Little Benjamin's World

Parent Student Dance

2012-01-28T09:24:00.004-07:00

Last night was the Parent Student dance at Benjamin's school. Doesn't he look so handsome in his suit. He was very excited to wear a real tie, not one of those little kid clip on. Mommy had to look up directions on the internet of how to tie a tie. Isn't my date handsome! He even danced with mommy a few times before his friends got there.

He can really dance. One of the dad's there asked me if he had taken lessons.

Here he is with 2 friends from class.

This little girl kept running over to talk to him every 5 minutes all night long. I fear it is just the beginning....

You can tell the he's really moving.

The boy is just too smart....

2011-12-08T18:28:00.002-07:00

Benjamin can read almost any word that can be sounded out. He already knows all 200 of his sight words that he is supposed to learn by the end of the year. But he does not read very fluently and his comprehension isn't the best. So mommy instated a new rule yesterday. It was a half day and I told him that to get to use any electronic device (tv, computer, DS, Netflix, or Granny's tablet) he would have to read. 1 page for 1 minute. Mommy thought she was being so smart. This way the time he spends looking at the pictures would not count towards tv time. So, Granny took Benjamin to the library to pick out some books. Benjamin picked out his own books. There were very few words on the pages. That way he didn't have to read many words to get his electronic time. Mommy is now going to have to specify that there must be at least 10 words on a page for it to count. I doubt this is going to go over very well. I'm still not sure if he doesn't have good reading comprehension or if he just feels no need to tell you about what he just read to you. With him it could go either way.

Benjamin's Read-a-thon

2011-09-23T17:37:00.003-07:00

This year's Read-a-thon was a Pirate theme. He asked Granny, Uncle Bill, Aunt Krissy, and mommy to sponser him. Benjamin really enjoyed the reading and being read to during the read-a-thon. Last year Benjamin was the most read Kindegardener and was slightly tramatised by the experience, but this year he said he wanted to be most read 1st grader, so him and mommy read. We read 6 - 400 page books (Charlie Bone series) and a lot of little books. Needless to say, Benjamin was the most read 1st grader at 3960 minutes (66 hours) in 2 weeks. He was also the highest money raiser in 1st grade.

This pirate in the back is the new principal, Mr. Miller. He agreed to let the top readers & money earners in each grade throw a bucket of water on him if the school raised $12,000.00. The money is being used to purchase technology for the school, (computers and such I imagine.)

This is all of the top readers & money earners for each grade.

The students raised over $15,000.00...so Mr. Miller got wet. Since Benjamin was top reader & money earner he should have gotten to throw 2 buckets, but they didn't let him. They let the girl in 2nd place throw one of them. He noticed that wasn't fair, but he hasn't gone on too much about it yet...I'm guessing we will be discussing the unfairness of it in a few weeks.

Here he is with the list of top readers. His is the first name by 1st grade.

And here he is with the top money earner list. Benjamin's class was also the top reader & top earner 1st grade class.

Last year we had a little problem with the teacher that Benjamin was assigned to. I had spoken to the principal before summer started and we decided he would have Mrs. Pfeiffer. Then the day before school started he was in the wrong teacher's class. The principal was too busy to speak to me about fixing this mistake, so I did the only thing I could...me & granny went to the district to get his teacher changed. I am sure a lot of parents would not have gone to this trouble, and most people think I was crazy for doing it...But it was the absolute best thing I could have done because Benjamin's kindergarden teacher moved up to 1st grade this year and the whole class got to stay with her. She is a wonderful teacher and he loves to go to school and see her. The parents of her class would like her to move to 2nd grade next year. And so would the kids.

That is probably because this is what she was willing to dress up like for the assembly today...notice what the teachers behind her are wearing. Who wouldn't love her.

Kenzie, I think this is Mr. Hardy as a cowboy pirate.

Reading

2010-05-20T20:32:00.003-07:00

Well, I just have to share the news with everyone..........Little Benjamin read his first book tonight!!!!! He's so proud of himself. He will be starting kindergarten in the fall. He can't wait. He really wants to read books. Mommy is so proud of him. We called Granny, Aunt Krissy, Uncle Bill, Papa, and my friend at work to let them all know he read a book. If I could think of anyone else to call, I would.

Christmas...

2009-12-25T19:24:00.000-07:00

Benjamin and Austin were both pleased...

And so was Missy these are size 9 junior jeans...I would be glad if I could wear them also...

No need for reverse.....we just pick it up and turn it around....Benjamin did find the reverse finally...

Can you imagine them at 16...

Benjamin wanted to drive his car from my house to his...3 miles...He said he had a drivers license...Austin told him he did not...Benjamin said yes I do I got it at Lego Land last year...They gave him one when he drove the Lego cars...

Christmas at Granny's

2009-12-25T11:47:00.000-07:00

Granny did a good job of picking out an outfit for me. I love the fringe vest.

Benjamin really wanted a race car for Christmas. Granny & Papa got him this red convertible. He says it's just like Granny's car and he loves driving it around.

Santa decided that Mommy needed to have a gaming system for the boy, so he brought a Wii to Granny's house for mommy. I have a feeling that if I tried to return it to the store I wouldn't get anything next year.

And what good would a Wii be with out a new flat screen TV to play it on. I'm not sure where I'm going to put it since I already have 2 TV's.

It's been a good Christmas for the Lawless'. We both made a haul this year. Merry Christmas!!!!!

CHRISTMAS

2009-12-25T08:16:00.000-07:00

Benjamin said that if mommy was really good this year he was sure that Santa would bring her presents. Well, mommy must have been because Santa brought her jerlery.

Benjamin helped mommy open her presents. He was really happy that mommy got a new portable dvd player. I won't let him have a TV in his room, but ever now and then I'll let him use the portable and lay in bed to watch a dvd. But Amanda broke ours in August, so the boy hasn't been able to watch TV in bed at all.

The boy was really good this year. Look at that stocking. It was mostly full of track suits and PJs. But he had fun unwrapping them.

A new bike!!! Santa forgot to get him a pump for the tires. Unfortunately Santa also forgot to put air in the tires. But its ok because Papa has 2 and were going to bring 1 of his home with us.

This is the first of Benjamin's 4 Christmas' today. Next is over to Granny's. Well, its our job to pick up Austin and take him to Granny's, so we better get going. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Look At These Faces

2009-08-22T13:58:00.001-07:00

First, we have the cutest face in the world!!!
And here we have the happiest face in the world.

Happy Day!!!!

2009-07-28T19:02:00.000-07:00

Well, it doesn't take a lot to make us happy here. This is a picture of the bottom shelf of my fridge. This is more milk than we have been able to find at one time this year. Happy days we have milk. At least for the next 2 weeks. And on top of that, it was on sale!!!! Yeah MILK!!!!

Benjamin Doesn't Understand

2009-05-27T21:58:00.002-07:00

Benjamin is really into what is "fair." He told me on the way home today "You get to listen to the radio half the way, then I get to watch my movie the other half." Sharing is fair.

