A Visit to Dairy Queen-May 28th

As you kids know, Auntie Beth was in Connecticut from May 27th through June 3rd...and because she was running around so much, Auntie Beth ended up taking ZERO pictures...but Papa used my camera once when his was in the car:-)
On Friday May 28th, Auntie Beth promised Annie a trip, and Annie insisted Lizzie come along...Ellie had only napped an hour and was a NO...not sure where I would've fit her in my rental car otherwise:-)
We stopped at Auntie Kake's work, where Lizzie ran up and down the long stretches of space-in the lobby and then in the back room where noone was really around...then off we went to the beach house to see Bammy and Papa...and Daisy...
Alas, Auntie Beth did not know that Daisy was not around so the girls agreed to Dairy Queen instead...above are the munchkins at Dairy Queen with makeshift coverings because Auntie Beth forgot jackets. Annie, Lizzie, Auntie Beth and Papa went to pick up icecream while Bammy waited at the beach house...

Papa forgot his camera in the car so he used mine...and the girls obliged a bit. This shot above is about 3 minutes before Papa went to bring some of the icecream to the car, Auntie Beth had Annie on her hip, and Lizzie decided to lay stomach down on the ground and refuse to get up...a mere grunt, no crying, just refused to get up!!!
Although I must admit, I love that Lizzie has her own unique way of letting you know she's upset. None of that crying stuff for her. Silent and stubborn works best and she knows it...love that:-)
Molly was off with her Mom at dress rehearsal for the recital, and Dad had Ellie and Peter...so there were H-W kids all over the place that night...and these two beauties above got Bammy & Papa to stay hours later than they expected to stay at the beach...I can't imagine why:-)

I love you lots, and I miss you more-

xoxoAuntie Beth/Bethie/Beppy GBAKYS

After Ben's Birthday I was off to Derek's 7th Birthday Party!!!

Derek is the son of my tax client Scott whom I have known for 6 years. As a single dad, Scott has done amazingly well because Derek is a gem. When Derek was 4, 5 & 6 he came to the tax appointment with his Dad so we could all hang out. This past year, Scott married Kim, Derek's stepmother and biggest fan!
Derek is the blonde surfer boy...how cute is he? Derek co-celebrated birthdays with his friend Leonidas on his right. Kim is in the upper left hand corner of this picture helping with the cakes she made.

Derek is patiently waiting for everyone to gather around the cakes....never a problem in our family:-) Derek's cake was in the shape of a DeathStar...for serious!!!

I finally got Derek's attention for a split second...lots and lots of people running around this church hall!

... and there's a half smile when Derek didn't think I was clicking:-)

Derek invited me over for dinner last Sunday night and we had asparagus, artichokes and coconut rice...none of which Auntie Beth eats very often...so it was fun to try new stuff. I must've been a good guest because I was invited again this Sunday for Father's Day dinner!

The little girls sat at the tables but the boys were happy to eat their cake while sitting on the floor. I was just waiting for someone to kick Derek's cup of water while running past him...

Got lots to catch up on so I'm on to editing another post...

I love you lots and miss you more-

xooxAuntie Beth/Bethie/Beppy GBAKYS

My Godson Ben's 2nd Birthday Party on May 22nd...

and most importantly, his first taste of processed sugar!!!!

Mom and Dad are willing to do things that I shudder to consider, like buying a choochoo train mold and making this cake above...there was also a red velvet cake for the adults...

The Grimms moved into their house and it was pretty bare, so they worked very hard on the backyard...I love this covered area, fair-skinned as I am...notice the Happy Brithday pendant chain hanging from the ledge...another thing Auntie Beth would avoid because of the extra work factor...hey, at least I'm honest!

The guests at Ben's party were Mom and Dad, me; his Aunt, Uncle and cousin Bridie from Las Vegas; and his Grammy and Papa from Montana. There were also a few little kids from the neighborhood and mommy groups...

