March 2017 Book List

Time for March books!  Okay, it is technically April now.  Can I use that as my April fool's joke? Yeah... pretty terrible.  But missing out on a month of reading would be even worse.  (Too nerdy?  That one was too nerdy.)  Let's just get to it. (As always, this post contains affiliate links.  That doesn't mean you pay more, just that it helps me out if you purchase through these links.  All opinions are mine.)

This month I have a nonfiction behind the scenes of Miss America, a story of two sisters separated sadly and how that shapes them, a drama with a turn I did not see coming, and a space story that is more of a personal rebuilding.


Being Miss America: Behind the Rhinestone Curtain by Kate Shindle.  This is written by Miss America 1998.  It goes back and forth between the history of the pagent and her experiences with it.  The history parts were pretty interesting.  The pageant started as basically a publicity stunt to keep people vacationing in Atlantic City one more week at the end of summer.  But it has grown into so much more.  This book focuses mainly on the times that Miss America has changed over the years.  It may have started as a stunt, but it is part of Americana now.  Shindle discusses several Miss Americas who didn't fit the mold and changed the way the pageant was run.  I enjoyed learning more about it.  The chapters about the author's experiences were interesting too.  It is easy to think of Miss America being a bit flighty, or perhaps too conservative, but there is a lot that goes into the job.  Way more than just a nice body.  It's always interesting to get the behind the scenes story on what life is like for big name people.  And Miss America has a lot going on after she wins the crown.  I would recommend this book if you like learning about the history of American culture, and honestly about feminism.  It gives a different perspective, and I always like that.

The Sisters by Nancy Jensen.  We meet two sisters in the 1920s in the beginning of this one.  They live with their stepfather, who, well, doesn't behave well to the older daughter.  She devises a plan with her little sister's beau to get away and take the little sister.  Messages get crossed and the little sister never follows or even learns of the plan.  The rest of the book is about the next two generations of this split family.  I did enjoy this book in that I like reading generational books.  What I didn't like was that it was basically a bummer.  Yes, bad things happen to the women in this book.  Most of them don't seem to take a ton of responsibility for their own choices or action.  That always frustrates me.  Sometimes life throws you a lemon, you just have to make do.  It did encourage me to remember that we don't always have the full story in life.  We don't always know why someone said something or acted the way they did.  If we can get past our own hurt we might be able to make amends and gain back a relationship we would have otherwise lost.

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll.  I loved this one.  It actually got me.  I won't give away the twist, but I was sitting there reading and really felt a bam! What just happened?  I had to go back and reread it!  That rarely happens, so I loved it.  This book is about a woman named Ani.  She was bullied in high school after falling into and then getting ostracized from the cool crowd.  As an adult she still seems to be fighting to prove herself to these people from her past.  She has an old money fiance, a fancy job, and seems to have it all, as we think we should want.  Of course we all know we can't erase our past, no matter how much we want to.  It is a part of us, and those who love us need to be able to accept that.  I loved this book.  It would be a great one for a summer vacation- I didn't want to put it down.

Beacon 23 by Hugh Howey.  I picked up this one because the author wrote the book Wool.  Pat got me that for our last anniversary (traditional gift was wool) based solely on the title.  Fortunately it was really good, and this one was too.  It takes place in the future, where people travel through space a lot.  Because of this they have beacons set up at various locations to warn travelers of asteroid belts and the like.  These beacons are run by single operators, kind of like lighthouses in the past.  Our operator was a war hero from on ongoing war with an alien species.  What I liked about the book is that in large parts you have to decide if what is happening is real, or is it just some sort of hallucination or fantasy from a lonely man.  We get to go along with the operator as he tries to piece himself back together.  The comparison to keeping his beacon running really illustrates how we work through traumas.  It also touches on the questions of how does one specific life weigh against all of humanity?  Howey is a wonderful author, and I love his works.

These were some good ones!  I'd love to hear from other people who have read them!  What did you think?  And please don't think you have to agree with me- some of the best discussions are when we don't like the books!  Any suggestions for what to read next?  Comment and let me know!
-Kim

Spring Cleaning: How to keep twin baby clothes organized

Tiny baby clothes are so cute.  All the little onesies, tiny pants, itty bitty socks- adorable.  You know what isn't so adorable?  How frustrating it can be to keep all those tiny clothes organized as your baby grows!  Two babies means almost twice the number of clothes, and special sets that are meant to be worn together.   We were very fortunate to get a lot of hand me downs and gifts from friends and family that keep the girls in style.  But I need to stay on top of it!  I find the first year to two years the hardest to keep organized.  I hate when I find an outfit that is super cute but too small because I forgot we had it!  So here is how I keep our twins clothes organized.

