Life with the Bennetts: 2010

Life in our little world

As I have been going through pictures, trying to update my blog, I have found tons of fun pictures that I never put in a blog post. I guess life got too consuming and I got so far behind that I never added them. So, here are a few that I have taken of the girls over the last few months. Some are with my iPhone so the quality is lacking. At least, these will show what our life is like.

Oh, Annie....Always into something and desperately trying to keep up with your sisters.

The backyard has become my best ally. Annie won't be left out, and Mollie and Ellie do a great job of helping keep an eye on her.

While we got ready for a garage sale, Brittney was in charge of bathing Annie. She found her bath robe and couldn't resist putting it on her.

Mollie went to work with me at my dad's office one afternoon. She always has a ton of fun doing her work.

The girls love it when PawPaw comes over to babysit.

I love how innocent Annie looks. I'm convinced that when she stops like this to eat a snack she is just plotting her next move.

Annie, Mollie and Ellie looking at a Scholastic Book order.

Mollie and Annie on our quick trip to Sam's to pick up cupcakes for Ellie's birthday party.

Annie couldn't stand that she couldn't skate during Pleasant Valley Christmas. So, she did her best to find skates to wear.

And then some days, a box is good enough!

And some days, we need barriers for our survival. :)

It's all better in 3's

December is a popular time in our family to have a birthday! Caleb's birthday is Dec. 17 and Kelsey's and Ellie's birthdays are in Dec. 19. Usually, we do Caleb's birthday separately from the other two. However this year, Caleb and Stephanie didn't get home until late on the 18th; and Kelsey and Micah didn't get home until the 20th. So, it made more sense to celebrate all three one one day. Mama made an amazing dinner of chicken enchiladas, and everyone headed to her house to eat. It was so fun to be all together. There is something so comforting when all 15 of us plus my grandparents are sitting around the table together. Laughter abounds for sure!

Mollie and Noah passed the time waiting for cake by riding the stick horses.

Mandy & Mama were in charge of lighting the cakes.
Ellie's was chocolate with white icing; Kelsey's was white with white icing; and Caleb's was a chocolate flourless torte.

The birthday boy and girls!
Noah sat with Caleb, and Mollie was glued to Kelsey.

Somehow, Annie accidentally blew out one of Ellie's candles.

Noah has a tendency to drool when he blows out candles, so Papa Jim came to the rescue with a little napkin. ;)

Caleb showing off his new Razorback bracelet.

Mollie was all about sitting with Kelsey and helping her blow out her candles.

Kelsey and Micah gave Ellie a Barnes & Noble gift card for her birthday and took her to spend it too!

Kelsey opening her gift from us while Ellie tries desperately not to tell her what it is.

Happy Birthday Caleb, Kelsey & Ellie!

The big 7

Ellie finally made it - she is now 7 years old!! She was so excited to finally be able to officially celebrate her big day! We celebrated her birthday on Dec. 7th with her friends from school and church. I happened to mention that it was her "un-birthday," so she was quick to tell everyone that it wasn't actually her big day. ha! The day of her party she got to go out of dress code to school and she took special treats to share with her class. After school, we had a skating party at the church. My camera died at the party. Mandy let us use her camera, so I will post pictures soon.

On Ellie's real birthday, December 19th, we let her open a present before church. Then, that evening we celebrated with Nannie, PawPaw and Mamaw. Ellie was so excited. I cooked a pork tenderloin (for the first time) for dinner and Nannie brought a cake. Ellie loved having everyone together.

Ellie and her new My Little Pony Mermaid set that she got to open before church.

No idea why the picture of her cake loaded side ways. It was a chocolate cake with white icing and colored polka dots.

Ellie blowing out her candles.

Opening her first gift of the evening...It was a new game for her DS from her Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Rick.

Mamaw gave Ellie the movie Despicable Me.

And she got her own portfolio and new art supplies. She was so excited.

We celebrated Ellie's birthday with Mimi and Papa Jim, Mom and Papa and the rest of the gang on Monday, December 20th. Ellie asked to wait and celebrate once everyone was home for Christmas. (see the next post for more details on the evening.)

Ellie asked Mimi to make her birthday cake - chocolate cake with white icing.

Ellie was so excited!

She loved her new innerstarU doll from Mimi, Papa Jim, Mommy and Daddy

Ellie checking out the new spy bag that Caleb and Stephanie gave her.

Ellie the spy!

Ellie has started collecting Madame Alexander dolls like I do. She was thrilled that Mom and Papa gave her a new doll!

god made little girls

Author: Unknown

God made the world with its towering trees,
majestic mountains and restless seas,
then paused and said, "It needs one more thing."
Someone to laugh and dance and sing,
to walk in the woods and gather flowers,
to commune with nature in quiet hours.
So God made little girls
with laughing eyes and bouncing curls,
with joyful hearts, and beautiful smiles,
enchanting ways and feminine wiles.
And when He'd completed the task He'd begun,
he was pleased and proud of the job He'd done.
For the world when seen through a little girl's eyes
greatly resembles paradise.

Pleasant Valley Christmas

One of the new holiday traditions at our church is to host Pleasant Valley Christmas. It is so much fun. We bring in an "ice" skating rink and open it up to the community for free. (The ice rink is actually a ton of huge cutting boards that when you skate on them simulate ice skating. So, you get all the fun without being soaking wet!) There are horse drawn carriage rides and hot chocolate. We even have a HUGE Christmas village that Jerry Johnson sets up each year. He is carrying on their family tradition that is has been going on for more than 24 years. The village is amazing! This year, they added two more carriages to help with the crowds, opened up the gym for skating and Santa was there one night. It is so much fun.

Like last year, it was held over Ellie's birthday weekend. We missed the opening night because we were invited to a dinner honoring Ellie's teacher on her graduation from UCA with her masters in reading. It was so much fun to get to be there and to celebrate her accomplishments. Anyway, we finally got to go on Saturday night. I was excited because we had never taken the two little girls to see Santa before. It was such a disaster the couple of times we took Ellie that we never thought about trying it with Mollie and Annie. Brian decided he and Ellie didn't feel like hanging out so they went on to ice skate and have fun without us. Fortunately, my friend Susan and her son Colby were there because it really does take a village....

We were the second family in line to see Santa. Annie was really good, but she couldn't figure out what was going on. At this point, Mollie had already decided she was having no part in the "fun."

When it was our turn, Susan quickly sat Annie down in Santa's lap, and.....

Annie lost it! ha! With Susan, Cherie and me standing there, we were able to get one picture in the midst of the laughter.

After all that excitement, we headed outside for ice skating!

Susan and Mollie on the ice.

Brian and Ellie enjoying some daddy-daughter time.

Susan and Colby

Mollie and Colby showing off their skills.

At one point, Annie climbed through the fence around the rink to get to hang out with the big kids. It was quite an adventure that night. Annie could not figure out why she wasn't big enough to skate too.

Ellie and Brian on the carriage ride.

Monday afternoon, we headed back up to the church for one more round of ice skating before they packed it up and headed to their next location. We had planned to meet Caleb and Stephanie, and when we got there, we discovered that Micah and Kelsey had finally made it home. I was beside myself because we were so close to all of us finally being together. (More on that later) It was so fun to watch my kids and my brothers and my sweet SILs.