May 12th - 18th

Lately Bennett has been interested in signing himself in at school.  Normally he's pretty good about writing his name, but on this occasion he got the letters mixed up.  "Benntet"

Monday
After school we did some yard work, pruning bushes and a tree.  Bennett took one of the branches and called it his Christmas Tree and the flowers were ornaments.

Tuesday
Today was Daddy's last class and he was able to come home early!  He'd already eaten dinner so he just sat with us while Bennett at.  Bennett was very confused about why Daddy wasn't eating.

Wednesday
Nothing too exciting happened.  Bennett played outside for a while and then when he came in he played Cootie with Daddy.

Thursday
Today we were discussing the various things in the shed- rakes, shovels, wheelbarrow, lawnmower, etc.  I also mentioned that the Derby track was in the shed and Bennett remembered that it also had the "milk cow" track.  (Last year Bennett's BlastCar was a milk carton that had a picture of a cow on it.)

Friday
It was raining so we couldn't go outside to play.  Instead, when we got home, Bennett wanted to read books.  He would go up to his room, get a book, bring it down to the living room, "read" it to himself, and then go back upstairs to repeat the process.  He must have done this at least ten times.


Saturday
After soccer we headed off to Sturbridge.  This time they were demonstrating cooking with catsup.  In the 1830s catsup came in various varieties including tomato, walnut, mushroom, etc.  One popular variety was similar to today's Worcestershire sauce.
Down at the farm Lance and Henry were hauling some firewood to the Sugar Camp so that it could dry out and be used next year.  Bennett had a blast playing outside pretending to paint, etc.  At one point he started to use the milk pails as his paint cans and Victoria gave him some tin dish pans to use instead since the wooden buckets are a pain to clean.  I love that she was so accepting of his playing and giving him alternative materials.

When we went past the blacksmith shop Derek was working and Chris was able to talk with him about the hammer that he had made which we saw a month or two ago.  Bennett played with all of the various display items and also went outside to make "hamburgers" in the wet sand.

That afternoon we were doing some yardwork and came across this giant spider.  Any idea what kind it is?

And finally, to wrap up the day we went over to Nana's house for dinner.


Sunday
The day started off with a visit to Mimi followed by grocery shopping.  We got home in time for lunch and nap.  While Bennett was napping I got all of the veggies planted in the garden and then when he woke up he helped spread some mulch.

We also had made the decision to remove one of our raised garden beds as it never did well in the location we had it, but there wasn't a better place to put it.  But what to do with the dirt?  Uncle Andrew and Aunt Gentry to the rescue!  They were putting some raised beds in at their house so this would mean they wouldn't have to buy so much dirt.

On the drive over I tried explaining to Bennett that Aunt Gentry wouldn't be there because she was in Israel for work.  But I quickly got flummoxed not knowing how to explain how far away that was.

I also mentioned that they would be getting chickens and that he would be able to name one.  I asked him what he would want to call it and he said, "chickens".  And then he  told me that he would feed it leftovers.  What kind of leftovers?  "Leftover pie crust."  (That's what he and Victoria fed the OSV chickens a few weeks ago.)  He also said he would feed them leftover eggs (I clarified that they would have to be cooked first) and pudding.


Quotes from the week

We were looking for a light meter to determine how much sun certain areas of the yard/garden got.  Chris was looking for one at Home Depot.  Bennett heard Chris tell me that they didn't have any.  "Maybe other people bought all of them. They'll have to get more and then you can get one."


While driving through Worcester on Saturday there was heavy traffic and a large truck driving near me.  (I hate driving near trucks.)  Bennett was chattering away and I commented that "I can't process."
"Mummy, what can't you process?"
Daddy explained that Bennett was talking too much and that there was the truck there, etc.
"You should tell the truck to get out of your way.  Truck- Get out of Mummy's way!"


On Sunday, on the way back from Uncle Andrew's and Aunt Gentry's, Bennett saw another truck and again told it to get out of my way.  And then there was a van that he saw pull in front of Daddy's truck.  So Bennett proceeded to tell me the story of how he was saving Daddy from the van.  And about how he threw him a rope to hold on to him so that he could get him  away from the van.

May 5th - 11th

Monday
Since it was Cinco de Mayo of course we had to have tacos for dinner.  Luckily this is a meal that you generally eat without complaint.

But before dinner we worked outside spreading some of the mulch.  We came up with a pretty good routine.  You and Daddy (ok, mostly Daddy) would shovel the mulch from the pile into the wheelbarrow.  Mummy would hold your hand as we walked towards the street to dump the mulch in the front garden bed.  Then you would ride in the wheelbarrow back to the pile.  While you and Daddy filled it back up again Mummy would spread the mulch and then come to hold your hand to repeat.


