just things

a beautiful morning run at Wash Park

Well, it seems some time has passed without a momentous event to push me to blog.  Life has been busy in the Heimer Haus the last week or two as we head into the holidays.  So, here's a little round-up.....
We've switched Ben to all private swim lessons within SwimLabs.  He will only go 3X a month instead of 8, but get the full half hour to work on his skills instead of standing on the side and waiting.  His favorite teacher, Mr. Jon, thought this would be a great approach.  He has one more week of group and then no more waiting for him and no more sitting in rush hour for his mama. ;) He can learn to wait in line at preschool.  It's a pretty pricey lesson to learn at SwimLabs.

We've had our first snow and cold spell.  We got about 5 inches and brrrrrr! Too cold even to go out and play in it but we'll be back to the 50's this week.

We snuck in some Bonnie Brae the day before the storm when it was nearly 70 degrees.

His cute gray coat from REI was recalled but we found a worthy and only slightly less cute substitute.

I delighted in seeing our lone footprints in the snow as I walked back to the car.

 

 

watching the snow fall

Ben is fully 3 and getting more particular by the day.  His strange opinion expression is certainly being helped by his growing language and it's all quite hilarious.  He wants mommy to sit in a particular spot and have the same "pants not jeans," as him and always have sweatshirts or sweaters removed as certain proof we're, "staying awhile."

He had a little tummy bug the last week and I was certain he had potty-training regression and that my life was over.  Thanks to friends and family to set me straight and finally the Dr. who spoke of the diarrhea super-bug going around. :(  He's on the mend and headed back to Dairyland now.

Nana came the week-before-last and helped paint (I helped her) the living/dining room.  It's a light warm gray and though a subtle difference, it's cleaner and brighter and all-around better!!  Ben enjoyed the extra iPad and movie time and we've successfully weaned him back to normal levels.
We're thick in the swing of holiday gift-making and wrapping, crafting, and egg-nog drinking.  It is a little early but I'm taking on lots of crafts this year thanks to my newly organized and finally usuable craft room.  I also like to get my list checked twice early so I can sit back and enjoy the quality family time.

They snuck in some story time. :)

Ben, and most of the metro area, doesn't have school this WHOLE Thanksgiving week.  Many districts have omitted their Fall Break (huh?) and wrapped it in with this week.  It all works for me and I'll enjoy not getting out the door early each day.  I also have a little "writing intensive" planned as this kid DOES NOT enjoy writing or coloring but we need to keep working on these skills.

Getting measured at Nana and Papa's

Based on the Dr. this week he weighs 39.6 lbs

We opened these new puzzles MeeMee gifted us a few weeks ago and I was shocked at Ben's ability to instantly complete them with no help.  Silly me for doubting!

 

 Ben is IN LOVE with Brian Williams!! He asks every day after school at 11 am, "how long till Brian?" I have a collection of pictures and videos to create a montage to send to Brian.  Here he is "hugging" him.

Finally, we pay a dear price when it happens in terms of draaaaawwwwwnnnn-out bedtimes, but this kid does like to sneak a 5 pm nap.  I then struggle to wake him for Brian at 530 or he is devastated that he's missed him. :)

 

Quincy turns 1!!

Yesterday we had the pleasure of helping sweetheart Quincy celebrate his first birthday with an Ugly Doll (little-monster) themed party.   It is mind-boggling to me that I've been taking his pics for an entire year and I have already claimed dibs on senior pictures someday.
His party was a bit of a last minute decision and you would have never known.  The food spread was amazing and delicious and temps in the 70's made for a perfect day to enjoy the Long's huge backyard and some Broncos football. The decor was very cute with several paper pennant banners and almost as many photo banners filled with Quincy's cutie mug.  My favorite part was the favors and I failed to get a pic.  Jill had a big basket full of ugly dolls with instructions for each kiddo to adopt one before they left.  Ben was THRILLED to find a black one and loves his "batty ninja" who is at home in his bed beside Jelly (who was also a gift from Jill.)  The whole afternoon was absolutely delightful and I was floored by the execution of every detail from a working mama with very little planning time.  Amazing job Jill!! 

