lubbock

We made a quick trip to Lubbock this past weekend for the annual FarmHouse Founder's Day banquet. And I mean really quick. We were gone a total of 63 hours and 25 of them were spent on the road. Not fun for anyone, let alone with two small boys. However, the 38 hours we spent in Lubbock were fun & filled with 3 softball games, a banquet, & a couple of rounds of black jack.

David played softball Saturday morning at the 3rd annual alumni vs. active game where he started with a home run!!! I love watching him play. It brings back the days of watching him play on a rec-team in college. Later, we watched our nephews' games.

Drew enjoyed dragging a bat around an empty field & throwing the ball to his cousins.

Benjamin & Papa watching David's game. Benjamin enjoyed being passed around & snoozing.

Auntie Val, Uncle Jeff, & boys watched Drew & Benjamin while we went to the banquet. They went to this really cool park called Legacy Play Village.

benjamin at 7 months

gymnastics

Drew has been taking a gymnastics class. I've been wanting to get him into one since he loves to climb, flip, and is generally just very active and adventurous.

Here he is rolling down the "cheese."

After you roll, you are supposed to have "big arms."

opening day

Today is opening day for the NWA Naturals... our very own double-a baseball team. David has been working closely with someone on the team to capture their business for the hotel. We got to get a sneek peek at Arvest Ballpark last night. He has been so excited... giddy as a little tee ball player. So this post is dedicated to you, David!

hiking the trail

The weather this weekend was a-ma-zing! We enjoyed our Sabbath with morning church (yeah!), naps, & a short walk on the trail at Lake Fayetteville. Drew had a blast collecting rocks & then throwing them into the creek. He also jumped in a few mud puddles along the way.

yellow tulips

I took the boys up to the hotel last week to take some pics of them in front of the pretty yellow tulips. It was almost impossible to get a decent pic of both boys. Every time Benjamin sits in the grass he gets so interested in it. Then Drew can get shy and/or ornery (that's a very funny looking word).

Benjamin is quite the flirt. This is one of his flirty faces. So far, he really has taken a special liking to Lindsey & Jaime.

I thought this one was so sweet. Drew had his face hidden behind Benjamin & when I moved it so that we could see him better, Benjamin reached back to touch him. Oh how I hope they are the bestest of friends!

cfl bulbs

Did you know that you should recycle your burned out CFL bulbs? Not that anybody probably has had one yet since they last so dad-gone long! :-) Apparently there is a small amount of mercury inside the bulb. Check out this article for further details.

Does anyone remember when McDonald's served hamburgers in those tan styrofoam containers? My first introduction into the world of Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle was an Earth Day presentation in junior high & the presenter used one of those containers as an example of things that take forever to break down. Well, I was inspired then to live green. I'm just so glad that the rest of the country is finally catching up! I'm not sure what I think about Al Gore & his inconvenient truth, but I do know that this world is a gift & we should take care of it. Here's some things I've been doing at our house to live green.

• replace bulbs that burn out with cfl ones
• recycle newspaper, mixed paper, plastics, glass, and aluminum
• use non-toxic products to clean with (mostly white vinegar & baking soda)
• use rags that I've made from old t-shirts to clean with
• use as many reusable containers for food storage as possible (I still like the occasional baggie)
• stop buying paper plates & plasticware (I'm still using up a little storehouse of them I have for group functions)
  

We are still using some paper products. Obviously TP and some paper napkins & towels. I would like to either dramatically reduce our usage of those products if not eliminate them all (except for TP of course!). Please share your ideas or suggestions too!

in all his glory

What else can I say about my sweet Benjamin? He truly has this sweetness about him that I hope he never loses. And as you can see he has soft, squishy, baby skin with lots of creases & folds. I just had to capture it on "film" as we used to say so I'll never forget... and maybe to tease him with one day.