Ben's artwork

Being a professional organizer, I have been asked more times than I can count how I am going to deal with the oodles of artwork that Ben will bring home once he starts school... well, now that he's a jelly at his school, they do TONS of art, painting, drawing, coloring and all of the other fun artsy things that toddlers do... last Friday was the first time that I was faced with this as his artwork came home with him. If you know me at all, you know that I am not a fan of clutter and keeping things that have zero purpose. I do think that there is a place for his most masterful creations that I will save, but let's be honest... it's not feasible or remotely necessary to keep every little scrap of paper that he draws on, paints or or glues glitter on.

Here's my solution: take a picture (with him in it) for all of the artwork that doesn't get the "keep it because its amazing" award, organize it by month and voila! I have an entire portfolio of Bebo's artwork that I can look at when I want and don't have to continue to find bigger storage drawers for!

The official goodbye party

We had an official goodbye party for our infant room teachers on Saturday at Ben's friend Julia's house. It was a stunning afternoon spent in a gorgeous backyard with some of our favorite people. Here's a few of my favorite pics....

Our little swimmer!

I have claimed this summer as THE SUMMER OF SARA & BEN! :) What does this mean? Less work and more time with my boys! This then translates into a total revamp of my schedule, which means working less days, packing more into the days I am working and packing more into the day's I'm not working. I'm also doing swimming lessons with Ben! We started this last week and it was SO fun... he was not such a happy camper in the first 10 minutes and quickly warmed up to the idea and by the end, my brave boy was jumping off the side of the pool from a standing position... it was awesome! He takes lessons with his friend, Ella and here are some fun shots of them! (Of course the pool cleaner became a fast favorite toy OUT of the pool!)

Father's Day weekend

My cousin Peter got married yesterday in LA, so we did a jam packed day of driving down to LA and back in the same day - wedding at 5:30 and home by 11:30! Here's a few wedding photos...Ben was a champ and stayed up (with only a 30 minute nap) until 9 pm! interesting.... I have no pics of the bride & groom! Also, video of Ben giving his daddy his gift... a tie! (tradition - every year, he gets Steve a tie)

Grammy's visit

My mom has been here this week and Ben's been loving the extra attention, hugs and time with her. Here's a few fun shots....

Ben's officially a JELLY!

Today was Ben's last day in the infant room (goes until 18 mos +) and he's WAAAAAY ready to move to the Toddler room where he'll be a jelly! Monday will be a brand new day (he's been going over with his pals to start the transition for a while now and he LOVES the HUGE outside area, the dramatic play areas, the songs, the stories, the eating together with friends and the little cots that they nap on.) The reality is that as long as he has Julia, it will be all goooood! (see pic below of holding hands... they are like brother and sister)

A few shots of his last day as a seastar, and our party to celebrate with friends at Taffy's! Our little Bebo is really growing so fast that sometimes I have to stop and really just soak in the moments that are so precious.

A night under the stars!

We had the best night on Sunday... we went to The Hollywood Bowl to see Andrea Bocelli in concert... good friends, picnic under the stars and phenomenal music that fed the soul!

A HUGE thank you to the Miles Family for their help in our babysitter "crunch"! :)

Playing outside

Ben is in an anti-clothing phase as you can tell... he loves to help daddy (or "pappa" as he calls him) in the garden picking the basil and veggies.

Advertising for UCSB

Don't you think this picture should be on the front of the New Student Catalog for UCSB with the saying.........

"Come to UCSB and have the time of your life!" ????? :)