Puppets (And a Little History)

The boys found several finger puppets in their toy box and decided to put on a puppet show!  (History Lesson Insert Here --> The coffee/end tables we have in our living room were made by John's dad Steve Helfer many many years ago.)  When the boys said they wanted to do a puppet show, John told them we have our very own stage and flipped the table on its side, explaining that when he was a little boy he and Aunt Vanessa and Uncle Peter would put on puppet shows at this same table!  How exciting for Ben and Tommy to continue the "tradition" of puppetry!

And now... Enjoy the show!

Tommy's Show

Ben's Show

Mollie

 This story starts with a little bit of history.... almost 7 years ago, John Welke was the Best Man in our wedding.  John and John (not confusing at all right?!) were childhood/highschool friends and we have stayed in touch with them over the years...Fast forward 1 year and 1 month later to when Benjamin was born, John (Helfer) called John (Welke) to tell him that we just had a beautiful baby boy on November 10, 2005.  John (Welke) excitedly told John (Helfer) that he had just become an Uncle again to a beautiful little girl named Mollie just 2 HOURS before Ben was born!
OK.... now to this year...
May 21, 2011 we went to celebrate John and Kelly... this time with John (Welke) as the Groom and John (Helfer) as the Best Man!  It was a beautiful ceremony and the Flower Girl was John's niece, Mollie.  The night before the wedding, at rehersal, we got to meet Mollie (and the rest of her family Mom-Tara, Dad-John...really...another John, and Brother-Ian).  Mollie & Ben hit it off right away, running and playing with Tommy & Ian.  It was really exciting to see the 4 kids getting along so great!  We brought the boys back to Gramma and Grampa's for the night and they talked excitedly about their "new friends Mollie & Ian."  Saturday, we woke up and got ready for the wedding...the boys put on their "fancy suits" and looks so handsome.

Now, Mollie is a beautiful little girl, and, being the flower-girl, she had on a white dress, her hair was done up, and she was even wearing a little make-up.  Ben, quickly ran up and they resumed the conversation they were having the night before.  There were comments made on how pretty Mollie was, and how nice Ben looked and soon it was time for the ceremony. We took our seats and watched as each member of the wedding party came down the aisle.  Then Mollie came down- Ben leaned over to tell me "Mom, Mollie is so pretty!"   After the ceremony we drove to the reception site, on the way there I told the boys that we would have dinner, cake and then there would be a dance...I think I also made comments on how nice it would be if my boys wanted to dance with their Mommy.  (At this point I think Tommy stopped listening as he would repeat over and over again, "can we have cake?!")  The wedding party arrived shortly after we did and again, Ben, Tommy, Ian and Mollie started playing with each other again, running around playing chase.  After dinner the dance started...at first, Ben, Tommy and Mollie were dancing and running around together... then the first slow dance started up and Ben and Mollie decided they wanted to dance like the adults.  They watched the other couples on the floor and decided that Mollie's hands went on Ben's shoulders and Ben's went on her waist...and this is how they danced for the rest of the night.

They were inseparable!  Dancing the night away, grinning ear to ear...at one point there was even a few kisses (to which both sets of parents quickly stepped in!)!  As you can imagine, there were jokes made about Ben going after the single woman in the bridal party and that in 20 years we would all join together again for another wedding and John and I joked with Tara and John about becoming in-laws!  The reception ended and we all went our separate ways- Mollie and her family back to their home in Wisconsin and us back to Minnesota...you think the story ends there, right?!  Not for my love-struck son!  For the next week Ben constantly talked about Mollie and how "it was so much fun dancing with her" and "she is so pretty, Mom"... then later in the week "you know Mom?  I'm going to marry  Mollie"  MARRY?!  Ben's five... FIVE!!!!  Part of me wants to freak out, while the other thinks this is cute... and yet, another side of me thinks, what if?!  What if sharing the same birthday has connected them some-how?  I put my thoughts aside until I read a FaceBook Message from Tara...

My daughter wants permission to call the boy she met this weekend---- she is only 5!!!!

May 26 at 2:50pm

It seems that Mollie has been talking about Ben just as much as Ben has been talking about Mollie!  That weekend, Mollie called and, sitting on the front steps of our house, Ben had his first conversation with a girl!  They talked about new shoes, swimming, playing outside, and water slides.  It was a fairly short conversation, but part of me was a little sad as I saw my baby... a little boy I held in my arms not so long ago- talking to someone of the opposite gender!  Where has this time gone?!  I know this isn't the start of crushes or dating or hours on the phone just to hear the other person breathe...but still.... it is getting closer by the day!  Soon my baby boy will be in school and there will be more girls who put notes in his backpack to "check yes if you like me."  This entire ordeal has made me hold on to my baby tighter, because I know, one day, my son will come home with stars in his eyes to tell me that he is in love...and maybe he already is!