The Babysitter

A Poem by Shel Silverstein,

and my kids' new fave...

We were playing with the dollhouse in Brinley's room. I sat Bowen down on the floor beside me then I had to reach something on the top floor of the house so I rose to my knees.
When I came back down, I felt something...Bowen had wiggled over under me!
So I quickly bounced back up and said "Oh, Bo I nearly squished you!"
Brinley let out a little giggle and said "mommy's the baby sitter."

To: All Shutterbugs

I'll be the first to admit I probably have the worst camera in the bloggy world...it won't even zoom, lol. BUT we are thinking of getting one that will actually do justice to our active, beautiful children.
So, my question is...what camera do you use? and why?

Highlights of the day

Ben - we made an appt. with a pediatric opthalmologist, as recommended by his pediatrician, but we're holding out hope he doesn't need glasses. We have to wait until September to see...

Brinley - got her first pair of ballet shoes today and wore them all afternoon! Class starts next month.

Bowen - fell asleep in his swing and at the post office without crying/screaming...not sure if this was a highlight for him, or me :)

Wordless Wednesday

Cooper Fitness Summer Sprint Triathlon

We had the pleasure of cheering on Bryce at his second triathlon last weekend at the Cooper Fitness Center.

This time we were prepared with signs...

And there were NO problems :)

In fact, biking has quickly become his favorite part of the triathlon.

My Boys waiting for Daddy to ride by.

Cheering him on near the finish line...

And, he has an "official time" for this race.

He did awesome - placed 84th out of over 500 competitors!

And has found a new passion.

We are looking forward to another next month.

What 5 year olds do

They ride 2 wheeled scooters, with brakes

and they do NOT wear Elmo helmets anymore.They eat at Texas Roadhouse...because they "love the peanuts".

On a side note~this is what 3 year olds do...
dress themselves in not one, but two purple dresses.

They take pictures of their baby brother at dinner.

They dance around at pizza parties!
instead of sitting.

They play games.

And feed the Ticket Eater as soon as their pockets are full.

They let little sisters and cousins help blow out candles :)

They hold up Darth Vader costumes so everyone at Peter Piper Pizza can see.

The really sweet ones pose for a family picture.

And they show off their new hat & boots!

Hope being 5 is as cool as you thought it would be, Ben!

Favorite Foto Friday

Morning giggles

Happy Birthday, Ben!

Dear Ben,

Last night you waited up patiently for me to put Bowen to bed and come scratch your back. I know you were tired but you still wanted mommy to snuggle...it took me back to our first night together. I was in labor the whole night before and so tired but you just could not sleep without me holding you. So that's how we spent our first night together...you laying on my chest, right next to my heart.

You were my first born, the one who made me "mommy" and oh, the adventures we've had...you have survived moving 5 times, and becoming a big brother twice over!

You are such a big boy these days! and ALL boy...you love climbing, riding your bike, jumping, playing sports, doing "cool tricks" on your scooter, fighting with guns and swords - I wish I had your energy! But the "poop talk" I could live without ; )

You are a sweet boy too, very affectionate but also mischievous, clever and articulate.

You love pizza, apples, and mini saltines. Your favorite song is "That's not my name" by the TingTings.

You still sleep with your beebees every night and have looked forward becoming a "five year old" since the day you turned four.

Your father and I adore you more than words can express.

Happy Birthday to our five year old Ben!

All my heart,

Mom

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A lot of people lose her their waistline to pregnancy.

I did too....but forget the belly, check out my feet!

This was 2 days before Ben was born, after a long day at work.

Ben

July 22, 2004

3 months old, and yes it's the same car seat Bowen is in!

Becoming a little mischief maker....

Doing a little "fishing" last weekend.

We love you!!

XOXO

My Way Back Weekend

Friday night we kicked off the weekend at a NKOTB concert...yes, another one and it's much more fun when you're not 7 mos. pregnant, btw.

This one was at the same venue I saw them at for the first time (my first ever concert!) back in 1989...20 years ago!! AND I think it was a July '89 but I don't want to dig out my ticket stub to confirm the date (I have a weird little thing about keeping ticket stubs).

And the neat thing is my 16 yr old niece, Alicea, went with us and it was her first real concert! Me and my sister Ang

And Lindy was there too with her friends...only a row away from us (not planned) lol.

NKOTB has a great opening act this time - The Jabbowockeez...an awesome dance group that wears these creepy/cool masks.

They opened with this neat digital versions of themselves....just something different.

This was Alicea pretty much the whole time, lol.

And so it was a concert - fun, fab time...

but then they came out to the audience!!!

In our section we had Donnie to the right....

And Joe to the left!!

I realize if I had better lighting and a camera that wasn't completely craptastic, then these photos would actually look blog-worthy....but trust me, it's them :)

No, it's not a close encounter of the Lindy kind but it made my night!

As if the concert didn't take me back, we had a high school "all ages" type reunion on Saturday.(well until 1999, we didn't want to hang with punks, lol.) And we got to see lots of people we haven't seen in years, which was great even though the kids didn't last long and ended up back at Nece & Pawpaw's house.

Then Bryce got to make a rare trip to hang out with college friends Saturday night so I think we took a serious trip down memory lane.

Now, onto the future:

In case anyone hasn't heard...I'm getting a new little NIECE in December!!!

My SIL is having a girl we found out this week...so Brinley (the only girl out of 6 grandkids) will be de-throned soon, lol.

We are so very happy for Brook & Micheal - she's their first!

Bowen ~ 5 months

Bo turned 5 months old Saturday and we were in Texas (again!) so I do not have a bear pic but this one sums up a lot... He's teething.

Giggles when you wipe his bottom.

More teething.

Inches and wiggles his way around the floor.

Teethes on anything he can grasp.

Will be starting cereal soon...

and did I mention, he's teething?

Sucker

The kids and I were lying on my bed reading a story and Brinley said "okay Bo you can suck my toe for just a little bit".

What?

I look down and sure enough he was teething on her big toe!

AAAGGHHHH!!!

Beating the heat

The heat is just suffocating lately...so much so that Ben's t-ball game was cancelled tonight. Luckily we started swim lessons today and we are doing back to back sessions (in hopes that Ben gets comfortable enough to actually put his head under water) so we will be at the pool for the next 4 weeks.

Other than that the kids are finding ways here at home to keep cool...

Like adding the sprinkler to trampoline time!

and getting a little group workout in.

Bo and I watch from the shade :)

They even created their own winter wonderland yesterday...

from my couch cushions...

while Daddy napped.