Look What Came in the Mail Today!

We decided to order some painted lady larvae so we could watch their life cycle as they turn into painted lady butterflies! They finally arrived today and we are looking forward to watching our little caterpillars turn into butterflies! Beckett and Helen were so excited to find the box containing our caterpillars in the mailbox today, so I re-created "the moment" and went back out to the mailbox to take some pics!

Here is the culture cup with the caterpillars inside.

Beckett and Helen are creating their journals to document what we observe over the next three weeks! What fun content for the blog! (At least for me, the weird stay-at-home mom!) :)

The last few days.........

Jumping in the "jumpoline" at Nana and Papa's house with Beckett and Helen's cousins! Nana and Papa bought this really cool inflatable castle to let the grandkids play in and they all had a blast Saturday evening bouncing around in it! We just wish Ty and Marley lived a little closer so they could have been there, too!

Beckett, Lillie, Helen and Connor
Swimming with our friend and neighbor, Carson in his pool! (Or should I say "splashing" in his pool?) Needless to say, Beckett dis-places much of the water with each trip down the slide!

I left my camera at Sean's mom and dad's house on Saturday evening after a cook-out to celebrate Mother's Day with his mom. Therefore, I wasn't able to take any pictures of the kids and me on Mother's Day! I hope that all of you mothers had a wonderful day with your loved ones! I had a great day even though I had a pretty rotten cold that has turned into a sinus infection! Yuck! Hopefully the anti-biotic will kick in soon! Anyway, after church Sean made my favorite pasta dish for lunch and Beckett and Helen gave me cards and pictures that they had drawn. They all gave me a gift certificate to a day spa! So, I'm hoping to schedule a pedicure and a chair massage SOON! I am truly blessed and LOVE being a mom!

I'd like to ask you to remember Sean's brother, Josh, when you pray! He had a freak accident on Sunday when he was installing a light fixture. He cut his wrist very badly and had to have many stitches. They thought that everything was OK, but he does not have much feeling in his fingers. He is going to another Dr. this morning to get a second opinion and quite possibly will have to have surgery. I'm sure that he and Kathy will appreciate your prayers as they make decisions about how to best correct this injury to the nerves in his wrist!

Blessings to you all!

Helen's Turn to Turkey Hunt!

I had one excited little girl on Monday when she found out that she was going to go turkey hunting with her daddy when he got home from work! She was so excited to get to ride in "Mater" (which is Sean's early 90's red Nissan truck) and that she would get to wear camo and call turkeys like her dad and brother! Don't worry, the gun she is holding is one of Beckett's play guns! They had a great time and didn't see or hear any turkeys, but I'm certain that a lot of special memories were made!

Always posing! Even in camouflage!

Game Ball!

My mom and dad drove over to watch Beckett's baseball game last night and Sean's mom and dad are able to come to all of his games, so he had quite a cheering section last night! He played very well and hit the ball hard! Beckett earned the game ball which is an honor given to the player who has hustled and played hard all night so we were all excited and proud of him! Great game Beckett!

Sliding into home!

I've been trying to get a video of Beckett sliding into home plate and finally got one last night. Remember that he is playing in an instructional league, so everybody hits every inning and there are really no plays at home! However, Beckett feels the need to slide every time! Not only did I catch his excellent form, but as he popped up, he saw me videoing and did a quick "pose" for the camera! I hope you can tell how much fun he has! :)

Why We Love Sunday Nights.......

Here is a picture of some of the kids that come to our home on Sunday nights with their families for our growth group time! There were two other children here last night that didn't get in the picture and there are about 5 other kids whose families didn't make it last night! We are so glad that the weather is warmer and that the days are longer! The kids play outside from about 5:30 until almost 8:00 every Sunday night! I heard that next week they will be learning some karate moves!

So, Beckett lost his two bottom teeth over a month ago, but just decided last night that he wanted to leave his teeth under his pillow for the tooth fairy! Here he is with his teeth, getting ready to put them under his pillow!

We are hoping that Helen will lose some of these teeth soon so that the tooth fairy will visit her! Ha! Ha!


Here they are showing his teeth before they put the pillow down and drift off to sleep!

And here is what he found when he woke up this morning! Two shiny quarters......one for each tooth! How exciting! Not sure what he can buy for fifty cents! Can you even buy a pack of gum for fifty cents? Oh well, I'm sure we will find something!

Countdown to Summer!

It is hard to believe that school is almost over for the summer! Beckett is about to complete kindergarten! What a great year we have had! He is so excited to tell everyone that he is almost a first grader! He was a little surprised the other day when I explained that we will still be doing addition and subtraction flash cards as well as lots of reading over the summer, but he got over the shock pretty quickly!

Beckett's friend Emma came over to play on Wednesday afternoon! We picked her up at school and she spent the afternoon with us. Beckett and Emma have been friends since they were in Mother's Day Out together when they were both 3 years old. They don't see each other as often anymore, but it was fun to watch them re-connect so quickly and laugh and play so well! They were both so good to include Helen and they all three had a fun afternoon! I'm including some pictures of Emma's visit!

Beckett had a make-up baseball game on Thursday night and his cousin Lillie came to watch him play. She was staying with Nana and Papa because she had a couple of days off from school, so they all came to his game. I really wish that I would have gotten a picture of Beckett and Lillie together, but it is always kind of crazy at the end of the games and I just forgot! Thanks for coming Lillie!

Not a lot planned for the weekend......just more baseball! Take care!

Crazy Faces!

Making bird feeders!

Weekend~Part 2!

After Beckett's game on Saturday, we met Jill and Connor and went to the Franklin Graham Festival to see Toby Mac in concert! We all had a great time! Helen was so excited to finally get to see Toby! Beckett put on his own little private show for everyone who could see him! He is a dancing machine! I am including a video clip from the concert. It isn't very clear because you can't really hear Toby, but you can get an idea of how Beckett moved for most of the show!

On Sunday afternoon, I drove to Brentwood and went with dad to hear The BUMC Chancel Choir and the Orchestra as they joined together at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville. Mom sang with the Chancel Choir for this event. The evening featured many wonderful hymn settings sung by the choir and audience. A highlight of the evening was guest artist Wintley Phipps. He was amazing! I experienced quite a range of musical genres this weekend and it was all wonderful!

Toby on the big screen!

Helen wore her Toby wristband!

Not the best video clip, but you can get an idea of how much fun they had!

It has been a busy weekend and we are only half-way through!

Sean and Beckett got "camoed up" last night and went turkey hunting. They have been down to Sean's mom and dad's land a couple of times this week calling, listening and looking for turkeys! They had a great time last night, but still no birds! Helen and I had "gulls only" night. ("Gulls" is how Helen pronounces girls!) We made bird feeders out of pine cones, peanut butter and bird seed and then we waited and watched to see if any birds visited our new feeder.

Can you even see the guys??

Just the "gulls"!

Beckett had a baseball game today and I finally got a decent video clip of him hitting the ball! He had fun today and was excited about a defensive play that he was involved in! It is fun to watch all the boys as their skills improve! Great day at the ball park!