Ben's T-Ball

T-Ball season has come and gone. Ben was so excited to play T-ball, but after the first practice I think he realized it was just one more place he had to listen and pay attention.

At one t-ball game he went to use the port-o-let and was gone for quite some time. Just as I was wondering out loud what he was doing in there, I heard him belting out a tune from inside the port-o-let.

He finally exited and sat down on the far side of the field. Being pregnant I hollered across the field rather than walking to him, "Ben! What are you doing!!??"

"I'm catching peepers!"

"No Ben you are here to play t-ball!"

"I don't want to play t-ball any more!"

With the threat of no creemee on the way home he made it back to his position.

All in all t-ball was a good experience for Ben and he learned a lot. He will grow and mature a lot and we will probably do it again next year.

Building

Jacob built this girl a couple of months ago and I was proud of it so I thought I would photo document it.

As an after note...all you who think your life is too boring to blog about...I have either just proven that you are right, or I have inspired you to post about the little things in life.

Cakes

Here are all the cakes I have made in the last two months. A BIG thank you to Aunt Denise for the cake decorating supplies.

This one I made for Aaron's AP students as a reward for taking the grueling AP U.S. History exam.

This one was for Aaron's mom for Mother's Day, M being for Mother. However Leah's birthday was around that time. Her nickname is Wee so turn it upside down for a W and it is her birthday cake.

Aaron's birthday cake. It is a homemade strawberry cake with lemon frosting (I have to say an amazing combination.)

Ben requested an army cake for his birthday and this was the best I could do. In answer to Jennifer's question, no there was no metal detected in the cake.

Sophie requested an ice cream cake. This is an oreo crust with vanilla bean ice cream, whipped cream topping and oreo garnish (obviously.) I couldn't get it out of the pan at this point. I have pictures that I will post about her birthday that have it out of the pan. I have to say that I felt like I was cheating Sophie with this cake because it seemed so simple and easy to make, but it was SO SO YUMMY!!!!

Force

I finally forced myself to organize all the photos I have taken since we got a new computer. Now I have lots of stuff to post about. These are the last 2 "old" photos from April.

Aaron feeling silly at a family gathering. I still think he is drop dead gorgeous even with a flower in his hair.

Apparently Jacob loved the cake. He licked his plate clean.

New Computer

I have had a hard time blogging ever since we got a new computer and it has everything to do with my photo organizing program. I was so comfortable and familiar with the old program and it is really hard to want to get familiar with the new one. I'll get it eventually...

Until then, at a family gathering my nephew had the idea of taking pictures inside a kaleidoscope. These were the resulting pictures.

Small Break

Sorry I took a small break from blogging. No reason, I just didn't get to it. Unfortunately I don't have any really exciting pictures to share but I'll do it anyway.

This picture is from the end of April!!!

It may not look like much, but it is an almost flour-less torte that is pretty mild by itself, but combine it with the chocolate mousse center and chocolate ganache topping and altogether it is perfectly divine.

I made this for my sister in law Kristin and my Dad's birthday in the end of April. Don't ask about nutritional information, you don't want to know.

Apple Hat

My friend had a baby in March (sorry Martha I have a bad memory. If this is wrong please forgive me!) and I tried to make an apple hat for the baby.

The first one is a complete unusable flop. But if you do not first succeed, try, try again. So I did and it worked.

I don't like the stem, I wish I had done it in i-cord like the first hat. It took me three attempts on this hat to figure out the leaf (I can't remember how many times I tried on the first hat and finally gave up.)

So here it is. I really love it and hope I have the motivation to make one for my own baby!

T-Ball Season

It is t-ball season again. As a devoted parent I will have several photos and videos of Ben playing t-ball for you to view. The first is of his favorite part of t-ball, the helmet.

I am sorry if I sound like a gloating parent, but Ben in STINKIN' cute.
And of course we have a monkey see monkey do who is pretty darn cute too.

How did I ever get so lucky?

Spring Tradition

The kids have a springtime tradition of building a couch out of cinder blocks and then I have a tradition of photographing them on the couch. Here is the 2010 addition.


I was trying to get them to not cover their eyes in this one. 2 out of 3 isn't bad.

Ok I looked back in the files to add our previous photos and I found one from 2008, nothing in 2009. So maybe it isn't fair to call it a "tradition..."

2008

Bagels

I made bagels awhile ago and I had a funny thought as they were boiling/baking. Some people will remember that I used to put my fingers in a circle around my belly button and say, "Look! a bagel!"

Well as they were boiling I thought, "This must be what I look like in the hot tub."

And then when I pulled them out of the oven I thought, "This must be what I look like after a good vacation in the Caribbean.

I wonder what other exotic situations I can imagine my bagel belly in?

Country Life

The farmers delivered a giant pile of manure and for about a week the kids begged to go look at it.

So finally we took a field trip to the see the giant pile of poop. Jacob and Sophie had on regular shoes, but for some reason I felt compelled to make Ben wear mud boots. Sure enough the first thing he did was sink his foot into the edge of the pile.


