Two in the Tub

Just Us Girls

My girlie.

Our self-portrait. I'm trying hard to give her as much individual attention as I can during Benjamin's naps while Jonathan is at school. I'm not sure whether she notices.

And, my dear son, when he saw this picture, said, "You look sick in that picture. I'm not trying to be rude or anything." So let me assure you, dear readers, as I assured my son...I'm not sick. This is how I really look...

Learning to Pedal

I'm so glad we saved Jonathan's tricycle for Grace. She's a bit shorter than he was at this age, so it's taking her a little longer to reach the pedals.

Being the Big Sister...Again

This time with real baby food.

Being the Big Sister

Grace was feeding her doll, Baby Jenna, and then decided that the real baby needed some bites.

If I Were More Efficient...

I would do this.

Click on the picture to see a simple tutorial for turning a T-shirt into a girl's ruffled skirt.

Hat tip to Money Saving Mom.

Seriously, though, I read posts from friends who have three little kids and work, and they say they are drinking coffee and scrapbooking. How do they do it? OK, that's only one friend who said that, but still. How does she do it? I don't even get the floor clean. :) But, I can imagine what it would be like to sew something...while I am nursing Benjamin.

Not Enough Ottomans (Ottomen?)

Benjamin is getting into everything, and I'm not sure how to block off the hazards. An open floor plan is nice for grownups walking around, but not so nice for the safety of scooting babies.

Here are the blocked off stereo, etc., on the right. We used to use a big armoire to hold this stuff in our old house, but since the family room has shelves with no space for an armoire, this is how we do it. And on the left is the fireplace. Grace used to like to go over there and slap the tile, which is fine, but Benjamin likes to open the doors. Not fine. And yes, the ottomans (men?) are a mess. Our reality almost always includes a mess of books!

I also have to block off this doorway as it leads to the front door, hallway, laundry room, etc., and Benjamin can get there in a flash. I'm sure that this is not the main purpose of a piano bench and pillows, but for now he's not strong enough to get through here. Also, he loves to try to chew on Grace's stroller. He looks so sweet and innocent, but he's quick!

First Day of First Grade

Yes, our boy is officially a first grader. (Here he is with his proud dad!) Can you believe it? I was sad to see the summer end and really enjoyed having all the kids home every day. But, Jonathan is so ready for first grade, and I know it will be really good for him. We prayed that God would match him with just the right teacher and classmates, and I am really happy with his teacher so far. She reminds me of a first-grade version of my very experienced and excellent teaching partner from my days teaching sixth grade. If this teacher is anything like Sally, Jonathan is in great hands.

My boy and me

Excited!

"First Grade!"

First grader and tag-alongs

Jeff was so great about Jonathan's first day. He asked to go in to work late so that he could join us on the walk to school, AND he pushed the stroller for me. This is probably my only break from the stroller workout for the year, and I really appreciated it. I also loved having Jeff along!

My sweet boy.

Since Jonathan started school last year and his classmates may end up reading my posts someday, I have tried to post a bit less about him in case he would feel embarrassed later. But I think I can share this story. His teacher had each student draw a picture of him/herself on the first day and write how they felt at the time. Every other kid in Jonathan's class wrote, "I feel happy!" (with many different spellings of "happy," of course.) Jonathan wrote, "I feel proud!" That made me feel very...happy. :)

Name This Post

I'm not sure what to name this post because the pictures seem to say it all! Most mornings, I feed Benjamin and then Jeff and I go into Jonathan and Grace's room to get them up. This was Sunday morning, so we didn't have to get ready for school, and everybody ended up crawling on Jeff in Jonathan's bed. Just a crazy moment in our family's life!

Love these Kids!

I took these August 13.

When Life Is Good

When she's not wearing pants and has a good supply of sidewalk chalk and water. Grace thinks that the chalk and water combine to make great body paint.

When Mom is finally sweeping the kitchen floor and the chairs are in the living room. Benjamin loves to chew on straps.

What Gracie Says

"You look lovely."

"I'm closing the door 'cause I'm getting into mischief!"

When I asked if her doll, Stella, had a good sleep:
"No, her eyes were open!"

Why My House Is Never Clean: Reason #371

"The raisins are for the birds," says Gracie.

At least she didn't share the peaches, too. They're still in her bowl.

Eight Months Old...Already!

Benjamin is eight months old! I weighed him today for the first time in a month, and he's gained more than a pound. He's 22 lbs., 8 oz. An acquaintance saw him for the first time in a couple of months today and said, "Chunkeroo!" Chunkeroo indeed. I bet he's overtaken his twin cousins who turned one in July, but I also suspect his four-month-old cousin Charlotte will pass him in size soon! She's gaining on him!

