Catching Up a Bit

I am not posting as much as I would like. There are several things that have gone on since my last post. Ben just turned the big 31 on the 20th! I had to work that day, but we did have a big breakfast with his family at Jim's in A.F. Harper made daddy a green Birthday card that he had drawn Batman and The Joker on. Every time I asked Ben what he wanted for his Birthday, he insisted that he wanted Harper to have a new bike and a helmet. So that's what he got, along with some new clothes for fall. Pretty exciting stuff when you turn 31.

Harper has now had 3 weeks of preschool and he still cries when I drop him off. I was the teacher this week and it turned out to be pretty fun. We learned about the letter "C", Autumn, and the number 2. We made caterpillars in the shape of the letter "C", fall trees with red, orange, and yellow tissue paper leaves, and had candy corn, crackers, and cheese for snack time. If I ever think that one three and a half year old is hard to handle, I will think again. Trying to keep seven of them on task, happy, and away from each others candy corn, was like trying to swallow seven saltine crackers with no milk. It was impossible, but we all lived and I believe we all had a good time.

Harpers First Day of Preschool

So just as I expected, Harper was super excited to go until we actually got there. He clung to my side and repeated, "I don't like preschool mommy." So after pictures were taken and the kids started sitting in a circle for story time, I handed him off to the teacher and he was still in tears. I told her he usually will cry for a minute and then he is great and and joins in the fun. That is how it usually goes with nursery every Sunday. So Fin and I took off and went grocery shopping. I have to admit that at Wallmart I was in a bit of a rush because I knew for sure they would be calling to come get him early. Well, they never called, and I got back to the neighbors house to get him exactly an hour and a half later. I went to the door and there he was. He had a huge smile and said, "mommy, you came back!" I asked him if he had a great time and he happily said, "yes, I did!" So we will hope that things go smoother dropping him off on Thursday. Emotionally I was great and excited for him, I think because he is just at the neighbors house for a short time. Kindergarten will be a different story for sure,.............I can wait another 2 years for that!

Some of my favorite photos of Ben that I found and dusted off. Ain't he handsome.

At Brandon's Homecoming dinner.

This one is an oldie from a trip to Bear Lake in 1998.
This is from a camping trip to Yellowstone.