B is for Big Boy Benjamin's Bowling Birthday

Last Monday night we went to Jack and Jill Lanes and bowled the VIP lanes (cause we're such VIP bowlers) for Benjamin's 3rd birthday.  I remembered that he loved bowling the last time we went (which was clear back in April of 2009) and so we planned a party for just the family there.  Despite taking a bowling class back in my BYU days, I still am a TERRIBLE bowler.  But the kids loved it and it was lots of fun watching them.  They thought they were the best bowlers - never mind the fact that they had the bumpers up and used the rack to roll the ball down. 

  Steven is absolute pro.  His ball even coordinates with his shirt.

My mom and Kat were more on my level - the "under 100 club."  Actually it was even less than that, but lets not go into details.  Mom's laughing about a gutter ball here.

What else meaningful is there in Benjamin's life besides tractors?  I knew we'd have to do a tractor cake so I looked up ideas online and found this one.  I thought it would be a lot harder, but it took only about an hour and turned out recognizable so I was happy.

Benjamin loved his cake.  He's giving it a loving pat before he tears off the gumdrop.

Clara helping Benjamin blow out the candles.  He knew right what to do and blew them out in one puff (no spit this time).

It was a yummy cake too.

Some friends from our neighborhood showed up and bowled next to us for the last while so we had them take a picture of all of us after bowling.

Trying to get shy Savanna to smile.

Ben and Joan came over later that night and gave Benjamin his birthday present.  I asked him to show me what he got.  He couldn't quite get the idea of holding the dvd's NEXT to his head - it was either his head or the present.

Nana C gave him his own sleeping bag that came with a flashlight and teddy bear.  He loves it and sleeps with the flashlight at night now.

Benjamin has his bad days, but he really is such a good, sweet boy.  I can't believe he's "fwee!"

A House of Girls

A long streak of celebrations for me is over.  It's sad that it all has to fit into a week and a half's time for me:  Christmas, anniversary, and then my birthday.  And that's not even counting New Year's.  By the time my birthday comes around, there's little desire to party again.  I'm thinking this might be a good thing though since every year I get older, I have less and less of a desire to celebrate another year.  It's not that I mind getting older.  It's okay.  It's just that I don't love a day that's supposed to be all about me.  I think the kids are more excited on my birthday about the the cake and presents.  Good thing we have kids.  They make holidays fun.

Despite my curbed enthusiasm, I did have a pretty darn good day.  Scott took me shopping, my mom gave me two really great presents that I love, the family all took me out to eat at a yummy Chinese place, and made me a homemade cake.  I'm a pretty lucky girl.  Can I still call myself a "girl" at 37?

Benjamin helped make sure all the candles were blown out.  I also saw some spit fly from his mouth in the process, but I didn't tell anyone.  Better to enjoy the cake.

Here's a cute thing Benjamin's been doing.  He's recently taken over the care of Clara's Bitty Baby.  One afternoon he put the baby to sleep (tucked it in and everything) and then gave it some of his favorite things to sleep with.  These are the same things that Benjamin thinks he has to sleep with.  I thought it was very altruistic of him and a good sign for the future arrival of baby #5.  Having all sisters isn't such a bad thing for a boy if it teaches you a little tenderness!

Speaking of sisters and tenderness, we have tonight's drama below.  Scott thought he'd play a funny little joke on Grace while she was out of the room and cut half of her piece of chocolate cake off her plate before she came back.  We all tried to keep straight faces, but when she came back and didn't notice any difference (seriously, the size of it before was taking up half her plate - can't see how she didn't notice) and went right back to eating, we all started cracking up a little.  Grace, sensing she was being laughed at, got big eyes, looked at all our smiling/laughing faces and got the biggest lower lip I've ever seen, followed by even bigger tears.  It was sad.  We all felt bad.  Clara, who is the leader of sensitive feelings in the pack of girls, immediately knew what to do.  She worked and worked at comforting Grace and told her what a meanie Daddy was.  I don't think we'll play practical jokes on Grace again for now.

Our Merry Christmas

Before I get too far into January, I still want to post some pictures of Christmas.  This year, the girls all gave me very detailed wish lists and so it made my job pretty easy.  Clara had the shortest list - she only wanted three things: 1- The movie Tangled (since the movie is still in theaters, she got a Tangled doll instead), 2- A Build-a-Bear gift card (Daddy took care of that one), 3- A pillow pet.  Here she is with her beloved pillow pet.  She couldn't stop snuggling it and saying "it's a pillow!  it's a pet!" 

Grace is in heaven with her new Littlest Pet Shop toys from Santa.  Along with gifts from mom & dad and cousins, her collection has officially become a metropolis now, not just the quaint village it once was.

The fad was over a while ago, but Annica never got it out of her system that she wanted an i-dog.  It was a little hard for Santa to find, given they are a past thing, but she was thrilled!

And then there's Benjamin...Before Christmas, he was convinced that every present under the tree was a tractor for him.  He'd see me put a gift under the tree and say, "Oh!  Another tractor for me? !!"  He was about right - almost every gift for him was tractor-related.  Here he is (in tractor jammies) giving Sam a ride in his new "big tractor" from Santa Claus.  Sam actually didn't mind the ride either.

After this, all presents he opened just become loads he could dump with his shovel.

After Santa stuff, we get dressed and have a big breakfast.  We always have eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and cinnamon rolls.  This year's hashbrowns by Scott were the best I've ever had.  Even with morning-sickness, I had thirds!

Oh - and grapefruit too - that's a must on Christmas morning.

Then we go back to presents, this time from eachother (I guess Benjamin didn't get dressed this year).

Grace just opened a present from Nana C - a cute box full of craft stuff to do including a pattern to sew clothes for Sam.  She's excited to start sewing!

I love the anticipation on Annica and Grace's faces here - they're hoping Scott will like the present they picked out a paid for themselves.

Yep, he loves it!

And we can't forget about Sammers.  We got him some Party Mix and I had this shirt made for him.  It says "Bad Kitty."  He's not that bad though.