The Kok Family

Phone Pics

2012-01-22T21:23:00.000-08:00

My new puppy, Shiquita

My favorite Kindergartener all bundled up at the bus stop.

Lauren always blows us a few kisses from the bus every morning. I know this won't last for long so I snap lots of pics to remember.

The sunset was amazing a couple of weeks ago

Haley & Lauren set up a little classroom in our kitchen, it was so cute.

Lauren loves going to Staples, she has a thing for notepads and office supplies (funny thing is Ryan & I were total geeks for office supplies when we were kids too). We took Hads along on one of our Staples runs the other day and lucky her, she got a pink notepad and notebook too!

I love how for $1.50 I can totally make their day!

Lauren wrote me an apology note the other day for being mean. It says, "I love you mama. I am sorry I was mean. I won't do it again. Love Lauren" Too bad she already forgot what she wrote...

The neighborhood kids playing in the snow!

Ben was loving being an only child last night when Lauren was at her "sleepover", lots of good laughs with this boy. He is currently in a really great stage, just so sweet and funny and Kevin & I are always talking about how he is just so fun to be around. Maybe he's seeming even sweeter since his big sis in such a grouchy phase...

I needed something to do today because I have just been going out of my mind with boredom this past week. We went to Jo Ann Fabrics and bought some fleece to make these cozy blankies.

Both kids are in love with them and are currently all snuggled up with them! And I'm feeling satisfied that I actually did something today:) I am SOOOOO excited to get back on our routine tomorrow!

Sleepover in the Playroom

2012-01-22T11:45:00.000-08:00

Friday night Lauren & Ben had a sleepover in the Castle. They were excited, but nervous...which really cracks me up! My poor kids have both inherited all my crazy fears.

Nighty Night

They lasted until about midnight, then Ben wanted to get in his own bed. Lauren braved it and finished out the night by herself. She was so proud of herself and felt that this prepared her for the real sleepover she was supposed to have on Saturday night at the neighbors slumber party.

She called 3 times from the party to tell us she loved us...I knew exactly what that was leading up too. At about 11 we got the teary call from her that she needed us to come get her. Which I actually love because I just love having her in her own bed.

Last snow post...I hope!

2012-01-20T14:44:00.000-08:00

As mentioned in the post below we made snow ice cream yesterday. The kids LOVED making it!

my official taste tester

Lauren decided it needed some color.

And then she insisted it needed chocolate chips.

They both took 2 bites and were done. But thye had a blast making it and it entertained them for a whole 10 minutes so it was worth it:)

p.s.- anyone think Ben needs a hair cut?

Lauren decided it was too cold and would be better warmed up and insisted on pouring hot water on it. I figured why not let her try- turn it into a science experiment, right?

She quickly learned that hot water melts snow, duh.

We had to take advantage of the last night of sledding since the warm temps (40 degrees!) and rain were headed our way.

We went to the apartment complex across the street from us and it was the perfect place to sled, should've gone over there days ago!

I wanted to be in at least 1 picture to prove I was here for the 2012 Snow Storm as well:)

Dog Pile Sledding

Wee!

Lauren posing on our pile of snow

Then we were lucky enough to be invited over to our neighbors to hot tub in the snow last night!!!

It was so fabulous, we all had the best time and it made us REALLY want our own hot tub! One of these days!

It is currently raining, I tried to go shovel our driveway and the entrance to our neighborhood and it is a disgusting mess of ice and snow. The next few days are going to be nasty, can't wait to get back to just regular old rain...never thought I'd say that!!

Snow Day(s) Fun

2012-01-19T14:06:00.000-08:00

Since we've been house bound since Monday we've been trying to find fun things to do around here. I pulled out the kids shaving kits I had bought at the after Christmas sales and the kids LOVED them!

Kept them busy for a whole 30 minutes:)

We've been doing lots of cuddling and movie watching

playing at the park

brr!

I should explain the helmets- Since Lauren got that mini snowboard we felt she should wear a helmet while riding it and of course Ben wanted to wear one too. Then the kids just kept them on. We don't make them wear helmets just to play in the snow:)

Lauren LOVES to eat the snow, she is actually kind of obsessed with it.

I taught the kids to roll snow balls and they thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Lauren & Barat with their giant snow ball!

We've also been spending a lot of time in our jammies and playing with the new race track.

our yard this morning...of course it's been snowing non stop since I took these about 4 hours ago so we've got even more now.

More sledding, but the kids are starting to be wimps and whine because of the cold. Yesterday I actually went out and sledded by myself for awhile and it was SO fun!

Our crafty neighbor Tina organized some kid snow projects, we filled water bottles with colored water and spray painted the snow.

The kids also made snow cones with juice and their spray bottles.

rainbow snow!

Kevin pulled out an antique sled he has and it was a major hit!

Weee!!!

Ben & I were baking cookies and the power went out so we ate a lot of dough:) It came on an hour later though and we cooked the rest! We hosted a neighborhood happy hour and about 15 or so people came and they stayed 4 hours! It was so fun to have some social interaction since we've all been so cooped up!

We did Lauren's family homework for school- love this one!

Today Tina had another project, she had frozen water balloons with colored water and then you take the balloon off and have cool frozen colorful balls of ice. The kids had a lot of fun with it until they all started complaining:) It is 27 degrees but feels like 20 because of the wind. Time for yet another movie:)

And that is what we've been doing since Monday. Just got the call, no school tomorrow!

Off to go make some snow ice cream thanks to the recommendation from this blog:

http://cookingmisadventures.com/

Happy Snow Days!

Just wanted to cuddle

2012-01-16T11:23:00.000-08:00

Ben was playing quietly in his room and Lauren was yelling to me that all her dolls were gone. I open Ben's door and this is what I find. I said, "hey what are you doing?" and he said, "I just wanted to cuddle with all the babies and animals." Ben and his cuddling- he cracks me up!

Snow!

2012-01-16T11:21:00.000-08:00

We were are all pretty excited when it started snowing Sunday morning! When we woke up we had a light dusting but within 30 minutes it was dumping snow and we ended up getting a few inches, so fun!

I've never seen Lauren get ready so fast, that girl was in a hurry to get outside and start playing! Love the concrete snow angel:)

Our hill before it got plowed. It looked so pretty.

The neighbors all got together to shovel and spread ice melt, Lauren started crying that they were getting rid of all the snow! I assured her no one would touch the sidewalks or our yard.

more snow angels

Ben got out Lauren's baby sled, guess it's time to get new sleds...should of thought of that before the snow...we headed out to find some sleds and the pickings were slim. After 3 stops we finally settled on a "snow board" for Lauren and a skimmer for Ben (because those were the only options we had!).

Both turned out to be pretty fun and we spent a couple hours playing out in the snow last night.

Wee!

Ben walked up our hill about 25 times, which is huge for him. He usually cries and refuses to walk up the hill after we take Lauren to the bus stop every morning. Funny how motivating some snow and a sled can be!

The "snow board". Kevin got in quite the work out pulling the kids all around on it. They had so much fun!

Our boarder

Taking a break from all that hard work;)

Ben gave it a shot too, he was pretty nervous though and prefers his sled.

As I'm typing this it is starting to snow again...yay! They are calling for a trace to 7 inches- quite a range! Can't wait to see what we get!!

Kelly & Zach's Big Day!!!

2012-01-09T16:09:00.000-08:00

The morning of a group of us met at the venue to drop off some decor and set a few things up. Us girls got Starbucks first of course:)

The wedding was at the ferry terminal in Fairhaven. Such a beautiful venue!

The night before the wedding Kelly's mom got us girls a suite at the Chrysalis, so fancy and such an amazing view!

Walking down the aisle with Zach's brother. I was pretty excited about the wedding, can you tell:)

Kelly & her mom getting ready to walk down the isle, so so sweet. Poor Kelly was so nervous to have everyone's eyes on her but she looked STUNNING! Brought tears to my eyes (pretty much to everyone's I think)!

Mr. & Mrs. Stinson!

Trying not to fall over in my stilettos:)

Lauren was in heaven at the wedding, she loved being fancy and getting to be at a grown up party!

silly boy

I hadn't seen Lauren & Ben most of the weekend so they were pretty excited once my wedding duties were over and I could hang out with them.