I also heard today how it was not fair that at Sunday School Benjamin Laine got to move to room 4 and Benjamin Lawless is still in room 3. Thankfully this will be rectafied on Monday when "the Benjamins" will be back together in room 4. It is not fair that one Benjamin gets to go to a different room.

Here is Benjamin with his Granny on or last trip to Legoland. We went in April and in May. We took Granny both times.

In fact, we even took her to see Elvis while we were there.

Now, I am sure you are all wondering, what the "fair" has to do with our vacations....Benjamin loves airplanes. Granny got to ride on an airplane yesterday to go on vacation. She did not take mommy and Benjamin. This is not fair. Benjamin takes mommy and granny on his vacations, so he should get to go on Granny's. Granny you are in the dog house! You broke the fair rule.

So Bright

2009-05-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

Little Benjamin said he was hungry. I got him 2 small slices of banana bread. He said he wanted 3 pieces and I told him I would get him another one when he was done. He finished and said he wanted 1 more piece, because he wanted 3 pieces. I gave him 1 more piece and he promptly tore it into 3 pieces. He then proudly told me, "I have 3 pieces now, and I had 2 pieces earlier, so I got 5 pieces." Mommy was just shocked over his addition. He's so bright.

Easter Suite

2009-04-12T12:18:00.000-07:00

Benjamin got a new suit for Easter. He was so hansome. He loved his little clip-on tie.

Here he is posing for a picture in his suit. He's always on the move.

Hunting Easter Eggs

2009-04-12T12:15:00.000-07:00

The boy had 45 eggs to find. He needed 2 baskets to hold them.

He sure did have fun hunting those eggs.

He found them all.

Some had dollars in them. The Easter bunny was good to him this year.

Golfing with Granny

2009-04-12T12:11:00.000-07:00

This is the way to golf.

Granny wasw getting a little scared of the swing.

Easter Egg Coloring

2009-04-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

The boy colored Easter eggs this morning. We bought the coloring kit last night and had to get the delux kit with paint, beads, glue, stickers, sponges to stamp on, and glitter.

He had lots of fun coloring them.

It was a serious job that required lots of concentration.

He was so proud of his work. Then he went to his dad's, and mommy ate one of the eggs for breakfast. Don't tell him. Hopefully he won't miss one.

My Rose Bush

2009-04-11T09:42:00.003-07:00

Here are pictures of one of my rose bushes outside. It is baby roses and has 100-150 roses on it right now. I was thinking I would remove the 2 of them, but I might leave them since they are so pretty and Bruiser uses them for a bath room.

Give away.....

2009-04-09T12:19:00.000-07:00

http://keepsakesbymelissa.blogspot.com/2009/04/my-big-giveaway.html?commentPage=3

I just had to get in on this give away.....

The FREE Beach

2009-03-21T19:28:00.002-07:00

Granny has decided that it is wonderful to have full access to the Val Vista Lakes Clubhouse and all of their amenities. Specifically, the heated pool and the beach. And it is all FREE for her. I on the other hand, pay a nice little mortgage and a hefty monthly HOA fee to have access to these wonderful amenities. Now don't get me wrong, I would not want to live anywhere else. I don't know how anyone could move from here to another housing development and lose all of these privileges. But I'm not calling it FREE! However, Granny doesn't pay the HOA fee or the mortgage, so for her I guess it is free.

Computer

2009-03-21T19:22:00.002-07:00

Well, my computer has been having what I would refer to as "fits" for the last few weeks. It was bogged down with junk and I'm pretty sure I have a minor virus or two on it. So, being the intelligent accountant that I am, I decided to put all my pictures and stuff on a memory stick an wipe my hard drive clean and just start over. After a few minutes on the phone with mom and Billy I was confident I was doing it right. I got done at about midnight. Then I realized that my computer was not recognizing my internet connection. That meant I couldn't download anything I might need. So at 12:30 I went to bed, being the intelligent accountant that I am. And tonight at 6:30 I called Marvin so he could tell me how to fix it. He did. Infact, he said you had to do this last time we wiped the hard drive clean. I had forgotten that, being an accountant. I can use the computer, just not fix it. Oh well, I'm up and running again!

Benjamin's View of the World

2009-02-24T18:31:00.000-07:00

Everyone says that being a child is the best. No responsiblity. However, perhaps adults tend to forget what a child view of the world is. Well Granny let Benjamin take a few pictures with her carmera, and this is what he sees.

It's rough to be so small...

4 year check up

2009-02-04T20:02:00.002-07:00

Benjamin had his 4 year old check up yesterday. When I told him that we were going to the Doctor, he started saying he didn't want to go get shots, they hurt him. He got 4 shots. The doctor asked questions about his development, like does he know his colors, is he potty trained. This whole time Benjamin was talking to me and to himself. Then the doctor got to the question about about speech. When he was 2 the doctor asked if he could put together 3 word sentences, at 3 he asked if he used 5-6 word sentences. I don't know what the question is for 4 year olds. The doctor simply said, "Well, I see we have no problem communication. We can skip these." and he went on to the next question.

4 Years Old Today

2009-02-03T17:57:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it...Benjamin is 4 today. He had his check up and got 4 shots. He did really good and screamed really loud like nurse Tony told him to. He's had a big day. We went out to breakfast with Granny. Then we went to the dollar store and got stuff for goodie bags for Sunday School tomorrow. He loves all his toys. He got a desk and dump truck from Granny and Papa. Kris and the kids got him sand toys (for the beach and he's getting a sand box for Valentine's Day.) Right now Austin and him are using all the toys on Granny's rocks. Her yard guy is going to wonder why there are holes and piles in the rocks. And mommy got him an educational toy and Diego dominoes. But those sand toys and dump truck are the best. Mommy should have put her name on the sand toys and the kids on the educational toy. We were going to go to a move, but the boys would rather stay and play. Mommy did get the best card. It's as big as a book and sings "I like to move it, move it" from Madagascar. My camera was having issues today, so I didn't get very good pictures, but here they are.

PJ's

2009-01-02T20:29:00.002-07:00

Well, since everyone is aghast over the $6-$7 on material I will tell the truth. It was $8 for the material for each set of PJ's. I know that is a lot, but nothing is to good for my boy. Now prepare to be stunned. Little Benjamin has to drink soy milk, this is due to his stomach issues. He drinks a half gallon a day, also due to the stomach issues. However, since it is sold in half gallon's this makes the math on how much it costs very easy. The brand he drinks is the same one that Austin drank when he was little. It used to be sold at Walmart. About 6 months after Little Benjamin started drinking it, Walmart stopped selling it. So I could get it at 3 grocery stores. The cheapest always had it ON SALE for $2.99 a HALF gallon, cost of about $90 a month. The second cheapest had it for $3.59 a HALF gallon, cost of about $108 a month. In December, these two stores stopped selling it. There is only chain grocery store in all of the east valley that still sells this brand. I'm glad you are all sitting down, because I will now be paying $4.59 a HALF gallon, a cost of about $140 a month. For MILK. I know that cow milk has gone up in the last year or so, but I now pay over $9 for a gallon of milk for my son. I spend more on milk than Krissy does with 4 kids. So, $8 for material for PJ's sounds down right reasonable. I can't get a gallon of soy milk for that. And the only thing I can think is "thank goodness someone still sells it. I need to call and put in a standing order." Yesterday, I had to go to 2 different store locations and only got 5 half gallons. I'll have to go back by Tuesday, because we will be out of milk.

