Listening to music together

April 11, 2008

July 23, 2009

Family Traits

So Ben has this habit of playing "garage sale/plunket sale/shop" which basically means that he takes out a slew of stuff and puts it on display on the coffee table and then opens his shop for his customers. I don't like this game very much b/c it means that he basically empties the toy basket all over the living room. When looking at this photo of the dinosaur shop from yesterday I got a funny sense of deja vu... (see photo of me). I'm guessing that Ben and I are related and there's really nothing else I can do about it...

Obivously I'm very excited about stamps and am going to enter a contest b/c one of my favorite stamp companies, Hero Arts, just relaunched their website, www.heroarts.com . For all those crafty folks out there go check out their new site, lots of cool new features and a few extra contests!

Ben, 4 years old

Ben, Mr. 4 Year old

• ''I like being four, cause I had a big 4, in my birthday cake."
• Still obsessed with dinosaurs
• Loves building things with legos/duplo/zoob pieces
• Has a strong personality when it comes to things he doesn't like
• Favorites phrases when he's upset, "it's not fair", 'this isn't funny", "'you're not listening to me".
• A complete fish in the water, loves diving to the bottom of the pool for toys
• Is excited about ski season
• Loves reading
• Has a very limited menu in terms of foods that he will eat
• Loves helping bake in the kitchen, his favorite ingredients are eggs (which he likes to crack) and brown sugar (which he likes to eat)
• Loves watching DVDs and will happily sit through an entire feature length movie
• Enjoys playing with his mother's stationery products
• Absolutely loves it when the package lady arrives at our house
• Has a lot of energy and can talk nonstop without breathing

A day in the life....

Today was a classic example of my true domestic dork self. Ben has come down with a bug and we've been stuck at home for the last couple of days. I took it as an opportunity to play in the kitchen. I made the recipe for Oven Baked Drumsticks from the Sneaky Chef cookbook (it calls for pureed cauliflower and zucchini). Then Josh and I made the Cheesy Cracker recipe from the same cookbook (secret ingredient: chickpeas and wheat germ).

I made a loaf of banana bread for a family who was blessed with the safe arrival of their 4th baby boy! Then Ben decided he wanted dinosaur cookies, so we made gingerbread dinosaurs and gingerbread men.

Happy 4th of July

Hot dogs, beer, picnic basket, fireworks? My fourth of July check list included: skis, helmets, poles, mittens and snacks for the children. Welcome to Independence Day in New Zealand! We celebrated by dusting off the skis and braving the cold temperatures. Wanaka was dusted in a blanket of fresh snow and the sheep looked cold as they were out in the paddocks. The best line of the day was when Ben took his first run off the magic carpet and when Dan asked if he needed any help he replied, "Get out of my way daddy." Kiwi fireworks?

Summer Vacation

The boys and I have been having a delightful time in California.  We've seen so many great friends and family.  Ben has logged in enough hours in the swimming pool to officially turn into one of those sharks we saw at Sea World.  Josh's vocab has grown with every day, he's not saying phrases like "go away meow" and "nana's car" and "bye bye pool".  Too many good times to be shared... so here's a highlight of a few summer fun photos.

Ben and Josh