Week in Photos: New Office, Memorial Day and Sunny Days

We moved the office!  Finally!  What I (foolishly) expected to be a short day ended up being an entire (weekend) day spent getting moved and unloaded, but it's worth it.  We just started our second week in the new space and it has been really great :)

Ben taking a rare mid-day snooze on the couch (after a long day/evening at Dan and Jeannette's the day before).

At the BBQ.

Hilary and Violet came over for dinner and a squirt gun battle.

    

Raleigh and Ben being adorable (and loud, so so loud) in the back seat of Rachel's car.

Really fun afternoon spent at Becca's house with some of the XO girls and offspring.  Luke, Raleigh, Ben, Owen and Emmett.

Ben's rad new do.

These are all out of order.  Oh well. On Saturday, we decided to head over to Edmonds to walk around and enjoy the nice weather.  Luck would have it that the Cougans were available to meet up!  We met them at the Farmer's Market after Raleigh's soccer practice and picked up some snacks.

Next we checked out the new water park in Edmonds that I cannot WAIT to go back to.

Jammin' in the back seat.

Ben Update: 4 years 8 months Old

We are in the middle of a really cute, fun and entertaining stage right now, so I feel the need to update on life with Ben at 4 years and 8 months old.

I lovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvve my little giant 4 year old.  Life has fallen into a really nice routine lately due to a lot more independence and cooperation on Ben's part.  And it's pretty magical, because even with all of his "grown up" qualities starting to kick in, he still LOVES to snuggle.  Win/Win.  Soaking up every minute right now because at any moment, I know this could (and will) change.

 

Ben is weighing in at about 42 pounds and is 44 inches tall.  With a trip to Disneyland approaching this fall, we are staying on top of any growth - 2 more inches and he can join us on the Indiana Jones ride :)  (Not counting on that, but at the rate kids grow, it wouldn't surprise me)!

Likes:

Pretend Play: If he had his way, we would play pretend every minute of every day.  It is 100% his favorite way to spend his time. He loves to act out books, scenes from movies or cartoons he likes, play "family" and "school", or moments from school or from playing with his friends.  Here he is pretend calling Callie with a playdoh phone:

 

Several times a day he will come tell me that I'm the daddy and he is the mommy and then explain what we need to do.  (Him on his big wheel, riding to the store to get groceries, etc).  At school, Greg often picks him up and has to interrupt him and the other kids in the midst of a scene of "school".  A few days ago during breakfast, he was pretending that his plate and his cup were arguing about who got to "sit" where.  Last night, he performed the first 30 minutes of Alice in Wonderland, complete with him chasing the white rabbit, falling down the rabbit hole, drinking the potion that made him shrink, eating the cookie that made him grow, and trying to get through the locked door. :)  It's so much fun - and although I pretty much detest playing pretend, I'll do it anyway just to be around him and hear the things he comes up with.  

His Big Wheel:  Greg and I bought Ben a new bike with training wheels a few weeks ago, but he still prefers to ride his big wheel.  We think he prefers it because we don't make him wear his helmet when he rides it (he is so low to the ground) and because he can cruise around so quickly on it.  Hopefully this summer we can get him up to speed and learn to love his new ride!

Potty Humor: Oy.  Make the mistake at laughing at one too many poop jokes with your little boy and look out.  We are working to correct this, (but sometimes it's too damn funny and we laugh anyway).  Trying to teach Ben about when it's okay to be inappropriate.  I'm still trying to teach Greg ;).  

Days of the Week: Each and every single time we talk about something we have done or something that is coming up, and Ben's response will be "What was that on?" or "What's that going to be on?".  He is referring to what day of the week it was/will be, and it's constant. 

Watching Disneyland Rides on YouTube: With our trip coming up, we have helped get him even more excited by showing him various ride videos.  For awhile, I was worried he would be too scared to go on anything fast (i.e. how I like to spend my days at the park), but now he cannot wait to go on everything I show him - I think we will be totally fine!  With each ride, he will tell me who he plans to sit with (usually Grandma) and it's got me so excited to go!

