Benjamin George

I’ve been meaning to write some things down about this big guy for a while now.  I hope I can remember all the good stuff. 

At Nate’s birthday party there was one neighbor boy there who is just a few months younger than Nate, but is in a different grade.   The party was all centered on basketball.  This cute neighbor isn’t super into sports and isn’t close to any of the boys who attended the party.   During one of the contests he got embarrassed and ran out of the gym crying.  Ben went right after him and cheered and consoled him.  Later they were all sitting on the grass eating and this boy was sitting apart from everyone else.  Ben told him to come sit by him.   Another boy came late and Ben ran inside to get his sweatband and other things the others had already gotten. 

I think a lot of people would do nice things if they were aware of  the ways they could help.  I love that Ben is one of those rare people who is dialed into exactly what needs to done.  It’s not even a decision, he just sees a need and acts on it.  I really admire that and hope to be as good as he is at it someday.

At the 4th of July parade, he kept Josh right with him.  He was constantly herding him back away from the middle of the street and keeping him safe.   Finally he looked up at me kind of exhausted and asked me to please watch him.  I told him not to worry about him that I was watching him (and then we lost him for a minute ). 

The other day Ben didn’t get to go with the big kids somewhere so I promised him I’d take him somewhere alone.  He chose to go play tennis with me.  He got out of the car and grabbed his racket and the big bag, carrying it to the courts for me.  His whole body bounced with happiness as we walked.  “Do you want to serve?” he said with the utmost earnestness.  “Yeah, how about I’ll just kind of hit some to you, is that good?”.  “Yeah!” 

Brennan took Nate and Ben up to scout camp with him for a few hours when they were doing some shooting.  The boys LOVED it.  Ben thanked Bren about 20 times.  They stopped for lunch and Brennan looked across the table to see Ben pumping his fist to the music not knowing he was being watched.

The other night it was Ben’s turn to do our FHE lesson.  I told him to look through the Gospel Art Kit and choose one he wanted to teach about.  He brought me the one of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus.  I asked him if he knew that was, he crinkled his nose and said, “Uh, George  the Baptism?” 

I can’t explain how much we love Benny.

24th of July

This year we got up and at ‘em and went on a pretty little hike with our kiddos and Josh and Eliza and crew.

We didn’t actually hike all that far because the kids just wanted to be by the river and throw rocks.   We realized that we had no good reason not to let them.  What is it about rocks and rivers that are so captivating? 

 

After our hike, we had a mellow afternoon and some naps and then our annual picnic/volleyball extravaganza.  It’s extra fun because it’s with my Mom’s and my Dad’s families.  We come, we eat, drink my Dad’s famous homemade rootbeer, and then we get down to business.  3 volleyball nets, 6 teams of people 12 and up.  My aunts had some races and games for the little kids and then a giant water fight.  It doesn’t get better than that!

Summer Fun

I’ve gotten sadly behind once again.  We’ve been busy, busy, busy with lots of fun around here.  I’m not sure how organized this will be, but I will attempt a catch-up post.

I think I totally forgot to document our family reunion in Bryce Canyon with my Mom’s family.  Brennan stayed home with Josh.  Brennan HATES camping and I was determined to go without him, so he kindly offered to keep Josh.  Anna had Youth Conference so I took Abby, Nate and Ben.  It was kind of great to spend time with our 3 middle  (middle=neglected, right?) kids.  It worked out quite well, even though we missed them.   Plus, we got our new old Suburban (we bought Ryan and Macy’s) which made the trip extra fun.  Even with only 4 of us and a huge vehicle we BARELY fit all our stuff.   The only ones who braved the trip from my Mom’s family was my parents who brought Rex and Lucy, Eliza and Josh and their kids and then me and mine.  My Dad was just a little over a month out from knee replacement surgery!

