snow days

the last few days we have been enjoying all the snow!

our front porch gets a lot of traffic...

if you don't have a sled or a hill just make one...

end of the day...

 

stay warm!

summer bucket

i never got around to making an easter basket for ben,
or a may basket.
so i made him a "summer bucket".

it contained an eclectic mix...
a book of catholic prayers for kids (intended for easter),
a connect the dot book (intended for may basket),
a set of angry bird space stickers,
a large paint brush for painting outside with water,
and two water squirters...

relaxing by the pool

the past several years when it was just me and ben in the summer,
we frequently ate our lunch, packed our snacks, towels, and sunscreen,
and headed to the wading pool (it's free here! and there are two of them!)
it was fun and relaxing.
well lately i kept planning that we would go, but our days have been super full
and i feel like packing up ben and julia for a hour at the wading pool is a bit much.
so jake and i talked about it.
you see - he isn't so crazy about a large percentage of our yard being decorated with plastic "stuff",
but he kindly decided to go along with the purchase anyway.  :) 
so sunday morning ben and jake headed to walmart in the old truck.
ben spent the afternoon and some of the evening playing, playing, playing.

it was so fun to watch him!
we about had to drag him out for supper,
and he could barely stay awake to eat a hot dog,
but he still managed to go back out to the pool for another hour or so.
and miss julia tried out her new swimwear too!

ben came in the house at about seven, rinsed off, put on his pjs,
and sat on the couch watching aladdin.
he was asleep within five minutes.
this kid was TIRED!

as much as i like to take the kids places and give them experiences,
i am also very happy to stay at home and keep things simple.
so this summer you will probably find us where the snacks, bathrooms, diapers, towels, band-aids, air-conditioning, and sunscreen are easy to find.
just relaxing by our pool.

fast forward

it's sure felt like we've been moving at the speed of light this past week.
so just to do a quick recap of some of our happenings...

last weekend we spent with jake's folks - celebrating their 40th anniversary!
our trip was cut shorter than we had planned due to jake traveling for work,
but we still had a great time.
lots of grandma & grandpa time for the kids,
fun with cousins,
visiting with friends,
yummy food,
great spirits,
and lots of laughs.

happy anniversary grandma & grandpa!

ben had his second t-ball clinic,
and this time julia and i came along to watch.
it was so fun to see him out on the field.
i really enjoy watching ben start doing more "big kid" things.
and at the same time i realize just how quickly he his growing-up.
the bittersweetness of being a parent!

we got out ben's old swing for julia.

but it turns out the ben still thinks it's his.
we're going to have to figure this out -
julia has only been in the swing twice.

no more baby bathtub!

lots of cooking with new groceries from grandma.

lots of thomas adventures.

and lots of trying to keep up with big brother.

it takes a lot of work to get hair like this!

spending time together.

good night.