ben's plans

ben has informed me that he no longer wants to marry katie. he said that everyone from his class wants to marry her and so he doesn't want to anymore.

he's taking numbers if anyone is interested.

drew's secret

here stacey and i were trying so hard to figure out how to make perfect cookies and drew had the recipe for perfection the entire time.
this picture is a recipe drew wrote at school. he told me that it tells us how to make perfect cookies. DOH! if i would've just asked him in the first place i would've saved myself a lot of time!

DECODER
cookey - cookie
sooger - sugar
gres - grease

brotherly love

tonight when we got home from church drew was so excited about something. he said he had been thinking and he had a great idea but he couldn't tell us what it was. when ben went to get in bed tonight we discovered what drew's idea was. drew had stuck this note (for those that don't have children learning to write what they hear it says "you are a special kid") along with a candy bar on ben's pillow.

now, to know ben is to know that his love language is DEFINITELY words of affirmation. he is our little encourager. he thrives on getting told how much he is loved and he does a great job of using words to make other people feel special as well. he's always there saying "good job drew." or "you look nice mommy." and when he sees your smile because of what he said, he just glows.

so tonight when drew surprised him with this note he was SO happy. he kept telling drew thank you. he kept telling drew how excited he was. he went to sleep holding on to the note. i offered to put it on the dresser. but, he would not part with it. you could just see that drew really had made him feel like he was a special kid.

good job drew. you were a really nice big brother today.

where's ben?

ben is gifted.

you see, ben can fall asleep anywhere. when he gets tired it does not matter what is going on around him. he just goes to sleep. he has fallen asleep on on a chair in the middle of mcdonalds by the children's museum. he has fallen asleep in the middle of a go fish concert (sorry jamie!) . he has fallen asleep in the middle of the mall (many times).

so it shouldn't surprise me when he decides to crash in an odd spot. but ... sometimes it still does. and tonight is worth mentioning.

ben had fallen asleep in the car while running to the grocery store. so when we got back home i carried him inside and laid him on the rug in the entry way while i went to get alex. he stayed there. we made dinner and he slept the entire time on the rug. well, i decided to wake him up for dinner. as we finished eating he was still sleepy so we told him he could go brush his teeth and get ready for bed. well after dinner we didn't know where ben was. we knew he had gone upstairs but we didn't know where.

well... stacey won this round of "where's ben".

ben had gone to sleep under a pile of couch cushions.

the first picture is the intial "hiding spot".

the second picture is a little while later when he decided to give himself away - but remain asleep.

silly ben.

REWARD OFFERED FOR CAPTURE OF MYSTERIOUS CREATURE!!

there is a mysterious creature living at our house. we don't know what he looks like. we don't know where he has set up camp. we actually don't know if it is a he - it could very well be a she. whatever the case, it is causing quite a stir.
i like to think that i know where most everything at our house is. i like to think i am fairly organized. however this creature has misplaced the following as of tonight:
1 game boy
1 pair of blue camo mittens
1 pair of little gray bear mittens
2 brand new shirts from target (tags still on)
1 gap sock (actually just 1 that i know of - i'm POSITIVE there are many other little bitty gap socks missing as well)
1 scrapbook washer with the word "love" on it
i have looked everywhere that i can think of and cannot find any of these items or the creature that i'm sure has stolen them.
so please be on the lookout.
and if for some reason i should miss a few days of blogging and you don't hear from me - let someone know - this creature may have gotten me.

the sweetest sound

drew has discovered something that makes alex laugh. EVERY SINGLE TIME! if alex starts to get fussy, drew just starts doing this and alex starts to giggle. it is so fun!

i am so thankful that alex has 2 big brothers that love to pay attention to him and help take care of him!! hopefully some day he will be too!

*keep in mind while watching this that i had to record it from a hidden spot so that alex didn't notice me because then he would've stopped. so yes i realize the laundry basket and the chair are in my way :) te he he :)

measuring cups and doorstops

alex reminded me of something today. he reminded me that we make life way too complex.
i needed to take a shower and, as always, i brought alex into the bathroom with me. i supplied him with a pile of toys that i was sure would keep him busy. well, the entire time that i was in the shower he ignored the pile of toys i had given him. he didn't care about the bright colors. he didn't care about the squeaks they make when you squeeze them. and he didn't care about the cute characters that babies are supposed to love. all he cared about was the door stopper. he sat and pulled it and made it BOING!! the entire time i showered.
i thought about it and just smiled. we fill our houses with expensive toys and, well, junk. we spend hours searching stores and the internet for the perfect gift or the perfect toy.
BUT .. when it comes time to really keep him busy what does he play with -
*in the bathroom he plays with the door stop.
*in the kitchen he plays with measuring cups and plastic spoons.
*in the living room he would prefer to play with the remote or the phone.

