Christmas Stuff

So we have the tree, and we have all the stuff.  The stockings are hung, awaiting the arrival of Mr. Claus.  And either Bennett is a very old soul, or he has watched "The Grinch" one too many times this season, but he told me the other night,  "Look at all this Christmas stuff, Mom.  We don't need all this stuff.  Christmas is about being with your family - not all this stuff."

The Hunt for the Perfect Tree

After spending a stuffed Thanksgiving with the Prose family, we packed up the car and headed to the tree farm. Finding the perfect tree is quite the adventure - and those Prose's take the hunt very seriously. I was just excited about the cookies and cider. Bennett could barely walk in his new fleece camo gear - and told me over and over "I'm too tired to walk much longer. Carry me. Carry me."
Daddy did most of the carrying. We searched and searched, until finally...
We found it - a glorious, 10 footer. We piled all four trees on the sled, and the horses took us back to the farmhouse. And guess who we found?!?!
The Big Guy! Bennett whispered in my ear, "Mama, I'm not scared of that guy. Think he has any candy??" My response, "Only for good little boys." Bennett replied, "OHHH! That's me!"

Number Three

So, I turned three. Yep, the big 03. We had a party to celebrate, and am I one lucky boy. There were skates, and tunnels, and racetracks, and helmets (2 helmets!!!), and crafts, and movies, and a FIRETRUCK CAKE!!! but, most importantly, there was grammy and grampy, great grammy, and colie, mandy and grandma, papa and lisa and stephanie and noah. like mommy always says, it was by the best day ever!

the pirate and the princess

feliz dia de los muertos. this halloween was much more fun than previous years. bennett loved the entire process, and woke up this morning (at 5am) saying, "trick or treating was the most fun i have ever had in my entire life!!!" bennett was a pirate, and he brought is favorite princess, ms. jayda rae. bennett RAN from house to house, screaming up each drive, "ARRRRRR, trick or treat!!!" just proving that while he may not longer be an odd duck, but he is certainly an odd pirate.

big trucks

last weekend, bennett and i traveled to the farm. while i was fulfilling a lifelong dream of seeing ms. spears live - bennett and grampy were playing on heavy machinery.




there is some construction happening on our land. apparently, the ditches are not big enough. needless to say, bennett and mommy both spent the weekend in heaven. me w/ brit, and best friends, - bennett with grampy, big trucks, and grammy, too.

family pics

a few weeks ago, we met tamara and doug
in minneapolis to take our family pics. we went to minnehaha falls, and had a good time. the park was beautiful, bennett was pretty well behaved, and tamara is not TOO pregnant, so she could still hold the shadow screen thing-y. we love ringeisen photograhy!

#4

from this day on, I choose you, my beloved Andy, to be my husband,
to live with you and laugh with you;
to stand by your side and sleep in your arms;
to be joy to your heart and food to your soul;
to bring out the best in you always;
and, for you, to be the most that i can.


to laugh with you in the good times;
to struggle with you in the bad times;
to solace you when you are downhearted;
to wipe your tears with my hands;

to comfort you with my body;
to mirror you with my soul;
to share with you all my riches and honors;
to play with you as much as i can until we grow old;
and still loving each other sweetly and gladly
our lives shall come to the end.

always my love, mr. prose.

the note

i picked bennett up from stephanie's house the other day, and he had a note in his pocket. he insisted on reading it to me immediately. this kid will be a heart breaker one day...

big changes around here...

there have been some big changes around here. bennett is wanting to do everything by himself. his favorite phrase, of late, is "don't help me, mommy. NOT AT ALL!!" this being said, i decided it was time to give the toilet a try. i am not a fan of parenting literature or advice columns, so in typical prose fashion, i decided to wing it (and not tell anyone, in case it was a miserable failure). i informed bennett he was done w/ diapers, and would now use the potty like mommy and daddy. then, i let him run around, with no pants. it did not take long for him to figure out how amazing the human body is (and, he will tell you, in detail, upon request). after one kitchen clean-up - no
more diapers!
the best part of this new found freedom is no more diapers! the worst part is no more diapers! every where we go, bennett has to check out the bathroom (including porta-pottys - which he described in awe as "WOW. COOL. AWESOME.") he also has to use the bathroom after he has been put to bed, and immediatley when we pull out of our drive.

Now, the last thing on B's To-Do list is always to go potty (for real).

the best things ever

my favorite things include tools, my grandpa, and helping. what could be better than combining these three? the other weekend, mommy and i were at the lake (shocker!) and grandpa needed my help making supper. those of you who know me well, understand my aversion to food, but i decided i might as well assist. i was super duper excited when grandpa pulled out the drill. drilling supper? could it get any better? we were making shish kabobs, and apparently drilling the food prior to putting them on the sticks is the way to go. and, those of you know know my grandpa will not be surprised by this unusual technique.