Even the little piles of manure deserved inspection.

Then of course they had to wrestle right at the edge because children have no fear of falling into a giant pile of poop.

Awed and amazed (you have to admit it is a pretty amazing pile of manure.)

And then a family photo because doesn't everyone have a family photo in front of a giant pile of manure?

(Sorry new computer and I am having difficulty learning how to rotate and save a photo)
I was amazed by the number of these flies that were ALL over the pile. I did some research thinking they have some exotic name since I had never seen them before. If my research is accurate they are called Yellow Dung Flies.

Winds of Change

I went away to Virgina for a few days and when I came back Aaron had built these two utility items.

They are the first step of many to prepare the spare room off of the kitchen to become a laundry room.

This summer Aaron will bring the washer and dryer out of the basement, replace the floor in the spare room, add a door that will exit out to the clothes line and build a folding shelf/storage cabinet. We will also have a mud room! All this makes ME very happy!

Bargain

Last night we stopped at our old apartment to peek in the windows. It is being completely overhauled so there are no tenants.

The other day when I drove by there were no windows and doors and I could see right in. I thought I could see our old French atrium doors with the stamps I had stamped in each window panel still there, stamps and all!

So I had Aaron jump out and look. While he was out Ben was BEGGING to get out and look too. Because of the construction scene and the late hour I kept saying no. Finally Ben pleaded with all he could muster...

"Pllleeeaassseee?"

"No Ben."

"I'll give you 10 kisses!"

Words

Well, it is official. Our computer died. Technically Aaron could spend hours and days and money fixing it, but at four years old it isn't really worth it. A new one has been ordered and will be here in a few weeks.

Unfortunately all of my pictures are stuck on the old computer. Aaron has assured me that they can be saved, but until the new computer comes, I have no pictures to post. It will be just words for awhile. I'll try not to bore you

Video Portion

Here is the video portion of Nathan's Homecoming.

Back Track

In March my brother finished his stint with the Navy and we went to my parents to welcome him home. Here are some of the events of the day.

A rare photo of the adults belonging to this blog...and together too!

Ben and my Dad reading together. Ben read about half of a Dick and Jane book almost entirely by himself!

As the evening went on we got kind of relaxed about child care...and the boys started baking in the kitchen. This is their creation. Caution to those with a weak stomach.





The end product was a mix of water, cocoa powder, orange peels, sunflower seeds, and butter.

Spring Flowers

I have always loved forsythia. In fact I don't think I would have survived the MTC without the forsythia blooming outside my dorm window. Now I have one all of my own. Does anyone have any advice on how to care for it so that it is full and not scraggly looking?


Aaron and I had a difference of opinion about pansies. See I like them, but Aaron doesn't like their name. Imagine my surprise when I went to the store and they were labeled Violas. Not only is it a name Aaron and I can agree on, but it was my great Aunt's name. I am now the proud owner of 7 viola plants!

I don't remember planting these and as such I don't remember what they are! It has been fun to watch them emerge. Since taking this photo they have fully bloomed and I now know that they are Grape Hyacinth.

I also finally planted daffodils. I love them! They have personality. I mean doesn't this one seem to be speaking to you as if it has something important to say?

Art Work Central

Ben brought home a stack of paintings he had made and I just don't have space to hang them all, or to save them all. I love each one of them so I am preserving them here for posterity. Some of you may receive the originals...





Notice how he signed his name backwards? He often does this with other words. Aaron says he wrote like that when he was little too.

Jacob was marveling at the paintings because we have only ever done watercolors with him so I pulled out the easel and found a big sheet of paper and let him go to town. He was so meticulous. He made sure to put the brushes back the exact way he found them, he did not mix a single color and he very carefully made each mark on the paper. I almost wanted to tell him to break loose a little!

Easter

I am finally on to posting Easter pictures! Aaron doesn't like the candy I pick so this year I got way more candy than usual in hopes of finding the right mix. What I have learned...my family likes fruity candy. I can totally skip the chocolate, except the peanut butter eggs. They were a hit. The chocolate bunnies were on sale otherwise we don't normally get those.

Another big hit were the airship balloons. They all popped before lunch, but the calories expended by playing with them all morning made up for the candy they ate. This first photo isn't great, but it had all tree kids in it and I wanted them all equally represented.

Here Sophie and Ben have green and blue light sabers. We have been on a bit of a Star Wars kick around here.

And finally a video of the balloon play. At this point the balloons were fruit. Yellow was a banana orange was an orange, green was avocado etc...My favorite part is when Ben grabs two colored balloons and yells, "FRUIT SMOOTHIE!!" As a parent I thought it was clever.

This is the secular representation of our Easter festivities. For the religious side we watched General conference and then Monday we did a lesson on the Resurrection. The next day Jacob's lunch prayer went as follows...

"Thank you that Jesus was on the cross. Thank you that we make mistakes and Jesus takes them away."

Even with candy in the way kids can grasp the underlying message of the season!

To finish out the day we had a hot dog roast. Not your typical Easter feast, but it was a lot of fun!