Benny's big ten

Some time ago Jane dreamed up (or learned of) this idea that for each grandchild, once they turn 10 years old, we will take them to the destination of their choice for a weekend. And it would just be us and them - so they get the spotlight all to themselves. I think it's a swell idea! 

Anna was first and she chose the zoo in Cincinnati, because she's all about animals. Ironically, Bennett also chose a city in Ohio. He is into dinosaurs, and COSI (Center of Science & Industry) in Columbus is having a big dinosaur exhibit right now. There is also a Lego store, so off to the Buckeye state we went!

Columbus is a mere 2 hours 45 minutes from Fort Wayne via route 33. It's not a bad drive at all, and the weather was fantastic for early February. We arrived Friday evening just after dark and returned home Sunday around noon.

I did a little checking and determined it would maybe be best to stay near the Easton Town Center Mall on the northeast side. There are tons of hotels, restaurants, and shopping, and that's where the Lego Store is. We could then just drive into downtown when we visited COSI. It worked out great!

We stayed at the Hampton Inn Columbus-Easton. Any of the hotels there would be fine, but this one has an indoor pool, free parking, complimentary breakfast, and is right next to Chick-Fil-A (his favorite place to eat). It was nice. I did splurge and pay an extra $10 for the "city view," and don't regret it.

Saturday morning we got up and had hotel breakfast (Mmmm, biscuits and gravy!), then headed to COSI. It was maybe 20 minutes away and traffic wasn't bad at all. We found our way right there, arriving just after it opened at 10am,  and parked in the underground garage ($10). 

Bennett wasn't much into reading all the plaques and descriptions, but he did enjoy the dinosaur bones and some of the interactive displays. We also ate lunch there, and took in the 'Dark Universe' show in the planetarium. I think he was most interested in getting to the Lego store though, so we headed there around 2 pm.

Once we looked through a zillion lego pieces and he decided on a couple things, we made our way back to the hotel. He assembled the kit he purchased fairly quickly, then wanted to go swimming. Mid-afternoon is a good time for that and there were only a couple people in the pool. I'd forgot it was a saltwater pool until I got in. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't overly warm! 

For supper Saturday night Bennett just wanted his leftovers from the previous night at Chick-fil-A, so Jane and I had the not-so-wise idea to order carryout at the Applebees down the street. Ugh. Remind me to not do that again! It wasn't going to be ready for an hour and twenty minutes, and when I arrived I stood there for ten minutes before anyone even acknowledged me. It was another five or ten before getting our food. We both ordered the top sirloin ,which I realize is not the best cut of mean, but it also shouldn't be the worst. I kid you not, I could not even eat mine! Literally!! I wasn't able to cut it with the plastic silverware we had, so I just used my hands and bit off chunks. The best I could do was chew a bite for awhile, then spit out the gristle. It was the most disgusting piece of meat I have ever had! I guess at least I didn't overeat.

Anyway, that was really the only bad part of the trip. The weather was nice, the hotel good, travel uneventful, and most importantly... Bennett seemed to enjoy himself! 

We had a good weekend and now have a year or so before the next Big Ten Birthday!!!

B's birthday and mom's visit

 The middle grandchild turned 8 this past Saturday. Crazy. There was a little birthday bash with a few family and friends. The pic shows him with some of his new legos, stuffed "thing", his brother and a classmate. It was a beautiful day outside, and I think the boy had a pretty good day. This year he was into Minecraft, dragons, and cash.

My mom ended up driving out by herself. She gets around pretty good for an 80+ year-old. I think the last time she was here was just before covid hit - in late February or early March - with my sister. I was a little nervous about her coming. Even though she travels all over the place and socializes quite a bit I still didn't want her coming here and getting covid. I think she really wanted Jane to look over some legal papers for her though, and there's really not much that keeps her down. Hopefully it stays that way for awhile.

Other than that there's not much to say that isn't controversial, condescending, or conspiratorial. So... we had a good visit, B had a good birthday, and it was a nice weekend all around.

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"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." (Number 6:24-26)

Benny turns 7

The middle grandchild, and oldest of the grandsons, turned seven years old today. Oh my!

