THE TRAVELING GARDNERS

Spaghetti anyone???? When we first saw Ben and his spaghetti face - Dan started singing - "The Phantom of the opera is hereeeee" hehehehhee silly Dan Sometime my boys scare me a little... To the left - Daddy wants spaghetti too Ben! And below - Clean and handsome boy after his bath No Mommy and Daddy not.....KISSESSSSSSSS!!!!!!! After all was said and done, Mommy put clean Ben to sleep.

Obviously I still have yet to perfect my domestic skill of cooking. I can clean and organize like nobody's business....but when it comes to cooking...let's just say it's a hit or miss situation, and this time I missed! Hockey puck anyone????? True love is when Dan eats my hockey puck cookies and says that they are great dipped in milk....I knew there was a reason I married him....

Oh such a hard place to be stuck in right? ;)wink wink.....My friend Rachel and her sweet baby girl have been hanging out at our house. They are trying to get back to their home in Okinawa. They have been taking hop flights (free military flights)between the mainland and Okinawa. And Hawaii is in the middle. So anyhoo - until they can catch a flight that has available space on it they will be staying with us. It works out with me because, just like when Kristin and Nancy visited...I love playing tourist! Here are a few pictures of our recent fun times. Nicole and Ben - love at first drool - P.S. Benjamin and Nicole have almost identical car seats and stroller sets - but Ben has the "boy" version, and Nicole had the "girl" version. Trying to hold hands Here are pictures of our quick pit stop at Sunset beach. Today is the day that we decided even though Rachel had to catch a flight, we totally had time to drive to the north shore and play...hahaha....long story..endin...

So the latest - you want it? Here it goes.... I have officially started up school this past week. I am taking 4 classes this semester totaling up to 12 units. Full time baby! I am taking Art, Philosophy, Math, and Intro to Mass Communications. Dan started up his classes a few weeks ago. He is taking Accounting, Biology, and a English class. We are both busy bees! My Friend Rachel and her sweet baby girl are visiting us for a few days. She is in limbo trying to fly back home to Okinawa. It has been a lot of fun having her and Nicole here! Ben has been sick. We are not sure if it is your typical flu bug, or if he just ate too much sand Saturday at the north shore. All I know is he is not feeling good! He threw up last night 10 times! We brought him to the ER at 3am. We wanted to make sure he was not too dehydrated. Because he was not even able to hold down his Pedialyte. So we continue to give him Pedialyte and cuddle him. We will keep you posted! Pictures of Ben and his flu bug = tired ...

Dan has been doing such a great job with his unit....they gave him an award!!! The Army Achievement medal. Go Dan!!!!

Believe it or not but, Benjamin will be 1 years old in a month and a half! He is very active through out the day. He either crawls around, or walks while holding on to furniture to get around the house. He loves playing with his walker that my Mom got him. He loves knocking over his blocks that Grandma Liz and Rob got him for Christmas. He is able to say ma ma, da da and (don't laugh) boob, oh yeah...and we think that he said hot dog the other day? And he sometimes he is able to say ba ba. He is able to stand in one place without holding on to anything for 15 seconds. He is eating part Gerber Graduate foods, and part stage 3 foods. He chews really well. He now has 8 teeth! He is still working on mastering the sippy cup. He enjoys watching it spill on to our floor and in his high chair, more than drinking it. So with the water loving comes bath time! He LOVES bath time! He also loves Cheerios as of a few weeks ago. And last but not least, his hair is getting longer each day. We are ...

So after birthday cake, and camping smores... Dan and I have really been doing great with eating healthy and working out! We are both working on our portion control, and trying to get in an hour each day of physical activity. Most days that means either taking turns going to the gym, or doing work out videos at the house, but sometimes it might mean just taking a walk around our neighborhood. Which is just what we did this past Tuesday evening. And it ended up totaling to 2 miles! I am so proud of us! Again this isn't about fulfilling a new years resolution to diet. It is all about changing our choices that we make. Healthy vs UnHealthy. It is all about being a good model of health to Benjamin. Dan and I are both tired of being unhealthy. So yeah for being healthy!!!! We will most likely start up weight watchers to give us the extra push towards healthiness. We are also following the healthy ideas from Dr OZ and Dr Rosin as I mentioned in a previous post. We have slowly been workin...

Happy Birthday to me! My sweet hubby sitting next to me Ed and Michele showing their Raven support on football playoff weekend. I think they wore the jerseys for me since purple is my favorite color! :O) Yummy "Midnight Delite" from Cold Stone cakes! Dan knows me soooo well. He got this chocolaty cake for me, along with strawberry short cake plates! He is helping me feel young in my old age. ;o) wink wink P.S. This cake was so rich, I had to drink a glass of milk with it! A few days after we got back from camping, my friend Jessica brought me to get spoiled...I mean to get a pretty pretty birthday pedicure! Even included a parafin wax treatment on my feet! SMOOTH FEET! My special birthday willow tree pieces My pretty in pink birthday bag The greatest travel book ever! My steal of a deal framed chef picture. I found it one night while shopping. I asked Dan if I could have it as a birthday present since the chef is holding a piece of cake! I got the sales lady to mark it down t...