You Learn Something New Everyday

Don't you just love it when you can actually see your child's world expanding? Sometimes it is something grand, like when a baby realizes that you are still there even after you have left a room...and sometimes it is something small...like that there is a space between each of your toes, and sometimes you will find treasures (a.k.a. dirt) in there!

Molly has made this amazing discovery this spring, and now can often be found in her favorite toe-inspecting spot...checking to see what might be lurking in there.

Interview with Ben

Several of my friends with kids have been doing interview with their kids, with the intention of repeating the interview each year to see how the answers change. I've been meaning to give it a shot with Ben, and we finally got it done! It is a pretty random set of questions, most stolen from other people's lists, and a few of my own thrown in for fun. Here are the answers, from his 4-and-a-half year old self:)

1. What is your favorite color: “Green and blue”
2. What is your favorite book: “Olivia”
3. What is your favorite movie: “Thomas the Tank Engine”
4. What is your favorite food: “Couscous”
5. What is your least favorite food: “Crunchy lettuce and 'sour cream and cheddar' potato chips”
6. What is your favorite fruit: “Apples”
7. What is your favorite vegetable: “Green beans”
8. What is your least favorite vegetable: “Sweet potatoes”
9. What is your favorite t.v. Show: “Mr. Rogers”
10. What is your favorite song: “Thomas the Tank Engine”
11. What is your favorite thing to do with Mom: “Read books”
12. What is your favorite thing to do with Dad: “Watch t.v.” (Can I tell you how much I love 11 and 12?!!!)
13. What is your favorite game to play with friends: “Play Hide-N-Seek”
14. What is your favorite store: “Walgreens...no Target, because they have that train that is spinning” (In the Christmas season, Target always puts a little train set with l.e.d. lights on display, and he loves to just sit and watch it go round and round. I can't explain the Walgreens, though, we never go there!)
15. What is your favorite sport: “Basketball” (also can't explain this one)
16. What is your favorite Bible story: “My little Bible book”
17. What is your favorite place to go: “Davenport”
18. What is your favorite restaurant: “Noodles and Company”
19. What is your favorite toy: “My model trains and wooden trains”
20. What is your favorite thing to do with Molly: “Snuggle”
21. What is your favorite drink: “Juice”
22. What is your favorite thing to do at school: “Eat snack”
23. What is your favorite thing to do outside: “Ride my bike”
24. What do you want to be when you grow up: “A model train driver because I can still switch tracks...because model trains can go on different tracks too!”
25. What can you do now that you are 4: “I can run faster”
26. Who is your best friend: “Nana”
27. What is Mom's job: “Keep me safe, healthy, and growing well and big and strong so that I can be a model train driver good enough to not do things wrong to the trains.”
28. What is Dad's job: “Keep my love tank full and to make me grow strong and healthy and have nutritious food.”
29. What does Mom always say: “I want to snuggle you”
30. What does Dad always say: “I love you”
31. What is your nickname: “Benjamin Garon Schiltz...Gigi calls me that. And I call her “Gigi buh divi”, and I call you “Mommy bah dahmmy”, and I call Molly “Molly buh waddy””
32. What makes you laugh: “When somebody tickles me”
33. What makes you sad: “When I loose something and I can't find it again”
34. What are you thankful for: “That God gives us strength”
35. What does Mom love about you: “That I am special”

Happy Family!

Just wanted to share a few cute pics from late winter of our sweet, happy family!! Things are far from perfect around here, but it really feels lately like we are in a good zone.

The kids are finally sharing a room, which means there are no kids in our room! Woohoo! And they are sleeping well, most of the time:) But I also think they seem to be getting along as siblings better than ever before. They play together for "real" now, so much more often. By "real", I mean that they will construct play plans entirely independently of a parent, and then play whatever they have thought of, for long periods of time.

I do need to give praise to my husband here for a moment too...I think the reason that I am feeling so upbeat about how my children, and our family in general, are doing is because my dear hubby gave me the weekend "off" last weekend! For the first time since Molly's birth, Aaron packed up both kids (and I really do mean pack...he packed everything for their trip!!) and took them to Davenport for the weekend. All 3 of them had a wonderful visit with Nana and Papa. And as for me...I slept.

And a few other things, like painting the garage, scrapbooking, and drinking tasty wine with friends, but mostly, I slept. :)

Other than the sleep, the most glorious thing about a weekend "off" was the silence...LONG stretches of time would pass without me uttering a word. I never cared about such a thing before kids, but this weekend, it was striking how freeing it was to not be needed by anyone for 48 straight hours.

So, now that the family is home, I am finding myself emotionally recharged, rested, in LOVE with my life and family, and wanting to share these cute pics! Enjoy!



And my very favorite...