BFF's

Center top is 4 years ago!  These two peas in a pod have such a great time whenever they get together.

We had the chance to take on 3 extra adorable little boys for the week - Henry, Ellis and little Sam Iverson.  Their mom and dad are long-time friends of mine and they were brave enough to take my kids last year when Brandon and I took a trip to Mexico.  This was our turn to return the huge favor while they had an adventure of their own and the kids and I had a great time.  Our kids are such natural playmates - they seem to be able to just pick up wherever they left off from the previous visit.   I should have gotten pics of all our fun, but 5 kiddos and a pregnant belly didn't quite lend itself to me lugging my big camera around.  There was lots of giggling, reading, running, wrestling, and of course tears on my kids end when their good friends had to head back home to Boston.  We're so glad to have friends like them!

1st Grader at last

Miss Olivia is officially a first grader...I can't believe it.  Somehow she seems so young and so old at the same time.  She always comes home from school in a great mood from a great day.  I love her new teacher, Mrs.Reed - she is so great with the kids and really makes an extra effort to connect with parents and her class.  I should have gotten a picture of her backpack - she picked a Disney princess backpack with shimmers, pink and purple.  All girl this one.  The school is really pushing the kids to do uniforms: khaki, navy blue, light blue, and white.  I've been surprised how well Olivia has done with it.  As soon as she gets home though, she's changed into her pink and purple attire.  Here's to a new year kiddo - I'm so proud of you!!

Birthday Boy

In all his birthday hat and chocolate cherry cake glory.  Happy happy birthday to my favorite guy!

By the way....

We're expecting a new edition to our family Oct.29th. That means this week kicks off week 30 for me!  We don't know if the bun in the oven is a little girl or a little boy.  We've got one of each that are pretty stinking adorable so we thought this time around we'd hold on for an extra big surprise on delivery day since we can't go wrong either way.

I love these pics for so many reasons.  I came out during Olivia's "quiet time" play and she was all dressed up in her princess gear, complete with every bit of jewelry she could find and even a single glove.  I love looking at that little face on the ultrasound printout and wondering what kind of a personality he or she will have and how that will add to our family.

When I told Olivia about the baby she was so excited and hasn't stopped the excitement since.  She is always hugging and kissing my belly and talking to the baby.  After about two weeks of me constantly being sick in bed the first trimester (about 8 wks. along) I felt like I owed her an explanation of why I was being such a lame mommy.  I told her this was our family secret because it was still really early and we didn't want to share the news with others quite yet - HOPING she would be able to keep the secret.  That next Sunday in her Primary sharing time, the president asked, "Did anyone have anything exciting happen this week?"  To which she promptly whipped her hand in the air and shouted, "My mommy has a baby in her tummy!!"  :)  Secret blown, it was still fun to have her be so excited.  She walked around for months after telling everyone around that "mommy has a baby in her tummy!"  She will be such a great helper and big sister to the baby.  

This is Ben's rendition of the baby.  He came in one day, in his favorite "ispicable me" shirt, proudly showing me his Teddy Baby.  I love how he's rubbing his teddy belly - something I tend to do constantly without even noticing.  At story time when he snuggles up on the side of me or my shrinking lap he'll let me know he's not sitting on Baby. :)  

I really have no hunches on gender...Brandon thinks its a boy because I was so sick this time.  It was my worst first trimester, and Ben was 2nd...I didn't feel a thing with Olivia until the end, so who knows. Either way we'll be thrilled.  Any predictions on your part?  

Temple Square

We were lucky enough to spend the last month visiting our family in Utah and Idaho.  The next few posts will be sharing our time there.  Since I can't seem to ever pick just a few pics, get ready for lots and lots of visual stimulation!