This side-by-side of Bennett, Benny, or Buddy, whichever you prefer to call him, is a perfect composite of the boy. He can be as happy and free as any child, or sensitive and deep-thinking. He is intelligent, thoughtful and soft-hearted; without an ounce of pretense. I could see him being the most studious of the bunch.

We took him out for supper earlier this week, which is where we took the pic on the left (Wendy's). He is full of conversation and uses words I wasn't even aware of at that age. Although, as we were walking around a store looking for a toy afterward, he wanted one of us to carry him because he was tired. :) That's Bennett.

Tonight we will accompany the family for a birthday celebration at Chick fil a. We bought him the movie Toy Story 4 and a little airplane kit (with four planes that you paint - so the other kids can have one too).

They don't come much better than this guy. I am proud to be his grandpa, and can't wait to see the kind of man he becomes.

Grandparent's day 2017

I was once again fortunate to be able to attend "Grandparent's Day" where the grandchildren go to school. Last year I visited Anna in Kindergarten, but this year I got to visit both Anna's first grade class AND Bennett's preschool class!

I started out with Bennett. He has a nice-sized preschool class of nine students. He goes every day until 11:30. His teacher and teacher's aide were both really nice. We went through the normal morning routine of announcements and devotions over the intercom. Then they said the pledge of allegiance to the American flag as well as the Christian flag. After that there were introductions, pictures, and we interacted with our students doing various things about the room. Bennett was very outgoing, but in a mild-mannered way. He was much calmer than the other two boys in the class. :)


Jane started out with Anna in first grade and about halfway through we switched. When I got to Anna's room I had a small chair by her desk. I think her desk sits next to Joe. I remembered most of the kids in her class from last year. Anna was also very quiet, but she did raise her hand and answer a question in front of everyone. We had a time where they could do whatever activity they wanted. Anna chose to play a game on an ipad (apparently there are enough for all the students in her class - not sure how many that is). Then they had recess in the gym because it was raining outside. The second graders were also in the gym and it was a little hectic at first. When we got there Anna just sat by me along the edge. Another boy in her class did so as well. Pretty soon she ventured onto the gym floor and joined the fun though. She played with a hula hoop and then walked on the stilts (pictured). After that we went back to her room and they dimmed the lights and had a reading time. Anna grabbed a beanbag chair and we sat on the floor as she read. Then it was time to go.

Before I left I stopped by the gym and Bennett's class was in there playing "Duck, Duck, Goose." Jane had already left and Bennett seemed happy to see me. When they were done I left too.

All in all it was a nice morning. I'm glad they found this school because it is much nicer than if the kids had to attend a city school. They're fairly quiet and while I don't think they're necessarily sheltered, they aren't used to seeing what a lot of city kids see. It seems to be a great place, and their parents like it a lot. That's good enough for me.

A & B start school; eclipse; parking lot

Yesterday packed a lot of activity (well, not so much for me, but for others). It was grandson Bennett's first day of Pre-K at his new school (St. Paul's); there was a total solar eclipse (though not in FW), and Jane and I worked the parking lot at church for the Tincaps game.

GRANDKIDS

Anna's 1st day of 1st grade.

Anna and Bennett are now going to the same school this year. Anna is in first grade and Bennett is in pre-k. Anna actually started last Tuesday (I think). She went to kindergarten at St. Paul's last year and grew so much. She currently has a substitute teacher as her regular teacher is on maternity leave. Hopefully she will like the regular as well as she likes the sub.

Bennett's 1st day of Pre-K.

Bennett went to preschool at Avalon last year as a 3-year old (as Anna did when she was that age). This was the first year he could go to St. Paul's. I think he just goes half a day and am not sure if it's everyday or not (I think it is). He is a pretty contemplative little boy and I'm hoping the exprience helps him as much as it did Anna. Apparently he thought he would be okay after his first day.

Library plaze viewing.

