Birthday celebration. For 2!

Last night was birthday celebration time at our house! Pa's birthday is on the 8th and Chris' birthday is on the 10th so we celebrated!
Maggie began the celebration a little early. It took Chris a minute to figure out why she had a blue mouth. She had a popsicle a little while before but her mouth seemed extra blue... Can you see why her mouth was blue???

Isn't there a rule about lighting your own birthday candles??? Not when you have four kids waiting. Who ever has a free hand gets the job. Birthday boy or not...

Ben was observing and wondering why he couldn't have cake!

Luckily for Pa and Daddy there was three monkeys that were ready to blow out the candles!

It was a fun night! Chris even got a Wii for his birthday so that will be very exciting to figure out!

Pa got a great book and movie about national parks. He also got a nice bottle of whiskey and a gift certificate to go out to dinner!

A great celebration for sure!

Ben in training...

We train 'em young over here!!!

Picture days....

With the beginning of the school year comes school pictures! You know me, I love my pictures! Everyone has had their picture taken but we haven't received Katelyn's yet.

I wasn't too happy with Maggie's as I didn't think it really captured "Maggie". Nothing against the photographer's work or anything, it just didn't capture my Maggie. So, today when I brought Ben for pictures Maggie said she wanted hers taken too. I wasn't ready for that, her hair was a mess, but it was Maggie. The picture came out OK but again, I wasn't overly thrilled. I will bring her again around her birthday and hopefully get a great picture, one that captures "her". But, for now, this picture will be on the fireplace....

Here is Connor's kindergarten picture. I was pleased with it. I kinda wish school pictures weren't so "posed" but with so many kids they have to be as quick as possible.

He does look very handsome and grown up in it though!

Here are Ben's pictures that we got done today. A lot of them came out adorable but these are the ones I bought.

The first picture is the one I have above the fireplace, the only difference is the one on the mantel is black and white.

We couldn't get him to sit still for even a second. Big surprise, right?

The photographer gave him this ball as a prop and Ben just loved it. He was not happy when we took it away for different pictures. Finally, while we were waiting for the pictures to be done, Ben put it down to look at something else so I grabbed it and hid it. Out of sight, out of mind... I asked how much I could pay for it and was told it wasn't for sale. May have to go on a hunt for one!

I love pictures!

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On a different note....

Ben got his first tooth today. Typical Ben fashion, it was not in the "normal" first tooth spot. Remember, Ben never got a handbook so he doesn't know these things.

So, guess where it was... On the top, right side. Not the top right center. The top right side! Most babies get their first tooth on the bottom middle. Too funny!!! That's Ben for you, he never does things "normal"!

Soccer is done :(

After weeks of playing soccer we are a little bummed to say that the season is now over. It was a GREAT season though! Both Katelyn and Connor had great coaches and teams. They both had so much fun and learned a lot.

They both scored at least one goal almost every game!

The rest of us enjoyed watching all the action on the soccer field.

Or playing with whoever wasn't on the field.

Or kicking the soccer ball around with Mom and Dad.

Or just being down-right adorable.

Or taking pictures and happening to catch the exact moment that Katelyn scored a goal. (I was very excited to have captured this exact moment on camera!)

My little all-stars got their medals and we are so proud.

I won't miss the 8am Saturday morning games but I will miss watching them play soccer and having so much fun!

What to get for Chris' birthday?

So, next week is Chris' birthday. While we were driving today Connor mentioned that we need to go to a store so we can get him a gift. Here's how it went....

Me: Oh, that's right, what should we buy for him?

Connor: I think we should get him a Patriot's hat.

Me: Good idea. Do you have any other thoughts?

Connor: (Very excited voice) Oh, we could get him a Patriots outfit!

Me: Oh, like a costume, do you think Daddy would like that?

Connor: Yeah, cause then he could dress up like we do!

I love kids... So innocent and fun!

Spider Web...

Connor can spend hours with a ball of yarn making intricate spider webs.
Todays was a bit more difficult because the yarn was all tangled up, but he still managed a work of art...

Dance class...

Maggie has been really enjoying dance class. At least the idea of dance class. She can't wait to go, and is ready to go before I get out of bed for her 10am class. When we get there she is so quiet. She takes a while to get comfortable and seems to prefer observing rather then doing. She is super cute in her dance gear!Ben and Connor just hang out while Maggie is dancing.
Connor's MP3 player keeps him quiet for a few minutes.


As for Ben... I just keep giving him toys and snacks....