Monday Night Dinner

So one may wonder... how the two year boy below came to be eating dinner with no pants on... or perhaps you may wonder why two year boy's parents would allow him to eat dinner with no pants on. Well...

it all starts out innocently enough. Grant wanting to eat shirtless like his big brother Joel... which to his parents said "Sure, why not, no harm in that, less stains to scrub out"...

The removal of clothing progressed when Grant got down from the table, stating that he had to go potty, ran into the bathroom, and no more than 10 seconds later arrived back at the table, with nothing but his birthday suit on, climbed up in his chair and continued eating, not looking one bit like he maybe should have some clothes on. We told him that he needed to at least have his pull-up on while eating dinner and this is how he returned, quite proud, that he did, indeed, have his pull-up back on.... nevermind that it was up around his waste. He didn't even seem to notice :)

How could we NOT let him continue eating dinner, naked and all, after than proud moment. And I mean really... how much longer will be really be able to get away with this!

Thanksgiving Weekend

A bit of an over-abundance of pictures from our Thanksgiving weekend in Hibbing an also in reverse order, but here are some highlights:)

Above, my favorite picture of the weekend featuring The Sledding Machine! Joel has no fear and no limits when it comes to sledding (as I've said before), but this hill was WAY bigger than the one in our backyard that I posted about last week! His face reflects nothing but joy when he is outside. He is just fun, fun, fun. Both Jeff and I were amazed by some of the rolling wipe-outs he took and how fast he was back up the hill once he got to the bottom.

The "double-decker".


Jeff, at the bottom of the hill, teaching Joel about snow angels

Me, moments before I went over a sizable bump that HURT my tailbone, it hurt for about 2 days afterward as well. Geesh!, I guess I'm getting old or something!
If you think Joe's path in the picture above does NOT look clear, you would be correct... he was about to slam his sled and himself RIGHT into the older kid in front of him.
And after the collision... everyone appears to be okay, (whew!)




Bean bag toss during a visit to Uncle Dan and Aunt Kathy's new lake home near Hibbing. It is a BEAUTIFUL home!
Uncle Dan and my Dad relaxing.


This was the attempt (and the best we could do) to get a picture of Great Gma and Gpa with their great grandkids. Grant was NOT having it!... after about 20 minutes of being in a power struggle with him that I should NOT have been in (in hindsight), because I was insisting that he be in this picture.... it all ended when we had to take away the camera we had given him (in an attempt to get him to stand by everyone else), which led to a one HOUR meltdown that ended with him asleep and Grant and Jeff both missing dinner while he was screaming. It was rather unbelievable actually... let's just say he was not having his finest day.
My cousins daughter Jaelynn with the boys under the table. She is a HOOT, and just a few months older than Grant
My cousins's 4 month old son, Jestin.
Grant, making "funny faces"

Joel, making "funny faces"
Joel, hard at work on this Turkey Maze
Mike and Jenn, reviewing venue choices for their wedding reception this summer. The ceremony is July 23rd at Madelyn Island in Wisconsin!! The reception will follow in the metro, one to two weeks later:) So exciting!
Playing around
Mom, looking amuzed by the wedding plans we were all discussing... :)

Great Grandma Rose and Great Grandpa George.

Nummy! Nana's spaghetti and meatballs!

Grandpa John, recovering from his second hip replacement in about 2 and a half months time! Tough guy!

Welcome Back White Stuff

The little guys are REALLY into the white stuff this year... more so that past years and they have been asking to go out EVERY day. Even if it is dark, cold, or icy when we get home, they still ask to play outside. It's fun to watch them enjoy it, even if I do wish (just a little) that I could watch them from INSIDE. But... since they're not old enough to go out by themselves, I'll be getting out my long underwear and parka and at least attemping to stay warm:)

Joel is as BIG fan of sledding. He would this this all day.

Grant took one trip down the hill, and that was it..

Grant spent the rest of time sending his empty sled down next to Joel :)

Donny

Donny, aka "Mitchell" ready for his performance in the Prairie Fire Children's Theater presentation of "Cinderella" last Friday night. The group practiced for about 4 hours per day for one week, and put on a great show. It was fun to watch and Mitch really did a great job. I am attemping to get some video downloaded but am having some technical difficulties, so I'll keep working on it:) The play was a version of Cinderella, "Let's Go to the Hop", set in the 50's, with lots of fun music and even a little dancing!

Donny and step-sister "Rona"


Some more of the cast... Cinderella next to Mitch in the middle

Surprises Me

So I was just telling a friend a couple days ago that Joel had absolutely zero interest in trying to write his name, and that is true... today was the first time ever that Joel has attemped to write any letter. He just never has any interest and always gets upset when I ask, even when I try to do it in fun types of ways, so I don't push it. I know, I know, he is not even 4 years old and it's no big deal if he is not interested in writing letters yet, but still... a mom has to try right!? Hence... I was shocked today after a couple times of tracing over some dots that I made (and earning a tiny reward of one mini flavored marshmellow), that he did this totally by himself. You can see under the "J" that he started out with dots and then traced over it. Looks great to me!

Halloween Weekend!

We spent Saturday evening with our neighbors the Glaesmans and freinds, the Penny's at Pioneer Park in Annandale, which was transformed into a Halloween Spectacular. First there was trick or treating at several buildings (like the ones below) that line the "street" in the park.

Each building (there are probably about 12-15 of them) is ready for trick or treaters with elaborate set-ups and decorations like the one below, which just happens to be the town dental office, on this "street".

Grant, Olivia, Joel, and Will

Running down the town sidewalk...

Corn maze...

Joel, playing with his biggest fan Andrew. He loves to be silly with Andrew and make him laugh, and in turn Andrew calls just about any little boy around "Jo-Jo-Jo".

Mmmm....

We debating if we were even going to carve pumpkins this year.... but, decided last minute on Sunday that we better not be the parents that deprive their kids of that Halloween tradition, even if just for one year. Well, it turns out, our initial thought was correct... we really did not need to carve pumpkins this year.

This was Joel's one attempt at participating on scooping out the pumpkin...

We told Mitchell he didn't have a choice, he had to carve a pumpkin:)

And yes, Grant really is at thrilled about the pumpkins as he appears in this picture.

Joel, leaning back and hiding from the hideous pumpkin

And Grant... also disgusted by the pumpkin

Yep, fun times in the Benson house and no pumpkin carvers to be found... Joel had much more fun taking pictures of us

And he also had no problem posing with the pumpkins.
Later that night, ready to go trick or treating!


The Glaesman gang joined us for trick or treating.

I have to say, I never have been much of a Halloween fan, but this year, experiencing the excitement with the kids and Joel asking me everyday for a week (27 times per day) if it was Halloween yet, the holiday is really growing on me. By the end of the week, I even found myself sporting an orange shirt and feeling rather festive:)