ECLIPSE
Yesterday was also the big "Solar Eclipse." Fort Wayne did not have a 'total' eclipse, but it was supposedly around 85%. I heard there was going to be a viewing party at the downtown library, so I decided to go. There was a pretty big crowd - with food trucks, several news reporters, the mayor, and they had a couple giant telescope things. I guess they had 400 viewing glasses and the line went around the block. They didn't last long. I did not get any. A couple people let me borrow theirs and I have to say that it was pretty cool.

We did not get real dark, but it did "darken" some. The temperature also dropped 4 degrees I am told. It felt like it. It was a sweltering day at almost 90, and with the breeze it felt much nicer when the sun was covered up.

Around 2:30 Jane and some of her co-workers came outside their building so I walked over and spent some time in that parking lot. It was only a block away. There was also a big telescope set up there. I do have to say, it was kind of neat seeing all the people out and about during the middle of the day. I saw one person comment that the best thing about the eclipse was that it was almost like a vacation from the president. Ha! He still managed to get himself in the news by looking at the sun without viewing glasses. Anyway, it was fun.

PARKING LOT
Last night Jane and I once again worked the parking lot at our church for a Tincaps game (minor league baseball). Our church does not own the lot (so we are not who decided people should have to pay). The people that own the lot let us have a large percentage of the money for our youth group though, as long as we provide the volunteers. We also get free tickets for the game when we volunteer. We have done it for several games this summer.

It was still hot last night, but I actually enjoy doing things like this. I like brief interactions with people. Once I've taken their money and exchanged pleasantries, it's nice to see them go. Last night we actually filled the parking lot before the game even started! And it was a Monday! Once the lot is full we put away the signs and cones and things and we are free to go to the game.

We did go over to the game for awhile. We had supper there. Tacos are only $2 and 2 of them fill me up, so it's really not a bad meal. We chatted with some people we knew for awhile, sat in our seats behind home plate for a bit, and finally left around the 4th or 5th inning. That's about enough baseball for us. Plus Jane came straight from work and we'd been at the parking lot since a little before 5:30.

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So, that's about it for yesterday. This week I have started getting up around 7 am and trying to get back in some sort of a groove. I've been trying to catalog all my old sermons in hopes that someday I can piece together something I can use again - either for preaching or writing. I also have a list of things I need to get done or want to do in order to figure out my next steps. So far it's not going too bad.

I have a lunch meeting today with a pastor friend. Tonight we babysit the grandkids for a bit. Tomorrow night we take food to the library plaza. Saturday we've been asked to spend the day with some friends from church at their cabin. I've also been working myself back into running shape. So I have been keeping myself occupied. Perhaps the things I've lacked in the most so far are writing and meditating. Not that I haven't been doing either, but not as much as I'd hoped. In general, I am feeling pretty good though. I noted the other day that I can't even remember working at the storage place. It's like it never even happened. I take that as a good sign.

Peace out; and in.

Programs and parties

This weekend we attended the middle grandchild's first ever pre-school Christmas program, as well as our annual Christmas party at Mike's house. This is the three amigos after the program was over. A couple photos very indicative of their personalities.

Bennett started preschool this year at Avalon. He seems to like it quite well. Their Christmas program was Friday night and this was the first time we've seen him "up front." He was pretty darn cute. He's not near as shy as Anna, but he can maybe be distracted a little easier. He was quite the trouper and made us very proud.

Saturday there was rain, snow, sleet, and ice, but we managed to make it to Mike's annual Christmas party nonetheless. There were 13 of us - remnants of his earlier group of internet friends as well as what's left of the Applebees gang. It was once again a splendid time of eating, drinking, chatting, and laughing all the way through a rousing game of Catchphrase. Mike always manages to get a pretty decent picture of the group every year too.

All in all it was a pretty good weekend despite some nasty weather. Today we took A & B to church with us, we went to lunch with the Feipel 5 for Drew's birthday (tomorrow). Now we're getting ready to go to the "Blue Christmas" service at our church, and then stop at Drew Carrie's for birthday cake afterward.

Bennett turns 4

Today is my grandson Bennett's 4th birthday. I have always appreciated that he was conveniently born on an easy-to-remember date like 10-11-12. He is the middle child of daughter Carrie, and the first of the boys. He started preschool this year, and it sounds like he likes it. As you can see in this picture from our house this past Sunday - he can even write his name!

