This post is dedicated to Uncle Paul

Cousins, Riley and Maggie spent the afternoon with us. We all had a blast. We painted, rode cars around the house, played in the jump house (for hours), ran all over the yard, ate pizza on the floor in the living room, had chocolate pie for dessert, AND Riley passed down his Nintendo to Ben. The boy's Uncle Paul gave this Nintendo to Riley five years ago and now it is Ben's turn to play. Oh, the joy. Now, to establish video game rules...

Maggie and Liam painting in the living room. Sweet babies.




Riley giving Ben "gentle" lessons on how to work the controller.

Ben in sheer heaven over his new toy.

Dinner. Everyone ate. Everyone was gleefully happy. Life is good.

Thanks, Riley and Uncle Paul. We will never be the same.

Happy Birthday

to me!

Today is my birthday and we got to celebrate by having Daddy home all day and going out for a special middle-of-the-day treat!


Yum. Yum.

My Ben, the volunteer

Ben has decided he wants to start a sticker chart for volunteerism. He came up with the idea on his own and we are helping him put together the "rules". This just came up at dinner tonight but he has already asked about 100 times if something he has done/ is doing is volunteering. It can take some explaining to understand that volunteering means to do something that you are not already responsible for and without having to be asked (that last part is my rule). Ben has had countless sticker charts over the past two years. He loves them.

Tonight he earned four stickers.
1. Putting away Liam's shoes.
2. Throwing away a piece of paper that was on the floor.
3. Pulling Liam's chair up to the table (it is pushed against the wall after meals).
4. (One other thing that I can't remember right now. It's kinda been a long (but good day) and it just isn't coming to me.)
I especially like that he was helping his brother. And, he did it with a smile.

Speaking of smiles, this one is pretty cute too.

"MAMY's HOOOUSSSSEEEEE"

My sister's name is Amy. Mamy to the boys. It is no wonder Liam was thrilled to go with me to her house (twice) this afternoon. She is pretty cool.

Paleontologist - that's a big word

Ben's class has been studying dinosaurs the past two weeks and he has loved it. He has asked many times how to say that word - "you know, mom, the person that studies dinosaurs". And, he has been anxiously awaiting the Dino-Dig field trip that was this morning.

In anticipation of today's event, Ben spent yesterday afternoon looking for fossils in our yard. When Rob got home, we decided to head over to a nearby creek and see what we could find there.

He was so excited and gathered up all the tools he would need for the dig.

Liam didn't quite get the point but he loved being down in the water, thowing rocks.

Ben did find a lot of rocks that he wanted to investigate more closely. He loaded up his bucket and we headed home to wash and study our fossils.

First, he put a portion of the rocks on a sifting tray.

Next, he washed them.

If a rock was of particular interest, he used a brush to check for fossils. Then, we took a really good bath and scrubbed off all the creek water.

This morning we went on the Dino-Dig field trip with Ben's class. It was a bit more of a Dino-Hunt, as the dinosaurs were found pretty close to the surface (laying on the ground). The kids had a blast hunting for mini dinosaurs and then headed for the play ground.

The boys have loved swinging lately.


Ben and his best buddy from school. I never remember to dress him in his school shirt on field trip days. Oddly, he has never mentioned that all his friends are wearing red.

Liam had a great time with all the big kids. He really wants to be a big kid, too.

There is no Planet B

Protect the one we've got.


Happy Earth Day from our little corner of the world.

A happy home

The boys had a picnic lunch in the backyard today. It was Ben's idea - a good one, I thought. It was especially sweet that they sat so close together and seemed to be having a rather pleasant conversation between bites.



Ben has been saving bird nest materials in a plastic bag for several weeks now. Today was the day to put all his efforts together into one happy little home.



Ben is very sensitive when it comes to animals. He is the one that always tells Liam not to squash the bugs, pet cats gently, and put worms "back to nature". So, this little project was right up his alley. And, he was pretty pleased with the outcome.

Quite nice. I hope someone moves in soon.