The one destination I knew I wanted to share with the kids was Temple Square. Growing up in Utah I have fond memories of the SLC temple (Brandon and I were married there), the grounds, Christmas lights there, the church history museum, etc.  I wanted to share that with the kids and transplant a little of my feelings into their little hearts.  I went in with expectations a bit higher than was realistic - I had envisioned having sweet reverent happy discussions all day long about the gospel and the Savior and basking in the spirit of the grounds.  About an hour into the day (as Olivia was trying to climb on the Christus statue to give him a hug, Ben was climbing into every roped-off exhibit and they were both running laps around our tour guide, I realized this was not going to happen and just let go and let the kids soak up whatever they could.  Hopefully something stuck and they'll remember the special spirit and beauty there!

My oldest sister and her two youngest kids went with us and we had a fantastic time!  She had the great idea of taking the train into SLC and riding the city tram around.  This was probably the highlight of the day for Ben. We had some laughs learning the ropes - both Taunna and I had a kid get stuck behind closing doors of the train with the rest of us outside the train and didn't know how to rescue them. It was as complicated as pushing the big "Push to Open Doors" button next to the doors but we were ready to sacrifice arms and hands getting shut in the doors to try to comfort our kiddos and in the adrenaline rush didn't notice the big button right away.  :)  I think plenty of people got a kick out of watching us and we'll be laughing about that ourselves for a lifetime!

Catching the train to downtown SLC and walking through City Creek mall on the way to Temple Square

When we peeked in the tabernacle to listen to an organist practicing, Olivia shouted excitedly, "MOM!!  It's the front of the hymn book!!!  I've never seen this in my entire LIFE!"  :) It was pretty adorable.  I love the architecture of the tabernacle - so elegant.  

We took a quick "tour" of the conference center - we told the guide our audience wouldn't last too long so he was super patient and gave us the shortened version.  We got to peek in the conference center where the Prophet speaks during General Conference, and then go up to the roof and get the garden tour.  

Love this set!

We closed our SLC day with a stop in Juicy Berry at the Gateway - SO yummy!  It was my first introduction to a self-serve frozen yogurt place.  We had so much fun sampling at our pleasure and then picking our favorite flavors and toppings to share.  Perfect after a hot day.  The kids were definately fans! :)  

When we got home we my very skilled nephew who can fix anything and pretty much build anything, took Ben for a ride on his home-made Go-Cart.  Ben was in heaven!  His older cousin was so sweet, pushing him around so that he thought he was driving.  They are such thoughtful good kids - loved getting to visit with them and sharing a special day with my big sis!  

Yost Family Fun

As part of our family summer trip, we were able to spend 5 days at a reunion with the Yost side, back in Brandon's home town in Idaho.  His siblings are scattered all over the country so it was really nice to be able to all gather together for the week.  The kids loved all the wide open space to run and play and all the cousins.

24th of July Parade.  We were so happy to get a good parade in.  And this parade is the only one I've been to where you get to see BOTH sides of the float.  They go down once, turn around, and come back.  And everyone is loaded with candy to throw.  The combined collection we came back with was pretty impressive.  Ben thought he'd try out the frisbee they through and see if it tasted good or not.  "Is this candy mom?"  If only, buddy.

Family Olympics: Venues entered - 3-legged race, potato sack race, fill the bucket with water, spin your  nose on the bat, wheelbarrow race.  The kids had such a great time and I was so impressed with the older cousins who helped out the little ones.  I think in my family the older kids would have run down the younger ones to get to the finish line. :)  We also did a set of games for the adults - no proof was captured though since I was participating.  We added an egg toss to ours and I got quite the splatter of yolk all the way up my arm!  

The platforms at Lava Hot Springs.  Brandon, his brothers, and dad all ventured off the ledge...33 feet above the pool!  I was content to stay back and take pictures.  

And where, but in rural Idaho, can you go skeet shooting off your Aunt's back porch?  I even picked up a gun or two and came away with 3 skeets shot!   I loved the unique beauty of the farmland.  This was where Brandon was raised and he had all kinds of stories of adventures with his buddies and brothers. 

Before Brandon flew back to CT, we had to make sure and visit Olivia's great grandpa.  We just love him - he is full of stories, smiles, and huge bear hugs.  For a girl who didn't get to know either grandpa and whose grandmas passed away when I was young, I cherish these times with grandparents and great-grandparents my kids have.  We just soak it all up! 