I hadn't done the obligatory naked baby pictures with Benjamin, so I did that today. I didn't count how many times I had to grab him and put him back on the blanket, but it was a LOT! We think he is as adorable as ever. We all dote on him...except for Grace, who is not amused when Benjamin touches her things...or moves toward her things. Anyway, here are the pictures from today.

Benjamin was not interested in staying on the blanket. He wanted to play with the pedals.

I was not interested in pee on the carpet, so on went the diaper!

Happy Birthday to My Mom!

Mom, I love this pic of you with your two daughters (and there were three grandkids on the way in this picture, too!) We all love you so much, mom. You are a wonderful mom and grandma to all of us! Happy birthday!

Swimming Lessons

Could this year be our breakthrough year for swimming lessons?


Yes, friends, that is my child who, willingly and repeatedly, put his face in the water!


One might describe his freestyle as "flailing," but still his face was in the water!!!


Most nights, Jeff was able to take Jonathan to his lessons after work.  However, Jeff had a trip during swimming lessons, so I took the kids and Jonathan to lessons a couple of times.  Here's Grace being silly.  She liked watching the kids splashing, she said.  It helped that I kept her supplied with crackers while she was strapped into the stroller.


Benjamin spent swimming lessons eating his solid food.  He can really put away some sweet potatoes.  It's quite amazing.


My handsome swimmer!


Jumping in on purpose!

And, for you die-hard blog readers, here's a video clip of him trying the backstroke.  He'll be in the same level of swimming lessons (beginner) next year, but I'm so proud of his efforts and progress.  His teacher said his backstroke is "really quite good."  Enjoy!

He Would Have Been 60

This is a picture of my dad blowing out candles for his 59th birthday celebration one year ago.

Today would have been his 60th birthday. As part of our goodbye for Dad after he died in April, we held a big reception in his honor. There were hundreds of people there, Dad's favorite music was playing, and there was food and drink for everyone. Our favorite pictures of Dad were projected in a slideshow in the background. People told stories about Dad: some serious, some funny, some colorful. People who hadn't seen each other in years reconnected. Lots of people who attended told all of us that Dad would have loved it. It was right up his alley.

I wish that it could have been a party for his 60th birthday instead.

Collecting the pictures for the slideshow was up to me, so I still have the album of those pictures sitting here in iPhoto. All 391 of them. So many of them are great pictures of Dad when he was healthy, and then so many of the more recent ones remind me of how painful it was to watch the cancer take him, little by little. Those photos are painful to look at, even now. I'm overwhelmed at the task of choosing which photos to share and what to say, so I just chose the one at the top. Dad was feeling good on this birthday and said he was thankful to be around. Amanda's twins had been born just the month before, I was pregnant with Benjamin, and Todd and Corinne chose Dad's birthday to break the exciting news to him that they were expecting Charlotte. (Of course, we didn't know who Benjamin and Charlotte would be at that early date!)

I have forgotten a lot of what was said at the reception for Dad after his passing. One remark that Jeff made stands out to me, though. (Jeff did an excellent job as an emcee of sorts, taking the microphone and inviting others to do the same.) He pointed out that, in Dad's final year of life, a year that far outlasted the doctors' expectations, four of Dad's grandchildren were born. Amazing. In the midst of the horrible things that cancer did to my dad, God blessed him with Mary Ann, Darcy, Benjamin, and Charlotte. And God blessed all of us with the knowledge that Dad had at least been able to hold each of our babies.

This is a birthday post, so it seems that I should be able to wrap it up with a bow and put a happy ending to it. The truth is that I'm writing this post the night before and scheduling it to appear first thing in the morning, and I imagine that Dad's birthday is going to be a hard day for people who were close to Dad. I'm not looking forward to it. And I'm not sure how to support the ones close to me who are going to need support today, but I'll try.

Happy 60th birthday to my dad...a birthday that he will enjoy without suffering, and with joy that we can't yet understand. But I pray that we will have a taste of that joy even as we mourn him still.

He Made This...

This Lego contraption started out to be a grabber, and later became a screwdriver, hammer, saw, and whatever came to Jonathan's mind. I'm really going to miss having my little engineer at home all day when school starts!

Daddy's Little Buddy

Sweet Sleeper

If you look closely, you can see finger marks on Benjamin's face. He usually sleeps with his head turned in the other direction, and he sleeps on his hand. He often wakes up with imprints of his fingers and fingernails on his skin. Very sweet.

What to Do at Grandma's House

Play with Legos and Little People...

And watch things bounce across the floor. You can't tell from this picture, but Benjamin was cracking himself up with these things. Who knew a wood floor could be so fun!

The Cuckoo Bird and the Robot