picture post

Just a few quick pics!

All the cousins (minus john campbell) sleeping together in hayhay's room...just like me, molly, sarah, and kathryn use to do:)
brothers.
haha so cute!
We like to wear produce around our house...what? is that weird:)  

Quote of the day

Millie to Ben: " You can play by yourself with Jesus and I'll play with God."

millie

Have i mentioned that millie sleeps with books?  She snuggles right up to them with her puppy and drifts off to dream.  She loves books.  You might think that she secretly reads them instead of going to bed....but no.  I will hear her flipping the pages for a few minutes and then she tucks the book of choice under her covers and nite nite.  I love that about her.  I like to think that she got her love of books from me...but who knows.  Just 2 days ago was millie's "gotcha day".  This was the day 3 years ago that we finally got to take custody of sweet millie....sweet, little, malnourished, barely could hold her head up when we met her millie.  What would we do without our millie?  I tell her she's my sunshine.  Tonight we were laying in her bed and i told her that i wanted to laugh a lot tomorrow (i felt like i was really tired today and too grouchy) and she said "let's laugh right now"- so we both started trying to make ourselves laugh and you can't help but get tickled when you hear her belly laugh!  Another thing about millie is that she talks all the time...and i mean ALL the time!  But it's funny, what i use to find unnerving i actually find endearing...most of the time:)  She's so curious and she has to be sure that someone acknowledges that she spoke....even if she has to repeat it 15 times....and she will:)

I love how sweet she is to ben...she will always give up anything she has to make him happy....and she'll do anything she can to help him out. 

 They were playing in his room the other morning and she ran in to the kitchen to throw something away and ben hollered "millie the phones ringing" and she said "it's ok, i'll call them back"...so hilarious....sometimes they remind me of a little old couple.

My millie.  I am so thankful for her....when she's wanting to use all of my bathroom products, when she's trapping john campbell by sitting on an upside down laundry basket, when she tells me that when she's bigger she is going to be a cowgirl and ride bulls,  how she always wants to snuggle, when she's "reading" john campbell a book and doing all the voices,  when she's talking non-stop, when she's helping me cook, when she smiles that adorable smile in those precious glasses.....and especially when she sleeps with books....my millie.....i sure do love my sunshine......i'm so glad God let us find each other.

Sunday

Ben has started pre-school 3 days a week this year and so this has meant everybody is getting pretty use to getting up early these days....of course if you know my kids at all you know they have always gotten up rather early anyway!  But i really like the routine we are in.  So since we were all up early this morning we had a ton of time before we had to get ready for church.  It was so nice...we went for a walk/bike ride/wagon ride down to mr.keith's pond and we were pumped because one of our neighbors dogs always walks with us and we finally remembered to bring him a ball to fetch in the water....the kids loved it!

Worshipping with our church family was great...ben and millie stayed in the service with me and they did pretty good.  When we went to the bathroom right before it started ben came out of the stall laughing and he showed me that he had forgotten to take off his play shorts when he put on his church shorts...he had 2 pair of shorts on!  We were cracking up!

After nap and room time we played outside the rest of the day and all 3 kids crashed hard tonight...and i think i am going to too:)  

Well hello!

awww...eating lunch on the back porch so he watch big brother and sister play...he LOVES them!

making pizza dough
ben used to always say he wanted to be a "cook chef"...now it's a tow truck driver

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  Our summer has been wonderful!  i can't believe it's already September.  Last month John Campbell turned one...and started walking.  He walks all over the place now with his dimply legs....he is so cute!!!  Man i love that little guy so much.  Sometimes I just can't believe I get to be mommy to my sweet babies!

Anyway today was a lot of fun.  We went to a little friends birthday party this morning and ben and millie had a great time.  When we got home, after lunch and millie and john campbell's nap, william, kaleigh, sam, and gracie came over and played outside for a while.  It's so fun seeing them all growing up....the girls were screaming while i drove them on the golf cart as the boys ran after them with a sword, gun, and a shovel!  (not sure what the plan was with the shovel:)

Tonight when i put ben to bed i said " i love you ben"...and he said" i love you sweetie pie."....such a stinker....i'm laughing just typing that.

millie

Tonight when i was laying down with millie before  bed we were watching john campbell crawling around her room...when he started to crawl out of her room millie said "uh-oh mama, he's heading out of my room"....and i said "where do you think he's going?"...to which millie replied..."florida"...haha!

yo

never know what you're going to get at the grocery store!
making zucchini bread
i love this picture.
best buddies...most of the time:)
us trying to get a family picture at a rangers game!

