Little sayings

Benjamin couldn't be at a better age for making me laugh with his little imagination and funny sayings. He told me the other day that he wanted to take a nap in Daddy's room, he thinks the guestroom is Daddy's, the Master is mine and of course he has his room. Silly guy!
Then the other night we were watching "Dancing with the Stars" and out of the clear by sky he said "Mommy, you could do that", I replied, quite surprised that he thinks I can dance with a "really?" and he said "Yeah, you and Daddy could dance like that". My funny boy.
Yesterday he was talking about how Aaron would have a Dinosaur cake for his birthday and he would have Thomas and I interjected with the fact that Aaron's birthday wasn't until next March but his was right around the corner and he looked around and said "over there?". Love how he takes things so literally.

Imagination

I just can't get over his sweet little imagination at this age. This morning in the bathtub there was some soap bubble and the milky part of the top of the water and he looked down at some openings in it and said "these are the windows". Oh, okay then Ben, very observant you little cutie!

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.

XOXO

Dear Benjamin,
I went to work tonight and you were constantly on my mind. I came home and you were still awake so we snuggled in your bed together and chatted, you hugged me so tightly and I knew you missed me as much as I missed you. I feel so lucky to be able to stay home with you during the week and work on weekends because our time together is so much fun and so very precious, just like you my beautiful boy. Your smile lights up the Universe and your interest and curiosity in different things, learning, asking "why", blowing me away with your memory and smart mind are all so fun to witness. I love you Ben, more than the moon, the stars, the earth, the air I breathe, more than anything and I continue to love you more and more with each passing day. Thank you for being my Son, it's the greatest blessing. You are my little muffin man and I adore you.
Love,
Mom

Best buds

Our best friends Lindsey, Jack and Aaron came home on Monday from being in Utah for the past month, we sure missed them and are thrilled they came home. We met them yesterday at the splash pad at Desert Ridge and then "Toddler Tuesday" at The Playfactory, our boys bounced to their hearts content. Today we went to Arcadia Tavern for lunch and then to play at their house, they add so much fun to our lives! Lindsey and I get a huge kick out of the fact that our boys act like brothers, have a hard time sharing and today even got into a little slapping fight that we had to stop. Ahhh, boys!

Thomas ANYTHING

I have to laugh at how Ben can find Thomas the Train things everywhere we go. This morning we dashed in to Walgreens and he immediately found these bubbles, luckily they were WAY cheaper than anything else Thomas related. He's been having tons of fun blowing bubbles.

It was SO BRIGHT

Ben just told me it was "so bright when I was born". Wow. Wonder where that came from?

Wheee

My shirtless boy loves his swing set and can really get some air, even though it's a hot one out there but we still like swinging and feeling some breeze.

Ranch

Ben told us that there was a Monster in the bathroom and his name was "Ranch", everytime James asked him a question about the color of his eyes, hair, skin, teeth and nails he told us he was "red". What a funny little imagination he has!

Laundry

Tonight was by far the most fun I've ever had putting all of our laundry away. We usually wash a few loads and then dread folding and hanging but my little helper put it away in the dressers with so much pride, high 5's and lots of enthusiasm! I hope this lasts for a long, long time, but I'm not optomistic. :-)

Proof

Lots of laughs

Thank God so many things that Benjamin does or says make me laugh so hard since he can also be a real handful or a cranky pants kid. I just changed his shorts after his nap but he threw the ones I was going to put him in (that matched) and he picked out a plaid pair that look absolutely awful with the green Sesame Street polo he is wearing, this might just need a pic for proof. My funny boy!

Taking turns

After the gym today we headed over to whole foods to grab lunch and out of the clear blue sky Ben asked if he could drive the car because "we should take turns"...hmmmm?

Float your boat

We went out for dinner last night and at one point I asked James if he thought Benjamin would like green tea ice cream, I do but James doesn't. I said that we would be going to the Asian market after dinner and could get some and he replied "Whatever floats your boat" to which our little man said "Mommy, can I go in your boat?"

