Terrific Twos!

Two year olds are notorious for being TERRIBLE.  They certainly do have a mind of their own, but I think Benny is terrific.  Now, I'm not going to lie.  Some days his excessive zeal for life leaves me exhausted, and he doesn't always listen, etc. etc.  But, he is really so much fun and a very good little boy.  Not really very 'terrible' at all.  Some things he does recently that I think are really cute:

1) When I'm in a different room from him, he calls "MOM!" at the top of his lungs to get my attention.
2) He is a big helper.  Whenever I tell him I'm going to do something he says "I help."  Not to say that it doesn't take a lot longer with his assistance, but its the thought that counts.
3) His favorite thing to ask is "What's it doing?"  Every item in a picture, every toy---gotta explain what it is doing.
4) You tear things apart so that you can 'fix it.'  Isn't that what everyone does?  He's got the engineering gene.
5) He is starting to tell Daddy about his day when he gets home from work.  On Friday, I told Benny to tell Daddy what we did that day.  His description went something like this...Baby.  In there. (points to my belly).  Heartbeat.  Ba-bum.  Ba-bum.  We had went to my doctor's appointment for the baby, and he got to listen to the heartbeart.  So sweet.
6) He is a compassionate little fellow.  He other day, he noticed that I was getting stressed and upset.  He came over, sat in my lap, and gave me lots of kisses and hugs.  He knows that Mommy loves to snuggle.
7) He fakes getting boo-boos just so he can ask me for a kiss to make it 'all better.'  He insists that the kiss be in just the right spot.  He give directional cues for the perfect placement of the kiss.  "over there," "the other side," "another one"
8)  He likes to sing.  Insert any animal sound and sing the tune of Jingle Bells.  (Maybe he got this from Grampie's dog barking jingle bells song.)  He loves to sing The Wheels on the Bus at lightening speed---with all the verses (round and round, swish swish swish, the baby, etc. etc.)  Jesus Hands Were Kind Hands also ranks in Benny's top 10.

The list could go on.  So much to learn and do when you are 2!  Benny had his 2nd annual New Year's Day birthday party.  Mommy had fun planning it :)  When you are 2, you need an Elmo party.  {FYI...after we ate lunch, he couldn't take off his Elmo bib.  It has Elmo on it; thus, it is fabulous.}

Mommy made Benny this Elmo cake.

I wasn't sure if the Elmo cake would be enough cake for everyone to eat.  Grammie made this cute cake.

Here is a link to the video of Benny blowing out his candles: http://youtu.be/ieJhSULx6S8

Benny got an Elmo train and train track from Grammie and Grampie.  He was a little bit excited :)

Stevie is always prepared for anything.  Benny solicited Stevie's assistance to cut the Sesame Street cars out of their box with his pocket tools.

Benny was clapping along to the music Elmo sings.

Christmas!

This year Christmas was really fun because Benny was so excited.  Its true...Christmas is just more magical through a child's eyes.  He delighted in the snow, was dazzled by the decorations, squealed with delight to see the Christmas lights, and was captivated by the idea of Santa, elves, and jingle bells on the roof.

To kick off the season, I took Benny to visit Santa.  Kevin's work has an annual 'breakfast with Santa.'  Sadly, Kevin had class that weekend, so it was just Benny and I.  It was also the weekend of Clay's visit.  We were busy!

Waiting to see Santa.  (Benny didn't feel too great that weekend.  Took him to the doctor on Monday and the poor little guy had an ear infection.  If Benny wants a binky and to play with Mommy's hair, he is either tired or sick.)

 

He was a tad apprehensive about sitting on Santa's lap at first.  The fear instantly left when Santa gave him a  candy cane and wanted to see his 'backhoe.' 

Christmas Eve/Christmas Morning

The downfall of being a church organist is that X-mas eve is an all-day event.  I had services at 3, 5, and 9.  Kevin, Benny, Grammie, and Grampie came to the 5:00 service, and we got some dinner before I had to be back to prep for the 9:00 service.  I was sad I didn't get to put Benny to bed on X-mas eve but made sure Kevin took pictures to document the evening for me.

