An Ode to Ben

There is a little boy we call Mister Ben
He loves to torture his sisters - again and again.
One day he found their markers
And then he really drove them truly bonkers.

He colored the walls, the furniture, the beds,
Which was quite disturbing for our little coeds.
He wouldn't give them back, no matter how they begged.
Finally, Ben relented, said yes, and later reneged.

This is quite tiring work, you see
For a little boy who just turned three.
Opportunity comes! There it is! Upon him it did creep!
But a silent claim: "I'm not giving them back, even if I am asleep!"

Brothers

Now, I don't have a brother. I have what I call my "brothers from another mother" (Brent's brothers), but I didn't grow up with any. My dad was the lone male in the house. (No wonder we had a boy dog... it's all making sense now...)

So, I'll say that I simply don't get Ben's relationships with his sisters. I mean, aside from the normal sibling thing. He tells them all the time how pretty they are (usually after he tackles them and apologizes) and things like that.

But, I guess an older brother is a different beast than a younger brother. He switches to the most sweet, kind, understanding, adoring person alive when dealing with Elizabeth. He calls her "My Lizzie". It's adorable. He is just heartbroken when she cries. He gets frustrated with me if I don't pick her up when she is slightly less than happy. Benjamin is constantly looking out for her welfare and defending her right to do whatever he thinks she should. He has found a great purpose since his baby sister came along.


So, to all those who have older brothers or are older brothers, I say, WHAT IS ALL THAT ABOUT?!

Thanks. I feel much better now.

What a good baby!

Elizabeth is a smiler! And she coos and giggles! And she especially loves...

Her daddy. We all do!

Fun Stuff in San Antonio!

We decided that before Brent re-joins regular folk (you know, that go to work), we ought to see some of the cool stuff here.

So, we went to the River Walk. They give these historical site-seeing tours on boats.

Did you know that San Antonio is the seventh largest city in the country? Well, that explains why there are so many tall, tall buildings downtown.


We also went to a hamburger place that we heard has THE best burgers in the city. It's called Chris Madrid's. Very cool atmosphere. Good burgers. But, if those are the best of the best, they don't have very good hamburgers here.

Benjamin liked the tour, too!


Elizabeth wasn't so impressed.

The twins wanted me to mention that we get some serious sunlight through our sliding glass door from outside to the dining room, especially in the morning. (Nope, no curtains or blinds on the sliding glass door.)

We're Alive!

First, we hope your Christmas was great and fun and full of all the things a Christmas ought to have! Ours was hectic, small, and warm. In short, it was great! As I managed to delete all the pictures from our camera that included Elizabeth's blessing, Benjamin's birthday, and Christmas morning (yes, I've learned my lesson!), this is the most Christmas-y picture I have to share.











We made it to San Antonio and we found a house to rent. Here 'tis:

Bigger than our last house (the difference by which it is larger is more square feet than our first apartment... funny) so I have to clean more.

Brent will (hopefully) begin work this week. Wendi and Hailie begin school (full-day kindergarten) tomorrow. Ben will begin potty training this week (so long as he doesn't resist too hard).

Happy New Year!

Yee-Haw!

As our family tends to move every year or two, we figured it was high time to do it again! Well, honestly, this wasn't something we consciously decided... sort of. The story is, the office Brent was working for wasn't busy enough for two dentists. So, it is "adios" to Brent time.

We want to be somewhere that Brent doesn't have to work twelve hours a day to be successful. This means that we need to move somewhere there is a need for dentists. Idaho is pretty overpopulated, and so is most of the northwest for that matter.

Luckily, there ARE places that need dentists. For example, San Antonio Texas. Brent has accepted a job to work on Fort Sam Houston (for the military - a contractor for a company that contracts with the military - though not IN the military).

Hooray! And, away we go! Wish us luck!

Elizabeth Rose Goldthorpe

Our littlest love was born on Friday November 14, 2008 at 1:49 p.m. She was eight pounds, one ounce and twenty-one inches long.

Both mother and baby are doing very well.

Oh, did I mention that we'll be moving? Sometime before Christmas. Not sure where yet - anywhere in the U.S... job being the determining factor.