First off, so general tips.  These work for all babies, not just twins.  I do utilize them with my girls.

Gone box, right in the closet.

1) The gone box.  Right from the start, put a giveaway box or bag in the bottom of the closet or somewhere in your kids room.  If you find something that no longer fits, put it right in that box.  Have something that you just honestly don't think you will dress your child in?  It goes in the box.  If you aren't 100% sure, put it in there anyway.  You can always go back in a get the item if you change your mind.  Chances are you will forget about it, which means you didn't need it anyway.  This can be useful as kids get older too.  My son had a pair of pajamas he adored, but they really didn't fit anymore.  He didn't want to give them up, but we have a bag in his closet to put in clothes to give to his little cousin.  Knowing that he was giving his favorite pajamas to his little cousin made him happy to part with them.  You can also just grab the bag when it is full and send it off to wherever you like to donate.  Easy.

Too big box, handy to check.

2) Keep the next size nearby.  By this I mean if you have space keep another bin with the next size up in the child's room.  If the next size is stored away in an attic or basement you are less likely to remember to look through it.  Anyone else go out and buy something only to find out you already had what you needed tucked away for later?  I have sadly done this several times.  Being able to take a quick peek has let me save a lot of money from buying something we already have, and it helps me from missing the window to wear things saved for later.



3) Review your inventory.  Go through your too big bin on a regular basis.  What regular means is up to you.  I used to go through every season change.  It let me pull out the items we would need as it got warmer or colder.  I would also get rid of anything in the current closet that would be outgrown before the weather changed back.  Now that we have basically one season- hot and hotter- I have to be a bit more on top of things.  I set aside an evening every couple of months and sort through clothes.  No, it isn't the most exciting way to spend a night.  But again, it is better than missing items my kids could have worn or wasting money on something we already have.

These tips have helped me stay on top of my son's clothes, and now my daughters.  Twin clothes can be a little more work though.  I like to coordinate the girls' clothes.  They don't usually match exactly, but they usually go together pretty well.  This is part personal preference part a crazy fear that one baby will be seen as the favorite because she has the 'cuter' outfit.  (I know, Pat says I'm crazy but I can't help it.)  We have gotten some outfits that are obviously meant to be worn together.  Others I put together out of what we have.  Double the little girl clothes can take over any storage space you have.  Fortunately I have a system in place that makes it pretty easy to keep it contained and still let me find what I am looking for.

1) Stick to basics.  This can be hard, because as I said baby clothes are so cute.  The easiest way to coordinate outfits is to focus on tops with neutral bottoms.  This leggings, jeggings, black pants, that sort of thing.  It is easy to grab two bottoms and they go with almost all the tops.  I do have some pants and top outfits for the girls, but that tends to just be more pieces to keep track of.  This way I can have fewer bottoms, which saves money.

Bins are awesome! This is about 90% of the girls clothes.

2) Utilize bins instead of hanging in the closet.  Hanging up tiny clothes can be very annoying.  Even with little hangers they fall a lot.  I keep most of the girls' clothing in bins, folded sideways so I can see what I am working with.  I find bins can store more, are easier to organize, and easier to sort through.  I can quickly grab all the girls clothes out of their room and organize them while they sleep.  I use two big bins and one little one.  The big bins have long sleeve and long pants in one, with short sleeve and shorts in the other.  The little bin is for pajamas.  It works really well.  And yes, these two bins hold almost 90% of my girls clothes.  (The other 10% is things like coats, hoodies, and specialty outfits.)  You really don't need that much for them!  I have found it is easier to dress them and really enjoy their cute clothes if I keep quantity down.  Less money, less mess, and more enjoyment of my favorite clothes?  Wins all around.

3) Store specialty items in the closet.  The things that aren't used as much like holiday outfits, special pairs of dresses, jerseys if you are a sport family, are perfect for the closet.  These items can get lost or forgotten about.  Having them hanging in the closet gives you a visual reminder, and they aren't lost in the daily wear.  This is also a good place for gifts you don't love from people you do.  You can remember it is there, get a picture when it fits, and not have to make excuses.

