Travelin' Men (and Lady)

"Greetings from Pageland"

I am writing to you early this morning from Pageland, SC , the last day of our week and a half (yowzers) trip down this way. We've had a great week-and-then-some and have really accomplished a lot! Here's a quick run down:

1.) We hit up Myrtle Beach last Friday and stayed 'til Monday late afternoon, visiting with our friends Russ and Miranda AND Anna and Will. On Saturday morning, Jeff was off to help Russ get some things ready for their church plant's kick-off cook out. That day, I got to play with Bailey, Cohen, and Jacob, so that Miranda could also help out with the cook out! I did manage to get a few pictures from that day. There was a lot of playing, some crying, Easter egg hunting, a LOT of candy eating, etc. going on that afternoon!

2.) Sunday morning was the first "preview" service for their church, with their kick-off coming this Sunday. It was an amazing success, if I do say so myself (and I am a little biased, I would have thought anything was great!)--there were lots of new families who had gotten a flyer and came by. God is so faithful to answer prayers, and this day really was an answer to prayer. Russ also did a great job--it seemed he'd been preaching/teaching for years! Jeff was able to help with a lot of stuff on Sunday as well (set up, clean up, greeting), which I know was a huge blessing for the Bennett's because Jeff is really good at all that stuff--and just knowing what needs to be done and doing it!

3.) Anna and Will (because they felt so honored to have us as house guests) cooked steaks for us on Sunday night and we feasted like kings and toasted the new healthcare bill--sort of.

4.) Monday morning was errand time for Anna and me (and Jacob), as Russ and Jeff tried to find a reasonable priced golf course in M.B. You can guess the outcome of that. They ended up with a couple of buckets of balls at the driving range! Maybe next time we go, we will take out a small loan so he can play.

5.) After all of this detail, in what I had promised was a "quick run down" , you may be thinking to yourself, "well, hey, I'm sure she doesn't have to tell us about the car ride between the beach and Pageland"----but you would be wrong. BECAUSE, after holding onto a credit at a home decor store in Dillon, SC for 2 years, we finally went and made some purchases! And the best thing is, Jeff and I were both able to pick some stuff. I got two sets of the Tervis tumblers I have been wanting (and would have otherwise never gotten!) and Jeff got a big framed and matted print which he really liked! I'll have to take a picture of that one later, once it's hung on our wall.

6.) We always look forward to our time in Pageland because we anticipate lots of days where Grandma and Pop Pop take care of Jacob so Jeff and I can skip through the fields, picking daisies and holding hands. That may not be a completely accurate picture of what happens, but we do know that our week will be relaxing and that we will probably get to do some stuff by ourselves, which is always nice! Well, even though we did have some downtime, and did get to have a night by ourselves, there was a lot going on this trip! It started off with Lisa and Lyn (cousins) making a three day trip down here for some work ( in Lyn's case) and some crafting (in Lisa's case). Lisa and I went to the gym a couple times (not in one day, sillies), made a small feast to celebrate 1.) all of us being in town and 2.) Debbie's birthday. The one thing I will say about the feast food ( start to finish, we did a lot of feasting - what's new?) is that Lisa found a great (and easy) recipe for dessert. If you happen to be in our care group and are reading this, please try to resist making this, because I can promise you that I will soon be bringing this to something! Here's the recipe:

Oreo Ice Cream Cake

12-15 Oreos, chopped
16 oz. thawed Cool Whip
1/2 C. fudge/chocolate sauce
3.4 oz. packet of chocolate pudding mix
12 ice cream sandwiches

Mix chocolate sauce into 1-1 1/2 C. cool whip. Then add pudding mix and Oreos. On a 24 inch long piece of foil, place four ice cream sandwiches side to side (NOT end to end), and layer half of the cool whip filling on top. Place another 4 ice cream sandwiches on top, and repeat with the rest of the cool whip stuff. Place final four (you like the basketball terminology) sandwiches on top and use remaining cool whip to "frost" the cake which should be about the same size as a loaf pan. Loosely seal the cake up in the foil and freeze for at least 4 hours.


