The Byrd Family

Saturday Night Boredom

2012-01-30T04:27:00.001-08:00

We had a very relaxing weekend. We actually got a little bored Saturday night! I realized I didn't have many pictures of Ben, so I tried to set up a little photoshoot. Ben is such a good sport when it comes to the camera. I asked him to make a happy face, silly face, sad face, scary face, etc. The following pictures just crack me up.....Enjoy!

Have a great week, everyone!

This is his "mad" face....how sweet!

scary face :)

sad face

sleepy face

happy face!

handsome!

enjoying a lemonade popsicle face!

Ben loves helping me in the kitchen. Last night he helped me snap and wash fresh green beans. What a cutie!

Twin Boys!

2012-01-21T17:43:00.000-08:00

My friend Meredith is having twin boys and her baby shower was today. She got some really adorable gifts from her family and friends. I can't wait to meet these sweet boys! I found these adorable knitted beanies on Etsy and couldn't wait to give them to her today. She loved them and said she was going to bring them home in them! I also got her some onesies and swaddling blankets. I told Jeremy that I was having a hard time remembering Ben being that small. Does that mean it's time for another?

Aren't these just precious?! Congrats Meredith & Michael! We can't wait to meet your bundles of joy!

Puzzles, Balloon Hats, and Beauty & the Beast!

2012-01-21T17:09:00.000-08:00

We've had an interesting week. Ben's cold got worse over the weekend so we started an antibiotic Sunday night. Jeremy stayed home with him Tuesday just to give him an extra day of rest before he went back to Joyce's around the other kids. Semester exams were also this week, so it just seemed a little crazy at school. Our new principal called an assembly and explained his expectations to the students. He is basically just enforcing the Code of Conduct and some students are acting like babies about it. It really made for an interesting week at work, ha!

Baseball try-outs were this week, so Jeremy is gone until about 6:30 each night. Ben and I have sure missed him. We get used to him being home by 4:30 so the extra two hours seem like alot. Ben loves going to the field and helping his daddy on the tractor. They are so cute riding around together. I've taken pictures on my phone, but can't find the cord that lets you upload them to the computer. I'll have to take my Nikon down and get a picture to post here.

We took Ben and Miss Ashton to Chili's Friday night and did a little shopping at the mall. Miss Ashton is going to be babysitting Ben while Jeremy and I go to the Hall of Fame Banquet in February. I am such a nut...I asked her to come hang out with us so Ben could get used to her before the banquet. He's never stayed with anyone other than Neal, Cindy, Cassie or Aunt Joyce. I know he will be fine, but I just worry. After dropping Ashton off, we asked Ben if he liked her and he said, "Yeah, Miss Ashton is so sweet." Precious!

Ben loves playing with these Melissa & Doug spelling puzzles. He is getting so good at letter and sound recognition. We bought a few tracing books, but he's just not that into writing letters yet.

Miss Ashton, me and Ben after Chili's. Ben had the "balloon man" make him an alligator hat.

Ben wanted to take a picture of me and Miss Ashton

more Ben photography......

Beauty and the Beast 3D!

January randoms...

2012-01-15T16:12:00.000-08:00

I have been slacking with my camera this month. Time is already flying by. I've posted a few random pictures of some things we've been doing this month.It's funny how we're in shorts in some pictures and bundled up in the next! This Florida weather has been crazy.

We all settled back into our work routine fairly well. Ben has been fighting a cold for about a week now. Lots of nasal congestion and now a nasty little cough. He hasn't had a fever, so we've been trying to let him fight it off. I'll probably call Dr. Larue tomorrow just to see what he thinks. I dread going to his office and waiting 5 hours, ha! Have a good week, everyone!

My sweet Aunt Lisa came down to visit us one afternoon towards the end of December. We exchanged Christmas gifts and Ben had fun showing off his new bike skills. We love her so much and can't wait until we see her again!

1st run of the new year...all bundled up! Shorts one day, pants and hoodies the next!

Ben's sweet friend, Marlee, got him this cool gift for Christmas. We had a wooden train, fire truck, and jet to build, then we got to paint them! It gave us something really fun to do one evening when it was too cold to play outside. Thank you Marlee and Mrs. Laci! We love you!

We were playing Candy Land one evening and Ben wanted to wear my glasses. He was being so silly, I just had to take a picture. We have really been enjoying the Candy Land game Grandma and Grandpa Byrd got Ben. It's been too cold to play outside in the evenings, so this has been a good indoor game :)

29

2012-01-04T06:52:00.001-08:00

I had a great time celebrating my 29th birthday today! Jeremy and Ben sang the birthday song to me before work. Our principal announces student and staff birthdays on the morning announcements, so I had tons of sweet students telling me happy birthday all day. We had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Palace Pizza. I had spaghetti and meatballs and a marble cake with buttercream icing for dessert. We came home and got in our jammies and enjoyed a few rounds of Candy Land before bed. It was a wonderful day!

29...I am looking forward to seeing what you have in store for me this year! Peace out 28!

Make it count

2012-01-02T06:43:00.000-08:00

One of the things I am most proud of when I look back at 2011 is running. Running has become so important to my sanity and health. One of my favorite books of 2011 is Kristen Armstrong's Mile Markers: The 26.2 Most Important Reasons Why Women Run. She is one of those writers that always leaves me begging for more, so I was so happy to stumble upon her blog on Runner's World. I read her posts and sometimes feel like she is reading my mind or has tapped into some of my worst fears. I read this post of hers this morning and just had to share it. My mother used to work at a nursing home and it was definitely the most depressing place I've ever visited. I've never thought to be grateful for those visits, but once again, Kristen has totally transformed how I feel about them. Here is what she wrote:

