Laundry Day

Simon and Ben love to "help" me with the laundry. As you can see, it really isn't very helpful...but it is fun...for them!!!

Happy Birthday Ben!

Ben is 2 years old!

Our day started with Simon in our room at 6 a.m. asking very quietly (almost as if he KNEW it was the crack of dawn!) if it was time for Ben to open his presents. We were able to keep him occupied until 8:30 when Ben usually wakes up. Simon understands birthdays now. Ben does not. He does have a little more knowledge after today though!

Here he is with his birthday balloon.

And opening his presents.




When Jon came home from work we went to Schererville Fun Center or better known in our house as "The Games Place". So much fun. Jon & I took turns taking the boys on the go-cart. Talon was a sweaty mess when that was over, but thankfully he did finally fall asleep. I think the heat made him crash.


After that we went to Red Robin. They sing their bithday song to the tune of The Flintstones theme song - and they sing it loud. It's quite embarrassing but the kids love it!

What a fun day! We love you Bennett James!

4th of July

Our 4th of July was very low-key. No picnic. No parade. No fireworks. (I'm still a little upset about that one.) We spent the morning at Union Station in St. Louis then drove home. We didn't get home until about 5:30 and the kids were exhausted.

"Safe Louis" - part 4

Last one - I promise!

We stayed in a place with a loft upstairs, a full kitchen and the pool down the stairs and around the corner. So here is Talon's first "real" swim. Of course, I forgot his bathing suit. Oh well.

I couldn't resist posting this one! :)

It looks like Talon is thinking "Hey, this is okay!"

" And it is pretty hot out. I think I like this."

"Maybe not...now I'm too wet and cold"

It's pretty much official...my 2nd brown-eyed boy!

So that's it! Our trip to St. Louis conveniently located in 4 different posts!
In a couple of weeks we're going to "Same Joe's". I'll post pictures.

"Safe Louis" - part 3

Will this trip ever end??? Maybe not if blogger continues to only let me load 3 or 4 pictures then it's like "nope, that's it...no more for you!" Aaaaahhhhh!

Anyway, I was worried about how the boys would sleep - especially Talon. Fortunately, they slept like rocks! Talon actually slept through the night for the first time the first night we were there.

1st night: Simon was all over the place!

2nd night: they figured it out

"Safe Louis" - part 2

I've never seen the Arch (which Simon calls "Half of McDonald's") up close. It was pretty amazing.

It was SOOOO hot and humid and we walked for a long time to get to the Arch so after checking it out we let the boys run in the sprinklers. We actually had a guy look at Jon and say "You're being a bad example you know". Jon said "Bad example??? It's 95 degrees out!" The guy was like "Yeah, I guess you're right." People are funny.

"Safe Louis" - part 1

FINALLY, a new post! I know, I am really behind...again! And for some reason I can't post a lot of pictures on each post so this will be a few parts long. Anyway, 4th of July weekend we decided (kind-of spur of the moment) to head to St. Louis, Missouri for a few days. Simon really does think it's called Safe Louis. :)

These are CHILD'S SIZED portions at the Macaroni Grill. Look at the size of Ben's bowl of spaghetti and Simon's pizza. Crazy!




































Our main purpose for going to St. Louis was to see Naomi Smoker who is a long-time family friend of the Stevens'. Jon was also able to show me where he grew up so that was fun too.





















Naomi and Simon




















Naomi & Talon - who was crabby and whining until Naomi took him. She reached her arms out and said "Give me that baby". I handed him over and he almost immediately started cooing at her. It was so cute.

Simon's Very Own Water Slide

Simon has said before that he wanted a water slide. So, the other day he decided to make one for himself. He didn't know I was watching the whole process. I felt like I could almost see the gears turning inside his head as he figured it out.












































He sure does know how to make his own fun! And he is really becoming such a fun boy to be around. Jon and I can't believe that this is our baby!

Toot, Toot, Peanut Butter

A lot of you won't understand this (probably just you Steph) but the other day, Simon made himself a little track, put a wooden firefighter on it and started rolling the train towards it. Then he started singing "a peanut sat on the railroad track, his heart was all aflutter..." I am not kidding! He even did the tooooot, toooot part in the middle. It was the cutest and saddest thing ever! It was so cute that he thought to do it and sang the whole song. And it was so sad because it made both of us think of Stephanie! He even said that he wanted to show it to you next time you came over. :( We miss you Stephanie!!!

Carnival #2

Another carnival??? Oh yeah. They have so much fun, how can we resist. Well, I think Jon could do without it, but I can't. So I lured him there with the promise of some Hot Wisconsin Cheese!





















Ahh, the dragon roller coaster! Ben liked this one much better, I think because it wasn't as jerky. He still wanted to get off before the ride was over though. : )





















This tow truck ride was the best. Simon and Ben both really enjoyed it.

Picasso Jr.

Here is Ben's first real shot at painting. Usually Simon and I paint while Ben takes a nap. I thought it would be fun for him to get a chance this time. Here he is painting his little heart out.














I sat on the couch - not 5 feet away - so I could feed Talon. About 5 minutes later he was very quiet and I noticed that he painted himself! It took him a long time to realize we weren't mad at him. He was so sad because I think he thought he would be in trouble. He wouldn't even lift up his hands to show us.

























Finally he figured out that it was okay (probably because we were cracking up!)and lightened up a bit. Washable paint in the BEST!

Talon and Grandma sitting in a tree...

K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

Gotta Love Auntie Kristin!

Here is a picture of Talon smiling at Auntie Kristin last week. So sweet!!!

And a little smirk!

He was having so much fun with her - cooing and smiling.

Swinging and Relaxing

I did my best to get some action shots while the boys were swinging. They love to go high on the swings.














And Talon LOVED the hammock. He just laid there and looked up at the trees. Simon used to love to sit in his bouncy seat in our backyard and "talk" to the trees too. It's funny how they are so the same - yet so different!