trip to the Museum

During my research to find where to have Ashlyn's birthday party this year, I stumbled upon the Austin Children's Museum. So a couple weeks ago we went to check it out (since it has been over a decade since I had been myself). As soon as we walked inside it was story time. This picture is Ashlyn muscling her way to the front to get a sticker at the conclusion of storytime.

The lady read 3 books and Ashlyn has been talking about one in particular ever since.

Benjamin was far more interested in the fish tank than he was reading time.

Ashlyn asked me to play store with her. So I got a basket filled it with groceries, came to the check out and said I was ready to pay. She said, "okay... can I have your phone number please?" I found that hysterically funny... I didn't realize that she was actually listening while desperately begging me to buy her something in the checkout line.

Ben had fun airing up tires.

Upstairs was even more stuff- construction, gears, pulleys, and an art station. Ben LOVED standing up on the stroller and turning the series of gears.
While Ben was in the engineering room, Ashlyn was immediately drawn to the art table where she spent a good deal of time crafting a masterpiece.
So the conclusion of this trip was that Ashlyn (& Ben) had such a good time that she agreed this would be a fun place to have her birthday party this year!

Last Weekend

I am sitting alone at home (can't remember the last time I could say that!) while Benjamin naps and while Paul has gone to meet his mom in Georgetown to pick up Ashlyn. We went to Rockwall this weekend to see Paul's grandmother who was visiting from Tennessee. As a special treat, I was also able to go see my college roommate Jamie who just had her baby last Monday and I spent a couple of hours holding him- he is ADORABLE! We returned from Dallas on Saturday, but Ashlyn was invited to stay longer since it is a holiday weekend and all, and I have missed her terribly. Ben on the other hand has been having the BEST time having all our undivided attention.

So... the weekends big news: after much anticipation, my brother Eric has finally asked his girlfriend Ali to marry him!!! We love her and are so excited about her officially joining the family!

My Excuse

Hello, anybody still there? I have been doing awful at keeping up with my blogging and I do have a reason... I broke my camera! I dropped my camera on it's face (broke the lens). It is nothing impressive, just a little Canon ELPH that takes decent pictures and short videos, but I loved that camera. For a long time I have wanted to get a new super-duper camera, but still wanted to have this little one that I can throw in my purse and take everywhere with me. So the plans to purchase the big camera have been delayed and I am waiting for my new Elph that I ordered online to arrive. Thankfully we still have our old video camera so this Christmas was documented.


I do have a couple of pictures that I took awhile back when all the leaves fell off our trees.

We had a wonderful Christmas! With young kids, every Christmas seems to be more fun that the last. Ashlyn was so excited about everything: she loved singing all the songs, reading about the birth of Jesus, making presents for people, decorating the house, and of course loved Christmas morning! Actually we had 4 celebrations and by the 3rd one she said, "is this still Christmas? I am getting tired of Christmas!" That was a little embarrassing, but I think I understood what she meant: we had just returned from a whirwind trip to Dallas and we were all a little tired. She got way too many presents and has been doing art/making crafts nonstop since we have been home. She says she wants to start gymnastics again and also wants to play soccer. This looks to be a busy new year for us!

Benjamin is getting to be such a big boy- I underestimated how much he would enjoy Christmas this year. The bottom portion of our Christmas tree was decorated and redecorated by him everyday. He learned to "sing" many carols along with his sister. His favorite to belt out is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star which I never considered a Christmas song, but we decided we are singing about the bright star that led the shepherds to the baby Jesus. (I am not sure of the original intent of the song, but this is its meaning to us now.) Ben got a train table from Santa that he plays with for hours at a time. He tells all his new toys "nigh nigh" and kisses them all , before he goes down for his nap and before bedtime- he is SO cute!! Daddy is his very best friend and is still on vacation from work so Ben insists that Paul play with all the trains, cars, and airplanes with him. If Daddy is ever not in the same room as him he calls, " DaaaaEEE" over and over until Daddy comes to play with him. We are finding that Benjamin can be quite persistant. He also loves to run and almost never walks anywhere anymore. I am talking a full on sprint too! It is hard to catch him if he has any sort of lead on you. What I especially enjoy is that he can communicate with us (Paul, me, and only a handful of others, he is still incredibly shy!) which has made life a lot easier!

So that was a long update to make up for all the time I have spent away from the computer. Hope you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Welcome to 2009!!