Make it count

The time between Christmas and New Years is kind of a strange lull, don't you think? Some people have lingering relatives eating them out of house and sanity. Some people have the stamina to return to the mall and battle the crowds for post holiday bargains. Some people eat leftovers, wear sweatpants, and stare outside at the cold. Some people travel to warm and exotic places. Some people head for snow. Some people's children are driving them crazy. Some people miss their children. Some people have to go back to the office for a few days. Some people just want to.
One of my favorite rituals is to make the pilgrimage to visit my grandparents the day after Christmas. They, at almost 98 and 94, live in assisted living in Arizona. I love seeing them, and they are happy to have a room full of family. Grandma is in her wheelchair and Grandpa can barely see or hear but we manage to have some laughs in their tiny, cramped space which is usually heated up like a sauna. I bent down and asked my Grandma how she was. "Well," she paused, and said in her soft Minnesota accent, "Not great." "Well, that's better than shitty, " I said. And somehow even Grandpa heard me and we all cracked up. You gotta break the ice, I say.
But it's hard to go there. Hard with all the weird smells and lonely people staring at TV's from wheelchairs in their rooms. I always worry what if nobody ever visits them. It seems like everyone is waiting. It always makes me feel vaguely sad. I think they need to combine old folks homes, orphanages, and animal shelters. It would liven things up, balance things out, and give everyone someone to love.
I have a hard time sleeping there, so I'm always up early, brewing bad coffee with powdered dust cream in my hotel room, and watching the sky for the first sign of dawn so I can go run. I see a slight shift in the light and I scoot out the door. It's always freezing in the desert on a winter morning, colder than you would think. I am always under-dressed so I run faster than normal. The area where they live may qualify for the worst running place ever. Maybe Runner's World should do a new thing, an alternative to Rave Runs, where readers can write in and send a photo and a story about the worst route ever. Maybe call it Rogue Run, Rough Run, or Raunchy Run, or something.
This run I did may be a good starting point for that new feature. This part of Arizona must have a no-sprinkler ban or be an agricultural test area for NASA, because there is not one single green thing. It's all cement, asphalt, and arranged rock beds in varying colors. Any turn I took from the main drag took me into dismal neighborhoods that looked (and sounded) like the main entertainment may be dog fighting. There were lots of barbed wire yards and discarded cars. Several times I saw scary men wearing hoodies getting into trucks. This was decent interval training however, because I would turn tail and haul ass in the opposite direction faster than any effort I ever put out on the track. In the end, the only prudent option was to stay safely in the light of the fast food establishments. It was pretty depressing. I only saw one other runner, and we waved as we crossed paths. Oh, thank God, I thought, one of my people. You have no idea how good it is to see you, man. Please be fast if you hear me scream.
It's weird to think of people living like that…alternating between Carl's Jr, Long John Silvers, Burger King and Mc Donalds. There were literally no other options. The irony of running back and forth past them was not lost on me. It made me feel sad – for people who don't know about other choices for nutrition, for people who never get to see any grass or trees, and for my grandparents who probably don't even notice where they live because they mostly stay inside, rolling between their room and the dining hall.
The run, rogue as it was, was good for me. I got to hit the reset button on my gratitude meter, and think of all the ways that running has led me on a different path. It doesn't matter what our surroundings and circumstances are, runners can always move through them and get to a better place. I got to refresh myself before going back to see my grandparents, and think about the awesome fact that my grandmother will be 100 in two years. The fact that she cannot run or walk is all the more reason to be grateful and run and see as many things as possible while my legs and eyes still can. I am glad to leave the place, but I hate leaving them. I hug them tight, kiss their cheeks, squeeze their warm and spotted hands, and tell them loudly and often that I love them. No regrets.
And now, days before the wheel clicks and we enter a new year, I am thinking about how I want to spend the next rotation around the sun. You think about it too, and we will meet up again, same time same place, and discuss. Our reset run awaits. We're going to make it count.
There are three days left until we get a blank page. Tie up any loose ends. Say I love you, I forgive you, and I'm sorry if you have left anything unsaid. The clock is ticking. Look backwards one more time and evaluate. Make your pile of things to let go. It's almost time. Because then we are facing forward and moving on.

Yes, I stole the title of her blog post, but I just loved it! One of my favorite quotes (and the one I have taped down on my desk) is:

"When our starting point is a place of gratitude, we have already won before we begin."

This is my resolution for 2012: say one thing I am grateful for every day of the year (even if they repeat!)

Happy New Year, ya'll!

Photoshop Wonders!

2011-12-30T16:33:00.001-08:00

Grandpa Byrd gave me a copy of his Photoshop Elements program to put on our new laptop. It is so awesome! I wanted to show you the before and after of one of the Christmas pictures I edited with it:

Before:

After:

Christmas Day

2011-12-30T15:27:00.001-08:00

We all had such a great Christmas day! Ben woke up around 7:30 and was so excited to see what Santa had brought him. He ran into the living room and saw the Home Depot workshop and started playing right away. It was a chore to get him to open more presents after that. We're glad he loves it so much. Ben has been such a good boy all year so he got a lot of cool gifts. We tried to get things he could play pretend with and learn with. He got some more food and utencils to use with his play grill, an alphie learning robot, marbles, cash register with play money, a sequence game, trace books for the alphabet and numbers, number flash cards, Melissa & Doug wooden blocks, a pizza party game, and lots of fun stocking stuffers. His favorite stocking stuffer was a little plastic echo microphone. He is so funny with it. I got some new clothes and jewelry from Jeremy and Ben. Ben and I got Daddy some new clothes and a watch. We all got more than we needed and are really blessed! Grandma & Grandpa Byrd came over to watch Ben open presents and they spoiled us, too. Jeremy and I got the Garmin GPS watches we've been wanting for running. We took them out yesterday and ran with them for a bit. They are so cool! We also got a new laptop that we've been desperately needing. They are so good to us. Jeremy made breakfast burritos that were so good. We had a fun morning opening our new toys and playing with everything. We went to Grandma and Grandpa Byrd's house next so Ben could open his presents from them. He got a Thomas the Train table and chairs, Candy Land, the Finding Nemo dvd, a camera, walkie talkies, and a green bike! He was super excited about his new green bike. We ate a late lunch and got to visit with Grandpa Stone and Uncle Chuck. We stopped at Nana's house that evening before going home. We had a very busy and fun-filled day.

I've posted just a few pictures of Christmas day. We had hundreds so I didn't want to spend a week trying to upload them all, ha ha! Enjoy!

Ben loves his Home Depot workshop!Jeremy got some new Brooks running shoes from Grandma and Grandpa!Me with my GPS watchDaddy and Ben playing with AlphieI think I love this cash register as much as Ben does.....:) It is so cool! It even has a credit card that makes noise when you make a purchase! We've been having fun playing grocery store and counting money.My glow in the dark armband from Grandma and Grandpa. Now we can be safe running in the evening :)

Ben's new green bike!

Playing Candy Land!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-26T15:34:00.000-08:00

We spend every Christmas Eve in Avon Park at my Aunt Darla and Uncle Kurt's house. We have a very big family on my mother's side as you will see in the pictures. We always bring finger foods and Uncle Kurt makes venison burgers. Jeremy and I made sausage balls and a white chocolate peppermint cheesecake. Everything was so good! We got home around 9:00 and made cookies for Santa. Ben had a hard time falling asleep. I think he was just too excited about Santa coming. Enjoy the pictures!

The very first picture is most of my family on my mother's side (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.) The second picture is cousins and our babies. The bottom picture is just cousins.

being silly...

My cousin Kacie and me. We are only a year apart.

Cousin Lauren and Ben

Ben wanted to take a picture of Aunt Cindy, cousin Katie and me

I tried to get a picture of Ben in front of Aunt Darla's tree, but the lighting was weird.

Cousins: Katie, Amanda, Me, Brandi, Kevin Jr., Robbie, Kacie, and Whitney

Me, Ben and Kacie

Ben loved the chocolate covered strawberries

Kacie with Aunt Darla's dog Chloe and her dog Kodie

My family!

Katie and Ben

Aunt Darla and Ben

Nana's grandbabies: Caleb, Lauren, Nathan and Ben

My sister, Stephanie and her daughter, Lauren

Ben putting out some carrots for Santa's reindeer

Cookies and milk for Santa!

Christmas Party at Joyce's

2011-12-22T18:29:00.001-08:00

Today was Ben's Christmas party at Aunt Joyce's. He had such a great time playing with his friends. They had lots of yummy goodies and opened gifts from Aunt Joyce. We are so lucky to have a member of our family take care of Ben while we work. And, she is a total pro. She has been keeping kids since I was little! Enjoy the cute pictures!

Sweet friends:

Bennett loved all the yummy treats!Sweet little Bennett:Callie and Hanna posing with their presents:Hanna and Ben really got into opening their gifts:He loved this giant pencil from Aunt JoyceBen and Callie riding scooters

Gingerbread Train!

