Do you see a resemblance?

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

 
Exhibits A and B together (B thirty years later and with her thighs safely covered)

 

It's a treat to be told that I look like my Benno.

I guess it's a little late

But here's your FHE idea for today!  It's so dear. 

And hopefully your kids aren't prone to crawling all over the couch and fake burping...they might get more out of it that way.  Even if they are that way, I defy them to not take a little something away from this.

I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse

 

Yes, I did.  

It was two dollars.  

I offered him two dollars to try on this suit. 

Money well spent.

A friend gave me a few suits when Jacob was 18 months old.  This is the first one to fit.  Pinstripe and 3 piece!  I am in disbelief that he actually fits it! 

Now, how much do you think it'd cost me to get him to wear it to church...

A picture of gratitude

Last night at bedtime I noticed something.



There are many other generous gift givers in our life whose names could easily be found on this picture. Thank you all. It's just not bedtime for Benjo without "Lambers" and his two blankies.  A trifecta of bedtimery!

And yes, every night I feel like I'm tucking my dad in to bed. 

Just a little.

For those about to rock

we salute you.

Especially on Halloween.

Here's Benjamin while rocking at the ward party.  Rocking (for those who are unsure) as Angus Young from AC/DC.  If you've seen School of Rock the outfit Jack Black wears in the concert at the end is an homage to Angus Young.  Only about 10% of the party goers knew who he was, but those who recognized him greeted him with shouts of, "Oh my goodness, is that Angus Young?!", "AC/DC man!" and "Best costume of the night!".  Plus, he really looked cute no matter what he was, so his costume filled its purpose.

Oh the time he spent working on opening that M & M bag.  Good times.

Jacob and Nicholas also rocked.  They rocked as Bumblebee and Captain America.  (We've gone corporate.)

The tight buttocks of justice.  Check out Nico's panty line.

Matt and I were Jack and Meg White of the White Stripes.  Unfortunately we didn't get a picture together.  Seriously, what's the point of a couple costume if you can't get yourselves together for one shot?!  Oh well, between these two pictures you get the idea.  Especially the idea of Matt's red skinny jeans.  Hee.  We wore name tags since, again, only a certain percentage knew who the heck we were.  We had planned on straightening Matt's hair, but time was short. And he grew it out just for that purpose!

Oh, and on Halloween itself we couldn't find his white shirt, so we opted for a Braves shirt.  

All of the short of timeness came from Matt working late lately and my being part of the group in charge of the ward party.  We were pretty much time crunched and stressed a lot of the week.  Poor us!  Well, it was a lot of work and I didn't handle it very gracefully.  Just ask my kids! 

The above pictures are a mix of the ward party and our own trick or treating on Halloween.  On Halloween we went with friends to Larry's for pizza and then came back to our neighborhood to trick or treat.  It was wild and lots of fun.  This neighborhood is cuckoo for Halloween.  Spider webs, fog machines, lights, and general spookiness.

Poor Benjamin was so tired during our trick or treating.  He was on his own highway to hell.  Ba dum bum.

Here are the boys lounging with their loot.  Don't they have Halloween entitlement written all over their faces?  Um, and postures?

Nico's school had a Halloween party and parade on Halloween.  This was a totally candid shot.  I love how he swings his arms while walking.  Even when not dressed as an arm swinging superhero machine.

I was intrigued by the Belle next to Nico.  I have 6 pictures of her and they all look the same.  Super bored, slightly bummed and also darling.  You're Belle honey, enjoy!  Also, Buzz Lightyear's wings were push button activated.  Whoah!  And yes, Nico is the shortest one in his class. 

And the cutest!  I really love this face.

Nico and his teacher were both Bumblebee for Halloween.

And to sign off here are some pictures we took the day we got their costumes a few weeks ago.  They were so excited!

And so dramatic.

My favorite pic of the night.  In the car before the ward party when their "crazy hair" still held.

When it's all said and done, it was a good Halloween. 

Haunted

Did I tell you that we moved?  Well, we did.  We got out of a house of horrors (roaches, paint chips, glass fragments...oh my!) and moved down the street into a haunted one!

No, really, check it out!  Do you see him peeking out of the window?

 

You doubt?  Well, how about this?  I mean, what is this?!?

Oh wait..

Hold on...

Phew, it's just Benjamin. 