I pod

Benjamin just walked out with my Ipod, he's actually pretty good on the Ipod and our laptop, think perhaps he gets that from his Daddy? He started playing a Mary J. Blige song and said "Mommy, look at your friend" to which I responded "you think she's my friend?" and he answered me so quickly, "yeah". He's at this stage where he thinks everyone is his friend, it's adorable. In California he told us he wanted to go see "his friends" and we told him that they were his Cousins so from then on he would tell us he wanted to go see his cousins. I think it's sweet he refers to people as "my fwends".

Escape the heat

We had been talking about whether or not we would go somewhere to get out of the heat since we were both off on the 4th of July (James started his new job today, on the 5th, yay! Hooray! So proud of him and hope he enjoys every moment of his first day!) and yesterday morning I told him how Prescott really likes to celebrate the 4th so we headed on up to the cooler temps, went to the Town Square where there was a huge Arts and Crafts show, food booths and best of all, grass and kids for Ben to play with. When we finished there we headed on out to the Fairgrounds to see if the festivities I read about online were happening but it was a ghost town, so we meandered up Mingus Mountain, through the pines and to Jerome (I scared James a little since he has been interested in this silly show "Ghost Hunters" and pointed out "The Asylum":-)) down the other side and stopped by Auntie and Uncle's house where Mom, Richard, Jenny and Mike were hanging out. Ben enjoyed the pool, sans clothes, with Grammy and when it started raining we all went under the deck and watched a beautiful Monsoon come through and cool us off. James loves Jerky from this little store in uptown called "World of Jerky" so we tried to get there before it closed but like Sedona does, they closed 10 minutes before the closing "time" so we went to get dinner, again closed before their "time" posted. Fortunately James made the great suggestion of Oak Creek Brewery in Tlaquepaque where we had burgers, beer and bangers and mash, a perfect end to a perfect day. This was by far one of the most fun 4th's I can remember, but everything is fun with my boys.

What a great Independence weekend!

Over the last month or so we have heard fireworks outside at the nearby High School for graduation and also at the JW Marriot down the way and both times we have stepped outside to see them, Benjamin couldn't have been more excited. I knew this year would be a lot of fun for him when we got to see fireworks on the 4th of July so we decided to go back to Cave Creek since we had such a great time there last year. This year Harold's Corral was having the band, food and fireworks and it was actually on the 3rd. The weather has been extremely hot, think 116, so we waited to go until a bit later but what we didn't foresee was the Monsoon we would hit driving out there. Power outages, heavy rain pouring down making it hard to see and of course the thought that there would be no fireworks. We parked our car in a nearby lot and ran through the storm to arrive to a bar packed with people, they had to move in when the storm came. I got a little claustrophobic but fortunately the rain quickly passed and we were able to go sit outside and see one big GRAND FINALE. I think that because they were worried about the rain coming back they set them off faster and it suited us just fine, I was just happy to see Benjamin's happy face watching them on his Dad's lap, made it all worthwhile.

Out of the mouths of babes

Last week I was hanging out with Jagger and Benjamin and as we were driving to Target to get some new toys I heard Jagger say to Ben "So Ben, whose YOUR favorite super hero?" to which Ben replied "Thomas" as in, "The train". Not quite the response Jagger was looking for but I chuckled, I just love the cute things kids say and even more so, listening in on them talking to one another. :-)