Oma & Opa got to come too!

The bridal party!

Kevin & I

Family photo!

Lauren & I

College roomies! Laurie & I lived across the hall from Missy & Kelly at Western. Thank you to whomever did the room assignments, so thankful that we met them!

Lauren really wanted to wear my jewelry, such a fancy girl!

First dance:)

Graham & Mackenzie

Oma & Opa

The kids were having SO MUCH FUN dancing! At one point Micheal Jackson came on and Lauren started screaming, "It's Micheal Jackson", she's a huge fan!

Benny Boo and Me

Our little party animal!

Another little girl requested Justin Bieber and when the song came on Ben and Lauren were beyond thrilled!!

Ben and Mackenzie were too cute, he kept doing this thumbs up dance move to everyone, hilarious!

wouldn't be a wedding without a little self portrait

The Doran family

Daddy & Lauren dancing

Lauren was so obsessed with Kelly, if it were up to her they would've spent the entire evening together!

Both kids danced until the music stopped at about 11, it was impressive!

We all had such an amazing time, thanks for sharing your big day with us Kelly & Zach, we love ya!

Santa made it right!

2012-01-09T14:50:00.000-08:00

Santa got this replacement for Ben since the one he delivered was a dud.

It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because this one is waaaay cooler!

and this boy is in heaven, he LOVES it!

Zoo

2012-01-09T14:47:00.000-08:00

We went to the zoo last week and it was so fun. We hadn't been since the summer and we had forgotten how fun it is!

The apes were really entertaining, swinging from branches and putting on a great show!

this squirrel snuck into the stroller next to ours, I had to take a pic, it made me laugh:)

Ben being so brave and riding a horse instead of riding in the carriage!

Poor Benny

2011-12-29T15:13:00.000-08:00

Pretty much this whole month someone in our house has been sick but poor Ben seems to be the winner. We thought he was on the mend but when I put him to bed last night he felt warm again so I gave him some ibuprofen and put him to sleep. Then he woke up at 1AM burning up and crying. I took his temp over and over and over and every reading was in the 104's. 104.4, 104.7, 104.5. His heart was racing and he was breathing heavy and he was complaining of a tummy ache. We decided to give him Tylenol to see if that'd get his fever down. But by 2AM nothing had changed. Since I'm still not completely over this stupid flu Kevin took him to the ER (It was torture not to be the one to take him, I sat up with my phone in hand the entire time. Thankfully Kevin sent me lots of texts.) The doctor did chest x-rays suspecting pneumonia but those came back clear. They couldn't find anything wrong with him so they came back home at 5AM. Today his fever is reduced but still not normal. All the kid wants to do is watch movies and play video games. Poor kid, I really hope he feels better soon! This house is ready to be healthy and have some fun again!

Christmas in Bellingham

2011-12-29T15:00:00.000-08:00

After brunch at Ryan & Megan's we headed home to pack for Bellingham (the power was out so we packed by flash light!). The kids were so excited to be in Bellingham for round 3 of present opening. Ben was a trooper even though he wasn't feeling great.

Mama & Lauren

Oma got Lauren & Olivia matching dresses. Olivia actually got a lot of outfits this Christmas, she is one lucky doll:)

As the night went on I started to feel sick and went to bed early. Woke up the next day with the flu:( Fun times. But at least the kids still got to do fun stuff. Kevin took Lauren on her first ice skating experience. Sad I missed it but sounds like it was fun!

she said it was harder than she expected!

She's been asking us to take her ice skating for over a year. I think she pictured herself out there twirling around!

Ben sat with Opa and watched and seemed perfectly happy about that!

Christmas Morning

2011-12-29T14:51:00.000-08:00

To add to our Christmas Eve drama (read post below) Ben woke up at 2 AM with a fever of 102. The poor boy was miserable. I got the pleasure of sleeping in his car bed with him until 5:30 when I finally snuck out. Lauren woke up at 8 rearing to go but we made her wait for him. Finally at 8:30 we woke him up so the poor girl didn't have to be tortured any longer. Doesn't Ben look thrilled?

She was so excited and he kept saying, "Don't talk to me Lauren."

opening her stocking

checking out his broken race track from Santa (see post below)

Checking out his new microphone, which actually works- yahoo!

Our future Rock Star!

opening gifts

Ben's big pile!

After we opened presents we headed over to Ryan & Megan's for a fabulous Christmas Brunch and more presents. The girls got matching dresses from Aunt Pam (their dolls got the same dress too!) and they were beyond thrilled!

I didn't get a lot of pictures, too busy having fun:)

Christmas Eve

2011-12-29T14:42:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve we had a big group over that consisted of 16 adults and 9 kids! It was crazy but fun. Didn't get a lot of pics but I had to get a cousin jammie shot. Ben & Carsie were both on their way to getting sick:(

His favorite toy at our house and now he has one of his very own!

Just a snap shot of the craziness. Of the 9 kids, Lauren & Hadley were the oldest and the only girls!

Auntie Meg even got off work early and was able to join us, always a bonus!

If only the night ended there! After everyone left at around 9ish Kevin & I put the kids to bed and started on Christmas. As we were setting up the 2 microphones, the race track and "Cookie" the dog we realized we needed C batteries and a lot of them. Turns out I had 2 Costco packs of AA's but NO C's!!! So I run to the gas station at 10:30 and grab 3 packs of C's (paying a ridiculous price!) only to get home and realize I counted wrong and I need 2 more. So I go back to the gas station 5 minutes shy of them closing and get their last pack of C's. I paid a total of $20 for 8 C batteries- ugh! Anyway, we get the microphones working and then realize that the stupid race track is completely broken, doesn't work at all! By now it's 11:45 and there is nothing we can do so we go to bed and decide we'll tell Ben we are sorry Santa brought him a broken toy and we'll buy him a new one.

Christmas morning rolls around and...Cookie the dog doesn't work either, totally broken and as we soon found out she is sold out EVERYWHERE, even on line. Needless to say Lauren is annoyed and plans to write Santa a letter asking him to not bring broken toys next year! Maybe next year Mama & Papa Elf will inspect them a little better prior to Christmas Eve;)

Brother & Sister Gift Exchange

2011-12-29T14:25:00.000-08:00

Lauren and Ben always exchange the gifts they buy each other on Christmas eve. This year we let them do it in the morning since we had lots of people coming over that night.

not sure why Ben is 1/2 naked

A Race Car- shocking!

And Ben got Lauren a Barbie car. At first she was kind of annoyed and wondered why he thought she'd want a car but once she realized Barbie could cruise around in it she got excited:)

Just like Caillou

2011-12-29T14:20:00.000-08:00

Ben is my little baking buddy. He loves to help me and is obsessed with my new mixer. We were baking Christmas cookies and he said, "Caillou does this with his mom too, My just like Caillou". Well Benny, I think you are a lot cuter that Caillou and you definitely have more hair:)

Snowflake Lane

2011-12-20T23:18:00.000-08:00

I told Kevin I wanted to do something fun tonight, something to get me in a Christmasy mood since I was sort of feeling grinchy this afternoon. So we headed to Snowflake Lane. Us and about 3000 other people! It was CRAZY! But the kids did have fun seeing the characters and getting a sucker.

They both got little glimpses of the actual snow but it was pretty hard to see from where we were.

Lauren loved the snow princess.

Then we went to the new frozen yogurt place in Bellevue Square. They had so many fun flavors and they had a gf list, love places like that! We had fun trying lots of flavors and then settled on peppermint, which totally helped put me in the Christmas mood!

After this we did a little shopping and then Lauren yelled, "I see Hadley" and I was like, sure you do. But what do you know? Hadley and her family along with the cute Conniff clan were right there on the corner. All Lauren kept saying the whole way home was, "That was soooo fun seeing Hadley." Even though she saw her last night and the whole weekend before, seeing Hadley is still way cooler than snow princesses, fake snow, drummers on stilts, frozen yogurt, and candy cane lolipops. Way to go Hads!

This girl!

2011-12-20T23:09:00.000-08:00

Today when I got home from the grocery store Lauren starting unloading my bags. When she found this pack of spinach she immediately ripped off the top and started shoving it in her mouth. Then tonight we had artichokes for dinner and she was over the moon. She kept saying I think my nickname should be "Artichoke Kok". If only we could clone those taste buds of hers!