Well, I called the store and they said they could special order me a case (6) every week and they would call me when it got in. And they would give me a 10% discount on a case. YEAH!!!!!!!!! It has been a good day.

So thankful

2008-12-18T18:41:00.002-07:00

Well, yesterday Aetna (my employer) laid off 3% of their employees. 1000 people got pink slips a week before Christmas. And I'm THANKFUL that I was not one of them. In fact, I didn't know anyone who got laid off. I'm lucky to have such a good job.

Wednesday...

2008-12-17T08:53:00.000-07:00

It is still raining here...I do not know what the problem is but we should not be having rain.... It has even made my outside decorations fog up!

Melissa and Benjamin decorated the tree for me last night..I was glad to get it done...The Grand kids all made me a hand print for the tree last year they are displayed predominate on the tree and up high so nothing will happen to them... I have three more gifts to wrap...

I have made two cinnamon rings. One is in the oven now. I need to take it to Lilly since she did my hair for me yesterday...on a moments notice..

For Mom

2008-09-08T19:25:00.002-07:00

I only took about 35 pictures of Austin's game. My theory on taking pictures is get a good camera and take as many as you can and at least a few will be good. At Billy's wedding I took almost 500 pictures. I know we got at least 15-20 good pictures. If you want to complain, next time I will keep all the good ones and just send you ones that look like this.

Guess who's headless body this is...
Can you see his legs?
I got the back of his head in this one. Remember...BEGGERS can not be CHOOSERS!!!!!!!! and that reasonable tempatures for you to sit outside in for 2 hours are still at least 3 months away.

Chuck E Cheese

2008-09-07T20:57:00.003-07:00

Granny told Benjamin Friday that mommy was taking him to Chuck E Cheese. So we went after Austin's football game. They sure did have fun at the games and on the rides.
The pizza was good. Well, good may be an over statement, but it's so much better than it used to be.

FOOTBALL

2008-09-07T20:40:00.005-07:00

Austin had his first football game on Saturday. They won 12 to 6. Benjamin and I went to watch. His outfit was so big on him. He is, of course, one of the littlest ones.

It is flag football and they can body check each other, as long as they don't use their hands. So they make fists and put them on their chest and then run into each other. I would have thought flag football was no contact, but it isn't.

It was really hot. But I think he had a good time. Even though he said he perfered soccer. Granny wanted me to send her some pictures to post of his game, but I think she should have gone and sat in the 100 heat if she wanted pictures. That's what we did. I'm sure she will just steal these and post them on her page.

Sleep over

2008-09-01T17:51:00.003-07:00

Last night Granny surprised us by showing up at our house. Benjamin said that we could have a sleep over. He was so excited to have a sleep over with Granny. This is what they did for the first part of the sleep over. Laying in Mommy's bed watching mommy's TV. Notice that there is no mommy in the bed. Mommy was working on matching up all of Benjamin's size 4 clothes so he can be a handsome boy. Then Benjamin laid in Granny's bed with her and she told him stories and sang songs. He really liked that part.

1st Friends Birthday Party

2008-09-01T17:08:00.003-07:00

Today Benjamin went to his first Birthday party for freinds. Kaidon and Karson turned 4 today and had their party at Chuck E Cheese. Benjamin had a great time playing games and watched them open their presents without complaining that he didn't get any.

Kaidon and Benjamin flying a space ship. We think we might need to have our Birthday party at Chuck E Cheese and invite our Sunday School class too. It was great fun and everyone was very nice.

Benjamin's Kids

2008-08-21T05:07:00.002-07:00

Well, Mom's in the shower and Benjamin says "I'll get up in a few minutes." I explained we had to get up to go to the airplane and see his kids. He's too tired to care right now. We will be leaving in about 20 minutes. Then off to the airport we go. We are all so excited to see the kids. Once Benjamin wakes up he will be the most excited.

Granny's Birthday

2008-08-17T19:35:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow is Granny's birthday, so we took her out for breakfast today at our good breakfast spot. Andrea, our good waitress was there. She sat down and asked us how we were and apologized if the service was going to be off, because she was pretty sure she was still a little drunk. Well if that was bad service from her, it is still better than the service we get anywhere else. Benjamin had pancakes and toast with jelly. I had eggs, ham, toast, and pancakes. Granny had toast. That was all. Just toast. Oh well, Benjamin and I enjoyed Granny's birthday breakfast.

Then she made an angel food birthday cake for all of us to enjoy. We've had a good time celebrating her birthday today.

We are fine

2008-08-15T21:55:00.003-07:00

Benjamin is fine. We have been spending a lot of time at Granny's, so mommy hasn't been blogging. Benjamin had a great day. Austin and him went to Peter Piper Pizza and then Austin got to spend the night. And in just 6 days he will get to fly on an airplane and see his kids. Mommy has to pack up all the stuff we have to take to Kris'. We only get 6 bags to check and 3 carry on's. I hope it all fits.

Friends

2008-08-01T20:43:00.002-07:00

We got to have a friend spend the night tonight. We went to Peter Piper Pizza for an early dinner. The boys had a blast. I didn't take pictures since it was just me and them keeping up with a camera is just too much trouble. Keep one eye on each of them is challenging enough. They sure do have a good time together.

3 weeks old

2008-07-31T18:44:00.002-07:00

This is just the saddest little picture mommy has. He was 3 weeks old and had to be on breathing treatments every 3 hours. They say that babies that young can't get sick if you nurse them. Well, they are wrong. He was on breathing treatments for 2 weeks.

Seems Like Yesterday

2008-07-30T21:08:00.005-07:00

Just days old.As we left the hospital.
Now you see them...
Now you don't!

Erin the time just flies by. It seems like just yesterday...

A Better Day...

2008-07-29T20:01:00.002-07:00

Today we had a better day. We didn't cry when mommy left. Tonight we are spending the night with Granny. We had sloppy joe's for dinner. Benjamin loves katchup. So, mommy told him it was a meat and katchup sandwich. He wolfed it down. We wouldn't let him have anything else for a while, because we were afraid he would throw up since he and eaten so fast. Tomorrow will be a good day.

Monday

2008-07-28T19:55:00.002-07:00

Well, the weekend is over. The boy had a rough day. He really missed mommy and cried for her several times. Poor baby. I think he really enjoyed spending the weekend with mommy and didn't want mommy to go back to work. He's such an angel boy. He just got to sleep. Now mommy is going to be.