Trip to California

We just got back from the most wonderful little vacation to California. It was all that I hoped it would be and much more. We went for the Family Reunion that had been in the works for the last couple of years and was primarily planned by James' Cousin, Mary. Ben and I hadn't met Mary, her Husband Al and their four Children, Sarah, Jake, Jasen and David, but now that I know them I look forward to getting to spend more time with them.
We started with a detour to LA to meet James' Aunt and Uncle in LA that Ben and I hadn't had the pleasure of meeting and James hasn't seen for about a decade, their enthusiasm to meet us made us feel incredibly loved, I was honored to have received so much warmth and couldn't have been happier that we drove to meet them, talk about feeling like a guest of honor. We also got to see where Mom and Dad live in Korea town since the only home I had ever seen was the beautiful one in Temecula that they sold, wanting to be closer to the Culture and Customs of other Koreans. It was a charming apartment in one of the buildings that they own and it was very evident they are thrilled with the decision they made to be back there, I can understand wanting the familiarity that they feel living there.
We spent two solid days on the beach on Coronado Island, playing in the soft sand, running through the water, eating, playing games and just enjoying the company of the family, it was exactly what the Dr. ordered. Took little trips to the charming and quaint Sea Port Village to do a little shopping, have a bite and riding the Carousel, I could definitely spend more time there perusing the shops and enjoying the gardens. We took Ben to Birch Aquarium which was a lot of fun, got to sea the colorful fish of the Pacific and explore some tide pools and he even touched a Sea Cucumber, eeeew. One of the highlights of the trip was visiting Hotel Del Coronado, having seen pictures and read about it I knew it was a magnificent, historic hotel but until you walk through the lobby and see the shops, have a drink overlooking the beach you really don't know just how glamorous and impressive it is.
I always feel blessed to have met and married James and now I have a new, greater appreciation for the family that I married in to. I was told on the last morning of our trip, when Mary sat me down to have a "talk" that brought tears to my eyes, that I not only married James but I married the whole family and that they are thrilled to have me be part of them and should I ever need anything to not hesitate to ask, to know that family is always there for one another and that although there are Korean Customs I am still learning, that there may be things that make me uncomfortable, that I am experiencing a whole new world, I am loved...and boy do I feel it.

Family Reunion in San Diego

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Family

In discussing all of the family members we are going to see for the family reunion we are going to Ben chimed in "And Auntie Ro and Uncle Sam and Auntie Ginna and Uncle Lance, how 'bout that?" Silly little stinker doesn't understand that we have different sides of the family and not everyone in your family gets together for every occasion:-)

Such a boy

I was doing the letter on the chalkboard I made and wanted our smart boy to start to learn how to write them since he knows them all, well instead of following my lines and tracing them he decided to draw straight lines and say "Look, it's a worm" over and over.... that is such a boy thing to say!

Bouncing little naked boy

Silly

I made the mistake of asking Ben what we should make for dinner, his response, without hesitation was "Posicuhls"...oh yeah, right, why didn't I think of that?!

My "rope"

Ben gets all snuggly late at night and he found one of my robes, covered me up and kept saying "Here Mama, here's your "rope", my white blanket, the brown blanket and the stinky blanket" because he and James joke around that his little green blanket is stinky and then they cover each other with it over and over. Who is this kid? He's definitely entertaining!

Could not stop laughing

All of a sudden I heard Ben say "What the hell, Thomas" to his Thomas Train and it took everything in my being not to stop myself from showing him just how funny I thought that was, especially the way he said it "What the Heeeeel"....oh boy, my boy!

The Children's Museum

My friend Craig from CPK has a Son who is 4 and a half, Ethan, so we obviously talk about our boys all of the time and he mentioned having a membership to The Children's Museum and invited us along for their 3rd Birthday Celebration (funny that my boy is 3 and we've been going for ages). We had a blast! Ethan was such a nice young man and Craig is a great Dad and fun to hang out with while we watch our boys enjoy the heck out of themselves.

Funny stuff

Ben just said "Mommy's pretty, I pretty too"...okay then!

His words:

Ben always tells us "I have a good idea" and then after we do, give or put on whatever his "good idea" is he says "Das coo", meaning "That's cool". He's big in to "cool" these days and never stops making us chuckle!

