Benson Turns SIX!!!

Britton, Dan, Benson and Myself right before Benson blew out the candles:


Scrumptious! He had a batman cake.... it took forever at the cake store to pick the cake he REALLY wanted!


Bday Party Friends, they all had a BLAST!


3D glasses were a BIG HIT! Nice choice Benson!


My oldest is now SIX.... Where has this past year gone?!??! Benson had THREE celibrations for his birthday this year. One at Aunt Louie's for cake and fun with his cousins up in Richmond. Another at our house in Sneads Ferry (that is where the pics are from) and another with Just Dan, Myself Britton and Benson on his ACTUAL bday (the 27th). So he was flying high with all the attention!

As you can tell from my earlier posts Benson is a funny little man. He can crack me up and make me as mad or sad as can be, but no matter what he is my Boo. I get so emotional just thinking about how much I love him and how grateful I am to my Heavenly Father who saw fit to send me this precious little spirit.

Family Pictures 2009

Funny Thought by Britton

A couple of days ago I asked Britton to name everyone in our family and here was his answer, "Daddy, Mommy, Benson, Britton, Taylor, Ava, Baby Edward...... AND..... the Pizza Guy!" WHAT?!?!?!? I was laughing so hard when I asked him why the Pizza Guy was part of the family, he responded, "Because he brings us Pizza and that is so nice so he could be in our family!"

BUSCH GARDENS - Family Fun 2009

Last year we went to Disney Land (well at least the boys and I did) and this year we went to Busch Gardens! We had a blast and the kids LOVED every second of it. We did find out that Dan IS NOT a Theme Park person NOTE TO SELF. Taylor and Ava's favorite ride BY FAR was the airplanes and Benson and Britton's favorite ride was THE BIG BAD WOLF, it was a big kid ride that Dan went on with them so they could go. They screamed their heads off, sat in front and loved it! It was AWESOME because we all got in for free since Dan is a Marine.... YEP! He has his perks!
Even though it was fun we were pushing around two strollers because the kids kept getting tired and I think the baby in belly was not so happy with me. He was going CRAZY by the end of the day.
I can not wait to plan next years FUN adventure! So many options! Enjoy the pics...

Cotton Candy of course:

I swear the twins spent a good hour and a half going on this ride, getting back in line and going again!

Benson and Britton getting ready to SWIRL around and around and around and around:

Taylor on the swings, I had a hard time getting him off of them:

Benson and Ava, taking a break and eating:

OF COURSE eating lots of yummies is all part of the experience! Britton:

Elmo and friends putting on a show for the kids:

Dan went with all the kids on this Elmo ride, they had a blast:

The boys taking a break from the rides:

Benson in Elmo's water park:

Ava in Elmo's water park:

The Twins Visit

All the kiddo's covered in Star Stickers (Britton, Ava, Benson, Taylor):


When Taylor is in a mood.... YOWZERS! Just don't mess with him:


Ava LOVED out turtle (the boys named him Turtle Dude):


Benson Snake Holding:


Britton Snake Kissing:


Ava Snake Loving:


Taylor Snake Laughing:


The twins, in the end, were able to spend 11.5 days with us in the states and at our home. We had a BLAST with them and just did SO MANY THINGS! The boys love them so much and are always sad to see them leave, but they have a bit of a grip on why it is the way it is. Of course it is the hardest on Dan, and the thought of him not being able to see them for another year just tears at his heart.

They have really developed such little personalities! Taylor is a giggler, cranky buns in the morning, and if you upset him don't even try to make it right or you will get the "look." He is still my Robin Roo and sticks by my side at all times, but you can tell he is getting more independent. He loves Dan so much and Dan was the only one he would go to first thing in the morning.

Ava is still a Daddy's Girl to the T! Any time I would call her Ava, she would look at me and tell me that was not what I called her and that I called her Princess Poo! That is the name I came up with her last time we had her because I sing songs and rhyme them and she ended up being Princess Poo in all the songs. Apparently she liked it. HA HA! She is a HUGE pouter, and thumb sucker, but of course I can't handle either so we put her on the star system (where if she was good she received stars and if she was naughty she got them taken away). Well anytime she pouted or sucked her thumb I took away a star. Needless to say by the end of the 11 days she was over both habits.... hopefully she does not go back!

You can tell there is not a lot of discipline in their home and that was a bit hard to deal with because Dan and I are really strict. It is amazing though how if you set boundaries that kids will respond and love it.

I truly enjoyed having them here. I loved Ava's MATTER OF FACT personality and Taylor's laughing as he would have Tooty Booties! HA HA! I am praying when we go to court on the 24th the judge will give us more time with them.

Benson's First Day of School

OF COURSE the backpack is such a HUGE part of school!

He picked out exactly what he wanted to wear!

Benson and Britton


Benson started school on August 25th! It was so fun getting him up for his first day and making him his breakfast of choice (pancakes of course) and then doing the pictures and finally taking him to school! He was so excited! We got to school and he walked right into his classroom, we did the "I love you" sign and then he was good to go. I thought I was too until we were half way down the hall and Britton starts SCREAMING that I am leaving Benson. It all of the sudden hit me hard that this was hard on me, even though I was so proud of him my baby was now starting a new chapter in his life. WOW! Britton continued to scream and cry the whole way out of the school and the whole way home. He was so upset that I had left his older brother when I had specifically told them that I would never leave them. OH MAN!

All day long Britton and had a hard time with benson gone. All day long he asked if it was time to go pick him up. All day long it was BENSON BENSON BENSON! And then we finally go and get Benson and what does Britton start in on? FIGHTING! ARGH!

Benson loves school though! He has gotten a THREE everyday which means he is PERFECT for his teacher. She has a number system and if you get a THREE you are perfect for the day, if you get a two it means you needed a reminder, if you get a one it means you were not good at all and did not listen, and if you get a ZERO... well it pretty much means you will be sent home and meeting with the principle. AHHHHH! Let's hope that never happens. Benson has made some cute little friends and apparently one of the little boy friends he has made has a girl always after him kissing him so Benson comes home and tells me all the funny stories about them. AHHHHHH, young love!

Benson worked so hard to be ready for school. He knew how to count to 100, how to recgonize numbers 1-100, he knows all the sounds of his ABC's and how to recognize all capitals and lowercase letters, he can tell time on a clock (using the hands), he can tell the days on a calendar, and the list goes on and on. He LOVES to learn and LOVES that he feels so smart. He is one of the only kids that can write his first and last name and he thinks that makes him THE MAN! In my eyes he is THE "little" MAN!