If you walk along side the house, there is an area for the kids to use the riding toys...and if you follow me to the left,

we have the sandbox...Randal made this sandbox himself...yep, this is the biggest "no way I'd ever do this" project in this blog so far...but the kids loved it...Ben is in the red shirt and hat, playing his little heart out...and he never gets upset about sharing...no screams, no whines, nothing...

My Godson indulges me when I ask for a smile...yep, he loves me...Auntie Beth is such a lucky duck to have so many wonderful kids love her...and she gets to love all of you!!!

Across from the shaded area, there is the pool...safely gated so kids are locked out...yep, Randal built the gate himself too...and look at the streamers lovingly threaded through the gate. Auntie Beth's laziness puts her to shame...but I would've hired someone to build that fence AND given the job of streamer patrol to some other sucker!

Randal's parents Dick and Ardell flew in from Montana and stayed for a few weeks...it was hot outside so we were all tired...and we'd eaten-alot! Randal is a master of cooking, especially with the grill...Need it be said that Auntie Beth does not cook? Wow, this blog is making me realize I might need to get unlazy---alot---if I ever want a kid:-)

Ben is a bit smitten with the little girls...starting young, my little man:-) Here we are trying to get all the kids at the table for singing and cake...it was a bit harder than in CT because everyone was being nice...when our family does it, we just grab kids, pick them up & haul them off, start singing and hope everyone gets their butts into the kitchen...ok, and there is usually a bit of yelling involved! Gotta admit, for efficency's sake, our way is much quicker:-P

Mommy's legs are next to Ben, trying to get pictures of the cake before Ben descends upon it!
Once he tastes that sugar, he will be Auntie Beth's boy for good...SUGAR:-)

Here's Mom trying to get the "2" candle lit...it kept going out because the wick was too short...poor Lurene almost missed the moment because of that stubborn candle...

Both Ben and his cousin Bridie were dressed in Montana shirts because Grammy & Papa brought them on their visit...both of Ben's parents, Randal and Lurene, are from Montana...and even though they both moved to Los Angeles separately, they actually met in Montana! They talk about moving back to Montana by the time Ben is 5, so I just pretend I don't hear:-(

The first attempt to get Ben to blow out the candle...he's the cutest---when Ben sniffs flowers he often blows air OUT of his nose...I think the same was true of him trying to blow out the candle...he didn't quite get the concept that the air had to be pushed hard OUT of his mouth...

The second attempt, when Mommy got in on the action and tried to help Ben with the concept...

The third attempt, when Mommy brings the candle closer to Ben...doesn't he look absolutely adorable blowing on his birthday candle? Wish I could say it worked all by himself but alas...yeah, he got some help...but he looked fabulous doing it!!

Ben's first finger full of frosting...my little boy is now a little man:-) Ben proceeded to embrace sugar readily, asking for another car of his train cake to poke and pinch, eat and get on his face...

After the birthday yahoo, Ben and the girls came inside for some cooldown...

What birthday boy blog would be complete without the facewashing taking place right after the first big mess of frosting and cake?

This is NOT a good photo of either of us, but Ben was experiencing a sugar crash...only after he had come down and gotten blah did I remember that I had zero photos with my Godson on his 2nd Birthday...nice move, Auntie Beth. On a side note, Auntie Tay Tay gave me that black and white dress to wear on my 36th birthday in Hawaii...love it!

We were doing some on the run photo taking...and the photos were pretty bad...I took this one so we are at weird angle...BUT Ben did not want to indulge me in any photos...the two in this blog are the only ones I could get...in sugar's defense, Ben did not get a nap so the ugghhhhh behavior might've been overtiredness and not sugar shock. That's my story and I'm sticking to it:-)

I love you lots and I miss you more-

xoxoAuntie Beth/Bethie/Beppy GBAKYS

My Computer Station...

Auntie Beth finally got her butt in gear and dyed her hair...there were just too many white hairs starting to show:-) Have you ever avoided a chore for a long time but when you finally did it, it seemed like no big deal?
I dyed my hair right before bed so here I am fresh out of the shower on Wednesday night...
Let's change subjects!
My tax clients can not believe that I have never shown you kids my keyboard and mouse...I keep forgetting to take photos of them and post them but finally here they are...

