more snow

Did I mention Ben loves the snow?

We used Lily's treats for the snowman's eyes, which explains her apparent fascination.

It turns out daddy is a master snowman builder. Ben looks to follow in his tracks, and was rather reluctant to come in out of the snow.

Winter Blast

So, we had a little bit of snow fall--about 8 inches at this point. Unlike other parts of the country that have the equipment to handle this kind of weather, everything here has pretty much shut down. It is gorgeous, though.

Day After Thanksgiving

Here are a few pics from the day after Thanksgiving.

We haven't quite found the perfect shot for our holiday cards yet, but it's nice to at least have one or two photos of all of us.

Bennett was so excited to have Grandpa Jim visit.

Halloween Costume Spoiler!

This was a photo I took late last summer but didn't get a chance to download from the camera until just recently. The boys are wearing their Pickathon shirts. Bennett gets a kick whenever he sees something that make us "match" him.

Here Bennett tried on his pirate costume I got off of Craigslist for $8. He wore it at CJ Herndandez's (son of college friends) birthday party. He had a blast at the party and got to feed goats, go on a hay ride and hit a piñata.

Craft Nerd

Yep, Ben's mama is a craft nerd. Last spring I purchased a gift from etsy.com that was needle felted. It was for a friend's daughter, and it was very cute--a little strawberry "baby" from the Rosemary for Remembrance shop. It seemed like a very cool medium to work with. So, when I earned a little bit of money from an art commission this fall, I spent some of the money to buy some basic felting supplies. The little witch was my third try at this. It was surprisingly easy and more than just a little addictive. She is made out of 100% wool with नो sewing involved. The only thing you really have to watch out for is to not try to needle your fingers.

So these little monsters are not needle felted except for their faces. I have been playing around with making "plushies" for about a year now and often give them away as birthday gifts. I think I really like the look the needle felting gives them. The eyes are buggy, and the 3-Dness of it really adds to their "charming" quality.

Pony Ride!

Here's Ben and Craig at the Steilacoom Apple Press Festival. As you can see, they had a pony ride. Ben couldn't wait to try it. We went originally because we heard you could press your own apple cider. You could, but it looked like it was going to take more time than Ben had patience for. Conveniently, fresh cider was also available for purchase.

Day at the Lake

Bennett had a play date with his friend Alex, whose parents have beach rights to a section of Lake Tapps. What's not to like about water and sand and some trucks to move it all around?

Here Ben was seeing what it looked like when he plopped wet sand into the wave.

Getting dirty.

These little guys get so excited to see each other and play. Ben tells me " I make Ben happy." I'm happy to oblige.

Ben's New Friend Arrives!

So Ben's one of a kind "friend" showed up in the mail today. It was a bit of a wait because it was custom made, but well worth it. We figured that if we were to get Ben a doll, it should be a very special one, and Christina of Bamboletta Dolls (http://bamboletta.com/) certainly delivered. It was just what we envisioned, and Ben absolutely loves him.

More Father's Day . . .

Father's Day

So Grandpa Jim came to visit us this Father's Day weekend. We totally lucked out with the weather and took advantage of such a beautiful Sunday by visiting a neighborhood playground.

It's Almost June!

Ok, so the first shot is just a goofy photo of Ben eating breakfast. Craig was being thoughtful and took some photos of Ben so that I could show him off down at Sara's baby shower.

The 2nd and 3rd shot are closeup cute shots of Ben. We actually took them because, if you look close enough, Ben has a rash and we wanted to document it. We are still not sure what he had a reaction to--the pediatric nurse thinks it's probably a combo of sun and something he's sensitive to. We will have to keep an eye out as summer progresses.













This last shot of Ben needs a little explaining. He very consciously arranged the objects below. He obviously had some preconceived idea of what he wanted to do. Maybe he'll be a sculptor :)