Bennett Says...

Bennett Andrew Mueting is a boy who keeps us on our toes. He is sneaky. He was quiet until the age of 18 months and hasn't stopped with his one liners since. 

I must say that most of his really funny comments need a 5 second delay...they are usually inappropriate and we can only share them with certain people. 

He has a fascination with being a boy and all that being a boy entails...ahem....you know what I mean.

His boyhood has been referred to as many things: a rocket, a gun, a sword...use your imagination.

Moving on...

Here are a few of his most recent quotes which have us giggling:

 While laying down with him for a nap..."Mom, I will share my blanket with you because boys do that with their moms, but sorry, I'm too old to share my candy, so don't ask me again."

Mom: "Bennett, did you wake up crabby this morning?" 

Bennett: "No I waked up a wise old owl."

Mom: "Bennett, hands out."
Bennett: "I know I know, hands out, gun in."

Bennett: "Mom, can you fix my plane with some duck tape....or cat tape."

At the petting zoo in a pumpkin patch, we saw a pig that had a growth near his bottom: "Dad, looks like this pig is pooping an apple."

While playing soccer outside, the ball rolled into the street. "I'll get it Bennett."
Bennett: "Mom leave it! Get inside! The cops are here!"

While eating zucchini bread: "Mom, can I have more Chicago bread? It's really yummy!"

Mom: "Benny you can't play that rough with me. Do you want to go play rough with Papa?"

Bennett: "No he'll just cry and say, "no, no, don't hurt me, I'm an old man!"

Bennett to everyone in the house at some point in the last few weeks:  "Will you marry me?"

While describing his teacher: "She has big feet, big hands, big eyes, and big ears....oh and she's a mom."

While looking at a steep slide: "Whoa...this is going to be creepy!"

While playing outside: "Mom, pretend you are my grandma, and we are playing soccer but pretend we are playing basketball and pretend we have no hair and pretend the soccer ball is made of fire, no pretend the soccer ball is like a fast bullet, and the grass is fire, and the driveway is ice...ok?  

Mom: "ok"

Bennett: "mom, instead let's just go watch the ipad."

While decorating for Halloween: "Mom, I'm going to call it Owl-een, not Halloween.  It just sounds more creepy and disgusting."

Bennett, you are a silly boy who keeps us all laughing that's for sure!

Slides, Pumpkins, Fires, and More

We were blessed with a great weekend of fall temps and family time this weekend. 

After a chilly soccer game on Saturday morning, we rested and got ready for our family pictures. The weather was perfect and the kids did great for the most part. Brooks had been fussy all week with teething and temps, but he was back to himself again on Saturday. 

In the evening we enjoyed pizza, football, and smores inside on a chilly night with our fireplace.

On Sunday we went to a pumpkin patch nearby. The kids enjoyed feeding animals, playing on the handmade toys and jungle gyms, going down a huge slide, and of course picking out some pumpkins.

 When I look at these pictures it's crazy to see how big the kids are getting! Time is flying by...

Fall is here

Well we officially said goodbye to summer and hello to fall this past weekend. 

With a beautiful weekend of weather, we enjoyed our first official fall weekend outside.

Marie and Andy had their first soccer game. They both had lots of support from all the grandparents plus Brooks, Bennett, and Mom.

Marie did well...she ran and stayed tough against all those boys on her team. 

I was proud of her for getting right in the middle of the action. 

Even though Andy was on call, he was able to be around much of the weekend.

It was the final weekend for the Nutty Bar Stand this season so we made our way down for this season's final treat...it was delicious as always!

 Summer evenings spent at Arnold's Park and the lake have been such a joy for us...we look forward to next year!

We also got to spend some time with the Van Beek side of the family to celebrate Alissa's birthday. 

Cake, ice cream, and non stop playing always makes for a wonderful Sunday. 

Spirit Lake didn't have school on Monday so the kids and I took advantage of the day...we played, cleaned, went for a bike ride to a park, walked around the lake, and even went swimming in the evening with Dad.

