3 for 1--- Birthdays that is

So we have had a lot of birthdays at our house lately. August 20th was Jacob's 1st birthday! I can hardly believe it has been over a year. He started taking steps and walking at 11 months and is now an old pro. It makes him seem so much older. He seems more like a 15 month old than a 12 month old now. He says a few words, ball, boo, more (mo), wee (you know like wee!! this is fun!). He is so much fun and brings so much joy into our home. The kids all love having him too. Now that he can walk he likes to follow them around and they will play with him. He loves to be pushed in the stroller and he stomps his foot when he is excited. He is just so stinkin' cute. We just had our own little family party for him. It was great fun. Oh yes, he is now completely weaned, which makes this mama very happy:)



Next was my birthday. On Sept. 10, I turned the ripe, old age of 33. I am now well into my thirties. It doesn't bother me too much. In fact I feel like I've been married nearly 11 years, I have 5 kids, a great home, I ought to be in my thirites. It is a great place to be. I have thought some about how the Savior was 33 in the last year of his ministry on earth. I think I would like to reread those portions of the Gospels this year. 33 is good.



Greg, very kindly and wonderfully took off half the day of work to be home with me. We just went on a nice walk with the boys along the river and talked. Then we went and got the kids at school and went out for ice cream, and on a whim I wanted to go to a furniture store, so we all went to together (have you ever been to a furniture store with 5 kids? it is quite the experience, we rent ours out, if you are looking to try something new and different; it is actually pretty fun, just a little bit crazy!). Then we went home and Greg made me a nice dinner of mashed potatoes and grilled steak! MMMM! I didn't want a cake, so we had an ice cream pie, Mississippi Mud. It was a good day. I have a good life. I was reminded of that on my birthday. I told Greg, I felt like I should be the one giving everybody else a present. I just feel so grateful for my good husband and children, not to mention other family and friends. Life is good.



Lastly, was our Benner boy's birthday on Sept. 18. He turned 4! My fourth child is 4! He and I are buddies now that the kids are back in school. He missed them a lot at first, but now is thrilled with the arrangement, I think. It sure is apparent in his happy attitude and smiling face. He is so quiet sometimes, and then he will talk your ear off. He just likes to be near me, whatever I am doing. He will help with the dishes or wash the floor (yes I do those things occasionally). He likes to read with me and has his favorite books, including "I Spy" books and Mercer Mayer books.



The Saturday before his birthday we had his cousin Lawson and family over for a little celebration. That is always fun to get together with the Ebberts. I still think it is so cool Ben and Lawson were born on the exact same day. On Ben's birthday, he proudly brought a treat to preschool. Then we got kid's meals at Wendy's for Ben and his friend Holly. Then Ben and Holly, Jacob and I all went to the Family Musuem. It was so much fun to go with Ben and Holly. They are at the perfect age to really enjoy it and it was so different than taking a wide age range of kids. It was so much fun! The fun continued with a spaghetti dinner, snowman cake, and fun presents, including a bug vacuum, which has been a hit.



We love birthdays at our house, and it is a good thing, because they come in bunches!



Sorry folks, you will have to wait for pictures. We are having some Picasa issues. I know, how boring. You'll live. It just means you will have to come back soon to see if I got some up. Happy Wednesday!

Back to school.... 3 weeks ago

Well folks, I am breaking my many months of blog silence. I always want to be very thorough in my posts, which is part of the reason I haven't posted in months; who has time to be thorough?! I finally decided something was better than nothing, so here is my first post in a long while.

I know I am late, but the kids started back to school on August 13. Anna is absolutely loving it. Her teacher is very kind and uses tons of music in the classroom. The first week they had a contest to name the class pets, a frog and a fish. The fish was appropriately named Phelps. The frog received the name Jacob. She has loved having her friend Sarah in her class again this year too. All in all she is doing great. Here she is on her first day:

Lizzy is loving kindergarten too. She has a male kindergarten teacher, which I was a little worried about, but I have really liked him. He is totally organized and seems to be aware of where Lizzy is at academically. Liz has been extra tired but still enjoying school. They have a staggered start over the first three days for kindergartners, so only one third of the class goes over the first three days. Because of this here first day was different than Adam and Anna. Cute Lizzy.

I think Adam is enjoying too, although he will tell you differently. If you ask him if he likes school he will shrug his shoulders and kind of grunt (have we reached this already?). He often complains of being bored , but has liked some of the things his teacher has done already. She had them act out the olympic race where 2 men were disqualified and Adam got to be Usain Bolt, which he thought was pretty cool. They also had to "form" a team of animals and say which animals they would choose and which events they would have them compete in. He is busier than ever with extracurricular activities, so I think school seems boring in comparison.

Ben just had his first day of preschool yesterday. He was pretty shy at first and stuck close to me, but when it was time for me to go in the other room for a mini parent meeting, he did just fine. He keeps asking when he will get to go back, and said he had a great time. I think this will be really good for Ben. He has really missed the kids now that we are back to school. I don't know what I will do with myself when it is just Jacob and I for a few hours a week. This isn't his first day of preschool picture (I admit it, I forgot to take one!) but it is a cute picture of Ben.

We loved the summer and enjoyed having time to spend together. We are getting a little better at the school routine, but we are working out the kinks still. Happy school year kids. We love you! Oh, just because he is cute, here is picture of Jacob. Isn't he sweet?