Ben & Maddie turned two years old today. We didn't have much fanfare. We're going to have a little bit more on Jan 9th when we have a playdate with some friends who have kids about the same age.
But we gave them their presents today. The big present were two sit-n-spins. Other things were a toy bulldozer, dolls, books and a stacking toy (it has pegs with little pieces that fit on the pegs...they are different shapes and colors, so you can have them match shapes or match colors, etc).
All day Jamey practiced with them by asking, "How old are you?" And then got them to say "Two." Ben does it pretty well and consistently, but his "two" comes out sounding more like "toowoo" or something like that. It's pretty funny.
We didn't take pictures today, either. I'll try to get some tomorrow.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Christmas 2010
Ben & Maddie's gifts from Santa this year were the wooden rocking horses that my Dad made for me and my brother for our first Christmas. I had them sitting out in front of the fireplace this morning when the kids got up. They looked at them, touched them, but neither wanted to ride.
A couple hours later, Ben climbed on and discovered he loved it. Maddie kept acting like she wanted to get on, then would refuse when you tried to help her on. Oh well. She'll warm up eventually.
Their other gifts included a bowling set and a train with a station -- no tracks -- that allows you to load stuff into the train car(from my brother), several books, toy cameras, a clock puzzle and magnetic animals. They played with each for awhile, then got distracted by something else.
Here's a pic of my brother, David, reading to Ben & Maddie this morning:
For Christmas Eve, we went to my aunt and uncle's house in Stillwater. We had a great time, especially the visit from Santa.
Ben was in awe when he saw Santa walk in the door...
And eventually sat on his lap....
Maddie didn't want to go anywhere near him, but she kept her eye on him the whole time.
But Ben & Maddie REALLY liked the marshmallow treats that Santa gave them (their first time having marshmallows)
Here are a bunch of misc pics from our night...
A couple hours later, Ben climbed on and discovered he loved it. Maddie kept acting like she wanted to get on, then would refuse when you tried to help her on. Oh well. She'll warm up eventually.
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| From 2010-12-24 |
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| From 2010-12-24 |
Their other gifts included a bowling set and a train with a station -- no tracks -- that allows you to load stuff into the train car(from my brother), several books, toy cameras, a clock puzzle and magnetic animals. They played with each for awhile, then got distracted by something else.
Here's a pic of my brother, David, reading to Ben & Maddie this morning:
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| From 2010-12-24 |
For Christmas Eve, we went to my aunt and uncle's house in Stillwater. We had a great time, especially the visit from Santa.
Ben was in awe when he saw Santa walk in the door...
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| From 2010-12-24 |
And eventually sat on his lap....
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| From 2010-12-24 |
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| From 2010-12-24 |
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| From 2010-12-24 |
Maddie didn't want to go anywhere near him, but she kept her eye on him the whole time.
But Ben & Maddie REALLY liked the marshmallow treats that Santa gave them (their first time having marshmallows)
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| From 2010-12-24 |
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| From 2010-12-24 |
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| From 2010-12-24 |
Here are a bunch of misc pics from our night...
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| From 2010-12-24 |
Thursday, December 23, 2010
My charity work for the year
I'm proud to say I made one family's Christmas better this year. We had a new family, with two young boys, move in on Dec. 1. Jamey noticed that they didn't have beds for the boys. One of them seemed to be sleeping on some kind of make-shift bed made out of couch cushions and a coffee table. And there didn't seem to be any toys. It just broke my heart.
So I put a message out on my Facebook page asking if any of my friends had a twin mattress they didn't need anymore. One of my co-workers came through almost instantly. And another co-worker forwarded my message on his Twitter feed (he has a huge following). Almost right away one of his Twitter followers contacted me and offered to buy a brand new mattress. I was just stunned.
Then another woman wanted to help. I told her we already had two beds lined up, so she offered to round up other stuff...toys, books, etc. So she and her co-workers put together a huge pile of stuff, some new, some used, and dropped it off at my office. They even included a $50 gift card. I was stunned. It filled the entire trunk of my Prius (albeit small, it was still a lot of stuff for just two kids!)
We delivered the beds a couple of weeks ago and they were thrilled.
Today I took everything else, packed up in boxes so the kids wouldn't see it. The parents are going to wrap the gifts and set aside a few things for upcoming birthdays. I don't think the kids had any idea why I was there (the Dad had them in their bedroom with the door closed while me and the mom hauled the stuff into the other bedroom).
