More Than Just a Few Christmas Pics

I asked my husband, in all of his video editing wisdom, to create a slideshow of our Christmas pics. You may remember these in years past like this one, or this one (which has very lamely had the sound removed by youtube because we did not have copywright to the Christmas music....which is why we no longer frequent their site).

Anyway, back to my awesome husband and he tendency to get carried away, something that he is especially well known for. He not only put together our Christmas video, but a slideshow of the best of '09. Make sure your sound is on, and click the little cloverleaf like icon if you'd like to watch it full screen.

Christmas and 09 Recap from Laura Sargent Bennington on Vimeo.

Yes they're coming!

Christmas pictures that is.

A slide show is in the works, complete with music and video. Stay tuned!

Prepping for Christmas

Tessa explains Christmas- 2 years old from Laura Sargent Bennington on Vimeo.

Who Done It?

We received a package today (one of about 20!) and opened it. It was unwrapped so we already saw the gift. It's a very cool Sleeping Beauty mega block set for Tessa. She's going LOVE it.

Problem is there was no card so we don't know who it's from. The return address was K and L designs in Memphis. When I googled that, I find no such company.

We just want to give a proper thanks, but who done it??

My Kind of Humor

I just had to share this sketch from SNL. I think it was from last year but they played it again on the SNL Christmas Special this week. It seriously makes me pee my pants.

Can I just say that not only is this funny because of John Malcovich's delivery, but Jeremy and I agreed that given my own personal cynicism and sarcasm, I can definitely see myself giving this rendition to the kids in a couple of years.

http://www.slashcontrol.com/free-tv-shows/saturday-night-live/1481533130-twas-the-night-monologue

Please excuse the commercials beforehand. SNL very wisely does not allow their stuff to be published for free on youtube, so ads it is.

Happy Birthday Mamaw Creech

84 years young and still hosting a big chili supper at her house. Lots of kids, food and pretty Christmas things.
We came down straight from dance class, hence the tutu

3 generations
Twin 'Aunties' (well actually cousins, same difference) Amanda and Kelly



the ballerina shared some cake with her brother

After dinner the big kids trimmed Mamaw's tree. Tessa was really into it. I think she decorated the tree for well over an hour.
Tessa and cousin David (17 months)

What It's Like to Be a Chaw-lay

If Charley could speak he would say.....

Hi everyone! Do you ever notice how my sister gets alot of attention on this blog? I can do alot of cool things too!
--I can crawl really fast
--I can pull up to standing on anything
--I can always find my boy parts
--I chew on and bang toys, especially Little People
--I can jabber, scream, hiss (when I'm happy),squeal and cry
--I eat all kinds of food, sometimes with my own hands.
--I also eat from my Mommy 5 or 6 times a day

My sister makes me laugh all the time. She is really funny. She tries to feed me alot and often steals my food, but at least she says thank you after she takes it. My dogs are soft and funny. I like to pull on their fur and ears, eventhough Mommy tells me not to.

My Mommy and Daddy are pretty cool. I like to smile at them alot. They know I'm really happy when I hiss at them. My Mommy sometimes gets mad when I bite her while nursing. I only do that when my teeth really hurt. I know not to do that cause she takes the boob away!

I go to bed at 7:30 and wake up around 6am to nurse. Usually I'm still sleepy and go back to bed until my sister comes and wakes me up by yelling in my face.

I like to go places, but I don't really like being put in my carseat. Don't they know I want to drive? Just yesterday I moved out of the pumpkin seat and into a real carseat. I'm a big boy now!

If I really want attention I wear my newsboy cap wherever I go. The ladies love it, especially Grandmas. They stop and tell my Mommy how cute I am, and I just smile at them.

I don't like being left alone, it makes me cry. When I can't see someone in the room I sometimes get scared. But I don't mind being alone in my bedroom, that's my domain!

I wear cloth diapers and can fill them like a champ. Usually I wake up in the morning with a nice big present for Mommy to clean up.

It's pretty cool to me, life is sweet!

Fun Saturday

We had a nice weekend doing some Christmas-y type stuff. Saturday Erin and Melissa and I went on our annual Christmas shopping trip...which is always less shopping and more gabbing, laughing, and having a 2 hour lunch at the Cheesecake Factory.

Anyway, Jeremy had Tessa all morning while Charley went shopping with us. He took her to Arni's for their breakfast with Santa. Why stand in line at the mall when for $20 you get breakfast, Santa time, a picture and some candy?

She was SO excited. We practiced for days telling Santa what she wanted. She said she wants Snow White which is awesome cause I got her a Snow White doll and the movie!

When it came time however, she did exactly as I predicted...stuck her hands in her mouth and wouldn't talk. In her official picture they gave us she's nervously rolling her tongue.



Jeremy reports that after some coxing she whispered her wishes to him.
And of course nothing gets the kid to perk up like some M&M's.