Benny is a rather quiet child who is content to play by himself or with others. He likes cars, trucks, planes, and little toy characters. He also enjoys sitting at the piano and strumming the guitar at our house. If it were up to me I would say he might be the one I would insist on enrolling in piano lessons (though I hope all of them learn it). He's a pretty happy boy, but he also seems to be a deep thinker even at such a young age.

Rumor has it that we may be invited over to enjoy noodles (his choice) for supper tonight. Drew Carrie are also having a family-sort-of birthday party at our house this Saturday afternoon.

1st day of preschool.

Benny starts preschool

Benny's first day of preschool 9/7/16

The middle grandchild started preschool today. Oh my. I can't believe how Bennett has grown. Carrie said he was very excited to be starting "school" and went to his first day without a hitch. He is attending the same one Anna attended.

Currently he likes to be called Benny or Bennett, but no longer just B. He is a super-easygoing kid who laughs easy and likes to have fun. He can also be very serious about his cars and building towers. He's always been good about playing by himself, and he and Caleb play really well together. So I don't anticipate school being much of an issue for him. Caleb, on the other hand, did not handle things so well this morning - as you can see from the picture below. Poor kid. I'm sure he will adjust soon enough.

Bennett and Caleb 9/7/16

Just for kicks I looked back and wondered how Anna's first day of preschool picture compared. I'm surprised how much taller Bennett is, because Anna seems to be so tall now. They are both pretty darn cute in my opinion.

Anna's 1st day of preschool 9/3/14

Swimming into the 4th

I've kind of gotten behind a little on the blog, but we had a nice 4th of July holiday weekend. It started Saturday night with the two of us attending another "uncorked" even at the Two EE's Winery in Huntington/Roanoke. Todd Harrold was playing, and we always like listening to him. Even though it was just him on drums and another guy on organ/keys, they sounded just as good as always. We split a bottle of cabernet.

Saturday I worked from 9-2, then we started moving things back into the basement. Saturday night we attended our usual 'Rock the Plaza' at the downtown library. It was nice, as always.

Sunday we went to church and the pastor was gone for the day. He was definitely missed, but people carried out everything that needed to be done anyway. We also had a lot of people come and welcome us - since Jane attended a ladies function at the pastors wife's house last week. That was nice. Ironically, the speaker for the day was one of the youth pastors from the church we just left (Grace). Hahaha. It was fine, but a typical "Grace" message along the lines of, "This is what I do, so if you just do this too, you'll be good." Whatever. He was a nice young guy. The music seemed especially good on this day.

Sunday night we went to The Stand in Waynedale and listened to sil Drew's band, Swimming Into View. They are a fun band, and I'm always impressed by them when I hear them - especially Drew's singing. I wish they would play out more. What was perhaps most fun was watching Drew sing and his three kids run around and dance in front of him. Above is a pic of Bennett dancing in front of his dad.

Monday we slept in, went for a 4-mile run, and then had the DrewCarrie family over for supper and some kids fireworks. It was pretty uneventful, other than Caleb falling off several chairs, but we had fun. They went to the fireworks downtown afterward, but m'Lady and I just relaxed in our newly redone downstairs until signing off for the night.

Today it's back to work. It started right off with a lady screaming at me for an hour. Unfortunately she had every right to be upset, so I tried to deal with that all morning. Ugh.

A weekend back home

We took another weekend trip back home to North central Illinois. No particular reason. We just needed to get away for awhile, and Carrie wanted to visit Tanners Orchard in Peoria. Jane and I left around noon on Friday. Carrie made the trip alone with the kids again, arriving on Saturday. I came back to Fort Wayne yesterday afternoon, and Jane, Carrie and the kids will be coming back today.

