My Little Graduate!!

Benjamin has officially graduated from preschool. I scoffed when the teacher counseled us to bring tissues to the graduation ceremony. I should have listened. The whole thing was so adorable. They wore sashes, (rather than mortar boards which made the whole ceremony seem a bit beauty-pageant like, but were so much easier to deal with!) marched down the isle, sang a few songs, and received their diploma. Then came the part they all really wanted - punch and cookies. Benjamin did great. You could tell he was so happy and proud. My little boy is growing up.


I don't know how well you can hear his teacher in this video. As each child stood up to get their diploma, the teacher read off some of their favorite things and what they want to be when they grow up. For Benjamin she read, "Benjamin's favorite color is blue. His favorite book is The Little Groundhog. His favorite food is chocolate chip cookies. His favorite activity in preschool is the space shuttle. He wants to be a scuba diver when he grows up." Other occupational choices among his classmates included: ninja, king, bear hunter, crocodile hunter, and cash register girl. I really love the school he's attended. They are very loving and kind but run a tight ship and the kids really respond well. I also am amazed how well they learn the quirks of each individual and work so well with each child's needs. I hope he enjoys Kindergarten just as much.

We've Come A Long Way

We've come a long way from this:


Check this kid out! He scored two goals last week and he's becoming such a determined soccer player. I'm so proud of him. It's really fun to watch.





In addition to soccer, we had a pretty fun last couple days. We decided to go to Nankin Mills Nature Center which we'd never been to before.


It was recommended by a friend and it's close, so we checked it out. It was pretty cool and it was free which is even better. It was formerly a mill on the Rouge River, owned by Henry Ford. Now it's a museum/nature center. They had Michigan native snakes and turtles and fish on the first floor, and tons of historical pictures and artifacts on the second and third.


The animals were cool, but we passed this guy on the way in, so seeing them behind glass was a bit anti-climatic.


It was very interesting to learn about Henry Ford some more. What an amazing man. He was friends with Thomas Edison and President Hoover and they had pictures of them sitting around on lawn chairs chatting. How cool would that be? They also had replicas of Native Americans that lived in the area long ago. They looked so real that I startled as I walked around the corner and saw them. The only bummer during the trip was that all the voice recordings that were supposed to describe the displays were broken. Benjamin wanted to show that fact in his picture.


Of course, what trip would be complete without water?!


So we spent forever at the bridge and later, as I was getting Christian in the car, they jumped a fence and sloshed through ankle-deep mud down to the river itself. Never go anywhere without a change of clothes (and shoes!) with my kids.

Today we went to the Passport to Safety put on by the local police and fire departments. It is a yearly event we always attend. The kids get to sit on police motorcycles, get in ambulances, fire trucks, swat cars, and get lots of free stuff.



Benjamin said he liked the ambulance best. He spent a good 20 minutes in there quizzing the paramedic on everything he saw. We also rode the shuttle golf cart around and around the parking lot. We'd gotten a great parking spot, so we didn't need the shuttle, but the kids wanted to ride it anyway, so we did. Benjamin was also insistent that he get his picture taken with Sparky the Fire Dog.


It was funny how excited he was about it! "Let's go see Sparky and say hi! I want to talk to him. Although, I bet he'll only bark since he's a dog." With the Easter Bunny he was totally onto the scam, but Sparky was a different story.

Throughout all these trips, this is Christian:


He's such an easy kid to have around. Just had to be careful to keep his little bald head in the shade because he refused to allow me to put a hat or sunglasses on him. But he loved the sights and smiled at everyone. So fun! So happy for nice weather and fun things to do.

Happy Birthday Isabella!

Isabella turned 3 today! We celebrated with 3 days of festivities. Saturday we went to Greenfield Village to ride Thomas the Train.


They also had many other activities for the kids, like magic shows, tents with games and train tables, and a fun race track with pedal powered cars and tractors.


Of course, my kids always love the carousel and the horse drawn carriages.



Sunday was Mother's Day, so I got some recognition too, but we sang to Bella in Nursery and we spent the afternoon at the park. Then today we had cake and opened presents right when the kids woke up. They had been so excited about the birthday that they both went to bed with their outfits on so they'd be ready! She mostly got Disney princess stuff because she's crazy about "girly things" as she calls them. She also got a princess cake. I'd taken Bella to the store to pick out her birthday cake and she passed up the $40 Disney princess cake with all the princesses on it and chose the $6 Belle cake. Gotta love that girl.


