Fun at Granny and Paw-Paw's

(Before I get to our fun day with Granny and Paw-Paw, I wanted to mention my last post "Are we too sensitive?". As of this second, that post has received 782 hits, since Friday when I posted it. That boggles my mind. I know so many of you shared that post and it spread like crazy. I was not expecting that. I never intended for that post to get so much attention. I was just writing about something that had been on my mind for some time. Most of my posts get, on average, 50-75 views. Some posts get more, but rarely are they over 200 hits unless it is a big topic. I just really don't get a lot of traffic so it has been surreal to see that almost 800 people have read that recent post. It's crazy. I just want to say "thank you" again to all of you that contributed to the post by commenting to my question on Facebook. I couldn't have written that post without your input.)

Enough of that, let's get to the pictures!

We recently spent the day at Granny and Paw-Paw's house. The boys love going to see their great-grandparents. We haven't been out there since Christmas so the boys were very excited.

I took a ton of pictures...as usual.

The first thing they wanted to do was play with Nikki. They love Nikki.

Benjamin insisted we buy a toy for Nikki, so we did.

Benjamin was trying to pull up a stick for Nikki to play with.

Their next favorite thing to do is ride in the golf cart.

Apparently Nikki wanted to go for a ride too. She also wanted to give Caleb kisses.

Nikki is giving Caleb lots and lots of kisses.

Caleb trying to get away from all the dog kisses.

Nikki decides to just sit on Caleb.

Recline on Caleb.

Smooshing Caleb's face.

I was laughing so hard by this point I could barely breathe. I eventually stopped taking pictures and helped the boy out.

Riding on the golf cart with my little man.

We stopped to visit the goats.

I really want a goat. They are so cute.

We hitched the trailer to the golf cart so Paw-Paw could take them for a spin.

The boys loved this!

Benjamin found a wheelbarrow to play with.

Putting a pile of rocks on the wheelbarrow.

Trying to push the wheelbarrow.

Uh oh, it tipped over.

Trying to get it back up.

It's really heavy and awkward.

The stubborn wheelbarrow made Benjamin mad (look at that face!).

All smiles once he sits on the riding lawn mower.

As if we weren't having enough fun, Paw-Paw built a fire.

Benjamin loved the fire pit. He had more fun finding sticks, rocks, and leaves to throw into the fire.

Caleb kept a safer distance.

Seriously, Benjamin couldn't stop himself from throwing things into the fire. He's a little pyro.

After roasting some mellows on the fire, we took a short hike.

Caleb gets a free ride on daddy.

Benjamin navigates the tough terrain on his own.

We had a great time at Granny and Paw-Paw's!

A Prayer-Filled Purpose for Christmas Cards

When I had the genius idea to do the SB Christmas Card Exchange, I had already decided that I wouldn't just toss all those cards received after the holidays were over. My SB family is, just that...family. I knew I wanted to keep the cards. I stumbled across this idea of creating a "book" as a way of keeping all the cards together. So, I made my own (using the template located on the link above).

So cute right?

(click the link above to download)

I had another idea. I wanted to pick a Christmas card at random and then pray specifically for that person/family for a week. I received about 57 cards this year so I'll pick a card (randomly) each week for the rest of the year, I'll have to double up a few times since I have more than 52 cards. I thought this was such a great idea and it turns out I'm not the only smart person in the world because a couple of days ago I read this post. This family started using their Christmas cards as a way to have purposeful prayer for a specific person/family. I know that prayer is something I struggle with. I don't always take the time to specifically pray for others. And I'm not likely to pray for someone or their family unless I know a specific need they have. By choosing a new card each week I'll have the opportunity to pray for a family just because. Once I draw a new card at the beginning of each week, I'll probably let the person/family know that I'll be praying for them all week and to let me know if they have any specific prayer requests. I'm really excited about doing this. I wanted a good location for the card so I would be reminded several times a day to pray. So I made this:

It's just a simple frame I made using scrapbook paper, ribbon and some letters I already had. I put magnets on the back to I can stick it to the fridge. Every week I'll put the Christmas card in the frame. Let's face it, I go to the fridge about 63 times a day so there will be a lot of opportunity for me to pray. I just love this idea. I'm excited to see what develops by doing this.

