What Precious Little Men...

On October 9, 2009, Jessica Wilson, our long time babysitter and friend became Mrs. Michael Peschell. Asher was the Ring Bearer and Mason the Bell Ringer. She made an absolutely beautiful bride. We were thrilled to celebrate their special day with them and wish them a lifetime of happiness.

Way too much candy...

Somehow we ended up with entirely too much candy this year. Between the camping trip, Cedarwood's annual Trunk or Treat and actually trick or treating on Halloween at Dad's, I am completely DONE with the candy...The kids have a different view however! Asher HAD to have a "homemade" ghost costume of which he ended up being utterly MISERABLE wearing everytime. Halloween night was so bad that he almost took the costume off until Brady walked up and cut a hole the size of Texas around his face so he wouldn't be so hot...Sigh!

Camping at Jellystone in Natural Bridge, VA...

We decided to do something a little different for this years annual camping trip. We got 4 families together and headed to Natural Bridge, VA to see Yogi, Cyndi and Boo Boo! There is no togetherness like 4 adults and 5 energetic kiddos in cabin the size of a studio apartment...Smile:) There are definitely only a few people that could pull this off. We had a great time and are looking forward to another great trip next year.





From left to right: Mark and Nancy Kessinger, Patrick and Heather Simpkins, Mark and Jada White and Brady and Leigh

Grand Prix Racing Day!

For Asher's birthday this year, Poppy got him 3 races at the Greensboro Grand Prix. As you can see by the pictures, this was right up his alley. He had a blast spending the afternoon with Brady, Dad, and Uncle Fuzz! Needless to say...I am sure that we'll be doing a lot more of this.

Last Day at Cedarwood for Summer 09'!

Summer came and went way too fast this year for us. We spent most of our free time at the pool! (Our favorite spot) Labor Day was our last full day there and we stayed all day. The boys enjoyed playing chicken with Brady and enjoyed the ice cream treat, compliments of the social committee. I think because I was scooping they thought they could keep coming back for more. ") Hats off to Cedarwood for another great season.

Asher with his buddies, Kyle and Nolan Emmanuel lovin' some Ice Cream...

Judian Tobin, Angie Williams and I. Ice Cream anyone?
A game of Chicken is always a winner with a pool full of boys.

Water Balloon Fight Anyone?

What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon! Today Brady and I celebrated our 12 year anniversary! The boys decided that we should engage in a good ole' fashion family water balloon fight! Needless to say, just as Brady instructed them to hit eachother and not us, I fired a shot at B and soaked him. After that, the rest is history. I don't think you can ever have enough balloons when doing one of these. As you can see, I was completely soaked and the boys, Mason especially (see video), couldn't laugh enough!

This video absolutely makes me laugh to the point of tears every time I watch it. Mason wanted to see how long he could laugh and I must say he had a pretty good run.

Gone Fishing with Dad...

Brady and Asher love Sundays fishing together. Asher caught a really good size bass and was so proud that he brought it home to show me. The video attached is hilarious! Brady waited and waited for him to catch it and it was just a NO GO! Oh well, they had a great time and I'm sure will have many more to come. The new quote from Asher is "An impatient fisherman is a hungry fisherman".

They're Gone...

Well, they left this morning for their Father/Son camping trip. I am left here at home with Mason and my NERVES!!! I guess this is what they mean when mothers say you ALWAYS worry about your kids and it never goes away. I truly pray that they have a great time, but more than that I pray that God place His protection around them and bring them safely home on Saturday. I have added a smilebox photo slide of them leaving this morning so check it out.

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

Just wishing everyone a Happy Easter today. My only prayer is that we remember the true reason that we celebrate this holiday. I am so humbled and grateful that we serve a God who sent His only son to die for the mistakes that we make each and every day. I am more humbled that that same Jesus died so that we may live and He lives today and forever. Have a blessed day...

~Pictures with the Easter Bunny~

Our MOPS Easter Egg Hunt was this morning. The boys and I headed over at 10:30 with 20 eggs in tow. I was so excited to see so many join us for this event. The Easter Bunny even made a surprise visit to see the kids. Check out my photos. Happy Easter to you all, but above that, let's all be reminded of the price that was paid for us all. I am so thankful to serve a RISEN Savior!!! God bless you all.

Diaper Cake Anyone?

Just wanted to share my latest project. I have always wanted to make a diaper cake. I was given two of them at my first baby shower and LOVED them. So, when a shower was planned for a friend of mine, I offered to make a one. I rounded up another friend to help me roll diapers (198 of them) and the whole thing from start to finish took about 2 hours!

Let's go Fishing!

I had to include this photo. Brady decided to take the boys fishing when the rain finally broke, although this meant that there was a tremendous amount of MUD EVERYWHERE! Well, if you know my Mason, you also know that he is going to find anything that will get him dirty, even if that means jumping over, I mean trying to jump over, a HUGE mud puddle. He was so determined, so I let it go and about halfway over it, it happened...HE GOT DIRTY!!!

Miles For Matheson!

