Possible calling for Mister B?

First, let me say, I hope you enjoy the new layout. I know that I have had the UGLIEST blog ever since I started it, but I just didn't choose to spend the time to go seek out new, free designs. Finally though, as other friends blogs have gotten prettier and prettier, I just decided that I should at least see if Blogger had anything else to offer that would take no more than 1 min of my time to apply. Well, here it is! Enjoy:)

As for this post, B might just have found another passion. That brings the count to 3...trains, cooking, and now: photography!

This kid LOVES to take pictures. Sometimes the pictures are awesome, and sometimes they are exactly what you might expect a 5-yr-old to take.

When he really tries, they can be quite good. *See the star ornament pic below.

But he also gets a lot of joy from just snapping random digital shots at random angles, and then laughing at the unexpected and strange results when we go back through the pics. *See the final pic attached:)

The part I enjoy the most is seeing the world from his perspective. He's just a few feet tall, and his perspective and my perspective are very different. I love seeing pics he takes of M. To me, she is so tiny, but she's only a bit smaller than him, so it's fun to see pictures taken at her height. She also thinks it is really funny when he snaps shots of her, so she is often laughing or smiling really genuinely, and those pictures are always priceless. *See the spoon/smile masterpiece below.

Good "Old" Mom

Ben and Molly and I were watching a home video of when I was a child today, and B especially was LOVING it. He was reveling in seeing so many of his family members looking so young, especially Granny and Grandpa.

Out of the blue he says, "I can't believe how long ago this was, Mom! Did you guys ride in a horse and carriage back then?"

SO hysterial!

What really struck me was this: when I was a kid, I remember asking my mom the very same question...however, I was probably looking at a black-and-white picture of her as a child. Something that clearly represented a by-gone era.

My son was watching a full color video of me and my family, jumping on a trampoline...not exactly the "old" days, by the sight of it.

I wonder if all kids who are learning about the past, and about how diifferent things are now from how they once were, imagine that their parents must have lived through all the "past" that they are learning about. Now that I think of it, I can remember B asking me once if I met Jesus before he died. SO amazing to me that, even with all he knows, and with how relatively young I feel, my son can't place me in time yet...all he knows is that he is young and I am old. Interesting stuff...but I've got to run now...there is a chicken to be plucked for dinner, the cow needs milking, and I haven't churned the butter yet! Have you seen my bonnet, btw?

Mom Victory

So, I think that, both in the blog world and in the real world, we mom's are really good at airing our self-disappointment. We don't throw ourselves under the train all day every day, but pretty much every mom I know is openly critical of herself from time to time. Myself DEFINITELY included.

So I thought I would take a moment to share 2 of my "Mom-Victories"..."momories"...whatever.

Let me preface my self-praise with some self-criticism:), I am the type of woman who thinks that one of the hardest parts of parenting is accepting the fact that you can't have control...over MOST things. I control some things, but FAR fewer than I thought I would be able to. And this is often excruciating!

BUT, I get a lot of mom-joy from trying to realistically choose goals that I CAN control, and then trying to actually meet my goals. And in the early days of parenting, when the realities of my own lack of skills/intuition were crashing down around me, I set a couple of clear, direct goals for myself. They were benchmarks I would either meet or not meet, but were not related to how much my kids cried/slept/ate/or otherwise performed.

I can now officially announce that I have met 2 of my most significant goals for Ben!! Woohoo!! Roll out the party! Give me a trophy!! Seriously, people(I know there are at least 3 of you who will read this), praise me! :)

On Ben's 5th b-day, I passed second of 2 markers that I set for myself:

1. That my children would not watch t.v. while they were under the age of 2.

and

2. That my children would not get sunburned while they were under the age of 5.

Now that I have met my goals, I can stop pretending to parent altogether. Seriously, it's t.v. pretty much 24/7 around here, and I threw out all the sunscreen in Nov.

I know I still have to get Molly to her 5th birthday sans sunburn...but she'll be 3 soon, so I've got the end in my sights:)

Phew...glad that's over! Pass the bonbons, turn on Oprah, and fetch me a glass of chardonnay, please??!

And speaking of snow...

Before this winter passes, I wanted to jot down a few snow memories of the kids:

-Ben LOVES to shovel snow. Seriously. When we get more than an inch, as soon as I will let him, he will bundle up in his snow gear and head outside to shovel. Sometimes the neighbor kids will come and shovel our walk for us, and he always worries that they will shovel too much of it and there won't be any snow left for him. He's actually pretty good at it, too. I don't even have to go out with him. I will get him ready and send him out, and then just sit by the front window. He knows to make sure that he can always see the window, and can just shovel and play out by himself for as long as he wants, which is often over 90 min! Molly will last 30 to 45 min usually, but he LOVES to be out in the snow.

-Speaking of snow gear, it is still a pain to get them both dressed for outside play, but it is unbelievably better than last year. Last year, Ben would fuss and whine the whole time...now he is completely aware of the benefits to himself of participating well. He can't wait to get outside, so he works hard to help me dress him. He is way more patient with getting his gloves on, and does his hat and coat independently. Molly has never fussed much, and is now even easier to dress because she insists on putting her own coat on. Less work for me! She is so cute with gloves, though. If I help her with gloves, even if all fingers and thumbs are clearly in their right place, she will still go finger by finger and feel each spot from the outside to make sure everything is in it's right space.

