The Benson Boys

The Benson Boys
A glimpse into the lives of our three boys (one big guy and two little guys)

Friday, December 31, 2010

Monday, December 27, 2010

Christmas 2010

Back at home on Christmas night, after returning from our trip to Atwater, we celebrated with just us... picked up a pizza and opened gifts from each other.
Joel and Grant got lots of cars from the movie "Cars" for their new Piston Cup Track, which was our gift to both of them. They LOVE it. Cars, cars, and more cars seemed to be the theme this year.
And there's the track and some of their many cars.They also have really enjoyed the Elefun game...
I was behind the camera ALOT this Christmas, mainly attempting to figure out my new camera by taking probably over 1000 pictures, but here is a picture to document I was actually around...
Back to the previous day... Christmas Eve morning (after Jeff and Mitchell had shoveled the 6 inches of snow that fell during the night), we departed for Atwater to spend 24 hours with Gpa and Gma Benson, Uncle Jon, Aunt Terri, Lincoln and Jayna. It was a very, merry 24 hours (quite honestly, it was)
The boys immediately dove into to having a blast wrestling with Lincoln (no surprise). We let them have their fun for awhile... of course eventually Joel and Grant got a little over-zealous with the wrestling and we had to bring that to an end.

We even managed to take a few pictures before heading off to church (gee, make sure you don't crack a smile now Bensons on the right)
And, putting an end to the wrestling led to stair-jumping... (I think Jayna is actually falling in this picture), but no tears were shed during stair jumping, surprisingly
but... when Grant started jumping from the 4th step, that also had to be put to rest...
Playing around with Uncle Jon
Terri, posing for me, helping me learn to custom set my white balance, which I have found to be VERY helpful. Thanks for all th tips this weekend Terri!
In true 2010 Christmas fashion, we were tracking Santa with the "Santa App" on Terri's ipod. We could check his exact global position all day and keep an eye on the constantly updating naughty and nice lists. If you look closely below, you can see Joels name on the "nice" list. We even sent Santa some text messages and the Santa App told the kids they BETTER get to bed because Santa would be in their area soon. (this actually worked quite well for getting them all to bed!)
Jon and Terri got Roger a "Race Horse" game that we all really enjoyed playing. A simple card game with a simple wooden race horse board = a big hit.
Kids playing in a big box (not sure why we bother with the presents...)
Mitch's new "very sweet" bat from Uncle Jon. He apparently got it on Ebay from some kid that had no idea how to price it, which led to a lucky day for Mitchell. I can't wait to see that think crank out some homeruns this spring!

"Brett Favre" Vikings hat from Gpa and Gma. Apparently this hat is similar to the one Brett wears. Joel, not looking so happy about being put in a bear-hug hold my Gpa Benson (as a means of getting him to stop wrestling if I remember correctly)
Time for bed... Santa got cookies, beef jerky, and Pepsi:)
Christmas morning, and Santa did not disappoint... the famous "Criss Cross Crash" was delivered for Grant

And a Bat Cave for Joel

"Criss Cross Crash" was a hit with everyone, just watch the video below for some live reaction. In case you need some interpretation during the video, Grant first yells "This is speeeedy", then later yells, "Whoa", and "This is cooolll" Nothing but pure joy watching the speedy cars race around.

The hersheys kisses in the boys socks may have been one of their favorite parts of Christmas morning, only on Christmas does a kid get to eat chocolate for breakfast!
Santa also brought a transformer for Joel and Grant... although somehow by the end of the day, Joel seemed to have Grant talked into giving him the transformer he got, since Joel apparently didn't like the one he got, as it was shaped like a truck instead of a car... like I said... cars were the theme of the weekend
Jayna, looking pretty Christmas morning in her new dress:)

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Happy

We are all happy around here... Joel got his casts off, likes his new braces (and new shoes that were the extra bonus gift)...
and is happy he can play outside in the snow once again....

and mom is happy as well, and if happen to notice the blurred backround (and foreground) in the photo below, then you will know why I am so happy too...
I got my new CAMERA, and love it, love it, but have lots to learn, starting with some lessons from my sister-in-law over the weekend and a very long manual to read as well.

... and just in case you are excited about depth of field as I am, here is another look at the blurred background... ahhhh, that's nice.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

What a Life

I have to say... I have been noticing alot lately, that these two little boys above... simply put... "Have the Life!" Everyday, all day, life is a 24/7 playdate with a best friend for Joel and Grant. And I have to say... as tense, chaotic, loud, and stressful as it gets around here sometime (actually, alot of the time), I would not have had this family any other way. This relationship between these two boys is definitely the way to go. And ooohhhhh do they fight, somedays so much I wonder how I am going to get through to Jeff arriving home to help me referee. But... the fights are quickly erased in my mind when 5 minutes later they are playing together, in their own world, like they have never been mad at each other ever before, making any entertainment I can provide completely obsolete.

My favorite quote this week... I over hear Joel say (while I am not in the room)... "Hey Grant, how about we play a game where I hide something in the Christmas tree and you dig in and find it"... and I have a feeling this is nothing compared to what they will probably scheme up together someday down the road...

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

First Christmas Program

Today was Joel's very first Christmas Program (the first of many). Both the preschool classes were on stage together for several very short Christmas songs. Much to my surprise, calm, serious Joel was present for the performance (unlike the Halloween performance when he never stopped bouncing around). In fact, this time around, he barely cracked a smile the entire time!... but don't get me wrong, I was glad for the calmness and participation. He was just perfect!oop, there is the biggest smile we got during the performance:)
Joel and his favorite Mrs. Hohol

The stocking he made at school, says he wants a "Robot Movie" for Christmas.... this is the first we've heard of this... not a clue what that might be...

Monday, December 20, 2010

Hulk No More

After 2 weeks of being "Hulk", and not a SINGLE complaint AT ALL, Joel gets his casts off tomorrow and we pick up his AFO's, or as we call them, his "Super Hero AFO's"... One leg will have Batman painted on it, the other, Spider-man. We are so proud of how well he is doing with this so far, and happy to move on to the next step (mainly due to the odor that has begun rafting from Joel's feet/toe area:) yikes! . As you can see from the video below, these casts have not slowed him down AT ALL.
...complete with autographs from daycare and preschool friends and teachers:)