Zach's UF Graduation

Zach graduated on May 1 with a degree in computer engineering. We've enjoyed having him in Gainesville the past four years. For his graduation party, Richard, Janice, Tim, Michelle, Joel, Elizabeth and some of Zach's current and former roommates came to our house. Janice brought all of the food and we ate and visited until it was time to head to the graduation.

The Peine Family...sans Matthew, Olivia, Brenna, Sarah, Ezekiel and Ian

I tried to be creative with the decorations and pulled out some old textbooks and Gator stuff.

Rosemary's gonna miss her Uncle Zach stopping by for dinner.

Vertical Ben

Check this out! Ben's lovin' his learning table.

Ice Cream Social Preschool Open House

Last Thursday was Jonathan's last night of class for the semester. Yay! It was also the preschool's Ice Cream Social which is basically like an open house. Families get to go to the classes and see what the kids have been working on then there is a bunch of ice cream for everyone to eat.

Since Jonathan was going to be in class and I had to run some errands, we decided to grab a bite to eat out...at Taco Bell. That's some quality dining for you.

Mmmm...gotta love those pintos 'n cheese.

Ben enjoyed his spaghetti.

Rosemary was very proud to show off her work when we got to her room. She was also very excited to see her teachers...at nighttime! Here she is with Miss Sam...

...and Miss Teresa.

Then we headed out for some ice cream and playtime. That playground was so busy! Rosemary caught up with some of her school friends. In the photo above are Liz, MacKenzie (who shares the same birthday as Rosemary), and Rosemary.

Rosemary enjoyed the tire swing, but it got a bit crowded.

This was one of the projects that the kids did to get ready for the party. The eyes have already fallen off the duck and are sitting on our counter awaiting a re-glue.

We got to take home most of the crafts that night. Tucked under Rosemary's arm you'll see a peanut butter jar full of pudding and gummy worms. This item certainly was the source of the most excitement. She wanted to crack that jar open as soon as we were in the car.

Jonathan met up with us as we were getting ready to go so he also got to see all that Rosemary and her friends had worked on. She loves her school.

A Look at Our Week

Pretty normal week for us and that is nice. Jonathan's back from Chicago and for that I am quite thankful. I'll be even more thankful Thursday night, when Jonathan is done with class for the semester. Jonathan will be even happier than me. I'm counting down the days.

Here's a peek into what we've been up to:

Rosemary got her very own LIBRARY card. Woohoo! I can't wait until Millhopper is open again though. I like the downtown library, I just don't like going to the downtown library.

I made shoes. Never made shoes before.

Ben graduated to the bathtub. As you can see in the pic below, he very much needed a bath. What a messy face but what a handsome boy!

And we saved time and money and the earth (well, maybe that's a stretch...but it's in honor of Earth Day tomorrow) by putting the kids in the bath together.
Sidenote - I'd hoped to switch to blogging using Windows Live Writer but I can't get photos to upload so I'm sticking with Blogger's Dashboard. Anyone had any luck with Live Writer?

Easter 2009

We hope that you had a wonderful Easter celebrating our Savior's resurrection.

Ben at 9 Months

Stats:

weight: 15 lbs, 9 oz

height: 26.5 inches long

head: 46.5 cm

Highlights:

Eating table foods like green beans, potatoes, soft cooked carrots, puffs, cheerios, bananas, lunchmeat, cheese, and pretty much anything that is soft and small

Easter Eggs

We colored eggs the weekend before Easter. Ben didn't get to help, but he sure looked cute as we finished up dinner.

Excuse the shirtless Rosemary, I didn't want dye on her clothes.
All of our beautiful eggs.

Gardening

I have not been blessed with a green thumb. The last plant Jonathan gave me in hopes that I would keep it alive was a cactus. (So far so good). So this endeavor is very much more Jonathan than me.

We are attempting to grow a small (actually, very small) garden. A few weeks ago Jonathan and Rosemary planted cucumbers, carrots, and green beans after a family trip to Lowe's. Jonathan found all the containers that we used in our yard after we moved in a few years ago. Hopefully in a few weeks we'll be able to try some of the vegetables.

At the Park and Fishing

A few photos from the past week or so...

