Blog Book

I'm much later than usual getting this done, but here is my blog book for 2013:

Our Growing Family by | Make Your Own Book

Random Pictures

My camera was full of random pictures and videos.  Most of the videos were made by Ben racing his cars on the coffee table.  There were very few pictures of Ben but lots of Mollie Grace and Annie.

 Mollie built this hideout under the desk.  I squeezed in and read with her and practiced letters.

 Listening to her MP3 player inside her hideout.

 Mollie posing in her "getting married" dress.

 Ben was proud of this truck he built.

Mollie created this robot costume.

 Annie learned how to play peek-a-boo.  "Where is Annie?"

 "There she is."

Ben played his second flag football game on Saturday.  They tied 8-8.  Since no one can possibly kick a field goal, they go for the extra 2 points every time.  We played Ben's baseball coach's team.

 Mollie gave her first presentation at CC on Monday.  She had to prepare a presentation about Columbus.  She took this picture of the ship she colored.

 She told her class that Columbus went to the wrong place and then she shook her maraca and sang her history song:  In 1492, Columbus made the first of four trips to the Caribbean on three Spanish ships, the Nina, the Pinta, the Santa Maria.   She did a great job.  She used a loud voice and didn't seem the least nervous about speaking in front of her class.  I wish I had videoed it but I discovered when I turned on my camera that the battery was nearly dead.

 First sister bath.  Mollie was so excited.

 Peek-aboo in the dirty laundry.

 There's Annie!

 And now with a dirty sock.

First Day of CC

Today was Ben and Mollie's first day of CC.  Mollie was in class for the first time.  She was very excited.  She went straight from class to ballet at noon.  She was pretty tired by naptime.

 Their cool new backpacks from Nana.

Annie spent the morning in the nursery.  I was worried that I would get a call to come get her, but she (and the nursery workers) made it all morning.

A random pic of Mollie from Saturday evening.  I knew she was playing with glitter, but I didn't realize she was glittering her hands.

Sept Football

 We used Labor Day to work on the swingset, which is an ongoing project.  The canvas, which was already torn, was completely destroyed by a tropical storm a couple of years ago.  We talked about replacing it, but since it was an odd size, we never did.  Recently we decided to buy whatever size they had at Lowes and make it fit.

 I got a lot of staining done.  There are a few "hidden" places that still need stain.  It's a darker color than I had envisioned, but it looks much better than it did.

 Trying to figure out the sippy cup.

 I lowered Annie's mattress so that she can't fall out of the bed and it was a DISASTER.  Now she can see Mollie.  The first night she cried and cried and cried.  Finally about 10 p.m. John suggested we hang something on her bed to block her view.  It isn't pretty, but this king-sized sheet wrapped around her bed works.

 Watching one of the new tigers being trained at the zoo on Friday.

 Ben had his first flag football game this morning.  Pre-game huddle.  Ben is to the right of the coach so you can't see his face in this picture.  Ben is #18.

 There are four 5-6 year old teams -- white, red, blue, and gray. There are six games.  They play each team twice.

 First play.  They take turns playing different positions.  Ben started out as the snapper.

 As the snapper, you hand the ball to the quarterback.

 They play on the middle school football field (the old high school field before the new stadium was built a few years ago).  The field is divided into four parts.  There are two games going on at the same time each playing on 1/4 of the field.  There is no kick off.  The offense starts at the 40 yard line and runs toward the goal line.  If the team scores, they attempt a two-point conversion (no field goals or kicking extra points).

 Defense.

 Ben's turn as quarterback.

 Ben handed the ball off to Tice, who scored a touchdown.

Ben snapping the ball.  Ben's team won 36-24.  Ben ran the ball on the very last play but I had already put my camera in my bag.  He had a lot of fun.