Their very own trees

2011-12-19T15:07:00.000-08:00

Lauren has been wanting her own Christmas tree for awhile. Today we found a 2 pack on sale at Target so I just couldn't resist buying them. We came home and made ornaments and stars for the top, they were SOOOO excited. The trees look pretty darn cute in their rooms and they are so proud! Worth every penny...I'm still working on convincing Kevin that they were a necessity:)

Great Wolf Lodge

2011-12-18T22:28:00.000-08:00

Friday night Nana took Lauren, Ben, Hadley, Kevin & I to Great Wolf Lodge and we had SO MUCH FUN! We LOVED it, not a single complaint!

We didn't waste a second, we changed asap and went straight to the 84 degree water park! They thought of everything, had fun activities for all ages.

As you can imagine, Ben LOVED this part!

Hadley Jane having fun!

Ben & Mama

After about 3 hours of splashing, swimming, climbing, jumping, and sliding we had worked up quite the appetite! We went to one of the fun restaurants in the lodge and Lauren was beyond thrilled because they had gluten free hamburger buns and french fries. She kept saying, "Great Wolf Lodge is the perfect name for this place because it really is so great." She then said that I should get a job there and she'd work with me so we can eat gf buns and play at the water park all the time. Pretty much a perfect life:)

The kid's meals come with wolf ears, so cute!

silly kids

Then we got to go see Santa and Mrs. Claus. The girls were so glad because they had both forgotten to tell him they wanted magic fairy dust. But later Lauren said to me, "Mom, I thought Santa could remember lots of stuff." I said, "right, he can." To which she replied, "Well then why did he ask me what I wanted, I've already told him everything but the fairy dust." I told her he was just double checking to make sure she hadn't changed her mind and she bought it...crazy to think we most likely only have a year or two left of her believing.

Then they have pajama story time in the lobby (dinner took too long and we didn't have time to go change into our pj's which really bothered me because I wanted them in their cute Christmas pj's, but I let it go;)).

The story time stage with talking creatures.

Daddy & Benny

The girls trying to catch the snow, so cute!

The "snow" at the end of story time.

Back in our awesome room coloring before bed. The room was amazing, 2 bedrooms, 2 bath and very cozy fire place.

A super tired Nana, Mom, & Dad.

Had to get a Christmas jammy pic!

Getting ready for round 2 of the water park. We were down there by 9AM right when it opened on Saturday!

This is the view of the main lodge room, it was decorated so pretty!

View from above the water park.

The wave pool, which was SO fun! There was also a cool pool with different floating animals that you could climb on, the little kid area with a couple of fun slides, 4 really fun tube rides for "big" kids (Lauren went on all but 1 and only because she didn't meet the height requirement, the girl is brave!). I also skipped the "scary" one because I was too chicken, but my mom and Kevin said it was fun.

So long Great Wolf Lodge, we can't wait to come back again!

I'm not crazy!

2011-12-16T09:52:00.000-08:00

I just put these 4 videos up for the Grandparents to see, I'm not some crazy over proud mom that really thinks that everyone in the blog world wants to see Ben's class sing:) Just wanted to make sure we're all clear on that!

IMG 0515

2011-12-16T09:50:00.002-08:00

Ben's Preschool Christmas Sing a long part 2

2011-12-16T09:50:00.001-08:00

Ben's Preschool Christmas Sing a long part 3

2011-12-16T09:50:00.000-08:00

IMG 0518

2011-12-16T09:49:00.000-08:00

Ben's Preschool Christmas Performance

2011-12-16T09:47:00.000-08:00

Ben had his preschool Christmas performance yesterday. It was darling. Love his cheesball smile.

the gang

very proud of the present he made us

decorating cookies! He was the last kid done, he just sat there and ate the candy, very slowly, one piece at a time. Lauren had drawn about 4 pictures, talked to 5 other kids and played some games, all while Ben sat and ate his candy...very very slowly. I love how different they are!

Ben and Lauren singing Jingle Bells, they could use a little work!

2011-12-12T22:08:00.000-08:00

Lauren and Hadley's Christmas ballet recital part 2

2011-12-12T21:47:00.001-08:00

Christmas Ballet Recital, part 1

2011-12-12T21:47:00.000-08:00

Christmas Ballet Recital

2011-12-12T21:46:00.000-08:00

The girls had their Christmas ballet recital tonight. It also happens to be their final recital because they have decided they are done with ballet and want to start gymnastics instead. So long cute pink tu tus!

Our camera got switched to a different setting mid performance and we didn't realize it! Ahh!! Look at those graceful beauties!

Lauren's tights DID NOT have a hole in them when I dropped her off for the rehearsal. Of course that is all I could focus on the entire performance!

Love our little ballerina...soon to be gymnast!

B Book

2011-12-12T21:38:00.001-08:00

Lauren's homework the other night was to make a B book. The first thing that came to mind? Birth Mark, because of Carson's red birth marks. That girl is sort of obsessed with him:)

Grouch

2011-12-11T16:40:00.000-08:00

I walked into Ben's room the other night and he was reading a Christmas book. I thought he looked so cute so I ran to grab my camera and once he saw me this was the look I got. A nice little glimpse into his teenage years I'm sure.

Christmas Attire

2011-12-11T16:37:00.000-08:00

We went to a Christmas party this weekend where beautiful Christmas attire was a must. Don't we look lovely?! Funny thing is, I actually wore this sweater in junior high- it matched perfectly with my green turtle neck and matching stirrup pants!

Girls Night Out

2011-12-04T21:22:00.000-08:00

This lovely lady is getting married in less than a month and we spent all day Saturday celebrating! We had big shower at her house during the day then a group of girls went out at night for a little bachelorette dinner. We had the best time!

roomies:)

Doesn't Kelly look so pretty?! She's got that bride glow! I on the other hand have that tired mom look. Enjoy the bride glow while you can Kell:)

Thanks for a fun night ladies!

Can't wait for the big day on January 7th (see Kelly, I really do know the date:))

It's December!!!

2011-12-04T21:17:00.000-08:00

Candy Cane flew in for another December at our house. He kept Lauren on good behavior for about 2 minutes, but fortunately Ben is really into him and wants to make sure Candy Cane reports only good things back to Santa!

They are thrilled to be doing Grandma Charlene's advent calendar again this year.

Reading their "job" for the day. Lauren has read through the whole week so she now tells us what the upcoming jobs are too. Such a little planner:)

Instead of wrapping each gift individually this year I got smart and got them each 1 gift bag that we will re-use each day. So much easier and cost efficient and it seems to be equally exciting to them.

Christmas Jams! Yay!

Shopping with Grandpa Fred

2011-12-04T21:11:00.000-08:00

We figured Carson hadn't had enough trauma with his burnt hands so we figured why not let him stand in the back of the cart?

Grandpa Fred took the kids to Target to pick out their Christmas gifts since he won't be here on Christmas. They were BEYOND thrilled and had so much fun picking out their loot!

Cinderella

2011-12-04T21:09:00.000-08:00

Last weekend my mom took all of us girls to see Cinderella at the 5th avenue. It was very fancy!

The girls were very excited!

us girls

waiting to go to our seats

Hadley was so fancy and grown up with her purse. She told us that she would pay for all of us since she brought her purse. How generous! Megan and I asked her to take us to Nordstrom's next:)

Thanks for a fun time Nana!

Seeing Santa

2011-12-04T21:04:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went to see Santa at Bell Square. We lucked out and the line was super short and we got right in!

It was our first year with no tears! Ben was shy and a little stand offish but he still smiled!

Happy kids with their Christmas bears and candy cane lolipops!

I already framed the Santa pic and forgot to scan it. It's not that exciting to see though since no one is crying;)

Thanksgiving

2011-11-26T10:30:00.000-08:00

Grandpa Fred came over for our annual turkey name card making. Each year it's a little different project, always a funny one.

Ben & Grandpa watching Cars. They were so cute.

Ben's turkey had an extra eye;)

The lovely name cards!

Thanksgiving day crafts- Ben made race cars.

Lauren & Hadley made bracelets.