I wish I could be there to see their faces when they open all those gifts. I just hope all of them -- the parents included -- appreciate the good deeds of so many others and somehow pay it forward.
Before I left, I asked if I could take the boys' picture (the donors wanted a picture) and they happily obliged. Lots of funny faces and goofing off. But I also got this very precious one, which I will have made into prints for them.
So I put a message out on my Facebook page asking if any of my friends had a twin mattress they didn't need anymore. One of my co-workers came through almost instantly. And another co-worker forwarded my message on his Twitter feed (he has a huge following). Almost right away one of his Twitter followers contacted me and offered to buy a brand new mattress. I was just stunned.
Then another woman wanted to help. I told her we already had two beds lined up, so she offered to round up other stuff...toys, books, etc. So she and her co-workers put together a huge pile of stuff, some new, some used, and dropped it off at my office. They even included a $50 gift card. I was stunned. It filled the entire trunk of my Prius (albeit small, it was still a lot of stuff for just two kids!)
We delivered the beds a couple of weeks ago and they were thrilled.
Today I took everything else, packed up in boxes so the kids wouldn't see it. The parents are going to wrap the gifts and set aside a few things for upcoming birthdays. I don't think the kids had any idea why I was there (the Dad had them in their bedroom with the door closed while me and the mom hauled the stuff into the other bedroom).
I wish I could be there to see their faces when they open all those gifts. I just hope all of them -- the parents included -- appreciate the good deeds of so many others and somehow pay it forward.
Before I left, I asked if I could take the boys' picture (the donors wanted a picture) and they happily obliged. Lots of funny faces and goofing off. But I also got this very precious one, which I will have made into prints for them.
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| From rentalkids |
Playdate with Hazel
Today we had a little playdate with Hazel, the daughter of one of my co-workers. Hazel is just a few months younger than Ben & Maddie but you can't tell much difference when looking at them or listening to them talk.
HEre's Hazel:
And some other pics from the day:
HEre's Hazel:
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| From 2010-12-23 |
And some other pics from the day:
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| From 2010-12-23 |
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| From 2010-12-23 |
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Cross-dressing
There's been a lot of "cross-dressing" going on in our house lately. Usually it's Ben insisting on wearing something of Maddie's (occasionally it'll go the other way). Today Ben insisted on the pink pants, and of course it totally didn't match the shirt I had picked out for him. but we rolled with it. The women at the YMCA child care center were kind enough to not laugh too hard, at least.
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| From 2010-12-18 |
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| From 2010-12-18 |
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| From 2010-12-18 |
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Rough week
Jamey was supposed to go to Las Vegas Tuesday morning with a buddy of his. It would've basically been a free vacation because his buddy had a hotel room for a conference he was attending and we had frequent flier miles for the flight.
But Monday night when I got home from work I started not feeling so well, and was full-blown sick a couple hours later. I figured I picked up the stomach flu bug that was going around my office. I was up all night, throwing up and miserable, and Jamey graciously gave up his trip and stayed home. I was petrified that not only would I be sick, but that the kids would get sick and it would be an all-out miserable week for me without him. I also didn't want to impose on the people we had lined up for babysitting, risking them getting sick too.
The good news was that I was the only one who got sick and I was better after about 24 hours. I went back to work Thurs and Friday. Jamey, of course, is devastated that he didn't get to go on his "mancation" for a much-needed break.
Today we had our weekly swimming lessons -- just a couple more sessions to go. And I'm hoping to take Ben & Maddie outside this afternoon after nap, if they don't sleep too late. Some days they sleep so late into the afternoon that it's starting to get dark by the time they get up!
I'll try to get some pictures up sometime this weekend.
But Monday night when I got home from work I started not feeling so well, and was full-blown sick a couple hours later. I figured I picked up the stomach flu bug that was going around my office. I was up all night, throwing up and miserable, and Jamey graciously gave up his trip and stayed home. I was petrified that not only would I be sick, but that the kids would get sick and it would be an all-out miserable week for me without him. I also didn't want to impose on the people we had lined up for babysitting, risking them getting sick too.
The good news was that I was the only one who got sick and I was better after about 24 hours. I went back to work Thurs and Friday. Jamey, of course, is devastated that he didn't get to go on his "mancation" for a much-needed break.
Today we had our weekly swimming lessons -- just a couple more sessions to go. And I'm hoping to take Ben & Maddie outside this afternoon after nap, if they don't sleep too late. Some days they sleep so late into the afternoon that it's starting to get dark by the time they get up!
I'll try to get some pictures up sometime this weekend.
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