Story Time

Ben opened up a book to read to Jake and this is what Ben read: One day a guy goes off with a horse. The end.

Happy 70th Birthday, Gramps!

Ben and Gramps taking a ride around the yard on the mower....I think Ben could have done this all night! He was so excited to be riding with Gramps. Here are Mom and Gramps getting ready for the big party. Gran invited our family over...I think there were a few folks who couldn't come, but there were stil 37 folks who could come! And that's JUST family :-) We had a great picnic, burgers, hot dogs, and all the traditional fixin's for a summer party.
Gramps said he had been making home-made ice-cream for 50 years! Now Ben gets to experience the social gathering of churning the mix, putting in ice and salt, and hanging out.
Ben , Gramps, and Granny

OKAY!!! WHAT???

I was checking my email and Ben was whining and complaining about a snack that I wouldn't let him have. At this point, I think Ben could eat all day long. He was really driving me crazy. I looked at him sternly and with a raised voiced told him, "You must stop complaining and whining. Just simply tell me what you want kindly and politely." (If only I could do this, right?) He finally just yelled, "OKAY!" I just burst out laughing because he had this look...he had scrunched his shoulders and he thrust his arms straight down his sides with his fists clenched. His face was also stern and he was looking straight in my eyes. As I was laughing (for many reasons) he just looked at me and said, "WHAT!?!" with the same body expression. I suppose he was either confused that I could be irritated one second and amused the next or infuriated that I was laughing at him. Well, it all blew over...he still didn't get his snack but we did go outside and play.

Hmmm...I'll have to think about that.

Friday driving home from friends I heard Ben say, "hmmmm, hmmmm, hmmmm." I turned around and he had his head turned to the side, slightly raised, and his eyes looking pensive with his finger tapping his lips saying, "hmmm.....hmmmm....I'll have to think about that." Now, being Ben's mother, I know he does indeed do many cute, sweet, and funny things. But this one has topped them all. This goes to show that he for sure watches every move we make and really listens to what we say.

swimming pool fun

Ben was jumping, fishing, and now he's smacking the water with his stick.

Going down the slide.
YOU EAT THE FISH!

green and blue fish are tasty

Ben and his fishing buddy (that would be mom)

fishin' in the pool

Ben went to the patio to get his chair, put it in the pool, found a good stick, and told me he was fishing.
Waiting for something to bite.
He's handing me a fish he just caught. There's nothing like fresh fish!

jumping in the pool

Our neighbor, who is moving to Nebraska, gave us their little pool. Here's Ben jumping away with his "fishing pole."

VBS 2008

Jake was in charge of Bible story time. He was GREAT! The theme was Surfin' Through the Scriptures and each night focused on a Be-Attitude: Be Obedient, Be Kind, Be Forgiving, Be Bold and Believe.

There was a class for the little one's too and there were 4 boys---the Angel Fish group. This was their "rec" time---bubbles.
Here are Ben and Eliot chasing bubbles. You see Wes and Sherri, the leaders. Ben really loved Wes. He still wants Wes to come over dinner each night. Cute.
SNACK TIME!
Micah, Wes, and Ben
Ben and Micah decorating a fish for craft time.
Sidewalk chalk---each boy first tried to eat the chalk as if they were popcicles.
Jake and the "big boys" learning about forgiveness.
Jake and Nate reading scripture as a play.
Dr. Jake doing his thang.
Wes, Allison and the boys with more bubbles.

After this little finger dancing scene, Ben went into the aisle to surf!
Ben giving me a bubble.
Here's the aisle surfing!

I was the official photographer. And, I did take pictures of ALL the children and leaders. Needless to say I took about 50 pics each night and then made a posterboard each day for everyone to look at. I had a blast too!

The Wedding Weekend

Last weekend we visited 'ole Milwaukee to see our great friends Jess and Neil get married. The pics are from the reception at the swanky Hotel Metro in downtown Milwaukee. We had a blast!

Jake and Liza. Liza and Jess have known each other since middle school.
Jess and Jules
Jess and Liza
The newlyweds! Jess and Neil

Jumping on the bed

Okay so this is a little long....

• The first thing he says is, "I don't want you to fall."
• He looks at the pillow and says, "That's for sleeping."
• He looks at my alarm clock and says, "Oh that's music. I like music."
• We have no idea what he's saying about Jake's shirt. He did say that it was cool at first and then something about a "sign." And then he cracks himself up.
• Later Jake asks him what he's doing and he says, "I'm doing fall down and jump..like this."
• Then Ben gets really close to Jake and says, "I wanna do it again, Dada." This is Ben's famous way of getting our attention = breaking the "space" bubble!
• He's looking at the wall because of the mirror. He likes to watch himself jump.

Jumping on the bed ocurrs after bath. He will say, "I want to see Ben cry. And then he'll stand up, look in the mirror, and pretend to cry. Then the jumping begins and whatever else that's in his mile-a-minute brain comes out to entertain us.

Making faces with Dada

scary face
smiling face
silly face
crying face

Look at my SCARY FACE

Jumping Ben

These pics are dark because I turned off my flash so I could take them through the mirror. Ben likes watching himself jump in the mirror.

Ben is looking in the mirror and making a "scary face."
Ben in mid-air as he's jumping on our bed. This is our usual tactic for getting him calmed down before bed.