Where are your imaginary friends?

The other night, as we were getting ready to read bed-time stories, I noticed that Jeremy had not played with his imaginary friends in a long time. Remember Jack, Julia, Jeremy, and of course Pal and Guys? So I asked him, "Jeremy, how come you haven't played with your imaginary friends in a long time?"

Jeremy: "Because they're on vacation."

Lisa and I tried hard not to laugh.

Jeremy: "They went to California. To see their cousin," he added. Well, there was no way we could hold it in then.

So, I just now got out the tub of Play Doh paraphernalia, and guess what? Jack is making things.

Me: "Jeremy, where did your imaginary friends go on vacation again?"

Jeremy: "They're back now."

Me: "Yeah, but where did they go?"

Jeremy: "California. To visit their cousin."

Excuse me...

The other day, we are eating dinner, and Ben let out a burp. "Excuse me," he says, "I farted in my mouth!" They say wisdom comes from the mouths of babes - never more true than that day!

Rachel's Spiderman drawing for Jeremy

My WebShots cycles my desktop wallpaper every few minutes. So, look at what just came up! I had forgotten about this - sometime at the end of last year, Rachel had drawn a picture of Spiderman on a piece of paper for Jeremy, because she knew he loved Spiderman. I scanned in both the front & back.

Is it a boat? A car? A plane?

OK, so this one isn't really about the kids - but it is about being a kid at heart! This is not a plane, but I just took a ride in the sweetest vehicle I've seen in a long time. The Gibbs Aquada is expected to hit the US market in 2008, with a new manufacturing facility coming on line somewhere between Detroit and Toledo. I participated in a marketing study to help them understand the desires and needs of the American market, as well as where they should price it. It is awesome!

About 30 knots on the water, up to 100 MPH on land, and somewhere in the range of 22-28 miles per gallon is quite respectable. But then, they had to go and tell us it goes 0 to 60 in about 6-8 seconds. I don't think I would go grocery shopping (or to the hardware store) in it, but it sure is a lot of fun!

My Peepo

Ben: "I want Peepo."
Us: "OK, go get your pillow."
Ben goes & fetches a naked pillow.
Us: "Ben, where's your pillow case?"
Ben: "I took off baby suit." (translation: bathing suit)
Us: (Unprintable - laughing too hard!)

We are Dancin' Fools

Jeremy and Ben really enjoy dancing. Today, they put on the Wiggles CD and cut the rug.

Benisms

What can we say about Benjamin? He certainly has a huge
personality packed into a little form. He's almost always
happy (except when he has his 2-year-old fits), and constantly keeps us
in stitches. First, there are Ben's nicknames:

• Cutie - probably used the most.
• Benissimo - usually used in conjunction with a string of
  nicknames.
• Benvenito - like issimo.
• Little man
• Oh-so-cute-man
• Dude
• Tootie (rhymes with the first one)

As he grows, Ben's vocabulary is rapidly expanding. Here is a
Benictionary:

• Howie - a frozen creamy dessert often eaten with birthday
  cake. Yesterday, Ben says "I want howie." We were
  eating ice cream at the time. Just to make sure that was what
  he was talking about, Lisa drilled him with 20 questions.
• Boobah - a conveniently packaged fruity beverage (i.e.
  juice box).
• Peepah - last night, we read this Curious George book, and
  Ben had fun pointing out the peepah. He likes making it, too.
  
• Clue clue - a popular kid's show on Noggin featuring a blue
  dog who has you gather 3 clues.
• Booboofoofoo - another popular kid's show on PBS Kids
  featuring a talking lemur who helps the 2 hosts teach kids about
  animals.
  

Stay tuned - I'll be filling you in on his other brilliant terms!

Rachel has new glasses

Lisa picked Rachel up from school today, and took her to pick up her new glasses. Boy, it's hard to believe how beautiful she is! Rachel picked them out all by herself, she didn't want any help from Lisa. And -- she takes after her dad: great taste! She was so excited about having new glasses, she has spent all evening jumping up & down and telling everyone. Now, she is going with some Girl Scout friends to Disney on Ice.

Ben's First Haircut

Click this link to see a slideshow of Ben's first haircut today. His hair was so bad. Hmm, I think it was the past 5 months we kept saying, "We've got to get his hair cut!" Well, now we got a round to it, and here's the proof. Ashley cut Ben's hair. He sat like such a big boy, and got to squirt the water bottle, hold a comb, play with toys, and hold the clipper. Just like my last haircut!

We are the ant colony!

Here is a video of Rachel's Girl Scout Camp presentation last summer, where her troop gave a cute little play.