The Ellie-Bean

Our Ellie bean is a ball of singing, dancing, running, jumping, princessing energy. Yet she does have a softer side, she has been known to engage in a 10 second snuggle on occasion. She spends most of her day either mothering her baby doll, pretending to be a baby, or pretending to be a kitty cat. She is the one who makes sure everyone gets their bedtime hugs and kisses, and that we kneel down for our prayers. She laughs hysterically at all of Carters antics and jokes and he loves it (also, we have had potty talk issues at our house and she is the ringleader. The words poop and toot run rampant from her sweet mouth).

Thanks to an Aunt (whom I believe meant well) Ellie got her first princess dress for Christmas. She loves to twirl in it and she literally tells everyone who sees it that Aunt Brittany made it for her. One of the first things I hear in the morning (right after, "can we have sausage for breakfast?") is, "can I wear my princess dress?". I shudder to put it on her because I know that when we eat or go run errands I will have to forcibly remove it from her while she cries dramatically. So, it's a love hate relationship for me. With the dress I mean.

Ellie had her first haircut, by me. I thought I did such a great job until it was dry. Carter probably could have done a better job. Where are you when I need you McKenna? Where Carter is my rule follower, Ellie is my rule breaker. She will be on time out 10 times in a day for the same thing, while Carter only takes once. But she is so loving and makes sure we all know that she loves us "with all her heart."

Gingerbread House Contest

I remember our first family gingerbread attempt. I believe it was 2007, Carter was 2 1/2 and I got lots of extra candy to really do it up right. After 10 minutes of Carter screaming, because we were putting the candy on a house and not in his mouth, we finally gave up. Somehow we never got into the spirit of gingerbreading again until this year (and given that Ellie is 2 1/2 I was very hesitant). We did it for Family Home Evening, we were boys against girls and Grandma & Grandpa Benson graciously agreed to judge the pictures we texted to them.



Carter and Ellie felt it necessary to eat as much candy as they decorated with :)
Notice Ellie licking all the sprinkles off of here decorating plate


Joe got very into it- his artsy side is something many people might not know about him. And his super competitive side :). The kids lost interest after a while- you know, about the time we ran out of candy.

Girls Gingerbread house...

Boy's Gingerbread house...


Proving structurally unsound it became this...


and then this...
better luck next year fellas!

Utah Trip

Prepare for the longest slideshow ever. Pretty sure there are close to 30 pics here, this is a post that probably only family will read/watch in it's entirety :).

We went to Utah the second week in December because SOMEBODY (McKenna)had the audacity to get married right before Christmas. It turned out to be a beautiful time to be there, lots of snow, good company and good eats (bless you Cafe Rio). All 8 of us siblings and my parents were able to be there (I guess only 6 in the Temple) and McKenna was amazing- I was so grateful to be her escort at the sealing, and also to be there when she went through the Temple. McKenna lived with us for 6 months when we first moved to Georgia and ever since then I have felt very maternal towards her. I was happy to see her so happy, thanks for bringing us all together McKenna! Besides the wedding extravagtanza, here is a log of other fun things we did:
Temple Square (there was a bagpiper there- so cool)
Stayed in amazing cabin up at Sundance
Cafe Rio
Skiing
Celebrated my Mom's Birthday
Wedding Preperation
Awesome Bridal Shower at the Bead Bug (how I wish we had one here...)
Sledding
Haircuts by McKenna
Cafe Rio
Being with family, nothing feels like being surrounded by family. We miss you guys.

The Magic of Bubblewrap

So my sister, Brittany, sent my kids these bubblewrap squares around October (it is so like her to do, very clever). I stuck them in my cupboard because my kids didn't fully understand their coolness. But when Grandma Benson was in town we set up our hopscotch tiles and went at it- SO. MUCH. FUN. Seriously, we would set them up, one person would jump on all of them and then run around the house while we all timed them to see who could do it the fastest (we did use "special" counting- somehow the kids kept getting faster and we adults got slower and slower :). After everyone had a turn we just jumped around on them making noise and laughing our heads off. Much fun was had by all- thanks again Britt!

Todays Thoughts...

1. You know how you put something "somewhere" so that you won't lose it. And then you completely space on where that place was? That's what is going on with my camera right now. Being 30 is not treating me so well today...

2. The love of a mother is rarely captured quite so poignantly as when she cleans up the result of her child's 13 bouts with nausea in the night and then holds him close as he tries to sleep despite the yucky tummy. All the while knowing that she too will probably be catching this bug, but not caring in that moment. You wish they would remember these times when you are hollering at them to stop leaving their backpack and shoes all over the entryway and to share with their sister... :).

Ode To Sisters

They say you can pick your friends but you can't pick your family. Well- I know if I weren't related to my sisters I would still choose to be their friends (who knows if that's reciprocal :). Here's why:
Brittany is the ideal mom and homemaker. She puts us all to shame but what is so endearing is that she wants to help us lesser folk rise higher!
Bonnie makes everything all better. She is a good listener and is so sensitive to others needs and feelings.
McKenna is our spunky gal who knows her own mind. She can do anything she tries and makes you want to be more too.
Briley is our baby- but she is also very maternal. She puts others before herself and is wise beyond her 16 years.
To my sisters, fellow sappy romance movie watchers, expert old movie line quoters, who desperately love being mothers (or desperately want to be one :) and my dearest friends. I love you.

My super-kids

I made these adorable capes (picture doesn't do them justice) and that sweet tutu and had big plans to make the rest of their costumes BUT when I found these warm PJ's at $5 a pop I decided to let Walmart do the work for me :). They were very excited about their costumes, and it was fun to have them BOTH be so into the trick-or-treating this year. To bad Halloween fell on a Sunday (I never remember that happening when I was a kid, though I'm sure it did) but our ward had a fabulous trunk-or-treat complete with chili cook off and hayride- thanks activities committee! Hope you all had a very happy Halloween!

ps...isn't that pumpkin sheer awesomeness?!