Ben's end-of-the-school-year happenings!

Ben had some fun at the end of the year festivities too! After all he is "the most popular kid in school" according to Nick and Tatiana!

He saw the kids autographing each others' shirts and then decided he wanted in on the action. He took a permanent marker and drew on his own shirt. Then the kids came up to me and said, "Ben drew on himself!...Can we sign him?!?" I rolled my eyes...sighed..and relented..."sure." They all cheered and then started signing. They forgot to sign each other and LINED UP to sign Ben! Too funny!

Of course, Tatiana got her turn. What a good sister.

Ben with some of his girlfriends!

"I want a picture with Ben too!" "Meeee toooo!" "Meeee toooo!" ... "Ok, girls get in there...1...2...3...CHEESE!"

You are a cool kid Ben!

Tatiana end-of-the-school-year happenings...

Tatiana had a great 2nd grade year! We have seen her grow and change so much! We are so proud of her and all of her accomplishments.

She loved having Mrs. Peters as her teacher this year. Yes, both Nick and Tatiana had teachers named "Mrs. Peters". Both kids had Mrs. K. Peters for 2nd grade. It was fun for me to be with her again too! Thank you Mrs. Peters for all you have done for our family! You are great!!!Tatiana's favorite part was accelerated reading and accelerated math. She is such a little whiz kid!

We went in and let the boys have lunch on the last lunch of the school. It was on a Wednesday and we have been going in to have lunch with the kids every Wednesday all year long. We only missed a few times. Ben and Andrew loved the attention and the kids and all their friends loved having us there. Ben would get tons of high fives from the boys and lots of hugs from the girls. Everyone would should "come sit by me! And Ben would have to decide where to sit. I always said that I was just there as their driver because no one was that exited to see me. LOL!

Tatiana and a few of her girlfriends "hangin' around" at recess. (Tatiana is in all pink...of course!)

For their class party (I was also Tatiana's room parent this year so I got to plan all of their parties and organize the volunteers.) we also did autograph signings and had pizza and other yummy treats. Then we played "Heads Up 7-Up" by the request of many classmates. It was fun!

Here our little "Miss Tatiana" is signing a shirt for an "adoring fan" (if you know what I mean!) Oh yes, the crushes start so young!

This was a GREAT year Tatiana! Thank you for letting us share so much of it with you! You are an amazing little girl and we love you so much! Next stop...3rd grade!!!!!

Nick's end-of-the-school-year happenings...

Nick and Tatiana's last day of school was June 11th. They had a half day. But leading up to that was some fun things. Here are a few of Nick's highlights from his last days in 4th grade...

When asked "What's the best thing about 4th grade?" Nick, without hesitation, said, "Having Mrs. Peters as a teacher." She is a gem! We love her and have been so very grateful for her this year! Thank you Mrs. Peters for a wonderful year!!!

Nick and Curtis. They just finished going very far in the water balloon competition. The kids had a "Field Day" and did lots of relays and games. It was fun to go cheer them on.


Of course their last lunch together was a good one. Pizza!


Nick got to serve lunch to the younger grades (his sister included) on their last lunch day. It was fun for him and it was neat that I was there and able to take his picture!

Mrs. Peters 4th grade class had a great "end-of-the-year" party. (Of course, since I was their room parent this year and organized it! Hahaha!) We did autographs on t-shirts or whatever the kids brought to sign, ice cream sundaes, and a "how well do you know your classmates?" game that turned out to be a lot of fun! It was a great time. Andrew came along for this one, but Ben was invited to his buddies house and he just couldn't turn that down.

It's been a great school year Nick! We are so impressed by all you have done and accomplished! We are so very proud of you! Next stop...5th Grade!!!

I'm not sure mom is ready for this!

Ben's last day of Speech

I love summer! I love having my children home! I love the warm weather! I love the freedom to go and do fun things! But I will miss Ben's speech days. I will miss the two hours of quiet I would have when Ben was at school and Andrew was down for his morning nap. I will miss the homework that he bought home and would do with me at the kitchen table during Andrew's morning nap the next day. I will miss the wonderful people who helped and love him.

For example, this is Patty. She was his pick up bus driver. She always had books for him to look at. She is very nice. She loved to try to get a giggle out of Andrew.

Here is his teachers at school. "Teacher Mariann" is the lady in the middle with her haired pulled back in her signature bun. I have never met a more gentle soul! The other three are the assistants and they are all wonderful!

And last, but certainly not least, is Diane. She was Ben's drop off bus driver. She is so sweet and always smiling and telling me how great Ben did.

This was a great year for Ben. He made a LOT of progress with his speech. We will be continuing to work with him through the summer, but he will go back to speech again in the fall. I could put him a private speech program during the summer months, but we don't think he will need that. He is doing great! Good Job Ben!!!

The Strawberry Festival!

When Nathan was out of town last week I took the kids over to the Lebanon Strawberry Festival. It was a lot of fun. First Nick and I ran in the 1 mile "fun run" race. Nick did awesome! We were still pinning on his number and didn't realize the time when they blew the start horn. We (I ran it with him for support) took off and were able to catch up to about the middle of the pack even though we started almost a minute late. He was a great sport about it! I am very proud of him!