7.) The next day, Lisa and I made her some really cool drapes for her craft room at her house. The girl has as many crafting ideas as I do, only in her free time, she's a pediatrician! Hopefully old Lisa will send me a picture of her drapes hanging up in her room soon, and do not fret, I will post them!

8.) I think one of these days/all of these days Jeff and Bryant played golf---and one special day, they took Jacob as well!! This was his first time on the golf course, and we had, of course, brought his set of clubs, so he could be a pro out there. Jeff said he was so excited, but from what I understand, that excitement was wearing off as he was learning about "golf etiquette" --aka not running, not being loud, etc. I'm not really sure how the whole putting thing went either.

Jacob, pre-first hole. Very Excited!

He loves a good tee

Putting

9.) At some point, Jeff and I went out by ourselves and ate some tasty food at some steakhouse, and did a little wandering at Target, Wal-Mart, etc. It was a lovely evening and I am so thankful that over this past month, we have gotten to go out like 3 times all by ourselves (not including the one full weekend we had by ourselves! Thanks Grammy!).

10.) Bryant, Jeff, Jacob, and I went to visit Mrs. Williams ( great Grandma Williams) and Daniel one morning too. Daniel and Jacob had a great time riding their bikes around the driveway. Please notice in the pictures how Daniel has the coolest off-roading tricycle ever!

Riding the swing, who-knows-where!

Riding off into the sunset

Bumper bikes--surprisingly, this did not end badly


Jacob doing some work on the old tractor. He was the "farmer" and I was the "farmer's helper"


Jacob and Daniel on the big tractor

11.) Throughout the week, Bryant and Judy, and their excellent sales skills, sold all but one of my purses I brought! That means I can now make a bed!

12.) Amy came down to stay on Friday night and hang out for a while. We, again, feasted-on lasagna this time, and I don't even remember what else happened! The next day we all got ready and went to Pineville to take some pictures! It was Bryant and Judy's 33rd anniversary, so they got to take us to get pictures done and then take us all out to dinner. It was a really romantic evening for them (I think). As a side note, we ate at Sticky Fingers, and although I have had their BBQ sauces from the store, this was the first time I have eaten there and I thought the barbecue was great! Jacob also gave the " baby oranges" (mandarin) on the menu a thumbs up!

13.) That brought us to yesterday, which was church and then resting time, and now here we are. We will be heading back this morning, hopefully with minimal stops!

Family Portrait

Another family portrait with the older generation

Random Tid Bits of Crafts

This is Jacob's completed fishy outfit from the front

And this is from the back!

And this is a composition notebook covered in scraps of fabric. Fancy gift idea from a crafty blog!!

A Day at the Park and So Much More

So yesterday, since it was SEVENTY!!!! , we went to the park with a couple of friends from church and their kids. We met at one of the two hundred and fifty parks that Va Beach has to offer---and it was really nice-plus the kids had a great time running around and exploring!

So, anyway, I bit the bullet and brought my camera with me to take some picture, since evidently that's not something I do anymore! And here they are...

Clara and Jacob figuring out the climbing wall thing


Little climbing monkey boy---he was a little scared to go up too high because he knew he would fall and bump his chin.

Ellen, Joanna, and Clara

Most of the crew having their picnic lunches on the playground


Later that night, we watched the kids of some friends of ours so they could go out to eat. Jacob is all about Bethany and Nathan...truth be told, he is more about Bethany than Nathan, but he's always been into older kids. (Bethany is almost 4 and Nate is 2.5) Here are some pictures of the shenanigans:

Jacob and Bethany playing sleep over


Nate attempting to sing Bethany and Jacob to sleep with his piano playing and singing. This was so funny, I wish I had video-ed this. Nate kept picking up the piano and moving closer and closer to the two of them until he was at their toes. The other two were not so interested in having the piano being played (loudly) while they were "sleeping".

