Our Crazy Life

Now that I am beginning to have some down time with all 4 boys in school full time this year, I have begun taking on little house projects.  Not difficult ones, just some organizing and  purging projects that allow me to de-clutter my house and mind.  It's nice having this time to myself.  I have the water fountain on right now that Beau bought me for one of our anniversaries (although I can't recall which one) and I can actually hear the water running.  I am watching the leaves fall from the beautifully colored trees from the window I am sitting near.  Chipmunks are scurrying about and squirrels are quickly gathering acorns before the winter hits.  My house is clean, my laundry is mostly caught up (which is almost unheard of since there are 6 of us and boys make the worst messes in clothes)!!! 

I began looking at my blog and realized that I have written very little the year.  It's not because we haven't had anything fun, sad, or God things to report.  Actually, on the contrary.  We have been so busy this year that we have barely had time to stop and enjoy things.  As the boys are getting older, they are busier.  Between school, homework, sports, cub scouts, birthday parties, and simply boys being boys, our down time has been extremely limited.  But I will now take a little time to summarize our family life over the last few months. 

Beau's brother, wife, and niece came to live with us for a few weeks in June.  During that time, construction began on our basement.  July, we had a visitor for a few weeks from Florida live with us and watching over him occupied our every second of the day.  August was busy trying to get the house in order from all the construction, moving around bedrooms, and having the kids home all summer.  This was a huge undertaking and took longer than it should have.  We also spent time in August getting all the school supplies and clothing ready for the new school year.

This summer we spent some time at the beach.  Although we knew the waters would be cold, we got to experience it first hand.  We learned that 3 out of the 4 boys LOVED the water, even though it was extremely frigid.  The 4th boy, Oliver, only slightly tolerated the sand and did manage to stick a toe in the water.  Beau, for the sake of the boys, dealt with the cold water.  I, on the other hand, enjoyed burying my feet in the sand and relaxing in my chair and watching the boys have fun.

We finally caught an Ollie smile

William and Carter were inseparable at the beach 

Oliver trying to gain the courage to touch the sand

Finally got him into the sand

William and Carter enjoying the sand together

Our visitor this summer

We found a little playground near the beach

During the summer, William turned 7.  Sometimes I look at him and can't believe how grown up he seems and other times, when his silliness comes out I remember quickly his age.  He has been a true joy in our family.  He can be quite the instigator and provoker, but when he's not doing this, he's such a love.

School started off well and everyone seems to be settling into their own routine.  Although the three little ones are not used to attending school for a full day until now, they have handled the transition fairly well.  Carter, however, takes a daily nap sprawled out on the office floor.  I do not understand why that is his preferred spot, but if the house becomes silent, you can almost guarantee you will find him sound asleep in "his" location.

Then the soccer season started up.  Zander is on 2 leagues this time, the high school JV team, and a local rec team.  Zander is finding that he is well equipped to play offense now where before he always felt comfortable playing defense.  But since Zander has some fancy footwork and possesses a quick and accurate kick on goal, he is showing his talent playing the "striker" position for the JV team.  Keeping up with his schedule is almost impossible.  William is playing soccer again this season and loves it.  He is quite good in defense and has also scored a few goals.  William is the kind of kid the coach can put anywhere and he will do his 110% best with a good attitude and with much determination.  Oliver opted to lay low this season and not play a sport, but he loves watching his brothers play.  Carter is also playing in two leagues as he is quite athletic.  He is playing on a local team that will hopefully transition to a traveling competitive team and he is also playing on a rec team.  He has scored many goals and it is obvious that he LOVES the sport.  However, he has decided that he would rather play football where he is "allowed to push".  Although he isn't pushing in soccer, he certainly plays aggressively as he leans into the other players.  This leaning is frowned upon in the younger leagues, but it is allowed in the upper leagues and will serve him well.

At the end of the school year in May, the school gave us a gift for each of our 3 little guys for one free horseback riding lesson.  Apparently a family in our school donated 3 coupons for horseback lessons and instructed the school to give it to whom they wanted.  As a staff, they felt that it would be a neat opportunity for my 3 boys.  I kept it a secret for 4 months because instructions were it had to be used between June-September.  Since our summer was so crazy, we used it at basically the last chance we could.  I would like to report that all boys LOVED the experience, but that was not the case.  They were all apprehensive, but Will went first.  He got to groom the horse which helped establish a relationship with him.  Once Will climbed on the horse, he had so much fun.  Then it was Ollie's turn.  After much coaxing and reassuring him, he decided he was not going to ride that horse unless he could ride with one of his brothers.  So we put Carter on next.  In true Carter fashion, he rode that horse with his huge grin.  Although initially Carter was frightened of the horse, he became comfortable very quickly.  We were able to talk Oliver into getting on the horse with Carter.  I truly believed that once he was on the horse, he would lighten up.  But, he did not.  He rode for a few minutes, but then wanted off.  At least he tried it and I am grateful he got the chance.