Celebrate

2008-07-26T21:55:00.003-07:00

We got to out out and celebrate tdoay. We took our "friend" Austin to Peter Piper Pizza. It was a fun day. Papa is a sucker and bought extra tokens because Austin used all his and Benjamin still had some and Austin suckered Papa into buying them more tokens. They were both such good boys.

Feeding Ducks

2008-07-23T21:59:00.002-07:00

We went on Sunday and fed the ducks. Granny went with us, but after a few minutes she had to go back to the car where it was cool. He loves going to feed the ducks. He just loves animals that have no interest in bodily contact.

Another Beautiful Song

2008-07-23T20:01:00.003-07:00

He learns such beautiful things at Sunday School.

Austin

2008-07-21T20:17:00.003-07:00

Austin got to come over last night for a couple of hours. Little Benjamin loves for him to come over. We stopped by tonight to see if he could come play, but he was at his mom's.

I swear, he doesn't eat at home. They have started making him eat whatever they have for dinner and if he doesn't eat it all then he can't have anything else till the next meal. Austin only likes chicken nuggets for meat. S0, Billy, who would only eat STEAK if he could afford it, doesn't exactly make a lot of things that Austin is overly interested in eating. Thus, coming to Benjamin's house is an art in getting to eat whatever he wants. There are endless cups of milk, the soy kind Benjamin drinks and Austin likes, dinners of mac n cheese, ramen noodles, snacks of crackers and cereal. Now don't get me wrong. He has to try everything I make, but if he tries it and doesn't like it, he can eat something else. We have fruit and veggies at our meals. But we can have a snack later if we don't eat all of our green beans. I bet Austin thinks of Benjamin's house as a buffet...

Before anyone gets all bent out of shape, I have to do this because this is how Benjamin eats and it isn't fair for Austin to have to clean his plate when Benjamin doesn't. I can't make Benjamin eat all his food because of his stomach problems. Well, actually I can make him eat it, but then he throws up EVERYTHING he ate for the whole day. Pushing Benjamin to eat is counter productive. Thus Austin gets the same treatment at Benjamin's house. We can't wait for him to come over and visit again.

Sleeping Angel

2008-07-19T20:29:00.002-07:00

This is my sleeping angel. Isn't he perfect! I think his lips look like Little Clayton's. I hate this new blog listing that everyone has. Now to get to the top of Mom's or anyone else's listing I will have to post every day. It was much easier when I set up mom's and Little Benjamin's page was at the top of the list.

Aunt Krissy's Birthday

2008-07-11T21:49:00.003-07:00

Happy Birthday Aunt Krissy. I made you a cake for your birthday.

Happy Birthday Aunt Krissy

2008-07-11T21:03:00.002-07:00

Happy Birthday!!!! Since you weren't here, we had to blow out the candles...

Good Cake

2008-07-11T20:52:00.002-07:00

Aunt Krissy's cake sure was good. Little Benjamin licked his plate.

4th of July at Granny's

2008-07-04T12:52:00.003-07:00

He's a water boy. Soon he will be a little fish. We are spending the day at Granny's and then we are going to spend the night here too. Papa said he would grill steaks for us and by that time it will be late afternoon and the drunks will be on the road, so we will have to spend the night here. Granny's happy to have the company and the boy gets to go swimming after his nap.

Hi Kids!

2008-06-28T20:04:00.002-07:00

The CUTEST thing in the WORLD

2008-06-24T21:46:00.005-07:00

Mommy has no speakers on her computer. I had a couple of sets, but I gave them away. I don't like the speakers because the computer makes noise and I don't want to hear it. We'll I didn't want to hear any noise coming from the computer until today.

Is this not just the cutest little voice in the world. (not that I'm biased or anything) Little Benjamin has learned this song at Sunday School. He enjoys singing it very much. He was being a little shy on the last word. Usually he screams it as loud as he can. We should all be thankful he was being shy.

My camera allows me to take videos. I can then upload the video onto my computer. If I had speakers, I would be able to hear my little angel sing his song. Mommy must get speakers. Maybe Billy has an extra pair. He's the one I gave all mine to. I'll just called and he didn't answer. I bet he's gonna claim he was asleep. It's only 11pm, I don't know why he would be sleeping! I want to hear the angel's voice and I could (even though he's sleeping) if Billy would just wake up and bring me speakers!

A song from Sunday

2008-06-24T21:25:00.003-07:00

Little Benjamin just learned this song on Sunday. He doesn't like the verse that says "Jesus Loves the little children." He's pretty opposed to the word love. I guess it's easy to not like the word love if you know that you are loved more than anything else in the world by mommy.

Mommy was not prompting him on the words at all. He was just having to think about what the next line was. I think it makes it cuter. We've only been singing the song since Sunday. He's so smart to learn it so fast.

My little singer

2008-06-24T20:14:00.003-07:00

He made up the ending on his own. Next we are going to learn "This Little Light of Mine." Well, at least the chorus and the 1st verse. He will like that song. Next time I will turn on the over head lights and hopefully they won't be so dark.

I don't remember singing like this. Once I started recording him, he was having fits to sing more songs on the camera. He almost had an attack waiting for me to download these so that he could sing Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Hopefully the next song will be coming soon. We practice every chance we get. Especially when we are driving in the car.

Water

2008-06-22T19:01:00.005-07:00

Little Benjamin had the hose on the trampoline. Austin was getting squirted but good.
Austin getting his revenge on my boy.
For quite a while, long enough to make the dirt under the trampoline and along the grass a mud hole, I squirted the hose over the top of the trampoline and the boys got to jump in the rain. The neighbor behind us was out cleaning his pool. He said he thought that was the way to jump, with mommy squirting the water hose. He has a real pool. I wonder if he is single or if he has small kids. He seems like a good "friend" to have. Anyone with a pool out here would make a good friend.

Benjamin can put his face in and blow bubbles. Even while laying on to floaties.

They love drinking out of the hose. These two were drinking water like they were camels getting ready to cross the Sahara.

Austin can go under water all the way.
Then he comes back up.

We had to put the pool on the porch in an attempt to have some shade. In the shade it was 111 today. In the sun, it was closer to 120. The boys had a great time. My boy took no nap. He never takes a nap after going to his dad's because he wakes up a couple hours later and doesn't want to nap till a couple hours before bed time, so mommy keeps him up and gets him to bed a little early. He was asleep in minutes tonight. I'm sure Austin was asleep early too.

Pillow Fight

2008-06-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

We went and got Austin on the way home from church. The boys are having fun. They had a pillow fight. Benjamin is having a blast with Austin over. The boys want to jump on the trampoline, but I told them we can't do it till later. It's about 115 outside right now, and it will continue to get hotter for the next 2 1/2 hours. If he's still over, I'll let them get on it with the waterhose. It's so hot right now, the black would burn the bottom of their feet.