Every shirt is paired up.
One set, two girls dressed.

4) Store clothes in outfit pairs.  When I get new clothes for the girls, I immediately pair them up how I want the girls to wear them.  They stay together from that point out.  This way when I have to get the girls dressed in the morning I only have to choose one set, not two outfits.  It sounds little, but it saves a lot of time and decision making.





So you have your kids clothes' stored.  What do you do when you want to sort through them without a lot of hassle?  Every couple of months I go through the girls' current and next size up clothes, along with Ben's next size up clothes.  (Now that he is three he isn't growing quite as fast, so it's easier to keep with as we dress him every day.)  They are all in bins, which makes it easy to pull them into the living room.  I love my kids, but it is so much easier to do this sort of thing without their help.  One thing to remember to do is grab something of each child that currently fits well. I use that as my size check if I am unsure about an item.  I just use whatever the child wore that day.



I make this process as fun as I can. I make sure we are watching a show I enjoy, and I have something tasty to drink or eat.  Start with the current clothes.  Look at each item and ask yourself if you want your baby to keep wearing it.  Maybe it doesn't work with the current weather.  Maybe you just don't like it as much as you thought you did.  Be ruthless.  If you haven't dressed your child in it since the last clean out, you probably don't need it.  If you aren't sure about a size you have your known fit item right there to compare it to.  If it is too small, get rid of it.
Once I have gone through the current clothes I go through the next size up bin.  For twins that means making sure I have outfits I want to go together matched.  Not every twin mom cares about this, but it matters to me.  This is another times to be ruthless.  If you can't picture your kids wearing something, get rid of it!  This can be hard, especially with hand me downs.  But if you honestly don't think you will dress your child in something don't keep it cluttering up your child's clothes.

If you are like me, you might have a hard time getting rid of these sweet baby clothes.  This is where the husband comes in.  His job is to remind me that I am not throwing away pieces of my babies' childhoods by getting rid of old clothes.  It sounds silly, but sometimes I need the back up to remember they are just clothes.  Sure, I save a couple of things.  I have all the outfits my babies have worn home from the hospital.  But there will always be another favorite outfit, and there will always be more cute clothes.  If you need help staying strong- that's okay!  It also helps to think of more sweet babies making memories in these tiny clothes.  Someone will be happy to get what you no longer need.

This seems like a lot.  Fortunately after the first year and a half keeping up with your kids clothes gets easier.  They stop growing as fast, and they start to develop preferences.  As annoying as it can be that they no longer just wear whatever I want, it is one less decision I have to make when they pick out their own clothes.  I like to pick my battles, and usually it isn't worth arguing over clothing.  I love using the bin system, and as your children age and stop going through an entire wardrobe every three months it gets easier to use the traditional hang up method.  Then the bins can be freed up for other storage!

This is all kind of a lot for clothing for tiny humans.  I just hate when I either spend money on something we already have, or forgetting to dress my babies in something because it is saved for later.  It is only for a short time though.  Once kids stop growing quite as fast it is much easier to keep up with their clothes.

What suggestions do you have for organizing baby clothes?  Comment and let me know what works for you!

-Kim

And if you need some cute twin outfits to pair up, check out my review of My Twins Are Cuter!  Super cute clothes for twins and twin moms, and a promo code for 20% off your first purchase!  You can also head to My Twins Are Cuter to see all the designs yourself!

My Twins Are Cuter: The twin clothes you need to see (plus a promo code!)

(Disclosure: Products were received for free in exchange for this post.  All opinions are honest and my own.)

"Two for the price of one, huh?"  Any other twin mom hear that just about every time they are out?  (Among with other things.)  I usually just smile and nod when I hear this.  In my head I want to yell, "No!  Two for the price of two!"  Just because two babies were born at the same time does not mean you get out of paying for one of their needs.  The trade off is worth it- I have two sweet babies to love.  But it can make the budget a bit more challenging.

I am strict with myself when it comes to the girls' clothes. It can be so annoying.  Little girl clothes are so cute!  Oh, and having twins.  I totally want to take advantage of dressing them in whatever I want while they are still little and don't have a say in what they wear.  I will totally confess to enjoying dressing them alike.   I mean, I have twins, why not have some fun with it?  Let me tell you how excited I was to learn about My Twins Are Cuter.

