Kindergarten

It has been 10 days since Benjamin started kindergarten and the experience has been more than I could ever imagined.  Anyone who knows Benjamin knows why I was totally terrified about him starting at a brand new school that included none of his best friends and where he would be away from us longer than he ever has on a consistent basis.  Benjamin does not like new situations and is extremely shy.  Sometimes, I can't even get him to talk to someone he has known his whole life. 

I was so conflicted because I dreaded the week of August 15th, but was also looking forward to it for another reason (we will get to that in another post) As much as I dreaded it, I was also excited about this new experience for him.  He loves to learn new things and usually picks up stuff very quickly. 

The first day of school was definitely hard, but I think it was worse for Geoff and me than it was for Benjamin.  He cried a little bit when we stopped to drop him off in the carpool line, but quickly rubbed him eyes and went in.  He said he was nervous every morning before Geoff dropped him off, but still got out with no tears.  I was in the shower on Friday morning and my phone rang.  It was the school nurse telling me that Benjamin has thrown up and we needed to come pick him up.  We think his nervous stomach on top of getting a little car sick caught up with him. 

This week has definitely been different. He loves going to school. He wakes up excited and has a huge smile on his face when I pick him up from school. He has been getting great reports and has received special praise for his good behavior. It is such an answer to many prayers.

Family Pictures

We went on our annual beach trip with Geoff's side of the family the first full week of June.  We had some family pictures done while we were there.  Here are some of the best ones:

Sarah is 3

I can't believe that my little girl is 3.  She has brought so much joy and adventure in our lives in the past 3 years.  We can't imagine life without her. 

She is such a social being and loves being around people.  We can't get her to sit down and watch a movie or television show because she doesn't want to stop long enough to be still.  There is no walking to her steps, she bounces every where she goes.  It cracks us up. 

Her favorite person in the whole world is her Nana.  When she is upset about something, she asks for Nana.  When is she happy or excited about something, she asks for Nana.  She smiles the biggest and gives the biggest hugs to her Nana.  As you can imagine, she is always putting a big smile on her Nana's face. 

I can already tell she is going to be a nurturing, loving mother.  Her favorite toys are her babydolls.  She loves everyone of them and has named them all "Sarah."  She was in the shower this morning with one of bath dolls and she was holding it like a baby, rocking back and forth and singing to it.  Adorable. 

Sarah in the hospital

 1st birthday with Nana

2nd Birthday 

3rd Birthday

Time of the Year

Oh, how I love this time of the year.  My kids, especially Benjamin are walking around with big smiles on their beautiful faces anticipating what is coming.  Here are some pictures of Christmases from the past 5 years. 

 2005

 2005

 2006

 2007

 2008

 2008

 2009

2009

Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  

Night and Day

Night and Day: Benjamin and Sarah.  Geoff decided on Sunday afternoon that he was going to ask Sarah if she wanted to wear underwear.  To my surprise, she said yes and hasn't turned back since.  It took Benjamin weeks to finally go poopie in the potty.  It took Sarah 4 hours.  Benjamin put more pee on our kitchen floor than on the potty.  Sarah has had only a few accidents, and has done a great job potty training. 

There is never a perfect time to start potty training, but I was waiting until around Thanksgiving when we had a few extra days of not having to be anywhere.  Sarah had to be at preschool on Monday and at LAMBS on Tuesday, so we were thinkin, "Uh-oh."  She did have a little accident on Monday at school and a few at home, but that's been it.  She didn't go to LAMBS on Tuesday because I had a migraine headache--I ended up having a bad case of strep and couldn't help her a lot with her potty training, so she has done great with everyone else helping her.  I am very excited about no more diapers!!  Anyone need size 6 diapers? 




Hillridge Farms

My mom and I took the kids to Hillridge Farms on Wednesday.  It was packed with school kids, but we had a great time.  Enjoy the pictures.


Sarah on the train

Playing in the corn

Sarah and Nana on the big slide





More playing in the corn

Loves his oreos

Sarah usually just eats the middle of the oreos



I loved to watch Benjamin figure out the maze



Bouncy House

Hayride

Picking out our pumpkins

Nana and Benjamin in the bus

All of us on the train



My Little Train Man

For those of you who know Benjamin, you know that he loves, loves, loves his trains. I took him to the train table at Barnes and Noble a couple of months before he turned 2 and he has been hooked (or obsessed) ever since. Shortly after that, my parents took him to ToysRUS and bought him a Thomas starter set with some track and a Thomas, Percy and a box car. He was so excited and carried those trains around everywhere he went.

 

Can you see the excitement in his face?

He plays with his trains even more than he ever has.  When we ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, he says a "train driver."  He loves to plan train crashes and likes to re-enact them for us when he has a successful one.  He keeps begging me to record him doing a big crash and put it on YouTube.  

This is one of his crashes from today. He was very proud of it.