Back to two piercings

Last night, out of the blue, my nose ring stud just fell out and got lost somewhere in my house. For those who have never had one, it's really strange that it suddenly fell out. They are designed so such a thing wouldn't happen. But what can I say, I'm special. It's kind of sad looking at my nose - it looks so naked now. I think I'll try again in a few months, maybe on the other side, hoping that the second time around my body won't react so negatively. (I've had a large bump next to the piercing for the last 6 weeks. It wasn't infected, but my body still didn't like this foreign object stuck in its' nose.) So it appears, that for now, I am back to just two piercings (my two ears).

Some Thanksgiving pictures

Benji with his cousin Eli (too bad Benji isn't smiling as cutely as his cousin is!)

Zac

Row, row, row your boat

Zac had to recruit Nathan's help in pushing big ol' Benji

Thanksgiving is over...

...which means it's time for Christmas. Well, most of the retailers thought the Christmas season began on November 1st, though I think the season officially begins TODAY. Benji got in the spirit of the season by announcing today, out of the blue: "Mommy, don't fill my stocking this year because I want Santa to come down the chimney and fill it up." I guess he thinks Santa will give better loot than his cheapskate parents! And no, we don't do the whole Santa-thing with our kids, so the poor little kids already know that Santa's not real. But I guess Benji's really trying to make him real even if we tell him it's just a fun story. If he tells Grandma, I bet she'd humor him though. In fact, I still get presents from Santa but the handwriting on the tag looks suspiciously like hers. :)

A first that I wasn't ready for

Yesterday was the last warm day for awhile, so after nap we headed to the local park. Benji needed to go to the bathroom soon after arriving, so we headed toward the less-than-pristine-clean bathrooms. I began heading into the women's side, but out of nowhere Benji said he wanted to go to the men's bathroom alone. I hadn't thought he'd want to do this for a long time to come so I didn't have a decent reason why he couldn't. So I sent my son into the dark and vaguely scary men's bathroom at the park. He re-emerged a few seconds later (I guess urinals are quick - ?). Some "firsts" are celebrated, but I was not quite ready for this one. I guess I've heard too many scary men's bathroom stories. From now on, I'm still going to require him to come with me. Maybe in another year? It's hard to know until we reach that time.

Trip to California

This past weekend we had a girl's weekend - my first trip away from my kids in 4 years. We had a wonderful time. The other three friends who came are all friends from elementary school, and whenever we get together, there's no lag time but we're immediately back to where we last left off. There are not many friends like that in life and I love you girls so much!

Brunch in San Francisco

Linda and Laurel at the beach

Picnic lunch at Santa Cruz Beach

Joyce and Laurel in Palo Alto

Palo Alto (yes, it really was warm enough for a sun dress!)

San Fran

We plan on making this is a yearly reunion, and I can't wait until next year.

Playing doctor

Our kids' latest favorite game to play is doctor. One of them is sick, and the other one repairs him with our play tools (do you see the wooden hammer in this shot?). They can play this game for an hour.

If your kid is talking too much...

I swear that Benji asked me to tape this paper over his mouth. He thought it would look neat (he had decorated the paper with markers). You know what, I was fine with it because I needed a break anyway!

Our poor deprived children

It's true. We have no T.V. Does this mean we are anti-media? No. In fact, we adults watch a very healthy amount of movies on our computer, but we do limit our children quite a bit. And it seems that Benji is starting to catch on.

A few days ago Benji told me that for his 3rd birthday Zac wanted a T.V. and that for his 5th birthday he wanted a T.V. too. Then yesterday he got to watch a T.V. program at a friend's house and on the way home he told me, "We need to buy a T.V. and set it up and watch it."

Our poor deprived children ... but we have no intention of stopping the deprivation anytime soon.

Have you canoed yet today?

The boys and I went to vote on the way to Bible study this morning. I tried to talk it up and explain how important it is to vote as an American. Once we pulled up to the parking lot, Benji wanted to know where the canoe was. He thought we were going BOATING. Voting isn't nearly as fun as boating - but they did have free candy so all was not lost.

No more training wheels

Where did my baby go?