Finally, yesterday we braved the crowds at the mall and went to visit Santa. We were pretty sure that Sophie wouldn't sit on Santa's lap (she wouldn't), but Benny really wanted to go. Benny was 3 before he would sit on Santa's lap. We waited in line, and when it was our turn Benny marched right up to Santa and sat next to him. He told Santa that he had been a good boy and that he would like some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (this was news to Santa....), and that his sister would like some things to go with her baby doll. And then it was done. Luckily they let us take our own photos. I can't believe a picture with Santa cost anywhere from $13 - $24!!! Seems like highway robbery in these times, and where is the Christmas spirit? We had a nice lunch at the mall, and then left the crowds in favor for a cozy afternoon at home. Can't wait for Christmas!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Baby Jesus Birthday Party, Our little angel, and a visit with Santa
Grinch Dust and Reindeer Food
Reindeer Food is simply oatmeal and red sugar. Grinch Dust is crumbled graham crackers and green sugar. It takes a lot of sugar for it really to show amongst all of the crumbs. Sophie helped too, but she was more interested in eating the graham crackers.....
Our finished products:
Each recipe has a little poem that goes along with it, so we attached them to the bag. They go as follows:
Magic Grinch Dust
Don't let the Grinch steal your Christmas, you must be on your guard. Before retiring on Christmas Eve, sprinkle this dust out on your yard. The Grinch will see your magic dust, and know you've taken great care, to protect you home and family, and keep Christmas in the air.
Reindeer Food
'Tis the night before Christmas, And since every year, You feed Santa Claus, Now feed his Reindeer.
1. Wait until Christmas Eve.
2. Open bag and sprinkle on the lawn.
3. Hop into bed.
4. Shhh! Listen for Santa.
5. Close your eyes and watch the sugar plums dance.
Contents: Enough reindeer food for eight reindeer and Rudolf.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Dreaming of a White Christmas
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
How to Cook a Turkey
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
How to Cook a Turkey
by Benjamin Cook
You get a gun and go outside and shoot them, then eat them. You cook it in the oven. It's served in a bowl with tomatoes, salad, lemons, and that's all. Cook it for 6 hours at 42 degrees. It's done when the microwave beeps. Then you take off the feathers, then you eat it. Then when you are done eating you take out the bones and throw them away!
Friday, November 21, 2008
It's Another.......
Clue #1: Benny will not have to share his bedroom!
Clue #2: One gender will outnumber the other!
Clue #3: Benny wants to move to California, or maybe Michigan with Daddy and Smokey!
That's right, it's another girl!
We couldn't be happier! We would have been happy with either a boy or a girl, but at this stage in the game, a girl will be easier for bedroom sharing. Plus, all of our baby girl gear is much newer than the baby boy stuff! Benny had been hoping for a little brother, instead of another troublesome little sister, but already he is happy about sweet baby #3. I'd have to say that Nick and I are happy too!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Halloween Fun
Benny really, really wanted to be a Clone Trooper from Star Wars for Halloween. I was hoping he would change his mind to a costume that was a little more original, or for one that we could make at home, but he wouldn't give up on the idea. After weeks of discussion, I finally caved and bought the costume. He was thrilled, and couldn't wait to put in on for school. Originally, I wanted to dress the kids as some sort of theme. I wanted Sophie to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz (we do live in Kansas you know), and Benny to be either the Tin Man, Scarecrow or Cowardly Lion. He didn't agree, and wondered why Sophie couldn't order the baby Yoda costume he had seen in a catalogue. I didn't want my sweet baby dressed as Yoda (although it could have been cute), so we decided that our theme idea wouldn't work.
So, I set out to make Sophie a Dorothy costume. Yes, I said make! I have only sewed burp cloths and goody bags for the single soldiers, so my experience is very limited. I have never attempted clothing of any sort. I went and picked out the fabric, and the most simple pattern I could find. I procrastinated for weeks, talked it over lots with my mom, and eventually bit the bullet and put it together. I had a few slip ups, but it really did turn out cute. I have plans to make her a polka dot dress out of the same pattern soon. It was really hard to get her to sit still for a picture, and as usual, the overpowering sun washed out most of the pictures. She would only leave the bow in just long enough for us to take a photo. She has a cute little dog that went as Toto, and she carried one of those famous Poland baskets! Oh, and of course she had ruby red slippers (which she loved!)!
Nick was able to meet us there on his way home from work. I was grateful to have the extra set of hands to help. Eventually, the crowds were just too much for us, and we headed home to carve pumpkins.
She's off to see the Wizard!