We went to the park for some playtime and a picnic. Rosemary apparently has allergies and so even though the weather has been gorgeous, we've been limiting our time outside. We braved it last week though and had a great time at the park. Thank goodness it's finally rained so our girl has some relief!

And check out the big boy in the swing! Ben loved it.

Last fall, Jonathan and I took the kids to one of UF's Family Fishing Days. I knew it was something my dad would like so we invited him up to this one. 

My dad was the only one who caught anything this time. Not a huge fish, but a fish nonetheless and it was enough to make us all pretty excited and hope that maybe we could catch one too. After an hour and half of fishing we stayed for lunch then headed back to the house.

Rosemary thought that Pa-pa's fish was pretty amazing.

Ben at 8 Months

Ben's eight months old now. There's no check up this month so I don't have stats, but he seems to be growing well. He eats his food like there's no tomorrow so he should be! Besides lots more fruits, vegetables, and meats, Puffs and Cheerios have also become a part of his daily fare. And with the tooth that popped through this past month, that makes chewing those a bit easier.

He's quite the accomplished scooter now. He pretty much can get anywhere he wants to go which makes things more interesting around here. Cords on the floor are his primary scooting target. Ben sits very well but still can't figure out how to get down without basically falling over.

As far as his temperament, Ben is still very mild and sweet. He seems to be able to focus pretty well too...at least well for an 8 month old. He'll chatter and chuckle with us throughout the day.

A Weekend at "The Condo"

Yesterday was my mom's birthday and to celebrate we went down to Orlando to spend the weekend with my parents at a condo near SeaWorld. Rosemary loves going to "the condo" (even though the condo has never been the same condo the next trip) and it cracks me up everytime she talks about it.

Saturday we hit SeaWorld again. It was a strange SeaWorld day--Believe, the Shamu show, ended up not happening. Apparently the whales were having some social issues and wouldn't cooperate. Randomly, we ran into Bennett, Logan and Caitlyn in the first 10 minutes we were there. Rosemary was in a mood and it took some coaxing to get her to talk. Finally, she walked a little with Caitlyn.

Watching the dolphins.

Petting the stingrays.

Ben's such a great tourist. So easygoing.

Rosemary had a tough day towards the end.

Later that night, mom and dad got the kids dinner and put them to bed so Jonathan and I could go out on a date. We went to CityWalk and had dinner at Margaritaville (Janey - if you're reading this, tell Dwayne it was delicious) then went and saw Slumdog Millionaire. It was so great to go out since we don't get to do that very often. Dinner was so good and the movie was fantastic.

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Rosemary wanted to move the table so she could prop up her feet while she looked at her 'magazine.'

Lunch

The other day, it was so nice that the kids and I had lunch out on the porch. In the end, Ben had lunch all over his face too.

Rosemary just asked if she could borrow the car...not really, but something about how she was walking around with keys and sunglasses just seemed so old.

Janey's visit

(I'm really behind on posting this...sorry!)

A few weekends ago, Janey came up to spend the night and we had the Breman's over for dinner too. After eating dinner, we played darts out in the garage. The Breman's took us all to town.

It was a good visit with Janey. Thanks for coming up to see us!

A Pearly White

Ben's got a tooth. We first noticed it on Sunday, February 15...just one day after Valentine's. He was 7 1/2 months old.

He already is putting his one tooth to good use. He loves to munch on his puffs and Cheerios. Ben's still working on picking up the small bites and getting them to his mouth, but he's a very determined little fellow.

Ben at 7 Months

Benjamin is upright and on the move.

This month, Ben has mastered sitting and has begun to scooch his way around the house. He can army crawl anywhere. Still a lightweight, he's at least on the growth chart and is "very proportionate" according to his doctor.

Ben is a sweetheart and an easy baby. This month we did have a scare that he might have psoriasis, but after a little bit of hydrocortisone and Cetaphil baths, that seems unlikely. He's talking more...I've even heard him say 'mamamamama' and 'dadadadada.' And this boy loves to eat. The only food that it seems like he might not like is apple. And he's graduated to the highchair from the Bumbo.

Ben and Rosemary get along very well. She cracks him up.

Here he is at 7 months on February 2.