My Twins Are Cuter is a site with clothing just for twins and twin moms!!  It was founded by Dawn, a twin mom (who else to better get what other twin moms are looking for?) after her twins noticed she liked to point out her twins were cuter.  What mom doesn't think that?  We all want our twins to be the cutest, and she is helping us out with it.  Let me tell you a few things I like about this site.  

1) Almost everything is sold in a set.  I know it sounds silly, but having to go back and order a second of something or find a coordinating outfit of another gender can be enough to make me say no.  One click and you have both items.  

2) There is a size chart!  It's a little thing, but Ali and Sammy have outfits that they currently wear sized 6 months through 18 months.  A whole year is represented there!  It is a bit ridiculous.  Having a size chart makes me feel like I am actually getting the right size.  

3) There are clothes for all gender combos!  Boy/boy, girl/boy, girl/girl.  They are all there.

4) The designs are simple, clean, and CUTE.  Sometimes you don't want the cheesy sayings, just something a little less overt.  All of the designs incorporate the number 2, but aren't shouting 'Twins!' at you.  This is awesome in case one of the kids spills on their outfit.  The other child can wear the top without looking silly if they aren't paired up with someone.  

5) All shipping in the US is $5.  Now, I normally am an Amazon Prime type of person.  But this is a reasonable amount.  The consistency makes it easier to budget for an plan ahead for future purchases!

6) The prices are decent.  These are specialty items, so it isn't like you are going to completely outfit your twins in them all the time.  But they are very accessible.  Most of the items are $25-$30 a set- so that is for two pieces.  That is really not bad!  And they aren't limited to a certain holiday or time of year to wear them.  I can see me getting a lot of use out of these.

My favorite part- My Twins Are Cuter is giving Team Cartwright readers a special discount code! Put TWINMOMBLOG into the coupon code spot in your cart to get 20% off your first order!  Yay!  

Dawn very generously sent the girls and me a couple of tops to try out.  Ali and Sammy got the Whimsical Whale onesies and I got the"I love my twins" distressed ink tee.  I love them all.  They came in a cute package.  I know that doesn't really matter if the product is no good, but it is so nice to get something fun and pretty in the mail.

Pretty mail!  Yay!

Even Ben wanted to see what we got!  

Love them!!!

The girls got their onesies in the 18 month size, so they are a little big.  (Ali and Sammy are 14 months now.) I prefer to get bigger so they have more time to wear them.  With it already warm around here, so they will get a lot of use out of these.  I love the cute design.  The onesies are 100% cotton, great for baby skin.  The girls looked so cute in them!  Of course getting pictures of my two little busy bees was, well, quite the challenge.  All I can say is that I tried.

Mommy has the camera out, scatter!

  I was able to get one at a time pictures.

Ali!!

Sammy!

 This is the best I could do of them together.

Sammy is less than thrilled, Ali just doesn't care.

I was a much easier model to work with, if I do say so myself.  I adore my shirt!  I think it is super cute, but not something too over the top I'll feel silly wearing it.  And I do love my twins!  The fit is great and it is nice and soft.  There are grandparent shirts too!  You know grandparents love to show off their grandbabies and talk about them.  These shirts are a great conversation starter!

I do love my twins!

My twins are so cute!

Check out this site.  It is great for twin moms, twin grandparents, and soon to be twin moms.  I think these clothes are prefect if you know someone pregnant with twins too!  My Twins Are Cuter.  Love these clothes!
-Kim

And for everyone's amusement- some of the outtakes.

Sammy loved the bag the clothes came in.  She would not give it up!  She is tiny but fierce.

I tried sitting them at the wall.  They just tried to get the outlet.

We tried the couch.  Nope.

Someone always tries to escape! 

I put a blanket down to lure them.  It caught a big bro too.

A sweet moment...

... and it's over.

Modeling is exhausting.  So is trying to wrangle a couple of babies.

Happy Cartwright girls!

"Girls are quieter than boys" and other lies I was told

Back when Pat and I were discussing our ideal family, way before the kids were born, we thought we wanted a boy and girl.  We were thrilled when we found out we were having a son.  Got our boy!  With our second pregnancy we knew we would be happy with either gender.  Having Ben was such a delight, I could just picture having another little boy to love.  But I would have been so happy to have a daughter too.  With twins, well, I have to admit the thought of having two girls was the most daunting combo to us.  One girl, yes, we both wanted a daughter.  But two at once?  Two going through all the less than exciting parts of growing up at the same time?  That was a bit intimidating to us.  Learning we were in fact having two daughters was a little scary at first.  We got over it pretty quickly.  Any gender can have trying parts of childhood.  Two daughters was going to be awesome.  Then I started hearing all the differences between little girls and little boys.  Honestly it made having twins sound a lot easier- they were both girls.  Well I'm going to say it.  Most of them were lies.

