Some quick catch up:

Ben is one emotion filled boy. He bursts into tears at the most interesting times. Last weekend we were watching Charlotte's Web. When she dies in the end the poor boy was HYSTERICAL - big heaving sobs.

Saturday nights are now know as dance party night. Before going to bed, we turn off all the lights and crank the music and dance dance dance. Good thing we no longer share any walls with neighbors!

But we can still annoy our neighbors with smoke - every Sunday at 4pm we fire up our fire pit and burn all the dead branches surrounding the bungalow that we cleared that day. We then toast up marshmallows BEFORE dinner because that is our Sunday Funday works at the bungalow.

Although Ben is eating slightly better than in the past, he is still pretty finicky. My friend gave me a banana muffin recipe that Ben LOVED until he saw me putting oats into the mix. He now refuses to eat them - even though he LOVED them before...

We started Karate this month. It has been a huge help keeping sassafras Emma in check around the house. She is very good at it and takes her time in the dojo very seriously. Ben, on the other hand, is still the class clown and his sensei is not impressed. He has gotten "warnings" in every class. I think it's awesome because he truly needs help with focus and I think this will guide him. It has also give him some self confidence to stand up for himself - and guess what - now HE IS SASSING ME. Whyyyyyyyyyyy? Where is my sweet boy? JeezLouise.

We have missed the last few family swims at the school but got to go tonight. It took them a bit to get the courage to go into the deep end again, but they did it and were swimming up a storm. Ben can now float on his back for a bit, too, without sinking. Em's bootie keeps pulling her down. At one point tonight, Ben got a little too deep without realizing it, but he did not panic. Just kept bobbing to catch his breath until he could get a good enough push off to swim into the shallow area. Soooo glad this kid has always had good water instincts.