Some of the random happenings:

• Friday night we stayed at my parent's house and played cards and drank wine.
• Saturday morning I fixed my mom's email (I think). It would receive but not send. I changed a few settings, but also deleted over 4500 emails out of her inbox. Ugh.
• I also mowed my parent's lawn for them Saturday. Their neighbor often does it, but uses a riding mower. My mom prefers it done with the push mower.
• Saturday afternoon and night Jane and I went out to the Psycho Silo again. It is this crazy awesome biker bar just outside of town. It's more of an outdoor bar, and they were having the '1st Annual Last Stand'. I would guestimate there were well over a thousand people there, and I've probably never seen more motorcycles in one place in my life. They had live music all day and night, and all kinds of events going on. It was our first time watching a "burn out" contest too. We were hoping to see more people we knew, but unfortunately we only saw a hand full. We ended the evening at Brothers in Sheffield and visited there with some old friends.
• On Sunday Jane and I went to Bunker for church, and Carrie took Anna and Caleb and went to Kewanee. We heard a pretty good - yet convicting - sermon from Stephen. The service didn't suck, but it's amazing how mechanically archaic it still is. Oh well. It was nice to actually see some people we knew.
• After I left Sunday, everyone else went down to Tanners. It sounded like the grandkids had a really good time, and the adults were maybe a little worn out. :)
• The worst part about the whole weekend is that I seem to have lost my magnetic clip-on sunglasses. I'm sure they just fell out of my pocket sometime Saturday night or something. Dang.

Overall it was a nice trip back to the old home though. Every time I go there is always this, "Could/should we move back here?" I'm sure we 'could.' It would be hard getting used to knowing every single person you saw again. But... I dunno. I guess it is what it is.

B's 3rd b-day

I can't believe grandson Bennett turned 3 years old yesterday. He prefers to be called "Benny," and was conveniently born on 10-11-12, making his birth day easy to remember. He is our first grandson, and the middle of 3 kids born to Drew Carrie.

Benny is a pretty typical middle child. He is easy going and wants everyone to get along and be happy. He's a fairly sensitive person, but is learning to stand his ground - especially with his little brother.

He received some Umizoomi toys from his mom and dad, as well as a spiffy "big wheel" bike. Unfortunately his legs aren't quite long enough to ride the bike yet, but it won't be long. He was pretty excited over the toys, and the special "Bot" cake his mom baked for him.

We bought him a box of hotwheels cars, a hotwheels car hauler (truck), and a hotwheels track that he can mount to a table. He likes to play with the old one at our house, and all 3 kids enjoyed playing with his new one yesterday. We also bought them the "fishing game" to share yesterday. They seemed to enjoy that too.

They had a small party for the "B" boy yesterday at Drew Carrie's. It was just us and great grandpa Dick and great grandma Esther. We still had fun. After D & E left we all walked down to the old Lutheran park and Anna rode her bike around and around and around. It was a beautiful day.

I guess before the party - which started at 3 pm - we all went to early church at 9:15 am, then Benny requested we go to Shigs In Pit for lunch. He was very proud of the ribbon (which he called a medal) that said it was his birthday. He kept showing it to the ribbon hanging on one of the trophies at the restaurant. :)

All in all it was a pretty good birthday for Benny. His sister is 4 1/2, his brother is 1 1/2, and B is now 3!

Babysitting overnight

We kept the kids overnight again Saturday-Sunday. It was much nicer this time since they were all three healthy. We were at the Feipel's on Saturday afternoon, and just brought them home with us in their van. They came over Sunday morning before church and we all left about 10:30 for that.

Anna is such a sweetie when she feels good. She was feeling good this weekend. She is so long and tall now, and quite the jumper. She also talks really well now. She's a big help with the boys. She will always hold a special place in my heart.

Bennett is growing up, but he can still be pretty goofy at times. He talks a lot, but I can't for the life of me understand most of what he says yet. He can be an excitable boy, though. He's funny when he gets excited about something. He is also very sensitive (as is his sister). It was fun watching him when he got in bed, before he went to sleep. I laid down with him in the big bed at first. He's like a little man. He finally asked if he could sleep in the crib - which made me glad, because I was sure he would have fallen out of bed otherwise, he flops around so much - so he ended up sleeping in the crib all night.

