What Eli Has Been Up To

Eli is now standing whenever he can. He is constantly moving to place where he can stand.

He also has another tooth through!
I think he clapped for the first time today, but not sure- so when we have confirmation on that we will give it a go with a picture.


Eli has learned to take off his pants. This is how we will find him after a restless nap.
Eli also has taken our family to new places...5:30 am. Yes, he has decided that sleeping in is now 6:30. Josh and I are trying to adjust, but we are finding this new time a little difficult!

Eli LOVES his brother and finds him hilarious!

Valentines Sneak Peak

Rain, Rain, & A Little More Rain=

stir crazy. We are going a little stir crazy after two weeks of being at home. Here are a few pictures of what we have been doing while we are locked up...

and when all else fails- play in the rain!

Dinner Time

Due to the fact that spaghetti was on the menu for tonight's dinner I thought it would be the best opportunity to get a great picture of Eli now feeding himself dinner. He has been eating big people food for a while and I am yet to really document it. So, we pulled of his shirt, got him his food, and I sat with the camera ready....

Here he is at the start...

Here he is at the finish...

Very disappointing! He is such a clean little eater.

But there was a cute moment where Ezekiel decided to help Eli finish up his food. Here are the three shots in sequence- Too cute!

This Sums it Up...

It has been there since Saturday. We did not use the car for 5 whole days!

2010 Thus Far...

cleaning...

Ezekiel LOVES to clean. He won't let me clean the bathroom without him... for instance one time as I walked by him playing in his sandbox I mentioned I was going to be cleaning the bathroom. He came running after me screaming "NO, WAIT FOR ME!!!!!!" Cleaning must be a thing that skips generations because Ezekiel loves to do it and both Josh and myself don't really like the task.

playing...
We have spent tons of time at home playing. Ezekiel has been in his sandbox everyday. He loads up his tractors with sand, levels the sand out, hits golf balls out of the sand trap (aka his sandbox), hits golf balls out of the ruff (aka the giant hole he has put in our lawn digging for gophers- thanks Mimi), and playing with his new toys from Christmas.

So far it has been pretty low key. Here is our one event of the New Year...

We went to Disneyland. Here are the boys riding the carousel. Eli was about to fall asleep!

Laugh Factory

Back on June 10, 2009 I wrote this...

Eli fully giggled today. He has been working towards this for some time, but every time he got close he started hiccuping. Finally, this evening he giggled as his feet were being tickled! He is ticklish- his feet, tummy, sides. It is too cute!

...but due to some difficulties with our old camera I was never able to get the video up.

So I now present the current laughing of Eli. It brings us all such great delight! He is still ticklish, but he has fully mastered laughing and only hiccups when his is hungry!

Snow Ball Fights!

Two peas in a pod!


Got to love Mimi!

Every year this happens:

12 Things About Our Vacation

Twelve gifts were given- actually more -as we celebrated Christmas together. We enjoyed watching Ezekiel help us open all the gifts and it took us about 12 hours to complete Christmas. Between the naps, fussy children, distractions, it was lucky we actually finished in one day!

Seconds before meltdown.
Eleven pictures of our Christmas together.
Ten minute hay ride. That is what happens when a bunch of Bennings get together and there is a truck, trailer, and hay= hayride around Tuolumne. We waved as though we were in a parade.
Nine family members loving time together. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with Papa, Mimi, Uncle Chip, Aunt Tiffany, Baby Avery, and us.

Eight pictures of us sledding and playing in the snow.
Plus more!!
Seven hours or more playing Wii, watching movies, fixing cars and just hanging out.

Six days of nothing. No major plans, nothing major to do, just hanging out and enjoying each other.
Five hours playing at the Memorial Hall with all of our family. We enjoyed board games, basketball, skateboarding, food, family, laughs, and memories from the past.

Four boys getting wood. Ezekiel LOVES to help Papa get wood from the bottom of the hill. He rides in the back of the truck. Loads up the wood. Carries it to the house. Overall it is a boy thing.

Three sick boys. After vacation colds- got to love them.
Two amazing Grandparents that had ALL three grandchildren sleeping in their room.

One happy (and silly) family in the snow outside Grandpa and Grandma Great's house.