I just cannot say enough about this event! My heart was SO full of hope and amazement at God's presence and His mighty power. How awesome it is to know without question that He is in control of every aspect of our lives from beginning to end. Matheson and his family are such a blessing and inspiration to so many people also giving them a renewed sense of faith and hope. Matheson is now on round 4 of his treatment for Leukemia. Let us all continue to remember Matheson & the rest of his family faithfully in prayer.

BOWLING ANYONE?

Okay, so we kept some friends kiddos this weekend. Just so you get the BIG picture, what that meant was that we had FOUR boys! Now keeping four boys occupied is a challenge in itself, however, just for good measure add a Nasty weekend full of NOTHING but RAIN! So realizing that the rain was NOT going to break we decided to load up the van and head to the bowling alley. The boys had their own lane (with bumpers) and Brady and I had our own. I must say that I completely ROCKED, bowling strikes or spares almost every time. Asher was awesome too bowling several strikes himself. Needless to say, it turned out to be a great day!

WAIT, SERIOUSLY, IS THAT REALLY SNOW ON THE GROUND?

I am in complete shock! I cannot believe that it really snowed. The boys were SO excited. They actually were able to use the sleds they got 3 years ago! Thinking back, Brady and I realized that this is first time that Mason has ever seen this much snow. He absolutely loved it. They had a blast and truthfully Brady and I did too. Isn't it great how our children bring out the child in us all?

Our Trip to Raleigh AND I found my Camera!!!

Well, I am REALLY EXCITED to say that I found my CAMERA!!! I am not excited, however, to admit that it was right under my nose the whole time. Yes, I checked my car from top to bottom, but somehow forgot to look in the pocket behind the passenger seat. While packing for Raleigh and loading the car, I just looked up and there it was! I cannot even describe how happy I was to retrieve All 299 pictures!
And so, we headed to Raleigh for some time with the Simpkins'. The kids had a blast and I fortunately, was able to get some great pics.

Mason Turns 4!

I cannot believe that my baby is 4! He really had it rough this year. We spent all day January 5th, his birthday, in the doctors' office for PINK EYE! Poor thing, we felt so sorry for him. He was a champ though. He kept saying, "mommy, let's put my drops in so I can get rid of this PINK EYE. He did great. Needless to say, we post-poned his family party to Saturday.
We celebrated with Mason's 2 best buddies on Thursday with lunch at Chick-a-lay, followed by ice cream, cupcakes and a trip to From Art to Zebras. They each made a new build a bear, dressed them in Super Bear clothes and named them Super Beary! How cute is that? They all had to have the same bear, dress it alike and name it the very same thing.
Happy Birthday my sweet little munch munch!

UPDATES AND MY MISSING CAMERA!!!!!!

Hello to all! I know, I know. I should have updated way before now. It has been a very eventful past month for us. Instead of uploading pictures of what we have been up to, I am going to have to share. The reason, you ask? On New Years Eve, while raising money for a close friend and her family, a very special posession was lost. That's it, my CAMERA! On that precious posession were pictures from the past month. Those included our awesome trip to Hershey Park, where a very excited Mason rode Thomas the Train at Strasburg Station and was in utter awe at all the "REAL LIVE TRAINS", we all enjoyed seeing the art of making chocolate, rode tons of rides while it was SNOWING on our freezing faces and managed to eat more chocolate than anyone should ever consume.
Christmas was very busy, as usual. We kicked off Christmas Eve baking cookies all morning for Santa with Mimi. We started a new tradition this year of attending our Christmas Eve service at LIFE, which proved to remind even the boys what Christmas is truly about. How awesome to know that Gods' only Son was sent here for each and every one of us. I hope that this is a tradition my children hold very dear to their hearts and someday continue with their families. After attending the Christmas Eve service, we make the trip to Poppy and Grammy's house for dinner, lots of great family time and exchanging of gifts. Christmas Day proved to be just as busy beginning with opening gifts with the boys, Papa John and Mimi stopping by for a quick visit and then heading to Papa Tom and Nana's. We ended our day with a final stop at Mimi and Papa John's for dessert and coffee and yes, more gifts. We all were spent by 8:30, but VERY Thankful for having family to love and spend time with.
AHHHH....December 26th! My magnificent, fabulous, wonderful...BIRTHDAY! I just embarked on my 33rd birthday. I started my day at 6 am shopping with my sister-in-law as we do every year. We found some GREAT stuff and really just had fun watching all the crazy ladies in Target literally pushing eachother out of the way for Christmas Paper Towels! I know, we still can't figure it out. They weren't even that cheap, and no ladies and gents, I didn't see any coupons in their hands. Oh well, we preceded to grab breakfast and head home. After a busy morning, I chose to take my family to Raleigh to spend my day with my very BEST friend, Heather and her family. What a great time. All in all, I had a great birthday.
And last, but not least, we spent January 1st and 2nd at the beach with Brady's family. Every year they hold a Christmas reunion and EVERYONE is there. It's always a quick trip, but also very nice to see all those Lancasters in one place and Grandma Lancaster absolutely LOVES it!

So as I continue to pray for the return of my valuable posession, I am wishing you all the best in 2009! Happy New Year!