That's my boy!

Benny (completely unsolicited): You are so pretty, Mommy. Just like Snow White!

"quiet" time

benny hasn't napped regularly for most of his life. he's always slept great at night, so i really can't complain. i insist on quiet time every day, though. we all need that time alone. benny doesn't usually like having quiet time, but he usually finds some way to entertain himself while in his room.
a favorite past time of benny's is dressing himself. he often wears three or four different "outfits" in a day. sometimes it's all pajamas; sometimes it's a conglomoration. you can imagine what it's like when benny's left in his room alone with the dresser full of his and andy's clothes. he hasn't quite mastered which drawers are his and which are andy's (this is often a problem when it comes to asking him to get socks). every so often benny will emerge from quiet time wearing some of andy's clothes.
about a week ago i opened benny's door after quiet time to have him come out wearing a pair of andy's jeans. he wasn't able to button them by himself, but he quickly had daddy remedy that situation. this was a pair of 12 month jeans. a pair that andy has just about grown out of himself (in the waist). i couldn't believe it. i knew benny was a skinny kid, but i didn't realize he was that skinny. if he didn't eat so much i'd think there was some kind of problem!

he wore these the rest of the day.

i'm so grateful...

...for a husband like spencer. he just sat through bride wars with me. i don't recommend it. at all.

working with daddy

spencer is able to work for his dad's office while here in tulsa. we've been blessed our whole marriage by this opportunity. it has been really beneficial. this summer (our last!) he'll be picking up about 20 hours a week. he's wonderful and is helping out with tons of stuff around the house - it's really helpful since i'm not moving around all that easily any more.

the first day spencer was working, benny really wanted to sit on his lap and be at the computer with him. that wasn't going to work, so i decided to set up a work station for him right by daddy. it started with just his little table and his chair with some paper and a pencil. benny, however, kept wanting to see the family picture that was on the computer. so, i took a small family picture from our wall and benny got to keep that for the day. of course andy couldn't be left out in all of this (more because benny wants to include him in everything!) and he got his own little spot across from benny - his own picture and everything!

andy probably ate his pencil more than anything else, but he sure enjoyed it!

four years ago today...

...we didn't have these two monkeys.



we were living in blissful ignorance of what was to come and enjoying each other immensely! (we still enjoy each other immensely)

if you look closely, you'll see i don't have a wedding band and spencer isn't wearing his wedding ring. and i'm holding different flowers.
we took most of our pictures three weeks early - a wonderful idea (not mine originally) - and forgot a few details.

i just think this picture is hilarious. it looks like spencer is either gollum or planning on eating his ring.
(for the record, spencer is opposed to this picture being posted. the pose was not his idea.)

we love spaghetti!

pans

andy pulled these out on his own one evening before dinner. they were a popular choice for toys the rest of that week.

it's official!

spencer is now an ms-ii (second-year med student). we all survived!
we've had a great first day with him home. he took care of the boys while i got to go out for about 45 minutes walking (about 20 minutes longer than usual) around different parts of the area we're in (a couple of times i really didn't know where i was and just kept walking in the general direction of home). then i came home to a waffle breakfast! benny got to mow the lawn with daddy and be a "big helper" with a big glove on and everything. i even got a nap this afternoon!
really, i'm so grateful to spencer and all his hard work. he really worked hard this year to do well and to balance school with our family - and church responsibilities (for the last while he's been the only gospel doctrine teacher in our ward).
we're now looking forward to a fun summer starting with a visit from grandma and grandpa (spencer's parents) tomorrow! then a baby coming in june, a trip to utah in july, and hopefully lots more fun stuff in between.

overheard

spencer: sounds like a plan, stan.
benny: benny.
spencer: sounds like a plan, benny.

hats

we've got a big collection of hats that they boys love to play with. the favorite is often the smallest.