Ben and Mimi Make Cookies!

Here is a collage of images from Ben and Mimi's cookie-baking activity. Ben had so much fun "making" the cookies(i.e.Mimi breaking the dough off the premade block and Ben placing them on the cookie sheet!). We made them to bring to the Halloween party we're attending tonight. More pictures to share tomorrow!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Wednesday, October 29th was Dan's 28th birthday. He is getting so OLD! We celebrated by letting him sleep in and having a delicious ice-cream pie. Ben loved singing Happy Birthday to his da-da but he loved the nummie ice-cream even more.

"Happy Birthday to youuuuu!

"Don't touch that!"

Emily, patiently waiting for her piece of the pie=)

What Daddy Got For His Birthday

Besides their full-time job at being adorable, neither Ben nor Emily has a paying gig(lazy babies!). Consequently, they had no money to buy their daddy a birthday present:( I, of course, bought a present "from them" but they decided that wasn't good enough. Daddy deserves the best on his 28th birthday! Being the resourceful little darlings they are they decided Daddy needed some quality time being climbed all over.


Ben is a sweetheart and starts the game off with a hug.

Milly goes in for the first tackle(this is her favorite part).

She also decided to improvise and try to stand on his neck for a bit.

Never to be outdone, Hazel tried to squash his family jewels. What a generous bunch!

Mischievous Monkey

Emily is quite the mischievous little climber lately. I think I have Ben to thank for that. You know what they say: "Monkey see, monkey do."

Motorcycle-Mama

For all you Hazel-Fans reading this blog...this ones for you;) Hazel is in serious "like" with Ben's Spiderman chopper-tryke. Every time she plays in their room it's the one toy she wants to use. It's SO NOT for a young toddler like her. She's fallen off many times:( But, she is persistant and always picks herself up, dusts herself off and rides all ohh-ver again!

The Reluctant Mickey Mouse

As I've mentioned, Ben is going through a fiercely independent streak in regards to his clothes. He likes to be in charge of what he wears all the time now. I just knew if we spent more than $10 on a costume for him, he'd refuse to wear it, but I was hopefully optimistic when he told me he wanted to be Mickey Mouse for Halloween. Worried they'd be all sold out in stores(like they are online), I placed a winning bid of $25 for a MM costume. Yay!

First problem to arise happened when I discovered they had TONS of MM costumes in Ben's size at the store and all were marked down to $9.99:( That should have been my first clue as to how the costume would go over. When given the ultimatum yesterday morning that he MUST wear a costume to go to the trick-or-treating event, he point-blank refused to wear it. I gave him two other choices--last years costume or his jack-o-lantern costume. Still, he refused. Sometimes parents have to force their children to do things for their own good. I knew he'd love the event, so I forced the costume onto him and spent the next half-an-hour cheerfully ignoring the tantrum that ensued. He screamed, he cried, he tried taking off himself. He pleaded, "help me!! Take it off! I can't wear this!!!!". But, a mama's gotta do what a mama's gotta do. Free candy was at stake!

Little by little, Ben started to come around. First, he stopped crying. Then he started enjoying the other children in their costumes. Next, he got a bag of popcorn all to himself. People started smiling and saying, "Hi Mickey Mouse! Look at Mickey!". Finally, we went to the first store to get our candy. Ben was confused at first. Were we shopping? Why were they giving us candy?! It only took a moment, but it finally clicked. Trick-or-treating is FUN! You wear costumes! People smile and pay attention to you! YOU GET FREE CANDY!!!!!!! There was not a single tear after that. He willingly trotted along from store to store, played on the playground and happily went home to eat his stash. Now he can't wait for Friday night. We have plans to go to a party at his beloved Piper's house and to trick-or-treat with her afterwards. Free candy and his lady-love? What could be better?!



"TAKE IT OFF!!!!"

"You are the meanest mommy ever!"

Ben, starting to notice the other children walking around.