The whole gang!

kids table (our neighbors joined us)

Carson was the last kid at the kids table, but he didn't mind. He was happy with his roll!

When going through my pics I had a few randoms that Ben took. This one cracks me up! I love the looks on both of our faces. The girls were having a little dispute over who got this baby doll (because the other 45 dolls just weren't good enough).

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Happy Birthday Grandma Charlene!

2011-11-20T22:59:00.000-08:00

Couldn't let the day go by without sending a shout out to a lady that I miss every single day, and today a little more than normal. This picture was one of her all time favorites. I was less than thrilled to be wearing this old fashioned outfit and I was mad that Ryan got to wear a pink outfit and I had to wear a boyish looking one. Gee, I can't imagine where Lauren gets her attitude when it comes to what she wears?! Oh how I wish she was here to see her great grandkids.

Video in the post below

2011-11-17T23:03:00.000-08:00

I don't usually post things on this blog about being gluten free, I save that for my other blog. But I saw this video today and I just loved it. This girl did an amazing job of expressing what it feels like sometimes. Most of the time, I really don't think being gluten free is a big deal and it doesn't bother me that much and I'm thankful that I don't need drugs to make me feel better. But on special occasions, parties, pot lucks, and dinner parties, well it just plain sucks. It's no fun being the annoying person that asks the host a million questions and it's no fun watching everyone else eat food that looks amazing but I know will make me violently ill, not to mention cause long term damage. It's also no fun telling your daughter no to food because you know it will make her wake up in the night crying because of horrible tummy aches. I know there are a lot worse things out there and honestly I feel very blessed to have this be our only health obstacle so far.

Anyway, I felt like sharing this tonight, I know it's a deviation from my typical pictures of our regular family life. I promise, I won't do it often:)

**For some reason I couldn't add text to the video so it is in the post below this. It's only 3 minutes, a super quick 3 minutes that sums things up perfectly!

Good Perspective on what it feels like sometimes

2011-11-17T22:53:00.000-08:00

Miss Lauren

2011-11-13T20:25:00.000-08:00

Her artwork on display. Notice the fan she set up to dry off her artwork.

Veterinarian Lauren at your service.

At age 5 1/2 she is finally learning to play by herself...for very short periods of time, but hey it's something! She set up this tea party for her and her bears.

reunion

2011-11-13T20:22:00.001-08:00

Last night we had Laurie, Kelly, & Alison over for dinner. The 4 of us (plus Missy who lives in AZ now) all lived together our sophomore year. It was fun to have a little reunion, it had been years since all 4 of us hung out together! Fun times!

Ben can "read"

2011-11-09T21:04:00.000-08:00

Kindergarten School Picture

2011-11-09T20:45:00.001-08:00

Lauren Kok

age 5

Kindergarten

Stay Sweet:)

Family Pictures

2011-11-09T20:33:00.000-08:00

We had our pictures taken a few weeks back by the very talented Jessica Larson. Here are a few that didn't make the Christmas card cut but that I thought were pretty cute:) There were 96 and I loved a good majority, so I just picked a few for this post. Too many too chose from!

Family Homework

2011-11-06T19:52:00.000-08:00

Lauren's family homework for this weekend was to disguise Tom the Turkey so that he won't get eaten for Thanksgiving. I was thinking ballerina, clown, something along those lines. Well of course Miss Lauren wasn't going for that, she insisted on Justin Bieber. She also insisted that she do it alone, so much for family homework (although she did let me do the hair!). Can I just tell you how much it is killing me that this is what she is taking to school tomorrow? Of course I already let her teacher know that we had nothing to do with this! (and no, those aren't boobs on his shirt, that are the pockets on his jacket...duh!)

Here is Turkey Justin's info, according to Lauren.

Toy Story 3 on Ice

2011-11-06T19:47:00.000-08:00

Nana and Pa took the kids to see Toy Story 3 on ice yesterday. They had a blast and are still talking about it! What lucky kids they are!

Kevin's car experience

2011-11-06T19:45:00.000-08:00

While in Vegas Kevin signed up for a racing experience and got to drive an Audi R8 at the Vegas Speedway. He was like a kid on Christmas morning!

safety first:)

getting ready

off he goes

The cars were all going well over 100mph, it was crazy to watch! Very exciting!

Done! He LOVED it and is already talking about next time.

There is an air force base right next door and the planes were so close. It was pretty amazing (and loud) to see all the super fast cars and the impressive planes all going by at once. Ben would have been in heaven, I was feeling pretty bad he wasn't there with us!

Vegas

2011-11-06T19:40:00.000-08:00

Kevin & I had a fun little getaway in Vegas last week (he was there on work, I tagged along). We took these pictures to show the kids the cool stingrays.

just shopping for shoes- ha! I told Kelly I'd pick us up some shoes for her wedding here (joking of course) so we had to take a peek. Oh man, so outrageous, but fun!

Stef & I got to spend the whole day together shopping, eating, and relaxing. It was so much fun to have a kid free girl day! We enjoyed some giant nachos at Margaritaville (they were so gluten free friendly!) and some super strong margaritas as well as fabulous music.

In front of the Bellagio where we were lucky enough to stay!

The gardens at the Bellagio are so amazing, loved this pumpkin made out of flowers.

corn made out of corn

The chocolate fountain!

This whole picture is all living flowers.

One night we headed over to Stef & Greg's for a fabulous home cooked meal and some time with the family. It was so nice to see their new house and get to have a break from the craziness of the Vegas casinos! Ethan was showing us his cool quad, Ben would've been so jealous!

Miss Taylor was in love with Kevin and wanted to be with him at all times.

She especially wanted to cuddle. This girl is the biggest flirt, she is so so cute, we just can't get enough of her!

My $20 cotton candy martini, I just couldn't get over the ridiculous prices in Vegas!

We had a great time getting away, thanks to Oma & Opa and Nana & Pa for watching the kids while we were gone.

Trick or Treat

2011-11-06T19:24:00.000-08:00

The dragon and Tinkerbell getting ready to head out!

We stopped at our neighbors before we headed over to Ryan & Megan's for trick or treating.

Since our kids are pretty much the only ones that trick or treat in our neighborhood they gave each of them a pumpkin full of candy! It was ridiculous, but of course so exciting:)

Lauren has been wanting to wear mascara for awhile and I finally let her on Halloween night. Now that is all she is asking for! I was pretty jealous of her eyelashes though, mascara really made them pop!

Getting ready to go!

Carsie squeezed into the chicken costume since the other 3 kids wore it. It was small but he did it and of course looked darling!

We saw this car while out trick or treating and had to take a pic of Hads with it.

Their loot! It's already magically disappeared and they haven't even noticed!

Nana's work

2011-10-31T14:03:00.000-07:00

Nana's work goes all out for Halloween, it's pretty cool. We stopped by after Lauren's party to say hi, we missed the main events but got in on some of the fun and we got to see Carson & Hadley & Auntie Meg!

The haunted house cubicle

The kids with Nana

She adores this boy!

Cracks us up

2011-10-31T14:00:00.000-07:00

Lately Lauren has to label everything. It's so fun to see her so excited about writing but it just cracks us up when we find all these random things. Last night I was picking up and I saw this book mark in her book. "Book Murc"

She wrote this note in the kitchen the other day. It says, "We have to do it gluten free".

Such a fun stage!

Lauren's class party

2011-10-31T13:58:00.000-07:00

We just got home from Lauren's class party. She had a great time and it was so fun to see all the kids dressed in their cute costumes. There were 3 Mario's- definitely a popular one this year!

Lauren and Ella making journals

Playing Bingo

Pumpkin Bowling

Pumpkin coloring

Having treats!

3 of Lauren's favorite friends!

What a fun party!

Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-30T21:20:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to a haunted house (there was a kids one and an adult one, the adult one was creepy!!! but so fun!). Then we came home and carved pumpkins, it was a fun Halloween night!

Lauren was really hesitant to dig in to the guts but finally did it, for a few seconds anyway!

Ben was much braver, which really surprised me.

Ben was bragging to Lauren that he was touching the pumpkin guts.

Proof that I helped too! I was in charge of the getting all the seeds out.