2011-12-22T17:54:00.001-08:00

We thought it was about time we tried one of these gingerbread projects we've been seeing in every store. We picked out this gingerbread train for Ben since he loves trains. We had a fun time tonight trying to get it put together. Ben was pretty much just interested in eating the candy, ha ha! Poor thing will probably need an insulin shot before bed. Enjoy the pictures!

Ben wanted to take a picture of me...I thought it was really cute...just a little crooked :)

I love my new picture frame! This is one of my favorite pictures of Ben from his one year old photos :)

The Polar Express

2011-12-21T16:51:00.001-08:00

The Polar Express has been one of my favorite books since I was a kid. I remember going to the public library and listening to Mrs. Roberts read it to my class. She had a special way of bringing books to life. I was really excited when the book was made into a movie. Ben is finally old enough to sit through me reading the entire book. I've showed him the movie, too. He loves trains so much I just knew he would enjoy it. After reading the book last night, Ben wanted to make a train with the dining room table chairs. He called it the Polar Express train and put his stuffed animals in each chair for his passengers. He even blew his conductor whistle. I just had to snap a few pictures. I love this boy and his imagination!

Laci's 30th Birthday

2011-12-21T16:38:00.001-08:00

Jeremy, Ben and I headed out to the Bagwell's hay pond to celebrate Laci's 30th birthday last night. We had so much fun with our sweet friends. Laci's family cooked a delicious dinner for everyone and the kids got to roast marshmallows and make s'mores. This was Ben's first time seeing a fire and he thought it was so cool. Enjoy the pictures!

Fun at the park!

2011-12-21T16:05:00.000-08:00

We had lots of fun at the park Saturday with our sweet friends, Laci & Marlee. This was Marlee's first trip to the park. She had so much fun taking it all in. I see lots of dates at the park in the future. Enjoy the cute pictures!

Wee!!!!

I love how Marlee is holding on to Ben in this picture!

Marlee was so excited! I love her sweet smile.

Ben got brave enough to try this thing....he's not sure how to get in it, ha!

Sweet girl!

Snowman Soup

2011-12-21T15:45:00.001-08:00

My sweet friend Simone sent some Snowman Soup home with me on Friday for Ben. Ben was so excited to make this fun treat! I have some pictures of him with his mug below. I loved it so much that I went to the store to buy the ingredients to make some more! You need one packet of hot cocoa mix, mini-marshmallows, chocolate kisses, and a candy cane.

Ben is having so much fun counting down the days until Santa comes with this cute calendar!

This is where we found Jack one morning. Ben thought this was so funny! We told Ben Jack must have gotten hungry and wanted to use his grill to make a hamburger :)

Lauren's Christmas Concert

2011-12-14T05:09:00.001-08:00

Last night we went to my niece's Christmas Chorus Concert at Memorial Elementary School. They sang songs based on the poem, Twas the Night Before Christmas. Lauren got to sing and dance. She was a sugar-plum fairy. Ben really enjoyed the show. He really loved the boys that played the hand bells. While I'm not ready for Ben to start school, I have to admit that I'm excited about getting to see him participate in fun school activities like this. Here are some pictures of our little sugar-plum fairy:

A Visit to Santa's Workshop

2011-12-10T09:51:00.001-08:00

We've had a busy weekend already! We decorated our tree Friday night and took Ben to Santa's Workshop in Lakeland. Ben was such a good boy for Santa and got a token to place under the tree. Santa told him he would take the token on Christmas Eve and exchange it for a present! Santa also asked Ben to leave some milk and cookies for him, since he gets hungry on his long journey. Enjoy the pictures!

Ben did a great job decorating our tree!

Our scout elf, Jack, has been showing up in interesting places each morning! Finding Jack is the first thing Ben wants to do each morning :)

It snowed while we were at Lakeside Village, too! Ben had a blast trying to catch the snow (and eat it!)

Ben and Grandpa catching snow!

The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition

2011-12-09T05:24:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered how Santa REALLY knows who's been naughty or who's been nice? We found out on December 7th. Santa sent a scout elf to our home! We were all very curious about how this little scout elf works. We read the book with Ben and had to come up with a name for our scout elf. We wanted Ben to have the honors, but he was struggling with a name. He wanted to call our elf Santa Claus. We thought that would get a little confusing, so Jeremy and I gave him a few names to choose from. Ben loved the name Jack since it starts with a J like his Daddy's name. We've been having fun talking to Jack and searching for his new hiding place each morning. Our little elf is very mischievous!

Jack's first flight back to the North Pole to report our behavior to Santa was Wednesday night. Ben was so excited to wake up and look for Jack Thursday morning. Here are some pictures of Ben once he figured out where Jack was sitting.

Bubba has a serious case of the bed-head!

"There he is, Mama!"

wondering how Jack got up there.....

Picking Out Our Christmas Tree

2011-12-09T04:35:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun picking out our Christmas tree last night. Grandma and Grandpa Byrd went with us to get their tree, too. We stopped at Chili's first for dinner, then headed over to Lowe's to see if they had the perfect tree. They did not....they only had 5-6 ft. Frasers left, so we decided to check Home Depot. They had a much bigger selection and we found our tree there. It is currently sitting in the tree stand fluffing out. We are so excited to decorate it this afternoon! I am so ashamed that it is 9 days into December and we are just now getting a tree. We've just been so busy! Enjoy the pictures!

Ben enjoying his Shirley Temple at Chili's last night

playing with Grandpa's iPhone

Ben said he wants one of these for Christmas...I bet Daddy does, too!

Ben went right up to a tree at Lowe's and started dragging it out of the bin.

We were laughing so hard! I can't believe he pulled that tree all by himself!

checking out the sticky sap on his handsinspecting the tree with Daddy

Ben loved this tree, but Daddy said it was too short and skinny, so off to Home Depot we went!

Ben was too busy with this string to pose with our tree. I'll post pictures once it's decorated :)

Christmas Parade

2011-12-07T06:25:00.001-08:00

Despite having colds, we all forced ourselves out of jammies and headed downtown for Frostproof's Christmas Parade. We met up with our sweet friends, Laci and Marlee Brooker. Laci's brother Frank and his little boy Easton came, too. I thought the parade was great this year. Ben enjoyed seeing the big trucks and floats. One float even "snowed" on us. Ben got a ton of candy and a stuffed animal. One of the most precious moments of the parade for me was when Smokey the Bear came by on his float. I pointed him out to Ben and Easton and Easton looked at me and said "No fires!" He is just too sweet! Enjoy the pictures!

Laci, Marlee, Ben and me before the parade

We were rushing to get to the parade in time and forgot chairs. Oh well, the ground was comfy too :)

Snow!

Ben and Easton checking out their bags of candy!

Three Years Old...

2011-12-06T06:08:00.000-08:00

I forgot that I wanted to write a post all about Ben at three years old, so here goes.

