Bentley: 10 Months Old

At 10 months old, Bentley is:

• 24 pounds, puting him at 90th percentile in weight and 92nd percentile for height... yikes!
• Loves eating table foods: sliced bananas, cheerios, scrambled eggs, cooked carrots and sometimes avocado. He also loves Grandma's veggie soup and is getting so good at feeding himself with his fingers.
• CRAWLING!! Nothing is off limits for this little guy either, including our floor lamps.
• babbling a ton
• pointing to things he wants
• claps when we say, "Yay!"
• says "more" in sign language
• has five teeth

First Day of School 2012

Hallie: 1st Grade~

Hallie's in first grade this year which means all day! She was so excited to pick out her lunch box (Hello Kitty of course), and loves packing her lunch every day. The first few days of school were kind of crazy because while doing construction at her elementary school, they ran into some bumps along the way and didn't finish construction on time for the first day (or month) of school so they had to split some of the grades up and ship them off to different churches and middle schools who had room for all the students! Luckily Hallie adjusted fine and the church that her grade goes to with second and third grade is set up just like school and Hallie is loving her class.

She insisted on riding the bus with our neighbor, Grace, the first day of school and I insisted on taking her so I could show her where her class was since I figured she wouldn't remember from orientation. But I let her ride the bus and I drove the other two kids separately and met her at her school with her school supplies. I kind of spied on her to see if she really knew where her class was and sure enough! She got off the bus and knew right where to go... smart girl.

I love listening to Hallie's stories of what her and her little girlfriends talk about at lunch... hilarious!

Sydnee: Preschool~

Sydnee went to orientation last week and the parents were allowed to stay and kind of observe what they would be doing every day in preschool. I was a little nervous how Sydnee would handle being in preschool and figured she'd be shy until she felt more comfortable. But I should have known she'd be the complete opposite! She knew her teacher's name was Mrs. Sweetapple... yes it's her real name, perrrfect for a prek teacher don't you think? So we walked into the building a little late and Sydnee yells in the hall... "Mrs. Sweetapple, where are you!?" She made quite the entrance right there, and when we walked into the classroom, everyone was looking at her so she was a little embarrassed.

When the kids got to class they decorated their name tags. Mrs. Sweetapple helps Syd decorate her nametag...

Four of the ten kids in her class are in her Sunbeam class at church, including William and Grace from last year's co-op preschool we did! Syd and William show off their name tags.

 After she hung her backpack up, they had story time on the carpet and they read "Hungry Hungry Caterpillar." Every thing the caterpillar ate, Syd would raise her hand and say, "I loooove oranges!" Or "I looove plums!" And she would proceed to tell her a personal story about plums or oranges. Good thing her teacher thought it was cute! I think she'll fit in just fine.

Our 10.5 Foot Sunflower!

For Mother's Day this year, Hallie's kindergarten class brought home a teeny tiny little sunflower plant for their Mom's. It was about an inch and a half tall when she brought it home. So she insisted on planting it in the ground and faithfully watered that thing EVERY SINGLE DAY, rain or shine and we watched it grow... and grow... and grow!

We planted it right outside our dining room window so we could see it every day while we ate, but it grew right past the window onto the second story! It finally blossomed last week and we measured it thinking it was the tallest sunflower in Ohio. Measuring at 10.5 feet tall, it's the second tallest sunflower in Ohio (at least from others that were recorded online) and we have to go to the upstairs bathroom window to see the flower since it's so tall. Hallie was so mad when it finally blossomed because it was so tall that we couldn't see it from the kitchen table like we had planned. Cam and I started laughing and said, "That's so cool that it's that tall!!" She just cried and said, "I just watered it too much!!" This is the best gift anyone has ever given me:)

1st Annual Milk Jug Raft Race

Yes, it sounds just like the title says... crazy. Our ward decided to host its first annual milk jug raft race at Lake Erie and a couple of my friends and I were thinking what a ridiculous thing to do and we wondered who would actually make a raft!? Well of course our hubby's chimed in victoriously declaring that they were all so excited to make a raft and race it! Go figure. So Cam got the girls on board with building this raft and me on board with collecting juice jugs since we don't really drink milk. Cam and the girls got to work and they built a FANTASTIC raft! They even added a flag that they decorated.

