Benny is 3! - Round 1

Well, Ben isn't officially 3 until Tuesday, but since his school is on break next week he celebrated his birthday with his friends at school today. He chose cupcakes to bring and share with his friends, and of course, all the kids loved them. Since we weren't able to be there, we left our camera with the teacher to take some pictures for us.

I think Will needs more sugar. Don't you?

The three musketeers. Maddie N., Benny and Will.

There are plenty more birthday festivities planned over the next week. Happy birthday, Benny Boo!

John 14:6

Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

In Case

I have been meaning to blog about this for quite a while, but just haven't gotten around to it. I'm not even sure what to say about it, or how to decribe it, so forgive me if this makes absolutely no sense. I just had to record this so that we would never forget, because it amuses us so.

Over the last couple of months, Joshua has been using the term "in case" a lot. And what's so funny about it is that he has NO IDEA what it means, so he uses it in the complete wrong context. Every time. For instance, he was opening one of his dresser drawers and pulled too hard, causing the drawer to come all the way out. Joshua's response: "In case the drawer fell out." He can also use it instead of saying something like "at least". Like this morning when he was putting on his clothes, he swung his jammy shirt around like a lasso and then threw it across the room, just being silly. I'm sure I gave him kind of a disapproving look, and he said "In case it didn't hit you."

We don't feel the need to correct him. I know one day he'll figure out what it really means and use it properly, but until then, we are going to just enjoy this one. In case I love this kid!

Matthew 19:14

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

James 4:7

Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

What's for Dinner?

The boys have always loved playing with toy kitchens. I don't know what it is about them, but they just love them. We have talked off and on about getting them one, but with the price tag of new, inability to find any quality used one and the amount of space they take up, we've just never have gotten one. Until this week, when the boys' school put 2 of their kitchens up for sale... for $10!!! Yes, $10! For that price, I don't care how much space it takes up! That was just a deal we couldn't pass up. Did I mention it was only $10? For this!

They were so excited, and have already gotten so much more than $10 worth of fun out of it. I just love finding smokin' deals!

Swimming Lessons

The boys started their swimming lessons this weekend. We really should have gotten Joshua in swimming lessons a year or so ago, but sometimes it's just hard for us to get our act together and do these kinds of things. But we finally got them signed up, and since they are both beginning swimmers, we went ahead and enrolled them in the same class. They are taking the City of Chandler swimming lessons at Hamilton Aquatic Center. They are in the Tadpoles class, where they learn basic beginning swimming skills, like front and back float, kicking and entering and exiting the pool safely. They both did a good job and had a lot of fun.

Next year we hope to get through 2 more rounds of swimming lessons for them, in the hope that we can be floaty free by the end of next summer!

The pool opened to the public right after the lesson ended, so we thought we would stick around and have some swimming time before heading home. Hamilton is so cool! They have an enormous kiddie pool with a water slide, tire swing and shower sprayer. We all had a great time swimming and playing. It's nice to know we have such a fun swimming facility so close to home. I'm sure we will be frequent visitors for many summers to come!

Put a Ring on that Finger, Boy!

Ms. Victoria (Benny's teacher): Is Hannah your girlfriend? Are you going to marry her?

Benny: No, I'm going to marry Maddy Nillen (his main squeeze in his class)

Maddy (coming over to give Ben a hug): Do you want me to make you some dinner, Benny?

Andrew:Put a ring on that finger, boy!

Sucker Punch

My kids are huge fans of the ABC summer show Wipeout. It's just plain ol' fun watching people run through obstacle courses and fall in mud and water. I learned on Tuesday that the Sucker Punch is Ben's favorite part of Wipeout. It's a big wall that, well, punches you. Like this:

No one ever makes it past the Sucker Punch and they always end up in the mud pit below. Ben was watching, and decided he wanted to play the Sucker Punch too. Here is Ben's Sucker Punch impression:

Happy 4th of July!

We had such a fun 4th of July! For the last couple of years, we have gotten together with our small group for a BBQ and fireworks, and it just couldn't be more fun! The kids were so excited to go swimming and play with their friends. Joshua, of course, took to the water like a little fish. Benny has really discovered his love for the water, and was swimming around the pool with just his floaties and a pool noodle, telling us not to touch him. For only being his second time in the pool this year, and probably 5th time in his whole life, he was doing awesome! Everyone at the party got in the pool. So fun!

We all worked up quite an appetite swimming, so after prying the kids out of the pool, we threw some meat on the grill and feasted on all of the other yummy food everyone brought. One thing no one had to worry about was going hungry!

Mr. Kevin manning the grill.

If there is a car around, that's where Ben will be. Every. Time.

After we were all sufficiently stuffed on all the yummy food, we all went over to the park in our friends' neighborhood where you can see the fireworks from Tumbleweed (minus the crowds and traffic!). Ms. Melinda brought glow sticks for all the kids, which were a huge hit and kept them occupied while we waited for the show to start.

Happy birthday, America!

Bowling! It's Right Up Our Alley!

The marble jar that we were using as incentive for Joshua's good behavior has kind of run its course. It has done its job - we haven't had a negative report from school in quite some time - so now it has been officially retired. But he had one last full marble jar to cash in, so as his reward, we decided to go bowling. We had such a great time! He loved the funny shoes we got to wear...

Here's Joshua's first throw of the ball...much different than pretending with the Wii remote! (Forgive me that the video is sideways. I forgot we couldn't flip a video around)

Turns out the ball was a little too heavy for him to use one hand, so we showed him another way to do it, which worked much better.

We played two games, and Joshua was a very consistent little bowler.

Game 1

Game 2

We had so much fun!

I Do Not Like Them, Sam I Am

Seriously... Could he be any cuter???

Introducing.... Benzy!

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Family Photos

We haven't had a real family portrait taken since Ben was about 4 months old, so needless to say, it was a bit outdated. Over the last couple of years we haven't been super motivated to get some new pictures done, as the kids have gotten some really great pictures taken of them at school for a reasonable price, and as a bonus, we didn't have to be there to deal with it! But this year the school portraits were beyond horrendous, so it forced us to go get our own done. So we FINALLY got some new family portraits today. I'm so glad we did! They turned out so good! We went to Portrait Innovations. The photographer was so amazing, coaxing some precious genuine smiles out of the boys. Here are some of our favorites:

Wild Kingdom

Our house has three new little residents these days. We have become a "safe house" for three little baby birds who have outgrown their nest but are not quite yet ready to venture out into this big ol' world.

The first one was brought over by his mommy on Monday. Andrew noticed the little guy out there after hearing very consistent "peeps" from him all evening. We weren't sure where he had come from, but could tell he was very much a young birdie.

The next day we saw that his little brother had joined him...

...and on Wednesday there was another one still.

On Wednesday our neighbor across the street called us to shed some light on these little guys' history, after seeing us checking out our new little birdie friends. Apparently their nest where they hatched was on his porch. Over the first part of the week, he had watched the mommy bird bring her babies over to our house one by one because they had gotten too big for their nest.

We have been watching them all week. It's more entertaining than television! It's so cool to see Mommy show up with a little tidbit for the babies to eat. As soon as they see her, their mouths pop open. Poor mom. All she's good for is a meal.

It's been so cool to watch them become more confident in their flying, and to see mom try to get them to be proactive about getting their food. At first she would bring the food right to them. But then she stopped doing that. She would instead make sure they knew she was there, but then would make them come to her to get it. She's also been trying to get them to venture a little further and higher from the porch. Yesterday they were able to make it up to the roof, which looked like quite the feat for them.

These little guys are so funny. They seem to be almost as interested in us as we are in them. When we're looking at them, they stare right back at us as if they are really trying to figure out who these strange people are that keep bothering them. One in particular seems especially interested in us. He'll perch himself on the sill of the window above our door and stare inside at us. And they are SO loud. Not in a disruptive annoying way, but we can hear their peeps plain as day in the house.

It's been so interesting watching our "birdie friends" (as Ben calls them). We'll be sad when they're big enough to go about their way, but we've sure enjoyed the time we've had with them.... it will be nice to clean up all the poop though. Who would have thought that something so small and cute could make such a mess!

