May 2004
Sunday the 30th. Just a quiet
day at home recovering from the
party, playing with the new toys, and eating
leftover pizza, cake, brownies, banana pudding, and whew, we had way too much food.
Saturday
the 29th. Benjamin had a Blue's Clues First
Birthday party at his house
Saturday evening. All of Ben's gifts were just perfect for him, especially
the Krispy Kreme's the Beasleys gave him. Benjamin completely smooshed his
personal birthday cake between his fingers and loved his Blue's Clues ice cream
cake. I think everyone loved the ice cream cake.
Friday
the 28th. Here are some pictures from Benjamin's big day. He sat
facing forward for the first time, had his first b*th in a sink, opened
presents, ate out, demolished his first birthday cake, and had an all around big
first birthday.
Thursday
the 27th. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BENJAMIN!!!!
Jackson gave Benji his very first birthday present, a football. Later in
the morning Timmesa stopped by with another present, a bubble machine.
Both boys adore it and played with it outside after lunch.
Wednesday
the 26th. I took a ride into Virginia at
lunch and got to see Caleb and his friends during their
recess. After a morning on the
playground, Amy and the boys met Pam from Amy's office for lunch at
McDonalds.
We realized that Ben went his entire first year without a single b*th in the sink. So Amy put some water in it for him to kick his feet in. Benji was having so much fun splashing that Jackson had to join in. And Jackson thought getting in the sink was just hilarious.
Tuesday
the 25th. Our little cutie pie now has six teeth.
Monday
the 24th. Benjamin only has two more days of sitting backwards. His
seat gets turned around on Thursday when he turns one.
Amy and the boys went to the playground again this morning before it got very hot. That makes Jackson's fifth or sixth trip to the playground since it opened. It is so nice for them to have a nice place to play close by.
Sunday
the 23rd. Dinner Club at Tonya and Ken's
house.
Saturday
the 22nd. We started the day enjoying the new
playground. Jackson made a new friend, Jarrick, and got to see his
good friends Matthew and Samuel too.
Friday
the 21st. Central Methodist had their
End Of The Year Program. Jackson
and the other kids from the three year old class sang Itsy Bitsy Teenie
Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini and I Get Around. Jackson did a
fabulous job and was very proud. Mo and Papa came to watch the program and
took Jackson back to Claudville for the night.
Thursday
the 20th. Today was the last day of Jackson's school year. So it
is goodbye to Miss Caviness and the two day a week class (next year is three
days a week). It is unbelievable how fast the school year went. It
seems like it just started. Jackson says "you can do anything you want
during the summer, right?"
Wednesday
the 19th. Benjamin has been under the weather the past couple of days.
He woke up with a fever of 101 yesterday and has had it off and on since.
He feels good for an hour or so, then it wears off and the poor little guy just
wants to lay against you and sleep. So except for Jackson's pre-school
yesterday, the boys have stayed close to the house. Which is fine with
Jackson because he is really into the computer right now. Today he is
playing games on the Lego
website.
Tuesday
the 18th. Sunday was a busy day. Not only did the new playground
open, but my office had its annual picnic at the fairgrounds. This was the
first time we attended the picnic and we all had a very nice time.
Megan
went with us and shared the same favorite things with Jack and
Ben; the cotton candy, the ice cream, and the music. Unfortunately a
thunderstorm cut the afternoon short just as Mandy's band was starting their
second set, but Jackson enjoyed getting to finish his ice cream cone in the
rain under his umbrella.
Monday
the 17th. The
Build A Dream playground project began major construction on Wednesday
May12, 2004 and ended on Sunday May 16, 2004. It is amazing what can be
accomplished through the efforts of a hard working group of community
volunteers. I would like to thank Robyn Tumbarello, Heather Armstrong,
and everyone else in the community that worked so hard to give our children such
a wonderful place to play. Jackson and
Benjamin are going to have so much
fun on the playground for years to come.
Click HERE to see all of our photographs from Opening Day and from the build.
Sunday
the 16th. Today was the fifth and final day of the playground build.
Amy and I took turns at the worksite yesterday and both enjoyed helping out very much.
The park opened for all the children to play in this evening and it was
so much fun. The finished product is unbelievable. After all the hard
work that the Build A Dream
group of volunteers put into it, it was so much fun to see the playground packed
with kids. Here are a few pics from day four on the
playground build.
Saturday
the 15th. Today is day four on the
Build A Dream
worksite. It has been amazing to watch this project come to life.
