I will start with January. January is always an incredibly busy month in the Bennett household. We are recovering from the Christmas season and the clean up that goes along with that. Then we turn around and celebrate 2 birthdays (Beau and Oliver) and our anniversary.
Zander hit a milestone. He shaved for the first time. Now, I promised him I wouldn't post pictures, but as a parent, this is monumental. Well, I guess all milestones are big, but this is bittersweet. I stood in the bathroom, with tears streaming down my cheeks, as Beau taught Zander to shave. This is a rite of passage, a transition into adulthood. And although Zander does not understand his mother's reaction, I know one day as he experiences this with his own son, he will.
Then we celebrated Beau's 30-something birthday. I am 18 months older than he so for 6 months out of each year, I am 2 years older than him. Beau takes pleasure during those 6 months to really rub my nose in the fact that he married a much older woman. Whatever! Then only 12 days after his birthday, we celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. I can't believe it's already been that long. We are so lucky to still have a relationship where we genuinely enjoy being with each other.
Also, during January, Beau's youngest brother Ben (he has 5 younger brothers), came to visit for a few days with the agenda of interviewing at the same company in which Beau is employed. Some personnel changes have occurred lately making another person with Beau's same experience and knowledge needed. Of course Ben was the right candidate and after a long interview process, Ben was offered the job. He and his sweet family will be moving out here in June. We are thrilled to live near family once again. Well, thrilled is probably an understatement. We are literally giddy and I know Beau is relieved to have his brother, his friend, and his capable co-worker to spend his work days with. It's funny to watch these two interact with one another. They have so many similarities and mannerisms. Everyone at the office were quite amazed that Ben was just a younger version of Beau. Of all the Bennett brothers, Beau and Ben have always had a special bond. It's quite endearing, really. Ben has a way of bringing out the fun and relaxed Beau.
On the first morning that Ben was here, the same morning of his interview, my boys were extremely excited to see this infamous uncle. The little guys do not remember him as Ben moved to Nevada when they were young. Since that time, they haven't seen him. But they have heard stories about Uncle Ben and they were intrigued. Anyway, that early morning, Ben walked out of his room and the boys gasped because he looked "so young." William even asked Ben if Ben had his mother's permission to be in New Hampshire. Ben, of course, found that quite humorous and that story provided him with a great anecdote for his interview.
Late in the month, my Ollie turned 6. Oliver woke up that day and announced that he wanted seafood for lunch. Many of you may find that to be a normal request in your home, however, for Oliver to request this was incredibly unusual. Definitely outside of his comfort zone. Oliver is typically a VERY healthy eater, however, he sticks with common food. We have tried in the past to feed Ollie various seafood, but we have never been successful (except for an occasional piece of Tilapia that I make from home). Not only did he request seafood, but he was very specific. He wanted shrimp. Knowing how Ollie can be, Beau took the time to explain what shrimp looks like, even going as far as showing him pictures on the Internet. Beau grew up eating shrimp that his dad caught himself. In fact, shrimp was a staple in their household. After all, feeding 6 Bennett boys was expensive so what better way to offset the cost than by catching and growing your own food. Gardening was popular in their house too. Beau shared with Ollie all the stories of growing up eating shrimp and watching his dad catch the shrimp. Ollie was emphatic that he wanted shrimp. So, away we went with high hopes of eating seafood. We get to the restaurant. Oliver reviews the pictures on the kid's menu, and is still excited about ordering a shrimp dinner ALL BY HIMSELF. The server comes over and when it is Oliver's turn, he, with a huge smile, orders CHEESE PIZZA. What! Then when all of our dinners were served (most of us ordered shrimp), Oliver ate a large part of everyone else's shrimp. Of course!!! That's my Ollie.
Then we did the Chuck E Cheese thing. Will has only been one time, but Oliver and Car had never been. Definitely not one of my favorite places. Noisy, children hyped up on sugar and video games, germs, noisy, crowded dark room, and did I mention noisy? These places typically make my skin crawl. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The room was well lit and it "appeared" clean. Still had the noisy hyped up kids, but I was able to cope. As usual, each family member had their "partner" for whom they were responsible~ me and Ollie, Beau and Car, and Zander and Will. For the first 20 minutes or so, my job was easy. Ollie was in sensory overload initially. It took a while before Oliver was able to relax and decide he was ready to play. But once he did, he had a wonderful time.