William and Oliver have decided to join cub scouts this year and Beau and I are thrilled.  This is such a fabulous program and nurtures the bond between dads and their sons.  What more fun can a boy have than camping, touring a battleship, learning to pitch a tent and tell stories around a bonfire.  Oh, and Beau will be their den leader.  Beau is an Eagle Scout and that is an honor not to be taken lightly.  Boys are taught so many life skills that will follow them forever.  I am excited to see Will and Ollie have this opportunity.

  Carter is patiently waiting until he is old enough to join.  He already knows the scout promise.  He memorized it while Will and Ollie were learning it.  It brings a smile to my face each time I hear them practice the promise. 

Now we are into the holiday season and my favorite time of year.  The temperatures are changing and the winter clothes are coming out of the spare closet.  Boots, scarves, hats...yippee!  Hot chocolate, pumpkin bread, chili!  Oh, it just doesn't get better than this. 

I have taken on a new role in my church and I have been so blessed to be a part of it.  I am co-teaching a women's bible study and it is quite an undertaking for me.  I have learned so much.  Back in the Spring, I had prayed for God to help me have the obedience and discipline to study the bible because unfortunately I was finding excuses to not be doing this on my own.  Shortly after this prayer, I was approached by the women's teaching leader to come along side her and help lead the study.  Although I was nervous about this, I knew it was exactly where God wanted me.  So, I accepted and it has been a true blessing.  I feel that I have grown in my knowledge and understanding and I love the ladies in our class.  I always walk away from our studies learning something new and in full admiration with these Godly women.  What a treasure they are. 

We had a wonderful Halloween and even had family to share in the memories.  Beau and I have missed our holidays in Florida because it was always a time where we opened our home and invited friends.  Such wonderful memories.  But this year, we shared our Halloween with Ben, Katie, and little Myla.  We are so fortunate to have family near again.  At the end of the evening, Ben and the boys made trades with their candy.  Ben is still a kid at heart and I enjoyed watching this.  Katie was a good sport and was willing to eat the only candy that nobody else wanted, Raisinetts.  Carter was Spider-man and Will was Darth Maul (it's a Star Wars character).  One of the criteria for being a Bennett is the love of Star Wars.  By marriage, I have had to grow a love for these movies too.  Oliver wanted to be Luigi for Halloween and insisted on having the "deluxe" costume that included the hat, mustache, fat suit, and gloves.  Ironically, though, these were the very pieces he took off within the first 5 minutes of wearing the suit due to his sensory issues.  We did manage one quick picture of him in his full costume.

Before Oliver managed to take the "deluxe" pieces off

William (Darth Maul), Ollie (Luigi), and Car (Spiderman)

Myla's first Halloween (she was only a week old last year).  Cutest dragon ever. 

Ben, Katie, and Myla

Ben "protecting" his stash

Ben making a trade with William

William is seriously contemplating the trade

Ben categorizing his goods

My little William got braces this week.  His beautiful grin is plagued with a mouthful of messy teeth.  He has a severe overbite and will have a long road of orthodontics ahead of him.  His orthodontist said William's orthodontic needs alone will pay for one of his children's college education.  Although the doc found that funny, I'm pretty sure I didn't even crack a smile.  I was too worried about the fact that my other 2 boys will need braces too.  Ugh.  Will, as always, was an excellent patient and the doc was amazed at his maturity.  William also had two teeth removed in preparation for his braces and he did so without the use of nitrous.  He's our brave little boy.  He couldn't wait to return to school this morning to show everyone his braces.  He's pretty proud of the fact that he is the only one in 1st grade with braces.  However, I am sure his excitement will wear off pretty quickly once he received his headgear.

Before

After

Proud Selfie

Beau's work is going well and because he had so much time saved up, he was able to take off every single Friday since the beginning of September.  His company is closed every other Friday anyway, so Beau was able to turn in his unused sick/personal/vacation hours so that he could take off the opposite Fridays.  It has been awesome having him around on these Fridays.  In the back of mind, I thought we would use some of those days to get some house projects completed.  However, he had different plans.  After all, these were his days off and he wanted to use them to catch up on 15 years of dates that we have missed since having children.  We really didn't do anything spectacular.  But when you are hanging out with your best friend, any time spent together is spectacular.  Some Fridays we ate out for breakfast, we took in several movies at the theater (and they weren't childrens movies), we ate out for lunch, we took naps, we ran errands, we did some Christmas shopping, but mostly, we connected.  It was just what we needed after having a significantly busy 2014.

Now, we are gearing up for Thanksgiving and a visit from my parents.  Can't wait.  Until next time....