The park

We finally got a little reprieve from the nasty winter weather. Ben loves the park. It sits right next to Cedar Creek, so it's filled with ducks and geese. It's a big treat to go see the "cows."


No, he would not go down the slide. He just likes to sit up there and watch the older kids play.

our little Ruthie

I showed these pictures to my students on Wednesday. They gave an appropriate, "ahhh, isn't she cute." Then they laughed when I said,"that's my brother." God love him.

Here are a couple pictures of the happy family. This is for those of you who don't check Nate's blog.

Uncle Jake

Although I have no picture, my niece Ruth Cannon Stratman (Ruth = Bible; Cannon = my maternal grandmother's maiden name; Stratman = stuck with that one) was born last night around 10:30 in Wilmington, NC. She is 7 lbs. 5 oz and 19 inches. Nate said she has brown eyes. Take a look at Nate's blog for a picture. Ben is very excited to have a cousin only a year younger than he. Keep the prayers coming for them.

Happy St. Patty's Day

There's not a lick of Irish in us, but Jules is always up for "themes." Happy St. Pat's.

This is Ben working on his NCAA tourney bracket. He made a rookie mistake and picked too many upsets, but he'll bounce back in the second round. Sorry to Great-grandpa Gable, but Ben picked VCU over Duke. He doesn't know better. He did pick Marquette over Michigan St. and just gave me a death-glare at the end of that one.

Defense day

The Department Admin. Assistants (Deb and Sandy) bought me a little cake to celebrate my defense. They also bought one for Ben (see third picture). The second picture is self-explanatory. One of those pics that will come back to haunt Ben when he's a teenager.

We're trying new foods

This is the only way Jules will agree to change Ben's diapers.

Cool Jeans

Instead of spending 50 bucks at Abercrombie, just let Ben crawl around in them for a few months.