Baby Connor's arrival

Michelle's sister-n-law, Kristi, gave birth to Connor James Benson on Monday night, May 28th. Connor was an anxious little guy and gave everyone a surprise making his debut at the beginning of his mommy's 26th week. He weighed 1 lb., 14 ozs. and is 13 1/2 inches long. So far all seems to be going well, but he has a long road ahead of him. Connor's big sister Katie is anxious to meet her little brother and to have her mommy and daddy home.

Yo Ho, Yo Ho, It's a Pirates Life for Me!!

Natalie, Hope & Tessa & Capt. Jack
The gangs all here!
Will the real Capt. Jack please stand up?
Jack & Ellen...havin' fun!!
We were anxiously awaiting the opening of Pirates 3! And why wait til midnight, when you can see it earlier? So, Michelle took Natalie and her friends Hope and Tessa to meet up with the Steele family, Mayo family and a few other friends for the final (we think) chapter of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. It was a long one, and you had to really pay attention, but it was worth every penny and Johnny Depp did not disappoint as Capt. Jack Sparrow. Fun was had by all!!

End of the Year, 2nd Grade Celebration!!

Only 4 days left of school so Maggie's class had a party! There was cornhole, water balloon toss, jump roping, hula hoops, relay races, sno-cones, chips, ice cold water, cookies and popsicles!! What more could a kid want??

A boy, a worm and a set of wheels!

One of the things I'm learning after having three girls is this: boys will be boys! Jake is not crazy about the idea of having a fly or bee buzzing near him...but once his eye catches an ant or even better...a worm...he is fascinated! He really likes to pick them up and show them off. He has also mastered riding his bike up and down the sidewalk. He has boundaries on how far he is allowed to go, and so far he has done a great job of not going any farther than he is suppose to.

Jake's Last Day!

Jake & Ms. Darlene
Working hard on something...

Jake & his buds!


Today was Jake's last day of pre-school for the summer. He's only been going since February and his mommy can't believe it's already time for summer break. Jake enjoyed his time at pre-school making new friends and just having fun playing and learning new skills. When he starts back in the fall, he'll be going for 3 mornings a week.

Natalie's Photography

 

Natalie loves to take pictures...random pictures...so I decided to post a few of her favorites and mine. Most of these she took yesterday. Click the image above for a better look.

Butterfly Walk with a "Team of Friends"

He's a Survivor...Logan Dodd
Nolan, Logan, Jake & Grant before the walk
Fixing to walk a mile.
Sidewalk chalk fun!
Today we joined our friend Logan Dodd on the Butterfly Walk for Cancer Free Kids. Logan was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 16 mos. old. Logan is now a healthy 5 year old boy who will be starting Kindergarten in the Fall and has been in remission for almost 4 years. We started off our morning at Cracker Barrel where we met up with 12 other friends. Then we went to a park for a one mile walk which was followed by fun activities. We are so thankful that Logan is a survivor and for others that we know of who have been affected by this disease. It was a great morning to be with friends and realize how much we have to be thankful for.

Fun at the Zoo!

Jake & the Elephant
A bunch of monkeys!!
Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold.

With no school today (teacher work day) Jake, Maggie & Michelle took advantage of gorgeous weather and met some friends at the zoo. The bears were all taking naps but we got to see some funny penguin action and Jake got to see his favorite...the elephant. Also a ride on the train and on the merry-go-round made for a fun time with friends. Maggie also had her last brownie meeting for the school year. She will be starting off her summer with a sleepover down in Lexington with her troop at the Exploritorium as a reward for all their hard work selling girl scout cookies this year.

Take me out to the Ball Game!

All Jake has been wanting to do is go to a Reds baseball game. "Daddy, will you take me to the baseball game?" is the question of the day, every day when Jeff gets home. So, we finally were able to make to the Reds/Rockies baseball game. Jake was excited all day knowing we were going. Up until we actually were crossing the bridge into Cincinnati and he remembered his crazy fear of fireworks and loud noises. He covered his ears the majority of the game and even though the Reds lost, he had a good time. We also got to sit with Jeff Minks and his family and Judy Minks and her granddaughter Summer Grushon who was an absolute sweetheart!

Crazy about Spiderman!

Jake and his buddy Ethan are Spiderman fanatics! With "Spiderman 3" opening at the end of the week...it's hard to go to a store that doesn't have Spiderman displayed everywhere.