September Birthdays!

Jon and I celebrated our birthdays this month. Mine lacked the photo experince, but it was great anyways. It was on a Sunday so Jon and I went out on the Saturday. We went to a pizza place called Dough for dinner. It was amazing, it was the best pizza I have ever had. Well worth the hour wait. We also ran a few little errands and then went to Cheesecake Factory for dessert. On Sunday we did the family thing. I got my cake and since I just asked for money I got my cards too. Ben was a little confused on why I wasn't opening any presents. It was a great birthday, even without presents. Then at the end of the month we celebrated Jon's birthday. Poor Jon won't have the greatest of Birthday's until he's out of the Army. He is always on a diet trying to loose those few extra pounds before he has to do his PT test in October. So this year he and I went out to Red Lobster, where he could eat something somewhat healthy. And then since he couldn't eat cake I bought a cheap little cake from Walmart and we did the singing and candle thing. The boys were really excited about that and wanted to help out with blowing out the candles. Ben was a little disappointed in the cake. Earlier that morning he has asked if we were making dad's cake and he insisted that Jon wanted a Castle for a cake. I think he had a good birthday even though he was limited to his celebrating.

Kindergarten

Benjamin started Kindergarten this year. I was really nervous for school to start. The last two years have been very difficult for him with school. When we first moved to Texas we put him pre-school to let him have something to do since we were expecting a new baby and we didn't want him to feel left out. He cried for the first few days, but even up till the last day of school I still had to walk him to his class and give him a hug and kiss, which is fine, but then I had to watch him hang up his backpack and take out his folder and then he would let me go. Pre-Kindergarten the following year was very similar. Except he cried almost every morning, I would have to watch him line up and then watch him walk to the classroom with his class. Every time we had a break, whether it was Christmas, Spring Break, when he had surgery, or sometimes a three day weekend we would start all over again with the tears. So I was very nervous this year. But much to my surprise, Ben has grown up. He has not cried once since I've dropped him off. He gives us all our hugs and kisses and then walks right into the classroom. I was shocked! He is loving school so far. He jumps out of bed in the mornings and is excited to go to school. I hope the great energy continues through the rest of the school year. It'll be neat to see how he changes this school year and how he grows and develops academically.

Photo Shoot

While we were in New Hamphsire I did a little photo shoot with the boys. Ever since Jon and I have been married and everytime we go to visit his family we always drive by this stone tower. I've always thought it would be a neat place to take pictures. Well, I finally took the chance and took the boys out to take some pictures. It was raining and the boys were tired so it was a little difficult, but we did get some good shots of the boys. Andrew was a little more cooperative then Ben so I got several good ones of Andrew. It's funny because Andrew is starting to actually say "Cheese" when I take pictures so he gets this funny scruntched up look on his face, but it's cute. Ben was funny too at first I told him to hold his arm up and touch the wall and as I was doing so I was lifting up my arm, so instead of touching the wall he copied what I was doing and lifted his arm up into the air. There are some funny pictures, but some really cute ones too. The last three are the ones I printed for our mantle.

New Hampshire Visit

Since this was the summer of visiting Grandparents, we headed to New Hampshire in August. Jon had a week of night float so it was just the boys and I this trip. Jon's mom, Lark, had 3 passes for Southwest, which she let us use. It was great to have a seat for both boys, even though Andrew is still concidered a lap child. The flight up went pretty smooth. We stopped in Tampa. They had a little play area near the gate so the boys were able to stay busy before another flight. The flight on the way home was another story. Our lay over was through Chicago...I will never go through Chicago with kids again. They have no play area, anywhere. I'd rather go through Baltimore or Tampa again. We had a 3 hour layover, but our flight was a little late, which was fine but then our next flight kept getting delayed. I think it ended up being an extra 2 hours, and with tired boys who just want to run around or lay on the floor is very hard. Me being 7 months pregnant didn't help either. But we eventually made it home. Jon will have to come next time, I don't think I'll be able to do this by myself with 3 kids. Anyway, our trip was fun. We were there for 2 weeks. The weather was nice, and the boys had a great time. They have an amusement park near by that is geared towards little kids, which Lark bought Benjamin and I season tickets for. I think we ended up going 4 or 5 times. It seemed to either be and overcast day or just a rainy day when we would go. But the boys still liked being able to ride the rides. They did have a little water park which Ben and cousin Sabrina would go and play in. Sometimes Andrew would, but he was a little unsure of it and mostly stayed with me or grandma. They had real reindeer there which Andrew loved feeding. Almost every time we went I would take him over to feed the reindeer while Ben and Sabrina rode a ride Andrew wasn't able to. And of course, the kids were spoiled by Grandma with junk (cottoncandy) and slushes everytime we went and were very sticky by the end of the day. Plus, they were usually ready for a nap (Andrew) or quiet time (Ben) by the time we got home. When we had originally made plans of me flying out with the boys I didn't know I was pregnant. I was looking forward to going to Santa's Village and riding the rides with Ben. The last time I went I was pregnant with Andrew and couldn't ride any of the rides. This time I was even more pregnant and was limited to what I could do. Maybe next time we go I won't be pregnant and get to enjoy in the fun of the rides. While we were in New Hampshire we also went and took a ride on the local train. I guess it's pretty easy to entertain boys, just put them on a train and they will be happy for an hour. We also went to a near by...pond, I think that's what they called it. They had fun playing in the sand and Ben really enjoyed the water. The water was chilly, especially when I'm use to bath water for a pool or beach living in Texas. Andrew of course enjoyed eating the sand. Grandma and Grandpa Andreas have a bounce house that they took out a couple of times to let the kids jump around. Ben loved it! Lark had been trying to convince me for awhile to get one. Seeing that it is fairly easy to put up and take down, I think I might consider it. And of course, their dogs. Andrew loved them! He tried to feed them, he would pet them, let them lick him, and he would even chase them. I really think a dog is in his future, but at this time I don't think I could handle one. Maybe when I don't have to change diapers anymore. It was great being able to see Jon's parents. Unfortunately, Jon's Dad was only around for a few days while we were there. We went over and swan in his pool and then he and Carolyn took the boys for a day before they headed for an Alaskan Cruise. It was still nice to see them before they headed off. Thanks lark for making this trip possible. We really enjoyed it!