The early bird gets the cookie. Sept. 20, 2008

Today (Yes, today. How timely am I?) Mike ran the Christy Cookie 5K and the kids ran in the Cookie Kids Fun Run. The race promotes a balanced lifestyle and good old fashioned values. Wake up early, get some exercise, eat cookies and ice cream at 9am. It made the remainder of the day interesting, what with the kids exhausted from getting up early and running, and hopped up on sugar and the excitement of getting medals. At dinner Ben said the best part of his day was wearing his "Cookie Shirt."

Boy Haircut - March 10, 2008

Some things I do. Some things I don't do. Giving haircuts to squirming boys is one of the things I don't do. Actually, that's not entirely true. Mike once, in an ill-planned attempt at being frugal, bought hair clippers and asked me to cut his hair. The result was not one either of us wanted to repeat. I'll blame that on him being a wiggly boy. In any event, after that experience, I decided that I would take Ben to a real hair cutter person for his big moment (no need to look lopsided just because daddy does). We went to one of those kid places where they show videos and give lolly pops. Here is the result.

Ben's Birthday -- February 16

Ben had a "ball" themed birthday party - a theme that might be viewed as inappropriate for a teenager (you decide). Gavi helped me make an ice cream filled chocolate cake that in the end looked a bit like a basketball. There were moments when we weren't so sure it would be recognizable. Fortunately, thanks to the demi-sphere pan, it would have fit the ball theme even if it just looked like a brownish-orange ball. No matter what it looked like, the most important thing was that it tasted good. It's hard to go wrong with chocolate cake and ice cream.

Ben's favorite gifts were round and bouncy. Nana and Papa gave him a set of Clemson balls that he carried around all afternoon. It was amusing to watch him try to pick up all of the balls at the same time. Given the body proportions of our two-year-old, it was a bit like watching an adult juggle four medicine balls.

All in all it was a successful day. Ben turned 2. So far it isn't terrible at all.

Happy New (School) Year

We're Back!After a long hiatus, I am going to make a real effort to update the blog regularly. My New (School) Year's Resolution is to post something once a week. We'll see how it goes. We were quite busy all spring, so check back for pictures of:

• Ben's Birthday
• Soccer games
• Juliana's Pre-school graduation
• Summer vacation
• Flower girls
• Wedding boy
• First Days of School
• Juliana's birthday
• Visit to the Cabin