Granny was sure that Austin hadn't had lunch, so I fixed the boys a snack of honey bun, breakfast bar, wheat thins with spray cheese, and milk. Austin loved the honey bun and Benjamin liked the breakfast bar and the spray cheese on chips. They are both on their 2nd cups of milk. Austin drank the soy milk Benjamin drinks right now for a long time because milk made him have eczema. He has grown out of it, so his parents quit buying it for him. When I can't find it on sale, it is $8 to $9 a gallon, depending on what store I can find it out. Only 3 grocery stores around here sell it, and Walmart isn't one of them. So, when ever Austin comes over he always asks if he can have some of Benjamin's milk. Usually him and Benjamin will drink 3 or 4 cups each. It is sickenly sweet and smells disgusting, but those two can't get enougt of it.

Cooooooooooooooool

2008-06-22T13:27:00.000-07:00

The super cool boy. He's too cool for his sunglasses. Actually, they are uncle Bill's sunglasses. Little Benjamin was showing off how cool he when Granny was here on Thursday. He sure can strike a pose.

Rock Out

2008-06-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

We love to play our guitar. He rocks out like a rock star. There is jumping and swinging from side to side.

Tonight

2008-06-19T20:23:00.000-07:00

Granny came over to spend the night at our house. The boy is exctied. He's had a fun day. At Sunday School he has learned the BIBLE song. He loves it. Mommy has always sang Jesus Loves Me to him and he would say "No, I don't like." He's now asking to sing it also. He really likes Sunday School. Mommy is glad he can go now that it's hot and no one is sick.

Swimming at Granny's

2008-06-13T18:05:00.001-07:00

The boy sure was having a good time. We are spending the night at Granny's tonight with our cousin Austin. We were going to spend the night so I could go over and clean Kris' house, but it won't be done. Now we have to spend the night because Benjamin and Austin were told we were going to and they have big plans. I told Benjamin to swim in the pool and you can see he sure is a water boy. No FEAR!!!! This is not really a good thing. On the other hand, Austin thinks the water is too cold and doesn't want to get in so he's sitting on the side.

Yoga

2008-06-12T21:46:00.002-07:00

I tried to do yoga tonight. Aparently you need to be very flexible to do yoga, which is to be done to make you flexible. Appears to be a catch-22. Oh well. I'll keep trying. I can't get any worse.

For Erin

2008-06-11T19:54:00.004-07:00

Since you are 36-37 weeks along, I wanted to point out a few things that, should you want them done in the next little while, you need to have them done before little Clayton gets here. Since you only have a couple of weeks, you will need to hurry to get them done.
Moving
Painting
Extensive yard work
Any house remodeling
If you want any of these items done soon, do them now! It is much more enjoyable to sit in a chair and instruct those around you on how you would like them to do these things than it is to have to do them yourself. Once little Clayton is born, everyone thinks you should help with these unpleasant chores. I managed to move, have the yard put in, and paint the playhouse and little Benjamin's room all while pregnant. I sat in a chair and instructed. It was the easiest move into a new house I have ever had. Mom even helped me unpack. It was the only time I remember in recent years that she helped me unpack. Even she felt sorry for me being so huge.

Driving

2008-06-10T15:53:00.000-07:00

Benjamin is ready to drive....

POP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-06-10T15:33:00.000-07:00

Benjamin and his POP. Mommy doesn't let him have pop very often. Today day he got to have an orange Fanta. He loved it. Granny is always giving him sips of her pop or cans of his own. (shame on granny) He sure has enjoyed it. Everyone lets him have pop except mommy. Sometimes he tells granny that he can't have any pop because mommy says no.

Benjamin's Fort

2008-06-09T21:10:00.003-07:00

Mommy made Benjamin a fort a couple of weeks ago. He loved it. He took all of mommy's pillows (7) and put them on the chair, then he climbed on it and told mommy her spot was on the floor. After much protesting on mommy's part, he gave mommy 1 pillow to sit on.

Then he decided he would sit on the floor. Of course all the pillows had to be on the floor for him. We need to do that again soon.

Look at my PJ's

2008-06-08T22:17:00.005-07:00

This picture was taken one day after having taken a bath at his "kid's" house. He didn't have any PJ's so he borrowed some of Amanda's.

Here is a close up of the shirt. Do you see the lavander lace around the arms and neck? It is truely his color. He will appreciate pictures like this when he's older.

True to form, Benjamin is working very hard to uphold his new responsibilities as "favorite grandchild." He went over to visit his granny today. We only stayed about an hour, but he did go over and visit. This is one of the most important things with being the favorite grandchild. You must go visit, often. Preferably several times a week. You have to constantly show up, so they don't change to a different favorite. And you definately can't go and move 4 states away! When you do that, one of those cousins sneaks in and steals your spot.

Grandbabies

2008-06-06T21:37:00.006-07:00

All the Arizona Grandbabies. And I had them in my house for an hour tonight. Jealous mom? I get to keep the redheaded boy overnight. In the morning, I think we will wash the car.

A picture of the See grandbabies.

I didn't get a good picture of Lexi. She looks a little bigger to me. She has a clogged tear duct on her right eye. It is red and watering. Kimmie said the Dr said that if it hadn't fixed itself by 6 months old they would do surgery on it. She's been putting a wet warm wash cloth on it when Lexi eats. Hopefully it will get better soon.

Slip & Slide Fun

2008-06-06T21:25:00.002-07:00

Austin came over to play on the slip & slide today. Benjamin likes to think of it has his personal drinking fountain.

Goodbye pictures

2008-06-06T21:14:00.005-07:00

Papa and his girls.

This is the last picture I got of Granny and her girls. It was Saturday before they left. Micheal was with a friend and Jake was sleeping. Benjamin refused to pose.

This is the goodbye picture that little Benjamin posed for. He refused to give Amanda a hug or a kiss. This is as close as he would get. He's gonna miss her really soon.

Christmas Eve

2008-04-09T21:08:00.002-07:00

He liked granny's present he got to open on Christmas Eve. Maybe tomorrow I'll post some from Christmas morning.

For Mom

2008-04-09T20:51:00.004-07:00

Well, I've determine that no one but mom bothers to stop by my blog anymore. Oh, well. This post is for you, mom. Here are a couple of Christmas pictures of the boys that you haven't gotten to see yet. They liked decorating the tree. (or maybe they were just dancing around it in their underroos.)

This is probably the last year he will fit in his stocking.

Snow

2008-04-01T20:39:00.003-07:00

In January, little Benjamin got to go play in the snow with Austin. They had so much fun. I'll let you guess which part Benjamin thought was the most fun. Austin took his sled up the hill and always started down before getting turned around so he road down backwards on his stomach.

2008-03-30T19:39:00.002-07:00

Benjamin got to play with his "friends" (cousins) all day today. First at Granny's at the baby shower, then he went over to Austin's to play, and then Austin, Billy, and Kimmie came over to his house for dinner. He had a great day. I forgot my camera at home for the shower and I helped Kimmie pull weeds in the front yard for about 2 hours, so I wasn't climbing my stairs until it was bed time and the camera was upstairs. Billy fixed Kris' car. It had a bad fuel pump. If he hadn't been working on her car, I wouldn't have pulled his weeds. They got a letter from the HOA and had to get them pulled. Well, I'm exhausted so I'm going to bed soon.