Later we dropped Charley off with Jeremy so the ladies and I could have a child-free lunch and afternoon. I'm still daydreaming about those avocado egg rolls.
Between us we have 6.5 kids, so without them we tend to get a little goofy. Like our group picture in the mirror? I call it artistic :)

Sheepish Video

Jeremy here. Now that my splint is off I've managed to splice Tessa Christmas Program video together. Enjoy.

Tessa christmas program from Laura Sargent Bennington on Vimeo.

How to Be a Sheep

Instructions for making the most awesome sheep costume....one white hoody sweatshirt, one old pair of white shoes that you were going to pitch anyway, 3 jumbo bags of cotton balls, a hot glue gun and two bags of glue sticks. Voila, time for preschool Christmas program!


Also having a cute and well dressed cheering section doesn't hurt


When you are one of about 15 sheep onstage it's important to stay focused on sitting in your chair. Don't even think about singing or dancing....just sit in you chair and look dazed so everyone can admire your costume. You may need to pick your nose, but don't be afraid, just go for it!


When you're an awesome sheep you may also notice a big jumbo-tron behind you and that you are occasionally on tv. You don't want to miss it so make sure to spend at least half the program turned around staring at yourself.


Be sure to stare at the audience looking for your cheering committee, even though you probably won't be able to see them.

Don't forget to greet your audience in the lobby, and they may just take you out for pizza.

Elf Yourself take 2!

I realized that on my first attempt our mouths weren't line up correctly and it looked kinda funny. Since it won't let you go back and make changes, I decided to do it again. Don't you prefer this pic of Jer anyway?

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

It's That Time of Year

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

And no I didn't leave Hayden out on purpose. It will only let you choose 5 and I didn't have a good face picture of him.

First Christmas Craft

Here he is in all his glory, Snowman on a Stick


Made with construction paper, cotton balls, markers and a skewer. Ta-da!

In case you're wondering, yes I did like 80% of the work but that doesn't mean Tessa doesn't enjoy herself. She pulled apart the cotton, spread the glue and painted the hat and scarf...in addition to bossing me around about how to do it.

Charley and I went to Target this morning and got some more art stuff to make more Christmas things with. Tessa's in preschool this morning and can I just express how EASY it is to go shopping with just one kid? Do I really have to go pick her up at 2?

Tessa's Prayer

A Direct Quote
"God...my friends, my school, my friends at school, Santa Claus, baby Jesus, baby Charley, dance class, Miss Allison, Christmas, mac & cheese, my friends and my school...AMEN!"

Thanksgiving Pics (round two)

Jess made a slide show too!
http://www.slide.com/r/2de_gvBC4z96QwfQU2Jd1M6_gjdVVkkO?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original

I just spewed Diet Coke out my nose

Many thanks to Aunt Jess for sharing this with me :)

Thanksgiving Pics (round one)

Jess took alot of great pictures with her fancy camera so there may be more to come in the future, but here's a little slide show from our trip.

Needless to say we had a great time. I was sad come home but now that the house is decorated for Christmas I guess I've perked up a bit. Rather than recount the whole trip, I'll let the picture captions do the talking.

btw yes I realize that a few of the pics are sideways. Slide.com won't let you do portrait for some reason. All I can say is to tilt your head :)

Carnivorous

We are home from our awesome Thanksgiving in NYC with Aunt Jessica. We had a GREAT time. I know folks are anxiously awaiting pictures. Hopefully tomorrow night I can sit down and sort and post, but for now I will leave you with this.

Tessa ate a whole turkey leg and a big bowl of chocolate ice cream and nothing else. Anything goes on a holiday right?

Tessa and turkey leg- Thanksgiving 09 from Laura Sargent Bennington on Vimeo.

Tree Time

This afternoon the kids and I went down to NV to pick up the dogs and left Daddy behind to do some Christmasing...mainly bringing boxes down, putting together our fake tree and stringing lights outside. These tasks are more easily done without the help of little hands.

You may notice that this year the tree is in the entryway instead of the living room. Since the entryway and stairs are blocked off from the kids, this is just a measure to make life a little easier on us. I'm sure it will eventually land back in the living room when little hands aren't so grabby. In the meantime they have their own toy tree and little people nativity to play with.

By bedtime our house was all Christma-fied, yay! Tessa was very VERY excited about decorating, especially when we pulled up in the car and she saw the lights on the outside of our house. She said "Look! Christmas is here, at Tessa's house!!"

I wish this pic wasn't so blurry. Tessa putting the star atop our tree.

I Don't Hate Hayden

Hate is awfully strong word. I would say that Hayden and I are often at odds with each other. I've been accused by my husband, who has a special bond with Hayden, of hating him or being mean.

Why? Because he barks...ALOT. Especially during the kids naptime, at every bird that flies by, neighbors that drives a car or squirrel that farts. He also steals food right out of kid's hands with no apology. He humps people, especially visitors. He pees out of revenge and anger on things he know you love, like your pile of birthday presents or laptop bag. He also has that disgusting anal sack leakage grossness every time he gets overly nervous, which usually happens inside of the airtight car.