SCHOOL: Ask Ben what his favorite days of the week are, and he will tell you: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday - aka, the days he goes to school.  When we pull into the parking lot, he will say, "I just LOVE my school"!  He loves it so much that at the end of this month, when he moves to Pre-K (!!!!!), he is going to start going on Mondays, too!  He has learned so much and has come so far in his experiences at school.  His school puts a lot of work into doing a portfolio for each kid documenting their progress in various areas.  They also do "observations", where they write down various things they observe each child doing that align with different acquired skills, along with a picture.  When they sent home the portfolios a few weeks ago, I LOVED reading through it. One of the observations was that when a friend was struggling to get her blankets straight before nap time and stared to cry in frustration, Ben went over to her, gave her a hug, and helped get her bed ready.  

I no longer am concerned about when he moves to Kindergarten (not until Fall 2017).  I'm certain he will thrive and it's been so amazing to watch.

Reading: Ben is nailing about 80% of the words when we read stories with him.  He was given some flashcards for Christmas that he has absolutely mastered.  It's so much fun and we are SO proud of him!

Favorites: Movies - Alice in Wonderland, Sword in the Stone (bringing him up to speed on the classics for Disneyland purposes), Princess and the Frog.  Shows - Dora the Explorer (ugh), Shimmer and Shine (LOL), and Peppa Pig.  Food - meatballs, PB toast, every treat imaginable.

4 has been a great age so far.  So grown up in so many ways but still so sweet and innocent.  Hard to believe that 5 is right around the corner.  

Meal Planning: Week of June 6th

Review from last week:

Pulled this recipe out that I enjoyed a lot last summer: Summer Cabbage Slaw Salad.  It was good :)

 

This dinner ended up being fantastic.  I made the spinach pesto gnocchi dish from Blue Apron (This pesto + asparagus would go perfectly with any kind of pasta in my opinion, and it was very simple)! Greg grilled up some chicken and filet and it was pretty damn perfect.

 

  

My current favorite recipe - Mexican Pork Carnitas - with my favorite items on the side: a little ranchero cheese, slow roasted cherry tomatoes (halved, tossed with EVOO, minced garlic, salt and pepper and cooked on low in the over for about an hour), cabbage slaw (a bag of pre chopped cabbage + carrots, tossed with EVOO, lime juice, chopped cilantro and salt and pepper), and some of the brown rice + quinoa we get from Costco.

 

Plan for next week:

Saturday: Grilled Artichokes with Honey-Chili Dipping Sauce and Smoked Ribs.

Sunday: Tomato Soup

Monday: Beef and Bean Burritos


Tuesday: Leftover burritos

Wednesday: Blue Apron Meal: Miso-Sesame Shredded Salad with Red Rice & Gingered Carrots

Thursday: Blue Apron Meal: Huevos Rancheros Quesadillas with Tomatillo Salsa & Sunny Side-Up Eggs

Friday: Blue Apron Meal: Spicy Korean Rice Cakes with Snow Peas & Pea Shoots

Week in photos: Dr. Ben, Out with Hilary, and My New Office is ALMOST READY

My mom picked up this amazing play road tape for Ben that he absolutely loves.  He has recently gotten back into his cars and has enjoyed playing with them on it (sometimes for hours all by himself).

I returned from Hawaii with a terrible cold/sinus thing and spent the entire weekend in bed.  Ben came in one afternoon and told me to get into his bed so he could make me feel better.  It definitely helped.

Under our window seat, we stash away a selection of toys so that every so often, we can open it up and discover "new" things to play with.  The other day Ben pulled out his walkie-talkies - and now he actually understands the concept of pushing the button down when you need to talk. 

Bath buddies.