At three years old, Ben:

talks in complete sentences (for the most part)

still makes the "wa" sound for L's

favorite foods are: PB&J sandwiches, popcorn, grapes, goldfish crackers & fries

loves trains, buses, trucks

wants to do everything by himself "I can do it!"

can tell a joke (What do ducks like to eat, Mama? Quackerssssssss!!!!!!!!)

asks Why? about a million times per day

can sing the alphabet song

knows most shapes and all colors

can count to about 14 before he starts saying numbers out of order

can count to 10 in Spanish (thanks Dora!)

can say a few colors in Spanish (thanks Dora!)

says his favorite color is green but he also likes blue

weighs about 30 pounds

is 38 inches tall

loves to snuggle

wants to watch Dumbo or An American Tale when we're traveling in the car

loves Zac Brown Band, Miley Cyrus, and the soundtrack from Sister Act 2

wants to listen to Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas CD in the car right now

says all he wants for Christmas is his two front teeth (see bullet above)

when he's not joking, says he really wants a cash register and marbles for Christmas

loves to play outside with his mudpie kitchen

likes to collect leaves and acorns

likes to build mega block towers with Daddy

likes to throw and catch with Daddy

loves to sit on Grandpa's lap and play with Grandma's iPad

wants dessert after EVERY meal

loves going for rides on Papa's mule (not the animal)

can pedal forwards and backwards on his tricycle

loves to read If You Take a Mouse to the Movies

and that's all I can think of for now!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-26T07:38:00.000-08:00

We had a very busy, but wonderful Thanksgiving! We kicked off the holiday this year by running the Turkey Trot 5k at Highland's Hammock State Park. It was Ben's first race. Jeremy pushed him in the stroller and we all stayed together. We finished in 28 minutes 35 seconds....not too bad for running with a stroller. There were over 600 runners this year! It was an exciting race. We skipped the awards ceremony and came straight home to get showers. We headed to Avon Park next for Thanksgiving lunch at Aunt Darla and Uncle Kurt's. Ben loves their house because they have Labs, chihuahuas, and chickens! We came home around 1:30 so Ben could get a good nap, then headed to Bartow for Thanksgiving dinner with Grandma & Grandpa Byrd, Papa Stone, and Uncle Chuck. We had a very relaxing time.

We really enjoyed our day! We have so much to be thankful for: family, friends, and good health!

Ben and Mama before the race

Pictures of Thanksgiving at Aunt Darla & Uncle Kurt's:

I love this picture of my cousin Kacie! Roxy was being a ham and wanted to be in everyone's pictures!

Cousin Bella shared her picnic basket with Ben. They were so cute playing with each other.

Mama, Ben, and Roxy :)

Ben loves looking at Uncle Kurt's chickens. Uncle Kurt took one out for him and let him pet it.

Ben had the camera in these next two photos......he loves taking pictures (either that or he is tired of me always taking his picture)

Aunt Lisa came down yesterday, so we went back down to AP last night to visit her and the Olsen family again. Aunt Darla took us to a new restaurant in downtown AP called Eighteen East. My cousin Robbie is a waitress there. The food was so good! I didn't get any pictures last night, but here are some of Ben and me before we left.

Disney a Deux!

2011-11-21T16:39:00.000-08:00

Grandma and Grandpa Byrd took us back to Disney yesterday. If it's possible, we had even more fun than the last time! We rode the Walt Disney Railroad over to Frontierland as soon as we got there. We wanted to watch the Country Bear Jamboree and got there just in time. Next we rode Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride. Ben loved it! We ate lunch at Peco Bill's again, then headed over to Adventureland for the Jungle Cruise. Ben was a little hesitant about riding the boat at first, but ended up loving it. We did the race cars again. It is definitely Ben's favorite ride at Disney. We also got to ride the tea cups at the Mad Tea Party. That was a blast! I'll try to upload a video of us riding that one.

We just had such a great time! We got there around 10:30 and stayed until 5. It was perfect. We had dinner at Cracker Barrel on the way home. It was the perfect day! Enjoy the pictures!

Country Bear Jamboree!Ben was bored so he took our picture in line for Aladdin.Not a great picture of me but I love Ben's smile in this one.Ben was so bored waiting in line for Aladdin. He snapped this picture of Grandma & Grandpa. Not bad at all!Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride!Ben checking out the map!

This is Ben's favorite ride at Disney. He is so cute driving this car because he can barely see over the steering wheel!

Waiting for the tea cups......

I finally talked Ben into riding the Ferry Boat home. He loves the Monorail but I always feel so claustrophobic in that thing!

Lakeside Village Christmas tree lighting

2011-11-21T15:31:00.000-08:00

Ben was getting a little tired waiting for the tree lighting.......This balloon cheered him right up!Mama & Ben hanging out with Rudolph :-)Ben giving Frosty a high-fiveHi Santa!Ben was hanging on to Santa's every word. Santa used his magic to light the big Christmas tree. It was so neat!What a beautiful tree!

Jeremy and I took Ben to Lakeside Village Friday night for the lighting of the Christmas tree. We had such a great time. We had a yummy dinner at Palace Pizza before the show. Ben got to meet Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph, and several of Santa's helpers. We got lots of candy canes. The weather was perfect. We were actually able to wear long sleeves! Ben loved watching Santa arrive and watching Santa use his magic to light the tree.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas and the Byrd family is so excited!!!!

Ben's 3 Year Photos

2011-11-16T08:58:00.000-08:00

We met Lexi Wharem at Bok Tower on November 5th for Ben's three year photos. I still can't believe my baby is three. I feel like I posted his two year photos yesterday. Time is a flyin'. I think these pictures get better each year. Lexi is awesome!

Grandma and Grandpa tagged along this year so we could take some family pictures. I love how they turned out! I'm having a hard time deciding which to print and hang. I hope you all enjoy looking at them!

Lexi found this neat little hut for us to do some pictures in. She said the light was great and she was right!

Lexi also found this neat little tunnel covered with vines. Ben LOVED running back and forth through it. This was the highlight of picture-taking for him.

I love these shots of Ben playing with his train. She caught him in the above shot saying "choo choo." Precious!

One of Ben's favorite stories right now is "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein. We were actually reading that book in the hut pictures (Ben impressed Lexi with his "reading" of the book. He has almost every page memorized). I love this picture of him standing under the orange tree; it reminds me of the book.

Christmas Photo Out-takes

2011-11-15T09:18:00.000-08:00

I just had to share these out-takes from our Christmas photo shoot last weekend. (I wanted to do them early so I could hand them out at Thanksgiving...my family is huge and I'm too cheap to buy that many stamps, ha ha!) I usually use the family photos Lexi does for us each year, but I was feeling a little creative this year thanks to my two new favorite websites: Etsy and Pinterest. I didn't post the pictures we used on the card...you will just have to wait and see them when your Christmas card arrives in the mail.

Can you tell he is tired of smiling?

Santa's little helper being mischievous.......

Ha! I love this fake little grin :)

Kisses for Mama!

My mother was a trooper. She tagged along to help us get the shots we wanted. I snapped this cute pic of her and Ben when we were done.

Who knew it would be this hard to get a three year old to look directly at the camera and smile?

We were just fooling around at this point. I wanted some extra shots in case my "creative" idea didn't turn out.

This is one of my favorite shots but didn't really go on the card I liked. This is the background on my computer at work right now. My students have been "oohing" and "aahing" over it this week.

Ben is so over picture-taking........ha!