Wow it's been forever since I posted!  We have been super busy...Mike's had a light few weeks and we have even been to the beach with my family!  I haven't loaded my pictures on to the computer of that trip yet but hopefully soon.

Today was a great day at home....I was really tired because i went to bed late and then  the baby got up randomly at 4 and then millie got up at 4:45 so i had to move her back to her room...and then at 5:15 ben came in with a bloody nose...but other than being a little sleepy we all had a great day.  They were super excited to get to ride their riding toys and to eat on the porch.

We had to run to staples this evening and in the car on the way home ben said, "mama, are we hard?"...my heart sank....i thought to myself....have i made him feel like i think it's so hard to be his mommy?...so i asked him, oh so concerned, what he meant....and he said "  I mean are we hard or can like monsters and dinosaurs eat us?"....i laughed so hard...he was really more wondering if we are crunchy!!!!  

Our Day

Today was a great day!  I worked out at the gym and then me, ben and millie headed to swimming lessons while mike and cam had some good time hanging out.  The kids are doing amazing.  A month ago ben wouldn't even put his head under water and now he will go down in the shallow end and pick up a ring.  Millie will even go down to the bottom of the deep end!  Crazy!!!!

After swimming lessons we came home and the kids ate lunch and had nap and room time.  When they got up ben and mill helped me make some zucchini bread.  Between the Hamiltons and Rehoboth Ranch I have a ton of fruits and veggies so i have been wanting to try this recipe for a while.  They each got to make a loaf and it turned out really good. (I have some pictures but mike has our sd card reader so i will load them sunday.)

We played outside for a while and i helped ben water the plants on the front porch....it's one of his chores:)  

John Campbell is into everything these days!  He loves to crawl all over the house and getting into everything!  It's pretty hilarious because you cannot turn your back for one second.  There is no telling how many finger sweeps i've done making sure he didn't put something in his mouth.

Something cute ben said the other day....  he went with me to pick up our produce from rehoboth and while we were loading up our stuff i was telling him what each vegetable was.  On the way home he was trying to remember what all we had gotten  and he said "...and we got peppermints...".....instead of bell pepper.....so cute!

Something else going on in our family....for a while now mike and i have talked about as followers of Christ if we REALLY believed what we say we do wouldn't we live differently?  When a person first becomes a Christian they seem to have this period- usually if they are a little older when they believe- where they are "on fire", so passionate to change the world for God's kingdom......and we appreciate their zeal but we "know" that their radical talk and lifestyle will eventually diminish and they will start to settle down and live the...and i hate to say it....average american Christian life.  Why is that? How is it if our treasure is in heaven we are SO quick to become obsessed with the temporal?  If the road is narrow and the way is few and i look around me and everybody looks like me and acts likes me and spends their money like me....am i really on the narrow road?   

Summertime

The past couple of days have been busy but great!  The kids are loving summertime.  Last night they played on the waterslide....mike did too....then we grilled burgers and cooked smores over a fire....these are the best days.

A few funny comments by the kids...

Millie:  Mama you know whats inside critters?

Me:  No what?

Millie:  Snot

who knew????

And then later she told me she was coloring a picture of "Billy and the Beast"....instead of beauty and the beast.( I'm pretty sure i didn't have to clarify that but you never know:)

The other night we went to the hunt county fair and we were talking about the really big slide and ben said "that slides not bigger than Jesus!"...amen brother.

Yesterday i got to go eat with a couple of friends at Chiloso in rockwall...it was such a good time and the food was awesome....i am still thinking about the grilled avocado...mmm.  Anyway it was nice to get away for a while.  Mike is always so good about that.  He never makes me feel bad about needing a little time away.  And it's not like i leave and he complains about how hard it is...he's always telling me to have a great time.  I appreciate that so much.

So this has been random....but that's kind of how i like it sometimes.

Lately

Mike and John Campbell exploring a cave in virginia.

I feel like ever since we got home we have been so busy.  I have been to monroe for a couple of days for my nephew's birthday party and last week we rented a camper trailer and went to beaver's bend with the millards and the benches.  Whew....we are glad to be home for a while!

