4th of July '10

Happy 4th of July to all! Today we spent the day at Cindy's with Ben's family. This is pretty much the way we spend every 4th, which is fine by me since I'm a tradition type of girl. I remember Ben and mine's first 4th of July together. We weren't dating yet, we just really enjoyed each others company. We made a chocolate-swirl cheesecake together and took it out to his Grandma Jean's. This was my first real time to meet all of his family. As a child my family never really did fireworks, Ben's, however, has a lot of fun with it. That was 13 years ago and here we are, still celebrating at his family's with lots of good food, good fun, and explosives. :) Colt, however, does not yet see the fun in the fireworks. The poor guy was outside for about 2 minutes and he was done. I took him inside to watch from the living room. He kept saying, "too loud" and then he would yell "bang, bang!" Grace had a great time and Ben just loves to have someone to shoot off little fireworks with. He got her some really cute fireworks that looked like ladybugs and he even got me a frog one. It was a great 4th of July weekend. I am so thankful for all that this holiday means to me and my my family, as well as to our country as a whole.

In The Hood

The other day Ben bought a new welding hood. Before he could take it to work the kids got a hold of it. They had more fun with that hood. It was so funny to watch them try and walk around with it. The hood probably weighed more than their whole heads do. lol
I love little moments like these when the simplest things can bring such joy.

Colt Turns 2!

I can hardly believe it, but the boy is two! It seems like he should still be a baby, not such a big boy. The only thing left of him that resembles a baby is his chubby little hands and fat feet. :) We sure do love this little guy. Some of the special things I want to remember of this time is his sweet syrup kisses (syrup which he calls pancakes), his fascination with Ben's tape measures, his love of brushing his teeth, and how when we say "I love you" he replies back, "too." There is so, so much more, but for now I will focus on recalling his second birthday. We celebrated at First Lutheran on the playground. It's the perfect spot and fenced in, so he can't run off. We got a giant bouncy for the kids, of which Colt was not fond off. A friend of mine made him a monster truck pinata. I thought for sure he would be devastated to smash his truck, but no, he loved it. It was such a hot day, but we had plenty of ice water and watermelon, so it didn't seem so bad. Ben's step-brother, Zac, had graduated hi school just a could of days prier, so we had a celebration for him as well. Zac chose a vanilla cake and I made Colt Chocolate cake balls, a family favorite. It was a great party with a lot of wonderful family and friends. I can't think of a better way to celebrate this wonderful boy.



Grace and Brady on the bouncy.


With uncle Jake.


Getting ready to break the pinata!


On his new bike!


Zac with his graduation cake.


Colt's cake balls.


Happy birthday sweet boy! We love you!!!

Grace's 6th Birthday

We celebrated Grace's birthday this year in typical Grace fashion, lots of sprinkles, cakes, and fun. We had two simple family gatherings where we had cake and ice cream and then Grace had her first official "friend" party at Skate World. This year Grace is really into Zhu Zhu Pets; which is basically a mechanical hamster. Luckily for her, she pretty much cleaned up in the toy hamster arena and could not have been happier. She also got some great things like a new bike and a Nintendo DS. She also got some really cute clothes, which she loves! It amazes me at the beautiful young woman she is becoming. She is such a wonderful sister to Colt and friend to all.
~Grace, we love you so much! Happy birthday to you sweet baby girl!~



#1.
Red Velvet cupcakes at Skate World


The birthday girl! She loved skating and I was so proud of her, even after falling (a lot) she still kept on. I think she may have a talent for roller skating. -Which she gets from her mother by the way. ;)


With her friends at Skate World


#2.
On her actual birthday day. I took her to the grocery store and let her pick out a little cake and ice cream for a special birthday dessert. -She chose cookies and cream ice cream with a white cake. We jazzed up the top of the cake on our own. :)


#3.
Birthday at Grandma Cindy's.
Grace helped decorate her own cake. This time she chose confetti cake.


Her new bike.


Grace and her daddy. I know people say Grace looks like me, but I think there is a little more than a slight resemblance here.


We ended the birthday festivities with an annual tradition. Grace and I get out her baby book and talk about the wonderful time which was her birth. I was and continue to be amazed that I get to be her mom. Ben and I both realized how blessed we are. It was a great celebration for a great girl and I can't wait to do it all again next year.

Dance Recital '10

A little while back was Grace's dance recital. Her class does a little bit of tap and a little bit a ballet. It's really sweet and Grace enjoys it. This years recital was especially fun since Madelyn is taking classes as well. It was great to get to see both girls having such a good time. We could not be more proud of both of them!