I encourage all of you reading this to do the same thing. Who's with me?

Christmas at Granny and Paw-Paw's

This past Saturday we had Christmas at Granny and Paw-Paw's house. Christmas at Granny and Paw-Paw's is quite an event with 37 people, tons of food, even more desserts, and presents. The boys always have a great time because they get to see their cousins.

The kids spent most of the time outside playing basketball.

This child loves basketball.

Benjamin mostly walked around looking mischievous.

I can't tell...did Caleb like his gift?

(He got NBA Jam for the Wii. He was so excited.)

Benjamin took his time opening his gifts.

Side note on Mr. Benjamin: I've decided he is a very peculiar kid. I mentioned in my last post about him saving the bag of m&m's he got at school last week (the bag of candy is still in the pantry by the way...uneaten). Well, he got a new train track including a bridge and new trains, plus a Hot-wheels track for racing his cars, and light-up Spider-man shoes (shoes that he had been BEGGING for) at Granny and Paw-Paw's. These are all things that he loves and he was super excited to see them. BUT, he won't open the boxes to play with the toys. He won't try on his new light-up Spider-man shoes. At first I thought he just didn't want his cousins to mess with his stuff but even when we got home with his new goodies, he still wouldn't take them out of their boxes. All day yesterday I tried to get Benjamin to play with his new toys or try on his shoes, but nope, kid wouldn't do it. Today is Monday and even with Bubba at school, his new toys completely safe from anyone other than Benjamin playing with them...he refuses to open the boxes. It is like he loves them so much, he doesn't want them to get messed up. So peculiar. I've never seen anything like it. That kids beats to his own drum, that's for sure. 

Meanwhile Caleb had to play his new NBA Jam game as soon as we got home.

Day of Trains

I was gone most of the day Saturday for a Spina Bifida Education Day, leaving Glenn and the boys to fend for themselves. They took advantage of the day by meeting up with Grandpa Joel and heading out to a train show and a train ride. I was sad to have missed the fun with them but dad did a great job of taking some pictures.

I'm not sure what Caleb is looking at, but it must be good given the expression on his face.

After the train show, it was time for a train ride.

I think Benjamin is having fun.

 And finally, they went to feed some hungry ducks.

Walk-n-Roll

A huge thank you to all of you that donated. I am always blown away by the generosity of others and how so many people are willing to give money to support Caleb. I'm especially touched by those of you that have never met Caleb but show your support anyway. I set a pretty lofty goal of raising $1,500 and we almost met that goal. I couldn't be more happy with the amount we raised and all of the wonderful people that donated are to thank for that.

The Walk-n-Roll was this past weekend. This is our SB chapter's 3rd time to host this event and it has gotten bigger every year. We always have the event at Burger's Lake which is a really neat place and the boys are always so excited to go.  Here are some pictures from Saturday:

Benjamin supporting his big bro with a PROUD Brother shirt.

Caleb's Crew at the Walk-n-Roll

One PROUD family!

Cousin Jay showing his support with the 3E Love Logo.

Walkin'-n-Rollin'

The SBANT raised almost $65,000! That is awesome.

After the walk it was time for some fun in the sun and sand.

Benjamin and cousin Hunter wasted no time and got busy digging with shovels.

About 45 seconds after this picture...

 ...I took this picture

This is Glenn pouring water into Caleb's EYEBALL! Caleb managed to get a ridiculous amount of sand all in his eye and I mean IN HIS EYE!  His EYEBALL was covered in sand people! Thankfully Glenn was able to rinse it out and we proceeded with sun and sand fun.

And Benjamin proceeded to scoop sand up.

And then dump it in the water. He pretty much did this the entire time.

After the whole "sand in the eyeball" fiasco, Caleb headed to the water.

Riding on Aunt Whitney's back.

The little ones are still busy returning the sand back to the water.

Burger's Lake

It was a really special day for us. We are so thankful for the family and friends that came and walked with us and for all of you that donated. We are so blessed to have such a great support system. 

Thank you.