We all waited quite a while for Quincy to care about his cute cake.  Jill made a special applesauce cake and decorated it herself!

more Lineberrys

My camera had barely cooled off last Sunday evening when I had the pleasure of snapping some pics of the Lineberry family.  This time it was the other Lineberry, Cole's brother Jay, and his wife Nikki, son Turner and daughter Payton.  They are such a beautiful family and were natural posers.  The spot we found was breathtaking and would be perfect for a sunrise shoot as the sun was on the wrong side at sunset to get some of the views.  I will definitely be dragging my poor family there bright and early one day in the spring.  Here are a few of my favorites.....

 Thank you guys for the honor and opportunity to learn.  I learn so much with each new venue, family, time of day and season.  Spending time with friends is a fantastic bonus!

Luke David

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of snapping some newborn pics of my new nephew, Luke David, who had been born one week before.  We had headed down on his birthday to see him at the hospital and it was a shocking reminder of how much they change in just a week at that age.
Luke was welcomed by Ryan's sister, Christy, her husband, Dave, and big brother Ian, who is nine months younger than Ben.
Luke wasn't having several of the poses and props but really snuggled in comfortably to a near-by toy basket I filled with a soft blanket and gave us some good shots.......

Halloweeeeeeen "Banana"

Sadly Ben had a pretty high fever the day before Halloween and still wasn't quite himself despite being fever free, on All Hallow's Eve itself.   I kept him from school due to their 24-hour fever free policy so he missed the parade and party there but won't have any idea until he reads this someday. ;)
We were also supposed to take the "EEEEEEE" train to see Tante and trick-or-treat at her work but we also cancelled that in attempts to keep our germs contained.
Thankfully after a very long nap we convinced Ben to don his minion costume once more and headed out the festivities on South Gaylord St.  This year was more fun and easier than last but still controlled chaos.  Ben didn't quite have the stamina to hit up every candy post on Gaylord but I'd say he covered 80%.  The highlight of the night for all of us was running into Ben's minion brothers on our way home.  He was just stunned and thrilled to see so many minions and even went running into the house we ran into them at where the poor homeowner who had baby in one hand and the candy bowl in the other and was helpless to stop the minion intruder.  Ben even found the tiny sleeping infant twin of the baby said homeowner was holding but thankfully Ryan grabbed him before he woke the baby up.

love his animated little black hands :)

this minion is DONE!

the discovery

the diving-in

 

the squeals of delight

One of the homeowners at this house hangs out in the street scaring people.  Despite the broad daylight, he got me again this year. :)

un-edited gorgeous colors in the sunset

my sick but hangin'-in boys

We also stopped at a few houses to trick-or-treat on the way home and Ben did great being polite and even tried to give the candy back several times. :)

MeeMee had joined us for the fun and by 530 we were back home for chicken tortilla soup. A crock pot meal worked so much better than battling the crowds to eat on Gaylord like we did last year. 

Despite Ben shedding much of his costume by the end of dinner, he was ready for another round of trick-or-treating shortly after we bid MeeMee adieu. He and Ryan ventured out while Luke and I manned the candy bowl at home.  Luke soon knew there was no need to bark and even went out on to the porch to sweetly greet lots of the candy-seekers. 

Thanks to an extra long nap due to his sickness, Ben did NOT want to go to sleep but finally did just before ten. This morning-after was quite painful but he is now successfully at school with about half of his usual classmates. Clearly many parents had the same battle but just let their kids sleep. I feel badly for Ms. Corina today but we discussed that it was Friday and she had just brewed more coffee as I left.  She was doing everything possible to set herself up for success. 

*Halloween has never been my favorite holiday but Ben's delight his year did make me very happy. I look forward to the years ahead as he cares more and more and gets excited. This year he was really into all the little Broncos and if he had to pick a costume today, I'm sure it would be a football player.  We'll see what he loves a year from now......