The homies in the LBC!

One of the perks of living in G-town is that we are relatively close to each of my three siblings. And living with my parents means that if they come to visit Mom & Dad they cannot help but get a visit with the four of us. We've been up to see Lyndsy & Jon, we're going to Alan & Jen's at the end of the month, and on Monday we got to see Neal and Meleah. They bought a condo in the LBC. We've been there several times - this time takes the cake though! We got to meet Neal at his office in downtown, walk to the Port of LBC, go to their house for dinner, and play lots!

Neal and Meleah are a good mix for our family. They both like to play, have fun, joke around, and have a good time. We had such a blast! I'm looking forward to our next N&M family adventure!

The boys at Neal's office.

Walking across the bridge to the port.

The train that takes the containers from ships to trucks.
So cool, especially for the two little boys.

Helping to wash Meleah's car! Nothing like kid-labor.

"Driving" the car. A favorite past-time.

Getting to take a bath in their bathtub! A treat!

Reading stories in our jammies.

Belly raspberries from Uncle Neal.

Balboa

We were thrilled to hear that my cousin Stephanie and her husband James were going to be in town last weekend. Stephanie grew up in a town near my hometown so we have always been close. It was fun to get to know James before we moved away. They came down to visit her family and have a vacation. We were tickled that they wanted to see us. I actually think James just wanted to see the boys and see if they'd talk about body parts or bodily functions.

We met them at Balboa Beach. It was a ton of fun!

James played Frisbee and badminton with the boys for a while. Well, you cannot actually play the game with them - rather you just hit the ball, they scream with delight, and then you have to go pick the ball back up and hit it again. James was a good sport:


Steph's Mom (my Aunt Cindy) and sister Stacey were there when we first got there. It was fun to get caught up on the whole family:



We couldn't wait to start the campfire though. It was fun to sit around, chat, watch the boys' delight in such simplicity (hot dogs and fire), and enjoy a little bit of nature.

The boys treated us to an original song:


Thanks Steph and James! We had a glorious time!

The BEST idea!

I'm not sure who gave me this idea...but I think it was my cute cousin Sarah. It really came in handy this week after the boys and I watched a neighbor's house get painted. Since that day they have been asking to 'paint' the house. In the deep recesses of my mind I remember someone (see above) telling me that one of the best things is to give kids a paint brush and water. The water changes, at least temporarily, the appearance of whatever gets painted.

Will and Walker spent almost an hour outside painting yesterday! They were thrilled. They were even more thrilled when the water dried and they realized they had to 'repaint' something!

Bright Sunshiny Day!

After several days of torrential rain and gloomy skies* (and a weekend of being sick at home) the boys and I took advantage of the absolutely gorgeous weather and headed to our local arboretum. We haven't been there since June of last year and when I looked outside this morning I knew we'd end up there! The picture below is from our June 2007 trip - compare it to the one a few shots down...



The boys were in full adventure mode. We had fun feeding the ducks, hiking through the 'jungle', and eating our lunch by the pond. Moments like these are magical. I think we have them every day, they're just harder to notice when we're in our day-to-day routine.

Looking for turtles...

Look at me Mom!

Yes, it's a mushroom and no you can't eat it.

Does life get any sweeter?

Enjoying some lunch.

Will wanted his own 'bench'.

Fishing!
(The algae is the 'fish' Will caught)

Can I take it home please?

Will taking a business call.
(telling Eric all about our day)

The waterfalls.

The REAL reason I take my kids on adventures...
this is what happens on the way home!

*I do realize that all of you in snowy, blizzardy areas are rolling your eyes right now.*

Valentine's Treats

Valentine's Day was so much fun! A lot of people are not interested in Valentine's Day and label it as a Hallmark holiday. They aren't wrong. From the huge chocolate covered hearts to the overpriced cards the holiday, like the rest, has gotten out of hand.

Still I will always be in favor of a holiday that promotes the sharing and verbalization of love. Regardless of what tacky card that love might be written in.

At our house we had an abundance of Valentine's excitement...

