Vala's 2008

Every year we go to the Vala's with our dinner club friends. It is always so much fun whether it is a large group or a small group!! Here are some pictures. . .

They are growing TOO fast!! Do you like Elizabeth's 'strike a pose'?

Ben was not striking poses. . .he was trying to figure out what was going on!

The mandatory pumpkin pics.

Hanging out after our hot dogs and smores!

So much fun - can't wait for next year!

Elizabeth's First Day of Preschool

Elizabeth has been very excited to get to start preschool! She was ready to roll on September 3rd. Here are a few pictures from that day.

Ben's look on his face here is very telling about what he thought of this whole adventure. He cried and cried after we dropped her off. Elizabeth was all smiles, she couldn't wait!

And finally. . .presenting the HSM backpack.

Elizabeth Singing

Here is my attempt at doing a video. This is Elizabeth singing High School Musical in the back of the van. Brad managed to catch it on his camera. It is pretty cute - despite the face she doesn't seem to know the words.

Colorado 2008

Ok - so I signed up for Facebook and therefore my blogging has been suffering severely. Although I have enjoyed finding friends from WAAAAY back and see what they are up to now. It is weird in some ways though. Alas - not the point.

We went to Colorado at the end of July and had a wonderful time. The older the kids get, the more they love it out there.

"Uncle Blad" made the trip even more fun! Here is one of the many battles - you will notice that Elizabeth's "gun" is a thumb's up. She is pretty tough with that thumb of death. She just liked to run around and scream.

Another fun activity - dog pile on Brad!

We did LOTS of hiking - which I LOVE!

Ben loved being outside. He enjoyed climbing around SO much that he wouldn't even notice when his legs would get all scraped up!

Mom and I do all the cooking. Don't we look like sisters???

Looking for treasures is so much fun! And intense too - there was no time to look up at Mom for a picture!

I love this picture of my little man! It is so rare to get him to sit still, let alone smile for a picture!

She has a lot of spunk. . .even at 95!!

Here we are at the top of Hallet's Peak! It was a hard climb, but totally worth it! We loved being on top of that mountain!

Don't you feel sorry for those ducks??

Ben's Feature Section

Hello all -


Well the 2nd child is not suffering from 2nd child syndrome this week. With Elizabeth in California, Ben has actually been getting a few pictures taken. Although a couple of these were taken while Elizabeth was here. . .I'd thought I would take this opportunity to let Ben shine.

You know - a spoon can be a tricky thing to manuever. As you can see here - Ben has not quite mastered the art. Although he tries, he finds his hands to be much more practical. He also does not get the point of a bowl. It is just as easy to eat it right off the tray.

Here is some time with the spoon - and then some time with the hands.

The above was an attempt at self feeding yogurt. We tend attempt these great learning opportunities on bath days.

Below is Ben after his bath. This is Ben with a fauxhawk (which only lasted for the time to snap a few pictures). I felt this hairstyle was best suited to go with the t-shirt that his Uncle Tev picked out for him. He refused to put down his snack cup - so I am forced to spell out what it says. "Lock Up Your Daughters" Being the ladies man and little flirt that he is, this is a funny shirt for him.

Here he is working the image a little.

And just to remind every one that he is just a sweet little boy - here is his cute and preppy picture.

Disney 2008

We had a FABULOUS time at Disney World! It is hard to say who had the most fun and who was the most impressed. Here are a few of our pictures - in no particular order. :)

This is Elizabeth's before picture. She went to the Bippiti Boppiti Boutique for a "makeover". She thought it was lots of fun -- but she was VERY tired from our big day at MGM the previous day!

This is the after pictures. She picked the Belle Dress, the "Diva" hair, and the gold sparkly flip flops.

This is Elizabeth with her pink fuzzy princess book and Mickey pen. She carried this book with her everywhere and would jot down "notes" while she waited in line.

We saw Mickey Mouse! Of course - Mom had to jump in on that picture!

Here we are at the Magic Kingdom. Ben spent a lot of time napping in his stroller - and it is possible he spent more time enduring than enjoying. But he even had a good time - especially when he got out of his stroller!


More pictures from the beach - coming soon!!

Mother's Day 2008

Only 7 days until we leave for Disneyworld! Elizabeth cried today because 7 more times of going to sleep was TOO MANY!!

Mother's Day was lots of fun! Rich worked really hard to make the day special for me and it really was. We worked together to make the day special for our moms. Here are some pictures!!

My pride and my joy! (Although some days I refer to them as pilage and plunder)

Omom had a combined Mother's Day/Birthday this year -- but since we put them together - she got an Touch Ipod! She was excited!

Watch out world! Introducing the next Guitar hero!!

On Holidays - you just have to catch naps where you can get them! You will see that Benjamin has finally made the 20 pound mark and is facing forward in the car. They LOVE getting to sit next to each other (at least for now!)

Grandma's mother's day gift was a GPS for her to help her get around. (You can always tell when the Hoffmans are in charge of gifts! They tend to lean the technology way!) Marilyn and Rich have trouble following directions and the GPS has been the answer for Rich. We'll see how Marilyn likes it!

We had a great day! We are truly blessed having such wonderful family!

Some Fun Candid Shots

We were taking some pictures to have a picture to turn into Channel 6 for First Birthdays. Elizabeth took time to get all dolled up as she was sure that she needed to be included in these pictures. So she hopped up on the chair with Ben. Ben was studying her princess dress.


Then he decided to let out a squeal that only Ben knows how to produce and it just makes me laugh to see the face he makes mid-squeal.

Then everyone was happy and laughing.