Beaver's Bend was a lot of fun.  Caleb, Avery, and Cole went with us too so it was 2 adults and 6 kids piled in the camper at night.  We rode bikes, swam, canoed, and made smores...the kids and mike and i were wiped out when we got home.  I will post some pictures soon.

On a side note ben said something funny the other day.  I told him i wanted him to stay little and to not get so big and grow up ....he looked at me kind of sly and said " So you're saying you don't want me to eat any vegetables?"  Too smart:)

Finally!!!!

Ok so it's been forever since i posted.  I'm sure you have been hanging on the edge of your seat waiting to hear about the end of the rv trip:)  We got into bastrop and went straight to caleb's baseball game.  He had 2 that night so in between games we loaded up the cousins and a few extra baseball players and headed to eat.  They were so funny...they thought it was great!  After his last game we went to molly's house and all the kids and mike spent the night on the rv.  John Campbell and i slept inside...I wanted him to get a good night sleep you know:)

All in all we had a great time!  We were definitely ready to get off of our 10 day home but we have a ton of great memories!

Days 7 and 8

The past two days have been busy and we have been wiped out!  Both nights i have been too tired to give an update...but today we will be in the rv for a long time headed to one of my all time favorite spots....to see caleb, avery, and cole in louisiana!  

On tuesday we finally got to lancaster, pa which is something i have been looking forward to this whole trip.  We looked at quilts and admired all of the horse and carriages that went by with sweet little amish children in them.  It is such a beautiful countryside.  The highlight of the stop had to be the horse and carriage ride we got to take that took us all over the farms and even through a covered bridge.  The amish girl that took us was so kind and answered any questions that we had.  Afterwards we headed to Bird-in-Hand Family restaurant.  It was incredible....we ate a ton...it was a great way to end the day.

Wednesday we stopped in virginia and got to go down into the deepest cave on the east coast.  Ben was actually really interested and millie only fell once:)  Next we went over to The Natural Bridge.  I wasn't really sure what to expect but it ended up being one of my favorite things we have done.  We went on this beautiful walk next to a cascading river that curved around to one of the most spectacular sites i have seen.  The Natural Bridge was truly indescribable.  We got to walk under it and then on a little further they were reconstructing a native american village that used to inhabit the area.  The kids had a good time exploring.

By the time we got back to the rv all 3 kids passed out and slept until we got to christiansburg, va where we got to meet my old college roomate katy and her husband brad for supper!  We had such a great time and laughed a ton.  It was so great to see them!

So today we have a pretty long drive ahead of us to bastrop, la.  We are going to get in to town in time to see caleb's baseball game.  All the cousins are going to get to stay the night on the rv tonight- they are so excited!  more tomorrow...

Day 6

Sweet grammynana

Yesterday was a wonderful day.  We got up and finally got to enjoy the koa campground.  They had a great playground and a big barn with some games so the kids had a lot of fun.  The air was cool and there is something about it that just feels cleaner up here...it's amazing!  After having breakfast on the picnic table... compliments of nonnie and papa ron... and getting our things together we took our rental car over to grammynana's.  Her yard is beautiful and has quite a bit of woods on it so mike and ben got to go exploring.  Ben came back after they had been gone a long time and said " Mama, look....we went hunting and i got some bleed"...and showed me a little scratch on his arm.  So cute.

We stayed there the rest of the day besides me running with mike and john campbell to the grocery store...we had to re-stock the rv:)  So we got away pretty late last night after having dinner with mike's family again and taking a bunch of family pictures.  Mike drove until pretty late last night so it looked like we would get to lancaster, pa by lunch but wouldn't you know it...ben woke up with a tick on the back of his neck.  After about 20 minutes of trying to get it off we had to take him to a clinic in connecticut to make sure all of it was out.  Thankfully it was but when mike and ben got back to the rv mike found another one behind his ear!  Poor kid...he was so upset we had to pull another one off!  Mike took him back in the clinic b/c we had to be sure about this one and we wanted them to look in his ears just in case!  He did great...the promise of skittles, gum, and a new movie for the drive probably helped:)

So now we are on our way to the amish...a little late but still getting there with enough time to see everything!

*Sorry i'm not posting many pictures...upload is slow.

