Happy Birthday Ayden!

Happy 5th Birthday to our nephew Ayden!

Spring has Sprung!

This is a catch all post with lots of photos & updates- going to be a hodge podge! Enjoy!

Spring has sprung! Seth did a little pruning this weekend.


Grandma came home to spend the night last weekend & we had a big family bash! Odyssey of the Mind- what a great year we had! 35 kids, 5 teams, LOTS of work, but LOTS of fun! Proud of these kids! They did great at competition!
Introducing sweet little Mac! Congrats Laura & Heath- he is precious! 2-26-09

We had a great dinner with Janet & Whitley this weekend. The puppies are 5 weeks old now, aren't they precious?! No, we aren't getting a new dog, but love to play with them when we visit! There are 11 total!

Peeps!

SB, this post is dedicated to you! Sarah & I are the candy connoisseurs when it comes to holiday treats! We love to scope out all the new treats each season when Target fills its isles with endless opportunities of sweet snacks! We can't resist the crazy new flavors of Hersey kisses, we await the arrival of springtime Oreos (Halloween Oreos are a close 2nd for us!), & of course who can pass up a bag full of seasonal M&Ms? Not us! We always share our thoughts, of course you wouldn't want a good friend to waste their $ on a bagful that isn't quite as tasty as it appeared on the shelf!

New this season:
Peeps are a MUST! However you must be very selective with your peeps! Though they come in all sorts of pretty colors, some of those pretty colors aren't quite as tasty as others! I do love to look at the pink, purple, & blue, but please do not put them in my easter basket! Too much artificial color in there for us! You can't go wrong with the original- yellow peeps, not bunnies, has to be a peep! This year they've added orange to the mix & of course I had to try them out! They are a close 2nd to their fluffy little yellow friend! They are a pretty shade of orange, but not orange flavored. So, if you're reading this Easter Bunny please note: I will accept yellow AND/or orange peeps in my basket!!
Next time you're out & you see peeps you know you're going to think of me & laugh at how crazy I am! I can't help it- I LOVE sugar!

Busco Beach

We both woke up @ 6:30 this mornng. I'm in route to Busco Beach in Goldsboro, and Ashley was off to Odysssey of the Mind competition in Chapel Hill.



Matthew and Carter camped out the night before, and Tyler, Ty, and Cameron drove up shortly after I arrived. Matthew was able to borrow a spare 4-wheeler so I could ride.




The facility is more or less 1800 acres of mud, sand, and small ponds. It wasn't very busy when I got there at 8:30, but as the day moved on more and more people showed up. They had many different tracks, hills, and courses; if you had a motorbike, atv, or as we saw some of the atv-golf cart type machines by Polaris...like this.





We went to a course with hills first. I got to try out jumping the 4-wheeler and that was fun. As I write this I realize I probably should have done less jumping as my left shoulder is so soar...and I can only blame the impact of the many jumps I did.

By far the best part was the mud. I could not wait to run through the little mud puddles...and then later on we went on a trail that was full of the slime and muck, even better. As you can see Carter liked the mud too!

Thanks Matthew and Tyler for planning this and inviting me to come along for the full day of fun. I will be checking out craigslist ...just to browse....com'n u know it will be forever before I buy one of these machines....right???!!!

Happy Birthday Seth

We celebrated Seth's birthday today! Thanks to all of you who sent cards- he loves displaying them all along the mantle!

Thought the smoke alarm was going to go off when he blew out all those candles! Seth loves dark chocolate so I did my research & made him a dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate icing. You see, birthday cake is the most important part of your birthday, so this was a very important task! & I must say that icing was SOOOO good! I will never tell what is in it though! My new secret recipe, & besides- you might not eat it if you knew! Good food isn't always good for you!

Cute Grandma side note story- I spend Tuesday nights with my sweet Grandma & we were talking about Seth's birthday. She asked about his cake & the icing. Then she asked what kind of icing I was using, there was a hint of a tone to that sweet voice & I knew exactly what she meant! I quickly replied, "homemade of course... you raised me better than that!" She smiled & said, "I thought so!" Love that lady! & she did raise me better than to use anything buy homemade icing on a cake! Gotta give my momma some credit here too- she taught me how to beat, beat, & beat that icing to get it just right! The 3 Musketeers sure do love our sweets!! Seth took some cake by to share with mom & grandma & I got the stamp of approval! I also got extra brownie points w/ mom because I sent her a container of icing- instructions said- get a big spoonful & enjoy! I know the way to my momma's heart- chocolate!

We had a wonderful night. Thanks to all our family & friends who wished him a Happy Birthday!