Sophie was thrilled to see us when we came home and was ready to dig through Ben's candy. She even helped herself to a sucker!
Pumpkin Carving
Benny is generally a clean kid and doesn't enjoy getting very dirty. He was intrigued by the pumpkin 'guts' as he called them, but didn't want to touch them. He did help us scrape out the insides as long he didn't get dirty.
Field Trip to the Nature Center
Later in the morning after our nature hike was complete, the weather had warmed some and Sophie and I went to visit the exhibit of rescue birds. She loved looking at the Golden Eagles and didn't want to return to the playground with the other kids. She practiced making bird noises and was so excited to see the birds she tried to climb the fence to get closer.
I hadn't realized how much Sophie would enjoy the trip. She is an outdoors girl. We plan to visit again when the weather is right!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
It's official-Sophie is part monkey!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Our Trip to the Bison Farm
Sophie was growing restless, so we had to put her down after awhile. She was so interested in everything around us, it took forever to move down the rows. She had to examine anything that looked different or seemed out of place. Eventually she resumed her position on Daddy's shoulders.
All in all, it took us over a half hour to work our way through the maze. We were very relieved to find the end. After a drink and a snack (thank goodness I packed Goldfish, because all the food was bison meat) we headed off for more fun. Next the boys took their try at the corn cannon, and the gourd slingshot. Nick was able to get his to fly about 250 yards.
After the slingshot we headed over to the play area where there was a giant slide down the side of a big hill. They had layed plastic down and you had to sit on a burlap bag. Hands down, this was Ben's favorite part of the day. He must have slid for a half hour. I stayed at the top with him and helped him onto his sack.
He flew down the hill so fast it was scary. The first time I thought 'There goes my baby!' He wanted to do it over and over and over and kept right up with all the big kids. Sophie enjoyed watching Ben from the comfort of the toddler area. Finally, we had to stop the sliding and pick some pumpkins. We weren't able to snag a wagon until we were in line to pay so I don't have any pictures of pumpkin picking. By this point Sophie was exhausted, and Nick's arms were full of pumpkins. Benny picked out all of the pumpkins and assigned one to each of us. He can't wait to carve them next week.
While we were in line to pay we were surprised to meet up with our friends the Hogans. They had been there most of the day too, but our paths had not yet crossed. I took a quick photo of the kids-Emma, Anja, Ben, Nicky and Sophie. Ben and Nicky see each other everyday at school, at CCD on Wednesday night and play together twice a week after school. They just can't get enough of each other. Nicky's little sister, Anja, has developed a crush on Ben and talks about him constantly. The kiddos played together a few minutes and then we went our separate ways.
Our trip to the Bison Farm was fun! It certainly can't compete with a trip to the orchard, but it was a great way to spend a fall day!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Mommy-Daughter Day
Jackson is much more affectionate than Sophie is. He is always trying to give her hugs, and she is always trying to avoid them. I was trying to sit her on this little ledge to get a cute picture. Jackson came out of nowhere to give her a hug. It didn't end pretty folks. In the picture it looks like they are going to tip backwards into the sunken flower bed. However, they both fell forward instead and crashed onto the sidewalk. Luckily there weren't any injuries.
I tried again for a picture of Sophie, but I couldn't get her to pay attention. She is wearing her favorite new shoes from Target that we picked up earlier in the week. She loves them and wants to wear them everyday. We are running out of things to match the raspberry color! Sometimes she wears shoes with her pajamas because she loves to have them on so much (which is different from last fall when I couldn't keep them on).
After viewing most of the animals, we hit the playground. It was so nice because for awhile we were the only ones there and the kids had the run of it. The double slide was a big hit as was the bridge. I didn't get many photos because our daredevil kids were scaring us, and we didn't feel that our four arms were enough to control them. Piper is helping them down the slide to prevent them from venturing too far onto the playground. After a few minutes, they both had so much courage that they were running too fast and trying to do things that 18 month olds just shouldn't do. Soon, Piper and I were too stressed out to let them play any longer and we moved them on to the petting zoo.
I thought that Sophie would enjoy the petting zoo more than she did. She fed one piece of food to a goat, and that was enough. She didn't want to touch them and after a few minutes just wanted to get back into Jackson's stroller. Benny has always loved the goats, so I assumed Sophie would too. She has no fear around our dog, Smokey, and the goats were much smaller. Jackson loved the goats and even brushed them. Poor little guy tripped though trying to get to one and took quite the nasty fall. Word has it that he has his first shinner.
We had a wonderful time at the zoo, with our wonderful friends. We will miss them so much when they leave Kansas for good! After a few hours our kids were officially tuckered out, and it was time to head home. Thanks for the fun day Jackson and Piper!