Jaxon (our friend Chris and Emily's boy) turned 4 and had a fun party at his house.  We recently learned that Ben and Jaxon will be going to the same kindergarten - which is so fun since I've known Chris since the 1st grade and went to school with him for so many years. And yes, Ben is a giant.  (Beckett, left is 2 and Jaxon, right is 4).

This cracked me up.  Emily put Chris in charge of helping Jaxon open his presents, but soon after I snapped this photo, all of the kids grabbed their own presents to bring over and everyone started opening them and Chris shouted out "Emily, help!  I've lost control!!".  I think everything was opened within 3 minutes and all the kids started playing with the new stuff.

Hilary is in town this week, so we headed out to Woodinville for wine, snacks and a nice long catch-up!  Hilary just finished school for her Nurse Practitioner degree and it was so fun to hear about her graduation and interview process for new jobs!

Grandma Wednesdays are definitely a highlight of Ben's week.  Last week, they went to library story time and picked up a book where the family makes a berry pie.  Ben asked Grandma if they could make one, so of course, they did!  He got to help cut up strawberries (those child-safe knives I bought him for Christmas have really come in handy)!

And finally, we are moving this weekend!  This has been a great experience learning what it takes to move a business - and I hope to never have to do it again :) 

My empty office.  My work home for the past 11+ years.  While I'm very much looking forward to the newer, nicer, closer to home office (with windows), I sure learned a lot in this space and feel a little sad leaving. 

New space coming together!

Meal Planning: Week of May 30th

Review from last week: 

If you haven't made this gyro meat yet, please do it.  It is soooooo great on salads.

 

Blue Apron Meal: Steak tartines (beef on bread), toasted with cheese and an arugula pesto.  

Callie, Mira and Maylee came over for a pizza party!

 

The other Blue Apron meal we made last week wasn't the most beautiful, but it was still super good.  Chicken Steam Buns with a radish and cucumber kimchi.

Plan for next week:

Sunday: Summer Cabbage Slaw Salad

Monday:  Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

Tuesday: Leftover Carnitas

Wednesday: Spinach Pesto Gnocchi (blue apron meal we didn't make last week - had to replace the Spinach and asparagus with fresh ingredients).

Thursday: Callie and the girls came over for pizza last week, and she brought me some soup she had made!  Since we already had a fridge full, I froze it to reheat this week on a busy night.

Friday: Something from the freezer (I've been making my way through Trader Joe's frozen section choosing something new to try each time I go there.  I picked up some dumplings that looked interesting).

Saturday: Out to eat

Sunday: Tomato Soup

Meal Planning: Week of May 23rd

Review from last week:

This rosemary chicken salad was SO delicious.  I'm making it again next week.

Miracle of all miracles - Ben ATE SOMETHING I MADE.  He has gotten into such a rut with what he is willing to eat (at least happily willing to eat), that it made my day week when he grabbed the fork and dug into the pasta with meat sauce I placed in front of him.  He has had an aversion to pasta (including macaroni and cheese) but suddenly, he is interested in both these past few weeks.  And I love it. 

This is not my cooking, but I wanted to point out that Trader Joe's actually had some decent frozen Indian Food.  I love having something like this in the freezer (that is a fraction of the price of ordering take out) on a night when I don't feel like cooking.

I had forgotten about this recipe - black bean tacos with feta and cabbage slaw.

Plan for next week:

Sunday: Leftover gyros

Monday: Rosemary Chicken Salad

Tuesday: Papa Murphy's

Wednesday: Blue Apron Meal: Steak Tartines with Zucchini au Pistou

Thursday: Blue Apron Meal: Chicken Steam Buns with French Breakfast Radish & Cucumber Kimchi

Friday: Blue Apron Meal: Spinach Pesto Gnocchi with Sauteed Asparagus & Brown Butter

Saturday: Memorial Day (Weekend) BBQ at Dan and Jeannette's

Sunday: Out to dinner :)