A Welcome Tease

Last month we had some very welcome Spring-like weather (which didn't last long I might add) so Ben and I tried to take advantage of it as much as we could. Here are some pics of a picnic in the park we had. As you can imagine, our adventurous boy had a blast exploring and playing. He's also learning to run so the open field was quite exciting for him. I can't wait for the warm summer weather to arrive so we can get him outdoors more. He's at an age now where he'll really enjoy himself. Anyway, hope you enjoy the photos.

He loves the swing!

Here he discovered how to go up the stairs and down the slide all by himself (a real short slide). It was quite enjoyable for me just to be able to sit back and watch!

Playing with Papa

First of all I'd like to apologize for not having posted in over a month... I'm so neglectful!

In any case, here we are and I have a few photos to share. A while ago Brian transformed one of our Costco boxes into a sled for Ben. He likes to get pulled around the house (especially by Papa who goes really fast). A few weeks ago I captured some of the fun on camera and just thought I'd share.

Ben's turn to pull...

Crash & Burn

On Saturday, Ben and I were outside enjoying the sunshine and playing on the sidewalk when he crashed and burned big time. He had been having a good 'ol time pushing around a little toy lawn mower when he pushed it off a ledge of the sidewalk and onto the concrete platform at the base of our stairway. He didn't realized it was such a big drop, missed his footing, and ate it face first into the platform hitting the bottom stair (which is also concrete) with his face as he fell. I think it scared him half to death so he cried pretty good at first but it didn't take long for him to recover his bearings and realize that there was more playing that needed to be done. Thankfully when he fell, he missed hitting his eye and nose real hard so that helped limit the pain and blood. We took a couple photos intending to share the war-wounds, although neither photo turned out very well so it's kinda hard to see that nearly the entire left side of his face was a raspberry. We are such proud parents - our boy is growing up!

Passing Another Milestone

As the title of this post states, we are passing another milestone with Ben... He has started using silverware during meal time! It's quite messy and humorous but he does a pretty good job. I couldn't resist sharing this video (& photos) of him eating mac 'n cheese for lunch the other day - I guess you can say I'm a proud Mama. We'll have to invest in some good utensils that are more his size, but this works for now. Enjoy!

Window Buddies

One of Ben's favorite new things to do is stand on his step stool and look out the window. He also really likes to pal around with his stuffed tiger from time to time. Here are some photos of he and tiger watching the snow fall one morning.

Mama's Helper

This may be a sign that I should really take care as to the daily actions I'm letting my son witness. Not that I have any bad habits that I wouldn't want my son to learn... right?

Anyway, last week, being the sweet and thoughtful boy that he is, Ben got ahold of the broom and began to sweep the kitchen floor (and, I might mention, the living room floor as well leaving trails of dustballs from the broom behind).

Now, I did not teach him to sweep. He simply learned by watching me... scary! I guess this means chore assignments are right around the corner!

Time Spent in Butte America

This last week Brian had training for work in Butte so Ben and I packed up and went along for the ride to spend a little time with Grandma and Grandpa Schultz and it just so happened to be Grandpa's 50th birthday on Wednesday. To celebrate, we had a delicious dinner of tender BBQ ribs, mashed potatoes, cream corn, and a BIG 'ol German Chocolate Cake - talk about tasty! We took some photos of Ben devouring the cake. He made such a mess (it's not all pictured here) that we had to take him straight from the highchair to the bath tub. He's a boy after my own heart! We had a really nice time and are thankful to live so close to all our family.

Brian hitting the books hard.

(he's studying to take the PE exam in April)

Reading stories with Grandpa and Grandma.

Yeah for cake!