Timeout

We've started giving Ben short timeouts because he has a problem pushing, kicking, or hitting Finn and/or wrestling him to the ground to keep Finn away from "Ben's toys." This morning he did it, so I went over to him to get Finn away from him and to talk to him about pushing.

As soon as I knelt down by him, Ben: "Timeout?"

Me: "Do you want a timeout?"

Ben: "No. Don't push baby."

That's All, Folks

Last night as we finished supper, Jon read a passage from the Bible. When he finished, he closed the book and set it down. Ben looked at him and said very matter of factly, "The end, Daddy."

Remember Your Friends

I went out Friday night with my 2 best girlfriends I've had since high school. They live in the area where we are this summer, and we finally all got together. We went out for supper and played cards, but the best part of this was talking. We caught up on each other's lives, which I find is just not done as well by email. There are things you share verbally that you wouldn't write in an email. We talked about our past, some of our high school days, and our futures, as we each have some life-changing things ahead of us. Somehow we always end up laughing to the point of tears.

This short evening together really drove home to me the importance of friends. It's not that I never realized it, but having been away from these gals makes it so much greater to be able to see them. Many people think that when they get married their spouse will fulfill their every relational need. I don't mean to be preachy, but I just want to stress the importance of friends and keeping them close, no matter what happens in your life.

Mr. Independent

Our sweet little 9-month-old is growing up. Though he is a bit clingy lately, he is trying to be very independent. He loves to mess with the keyboard and mouse, and he will take my hand and move it out of the way to get to them. He knows where he's not supposed to be and goes there anyway, like playing with the toilet paper. He has been taking a couple steps at a time in the last week and is well on his way to walking. Now he just needs to learn to go down stairs. Head first is not the answer I'm looking for. My favorite part of this new independence is that Finn does not like to be fed. He has to do it himself (except for cereal in the morning-he must know the routine by now). If I put food in his mouth, he will spit it out and put it back in himself. If it's on a spoon, like applesauce, he just refuses it. He gives a deep blink of refusal and will push the spoon aside with a casual wave of his hand. It's a good thing he's pretty cute and still likes to cuddle once in a while. He's still my baby, after all.

Ben is 2!

Ben turned 2 on Saturday, but since we were leaving Friday for a weekend trip, we celebrated Thursday evening with Jon's parents, grandmas, and grandpa. We had brats and hot dogs and a couple of salads. I attempted my first cake, which I'm not exceptionally proud of but which turned out decent. It is a castle, in case you couldn't tell. Ben especially liked the Dots. My birthday was on Thursday, and Jon gave me the plaque you see in the picture.

Our Mini Vacation

We took the boys on our own mini vacation this past weekend. We headed up to the Twin Cities for the Minnesota Renaissance Festival and the state fair. We headed up Friday and met with my mom, brother, and sister that evening to celebrate Ben's birthday and eat some cake and ice cream.

Saturday morning we headed out to the Ren. Festival. They had a great promotion of bringing canned goods and getting $5 off a ticket, so being the good Dutch people we are, we eagerly complied. The day was somewhat cool in the 60s with some sunshine. We figured it was better than searing hot, especially trying to push a double stroller up and down hills. The boys did fairly well, though they got sick of sitting and we ended up only going to 1 show. Plus Ben was crabby because he needed a nap. We ate chili in a bread bowl and a turkey leg for lunch, and we ended our day with a sparkling apple cider float with cinnamon ice cream. Interesting is the word I would use to describe that. We got a couple of souvenirs, including some wooden swords that the boys will receive in the future. When we got back to the hotel, we all napped. We had pizza for supper, and then the boys got to swim with their cousins.

Sunday we headed to the state fair. As we made our way to the ticket window, a lady came up to us and asked if we had bought tickets. We said no, and she handed us a ticket and said, "Here's a free one." What a wonderful gift! We weren't sure if we looked pathetic pushing 2 kids in a stroller or what , but it was a prepaid nonrefundable ticket. So we spent our day pushing through record crowds to look at pigs, cows, sheep, and horses. We looked at tons of stuff for sale and ate great food including but not limited to fries, a Pronto Pup, a rhubarb-strawberry malt, and Sweet Martha's cookes. The boys enjoyed the fries and malt the most, I think, though Ben did quite enjoy the cookies. Finn didn't like the warm chocolate. We headed home Sunday evening. The boys were definitely sick of sitting. We stopped at a McDonald's for the playland, and Ben actually cried when we pulled him out of there. He was just figuring out he could climb up and go down the slide.

We had a good trip, but we definitely packed a lot in for 1 weekend.