Will is 10!

Today Will turns 10!

Here are a few photos from his party this weekend.  We had it at the new house and in our backyard.  It was fun and exhausting to have a house full of boys.  We made a lot of good memories.  

Two years ago we had a party at the land but it was so different then.  We did a scavenger hunt at that party, but the kids are older now so I couldn't repeat the same thing.  I made up clues and hid them in balloons.  They had to find the clue, pop the balloon, and read it to find out where to go next. The clues were hidden all over the land.

Here is Will reading clue #1. 

The scavenger hunt ended with everyone getting a headlamp, which came in handy because it was getting dark.

We are a sweaty mess, but we had a blast celebrating our big boy turning 10.

Here are some of Will's favorite things.

Favorite food: Turkey, cheese, mustard and mayo sandwich

Will's favorite drink is Coke. 

Favorite fruit: apples

Favorite veggie: potates

Favorite sport to play: Baseball

Will's favorite sports team is the Texas Rangers. 

Favorite toys: PS4, Ninetendo 3ds

The best show on television according to Will is Arthur.

Will's favorite thing to learn about in school is writing and reading.

Will's favorite thing about school is seeing friends.

If Will could go anywhere in the world, he'd go to Washington, D.C.

Will's favorite color is blue. 

When Will grows up he wants to be a road designer.

His favorite book is Book 13 Series of Unfortunate Events.

Favorite holiday: Christmas

Favorite animal: Dog

One of Will's favorite memories of the last year was going to the Mall of America, Target Field, and seeing the Lerews in Indiana  

Will really likes Texas Rangers baseball and any MLB games that are on TV. 

This morning we had donuts and this evening we took Will to eat at the new Chipotle in Greenville. 

10 LONG Months

It's been 10 very long months without Internet service at our home.  

Here is a timeline of those events.

We moved from our home in town to a rental property in December 2015, and we could not get Internet service.  

We moved into our new home in May 2016 and there was not a reliable Internet provider option.  

Finally we have Internet in our new home.  I shared the moment on my personal Facebook page this week.  When the Internet people arrived to do the install, one of the boys said, "Now my dreams have come true."   I wanted to hug them when they left but I knew that would be weird.  We felt like the family in the funny commercials that had to live without internet.  It's hilarious in commercials, not so much in real life.  The struggle--it was real!

September has been a good month.

We are back to normal.  It feels like the new house is perfect.

We take access to the Internet for granted and I have a new appreciation for how much I used it without even realizing it.  Of course, I've missed blogging and my social media has been limited, but there were other things that were more important like paying bills and taking care of appointments.  It's difficult to be an adult now without reliable internet.  

I'm excited to get back to blogging and writing some posts about our new home.  I haven't been able to share images of the house, like the photo above of our chalkboard pantry door.  

If anyone out there is still reading this old blog, then you are a faithful friend and family member.  Thanks for your patience.  

Imperfectly Wonderful World is back!  

Celebrating Ben's 7th

On Ben's birthday, he had donuts for breakfast and cupcakes at school with his class.  The fun continued all throughout the day because it was field day at school on his birthday.  How fun!

That evening once we got home from school and church, Ben opened a few gifts from us.

We had to work hard to find a a free weekend to have Ben's party.  End of year baseball tournaments and other activities made it a challenge to schedule it this year.  We ended up celebrating this weekend so it felt like Ben's birthday celebrations lasted about 2 weeks.

Ben chose Chuck E. Cheese's for his party.  This was a first for us.  Since attending friends' parties there he thought it would be cool.  I have to admit it was easy for us and low stress so I'm not against this for a birthday party.

I made throwback cupcakes instead of cake.  Notice the candy letters like we used to have on our birthday cakes when we were kids.  I decided on cupcakes instead of a cake so I didn't have to worry about transporting a decorated cake there.  The party treats were candy kabobs that I'd seen a friend on Instagram make.  There are all sorts of examples if you look it up on Pinterest.   

The TICKET BLASTER!!!

I think this was a big part of why Ben wanted to have his party at Chuck E. Cheese's. 

School Musicals 2015-2016

You might be wondering, "Why Christmas photos in June?", which is a good question.  I use the blog as a place to keep memories for our family, and the school musicals were something special I wanted to make sure I had saved in my little blog world (AKA my digital-family-scrapbook-that-gets-shared-on-the-world-wide-web).

Ben's Christmas musical was adorable.

Ben was Dasher for the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer".

Will's spring musical theme was Texas Rodeo.

His favorite part was the square dance song "Shake Them 'Simmons Down".