Cake Wrecks Book Signing

I have been a long time reader of the blog Cake Wrecks. It is this hilarious site with photos of professional cakes gone "horribly and hilariously wrong." The pictures themselves could make the blog work, but the commentary that goes along with it is absolutely side-splittingly funny. So my sense of humor. The history of this blog is amazing. It started out as something the writer, Jen Yates, did for fun and only told a couple friends about it, but over the last 2 years it has taken the internet by storm. If you haven't checked it out, go there. Now.

Around Christmas time, a lot of her posts and some never-before seen photos were compiled into a book, and her and her husband John have been touring the country promoting their book. Last night they stopped at Changing Hands bookstore in Tempe, and my dear friend Jen and I decided to go check it out. What a great time! We met up for dinner at Wildflower Bread Company and then headed over to the show. We were super early and got amazing seats. Because we got there so early, it gave us plenty of time to talk and catch up. We just don't get to see each other often enough, and chatting on FB just isn't the same. I think we could have been there all night! So fun!

Before the show started, I went into the restroom and ran into Mrs. Cake Wreck herself and was able to chat with her for a few minutes. It was so nice to see what a truly, genuinly nice person she is. We bonded a bit over our mutual love for Disney.

The show was great. Started off with a slideshow of all of their favorite wrecks, all of which we had seen before, but it was fun to hear the backstory of some of the most popular posts (naked mohawk baby carrot jockies, anyone?).

At every book signing they do a Wreckplica contest, where you bring in a cupcake sized replica of your favorite wreck. I had totally planned on entering the contest, but then plain ran out of time over the weekend. Bummer! But I couldn't have competed with some of those entries anyhow!

When it was our turn for the signing, Jen Y (who has voted for my cupcakes in the contest!!!) wrote "Vote for Brenda!" in my book, showing her support. :)

Jen and John were so nice and personable. While Jen was signing books, John went around mingling with the crowd. Here he is eating a cupcake with a fork, which I just found funny. I wonder if he eats a snicker's bar with a knife and fork?

And of course I had to get my photo taken with them both!

The only disappointment of the evening was that I didn't get any photos of my friend Jen and I together. I always forget that kind of stuff! I guess that just means we'll have to get together again very soon, right?

Memory Verse: Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future."

Memory Verses

A few weeks ago, our church did a sermon series called "D6". It covered the scriptures contained in Deuteronomy chapter 6, which instructs us as parents in how to bring up our children knowing the Lord. Each week we had a homework assignment - to memorize a verse of scripture. Joshua has the best memory out of anyone I know, so we figured that this would be a good time to start teaching him some memory verses. Our first verse was Deuteronomy 6:4:

Hear O Isreal, the Lord your God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul and with all of your strength."

We worked on it for just a few minutes every day and by Tuesday he had it down perfectly. Ben didn't really seem interested, but we kept including him in the recitation, where he would proceed to just stare at us. One evening that week when putting him to bed, Andrew asked Ben what his bible verse was. Ben blurted the verse out verbatem. We were shocked! Turns out he had been paying very close attention and just wanted to wait until he could do it all by himself. Silly boy!

We have decided to keep this going every week. Here are the other verses we have learned so far:

Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord Collosians 3:20

Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things, there is no law.Galatians 5:22

They have been doing such a great job memorizing their scriptures, and can keep them all sorted out in their heads. What has been so great about this is that not only are the kids benefitting from this, but we are too! We have learned these verses right along with the kids. And it challenges us to find new scriptures to memorize, which encourages us to spend a little more time in our bibles.

I hope to post our memory verses here every week. I figure it's a good place to keep our list of what we've learned and when we learned it. I'd love if anyone out there would like to learn them along with us.

Cupcake Contest - Vote for Me!

My sweet friend Nancy suggested to me that I enter Joshua's birthday cake into a cupcake contest. I so appreciate the vote of confidence from her! I'm not sure if my little cupcakes would be worthy of winning anything, other than the approval of a 5 year old, but I figured I had nothing to lose in giving it a try. So consider this a shameless plug to ask you to vote for me. Just click here to vote. You can vote daily through June 27th. The winner gets a $100 Visa Gift Card and 24 cupcake toppers. Please also ask all of your friends to vote. I would realy appreciate it!