ARC Halloween 10K & 5K Run/Walk

2011-11-06T06:43:00.000-08:00

Look at those medals! Jeremy won 1st place in his age group at the ARC Halloween 10K race. We were supposed to run that race together, but I caught Ben's nasty cold. Cindy went down and did the 5K run/walk and got second place in her age group! I am so proud of them!

Friends, A Rooster & Halloween!

2011-11-06T06:08:00.000-08:00

Jeremy helping the boys do the monkey bars :)This picture cracks me up! Ben was not happy about sharing his bubble mower, ha ha! We are working on that :-)I tried to get them to sit on the hay but they weren't too sure about those scarecrows!Easton and Ben out for a wagon ride :-) They are handsome boys!I found these from last month. Laci & Marlee stopped by to give Ben a birthday gift. Ben loved his alphabet train puzzle. Laci & Marlee even brought over ice cream with green m&ms and green sprinkles. Ben was so excited! We love Laci & Marlee!Cute friends!Ben playing with his alphabet train puzzle from Laci & MarleeI love this picture of Ben and JeremyThis rooster showed up one day last week and has decided he likes our neighborhood. Ben really likes him. He tried to feed him leaves the other day. He has roosted in one of the orange trees across the street from our house. My handsome monster!Mama, Ben & Aunt Joyce Enjoying a late dinner at Frostbite after trick-or-treating

out of my mind

2011-11-03T07:19:00.000-07:00

I am not out of my mind, but this is the title of a great book I just finished reading and wanted to share. Every year, my school graciously allows me to order two sets of books that have been awarded as favorites among middle school-aged children. They are called Sunshine State Young Readers books. I picked this one up to read during free reading time (one of the BEST parts of my job) and immediately fell in love with the main character, Melody. Here is a description of the book from the jacket:

Eleven-year-old Melody has a photgraphic memory. Her head is like a video camera that is always recording. Always. And there's no delete button. She's the smartest kid in her whole school-but NO ONE knows it. Most people-her teachers and doctors included-don't think she's capable of learning, and up until recently her school days have consisted of listening to the same preschool-level alphabet lessons again and again and again. If only she could speak up, if only she could tell people what she thinks and knows...but she can't, because Melody can't talk. She can't walk. She can't write.
Being stuck inside her head is making Melody go out of her mind-that is, until she discovers something that will allow her to speak for the first time ever. At last Melody has a voice...but not everyone around her is ready to hear it.

The storyline reminds me so much of my nephew, Caleb. He was born with so many challenges. Being able to speak is one of them. He is slowly learning some sign language, but I know it has to be frustrating for him to not be able to communicate like his family and classmates. This is a quick read, so if you're looking for some new material, consider this book.

P.S. Our DSL is out of commission. I have TONS of pictures to share of Ben. I hope to be able to share those soon.

Candy Apple!

2011-10-20T04:36:00.001-07:00

I wanted to share this picture that Grandpa Byrd took of Ben enjoying his 1st candy apple at Hunsader Farms! Yummy!!!

Hunsader Farms!

2011-10-17T05:05:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun on our first trip to Hunsader Farms yesterday! Ben played tons of games, had his first candy apple, and won the frog-jumping contest! I took a ton of pictures, so enjoy!

Enjoying his 1st candy apple :)

Frog-jumping contest: Ben had so much fun with this show. He was singing and dancing with the rest of the crowd. The man in the overalls kept getting volunteers from the audience. After Ben saw the first pair of boys volunteer, he shot his hand up in the air and told me he wanted to do it! I was so shocked! Ben was the fourth and last one to get called on. His frog's name was Jeremiah the Bull Frog :) Jeremy went in the ring to help him. The man put the microphone up to Ben and asked him what his name was. You could barely hear his sweet little voice say, "Ben." Ben had the wild frog. It jumped out of the ring and behind the trailer. Poor Jeremy had to chase it down. Ben won a little plastic cup with a plastic frog glued on top as his trophy. I need to get a picture of him with it.

Ben's 1st pony ride!

Ben really enjoyed the games. He played basketball, bowled, and fished. He would get so excited about winning tickets and candy prizes. I hope he is always this enthusiastic!

Fishing with Grandpa:

About to tear open the green lollipop he won :)

Showing off his prizes!

Ben and Grandpa checking out the butterfly garden:

Hay Stack Maze: Ben loved this!

He loved the small pumpkins!

Weekend randoms......

Ben loves playing with his Thomas the Train birthday gift.

Daddy and Ben before eating at Fat Boy's Friday night

P.S. I ran SIX miles when we got home from Hunsader Farms yesterday. I think I'm ready for the 10K on the 29th :D My legs still feel like jello today, but I feel confidant that I can run a pretty good time.

More Birthday Pics and Weekend Randoms

2011-10-09T16:00:00.000-07:00

We've had a great weekend! Ben and I hung out while Jeremy went to the football game Friday night. It was just too rainy to go out. We got lots of snuggle time and watched The Fox and the Hound II. We took Ben to the movies for the first time last night. We saw The Lion King in 3D. Ben did great! We bought the biggest tub of popcorn they had and some emmies (M&Ms). He got a little bored in spots, but was interested for the most part.

We've just been hanging out at home today. We all needed a chill day, so the rain sort of forced us to stay inside. I was supposed to run 6 miles today, but only got 4.5 in since the rain started back mid-run. Oh well....it was a nice excuse to come in and be lazy again, ha ha!

Enjoy the pictures and have a great week!

Ben with Walt and Minnie :)

We went to Legoland a couple of weekends ago for our free teacher passes. Ben loved the lego lion.

Ben's 3rd Birthday Weekend!

2011-10-06T14:41:00.001-07:00

We had such a great time celebrating Ben's 3rd birthday at Disney World. We left Friday afternoon, right after Ben's nap. We checked in to our hotel and walked over to Downtown Disney. We had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe and let Ben ride the train and carousel. We all had a hard time falling asleep Friday night. I think we were all excited about meeting Mickey!

Jeremy and I woke Ben up Saturday morning with the birthday song. He started smiling and singing along! It was a precious moment :) We got to the Magic Kingdom right as it opened Saturday morning. Ben had so much fun riding the tram from the parking lot to the ticket booths. He also really enjoyed the monorail. We joked that we could have saved ourselves some money and just let him ride those all day long. He did enjoy riding Dumbo and It's a Small World. I think his favorite adventure was riding in a racecar at Tomorrowland's Indy Speedway. The cars were on a track, but guided along, so Ben could actually steer! So much fun!!! Ben also loved the carousel and the Walt Disney World Railroad. Since we stayed at a hotel really close to the park, we were able to take Ben back for a nap (mama and daddy needed one, too). We woke up and showered off, opened presents, and ate some yummy green birthday cake. We got back to the Magic Kingdom in time for dinner. We ate at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe. We had some yummy burgers and chili. We camped out in Frontierland while we waited for Mickey's Electrical Parade. I enjoyed the parade so much! I've never experienced Disney at night so it made the night extra special. We watched fireworks as we were exiting the park. We were so tired when we made it back to the hotel. We all slept in until 8 the next morning!

It was a magical weekend for the Byrd family. Enjoy the pictures!

Downtown Disney Pictures

Ready for Disney World!

Ben saw this popcorn vendor as soon as we walked in the park. He ate an entire bag of popcorn!

