Beach Traffic this way...

Even though our new home isn't exactly on the "beaten path," it is on the way to the beach for most of our friends and family. Great Grandmama and Grandaddy Hunter stopped by on their way back from the beach last week!

Benson took this opportunity to ask for handouts.



And he got some...



As well as a "friend" to play on his "top bunk."

Although, Grandmama Hunter said he was "too old" to play on the top bunk, to which Benson replied to her, "Are YOU too old to play on the top bunk?"



Benson loves for Grandmama Hunter to read him stories!

Uno Anyone?!

Even though he doesn't know his numbers yet, (He's got his letters for the most part, but for some reason, which I can't explain, we haven't really worked on the numbers?)

Benson has learned to match the colors and the "shape" of the numbers in Uno. We started out trying to teach him how to hold the cards in his hand...

but eventually decided that it goes smoother if we just let him lay his hand on the table.



Us knowing what he has in his hand, in no way effects the excitement he has for the game! :)

We had fun getting to tell him stories about playing Uno with Benjamin's Pa-pa who passed away about six years ago. Whenever he would have one card left in his hand, instead of "UNO!" he would shout

" YOU KNOW!!!..... What I meannnnn!!"

(This picture was taken in 2000 and yes,
that is my boyfriend sitting on the far left. Well, in 2000 he was anyway :) )

It was cute watching Benson imitate his great grandfather whom he's never met. What a blessing it is to be able to pass on Pa-pa's fun, light-hearted memory to his great- grandson!

Here's a couple of my favorite pics ever of Granny and Pa-Pa... I don't know the dates on these, but I do know, that in the hand-stand pic, they are grandparents already.
Pretty much the coolest grandparents ever, to be able to pull this off...

If I'm riding a camel at their age, I will have accomplished something!

Fireboot Golfin' with Caddy Daddy

Think there's ever been a blog with that title before?

We're working on his form...

But every now and again he makes contact with the ball...

Which really amazes him...

And he gets really excited when Caddy Daddy tees it up again for him...

"I just love golf."

(Was that a quote from the caddy or the golfer... you'll have to decide...)

See the little yellow tee in the ground here?
This is a very important part of Benson's "golf practice."

When he was getting himself ready to go outside to play golf on this particular afternoon, he began to look for his tee and couldn't find it... he got upset and almost started crying... I stopped him and said,

"Just stop and think... where did you have it last?"

and his very sad, sincere,and concerned response was...

"I don't know.... I've lost it in a fortnight, just like Peter Rabbit!!"

"Peter never stopped running or looked behind him till he got home to the big fir-tree.

He was so tired that he flopped down upon the nice soft sand on the floor of the rabbit-hole and shut his eyes. His mother was busy cooking; she wondered what he had done with his clothes. It was the second little jacket and pair of shoes that Peter had lost in a fortnight!"

I'm just going to be honest...

There is something about Play Doh that scares me.

I can't quite put my finger on what it is...

Maybe it's the potential mess that it could make, or the possibility that if I were to look away for a second, it could end up smooshed in his hair or worse... his mouth?! Maybe it's the abstract nature of this amorphous goo that is beckoning to be made into something, not just crumbled onto the floor...

I don't know...it makes me anxious.

It's a weird thing to be afraid of, I know... but anyway.. we've had this can of blue play doh for over a year and we finally took the plunge and decided to break it out today.

Benson let out a "Woooo Hooooo" at the notion of play doh.


I read somewhere that putting play doh on a large cookie sheet
is a nice way to contain it.

I must say, it helped abate some of my anxieties...








Ok. I think I've pinpointed it... this. This is what just kills me about play doh.



Whatever it is that makes him do this with play doh, is definitely located on the Y chromosome.



There's just something about the not-neatness of it that gets me.
And eventually got him too...

Here he is, devastated, that he has (in his mind) forever ruined his play doh.
"Ohhh No... my pllllaayyy dooooh...."