HELLO KITTY! Yep, my keyboard and mouse are Hello Kitty and are made for a little girl...I may not be little but I'm a girl...and they make me happy so I bought them right at the beginning of tax season in January...shall we take a closer look????

How cute is my keyboard with the Hello Kitty face and the purple keys? Notice how it says "Hello, Kitty" on the upper right side...and did you also note the multi-color stars on the pink outside part of the keyboard? Sooo fun:-)

My mouse may be the funnest part of all...that yellow gleam you see in the center of the mouse? That's really a flashing light which flashes in red, blue and green colors while I work...and the bottom blue part of the mouse? It's a blue liquid where Hello Kitty floats around in her bathtub...Hello Kitty taking a tubby is right under the bubble...and those words on the pink part of the mouse on top? "Hello Kitty" of course...see, everything matches!

Auntie Beth at her desk, happy to be in my Hello Kitty world! This all started because I had a Hello Kitty watering can sitting next to my printer, and everytime I looked at that Kitty face, I smiled...so as soon as I saw this mouse and keyboard, I had to buy them.

The other day, the girl who punches me in the VW spot came over for her taxes...and her 3 year old Addy was competely fascinated with my computer area...yep, she kept trying to rescue "poor Miss Kitty" from being stuck inside my mouse all the time...too cute:-)

I love you lots, and I miss you more-

xoxoAuntie Beth/Bethie/Beppy GBAKYS

Sunday Playdate with Ben-SplishSplash

Ben calls bathtime splishsplash...and because Auntie Beth keeps calling it a tubby, thank you H-W kids, he is starting to understand me when I say "let's take a tubby"...I always correct myself and say "oops, I mean let's go splishsplash" but I never get it right the first time!
Notice the frog cover on the faucet...so Ben doesn't hurt himself...

The entire bathroom is done in frogs...notice the lillypads on the shower curtain...and of course my cute Godson wondering what the heck Auntie Beth is doing...

Ben has many toys in the bathtub but Auntie Beth sprayed him with this ear suction device the first few times I did bath time with Ben, and now he grabs for it the minute I put him in the bathtub! Ben can now put the suction ball under the water, squeeze it until it fills with water and then spray it...at me:-)

O.K., this is the smile I got in response to my request for one big smile and then I'd let him go back to playing uninterrupted...how good is my Ben??? This natural, huge, amazing smile the minute I asked for it...my cup runneth over!

Yeah, you gotta take a closer look...amazing!!! And look at all those teeth...gotta admit they scare me a bit:-) Ben turns 2 today, May 21st...and I'm going to his birthday party on Saturday at 11 a.m. Randal's parents will be visiting from Montana, as well as Randal's brother & family from Las Vegas...can't wait!

I wasn't kidding about the frogs in the bathroom...look at the frog soap dispenser, the frog toothbrush holder...the frog handtowels...and the frog wastebasket which must be put up out of Ben's reach...although Ben has never been a "throw it away" toddler, he did throw his Mom's wedding ring away in the kitchen garbage a few months back...yikes!!!!

and finally, notice the frog handtowels behind me...and Auntie Beth's orange t-shirt said "rainbows make me happy"...because they do.

Ben's favorite thing to do is read and his favorite toys are animals, so we read alot of books about animals...can you believe it? Ben's mom, Lurene, left out pajamas for him and they happen to have rainforest frogs on them...in keeping with our frog theme of this blog entry, I got Ben to put the book down, stand up, smile for the camera, and...

off he goes...laughing hysterically...took me 3 minutes to get him back into his room for his bedtime books...yep, he fooled me-he is almost 2 , you know:-)

I love you lots, and I miss you more-

xoxoAuntie Beth/Bethie/Beppy GBAKY

Let's Catch Up, Shall We?

