Some random photos

Staucie celebrated her 100th day of school by dressing like an old lady and all the Kindergarteners and their teachers had a parade through the school. They were very cute. I went and helped in her classroom after the parade with one of their activities. The other kids usually come with me to help at Staucie's school, but this time their aunt Brittany offered to have them come over to play at her house. It was nice to be able to just hang out with Staucie in her classroom for a little while and do a project with her.

 Staucie's class.

 Addie was playing in the dirt with a shovel and she kept tasting the dirt. I pulled them all out of the dirt after awhile and Addie was not happy with me. Silly.

 I found this picture of Bensen on my phone... It is a Christmas game and you can create a greeting card. Apparently he saved his picture to my phone.

 Sometimes after we take Parker to school we go to the mall to play. Bensen requests it almost everytime we drop off Parker. Sometimes Brittany, Noah, and Tessa join us too. They are playing on the quarter machine cars. We never put in money but they think it is great fun!

 One day Parker was running up the stairs and tripped... the stairs won. Daniel found him bleeding on the stairs. His nose hit the step. It didn't bleed too long, but it looked good. I was also able to get the blood out of my carpet. I sent a picture to Brittany and she told or showed Noah it and he apparently tells everyone about Paker's little accident.

Houston Aquarium

In January on Memorial day we got to go to the Aquarium in downtown Houston for Parker's preschool field trip. Daniel didn't have work and Staucie didn't have school so we all got to go. I forgot my camera, of course, so we used our phones. I lost some pictures because Bensen figured out how to delete the pictures on my phone and I haven't gotten the other ones off of Daniel's phone.

Inside the Aquarium. They are sitting in a little wooden boat. My phone does not take good pictures when it is dark. I thought there were some other pictures inside, like ones of Staucie touching a sting ray, but maybe they got deleted or Daniel has them...

Outside we got to ride the train to go see the shark aquarium. It goes in a tunnel and the sharks are swimming above and around us. It is pretty neat.

 Then we went on the ferris wheel thing. It goes so high.

 Addie was scared and so was I. I will ride any roller coaster, but I do not like ferris wheels. This one is a little better because you are sitting inside something, but I still don't like it.

 A view of downtown. Daniel's office building is somewhere in there.

 The view to the east of downtown.

 This was a new ride from the last time we were there. I was excited to go on it. Staucie was too. So we went together first. I know I had more pictures of all of us taking turns on this, but they got deleted. Bensen was sad when Staucie and I went with out him so then Daniel went with him. Look how excited he is and how little he looks. You can see Staucie's boots to the left of the picture. She wanted to ride again. Eventually, we got Parker to try it. They all loved it. It shot us up and dropped us down and then back up and down a few times.

Some cute ones

Bensen and Addie sharing the sit and spin while eating some cereal.

 I adore her. Even when she throws tantrums.

She is hiding in the cupboard while I make dinner, which she does often. The other kids were knocking on her door and she would open it and say, "boo," and they would run screaming. She often takes off her pants...

 

Sidewalk chalk with the neighbors. I have been trying to put up with sidewalk chalk lately because sometimes they can play with it for a long time. Just as long as they run around afterwards to shake off some of the chalk before going in the house.

 Family night. Normally they don't sit like this. They must have been interested in my ghost story.

 All kids are attracted to the sink of water.

 And using my toothbrush...

 We spend lots of time outside.

After school park

Most of the days after we pick up Staucie from school we play at the park. There is a park by Staucie's school that we park at to pick her up. Unless the weather is bad we always stop to play. These were taken in January. Obviously we have some good weather during the winter. The park is a lot of work. Addie is dangerous and I just chase her around and try to keep her from falling or jumping off of things. Bensen gets upset sometimes because I can't help him all the time. I feel bad. Someday I think Daniel should join us at the park, but for some reason that has never happened. I wonder what it would be like to have some help with swings or chasing Addie or helping Bensen climb up something...

They like to make a train on the slide, but it looks like Bensen is crying in this picture. I don't remember why. There is always someone crying :)

Bensen's 3rd Birthday!

Bensen turned 3 on January 3, 2012.

Unfortunately, he was sick. We had been up all night with sick kids so Daniel stayed home that day. It was nice to celebrate his birthday earlier in the day instead of waiting til after dinner. Bensen fell asleep on the couch and we woke him up so we could "party."

Doesn't he look thrilled? So sad.

He sat on his dad to open his presents and everyone helped him.

Even Addie. She remembered what this was all about since we had just had Christmas. She just started opening presents.

He was very excited about his basketball. He is good at dribbling.

They all had fun setting up the race track from G&G Randall.

He felt better after his nap and was able to play some basketball with his new hoop from G&G Lees.

Then the next day, he fell asleep on the couch again at lunch time. Poor guy.

Bensen had a big year this past year. He did a lot of growing up.


-He went from a crib to a toddler bed.
-He gave up his pacifier.
-And he gave up diapers!


He speaks very well. I can see his little mind working as he concentrates on saying each word correctly. He can't hold still. When he sits on our lap he is constantly changing positions. Or if he sneaks into our bed at night his legs constantly kick us. He is loud at home, but super shy around others. It takes a long time for him to open up. He is the little pest at home, which is what his dad has been called. He likes to bother people til they scream. He usually does it quietly. He loves to play ball. He has a great imagination and I love to play with him and hear all his ideas and the things he creates in his head. He is so sweet and a great big brother to Addie. She has joined his nursery class recently because she was hysterical and making herself throw up in her class. So we moved her to his nursery class and she has been much, much happier. Bensen does a great job taking care of her. Bensen has the best facial expressions and very expressive eyes. He wants to wear his blue basketball shorts everyday and his flip flops. It's a good thing we live in the South. We just love him!