And the fact that the workforce is comprised solely of community volunteers
makes it even more amazing. I can't wait to
see the finished product tomorrow.
Friday
the 14th. Here are some pictures of Jackson playing this past week.
And one photo from the
Build A Dream
worksite last night. If you haven't drove by yet, you need to.
Things are looking great. And if you have any time at all, stop by and
volunteer some of it. There is plenty of work to go around for every skill
level, from raking gravel to running the table saws. PLENTY OF WORK.
Thursday
the 13th. For the second year in a row Amy and Timmesa took both our boys
and Samuel to pick fresh strawberries.
Going to the strawberry fields has turned into Amy's favorite Springtime ritual because they have
so much fun. This year Amy noticed that some of Jackson's berries were mushy. Jackson told her "Mommy, I ate so many
strawberries and couldn't eat anymore, so I had to start smushing them down so
they would fit in the bucket." I stopped by just as they were loading up and got to
see two very red faced and very tired little boys. We have already made a strawberry pie and Jackson
has plans to make lots of his little
shortcakes. The berries were picked yesterday afternoon, so Amy and Ben
were able to take some to Hama and Mo in Claudville this morning while Jackson
was at school. Click HERE
to see pictures from both this year's
berry picking and last year's.
Wednesday the 12th.
The boys spent their morning with Amy in Virginia at the house their
great-grandmother, Vadie Vipperman Rogers, lived in. Jackson wanted to
ride his four wheeler and Nannie's yard gave him plenty of open territory.
And Amy wanted to give some of Nannie's beautiful
irises a new home in Mount Airy.
Tuesday
the 11th. Jackson, Benjamin, and their friend Virginia all had a
birthday party at Sherri's Little School in Hopewell, Va Sunday afternoon. Jackson's birthday has been like
Mardi Gras this year and just keeps going and going. He loved his
presents, Jimmy Neutron cake, and getting to play with his friends and cousins.
Monday
the 10th. We are back home in Mount Airy! Jackson was outside first
thing trying out the new Spiderman scooter that Sherri,
Wesley, and Jesse gave him. Later, Amy
took the boys to the walking trail where Jackson really broke the scooter in.
Sunday
the 9th. Happy Mother's Day Amy!
Saturday
the 8th. The boys have had a fantastic day in Colonial Heights visiting
their Grandma Sue. Jackson rode a big yellow school bus for the first time
when he and I caught the shuttle to the Fort
Clifton Festival. Jackson
entertained everyone at the music stage as he danced to every "rockin" song the
band played. He also danced with two rocking eighty year old ladies to
some 50's tunes. Beautiful weather and just a lot of fun.
Later, Jimmy and Nicole stopped
by and we had fun playing soccer in the front yard.
Friday
the 7th. Here are some pics from an evening spent in Claudville at
Mo and Papa's house.
And some pics from Ben and Jack's afternoon of finger painting with Mom.
Thursday
the 6th. It has been a long time since we have posted a pet photo.
This is Emma. Emma is really a dog's dog, except for the very ladylike way
she likes to lay her paws. She is also the most photogenic of our puppies.
Poor Cassie is just too dark, I don't think we will ever have a good picture of her. Click the paw to see our other pets.
Wednesday
the 5th. Mike, Brooke, and
Landon stopped by for a visit Tuesday
evening. It is always nice to see the Joyce bunch, especially now
that Benjamin and Landon can play together. It also gave Jackson and I
another chance to work together on the fine art of grillin and chillin.
Tuesday the 4th. Jackson
continued his birthday celebration with a party at school.
Monday
the 3rd. Happy Birthday Jackson!! Everybody stayed home and
played inside since it is so cold and gray outside. Jackson grilled on the
back porch on his new grill while I grilled on mine. He also spent lots of
time playing with his new pirate ship, pose-able Spiderman , Speedstars, his first transformer, and all his other cool new
toys.
Sunday
the 2nd. Jackson celebrated turning four a day early with a party at Chuck E Cheese and
had an absolute wonderful time. He was so happy that so many of his
friends and family made it there to play with him. Benjamin had a
good time too and especially liked riding in the Clifford car and the Bob the
Builder Scoop.
Click here to see all the pics from Jackson's party and photos from his past birthday parties too.
Saturday the 1st. Well, May is here and by the end of this month we will have a four year old and a one year old. I can't believe how fast the last twelve months went by.