Caleb is still not a real good sleeper. We put the pak-n-play in our room. He went to sleep good, but he woke up during the night. Eventually we put him between us in the bed. A lot of times he had his eyes closed, but his arms and hands were constantly reaching for our faces. He also grunts and groans quite a bit. He's kind of goofy too.

Anna goes to sleep early, and wakes up early. A little after 6 am she came bounding down the hallway with a smile on her face to announce she was hungry. Of course grandma made her pancakes and bacon - one of her favorites. Bennett stays up late, and sleeps a little later. It takes him awhile to wake up, but if you just let him be he's eventually okay. Caleb seems to always look tired, but for some reason resists the sleep as much as he can. He's a big smiler though.

We played quite a bit in the basement. They are all pretty good to just sit and play with toys now. Caleb is not quite able to stand on his own yet, but he manages to get around pretty good. Anna likes to help in the kitchen, and she can help pick up now too. I bought one of those Bop Bag things that you blow up with air. You're supposed to be able to hit it and it pops right back up. It didn't work exactly like that, but the kids had fun with it.

All in all it was a good weekend. We were still plenty tired, but I can't imagine not having the little one's around. They're growing up so fast.

Safehaven, sleepover, snowstorm, superbowl

My it was a busy weekend. Quite a lot going on. Jane has a cold, but we survived. Here is the rundown of the transition from January to February...

SAFE HAVEN
We served and ate lunch with the veterans of the Safe Haven home on Saturday. This was the 2nd time I have helped out with this group, and Jane's 3rd. It is a 25-bed facility for homeless veterans on Fairfield. Our involvement started when Jane's branch office did a lunch for them. She told a friend, and her office started doing monthly lunches. Apparently we are involved in it with them. They actually get very little help here, so it seems like a good place to pitch in. Jane made 10 lbs of mashed potatoes. I kind of just hung around and chatted and ate with the veterans. It was a little odd in that I actually knew one of them. He didn't remember us though.

SLEEPOVER
We had all 3 grandkids for a sleepover on Saturday night. Drew Carrie had a date night (Komets game), so we watched the kids from around 5 pm Saturday until church Sunday morning. They had all been sick last week and still had sniffles, but they were all really good. Caleb didn't sleep so well, but A & B did. Caleb now likes to pull himself up on things, he just can't get down so well. Anna was a big help, and big eater. Bennett was a little grumpier than usual. I think he is still sickest of all three. It was fun, but boy does it wear us out. :)

SNOWSTORM
We had quite a lot of snow this weekend. I don't know yet officially, but I'd say from Saturday night through Sunday night we probably have around a foot of snow. It was really wet and heavy too. I used the snowblower on the driveway Sunday morning, again Sunday evening, and I need to go do it again this morning before leaving for work. Everything looks very pretty outside. I believe there is just a travel warning though - meaning you shouldn't travel unless going to work or for an emergency.

SUPER BOWL
Super Bowl 49 was last night. With all the snow we did not make it to Mike's party. Jane made pulled pork and we bought a veggie tray and cheese assortment. So we had our own party in the basement. It was a good game, but the Patriots beat the Seahawks 28-24 with a last second interception at the goal line. I was rooting for the Seahawks, but was satisfied that it was a great game.

Now it's Monday, so back to the old grind. I am not looking forward to going to work and dealing with all this snow. Life goes on...

Anna's birthday - pt. 2

We went to Cebolla's Mexican Grill on Jefferson for Anna's 4th birthday. It was her request to have tacos - which she loves - and we all thought this might be better than her favorite... Taco Bell. It was. Unfortunately the poor girl felt horrible. She was running a fever all day, and her nose was dripping like a faucet. So she didn't enjoy herself too much, but it was still a nice time. They also come and sing 'happy birthday' to you at this restaurant, and put a big sombrero on you. I suppose it was partly because she didn't feel good, and partly because she is pretty shy, that she was kind of freaked out about the whole thing. We all thought it was nice though - especially Bennett and Caleb.

