Ronan's one year pics and Cutie Zander

You know how i love my pictures!!!!

He Loves this dog!!!!
Favorite picture ever!!!! SUBMIT ZANDER!!

Hostess with the Mostess

Ok for those of you who know me...i hate to hostess. well i don't hate it. i just get VERY stressed out about it. i'm not a great cook or house cleaner so having people over means lots o work! so tonight we had a couple from ben's work over. i was so stressed going into it, but overall it turned out great. they were easy to talk with and the boys handled themselves very nicely. i grilled salmon, had broccoli, and some wild rice. ben made brownies for dessert. all in all, not worth the stress. then my amazingly wonderful husband cleaned up the kitchen for me. isn't he the best?! well, i'm watching the end of design star so i need to focus. great show by the way!

Cute little pictures

Zander made this crown thingy at vbs.

Ronan decided to attack me while i was taking pictures of zander.
so zander shut him up... :)
love my boys~~

Vacation Bible School

Zander's first vacation bible school!!! woo hoo! Sunday night we went to Shadow Mountain church (dr. david jeremiah) to see Ken Davis and his comedy team he brought. it was sooo funny! i really enjoyed it! then afterwards the children's worker was talking about their vbs that started the next day. usually it starts at age 4 for most churches. however, at shadow mountain it's three! so zander begged to go and ben and i discussed it and said we'd make the effort to drive out there. (20 min one way) the church across the street isn't even doing vbs this year... so for the last two days we've been trekking out there and zander has had a truly amazing time! he's made some great crafts, learned new games, new songs, and new bible verses! he's so stinkin' cute i can barely stand it!
also, he's gone a whole week in underwear at night without peeing his bed ever! weoo hooo! i guess he was ready long before i gave him credit! i thought he'd pee his pants at night if i let him out of the diaper, but one night he just told ben no more diaper please. oh he's such a big boy..:)
ronan decided he wants to see "wall-e" now thanks to zander. everytime it comes on tv he freaks and starts yelling it! it's more like a "wall-uh!" but still cute.
alrighty, off to bed for me. it's an early morning for vbs!

fixed laptop

praise Jesus! the laptop is fixed!!!! woo hooo! so that means i might be able to write more. but i doubt it. :) ben is out with the guys from our small group tonight so i'm sitting here alone catching up on every email and blog and message board i have. it's great!
news from our house....let's see. i had a great day scrapbooking at my mom's house. i got ten pages done before i got sick of it. i also had a good time with my mom since she just kind of sat there and talked with me. i feel much better since i finally got through the christmas pictures! woo hoo! sad i know. i wish i could scrap more but well, time and life happen.
the boys went to seaworld today while i was scrapping and they had a lot of fun. although ben said it was super hot and super crowded. however, zander played some hammer game where you hit something that launches a frog into a bucket. if it goes into the bucket you win a prize. you know the deal, it never happens. well zander did it on his first try and one a big frog! he was so proud of himself! he couldn't wait to show me when i got home. such a cutie!
ronan is officially walking eveywhere. a couple of days ago he started taking off by himself and now he's on the move. he's much more confident and wants to try going farther and farther. he does try to walk too fast sometimes and nearly bites it. two nights ago he took his head off on the side of the bed, then tonight he hit his head again. grrr....poor little guy. and he's also taken to to sleep wailing like zander. great...two sleep talkers. and me...i guess they got that from me. :)
also, please send up prayers for ben's great grandma whos' in the hospital with a whole lot of issues. she's such a wonderful lady and it breaks my heart to think of all she's going through!

Visit with the Inlaws

Well today was the last day with the inlaws in town. i have to say, i'm going to struggle figuring out how to parent once they're gone! i have had a nice break with having them around! Ben and i even got a date night to see the movie hancock and go out to eat! it was wonderful! we went to the beach twice, hung around the house, and just had a good time together. the boys are crazy about them for sure. Today we went to the Birch Aquarium and that was a lot of fun. Zander is crazy about marine life and apparently ronan is too! he went balistic everytime he saw the fish and even growled at them. although he does growl at pretty much any living creature.

also, ronan has decided finally to walk on his own. it took some time for him to trust that it was worth the effort, but now he's off and cruising!

so here are some pics from the annen's time here. mostly from today since i kept forgetting my camera at the beacH! :(

A Fabulous Fourth

We had a great fourth of july this year. ben had to work as usual, but in the evening we headed to a bbq with some friends hosted by chuck and helen price. they used to work at the old church we went to here in s.d. but they've been coming into ben's store and redoing their bathroom, so ben got to know them and got invited to their 13th annual 4th celebration. my parents always go cause they're friends with them. they live across the street from the school where the fireworks for their area, are launched. so we had great parking, good food, good fellowship, and great fireworks! there were lots of kids so zander had a ball and even went swimming in the big kid pool. both boys stayed up for fireworks (launched at 9 here) and were mesmerized. zander thought they were too loud and made me hold my hands over his ears, and ronan sat still as a church mouse watching them. they were both so cute. they handed out glow necklaces that both boys loved too. it was so nice to have something to do on the 4th cause we have never celebrated it!
unfortunately, i forgot my camera.....

perfect day!

yesterday was a darn near perfect day. ben had the day off so we took the boys to coronado beach. it was warm but windy so it didn't feel hot at all. the boys were so well behaved and had a blast. ronan roamed the beach chasing seagulls and growling at them (he kind of sounds like an ewok!) and zander splashed in the waves with ben and built sand castles. ronan eventually fell asleep on me and i just watched ben and zander play. it was so sweet to watch.
ronan is really growing up on me lately! he's so tall and he's climbing on everything! he says "ball, mama, dadda, more (mo, mo!) and papaw." zander seriously barely said mama at this age! but ronan also has a temper! he gets really frustrated and screams at the top of his lungs and his head turns bright red. i can't help but laugh some times. otherwise he's pretty sweet!
zander talks non stop and is so creative i can barely keep up with him! he definitely uses a side of the brain that i don't! wow, this is turning into quit the brag on my kids! :)
my good friend melissa (who's mother passed away) welcomed to the world little aine lynn riley (pronounced onya) on June 30. she is an adorable little thing and i just wanna eat her up! so congrats rileys!