Day 5

Well we arrived to our destination in maine last night at midnight.  We are staying in freeport at the koa camp.  Maine is absolutely beautiful!  The reason we wanted to come up here was because this is where Mikes grammynana  lives and his aunt, uncle, and cousins.  Mike was actually born in portland, maine.  Anyway grammynana has never gotten to meet millie or john campbell.  The last time we were here ben was about cams age.  Mike's parents even flew up here so we could all be together.  

Once we all got together we went up to grammynana's camp on Little Sebago lake.  Mike had told me that i was going to love it but i still couldn't believe how beautiful it was!  When i think of a lake i think of the ones i grew up around that were pretty dirty and as dark as could be.  This one was actually clear...i could see to the bottom....and it was surrounded by deep green trees.  Truly breathtaking!  We had the best time..right when we got there ben and mill took off their socks and shoes and stuck their feet in the water....then aunt martha put them in some old sweatshirts and they waded in the water with a tug boat and a net.  It was right up their alley.   

We got to go exploring....which we all loved....and we got some great pictures of the kids too.  When we got a little chilly we went inside the camp where they started a fire.  It was so peaceful and such a great time of visiting.  Mike always says some of his best childhood memories are from being up here visiting and getting to go to the camp so i think it was extra special for him. 

Later in the evening we went back to gary and martha's house and mike's cousin adam and his wife marlene came over with their new baby colin.  It was a lot of fun to see all of the kids together.   

The kids sacked out right after we headed back to the rv!  I am looking forward to a good nights sleep tonight....good night from falmouth, maine.

Day 4

Today was incredible!  Maybe my favorite yet!  We woke up in New Jersey and headed to rhode island.  I wish you could have seen us in the rv driving through the bronx in new york!  We definitely were country come to town!  It was awesome!  We got in to rhode island and headed to New London where we parked the rv and got our tickets for the ferry that went over to Block Island.  While we waited to board we got some lunch...new england style...mike had a lobster roll and i had a fish sandwich.  We boarded the ferry and went straight to the top and looked out while we ate our lunch.  The kids loved it!  We admired all the fishing boats while we sailed away for block island.  It was a 55 minute ride so for a while we stayed on top but ben and millie started getting cold so we headed down a level where you could be inside where it was warmer.  It seemed like a good idea at the time...but there was something about not having that fresh sea air in your face combined with the rhythmic  swelling of the waves that had everybody feeling like they might lose their lunch.  Me and cam were the only ones that were pretty much ok...but ben went to sleep, millie layed down, and mike kept his face buried in his arms on the table.  When we got to the island everybody felt a lot better and we were excited to start looking around.  First we went to a couple little shops and then we headed to this little farm that had some farm and exotic animals.  I almost fell over when millie eased over to a pile of manure behind the fence saying in a sweet voice..."aww...look at the baby chicks."  As she got closer she realized her mistake as i just died laughing!  My sweetheart...maybe we ought to up that prescription on her glasses.:)

The kids couldn't wait to get to the beach so we bought a few sand toys because it's still too cold up here to get in the water.  The town was beautiful...it was so nice to walk everywhere.  We got to the beach and the kids had a blast!  They LOVE the sand!  Ben was bummed because he buried his garbage truck and we never could find it!  Mike was really sweet and surprised me at the beach with a necklace that i had admired in one of the shops! When is was time to board the ferry ben and millie were covered in sand!  The ferry ride back was much better and nobody got sick...we made sure to stay near the fresh air!  

Oh one other thing....this was hilarious....when we where on the ferry on our way back ben and mill made friends with this little boy.  Ben asked him if he had to use floaties and the little boy said "only when i need 'em".  For some reason that compelled millie to say as she had her thumb up to her mouth "when i was a baby i drank milk."....huh?  It was so funny and socially awkward.  

It was such a great day....what a gift to get to see these things with my sweet family.  My sweet babies are growing up so fast right before my eyes....i told ben on mother's day that my favorite thing about mother's day was getting to be his, millie, and cam's mom.  He said "you know what i like about mother's day"...and i said "what"...and he said "lovin' you".  Thank you God for my family.

day 3

Today was a great day!  We drove for a while through virginia, west virginia, maryland, and ended up in pennsylvania!  We went to hershey, pa to Hershey Chocolate World.  It was amazing.  The kids got to be "factory workers" where they got employee photo id's and got to make hershey kisses.  Then we got some of the best ice cream i've had in a long time.  Even john campbell got to have a couple licks...he was ticked that he didn't get more!  We went on a ride through a  fake Hershey Chocolate Factory that was geared toward little guys with singing cows and such.  This place was huge and they had everything chocolate you could imagine!  By the time we got to lancaster to see some amish country most everything was closed so we are going to go back through on our way home...we did see a few horse and carriages but all the shops and restaurants close by 8pm..we are really looking forward to seeing it in a few days.  Now we are headed to block island, rhode island to go to mohegan bluffs.  more tomorrow....

