2009-06-28 12:03:00Playing Catch-up
So I've finally found some time to sit on my own and catch up on this journal. Unfortunately the only way I could do it was by getting pneumonia and thereby being quarantined in my room with books and laptop. Poor me? No, it's a lovely unexpected vacation. I sure to have a lot to catch up on though.
I guess we left off around Easter when we visited Louisville. The boys had fun down on the farm and Uncle Toby showed off some amazing bubbles for his nephews. We were delighted to receive a visit from Sarah, Huston and Tom and the boys had a blast playing together while I got some good girlfriend time. There are two photos included that show the scene that was filmed four doors down from us this spring. It's for George Clooney's new movie, Up In The Air, but alas he did not appear in this scene so the no priceless photos.
Simon has been having so much fun with his friends lately so you'll see many photos of him holding Aidan or Lucy's hands (he loves the little girls), or his pals from school. There are shots from swim class which he loved and derby party. He was particularly proud of his bug house he built of twigs, leaves, stones and berries in the back yard, there is currently a spider dwelling within and he checks on it everyday with a pleased grin.
Another trip to Louisville happened this month to throw Grandma Vicky a surprise 50th Birthday party. We were successful in surprising her and had a blast hanging out with the extended family again. The boys were thrilled to have a sleepover with Oma and Opa that week while Brian and I helped Dad, Vicky and Toby pack up the farmhouse in preparation for moving. What a job! We definitely came home ready to purge our own house of all the unnecessary junk I have a habit of collecting. However when we arrived home the work had already begun to tear down and rebuild 2 of our chimenys, repair part of the room and install new A/C on the first floor. Now that it is all finished and there is tons of dust to clean I am sick. It is so hard for me to sit still when there is so much to be done. So sweet though that Simon came in today and said, "now mom, when you are done putting Ben down to sleep you need to go rest. I am going to have some alone time and clean up for you. Promise to rest okaay?" My sweet baby!
Highlights for Ben and Simon:
Ben is so fast now, almost running everywhere. He has a funny hop that he does to pretend to jump, loves spinning in circles and smacking his bottom to the beat of a song. So musical, he is not really talking much yet but is humming all day long usually holding his microphone, my favourite songs are Doe a Deer from The Sound of Music and the theme song from the Polar Express. Ben LOVES buttons. He is constantly searching out a phone, remote, watch, or any other device that he shouldn't be playing with and literally pushing all my buttons (my belly button will appease him is there is no remote handy).
Simon has embraced his inner explorer, going on treasure hunts, climbing any and every tree available, making up clever inventions (the chicken juicer is my favorite), beginning to read and also totally engrossed in The Boxcar Children Series. We go through one chapter book every 2-3 days. He loves guessing how they will solve the mystery. Simon and Brian also took the big step on Father's Day to remove his training wheels on his bike. He's got great balance and stops well, we just have to figure out how to start such a big bike. Other interests include caring for his sunflowers, beans, tomatoes and zinnias that he planted by seed. Unfortunately our beautiful white pumpkins, squash and zuccini have been infested with worms, that was a valuable lesson but really hard for him. Simon starts swim lessons again in a week and I am hopeful that he'll be swimming underwater by the end of the season.
Wow, that only took me an hour to type. Even my brain is zapped. Gonna go rest now. Hope you enjoy our silly family.
2009-02-20 20:14:00Jumping for Joy
Whew, the Birthday marathon has finally come to an end and here are the highlights. Most importantly, Simon turned 4! It began a week early with a surprise trip to a model train show in St. Charles. Simon was speechless. So many electric trains in one spot, he was even given a chance to use the remote control for the model Thomas train. He saw Lego model trains for the first time and now we are in trouble because he is wanting to collect and build them and they are out of production. We splurged and bought him an early gift, a new wooden diesle train, Santa Fe, who goes everywhere with him. He is so fond of his trains that he calls them his brothers or his kids, there are now 12 brothers in the house and yes, he claims Ben as one of the 12.
The celebration continued with a visit from Grandma Vicky and Grandpa Walt. We visited the newly expanded Magic House and had a blast climbing beanstalks, standing in and making giant bubbles, watching the Rube Goldberg device and splashing at the water table with Ben. There was much to do in creating the Polar Express birthday cake and a fun Scavenger Hunt using a book made by Grandma and Grandpa called Simon's Secret Birthday Message. We've been recreating the hunt every day since. On Tuesday, his actual birthday, we met several friends at a bouncy house store called Monkey Joe's. The kids jumped, ran and slid to their hearts content and it really made me wish I was under 12, why didn't we have these when we were little? I guess Chuck E Cheese was a good alternative. The festivities finally ended with a small school celebration where his classmates decorated a crown with nice thoughts about Simon and he wore it proudly all day.
Other photos in the sequence include Ben's first trip to the barber, it took a little convincing but after seeing big brother Simon take his turn Ben was on board. We also finally had his first snow day. Ben was not as thrilled with the snow as I was to get a picture of him in the snow. Simon, on the other hand had a blast building colored ice sculptures, spray painting the snow, sledding with friends and drinking hot chocolate afterwards.