The boys and I made gluten-free (GF) orange yogurt breakfast muffins for our friends:

and frosting-free GF M&M cupcakes for Will's class:

Will made this adorable Valentine collector in class
and brought it home filled with cute notes and goodies:

I got a package from my uber-talented friend Susan
with some homemade sugar scrub she made:

and surprised me with this incredibly cute wallet
that she sells through her company, Freshly Picked:

Grandma Steph sent the boys a great package with lots of treats. They carried their heart slinkys around all day and colored with their fan crayons after naptime.

One of the highlights was getting to have a Valentine's Day date with Walker at a local bagel shop. He was thrilled to have a chocolate chip muffin with just his mom. He chatted my ear off the entire time and was utterly charming.

The boys then got to spend the evening with Papa, Goosey (who is in town), Aunt Pat, and Uncle Doug. Eric and I had a unique evening spending the first part in therapy (what better way to say I love you? Really!) and then enjoying a nice dinner together. I got gorgeous flowers but forgot to take an individual picture. (You can see them on the table in my Chinese New Year party post.)

Sweet things...

For my boys:

Chinese New Year Parade

We had such a good time at the Chinese New Year Parade! I had no idea what to expect and it was better than I could imagine! The boys were so excited all week that the kept asking when we were going to Chinatown.

One of the best parts was watching Walker ride the train. He is in a phase where trains are his sun, moon and stars. My Dad took some great shots of him on the train, as well as the parade, so I'll have to post those when I can get a hold of them!!

Here are some of ours:

Walker & Eric watching the parade start...

Will and his Chinese hand fan

Walker's not sure about the dancing dragons:

Will was most enthused by
the confetti and spent the majority of his time
watching it get thrown and then picking it off the ground
to throw it again:

One of the best parts of the parade, as is always the case, was the people watching. This cute man was standing near us with his wife. He was thrilled to greet anyone and everyone on the floats as they came by...but it was a special delight when any of the Chinese New Year royalty came by on their floats. You'll have to turn your head sideways to watch it, but this is what he'd do:

The parade website said that the parade would go from 2:00pm - 5:oopm. I thought there was no way it would go that long, or that they were marking time from the start at one place and the finish...boy was I wrong! At about 4:00pm we decided to walk around Chinatown. It was fun to see ALL of the people out for a good time.

We decided to forgo trying to get Chinese food IN Chinatown given the crowds. In the end we trekked back to the train station and rode back towards G-town.

In what seemed to be a strange move we decided to celebrate the Chinese New Year at a Mexican restaurant! (Chinese food is hard to find gluten-free!)

The boys were famished and exhausted....a great day was had by all! I'm still hoping that next year we can celebrate the real deal :)

The Joy of Potty Training

As (almost) every parent knows potty training is an interesting process. You have to wait until your child displays the *signs* that they are ready to train, you have to decide on a potty training method, and then you have to begin.

With Walker this has been a really trying process for me. Will was a little bit older and a little bit more verbal than Walker so, while it was expensive, it was quicker and easier. Walker is the kind of child who reacts so much to my energy and my moods that if I am the least bit rushed, he'll slow right on down.

So the last few weeks have been filled with highs and lows. I really thought we got the hang of it last Wednesday when Walker came running down the hall to tell me he needed to go 'poo-poo'. When we rushed into the bathroom I realized that he had already gone potty in his pants. I had to remind myself that he at least told me and that was a step...but my patience wasn't all that thrilled.

What I realized the other day made me remember that in the moment of frustration with our kids we often miss the magic. For example, as I sit 15 - 20 minutes in the bathroom waiting for Walker to do his stuff I often read him stories, ask him about his life, and have great conversations! Given his busy nature these moments do not happen a lot in other circumstances.

I took full advantage of this time on Monday. We talked and talked. In fact he did not want to get off of the potty - I think he too realized the importance of the time with just Mom. 1/2 way through the 'event' I got the camera. I had been asking him about colors that he likes and it was too priceless.

Yes this is a video of my kid on the potty. Yes he does have a sucker (it was a last ditch attempt to get him to STAY on the potty). Enjoy:

How to catch a thief!