"Hey! There's candy in here!"
Also, this was a totally random shot, but check out Mickey AND Minnie in this photo!

Nora's Birthday!

Now that Ben is immersed in the school-year, he has quite the social calendar! This weekend, we went to Nora's birthday party and it was fun fun fun. They had so much to do, including(but not limited to) a huge bounce-house, a sand and water table, play areas set up all over the place and tons of great food. Ben and Emily had a blast, as did I=) I'm really enjoying the group of parents and children that go to Ben's school; They are all so friendly and social. Unfortunately, my camera battery wasn't charged, so I only got a few shots of Ben and Milly enjoying the party:(


What's more fun than a bounce house? A bounce house filled with your friends from school!

Ben and Alexandra loved playing together.

Emily had so much fun just walking around and exploring. They had some fun toys set out that both she and Ben played with for a long time. This is a Little People circus set that Emily couldn't get enough of.

I was amazed at how long this Little People house captured Ben's attention. He's never been into playing with these types of toys until now. He loved arranging the furniture and people and played quietly by himself forever. I think Santa might have to add this to the ever-growing Christmas list;)

Oh! The Unbearable Cuteness!

We had a really good coupon for pictures today, so we took them to get some photos taken. Um...yeah. Two toddlers, unlimited distractions, one good-sport of a photographer and these were the best of the best. They are adorable, thank God! We had fun this afternoon, but my-oh-my was it an exercise in futility! Milly did NOT want to cooperate. She wanted nothing to do with posing cutely. Ben is an old pro, but whenever he'd see Emily take off, he had to join her. Two hours later, we were finally done. I think we got some really cute shots!(our scanner is blah, so ignore the resolution!)

Misplaced Cuteness

We had these pictures taken of Milly on her first birthday, but misplaced them almost as soon as I brought them home. I found them the other day and had to share the cuteness. I can't believe how much she's changed in just 7 months. She's like a totally different person! She's not a baby anymore:( She's a full-fledged toddler! I'm loving every age and stage of both their lives, though!

Isn't She Looooovely? Isn't she wooooonderfullll?

Emily decided she needed to do a little composing before bedtime tonight. I walked into the room to find her sitting on the couch playing the keyboard. Watch out, Stevie Wonder!


Doooobie-dooobie-dooooo

"Grrr, baby. Grrrr!"

Both looking and both smiling?! They must be making snow-devils in hell tonight!

Oktoberfest=o/

Mimi and I took the littles to our town's Oktoberfest. As you can see, they were somewhat nonplussed. This was our first big outing with only Milly in the stroller, so that was pretty exciting! Ben was very good. He never ran away from me. In fact, he held my hand the whole time. I think he was overwhelmed by the surplus of people, polka music and bratwurst. The most fun for him was the bounce house he got to go in for 10 minutes. Then the bastards kicked him out and I had to crawl in after in and drag him out kicking and screaming. At $3 per every 5 minutes, you'd have crawled in after him, too!

Pumpkin Patch

We met up with our preschool-friends and went to a pumpkin patch. It had some crazy inflatables that Ben and his buddies enjoyed. Emily loved rearranging the pumpkins. Here's a collage of my cuties. Enjoy!

Daddy's Girl?

Emmie can be sweet, but often turns sour with no warning. Her newest nickname is Pinchy & Scratchy(somewhat obscure Simpson's reference relating to the cartoon cat and mouse, Itchy and Scratchy). She tricks you by sweetly caressing your face, then viciously scratching or pinching your cheeks while smiling evilly and saying, "Ow!". No amount of time-outs, hand-slaps, yelling or admonishing her works. She thinks it's hilarious. Mean Baby!



Super-sweet good-night snuggles

"Heeheehee...I love my daddy..."

"Take that! Heeheehee"

"Whateves. Some people are way too sensitive"

Two Little Monkeys...

Two little monkeys jumping on the bed...


One fell off....

And bumped her head!


Mama called the doctor and the doctor said...

No more monkeys jumping on the bed!!