highlights of the last bit of our lives

Ben is obsessed with Wall-e but my mother has forbidden me to purchase it for our house because she wants him to have something he loves at her house. So one day Ben was relentless in his pleading for Wall-e. I found some clips on You Tube. He stayed right there for 30 minutes begging to watch them over and over and over!

This year I learned how to make homemade chocolates from my Grandma Myrna! Wowza! It is intense! It takes her a couple of weeks to get them prepped before they are even dipped! She is amazing. These chocolates are unreal. Seriously. I got to be the official dipper this year. It was so much fun!! I am a self proclaimed chocoholic and this is as close as I will ever get to rolling in it! I loved every single second, not to mention all of the snitching. (The pictures from this will require a secondary post!)

Ben has found another uncle to drag around! Davis! Ben fell in love with Davis over Christmas. He still calls him on his toy cell phone all the time. So cute!

Who doesn't like sledding? Especially when you have sled dogs to pull you up and down the hill and someone to snuggle with. Ben doesn't know how good he has it to have all these people tote him around and love him and do whatever he feels like! What a life!

we are alive . . . barely

I think I have officially earned the award for the biggest blogger slacker in the world. It has been an embarrassing amount of time since my last post. But you know what. Life happens and I got really really behind in EVERYTHING. So hopefully I am back and will do better!

too cute . . .

lightning mcqueen

ben lives and breathes lightning mcqueen. all day every day; from the moment he wakes up, usually with lightning mcqueen in hand (how could he not sleep with him too!) to the moment he goes to bed. if he happens to misplace him during the day disaster strikes and panic ensues. usually lightning is in his hand and he simply forgot. he loves to lock himself in the pantry and run lighting along the shelves over and over again.

snow day!

take note of the Halloween decorations on the porch. oh boy.


really? already? NO! oh well at least we had fun playing in it! Ben was a little confused. he kept calling the snow "dirt." it is still a new concept. what a day!

ode to halloween

For those of you who don't know. I seriously LOVE Halloween. The costumes, the candy, the parties, the creepy decor. Just love it. We had another Halloween party at our house this year and it was a blast. I couldn't resist Ben's costume (but I don't think I will ever be able to resist him). He walks around the house saying "ARGH" and holding his hand up like a pirate. Darling.


Off to battle!

Pirate Ben suffered a humiliating defeat!

My Halloween treats!! Witchy cupcakes and HOMEMADE lollipops! Thank you Martha Stewart!

Ben begging candy off his favorite person in the whole world: Uncle Jason.

NEW WEBSITE AND BLOG!!

At long long last my new website is up and running!! Hooray!! Please visit www.brittaannephotography.com and let me know what you think! In celebration I am offering free sittings through November. Book now before they fill up!

sidewalk chalk

Ben still hasn't figured out the mechanics of drawing on his own, but he loves to throw the sidewalk chalk. It keeps us entertained for a while after our daddy leaves at night and it gets us outside. Ben loves to sit on the porch and watch for dogs and kids to walk by that he can chase. Airplanes in the sky are also a new favorite.

night shift

Night shift is heartbreaking when daddy leaves. Ben gets so excited because daddy is awake, but then daddy has to rush out the door for work and leaves us for the night. He will stand at the door and blow kisses and wave bye bye long after he is gone. It breaks my heart to watch him get so sad when Scott leaves, but makes me so happy that he loves his daddy so much!

water baby

lounging

chepteta part 2

You can only fight the urge to play in the mud for so long!

"This isn't my mommy!!"

These are my absolute favorite wildflowers!! The ones on the right are called elephant heads. They really do look like little elephants. I looked forward to finding these with my grandma every year when I went camping as a kid.

Ben went on his very first camping trip to Chepeta over the 24th of July! He loved it. He jumped out of the car and immediately started playing in the dirt. He thought he was in heaven with so many rocks. We hiked all the way up to Walk up lake with Ben in tow. He really did love the backpack trip he just got a bit upset when he realized he was not on his mother's back. He caught two fish up at the lake. He was ecstatic. They were a bit on the small side so we let them go, but he thought watching them swim away was fantastic. He yelled out, "ISH! GO! ISH GO!!" He tried to swimming with them, but the water was way too cold. We did get rained on a bit, but that made for great mud holds to play in!
The trifecta of love. (as nicknamed by erik)

Isn't she the most beautiful fisher - woman you have ever seen in your whole life?

Gandalf the Grey - aka Grandpa Wayne

chepeta

pool days

Hooray for warm days, sunshine and the pool! Ben and I went to the pool with Tahnie and Brynner the other day. The boys played together a little more than last time. At least they stayed close to each other so the mommies could hang out with each other instead of chasing them. Tahnie and I got brave and dunked our little ones all the way under for the first time. Both were traumatized, but they survived!

latest obsession . . .

When Ben was about 10 months old, all he wanted to do was play in the running water. The phase ended and we moved on. Little did we know that it would come back in full force. Every time we pass the sink Ben lunges and pleads and begs to play in it. Of course he usually wins. Luckily he is pretty good at saying bye bye to the water when playtime is over.