Easter

2008-03-28T21:12:00.000-07:00

All the kids after the Easter egg hunt.

Reah's husband

2008-03-28T20:35:00.004-07:00

This is Marvin, Reah's husband. He was driving mom's car and found Austin's Batman sunglasses in the glove box and put them on. He said he thought that they went with the car.

New computer

2008-03-28T17:03:00.002-07:00

Marvin told me how to fix my new computer over the phone. It was my birthday present from mom. Reah told her I would want a better present, but mom told her no I was practical and I needed my computer fixed. I told Reah mom was right. Yeah new computer. After I get the boys to bed tonight I will post more. I got Christmas, Birthday, and Easter pictures.

My Pirates

2008-03-28T16:53:00.006-07:00

These are my pirates. Benjamin got to have Austin come over and play tonight. He might get to spend the night. These pictures are for Granny. She wants to see her (my) pirates. At first one wasn't so excited to get his picture take, but he hammed it up on the solo one. I guess he jus didn't want to share the spot light. It's a good thing he's an only child.

Benjamin's 3!!!

2008-02-11T21:15:00.002-07:00

Well on the 3rd the boy was three. He got a 14' trampoline for his birthday. He loves to jump on it. Mommy jumps with him some, but mommy always makes him fall down from the bounces. Mom, Kris, all her kids, Benjamin and I went to Olive Garden for dinner tonight. They have a fantastic peach tea. Little Benjamin loves to go out with his cousins. They are the most fun. Mommy gets a distant 2nd place to them. And Granny scored major points by ordering everyone a hot fudge sundae for desert. She's always so free with money when I'm paying.

Little Benjamin learned a new phrase when he saw his dad on his birthday. "D$%# it." I let it slide the first time or two with just telling him we don't say that it's not nice. But when he said it again last night he has to sit on mommy's lap and listen to how it isn't nice and it hurts mommy and Jesus when he says not nice things and he doesn't want to hurt mommy or Jesus. Then mommy asked who he learned this from. I was expecting one of his cousins. But no, he says Daddy. He says it and then says "I didn't say it." I bet his father was all over him about repeating it.

I have an old computer of Billy's that I need to get set up, mine is pretty old. I'm hoping to do that this weekend and then I can download all my new pictures from Christmas and the boy's birthday.

Saturday...

2008-01-12T15:42:00.000-07:00

Missy took me and Kris and all of her kids out to eat at Joes BBQ...it was good...Missy went home but all of Kris Kid s and her are here sleeping...it is so quiet...I love it...

Happy News!

2007-12-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

Austin had his birthday party on Sunday. I offered to drive Billy and Kimmie, so we would use my gas. They agreed that was a good idea. I am such a nice person...Especially since the party was from 11:15-1:15 and mom decided to set up a hair appointment for Kris at 1:00 and told her to leave her 4 kids at the party and I would look after them. Now I would have 2 helpers who were stuck helping me till I drove them home. Ok, I'm not really that nice, but you have to admit it was a smart thing to do.

The following is part of the conversation on the way there.
Me: My next house needs a pool.
Billy: Yes, our next house does.
(I let this comment slide)
Me: And an extended 2 garage.
Billy: A 3 car would be better.
Me: Why would I need a 3 car?
Billy: Two for your car and stuff and one for my stuff?
Me: Are you planning on moving with me?
Billy: Yes.
Me: Have you talked to Kimmie about this?
Billy: Sorta. I’m moving with you.
Me: Kimmie what do you think of moving with me.
Kimmie: I’m moving where ever Billy moves.
Me: Ok.
Billy: We need to 2 master bedrooms also.
Me: Yeah.
Billy: Even better, a pool house.
Me: Billy I can’t afford a house with a pool house.
Billy: Yeah, a pool house and I could expand it to make it bigger if we needed.
Me: Billy, I can’t afford a house with a pool house. And even if I could do you know how big the main house would be. At least 3000 sq feet. What do me and little Benjamin need with 3000 sq ft of house. No, I will not live in the pool house and give you the main house. I can’t afford a pool house.
Billy: Well, it needs 2 masters. Unless you want to give the master to us.
Me: She who signs the loan papers gets the master.
Kimmie: That’s fair.

So, that's my "happy news" (I'm still working on convincing myself of this)
Billy, Kimmie, Austin, and future baby are moving with me. Did I mention that my lease isn't up until Halloween? Well, I guess this is an improvement. I don't think I have ever know Billy to have a plan for anything so far in advance.

Now I've got to get a much better job to support this house I need. Trust me the 2023 sq ft we currently have isn't enough room. 2500 at least. I probably can't afford 3000. I can't buy more mortgage than I can make on my own and I want to put down 20% because I will never pay PMI again.

Isn't this a GREAT face

2007-12-14T21:38:00.000-07:00

Doesn't this just make a wonderful picture. I wonder where he learned it from...

2007-12-14T21:36:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah! This is who he learned it from. Austin wanted his picture taken this way....so of course Benjamin had to have his done also.

I've finished all my family Christmas shopping. I even got all my Adopt a Family's stuff dropped off to them on Thursday. I was completely done Christmas shopping, but then mom asked me to do some shopping for her. I ended up at the mall. That was when I ran into the Christmas Angel trees. They have over 50,000 kids registered for the Christmas Angles in Phoenix, I'm sure they won't all get presents. I decided to pick out a 2 yr old boy and a 5 yr old boy. I always do at least one angel. The last 2 years I've picked out a boy little Benjamin's age. Since I got Austin living here, I picked one out his age also. I thought about picking out one each of the grand kids ages, but I didn't really have the time to look, so I just got the two. Then I went on to another store for mom. I got the last of her shopping done and picked up a toy for each of my Angels. Then I saw a great riding toy for only $11. So, needless to say I decided to get toys age appropriate for each of the grand kids and tomorrow I'm going to get an outfit of clothes for each of the toys. Then I'll go back to the mall and drop off the presents for the 2 angels I have and pick our 4 more to match the presents I've bought. So, I'll be completely done Christmas shopping tomorrow. I'm going to try to take Mackenzie with me and little Benjamin to drop off the presents. She'll be able to help me find kids to match the presents. It will also help her understand how lucky she is. And hopefully it will stop me from picking up any more angels. I just feel so sorry for them. And not just because they aren't getting Christmas presents.

Legoland

2007-11-27T17:24:00.000-07:00

This is little Benjamin at Legoland. It was his first ride all by himself. He's getting to be such a big boy.

It's close at work, so I'm working from home at night. I'm hoping to only have to work at night tonight and tomorrow. Working at night results in very little sleep for me. I can't start working until I get the boys to bed, usually about 8pm. So after I work for 4 or 5 hours, I only get 3 or 4 hours of sleep. I'm not as good as mom is. I need at least 5 or 6 hours to be my usually nice self. Hopefully, I will be able to get back to blogging everyday by the end of the week.

