Celebrating Six

Ben's sixth birthday is next week but we decided to celebrate a few days early so that everyone could participate.  We kicked off the day with a little family celebration at home.  Ben was so excited to have all the grandparents and Aunt Amanda over.  We wish Aunt Stacey and her family weren't so far away but we'll get to catch up with them once school is out.

 Didn't take long to get to the present opening!  Ben didn't mind the paparazzi early on but got tired of cameras in his face by the end of the day.  It's so hard being cute!

The highlight was the brand new jeep from the entire family....this boy was HAPPY!!  We had no idea that last year's secondhand yellow jeep would be such a hit and decided it was time to get a new one with working wheels.  (and now we have two jeeps!  so Ben and Alex have started racing)

And, they're off!

Turns out the balloons were a bit of a hazard out on the open road, but we remedied that and had to peel Ben away to get to his party in time.

Ben's only request was a Chuck E Cheese party so we took part in the madness there.  He was so happy to see his neighborhood and school friends there.

Alex was busy burning through tokens and collecting tickets.

Ben and Presley loved Chuck E.

...and they enjoyed seeing themselves on TV as well.

The grandparents had lots of fun playing and seeing their grandsons so excited.

We had 15 little friends to help celebrate with Ben!

King for a day...who wouldn't want that?

Ben got a visit from the big guy himself.

 

 After pizza and some entertainment (which appealed to everyone BUT Ben, who was ready for cake) it was time to sing happy birthday.

Definitely tired of pictures by this point!  But I wanted to remember his cake that Ben specifically requested to be "as chocolatey as possible".

 Blow out those candles!

Next up was the ticket blaster.  Ben looked a bit nervous so I'm not sure how he felt about going in there.  

I think he loved it!  (sorry the picture uploaded sideways)

 After cake, most of the kids ran off to play again but Ben had his sights set on something a bit more exciting - presents!  He got some really great stuff, even got a Lite Brite!  I may play it more than the boys :)

 Back at home, we tried out a new sprinkler toy, which turned into a water gun fight.

And that led into water balloons!

Ready, set, FIRE!

When I asked Ben how he enjoyed his party day, he said it was the best day of his life!  He got to spend it with his loved ones, his friends, and his neighbors.  It was the first "real" party we'd done for him and Matt and I were both so happy to see that he felt loved and special.  Thank you to everyone who took part in his big day.  Now we can look forward to making his birthday special, too!

Counting the Days

There are all kinds of countdowns going on at our house these days.  Personally, I've been watching the days and contemplating the fact that we've been US residents for an entire year (where has the time gone?) and really feeling happy to be settled.  No more considering our next move or any marathon trips around the world.  Very contentedly living in the now.  Alex is completely birthday obsessed, even though his is still almost two months away.  Talking about Ben's birthday next week has Alex thinking about his own about every 12 seconds and asking how close we're getting.  Ben has been counting down t-ball games (done!), gymnastics lessons (one more), and school days (just 10 to go!) until the blissful freedom of summer is here.

I'm learning that the end of school is pretty chaotic.  Lots of things to attend and more stuff than I care to remember, but we're really enjoying it.  The kids really relish their free time at home and I love seeing them so busy.  Ben complains when things take up his playtime, which even includes TV because with a few exceptions like Tom & Jerry or Curious George, he'd rather play than watch a show.

 They build lots of creations

 

 And somebody (Alex, I think) spent a lot of time sorting these gears out by color.

  

Snacktime!  Any guesses why the candy is on the very top shelf?  I dread the day he starts trying to scale the shelves because I'm sure it will come.  Notice he stacked two stools to get extra height.

Summer weather is right around the corner so the sprinkler is lots of fun again.

A serious guy working on a sticker puzzle.

Crazy kids playing with our hampers.  Sometimes I wonder why we bother buying toys!

 

 An airplane game in Alex's room.  Apparently the flight was long enough for Alex to need a (pretend) nap.

Outside of the house, we wrapped up the t-ball season with a team dinner and heard a few words from the coach.

This was all the kids cared about - TROPHIES!!

Ben was one happy boy!  Even better, the baseball in the middle spins.

 We've caught a few birthday parties, including this one with a super fun inflatable water slide.