Utah family fun

As air is getting crisper and Fall is on its way, I realized I'd better post the rest of the pics from our summer fun in Utah.  I wondered if almost a month there would be too long but it still felt packed with fun and perfect. 

We had a fun time exploring Hogle Zoo.  We saw a pretty incredible "birds of prey" show with birds flying right over our shoulders, a front and center view of the seal show, tigers, elephants, giraffes, polar bears ... what more could you ask for? 

I love the unique beauty of Utah.  It is so different than the East - I love both for their own unique qualities.  My parents have a beautiful view looking over Morgan valley - these pics are literally in their back yard.  Grandma and Grandpa took the kids on a picnic in the mountains - across the street.  We loved it!  

Popping popcorn with Grandpa!

Harward family doing their thing.  Gigantic slip'n'slide with uncles and grandpa jumping in the fun.  Ben was pretty  nervous about getting splashed with the water, but he was ok as long as he was on Grandpa's lap!  

My sis owns a face painting business and does such a great job.  The kids got all kinds of works of art while we were there.  If you are Wasatch county based, you should give her a call for your next birthday party!

Ahhh...you can't beat Krispy Kreme donuts.  So much of my "must do's" during our trip were centered around food, and my family was so sweet to oblige us.  Besides Krispy Kreme we had to hit Cafe Rio several times!

And Layton Park.  So many great memories here.  We fed the ducks and hit the playground.  Such a fun place to relax on an afternoon!  

Independence Day

Click on the picture for a larger view!  

We haven't quite figured out how to celebrate the 4th of July here in CT...many of the fireworks you have to pay anywhere from $30-$60 to get into (if you're not a town resident) and there aren't any flag raising ceremonies, pancake breakfasts, parades, booths or festivals like I grew up with in Utah.  So - we did find the neighboring town does a small children's parade where the kids decorate their bikes and wagons and then after there is a little children's concert in the park.  We didn't know about that early enough to have our kids participate but maybe we'll do that next year if we're here.  We decided we'd go check out the concert and the kids had fun and got some good dancing in.  Ben was funny - he stuck by Olivia but just stared around solemnly at everything going on.  Then we came home for an afternoon hot dogs and ice-cream.  Our neighbors were doing some pretty awesome aerial fireworks on the driveway that night so we peeked around the house and caught a few of those from the front yard.  We vowed that this will be the last year we don't get our own at-home fireworks so here I am proclaiming it on the blog to be accountable! :)  Happy July!

Buds

One month into Olivia's summer break, she and Ben have become quite the adorable little buds.  I have loved having them spend their summer days running from one adventure to the next. Hearing them play and giggle is one of the best parts of my day, along with them playing and giggling with Daddy.  Ben is gonna' be one sad little fellow when his big sister heads back to school next month.  Ugh...do we really only have one more month?   I've quite enjoyed this time with my kiddos and am not ready to release Olivia to the land of 1st Grade.  She will be great, but it feels so much older than Kindergarten.  Sheesh.  Can't time just slow down a little?  

Ben the Builder

Ben has been pretty interested in his tools lately.  Poor Lightning McQueen suffered from a fender bender and Ben got out all his tools to fix him back up again.  It looks like we better have another safety session about working the saw. :)  

Ben is in a really fun phase right now and makes us giggle all day long at the cute things he says and does.  Its so fun when they're really communicating and have those funny questions about how the world around them works.  I've been keeping a list of some of his words and questions over the last few months.

Pronunciations:
Eye-lips = eyelids
Squh-yuhls = squirrles
Long-a-mowuh = lawn mower
Wakkles = waffles
Suh-up = syrup

"Ok Mom! We can go to the zoo!  We'll see elephants, and dinosaurs, and tigers....and tow trucks!!  Tow trucks live at the zoo, right mom?!"