In line to meet Mickey and Minnie

He did not like wearing the Mickey ears, but I'm so glad we got a couple shots with them on :)

We all loved Dumbo the Flying Elephant! Ben was elated that we got to sit in the "GREEN" Dumbo!

"I'm THREE Mommy!!!"

Watching Mickey & Friends dance and sing in front of Cinderella's Castle!

We loved watching this band play some of our favorite Disney songs. Ben got so excited when they started playing the Hi-Ho song from Snow White :)

Walt Disney Railroad!

Back at the hotel for cake and presents!

Jeremy was in charge of putting candles on the cake (he didn't realize you were only supposed to put 3 on!)

A Thomas Train set!!!!

Back to Disney for dinner, parade and fireworks

Waiting for the parade to start :)

2011-09-18T16:18:00.000-07:00

Mission Accomplished!

Race & Cute Ben pictures!

2011-09-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

We've had another great week! I have been cherishing these last few weeks with my two year old. I can't believe Ben will be three in less than two weeks. I found pictures today while cleaning of his birthday celebration last year. It seriously feels like that happened yesterday.

Jeremy and I ran in Bartow's "Blown Away 8K" on Saturday. It was a nice morning for a race. The route was beautiful with lots of Oak trees and shade. I finished in 47:49, placing second in my age group. I was so shocked when they called my name to receive a medal! I was hoping to finish in under 50 minutes and Jeremy was hoping to finish in 45 or less. We both met our goals! I ran 17 total miles last week (including the race) and my legs are feeling it today. I'm glad my training plan only calls for 11 this week. I could use the break! Our next race will be a 10K at the end of October. I think it's safe to say we're addicted :)

Enjoy this week's pictures! Grandpa Byrd took some good ones after the race.

My sleeping angel

Yummy ice cream!

Family pic after the race

Having my picture taken by Bartow Parks & Recreation after receiving my medal :)

Hanging out while we wait for race results

Cute pic that I left out last week from Papa's birthday celebration

Another family pic after the race (I have crazy post-race hat hair!)

Party Animals!!!

2011-09-13T06:48:00.000-07:00

We were party animals this weekend! My niece, Lauren, turned 11 years old on Friday. We celebrated with a pool/lake party on Saturday. Papa Stone (Jeremy's grandfather) turned 79 yesterday, so we celebrated him on Sunday. It was a fun, but exhausting weekend. I had to buy groceries yesterday because we were just too busy for the mundane things this weekend!

Jeremy and I are running in an 8K race this Saturday in Bartow. Say a few prayers for us that morning. It's a 5-mile race with a U-shaped "steep climb" around mile 4. Yikes! I set my alarm for 6am this past Sunday morning so I could run 5 miles through town. Frostproof doesn't have many steep climbs, but I made sure to do some hills.

Have a great week, everyone! Enjoy the pictures!

The birthday girl and her BFF, Shelby Garrett

Ben enjoying his watermelon snow cone :)

The birthday girl and more friends

My sweet cousin, Bella Shae. She turns one October 13th!

Ben, Daddy, and Uncle Chuck hanging out at Papa's

Enjoying some birthday cake (he has a sweet tooth like his mama!)

Ben's favorite toy at Papa's is this old, blue phone. He's never seen a phone with a cord before, ha ha! He likes to use the cord as a limbo stick or jump rope :)

Playing with Papa's birthday balloons

Play Park and Football!

2011-09-06T14:12:00.001-07:00

The Byrd family had another great week! We were all so excited to have a 3 day weekend together. We spent Friday night cheering on the Bulldogs! Ben was so good and made it all the way until the 3rd quarter before getting sleepy. We all slept in until 8 the next morning! I forgot what that felt like. Even over the summer he was up by 7. We took him to Common Ground park Saturday afternoon and had lunch at Palace Pizza. Jeremy enjoyed all the football on TV and we did a little baking.

Enjoy the pictures! Have a great (short) week, everyone!

Ben and Daddy waiting patiently for the game to start.......

Go Bulldogs!

I love the smile on Ben's face. Can you tell he loves his Grandpa?

Handsome!

Ben really wanted to drink out of a tervis tumbler like mama. I took this picture just a few minutes ago. Ben is now sitting beside me on the couch playing with my iPod. I turned Bennie and the Jets on just for him :)

School Germs!

2011-08-30T04:25:00.000-07:00

Mama and Daddy brought home school germs after just one week in the classroom, ha! Grandpa Byrd came to the rescue last week by taking Ben to the doctor on Thursday. Ben had been really fussy all week and started complaining of a sore throat by Wednesday. Dr. Larue said he had pharyngitis. Claritin once a day and some Advil have been helping a lot. We were all pretty wiped-out last week so we've been trying to chill and get lots of rest. I've posted lots of randoms from our week. I can't believe this is the last week of August. Ben will be 3 in four weeks!!!

Ben and Daddy reading "One Fish Two Fish"

I remember wondering how old he would be when he could pull books off this shelf by himself...

Ben loves the show Bubble Guppies on Nick Jr. One of the characters wears orange goggles, so Ben LOVES to wear these! I just can't resist taking pictures of him with them on :)

Back to work!

2011-08-21T09:49:00.001-07:00

Jeremy and I had a pretty uneventful first week back at work. Ben did great getting back to his usual routine. I missed him so much! One of my friends had a party for her son on Saturday. He just turned one so we got to party with them. Ben behaved so well. He sure made us proud. I've posted a few random pictures from our week below. Have a great week, everyone!

His expression cracks me up!

Ben and me before Bennett's 1st birthday party!

My cutie!

This is an old picture I found on one of my memory cards. This was taken before the FHS Graduation ceremony in June. I thought it was a cute family picture. Grandma and Grandpa Byrd had come over to watch Ben so we could go to the ceremony and snapped this pic.

Sharks, Sting Rays, Starfish & a Streetcar!

2011-08-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

We took Ben to the Florida Aquarium this week. He had so much fun checking out the cool creatures. We also got to ride a streetcar around Channelside. We had so much fun and can't wait to go back for another visit. I've posted pictures of our trip below.

I can't believe this is the last weekend of summer vacation. Man, did it fly by! I'm looking forward to meeting my new group of students. I have about the same schedule as last year, so that is nice. One of my good work buddies took a job at Ft. Meade Middle/Senior. It's right down the road from her house. I'm happy for her (and the gas $ she will save), but I'm going to miss seeing her every day! Several of us went to lunch Thursday to catch up.

Have a great week, everyone!

Isn't this a strange looking octopus?

Ben and the Goliath Grouper!

The aquarium has a neat little splash area for the kids. Ben loved it!

We got to ride the streetcar in Tampa. Ben LOVES trains and buses, so it was a neat mixture of the two. (I can't seem to type streetcar without thinking of the Tennessee Williams novel)

Ben with his streetcar ticket!