Today's parenting lesson is -

'How to Catch a Thief: Grocery Store Edition'.
~ Brought to you by the Bennion children and their mother~

1) Keep your eyes and ears open at all times. Sights and sounds often provide valuable clues.
2) Do not, at any time, assume that silence is golden - especially at the grocery store.
3) Check all parts of the shopping cart, as well as your child's body, before paying.
4) Thank all of the grocery store staff for not sending you and your kids to jail.

Case Study:

Today after preschool we needed to go to the grocery store to do our weekly dairy/fruit/veggie run. As I picked up Will from preschool today the teacher mentioned that he is still having problems 'listening to direction'. I told her that we are really trying to work on that and as I was doing it Walker started taking all of the toys out of the cupboards. When I told him to stop, do you think he listened? Nope, just kept pulling them out. The teacher gave me a look that said 'My point exactly'.

So...I left preschool already thinking about what we need to do at home to help them both and we went to the store. I piled them into the fun car cart and headed for our race around the store. Several people in the store commented on how cute the boys are, wanted to know if they were twins, and smiled as we passed by. I was so delighted because I knew I was pressing my luck to take them to the store so close to lunch time. We checked off our lists and headed for the check-out. Now here is problem #1 with the cute car carts:

1) Grocery stores, like all stores, have mastered the art of check-out marketing. Candy screams to kids and adults as you stare at the veggies you've just purchased. My kids are not immune to this marketing. And in the car carts they are at the right height to grab at any of the candy in their view.

As I was loading our groceries on the conveyor belts I (using skill #1) heard a rustling from the cart. I peered in and found Walker nibbling on this bag:

(yes, after the damage Walker did we bought it. The boys very disappointed that they cannot have them)

I moved the cart away from the candy and started the payment process. I was ever so grateful that the boys did not try to get out of the cart (failure to use skill #2) when I was paying. Problem #2 with car carts is that in this particular store you cannot take the car carts outside. They get you a new car but it means pushing both carts, an maneuvering both kids to the entrance. Today the ever helpful bagger loaded everything into a new cart and followed us to the entrance. (I love courtesy!)

When I bent down to get the boys out of the car cart I was immediately presented with the source of the quiet. Each boy had, stuffed in his mouth, a Hershey's Milk Chocolate with Almond bar. They were gnawing through the paper trying to get to the chocolate as is evident here (guess which one is Walker's!)



As I grabbed the stolen goods out of their grubby hands I noticed something else - not only did they each have one bar but there were six, SIX others in the car with them. That means that little sticky-fingers Walker had grabbed EIGHT bars. The bagger started to laugh as I handed each one to him. I marched the boys over to pay for the two damaged bars. They knew they were in trouble but really could not understand why.

A fellow shopper, who had not witnessed the event, commented on how I have my hands full. I remarked 'Yes, and now they are thieves' - and the bagger started to laugh again. The shopper, a obviously jovial man, laughed as said 'Those are my kind of kids'. I responded that he could take them home with him them. This got Will as he started to cry and cried the entire way home thinking I was so made that I was going to get him a 'new family'.

I'm sorely tempted sometimes to get them a 'new family' . Then again, they do make cute thieves:

(if you look close you can see the chocolate residue - oh and the lack of remorse)

(he's just really grateful I haven't shipped him overseas to a new family)

My point exactly.

Pearly whites!

(The event depicted in this blog originally occurred on Friday January 6th, 2008. All people in this blog are real.)

We are so fortunate to have a wonderful dental hygienist in our family! Our GreatAunt Patti made it so easy for the boys to have their teeth cleaned for the first time. She let them explore the office, the tools, and even the electrical equipment. In the end it made everyone more comfortable to have their very 1st dental check-up!

Goosey and Walker checking things out:

Will, the big brother, went first:

There is our friend Slurpee:

Check it out Will - it spins like a fan!

Nice and clean:

Walker's not too sure about this:

Getting his teeth flossed:

A drink from the special water hose: