Wednesday, April 28, 2010

This past weekend was full of activities for me and the family. Some of you may know that I joined the Lake Charles Junior League this past year...and I have been busy keeping up with my Provisional (first) year. Last Saturday was our class project - Day by Day - Autism Awareness, which was held at the mall. We had speakers, different agencies that offered resources, counseling, etc... activities for the kids, samples of foods that were considered "helpful" to kids with GI issues (gluten free, casein free)...and lots of other things. The event was a success - lots of people showed up and I feel (and hope) that we helped people. Last night was out last provisional meeting (hoot, hoot!), and we celebrated with a Mexican themed fiesta. Above is a shot of me and Ashley on the way home from our meeting (in the Bluffs?).
Day by Day - Autism Awareness 2010
We also had our annual family crawfish boil at The Pearce's on Saturday afternoon in Alexandria. All our family was there, and we (and the kids) had tons of fun!!! Benjamin is getting harder and harder to keep up with these days - running, climbing, jumping and getting into pretty much everything. One of his favorite things to do at the party was to rummage through the ice chest, grabbing cokes, waters, ice, etc...
CRAWFISH!!!
Group shot, hard at work



Benjamin was just attacked with silly string by his sweet cousin Virginia (with Uncle Seth's help)












Drinking out if the "sprinkler" and eating a popsicle in T-Mark's kayak (another favorite spot)















Virginia, covered in silly string...the kids in the jump, jump having a blast --- with their Nana
Benjamin catching a frog, while still holdiing onto his second popsicle of the day
After everyone ate and visited, the cousins had our ultimate frisbee event. We have been doing this for years every time we have a family gathering --- and it is all out war!! First to bleed loses, tackles are ok, no one is off limits kinda war...Last year Uncle Mark literally ran into a bird house on a metal pole (bent the sucker to the ground), so the "old" folks had to sit out this year. I have to admit, because of my soccer games this season - I felt ok the next morning:)

Check out those GUNS!! Me, Jenny and Jaime being silly
Gang of cousins, just relaxing after our all out ultimate frisbee game...Seth is still sore

Monday, April 19, 2010

Jonah and the Whale




I think Benjamin may have read the story of Jonah and the Whale with his Nana this weekend...


Sunday, April 18, 2010

Crafting, Date Night and the Nana

My mom (Ben's Nana) came to visit this weekend. So did Emily, Jason and the kids - Ben was in heaven! Friday night, after a fabulous craft get together (Thanks Kales!), Seth and I met Em and J, Jared and Jaime, and James and Erica at the movies to see Date Night...very, very funny!! Saturday morning my mom brought Ben to Trinity to play while Em and I worked out (she is a slave driver!), then it was off to lunch with Virginia and Owen. After a great nap (that only included Ben...picture me and Seth sweating outside in the heat planting flowers and fixing up Ben's playground), we headed to the park splash pad for some fun! I shouldv'e brought my camera, because Benjamin was THE cutest kid there with his little bug suit and sun hat (I am biased, but I am pretty sure I would have picked him as the cutest even if he wasn't my baby). After a large and very yummy ice cream sandwich, we headed home for dinner, bath and bedtime. This morning we went to church (did much better than last week) and we are headed back to the park for the duck race this afternoon. I love the weekends where we have no real plans, and can just relax and enjoy!

Monday, April 12, 2010

And then there were THREE!!

Three teeth...that's right! We now have three teeth, two on the bottom and one on the top - this new tooth (which Benjamin will proudly point to but refuses to actually open his mouth to show anyone) is accompanied with lots of snot and drool (just like the good 'ol days).

Friday, April 9, 2010

Easter Pics

We had a wonderful, relaxing Easter weekend in Lake Charles. The bunny came bright and early Sunday morning....Benjamin snuggled with us in bed (Seth's favorite thing to do since we moved Ben to his crib to sleep) and looked through his basket full of goodies.
We went to mass at the cathedral and saw lots of our sweet little friends in the cry room (we were in there pretty much the entire second half of mass) and our favorite photographer, Mr. Morris. After mass we ate lunch, took a nap, then went to our Gran C and Poppa Scott's house for an easter egg hunt!
At this point, Benjamin was practically a pro at "hunting" eggs...and...he knew that there were always surprises (cheerios, yogurt raisins, etc...) in the eggs.
Finally Benjamin got to try his very first chocolate bunny after dinner...YUMMY!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

A Tale of Two Cousins Pictures - Part 2

This is the end of the day group shot (minus Matthew who did not make it in time)...Even though they all look a bit tired and, in Ben's case, upset; we had a great day playing!! Owen, Virginia, Benjamin and Asher
Ben and Matthew being silly
Peekaboo!! Owen LOVED the tent...and loved to peek through the mesh
Virginia and Benjamin had an egg hunt in our backyard...
After the egg hunt we put all the eggs in Ben's new sandbox and played...Virginia scooped the eggs up with her shovel and put them in Ben's basket...Ben then took the egg out...and repeat. We need a little sand here Uncle Seth!!!
Just a swinging...and cracking each other up
Even Gracie had a good time with all the kids -- she got a doggie bone from each of them!!! Lucky day Gracie!!
Ben and Virginia shooting hoops
A sweet girl with a silly lamb - Ben's Auntie M got him this lamb which wags its ears and sings "Baa Barbara Ann" (I am not kidding, the WHOLE song)...Ben and Virginia both love it and dance along...Virginia was particularly taken by this lamb, and she carried it around the house ('cause she was afraid Ben would get it if she put it down).

A Tale of Two Cousin Pictures





Here are some pics of Ben's cousins playing this morning with their Dobby...so cute!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

A Tale of Two Cousins

This week while Emily and Jason are in Toronto (interviewing for his Fellowship) I get to keep Benjamin's two cousins - Virginia and Owen. I have been looking forward to this week for some time now, wondering how the kids will get along and what I will/can do to entertain the group. Today was easy - Virginia and Owen's Dobby and I tagged teamed it....we brought the kids to Trinity's TK's Place (a magical place for kids). They played and played, looked at the fish and the birds and balloons (hanging from the ceiling, on the wall, everywhere) with no meltdowns or even tiny tears. After a yummy lunch, it was naptime for everyone. They are spending the afternoon at their Dobby's house today. Tomorrow I am flying solo all day- wish me luck! Emily, if you are reading this: I will post lots of pictures tomorrow so you can see how happy your sweet babies are. Thank you for trusting me to take good care of Virginia and that sweet baby tiger - she was beautiful and very, very sweet in her pink dress and Owen was an adorable puddle of jello in his blue airplane bubble (so you can picture them playing today).