Choo Choo

Ben is very into Thomas the Tank Engine these days. He has several DVDs and a wooden Thomas train, but he had no track. After Christmas, I wished I had gotten him a train set, but decided that would be a good gift for his birthday. I didn't make it until April. I took him to Toys-R-Us today and bought what was labeled the "beginner set." It's a simple figure 8 with a bridge and tunnel. I put it together while he was napping. You should have seen his face when he first saw it. It was priceless (and I forgot to have my camera ready).

There were many wrecks on the line.

The House John Built

This is the house John built with Ben's new blocks. We all three love playing with them.

This is Ben, totally engrossed in his Thomas library book, tripping over the blocks and knocking them down. You can see his foot coming in the first picture. I'm not sure if Ben even noticed that he knocked down the blocks. He was probably busy asking "What's tha-a-at?" He's developing a funny accent. "That" is three syllables. He repeats this questions over and over thoughout the day even asking about things that he knows the answer too. I've identified the trains in that book countless times today -- Thomas, Gordon, Percy, Henry, and James.

Air Ben

This rainy, cold day seemed like the perfect time to put together the basketball goal Santa brought Ben. He really likes it, which is good since I had begun to question whether Santa should have brought a Thomas train set. He's been watching the Thomas DVDs he got for Christmas and has realized that all the trains aren't Thomas. He knows Gordon, Percy, and several others.

The basketball goal is in the living room at the moment, but I plan to move it to his room by bedtime.

A Good Nap

You can tell by Ben's hair what a good nap he had this afternoon. He is in serious need of a haircut.

Making faces.

From the other side.

Helping put up the Christmas decorations. We finally took down the Christmas tree this evening.

Ben and John enjoy playing with blocks and cars in the evenings. This is John's over-sized load.

The Great Outdoors

Our backyard has been like Wild Kingdom for the past week. Our little deer friend that we see every few mornings breakfasted on the corn from the deer feeder Wednesday. That was the first time we had seen him since John hung the feeder.

In the afternoon, I looked out the window and Ben's swingset was surrounded by turkeys. I counted twelve. I couldn't get them all in one picture. Here are just a few of them.

Bambi's Father

We spent New Year's Eve at the hunting camp with John's parents and Big Will. I'm not sure if anyone remembered it was New Year's Eve. I didn't. I went to bed at 9:30 p.m. and never thought about it. At 7 a.m. the following morning, John texted me, "I just shot a deer. If you are awake, call me." I was awake (thanks to Ben) so I called and got the whispered account (just like on the hunting videos) of the buck John shot. Will had his camera with him on the stand and took some great pictures of John and the deer still in the woods.

John and his dad with the buck.

Three generations of Elder men, although the third generation is really wanting to get down and splash in some mud puddles.

Finally Nana takes Ben walking.

Can you see my great leopard rain boots? I got them for Christmas from Will and Danielle. I didn't wear them hunting (see next post), but they were perfect for wearing around the camp. You have to wade to get from the camp to the car.

The Good Wife

John wanted me to go hunting with him. Nana watched Ben and I layered on the clothes and headed out. According to John, the camo pattern on my coveralls went out of date in the late 80s.

The view from the deer stand. I had on so many layers of clothes I could barely move. There was no where to stick a book so I simply sat, listened, and watched.

We saw lots of birds, a few rabbits, and one squirrel.

The stand was enclosed (there were open windows) and I was comfortably warm except for my face. I spent most of the afternoon holding a hat over the lower part of my face trying to keep it warm. Next time I'll bring a scarf and wrap it high.