 When we brought it to the BBQ, I was shocked at how many families built rafts! Man was I wrong about the turnout of this activity!

Cam and Hallie put their raft in the water to see if it floats...

...and it floats!!!

Cam and the girls came in second place in the race... way to go!! When the race was done, Bentley was clapping too.

Here's a couple of the other awesome rafts that some of the families made in the ward. The Green's raft...made out of milk jug's, pvc pipes and tupperware totes.

 The Blake's raft made out of wood and milk jugs...Ari and Bri are testing it out.

 The Dahneke's raft made out of wood and milk jugs too...

Ryan and Becca's Wedding Part 2: Michigan

After Ryan and Becca's honeymoon, they flew to Michigan for another reception so our family got to be there too since it was closer to home. The girls were so excited to meet Becca and wear their "flower girl" dresses as they called them. The kids and I drove up a couple days before the reception to spend time with G&G, Stacey, Ryan and Becca and Cam met us up there on the weekend.

Since we had a couple days before the reception, we took Becca to Michigan's famous Pizzapapolis which has THE best deep dish Chicago style pizza.

 See that huge pizza? All of us ate one slice and Ryan had about 5 or 6... crazy! He was paying for it later though.

 The girls' favorite game at G&G's is Pretty Pretty Princess so they were in heaven when Ryan and Becca played it with them. Ryan looks so purdy:)

Ryan sets up for his reception... I loved the hanging lanterns everywhere. They had these at their reception in Colorado Springs too and it was so pretty when they were lit up.

 Becca feeds Bentley while Hallie supervises! (I asked Hallie to help, not supervise, sorry Becca!)

 Hallie followed Becca everywhere and just looked up to her so much, it was so sweet.

 Did you pay attention to the first picture of Ryan setting up the lanterns? Cause that's about all the hard work he did.. the rest of the time he rode around on HALLIE'S scooter which he stole from her and at one point she was chasing him around the building crying, "I want a turn, it's my scooter!!" It was pretty hilarious. Alright, he did do more work than just hanging lanterns.

See how pretty it is? Our hard work paid off!

 This was the signing table at the entrance and the walkway up to the building had hanging lanterns with candles lit in them, very pretty...apparently we used those at our reception too!?

 Here's my adorable kiddos! Grandma made those headpieces for them which they LOVED! They had ribbons dangling from them in the back. They felt like princesses.

 The Drake/Voge clan...

 Cam's Aunt Kathy is in my parent's stake at church so she and Sam came...with gifts for the kids too which they loved. Hallie especially loves seeing Aunt Kathy because she still sleeps with the baby blanket that Kathy gave her as a baby. Aunt Kathy will always have a special place in Hallie's heart because of that:)

Our family...

 Bentley just loves Grandpa... he's usually the only one he'll happily go to. Even thought Papa calls him "Brutis" because he's just so.... HUGE:)

 It was sad saying goodbye to Ryan and Becca... til' next time! Look at Bentley, he's just so happy with life, ha!

Ryan's Wedding Part 1: Denver

Bentley and I flew out to Denver in July for my brother, Ryan's wedding! It was a very quick trip but so worth it because I not only got to meet my new sis-in-law Becca and see them get hitched but I also got to spend some much needed time with my sis-in-law Brittany, I've loved how close we've become over the past couple years. Ryan and Becca were married in the Denver temple and it was a beautiful wedding. Bentley and his cousin Tenley did great considering all the naps they skipped and the endless errands, driving, and playing we did all weekend.

My Dad rented a pretty sweet SUV (thanks to Nissan). Bentley gets behind the wheel for a quick test drive before heading off to Uncle Kelly's...