i watched oprah the other day and she was interviewing a family that lived in a 250 sq ft apartment/condo. i thought to myself "man they're crazy!" after watching alex today i got to thinking about them and, well, i still think they are crazy. but i think they might be on to something.

a smarter rescue

well ... the storm is finally gone.

however ... it didn't want us to forget it quickly. it left quite a reminder in our yard!

it's amazing to look outside and think that we had grass just over a week ago. now all we see is white. (as you can see from the picture above it has passed the slide on the boys climbing cube.)

the boys went outside and played again today. they even created a clearance so that they can still swing! they're having a lot of fun with all of the snow. the only problem is that because it all came at once it's not very packed down - so they sink. and since ben isn't all that tall, it takes quite a bit of effort for him to get anywhere. so they hadn't been out very long when ben got stuck (again). this time, however, i happened to be watching them play. AND ... stacey happened to be working from home so i sent him out to play rescuer. i hate to admit it, but he is a much smarter rescuer. he went to get ben with a shovel. he didn't just rescue him - he created a shoveled path from the back door to the swing set! AND he convinced ben that he didn't need to come back inside and that he should play longer!

now that is a successful rescue!!

i also have to add how smart the other dads in the neighborhood are.

brian took his snowblower and plowed a path through their front yard for the boys to play in.

and deric hadn't cleared his driveway yet - so he brought in a buddy -- and his bobcat/front loader to do the job!

now that's a good friend to have on a day like today!

i hope everyone else that got snow is enjoying it! and if you didn't get any -- come visit! we'll share!

ROAR!

march definitely came in like a lion at our house! we are in the middle of quite a snow storm.
another of our nice neighbors came to snow blow our driveway today so i sent the boys over to thank him with some fresh chocolate chip cookies. this was all it took for the boys to decide they wanted to brave the storm and get in a little outside play time. they were out front for a very short time and then i didn't see them for a bit. there weren't foot prints in the back. and they weren't out playing with ellie, their dog friend, on the side. SO ... i decided i should put on my boots just to check where they were. (and of course took my camera with me). well they were hiding behind this snow drift. HOWEVER ... they had both lost their boots in it because of how deep it was. SO ... being the smart kids that they are, they were waiting for me to come rescue them! now, ben was not too difficult to rescue. he is still pretty small and i can carry him without too much work. but, drew is half my size. and the snow was up to my thighs. so there was no way i was "rescuing" him by carrying him out. it took much convincing, but i FINALLY got him to, in his socks, follow quickly in my boot prints and then to hop on my back once we got to the driveway. at that point i finished my rescue mission and rescued the boots that were seriously lodged into this mound that would've been up to at least my waist had i sunk in.
i came inside to find both of the boys up on drew's bunk laying next to each other warming up and talking about how they thought they were going to be stuck out there all day.
i have since told them that should they ever be on another dangerous mission and find themselves caught in the snow it is smarter to run inside in socks than to wait for a rescuer - because the rescuer may not be aware of the mission and toes freeze quickly.

some sunshine for your day

no i don't know these kids.
i was looking through the one step ahead catalog today and i came across this item.
THE SUN SMARTIES COVERALL
The coverall with 98% UV protection! Sunblock wears off, and kids won't stay in the shade for long. The solution? Our coverall, with built-in UV protection that blocks the sun wherever they go! Made of lightweight, breathable nylon, with a Coolmax lined hood and shoulder panel for added ventilation. Quick-drying (so an impromptu swim is no problem!).
ok ... seriously. does anyone really buy these?? would any of you really put your kids in one of these "sun suits" when you were at the beach? (or admit it now after i have completely made fun of them. ha ha!)
the only thing i can envision these being used for is a SNL skit.
ok i lied, i can see how it could be used for a child who is allergic to the sun and this is the only possible way that they can go out. HOWEVER that is not how it is advertised. (if it was advertised that way i would be acting completely different towards it.)
i got a laugh out of it today and just had to share :)
i hope it made you smile too.
and if you are looking at it and thinking "wow ... i would LOVE one of those"
a. don't tell me.
b. buy 3 so you can get a free "sun check wrist meter" as well.