A & B got to share a double chocolate chip cookie with walnuts on our Friday night outing to the bookstore. It really put Ben in a silly mood.



Finally Aunt JiJi got to babysit little Dylan! He was an angel and the kids really loved him being with us.
So sweet!!
This week at the Lakeland Library...
Ben trying to get away with Sleeping Beauty!
We rent a couple of books and a movie each week. This week was two Arthur books and Sleeping Beauty. I don't really remember watching Sleeping Beauty as a kid, though I did have the book (with record). I watched a bit with Ali and was really disturbed at how 'evil' the whole thing was. I hate to through that word around and I know that some of 'the magic of Disney' is fun, but it was a terrible movie for a 3 yr old in my opinion. On another note, one of the Arthur books was talking about playing 'Spin the Bottle' at a birthday party. Ok, I wasn't sure how to play this off with Ali because she is very inquisitive. I just told her it was a game that some kids play that I don't think is appropriate for children and that I don't appreciate it being in the book. Especially since Arthur is a great PBS show and usually educational. What a selection we chose!

SEU's BIG GIVE

Today was SEU's BIG GIVE. Each year the university does a number of community service events with the freshmen and student leaders (car washes, food banks, trash pick-up, etc). This years events were postponed due to Hurricane Fay so, today was the carnival and other community events. The carnival was right here on campus. Ali getting her face painted. Ben enjoying his first snow cone. He also got his face painted... if you look close you can see his lighting bolt!
He really enjoyed the snow cone! Ali and Carey about to go on the inflatable obstacle course.
I like the way this pic turned out.



Nolan & Ali
One booth at the carnival had a picture of each Resident Director (Dan's job) with an empty jar behind it. The students could vote on an RD to get a pie in the face at the end of the evening by donating money to their specified jar.
Well, Dan got the most money in his jar!! :)
Ben was screaming when Dan came up to him... he did look pretty scary!The evening ended with a big fireworks show.
Living on a college campus isn't all bad.

Story Time and Craft Time

We got to the Library a little early, so this is A & B waiting for story time to start.
Ali cutting a rug.
We like to do a craft (usually messy) once a week. This week, we were going to make a pencil pot out of clay and paint it for Dan's desk... instead we just had fun squishing clay and painting.

Party Pics

Ben had a few shots at the doctor's office that morning and was not feeling well at his party, so most of the pics he is not smiling. Also he is cutting tooth #9,10, 11, &12 (not very fun either). I think he had a really nice time though and is definitely feeling better now - and enjoying all the new fun toys. Thank You to everyone who helped make Ben's day so special! The Cookie Monster cookie cake I made for Benjamin.

The pin the cookie on the monster game (much like pin the tale on the donkey). Thanks Sarahi, it turned out awesome and I hung him in Ben's room!! He loves it!


Kierstyn, Ben, & Linc

Our First Born Son is 1!

Benjamin Daniel Bittinger

September 10, 2008

Happy Birthday Benjamin. You are my favorite little boy in the whole world!!

This train was given to him one year ago in the hospital from his Gram.

(I had to stick cheerios in it for this pose!)

The Zoo

Wednesday we took the kids to Lowry Park Zoo. It is free during the month of September with our Tampa Aquarium pass, so we were trying to take advantage of it. It was a great day. We brought Ali about 2 years ago, so she didn't remember ever being there and this was Ben's first visit. He wanted to touch all the animals. Most of his day was spent pointing and grunting at them.This giraffe's name is Randal. Very beautiful. He was very polite to let us get so close. We touched him briefly, but he wasn't a fan of our hands unless we had food in them.
Cooling down toward the end of our trip.