But mama saved the day by showing him that it isn't at all like Humpty Dumpty and it can be put back together again. He was happy about that....

Runs are fun!

One of the neat little blessings the Lord has given us in our move to Hartsville, is a precious rental home in an awesome location. It's right off of the main walking path in town. People bring their bikes, dogs, strollers, and other things (see below) to walk/run/ride on this loop that is 2.8 miles long (if my calculations are correct).

It's perfect for jogging and we've been taking advantage of the beautiful weather to go out on it daily. This morning, I decided to take a picture of Benson in his jogging get-up before we started..

He was greatly confused as to why I would do such a thing...

Although, I'm sure you can clearly see why I wanted to capture such an occasion...
He insists on wearing his fireman boots when we run. He's worn them every day this week. A kick. A kick, I tell you.

He also drinks his "secret ingredient smoothie" while we run... and tries really hard to figure out what the secret ingredient is.... maybe I'll tell you one day, but my lips are sealed when it comes to telling him... although I guess you could just bypass the suspense and click the link I just gave you....

This is certainly something new...
we didn't see any of these when we used to run on the dam in Lexington!

Tyler Turns One!

Our friends Jessica and Chad's littlest boy, Tyler, turned one this past week, and we were able to go back to Lexington to celebrate with them.

It was a rock and roll party... right up Benson's alley!




Amanda and Ansley




Benson singing Karaoke



Izzie (Todd and Cassie's baby girl) was tuckered out from the festivites!




The Birthday Boy




The Gunters



Get ready for lots of birthday posts over the next few months...
spring and summer are filled with birthdays around here!

The Ingrams First Visit to Hartsville

We had our first out of town visitors less than a week after we moved in!

Kelli, Trey and Lael were on their way home from some work Trey had at the beach and stopped by on their way back to Greenville!

It was such a great feeling to have such dear friends in our new home. It made it feel more like home, having them in it!

Benson and Trey had so much fun playing some "POW" game where they took turns being the good guy and the bad guy. Benson thinks Trey is so extremely very cool.




"POW!"


Lael- "Seriously, Aunt Jess? Are you going to pull that camera out and take a picture of Benson kissing my head EVERY time I EVER see you my WHOLE life?!"

Me- "yes, my dear, I am. :) "



Sweet 'lil lamb of the Lord Lael


Did I mention how much Benson loves Trey?


It's a lot! :)

Humpty Dumpty and other important matters

This is just a little chat between Benson and me one morning.
I love getting to talk with him about such important life matters.

Fireman Benson

It's funny how, the older he gets, we're starting to pick up on things that we see in him that are obviously from one or the other of us.

Kicks. They are from me. I am the queen of kicks. Whether it's knitting, baking, sticker collecting (that was in the eighth grade), cleaning, not cleaning, or something else.... I'm all about getting on a little "kick" for a while where I focus everything on that little hobby or task and do it with all of my umph, until I get tired of it and move on to another kick.

Benson is definitely on a fireman kick.

Which makes me "Fireman Mama" and Benjamin "Fireman Daddy."

We've put out more fires over the last couple of weeks than you can imagine.

He's liked the idea of a fireman ever since his great aunt Bonnie gave him his little ride-on firetruck. He can ZOOM on our "new house" tile and hardwood floors with that thing! Check out the tongue stickin' out here as he takes the turn...

His Grandaddy Ryan took him to see some firetrucks last week which really fed his interest in firemen. Plus Grandmama got him this really cool fire truck matchbox car that you would think is life sized since he spends so much time inspecting and driving it!

Not to mention that lately, we've been reading Curious George and the Firefighters.
(There's definitely a common thread of Curious George in a lot of posts on here.. have you noticed? Safe. He's safe I tell you... and that's hard to come by!)

Sometimes Fireman Benson takes the corner too quick and topples his firetruck over...

But it doesn't stop him for too long... Firemen are tough, you know!