Then I ran in the 5K race. I finished in 30 minutes and 17 seconds. Not my best race, but not bad. It was fun to run along a parade route. There were hundreds of people lined up on the street ready for the parade to begin and they would cheer us on, give us high fives, and blow bubbles for us to run through. It was pretty neat.

Immediately after the race we watched to parade. Here is Sara with the kids. Since Nathan was out of town and I wanted to run the race, Sara came along to help watch the kids while I ran and then she stayed for part of the parade and enjoyed it with us.



The "World's Largest Strawberry Shortcake" is under there! It started off the parade.

Andrew wasn't sure what to think. He sure was cute.

Nick and Tatiana waiting for more candy.

Ben was very excited to see the fire engines!

We were going to go to the carnival afterwards, but there was a THREE MILE line of card waiting to get in. So we decided to skip it and go rent Wii games instead. It was a fun day!

Ben is DATING!

So how old do YOUR kids have to be before they can date??? Our rule will be 16 years old...well, maybe 21, we'll see. But, we have a little "ladies man" on our hands. A few weeks ago our neighbor across the street came over and asked if she could take Ben for a walk. She is 13 years old and babysits for us sometimes. I wasn't sure what to say, it was kind of out of the ordinary, but Ben really wanted to go for a walk so I let him go. I told her to have him back in a half hour and they took off. I turned to the rest of the family and said, "Do you realize what just happened here? Ben was just asked out on a date!" It was really funny. Then last night my friend, Rose called and said her daughter (she is also 3 years old) wanted to play with Ben. According to Rose this was the conversation; "Karissa, do you want to go to the park?" "No, I want to play blocks with Ben. Can you call Ben?" So Ben was invited on another date and went to Karissa's house to play blocks. The cutest part was that she "drove him home" in her little toy power jeep! He LOVED that! He likes a girl with wheels! Oh my stars, it was so cute!!! So there you go, our Ben has been on TWO dates with TWO different girls in one month! I told Nick, he dates more than some teenage boys do! LOL!

Nathan's home!!!!!!!!

Yeah!!! My Honey came home last night! I heard the garage door open and ran out to him. We hugged for a long time in the driveway. Nick and Tatiana followed me out there and hugged him too. Ben was already in bed. I said , "where's Andrew?" Nick ran in and got Andrew and brought him out and daddy held him. Life was good again. Just before he arrived, Nick, Tatiana and I were arguing, "I miss daddy the most." "No, I miss daddy the most." "No, I do." LOL! It was fun. Then he came home, perfect timing. Leave it to Nathan to have perfect timing. That is why my nickname for him (the one I only use when I am teasing him but it fits so well) is "Golden Boy". We all came in and Nathan went in to see if Ben was asleep yet, he wasn't, so he cuddled with Ben for a minute and said hello/good night to his little boy. Ben was happy.We were all happy! We put the kids to bed and then talked...a lot. He told me all about his trip. Lots of details. All while rubbing my shoulders. He has good hands. It was good to hear his voice and feel his warmth next to me. I love him! He's home!!!


Now he's left for work. But not after a looooonnnngggg hug! I'll miss him. But this time is different, he isn't "gone" he is just "at work". I miss him whenever he is away. Could I be in "too much love?" Never!

Just complaining more...

Yes, my Honey is still gone and bloopers are still happening. What is up with that?!?! Yesterday we had a "mostly" fun day over in Lebanon at the Strawberry festival. I'll post on that later when I get my pictures uploaded. Right now I need to get some more complaining off my chest before heading off to church with the kids. Nathan is in class and up in Seattle so I can't unload on him.

My burn is oozing so much that I have changed my dressing three times already this morning. And it still hurts. Not sure how church will go because it is hard to hold Andrew and not get it bumped or grabbed.

Ben broke his glasses. No one saw how it happened. He just came to me with half in one hand and half in the other and said, "uh oh, mommy, broken." He was very sad. THANKFULLY he has a second pair he can wear for now.

Andrew fell last night (he was up on his knees and got excited then fell forward hitting his face on Ben's bed) I saw the whole thing in slow motion and couldn't get to him fast enough. Don't you hate that! He ended up putting his bottom teeth through his lower lip. Not all the way, but it is swollen and there is a red bruise on the outside and a gash on the inside. Ow!

Andrew smashed his fingers in a door this morning and screamed for a while. They are okay now though. Poor kid has had a rough time without Daddy too!

Tatiana was trying to help and she was pouring Andrew a bottle this morning. The problem is that the milk jug was full and the bottle has such a narrow opening so it all fell and about 1/4 gallon of milk was spilled. Spent time cleaning that up.

Ben woke up with soaked pants and bedding so I threw all that in the wash.

Got a little "Nick attitude" this morning and responded with, "don't fight with me young man, I promise you I WILL win!" He sulked off to his bedroom and I felt like a bad mom...again. Went and apologized and now he is playing RC cars with Ben outside.

