Lion punch

I love "Ben speak", he calls juice that James picked up "Lion" (Island) punch, makes me giggle. He's just so full of cuteness, it's almost unbearable.

Hahahaha!

There was a commercial on t.v. with a dark haired, dark skinned, maybe Latin animated boy and Ben looked up, pointed and said "That boy looks like Ben". That made me laugh out loud, the boy looked nothing like Ben but apparently Ben sees himself as a darker little guy. What a kid! He's so full of funny little outbursts, this morning he came up to me and said "I see cupcakes up der, I weally like one". Now he's playing and saying "remember when I was tall, like you". Hmmmm? He really is a funny kid!

Mommy, remember...?

Lately Benjamin has been asking is if we remember, EVERYTHING. He asks if we remember when he got his new Thomas the Train backpack from Aaron, well yes Ben, that was YESTERDAY. He cracks me up every single day.

Vacation to Minnesota

We got back from Minnesota last Thursday and boy oh boy, it sure didn't feel like we were gone for 10 days. Time really does fly when you're having fun and fun was had!
It was so relaxing, gorgeous, temps were amazing and the entire trip was as perfect as it could have been. The first couple of days I got to spent time with my girlfriend Jessica and her Son Walter, they stayed for an extra couple of days since they were there visiting her folks and sort of saying good-bye, they will be retiring to Florida now. We had a lot of fun, making dinner, going to the beach, drinking beer and visiting a humongous herd of Buffalo. Walter is a handsome, smart, little conversationalist. We planned a big family potluck and got to see all of Dad's Sisters and all of my Cousins except for Heidi, Grandma was thrilled to have her family together and it meant so much to me that everyone came and had a great time. Benjamin just loved playing with all of the kids. Everywhere we went there was a park, perfect for a 3 year old to play to his hearts content. We spent a lot of time on the River, boat rides, fishing, taking in the scenery, what a breath-taking state Minnesota is. The whole trip was incredible, absolutely wonderful and I'm thrilled we had as many wonderful experiences as we did.

Mud puddles

We got quite the monsoon tonight and went out to play in the rain, of course Ben found a mud puddle and had a blast playing in it. Such fun to be a little boy!

Grandma Bev

This morning my Grandma Bev and I had one of our wonderful, lengthy conversations where we laugh a lot, sometimes we cry too, we are two women cut from the same cloth so tears are not uncommon. We touch base on everything going on in our lives and tell each other things that we would only share with each other. Our relationship is so special, always has been. I've always adored her, felt so much love from her and appreciate what we have. When I was a little girl she always sent cards with dimes in the special slots for holidays and in high school I frequently visited with her after school, sat on the red stool in her kitchen, had a diet soda (that's what she drinks:-) and chatted for hours on end. We haven't lived in the same town very many years of my life but we never let distance come between us. She smells just like heaven, in fact yesterday we were at Macy's, Ben loves riding the escalators and I enjoy sneaking a peek at the latest and greatest fashions, I sprayed the new "Coach" perfume on and it smelled like her, I smelled my wrist all day and night. I've asked her what it is but she just says "Nothing special Ella, just soap". Maybe it's just her natural scent. This morning she told me a couple of really funny stories about Dad after I told her how out of the clear blue sky Benjamin said "Today's a good day" and my heart almost melted, what a sweet boy I have.
One of the stories I hadn't heard was that when Dad was about 4 he wanted a Horse, of course Grandma had to tell him that's not possible but he was convinced he could keep that Horse in his room. My Dad, always a funny one. The other story was that when her brother shot a deer and gave them Venison roast Grandma told the kids her brother shot it and Dad exclaimed "Then who shot the potatoes?". Again, my Dad has always had a wonderful sense of humor. I'm really looking forward to getting one of the best hugs in the Universe from Grandma Bev, just a few short days from now and I'll be sitting on that red stool in the kitchen, marveling at how she throws a few things in a bowl, mixes it, bakes it and out comes the most mouth watering food I've ever had.

Minnesota

In one week we are headed to Minnesota for 10 days. We are so looking forward to spending time with my Dad, Sister, Grandma Bev, Cousins, Aunts and friends and enjoying the cooler temps and lushness of the river country. I just wish we weren't headed out because my Dad had a 4th heart attack a couple of weeks ago and the only thing I could think of was heading there to see him and be with him as soon as possible. I also wish James was coming with us, I don't know how we are going to handle being away from him for so long, we'll miss him like crazy. I know the trip will be wonderful but right now I am having some anxiety. My Dad's place is small, I mean TINY so we will be sleeping (I hope we sleep) on an air mattress in the livingroom. If the weather is nice we will be a-okay, no we will be a-okay regardless. Everything will be just fine.