Auntie Beth got back to CA from the H-W house in CT on Tuesday April 25th and promptly slept for a day...tried to sleep at KK's and then on the airplane but no such luck!
It also took a day to get my life back together in CA...do the laundry, pay the bills, all that grownup boring stuff...
On Thursday, I met with tax clients and their daughter Adeline gave me stickers...she loves animal stickers!

Auntie Beth with her animal stickers...I couldn't get the camera far enough away to get a better shot, but they looked magical!

Then I thought, why not send a kiss to my babies in CT? I had been 3 whole days already since I'd seen them, so they could use an Auntie Beth kiss!

This is for Molly because she loved my crazy look a few months back...

Right after this photo session, I began the task of cleaning up my apartment for the Friday night arrival of Auntie KK and Auntie Meg...I don't like cleaning!

The sisters 3 did not take many photos on this trip-we are definitely not as good as Kasey with remembering we have a camera-but here's Auntie Meg outside Jamba Juice at the West Hollywood Gateway shopping structure...lots of outdoor seating and sun...

and here's Auntie KK on the other side of me...KK loved Jamba Juice! Meghan really liked Baja Fresh, a mexican food place, which was also in the courtyard...so Auntie Beth was very proud that she could offer happiness to both sisters:-)

After eating/drinking/shopping, we went for manicure/pedicures at AllStar Nails...we all picked pinkish purple nail polish because great minds think alike:-)

Here's Auntie Meg and Auntie KK in the spa chairs...the chair masssages your back as your feet get a whirlpool massage...

I love Auntie Meg and Auntie KK but the one thing I couldn't embrace fully was their blackberry/iphones...it was always "checking my iphone"...my tax clients do it all the time too...see KK checking her iphone? Are you even supposed to do that near water?

Auntie Meg & Auntie KK left 2 days ago, and things are so different without them...but Auntie Beth has lots to do so she can come back in 4 weeks so I gotta get to work!

Love you lots, and miss you more-

oxxo Auntie Beth/Bethie/Beppy GBAKYS

Haircut, Pilates Part Two and BEN!!!

Auntie Beth got a haircut today...if there is one thing that Auntie Beth does not like, it's too much hair! I hate hair on my neck, hate lots of hair everywhere...so I asked for it short short short!!!

I had just gotten back from pilates---my 2nd pilates session this week and I was so proud of myself!-- so my hair was a bit of a mess but you can see from the side how short I got it cut...can't wait to show you in person on Friday!!!

Upon entering the Grimm house, Ben greeted me without pants:-) His shirt was long enough that I did not notice at first, but rarely is this kid without pants, a shirt and socks unless it is bathtime...it was adorable!

Ben was running away from me so this is an action shot...apparently, Ben's new thing is to run from getting his photo taken...he does so with a gleeful squeal and laughter and a big smile of course!

I caught Ben on his way around the hall and through the kitchen...could he get any more beautiful? He gets those dimples from his Dad...Ben's Mom, Lurene, says Ben is a mini-Randal...I don't know if I'd go that far...but yes, those dimples are definitely from Daddy:-)

Notice the sign language lady on the screen behind my Godson...we watched that video 3 times tonight...I learned the sign language for all kinds of animals but my favorite was the kangaroo...Ben is squatting to get at my laundry bucket...

If only I could be so fascinated by my own laundry...Ben ran around with that grey shirt on top, throwing it on top of every chair in the living room...not sure what he was doing exactly but I think he was showing me his version of doing laundry...too cute:-)

I cannot wait to see my AnnieBoo and Kasey at the airport on Friday morning...and I'm serious when I say I am not leaving Molly's side all weekend, People...except of course when she goes to her Irish StepDancing event with Daddy on Friday and to Abby's party...but even then I'll be waiting for her at home when she gets back...so plan accordingly and try to get on our schedule, My Beloveds...we are such busy girls:-)

I love you lots, and I miss you more-

oxoxAuntie Beth/Bethie/Beppy GBAKYS