Tuesday
Since Tuesday is one of the days of the week when most kids are at school (some of the kids are only in on select days) they held a Mother's Day breakfast at school.  The gifts this year were pretty fun- everyone got a pin, and then each class had a different gift.  Bennett's class painted mirrors.
When we got home I put the mirror on the kitchen counter.  Bennett said it had to go upstairs.  Later I found it on the bathroom counter.  Guess that's where he thought it belonged, but I have since moved it to my dresser.

.
After school Daddy had class.  Bennett was quite helpful with picking up toys so that I could vacuum and then he helped plug and unplug the cord for me when I had to move to different rooms.  Who knew someone could enjoy cleaning so much!

Wednesday
After school we worked some more on the mulch pile and then played outside for a while.
The evening was pretty uneventful until dinner.  Bennett took a bite or two and then threw up.  No warning whatsoever.  Other than that though he seemed fine.  I think he was really confused about what happened.  We explained that it meant that he was sick and he asked "where do I have to go to get better?"

Thursday
He woke up saying, "I'm not sick anymore.  I got better."  Considering there was no fever and no other signs that something was wrong we considered the previous night to have been a fluke.

When Daddy and Bennett came home from school Bennett "drove" the car, even buckling himself in.  He then played outside with Daddy while Mummy made dinner. 

Friday
Nothing too exciting.  He took a good nap at school, watched some Curious George at home, and then played with the Lego fire station.

Saturday
After soccer Bennett came home and worked on a Mother's Day craft with Daddy and then watched Peter Pan.  Meanwhile, I was at OSV for a talk about how the costume department recreated a dress from one that they had in their collection.

Later in the afternoon we went to the Bryant's for Davis' 9th birthday party, which was Harry Potter themed.

Cakes- snitch cupcakes and an acceptance letter cake.

Making wands

Playing quidditch

Awesome present- sent by owl post

I also love this photo as it shows how much DJ tolerates Bennett.

After the party we bought Bennett some new pants as all of his jeans had holes in them.  We were going to get the same size he had been wearing but decided to go up a size since with the weather warming up we wanted him to get more wear out of them.  So here he is in 5T pants and shirt- and they don't look big on him at all!  Although the pants do need to have the elastic inside to make them smaller since he has a super skinny waist.

Sunday
On Mother's Day we went to OSV.  Mom's got in free and the first 200 moms also were given a clay flower pot and a packet of seeds.  Bennett also had the chance to plant a seed and he chose an heirloom squash.  Assuming he gets any squash from it, he will be able to enter them in the agricultural exhibition in the fall.

Isaac and Beulah were in one of the fields running around which was fun to see.

And my Mother's Day gift?  Daddy is sneaky and he ordered and then stealthily picked up an OSV tin watering can.  Bennett is very excited about this and enjoys watering my garden- to the point that I'm not really allowed to do it myself.

April 28th - May 4th

For this week of catch-up we go back to the end of April/ beginning of May.  It was a week with very few pictures.

Monday
Proving that he has an active imagination, Bennett told me the story of Mr. Smee's closet, which is downstairs next to Captain Hook's closet.  It has sweaters (Smee was cold) and shirts.

Tuesday
Again with the active imagination, as we were about to leave for school Bennett started talking about how "hola" was in the garden.  It was only when he mentioned a snowman that I realized that he meant Olaf from the movie Frozen.  And then he talked about Frozen all the way to school, and again on the way home.

Wednesday
Grandpa picked Bennett up early from school.  The weather was kind of icky so they went back to Grandpa's house where Bennett created an art project entitled "house".  When we got home from work Grandpa brought Bennett home and stayed for dinner.  Bennett was quite the fan of the Papa John's garlic dipping sauce.

"House"

Thursday
Tonight Bennett gobbled up his steak and potatoes.  He tried asparagus and said he liked it, but then wasn't a fan of his second bite.  We'll have to try it again later.

Friday
Tonight was the Good Shepherd rummage sale.  Due to timing we ate dinner in the car and Bennett surprised us by how neatly he ate and also how much he ate.  Guess a growth spurt might be coming.  We picked up lots of good stuff at the rummage sale- some Duplos, movies, a Skippy John Jones book, a vintage Fisher Price stove, hose reel, and a puzzle (unfortunately it's missing a piece).

