, off they went to bunnymart and got Mrs. bunny a new flowerpot, and went home. the end
 And the writer fell asleep zzzzz"

He needs to work on capitalization, and a few spelling errors, but we can fix that. I love that he felt the need to add the sleeping to the end. He had to tie the old story in with the new!

Zion wrote an Easter story too.

 "The Easter bunny brought me a chocolate egg. Right as I went to take a bite out of it....
... an alien popped out and flew to the Easter party and said, "My name is E.T. and I love Coke."

 Andy wants to know if it is Coca-cola or the other stuff. But he says that both our boys are aware that "crack is whack"!

 While speaking of Easter - we had some fun!

 Church party

 3rd Group Easter party

 Look at that jump! (and in cowboy boots too)

1st place in his age group for the obstacle course!

 Canaan got a pretty good jump in too, but Andy was running the camera at that time so there aren't as many pictures. He was running the camera because...

it was time for the 3 legged race- it's all about the teamwork, or if you are a big army dad, picking your kid up while you run! (see below)

 Canaan had to work with someone his own size - great way to get to know someone!

 Daddy's car, painted on their faces

 "Bethany - get that camera away from me!"

 Tug of war!

My prize winning boys- all worn out, but they had a blast. 

And we still had a fun ride home...

As Andy explains it, "The mistress is back!"

End of the season

We have had a busy summer season of T-ball. Lots of time on the road, but what fun!

 Zion had never played ball, of any sort really, so this was very needed so that I could feel less like a failure as a mother.

These pictures were taken over the course of the "season", so they come from lots of angles, but you can see the fun!

 Ready to play

 Look at that beautiful hit! 

And he's off...

Waiting patiently for the ball to come his way. 

Canaan took this picture with his camera. Didn't he do a fabulous job?!

 I love this picture because you can see Andy coaching 3rd in the background. Sometimes at this age they need reminded to move on. That was supposed to be Andy's job. However, he introduced himself to each child, learned their names, and soon they really enjoyed him. By the end of the season they would be out there chatting with him at 3rd and we would have to yell from the dugout, reminding him to send them on home. So funny!

 I am pretty proud of this picture. A full half of them looking, and (mostly) smiling, at the SAME TIME. This took work!

 I love this picture of little brother from down the street running the bases during "warm up".

He was a riot to add to the dugout. 

You see...

 one adorable mommy friend...

 and a very full dugout...

made for a very busy set of mommies! 

What fun we had!

 All done...

We didn't have a super turn-out for the end of season pizza party

 but the ones we did have 

 were very proud

of their awesome medals!

I hope your summer is winding down nicely. 

We certainly finished with a last hurray!

I love being a mom. 

Blessings, 

Last minute play time

Well, Andy is "gone".
 It's funny, really, how seriously we have been taking these last few days. He isn't going far. He is only switching branches - from Air Force to Army, and going down to Ft. Benning, about 3 hours from where we are right now. But our next year is very much "up in the air". Technically he becomes Army tomorrow. However, he doesn't start his Officer training until July. Which leaves the next five months very open. What will he be doing for the next five months? Where will they have him live? Dorms? Can we visit him there?
 And the questions go on and on - because even after he finishes his officer training, we don't know where his next set of training will be, or how long it will last, or if we will be able to follow him or have to stay here.
 See what I mean about "up in the air"? In a way it is almost a relief to have him gone. Not because I don't want him around, but because some of the questions will start to get answered now - and that sounds wonderful!

 These last few days have been almost funny. It suddenly hit us that we may not see him for several weeks, depending on how the paperwork flows. We suddenly felt the need to pack as much fun in as we could.
 First he had to bring himself out of "vacation mode" and shave.

He hates having his pictures taken, but I wanted one last shot of those crazy sideburns. 

We won't see something like that for another 11 years or so. 

Goodbye Wolverine -

Army, here we come!

 Andy will be storing his motorcycle at my sister's while he is gone. Their garage has a tiny bit more room then the one here at my parents - plus, my BIL rides, so it will actually get some TLC on occasion! We took the bike up there and spent Saturday afternoon exploring the mountainsides of N. GA/Southern Tenn.

 Andy's bike is the one in the front, but Travis' is more comfy for two, so we were riding it. I like having the sissy bar- it makes me feel just a little bit more contained or something

I wish I could ride and take pictures at the same time, but I love my camera too much to risk it. But oh, oh, the beautiful things I saw from the back of that bike. Oh well, I am pretty sure I am not advanced enough to get a clear picture at 65 miles an hour anyway...

 Daddy and his boys took advantage of the nice weather one afternoon and build a fort in the back yard. Can you see it down at the bottom of the "mountain"?

 A kind gentleman guided me through the woods, and taught me the secret password to enter the realm of wonder. 

 Some teens (we assume) had left behind their "stash" of stolen road signs, which we had noticed in the snow a few weeks ago.  

 Such amazing things can be found in a creek bed in the woods...

Used Christmas tree - check. Rotten boards from construction on the house - check. Miscellaneous rocks, sticks and moss, all propped against a fallen tree - check. 

 Little boys, covered in mud,

 pretending they are off on an adventure, (I think he looks like Huckleberry Finn!) 

with their stash of "treasure" stacked near by- check. 

That, my friends, makes a perfect fort, down in the bottom of a dry creek bed! 

The next day Andy brought home a new toy

 Can you tell from this picture? 

 Maybe this one, with a different focus?

It was a B.B. gun! 

They listened very intently to the rules and safely instructions, but then they were ready to get down to business. How, precisely, do you work the thing?!

 Find something to aim at (bottles daddy hung from trees work well)

 Find a position you are comfortable in

 Line up your shot, so that they little white dot thingy on the front of the gun sits in the right cradle spot near the back (This is my memory and understanding of the explanation - don't blame Andy for the crazy wording!) 

Brace yourself - and take your shot. 

 Most importantly, have fun with Daddy! 

Yep, Andy is "gone" now. But we sure did pack in the fun those last few days!