Signs of Spring

Feb 9th we planted a couple kidney beans in water as part of our fake summer celebration.


Feb 27th and it looks like this...we need to get this puppy in some dirt soon!!

Aunt Jessie is Here

...and we're having fun! We're trying to talk her into to moving in for a while to be our personal chef and assistant mommy.

So far she got to see Tessa at dance class, go with me to fitness class (after which she can vouch that it really is HARD), go grocery shopping, eat some good food, drink some wine and of course play with the munchkins.

I wasn't around for either event, but Jess swears that Charley walked four steps and said the word 'bucket'. I'm skeptical, but I do know that he is absolutely in love with her. While he was nursing himself to sleep tonight he kept looking across the room and waving at her, until he was too sleepy to hold his hand up.

More fun tomorrow!

Spaghetti Night

Erin's Turn

Flash back in time to three years ago this February and Erin was throwing me a baby shower...

...flash forward to yesterday and it's finally my turn! Erin is not a first time parent but since her son is now 12, it's like starting a whole new adventure.

We had a nice little party with just some family and few friends. And cupcakes! Can you believe this was the first batch of cupcakes I've ever made?

ah fresh flowers, what a nice treat in the dead of winter

The vase has an "A" for Aviana. Her middle name will be Loren after yours truly. Yes my first namesake before age 30, not too shabby.

A nice brunch spread was enjoyed by all




The happy couple, Erin and Rafe


Every shower has to have at least one cheesy game. Since I had a surplus of paper plates from Tessa's art supplies, we played a game where everyone had to hold a plate on their head and draw a picture of Erin with her big pregnant belly.

it seemed to be a hit
Sadly we didn't get a pic of any of the artwork. Drawing on your head produces some interesting interpretations.


Tessa and Olivia gave it a shot

not surprisingly Tessa ended up with marker on her face

Tessa, Olivia and Charley all helped with the unwrapping

Mom took about 75 pics of Olivia and Tessa on the stairs, not one of which had them both looking with their tongues tucked in.

Charley showed off his walking skills with his train

these two are skinny and pregnant at the same time, not fair

See this is why men don't typically come to showers. Those are tea strainers meant to be party favors, that Jeremy is using as earrings....and then trying to clip them on Dad. Men!

Can I Just Get Dentures?

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned a hunk of my molar falling into my chewing gum. I had it checked out and not surprisingly the dentist said it was starting to absess and I was on deck to have my second root canal.

The first one was several years ago and ended up getting infected due to a freaky fourth root that was hiding and was left behind to fester. Crazy but true, and I had to have a scary sounding dental surgery called apicoectomy while 7 months pregnant with Charley. Fun fun.

Flash forward to yesterday. Different tooth, same Endodontist. After two hours of tugging on my mouth and shaking his head, he declares that he cannot finish the root canal before my numbness wears off. He explained that he was able to finish 3 of the roots, but the 4th one was strangely shaped...bulbous instead of long and straight, with little baby branches coming off of it.

He said he CAN take care of it but that he doesn't know how long it will take. So they scheduled me to go in again tomorrow at the end of their work day and try again. This time he will know what he's in for and can take as long as he needs cause I'm the last appointment.

That's right, I am once again plagued by a freaky fourth root.

Who has these kinda problems? Me of course.

Because of the nerve that's left I'm in a lot of pain today but unable to take the 'good drugs' because Jer's out of town. And wouldn't you know, the law requires you to be conscience during childcare.

When I went in for my exam the regular dentist noted that my tooth quality has greatly declined in the past couple of years. He asked if I had any changes to my medical history...diseases or medication.

I don't have any diseases but I do have two parasites, Tessa and Charley, and the dentist wondered if all the puking and heartburn associated with pregnancy wore away at the enamel on my teeth. So he gave me some prescription tooth paste. Yes, they make such a thing.

So while the kids continue to literally suck the life out of me, I can only pray that my Endodontist is successful tomorrow. Please not another apecoectomy in store. That was not fun the first time.

Under Construction

For Christmas, Grammie and Grampie got Tessa a dollhouse. They bought it at a second hand store and the best thing about it is that it's totally unfinished. Jeremy and Tessa have taken it's renovation on as their Daddy and Tessa project.

We already decided that when Charley starts walking I am going to enroll him in baby gymnastics at the community center on Saturday mornings, and Jeremy and Tessa will have some special alone time where they work together on the dollhouse. It's an excellent plan and we're happy to have an ongoing project. Tessa loves to make stuff and do craft, so I'm excited to see what they will come up with.