Saturday
Chris' Great-Aunt Elsie passed away so we went to her funeral in Connecticut on Saturday.  Bennett was a little unclear on what exactly was happening and what things were (what was the casket, what were the people doing with it, etc) but overall he was pretty well behaved.
Grandma and Grandpa Tedford had come up from Georgia for the funeral so since they were so close, they came up to our house afterwards.
Bennett napped on the way home and then for a little longer once we got home.  When he woke up we all went outside and did a little bit of yard work- putting in some edging around a couple of flower beds and started spreading some mulch.
For dinner we made one of our OSV recipes-- friccassee chicken white.  Not as good as when we went to the DCV, but still pretty good.

Sunday
Grandma and Grandpa came with us to Sturbridge for our weekly visit.  Bennett continues his now weekly habit of drawing in the dirt with a stick.  At least he's happy, right?

With Grandma and Grandpa in the Tavern after lunch.

Back at home, after nap we worked on spreading mulch but of course almost as soon as we started it started to rain.  I think it was a short-lived rain, but by the time we were cleaned up and inside again we had lost motivation to go back out and work some more.

April 14 - 20

Moving along with playing catch up....


Bennett was still a bit under the weather so on Monday we picked up some cold medicine for him.  He's not a fan!

Tuesday was school picture day.  We also did some vacuuming in the evening and Bennett got very excited about that.



Wednesday Bennett has speech.  For some reason he seems to sleep late on Chris' mornings to take him but not on mine.  This being Daddy's morning, of course he slept late.
When leaving school he and Grace held hands on the way out.  Super cute.
When he got home he asked to cut paper.  The little pieces were "tape".

Thursday he had a dentist appointment.  Things are looking good.  He's had some discoloration behind his bottom front teeth, but it wasn't as bad as the previous visit.  No idea what's causing it.
At school the kids got Easter baskets.

On Friday Bennett came home to find an Easter basket from Nana and Auntie Hanna hidden in the yard.
We also all had to role play Peter Pan.  He was Captain Hook, Mummy was both Wendy and Mr. Smee, and Daddy was Peter.

At soccer on Saturday the Easter Bunny came to say hi to the kids.  In this photo Bennett is walking away after just having got a high five.

After soccer we went to Sturbridge here he got another kiss on the head from Phil.  We also got to watch a sheep give birth which I thought was incredibly neat.  I discussed recipes  with Victoria and Katie (I think that they think that I bake a lot more than I actually do), Victoria asked to borrow Bennett to check for eggs, and she also asked if he could be costumed to be her helper for a day.  Guess I'll have to work on a costume for him.  :)

Quote from the day:
Bennett: Mummy, say "brrr"
Daddy: Brrr
Bennett: Is your name Mummy?

Not interested in photos before backyard soccer.

Sunday was Easter!  Bennett woke up early and came into our room to say that he had a coloring book in his room.  The Easter Bunny also brought him The Jungle Book, a toothbrush, some socks, and some Band-Aids.
We played outside in afternoon and then headed to Home Depot.

For those of you who might be squeemish, here are some pictures of the sheep having her lambs.  

In labor with the first lamb.  You can see the hooves starting to protrude.

First lamb half out.

While the mom was cleaning off her first lamb, the second starts to arrive.  She is oblivious.

Second lamb.

It was only when the second one finally bleated after a few minutes that Momma Sheep realized it was there.  She then started to clean it off.

March 17 - April 13th

Let's back up to mid-March for the start of a three week recap.

March 17 - 23
Happy St. Patrick's Day!  There were festivities at school, of course.  Not related to anything Irish, but at home Bennett showed his love of Beauty and the Beast as he offered imaginary food to Belle, Papa, and the horse.

On Tuesday Daddy had his class so Bennett and I watched Peter Pan and had popcorn for dinner.  Hey, it's fiber, so it's good for you.  Right?

Wednesday was Daddy's turn to bring Bennett to speech.  They had a tea party while waiting for Miss Christina.

Thursday was Grandma Tedford's birthday so we Skyped when we got home.  Since we had stopped at Target on the way home this meant that dinner ended up being a bit late.  This was also the first day this week that Bennett took a nap at school.

The big excitement for the week happened on Friday.  We picked Bennett up early from school and brought him  to Nana’s house where he spent the night.  He started off by taking a two hour nap (after he finally fell asleep) and then he went to Nana’s friend’s house so that he could play with her grandson, Ryan.

While he was with Nana, Mummy and Daddy went to Sturbridge to have a Dinner in a Country Village with their friends.  Once again Mummy and Uncle Andrew went to the dinner in costume.  We were joined by the typical game night crowd (Bryants, Doucettes, York, Kristin) as well as the Birds, and Leslie.  Everyone seemed to have a great time so maybe we’ll do it again next year.