Ben wanted a soccer ball. It looked great but didn't light up super well so we had to cut out some of the pieces.

Lauren's happy Jack-o-lantern just like she requested.

Ben's soccer ball!

Can't wait for tomorrow! Happy Halloween!

what is wrong with this picture?

2011-10-25T11:59:00.000-07:00

True Talent

2011-10-25T11:32:00.001-07:00

Our little singers

2011-10-25T11:32:00.000-07:00

Arizona Trip

2011-10-25T11:31:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday my parents took Lauren, Ben, Carson, Hadley and I to Arizona for 4 days of family fun! I took tons of pics and decided to post them all:)

So excited to get on the plane!

11 month old in a tight place = no fun, but he was a trooper!

Lauren was so excited to get in the hot tub (we turned the heat off since it was 95 degrees out!)

We stayed in a Casita a mile down the road from my grandparents house.

Ethan and Lauren enjoyed some down time watching tv.

Ben teaching Taylor how to use the iphone

The mule, or "crazy car" was a HUGE hit with all the kids, the drove around in it all weekend!

The kids LOVE Hayley!

Aunt Tracey loved meeting Carsie Poo

Lauren decided to lead the group in a little yoga class

Ben and I riding the quad- Ben's favorite activity!

The Casita had a big pool so we went over there during the day when it was so hot to cool down a bit! My phone actually said it was 99 degrees at one point, we are so not used to that!!!

Hadley Jane surprised us all and was a total fish, she swam longer than anyone and we had to drag her out of the pool when it was time to go!

Hayley, Lauren, Taylor just chillin' at the Casita

Hadley the little fish!

Liz & Jacob

Jacob

Yet another ride in the "Crazy Car"

Jacob & Emma

My grandparents with most of the great grandkids

Grandparents with some of the grandkids and great grandkids

4 generations

Hayley was so helpful with Carson!

So was Claire! Lauren is obsessed with Claire and Hayley- she asked if we can invite them to her birthday so she can spend more time with them!

Ben going for a night ride with Pa

Stef & I

Lauren going on a night ride with Pa

Lauren, Jacob, & Emma- I love how much all the 2nd cousins love each other, it is so cool to see them all together having so much fun!

It was my grandma's 81st birthday so we celebrated!

Lauren and Ben made Grandma cards and they were very proud of them.

Then all the girls decided to get paper out and make her a bunch of pictures.

dipping their toes in

The kids has so much fun playing in the dirt at my grandparents house. You can imagine how dirty they all were!

Ethan and Stef

Me with Miss Taylor

and because quads, mules, and 3 wheelers just aren't enough, my dad took the kids on tractor rides too!

rough housing with Pa

cute boy

Our last night there Stef & I got a room at Harrah's Casino. The kids LOVED the room and the funky reading lights, they used them as microphones...videos of that to come!

Harrah's pool had a swim up bar and Stef and I indulged in some fabulous margaritas. They were heavenly and just what we needed.

bathing beauties!

Lauren loved jumping off the bar stools at the swim up bar!

Then we ordered pizza (we found a gluten free pizza place in Maricopa, AZ- amazing how far gf has come!) and made some salad in a bag and had a picnic in our room.

Watched a movie on the portable dvd player- Ethan snuggled up to Lauren, so cute!

Taylor passed out, Ben played on my iphone for a few hours and Lauren zoned out to the movie. Stef and I had a glass of wine.

I was sort of in love with these cacti (I really hate saying cacti, I'd rather say cactuses). They were so cool, I must be getting old- I always made fun of my dad for taking scenery pictures.

It was a super fun trip filled with lot of family togetherness, but man am I tired. Now I need a real vacation...and I'm getting one! Next week Kevin & I are going to Vegas for 4 days and 3 nights- yahoo!

Dress me like an Indian

2011-10-25T10:50:00.000-07:00

Lauren cracks me up. She brought me this scarf the other day and said mom, "Dress me like an Indian". I think it's so interesting how much things have changed, when I was a kid to me an Indian was a Native American. But since we are one of the only families in our neighborhood not from India, Eastern Indians are very common place to her. She walked around all night speaking "spanish"...she's got her cultures a little confused.

Ben's first field trip

2011-10-25T10:45:00.000-07:00

Ben had his first preschool field trip last week. We went to Craven Farms to get pumpkins. I have no idea who this girl is, but she is one of his classmates.

riding the pretend donkey

cutest scarecrow ever

Ben always finds something to drive wherever he goes!

Chef Lauren

2011-10-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

One of Lauren's favorite Halloween books is Pumpkin Soup. There is a recipe in the back for pumpkin soup so we decided to make it this afternoon.

Lauren decided there weren't enough steps that she could help with so she wanted to make her own recipe. And she wanted to cut up everything herself. Kevin about died when I told him I let her. I had about 5 heart attacks while watching her do this, but I figured she's got to learn at some point, right? She has strict instructions to only use a knife when I'm sitting right with her though!

Her recipe was quite interesting. It was a tomato, apple, pear, and a handful of baby carrots all chopped up and mixed with water. She used about 15 kitchen utensils (all were required per her "recipe" she claimed).

Notice the recipe book next to her...she even crossed off as she went! Funny that it pictures cupcakes, hmm???

Then she insisted on taking this picture of the finished product. She's picking up on what I do when I take pics for my gf blog! She served us all up a nice bowl of this delicious meal and we got to eat it with dinner. Mmm!

Bride

2011-10-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

Lauren has been begging me to let her try on my wedding dress again (I let her the summer before last) so I decided to let her today. She felt so beautiful and kept saying over and over how she just felt so pretty and wanted to wear it forever. She keeps asking me to let her wear it when she gets married, I should get that on video so I can show it to her when she is begging me to buy her some gazillion dollar wedding dress some day! She also asked to get out the wedding album so we sat and looked through that today while she was in the dress. I have to say, it sort of melted my heart. I loved every single second of it!

Face Painting

2011-10-15T19:29:00.000-07:00

Today they had face painting at the farm but the line was long and Kevin & I didn't want to wait. We told the kids we'd go buy face paint and do our own. Of course Kevin did the painting and he didn't disappoint!

Lauren requested a unicorn, I was so impressed. I think I might start renting Kevin out for parties;)

He printed off this one as his inspiration, which she loved because then she got to paint it.

Ben wanted Lightning McQueen of course!

Then Lauren decided she needed to paint my face. She decided on polka dots, stars, and butterflies on one side and my name on the other.

Lightning McQueen!

Not sure if she inherited her dad's artistic abilities?!

The finished product.

My polka dots, butterflies, and stars...obviously!

This says VAL and it actually does just not in order. And then the purple nose, well that was just an extra bonus. She wanted to do my forehead too but I had to draw the line somewhere.

The kids are in the bath right now washing it all off and Lauren just said, "I got my face painted today by a great artist named Kevin!" She is pretty amazed by him, it's really cute.

Jubilee

2011-10-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

We went on our annual visit to Jubilee today and we all had so much fun! It was a perfect fall day, chilly but no rain.

Ben loved the tractor ride.

love that smile

Lauren picked up this broken pumpkin and said in a very serious and annoyed tone, "Hey, someone carved this pumpkin and then brought it back." Those total cheaters! Kevin and I were laughing so hard!

Cutting her pumpkin from the vine.

Ben wants to carve his pumpkin to look like a soccer ball so he was in search of a very round pumpkin. He found one (with daddy's help).

Carrying both pumpkins, this made me laugh because it is practically the same pic as the post below of Ben carrying the 2 baby pumpkins and thinking he is so strong.

They loved the hay maze, Ben got a little nervous that he wasn't going to get out (someone really takes after his mama) but he did it!

Feeding the pigs

Love the Clydesdales, so pretty.

Maltby Produce

2011-10-13T17:34:00.000-07:00

I took the kids to the Maltby Produce Stand today. We attempted a group shot, this was the best we got!

The kids were so excited to go see the animals.

Carson especially, he just couldn't wait;)

Lauren was more than thrilled to be Hadley's tour guide since she'd never been there before. Hadley was less than impressed. She said, "So where are the other animals?" I told her this was it and she said, "Well I wanted to see cows & pigs." Guess we'll have to venture further out next time!

They have tons of peacocks there, they are so pretty!

