Halloween Party?

I finally relented last week and got out the Halloween decorations because Ben has been begging me for several days to do so. We even dressed up Joey as a pumpkin.

Ben was thrilled to get out all the pumpkin decor and has become obsessed with Halloween. He really wants to have a party and has even started inviting people...my neighbor Kasey informed me of this when she asked me if we were really having a party because Ben told her she was invited!!!

The other day at lunch Ben said "Mom, we really need to get planning this party." (Is he my kid or what...do you think event planning genes are hereditary?) I humored him and got out a piece of paper and informed him that a good place to start would be with a guest list. He said ok and named off all his friends and then said the following, and I quote:

"Oh mom, you know who I really want at my Halloween party? Uncle Craig. Oh and the Eater Bunny. And Santa Claus. And the reindeer. And Snow White, Princess Lea, and the storm troopers, we can't forget the storm troopers!!!"

I couldn't wait to call Craig and share the good news with him that he is in the same grouping as fairy tale creatures in Ben's mind.

Boy's Club

It is official. I am an outsider in my own house. Between Dean, Ben, Joe, even the dog, Jackson, I am the lone female and spend the majority of my day on the outside looking in on their strange, but wonderful, world. Remember that country song a couple of years ago by Rascal Flatt's, I think,..."I see the ones I love the most from my front porch looking in." That is how I feel. I don't begin to understand the strange little creatures living in my house (and yes I will include Dean in that group!) but I sure do love them.

I continue to be amazed by Ben and Joey's relationship. To say that they love each other would be a gross understatement. Joey absolutely lights up when Ben enters the room and has begun reaching for him and giving him HUGE messy kisses...Ben secretly loves the affection, albeit sloppy! Ben is so kind to Joe and almost always willingly includes him in play. This morning I was taking a shower and I came out of the shower to find this...

Ben had made a fort and he and Joey were inside playing and laughing. This was a big step since separation anxiety has officially set in for Joey and just yesterday I literally couldn't be more than 2 feet away from the poor kid or he would scream his head off.

It has been a busy past 2 weeks. To recap...we enjoyed 2 dinners with Abby who is getting ready to leave for Spain for a whole year! We will miss her so much (especially Ben since Abby is "his girlfriend."

Joey had his first "big boy" bath. No more baby bathtub! Yeah! Ben discovered hair gel! He wore it in his hair to school Monday so "all the girls would think he looked hot!"

We joined a nudist colony...or at least the boys formed their own little nudist colony. The naked evening culminated in some "Goodnight Moon" reading in matching jammies.

Dean went to Vegas last weekend and took the day off Tuesday. We spent the afternoon at the Children's Museum and had an absolute blast.

I know what you're thinking...forts, hair gel, and nudity all in 1 week...we are a wild and crazy bunch! I told you, I officially live in a fraternity of sorts and I'm sure the fun is just beginning!

First Day Of School

Ben's first day of school was today. He was very excited and came downstairs this morning at 7:15 a.m. fully dressed and announced to me that he was ready to go to school! Unfortunately school doesn't start until 9:00 a.m. so he had to wait awhile!!

He is such a big boy. It doesn't seem like that long ago that I was taking him to school for his VERY first day and he was hysterical and didn't want me to leave him. Now he practically ran into school with barely a wave goodbye.

He had a great first day and Dean picked him up and said that his teachers told Dean that Ben was very well behaved and hillarious. They said that the 3-year-old teachers told them that Ben was very funny and would keep them laughing, but they were surprised to see how true that was! Ben said he had a great day and is looking forward to going back Monday. He will be going 2 days a week and I am so glad that, at least for now, it doesn't look like I will have to fight him every day about going to school like I have in years past.

I am so proud of my big boy!

Smoky Mountain Getaway

We just returned from a vacation to the Smoky Mountains. Last Friday, Dean, the boys and I packed up and headed south for a long overdue vacation. Mallory joined us and my mom and dad followed as we made the 7 hour journey to the cabin we rented in Gatlinburg, Tennessse. We left at 9:00 a.m. and the ride was uneventful...though we did manage to lose my parents before even leaving Indianapolis but that is another story. We met up with them in Lexington and enjoyed a quick lunch at Chick-Fil-A. The boys did really well in the car...thanks in no small part to our new minivan. Yes, I am officially a mom now in my new ride...it is as tricked out as a minivan can be, however, with leather entire, a DVD player, and GPS. I am one hot mama rocking the champagne (not gold) miniban as Ben calls it! Sigh.

I will say that we did enjoy a relatively quiet ride as Ben and Mallory watched Scooby Doo movies the entire trip. Joey didn't get the memo that you are supposed to watch movies quietly or nap when traveling so he was awake for all but maybe an hour and a half of the journey. He was really good and quite Joey like, just happily cooing and smiling at himself in the mirror, until we had about an hour to go in our travels...at which point he lost it and had a major meltdown. This was quite humorous as it so rarely happens and seemed to confuse Joey. He would scream violently and shake and after several incosolable minutes, would abruptly stop and look around as though to say "what has gotten into me? I can't seem to control my emotions and wish you would fix my problem!" And then the screaming would start again.

After stopping in Knoxville to pick up Craig and then deciding to stop for dinner in Pigeon Forge just shy of our destination so the boys could stretch their legs and we could shove some food in Joe, we finally arrived at our cabin at about 7:00 p.m. The name of the cabin Dean had found was "AAAH...The View." It was a very fitting name with a gorgeous view of Mt. Laconte. We had to drive up, what seemed to me to be, a pretty large mountain to get to the cabin and it was the perfect layout for our family with 3 levels and 3 porches (all with rocking chairs and one with a swing, which thrilled my mom). My parents and Mallory took the top level, Craig the main level, and Dean and the boys and I were on the bottom level. Dean and Ben ended up sharing a futon in the gameroom, which they say was very comfortable, and Joey and I shared a bedroom!