Lazy Week

2011-08-08T06:29:00.000-07:00

We had a really lazy first week of August. I don't even have that many pictures. Sorry guys! I did complete my running goals for the week. I ran 14 miles this week. I actually RAN every single mile. No walk breaks. Period. My longest run was 4 miles. It took 43 minutes but that's okay. It's called an LSD run (long, slow distance) so I'm okay with an over 10 minute per mile pace. I'm still working on improving my 5K race time. My biggest goal right now is to build endurance, so I'm on a training schedule to build my longest run up to 6 miles. I'm hoping I'll be ready for a 10K by fall. I can't wait to run in the cooler air. I'm hoping that will shave some time off my miles as well. This running in the humidity and heat sucks! I just keep telling myself I'll be better for it come fall :)

I promise this isn't a running blog...that's just about all I got accomplished this week, ha ha! I'm going to work in my classroom a few days this week and we're taking Ben to the Florida Aquarium. I promise I'll have more pictures next week! Have a great week, everyone!

Jeremy snapped some pictures of Ben and me being lazy. We were watching The Fox and the Hound. This is Ben's first official Disney movie. We had to watch it in segments of course. He doesn't want to sit still for an entire movie :)

It's August already??!!

2011-08-04T06:32:00.000-07:00

I can't believe August has rolled back around already! This summer went by way too fast. I'm having to make myself sit here and update the blog, because I feel like there are a million other things I should be doing to get ready for the new school year! Ben will be 3 years old in less than two months....can ya'll believe it?! I've been surfing the internet looking for ideas for his birthday celebration. Ben has told me that he wants a GREEN birthday cake! That's his favorite color if I haven't already mentioned it.

We've had a pretty low-key week. Jeremy and I have been doing a few projects around the house while Ben's at Joycie's in the mornings. My niece Lauren stayed the night with us Thursday night. Ben loves when she comes to visit. He still can't pronounce his L's, so instead of struggling to say Lauren, he just calls her "cousin." It's pretty cute. We took them to Lakeside Village for pizza and ice cream, then to Common Ground Park. Lauren thought it was pretty much the coolest park ever! Here are the pictures from the last few weeks. Enjoy!

Love this! Ben and Grandma on the see-saw. (Jeremy and I were on the other side making them bounce really high!)

Ben and cousin Lauren building a tower

Ben playing with his memory game before bed one night. He's really not that interested in finding matches yet. He just flips all the tiles up and says what's underneath each :)

CHEESE!!!!

Rainy afternoons = boredom! Ben and Daddy played bowling on the Wii for the first time this week!

Island Time :)

2011-07-25T14:03:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time at Anna Maria Island last week with Grandma and Grandpa Byrd. The water was perfect! Ben made his first sand castle and had fun decorating it with seashells. We can't wait to go back again. I've posted some pictures for you all to enjoy :)

Vero Beach 2011

2011-07-18T14:27:00.001-07:00

Jeremy, Ben, and I got together with my side of the family this past weekend at Vero Beach. The weather was gorgeous! I'm usually not a fan of the beaches on the East coast, but this beach looked more like the Gulf on Saturday. Ben had so much fun playing with his cousins. I've posted a ton of pictures from our trip, so enjoy!

This little guy liked posing for the camera. My sister's boyfriend picked him up and Ben got a close look. I'm not sure what kind of crab it is...it was a pretty blue color :)

Nathan Hayes (he doesn't like posing for the camera)

One HAPPY kid!

He could have stayed in the pool all day :)

Ben and me with Aunt Cindy (my mom's oldest sister)

BEACH time!

Nana buried Ben in the sand...he thought it was hilarious!

We took some family pictures on the beach at sunset. I thought they turned out really well :)

trying to get Ben to make a silly face with me

Ben was really concerned about Caleb. He kept pulling on my shorts and telling me that "cousin Caleb is sad." I'm trying to figure out why he's sad in this picture. After trying a few things, I asked if he wanted to get back in the water and he signed "please" to me. Precious!

No pictures please! Just put me back in the water!

My younger sister, Whitney, with Caleb

My mom loves this picture. It's rare that we're all together and can get a picture of all the kids. I loved seeing her so happy. I think this will become an annual trip.

Nana and her grandbabies :)

10 Years!

2011-07-11T05:57:00.000-07:00

We had our 10 year class reunion this weekend. We met up at Jessie's in Winter Haven Friday night and had a family day Saturday. There were a few people we hadn't seen since graduation! Here are some pictures from Friday night:

Chuck Sullivan, Michael Irvin and John Mouery

Meredith Hood Irvin, Tytannia Barnett King, Jeneen St. Louis

We had a BBQ picnic at the Crumbly's house Saturday. Doug Wise cooked his famous pulled pork. It was so nice to see old classmates and meet their children :)

We walked to the park yesterday morning. It was so hot! Ben had a great time shoveling dirt and acorns in his new bucket :)

Happy birthday, America!

2011-07-05T06:50:00.000-07:00

We have had a crazy, busy week! It started off Sunday with Jeremy waking up with a 103 degree fever. He went to the Urgent Care in Winter Haven and the doctor said he had strep throat. I quarantined him to our bedroom, praying that Ben and I wouldn't catch it. After two days of doing nothing but eating, sleeping, and resting, his fever was gone and he felt a little better. The good news is Ben and I didn't catch it! The bad news is the doctor said Jeremy couldn't race in the Firecracker 5K that we were scheduled to run on July 4th. Jeremy went to the race to cheer me on, but was so disappointed that he couldn't race. I invited a friend of mine to take Jeremy's place and she ended up placing 3rd in our age group! She was so excited! We watched fireworks in Bartow last night with Papa Stone and Ms. Pauline. Ben loved them! He was such a trooper...we didn't get home until 11 o'clock last night!

I've posted tons of pictures from this last week, so enjoy!

Our plans were to take Ben to Common Ground Park, but it rained. We ended up killing time at Lakeside Village. Ben loves throwing pennies in this fountain. We took him to Books-A-Million and got two books for $3 and a memory game.

Family picture at Ms. Pauline's house

Sitting in the mule waiting for the fireworks!

Ben and Papa Stone

Firecracker 5K at Highland's Hammock State Park

The third guy from the left won the race. He ran it in 17 minutes!

New personal record! 28 minutes 33 seconds :)

Kayaking Trip!

Ben and Aunt Lisa before kayaking in Seminole

Jeremy and I had so much fun kayaking! Ben was a little nervous about the whole thing. He never cried, but I could tell he was nervous. The ocean water was only a few feet deep, but probably looked really deep to him. We kayaked to a little island and explored for a bit. I'm so proud of Ben for trying something new.

This was Ben's favorite part of the trip...stripping down after kayaking and watering the plants, ha ha!

Random outside pictures:

Playdate at The Children's Museum with Hunter & Hayden Halloran and September Wilson

More randoms....

Rain, rain, go away! I guess this is the best spot in the living room to watch Dora!

New monkey jammies from Grandma!

Playdates, Mudpies, & Bird Feeders!

2011-06-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

We've had another fun week! I met up with one of my high school buddies and her two boys for some fun at The Children's Museum in Sebring. Ben had so much fun playing with Hunter. I had a blast watching them and holding sweet little Hayden. I have to admit....he gave me a little baby fever! I miss that age when they are just learning to walk. So precious!

Ben got a Little Tikes Mudpie Kitchen and has had some messy fun playing with it. We've had to play outside in the mornings because it's either too hot or storming in the afternoons! We've also been doing some arts & crafts. Ben painted a fish earlier this week and we made a bird feeder together this morning. He was so cute hammering the nails in with his little play hammer. It actually worked! I've posted some pictures at the very bottom.

Enjoy this week's pictures!