The ducklings were a huge hit.

Carsie Poo loved looking at all the animals.

This goat was trying really hard to get through the fence, Lauren didn't like this at all. Can you tell by the look on her face?

LOVE the look on his face!

Ben thought he was so strong carrying 2 pumpkins, no one has to tell him they were the 2 smallest pumpkins there!

Carson checked out all the gourds, then started tasting them of course:)

Eating honey sticks, my kids most favorite thing about going here! They think they are the biggest treat!

Carson's favorite part of the whole trip, my trunk. It was the only place not covered in duck poop so I could finally set him down.

Weekly update of my random phone pics:)

2011-10-04T21:19:00.000-07:00

Ben threw a tantrum of all tantrums last week and I kept trying to get him to lay down and rest. He was screaming that he WAS NOT TIRED and then what do you know, 5 minutes later I found him like this on the couch.

Lauren is loving the rock climbing wall at the Y. I'm loving that they have lots of free drop in times for her age group. The people that work there always try to get me to climb too...no thanks!

Ben is loving his big boy swim lessons. Kevin & I are loving not having to get into the cold chlorine filled pool. Win Win.

These two came up with the perfect plan the other night, they decided they needed to "practice trick or treating" and of course I had to "practice" handing out candy. I couldn't resist.

Literacy night at Lauren's school. Loved the idea, loved the night.

So glad she got a great teacher and is at a great school!

Bring your baby to work day?

She was playing teacher and said her students love babies so she decided to bring hers to work with her. (And no, she doesn't wear this shirt every day. In fact she's had it for a year and only worn it a few times, but she has decided it is the perfect teacher shirt and puts it on every time she plays school.)

She also decided that the baby needed to drive around and do errands with us today.

Love how she is strapped in. Lauren didn't get the memo about babies being rear facing, oops.

Seattle Center Day

2011-10-03T23:00:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I bought a Living Social Deal for a day at Seattle Center. I neglected to read the details and this turned out to be a terrible deal, but oh well, it got us out and doing fun stuff! First stop was to ride the monorail.

The kids were so excited!

Once it got going Ben was a little nervous. He liked it but was just kind of unsure about it all.

Of course she loved every second of it.

On the ride back from Westlake we got the very front seat.

The driver even let the kids honk the horn- so exciting. Not exactly sure why the monorail has a horn since nothing can get in its way, but whatever.

Then we went to the Pacific Science Center, it was the kids first visit there. Our first stop was the planetarium, which was a big hit. Then the tide pools.

Kevin held a beetle and Ben touched it. Lauren and I stood back and watched.

We rode the caterpillar. Also saw some really cool butterflies and a few landed on us.

Built some bugs.

Checked out the bees. Since Barry B Benson is like a celebrity in our house we are always excited about seeing bees.

Drove the space shuttle, Ben was in heaven with all the buttons.

Played with a bunch of other stuff.

Then headed out to the fountain for some cotton candy- yay!

Oh and we had our pictures taken:)

In the bottom pic I said, "Make a kissy face" Lauren and I did it at the camera, Ben & Kevin kissed. Awe.

A super fun day was had by all!

"Mrs. Tobias"

2011-10-03T22:49:00.000-07:00

Lauren is obsessed with playing teacher. Her name is Mrs. Tobias (her teacher's name) and she does EVERYTHING like her teacher. The maraca is her microphone and she imitates everything about her day at school, it is very hilarious. I have to say, she's a pretty decent teacher! It's fun to be in her class...although playing it day in and day out is getting a little old. Anyone want to come over and be her student?

She held up these pirate cards and had me guess what our lesson might be about today. "That's right Val, we are going to learn about pirates today." It is hilarious!

And of course she rings the bell when it is time to transition to the next activity. We may have a future teacher on our hands:)

Cuties

2011-09-21T22:03:00.000-07:00

Lauren loves my new boots just as much as me.

Too bad she isn't getting a pair until her feet stop growing!

Ben helping me make muffins. Love my little baking assistant.

True Love

2011-09-21T21:59:00.000-07:00

This week is C week in Lauren's class and everyone was supposed to share something that started with the letter C. She wanted to bring him in but I didn't think that'd work so well so this was the next best thing. Is it dorky that I thought it was super cool that Carson is also her Cousin so it's a double C? Don't answer that.

The girl LOVES this boy so much. Today she came home and said, "Mom my teacher thought Carson was soooo cute." His pic is now hanging in her kindergarten room!

Playing School

2011-09-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

Lauren has been so into playing teacher ever since school started- I love it! So fun to watch her "teach". Here she is teaching Ben the do's and don't of school rules, it was hilarious. I wish I had it on video.

Today she rearranged the play room so it was like a classroom and I was the teacher. It was a stretch but I figured it out:)

Ben joined in on his computer.

Hard at work.

This makes mama happy, just crossing my fingers it lasts!

Skate Park fun...until the big kids pushed us out!

2011-09-21T20:39:00.000-07:00

Lauren and Ben love the skate park that is 2 miles from our house. In the summer we usually go in the morning when the big kids are still sleeping. Yesterday we went at 3:00...not the ideal time we learned.

I told the kids to stay out of the big kids way and we were staying in our own area, away from where they were riding. Well that didn't matter. After about 10 minutes a little group came and put their backpacks on top of my purse and started scooting over until I was almost off the bench. Then a kid came flying up on his bike and swiveled the back wheel around so that it almost hit the kids and I in the head while yelling, "Oh Sorry, I almost forgot this is an f&$%ing family park." While I really wanted to stay to show him he isn't in charge I decided it was best to just leave. Ugh, how I wish there was a way for us all to share the park and be happy...oh and I wish I had the guts to give that kid of a piece of my mind, though something tells me he wouldn't have cared what I had to say!

Anyway, here are some shots from before that happened.

Lauren loves it there.

And she's kind of a dare devil on her bike!

Coming up the ramp.

Ben is a little more cautious but still loves it!

We decided to go play on the toys for awhile and they have a really cool 1/2 mile trail through the wetlands that the kids rode on so that was fun. But as you can imagine Miss Lauren was very mad that the big kids weren't sharing and didn't think it was fair. She assures me she's going to be a nice teenager, not a mean one like those kids. I'm going to be sure to remind her of that:)

Ben's First Day of Soccer

2011-09-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

Ben started soccer on Saturday, he was all ready with his Adidas jacket on:)

He is playing at the Y. They changed their program this year and it is wonderful, so much better than last year!!! Yay!

It's much more of a parent - tot class, which is just what Ben needs. He liked having us out there with him.

He loved stopping the ball and just taking a brief pause with his foot on the ball.

I think he felt cool. It was really cute!

Our Sales Girl

2011-09-15T16:24:00.000-07:00

Lauren came home today with a list of people she needed to call. When I asked why she said, "Because my teacher wants me to have a job and she is having me sell coupon books, I need to call all these people and see if they'll buy my book, it's $25. Okay." I did let her call 2 people, both which she left messages. It was pretty hilarious listening to her leave her little sales pitch.

Anyway, I'm not really going to let her call everyone in my phone book but if you are someone who usually buys an Enterainment book each year Lauren would LOVE it if you'd buy one from her. It's for her school PTA (not for her teacher like she thinks). You can buy it for any city, doesn't have to be in Washington. If you are interested in one give me a call or e-mail me, or leave a comment.

Thanks for considering:)

~Val & Lauren

Ben's First Day of Preschool

2011-09-15T16:03:00.000-07:00

Ben was feeling good and ready to go to preschool for the first time today- yahoo! He was pretty calm and cool about the whole thing, kind of acted like it was no big deal.

Excited to see his buddy Bennett who is in his class.

Bennett went on Tuesday already so he was able to show Ben the ropes:)

When I picked him up he was happy as a clam. I was surprised to see he had participated in the craft tables because he has zero interest in anything crafty at home. He drew a "race track", made 2 macaroni necklaces, and decorated 2 apple trees. Who is this kid? So happy he had a great day. And mama, well I had 2 whole hours to MY SELF! Walking around Costco by myself with Starbucks in hand was pretty darn fabulous! Funny what I think is fabulous these days:)

Taylor Swift!