Girls are quieter than boys.  I knew that girls usually talk more than boys.  But I was under the impression that girls didn't yell and scream as much for no apparent reason.  Not so in this house.  Ben was a relatively quiet baby and early toddler.  He just didn't make a ton of noises.  I'm pretty sure Ali and Sammy are some of the loudest babies ever.  Seriously.  They aren't unhappy girls, they are just super loud.  I used to ask people if their girls tended to be louder than their boys, or if their second children were louder.  Nope.  We just have loud babies.  These girls love to yell and squeal and make all kinds of noises.  One of them alone is super loud.  And we have two.  Pat can hear them from outside the house when he gets home in the evening.  (Thank goodness we aren't in a town home anymore!)  These ladies have opinions and want them to be heard.  Now that Ben is three he is talking non stop.  I'm pretty certain I won't be able to get a word in around my kids in another year or so.

Right for the outlet.  Every time.

Girls don't get into as much trouble.  We baby proofed with Ben, but not in an obsessive way.  I believe in baby proofing just enough.  By that I mean we take care of real, serious danger.  But some things are left out to learn from.  For example- the kids aren't allowed to play with the tv remotes.  They are out, and we work on learning not to touch certain items.  Ben didn't really get into stuff though.  He was never interested in outlets.  He didn't really try to reach up on high shelves and get things.  He ignored cords for the most part.  (This was particularly helpful since he was in an office all day.)   He was pretty mellow. Ali and Sammy are drawn to outlets like they are candy.  They think cords are chew toys I am meanly keeping from them.  They try to reach and grab anything they see.  These girls tried to eat the edge of the carpet.  Nothing is safe around here.

Crawling on train tracks?  Why not?

Girls are more careful than boys.  I've heard that boys are fearless.  When we had Ben I was prepared for bumps and bruises.  I was ready for him to be rough and tumble.  Now he can be, but overall he is a pretty cautious kid.  He doesn't like stunts or doing wild things.  He makes sure he is confident with playground equipment before he gets on it.  He always looks before he leaps.  We have two little daredevils in Sammy and Ali.  These two still fling themselves all over the place.  If we sit with them on the couch they will try to go headfirst over the sides.  Both of them have had bruises and bumps on their heads and faces.  Ali went face first into a toy and got a deep bruise on her cheek (poor baby!), and Sammy headbutted her crib and got a bruise on her forehead.  (I saw it happen, but did not for a second think she would launch herself that hard!)  Pat and Ben were in the backyard one day and I stepped out to say something to them, leaving the door open.  There is a drop from the door to the porch.  It's only like six inches, but I thought no way the girls would go out. Nope, both of them just scurried as fast as they could to get outside.  The drop didn't slow them down for a second.

Never stop trying to get into everything.

Girls sit still better than boys.  Okay, I know my girls are still young, so we will see how they are as toddlers.  But as babies- they never hold still!  Ben didn't start crawling until he was almost a year.  He was happy to sit with a collection of toys and play.  He liked to sit in his high chair and watch me cook in the kitchen.  This probably helped with him not getting into as much.  Ali and Sammy never stop moving.  They started wiggling and trying to get around at about six and a half months.  By seven months they were army crawling.  They never stopped.  They are all over the living room, bouncing from toy to toy.  They cruise around holding onto anything they can grab.  I have never been so grateful for baby gates.  Speaking of those gates though- the girls have learned to push them over if they aren't tight enough in the doorways.  They also stand at the gates and lift up a leg like they are trying to step over like adults do.  So they are busy and smart.  Super.

Girls are neater than boys.  Ha!  Ben is one of those kids who likes everything in it's spot.  He can make a mess- he's still a kid.  But his room is clean without my having to say much to him.  Drawers need to be closed, toys should be kept together by type, and he pretty willingly cleans up at the end of a play session.  Even with eating he isn't too bad.  Oh, he gets messy.  But it really isn't that bad.  The girls are a mess.  I mean that in the most loving way possible.  When Ben was a baby he was super into putting things into containers.  The girls want nothing more than to dump everything on the floor.  They grab toys and shove them places, which drives Ben (and me) crazy.  We have to hunt down the pieces of different sets at the end of the day.  Meal times?  I have never seen the messes these girls can make!  I swear if I give them a little dab of peanut butter they manage to end up with a whole jar's worth on their face.  Ben never got food between his toes.  Ali and Sammy- not that uncommon.  The two of them find nothing funnier than putting things on their heads, especially at meals. We go through a lot of wipes in this house.  (These pictures are from a relatively clean meal.)