I’ve decided that I’m not totally a camper.  If you love to work really hard all day long and then not sleep at night, camping is for you.  I am still glad we went though because the kids had a blast and I loved being with my aunts, uncles and cousins.  The kids basically rode around the campground non-stop.  Their sweet Uncle Josh, took them about 1,436 bike rides around the campground and nearby neighborhoods.  They loved every minute.   I loved every minute we got hanging out with everyone.  We went on a spectacular hike.  It was beautiful, but it almost killed me.  It was hot!  The kids did great, I was very proud of them.  We left a day early due to poor Rex getting sick, my poor Dad not sleeping at all, and Eliza and me just ready to be home.

This is a great family, I love those people.  My Mom and her siblings are some of the most fun, interesting, game people I know.  They’re all completely different from each other, but so so great.  Their kids are fantastic too. 

Next up, here are a couple of pictures my Dad took of Joshy’s birthday that I love:

I posted a Festival Days, Part I post, and never got around to part II.  I failed to take any pictures of part II so that’s  a little sad, but it consisted of Anna and Nate running the 5k with their friends.  They did great - ran it in about 27 minutes.  They went running a couple of times to train and then just did it.  Sheesh, to be young again, huh?  Anyway, they loved it.  They got a t-shirt and breakfast and were thrilled.

After the 5k was the parade.  It was pretty crowded this year, but we still loved it.  I can’t get enough of our Main St.  It’s beautiful with it’s cute little old houses and huge trees lining each side.  This year we went with Josh and Eliza and their kids and our friends, the Jensens.  After the parade we hit the carnival for a little bit.  Good times.

Musical Theatre Workshop, III

The girls just wrapped up their third musical theatre workshop with Sarah.  She’s brilliant!  She picks such fun songs for these girls and they learn so much.  I am so grateful my girls are getting this opportunity and they get to do with their best friends.   I would have died for this chance as a kid.  It’s been so much fun to see how much they’re progressing each time around.   Thanks so much to my Dad for being our videographer, we didn’t record the whole show, but we did get Anna and Abby’s two numbers and one of the group numbers. 

Anna and Chloe worked this number up for a talent show in their choir class.  Sarah helped them polish it up and wanted them to do it for the show:  Here is “What is This Feeling” from Wicked

Next we have Abby’s “In My Own Little Corner” from Cinderella.  I think I already posted a video of Abby doing this in their Cinderella production, but this is a better recording.

Here’s Abby doing “Here I Am” from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Here’s Anna in “That’s My New Philosophy” from You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

Lastly, their group number “I’m Going to Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair” from South Pacific.

I’ve watched these like 42 times.  I can’t get enough.  So fun to see these girls get to do something they love and get so good at it!  Way to go girls!

Festival Days, Part I

 

We’re celebrating our cute little town all week this week.  They have things going on all week culminating on Saturday with a race, parade and carnival.  We joined in the festivities on Monday at the Bike parade and movie in the park.

We spent all afternoon decorating the boys’ bikes with our neighbors.  Abby and her friend, Charity, helped decorate Joshy’s. 

I think they turned out pretty cute.

 

 

 

Here’s the whole crew:  Joshy, Ben, Zack, Nate, Ty and Kade

They had all the kids go quite a distance, I had my job cut out walking alongside Josh, reminding him to keep his eyes on the road.  He was busy checking everyone and everything out.  At first I think he was a little confused and kept saying, “I want to be in the parade!”  I kept trying to explain that he was in the parade, 150 kids riding around on bikes wasn’t the kind of parade he’s seen before.  We convinced him he was winning and he rode hard for probably 1/4 mile.  The big kids rode around 2 times and had a great time.  They all got a free popsicle for their trouble and felt quite satisfied with themselves even though it was HOT!

After that we ran home, dropped Josh and Brennan off and went back to the park to meet up with a bunch of neighbors and friends for a viewing of Despicable Me in the park.  We all cuddled together on blankets and enjoyed the show.  They even had free cotton candy.  Doesn’t get better than that.

 

On the way home Abby said, “It’s nights like this I love where we live!  I’m going to sleep well tonight!”  The other kids heartily agreed, we all felt completely happy.  Good times!

Genter Came Home!