Reading "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." It's his new favortie story and we read it several times per day :)

Nice camera work by Ben!

Love that sweet smile!

THE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM:

We met up with Laura Kistner Halloran and her two boys, Hunter and Hayden. We had so much fun and can't wait to do it again!

He loved grocery shopping!

Loadin' that buggy up!

Hayden wanted to shop, too! Isn't he the cutest lil' thing!

Handsome Fire Fighters!

I LOVE that red hair!

I had to snap this picture fast! Hunter is even quicker than Ben!

MUD FUN!

ARTS & CRAFTS

coloring his bird feeder :) I didn't get any of him hammering the wood pieces together, which was the cutest thing. I was too busy making sure he didn't hammer his little fingers!

Happy boy!

Ducks, Tricycles, Grilling, & Piggyback Rides....

2011-06-20T06:11:00.001-07:00

are just some of the fun summer activities we've been enjoying! Ben stayed home with us all last week so we had to keep him busy! He's back at Joycie's this week for just a few hours every morning. He said he missed his friends. I guess Mama and Daddy are only cool for so long.....ha! Here are the pictures from this past week. I tried to keep them in some kind of order, but failed. Oh well! I know you guys will enjoy them anyway :)

Ben loves to ride the mule over to this little pond in Bartow to feed the ducks. They walk right up to us!

Ben and Papa Stone Saturday night

Ben loves my piggyback rides :)

and I love those sweet kisses! I have to get them now before he realizes he's too cool for kissing mama!

Ben loves his new grill!

We love watching him ride his tricycle :)

Lake fun!

Ben and Daddy watching the ducks :)

Weekend Get-a-way!

2011-06-12T16:32:00.001-07:00

We had a great little get-a-way for the first weekend of summer vacation! We took Ben to the Gaylord Palms in Orlando for some pool time. Grandma and Grandpa Byrd went, too, so it was extra special. We played in the pool Friday evening and all day Saturday. We went to Downtown Disney Saturday night for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. I took a ton of pictures, so enjoy!

Ben checking out the hotel while we checked in Friday afternoon

Ben was so happy his Grandpa came along

Wrestling on the bed :)

Mommy wrestles, too!

POOL TIME!

Downtown Disney!

Lunch at Cracker Barrel today

Hooray for June!

2011-06-05T17:06:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I missed a week! The end of the school year is always a busy time for us. We are so excited that summer is just a few days away.

Memorial Day weekend was a fun one. Jeremy and I ran in the Haiti Bible Mission Run at Highland's Hammock State Park. Jeremy won a medal for being the second male in his age group (20-29). His 5K time was 25:53. It cracks me up that he can place in his very first race. As my middle school students would say, he "beasted" it. Ha! I came in third place out of 11 females in my age group (20-29). My time was 28:56. I took almost 3 minutes off my last 5K race time, so I was pleased. Our next race is about a month away. Our goal is always to have a new personal record. I also got to see my high school classmate and college roommate, Michelle. She flew down Friday from Oklahoma to visit family and friends over the holiday weekend before flying off to China. Michelle plays volleyball for the U.S. Women's Sitting Volleyball Team (http://usavolleyball.org/athletes/michelle-gerlosky).

We took Ben to his favorite park yesterday. He always has so much fun! He has been sleeping in his big boy bed for about a week now. We are so proud of him. We are taking him to the Gaylord Palms this weekend as soon as school is out. He wakes up every morning asking if it's time to go to the hotel. Grandma and Grandpa Byrd are going with us this time and he is so excited! Here are the pictures from the past two weeks. Enjoy!

Michelle flew down Memorial Day weekend. We met up for dinner and went to the movies to see Hangover II. So much fun!

I love this smile :)Ben meeting cousin Aubrey for the 1st timeHelping Daddy build his bed :)He loves his new bed!

He could spin for hours....Can you tell Ben loves his Grandpa Byrd?Ha! Ben and Daddy sliding like penguinsBen's lizard walk Ben and Daddy racingBen took this picture of us at the park...I just had to crop it and adjust the coloring :-)

A Virus and Some Mud!

2011-05-22T09:00:00.001-07:00

My sweet, smiling boy :)

Here is a picture of Ben's rash from the echo virus. Poor baby!

"Dirty Dozen" Fun Mud Run...Let's Get Dirty!Laci and I before all the muddy fun!Climbing down this ladder was a little intimidating...I'm not a big fan of heights Running over the dirt mound after the rope climbThe last obstacle :)Two miles and 12 obstacles in 25 minutes 14 seconds...not too shabby! I did it!Laci and I were completely soaked after the last obstacle--a slip n'slide :)Ben loved the fire truck and helicopter at the race.My niece Lauren came to cheer me on :)Daddy trimming the back of Ben's neck :)

We've had an interesting week to say the least! Ben developed what I thought was just a heat rash Monday afternoon. By that evening, it was clear he had more than heat rash. I called Dr. LaRue first thing Tuesday morning and they worked us in. Three hours later we found out Ben had a virus that caused the rash. He had no other symptoms...just a nasty looking rash. Bless his heart.

Saturday, Laci and I ran in the Dirty Dozen race. It was a muddy, two-mile run with 12 obstacles. We had so much fun! We placed 45th and 46th out of 150 runners. We were very excited :) Enjoy the pictures! There was a big story about the race in the News Sun. Here is a link to it: www.newssun.com

Counting down to Summer!

2011-05-15T06:19:00.000-07:00

We have had another great week. We are so excited that summer is just around the corner. Less than 20 work days left! Ben keeps saying he wants to go to the hotel. When I ask him what hotel he is talking about, he says, "the one with the octopus slide." I see a trip to Gaylord Palms in our near future....

I've posted tons of random pictures below. I'm still having fun experimenting with my Nikon. I love the in-camera editing options. I've been cropping and changing the color to sepia. They look really cool to me in monochrome. Enjoy!

This is the train Ben made the other day. I was so proud to see him being so creative! He would take turns sitting in each chair saying, "choo choo!"

Ben and Grandma riding the carousel He is so over these pictures with me, ha ha!Ben hanging out in his new big boy undies! I just can't resist snapping pictures of him in them :)Playing around with the camera's timer functionI love my sous chef!Ben loves cracking eggs :) He says, "Ewwwww!!!""Taste it, Mama!"Happy driver :)Ben and Daddy reading Ben's first library books......If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and If You Give a Pig a Pancake.

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-08T16:05:00.001-07:00

His new thing....covering one eye and saying, "I'm a pirate, ARHHH!!!"

Ben in his big boy underwear!

Our family self-portrait :)

My Mother's Day gift.....new running shoes from FITNiche :)

Ben loves his Grandma and Grandpa

Ben and Momma on Mother's Day

Ben and cousin Lauren

Cousin Lauren, Ben and cousin Nathan

Nana's grandbabies: Lauren, Nathan, Ben and Caleb

I'm having to write my post at the bottom of the pictures today because I can't seem to insert a space before that first picture. I've had a great Mother's Day and first week of May. It's hard to believe I've been a mother for three years, although I truly can't remember what my life was like before having Ben. He is just such a joy.

I've posted tons of pictures from today and this past week. Jeremy took me to FITNiche Friday night for new running shoes. I've got two races coming up this month so this was the perfect Mother's Day gift!