Odd and End pictures

 Forgot to post this beauty from Ben's birthday:

 

Alison made a crown for Ben to wear :)  The kids were very excited about his unwrapped amazon box...someday I'll buy real birthday wrapping paper for Ben...last year he had Hello Kitty, so I thought maybe a bare box would be better.

It's the end of an era in our house.  The crib has come down.  I remember watching Ben put it together when my belly was huge with Alison.  I was so excited to put her in it and would have never guessed that it would stay up for almost 8 more years.

about to have Alison

putting the crib together

taking the crib down

Colin has been doing great in a big bed, except that he's acquired a love for carrying massive amounts of toys into his bed.  If I don't put a gate in front of his door, he'll come into our room like this:

Spring cleaning has begun and closets have been gutted.  I seem to have something eating my clothes...my wardrobe is already very small, but now most of my shirts have small holes in them.  Large closet + a few pieces of clothes=dumping ground for school supplies, exercise equipment and random item storage.  When I took out all the random stuff, the school room was full and the kids thought they had a new playroom.  3 trips to the DAV, a clean slate of clothes and the kids could not stay on task during school because they just wanted to play school.

Alison being the teacher

snack time at "school"

We've had a basketball goal laying down in our backyard since before we moved in.  The rental company has promised to move it for 2 years and it's still there.  So I finally set it up for Alison (still need to get a net) and she's spent hours out there.  Yea for free activities!  

Also, 3 months in counting that the swing set has not been touched.  Stay tuned, I will be taking pictures when the family actually uses this thing!

Ben's out of town this week and the kids asked me to send these pictures to him...they just look older and it's not fair.

 

We've really enjoyed our last 2 wednesdays.  First we go to gym class (it meets in a field next to a park), then play at the park, followed by a picnic and then head to swim lessons.  I'm so thankful for the fresh air and the friendships our kids have been able to make.  Also love that Colin is content to just play in the dirt while Eli and Alison participate.

P.S.  Ben ran his 2nd half marathon this past weekend, this one all by himself.  He did amazing and ran in 1:42!  I also got a cardio workout while he was running; I got a text from the race people when he crossed the halfway point, but they never sent me a message that he finished!  I was in a panic that he was really hurt or worse.  Praise the Lord he is fine and not hurt at all and I will forever be at all races my family participates in.