Weekend things!

I have a lot of pictures to weed through from the past month to get caught up on - it's been a busy month!  We've had lots of fun times with friends enjoying the newly warm weather.  But first, here are a few pics from my phone this past week...

First, this is Benjamin's favorite activity lately - he pulls out "steppers" (what we assume is a stage) to stand on, gets his mic and guitar (but usually only uses one at a time), and sings/performs songs for us.  It is seriously hilarious (I'll have to upload a guitar performance soon, too - even better).  Matt and I could watch him do it for hours...  He likes to start out with "You ready to rock, mom? You ready to rock, dad?" (We think this came from Bubble Guppies?!)

Here's a taste of "Old MacDonald" (his other favorites are "You Are My Sunshine", "Let It Go", and "Jesus Loves Me".):

The week started off with SNOW.  And quite a lot of it! Benjamin enjoyed staring out the window at it coming down since it had been in the 80s the days prior!

And we went to see Once with my family - wow, an AWESOME show!  I HIGHLY recommend it if you're looking for a great show (though it's gone now....).  See it!

We enjoyed nice weather over the weekend and took the time to bike and hang out outside!  Benjamin is loving the strider we got him last year on our neighborhood facebook page (thank you, used stuff)... he thinks he can take it much further than he actually can ;)

We enjoyed an evening bike ride to a local restaurant for a little takeout dinner.

Saturday morning we were joined by a couple friends and took part in the Cystic Fibrosis walk for the third year in a row.  It's a powerful time for us, especially as we near the birth of our next little one.  Glad we could raise money for a great cause and take part in the event.  Plus, Sloan's Lake is beautiful, so it's not a bad stroll in the morning!

That night we celebrated our friend Bri's 30th birthday with an amazing dinner party in their backyard.  50 people, 1 table, shared food - it was great!  It was nice to have a babysitter so we could enjoy a kid-free evening!

Sunday we took advantage of a quiet zoo day and spent about three hours leisurely strolling the zoo.  Benjamin was in heaven.  I wished we had a video camera on him the whole time as he talked to us, the animals, and random passersby.  My favorite line of the day was "Mom, that goose is not a bad guy.  He's nice - he said hi to me!"  Such a sweet boy!!

my favorite boys!!!

Sidenote - this squirrel was seriously insane.  It followed us, tried to steal our food, and started scaring Benjamin with just how friendly it got! He also had no problem posing for this picture for me.  SCRAM!

Hi Baby #2!

A little over a month ago (around 22 weeks), I had a little pregnancy scare while at school.  Thankfully, my OB fit me in for an ultrasound to check everything out that afternoon, and Baby Larson #2 was doing just fine. (PHEW!)  We had a few things to monitor, but otherwise we saw a bouncing baby ______ and were thankful to say hello.  Yes, we DO know the sex of this new family member, but we haven't shared with everyone just yet... but it's been so fun talking about him/her and wondering what he/she will be like!  About three months to go... can you believe it?

We're getting excited and nervous for the newest addition - with my job coming to an end and a financially-based decision that I won't be teaching next year (hello - how do you put two kids in daycare on a new teacher's salary?!?), we're trying to figure out our next steps.  More announcements on that in the coming future!  Needless to say, we are thankful for the support we've been shown by friends recently who always seem to be at our side when needed.

Here are some pictures from that visit last month - finally a decent profile picture of a Larson baby, the first of its kind!  We will likely have another ultrasound in two weeks to check on any signs of cystic fibrosis... sending up lots and lots of prayers for a healthy baby.

Tiny feet!

Easter 2014

Was there ever a time when I posted things in a timely fashion?  Perhaps not.  So, apologies to my future self for posting this Easter post almost a month late.  Someday I'll be looking for it in the "April" section of the blog only to remember that I really should be checking a month much later than that if I want to find out what we did for Easter 2014 - our last Easter as a family of 3!

Easter weekend was a wonderful one - the weather was gorgeous, our spirits were high, Benjamin was in a terrific mood, and we got to spend time with friends.  It couldn't have been better.

Saturday morning we had a potluck brunch and egg hunt with our neighbor friends down the street.  It was a blast!  The kids ate WAY too much candy, but Benjamin had a tons of fun and we enjoyed talking with our wonderful Ash Street friends.  We're so lucky to live next to such wonderful people who just so happen to have wonderful kiddos around Benjamin's age!

trying to wrangle kids for a picture...

That night, the nice weather turned to drizzling rain sadly, but the Westras still came over to enjoy some burgers and brats with us.  The boys had fun playing, eating, and taking part in an impromptu egg hunt around the living room.  Such cuties!

Easter morning was beautiful, and everyone was in awesome spirits in the Larson house.  Benjamin woke up excited for his Easter basket, and each thing he pulled out garnered a big "oooh... look at dis!"  I made a delicious breakfast while the boys painted a resurrection picture, and then we ate outside on the back patio.  So peaceful!

Then it was off to church!  Our church rents out a ballroom at a downtown hotel so that we can all be in the same room at the same time.  It was another great service celebrating the risen Jesus and a beautiful trip downtown.

That afternoon, my dad came over so we could celebrate his birthday.  Arlene and Amber were both out of town, but we had a blast eating tasty Dryer's ham and playing LOTS of Benjamin's favorite games: baseball and soccer.  He was loving some play time with Grampa!  He even loved listening to the tunes that dad and Grampa played as the evening wore on.

 

You know it was a good day when the wild one was in bed, passed out, by 7:40pm (a rarity in these parts!).  So blessed are we.

Hope you had an awesome Easter weekend as well!