(We had just opened a new jar of peanut butter: a lunch time staple at our house)
B: Is this very up  peanut butter mom?
Me: Up peanut butter?  Why is it up peanut butter?
B: Because, it's very up!!
Me: You mean the peanut butter is tall in the jar?
B: YES!

Whenever people ask Ben's name, he proudly says, "I'm Ben-do!!  I'm three and my sister is six!"

(After getting out of the bath, Brandon put the towel with the hoodie on Ben, temporarily covering up Ben's eyes with towel)
"AUGH!  I can't see my eyes Daddy!  It's too dark to see my eyes!!"

Ben singing "I Hope they call me on a Mission"....this is his song of choice for nap-time and bed-time serenading.  I think he's working on a career as a famous Soprano.  I love where he starts squinting as he strains to hit those high notes...he got finally got them. :)  

Ben is also always singing some tune while he plays, although lately he's been talking to himself as he does pretend play.  Some favorite songs: 

"I just love old Arkansas" from Big River

"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

"I Hope they call me on a Mission"

"I Love to see the Temple"

"Tonight" (Hot Chelle Rae)
And the regular for when he's playing with his cars, at least 3x a day, the Cars 2 spy theme.

We sure do love our little Ben-do.  He is almost always happy and full of energy.  He has a sweet tender little spirit and loves being around people.  We're so glad he's a part of our family!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

A few weeks ago we got to take the kids to their first baseball game.  When I told Olivia what we were doing she said, "Do we get to play?!"  "No - we just get to watch them."  "Oh Moooommm.....I don't want to go all the way to NY to watch SPORTS!!"  :)  She was only consoled by the fact that they might have cotton candy there.  With that as a starting point we headed to Queens to watch the NY Mets play the Cincinnati Reds.  We had fun cheering them on despite the loss.  While getting to the game and waiting in always present NY traffic, we taught the kids "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" so they'd be all prepped when the 7th inning rolled around.

Olivia had fun exploring the stadium and insisted we hike up to the very top before finding our seats.  We'd also read a book recently about a little boy exploring NYC and in it he went to a game (shhhh....Yankees.....) and ate hot dogs and cotton candy.  This point was not forgotten by the kids and they knew that you ate hot dogs and cotton candy at a baseball game.  I think that's all they knew about baseball games. :)  I think munching their treats was their favorite part of the night.  Olivia also got a kick out of helping us keep track of whether the batters were hitting "balls" or "strikes" by watching the corresponding dots on the scoreboard.

The kids were troopers and lasted the whole game.  We even got to be serenaded by a little band called REO Speedwagon after the game.  I'm an 80's music fan and was pretty excited to see them playing. I guess we're getting old though b/c we only stayed for one song and then listened on our hike back to the car.  I think without the kids we would have toughed it out but the volume and late hour were just too much for them.  Overall, it was a fun NY experience!

Kindergarten Graduate

Thursday marked Olivia's last day of Kindergarten....I can't believe it.  Olivia has grown so much over the last year, it has been so fun to watch her bring home "homework" and progress in her reading, writing, and 'rithmetic.  It seems like she spends all her time now drawing pictures, writing storis, poems, and letters.  

Olivia walked these stairs like a champ every day...I never had an elementary with stairs and it seemed so big and scary for me when I saw she'd need to take them every day to her basement classroom!  

Olivia with Miss Okun - she loved her kindergarten teacher!  After school we grabbed some photos with some of her classmates.  I love the diversity in her class - so much fun to have kids from lots of different cultures and backgrounds.  And of course I had to get a shot of the walk home.  The highlight of Ben's day was going to get Olivia every day.  He would take off on a run as soon as we saw the kids standing outside and head straight into Olivia's waiting arms.  Then off we headed home with him pushing the stroller.  

Now we're looking forward to summer full of relaxed days, playdates, beach days, visits with family, BBQ's and catching fireflies! 

Firefighter Ben

I've been lucky enough to join up with an awesome group of moms here that run a little preschool for our 3 yr. olds.  Once a week this cute group of kids gets together for a 2 hr. lesson - one mom teaches, one mom helps.