Just laid Andrew down for a quick morning nap. The kids are all ready for church. Nick and Ben are playing outside on the deck "NOT getting dirty" (fingers crossed), Tatiana is watching a church cartoon about Ruth. And I am blogging some complaints so I can feel lighter and go get myself ready for church. We leave in 45 minutes. Whew. It hasn't been all bad, just "weird" bad things keep happening. Maybe it just feels magnified because Nathan is gone. I don't really know. But I cannot wait to have him home again!!!

I want my Honey back!

Nathan is in Seattle this weekend. He left yesterday, Thursday, afternoon (about 4:00PM) and will not be back until "after 10:00" Sunday night. Oh I miss already! We have had an eventful time already too.

First we had a thunderstorm. It was actually happening when Nathan left, but it got worse after he left. The power went out for a short while and I got all the candles and flashlights ready, just in case. Luckily the power came back and nothing ever happened after that. We had a nice evening.

The kids moved the chairs around to watch the lightning. They were listening to me and "staying away from the windows". So cute!

Then this morning I was making the children pancakes for breakfast before school. I was STUPID and burned by arm on the hot skillet. Don't ask how, just know that I heard the "sizzle" of my skin and tears were made. Oh well, life goes on. I am actually thinking a lot about NieNie right now. How she can live with burns all over her body is beyond me. I would love to meet this woman someday. The love she has for her husband and children and the faith she continues to have after all she has been through. Truly inspiring. But after dealing with the pain of one little burn that is just bigger than a quarter on my arm for one day, I cannot imagine the pain she goes through every day!

My wee little burn, just moments afterwards. Not yet blistered up and broken.

Tonight I took the children swimming. I covered my burn with some ointment, cotton bandage and taped a square of plastic (I cut a piece of a Ziploc baggie) over it to keep it clean. Then I didn't submerse it because it is now blistered and cracked open. I didn't want to get it infected. (Listening to my dear friend, Dianne's advice!) Anyway, the kids had a great time. We met up with my friend, Jennifer, and some of her kids.

Now the children are in bed and I am waiting for my Honey to call me and say good night. I have only talked to him four times today. I MISS HIM!

I see a Monkey in a tree!!!

Lately it has been part of our routine on days that Ben has speech to go outside and enjoy the nice weather while we waiting for the bus. Every morning Ben tries to climb the trees in front of our house. It is fun to watch him and he feels so big while doing it. He likes being a "Monkey"!

"I climb up there, k. Mommy watch me...watch!"

"Wow Ben! You are a good climber!"

"Yes! I do it!"


Andrew loves hanging out waiting for the bus too. He gets SO excited when he hears it coming down the road! And yes, I know, they are matching again. I just cannot help myself!

Here is a little video for you to enjoy. Check out how well Ben's speech is coming along! I am so proud of him!

Andrew's FIRST Birthday! Happy birthday baby boy!

Hey! June 1st! My 1st Birthday! I am so excited, but I have no idea why! What's a "birthday" anyway?

Playing with my sister and brothers and getting a lot of attention? I get that everyday. Nice, but nothing new so far.

Gary and Edith came over. I like them. Gary always makes me laugh. Edith came over to stay with my sister and brothers when I came out of mommy's tummy a year ago. Hey, maybe I'm on to something here?

Oh, and let me introduce you to my girlfriend, Natalie. Isn't she cute?! This is her big brother, Lincoln. He is Ben's best buddy. They came over too, they brought their parents.

Oh wait, new toys? Cool! I am liking this birthday things. This is fun!

I love my daddy. He took a lot of pictures, but mommy took this one. Aren't we a handsome pair?

Wasn't too sure how to get the presents open, so Nick, Tatiana and Ben helped me out with them. I didn't mind.

Ooooo! Balloons too! I love balloons!

We had all of MY favorite foods for dinner. After all it is MY birthday!

Oh! What is THAT! Let me at it! A cake that looks like ME! Cool!

Hmmm. What do I do with it? It is kind of messy don't you think?

You want me to do what?! Okay, if you say so...here I go!

Yummy! I want more!

What?! What do you mean "no more"?! Did you say "BATH"?! Uh oh!

What a long but very fun day! I like these birthday things! Can we do one again tomorrow?!!!

Ward Carnival

We have a Ward Carnival every June and it is a lot of fun. They have a chili and pie cook-off and lots of games and relays. There is face painting and a kiddie corner for the little ones too. Here are some pictures of our day.

Tatiana's face art...

Andrew being the life of the party!

Ben playing play-dough in the kiddie corner.

Tug-O-War! Nick is the 2nd from the right and Tatiana is 7th from the right (in all pink of course!)

Nathan keeping scores. You look so official sweetie!

My boys

Nick and Ana are close in age so they are dubbed "the kids" and when we talk about Ben and Andrew they are "the boys" even though Nick is one of "the boys" too. Lately I have been dressing them (Ben and Andrew) alike. I just cannot help myself, they are too darned cute and I won't be getting away with it for long so I am doing it while they don't care and cannot protest it! LOL! Here they are having fun together one morning while waiting for Ben's bus to come and yes, looking alike...aren't they cute!