Prayers

Please keep us in your prayers. Ben is in the process of negotiating a contract at work that will send him to Dubai for 4-6 weeks. The money is awesome and it will be a great experience for him. I am used to being alone, especially in the summer months :), but not like this. It will be really hard on the kids, we'll have to plan lots of fun things to do so we stay busy. God knows what He is doing and I trust Him to keep Ben safe. Once his passport is renewed he'll probably be leaving. We'll know more soon.

Lexie's Fine Art Festival

Lexie's class went to the fine arts festival in Hickory, NC Friday. She has been learning a poem for months to recite. Only the 3rd-5th grade participates, so John William had the day off of school. I took Sophie and John William to watch Lexie. Sophie was tired and fussy. She wanted to play on the school's playground, but it was off limits. Three year olds don't understand off limits. They also have a hard time being quiet, but that's not really a suprise. We got there just in time for Lexie's group to recite poems. Lex was so nervous, but she did such an awesome job! I was so proud of her. After she was done, Sophie had a no nap breakdown. John William and I put her in the car and drove around for a few minutes until she fell asleep. Then I carried her into the church so we could watch Lexie's class sing. They did a great job!
Lexie is feeling better. I took her to see the ped. Thursday and she was still having breathing problems. Dr. Marshall put her on antibiotics, breathing treatments 4 times a day and told us we needed an epi pen at school and home for future emergencies. This is the second time her throat has closed up and she's had trouble breathing. Hopefully now that we have the epi pen, Murpheys Law will kick in and it will never happen again. God has been so good to us. Our kids are healthy and safe and you can just see that His hands are on them, protecting them.
Ben is out of town for his annual fishing trip with friends. We really miss him! He discovered when he left on Thursday that none of their phones work where they are. They had to treck to a pay phone and call collect yesterday to let the wives know they were still alive. He'll be home tomorrow. Hopefully with fish to grill :).

Sophie sleeping in the church pew.
Lexie's class singing
Meredith(Lexie's best friend), Lexie and Brianna
Lexie reciting her speech
So nervous, but doing a great job!

ER Visit

We had a busy night last night. Lexie's allergies were bothering her at bedtime so I gave her a Claritin. A few minutes later Sophie comes downstairs and complains that her ear is hurting "in the little hole". Ben gives her some Motrin and takes her upstairs to tuck her back into bed. When he comes back down he brings Lexie with him. She is wheezing and having trouble breathing. I call her doctor to ask if I can give her Benadryl. The nurse listens to Lexie breathing and sends us to the ER. It was scary! Thank goodness for my calm husband. I panic under pressure but he is always calm. I stay home and he takes Lexie in the car. After he gets home, he tells me that he had the hazzard lights blinking and was flying down the road passing people. We were having a really bad thunderstorm and the county next to us was under a tornado watch. When they got to the hospital the nurse took Lexie straight back and gave her a breathing treatment. It helped right away. They did a chest xray and it was clear. The dr thinks it was just an allergy attack. They sent her home with a steroid prescription and an inhaler to use for the next few days. It was the shortest ER visit we've ever had, they were home in an hour and a half. Between Lexie being hyper from the meds and Sophie climbing in bed with us 4 times, Ben and I don't feel like we got much sleep. I'm hoping everyone takes a nap today. John William slept through the whole thing. He never even heard the storm or the chaos. :)

Sophie's Big Girl BIke

When Ben's parents were here a few weeks ago they celebrated Christmas with us. The kids were so excited to have money to spend anyway they wanted. Lexie bought tons of clothes, of course :). John William bought a new wheel remote for his Wii and is still thinking about what to do with the rest. Sophie bought a Cinderella doll and some princess dress up clothes. She also wanted a bike. A disney princess bike. I ordered it from WalMart and it finally came this week. She was so excited! She and Ben put it together and then off she went. She's still having some trouble with the brakes. Her trike didn't have brakes. She's just growing up too fast!


Riding with John William

I'm so big!

Helping Daddy put the bike together

Big girl bike

Sam's birthday

Yesterday was Sam's 1st birthday. Since Brad was out of town, Kimie asked if we wanted to meet at ChickFilA for dinner. We are always up for ChickfilA! Sophie said that we had to have cupcakes and balloons and party hats, so we stopped at the store and picked some up. Of course, she ended up with a princess balloon and a Belle cake that we'll have for dinner tonight. I'm just a sucker. The kids had fun eating and playing in the play area together. It's hard to believe that Lex is really too big to play now. She'll just have to be the chaperone now :).



Playing with Lexie (she's thinking that Jack is heavy)

Yummy chocolate cake

Jack is such a cutie!

Who knew hats could be so much fun

John William and his hats :)

sam in his birthday hat

Sophie's Boo Boo

The weather was so beautiful this past week! The kids and I spent time outside coloring with chalk. Sophie took a tumble on the driveway and banged up her face. Poor little Bean! She's feeling much better today.

Buffalo Animal Park

We had so much fun on Sophie's field trip to the animal park. She is just like her mommy and loves animals. We both wanted to bring home one of the adorable baby goats. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time with all of Sophie's friends.

Field Trip to the Buffalo Animal Park

Weekend with Nanny and Poppy

Ben's parents came into town this weekend. We haven't seen them since Thanksgiving. It went by so fast! John William and Poppy spent some time playing the Wii. Nanny made Ben's favorite peanut butter fudge. Sophie got into some food coloring Sat. morning and made a huge mess. I don't think her feet will ever look normal again. It's that time of year and Ben is heading to Florida with my dad on a fishing trip Thursday and will be home Monday night. At the end of the month, he's going on his annual trip with the guys for a long weekend. It's a good thing that I have so many animals to keep me company :) The kids and I are getting Spring fever. It's warming up and we're ready for school to be over so we can sleep in and be free!

April Fool's Day

The kids and I made this Kitty Litter Cake for Ben today. It's cake and pudding covered in vanilla oreos and topped with tootsie roll poop :) It was lots of fun!