Here is Ben and his friend Grant Meyer. Grant is so excited that Ben is FINALLY getting to an age where he can play with Grant. Because those girls don't always include Grant. However, Grant is not so sure why Ben thinks it is so fun to tackle him. (Please note the hot pink ball in front of Ben and the cup that belongs to the kitchen beside Grant - this is what happens when you have older sisters)

This is Elizabeth with her "BEST FRIEND" Maddie. Of course, some days I am her best friend and some days Ben is. But Maddie is the only one that she will shout "Maddie is MY BEST FRIEND". The girls are getting to a fun age where they are getting good at sharing and playing together. We still have a few bad days here and there - but for the most part - they have a blast together!

All About MY Husband -- LeAnna did this and I thought I would join in!!

What is his name? William Richard Hoffman, JR -

How long have you been married? 6 years (although last I heard from Rich it has been 5 years)

How long did you date? We were friends for 5 years, then we dated for 1.5 years before we got engaged. We were engaged for one year to the day.

How old is he? 31 - but if you ask him - he won't know that.

Who said "I love you first?" I am not sure.

Who is taller? Rich - thank goodness!

Who eats more sweets? Well, depends on how many low blood sugars he has had. But usually it is me getting into the chocolate!

Who can sing better? Probably me? Hard to say, he is a good singer.

Who is smarter? Depends - computers - definitely him. Spelling - definitely me.

Who does the laundry? I do it the majority of the time - but he helps with it sometimes.

Who pays the bills? This is an Erin job for the sake of all parties involved.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does.

Who mows the lawn? I do. He clears the snow.

Who cooks dinner? I do - I love to cook, when I have time!

Who drives? I do - I get car sick easily and Rich likes to multitask while driving.

Who is more stubborn? Rich would say me, I would say Rich. We both are.

Who kissed who first? He kissed me first - but it took him awhile to work up the guts to.

Who asked who out first? Hard to say - we were great friends prior to dating - I don't know when the transition occurred and who asked whom. I probably asked him.

Who proposed? He did and it was one of the few times in my life I was TOTALLY surprised.

Who has more siblings? We both have two siblings. He has two sisters and I have two brothers.

Hope you enjoyed learning about the love of my life!

The Easter Bunny

We were happy. We were going on a stroller ride and we saw the Easter Bunny. We played on the equipment. I went in the door and that was fun. Then I went back in the door. Disney Store, yep, yep, yep. Eat cookie. Then we went home.

The above is word for word, Elizabeth's account of our Easter Bunny outing.

Here is the picture that Rich was telling you about. (Wasn't his post funny! It is just as random as the way he thinks!)

HA! Rich is posting....

All right kids - here is my first post! For as much as I use computers I really don’t dig email forwards, chat programs, etc. But more about what you came for - family stuff:

Big Ben is sick and not feeling well. Our little man is getting to be such a big person. Erin loves the baby stage but I love the kid stage. I love the stage Elizabeth is at and Ben is trying so hard to be just as big. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want them to grow too fast - but I am so glad we are done potty training with her. I am sure that after every potty break when she is an adult she will crave a Starburst…actually two! Bad parent’s maybe, but I am a push over for her. You will not believe how many crap yellow Starbursts I have eaten to leave her favorite flavors for her…

Oh funny story – Yesterday we went to the mall and saw the Easter Bunny! It was loads of excitement for little E. I felt a little guilty because they have the big bunny on a chair and two girls who make the kid smile and takes pictures to sell. Well, we walk in – slap the kids on each leg – Erin’s big fancy camera pops out and she takes pictures as she stands IN FRONT of their camera. I honestly hope she did not upset the big bunny because I am sure he talks to Santa. Do you have any idea what would happen to our us if they team up and take us down? Will someone please slip him some cash when they walk by and say it is from the Hoffman’s?

rich

Happy Birthday Benjamin

It doesn't seem possible that it has been a year since we had Benjamin! I thought life passed quickly with Elizabeth - but time is going even more quickly with two! Yikes!

Here are some pictures from Ben's first birthday!

We had a puppy party theme - carefully picked out by Elizabeth. Here are the puppy cupcakes.

Once Ben got his cupcake - he took one taste, gave a look of great satisfaction - then stuffed the cupcake down beside him so that no one could take it away. (Can you tell his older sister likes to "share" his snacks?)

He got a playhouse as a gift and it was a big hit for all!!

Slacking off

Well, it has been brought to my attention that I have not been doing my blogging duty. I am hoping that someday I will be able to get Rich to help out on here. . .but that might be wishful thinking!!

Things have been going well albeit busy with the Hoffmans. Ben is crawling all over now and has decided that discovering what things invoke a "No, No, No" is far more fun that all the cool new toys he has received for Christmas. This keeps us busy (and makes sitting at the computer with my back to him, impossible).

Elizabeth's new passion is "formsense", which to us lay people means "performance". She has her audience sit on the stairs (which is usually Mom and Ben) and she dances, sings (about 3 octaves too high), and plays the piano. I do have a video of this and if I can figure the video thing out, I will have to share it with you. I had to prep Rich NOT to laugh at the video as it was a very serious performance in Elizabeth's mind.

Since I am not on my home computer - I am at lunch at work - I will include a few of my all time favorite pics that I have on this computer. . .

Rich's lovely ladies. . . and the duck.

This is Ben at about a month old - he got so worked up in his car seat that he was soaked with sweat from head to toe. This is how his hair dried after cooling off. We found this hilarious! He looks like quite the baby rock star - perhaps we should start training him on guitar hero now.

This is just a picture I love of them reading together. They are too cute. They still get along well. Elizabeth is still often too rough but she rarely does anything that isn't intended as love -- unless he goes after her stuff! :) You'd never know it, but babies can choke on dress up dresses - just ask Elizabeth.

Have a great day! (And at least I got one entry in for January!!)

Happy Birthday to Austin Poleshuk tomorrow!