Today they braved the blizzard to go get some paint at Lowes. They were able to snatch up a returned sample can for just $1! Tessa had been asking for pink paint, so they were lucky to find some and designated it as their roof color.

Jeremy has been sick so we waited until after he got a good nap to start. In the meantime Tessa asked me to draw a picture of her and Daddy painting the dollhouse on her 'macky noodle'.

"Daddy your shirt is all dirty"

the decorator and her clean slate




the finished roof

I asked Jer what the color would be for the rest of the house and he said whatever was on sale for $1 next weekend at Lowes.

By the way we are soliciting ideas for the interior. There are many rooms to be done. I think there should definitely be a disco ball and Jeremy has plans to fix a broken set of stairs by fashioning an elevator.

I suggested a chocolate room but thought better of it because of the dogs. Maybe I should leave the creativity to Tessa and make my own tricked out dollhouse like Phoebe on Friends?
(excuse the old time TV reference by remembering that we no longer have cable)

Thank you Grammie and Grampie! It was the perfect way to beat some blizzard induced cabin fever today.

Artic Hunters

Hayden was hunting for a treat I threw in the snow, but gave up. I've heard that some dogs like the snow, but that is most definitely not true here. Our dogs are such wimps. They prefer a perfect 70 degree setting with no precipitation.


I do love winter and snow, but even I am ready to say 'uncle'. After digging out from last week's blizzard which canceled both dance lessons and my root canal, we've gotten another 6 inches today. We've still been getting out some, but trying to juggle two kids while not falling on the ice isn't always worth the effort. So cabin fever is in full swing.

To beat the fever, Jeremy (who has prez day off) and Tessa headed to Lowe's to get some paint to begin the reconstruction of the dollhouse Grampie and Grammie got her for Christmas. More on that later when I can get some more good pics!

Only a Mother Could Love

Do you see it?...

Tessa drew this and handed it to me and said it was a scary scary monster. I see it! Her first attempt at drawing something that actually looked like something. Wow!

Our House Salad

I can only assume that when it's time to make a salad to accompany a meal, every household has a different version of their favorite.

In the Bennington home, this is our standard house salad. It's a delicious standby.



--Romaine Lettuce (I prefer the crunch but dislike iceburg)
--Chopped carrots or celery (or both)
--Blue Cheese crumbles (lowfat when available)
--Splash of Olive Oil, double splash of Balsamic Vinegar
--Pinch of Red Salt

What is red salt? All I know is that it is red, super tasty and worth a little extra cash. I'm slightly addicted to it.



Come by on any day for a meal, and we will more than likely have the makings for our house salad.

All is Well at the Well Check

We took Charley in for his one year well check today and he is perfection!

22lbs- 75%tile
31 in- 75%tile
and 90%tile on head circumference

Doc said he should be saying 1-3 small words by now and he's not, so he'll check his language again at the 15 month appointment. He said his standing and walking (assisted) looks right on target. He got three shots but was so distracted by the latex glove balloon that he hardly cried.

Tessa was along as my helper. I think it's so cute how much she loves our pediatrician. She said she was going to hug and kiss him but when he came in the room she played shy. She did inform him during the exam that Charley had both a baby butt and baby penis, information I'm sure was important to his doctoring abilities.

Pool Party

What to do when a major snowstorm has hit town, shutting everything down including dance lessons? If you have cabin fever like we did, get out the kiddy pool and swimsuits and pretend it's summer. Tessa loved it.

Don't worry, our house is warm
We found 4 pairs of sunglasses and several hats. I think more than anything she liked playing around with them.


Charley liked getting in and out of the pool over and over


We made fruit slushies, which Tessa also loved. Tip....Schwans sells individually packaged packs of fruit to use for smoothies or slushies. I know it's extra waste and money to buy prepackaged things, but sometimes so convenient.


Once Tessa got bored pretending to swim, she piled some pillows and blankets in the pool to curl up and watch Word World. At the end of the day we got in our garden tub and I let her keep her suit on. It's the little things that make a toddler happy.



Last week Elmo grew a bean plant by putting a kidney bean in a glass and watering a paper towel every day. To pretend that it's spring, we did the same thing!

On tomorrow schedule? Root canal for Mommy....much less fun.