At the 5:00 Christmas Eve service, Kevin and I played the role of the 'expectant family.'

 

Silly X-mas eve play with Grammie.

 

Benny didn't totally understand that the cookies were for Santa.  Not for him.

Stealing Santa's cookies.

On Christmas morning, he was quite excited about the presents under the tree.  He quickly grabbed this one and exclaimed, "Its huge!"

Santa got him a snow shovel.  He has tried it out several times.  A great gift idea Santa.

Benny with his new backhoe and trailer.  (This is the face you get when you ask Benny to smile and say 'cheese.')

Examining the Santa loot.

Just cause he is cute.

Christmas Day

After we opened presents and ate breakfast with Grammie and Grampie, we drove to my brother and sister-in-law's house.  My parents and my grandma came over.  My grandma's birthday is on Dec. 25.  She turned 90 this year.  She lives in a 2 story farm house by herself.  She climbs up and down the basement stairs several times a day to fire up with wood and coal to heat the house.  Pretty good for 90.  Happy Birthday Granny!

 Benny got this cool tent from Aunt Annie and Uncle Ron.  Ella assembled it for him in their living room.

Peeking out the tent with cousin Luke

Christmas is extra fun when you are almost 2!

Clay Came to Town

My quest to catch up on blogging memorable moments of 2013 continues!

At the beginning of December Benny's newest cousin Clay came to visit.  He brought his wonderful parents Aunt Katie and Uncle Eric too.  Katie, Eric, and Clay live kinda far away, so the whole family was here to celebrate the occasion.  We had a "Meet & Greet Clay" since we didn't get to have typical baby shower for them before his birth.  It was also our early Christmas celebration with Kevin's family.  All around---a grand time.

 

Everybody!

 

Great-grandparents, grandparents, and all the grandkids (minus the one in my belly)

 

Grammie, Grampie, and the grandkids

Clay is a super-cutie.  Benny loves the little guy and continues to talk about him and gets excited when we see knew pictures of Clay.  Clay has a blog of his own.  If you want to spy on this sweetie, check it out here: http://helplessestate.weebly.com 

Kevin and I pray with Benny every night before he goes to bed.  I always ask who he wants to pray for.  Every night the first three things he says are Clay, Eric, Katie.  Lots of love to his littlest cousin and his wonderful family.

Christmas Tree 2013

This year Benny was pretty excited about Christmas.  It didn't take long at all for him to acquire the Christmas terminology: Santa, Christmas tree, elf, snowflake, snowman, candy cane, pine cone, etc. etc....

The day after Thanksgiving we went to a local Christmas tree farm to select our tree.  Kevin is a purist.  You must cut your Christmas tree down in order for it to count that you had a Christmas tree.  (I grew up with the 'shake the dust off of the artificial plastic tree in the attic' Christmas tree approach.)  Anyway, off we went!

 

I'm not all that good with technology.  Here is a picture of Benny with the tree in our car.  I rotated it in Picasa, but it still shows up like this...

When we got home, I put Benny down for his nap.  While he napped, Kevin and I brought the tree in the house and decorated it.  His reaction when he woke up from his nap was priceless.  Its captured in this video below:

http://youtu.be/Q61Iz4odr3o

 

Let me take a closer look....

Having a Christmas tree with a 2 year old went better than I expected.  Only about 1 day of him really wanting to take the ornaments off before he got the 'look but don't touch' theory.

Snow Much Fun!

 

Its only logical to take your cars to play in the snow.

 He loves this John Deere tractor that our neighbors gave to us.  He decided to sit on it and scoop and dump the snow.  Benny's snow removal business is in operation!

 

Bulldozer style.

Benny loves to be outside.  Even in the winter.  Maybe a week or so ago, I took him out to play in the snow.  It turns out that sand toys are also excellent snow toys.  He played for an hour and a half with a bucket and a small sand shovel.  Mommy was nearly frozen from standing there watching him, but he didn't seem to mind and probably would have stayed outside for another hour or so....

