Misc events from May and June

Max at the Children's Museum. Unfortunately it was crazy busy that day, so I didn't get many photos - I had to make sure I left with the same number of kids I came with, and all.




Simon's Writing Celebration in Kindergarten. The kids wrote stories and made them into books, and then each read their story aloud to the group of parents. It was very cute. Simon wrote about shapes and how you can make them into whatever you want. I think his was the only non-fiction book in the group.


Afterward: Simon and his BFF, Tobie.



Emma's 1st grade class did a play based on nursery rhymes. This is Emma with Emily (one of her BFFs) and Dodie (another good friend). The theme here is Emma is the mom, and Dodie is the daugher, with Emily narrating. Emma is telling Dodie that if she doesn't go to school, she'll have to eat two worms. The other photo is Emma's teacher, Miss Gross, helping her get her costume on for the next skit.











Grandpa and Simon washing our van, while Oly and Max try out Grandpa's riding lawn mower. Don't grandpas always have all the cool toys?







The kids and I at the Lincoln Children's Zoo in June.











Brotherly love at it's finest. :)

Bike ride with Emma and Simon

A few nights ago, Emma and Simon and I went on a bike ride around the neighborhood, and to the neighborhood park.

It was a gorgeous evening! Simon is a pretty competative kid and was trying to one-up me the majority of the ride. I'm sad to say that he came pretty close!

Anyway, it was a lot of fun and great for me to be able to hang out with Emma and Simon without competition from the younger guys.

I am not nearly in the same caliber as Oly is, and I am pretty sure I never will be, as I completely lack the drive that he has an abundance of, but I am really enjoying the leisurely riding I've started to do. With the new seat Oly got me for the bike I use (he has like 12 bikes, and I'm not even kidding), which is made specifically for women, I am a lot more comfortable than I was on his seat (saddle? I think he calls it a saddle).

Anyway, we're having fun this summer!

Sam

Sam turned 2 months old on June 22nd. They grow so quickly, don't they? ;) I got some cute photos of him last night. He's started to smile (actually, grin) a lot lately, but every time I get the camera to try and capture it, he stares intently at the camera and won't smile for me. I'll keep trying!

Last night he slept through the night! He's been sleeping for long stretches (5-6 hours) but last night was 9:00 until 5:40. Now, 5:40 is not generally when I like to wake up, so I fed him and we went back to sleep for a while... but almost 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep - what a guy!!

Anyway, Sam is super cute and extra sweet. Today, Simon said "Sam is so cute, I could kiss him all day!" I think he might be biased, because Sam looks a lot like Simon did... but nonetheless, he's right!

Intro

This is a new blog I'm starting, to document the goings-on in the Banta Household. Mostly for my own records, but also for those of you who might want to keep tabs on what we're up to around here.

To start things out, I'll do a brief re-cap of the past week. Last Monday, we went to Omaha to pick my mom up and borrow her for a few days. My birthday gift from her was to upgrade (or, rather, completely re-install) our flower bed in front of the house. Believe me, it needed a lot of work. My mom is an accomplished gardener, and I find myself with very little time for things like this, so it was a fabulous gift to receive! We found time to go to our favorite thrift store while she was here, so that was a major plus as well!

She stayed through Wednesday, when Max was scheduled to have tubes put in his ears. He's had some speech issues (not 'delays', but trouble articulating) so after having his speech and hearing tested with the public school system, and seeing our regular doctor, and thusly being referred on to the ENT doctor, we all agreed that due to a large amount of fluid behind his eardrums, he wasn't hearing as well as he should have, consequently not articulating like he should be. So anywho, we had to be at the surgical center at 6am on Wednesday, so my mom stayed home with Emma, Simon, and Gus while Oliver and I took Max (and Sam) to the surgery. We were back home by 8:00am, if you can believe that. Max was back to his normal self by 9:00 if not sooner, and we went on with our day! Took Mom back to Omaha late that morning and that evening, finished up the flower bed (added mulch and planted a few more plants on the other side of the walkway). I am very, very thrilled with it! Thanks again, Mom!! :)

Before (or rather, During) - click on photos for larger size if desired:






After:




Nice, huh?

Monday I turned 31. That seems pretty old to me, kids. It was a fabulous day, though. Max started a weeklong camp from 9-11:30, which he is loving. Friday our plans are to go to the home of some friends of ours and eat some food. Last year when they had their annual 4th of July BBQ, we were trying the vegetarian thing. I will happily indulge in the actual meat this year. :)

I hope this blog is enjoyable to you all. I get emails from some of you, sometimes, saying "so what are you all up to?" I like reading blogs that my friends write, so I thought that most of you might enjoy this. If you want to be added to the email list (I think it just emails you a notification that I updated, if not the actual blog in the email), just let me know. I hope you all have a fabulous 4th of July weekend!