I always love to "parent watch". In my years of being a parent, I have concluded that there are basically 3 types of parents (in places like Chuck E Cheese). 1: The parent that aimlessly follows their child around from game to game, while checking their watch periodically and hoping that the "fun" will end soon. 2: The parent that sits at a table and talks to other parents or spends their whole time with their head bowed looking at their smart phone and periodically hands out more money when their child comes to check in and 3: The parent that is still young at heart and leads the way to each game and plays each one with enthusiasm that rivals their own child. During this outing, I was between the 1st and 3rd parent type. I certainly had my moments of each.
Chuck E Cheese was a complete success and each boy had fun. The best/worst part is at the end when you turn in all your hundreds of tickets that you worked so hard to earn and your parents spent so much money on, only to receive a piece of candy or two. But, the kids thought this process was pretty cool. Clearly, they are far easier to please than us adults. So, we left there 2 1/2 hours later with happy children and a wonderful 6th birthday that Ollie will remember for a long time.
Once home, we finished the celebration with a dinosaur cake. I have given up on trying to bake my own cakes. It is far too stressful and is never pretty or picture worthy.
January ended quickly and we landed right into February. This year, I decided what fun it would be to make all of our own valentine's cards. That would be 46 students and 11 teachers between Will, Ollie, and Car. It would be a neat project to do with the kids and we would bond. Yeah right. Their enthusiasm lasted only moments. We got set up, put out the markers and craft supplies, and the class lists. Each boy energetically did a couple of the cards on their own. Of course, they did write all the names of their classmates and their own name, but I did all the rest.
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| One of the 11 teacher's cards. |
Also in February, Ben stayed with us for 2 weeks so he could train with Beau. Although we thoroughly enjoyed having Ben around, I am sure he was ready to be reunited with his wife and newborn daughter. Zander really liked having time with Ben and I see a future tight bond between them.
During the months of January and February, I got lots of experience of driving in snow, sleet, and ice. I DO NOT like it. I have fishtailed, slid down a hill, taken 10 minutes to finally successfully make it to the end of my driveway, observed my windshield wipers frozen and incapable of working, and have become trapped needed the assistance of the snow plow driver to free me. This has been an unusual winter in New England. We have had more snow than I have experienced thus far. The temperatures have been pretty cold too. But I know I am a true New Englander now when I stepped outside to take the boys to school recently in 32 degree weather and I thought to myself, wow, what a nice warm day. I NEVER thought I would get that point. People told me it would happen and they were right.
With February zooming by in a flash, March was here before we were ready. First, we began the month off with Oliver losing his first tooth.
March 20 marked the first day of Spring and this is what we got on this beautiful day.....SNOW. I don't see any signs of flowers in bloom yet!
Also in March, Zander turned 15. I don't even know how that happened since I haven't aged 15 years. Well, don't look too closely at the laugh lines and the wrinkles around my eyes. His birthday this year was low key as all he wanted were some itunes cards and a book. I love that he still loves to read. I wish that I had that same desire. His vocabulary has always been so advanced and I appreciate that about him. In fact, he is currently reading 3 different books now. I don't know how he keeps them straight, but he does. He read a series several months ago and loved it so much, we are now reading the first book of the series together (Beau, Zander, and me). I cherish that he still desires to spend this time with us. It is so hard to "reach" him at times. I guess some of that goes along with growing into a mature young man who is still trying to learn his independence and find his way. Another one of Zander's passions is playing chess. He is constantly studying online for new strategies and watching videos of others' playing to learn. He takes his chess playing quite seriously. I guess if he spends much of his time playing chess and reading books, then I can't complain. There are far worse things he could be doing.
The next big adventure that we are all getting geared up for is a family trip to Florida in April. Spending time with friends and family is much overdue. While in Florida, we have decided to visit the Disney parks. Beau and I always had a family rule that we wouldn't visit Disney until the youngest was 5 years old. I like Disney, but I don't LOVE Disney. It's crowded, overpriced, the lines are ridiculous. However, I think that it is a sin if a Florida child doesn't visit the park at least once. So, with Carter turning 5 in a couple of weeks, we decided it was finally time to take the family to Disney. I am actually excited. I see a future blog.
Until next time~
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