It's Been a Great School Year!

Another school year {2015-2016} is finished.  

Ben completed the 1st grade.

Will completed 3rd grade.

This is the last year that both boys will be in the elementary school together so it was a special year for our family.

This school year has been an adventure for our us.  We have lived in 3 different houses, which is hard to believe as I'm typing it.  We sold a house and built a house.  The boys adjusted to the changes and stress better than I imagined.  I really couldn't have asked for them to handle it any better.  I'm thankful that all the adjustments didn't have an impact on their learning.  We are proud of all their hard work, effort, and accomplishments.  Most of all I'm happy they made friends, learned, and had fun.

It seems we are blessed each year with educators who make it their mission in life to invest in the future of our children.  Mark and I are educators so naturally we value education.  We know it's not an easy job, and it's often thankless.  Both of our boys' teachers are truly gifted and helped our boys excel.  If it weren't for them I know they wouldn't be where they are today.  What a special thing to encourage a love of learning!

Sweet, kind, caring, intelligent, and amazing teachers.

Comparison photo from the first day of school 2015-2016 to the last day of school 2015-2016.  Amazing!

We're so proud of you, Will and Ben!

I look forward to an awesome summer full of relaxing, adventure, fun, and spending time at our new home.

Ben is 7!

Today Ben turns 7!

Ben has really grown up over the last year.  

Ben is finishing up first grade, and we are proud of all that he has learned.  He started the school year reading a few words and now he can read whatever he wants.  He even earned a spot in the top 10 for A.R. points in his grade.

Ben has been playing coach pitch baseball.  He is attentive and tries hard to do what the coaches ask of him.

Just as I've written about Ben before, he is still ready to play and get dirty.  He wears out the knees in his jeans, which is evidence of playing hard and having fun.  Ben is becoming quite the little artist.  He draws some things from his imagination and others he can draw by copying what he sees.  Ben likes playing PS4 games, watching TV and movies (at home and on the DVD player in the car), playing games on the iPad, building Legos and making his own creative Lego creations.  Ben likes to be a helper, and he doesn't like to be left out.  He is funny, smart, sweet, and kind.

Ben's favorite things:

Favorite food: Pizza

Ben's favorite drink is Dr. Pepper. 

Favorite fruit: apples

Favorite veggie: broccoli

Favorite sport to play: Baseball and Football

Ben's favorite sports team is the Texas Rangers and Dallas Cowboys. 

Favorite toy: Legos

The best show on television according to Ben is Ninjago, and Odd Squad on PBS kids, and he said it used to be Chima but it go deleted but he still likes it.

Ben's favorite thing to learn about in school is math and recess in the gym and lunch.

Ben's favorite thing about school is recess and gym time and centers.

If Ben could go anywhere in the world, he'd go to Florida to go to Disney World.

Ben's favorite colors are green and blue. 

When Ben grows up he wants to be a baseball player.

His current favorite song is "Stressed Out" by twenty one pilots.

His favorite book right now is  The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home. 

Favorite holiday: Christmas

Favorite animal: Tiger

Ben's birthday meal, if he could choose would be Cane's Chickens

Ben really likes Minecraft, Ninjago, Ninja Turtles, Chima, iPad, PS4, Wii, Nintendo DS, playing outside, playing catch, playing baseball, going to church, and spending time with family.

We celebrated Ben's birthday early by going to a Rangers game.  He also picked all the places we got to eat on the Memorial Day weekend.  This morning he got donuts for breakfast.  Today was field day at his elementary school and he helped me make cupcakes to share with his class.

We plan to celebrate his birthday with friends and family by having a party at Chuck E. Cheese's (Ben's choosing) later this month. 

Our Kitchen {just a quick glimpse}

Here's a quick glimpse of our kitchen.

I didn't break out my fancy DSLR camera for these pics.  I  snapped the photos on my old iPhone 5S.  

The photos were taken before we moved in about a month ago. You can still see the protective plastic on some of our appliances.

We closed on the house at the beginning of May and I have to say that living in the new house has been all that I imagined it would be.  I LOVE it!  Each day it feels more and more like home.

I plan to share all the details about the new house on Unexpected Elegance, but for now here's a brief list off the top of my head.

Appliances: GE Cafe

Countertops: Soapstone (Original PA honed)

Sink: Kohler Whitehaven

Faucet: Kohler Artifacts chrome finish

Hardware: Gilmore from Restoration Hardware chrome finish

Lighting: Quorum

Flooring: Armstrong Bruce hickory finish

Backsplash: white beveled subway tile with Oyster Gray grout