Last week I heard Tessa say 'shut up!' for the first time, and not surprisingly it was directed at Hayden's incessant barking. A good reminder for me to control the curse words I often spew at him, little ears are listening.

But he can be a sweet dog. We've had him for 7 years and refer to him as "doctor Hayden" because he knows when someone is sick or tired and cuddles close.Case in point last week Tessa had a bit of a head cold, and I found them on the chair like this, watching Elmo.




Not too long ago I saw "Marley and Me" and identified closely with Jennifer Anniston's character after the birth of their second kid. She had just gotten both kids down for a nap and sat down herself when the UPS truck drove by and Marley barked and everyone was awake and crying. Later that day she told her husband to find a new home for their obnoxious disobedient dog.

And of course that didn't last long because they missed their dog and he went on to live another 10 years as a vital asset to their family. I know that that will be us, if I can remember to stop yelling at him.

My Thanksgiving Present

Jeremy and Tessa were out working in the yard on Saturday (closing things up for the year- yay!)and suprised me with two wreaths made from our grapevines. How cool is that?

Thanks guys!

First School Pics

Tessa's never had a professional picture taken so when they said they were doing them at school I got excited! Actually had I known it was picture day I would have shot for some fabulous hair do. Needless to say these pics are GREAT!

We got the basic package of two 5x7 and eight wallets and then they threw in a free bookbag with her picture on it that says 'I am blessed at Emmanuel Church- mother's day out 2009'. Awesome! $32 well spent




I'm going to have to ask how in the world they got such a great face from her. I am constantly chasing her down and can never get a good cheese. I guess that's why they're professionals!

Giggly Baby

I was blowing at Charley through a straw and he thought it was hilarious so I thought I'd catch a little on tape...

Charley 9 months- giggling at table from Laura Sargent Bennington on Vimeo.

Yeah What She Said

I realize that my blog is often just cute pictures of my kids without alot of meat or provocative insight...and maybe that's why people like it?

In any case, I aspire to one day sit down and write thoughtful and awesome entries about God or feelings or emotions, interjected artistically with personal photos to offer perspective.

But alas today is not that day. I'm tired, hungry and worn. Instead I will simply refer to one of my favorite Mommy blogs and and her awesomely identifiable entry about church and say, yeah...what she said!

The Cuteness Continues

Today at dance class we learned about the recital. So the dance school is so big there will be FIVE separate recitals. All the same but there's just that many classes (the little girls class like Tessa's caps at 10 students). Our recital is on June 4th, and like class itself , it will be half ballet and half tap.

We were all waiting on pins and needles (okay not really) to hear what the theme of each section would be and today it was revealed. The theme of the tap section is Candyland. All songs related to sweet treats. Tessa's class will be wearing bright pink and green outfits and doing the song 'Lollipop'.

Then in the ballet section the theme is princesses. Well you can imagine how excited the little girls were about that. The teacher was trying to show them the book of pictures and Tessa kept saying 'I wike dat one!' For ballet Tessa's class will the the Sleeping Beauty dance. The teacher (Miss Allison) will be Sleeping Beauty and all the little girls will be bluebirds. They have blue outfits with sequins and feathers.

Cute cute cuteness.

To fill the cuteness quota yesterday we put Charley in the wagon and made him ride around.

9 Month Well Check

Charley is perfect, but didn't y'all know that? We had his 9 month appointment today and all is well. His stats are:
-- 19.4lb, 25th %tile
-- 29 inches, 75th %tile

Tall and skinny. He had no shots and when I asked doc about swine flu shots he said they didn't have any more and didn't know when they were coming. So we'll just hope for the best on that. Maybe by the time we can get it the swine flu will be over?

Tessa took along her toy stethoscope and syringe and gave Charley about a hundred 'shots' and told everyone she was a doctor too. The nurses got a kick out of her. That's all there is to report!

Our New Addition

Well there it is- our new car. Yup, after 7 years of living as a one car family, we have added to our fleet a hybrid Ford Fusion. We knew the time would eventually come when we needed one, and Jeremy knew exactly what kind of car he wanted. So you all know Jeremy, one day we decided we needed a car, and the next day he was driving it home from Plainfield.

It's pretty cool. It has more bells and whistles than my technologically inept mind will ever use, but I am a fan of the display that show what's behind you as you back up, not to mention the heated seats.

This will be Jeremy's car for the most part (a point possibly proven by the fact that he hasn't let me drive it yet), meaning it will still be spending a considerable amount of time parked in the garage since Jer is either working from home or has flown somewhere.

Tessa approves. We were on our way to Olivia's Princess themed 2nd birthday, hence the Snow White outfit.


this is the shot you get when you stick your camera out the sunroof

We had to clean out the garage a bit in order to make this happen.

It's still a little weird to think of us as a two car family. Not because it's a weird thing, but because we've never done it. We've become very adept at working around each other's car needs, doing the pickup and drop off thing, planning our weekend errands to meet everyone's needs. How strange to think we can each take a kid and go our separate ways, and honestly I hope that doesn't happen very often. Two kids, two dogs, two cars...are we the picture of suberbia or what?