Day 2-"Clark, that there is an rv."

So today was our second full day on our rv adventure.  We were trying to make up some time so we drove quite a bit today.  We did stop for a quick breakfast and once for starbucks....it feels funny carrying starbucks across four lanes of traffic to load up on the rv...."rv and starbucks" just don't seem to go....maybe "rv and dr.thunder"...anyway...Later this afternoon we ended up in knoxville, tennessee at the World's Fair Park.  The first thing we did was to go up in the Sunsphere which was this huge ball on top of a tower where you could look out over the city.  Next we headed to a big playground called Fort Kid where ben and millie got to run off some energy.  Then mike and the big kids changed into their swim trunks and we headed to these 30 foot fountains that shoot up out of the ground that you can play in.  The water was freezing but they loved it!  I had packed a picnic so we ate on the lawn and i surprised the kids with a tea set i had brought so we had a tea party too.  Our crumpets were cashews!  By the time we got back to the rv it was getting dark so while mike and the kids stayed out exploring i gave john campbell a bath in the sink...he looked adorable and kept splashing and smiling up at me.  I can't get enough of him!  Tomorrow our goal is Hershey's Chocolate World and Amish Country....can't wait!!!!  

*I would post pictures but my upload speed is slow so maybe i will do more tomorrow.

The Scheuchzer Family RV Trip

The RV trip has begun!  The Scheuchzer family will attempt to go from greenville, texas to falmouth maine and back in the next 10 days!  So far it has been hilarious!  We didn't leave until 10:00 last night...which was only 14 hours later than we had planned:)....and we were so tired from trying to get ready all day we only made it to texarkana!   The best part of last night by far was when mike got pulled over twice!!!!  The officers said we were swerving all over our lane!  Mike was ticked...it was hysterical! This morning we drove for a while and before we could even stop for lunch mike was pulled over again! Does it get any better than that?!?!  This time the officer asked him if he had been drinking....oh my goodness...it makes me laugh just thinking about it! What's crazy is he wasn't even hitting the rumble strips!  Anyway we stopped for a quick lunch before we headed on to memphis, tn.  We went to the Mud Island Riverpark...it was a replica of the mississippi river from minnesota down to louisiana into the gulf of mexico...it was so great for little kids because they got to wade down the five block river and when we got to the end they got to go in a paddleboat around the "gulf".  They were so cute!  The weather was perfect too so that was nice.  The kids were wiped after all the walking so we ate supper at Huey's and got back in the rv.  They were so pumped to get to sleep in the booth that folds out into a bed!  ok....more to come...

Rascals

My 2 big kids were absolute rascals today...and here's how:

* Millie was painting her toe nails so carefully today after she painted mine that i left her unattended for a few minutes.  MISTAKE.  I knew there was trouble when ben told me to come look at what she was doing.  She had painted her leg, the bottoms of both feet, and her hand.

*  While i was putting the baby down i could barely see out my door...just enough to see millie getting the ice cream out of the freezer and ben holding the ice cream scooper and saying "be really quiet".  I came out a few minutes later and found that ben had wisely disappeared leaving millie to chow down by herself.  All she could say was "ben opened it"...as if that justified her mouthful.  Hilarious.

*  While i was getting ben in the bed i noticed that he had dumped out what remained in the lotion bottle all over his blocks and bridge.

*  I looked over today and millie had a strange expression and i realized she had given john campbell some of her cheese stick...a big chunk in fact.  I had to do the infamous finger sweep to get it out before he tried to swallow it.  Let's just say he wasn't too thrilled....apparently he likes cheese.

I'm pretty sure they knew it was mother's day tomorrow...they wanted me to earn my title:)

Another funny thing millie said while she was looking at my back...."You have moles on your back."  "I sure do mill."  " I wish i had moles"....aahhh a girl can dream:)  and of course ben had to chime in with " i have a couple moles cause i'm bigger."  