Then we went to a farm and spent nearly the whole day there. Bella got to ride a horse, milk a cow, bottle feed pigs and goats, hold kittens, chicks, and ducklings, and go on a hay ride. She had a wonderful time. I was proud of her for being so brave. Some of those animals were very big but she showed no fear or hesitation. She's a tough girl.




Benjamin had a blast too.




For dinner, Bella chose to go to IHOP because she loves the pancake with the face made of fruit and the yogurt hair that she can design. It's where she wanted to go for her second birthday too. Look at how little she looked just one year go!


However, they'd run out of ice cream so they couldn't give her a birthday treat. When asked what she'd like to have instead, she decided on Mac'n Cheese! So they brought out a bowl of mac'n cheese and sang to her. She was all smiles.

Christian entertained himself by sucking on lemon wedges. We gave him one just as a joke to watch his reaction, but he loved it! He happily sucked on lemons throughout dinner. Even when Benjamin was messing around and one of those large coffee pitchers (which are behind him in the picutre) fell on Christian's head, we simply handed him another lemon and he instantly stopped crying, laughed, and happily went on sucking. I should always keep a lemon in my diaper bag!



This evening, as the birthday finale, Bella got a big girl bed with (what else?) princess sheets and her own room back. We'd had Benjamin and Bella share a room while Christian was little and waking up a lot at night. But now that they're all sleeping through, it made more sense to have a boy's and a girl's room. Mostly for the fact that Bella is a chatterbox and would keep Benjamin up every night with her incessant talking. He'd come out each night multiple times declaring, "Bella's STILL talking!!" So, tonight she chattered and sang to her heart's content while the boys snoozed. It worked out beautifully. She was also so excited to not have to share a closet with anyone. All the more room for beautiful dresses.

Happy Birthday Bella! You are a beautiful girl, inside and out. We love you so much.

I Love You Enough for Both of Us

I've talked to enough moms of teenagers to know that likely, at some point, my children will tell me that they hate me. Not that they really do, but the tension of the moment would drive them to say it. I expected it. However, when it came today, I didn't expect it. Isn't 4 a bit early?

Benjamin wasn't a big fan of the dinner I'd made. So after he'd eaten only a small portion of it, he started to play with a balloon Bella had received as an early birthday present from a friend at church. I asked him to put it away and continue eating. He did, but within a few minutes, he was back at it. So I warned him that if he didn't put it away, I would take away his dinner and he wouldn't get dessert. Within moments the balloon was back, so away went his dinner and his hopes for something tastier down the line. He was livid! He started screaming and crying. He threw the balloon at me and then he went over to the coloring supplies and wrote this:


The arrow in the word hate is his way of tying the two parts together. He originally thought that another letter needed to go in there, so he left a space to be filled in later. However, I, not wanting to miss a lesson opportunity even in such a situation, reminded him of the rule that the silent E makes the A say "AY" and that no other letter was needed. So, he drew the arrow, to ease my eyes from one part of the evil word to the other and to facilitate my understanding of his venomous feelings towards me. ;) Then he read it out loud to me, crumpled up the paper, and threw it at me. That's when he ended up in his room until bed time.

So, I guess another milestone has been reached. A little early mother's day present to me. :)

This morning, as we sat at breakfast, I looked out the back window to see this, the reason why we can never get our garden to grow:


No amount of fencing can keep these guys out. We've decided to just forget it and go to farmer's markets instead. Although, I read an entry in a friend's blog who has the same problem, and I thought her daughters' idea was adorable. Maybe I'll get Benjamin to write a note for me....this time with some of that anger directed at the rabbits.

So Cute!

Some moms may disagree with me, but I think there is no cuter baby than Christian. He is the smiliest, happiest baby I've ever known. Smiling his big one-tooth grin. He is laughing all day long and is so easy to entertain. I adore this little guy. We enjoyed the spring weather today and spent the afternoon at the playground. Christian sat happily on his blanket, playing with grass and leaves and Benjamin's sunglasses. When I picked him up and put him on the swing or took him down the slide, he laughed his adorable baby laugh and Benjamin said, "Our baby has the cutest laugh! There's no baby that's cuter." I fully agree, Benjamin.