My sister gave Josh a new motorcycle action figure.   He loves it, and he named it “Genter.” The action figure is supposed to be an actual person with the last name of Hart, so his full name is now “Genter Hart”.    We’re not sure why, but we like it.  (Get those names out now, before you have actual children).  Anyway, on Saturday, Genter came up missing.  We searched and searched and searched.  In an effort to console Josh, Abby meant to say, “When Mom comes home soon, maybe she can find him.”  but instead said, “Maybe he’ll come home soon.”  A few minutes later someone knocked on the door.  Josh jumped and with new hope in his eyes said, “Maybe it’s Genter!”  It wasn’t.  BUT, Sunday we found him so Nate snuck out and knocked on the door and this is what happened:

Joshy’s Big 3!

Happy birthday Joshua Dixon!  I can’t believe our baby is already 3.  I also can’t believe he’s only been here for only 3 years, what did we ever do without him?  Craaaaazy.

We had a fun full day of celebrating Josh.  We woke him up for presents before the girls had to go to their Musical Theatre Workshop.  He was a big fan of his presents.

Look at that face!

After that Josh and most of the neighborhood went out to play in our brand new sandbox.

This takes me back to my childhood, oh the hours we spent in our sandbox.

 

After lunch we all got to go swimming with some friends at a neighbor’s beautiful pool.  We all had so much fun.  Then home for Joshy’s nap and some birthday party prep for me.

That night we went to our neighborhood park with most of Josh’s favorite people.  Daisy and her family, Zack and his family and Abe and his family AND Grandpa and Grandma.  We had pizza and pop and the grown-ups enjoyed ourselves chatting while the kids played, played, played. 

Then we had cake and icecream and presents, what more could a 3 year old want?

It was so cute, as soon as he blew out his candles he jumped into Brennan’s arm with a sudden onset of shyness.

 

I’m pretty sure there’s not a cuter 3 year old in all the world.  Whatever Josh does, he does big, so when he chooses to be cute, there’s NO cuter possible.  When he chooses to be a monstey, there’s not bigger stink in the world.  He likes to keep us on our toes.  He’s always been very good-natured, but not without opinions.  In fact, from the time he was very little he’s been pretty vocal about how he wants things done around here.   I’ve been trying to re-establish my authority and we’ve had some epic power struggles lately.  Thank goodness I can still physically move him, cause his will is pretty immovable.    I wonder sometimes if he is destined to single handedly bring down an evil regime, and I am his practice run .  Honestly, even with our power struggles, he is such a delightful, funny, sweet, independent, friendly, smart, affectionate little boy.  One thing is for sure, he is adored.  His parents and siblings, and I like to think everyone who knows him, are completely under his spell.  We love Josh.  Happy Birthday!

4th of July!

We had such a fun holiday.  We started with our annual adventure at a nearby parade.  It’s a big one, and honestly it’s not a great parade.  There are like 2 floats and the rest are pretty much real estate agents, and dance studios.  The high school and junior high bands are fun, but the fun is more in being there with a huge group of family and friends and watching the kids be so excited for yet another cheap beaded necklace and piece of salt-water taffy.  (Oh, and it’s only fun if you have shade!) This year was particularly special because Josh was at the perfect age to truly appreciate the wonders of the parade.

I know it’s not close-up, but you can still see the excitement on Joshy’s face.

 

 

Love all these cute friends and cousins!

 

After all that action we headed home for naps for Josh and Brennan.  I was hoping Nate and Ben would sleep, but no such luck.  The girls and I went to the mall for a Downeast sale Anna was DYING to go to.  It was fun to spend time with my sweet girls who are getting busy enough I don’t always get a lot of time with them. 

That night we went to our friends, the Jensens’, who really know how to throw a party.  They invited several families over for their annual smoked ribs which are always a huge hit!  There was all kinds of other yummy food there too and lots of great friends.   

We came home to our own little firework show from our neighbors across the street and then basically crawled into our beds.  We feel so blessed to be Americans and to be able to celebrate that blessing with our family and friends!