I adore having a boy and girls.  I really am so grateful we get a chance to experience both.  I have a busy little boy who loves to jump in muddy puddles and run around non stop.  I thought two baby girls would be nothing compared to that, but having girls does not mean you are in for a more peaceful time.   And I have two of them.  Two busy, loud, fearless little girls.  I love it, but thank goodness my caffeine addiction was well in place long before kids. :)

-Kim

Oh, and if you think having twin girls means having tea parties and playing with dolls all day, check out this wrestling match.  The girls like to try to launch themselves off the bouncer.

There can be only one!

Full explanation of this picture:  The girls were actually giggling and hugging, but Ali hugged a bit too hard and Sammy fell over.  I just happened to get the picture at the right moment.  Sammy didn't miss a beat.  She rolled over and tried to get right back on.

Friday Family Update {March 24}

Time to catch  up on what the kids have been up to!

A couple of weeks ago we invaded Aunt Gail's house to visit.  We had so much fun!  Fortunately for us Aunt Gail and Uncle Dan have a bunch of toys at there house.  Ali, Ben, and Sammy are always happy to have different toys to explore.  Plus Aunt Gail's house has a big hallway to run down.  The best part- she doesn't mind! We played inside for a bit then had some lunch.  After lunch we headed outside!  I was able to let Ali and Sammy crawl around a bit for once.  I put out a blanket for them.  They crawled right off it, of course.  Ali actually ventured into the grass for a bit.  Sammy was a little more hesitant about it.  I think they really liked having the freedom to crawl around outside.  I can't wait for them to get past the everything-in-the-mouth time.  I guess they don't put everything in their mouth right now.  But they did attempt to taste some rocks.  They won't be loose very frequently.  I do also have some concerns about all the prickly plants around here.  While it is fun to let the girls crawl around free, they do still need some serious attention.  

I got some pictures, but managed to forget to get any of Aunt Gail with the kids!  Sorry!  But thank you for letting us invade and hang out for the day.  We had a lot of fun.

Sweet girls outside!

Sammy knows how to work the camera.

Ali!  I love these sweeties in their sun hats!

Ali was quite the explorer!  Ben made sure she was safe.

These three had so much fun!!

Sweet sisters sharing lunch.  I love that they are willing to share the little table.

And then your sister puts her foot on the table.  Twin problems.

A couple of weekends ago Pat's school had a 5k run.  No, we didn't run in it. Pat helped out so we went to check it all out!  I am so glad we did.  I got to meet so many nice people that Pat works with.  I loved hearing that they all liked him!  (I wouldn't expect otherwise.)  The race was a big event for the community, with music, food, and activities for the kids.  Ben got to go in a little petting zoo.  He played on the playground.  The highlight was getting to sit in a real firetruck!  It took some time for Ben to warm up to it, but he did climb up!  It was so cute to see him talking to the fireman.  The look of pride on his face afterwards was priceless.

My boys checking everything out!

Ali! Happy to be at the event.

Sammy, trying not to smile.

Ben and the firemen!  He listened so carefully to them.

Future fireman?

Finally, as I mentioned Pat and I had our 8 year anniversary on Pi Day.  We didn't do anything big, but I did take advantage of the day to make Pat's favorite pie- banana cream!  My favorite part of this was that Ben could help with pretty much every step.  We helped me press the crust into the pan, make the filling, cut the bananas, and put the filling in the crust.  I am pretty certain his favorite part was liking the bowl afterward.  I don't blame him- that was my favorite part too!  Ben was so excited to show Daddy the pie, Pat didn't even get through the door before Ben was running up and telling him about it.  

Mixing the filling.

Cutting up the bananas.  Just a butter knife, but I was a bit nervous!

Filling the pie.

Liking the bowl!  The best part.

My happy helper!

Thank you again to Aunt Gail for letting us come visit!  We all had a great time.  Looking back on these pictures is making me want more pie.  I wonder what I can let Ben help me bake next... :)

-Kim