Much better than a ghost.

Happy Halloween!

So

Maybe he'll be a math teacher. 

Friends at the Fair

When we met the Clives the first week we moved to Chicago we never would have dreamed that either of us, let alone both of us, would end up in Arkansas.  At the same time.  Considering how scattered all of our Chicago friends are, being 3 hours away seems as if we're still just six floors apart.  Sort of. 

We visited them in Bentonville a few months ago and this past weekend the Clives drove down to experience Little Rock.  And...the State Fair!  Apparently some of Mardee's friends were sort of confused as to why we'd want to go to the State Fair.  Well, apparently some of Mardee's friends don't know the great lengths we went to in Chicago to see the sights!  Buses, trains, blocks of walking...all in the snow.  Anything to do something "local".  When Matt and I saw the ads for the Fair we high-fived and thumbs-upped and then immediately got in touch with the Clives.  We were completely certain that they would by dying to go.  And they were! 

Their visit was wonderful.  Fun to catch up and try to hear each other over the racket the kids made. 
Jacob told me that he loves Cadence and Campbell more than Daddy...which means I'm further down on his love line.  When our families met Jacob was 3, Cadence was 2, Nicholas was 1 and Campbell was 6 weeks old. 

And seriously, Campbell pretty much was the stroller or Baby Bjorn those first few months.  So little!

Awwwww.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

 

We tried to take as many pictures of the kids in as many configurations as we could.  I mean, with our three boys and their three girls surely someone has to at least date!

Poor Benny experienced 99% of the fair from his stroller. 

Sunny, hot, confusing and yet fun.

Maybe Nico and Cadence will hit it off!  I see this at their reception on the table where the sign-in book is.

This ride rocked.  It was a little track that whipped the kids around a sharp curve.  As you can see, it was fun. 

In my attempts to photograph the three cars our kids occupied I got a few strangers.  But look at how cute these boys are!

It was fun AND Nico needs a haircut.

We also went because we were anxious to see any crazy fair food we could.  This article has changed us.  I love how colorful and wild it is.  I half expected to see Pinocchio running around in such a sinful, gluttonous place that serves fried dough (look far).

The food wasn't as crazy as we had hoped, but still...

Yes, chocolate dipped bacon.  Eeeew.

This sign was in the cow barn...what is "filling"??!?

More couples shots.  Layla and Benjo chillin' in the stroller. 

Nico and Campbell playing peek-a-boo.

We ended up with a funnel cake and a deep fried twinkie. 

And here comes the part where I come off as a fuddy duddy.  Ah so be it.  Spencer is pretty much always up for it.  He even was up for wheeling and dealing with the carnies.  He was able to save us major dough (un-fried) by dickering them down ride after ride.  When he started working with the guy running the bull I didn't even consider doing it. 

But Spencer did.

And Matt.

I was ready to walk away when Mardee hopped up there!  I was impressed.  But the minute they all came off saying it was exhausting I said no thanks.  Now that I'm blogging it I'm a bit sad, but mainly just for the photo op.  I've become an old lady!     

More car ride!

I am seeing more wedding video fodder!

I can't get enough of these smiles.  Unfortunately, Campbell and Cadence weren't as easily seen so we missed their reactions.

Smiling eyes...

Note our kids' cars are the Budweiser car and the Miller Lite car.  It's a kid's ride!  Ha.

I must have taken 100 pictures of the dads from behind holding kid hands or carrying babies.  I guess we enjoyed seeing all of the domesticated animals at the fair.  Ba dum bum.

Oh Benjo.

Matt's fair hair.

I honestly hate this picture of me.  My hair fell all stringy-like on my forehead when I took of my sunglasses and then there's my weird shirt.  And I was all fair-ey by the end.  But everyone else looks so darling I'm swallowing my pride.  Plus, Matt has horns.

I guess Spencer knew I felt a little insecure about that photo.  Thanks.  (And yes, Mardee really looked that darling and stylish and fresh the whole time.  She really brought class to the fair.)  Don't confuse Mardee with the other redhead with glasses walking by. 

We love you Clives.  Please let's be related some day!  (Here are a few more pics of the kids while still in Chicago.)  I say next time we get together we do formal couples shots.  Just in case.

(What you can't see is that Jacob is in his underwear at the park.  We're close.)