Anyway, we gave Anna the dress we got her, as well as the snow shovels I got for her and Bennett (red/pink for her, blue for B). Drew Carrie had her open the Hello Kitty cd player they got her. She also wore her birthday crown and brought a bouquet of flowers for the table (such a nice gesture for such a little person). The poor thing tried to enjoy it as much as possible.

I had 2 tacos and a side of rice, and a coke. Anna chowed a taco. Bennett had a quesadilla and rice, and we discovered that Caleb really likes avocado. Of course we sat right beside the big fountain, but the kids maintained their curiosity pretty well. It was fun. It was also pretty inexpensive.

I'm not sure about the party that was planned for Anna for tomorrow (for family). Carrie took her to Redi-Med today, and they weren't sure if she had a cold or the flu. If there's a chance it's the flu then we don't really want her great-grandparents around her. So we'll see. Here are some pics from last night.

Christmas pj's

I think this first pic is perhaps my favorite of all time. Followed closely by the second one. Christmas 2014 was a good one. Three of my favorite things.

All 3 kids all weekend

There was no time for blogging this past weekend. We babysat all 3 grandkids - Anna, Bennett, and Caleb - from Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon. And we lived to tell about it!

DrewCarrie were celebrating their upcoming 5th wedding anniversary with a weekend getaway to South Haven, MI. That was the longest Carrie has been away from her kiddles and we were proud of her for staying away as long as she did. Everyone did just fine.

Jane took off work at noon on Friday and they brought the kids over around 2 or so. I picked up a couple child-size sleeping bags for Anna and Bennett, and they were pretty excited when I got home. The sleeping bags were a big hit. We mostly just played and watched movies Friday. As for sleeping, B slept in the crib in the guest room, we set up the portable crib for C in the middle room, and A fell asleep on the couch (early). So I slept in the living room and Jane tried to grab a wink wherever she could. C was up every 1 1/2 to 2 hours that first night. You could tell he didn't feel good. He coughed quite a bit. A and B just woke up once during the night. B went right back to sleep, and A went in and crawled in bed with "Mama Jane." Everyone woke up in a good mood Saturday, but Jane and I were kinda tired (and realized just how out of practice we were).

Saturday was a good day. We all hung around the house and played - in the basement, upstairs, outside - and C's cough was better. B and C both took good naps. In the evening we went to Walmart because we were running out of fruit snacks, juice, and chocolate milk. That was a chore, but the kids were really good in the store. We were going to get supper at Taco Bell but there was a bit of a meltdown over carseats, so we just went through the drive-up and brought it home. Everyone got another bath (the kids anyway), ate supper, and we all went to bed at a decent time Saturday night. Everyone slept pretty good - even Caleb. I got smart, and instead of sleeping on the floor or couch, I brought the mattress from the twin bed out and put it in front of the couch in the living room. That way when A fell off the couch (which she did both nights - and didn't wake up), she would fall on the mattress instead of the floor. Plus it was a little better on my back.

We ALL got a pretty good night's sleep and woke up Sunday in a good mood. The kids thought the mattress in the living room was a good idea, so we left it there most of the day. We even managed to get everyone ready and make it to church. Someone had to show us how to check the kids into their respective rooms. It was a little complicated since we'd never done it before. We finally got their stickers, stuck them on the back of their shirts, and transported them to their classes. They were all pretty happy to go. They were even happier when we picked them up afterward. Sounded like they were all 3 good. After church they all fell asleep on the way home, so we just ordered Spyro's food to go and came home and ate. When we got home Anna started crying and we couldn't figure out what was wrong. Later that night we learned that she was told her mom and dad would be home after church - and she took it literally - so she was sad that they weren't here. I thought it interesting that she talked about them and missed them more than the other 2 seemed to. :)

They were all pretty happy when their mom and dad did arrive home Sunday afternoon. I have to admit, it was pretty nice to sleep in my own bed again last night. :) All in all, it was a pretty good weekend for everyone, I think. Now it's back to work...