2011-09-08T16:07:00.000-07:00

Last night Lauren, Nana, & I went to see Taylor Swift! (I know, seems weird to go have fun when Benny is feeling miserable but Kevin took extra good care of him.)

We had dinner at the Spaghetti Factory in Tacoma, along with 400 other preteen girls who were going to the show. It was CRAZY in there!

At the show!

I bought the tickets from a mom of a former student. She sold the other tickets to some of my other former students. It was so fun to see these girls who I knew so well as kindergarteners. They are all 13 now!!! Lauren was in heaven sitting next to them and was chatting it up with them about kindergarten:) She was also trying to strike up a conversation with them about texting. It was hilarious.

She pulled 1/2 of her dress down so she could be like Taylor Swift.

having fun.

A few shots of Taylor. She puts on an AMAZING show! It was very theatrical and really cool. I would've liked to stay for it all but we lasted until 10:15 and then Lauren just lost it. She was so overtired that she just started crying so we left. I hear the finale was amazing. Oh well, gotta leave something for next time:)

Such a fun night!

Ben's Surgery

2011-09-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

Ben was so brave yesterday and Kevin & I were so proud of him.

Of course he had no idea what was coming. But he had a ball playing around in the waiting room. He looked so cute in his little gown.

The doctors just loved him, after the surgery the anesthesiologist came over and told us how he just thought Ben was the cutest little boy. Maybe they do that for everyone but we liked it:)

His "cozy blankie" and "dolsin" came with us of course.

Surgery was postponed by 45 minutes so we had a lot of time to play in our little room. Ben thought it was great to have all our attention on him. His only complaint was that he couldn't eat or drink.

Only one parent was aloud back in the OR so I went. I was just in there long enough to watch them put him to sleep...and for me to shed a few tears of course. Ben did much better than mama:)

The dr. was out about 20 minutes later to tell us all was well and about an hour later we got to see the little guy. He slept most of yesterday and has spent today on the couch.

This is Ben's home for today. He has gotten up a few times and walked around for a minute or two, but then lays back down. We are hoping he'll get some energy back and feel a little better by this weekend. Its no fun to see him feeling so crummy.

Kindergarten Poem

2011-09-06T21:52:00.000-07:00

A friend sent me this poem last night about letting our daughters (really could be about a son too) go off to school and start to grow up. I thought it was perfect and wanted to share.

She started school this morning,
And she seemed so very small.
As I walked there beside her
In the Kindergarten hall.

And as she took her place beside
the others in the class,
I realized how all too soon
Those first few years can pass.

Remembering, I saw her as
She first learned how to walk.
The words that we alone made out
When she began to talk.

This little girl so much absorbed
In learning how to write.
It seems as though she must have grown
To girlhood overnight.

My eyes were blurred by hastily
I brushed the tears away
Lest by some word or sign of mine
I spoil her first big day.

Oh how I longed to stay with her
And keep her by the hand
To lead her through the places
That she couldn't understand.

And something closely kin to fear
Was mingled with my pride.
I knew she would no longer be
A baby by my side.

But she must have her chance to live,
To work her problems out,
The privilege to grow and learn
What life is all about.

And I must share my little girl
With friends and work and play;
She's not a baby anymore --
She's in Kindergarten today.

Last meal before tonsils come out

2011-09-06T21:41:00.000-07:00

Ben chose pizza as his last meal before he has his tonsils out tomorrow. Then he got to go out for ice cream with Oma & Opa and Auntie Meg, Uncle Ryan, Hadley & Carson. The boy has no clue what his throat is going to feel like tomorrow. We aren't really nervous about the surgery, its more the recovery period that has Kevin and I feeling anxious. Not looking forward to seeing our little Benny Boo feeling crummy. Crossing our fingers for a quick recovery!

Too cute!

2011-09-06T21:37:00.000-07:00

Oma got crafty this week and sewed Lauren and Olivia matching dresses! So cute!

Animal Rescuers

2011-09-05T20:55:00.000-07:00

Lauren and Ben are still into rescuing animals. I get to play too, my name is "Veterinarian Val"and I perform surgeries on all the animals. Love the crazy stories they come up with when playing. The animal next to Lauren looks like an elephant but it's really a jaguar. That is not a trunk you see on it, it is a device to help it breathe because it has breathing problems...the girl gets credit for creativity for sure!

Remlinger Farm

2011-09-05T20:48:00.000-07:00

We decided to go to Remlinger Farms on Saturday. We've been there a million times to pick berries but we'd never done the rides. Boy, were we missing out- we all had so much fun! The kids LOVED the pony rides, they each rode twice!

The train was a big hit, especially with Ben.

Loved that all the rides were perfect for Lauren and Ben's ages, this ride was a huge hit!

The roller coaster was a little faster than expected. Ben was not a fan, of course Lauren had her arms up in the air the whole time. No pics though, I was too busy holding on;)

Look at those cute strawberries!

We ran into one of Lauren's preschool friends there and she was so excited. We hung out with Finley and her family the rest of the day.

There was an old bus that Ben of course wanted to drive. He's trying so hard to reach the peddles.

Driving the antique cars was Ben's favorite, he rode them twice.

Lauren with Finley and her mom Jenn.

Riding the kiddie ferris wheel.

What a fun day! We will definitely be doing it again!!!

Boat Cruise

2011-09-05T20:39:00.000-07:00

My parents boat club is on a boat cruise around Lake Washington this week and Kevin, Lauren, & Ben started the cruise off with them- they got to ride through the locks! I met up with them that evening at Seward Park, it was such a beautiful night and so fun.

Kevin decided he was going to jump in, which is so wild to me since jumping off diving boards freaks me out:)

Looks cold but he insisted it wasn't.

Lauren and Ben each got one of the boat cruise goody bags that had these fun boat balloon toys in them.

Kevin and Lauren went paddle boarding. Looks so fun, I really need to try it!

Pirate Swag

Pirates Kevin & Val!

First Day of Kindergarten

2011-08-31T15:10:00.000-07:00

The big day is finally here! Lauren chose pancakes, kiwi, & strawberries as her breakfast.

Talking on the phone to daddy. He is in Texas for work and had to miss the big day but he talked to her before and after school.

The Kindergartener!

With her backpack and bus info tag on, she is ready to go!

Since Nana works so close she was able to pop over for a few minutes and watch her get on the bus.

At the bus stop!

Getting on the bus with our neighbor Hunter who is a first grader! Putting her on the bus was very sad, I couldn't hold back the tears! She just seemed like such a big girl! Ben and I drove up to school so we could watch her line up for class;)

Waiting to go into class with Ella.

Lining up with Mrs. Tobias!

Bye Bye Lauren- have fun! Ben and I missed her this morning, he kept saying, "When Lauren coming home?"

And just a few short hours later she was back! She loved riding the bus and hasn't stopped talking about her day since she got home, she LOVED it!

The highlight of her day was that a girl got hurt at recess and an ambulance came. Lauren is obsessed with ambulances and medical emergencies in general so this was a thrill for her, she's pretty sure the girl didn't have a heart attack since she can still move her neck...(Dr. Lauren at your service!) Not sure what the details are on that one but what day for that poor girl!

As we were walking home from the bus stop Lauren saw a neighbor mom driving away and she said, "What is she doing leaving her house while her kids are still at school?" I said she probably has errands to run and Lauren said, "Yeah, it probably does get boring just staying home and doing dishes all day when your kids are gone but I bet it's nice to get your work done without your kids talking to you all day." Love that she thinks all us moms do are dishes...well sometimes it does feel like that is all I do!

Glad our big girl loved her first day!

Day before Kindergarten Lunch!

2011-08-30T21:58:00.000-07:00

We had Ella & Carter over today for a little back to school lunch.

The kids did "school" crafts.

Of course I had 5 different activities planned and they spent about 5 minutes total on the crafts then ran wild around the house for the next hour. So much for that idea!

Lunch time!

These two are so excited for their big day tomorrow!

Ben LOVES this knock knock joke!