What was funny though was in the morning when we told Bennett that he would be going to Nana's house he got very excited and wanted to pack his suitcase right away.  He also talked so much at school about going to Nana's house that Berta threatened him to take a nap at school (we had said we would pick him up before nap) if he mentioned Nana again.

Here are a few pictures from the dinner.

Selfie at the hotel just before we left.

York mulling cider.

Kelly and Leslie skewering the beef.

Chris stirring the cabbage for the hot slaw.

Vegetable prep.

The pastry table.

Jason checks on his stewed pears.

Fun with cutouts as we left the Village!

On Saturday when we picked Bennett up from Nana’s we had planned to go back to Sturbridge.  He seemed fine at first, but took a quick turn for the worse and seemed to be a little under the weather.  So instead we had a low-key day at home.  Bennett watched Cars and then took a 5 hour nap!  Amazingly he was able to go to bed just two hours later.

 

On Sunday he was feeling better so we were able to go to Sturbridge.  We were surprised to see Victoria working inside the Small House.  However, it’s the first building in the village so we didn’t get much of a chance to talk.  Mummy did show her a picture of her costume and she was very impressed.  We later went back to chat with her some more and found Phil in the Small House.  I don’t think we’ve ever seen him in any building other than the Tin Shop.  Isaac is still in with Bonnie where he likely will be until he weans.  This also means that they won’t be milking Bonnie.  However, they are doing well together so I guess it’s all for the best.  We also saw Bonnie drinking Isaac's pee.  Yuck!

 

To make our weekend even busier, the Durbins came over in the afternoon.  We passed along lots of clothes as well as some toys.  It was interesting to watch the boys play together- still very much parallel play rather than interactive.

--------------------

March 24 - 30
Monday- no nap
Whenhe got home from school Bennett played Candyland and Zingo Bingo.  Then we pulled out some coloring/activity books and he did dot to dots, wrote letters/ wrote his name, and circled things like all the whatevers on the page.


Tuesday- "I did the puzzle all by myself.  Not with the help of Mummy, or Daddy, or Tony."

Wednesday-
Bennett: (while holding a banana) This is my hook.
Mummy: Are you Captain Hook?
B: No, I'm Victoria.
M: Why do you need a hook?
B: So I don't hurt my fingers.  I'm in the Small House.
M: What are you doing there?
B: Making maple syrup.  Do you have a hook?
M: Where am I working?
B: (long pause while thinking) The farmhouse.
(This conversation was prompted by watching Victoria use the hook to take the pot off the fire at the Small House while she was making maple sugar. See, he does learn things from all of our visits!


Thursday- woke up from nap at school with a fever.  When we picked him up he was rather snuggly and subdued.  It was Mimi's birthday, but given the fever we couldn't visit so instead we called to wish her a Happy Birthday.  He's slowly getting better about talking on the phone.

Friday- He was home sick with Daddy and they watched lots of movies.

By Saturday he was feeling better and he had his first soccer class.  The little uniform is super cute on him!  Mostly they run around with a little bit of direction, but Bennett isn't the best at following directions.

Spring is here!

After soccer he went to the Ecotarium with Grandpa, although he would tell you that he went to "Worcester"

After the Ecotarium he came home in time for nap.  When he woke up he climbed in bed with Mummy to nap a little longer.

On Sunday it was raining for the weekly OSV visit but that didn't keep us away.  We arrived a little later than usual.  At the farm there was a chicken that kept going in the woodshed so Bennett chased it out. There are 3 new lambs from the previous week, bringing the count up to 4.  We also saw a ram that had gotten out of its pen and was in with the cows.

Demonstrating what the privy is for.

At home after OSV he once again climbed into bed with me to finish his nap.  If only those snuggles would last longer!

---
March 31 - April 6

Monday- coloring Peter Pan pictures.

Tuesday- picked up early (Mummy had dr appt)
more coloring
Had to put books on stairs so that "we will remember to bring them upstairs."

He apparently forgot how to make the first E so I helped him with the second one.

Wednesday- The weather got a bit nicer so we were able to get outside to rake leaves and pick up sticks.  Bennett loved finding sticks to put in the bag.

Building a Duplo tower before Speech class.

Self portrait

Thursday-
As we were driving to school Bennett asked if Sturbridge was open.  We frequently have this conversation in the car.  Apparently when it's light out Sturbridge should be open and it should only be closed when it's dark out.
Mummy: The clock says it's 7:21.  Sturbridge opens at 9:30.  Does 9 come before or after 7?
Bennett: I have a clock in my bedroom.  I have TWO clocks in my bedroom.  One on the wall (mural of Big Ben) and one on the ceiling (London skyline on the sloped part of his wall/ceiling).
He also has a real clock in his room but apparently that one doesn't count.

