Almost spring...

Not a ton to say this month... but some fun pictures and videos to post. :)

Ben & friend Cormick

Sledding!

Bapa Duane (That's Grandpa, if you didn't know) got us a sweet new video camera for Christmas. It's Ben's camera that needs to follow him around... which of course means it's actually ours. To break it in, Bapa and Grandma took Ben sledding on Christmas Eve. Here are some videos of sledding and play in the snow. How cool are Bapa and Grandmary? I have never seen a better "snow angel-er" than my mother. And her snow outfit is super cute.

Chatting

I have literally spent all morning learning to upload videos from my new video camera onto my computer, and then on the internet. I am not stupid... there were many good reasons this was not working. After 30 minutes spent on the phone with HP tech support and a lot of inappropriate language spoken in front of my son, I am ready to try to upload my first video here on the blog.

This is a video of Ben chatting away. (Ignore MY chatting, as it is highly annoying.)

While it uploads, a quick translating dictionary for you.

"Ello!" = Hello! (Think, "Ello, Guv-na!")
"I-eeee!" = Hi! or Eye
"Ba-pa" = Grandpa or Diaper
"Ah do" = All done
"No" = Either the obvious, or "nose"

Obvious ones:
"Hot." He only whispers it in a menacing tone.
"Mama" (which he refuses to say in this video) and "Dada"
"Buh-bye!"

That should be enough to get you through.

January 23 Resolution

Hello, everyone!
Long time no talk.

I am making a January 23 resolution (as it is clearly too late to be making any more New Year's resolutions). To keep this blog up to date! Obviously, I am way behind. The problem is, the longer you wait, the harder it gets... it will take me all morning to bring us up to date here. But here goes...


Decorating the Christmas Tree

There was a time when I NEVER would have thought about getting a fake Christmas tree... however, then I realized that as a music teacher with a musician husband, the holidays were going to be busy times for us. So, a couple years ago, we broke down and bought the cheap fake tree. I have to say, it's really pretty convenient... Ben helped us decorate over Thanksgiving vacation.

Look, Mom, there's the (fake) tree. (When we have older kids, we may have to switch back to a real tree for a few years...)

Decorating...

The finished product!

Mom, I SEE you!

Benjamin and Mama. Don't we look like a happy pair? Sometimes, we are... unfortunately, Benjamin has fully entered tantrum-land. He screams, lays down, the whole bit. He has also started hitting when he's upset. But guess what? He ONLY hits his mom. Not Dad. Not friends. (He did actually hit Cormick once... but not since.) Sometimes the dogs get it. But never Dad. This annoys me greatly.

Great Falls Children Museum

Over Christmas vacay, we stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Moe for a good week. It was highly enjoyable for everyone! One of our favorite things was visiting the Childrens' museum in Great Falls. This is an AWESOME place. It totally kicks the Missoula Children's Museum's ass. Sorry, but it's true. It's basically a HUGE warehouse of playing fun. Above: Benjamin playing with the balls ("ba") in the sports area. Below, hanging out on the kid treadmill. He was obsessed with the treadmill, after watching me log many hours on mine at home.

A construction worker!

I enjoyed the random holes in this wall.


Missoula Children's Museum

We also visited the Missoula Children's Museum for the first time over vacation. Sadly, it is not as big as the Great Falls version. However, it does have some pretty fun stuff.

Benjers enjoyed this slide...

He always starts going down this way...

But then he wusses out and goes down backwards.

Random Pics

Vikings hat

When I am on the treadmill, Ben has no choice but to join me in the garage. He bundles up (it's cold in there), insists on having his OWN water bottle (because I have one and he's jealous). Then he busies himself playing with toys and spinning bowls (see separate post on that). He got a very cool wagon for Christmas that is not put together yet, but he still enjoys going in and out of the door and putting things in the seat bench. He usually gets extremely whiny toward the end of the run. Who can blame him? So do I.

Whoo! Winter is a dry, staticky time. Ben's hair is still no joke... pretty long and crazy. We got it cut shortly after taking this picture.

These pictures are for our New Year's cards. We will be sending them out shortly. I've decided that I cannot always be responsible for sending out Christmas cards on time (see earlier complaing about being busier than most during the holidays).

It would have been smart to take these AFTER Ben had his nap, so he wouldn't look completely dazed. Ah, well.

Bye bye for now! There is much more to post... including some videos! So Mom will keep working throughout the morning!!

I have a new Monte hat. (Thanks, Jen!)

Another favorite pastime... the fake cry!

Our current favorite pastime: spinning bowls! Sorry we haven't blogged in so long. We will try to catch up soon!

Tunnel Fun 2!

Tunnel Fun 1!

Cormick and I had such fun in his tunnel today! Woo!

Ride 'em cowboy!

Who needs toys when you have a basket?

Splash Pattee

Splash Pattee (aka Brittnie's backyard) is our new fave summer hangout!

Bonner Park splashy place

Bonner Park is another sweet hangout. The sprayground place is pretty fun. I am still kind of nervous about the fountains, but I'm getting better.

Costco

Cormick and I always enjoy shopping with our moms.

Splash part 2

Here I am at Splash again with Mom, Brittnie and Cormick.

Splash Montana!

Missoula has a SWEET water park called Splash Montana. I got a season pass for my birthday from my grandparents! Thanks, guys! Here I am, having fun in the sun.

So, this summer I've been doing lots of fun things! Here I am, taking a ride on my grandpa's boat.

This fool taught me how to send blog updates from my phone (a.k.a. the only camera I ever use anymore). Now I shall post 1,000 pics from the last month! Thanks Brittnie!

Testing mobile blogging! Please stand by!

And we're walking!

A not-very-high-quality cell phone video... and yet, a fantastic memento of Ben's first steps! Good job, Peter!

ONE YEAR OLD!!!

I turned one year old today!!!

ONE YEAR!!!

Seriously... can you believe it?
My parents threw me a raging birthday party. It was at Grandma & Grandpa Scott & Patti's house. It was a beautiful day, and MOST of my friends and family were there! Woo! (Edited because Auntie Molly complained when I wrote"all." We were sad to be missing Molly, Paul, Angela...probably some others...but we tried to enjoy the event anyway!)

Cormick and I thought, hey, why not hang out in the garden?

The cuteness is not fair.

Cormick says, Ben, let's go explore this yard! C'mon!

But now I need to give my mom a hug!

Indeed! This grass stuff is awesome!

This picture will be in the next Abercrombie & Fitch catalog.

Grandparents!

Me & Grandmary

Two beautiful people!

Oh, boy, the main event! Time for cake!

The singing made me rather nervous. Why, people... why are you singing?

Fire... interesting.

Strange.

As with all new foods, I am very hesitant.

Wait... this might be delicious!

Yum!

Ugh... the sugar high is over... I am crashing!

All in all, it was a fantastic event! Thanks, everyone, for coming!