He's Back

I still have to get through last week before I can post about the weekend.  

I just thought Brody looked cute walking into Pat's house in his new shoes one morning last week.  

I am not very good at growing anything, but I think I will do much better this year because I have a helper.  Mason waters the garden everyday.  He may or may not get out of control with it sometimes and soak anyone within a mile radius from him...

Picking roses for our teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week.  

Dad helped us out and cut a small tree down at our rental property.  Brody and I stopped by to check on him.  I cannot keep this kid out of dirt or mulch….just look at his face. 

Mason had Muffins with Mom at school Wednesday.  They sang the sweetest songs, and he was so proud.  

We went back to their classroom to eat and give us sweet presents. 

He painted a pot for me and planted the flowers his very own self.    

And he painted this beautiful corsage for me.   It may be a little large and I may have been hesitant to put it on, but once he saw I was wearing it, he was so excited.  =)

Apparently he is obsessed with the iPad and I smell like bananas.  I had to read this out to the entire class.  You didn't know what they had written until it was time to read.  I, of course, was nervous about reading out loud (some things never change) but really nervous about what he had written.  

Brody will just never learn.  He LOVES playing in the dirt. 

And at the end of last week, John went back to work.  It hasn't even been four weeks since surgery (tomorrow will be) and he was already back at it.  He is such a hard worker, and I am so proud of him.  I thought maybe he should at least do half days, but he stayed all day long.  I know it gets boring sitting at home and must feel good to get back into his "normal" routine.

We are so blessed he was able to beat this cancer, but also that it only took about 5-6 months of our life.  I know some last years.  It has not been easy on our little family, but we have had so much support from everyone around us.  I really feel like we were able to keep our boys feeling like not much had changed, and for that I am so grateful.

It helped that John wanted our lives to be as normal as possible.  He did way more than he should have around the house and with the kids.  And he did it because he wanted to.  He is one pretty amazing guy and I'm glad we have him back!!!  I think it will be a couple more months until he feels like his old self, but we still like him however he feels.  =)

We had a big weekend with a wedding and Mother's Day.  I will do a separate post for that.  

Fun Fun Weekend

I feel like we have been so chaotic around here lately.  Between ER visits, doctor appointments, work, and meetings, I feel like we have been drowning for a while!  We ended up having a nice, family-filled weekend starting Saturday, and it was VERY much needed.  

It's hard to get tshirts on Mason, but Daddy's shirt does the trick.  

I feel like we have a recovery wing in our house with these two.  

Excited he was able to wear his Spiderman shirt.  It is one of the soft cotton shirts, so it stretched a little more than normal.  

Friday night we had dinner with my friend from work and her husband to celebrate her birthday.  John was able to hang for a couple of hours, and we enjoyed the company.  =)

Saturday morning we got up bright and early and headed to the t-ball fields.  Mason isn't able to play but he should be able to catch the last couple of games of the season.  John was even able to explain a little bit about the game to him….of course he wasn't interested but hopefully it will help with the meltdowns.  =)

He and Brody just kind of ran around.  I know Mason isn't suppose to be running and playing much right now but it is IMPOSSIBLE.  Obviously the doctor doesn't have a four year old at home.  He did fall a couple of times throughout the day and it didn't seem to bother him.  I know it's still healing, but I'm thankful it isn't as painful anymore.  

Saturday afternoon, Robert, Becca and the kids came over to play and grill out.  It was a beautiful day outside, so we played out there a lot.  Uncle Robert was helping entertain the kids with a wagon ride….whatever works with three toddlers!

(Anderson and Brody)

Emma is not fond of children…especially toddlers.  But she will be their best friend when they are eating and Griffin was doing some eating Saturday.  She wouldn't leave his side.  (she also gained a pound probably)

Anderson wanted in the cozy coop too, so why not sit on his brother.  =)

We just threw a bunch of veggies and meat on the grill.  

And then decided to eat outside.  We had an adult and a kids' table.  

Poor Reese is the only girl….but at least she owns it and can wear a tiara!  I don't know how similar they all look, but I do know that their hair color is pretty close to the same color looking at this picture!

Griffin found a new love for some corn on the cob.  He may have carried that thing around for a while. =)

Emma with mac and cheese all over her thanks to Brody.  

We just played and played after dinner.  

I lost Brody for a minute and found him playing in the mulch.  

I saw online an easy way to build a fire for s'mores.  You just take a terra cotta pot and line with aluminum foil.  Then fill with charcoal that already has the lighter fluid on them (this is important we found out) and light it!  So easy…I want to do this every night!!!!

Trying to figure out what we were doing. 

The spread. 

The older kiddos were obviously the only ones participating (with our help of course), but they were nice and made s'mores for the little ones.  

The babes were all exhausted at this point.  

Griffin liked the s'mores almost as much as the corn.  

Here was their initial reaction to the fire once we got it going….a tad worried.  But they did great and had lots of fun.  

One of the best parts is blowing the marshmallow.  =)

Brody helped me.  

When we were done, we gave the little ones a bath and then they crashed.  Brody was happy I put him to bed and these guys passed out!

(I think this is how we all felt by the end of the night)

But it was a really fun day, and I'm so glad John is starting to feel better. 

I worked in the yard Sunday afternoon while the boys played in the backyard. 

I extended my garden.  They are growing like weeds!!!

We decided to eat at Central BBQ for an early dinner.  No naps (well one early morning for Brody) means tired boys!  Central BBQ isn't as close as it was in our old house, so both boys fell asleep on the way there.  

I was worried how they would do in the restaurant,  but Brody cheered up after this picture was taken.  Ha. He loves me.  

But poor Mason wouldn't wake up.  He literally slept like this (head on napkin and all) the entire dinner.  

Yum.

Mason ended up waking up when we pulled back into our driveway!  It was a peaceful meal out.  =)