Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours, Happy Holidays!

As per usual, Booger made out like a bandit. Though this year was much different from previous years. He didn't request, nor receive any "toys" in the traditional sense. All the gifts this year were either clothes, or media related. (Music, movies or games). No plastic Tonka toys, no model cars, no Rescue Heroes.





Not that I mind, because I get to play with these gifts versus the plastic toys. Yes, I played with the toys too before, but they just weren't as enjoyable as music or movies. Danine on the other hand doesn't like that he didn't get any "toys" this year. It's the slow realization that he's growing up and out of the kids stuff. It's another one of the milestones you don't realize you have passed until after it smacks you in the face.

This afternoon we'll make the family runs, and of course, he'll probably score another load or two. At least the gifts are smaller and we won't need to bring a dump truck to bring the gifts back home.

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

- Ben

Priceless Comments

Well last night we had some friends over for dinner and to just hang out afterwards. We were all sitting around watching some television and Ben starts flipping through the channels. He stops on a channel that is playing an "old school" Growing Pains re-runs. As Ben, Jay, Alissa and myself are into it and making comments, since we all grew up watching the Seavers, Christian looks over at Ben and states "who are those people Daddy?". Needless to say, I thought Jay was going to fall of the coach laughing and Ben just couldn't come up with a reply. Definitely priceless!



Here's a picture of Rhino rockin' the Christmas look!
~Danine

The Internet and discipline decisions

I discovered something yesterday on the computer regarding Christian. I'm sure most of you that read this, are aware of a website called YouTube. YouTube has an "age inappropriate" flagging tool that prevents underagers from viewing content, unless you have an account on YouTube with a birthday that makes you older than 18. Well, Booger decided to create an account, with an age of 19.

Well, there's a couple things wrong with this picture, so I'll break them down.

1. Christian is NOT 19. Not even close.
2. He signed up for an account without mine or Danine's permission, or knowledge!
3. He was not using the MSN Explorer software we told him he has to use.

Now, why is #3 important? MSN has a built-in age protection system, and it allows me to block individual sites that we deem to be inappropriate. It's sort of a Net Nanny, and allows us a level of internet protection. I specifically have video sites like YouTube.com, Googlevideo.com, and ThatVideoSite.com blocked on MSN. Unfortunately, these blocks don't extend to other programs like Firefox.

Now, we allow him to use Firefox for only 1 website. Runescape.com. Mainly because that website has so much adware, Firefox was about the only safe software for him to surf to that website. Be that as it may, he used Firefox to create the account that has landed him in some trouble.

So, in the end, he's busted. For the time being, we've grounded him from the computer (unless it's for school work research), and I've now set-up his Windows log in to be password protected and he doesn't know the password. Now he can only get on if Danine or I let him on. Not sure how long to ground him yet, still have some thinking to do about this and the long term solution.

Maybe it was our own naive judgement to allow him kind of a carte blanche access. It's not like we hid the alternate ways to get on the internet. We trusted that he would use the software we told him to, and that he wouldn't try to circumvent the protection. And for the most part he did, but I suppose as you grow older, you have to try and push the boundries against the authority. Too bad for him, he got caught.

- Ben

Took Christian out for a night on the town

Thanks to my parents, they scored us all tickets to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert in Erie last night. We all like the music, and had never been to one of their concert, so we couldn't refuse.

This was Christian's first large production concert he's been to. He was excited and ready for some rock and roll!

Thankfully they didn't do a strip search and I was able to smuggle in the camera.





Click to play the video:


Afterward, of course we asked Christian if he liked the concert, and his comment: "Heck yeah!" It was an excellent show and I'm sure he's probably going to want to go next year as well. That's fine with me.

-Ben

Happy Halloween!

Pic of my....err, I mean Christian's candy from trick or treating.



Now, if you'll excuse me, there's some candy calling my name.

-Ben

Hog-tying a rhino

I used to be able to do this on my own when he was younger. It now takes the help of a friend of mine. But we were successful.



We tied his shirt sleeves together behind his back, and for an bonus points, I pulled the one shirt sleeve through his back belt loop to prevent him from being able to pull his arms above his head to increase the level of difficulty in getting out.





Of course this proved too difficult for him to escape, and eventually my wife helped him out. The days of doing this on my own are over I guess. But I still figure I got at least a few more years before he can really start defending himself against me, then at that point, the gloves are off!

Isn't male bonding such a brutal ritual?

- Ben

Sharing some candid photos

We were out this afternoon shooting some fall pics, and after downloading them to the hard drive, I was going through some of the other photo directories and figured I would share a few rare candid moments of Rhino (aka Christian).

Rhino at the computer playing Runescape and trying to chat with friends over AIM.


Rhino and the mother being goofy.


Rhino at "Baby's" in State College, PA.


Rhino at McLanahan's with our friend (and his quasi-older brother/bad influence mentor).


The Rhino is getting more elusive to the camera the older he gets, so the photographic encounters are becoming more rare. But at least we snapped these before he ran away.

- Ben

Crisis Averted

well crisis averted for this weekend at least. Emily decided to let him know at the last minute on Friday and there was no way we could of gotten him to Erie plus checked things out. Besides the movie she was going to see with friends was a PG-13 but one we would of still liked to screen before C saw it. Next issue is awaiting around the corner, ready to pop out and bite us in the arse soon enough! Specially since the fairer sex is noticing him more and vice versa.

Danine

how this came about

well i'm the mom, trying to let the strings stretch (way not ready for the whole cut yet! lol). guess this came about because Christian and I were talking one day after school in our typical "how was your day" fashion and he happened to start talking about this girl Emily. Now Emily is a cousin of one of C's classmates. This classmate has shown Emily C's school picture in the yearbook, so that's how Emily thought C was cute. Now C and Emily have been talking on AIM and C happened to mention that Emily and a bunch of her friends are going to a movie this weekend...would C like to go? NOW....hold on a minute...my son is 12...she's 13...and mom doesn't think he should date until 21 (i want grandchildren some day) and dad says "Christian's busy unitl he's 17" lol. How do I handle this. C goes and i sit in the movie lobby reading my book until the movie is over, I go into the movie with them but sit away from them, my good friends do the things that we've been talking about over the bonfires (yea the friends embarrass and sneak a peak on him)? Well let's say i'm finding more gray hairs and C hasn't mention anything further. Let's hope this subject is dropped for the time being......like for another 9 years!

Introductions!

Introductions are in order being that this is the first blog post of hopefully many. Provided we survive of course.

Our names are Ben and Danine. Respectively, we are 29 and 33 years old, and we have a 12 year old son, Christian. That means we're young enough to remember all the dramatic details of our own adolescent passage, and now we have to try and help our son steer himself through the same passage as he becomes a young man.

Now, it certainly is interesting being on the other end. Now I can see why my mother's hair went from black to gray in the span of less than a year. Thankfully we have 4 more years until he asks for the keys to the car, but that doesn't mean he hasn't already noticed the fairer sex already.

But hopefully this blog will allow our friends to see how we cope. The decisions that have to be made, the molding we are trying to achieve. It's difficult to raise a child, but it's an extremely enjoyable and loving process. So, sit back and laugh at our misfortunes, our own mistakes, our accomplishments and our efforts. Enjoy learning how a young boy grows into a young man, ready to face the world, face first and full of determination.


- Ben