It was a full day but well spent!

(for some reason the older two are going through a "hold up your fingers when mom takes a picture" phase....)

 We are thankful for the beautiful start to fall!

Brooks - 9 months

 

Another month of growing for our Brooksy Boy.

He is trying to crawl: twisting, rolling, stretching all over the place. 

He loves to clap! Pat-a-cake is one of his favorite games.

He had his first ear infection after dealing with a cold for a few weeks. But, after a few doses of medicine he was acting as good as new!

He is showing more interest in the dogs lately. 

Both Gus and Maya are very tolerant of him.   

This month, Brooks has been spending some time away from Mom and his brother and sister at the Y daycare. For about 3 hours a week he interacts with other kids and he seems to enjoy it until he realizes Mommy is gone...we are working on that!

 He is such a happy boy who is anxious to do more...more moving, finally get some teeth (still has 0 teeth), and eat more real food!

Busy Bees

Andy & I have always lived by our calendars. 

We have several: our phones, large paper with flippable month pages, dry erase with detailed daily reminders, the "on call" calendar, and even a fancy one made by Katie with family photos.

Some are color coded, some are plain.

They used to be filled with exam schedules when we were in college, weekend plans with friends and family. Now, we are filling our calendars with our kids' schedules. 

 We have started tumbling, soccer, PTA, call, classes at the Y, teaching Sunday School, and school is in full swing. 

Life is busy, but exciting.

We are really enjoying our experiences through the local YMCA. 

Andy & I are exercising more, Bennett and Brooks have some time away from me with the Child Watch program there, we like to swim as a family, & Andy is coaching Marie in soccer.

 Even though we are seemingly more busy than ever, I feel like we are actually getting more family time together through some of these experiences. We get so much accomplished every day and we are dog tired by the end of it. I guess it's just another sign that this move was a positive one for our family!

First Day of School

We are thrilled to report that the first day of school for our big kids could not have gone any better!

We have 2 very brave, strong, and happy kiddos who are loving their fresh start.

Marie is in Kindergarten with Mrs. Bower.

She is making friends and loving the structure of her classroom...especially with no nap time!

On the 2nd day she even walked into the school and room all by herself.

Bennett likes is teacher Ms. Carol because she is good at reading books.

He is already talking about rhymes and his ABCs.

On his way out on his 2nd day, a little girl said goodbye to him. He pretended to not notice...little heartbreaker.

Mom did not cry when she said goodbye, but it was a little emotional seeing how big they are getting!

Thankfully Brooks is still at home with her to give her snuggles.

This is going to be a great year!

You win some, you lose some

 Today was a rainy, gray, windy, and blah kind of day.

The kids wanted to play outside, I wanted to be outside, and the dogs wanted to be outside. 

Although our summer was GRAND, we are ready for a change. We are ready for school, schedules, football games, and all that fall brings. 

 

So, after about the 14th fight, we gathered our baking ingredients and set out to make peanut butter bars....together.

  

 It was messy, took way too long, Brooks cried through half of it because he couldn't be right in the middle of it, the dogs were trying to sneak food from Brooks, Bennett wanted to measure the flour but Marie got to first, Marie wanted to break the eggs but I already did, the frosting started to boil...it wasn't supposed to boil....

 and my kitchen looked like this.

 With Brooks on my hip and Marie & Bennett watching the iPad, I finished the bars which I thought were ruined, and cleaned up my kitchen while grumbling.

I started to feel frustrated long before this point, but I actually held my tongue during the baking.

The kids and I had fun...the type A part of myself was screaming inside, but I didn't let it out. 

We did "math" while measuring, we sang silly songs while trying to keep Brooks happy, and we dipped our fingers in the batter.

It wasn't the perfect day and they aren't the perfect peanut butter bars, but one row is already gone, and my kids claim I am the best peanut butter bar baker around.