As the rest of the preschool world was settling down, we were just getting started at our house. Being the great baby-sitters we are, we let the kids have wrestle time in their pjs, right before their parents came back to pick them up, take them home , and put them to bed. I feel like every parent would appreciate coming back to this, right?

March Madness

Well, I admit it, I've been a sub-par blogger these past few weeks (maybe even months). I am going to assume that the nicer spring weather is going to encourage me to get out and take some pictures of what we're up to! In fact, it's already worked. Yesterday was our first really nice day so far this year. It was in the mid 60s and we were able to play outside/eat outside/bike ride/go play at the beach (not in bathing suits!!) all in one day! When we Jacob and I were picnicking (I am deferring to Blogger on the spelling of that word; that is not how I would have guessed you spell the verb of "to picnic") yesterday afternoon, he prayed before we ate and thanked God for making the weather so warm. After he finished praying, he asked me if I would "just keep praying and telling God thanks for the nice weather"! Hah! So evidently, Jeff and I were not the only ones who were tired of the cold days!

Anyway, I don't have any great pictures to post, but these are just some random ones from the past 2 weeks or so.

Here's a pic of how Jacob took his nap one day... and he actually slept for his normal 2.5 hours! I couldn't believe it because of how hot-natured the child is!

Next up is a picture of how Jeff found Jacob the morning that Grammy was coming to visit. Because the picture is a little hard to "decipher", I'll tell you that he was in a small basket of blankets behind the rocking chair in the living room. I'm not sure why.




Later that morning, the three of us and Grammy went to the Va Beach Convention Center to see a train show. When we got there, we realized we had hit the jackpot because it was also the Virginia Firefighters Show! AKA-dozens of firetrucks and ambulances set up with doors propped wide open for us to explore! AND, because you know this is one of the best selling features of...anything...to me, it was FREE!!

Yes, I bought them matching shirts. I couldn't turn it down.

On a chair in the backseat of one SWEET firetruck! I'll just say that some of the firefighters out there, if they are fortunate enough to have brand new trucks at their station, are riding in high style!

Checking out another firetruck--Jacob never wanted to sit in the driver's seat, only the passenger for him.

Jacob in a miniature firetruck

A dream come true for Jacob--a firetruck/monster truck!

Moving on to more random thoughts/stories. This picture is how I found Jacob one afternoon that his much older girlfriends, Bella and Jada, were playing out side, riding bikes.

He was playing his guitar on the front steps for them. BAHAHAHAH!!!

Finally, I decided that this year I would make Jacob his shorts for summertime, since I already have a pattern and they are elastic waist, which is good for him being able to do his own pants for the bathroom. So, again, there's another bonus to me doing it--each pair of shorts that I made for him cost $2.50! That's pretty darn good! I am going to make some little matching t-shirts too, so they look more like outfits instead of random pajama shorts! I'll try to remember to post those when I do them.



Finally, here is a little story about Jacob and his imagination these days. Last night he played for about an hour all by himself while Jeff and I were reading,etc. and here is what he did: He got out some of his cars and jeeps, took some tissues, tore them into shreds and balled them up, and made them his "family" for his jeeps. He calls this playing "traffic". Last night the family went to Sam's to do some shopping. When the family got to Sam's, the dad was evidently having some trouble with his 2 boys, because Jacob said, "Whoa, whoa boys, let's not run, Sam's is a very special place" (I'll admit it, we do go to Sam's a lot, but I don't think I have ever insinuated that Sam's is a "high class" or really "special" place, so I guess Jacob just feels that way on his own!) The family continued to go and ask where they could find a big box of waffles. (Guilty! We buy our waffles in bulk!) After their special trip to Sam's, the family went to visit their Great Grandma and Papa's house. Then they went to Great Grammy's house, and then they went to Great Papa Bryant's house. I thought it was so funny that he played that long and was that interested in his little game! He certainly is entertaining, and he just gets more and more so in his old age!