And lastly,  ben and millie stayed at Molly's most of this week and while they were there molly told ben that if he ate the crust on his sandwich it would make him run faster.  So today i told ben i would beat him to the mailbox and while we were running and he was "winning" he looked back at me and yelled "I ate the crust!!!!!"  I thought i was going to die...he cracks me up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This evening me and the kids went up to crossroads mall-the amazing shopping mall that it is- and got their picture with the easter bunny.  Of all things ben didn't want to get near the bunny so i ended up holding him in the picture....so i let the rabbit hold cam and at first he was fine until he looked back to see who had him and he FREAKED out...it was sad but hilarious!  I wish you could see our picture!

Then we made a few stops at the mall and ben and millie were being disobedient so i told them they had to get  a spanking when we got home...that's all ben could think about  from then on.  So when we were eating dinner ben wanted to say the blessing and after he thanked God for a few things he said..."  and dear God, please let my mommy not give me a spanking but show me grace"...i almost started cracking up...then he opens his eyes and says " are you going to show me grace mommy?"  It was one of the funniest things he's ever said!  Unfortunately his prayer was not answered:)

we have been busy!

ben came out of room time like this...those are rubber gloves:)
ben loves raw spinach...crazy i know! 
i saw on a girl's blog to give your little boy beans to use with his trucks loading and unloading...ben loved it!
they thought it was great to give their riding toys a car wash!
 ben thought it was hilarious when i put his shorts on cam's head...cam didn't seem to mind:)
i love when he sacks out in our bed.
sitting up playing with his toys...what a big boy!
i came outside to find mill pushing her baby in the swing...so sweet.
she loves him so much
john campbell cracking up at millie's crazy self
we went to the tyler zoo with some friends...cam's first zoo trip!

millie

Yesterday millie was lifting up her shirt nursing her baby doll... and if that wasn't funny enough i asked her if she was nursing her baby and she said "yeah, now i got to go pump."  Then she walked over and acted like she was holding 2 pumps up...and a few seconds later she said she was done.  Hilarious.

Rainy Day

ben at the top bunk picnic
millie at the top bunk picnic
what a cutey!!!  bathing in the kitchen sink.
they barely fit!

Today it rained pretty much all day....our yard is a lake!  But even though we were cooped up inside we tried to make it fun.  Mike put a blanket up on ben's top bunk and we surprised them with a picnic lunch up there.  We also played wii fit...it was hilarious....ben actually beat me at a few things!  Either he's really good or i really stink.

Tonight i had promised the big kids they could bathe in the kitchen sink....they love it even though they are almost too big....and then later cam got to take one too.

When i was laying down with ben at bedtime i told him that no matter how big he got he would always be my sweet baby...then he told me i was his sweet buddy.  But the best part was i asked him if he was excited about school tomorrow and if he liked going and he said yeah, but he wished i could be little so i could go with him...i love it!

These are the best days.....

I love this picture that mike took of the kids...so special.
cami-poo...as millie calls him
john campbell cracking up at his silly mommy...check out the millie bib:)
millie and ben at his soccer game...notice her lsu cheerleading uniform:)
oh my...i can't get enough of this baby!!!!  look at that smile...cheering on his big brother playing soccer.
daddy got to see ben play soccer!!!
poor, poor baby ty....lolo and kiki letting him eat grass at the game:)
eva and millie cruisin'

The kids were in rare form today.  They said some of the funniest things!

Ben:  Look at all of the blime mommy!

Me:  The what? (racking my brain on what in the world he could be trying to say)

Ben:  The blime!

I finally figured out he meant the blooms...because we have been talking about how all the plants are starting to bloom.

Millie: (while twirling around  outside with her arms raised up to the sky) Look at the beautiful weather!

and a few minutes later...

Millie:  (while hanging off the porch railing)  Mommy is this tandastic?

Me:  Yes millie, that is fantastic.

Ben got some cleats today...they are for soccer and t-ball.  He was so excited about them that he wore them outside to play.  He kept saying they had teeth on 'em and made his powerwheels go faster...and he kept breaking up mud that had hardened on the porch by stomping on them...he looked so cute.

The other day just ben and i were in the car and i turned on a song he really likes and i was singing and dancing....just being goofy...and when i looked back at him he was looking at me with the most sweetest expression.  It was that look that said he thought i was just the greatest.  It was so sweet...i am so thankful for each of my babies.