And we had a class dinner with Ben's teacher.  We will sure miss her next year!  Ben is getting sad that he won't be in her class much longer but hopefully he'll get an equally wonderful teacher next year.

Ben and his class girlfriend, Rebecca.

The ladies' man working it with a table of chicks.  I love how well he plays with both boys and girls.

 

 Alex wasn't as enthralled with the other kids and instead chose to spend his time eating cake in as few bites as possible.  After such a busy weekend, he went home and walked straight into bed and fell asleep fully clothed.  That's a record in our house!

Feeling the Love

Happy Mother's Day! 

I was fortunate enough to be pampered a few days early at both Alex's preschool and Ben's kindergarten class.  We kicked off the day with Muffins with Mommy morning.  Alex and I enjoyed a great breakfast and worked on a craft together.

After several hours of housecleaning (because it doesn't clean itself!  and this stay-at-home mom gig isn't always as glamorous at it looks), I showered and headed to Ben's class for my Mommy Makeover.

This was the most fun I'd had all week!  Ben did my eyeshadow, blush, lipstick, and hair.  He was very meticulous and I thought he did a wonderful job.  Some of the other moms at the table didn't fare so well.

After my face, he directed his attention towards my nails and did pretty well at those, too.

 

One hand got blue, the other got glitter.  All afternoon he kept telling me how pretty my hands looked :)

A well-deserved kiss for his hard work!

The finished product, including a lovely hair clip.

 

Even better were the gifts they brought home after school!  Ben had made a bookmark for me.  (click to enlarge and read)  Just to clarify - I'm not afraid of bats but he is currently terrified of them.

And Alex brought home our finished art project complete with a picture from our morning together.  What a treat!

A Decade Together

On May 4, 2002, I married my best friend and started a journey that I never could have imagined!  I've now spent 30% of my life as half of a married couple.  When I met this guy at Hurricane Harry's in College Station, Texas, I never had any idea that together we would travel and live around the world (and ironically, my parents were excited I met a guy from the Houston area because we'd probably never move too far away...ha!) and weather life's ups and downs together.  I definitely never thought we would create two little amazing people together, but that has without a doubt been our greatest adventure.  I could not have guessed we would have 6 different homes already, lived in 3 countries, visited 13 states and 19 countries. I thank the Lord for 10 amazing years together and I look forward to all that He has planned for our future, good and bad, because I know together Matt and I can do anything!

Here's a look back at our years together so far....and I realized we don't have a ton of pictures of just the two of us together.  We don't seem to take pictures of ourselves unless we're traveling!

Our first picture at the Dixie Chicken in September 1999

 
Ring Dance, April 2000

One of my last weekends in College Station before graduation

 

 My graduation, May 2000

 

 Matt's graduation, December 2000

 

Our official engagement picture, November 2001

 

Married!  What a magical, perfect night.  Even the rain shower that happened at 7pm, because fortunately the pastor was late and the ceremony hadn't started yet.

On our honeymoon in Antigua

 

 Another friend's wedding, 2003

 

Haleakala crater, Maui, 2003

Aruba, 2004

 

Rio de Janeiro, September 2005.  We didn't know at the time but it would be our last fling as a couple...soon after there was a bun in the oven!

 

 We became parents in May, 2006!  Since we weren't planning on meeting Ben until September, it was a terrifying ordeal but turned out to be an incredible blessing.  Truly our biggest challenge ever and we got through day by day, step by step, together.

In 2007, we moved to Singapore with Ben and started exploring Southeast Asia.  Phuket was our first stop.

In 2008, we were blessed again and this time under much better circumstances.  Alex rounded out our little family of four.

 

 November 2008, a pretty unforgettable trip to Kanchanaburi, Thailand.

 December 2009, Milford Sound, New Zealand

 April 2010, Sydney

 October 2011, London

 I love looking back over the pictures to see how much we've changed and to think of the countless happy memories we've made together.  Many of those memories don't have pictures, but I cherish those just as much - laughing together, playing games, seeing our kids grow and pick up some of our habits, even watching TV together on the couch.  Life is so wonderful when it's shared with the one you love.

Happy anniversary, Matt!  Here's to many, many more...

To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.
-Mark Twain