Yesterday, we had a really fun day celebrating Ben's birthday. After breakfast, he got to open his presents. He was very excited about that! Then, we spent some time at the mall. Ben made his first bear at Build-a-Bear, rode some rides, and ate lunch at Chick-fil-a (his favorite). In the afternoon, we had his birthday cupcakes and he practiced on his scooter outside with daddy. I still can't believe that he is already 3!   Cars cupcakes  Some of the Cars decorations.  Ben was excited to open two new cars that Grandma and Gramps sent him in the mail.   Super Why dvd  A hauler for his Nitroade car. He is getting quite the collection. He has fun getting all the cars/trucks ready for the big race!  Showing off his new helmet and scooter. He didn't really like to wear the helmet very much, so we'll have to work on that.  Giving his bear a bath at Build-a-Bear.  We had to fill out all the info for his bear's birth certificate. He named him Sno...

Today, my little boy is three years old! I can hardly believe it. Benjamin has filled my heart with joy and I am so blessed to be his mom. Every day he makes me laugh and smile. Yes, of course, there are moments that he makes me crazy too. But, there are also the times that he gives me a hug and says, "I love you so much mom!" and I know that all the crazy moments are worth it! Happy 3rd Birthday Ben!

Every year at Halloween the employees at Vera Bradley have a fun time dressing up and competing for a golden pumpkin. Curt's group had the idea for "Vera On Demand" and each cubicle was a different channel/show. Curt chose to do the Discovery Channel/Dirty Jobs. His cube probably could have ended up a little dirtier, but it was really fun to see all of the different shows. Judges came around in the morning to see what each group had done. When we visited the winner had not yet been selected. Ben had a fun time trick-or-treating at different desks and loading up his pumpkin with candy. He also had his picture taken by the photographer. I thought his pictures turned out cute last year, so it will be fun to see what these ones look like. I can't believe tomorrow my little guy is going to be three! We have a fun day planned, so I'll share some pictures later of his birthday.

Last night, we decided to carve some pumpkins that Ben and I picked up on Monday. I always enjoy carving pumpkins. Squishing my hands in the gooey center is one of my favorite parts (that may surprise some people because of my neatness tendencies :) ). Ben chose a pretty small pumpkin at the store and it was the HARDEST pumpkin I have ever tried to carve. I'm not sure if it was just because it was smaller or what? I thought Curt or I were going to end up in the ER from a slip of the knife or something. We all came out okay with no injuries, but I hope to never carve a pumpkin that hard again!  Ben liked using the scooper to clean out his pumpkin. He gave up after a little bit though and I had to finish up the job. :) Our pumpkin family all lit up on the porch.

Last Thursday night, we drove up to Cadillac to spend a few days with Curt's family. On Friday, Betsy, (Curt's sister) was able to take some family pictures of us and individual ones of Ben. We have lots of cute ones to choose from, so that is great! It's been a couple years since we had a family picture and we really needed an updated one. Saturday, we were supposed to go to a farm/pumpkin patch, but the rain caused us to scrap those plans. We had lots of fun staying inside though...playing games, watching football, and chatting. In the evening, we had a birthday party at Mark and Betsy's house. Betsy did an awesome job decorating and making food for a Toy Story/cowboy party. The birthdays we celebrated were for my brother-in-law Mark, my nephews Jacob and Brady, and Ben. I didn't get a lot of pictures because my camera started acting really funny on Saturday. Hopefully it's not on its last leg!  Ben and Peyton thought they needed helmets on while playing foo...

This week we've been working on the letter B. I think that lowercase b can be a little tricky because it looks so much like a lowercase d. I'm going to have Ben work on D next week so that he can compare them.  Hopefully, that will allow him to tell the letters apart. Ben is also doing really well with remembering the letter sounds and picking out the beginning letter sound from the letters we've already worked on. Here are a few pictures of the projects Ben completed this week for the letter B.  Coloring the uppercase B yellow.  He is getting really good at using a glue stick!  Uppercase B became a bumblebee.  Lowercase b became a boat.  Ben also made a bat and baseball. After he colored the bat, I helped him lace some ribbon through the baseball holes.  Bat and baseball For a fun treat, we made a dirt dessert with gummy bugs. Ben ended up not being a big fan of the bugs once he tried to eat them. He did love the chocolate pudding and Oreos th...

I took Ben to his very first trip to the dentist this morning. We've been talking about it the last few weeks and he was very excited to go. He did such a great job listening to the hygienist and the dentist. I was so proud of him!  He really liked the frog glasses that he got to wear.  The hygienist let him hold onto the suction tool while she cleaned his teeth. Getting his teeth cleaned.

This week was all about the letter "P". Ben worked on a couple fun projects and we also did the usual things like looking for P's on drives, at stores, and in the books we are reading. We've worked a little bit on trying to write the letters, but I think he still needs some time to develop his fine motor skills. I think he will really enjoy preschool, when that time comes. I can't believe this little guy is going to be 3 years old in a couple weeks. Where has the time gone?  Coloring the feathers for his peacock. I'm really not sure if he will be right or left-handed. He used to do everything with his left hand, but now it is about 50/50.  We got out his little scissors for the first time. He wanted me to help him quite a bit, but it was nice to start practicing a new skill. Cutting is hard work!  The feathers and Ben (and mommy) cut out.  Gluing the feathers to the letter P.  Putting the finishing touches on the peacock. All done!   Ben also made a cu...

This morning, Ben and I visited Kurtz Farm along with some other moms (and kiddos) from my church Mom2Mom group. We got to go to "Pumpkin School" and learn about how pumpkins grow and see several different kinds. Then, we got to take a hayride out to the pumpkin patch. All of the kids got to pick out one pumpkin to take home. We had such a fun time!  The teacher showed some different pictures in her pumpkin book. My camera was slow and only caught her with the book in front of her face.  Ben, being a good boy at "Pumpkin School." We all sat in rows on bales of hay.  These are a couple of the moms in my group, Leah and Kelsey.  Ben found a little bumpy pumpkin right away and said, "It's my FAVORITE!" I tried to show him some other cute ones, but he could not be swayed.  The pumpkin patch. This is the tractor and wagon that we rode on to get out to the pumpkin patch.