I promise more posts soon!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Our little helper and BIG news!
Sophie also likes to help me feed Smokey and throw away her dirty diapers into the garage. When we put her to bed at night, she directs us the entire time about where she wants her two blankets. She then points to the side of the crib to make sure we put it up. Finally she points over to her music box so we don't forget to play it for her. It is so fun to watch her personality develop!
Once Benny was finished with his jealous episode, we let him come help with the laundry too. Some day I will be begging these kids to help me with the chores!
Now for the BIG news! We are expecting baby number 3!!!! My blogging absence in August was primarily due to awful 'all day' sickness. I have no idea why they call it morning sickness, because mine only heightened during the day. Poor Nick has put up with me after several weeks of not wanting to cook or even smell dinner. This pregnancy has been by far the worst of all of mine, maybe even all the others combined. But at 12+ weeks now, I am starting to feel much better and have more energy. Besides feeling sick all of the time, everything is going well. I have even had an ultrasound and the baby looks great. I am due in late March just before Sophie's 2nd Birthday! Of course we won't be able to resist finding out if we are having a boy or a girl. We don't really have a preference, but long term were thinking a girl would be easier so she and Sophie could share a bedroom. Only time will tell!
Benny is super excited about becoming a big brother again. He actually wants another brother and another sister. He wants the brother to be his twin. Poor kid, he still can't grasp exactly what a twin is. He says either way he will be happy, but a brother would be better than a sister. He was the first to know a few weeks ago. I showed him my ultrasound pictures and he guessed right away what the pictures were of. Soon he was telling everyone, so we decided to finally share the news.
For now I am getting an idea what is like to take of three. Nick had hip surgery last week, and I swear it is like having another child at home. He had been a great patient, and is moving around quite well now. It still causes extra work around the house but it won't be for much longer. Unfortunately it looks like he is going to have to have another surgery in the future. He has a very uncommon hip problem and very few surgeons can preform the surgery to correct it. Sometime he will probably has to have an 'open-hip' operation that should correct the problem. Even having the scope here last week was a big deal for the hospital. His surgeon does 4 knees a week, but only 2 hips a year. Physical therapy sent him home last Friday without any treatment because they had never had anyone before with Nick's condition and didn't know how to handle him yet. He seems to be making a speedy recovery and really, it has been nice having him home so much!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
The First 5 Years......
2 years...
Blowing out the candles on his 3rd Birthday...
Apples Days at Fort Riley near his 4th....
Monday, September 8, 2008
Benny's Birthday Weekend
Here is Ben holding up both hands, showing he is the big 5! This year he is really into 'boy' things. He loves action figures, Star Wars, super heroes, and is still really into Playmobiles and Legos.
The next day we were able to celebrate his birthday with him at preschool. He had a Spiderman cupcake cake that the bakery graciously held for us an extra day. The cake was a hit, as the kids loved the black frosting (I swear it was red in the picture). Sophie had a great time at preschool too!
This year instead of having a big birthday party we decided to take a family trip. We tossed around a few options and ended up heading to Kansas City for a Renaissance Festival that we read about on the internet. It was supposed to be a beautiful weekend-80 and sunny. It turned out to be about 65 and slightly rainy instead. We had a good time though. It was a huge festival, and seemed to go on forever. There were so many cool costumes (and weird ones too), and much to see and do. We actually ran into some neighbors from Germany in the parking lot-the Army is so small!
Here is Ben posing as St. George, one of his favorite knights!
Nick and Ben decided to try out a little archery. Benny had so much fun shooting the arrows. I think he could have done that all day. First he needed a little instruction from Daddy.
Now, he was ready to try it out himself!
After we had enough of the dreary weather at the Festival we headed to our hotel for the night. We stopped and had dinner at the outdoor mall first. We ate at the Saddle Ranch Chop House, which is a Hollywood take on an old western restaurant. The portions were huge. I think we probably could have shared two dinners instead of the four we ordered. In the middle of the restaurant there is a huge bull ring with a mechanical bull. Benny got a huge kick out of watching a group of middle aged men (and one woman) try to ride the bull. All but the woman were thrown off eventually. It was great entertainment! After dinner, we headed to the hotel and finished the night off swimming in the pool. The next day we did some much needed shopping for fall clothes for the kids and then headed home.
Benny had a great birthday weekend. It's just so hard to believe that 5 years have gone by since he came into the world! I think tomorrow I will do another post recapping his first 5 years! I have to get caught up, because Nick is having hip surgery on Wednesday and I know I will be busy taking care of him!