Yesterday i was feeding john campbell in his new highchair...by the way, he LOVES carrots....anyway, i started bending down so he couldn't really see me and acting like i was eating his feet....let me tell you- it was a whole new level of funny to him!  He rolled!!!!  Then i would pop up and he would laugh even more!  It was awesome!

millie

Today was a beautiful day!  It was great to be outside with the whole family....and cam was only wearing a diaper...he was so cute.  We were having so much fun outside but i was excited because  i got to take millie to the women's bible study that our church has every 2 weeks.  She went with me because lolo and steph put it on and it was all about kazakhstan and was a traditional kazak tea.  They did a great job....it was just like when we went to eat with a local family while we were there.  Mill was going to help serve some of the food but her and eva grace and abbie ended up playing together most of the time....they were so cute.

What was really sweet though was at one point eva was crying because millie said she wasn't her best friend....and one of the other moms heard millie say "I can't be your best friend because my mommy's my best friend."  That made my day...hope she feels that way forever.

Then on the way home she asked if she could put her flip flops in my closet and i asked her why she wanted to put them in mine and she said "Because i love you and i want to put 'em in your closet"....can't say no to that!!!!  Such a sweetie.

Lately

We have had a great couple of days.  The weather has been beautiful so that has been nice.  The kids are always so much happier when we can play outside...i am too.  Yesterday when we were outside ben and millie were on their riding toys and i was the toll booth attendant.  When they came by i had to check my computer...which was a kid garden hoe (strange i know)...to see if they had been speeding on the highway.  If they had then they had to go to jail which was millie's old crib that is in the garage.  They thought it was great.  Then when ben was working the booth he put me in jail and when i acted sad he said..."No look...all the kids are playing with toys and mommy's are getting dressed up for parties!"  Hilarious....his prison sounds like fun.

Today lolo and kiki brought eva, luke, and ty over to play.  They all did really well together.  They ate pizza at the picnic table and millie and eva cruised all over the yard in mill's pink convertible.  Ben and luke hung out on the dirt a lot....ben was covered by the time they left.  Later i got the big kids haircuts...they did really good....may have had something to do with the sucker i bribed them with:)

Brothers

Millie's Bus Trip

               eating doritos at about 11pm  
   millie and gracie

Ben always gets to go out on the rode with mike and the highlight of his trip is to ride the bus.  Millie hasn't gotten to go by herself yet so since mike and bart were going to nashville to sing at a friend's memorial service shannon and i decided to take millie and gracie on the bus to meet up with the guys.  They thought it was the biggest treat!  They loved watching movies in the bunk and cracked us up talking super loud when they had their headphones on!  When we got to nashville...after a lovely hotel breakfast....we took them to the mall and they got to buy some girly stuff like purses and jewelry and eat lunch at the cheesecake factory.  It was a great trip and some good one-on-one time with mill.

Monroe

 my sweetie taking  a bath in molly's laundry room sink
i came around the corner and this is what i found in molly's foyer...awesome
paw paw bill and cole
 avery and mill playing wii fit...or at least trying to:)
       the boys working hard

We have done so much since the last time that i wrote.  Mike was going to be out of town for a week last week so me and the kids headed to monroe to hang out with the family!  We had the best time as always and it flew by!  It is amazing how well all of the cousins play together.  I feel like i don't hardly see ben and millie because they are going non-stop with caleb, avery, and cole.  

Molly and Brian are having an arbor built in their backyard so there is a huge pile of red dirt so that is where the boys stayed most of the time.  If we didn't keep a close eye they would be totally naked covered in mud.  They are hilarious!  

One night PawPaw Bill took the boys to monster trucks at the civic center so me, millie, avery, and molly stayed home and did makeup, painted fingernails, and ate ice cream....and millie and avery had to wear their matching gowns.  The next morning i asked ben if the trucks were big and he said "They were gi-normous!!!!"

The week was great...we went to avery's soccer game, shopped, took pictures at the camp, ate at the waterfront, went to an ocs playoff game....just had the best time being with family. 

 

John Campbell had everybody wrapped around his finger by the time we left. He is starting to sit up really well but is still a little wobbly.....so i would sit him up on the bed and he would get excited and fall over and crash on the bed which made him laugh so hard...i can't get enough of him.

john campbell

me and my sweetie
          looking precious in his robe
eating his cooked egg yolk