Ben totally loves having his special school time, and especially loves the independence and freedom he gets from mom.  When its my turn to teach or help, he is full of protests that sound like this:  "Mom, you go to the grocery store.  Mom, you don't stay, you go in the car.  Mom, you don't help - you go."  Nice to know he's having fun! :)

Last month was the community helpers unit and Ben was as thrilled as could be for the fieldtrip to the fire station.  He is obsessed with cars, trucks, and planes of all kinds, including fire engines.   We got him decked out in his fire engine shirt and fire engine rain boots. 

The firefighters were so great with the kids.  They showed them how they get dressed and ready to go and kept drilling the kids on having a fire escape path and what to do in the house if a fire comes.

Heaven for little Bendo.  

Pucker up!

It seemed a little quiet yesterday which is always cause for alarm. This is what I found.  He was pretty pleased with himself and couldn't get enough.  He started trying to apply the lipstick to his teeth and so I finally set the camera down and ran interference.

We are loving little "Bendo" these days.  He is such a fun (albeit tiring) combination of spirit, joy, stubbornness, and life. Here's an update:

He is always singing. Some of his favorites are "Do you know the Muffin Man", "I hope they call me on a mission", "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "I love to see the temple" and "Hey Diddle Diddle".  He also just makes up his own songs - we're working on the interpretation of them. :)  One of the only times he's quiet is when we're driving in the car and the radio is on.  He'll yell out "I LIKE this song Mom!"

He loves his preschool class and nursery time at church.  Preschool isn't nearly as fun when I'm the teacher but I'm told he's on good behavior when he's at the other mom's houses!

He loves to color and draw with Olivia, and he's pretty thorough too.  He'll stay pretty focused on a picture until it is all done and does pretty good staying in the lines for a 3 yr. old.

He calls any adult male that is watching him Daddy.  We do a babysitting co-op with a few other families and the dad's are always called Daddy.

Brandon is Ben's "favorite daddy."  He'll always say things like, "Mom, why are you hugging my favorite Daddy?"  I asked him who his favorite mommy was and after a few seconds of thought, he said, "Olivia!"

He is so stubborn!  If he wants to do something and you do it, he will completely undo everything you've done and start from scratch.

He adores Olivia.  Every day we take her to school and pick her up.  At pick up time he searches for her in the crowd and runs into her arms to give her a ginormous hug and kiss.  Its pretty adorable.

He is quite the book worm.  I wondered if he'd love books as much as Olivia and he seems too.  He's starting to play with the idea of letters having sounds..."Mom - t- says tuh tuh tuh, for banana, right?" :)

He never tires of playing with his cars.  Brandon wanted to get a train set for his 3rd birthday but I protested saying we'd just gotten him a ton of new cars for Christmas as well as the Build-a-road track.  I guess they never get old though b/c every time he sees trains he's glued there the entire time and can't bear to leave.

He's got all kinds of best friends....none of which are actual real-life-human-friends: "Mom, this is my best friend blankie!"  "Mom, where's my best friend bug?"    "Mom this is my best friend sippie cup."

He loves to run and play outside.  We are all itching for the warm weather to become permanent so he can be unleashed into some wide open spaces.

Spring

For the 2nd day in a row, the weather has been in the low 60's. I have been getting so itchy to get outside and photograph so today we did it. We are lucky enough to live 2 blocks from a beautiful little coastal park. Its got stark trees, sandy beaches, rocky outstretches, in short, all kinds of options for a photographer to play with. The light was so beautiful today so we walked to get Olivia from school and headed straight there.  The kids explored and I played. :)

I had to include these b/c it is so us right now...Olivia always loves to push Ben in the stroller and be the "mom". And I thought I'd feature the lovely expression I get from Ben every time I try to take a picture of him looking at the camera.   He's not too impressed with me getting in his face, apparently.  I'm hoping he'll grow out of it...some day sooner than later.  

Happy Spring from CT!!