I think this is why Grandpa Stevie has become Benny's hero.  Yesterday, we spent the day at my parent's house.  He was so sad that Stevie had to go to work in the morning.  Once Stevie got home, Benny went outside with him to feed the chickens, bunnies, and sheep.  Plus, he got to help Stevie add firewood to the furnace.  What could be better!?  

(Yes.  Benny calls my parents Lindy and Stevie.  Cousin Ella and Luke set the trend...)

Fall Agenda

Benny and I have had a pretty fun fall.  Benny really does enjoy getting out of the house and doing activities with other children now.  Its good for both of us really.  Being mainly a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom), you must get out of the house to avoid getting claustrophobic.  {I actually have a part-time job for those of you that might not know.  But, its hard to convince people that an organist/children's choir director is actually a real job.  Alas, I digress....}  This fall, Benny and I have participated in two regular events each week, and they have been great.

1) Storytime at the library.  Mrs. Long leads a 30 minute story hour session at our local library.  She is absolutely wonderful.  We *heart* Mrs. Long.  Its a class for kids newborn-3.  She does a perfect blend of familiar songs/rhymes we do each week, along with some new books, short puppet stories, etc.  Benny loves it.  We sing our storytime songs all the time at home.  This fall's favorites?  A peek-a-book song, the hello song, a rhyme about a scarecrow, and an African song that means 'when we get together.'  Benny loves that Mrs. Long gives every kid in storytime a stamp on their hand at the very end.  Of course, Benny always asks Mrs. Long to give him a stamp on both hands.  Makes one happy Benny.

2) We joined a Bible study group called BSF (Bible Study Fellowship).  Its an international, nondenominational organization.  All around the world, people are doing the same Bible study each week.  My study includes a small group discussion and then a lecture on the same material.  The following week's lesson includes sort of a review of last week's lesson and readings/questions for each day of the next week.  Best part----they have classes for newborns-pre-K.  They are actually classes, not just daycare.  They teach them Bible songs, teach them to pray, and teach them a Bible lesson based on what the adults are learning.  They are there for 2 hours.  Kudos to the teachers (Mrs. Julie and Mrs. Lynne) who do a fabulous job keeping all the children in Benny's age 1-2 class productively engaged for 2 hours!  I would highly recommend the program to moms with young children.  You can go to the BSF website and find the class sight that is closest to your house, no matter where you live!  Its a wonderfully supportive group of women who seek to follow Christ.

Its hard to believe, but tonight Benny and I went to the Hanging of the Greens/Jinglefest at our church.  My children's choir sang for the occasion.  We celebrate Thanksgiving/Christ the King Sunday in the morning service but don't have a mid-week Thanksgiving service.  So---next Sunday is Advent already.  They had lots of fun crafts for the kids.  Plus, they had a pizza potluck dinner complete with Christmas carols and lots of kids dancing to their favorite holiday tunes.  Benny found the evening to be quite terrific.  On the way home he was shouting "It fun!  It fun!"  Here is a pic of Benny and I when we got home with his first ever homemade Christmas crafts.

A Christmas tree, an angel made from a toilet paper tube and Benny's cut out hands, and a wooden star that we glittered.

Halloween Spooktacular!

This year Benny thought the whole trick-or-treating idea was pretty cool.  You walk around and people give you stuff.  Awesome.  We went to our church's trunk-or-treat, and we went to my brother and sister-in-law's annual Halloween party.  It is a pretty great party.  They invite lots of family, friends, and neighbors over on the night of their community's trick-or-treating.  Everyone brings a crock-pot of soup to share.  They have a couple of bonfires and even project the football game on the back of their barn so the die-hard fans don't miss out.  Lots of fun!

The trick-or-treat gang!

Benny and Cousin Luke!

Daddy's fierce little lion.

With Stevie and Lindy

An awesome idea!  Empty out a pumpkin and add a spout for apple cider.

A few Buckeye fans were present at the party.

Benny and I made sugar cookies with 'spooky sprinkles' a few days before the party.  Benny was the official taste tester for the orange frosting.