Justin and Tenley get ready for all the chaos of constant running around for wedding festivities to begin...

 My siblings and I at Kelly's house: Justin, me, Stacey and Ryan...

 Bentley and Tenley playing ball...

 Of course we had to have a "bathing" session of the two of them... bath pictures are always cute...

 

While the guys had their bachelor party, we decided to throw our own bachelorette party (minus the bride cause she was staying an hour away with her family that night). All we had in the hotel was a microwave so we decided to go with it and bought a couple Betty Crocker microwavable desserts... which were actually to die for.

Then Brittany and I were itching to do some crafting so we made our kids a sensory bag using small items like the ones below in a freezer ziploc bag...

 Then we added a bottle of hair gel into the bag like so...

...and we duct taped the outer edges so it won't open and waa laa. The best sensory bags ever! Bentley and Tenley loved squishing the toys around. Yep, it was a pinterest find:)

Since the wedding was in Denver, we got to see my Aunt Kelly (didn't seem to get one pic of her!?) and Uncle Kelly and cousins Lauren and Sean who lived there. Bentley loved playing catch with Uncle Kelly.

Here's part of the Drake clan watching the olympics hours before Ryan gets hitched...

 Papa was the only one who Bentley felt comfortable with in between meeting new people. I love Bentley's nose scrunching in this picture. He does that every time he tries to be funny or silly and breathes really fast in and out of his nose. It's hilarious.

 My cousin Lauren and sister Stacey...

 Britt and I...and yes, I am sporting my favorite Mother's Day shirt, "the bomb mom."

 Bentley loved touching another baldy like him...

One of my best friends growing up, Rachel, lived in Denver with her husband and kids so she and I tried to meet up quick while I was there and our schedules just didn't allow us to get together which we were bummed about. But as I dropped Bentley off at the "babysitting" room at the temple for my sister and cousin to watch him during the wedding, Rachel happened to walk in that room at the VERY SAME TIME!! Of all people, who would have thought we'd run into each other there!? She was there for a primary fieldtrip with her kids. HA! I still can't believe how our paths crossed but I loved seeing her and her cute family again since it'd been years since we've seen each other.

 Bentley learned quickly that he had to grab some shut-eye wherever he could since his regular naps were few and far between. He was so tuckered out and slept right through all the excitement of Ryan and Becca coming out of the temple.

 Okay, now on to the main event... Ryan and Becca's wedding!! Here's the happy couple.

  A kiss for the camera...

 They're a cute couple and Becca fits in SO WELL in our family, I loved getting to know her better.

Ryan being Ryan, so funny...

My Dad, Grandma, Ryan, Becca and my Mom...

Becca's colors were bright summery colors like pinks, oranges, yellows and greens. I loved that her shoes to matched the bridesmaids dresses.

 Here's little Bentley and Tenley in their wedding outfits. I made Bentley's tie so it would match Becca's colors. These two had had about enough, poor kiddos.

 Me and my little man...

 This is an awful picture since we were standing under a tree but here are the three of us bridesmaids on the Drake side...

 Ryan and Becca had a seperate ring ceremony at their reception which was really nice and the decorations were so neat.

Their wedding cake was yummy but I think the cake pops took the cake... literally. This was my first exposure to "cake pops" and if you don't know what they are let me define them for you:
h.e.a.v.e.n.l.y. That pretty much sums their goodness up.

My cousin Sean and Bentley were buds at the reception. Especially after Sean broke out the glow sticks.

 Tenley was diggin' those glow sticks too.

Britt and I... (and little Tenley)

Cutting the cake...

 Becca pulled a fast one and shoved it in his face, then it just escalated from there. At least she's nice enough to wipe his face off for him...

It was such a quick but very enjoyable trip and I'm so glad I was part of their special day! Congrats Ryan and Becca... and Becca, welcome to the family... for better or worse:)