I'm not sure how I scored my own bed (for at least 2 of the 4 nights), but I'm not complaining. Plus, I paid my dues the last night in the cabin when I was up almost all night with Joe-Joe, but that is a story for later.

We had a great vacation. It is hard to try to keep everyone happy with 6 adults and 2 children in tow, but I think everyone managed to have a great time. The first day (Saturday), Benny and Joey awoke after a long night's sleep full of smiles and ready to start the day. They both played out on the porch and enjoyed the view.

After breakfast, Craig, Dean, Ben and I went for a "hike" to check out the mountain. We didn't walk very far, but considering we were on a mountain, the walk was pretty tiring...especially for 4 year old legs!

a view of our cabin while on our walk

After our hike, Joey stayed at the cabin with Nana and Bampaw for a nap while the rest of us went to the community pool. We had a great time for about 30 minutes before Ben was stung not once but twice by what I think was a wasp. What is it with this kid and insect stings? Ben was hysterical and announced that he was "never swimming again." He calmed himself down and when another family came to the pool shortly after the big sting, Ben announced to the 2 boys "Hey dudes, be careful, there are bugs in there and they sting!" After swimming we had lunch at the cabin and then all ventured into town to visit the Aquarium. Though the aquarium was very cool, we all laughed at how expensive it was and the fact that my dad (NOT an aquarium kind of guy) had to pay $90 to get his family in (Dean and the boys and I got off cheap at just under $50). We were there for nearly 2 hours and about every 15 minutes someone would say "this is cool, not sure it is $90 cool, but cool nonetheless")

Ben, however, loved it and that is why we were there in the first place. There were lots of hands on activities and a huge tunnel that you could go under and see all kinds of sharks and fish. After the aquarium, we stopped for ice cream and then headed back to the cabin for some ice cream and naps before dinner.

For dinner we went to this little hole in the wall pizza place at the base of our mountain. It was called "Brick Oven Pizza" and was SO good if not a little slow. Unfortunately, we got a bit of a late start and Joey was beat so Dean ended up having to take he and I home before our meal was served. Joey enjoyed his own dinner and passed out so I actually enjoyed some quiet time before everyone else got home. Ben went to bed pretty much immediately following their return home and the adults played euchre and poker that night before heading to bed exhausted, but happy.

The next morning Joey tried to escape

but I caught him Just kidding! Sunday morning Dean and I made breakfast for everyone (pancakes, bacon, and eggs) and then mom, dad, and Mal watched the boys while Dean, Craig, and I headed into Pigeon Forge for some shopping at a huge outlet mall. Traffic was pretty bad so it took us nearly 40 minutes to arrive at the mall and it was absolutely packed. We had a good time nonetheless and Craig bought some stuff and we managed to pick up some clothes for the boys. We stopped at the grocery store on the way home from the mall and picked up food to make for dinner that night.

We all went swimming that afternoon and Joey and Ben loved playing in the "waterfall" in the kiddie pool. Dean and my mom made dinner Sunday night...steaks and chicken on the grill. SO good. The boys again went to bed early and card playing followed dinner. Joey had a bit of a rough night that night, awaking several times. I was worried that he was not feeling well and was getting a cold and my fears were confirmed the next day when he was out of sorts and in less than his normal great mood the majority of the day on Monday. That morning everyone but mom and dad went putt putting at Davy Crockett Mini Golf in Gatlinburg. Despite the fact that it was a sweltering hot day, we had a great time and Ben won (according to him!).

After lunch back at the cabin, Craig, Mallory, Dean, Ben, and I went swimming. We then had some more quiet time and went to Craig's favorite restaurant, Calhouns, for dinner. We did some shopping in Gatlinburg and headed back to the cabin for our last evening. As I said, Joey wasn't in the best mood on Monday, but he wasn't terrible. He went to bed at 8:00 p.m. with no problem but woke up screaming at 9:30 p.m. He was awake, rather happily I might add, until 12:30 a.m. We watched the UT game with Bampaw and Uncle Craig and Joe was in a great mood but had snot pouring out of his nose and a fever. He finally passed out from sheer exhaustion at 12:30 in my arms in our bed and was awake at 1:30 a.m., 2:30 a.m., and finally fell asleep for a "long" stretch from 3:30-6:30 a.m. Poor baby. Fortunately Tuesday was a new day and he awoke with a smile and far less snot! I pumped him full of Tylenol and we packed up and headed north for the next leg of our vacation.

Before departing we attempted to get a great picture for our Christmas card

We tried again

Third time's a charm?

Needless to say you won't be seeing any of these shots in your mailbox this December

The second part of our vacation was a surprise for Mr. Benjamin. Instead of heading home from Tennessee like we told him we were, we drove to Cincinnati to the Great Wolf Lodge. Ben fell asleep on our way and was THRILLED when he woke up and saw where we were. We had a great time.

Joey entered a wet t-shirt contest

He lost

Ben had a blast going down the water slides and splashing in the water. Joey seemed to enjoy himself too. Unfortunately, by the end of the next day Ben and I also had caught Joe's cold and none of us were feeling well so we spent a lot of time in the room just playing and relaxing. We were all ready to come home. Vacation was great, but it was so nice to sleep in our own beds in our own house...we all missed Jackson too so it was nice to be reunited with him and be our complete family again!