My sanguine child...

...makes even the dullest tasks more fun.  We were at Winco today and Ben was walking alongside me spreading all his love around.  We passed a woman with a two-year old standing in her cart sporting his footie jams.  Ben's strutting by him with all the independence of a nearly 5 year-old, and smiles up at the kid.  "You look really cute in those jams!" says he.  And all the women in the aisle look around to see this little charmer and his little cup sloppin' over with love, and they laugh.

********

Ben also likes to refer to himself as 'super-cute'.  In the third person.

As in, "Super-cute's gonna wear his new boots today."

It all started with the purchase of some jams that announced 'super-cute' all across his chest.

*********

And lastly.  We have a Cookie Day for Jonah at our school every Wednesday.  The kids can buy cookies and all the proceeds go to Jonah, our 10-year old buddy who was recently diagnosed with leukemia.  This fundraiser has been a confusing concept for the littlest students, as in, how can eating cookies help?  But Ben explained it to me the other day.

"My teacher said that Jonah had a whole lot of cookies.  And his teacher told him that he had to eat them all.  And so he did.  But that made him really sick.  So we are going to eat some of his cookies so he doesn't get sick anymore..."

http://cinnamonrollsandbacon.blogspot.com/

Kayte's first score!

Kayte's first game of the season.  She knocked our socks off.  She may be small in stature, but she makes up for it in spirit.  Her defense was like glue, and you better not just hold that ball anywhere near her grasp or she will fight you for it.  She guarded girls that were head and shoulders taller than her, and if they wanted a shot, they had to work for it.

And the best moment ever.  She shot.  She scored!  First basket ever.  First score. 

...and the crowd goes wiiillllldddd! 

So.proud.

Ben:

Me:  Ben, how much do I love you?

Ben:  I love you one hundred!

Me:  Well...I love you infinity!

Ben thinks a moment and digs in the treasure of his little preschool brain:  Well...I love you on two planets!

Ben plays dress-up...like a boy.

For Ben, dress up is always about being fully protected.  It starts with shorts and two tees (that one he just learned.  Two shirts are better than one.  Findfish rule.)  Then the necktie, to protect the neck.  The boots are necessary, simply because they are his newest item of clothing.  Then shinguards.  Cause it's January and the front of your leg shouldn't show.  These are new to the ensemble.  I don't know how we protected the shins back in November.  I will have to check the archives.

Finally, the super-hero cape, cause that is what he actually is dressing up as.  A super-hero.  It was either that or a cowboy.  Mom's choice.

And when pulling the cape down from the dress-up bin, we spied the fireman helmet, which doubles as face protection.

Now he is sitting across from me, waiting for damsels to find distress.

I can't get enough of this kid.

Sara:

"You know how when you are different ages you have different faces?

And do you remember when it was just Kayte and Will and me, and Ben wasn't even alive yet, he wasn't even in your tummy, you know.....he wasn't even an invention yet?

Well.  That was my favorite face.  I liked that face best."

Oh really?  You mean this one?

You're right Sara, this face is one of my all-time favs.

The LAST DAY of VACATION!

We were all very sad to get up and get going this morning...we've spent the last two weeks being super-lazy and enjoying all our new toys.  No schedule.  Nowhere to go.  Nothing to rush off to, or get pretty for.  It was the best.  But this morning I actually had to wake Will up.  For 17 days he's been up and at 'em early, but somehow today, the first day back at school, I knew he'd still be snuggled up in bed when I got up.  Isn't that just the way?

Anyway.  We were super-fortunate to get a blizzard on our last day of freedom.  I hustled the kids into their snow clothes and we invited ourselves over to the Driskill house where there is a handy little kid-friendly hill just on the corner.

Super-fun!

 

 

This kid.  Not so much a fan of being white-washed on his way down the hill.  He'd really rather be skiing.

(And yes, that's a girl's coat.  It was the handiest one.  He really didn't mind.  Really.)

 

Jem couldn't figure him out.  She was having a great time!

 

These girls are in it for the chit-chat.

Such a beautiful winter day!  Buh-bye Christmas vacation...see you next year!

Epiphany

Tonight we celebrated Epiphany at the Casebolts' with some prime rib and king cake.

Ann decorates in gold and passes out gifts wrapped in gold.  Harper found the dime this year, and she was crowned queen!  Such a beautiful winter night!

Getting closer....

By royal decree:

A Bouquet of Donuts.

A belated nod to our anniversary....Joe knows me so well :)

 

AND...I fixed blogger all.by.myself.

Booyah.

 

...I need to go update my facebook status....haha!

Poo.

Good thing I didn't resolve to only say nice things about google this year.

It's giving me problems again.  No pics.

Argh.

Happy New Year!

So today is the day of new resolutions and reinventing oneself.  Besides the usual health resolutions (lose those 10 holiday, fall, summer, vacation, and general livin-it-up pounds) I actually have a few goals for the year.

1.  I'd like to stick to my Bible-reading plan.  The booklet I have covers the New Testament twice and the Old Testament once.  Last year I gave it a try, but this year, I'm making it a requirement.  And now it is written here in stone, so consider yourself one to hold me accountable.

2.  I'd like to try another half-marathon.  And I'd like to do it under 2 hours.  But mostly, I'd just like to do it.  Crossing the finish line was a feeling like none I'd ever experienced.  And more than anything, it made my husband kinda proud of me, which would drive me all the way through a whole marathon.  Almost. 
Cause that's plain crazy.

3.  Lastly, I'd like to regularly dispense some advice to my kids on paper.  Let me start by saying I'm a bit of a hypochondriac.  I've convinced myself of 4 different fatal diseases in just the last year.  Besides the fact that everytime I drive on the highway,  I'm certain it will be my death.  Rain or shine, I will die in a car accident, but only on a highway at least 2 hours from home.  Otherwise, I'm fine.  Needless to say, I feel like it might be a good idea to tell my kids stuff that I might never get to say to them, for any number of reasons.  Really important stuff.  Or simply the mundane.  Like I really really love 'em, and even when I go totally bananas, I'd turn around in the same moment and not hesitate to die for them. 

Joe bought me 2009 of my blog for Christmas this year.  I haven't made it all the way through yet cause it's fatter by quite a bit than 2008.  But it's a bit of the legacy I want to leave for my kids.  And this will just be a way of adding to it.

So notice taken.  This year, 2013, is all new and fresh, with only today's mistakes on it so far.  Brush off 2012, and every year prior, and start fresh!