James and Sorry

 Oh, hi, blog.  It's been awhile.  I have had no creative energy lately for photo editing and blogging and almost no energy for anything it seems.  The kids take all my energy during the day and come nightfall I can barely scroll through Instagram in front of the TV.

I was, however, motivated to get back on my blog to note two very funny things going on with Bennett lately.  The first is that he is no longer Bennett, but is known as James.  

Orelia has been calling Bennett "James" for maybe two months now because Sophia the First has a brother named James (this may not serve as a true explanation for why she would do this, but Orelia loves a good nickname and also loves Sophia, so it has persisted).  Well after a couple of months, Bennett has taken a liking to this name and now says "wanna be James!" if you dare call him Bennett.  It's hilarious and very random.   At the museum the other day a man was like "Oh is your son named James, my son in James too."  No, sorry sir, that's just his nickname.

My second favorite thing going on with Bennett, err James, at the moment is his use of the word "sorry."  I'm not sure exactly what he thinks "sorry" means, but he has been saying it constantly,  mostly when he wrongs himself.  If he drops a truck he is playing with, I will hear him say "sorry!"  If he trips, I will hear him say "sorry!"  He doesn't quite get that he doesn't need to apologize to himself!  It will be nice to hear him say "sorry" when he clocks me in the face by accident next time or rubs chocolate on my pants.  In the meantime, I will chuckle to myself at his use of the word.

Orelia remains nickname-less and just as she ever was.

Election Day

 Today has been a doozy.  I don't think of myself as a particularly emotional person, but I have teared up multiple times today - and in relation to an election I haven't followed particularly closely.

 In California we can vote by mail, and when I received my ballot I knew I wanted to take Orelia with me to the polls.  I know my girl, and I knew it would be much more meaningful to her if she was able to take part.  I filled out the three pages of my ballot at home yesterday, but I saved the presidential race to do with Orelia.  We held the pen together and she helped me vote for whom I hope will be the first woman president of our great country.  She then proceeded to tell me she wanted to do it herself (not with my help), wanted to do more voting (filling in lines), and she was actually 18 year old.

 God, I love this kid.  She is truly destined for something special.  I tried explaining what a president does and how we have only had men in our country be president in the past.  I said that hopefully Hillary would be elected president today, and that there may be many women who serve as president after her.  I said that Orelia could be president one day, if that's what she wanted.  And she said she would rather be queen.

Orelia literally got to cast my ballot today, and it meant so much to me.  I kept saying I hoped she would remember this moment and this day (as I know I will).  In a way, I hope this day doesn't stick in her memory, because I hope she may see so many women leading this country and others that she doesn't give it a second thought.

I took Orelia with me to vote four years ago, and I expect to take both Orelia and Bennett with me next time.  There is something about being a parent that makes voting and the future of the country all the more meaningful.

I don't know how the election will pan out today, but I know no matter what, millions of people will be disappointed and even furious.  I am just happy I did my part today and cast my ballot with my girl.

Coming Out of His Shell

 Bennett has been really coming out of his shell lately.

 Not that he's ever been "in a shell" so to speak, but he definitely isn't in one now.

 While he often has no patience for strangers (and even barks "no, no, no" while putting his hand up), when he's in the mood he can be the life of the party.

His laugh is loud, and once he starts talking, he often will never stop.

We sure do love this funny little class clown who seems to find the strangest things funny.  Any day where your laughter fills the air is a good one, Bennett.

Halloween 2016

There's nothing this little girl loves more than dressing up.

 Halloween is just about the perfect holiday for her.

She was thrilled beyond belief with her new "Cinderella 2" gown (modeled after the live-action Cinderella movie).

I told her this was a "real ballgown" as opposed to a "costume," and she truly looked and felt like a princess.

There's something about this dress that seemed to even turn her mannerisms more princess-like.

 We spent Halloween morning carving pumpkins on our friend's back porch.  Orelia was really excited about the idea, and loved drawing her own pumpkin face and helping me carve it.  It's amazing how spooky a child's drawing can truly be.

 We went to a friend's house for a Halloween party and to trick-or-treat on their very popular street.  Orelia loved scoring candy, but gave away half her loot to her brother and friends when she wasn't keen on the flavors offered.

 Bennett absolutely refused to wear his trash truck costume, so he went as himself and grabbed as many brown candies as possible since he figured out brown wrappers always mean chocolate.  (Smart boy.)

After the kids had enough of trick-or-treating, we went back to the party where Orelia went off to eat candy with her friend.  All good Halloweens end with chocolate-stained lips and a sugar high.

The School Fete

 Orelia has been at the same school for four years, and the school hosts one main fundraising event each year.  Somehow, throughout my tenure at the school, I had never made it to the school fete.

 Well this year, I most definitely made it to "Fun Day," and I had to work double duty since I have two kids at the school.  This is really no big deal, it just makes for an exhausting morning for me and many other parents.

 My kids, and it seemed like all the other kids there, had a blast.  Bennett and I spent the beginning of the day there together while John and Orelia were busy elsewhere.  Mostly Bennett had little interest in the fair aspect and just wanted to play on the play structures for the big kids that he usually isn't allowed to play on.

 His favorite part of the morning was dipping nets over and over again into the "duck pond" to scoop out rubber duckies.  He literally spent almost an hour doing this while I got to chat with some of my friends whose sons and daughters were similarly water-obsessed kids.  (Thanks, Bennett!)

Once Daddy and Orelia arrived, Bennett sampled more of the games since his sister wanted to experience every booth there.

True to form, Bennett was very interested in the train, but showed little to no excitement while actually riding it.

Orelia loved winning lollipops and trinkets while running around school seeing lots of her friends.  It's basically her ideal day.

I love this shot of my girl in her broken-strapped mermaid dress, random tiara she found on the ground, half-eaten lollipop, and look of fierce determination while annihilating a ping pong ball.  Cheers to a successful school fete!