Rat race 5k and trunk or treat

I ran another 5k yesterday. Jane, Carrie and I ran in the 15th annual River City Rat Race in downtown Fort Wayne (their Facebook page). It was a gorgeous day, temps were in the upper 60's, it was sunny, and we ran through some fantastically beautiful areas of the city along the rivergreenway and through some neighborhoods. I have no idea what place we finished in, because, at this point, who cares. I think Jane and I ran around a 34-minute 5k, and Carrie was a minute or two ahead of us. I forgot my knee brace, and it didn't really bother me.

Later in the evening we went to a trunk-or-treat event at the church where Anna's preschool is. Holy cow, I could not believe how many people there were. I wanted to get a crowd picture, but there was simply no way to take one that would have done it justice. Anyway, they had quite a few people passing out candy, and they also had several 'bounce house' toys there. The kids had a blast.

B turns 2

Today is our grandson Bennett's 2nd birthday. He goes by Bennett, Benny, Buddy, or simply B. He is also one of the happiest, laid back kids I know.

We are going over to the Feipel's for his birthday party in a little while. We are waiting on my parents to get here from Illinois. I think it's just a small family gathering, and we're having hot dogs on the grill. Should be fun. It is a nice sunny day, even though it's a little chilly (mid-50's).

We got him a monkey hat and a Fisher-Price basketball hoop that fits on the back of a door.

Here are a couple of my favorite photo's of him. Happy Birthday, B!!! Love, Grandpa.

Anna's party

We had a party at our house for Anna's 3rd birthday yesterday. The weather was pretty nasty so it was just us, the Feipels, Drew's grandma and grandpa, and Isaac and Ricci came up from Anderson. I think Anna and Bennett had great fun. Jane and Carrie made soup, munchies, and cupcakes (with pink frosting, of course). Anna also enjoyed playing with my old hotwheels track I set up in the basement. I kind of enjoyed playing with it too.

After we ate Anna opened her presents. We had already given her the pink cowboy boots, and today gave her a kazoo and a pack of bubbles. She blew the kazoo and I think she scared herself, but I also think she liked it. For some reason it got left at our house. Dick and Esther gave her a purse, an apron, and some books. Isaac and Ricci gave her the coolest thing: it was a plastic tub filled with all kinds of dress-up stuff. There were princess outfits, and hats, and batons, and even a football helmet. There was all kinds of neat stuff. All in all she seemed like a pretty happy little girl! She has also now gone 3 nights without her pacifier. She had to give it up when she turned 3.

Here are a few pics from the day. She came dressed as a fairy princess.

Bennett seemed to like wearing an old pair of my dad's glasses. We took the lenses out so the kids could play with them. What a card...

This is the guy who's going to be training me at work now. Drew liked playing with the old glasses too, and captioned this, "We are here to do your taxes." Silly guys...

Here is a pic of the dress-up tub...

A fun time was definitely had by all. Hard to believe there will be three of them in a few months. :)

Anna turns 2

Yesterday was granddaughter Anna's second birthday. It probably wasn't the best day she could have had since she has a cold, but we made the best of it. Her mom and dad had planned a big party for this Saturday, but she and her brother and her mom have all been sick, and her dad had to work up by Chicago all week so he couldn't be here. So Carrie, Anna and Bennett came over to our house last night and we had a nice supper and little cakes, and then opened some presents. I think Uncle Isaac and Ricci are still going to come up from Anderson on Saturday. Her mom and dad got her a fish the other night when they celebrated.

Last night we gave Anna her gifts from us. We got her a plastic bowling set, and a wooden train with stackable things on it - since her dad works on a train and she really likes to stack blocks. We also got her a Radio Flyer Classic Red TRICYCLE! The bowling set and tricycle will be to keep at our house; the train is to take to her house (I guess). She seemed to REALLY like the tricycle. She went round and round and round from the living room through the kitchen and back. I think she had a pretty good time even though she had a runny/stuffy nose and sore throat. She's a sweetie.

Bennett was his usual happy self, even though he went to the doctor in the morning and found out he has an ear infection and pink eye. He still smiles just as big as can be whenever you talk to him. What a card.

Anyway, here are the write-ups from her first birthday last year, as well as the day she was born and a few days after. And here are some pics from last night (she liked the cake!)...