My sweet kids

Yikes

I got food poising and the only thing about it worth posting is how wonderful my family is. James came home from work to take care of Ben so I could rest and get better, could I be any luckier? Ben kept asking if I was "healfy" and when I told him he was a beautiful boy he said "You beautiful too", I clearly was not but his sweetness made it all better. We took a bath and he said "Mommy, maybe you go Dr. I take you?" He's so thoughtful! Just now I told him that I feel better today and am not sick any longer and he said "Mommy you not puking anymore, you were scared, Mommy, you not puking again?" LOL!

Shaved Ice

I thought my boys would really enjoy some Shaved Ice on the hot Summer days we are about to experience so I bought this little maker, cherry, grape and pineapple flavors (excited to try some of my own, Mango, Lychee, pureed Strawberry?) and cups and we got going on our first batch last night. It was a lot of fun and reminded me of growing up on Maui and having Shaved Ice for a special treat. One of the best parts was when Benjamin saw the machine this morning and asked to get the "Rocket" down from the fridge. Hee Hee...

Happy

When my little man strolled out of his room this morning we hugged tightly and I said "Good morning muffin, how do you feel?", he responded "Happy". Ahhhh, the little joys in life.

The Sanctuary

I won a night at The Sanctuary because on my 35th birthday Linz, Julie, Rachel and I went to "Sunday's in Paradise", music and fun on the lawn, so James and I stayed there on June 5th and Ben had his first sleepover at Auntie Lindsey and Uncle Dan's house, with Aaron and Jack. It was so nice for us to get away, one of the first things James said when he sprawled out on the bed in our Suite was "Ahhhh, no one is jumping on me". We had quite a laugh when we were settling in, grabbing a beer and a drink, cutting up some meats, cheese and crackers and enjoying the view of the gorgeous mountains off in the distance and James looked at me and said "Hey, guess what I hear?" and we said in unison "Silence". Ahhh, silence. We were welcomed very graciously with a handwritten welcome letter, a lovely bottle of Pinot Noir and an assortment of cheeses, crackers, nuts and fruits, what a way to make your "special" guests feel like royalty! After settling in we went for a swim in the largest infinity pool in Arizona, talked, laughed and enjoyed each others company. After our swim we went back to the room and enjoyed the dinner we picked up from CPK, I had 2 free meals so we got James' favorite, Kung Pao with Shrimp and I had Mahi Mahi with Veggies, we watched an amazing Sunset and had a great night's sleep. The next morning I woke up on the early side, any light in a bedroom wakes me up, made me appreciate my bedroom at home. In fact, staying at the resort was a real treat but the painted brick walls, not too nice artwork, ugly sectional, bath products that had a strange smell and some other little idiosyncrasies made me appreciate my beautiful home even more. I enjoyed the view and the space but calling The Sanctuary the #1 resort in the list of top 50 in the Country doesn't seem very accurate to me. When I went to pick up Benjamin at Lindsey's house in the morning they followed me back to the Resort and we enjoyed a few hours at the pool, which was a fun-filled day with our boys but getting service was like pulling teeth, I'm always curious why people think snottiness acceptable behavior, those servers must not care about making money. All in all, I am grateful to have had some time alone and have such wonderful friends to care for our boy, as Lindsey pointed out, I shouldn't complain about the FREE accommodations. :-)

XOXO

We were just making fresh squeezed o.j. and Ben hugged me and said "I love you so much, happily after". Pretty sure I've died and gone to heaven.

Kitchen -Before and After

I haven't liked our cabinets for quite some time and knew when the weather started warming up I would paint them. Did the research, picked the color, bought new hardware for our old, outdated ones and WHALLAH, in one day I primed and painted all of them. I'm very pleased with the facelift I gave my kitchen!

Naked

Ben has this habit of getting "maked" and showing off his "bodeeee" with pride! It can be hysterical, especially when he says "look at me body" and always wants me to "take my off shirt". Ahh, the joys of potty training. At least he is so proud when he pees in his little toilet, now if we could only get him to poop consistently. Soon.

My little muffin

Fun with Fondue

Made chalkboard Garden stakes