Christmas 2009

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! Ben was super excited and totally "got" what was going on. We spent Christmas Eve with Bubba & Grampy and hosted Christmas brunch at our house with both sets of grandparents and Uncle Tim, Auntie and baby Maggie (for her first Christmas).

This year Ben got a lego train, helicopter, crane, electric guitar, lego city set, police helmet and lots of fun board games. He also got Wii Sports Resort we've all been having a lot of fun with.

December has been busy...

We baked the oh-so-famous currant cookies with Bubba (and Grampy);

Got our tree decorated and had a special puppy guest Bree to our house;

Had our friend Connor over for some serious Wii playing;

AND Ben beat Daddy at Wii bowling...

the student has become the master!

Here Comes Santa Claus!

Ben shared his list with Santa at a breakfast with Santa event this weekend. This year he asked for a lego train, helicopter and airplane.

Joe and I got to visit with Santa as well...

Legos & Cousins

Ben's first Lego masterpiece is a fire truck with a working ladder. He disappeared in his room for about 45 minutes and came out with his custom design. We were pretty impressed! He's really been into Legos recently and Joe's pretty happy about that!

Here's a cute one of Ben and Maggie. She's getting so big - they are great friends!

Spontaneous Memphis trip...

To the Moon!

Well, Ben recovered and was ready for trick-or-treating! Here's the costume Auntie and I made - and he actually WORE it - so that's good! The helmet was a tad wonky and he wore it the wrong way, but he had a great time so that's all that matters. He was very brave and walked up to a door and either said "Trick-or-Treat," "Happy Halloween" or his classic joke "Knock, Knock. Who's there? Banana. Banana who? PEACH!!!" We don't really get the joke, but he thinks it's hysterical. By the end of the night his backpack was FULL of candy and toys. It was a great night in Bubba & Grampy's neighborhood.

Fall Day

Ben's had a fever for five days (he seems to be feeling fine, but has had this fever for what feels like forever)! Joe and I really needed to get out of the house this weekend so we headed to Lone Elk Park to see the animals and fall leaves. It was a beautiful day and we were glad to get out of the house for a bit! Here's to hoping Ben's better by Halloween - I've worked WAY too hard on his costume for him to be sick :) Pics to come...

Misc...

Making brownies...

Relaxin' with Daddy.

Ben at his buddy Dillon's 3rd birthday party. They wore the pinata as their hat.

The Great Pumpkin-

It was a great day to visit the pumpkin patch with Bebe & Grandad. We spent the night at Innsbrook to see the fall colors and went to the pumpkin patch in the morning. We took a wagon ride, fed the goats, jumped in the bounce house and played in a giant bucket of beans (hmm?).

City Museum

We had a great time at City Museum with Ben's cousins and Bubba & Grampy. Wow, that place would be EASY to get lost in!!

Box...

Ben is having a great time with his cousins this weekend. They went to a pumpkin patch, had movie night with pizza, went to Grants Farm for a Halloween party and today we're headed to City Museum. A.K.A. - Camp Bubba & Grampy (thanks, guys!)!

They also ALL had a great time with the big box from our new air conditioner. Charlie was a magician having Ben and A.J. pop out of the box at different times. That's it, EVERYONE is getting large boxes for Christmas.

Man with Gloves

Ben drew this yesterday... when I asked him to tell me about it he said it was a man with gloves so his hands won't get cold. Hmm, makes sense to me!

Tickets, please!

The day was finally here - Ben got to ride Amtrak with Bebe & Grandad!! He had quite the send off - Joe & I along with Bubba & Grampy were at the train station to see them off...

Ben even wore his favorite train shirt...

Grampy's pie was big as Ben's head!

Ben and his crew! How lucky is he?

It was one of those awesome days I'll never forget!

Ben & Maggie

A few weeks ago Ben & I had F-U-N watching baby Maggie all day... Ben took very good care of Mags. He helped her find toys to play with, shared his exersaucer from when he was a baby and made sure she was happy at all times. She does a lot of LOUD babbling - seriously, she's really, really loud - it's hysterical... and while Ben was in his room *napping* he heard her talking and wanted to be sure "everything was okay with baby Maggie." They're pretty cute cousins!

Arch-

Ben has been extremely interested in the Arch - when we drive near it or see it on TV while watching a ball game... So, we headed on the MetroLink and had a picnic under the Arch.

Messy Play Day

Ben with the bubbles

Baby Abbie loved climbing the slide!

Connor in the playhouse.

Ben with the shaving cream.

Dillon really liked the bowl of spaghetti!

We hosted a messy play day/picnic in our backyard... it was a lot of fun and the weather was awesome. We had paint, spaghetti, bubbles, shaving cream, etc. and the boys (+ Abbie) seemed to have fun with everything. We just LOVE our playgroup friends!!

Citygarden

We loved the visiting Citygarden with Bebe and Grandad last weekend! What an awesome place right in our own town... next time we're definitely taking the MetroLink and staying for a picnic.

John Hancock-

Yesterday Ben asked me to write his name on a piece of paper. He saw the letters I wrote and quickly said "I can do that!" So, here it is... he was very particular about the "E" and made sure the horizontal lines touched the vertical just so. He was pretty proud of himself and so are we!

And Chicago...

So, we switched gears from, calm, peaceful Wisconsin to bustling Chicago. We had a great visit with our friends Shana and Max. They took us to the BEST restaurant in Chicago... I'm still dreaming about the amazing food. AND we met up the next day for the Shedd. It was so great to see them!

Our hotel was right by Wrigley Field, so we walked up to listen to the big concert (along with 500,000 other people, well, not really - but it was packed!)

My new boyfriend... sorry Joe - you're just not frumpy enough!

We quickly hit LegoLand and Ikea on the way out of town and had a great time. We were all pretty exhausted when it was time to go home. Ben literally screamed for the first hour of the drive home and then CRASHED. He slept the rest of the drive - this was the first time he fell asleep in the car and we were grateful! What a great road trip - I would definitely do it again!!