-Molly loves to make snow angels. However, for some reason, she doesn't like to do them while on her back. Instead, she flops face down in the snow and goes to town waving her arms and legs. Seems chilly to me, but she seems to love it.

-We always...every.single.time...come in from snow play and head straight to the kitchen for hot chocolate. We all love it, and it is just one of those things that I know I will miss when they some day grow out of it. The chilly tromp to the kitchen...getting the water/milk heated...picking mugs...stirring for waaaay too long...and for Molly, the adding ice to cool it down until it is really more cold chocolate rather than hot chocolate, but she insists! :)

Here they are...shoveling away! Molly even got into the action this time, using a little kids broom. This is not our sidewalk, by the way. Some random lazy neighbor who couldn't be bothered to shovel was saved from neighborhood shame by a 5-yr-old and a 2-yr-old!


And, of course, the proper snow-angel demonstration. Make sure you flop face first into snow, and then have at it. Fun times!


And here, Ben gets into proper snow angel form with Molly.


Cute kids, along with their trusty snow-shovel-side-kick!


Warm weather toys are even more fun on snowy days.


Ben had a great time creating a huge snow pile at the end of our tiny slide and crashing into it. Though he reported that it wasn't nearly as fun or soft as he thought it was going to be.

Snow Days

What do you do on snow days? We have enjoyed a few good ones around here lately.

We don't have a terribly rigid life around here, (that comes next year and I am DREADING it) but we do have some formal plans every day, from preschool to my work and things like that. And since we are usually headed out at some point, I often make plans for getting to other places like the Science Center, or running errands. But when the snow has been a bit deeper lately, we have just been staying in jammies all day and coming up with a number of winter-time indoor play plans. It has been a lot of fun!

Here was our latest inside diversion: an obstacle course. It was fun just setting it up in the first place. Then the kids went through it a ton, and even convinced Mommy to give it a shot. Man, that tunnel is tight! Fun times:)

We've been busy!

We have had an exciting 6 months around here. Ben and Molly had 1 cousin this time last year, and now they have 4!!

In July, Aunt Gigi and Uncle Martin had little baby Hazel. She was a sweet little infant, and has become a delightful baby. We love to see her whenever we can.

Baby Hazel, born on July 27, 2010.


6-month old Hazel with her adoring cousins:)


Then, this month, Uncle Marty and Aunt Aubrey welcomed little Arlo. He came a tad early and needed oxygen for a while, but is now happily home and doing very well. We can't wait to head up to Davenport and see him again, this time at home and away from the NICU.

Baby Arlo, born 1/11/2011


And then, to keep things exciting, Aunt Riri and Uncle Curt and cousin Anna welcomed baby Elizabeth just last week. We have already been to Jefferson City to snuggle her, and can't wait to go again.

Baby Elizabeth, born 1/22/2011


Cousin Anna is still awesome, as always. Here she is, giving her very best "say cheese" face to the photographer, cousin Ben.

Interview with Ben - 5 yrs old

I did this interview with Ben right after his birthday in November, and a nice "selfie" picture that he took. Enjoy!

1. What is your favorite color: “blue and green”

2. What is your favorite book: “The Curious Garden”

3. What is your favorite movie: “Ice Age…I like it is someone is with me”

4. What is your favorite food: “cous cous”

5. What is your least favorite food: “I don’t like spinach or salad”

6. What is your favorite fruit: “apple”

7. What is your favorite vegetable: “green beans”

8. What is your least favorite vegetable: “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can answer that question. I think I like all vegetables.”

9. What is your favorite t.v. Show: “Cat in the Hat”

10. What is your favorite song: “Row Your Boat”

11. What is your favorite thing to do with Mom: “Go to the Science Center”

12. What is your favorite thing to do with Dad: “See the Gardenland Express”

13. What is your favorite game to play with friends: “Tag”

14. What is your favorite store: “Noodles & Company and Target”

15. What is your favorite sport: “Soccer”

16. What is your favorite Bible story: “I don’t know what you mean. Oh, I like the 3 Jesus Bibles that I have.”

17. What is your favorite place to go: “Target”

18. What is your favorite restaurant: “Noodles & Company and Lily’s”

19. What is your favorite toy: “My model train”

20. What is your favorite thing to do with Molly: “Play coo coo town. We tickle each other and wrestle each other”

21. What is your favorite drink: “chocolate milk”

22. What is your favorite thing to do at school: “play blocks”

23. What is your favorite thing to do outside: “Play in the snow”

24. What do you want to be when you grow up: “A train driver”

25. What can you do now that you are 5: “Go sledding. I couldn’t go sledding when I was little.”

26. Who is your best friend: “Beatrice, Mina, Aiden and Colby” (kids from school) “My best brother is Alex” (he calls one of his close friends his brother)

27. What is Mom's job: “I don’t know. Um…therapy.”

28. What is Dad's job: “Work”

29. What does Mom always say: “I love you”

30. What does Dad always say: “I love you”

31. What is your nickname: “Benner”

32. What makes you laugh: “Daddy tickling me”

33. What makes you sad: “When my brother Braeden doesn’t play with me.” (Braeden is the other close friend that he refers to as his brother)

34. What are you thankful for: “Nana and God. And you and Papa and Daddy and Molly”

35. What does Mom love about you: “That I am your lovie bunny”