Independence Day

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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!!

Grandma's Visit Part Deuce

What more can a Grandma do when she visits?  I don't think mom left out a single thing.

 Walks through the park,

Snuggly story time,

Craft time - (she actually brought all this stuff in her suitcase!)

Sewing time,

And ALL kinds of Valentine goodies for upcoming parties: cupcakes, complete with homemade chocolate hearts to put on top, 

homemade Valentine suckers (a Harward family tradition), 

hand-made Valentine cards, 

"Dear Grandpa, I wish you a Happy Valentines Day!  Hope you can come next time! Love you!  I cannot wate until I see you!  Love, Olivia"

and the yearly ring-&-run Valentine night. Mom sneakily helped Olivia make custom flower bouquets for Brandon and I, as well as chocolate hearts and a bouquet for her Kindergarten teacher.

And what is a little boy to do amongst all this girly Valentiney craftiness?  He was always nearby with piles and rows of cars.  This is what I catch him doing 90% of the time.

The other 10% of the time he's plopped down in the middle of a room like this:

We also found this little treasure waiting for us one day:  a little boy's masterpiece.  I think the presentation placement really completes the piece, don't you?  :) 

All projects aside, our favorite part of having Grandma/Mom here, was enjoying her sweet company. We couldn't get enough of just having her here to exist in our little world with us.  It was amazing every night as she sat at the table to read or color with the kids and I made dinner, or to see the kids snuggled up with her reading a book.  The kids were both screaming and bawling as we watched Daddy drive out the driveway with her to catch her airplane We can't wait until next time rolls around, and hopefully Grandpa will be able to come along too!

We love Grandma & Grandpa!, Part 1

We were lucky enough to have my mom come out for a few weeks the beginning of February.  We knew Brandon would have long hours between work and studying for another bar exam, so she came out to keep the kids and I company.  She brought suitcase full of treasures to do with the kids, transformed our house with her amazing "design on a dime" abilities, and best of all, just loved us like a mom and grandma can.  None of us were ready to see her go, and when Brandon and she drove out of the driveway to get her to her flight, both my kids were wailing with outstretched arms as they drove away.  They missed Grandpa - he was sweet enough to lend us mom for a few weeks and had to fare for himself back in Utah.  Here is a glimpse into the magic Grandma brings into our house!

At least twice a day, we roasted mini-marshmallows over tealights.  Perfect size for the kiddos!

Mom whipped out this amazing nightGOWN in one evening. I don't think I've ever seen Olivia so thrilled it is long and twirly and ruffly and pink, and spreads around her when she sits down...all the things a little girl dreams of in a nightgown!

One of Ben's latest obsessions is a book called "Road Work Ahead".  Its got adorable illustrations and is about a little boy and his mom who set out to Grandma's house to enjoy oatmeal cookies with her.  On the way they see all kinds of road work and workers.  When Mom told Ben on the phone she'd be coming out, he said, "Grandma's coming! To make oatmeal cookies!"  So she brought her delish oatmeal raisin cookie recipe and we made them together the first night.  You can't get more perfectly Grandma than that!

My New Favorite Pics

Nothing fancy or "photo-shootey" about them, but what can I say?  I love these two.  They have such an amazing relationship and connection.  And somehow these quick photos captured it.  Love it.  

They remind me a little bit of this one from (almost) six years ago...

NYC in December

We wanted to take the kids into the city this year to admire all the beautiful Christmas decorations in the city.  Our plans were almost foiled by a grumpy parking attendant who wouldn't let us park despite our "guaranteed" parking printout.  I guess that's what you get in downtown NYC during Christmas.  After circling around (which took about 45 minutes) we came back and by then he was ready for us.  

It really is a magical time to visit, if you can handle the crowds.  The buildings are decked out in huge wreaths, twinkling lights, and Christmas trees are all over the place.  We admired the window displays, sampled candy at Dylan's candy store, and tried to be the first to spot each new decoration display.  We took the kids into F-A-O Swartz and let them pick out a small toy, enjoyed 5th Avenue, and headed for Rockefeller Plaza. On the way we passed the Unifcef crystal snowflake. You wouldn't know it when its hanging there between those huge sky scrapers, but it is 23 feet wide and over 28 feet tall, and weighs more than 3,300 pounds!

F-A-O Schwarz was fun...they had workers demonstrating all kinds of toys and games, amazing Lego displays, and all the old-school original toys.  We'll definitely go back in the Spring and let the kids try out the huge step-on keyboard but the line was too long for us.  

Seeing the Rockefeller tree and Plaza was my favorite part, despite the crazy crowds. The kids liked watching the ice-skaters.  I couldn't believe the 74 ft. tree was just from someone's yard in PA!   

We ended our evening with a yummy slice of NY pizza.  Its so fun to be able to spend an evening in the city!  

Christmas 2011

Christmas Eve was so nice.  A blazing fire, twinkling lights, the traditional jammie opening, and cookies and milk for Santa.  Most importantly, we turned off all the lights, and talked about the symbols and meaning of Christmas in the glow of the Christmas tree and crackling fire.  It was perfect!  (Except I scored 0/2 for both the jammies I got for Ben - they were too small so he had to go to bed in all jammies. Poor guy.)

Christmas morning was a so fun.  The kids ran in to wake us up and then we all headed out into the living room after Brandon had a fire going.  I took Olivia and Ben to pick presents out for daddy, and Brandon took them out to pick a gift for me.  I loved Olivia's choices...as we browsed shelves at the store looking for a gift for daddy, her eyes lit up and she grabbed this orange bottle of tire cleaner.  "Oh!  Do you think Daddy would love THIS Mom?  I think he would! Let's get it!!"  She was so proud of her gift and Brandon was so sweet when he opened it.  He made sure they went out later that day to clean the tires and she was just as proud as could be.  For me, she picked a candy cane spatula and some DEE-licious chocolate covered oreos...She is always watching when I cook to see if I'm using her spatula - which of course I do.  It was so fun to see her get so excited about the gifts she chose and feel the joy of giving.  

The kids favorite gifts were a science kit for Olivia and cars cars and more cars for Ben.  The kid can't get enough of them!  It makes things pretty easy for us.

Since Christmas was on a Sunday this year we started with a few gifts, then stopped to get ready for church.   Olivia got dressed in her new Christmas dress and was as cute as can be.  It really made the celebration perfect to be able to go to church on Christmas for a beautiful program and really focus on the Savior.  After, we came home to a warm cozy house, and had a quiet relaxing day enjoying family time.  It was wonderful!