Long night

2007-11-20T22:39:00.000-07:00

Well, Billy and Kimmie are having a girl. To celebrate I took them, Austin, Granny, and of course my boy out to dinner at Billy's favorite restaurant, Outback Steakhouse. My boy was saying he was going to throw up on the way there, but he didn't. He said he needed to throw up on the way home, but he wouldn't throw up in Mommy's car. (I think he's thrown up in daddy's and daddy got on to him.) So he falls asleep on the way home and I get him into bed. Mommy thinks she's in the clear for throw up tonight....How silly of mommy! At 9:30 he woke up coughing and crying. Uncle Bill finally talked him into taking his cough medicine, but only if he got some milk. Mommy gave him the milk. At 10 pm he gave the milk back to mommy...All over my bed and me and him and the bath tub. Poor thing is so sick. Mommy wishes it was her, and not just because I always make it to the toilet. It's so sad to see them sick and not be able to make it better. He's back asleep now, in Mommy's bed no less. I hope he doesn't get sick again tonight. I don't have anymore clean sheets.

Hopefully, he's doing better in the morning. Mommy had to leave work Monday at 1pm and today at 11 am, so calling out sick tomorrow is going to look really bad. Especially after my promotion. And I'm not sure Kimmie is as good about watching sick kids as Granny was.

Baptism

2007-11-19T20:39:00.000-07:00

This is Benjamin on his baptism day. Granny was so excited one of her grand kids was getting baptised that she passed out and had to go to the hospital instead of seeing him baptised. But he got baptised anyways. He's mommy's little angle baby. Even when it takes him over an hour to get to sleep and he gets up 8 times to go potty. It's been a long get to sleep process tonight. At church they get a lamb with their baptism date and name on it. We get to take it home when he is 3 years old. He started Sunday School 3 weeks ago. He thinks he such a big boy getting to go to school! (But not so big that mommy has gotten to leave the classroom yet.) When he started nursery, I had to stay for almost 3 months. Oh well, I will get to go back into church some day.

Before

2007-11-19T20:33:00.000-07:00

Big Boy Hair Cut

2007-11-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

Well, Benjamin got his first big boy hair cut on Saturday. No more comb-over. Isn't he cute! I haven't decided if it makes him look older or younger or fatter. But it definately makes him look different.

I'm back!

2007-11-15T19:46:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been really busy here. I moved into my new house right after we got back from Disneyland. And immediately Kimmie moved in with me. Billy and all the stuff moved in 2 weeks later. I prefer when Billy isn't home. He's a bit annoying. Ok... He's really annoying, but they don't have any place else to go and I enjoy having Kimmie and Austin around. Ok...Little Benjamin likes having Austin around. Our house is full and not near as quiet as it was with me an little Benjamin. Mom can't come over anymore cuz my house isn't quiet like it used to be. She used to come over and stay a couple of days because my house was so quiet and relaxing. Now it's so loud it makes her want to pull her hair out cuz of the noise.
I like having Kimmie around. She's very nice. Oh yeah, and she does the dishes. That is an important quality to have.
I imagine they will be living with me for a while. My lease is for a year, but I think they will move with me. Billy thought he could talk me out of the master bedroom. Well, he tried to talk me out of it. I'm not sure he actually thought he could. It has 2 walk-in closets. One is little (it is Benjamin's) and the other is as big as a spare bedroom. The master bedroom is bigger than the living room. It's a good thing it is because I lost my den (so the boys could have a play room) so all my stuff had to come into my bedroom. I have a desk, dresser, filing cabinet, book case, lazy boy, side table and my California king bed and still have plenty of walking room.
The boys love sharing a room. Benjamin's clothes are in my little closet so Austin can have his clothes in their room. I should probably put his in my little closet too since he takes his bath's in my bathroom. The boys always want to take a bath together, and Billy says Austin is big enough to take his own bath, so I always give them a bath.
I'm excited for Erin. I think she's having a boy also. Kimmie and Billy find out what they are having on the 20th. I'm taking the afternoon off work to watch the kids while they go to the dr. It sounds like I'm being really nice, doesn't it. I wouldn't want anyone to think that. I'm only doing it because it is a good excuse to leave work at lunch. I promise to blog more often now that we are settled in. Maybe I can get a picture posted this week.

Disneyland Fun!!!

2007-10-26T06:07:00.000-07:00

Disneyland Ride

2007-10-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

Mackenzie and Austin on a ride.....

Disneyland

2007-10-04T22:42:00.001-07:00

Well, we leave tomorrow night to go to Disneyland. For the last 2 days little Benjamin keeps saying he wants to go to Disneyland now. He just doesn't understand not till Sunday. I know they will all have so much fun. At least they better, cuz this is all they are getting from aunt Missy for Christmas. I have us scheduled to eat breakfast on Saturday at 9:30 with Goofy. Then we are going to the beach and the hotel has a heated pool. On Sunday we are going to Disneyland and on Monday we are going to Disneyland California Adventure. The kids don't know that we are having breakfast with Goofy or that we get to go to Disneyland California Adventure. They think it just 2 days at Disneyland.
I'm hopeful that they will sleep in tomorrow. I think it is about 7-8 hours and we are leaving at 7pm, so we should get in about 2 or 3 am Saturday morning. I have to get up at 4am to go to work, so I get the pleasure of being up about 24 hours straight. So I'm hoping they will sleep till about 7 am and I can get a few hours sleep. Then we are leaving Monday. Granny says we should pack up the kids and make them leave Disneyland California Adventure at 4pm so we can get home by midnight. Oh, yeah! That will be a fun drive back with 5 kids awake and screaming that they don't want to go home yet. So aunt Missy has decided that we will have to play it by ear and see how late we can stay, and me still drive 7 or 8 hours to get us home. We've got to be home by 4am cuz that is when I have to get up to go to work on Tuesday. I'm sure I will be a highly productive employee on that day. Well, that is still better than Kris driving us home.
It's always best to start a vacation on a good nights sleep, so I gotta go now cuz I have to get up in 5 hours to go to work.

New House

2007-09-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

Little Benjamin has rented a house with his Mommy...It is right around the corner from his new Baby sitter...It is a big house but the price was right and Benjamin loves the stairs...Benjamin will have lots of room to run in the house. There also is an extra bedroom for Granny anytime she wants. No bed just a bedroom....

This was posted by Granny because I did not care for the last picture of my boy. Melissa will be pleased I have taken over...If Kris does not Blog soon I may be forced to do the same for her.

I love to swim

2007-09-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

Well, this is what little Benjamin looks like when mommy takes him swimming. We smear sunblock over our whole body. And because we have such thin hair (a comb over in fact) we also have to put it on our scalp. This is the result of putting sunscreen in your hair. It's pretty cute if you ask mommy, but she's probably the only one that thinks that.

My boy loves to swim. He will miss the pool here when we move, but he will love being in a house with a yard again. And mommy is glad she won't have to worry about the car being too cold in the mornings. I know it doesn't get cold here by most people's standards, but there is a lot of times it is in the low 30's or upper 20's when I leave for work. It even gets into the teens once or twice too. We will soon have a garage. Mommy will be able to was Benjamin's car. It needs it because I haven't washed it since before we moved 2 months ago.