JUNO

you would think that being on summer vacation, we would be blogging every day due to all our "spare time". quite obviously, that is not the case. june came and went in the blink of an eye.

weekend one, we had visitors - bennett's BFF izzy b and hudson came to visit. i finished elementary school the first week of june, but missed my last day. sick sick sick. sicker than sick. i then had a weekend of graduate school.









i also figured out why people, who stay at home w/ their children, garden. bennett asks from the moment he awakes (6am), to go outside. quiet honestly, there is only so much playing one mom can do. the pool is a lifesaver.


for father's day, andy went tarpon fishing w/ his dad and brothers. he had a lot of fun on the beaches of flordia - while i was home listening to "where's my daddy? i want my daddy." for 5 days.



up next - july and the dance...

love to you all

I survived a parenting milestone this week. Bennett had the stomach flu, and no one told me that 2 year olds DON'T throw up in buckets!! Andy was working, so unfortunately, he missed this lovely evening. I will spare you the details.

The morning after, Bennett told Daddy all about his experience. "Morning, Daddy. I threw up. I threw up in my bed, and on the rug, and on my blankie, and in the kitchen, and in mommy's bed. I didn't throw up my bucket. I don't like my bucket."

I am grateful for two reasons. This is the first time B has ever been sick like that, AND he is feeling much better. He is even back to practicing his break dancing. See above (if you listen carefully, you will be able to hear the song is he dancing to. "low rider" is his current favorite hit.)

big boy

i know a lot of you are thinking, "what happened to that little baby?" i know my mom was when she took the pic of me in my basketball uniform. i am officially a toddler, no longer a baby. that means, NO whining, NO using my hands to eat, NO sticking out my lower lip to get what i want, and NO MORE CRIB. yep. you read correctly. i got my self a regular big boy bed.

as you can see, it is a captain's bed, so it is a little high off the ground. i need a stool to crawl up, and quite honestly, i didn't think i could get down by myself. the first night, i slept like a champ, and in the morning called for mom. "mommy!!! good morning!!! come get B out of the big boy bed, please!!!" now, mom and dad were thinking they were pretty smart, because i was not getting out of bed myself. but, you know what they say about that falling apple... i'm no dim bulb.

last night, i learned how to slide down, and creep down the hall, just to check and see what mommy was doing. i thought it was a great game. however, mommy just kept putting me back to bed. when daddy got home, she told him that she just "super nanny-ed" my butt and it eventually worked. so much for that game... but, i'm pretty sure i will give it one more shot...

your secret is not safe

Beware, your secret is not safe with him. Bennett and I were driving home, and he told me a story. I would like to share it with you.
bennett: Mommy, you drive fast.
gina: Really?
bennett: Yep, but Daddy drive fast, too.
gina: Oh?
bennett: Yep, then the police officer pull him over.
gina: Really?? Tell Mommy what the Police Officer said!
bennett: Slow down!! Drive safely!!

BUSTED!

Isn't she great??

Tomorrow is my Great Grandma's birthday. I just love my Great Grandma. She has the best house to play at, with so many treasures hidden all around. She also lets me jump on the bed, and play the organ. But, what I really love is when she plays Hide and Seek with me. That picture is of us, hiding under her table. Did I mention she will be 80 tomorrow?

xoxo

Comical Anecdote # 276

The other morning, mommy woke up to me, with daddy's duck call around my neck. I was honking as loud as I possibly could. Mommy lumbered down the hall, and the dialogue that ensued went something like this...
"What are you doing, B?" Mommy asked with sleepy eyes.
"Going hunting." I replied matter of factly.
"Oh, really? When?"
I thought really hard, and glanced at my (invisible) watch, "Oh, about five o'clock." Then, I proceeded to HONK HONK HONK down the hall into my room.

Hudson Bjorn Cariveau

My Dearest Hudson;
Happy Birthday! I am so glad we were able to meet you last weekend. We have been waiting for your arrival. You are a pretty lucky little boy. Your parents have many exceptional qualities! Try to take it easy on them, in the beginning. I look forward to spending many lazy days with you this summer!
xoxo -
gina

this one's for you, shelly

i've been busy. i've been out of the country. i've been building schools in africa. i've been saving the rain forest. are you buying any of this?














i thought not.


really, i have just been hanging out, getting bigger and smarter and funnier. since it has been awhile, i thought i would fill you in on some of my current favorites.

food: cake - cupcakes actually (that's a pic of mommy's birthday cake - it was the biggest cupcake i have ever seen, and it had sparklers on it!!!)
sport: hockey
book: curious george and NO, David!
cartoon: max & ruby
saying: "that's my favorite!!"
hobbies: talking on the phone, sweeping, and spinning around until i fall down.
instrument: guitar
beverage: soy milk

up next - side splitting antidotes involving bennett prose

happy birthday, lexi

alexis jane kral was born january 13 at 11:45 am. she is gorgeous, with dark hair and olive skin. i think that makes 10!

una cervesa, por favor

andy and i went to mexico last weekend. it was a lovely, much needed vacation. we both were feeling very deprived of Vitamin D. we were fortunate enough to have babysitters (aka - grammy J and grampa) not only willing to take B for 4 days, but willing to travel to our house.
the weather was glorious - 80 degrees and sun. we spent our days laying by the pool, reading and sleeping, and of course, drinking slushy drinks. however, regardless of how beautiful the scenery...
andy could not resist the temptation of getting some work done.
we can not thank you enough, grammy and grampa! B had so much fun skating and cooking and going to the toy store. he asks for you every morning, and wants to know when you will bring him to the lake (even though it is "very icy"). but, really - did you have to teach him to say "WHY??"

xoxo