When we were in Lansing this past weekend with Curt's family, we got to meet our new nephew Brady for the first time. Ben was so sweet with him and wanted to hold his hand. Everytime he heard Brady cry, he would say, "Oh no! Brady crying!" It was wonderful to spend time with both of our families over the Thanksgiving weeked. We were pretty tired out when we got home yesterday. We all went to bed early. :) Ben, with Curt's mom, and Brady. Getting a closer look at his new cousin.

On Friday night, we had a little birthday party for my 30th birthday with Curt's family. Curt's mom made a delicious cake and Curt brought some decorations. It was fun to celebrate some more...although I'm still not so sure that I like being 30. :) Getting ready to blow out my candles. Ben was sitting next to me and kept trying to blow them out for me. Do you think Ben enjoyed his cake? He shoved every last bit into his mouth! Molly with baby Brady and Curt's parents watching me open my presents. Curt got a little obsessed with taking pictures of Sophie. He caught Sophie with her eyes closed and thought this picture was hilarious. * I thought it was Charlie the first time I wrote this. I need to pay better attention to the ears. :)

We spent the first part of Thanksgiving weekend in Grand Rapids with my family. It was nice to visit with family and friends. We had an interesting situation with the turkey. My mom checked it at about 11 and it was supposed to be almost done. It was not even cooked yet. The pan was a little to big for the oven and that caused the oven to shut off. My sister ran to the store to see if she could round up some turkey. She did find some, so we were able to have some turkey with our feast! The turkey at 11:00 when it was supposed to be brown and almost done cooking! The turkey we ate with our lunch. :) One end of the table. My brother Joe would not hang up his "fisher price" phone for some reason. The other side of the table. Ben playing with my brother Joe. Curt and Ben Ben sitting with my parents. We were able to squeeze in a little visit the Bairds. Ben had fun playing with Luke, Jackson, and all the toys! I thought Jackson's mask deserved a pict...

I found a recipe for edible Pilgrim hats at Family Fun . It looked like a pretty easy project that Ben could help with. They were fun to make, but if I made them again I would thin out the chocolate because the thickness made it hard to dip. We're bringing them to my parent's house for Thanksgiving, so hopefully they survive the car ride. Ben needed a little treat to help motivate him for our project. :) I let Ben dip several marshmellows. He only wanted to dip the bottoms, so I decided his hats were the "stay home" ones. :) These are the hats that I dipped. The finished product. I'm not sure the perfectionist in me loves how some of the hats look, but I'm sure they'll taste good and that's all that really matters. :)

REST IN PEACE Curt loved eating at Bar-B-Cutie, but now that era has come to an end. He found out that they closed their doors for good yesterday. I guess he didn't eat there enough to keep them in business. :)

I took Ben out to It's Playtime today and we met Glenda, Jillian, and Evan there. We've only been there once before. This time was much busier than the last, but I think the kids all had a fun time. Ben liked playing with the different cars and trucks. He played with Jillian in the kitchen area and she had him laughing so hard! He loved the train table. It seemed to be a popular spot for many of the little boys. Taking a little car ride. Last time I had to help Ben climb up the slide every time. Today, I just went down it with him a few times and then he got brave enough to try it himself. It is a pretty long climb up to the top, but he did a great job all by himself. I was happy not to go down the slide a 100 times...2 or 3 times is good enough for me! :)

Ben had fun playing with his Handy Manny toys this morning. He likes to fit the tools into Manny's hand. He has a Handy Manny Fix-It Phone . The phone said that Kelly (from the hardware store) was calling. Ben held the phone up for Manny to hear the message and I thought that was so funny! I helped Ben take the phone apart and then he tried to put it back together.

Today I turned 30 years old. I didn't think that it would make me feel old, but it kinda does. :) I had a wonderful birthday. Curt went out and got us donuts for breakfast. Then, I got to open my presents. He did a great job shopping and I love everything he picked out! For lunch we went out to Olive Garden and then stopped by the mall for a little while. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at home. I hope this getting older doesn't mean that gray hairs are going to start showing up! While I got ready this morning, Curt got out his old car track. He hasn't used it in many years, so he wasn't sure if it would work. Ben loved watching the cars race around the track. We enjoyed eating lunch at Olive Garden. Ben was too interested in coloring to look up at the camera. I love cheesecake for my birthday and Curt made this one for me all by himself. It is a chocolate chip recipe that is one of my favorites. He only added one candle per decade...we didn't ...

After he ate lunch, Ben helped me get some apples ready to go into the crockpot to make some applesauce for dinner. He rolled the apples over to me and I used the "apple peeler corer slicer" to get them ready. Then, he would put the apple slices into the crockpot. He was a great helper! Watching me use the "apple peeler corer slicer"....I think that thing needs a shorter name! Pouring in some cinnamon. Sorry, this picture got a little blurry. Then, Ben added in the sugar. Now we just have to wait for the apples to cook and we can enjoy some applesauce with dinner.

We made a quick trip to Lansing,MI today to attend a baby shower for Curt's cousin's wife Lisa. While the ladies had fun at the shower, the guys took care of the kids at a different house. Ben had so much fun playing with his cousins and the weather was beautiful, so they even got to play outside. Ben tried on Jacob's helmet...I think it's still a little too big! He loved playing with all of the trains. Jenna showed Ben how to play a game with balls and a hammer. He got a little wild with that hammer. I think Jenna backed up a little bit every time he started swinging. :)

Even though it is not very warm outside, I took Ben out there to burn off some energy. We bundled up and played in the backyard for over an hour! Ben found lots of leaves and wanted me to carry them all for him! He pointed out a plane up in the sky. We had to wear hats and gloves because it was COLD!

If so...Ben can probably give you some of his delicious food. Ben wanted to get out his fake food to play with this morning. He made a big mess, but he was so cute pretending to eat and set food out on the plates. Right now Ben is preparing a meal consisting of pizza, a chip, and a hot dog. Looks good, huh? :)

Ben apparently enjoys putting Turner (the screwdriver) from Handy Manny in his pocket.

One of the presents that we got Ben for his birthday was the Leap Frog Phonics Magnetic Alphabet Set. Ben loves to use it! He usually says, "Sit down momma" or "Sit down daddy" and has us sit on the floor by the fridge to say the letters with him. We've been working on his letters, counting, and colors. He seems to improve on them every day. It's amazing how quickly kids learn at this age! When he pushes the button, it says the name of the letter and the sound(s) that it makes. It also plays the "ABC" song. He likes to point to the letters when it plays (because he saw me do that). I really like these magnets because its a fun way to work on the alphabet together.