2009-01-21 10:53:00Growing Boys
A lot has been going on around here since I last wrote and several of you have made it well know that I have been slacking on updates so here it is. Our most recent excitement has been the first birthday for Benjamin. He turned one last week and we had a great time celebrating with a little playdate party and a family party and every time he heard us sing "Happy Birthday" he beamed from ear to ear knowing that we were celebrating him. The first picture is of Ben looking befuddled at the traditional Koebbe First Birthday Jello-cake made by Nana. It took him a moment to grasp that he was allowed to dive in with both hands and eat the sweet, messy, jiggliness that was before him. Along with the first birthday there was the first cupcake, first haircut by Aunt Laura, first Christmas (See family marshmallow photo), first Halloween (dressed as a ghost briefly), first Obama rally (by the Arch), first pile of leaves. We have yet to enjoy a first snow but I'm sure those days are soon coming.
Simon and Ben have been having a lot of fun lately learning to play together. Simon has confiscated the large cardboard box which he enjoys more than almost every other toy (aside from his trains who enjoy the box too). Ben has discovered that he can chase Simon through the box and it becomes a laughing. squealing game of tag that is a glimpse of the future of play for the boys. Simon has become quite a master track builder of late and is showing off one of his designs in the photo that incorporates 3 different tracks, my job is to corral Ben so that he doesn't destroy the creation. We took some time in December to have a special Mommy, Daddy, Simon day at the City Museum where we crawled, climbed and slid down a 7 story slide. Okay, Simon and Daddy did most of the climbing, I was not about to be suspended 5 stories in the sky by a mere coil, I was shaking just watching them up there. If anyone out there is interested in an adventure, I'm sure Simon would love to go back and show you the "ropes".
2008-10-23 09:26:00Happy Days
There is so much to be thankful for in life. As I scrolled through all of these photos trying to think of what to say all I could focus on was the beautiful bright smiles on my boys faces and of all the wonderful family and friends surrounding them. In these times of financial crisis and political smearing it is so nice to know that life's little joys can never be taken away. The delight of tickle tackles with brothers, picking pears, learning to fish, hayfights, learning to answer the call of nature outside, spinning really fast, the smell of campfire, a boat ride, finally being able to climb to the top, swinging high, splashing in the tub and laughing with family.
We have been fortunate in our many visits with family lately beginning with a visit from Aunt Laura and Uncle Toby in September where we visited our Tower Grove Farmers Market, ate chocolatey crepes, played on the playground and taught Simon how to play go fish with real cards. Then it was off to Trout Lodge YMCA camp for a Koebbe Vacation with Nana, Papa, Aunt Kristen, Uncle Rob, Audrey and Henry. We were so busy with the following activities: orienteering, row boat, bicycling, campfire, rocket launch, making candles, painting ceramics, tie-dye, pontoon boat tour, tennis, playground, pony rides, all in just 2 days. Whew, now I need a vacation. A 10 day trip to Louisville included the celebration of Amy and Nate's nuptials, visits with Oma and Opa and Grandma and Grandpa, meeting our new baby cousin Brando, and the wedding of Jessi and Clint on their picturesque family tobacco farm. When we returned to St. Louis I was in charge of organizing Simon's school's garden work day where we built storage for the garden space and made scarecrows. We also braved the crowds at the Obama rally down at the Arch. That was a great experience because even though we couldn't see Obama, we heard his words with thousands of others and experienced such great energy and spirit that really captures America through the diversity, generosity and cooperation of everyone there.
We are looking forward to the joys that autumn brings. Simon and I have already made his spooky skeleton costume so stay tuned for more pictures. I hope that those of you reading this are able to take away a little bit of joy that we have experienced and that you have an opportunity today to stop for a moment and find a simple joy in your own life. Sending you all love and peace.
2008-09-08 14:49:00End of Summer
Well it's hard to believe that the summer is coming to an end. Simon started back to preschool already and we have been busy helping to build a garden for his school. Simon has enjoyed riding his bike to school so far this year and you can see his first day of school photos with Mommy and Daddy and one with his new teacher Bridget who he really likes.
We just returned from a weekend of camping with friends (in cabins) at Washington state park. We had the best weather, on the cool side, I just love the fall. The highlight of the trip was setting up the tent for the kids to play in, we used a blanket for a parachute and they had a blast running around inside. Simon enjoyed exploring and found a cool walking stick bug along with many caterpillars.
Other end of summer events included lots of playing with cousins Audrey and Henry and with neighbors Katie, Grace and Aidan. We attended the Japanese Festival in the Botanical Gardens and Simon tried out the Teiko drum. There was also a fun outing for Grandpa Koebbe's birthday, we all went to the Cardinals Ball game. The babies stayed at home which made it an extra special event for Audrey and Simon. He loved shouting CHARGE and the surprise visit from the Cardinals Mascot (field team) and Brian's cousin who took some great photos with the kids. We were in the very top row which was great for a breeze and for viewing the trains going by but eventually it got too late and the charm wore off as we asked Simon to pose with Grandma and Grandpa and he melted down. We tried to stay long enough for him to sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame, but as we were leaving they didn't sing, instead it was a hand bell choir. It's just not the same!
Simon had fun searching for letterboxes in our park with Katie and Grace this summer as well as going to the bouncy house store Monkey Joe's and sliding down the gigantic blow-up slide. Our neighborhood picnic included an Olympic theme with many games including the documented watermelon seed spit, alas, I did not win. We also had fun watching some of the Olympics with Simon, he found the trampoline, rhythmic gymnastics and balance beam the most interesting. I loved the synchronized swimming and Brian held out for ping-pong. We already have a full schedule ahead of us this fall so I'll try to take lots of pictures and fill you in soon. Oh, and one more fun fact, Ben just cut his first tooth but it's still to small to see in the photos but next time you'll see a sweet toothed grin.