June Fun

June is rolling right along and, as I type, RAIN is finally coming down outside! Feels wonderful...and my grass thanks you, God. Just took a sinfully delicious peach cobbler out of the oven and thought I'd plop a few photos online before plopping cobbler into my mouth.

Once we returned from vacation, we had Little Miss "C"'s first sleepover. Her cousins and Aunt came over...we went swimming, roasted marshmallows, watched a movie and negotiated sleeping arrangements (now THAT part was funny!).

Little Miss "C" managed to have a burnt marshmallow and didn't like it...not because it was crunchy on the outside but because it was mushy on the inside!

Ben is talking up a storm and putting together 4-word sentences. His lastest fun things to do are to jump (with both feet in the air), to put on his hardhat while he's playing, and looking at a book about BIG trucks and construction vehicles (we have to read this book in the morning AND before bed every day). He can hear a motorcycle in the distance and identify it, and is learning the differences between types of construction equipment. His favorite toy this week is a toy chain saw that my friend loaned to him (now that it's making noise in MY house, I know WHY she "loaned" it to us!)

Little Miss "C" is attending Princess Dance Camp this week and loving it. She's learning a dance about Rapunzel, as well as Princess Table Manners...which include saying "Please" and "Thank You" and drinking quietly! Here's our dress rehearsal as we packed her backpack on Sunday:

Today when Ben and I went to pick her up, Ben ran out of the church and totally wiped out on the sidewalk. He whacked his forehead pretty hard....see the red spot that appeared after his nap? Poor thing....both my kids have bandaids on BOTH knees. Been a "rough" summer for them so far...but ice cream pops make everything better!

Finally, my baby will be TWO in two weeks. Sad when it's your last one and you know you won't have any more baby to hold! He's a hoot and we are so grateful for his sense of humor and his love for all the things that draw his attention. Little goof ball...

The Canadian Rockies

It's gorgeous!  Daddy is sitting in his conference this morning so I went driving around and came across these mountain goats.

 Our hotel in Banff is just like a castle.... a pricey castle!! 

 The view from our hotel room window.  Sunset is around midnight - sunrise starts around 4:30am!

 Grizzly bear cub we saw alongside the road yesterday.

 Lake Louise - still frozen.

 Canyon hike we did yesterday.

Fun Days

This is what happens when my daughter has to play alone in her room for a while...she finds a reason to come out. She not only dresses up now, but she bows and sways and kind of moves in slow motion to "act" like a princess. I'm not quite sure what the cat mask is all about, but it HAD to be around her neck!


We had some HOT days early in May, so we broke out the sprinkler and a new water/sand table that I scored for $2 at a garage sale to have some fun in the sun. Little Miss "C" got mad about something....so I took a picture of her mad face:


Mother's Day Tea at the beginning of May was very sweet. The children brought us into the room one at a time, sat us down and asked us, "Would you like Water or Lemonade?" They were so proud to be serving us and have us at school!


Last Friday was our 1st official day of "summer" (no school), so we went with friends to Canton to visit Farmer Sue at the Art Barn. The kids got to touch and pet goats, sheep, a cow, donkeys, a horse, chickens, pigs...and go on a ride behind the tractor. Here are a few photos of our morning.

"Things I Should Be Doing" Have Won

How do I catch up on...what???...almost 4 months of life?   The "things I should be doing right now" has been winning the blogging war, and rightfully so.  We are, indeed, still on the face of the earth.  And so that I can free myself up to enjoy the next thirty minutes, here's what I really should be doing right now:

1. Cleaning my closet, including putting ALL of my winter things away
2. Entering 5 months of receipts into Quicken
3. Writing down my recipe plan and shopping list for the upcoming week
4. Going through the kids clothes and packing them away appropriately
5. Cleaning my floors (My mom was here this weekend and said, "One way to tell how clean the floors are is to look at your socks."  She should have said, "one way to tell how dirty your floors are - my socks aren't white anymore!"
6. Enjoying doing NOTHING on Mother's Day......

OK...now for the photos and stuff we've been up to.

FEBRUARY
 Coordinating in Brown!  Ben was fighting a cold & ear infection part of the month. 

 Little Miss "C" went ice skating for the first time and did pretty well, I thought!

Ben tried finger painting for the 1st time  :-)

Little Miss "C" enjoyed her 1st circus with friends in Atlanta. These are the guys who ride the motorcycles in the round cage. Unbelievable...

Wearing Mom's old (VERY old) Mickey Mouse Shirt!

 
MARCH
Daddy spent all of his spare time studying for his Boards, which he passed at the end of the month!  Then it was turkey season, so he hit the woods.  We were able to get outside a lot more - YEY!

This is pretty much what Ben plays with 90% of the time - anything with wheels. We've got more cars in our house than I ever dreamed we'd have!
 
Just like Daddy riding his 4-wheeler in the street.

 
APRIL
With April came spring break, a trip to Papa & Nana's house, a few days for Little Miss "C" with Grandpa & Grandma, a family trip to Stone Mountain and Easter.  Busy month....
 
Goofing off at Papa & Nana's House

 

Stone Mountain 

 

Easter! 

 

We've Played, We've Cooked, We've Cleaned...and now, we're finally OUT!

The snow is still hanging on for dear life - our "total" has gone from 6 to 4 inches on the deck and we've got beautiful icicles hanging from the gutters!  Yesterday morning was great fun sledding outside - Daddy made it home from his night shift at work via his 4-wheeler, and Mommy got busy in the kitchen with Peach Cobbler and "from scratch" dark chocolate brownies!

Passing the time completing a Light Bright picture!  Daddy got it started and Mommy helped with the finish.

Mommy finally got to get on a sled - Ben didn't like it very much!

Several friends let Little Miss "C" ride with them down the hill across the street.

Today Little Miss "C" had her 1st visit to the dentist!  She did wonderfully and has a paper airplane and a little rubber ducky as prizes to show for it. 

It was nice to get out, but the roads are still pretty icy in many spots and it's soooooo cold - the wind blew us right inside into our warm home.  And now we're going to all take a rest.  

We're Seeing White

Somewhere between 6 and 7 inches is the official total at the Abney house today!  It looked like we were inside a gorgeous snow globe last night around 10:30, and it just kept falling.  Daddy has spent much of the morning outside - his 4-wheeler has proved great entertainment for the neighborhood!  The "hill" in the yard across the street has made a perfect place to sled as well, so it's just now at 1:00pm that we're back inside, dry, fed and (mom hopes) ready for some REST.

I'll Get It!

I know I owe Christmas photos...but the funniest thing just happened!  The telephone rang and Ben started walking toward the kitchen saying, "I'll get it!" 

That was a first...  He's repeating everything these days which is loads of fun and, many times, funnny.  He is a little clown and loves to get a laugh from anyone who might be around.  18 months and growing in every way - so thankful for the blessings and God's grace over us.

Here's a nice family shot from our white christmas - it's hard to tell, but that's snow on the ground behind us! 

 All the Grandkids with Papa & Nana on Christmas afternoon