Ben ~ My Smart Alec!

Have you ever heard of the term "elbow grease"? Growing up in my house, it was a very commonly used saying. "Go dust the table and use elbow grease this time." "Use more elbow grease." One time I was told to use "elbow grease", went to look for it on the shelf of cleaning supplies, didn't find it, didn't do the chore I was supposed to do. When my mom came home from work and asked why the dusting hadn't been done, I told her, "I couldn't find the elbow grease." There was much laughing that happened after that and I quickly learned what "elbow grease" really is. You know, right? Putting a little more effort into dusting (or whatever the cleaning job). Not just wiping dust around, but actually cleaning, poishing the furniture.

Obviously the saying stuck in my vocabulary. I guess I don't use it a whole lot, but I can tell you that I think of this silly phrase every time I am dusting.

Recently we were having one of those "fun" cleaning days and I asked Ben to dust the kitchen table. He was doing the typical half-hearted swiping of the table when I said, "Come on, Ben, use some elbow grease!" Both Ben and Abby looked at me like I was a complete lunatic! I know they had heard me say this before, but apparently Ben was feeling pretty ornery and did this...

What a smart alec!
You can always count of Ben to be so literal.
I did have to laugh.

Happy Valentine's Day!

There isn't a whole lot to say about our Valentine's Day. It was a very busy day!

But we did have little gifts on a fun, festive table.

And what would Valentine's Day be without sweet treats?

I had never made red velvet cake before, but for some reason it seemed a fitting dessert for this special day. I have to say, they were delicious!!

Me and my Valentine!
I love him!!

Take Two...

Thankfully the winter weather cooperated this year and Grammy, Aunt Becca and Nolan were able to come out for Ben's performance in All-District Honor's Band this year!

Nolan made a very quick transformation into Spiderman during the night! Check out his muscles!

Saturday morning we headed out to Claremore for the band performance.

Luke was a bit of a stinker and spent much of the concert playing Angry Birds.

Nolan...either the concert wasn't very interesting or Nolan was a very sleepy boy. I'm going with the latter!

Luke and Grammy enjoyed several snuggle sessions!

Not only was it All-District weekend, it was also Super Bowl weekend! And what would the Super Bowl be without food?!

We had white chicken chili, pigs in a blanket and Jon's beloved cornbread...

chips and guacamole, caramel corn, bacon wrapped chicken bites, brownies, chips, dips... Let's just say we ate our way through the night.

The beloved Colts and Lions didn't make it to the Super Bowl, but we were happy to watch the Giants win!

Lukey and his beloved, Jessie. He loves her and takes her everywhere we go!
Look at that sweet face! I love that little guy so much!

These two have a love/hate relationship. They can be best buddies and worst enemies. I was so happy that they got along so much better during this visit!

Thank goodness for amazing weather!


Aunt Becca read lots of books to this captive audience!


Thank you SO much, Mom, Rebecca and Nolan for coming out! I am so thankful that the weather was much more cooperative this year! I (and the rest of my family!) had such a fun few days with you!

All-District Honor Band

Last year Ben auditioned for All-District Band and he made it! Sadly, we got bombarded with snow (twice!!) and the clinic/concert never happened. Grammy, Aunt Becca and Nolan even braved the treacherous roads to be here! It was very disappointing!

This year Ben didn't hesitate to try out again and he made it again! He didn't make it into the symphonic band like he had hoped, but was happy to at least make it into the concert band. Thankfully, this year, everything was able to happen! Grammy, Aunt Becca and Nolan trekked back out here and we all got to go to Claremore to hear Ben's band play.

It was amazing to hear these kids play! They only had eight hours of practice time together! Eight hours! These are some truly talented kids!

I'm only posting one of the pieces that the band played, although all four of them were super! This one was one of my favorites! (Ben's too!)


The Muppet Show Theme Song

I am SO proud of you, Ben! Keep up the hard work!

Blue & Gold Sausage

It has begun. Ben is on his way to raising the necessary funds for his first marching band trip. Ireland! Yep, Ben will be a freshman in the fall and the first big band trip he will get to go on will be to Dublin, Ireland to march in the St. Patrick's Day Parade! (Among other amazing things!) Sooo...along with a big trip comes a big price tag, which means lots and lots of fundraisers! Blue and Gold is always a huge hit here! The prices are very reasonable and the food is great!

Both of these pictures were taken after several deliveries had been made. Ben and I just couldn't get over how much meat we had in our freezers!
Ben did a great job, but he has a long way to go! There will be a lot of fundraising going on over the next several months! Don't be surprised if you get a call or an e-mail from Ben asking if you want to buy something or donate to his "Ireland fund"!

January In A Nutshell

I'm not sure what my problem is, I just haven't been feeling very blog-y lately. I take tons of pictures and we do fun things, I just can't seem to get myself to sit down at the computer and blog about it. Sooo...these pictures tell the story of the month of January.

One of our neighbors had a tree cut down and Jon managed to score some free firewood! It was a great father/son activity to move and cut it all.

Luke loved playing with his new tractor in all of the residual sawdust!

Ben and Abby enjoyed playing with their food while playing rummy.

We thanked the Lord A LOT for the unbelievably warm days by playing at the park!

Jon learned how to make cornbread in his new cast iron skillet.

We managed to get about a half inch of snow, which couldn't have made this little guy any happier! All he wanted to do was to go outside and touch it. Yep, just wanted to touch it! He then became pretty fond of making tracks in the snow.

Oh my goodness...could this boy be any cuter?! He melts my heart!

Now, on to February... I will get caught up!!