he loves me too...

This was Ben's tribute to me, left in the brownies. It's no bouquet of leaves but it is totally Ben. I am grateful for the unexpected little things he does to show he cares. Plus it gave me a good laugh when I found it.

a winning combination

Tonight I write an ode to one of my favorite food combos:

chicken nuggets and honey.

For those of you out there who have somehow missed out on this sublime experience I urge you to try it today. Thank you, Mom and thank you McDonalds for introducing me to this less than obvious combination of sheer delight. p.s. I also have a really good recipe for chicken fingers for anyone interested.

27 years of adorable Benness, with hopefully a hundred more to come. I couldn't love you more. Happy Birthday, darling.

despite my best efforts...

I might still be the worst parent ever. I tried for an hour yesterday to get Benson to take a nap and then finally gave up. 15 minutes later he laid down on the floor in this position and fell asleep. Did I miss parenting 101?

MIKE!!!

If this works it is a video of my little brother Mikey. He plays the trumpet and he is amazing and I am so proud of him. Be warned it is over 9 minutes long, but I was so amazed to see a marching band competition from the proper perspective (high up so you can actually see the formations) and even if you only see a few minutes you should watch what the "band geeks" can do! Anyway shout out to Mike, the best trumpet player in my book forever.

Wait!!!!

I tag LAUREN, my soon to be sister-in-law! Not that you ever read this blog, but if you hear about this through the grapevine and get a minute from your ever-busy life, I am forever regretting not playing the "ask the new person 300 questions" game when I met you. I also encourage more than 6 facts if you can think of them. :)

well if Kaleb is going to do it...

So I am supposed to tell 6 things about myself. Here's hoping I can think of 6 things that don't embarrass me.

1. I wish I were a princess. And a ballerina. And a clothing designer. Most every girl has wanted these for her occupation at some point but I sadly just never grew out of it.

2. I think I should have lived in Jane Austin times. I love to paint, dance, play the piano, wear pretty dresses, go to balls (not that I've ever been but it sounds nice) and most other things that went with the time period. I feel like I am wasting all the womanly freedoms I have these days because I'm not one who really utilizes them.

3. I fluctuate almost daily between wanting 3 kids and 15. Seriously.

4. One of my more realistic lifetime goals is to never miss having dinner on the table when Ben walks in the door, with the house sparkling clean, and myself and the children perfectly groomed. I think I am one of the rare people who saw Stepford Wives and thought, "What's so wrong with having perfect women?" Though I'd hope to have a little more personality than a Stepford.

5. I really want to see the world. I think I'd visit Italy first, but France is a close second. Beyond that, I think I'd just twirl a globe and land my finger on a country to decide where to go next. I would also like to learn to speak the language of many of the countries I visit.

6. I can't wait until Caity and I have neighboring hobby farms and then convince the whole family to come and live with us on a huge compound. (with my parents in an annex behind my house) :)

I really can't tag anyone because all the people I know have already been tagged (even Stephanie... what a strange coincidence).