What Could this Doll Fetch on Ebay?

I was wondering what I could get for this doll if I put it up for sale on ebay. She can do many things, like . . .

close her eyes,

laugh, and my personal favorite,

give you a smile that melts your heart.

Baby with Attitude

Recently, Benjamin has been kind of crazy. He has this little attitude, and he knows it. He will do something totally unexpected, and then look at you with a smile. It is like he knows that he is being funny.

On Saturday, Julene went to get her hair done, so I had several hours alone with Benjamin. He got hungry, so I put him in the highchair and started feeding him. When he had enough, without any warning, he attacked the spoon with his hands, causing the food to go all over the place. In part, that is how he ended up with the messy face, above.

I decided to give him some Cheerios to finish his dinner. He really likes to chew on them, and it seems to keep him occupied. Plus, they are not as messy as mashed baby food. No sooner did he get into the Cheerios than he started doing a little trick with them, part of which I was able to catch on video, posted below.

Also, while Julene was gone, I had to replace the batteries on a digital wall clock. I kept repeating the word "clock" to Benjamin while I had the clock down off the wall. He would repeat back a "cl" sound. He is actually quite good at imitating sounds that he hears. Anyway, while I was saying the word, all of a sudden he said "clock."

When Julene returned home, she really didn't believe me when I told her about Benjamin saying "clock." Later, as she was getting him ready for bed, I got Benjamin to say "clock" again, and make a believer out of his mommy.

On Sunday, I had more time with Benjamin, and I was playing with him using a dog puppet. I kept repeating the word "doggy," and sure enough, he said it. I was also able to have him recite the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. Okay, I'm stretching a bit.

Blogging Back In

Life didn't stop over the past two weeks, but I found myself increasingly busy. As I had caught up writing about much of the summer events, I figured that it was a good time to catch my breath.

I have been focusing on my back yard lately, which has come a long way, but has a long way to go. Mostly, I have been moving dirt piles around the yard. It is more technical than that, but that is what I tell my kids so I don't get into long, drawn out explanations that I know I will be repeating the next time they ask, which generally averages about every 10 minutes.

Actually, my back yard was left in an extremely uneven condition by the builder. I first rented a large rototiller to soften up soil that was slightly softer than concrete. By the end of the day, I had broken five tines on the machine. It wasn't my intent to abuse the machine. I would be going along just fine and suddenly the whole rototiller would nearly jump off the ground, usually because it hit one of the massive rocks or chunks of concrete that the builder left in the area that is supposed to be soil.

In any event, I have leveled much of the back yard and part of the side yard. It has involved a lot of pickaxing, shoveling and wheelbarrowing, but I am very close to achieving the grade I need in the back yard.

I have also installed the valves for the irrigation system. I am now in the process of laying the pipe for the irrigation. After that I will be able to start laying concrete, digging a hole for the trampoline and planting the plants. I'm getting tired just writing about it. I'll post pictures when there is actually something to show other than just moving dirt.

Labor Day

The family gathered again at the cabin at Mt. Charleston. Angelina was my little helper and she wanted to carry my camera case for me. She and I played in a tunnel for a while.

Later, we did the Little Falls hike. Angelina walked most of the way by herself.

This was Benjamin's first trip up to Little Falls. He slept most of the way up and he only woke up seconds before we stuck a camera in his face.

Angelina is finally getting to the point that she can walk around in the rocks and rough terrain without hurting herself. She had a great time playing outside this time around.

Joseph, Joshua, Allyse and Ethan had fun posing for pictures. I think they also played a little bit.

Utterly Unbearable: Lake Tahoe Epilog

When we went to Lake Tahoe, we stayed in a condo that was bearly decorated.

It started outside the front door, when there was a door mat for wiping bear feet.

However, in case you missed the not so hidden meaning on the door mat, reinforcement was hung right inside the front door.

Inside the condo, the walls were definitely . . . well . . . bear.

Before you bear off in the wrong direction due to darkness, there was a light switch to help you get your bearings.

There were not one, but two coat racks . . .

to help bear your belongings. However, once rid of your coat, you could have bear arms.

I was beginning to think that the person who adorned this ursine utopia must have thought himself or herself to be a real Yogi of home decor.

However, I thought the whole place was one big Boo Boo. (Okay, I'm really fishing for puns.)

It doesn't bear repeating . . .

so I'll just give the bear facts.

This condo only had the bear necessities.

Pretty soon, everything in the condo started to bear a certain resemblance.

Just when you would think, I cannot bear to see another one . . .

there would be yet another, bearing bottles . . .

or bearing magazines.

I don't want to bruin any surprises, or be the bearer of bad news, but . . .

the throw pillows appeared to be threadbear.

I bear witness that this condo's decor was more than I could bear.

I honestly began to wonder how someone could bear the cost of this decorating spree.

I wondered if it started with just a few bears, and then friends came bearing gifts.

Or could it be that they started with a few items, and they began bearing fruit?

Bear with me as we are almost done, but I am not close to running out of puns.

It was nice to see some bears bearing one another up.

I saw some pieces that looked more like the great soul bearitone, Beary White (because they are beary large), or . . .

Beary Manilow (because it is beary tall and beary thin).

But my favorite was a piece that bears resemblance to Bearak Obama.

It seems that this has gotten quite grizzly. I can bear testimony that I, alone, bear the blame and responsibility. This has been my cross to bear. However, I won't let it bear down on me. If I was truly worried about embearassing myself, I never would have beared my soul. Now, can somebody give me a great, big bear hug?

Conspiracy

"Okay Benjamin. Now, if you really want to drive Mommy and Daddy crazy, start climbing the stairs. First, you have to get your arms up on the step. Second, you pull your legs up one at a time. Just keep repeating until you reach the top."

"Oops, Daddy caught us. Just act natural and smile at him. He'll never suspect a thing. After he leaves, we can get back to practice."

Angelina's covert training program for Benjamin started last Sunday. By Thursday, her hard work was paying dividends. Julene turned her back for a few minutes and then found Benjamin at the top of the landing. Needless to say, we'll be shopping for gates this weekend.

Marching to the Beat of Her Own Drum

On a recent Sunday afternoon, Joseph, Joshua and Angelina were sitting at the kitchen table, each quietly drawing. Angelina, who loved the pretty blue dress that she had worn to church, refused to change out of the dress into her play clothes, even though her brothers and sister had changed out of their Sunday best.

Later, in the early evening, the missionaries came to our home for dinner. Shortly after the missionaries arrived, Angelina decided to go upstairs to her bedroom. She refused to come downstairs for dinner, opting to play in her room. During dinner, we could hear her at various intervals singing at the top of her lungs.

Then, near the end of dinner, she finally decided to grace us and our guests with her presence. Because her meals typically end up on her clothes, I was glad to see that she had finally changed out of her pretty Sunday dress. Unfortunately, I didn't quite agree with the appropriateness of her fashion choice. Angelina came to Sunday dinner with the missionaries making her grand entrance wearing . . .

THIS!