Swingset

Last week Brian and I took a day off work to build the kids a swing set.  It of course took a lot longer than expected, but Ben's face when he saw it was priceless.  He was very excited about being able to swing in his own backyard instead of having to go to the park.  Ashley was excited for something to climb on as well.  She's all over the place exploring and loves to climb on things so this summer should be nice with the new patio and a swing set.  Here's a couple pics of the kids (including Brian) enjoying the new swing set.

Hockey

Ben definitely has a favorite sport and it happens to be hockey.  Of course this makes me very excited since I grew up around an ice rink, but for Brian it's not quite the same feeling.  Brian has admitted that he's excited about Ben wanting to play a team sport and a 'manly' sport, but nonetheless has admitted he is sad this is one sport he can not help Ben play.  First off, he knows very little about hockey although he's willing to learn.  And secondly, Brian can't really ice skate.  He's gotten better since I've met him, but he looks like Ben currently does out on the ice.  He probably would kill to have a walker at times.  Of course you didn't hear that from me though.

Anyways, we started Ben off in a learn to play hockey program which basically means they teach him how to skate with a helmet and gloves on.  He's very excited each week to go and it's all he talks about even though each week it takes some time for him to get adjusted to wanting to join all the kids on the rink without Brian or I.  This past week I was very impressed with him being able to make it back and forth on the ice with only one fall.  The teacher kept trying to get him to sit on the ice so he could learn to get up and he flat out ignored her to keep slowly chugging along to make it without falling.  I explained to him the importance of falling and learning how to get up and once we got home he 'practiced' in our kitchen while playing hockey the falling down and getting up piece.

Overall I think hockey will be more of a success than soccer was last year, but it's probably too early to tell at this point.  Each week I hope he continues to try and enjoy the ice time while he can.  Especially since hockey is really all he talks about....besides Buzz Lightyear of course.

Big boy bike

We've been working with Ben for a while off and on with potty training and finally this last time seems to have gone better than times past.  After a week of telling him that if he had three good days in a row without accidents then he could get a new (slightly used, but he doesn't know that) bike.  So finally last week we were able to give him his new bike.  He absolutely loves it and although it took him a little bit to learn how to ride it without using the breaks nonstop he rides it every day.  Now if only we could get him to use the potty for poop instead of waiting for his diaper at nap or bedtime.  I'm sure I'll find another bribe to work that one out.

And although he's not wearing a helmet in these pics he does have one.  He wears it almost all the time but when we're just in our garage area he sometimes takes it off.  I figured I should clarify for any people who may have wondered.

Happy Easter

I'll start off by wishing everyone a great Easter.  When I was younger I remember drying eggs with my cousins, Easter egg hunts and getting all dressed up to go to church.  Basically a lot of time with family.  As the years pass and I am no longer near my siblings or parents I think back and cherish those times I had for my kids don't get to see their cousins as often as I did.  However we are lucky enough to have a lot of Brian's family around and he gets to see those cousins at least a little more regularly than we see my nieces and nephews.  I've also started to think about the new traditions I get to start with my own family since Brian's family all goes to the lake which leaves us on our own to celebrate Easter.


So our first tradition happens to be with my work.  Every year they have an Easter Egg hunt at a park a week prior to Easter weekend.  Ben has loved to go, but has still been too terrified to get anywhere near the Easter bunny.  (I have a feeling next year will be different, but that remains to be seen.)  And normally kids get all excited and run from one egg to the next, but not Ben.  Of course not - this is Ben after all.  He found his first egg pretty quick and then proceeded to open it to see what was inside before moving on to find any others.  Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but all of them are taped shut so the candy or prize inside doesn't fall out so it took some time for him to get each egg open.  He was supposed to grab 10 eggs and as I watched him slowly open one egg after the next I counted the eggs in his basket and only saw three.  I looked around and sure enough almost all the other kids were done with their quota and diving into their eggs to see what they got.  Luckily, there were plenty of eggs and after some persuasion he grabbed a few more and we were set.  Ashley just walked around and grabbed one egg or Ben's basket.  She didn't seem to care too much what she was supposed to do, but enjoyed people watching.  I think I'll claim her as my kid.

Egg #3 while other kids are already done.

Finally a basket full!

  

Enjoying her one plastic egg

Now she's trying to steal his eggs....

Then on Good Friday we grilled some fish and then dyed Easter eggs.  Ben had a blast and really got into it this year as compared to last year.  In fact, by the time we were done he had green hands which were impossible to the dye off of.  (He still has green on his hands today even.)  But this just reminds me of when I was younger and having my mom trying to get the dye off as well.  Turpentine, paint thinner or vegetable oil were always the methods used, but I couldn't bring myself to do that to Ben since he's still pretty young.  So vegetable oil it was all I tried and no luck.  I started calling him my munchkin since he looks like he belongs in the wizard of oz.

stickers!

As for Easter, it's a pretty laid back day now.  We had breakfast casserole and enjoyed what the Easter bunny brought us.  Ben loved getting new cars and searching for Easter eggs.  In fact, we had to hide them all two additional times so that he could find them again.  Ashley just followed behind Ben and would take the eggs out of his basket which was pure enjoyment for Brian and I.  She doesn't really understand too much, but definitely can understand more than we think especially when we tell her 'no'.  If you watch closely you can see that Ash really is the instigator and Ben only reacts or acts out once she starts it.  I'm definitely going to have to keep a close eye on her in the future.

For the rest of they day we are going to go to the park since it's so nice out and come home and make a chicken dinner.  It's kind of nice having a laid back holiday to actually enjoy the time instead of rushing from place to place or trying to keep your kids from getting in trouble with their cousins.

Happy Easter everyone.  Hope you get to enjoy your time with family as we are today.

Officially 1 Year

 

So here are Ashley's official 1 year pics that we took on her birthday and of course Ben had to be a part of it.  She is also officially walking and over the last couple weeks has really started to make her way around on just her two legs.  Ash is very proud of this accomplishment and can even bend down to pick something up and then keep walking without falling over.

We had her checkup today and here are her stats:
Weight - 18 lbs 1 oz (10%)
Height - 29-3/4" (70%)
Head Circumference - 17-1/4" (15%)

Of course the doc told us to fatten her up....and yes, I know it sounds like I'm talking about a turkey and not a child.  The hard part is the fact that she loves to eat and will eat a ton, but doesn't seem to put on much weight.  I only wish I had her metabolism.

As for Ben - he's still obsessed with hockey and using the word obsessed is probably an understatement.  He wakes up and wants to watch it, we come home from daycare and he wants to watch it or if not, play it.  Although I have to admit, I kind of like that it's hockey he's into since it was what I grew up around.  He has a mini goal, 4 sticks, gloves and a real puck.  But we really need to work on the ice skating piece so he can start the learn to play next winter.

We are still working on potty training and it's really hit or miss.  Some days he does great and others not so much.  It depends on if he wants to or not and we're still working on a way to get him motivated.

Here's some random pics during playtime.  It pretty much captures the non-stop action in our house.

Party Celebrations

We went to St. Louis to visit the fam and celebrate a few things.  My cousin Lyndsey had her wedding shower which was very nice and she got a ton of wonderful things.  We made Ben and Hadleigh practice their hand holding for the big day of walking down the aisle and they took that as running in circles around the house.  Hope they can actually walk down the aisle on the big day, but so far it looks promising.

Then we celebrated Ash's first birthday (even though that's still a few days off) and my niece's birthday.  All the cousins had tons of fun playing together and Ash is getting really close to walking.  She loved her cake and icing and even made a confused face about the ice cream, but I think she liked it.  Overall she is still a sweetheart and very happy baby, but growing up way too fast.

Party Favors

Eating ice cream!

Not sure about frosting....

Trying to shove money down her shirt - we'll need to readdress this at some point....

I'm one!

Beautiful cake

Ben had a blast with his cousins and can't get enough of his cousin Danny.  We went to his practice and Danny even gave him a puck from his practice which Ben plays with all the time.  He even got actual hockey gloves from Danny and a cool blues hat and stick from Papa.  Now if only we could teach him to skate!

Wonderscope & Superbowl

 

My parents paid a visit this weekend to help with the kiddos since Brian just had back surgery and we took them to Wonderscope on Saturday.  Turned out to be a good time for indoor play with the rain and I also had a groupon so that made it cheap too!  I have never been there, but I learned that it is a smaller version of the Magic House (in St. Louis). Ben had fun playing doctor and he even had a pretty good patient to take care of who thought it was hilarious.

who is that in the window?!

And of course the shopping room was a lot of fun since Ben loves to go to the grocery store.  Ashley even got into the mix and was trying to 'taste' all the food in the room.  I hope they wash those things daily!

Then on Sunday we had our annual super bowl party and although several people weren't able to make it from being sick we still had a blast.  The kids loved Ben's new inflatable jumper and even found several new uses for it. If you turn it over it's a fort!

If you turn it on it's side it's a gerbil wheel!

the boys

Overall it was a great weekend and I wouldn't have made it through without my parents helping around the house.  The kids loved having them around and even Ashley favored Deebo!  I'm pretty sure that makes her the first grandkid to prefer her over papa.

Ice 'Scaping'

We took Ben ice skating (or ice skaping as he calls it) last weekend and he had a lot of fun.  At first he was really hesistant to stand up on the skates and I had to carry him, but once we got to the ice I was able to put him down and skate around with him.  Overall he did pretty good and he kept trying to stand on his own while skating.  He was able to stand while holding the boards which may be more than his dad, but that's a different story.

Playing at the park with Jack and Kate