Christmas scavenger hunt

Ben is with mommy in SLO a few days before Christmas and Christmas eve is going to be our official day this year ! We wrote Santa and let him know that we we're here an needed him to come early. He did just that. But that rascally elf took his big present and sent him on a treasure hunt! There were black lights, clues at the park under the bridge,map pieces and a final destination of digging at the beach! He ended up with a very cool general grievous Lego set that he asked Santa for.

Ben and mommy

Since I am usually behind the camera I asked Erin to snap a picture of Ben and I today at the Avila barn. He had a great time running around with his 5 cousins.

Eve of Christmas eve.

Since we are in SLO we had to write Santa a letter to ask him to come one day earlier while we were here and could share Christmas together. We are hoping that Santa will be here tonight so Ben will get his Christmas morning on Christmas eve! Santa sure is special !

Christmas time with the cousins!

We are in San Luis Obispo hanging out with all of our cousins. Ben is having a great time playing with the cats. Can you find the cat on the blanket ?? We are going to have a special Christmas eve tomorrow. Santa is coming early cause he knows Ben is here now :)

The love of a dog

So I go to check on Ben before I go to bed and what do I find......? An 80 lb lump of fur a.k.a max forcing himself to fit on the narrow sliver of bed that remains right next to ben. He just want to be as close to a human as possible.

Bens wish for his next birthday party!!

Ben is at Evans 9th bday party with a game truck. Think rv. 4 46" tv's and endless video games! Boys dream.

Annual Ginger bread house

Every year we build a gingerbread house at Christmas time. And every year we have structural difficulties! Did you know that hot glue does not stick to sugar?
So this was a half day event. We had to rebuild the structure of the house 3 times! Lots of sugary frosting to be eaten in the process.

Mystery tree 2011

The tradition continues. The most important part?......climbing on the trees!

Elf on the shelf

Our elf on the shelf is crazy this year! He shows up all over the place. He has made a snow angel in the bathroom, has been found outside reading diary of a wimpy kid. AND He even puts together legos! He busted into bens advent calendar early and got out chubaka!

Circus arts

Today ben started his first circus class. It is alot like cirque de soleil. It is pretty cool. Here he is on the aerial silks.

Wrestling mishap!

Ben and I were wrestling before bed the other night....... Don't all good parenting stories start that way? Any way, his braces got caught on my sleeve and POP! off came one of his brackets. But with a pair of wire cutters and a very steady hand mommy fixes it!.... For the night. We went to the orthodontist the next morning

Happiest place on earth

Ben has gone to Disneyland every year for his birthday since he was 3! We are here again enjoying his 8 th birthday.

Bens lazer tag birthday party!

8 years old and counting!

Motorcycle riding in Pala!

Yep Ben still has it pretty good. We went motorcycle riding with some friends after he helped with a photo shoot AND had lacrosse practice.

Bonzai!!!!

Ben and daddy went to the mountains on Saturday to bask in the glory of the new snow! They even got on the channel 8 news!

Ben being awesome

My budding photographer. When I came to his Halloween class party he immediately asked for my camera. He proceeded to walk around the party and get pictures of everyone in action and super candid. It was amazing to watch him work. He does what I do. Bends down on one knee. Stands on stuff and shoots down. It was so great. And the other picture is if his pure tea drinking book reading awesomeness on a stick!

Saving the ERF!

Ben used to say. "Don't hurt it mom it's for the Erf." Referring To a big scary spider I was intending to smash. So we have set about saving the ERF in a new way.....recycling! We have an abundance of plastic bottles at our school from the student. And they so nicely leave them strewn out all over my fields a.k.a my office. So where I used to just see it as trash I see "free money!" 5cents per bottle to be exact. It only takes about 3 days to fill up a big bag to take to the recycle center. Ben has fun feeding the bottles into the machine and watching the nickels add up! Here is a picture of him with his winnings today!

Halloween 2011

He was an evil jester now he is a ninja. It wouldn't be Halloween without multiple costumes!

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. — Victor Frankl

Lots of changes, indeed. Ben loves his new trampoline and stopped just long enough to lay down and let me snap some shots of his beautiful new metal teeth!

Ben and I went to the crazy pumpkin patch on Friday. You can call it a pumpkin patch because there are truelypumpkins there.....but we go to ride on the rides and go down the giant inflatable shark bouncy!

Jesters and other goobly goblins

Ben and I went to sea world today for the halloween spooktacular event! So much fun! So much candy!

Lacrosse rules

Ben started lacrosse a few weeks ago. He loves it! Clinics right now for training and the real season starts in March

Pumpkin patch 2011

Ben had lots of fun sliding down the inflatable shark jumping on the bungee jumper ( back flips and all) and of course picking out pumpkins. Halloween is our favorite holiday!

Boys make appetizers

Brady and Ben bring appetizers to the mommies !