Benjamin Missed Granny

2007-09-25T21:39:00.000-07:00

Little Benjamin got to see his Granny today. He has missed her so much. Wendy is great for running, jumping, art, crafts, chase, hide-n-seek, going to the park, painting, riding a bike, playing with other kids, eating with, playing catch, tetherball, hopping, skipping, pulling me in a wagon, and probably a hundred other activities.

2007-09-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

But no one can curl up on a couch with a soft comfy blanket like my granny!

Well except maybe my MOMMY!!

My Mommy

2007-09-25T20:55:00.000-07:00

I love my mommy

She is my best friend

Whenever I am in a jam

Happily a hand she will lend

Caring, honest, and loving

Just scratch the surface

Hardworking and dependable

Words just don’t do her justice

Beginning to understand things I

now have an angel of my own

That unconditional loving

Since I am fully grown

She passes on her knowledge

My mommy always knows best

Watching out for me

Knowing life is just a test

Well mom wanted a poem about her. I told her I'm an accountant, I can't write poems. She told me yes I could. I've taken those tests to determine which side of the brain you use more, analytical or creative, and I have no creative use of my brain. It's always like 29 analytical answers and 1 creative. I have now publicly proven that I am right and she is wrong. I can't write poems. I'm sorry you all have had to suffer through reading it. Please proceed to Betty's blog where you will see 2 good poems or to mom's where there is one. Unfortunately all they have written about is Clayton.

Benjamin's Baptism

2007-09-25T20:25:00.001-07:00

Well, Benjamin got baptized on Sunday. Mom was so worried and upset about having such a big scene in church. But, you know I was looking for a way to meet more people, other than those that work in the nursey. I bet everyone at the 9 o'clock service knows who I am now. She saved me years of work trying to get to know more people. It will be easy now! And she was worried about making a scene. If I had thought of it on my own, I would have asked her to do faint in church so I could make some friends.

Mom is HOME!!!!

2007-09-25T19:51:00.000-07:00

YEAH! Mom is home. I'm so glad mom is home. I know it's hard on her being in the hospital with all the germs, death, and being sick. But, now that she is home I can complain about how hard it is on me when she is in the hospital. I'm just not as good as mom is and I have a hard time doing everything that I do and everything that she does. I do quite a bit usually. However, when mom goes to the hospital, suddenly her list of things she does get longer than usual. Then she gives the list to me to do. It is amazing how much she gets done when she isn't the one doing it. But we got her disability paperwork filled out last night. YEAH! One less thing that needs to be done.
Now back to me. I'm tired! I was up half the night doing her paperwork. Then I had to go to work and today is the first day of close. We are really busy during close, especially since we have 4 of 7 positions vacant and another one put in their notice this week. This is my whiny post. I will try to stop whining now, but it will be hard.

A FIT

2007-09-19T20:53:00.001-07:00

This is what the beginning of a FIT looks like.

2007-09-19T20:44:00.000-07:00

Mommy has now determine that once we see picture one

we must proceed to this picture as soon a physically possible.

The Vacation Saga Continues

2007-09-19T19:59:00.000-07:00

Well, Billy heard about the Disneyland trip for the kids I was financing and he had the bright idea for him and his wife to look after little Jake and me to take his son Austin to Disneyland instead. So that is what we are going to do. They will have a much better time with Austin than Jake anyways. Mom talked to Austin's mom and she said she would trade weekends with Billy so Austin could go. Austin's mom said is was stupid to take a baby to Disneyland because they won't have any fun and they are difficult to do things with. Well, she is right. So instead we are taking an almost 5 year old that has an attitude problem. I'm sure this will be much better. (yeah, right) I think I have lost all my marbles. 5 kids, I'm taking 5 kids on an 8 hour drive to stay 3 days in 1 hotel room. I'm sure I've lost it.
On another note, mom is happy she's sure her retirement is looking better and better. She says she's seeing retirement on a cruise ship, instead of the old folks home. I hope she's right.
Mom got a good 6 straight hours of sleep last night. However, I had a sick boy. It was about 7 hours from the time I went to sleep till the time I started getting ready for work. However, I woke up 5 or 6 times to check on the little angel, give him medicine, and get him juice (gatorade) to drink. It was still way better then the 3 and a half of uninterrupted sleep I got the night before. Benjamin has had a very low temp today and took a long nap. He started having a fit when I picked him up. I gave him a bath then he had to lay down while I made dinner and as soon as he was done eating it was to bed for the night. When he fell asleep the fit finally stopped. Thank goodness.

Camping and a story

2007-09-17T23:47:00.000-07:00

On June 29th mom and I decided to go camping with Kenzie and Benjamin. This is one of the pictures when he was running up on the hill we were camping on. He had a blast running around with Kenzie. Mom pointed out that this was the farthest he had ever been away from his Mommy. He had a good time, until granny fell and then he spent the night getting work up every hour or so by mommy. We are so lucky it happened. It could have been much later that mom's cancer was discovered.

Well, I'll tell you all about proper horn usage now. I have always thought that people driving that are doing something stupid and/or unsafe should be informed of it. However, while driving there is very little you can do to communicate with other drivers...except honk your horn. So, I have done my duty and I honk to let others know that they are doing something wrong. I have always done this. Often to do this you must slam on the breaks and hit the horn at the same time. This is not a difficult thing to do.

About 10 years ago, me and mom were driving in my truck. I had this truck for 9 1/2 years. 4 or 5 of which the transmission had issues when others drove it, but I knew how to compensate for it and didn't really have a problem. Definitely not enough problems to pay for a new transmission. The gas peddle was very heavy, you had to push really hard on it to get it to move. The breaks were really light. A touch and you slowed down. When you hit them you stopped. Right then!

I was driving and mom was in the passenger seat. We were going about 45mph and coming up on a red light. The light turned green before I even needed to slow down. Then someone driving a little white car made a left hand turn right in front of me. Mom braced herself for impact and I slammed on the breaks. Have I mentioned that I loved that truck. We didn't hit the white car. I know that a guardian angel came down and moved the rear end of that car out of the way because there is now way we should have missed it. We were both rather shook up so I pulled over as soon as we got to the other side of the intersection. Mom looked over at me and said "Melissa you didn't hit your horn." I told her "the horn is used to let someone know that they are doing something stupid, when I hit them I don't need to use my horn to let them know they did something stupid. The impact should be enough to notify them." She started laughing and after a few minutes we pulled back on the road and headed home.

Peaceful

2007-09-17T23:37:00.000-07:00

Isn't that just the cutest picture you ever saw. Mommy wishes it was her, but now that I have my work done I can head to bed too. I should get almost 4 hours of sleep. I have to get up early (4am) to take little Benjamin to daycare. But mommy isn't complaining because he loves going to Wendy, and I don't worry about him. (Well, at least not anymore than I did when he was with Granny.)