Partners in Crime

Kylie wants to use the computer every time I do, so I dragged out my old dinosaur laptop from college the other day and let her have at it. Of course, Ben had to "show" her how to use it since he's the expert. This computer was top of the line in its day...but now it can barely handle the math game we loaded onto it for Ben to play. Look how thick it is! Anyway, she loved it and definitely knew exactly what to do as she lunged toward it! She is so lucky to have a big brother like Ben who absolutely adores her and patiently lets her join in on the fun.

Cousins reunited at last!!!

Ben counted down the days/minutes/seconds to get to see his cousins a few weeks ago and they had so much fun playing that we didn't even have time to take many pictures. My sister Gina and her family drove south from Vermont for a quick visit to Grandmother's house and the kids had a blast. Ben has definitely missed getting to play with Lana now that she lives so far away. We used to be able to meet up at Grandmother's house for fun weekends (when my sister lived in Alabama), so the kids did their best to make up for lost time this trip! In fact, they played so hard that the water in the bathtub needed to be drained and refilled, and it still looked dirty!

This picture was taken just before a prayer for safe travel home...notice how Lana and Ben were ready to pray appropriately with their eyes closed, Luke was peeking, and Kylie was oblivious to it all. I'm sure this is how it was during the actual prayer too--but who knows for sure? I had my eyes closed... :)

I'd like some additional reading material please!

Kylie loves to read--anything she can get her hands on! Since we've been reading pretty regularly with Ben his whole life, it was easy to include Kylie in our routine when she came to our family. In fact, Ben does most of the reading now and she just loves it when he reads to her. I love it too! I am so pleased with his progress and that he enjoys it so much. He also loves to read anything he can get his hands on--no more secret lists/notes/messages with him around! He's also reading the Book of Mormon a little at a time, and has a goal to finish it before he gets baptized (just a little over a year away). I think he's going to finish it long before then since he's such a good reader. Keep up the good work Ben!

Happy Girl

I am so glad that I get to spend my days with this happy little girl! And after tomorrow (last day of school), I will also get to spend my days with her happy big brother!

Who needs a passifier?

Who needs a passifier? NOT Kylie! This is how she gets herself to sleep. Usually she has a blanket handy, but if not then Dad's shirt (or any available cloth-like item) works well too. We tried giving her passifiers, but she is not interested in them. We think it is so funny! We used to go in her room a few minutes after we laid her down to pull out the yardage she managed to stuff inside her mouth, but we found out that she would just stuff it back in (or else wake up). So I guess its okay, she breathes through her nose right? Just keep your fingers crossed that she never has a stuffy nose while trying to sleep!

Family Reunion and Mother's Day

We've had a busy travel schedule over the past couple of weekends with Easter, a trip to Grandmother's, the annual family reunion on Jonathan's Dad's side of the family, Mother's Day at Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw's house, and another trip to Grandmother's coming up this next weekend. These are pictures of some of the highlights.

The Moms got to sit and relax while Mother's Day dinner preparations were completed; then everyone got to relax after the delicious meal.

The family reunion was fun too--at first it looked like it was going to rain but it turned out to be a beautiful day.

"May I try on your sunglasses please?"

Intense game of checkers between father and son--no mercy here!

Just posing for the camera...

Strawberries and Bananas

I had to post these pictures because they are so darn cute! She loves to feed herself (and MUST have her own spoon that she gets to hold while she's being fed something that she can't hold in her hands). She also makes "mmmmm" sounds while she eats so I think she enjoys it!

I have many more pictures (because I can't resist snapping pics of her cute expressions), these were a few highlights. Of course, Ben didn't want to be left out so here's one of him dipping a graham cracker in some milk (he'd already finished his strawberries...).

Something a little more reverent

I was putting away the leftover food last night after dinner when Ben came into the kitchen to tell me he was ready for family night. We try to have “family night” at least once a week…some weeks are better than others. Anyway, last night was the night for this week and it’s usually pretty casual/informal. I didn’t know it but Ben had other plans for the night! He announced that he had decided to put on something “a little more reverent” and that everyone should probably change their clothes too… So I looked over at him and was a little surprised to see him in his Sunday shirt and a tie that is too little for him now! Just wanted to note this down since its always precious to us when Ben reminds us in his subtle ways about what is most important. Plus I wanted to be sure to get a picture so I can show it to him a few years from now in case he needs to be reminded! :) What did we do for family night last night? We talked about the baptism of Jesus (headed up by Ben, hence the "more reverent" attire, as he read the story from his children's New Testament book), sang a few songs (Kylie loves music!), and had ice cream cones. The best part for us was just being together.

Monkey in the Middle

Ben's school had a field trip last week to the Edventure Children's Museum (in Columbia, SC) and I was very impressed by the exhibits. Ben loves Curious George (so naturally Kylie does too!) and there was a Curious George exhibit complete with dress-up, mini-golf, hand shadows, an elaborate pulley-system to build a block wall and more.
There was a farm area where the kids could check out a tractor, pick peaches from a tree, plant vegetables in a garden, or even milk a cow. Wow. I thought that part was a bit much (not really milk, just water, but it came out into the bucket just the same). Gross! I wouldn't let Ben try it out because it didn't seem like the most sanitary activity. Not that anything else was any better with hundreds of other kids putting their hands all over everything and each other--needless to say I kept a bottle of hand sanitizer flowing all day to anyone nearby. Hopefully we didn't pick up too many extra germs (or swine flu!).



There was a mini-grocery store where the kids could shop for real-looking groceries, load up their carts, and even take them through the check-out. Ben made some very healthy choices (just for you grandmother!), you'd be proud! Ben also enjoyed dressing up as a firefighter, climbing on a fire truck, and crawling around in a tunnel "under the smoke" of a fire. Perhaps the most fun for the kids was playing inside of the largest 10-year-old in the world, Eddie. The kids could climb around inside of Eddie (up and down his spine) and check out his brain, his heart, his stomach and slide around his intestines--crazy! Kylie was content just hanging out in her stroller next to the giant shoe. But she also had cheerios, which are much more appealing to her than slides at the moment! All in all, it was a fun day for everyone.