2011-08-29T21:31:00.000-07:00

Ben Riding Lauren's bike

2011-08-29T21:27:00.001-07:00

Bike Riding Fool

2011-08-29T21:27:00.000-07:00

This boy has spent the summer mastering his bike riding skills. We've actually been able to go on bike rides to destinations, we've rode to Starbucks a few times and this boy is amazing. Watch out Lance:)

Meet the Teacher Night

2011-08-29T21:20:00.000-07:00

Tonight was meet the teacher night at Lauren's school. She is beyond thrilled that her friend Ella is in her class. The girl in the green...don't know her. But she got in all the pics that Ella's mom & I took... she is a friendly one:)

Sitting at her desk, so excited for the big first day on Wednesday!

who designed this?!

2011-08-29T21:17:00.000-07:00

If you click on these pictures and look closely this is the weirded slide ever. It looks like a birth canal! Ben wouldn't even go down it, he didn't think he'd fit. Lauren squeezed herself through it but it was tight, seriously, what were they thinking?!

Random's from the month

2011-08-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

They pulled a switcheroo. Love Ben in pink:)

Got to celebrate this very fabulous lady's 50th birthday! Does she make 50 look fabulous or what?!

Miss Lauren got a little hair cute to get ready for kindergarten, they even sprinkled glitter in it. FANCY!

Lauren got a little paddle board ride from Uncle Ryan. I'm kind of dying to try this, looks so fun!

And all the kids got a cart ride on the dock from Kevin. Love the look of panic on Carson's face and Ben's cheesy smile!

Campout at Moran State Park on Orcas Island

2011-08-22T20:49:00.001-07:00

Friday we headed to Orcas Island for a weekend of camping at Moran State Park with John & Aimee. We lucked out and had the most amazing weather! The park was breathtakingly beautiful and the wildlife was out in full force. Lauren LOVED all the deer that were hanging out at our campground.

Ben of course loved the tent set up.

Lauren thought she'd try to blow the air mattress up herself:)

Didn't work but worth a try;)

Ben went to bed early both nights but Miss Lauren rallied and stayed up for campfire and s'mores!

Ben woke up early while Lauren slept in both mornings so he & I enjoyed a little time exploring the area. And of course some chocolate milk:)

How gorgeous is that?! AMAZING!

Ben and I sat and watched the morning "shisherman" getting ready for a day of "shishing". No gas motors allowed on this lake and Ben was just so concerned that the boats couldn't go super speed.

My how times have changed...Ben had to get a little iphone time in on the trip.

Sleeping Beauty finally woke up!

The swim area was fabulous, we met this kid Ameria who was wanted to give us all rides in his boat. He was so cute and spent a good couple hours rowing around in the swimming area. Lauren had a blast being his passenger and lucky me, I got a ride since Ben was too scared to go without me:)

Lauren and Aimee looking through People to find pics of Justin Bieber!

I think I'm the only mom that wears a swim shirt...trying to make up for all the horrible burns I've had!

Kevin & Lauren getting ready to take the plunge!

We drove to the top of Mt. Constitution, it is the highest point in the San Juans and the views were so beautiful. There was a wedding going on at the top, what a cool place to get married!

Aimee doing a card trick for Lauren. Lauren thinks it is SO cool that Aimee is a "real" magician and now she's trying really hard to be a magician herself;)

The only con to this trip...dealing with weekend ferrys! 2+ hour wait on the way there and 3 hours wait on the way back. Luckily we had great weather and amazing views to look at while we waited so it wasn't so bad.

Playing "Sorry!" while we waited.

John was there too, for some reason he's not in any of my pics! Can't wait for next year!

Ben the teenager

2011-08-22T20:28:00.000-07:00

This is his latest favorite pastime, playing with Mama's iphone.

Blueberry Picking in Snohomish

2011-08-22T20:27:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to Snohomish to pick Blueberries with Riley & Blaine. We got so many blueberries that tasted so good and had the best time checking out Snohomish. I hadn't been there in years and it is the cutest little town and trail along the river was great!

Camano Island

2011-08-14T13:55:00.000-07:00

The kids and I were lucky enough to be invited to our friend's beach house on Camano Island this weekend (Kevin is away on a guys weekend). We had the best time and fell in love with Camano Island, now I want a beach house there. Anyone want to buy me one? :)

The guys were so nice and patient and took all the kids out in groups of 3 to fish. They made sure each kid caught a fish, which I thought was so so amazing! I found out later each kid caught the same fish, the dads weren't actually taking it off the line and they'd "throw" it back out while still on the line and let each kid reel it in. Smart dads, gullible me:) The kids were beyond thrilled with their catch!

This is poor fish who got reeled in over and over. Nick was feeling pretty darn proud! So cute!

Bennet & Ben going out for round 2. They wanted to be in the boat all day!

The dads also taught the kids to skip rocks, or at least attempted to teach them. It was entertaining to watch them try.

The neighbors set up this slide off their deck that goes into an old boat full of water. The kids LOVED it and all kept saying it was just like the fair. I say it's WAY better than the fair since it was set up by someone with a full set of teeth and doesn't cost $4 per ride!

They even got out a trash bag to make it go faster.

So fun!

Ben is in the front of the boat, loving just riding along.

As soon as he got off the boat Ben headed over for some slide action.

A little colder than he expected. He only went down once.

The whole gang of kids minus Haley & Sydney who left early. Most of this group met when the oldest kids were about 6 months old, now lots of them are starting kindergarten, crazy! In no time we'll have a pic of them all graduating high school!

Ben took his marshmallow roasting really seriously!

Yum!

Since Sarah & I were both single moms for the weekend we decided to bring a tent and stay over. The kids LOVED the tent and apparently thought it was a bouncy house, they all jumped in it forever.

Nighty night, sleep tight... or not. Lauren slept all night, Ben not so much. He just couldn't get comfy and only seemed to be able to sleep if he had his arms wrapped around my neck, I'm not kidding when I say the boy likes to cuddle. Needless to say mommy didn't get the best night sleep.

And since there were 4 kids & 2 moms in the tent it was a full house. But so fun!

Both of my kids are napping right now, maybe we should sleep in tents more often:)

Thanks Pepins for a fabulous day!

Visit with Oma's Family

2011-08-14T13:42:00.000-07:00

The kids and I headed up to B'ham on Friday to hang out with two of Lauren and Ben's 2nd cousins, they had the best time! Chloe is almost 13 and she is amazing! So fun to talk to, so nice, and FABULOUS with the kids. Lauren adored her.

Ben spent a lot of his time racing cars, shocker.

This guy, Zander, is the toughest, fastest, biggest 5 year old I've ever met. He wanted me to chase him and I couldn't catch the kid (I know that's not saying much but still...). I think we're going to be able to say we knew him when, I see an athletic career in his future! It was nearly impossible to get a picture because he is on the move.

Oma bought all the kids "squirmees" which are just like little fluffy worms that have an "invisible" string tied to them and you are supposed to put the string in your pocket and walk around and it looks like the squirmee is following you. The kids got a kick out of them, well everyone but Ben. Ben thought they were alive and he was FREAKING out every time he'd turn around and see it behind him. I'm talking full on screaming at the top of his lungs, shaking, and clinging to me for dear life. He just couldn't get it through his head that they weren't alive. I wish I had it on video, it'd be a you tube sensation for sure:)

He'd be brave for a few minutes and run with it, but then freak out again! Of course he insisted on keeping the string in his pocket. So when the squirmee followed him to the dinner table he FREAKED out all over again! We finally took the squirmee away. It was so so funny!

Lauren loved them! Such a fun visit with Oma's side of the family on a really great sunny day!

American Girl Lunch!

2011-08-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

Lauren, Olivia, & I went to the American Girl doll store for lunch with some friends and it was sooooo fun!!!

She had to bring her stroller because she was afraid Olivia would get too heavy. Always thinking.

A little photo op in the store with her friend Ella.

They give you little highchairs for your doll, everything is so cute!

Lauren and Ella with their look alike dolls, both named Olivia of course:)

They bring out little tea cups for the dolls too, so cute!

And to top it all off they have gluten free hamburger buns, gluten free pizza, & gluten free pasta! Yay for American Girl Cafe!!!!

Cute girls with their dolls.

Moana, Ella, Lauren, & Me. Such a fun day, Lauren is already asking to do it again.

The store is quite impressive, it's like a dreamland for little girls...and maybe for their mamas too. Moana and I were kind of in heaven as well:)