Morning Project

This week is Spring Break so Wesley and the boys were home together while I was at work. They had a special project on tap for the day.

For awhile he has been wanting to permanently secure the track to our train table. It is constantly breaking and frustrating Jackson so he thought if he nailed it down the boys could play without the inconvenience of broken tracks. I was against it at first but he finally convinced me it was a good idea.

Over the morning, the boys designed the track and while Philip was napping, they nailed it down. It turned out great! There is so much attention to detail - the bridges are over the water & the roads line up with the track. Great job, boys!

Jackson working hard to nail down the track

The finished project!

Playing with their new toy!

What happens when you hear a "Snap" in the night...

You wake up to a tree on your house!

Thankfully, the only thing damaged was this side of the tree. We think it was lightening that hit it..ouch!

Lazy Afternoon

Our real estate agent wanted to hold an Open House today at our home. Since we have had three lookers in the past 5 months, we weren’t really holding our breath for success but it did give us a good excuse to clean the house.

Since we couldn’t be around for the three hours the house was being shown, we decided to tackle a few errands. One hour later, we were up a creek on what to do!

I called Kate and asked if we could join them for the afternoon. She said “yes!” We stopped by Sonic for some refreshing beverages and headed over.

The kids had a great afternoon playing in the amazing weather and the adults enjoyed some down time as well.

Thanks, Ben and Kate, for opening your home to the Benders for the afternoon!

Philip and Jack

This was taken right before Jack became mobile! It was nice to only chase after one of them, but no more!

Ben pumped up an inflatable toy they had. The boys loved jumping in it! Even Philip got in on the fun.

Ben casually mentioned that he didn't want to put together Jack's new Cozy Coupe. I thought it would be a fun and easy challenge and said I would do it. Ben had the right idea! It took Kate and me forever to get that thing put together, but we did it! And the kids loved it!

Montgomery

We were so blessed to be able to spend this weekend in Montgomery with the Kohrings. Wes and Cristal moved to Alabama last year, and although they had been to visit us, we had not made the short visit over to see their new home. I am so thankful we were able to go this weekend.

Wesley and I had a great time with Wes and Cristal. They are such good friends and every time we are together we have so much fun laughing & talking. They are also great encouragers of what’s going on in our life and I hope we do the same for them.

This time more than ever, it was so much fun to the see the boys play. They had a great time together. I love Jonah and Micah like they are my nephews and Jackson and Philip play with them like cousins. It is great to see their friendships growing.

Here are some pictures from our fun:

Poor Flash - He traveled to Alabama in the back with Patches

Big Buddies - Jonah, Jackson, and Micah

After dinner on Thursday we cheered Wes on in a championship Church-league basketball game. Though they came up a little short, it was a great, intense game, and sent me back to our college years of watching the boys in intramurals!

The boys did great watching in the gym, but did get a little stir crazy towards the end. They found ways to entertain:

Friday morning, Jackson and I went with Cristal to take Jonah to school. As a special treat, we stopped by Krispy Kreme!

We took a leisurely stroll to the neighborhood pond Friday afternoon. Wes and the boys had fun throwing the stick into the water for Esther, their dog, to retrieve.

Flashers joined us for the walk, but didn't join Esther in the water!

Don't think this is legal, but Wesley gave Jonah his first driving lesson!

Friday night, Jonah had the opening ceremony for his t-ball league. They had a few games for the kids. The boys enjoyed the batting practice:

Micah and Jonah waiting their turn.

Jackson was a bit behind them in line. He wasn't exactly sure if he wanted to participate.

Jackson decided to give it a try and did a great job!

Cristal with my little one...

and with her little one!

After awhile the little ones were over the ceremony so Wesley and I took them to an empty field nearby to run!

It wore them out!

That just doesn't look comfortable, Philip!

When the kids are in bed, the cards come out!

Jackson, Micah, and Jonah...where is Philip?

He spent most of the time outside with the dogs!

Saturday morning, we went to Jonah's first T-ball game. He did a great job!

Cristal and Wesley thought it was weird for me to snap this picture, but I thought it was a cute shot of friends.

I gave Micah and Jackson some money to get a Ring Pop and they headed to the concession stand on their own.

Too cool for school!

Showing off their Ring Pop tongues!

I have no idea what Philip has in his mouth, but I had to snap a picture of where his pacy landed when he spit it out of his mouth. Perfect landing spot in his shirt!

Huddle up with #7!

Group Shot

Philip (1); Jackson (3); Jonah (5); Micah (3)

The Kohrings Home in Montgomery

True Friend!

As we were about to leave we noticed we had picked up a new passenger - Micah!

Come on in, there's plenty of room!