After school we picked up more leaves and sticks.  While playing in sandbox he let us know that he was making maple syrup.

School celebrated the Red Sox home opener (a day early).  Everyone got dressed in their Red Sox apparel and they had hotdogs for lunch.

While going on a walk he decided to hold G's hand.  The teachers have commented that sometimes they will look quickly at the two of them from behind and get the two confused since they both have messy blonde curls.

Since Bennett has lots of hand me down Red Sox clothes we had hims show team pride again on Friday.  He told us that the B on his hat is for Bennett/baseball/soccer.

Asking us to repeat various words...
Bennett: Say "waterminnow"
Daddy: Watermelon.
B: No- waterminnow.
D: What's a waterminnow?
B: Peas, and rice, and corn.

Saturday
At soccer on soccer on Saturday he started tackling the other kids.  To him he was just playing, but I don't think the other kids enjoyed it.  We'll have to have a talk with him about how this isn't appropriate.

At OSV there are now 8 lambs!  Being the start of April, things picked up on the schedule.  Lots more people around, both in terms of the number of visitors and the number of interpreters.
Other randoms from the visit:

• At the tinshop, Bennett got a hug and kiss on the side of his head from Phil.  Phil also kept pulling Bennett's hat over his eyes.  We don't have a problem with any of this, but it struck us as a little odd.
• I asked Victoria a question about something completely unrelated to the Village and she gave me her cell phone number so that I could text her with more information as she said it was easier than email.

Bonnie walks around while Isaac takes a nap.

A really cool hammer that one of the blacksmith's made.  It's based off one in the collection.

Musket firing demos are back!

After we got home and Bennett woke up from his nap we went to Uncle Andrew and Aunt Gentry's to check out their new house.  They hadn't moved in yet, but it was nice to see.  Can't wait to see it when they've moved everything in, unpacked a bit, and gotten some of the numerous projects finished.

On Sunday we had a relatively low-key day at home.  Bennett watched Peter Pan, we baked cookies, and we did some yard work.

April 7 - 13

Monday-  We've reached the terrible threes.  Or based on comments from friends, it's the 3 and a halfs that are really bad!   At home he seemed to want lots of 1 on 1 attention- playing games, reading books, etc.  And then he ended up having to go to bed early because he wouldn't eat his dinner.

Reading the paper at school.

Tuesday was the Braves home opener so he wore a Braves jersey to school.  Got to show our support to both our teams, right?  He skipped his nap and had the attitude to match.  However, his disposition did improve after dinner, so maybe he was just hungry?

Wednesday he woke up early and got in bed with Mummy.  That didn't last for very long though.  He did play nicely on his own before speech though, which is always nice when we are trying to get ourselves ready.

On Thursday he had a very raspy voice, and I can only imagine how sore his throat must have been.  After dinner he played with the  Lego firestation while Mummy baked a cake for Kelly's birthday celebration the next day.

Sunflower/ Peeps cake

Friday night was game night.   He started off very sluggish and not feeling well, but he magically improved during the egg hunt.

The kids with their baskets of eggs.

Dying eggs.  He had a blast!

Bedtime was rather late.  After the umpteenth meltdown over little things plus falling off the couch we changed him into PJs and with Daddy holding him, he fell asleep around 10:00.  If only he were one of those kids who would lie down on their own when they are tired!

On Saturday we decided to skip soccer since it had been such a late night the night before.  In hindsight we likely didn't have to since he woke up at normal time.

But instead we went to Sturbridge a little earlier than originally planned.  The weather was awesome- warm and sunny.  It was Girl Scout Day so there were lots of other people around plus some extra things on the schedule.

Chris went to a member talk in the morning.  I would have liked to go as well, but we knew Bennett wouldn't cooperate so I took him off to the rest of the Village.  The talk was supposed to be about hand tools- planes, hammers, etc but ended up being a look at early machinery- tablesaws and the like.   He also took this picture which for some reason just strikes me as funny.

Doc and Blue were out plowing the garden.  They hadn't been plowing since last year and they weren't cooperating.

We started a new game- identify the building on the map.  Bennett surprised us by being able to correctly name various buildings when we pointed to them- the tin shop, farm, blacksmith, cookie store...

The advantage of knowing the interpreters- they let you sit places that are normally roped off.

At one point Bennett was drawing pictures in the dirt.  Victoria came over to join him and then commented, "I went to art school to be able to draw you a sheep."

Back at home after nap, we played outside for a while and Bennett did some gardening.

On Sunday Bennett went with Nana to a farm near Auntie Hanna's college for another egg hunt, and of course a stop at Target as well.