Goodbye, May...

Well, I couldn't let May slip by without at least one more post, even though the month just seemed to fly by. That, combined with my general lack of motivation lately, means I've only done one measly journal entry so far this month. And I haven't been great at taking pictures lately. I know, it's unacceptable. Hehe. I'll try to redeem myself with this little post.

It has been SO HOT here. Too hot. Luckily, our pool opened last week, so we've been taking advantage of it. The kids love it, although Ben gets cold/bored after about 45 minutes, but Anna would stay down there all day if we let her. She's our little water baby. Okay, so Anna calls the swimsuit she's wearing her "Super Girl" swimsuit. And she just looooooves it. It's kinda funny, but I got it at a garage sale last summer as a back up suit. Her "real" swimsuit is sooooo much more adorable, but she just loves this one. Oh well, I'm a firm believer in letting kids make decisions and choices whenever they can...because there's just so much in their world they don't get to choose. So I guess that means Anna wears her favorite things instead of my favorite things. :) Maybe I'll get her in the other suit one of these days...

Ethan is playing on his PT class softball team. I believe their team name is the DPT Dominators. Nice. He has a lot of fun. It's on Wednesday nights, the same night I'm at church for Activity Nights, so Ethan takes the kiddos with him. They love it, and get to play with some of Eth's classmates that just go to watch. This week while playing, Ethan slid into base and got the most disgusting "dirt burn" on his leg. Ouchie!

So, I just thought I'd throw these last two pictures of Benjamin on here to 1) Show his flexibility. :) And 2) Prove that he does occasionally slow down to rest...it's just a pretty rare occurrence for my active little man. One other funny thing about Benjamin is that we almost always call him Ben or Ben-Ben. So, when someone calls him Benjamin, he gets a funny smile on his face, almost like, "What's this new name you're calling me?" Then he'll slowly repeat his name like this, "Ben-ja-Ben," or just, "Ja-Ben." So we've been trying to call him Benjamin more often lately. And one funny story about Anna: We were in the car one day and Anna decided to share some wisdom with us that she apparently learned from a PBS show. Out of the blue she said, "Turtles can retract their heads into their shells to protect themselves from creditors. Then the creditors can't eat them." We were impressed with the knowledge she had picked up on her own, while at the same time trying not to laugh at the 'creditors' slip up. And we couldn't bring ourselves to correct her. Too funny!

Well, we had Melissa and KC here last weekend, and my parents here for the Memorial Day weekend. But I'll have to post about that next time, because I need to run. The kids have just loooooooved having so many visitors lately. It's been a lot of fun. Until next time, have a beautiful week!

General Ol' Update. . .

Well, since my last post was more of a trip down memory lane, and not a real update on our general life, it has been quite a long time since you've been properly updated. So, here are a few things that we've been up to the last few weeks...

This picture was taken the day of our actual anniversary. We went to Lansing to tour the gardens at Michigan State, and then visited with our friends, the Dobys, in the evening. It was a very fun day. Anna thought it was such a great adventure. Oh, and ignore the hair in our "anniversary shot," as it was super windy that day.

Exploring the gardens. It was pretty hot that day (80's I believe), but it felt nice in the shade of the gardens. Notice Anna's binoculars...so adorable. Benjamin was big on exploring off the beaten path, as shown above. And there were millions of flowers for Anna to smell.

Anna using her binoculars to spy on a squirrel. The second pic shows Ethan trying to keep Benjamin from jumping in. Ben kept saying, "Swim, swim. Water cold." Love the pic of Ben-Ben once again hiding off the path. And the last one is at our friends house. They had a delish BBQ for us, and the kids are having an appetizer with their new friend Ari.

So, our anniversary fell during Ethan's 4 day break between winter and summer semester. It made the whole week seem special. Lots of family time, and Daddy got to go to a lot of the kid things he usually misses. Like the gymnastics day! It was so much more fun having one parent per kid. Lots of individual attention.

Benjamin was a little scared on the balance beam, as you can see from him clinging on to Ethan for dear life. And I love the air Anna got on the trampoline.

Grandpa Chuck visited last weekend on the way back from picking up his new motorcycle. The kids had a blast with their Grandpa, or Boo-pa as Benjamin likes to call him. And Ethan and I had fun with him after the kids went to bed...like staying up 'til midnight to watch The Godfather on cable even though we were all exhausted. The whole weekend, wherever Chuck was, the kids were right there with him. I believe Ben even got in some shaving practice with Grandpa. It was a great visit, and we're very glad he got home safely...although a bit frozen.

And finally, Mother's Day. Anna was super excited for Mother's Day and kept telling me it was my day to just rest and do nothing. She was true to her word...I had a two hour nap after church, and it felt soooooo good. I probably should have taken our pic before the nap though...oh well. Anna picked out the bouquet for me, and Eth got my favorite candy...hmmm. So sweet. (The second picture shows a flower Anna planted for me at pre-school, and the other cup was part of her pre-school "watch seeds grow" thing. Anna loved it, and took care of her little grass seeds so well.) Oh, and on Mother's Day they made dinner for me. Yay! A low key, but perfect day. I love my kids. I love being a mom! The best part of Mother's Day this year was hearing Anna singing in church. I was accompanying the primary kids, so you would think I wouldn't be able to hear her, but not so. She sang out so loud, so beautifully, and right on key. It was soooo sweet. Numerous people complimented Anna on her singing. I was so proud of her. Well, that's enough for now. Until next time...Ciao!