What a wonderful Mother’s Day … our young son was dedicated to the Lord in church today. We so appreciate the love & prayers of our family & friends. We are so blessed to be in this place…

you can tell how “at home” Ben feels there. He often stretches out on the pew after Tom & Jac go to kids church & gets his morning nap in. Thank goodness he’s a pretty peaceful sleeper!

The hands picture is all the kids wearing their baptism rings. The one Robert wears is the one I wore on my baptism day. Ben is holding Rob’s hand, Jac’s is to the right & Tom’s is on bottom. Their hands are resting on their Uncle Don’s baby blanket.

It’s official and has been in the press, so I guess it’s time to share it to the folks here as well. I have been offered a position (and accepted) as 7-12 principal at Spoon River Valley school district. It’s the neighboring school district to the east. This was a major factor in the decision as this will allow us to stay in the home and community we are in and the kids will be able to stay in the same school with the friends they have. It’s a win-win situation. The kids are slowly getting used to the idea of Dad not being in the same district they are, but they are adjusting. The school is a school a little larger than Avon (very similar in size to Pearl City actually). The superintendent is also coming in new, so hopefully we can build things together.

Hard to believe our baby’s a decade old already! There are days I remember him being Ben’s size…

This is Tucker, Robert & Bryce with his “Cloud City” donut tower (he didn’t want a cake either) comeplete with “clouds” (puppy chow). They all thought it was pretty fantastic.

Rob decided to forgo having a big birthday bash with many friends for the opportunity to have a sleepover with his two best friends. Tom & Jac spent the night with Grandma & Grandpa and I have to say it went much smoother than I could have ever hoped for. It was so much fun, Chris & I both said we’d have to do that again sometime & not just wait for birthdays. Of course, Rob was more than agreeable to that idea!

Easter weekend held many firsts for Ben – his first overnight trip, first trip to Missouri, & first time meeting much of Jo’s family.

I love the picture of him & his great grandpa Alfred. It’s priceless. Gpa has been going blind since before the twins were born & he wants nothing more than to be able to see the kids, especially his little namesake. It was amazing to watch the two of them when I put Ben on his lap – it was as if Ben totally understood that Gpa’s blind & that his hands are his eyes. Gpa wasn’t shy at all about putting his hands on Ben & giving him a good feel around his head & face, but he was so gentle…it was awesome to watch & listen to Gpa talk to Ben the whole time.

Also had to laugh when Rob gave Gpa a hug. Gpa felt his head & face as usual & just laughed a good ol’ belly laugh saying, “Boooooooooooooy, you sure did get a hair cut!” To which Rob responded, “Yep, I surrrrrrrrrrrrrrre did!” Too funny!

The first family picture includes our nephew Bailey on the floor by Robert, Jo’s Grandma on the left (who also saw Ben for the first time), & Jo’s dad. The last one has Jo’s cousin Jacki, holding our Jac, the obvious Gpa & in back is Jo’s mom.

We also had a fun time visiting Jo’s Uncle Roger & Aunt Judy & their 4 kids & families on Easter Sunday….no pictures from that, shucks! It was another fun time of watching the kids just be kids with cousins they see way too seldom.

We had a “Head Shaving Party” down at church tonight….just our way of showing some love to Pastor Al. His hair has been going rather quickly with this round of chemo, so I coordinated a gathering at church tonight. Would you believe almost 2 dozen men & boys are sporting new do’s tonight? All on about 6 hours notice….I was thrilled with the turnout & Pastor Al seemed to enjoy it, too & of course, appreciate it. I’ve never cut so much hair in one night & my calves are telling me about standing so long — don’t know how the professionals do it all day long!!

Chris is running sound for the musical at school this weekend, so he didn’t make it down to church, but we’ll get him clean-shaven in the morning. All our boys got clipped though – yes, even Ben & he looks sooooooooooooooooo much better! Al couldn’t believe I was shaving him – he bellowed across the Fellowship Hall, “How can you do that to him? It’s taken him his ENTIRE life to grow that!?!” True, but he really does look better. His long locks were falling out so fast…a lot like Al’s.

Ben didn’t seem to enjoy it much, but I think most of that was the fact he was so hot & there was a lot of noise at the time. Oh yea, he was hungry, too. Once we were done & home, he was set & happy as a lark!

Check out the before & after shots of each…. Rob definately wins the prize for longest hair cut: 5 inches – no kidding! Tom for sweetest smile & Ben for loudest scream – clearly no contest there!