Baseball: by Tanner

I was playing Baseball one night and the LA dodgers won! but we had to play another game we lost but I got a hitt so that is the end of the season for me.

Mount Magazine

The weekend of May 15th and 16th we headed down to Mount Magazine. The weather was supposed to be a bit iffy, but we were all so excited to go that we thought it would be worth the risk. We left the house around 1:00 and the kids quickly fell asleep. The drive down was beautiful. Arkansas is definitely a beautiful sight in the spring. Everything is full and very bright green. As soon as camp was set up we decided to get some time in on the four wheelers. Greg was able to borrow a four wheeler from a friend so the whole family was able to get out on the trail at the same time. And let me tell you we had a blast! This is on our way over to the trail head.... can you see the excitement? Although Kade is only 19 months old it is very apparent he knows what is going on and he knows he is supposed to be excited for it!

Do you think I could get all 3 kids to pose for a picture? No way! Kade was way too interested in what Dad was doing.

About half way into the ride we ran into some water that ran through the road. Needless to say we spent quite a while here. By the time we were finished I was soaking wet! Good thing it was a nice warm day!Kade loved every minute of it.


Tan is behind me and Bryn is in front. The whole time Tanner was screaming because he was having so much fun and Bryn was begging me to go slower.

Some of the beautiful scenery we came across. The tree in the middle of the river is blocking a pretty cool waterfall.

This is us, and this trip will be remembered as some of the most fun we've had since we've moved to Arkansas!

This is what the trail looked like. The trees and undergrowth are so thick. There were reports of black bear around our camp ground. Half of me was hoping that we would see some on our ride, but the smarter half was grateful we didn't encounter any on the trail.

There was one point on the ride when Greg and I both had reality hit us. We were deep into the trail and out of no where there is an old house on the side of the trail with an old woman and her dogs sitting on the porch. Just as we are passing the house we pass another four wheeler. The driver of the four wheeler was an old hairy man wearing white overalls without a shirt on. After we passed him Greg turned around, looked at me, and I knew what he was thinking... what do we do if we run into some 'crazys' out here?! The setting was pretty perfect for my imagination to start running. It didn't take too long before I convinced Greg we should turn back and start heading a little closer to the area of the trail head.

These pics are just random things of what the kids loved to do. Tanner was amazed by the fire and was watching everything Greg did to get it going. In fact, before we even had the tent set up Tanner had kindling gathered and a 'tee pee' built to start the fire.

Bryn was so content just to sit in her chair and enjoy herself.

Kade would have nothing to do with sitting still. He was constantly on the go and loved every minute of it. I just had to take a couple pics of the kids completely zonked out! They played so hard all day long that they slept so well. We had a pretty incredible storm come through during the night. Pretty intense thunder and lightening. There were times it seemed like someone had a spotlight on the tent. Greg kept waking me up asking me if I was nervous. Nope, I was SLEEPING! At least I was until he asked if I was nervous about sleeping underneath such a huge tree with the strong winds that were going on outside. Then all I could imagine was a huge branch breaking off and piercing through the tent into one of us! Then, I was nervous. But the kids slept right though it all!

The next day the rain teased us most of the morning. But at least it was warm. To pass some time, the kids hunted for rocks, cleaned them up, then painted them to make their new favorite pet.

Bryn painted a butterfly.

Tanner painted a spider.

This was our campsite.

When the rain let up for a bit we went for a short hike to "Signal Hill" the "Highest Point in Arkansas"

Big rock. The kids had to have their picture taken here.

So... 2,753 feet, huh? Saratoga Springs, where we moved from is 4,500 feet. The funny thing about this is Tanner keeps telling everyone that he hiked to the highest point in Arkansas, and he makes sure to add that he 'walked the entire way!' I just let him tell the story and try not to remind him that the hike was about half a mile. :) I love that kid.

The Bench Family on the highest point in Arkansas!

By the time we were ready to head back down the trail the clouds had started to settle back in. The kids always talk about what it would be like to jump in the clouds. This was their chance, so we spent the hike back down jumping in the clouds. Who knew that childhood dream would come true!

Last of all, I'll leave you with a video of Kade. This pretty much sums up what he did the entire time we were at the campsite. There was no slowing him down!

Push, Pull, Twist,Yank

{ He's just hoping that something grows in before Corn-on-the-Cob season arrives!}

Baseball

Tanner started baseball this season and it has been so much fun to watch him play. He is in a machine pitch league and seems to be catching on to the fundamentals of the game. He loves to have Bryn cheer him on, and he looks stinkin' cute in his uniform

Tanner loves playing catcher.

Hi Mom! (now leave me alone, there's a game going on!)

Batter Up!

Tanner's Cheerleader

Create!

This past Sunday we had a great lesson on using our talents. In her lesson the teacher mentioned that she had always wanted to learn how to make bread. Once she was finally able learn she talked about how much Joy she feels with the bread comes out right. Well, it inspired me. Monday night I made some raspberry freezer jam and Tuesday morning I started in on my bread. I do have to say that this batch of freezer jam is the best batch I've ever made... but I have to give credit to my little apprentice. Bryn was the best stirrer ever! (and the cutest too.) It was so fun to watch her get so excited about helping me out. I love the little conversations we have when we work together like this. She is my baby girl and I love her.

Notice the small evidence of taste testing on her cheek.

Now as for the bread. The positive: it tastes great. The negative: it looks horrible, so no pictures will be shared. :) But I do have to say, no matter what it looks like, there aren't many things better than home made bread and raspberry jam!

Testing

This week Tanner's grade is going through the dreaded 'TESTING.' Tanner didn't talk much about it when he got home from school, but he did disappear into the office and came out with a test of his own. He created a test for his TEACHER to take! I thought it was awesome. Paybacks are a bugger, right?

I thought his test was pretty cool. Then the next day, while looking through Tan's backpack I found the test, and this time it was completed by his teacher! I absolutely love his teacher.

(I had to scan the test so I could keep a copy of it. I think he'll enjoy this story when he gets older.)

I then received this email from his teacher:

Amy,
LOVED THE TEST!!!! Such a joy to my day…and a first in my many years of teaching…just darling!
d

Gotta love this kid!

Don't mind the hole in the knee of his pants. As much as I love this kid- he is SO rough on clothes. Just this week I noticed 2 more pair of pants have holes in the knees. I am praying warm weather comes quickly, and decides to stick around.

Bryn's New Do!

These pictures break my heart a little bit. But seeing how excited Bryn is about it, I just can't help be a little excited for her too. After all, it will grow again.

I was so proud of her. In the past she has been really nervous to sit in the stylists chair, but as soon as we went in she climbed right up and got a huge smile on her face. That smile didn't leave her face the entire time she was getting her hair cut. I love this girl!

Before:

After: