Aquarium

We decided to go the big city this weekend and visit the aquarium. The kids had a great time. All Ben wanted to do was stick his hands in the water and splash.
How can I get my hands in there so I can splash? He figured out a way:)

Just thought they looked cute here!

Lauren was a total scaredy cat and wouldn't touch anything, but she had fun watching us do it.

The felt board was a hit, of course it was, always love to pay to get into a place so she can play with a felt board! She actually LOVED all the outside stuff the best. She didn't want to leave the seals and she kept talking to them saying, "Hey Little Fella, are you looking for food" and "Ohhhh, look at him, he's sooooo cute". Everyone around us was smiling. She's a funny little gal!

Happy Birthday to two of our favorites!

Nana & Uncle Ryan both had birthdays last weekend so we had a little celebration. Uncle Ryan liked his new "collectors edition" Vans! Thank goodness he had so many helpers to open the gifts.
Ben getting in the party mood with some cool shades!
Nana's new cookie plate!

And the very special card that Lauren made her- it was a picture of a very abstract fish.

And the gift of the night- a Tequila holster with shot glasses. I mean really I can't believe he survived his first 30 years without this, thank goodness he has it now!

Happy Birthday to two of our very most favorite people on the planet- we love you lots!

Arts & Crafts

As usual, my little arts & crafts project wasn't as big of hit as expected. Oh well, it entertained them for about 5 minutes. Ben felt cool being a big kid!

Breakfast of Champs

Cupcakes for breakfast- yum yum!

Benny Bo Peep

Ben is, as Lauren put is, "Obsessed with the water" in our bathroom. He loves turning it on and throwing things (shoes, socks, hairbrushes, etc.) in there. It drives us nuts but it's also kind of cute. We were laughing because last night he insisted he hold this basket while playing in the water so I was calling him Bo Beep which was pretty much the funniest thing Lauren had ever heard.
There goes the water for the 110 time that day.

I love how he is pretending to wash his hands, especially since whenever I wash his hands he screams!

This is such a typical Ben look... what exactly are you looking at? This boys personality is coming out more and more each day and while he is learning to push a lot of our buttons we can't resist his cuteness!

Good Finds

I was recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease (allergic to gluten) so I've been scouring all the health food stores for gluten free products, specifically treats:) I had to post these great things that I've found so far because I think everyone would like them and they are healthier than a lot of other treats. This company "Nana's" makes a lot of yummy cookies that are sweetened with fruit juice, not corn syrup or sugar and I LOVE them and so do my kids.
And these were like hitting the jackpot! They are little suckers that also have no corn syrup or refined sugar in them but aren't "sugar free" either so they don't have that gross aspertame taste. The kids, Kevin, & I are all loving them. The big bag was only $4.99 at Whole Foods. I promise they aren't paying me, I'm just excited about these little 22 calorie treats that actually taste good and satisfy the sweet tooth.

And these are parents and teachers dream come true. Healthy french fries that are shaped like letters! They were quite the hit at our house today. I picked these up at Safeway actually, in the health food section. I tell ya, there are all sorts of treasures hidden all around the local stores, but I never took the time to look!

I love how she took them off her plate and put them on her paper (I'm trying to teach her to write her name but she just isn't into fine motor activities at all!). Made lunch quite fun today. *Notice she is still dipping things in mayonaise! Maybe defeats the purpose of the healthy fries:)

Mary Jacob Melissa

Meet the latest addition to our family, "Mary Jacob Melissa". Isn't that the cutest name ever?
The best part about it is the baby can be a Boy or a Girl! This baby switched back and forth from being a boy and a girl all morning. It was quite tricky, I'd be babysitting her then suddenly I would be told to stop calling her a girl because it's a boy. But then what do you know? As soon as I started calling him a he, he came a she...

I was fired from babysitting and Lauren took care of the he/she all by herself!

*Ryan and Megan, since you don't have a name officially picked out yet (that I know of anyway) you might want to consider Mary Jacob Melissa, that way you can just go with it regardless of the sex of your baby:)

Ben!

Kevin thought it'd be funny to hand Ben the lingerie section of the Macy's add this morning.
We didn't expect him to pick it up and kiss it though! We were laughing so hard and he kept on doing it so mommy could snap some pics, he's so cooperative:)

Checking her out... too funny!

Lucky Ducks

Lauren & Ben are some of the luckiest kids around. They happen to have the most thoughtful 9 month old cousin who sends them all sorts of gifts for every occasion!
They got cute Halloween shirts, Halloween slinkys, and Halloween books- when did Halloween turn into Christmas??? Must be a California thing, they are always cutting edge down there:)

Ben had to check out the darling polka dot purse that Lauren got. She promptly took it from him though and put a quarter in it so she could buy a gumball at Costco (that she spit out 5 seconds later because gumballs are gross... but that doesn't stop us from buying one every single time to we go to Costco!).

Thanks for all the thoughtful gifts Miss Emma!

Cannon Beach

The view from our room- not too shabby!
Kevin & I taking a little self portrait in front of Haystack Rock.

Lauren loved running in the sand!

Mamma & Lauren in front of Haystack Rock.

Lauren was digging for treasure!

Kevin dug a hole and put Ben in it. He had mixed feelings about it!

Having daddy swing your feet around in the sand is apparently very fun.

Good workout for Dad too!

Love this face!

cutest.boy.

If only mom didn't ruin it

Ben was in heaven going through the loot from the party. I was busy doing stuff around the house and I walked into this.
He was enjoying a lolipop and some sixlets and thinking life was pretty darn great!

After I snapped the pics I took it all away but it was fun while it lasted, right Ben!

South 47 Farm

Braelyn had her birthday party at the South 47 Farm and it was so fun! We had never been there before and it was such a great place, we can't wait to go back again. We got to go on this fun tractor ride around the farm.
Each kid got to pick a pumpkin to take home. Ben really liked the pumpkins!

He looks pretty darn cute with them too, they match his hair well:)

Lauren picked out her party outfit. When I told her she had to get ready for Braelyn's party the first thing she said was, "I'm not wearing a dress". I thought this look on her face was funny. She had a fun time hanging out with her buddy Drew who is also in her preschool class.

The birthday girl blowing out her 3 candles!

uh oh

Someone has turned over a new leaf and is fighting his naps and is a bit mischievous these days. After listening to Ben cry for a good 20 minutes I gave in and went to get him and this is what I found...looks like he figured out how to take his diaper off.
I know I'm lucky it was just pee but still...this is not like my sweet little Benny Boo!

He's still pretty darn cute when he's crying and being a little naughty:)