Outside the box

Joe got a new amp from eBay - a crazy story for another time - but Ben had a blast "swimming" in the foam peanuts from the box. As you can imagine it made quite a mess but seemed just too fun for us to say no...

We've been enjoying the warmer weather and have been building elaborate train tracks on the screened porch. He's REALLY into trains again these days. Ben's been sleeping with / "reading" / carrying everywhere a large, hard-bound book about trains Joe had when he was a kid. He loves looking through it and shows anyone who will stop to read it with him. I definitely need to get a pic of that!

Underwear!!

Yes, it's true... we're actually wearing underwear these days! Sometimes it ends up on our heads, but that's fun too.

Introducing Maggie-

I didn't realize it at the time, but one of the best gifts I ever got was my baby brother Tim. We definitely had our rocky moments through the years - a swift kick with my roller skate to his head - leading to an hour-long bloody nose. In addition to numerous hitting/slapping matches... But when I left for college something happened and we actually became good friends. Now I can't imagine life without my brother.

He married a great girl I consider a good friend and now he's a daddy. It's super fantastic and totally crazy. We're so happy for Tim and Amanda. We're glad they're in our lives and know they will be wonderful parents. We adore baby Maggie and look forward to getting to know her, cheering her on at soccer games and buying Girl Scout cookies from her.

It's NOT all about Ben...

Quite the Character...

Ben still loves dressing up. He loved wearing his train engineer's costume and liked handing us our "tickets" last night. He also cracked me up recently when he was playing by himself with his tools -  I went to peek in on him he had shoved them all down his pants - I guess the boy needs a tool belt! Ben's been saying the funniest things recently... the other morning it snowed and it was a school day and he said, "Mommy, won't the children be surprised!" Also, when I was eating cereal the other day he grabbed a spoon from the drawer and started helping himself to my cereal - when he did he said, "Mommy, I'm such a good sharer."

Bun in the oven-

Before Ben camped out in the baby's room he gave Auntie's belly a goodnight kiss. It shouldn't be too much longer!

Little of This & That...

First trike ride on the "open road." We went to the elementary school near our house and Ben had the entire blacktop to explore with his bike. He loved it and kept telling us how FAST he was riding.

Trying out his new goggles in the bathtub.

Ben and Joe had some quality time together while I was in Columbia for a conference. Joe took Ben to the Museum of Transportation as a daddy-son outing (Ben's first time going). They seemed to have a great time together. Ben keeps telling me "Mommy, you're back from Columbia!" I guess he had a little separation anxiety. I had a great time, but definitely missed my boys.

We're excited the weather is beautiful and it's light at dinner - finally feels like we're getting out of the winter funk! AND, spring means Ben's new baby cousin should be here soon - we can't wait!!

Old Friends & New Friends!

Good friends are hard to find! But, I guess, I wasn't surprised to learn that Arlo and Ben were great pals right from the start - that's how it worked when Kristina and I met at KCAI our freshman year. We were instantly old friends! It meant the world to us that Kristina and Arlo made the long journey to join us for Ben's third birthday so the boys could finally meet.

They had a blast playing together. Ben got Arlo laughing pretty good and he definitely loved having THAT attention!! You could tell he really felt like the BIG BOY all weekend. Arlo is such a sweet, smiley, easy-going guy - you just gotta love him!

We may live far away - but we're definitely grateful to have such wonderful friends in our lives!

"Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave and impossible to forget."

-Barry Spilchuk (at least I think that's who said it, KAK - is that right :)