So much has been happening this busy Christmas season. All the crazy stuff that I was stressed or nervous about is over now. It's time to spruce up the house, wrap presents and make cookies and crafts with the kids until Christmas comes in.......well it's here. Really, where did December go?

We have been crafting a lot actually. Ever since Mom and I sang at this Creche Concert at the beginning of the month I was inspired to make our own family creche. As Jessie and I wandered through rooms full of nativity scenes from countries all over the world, made from almost any material imaginable, I had the coolest idea. How awesome would it be to surround my own home with many different nativity scenes that our family made every year? When my children are grown and gone I want to remember these early Christmas' and this is one way we will do so. The medium of choice this year was clay because all the kids, even the grown-up ones, love it, it is cheap (1/2 off at Michaels a lot), and I already had some. We started our project after a review of the Christmas story for Family Night last Monday. Daddy was in charge of making Joseph and Mary, Jessie really wanted to make baby Jesus and the manger, Toby was forming some adorable sheep, and I helped Logan stay out of trouble and started the Wisemen. We will add some shepherds, a star, maybe a few different animals, the manger and an angel. When I first mentioned to the fam what we were going to do they kind of looked at me funny. After we got started though, everyone was having so much fun and saying we should do this every year. Aaaahhhh, I love it when a plan comes together!This is one of my favorites from the Crech Exhibit and below is the beginning of our family one. I feel kind of snookered into being Jessie's room parent at school this year. No one else (who all have less kids and probably more time) volunteered and I was the last one out the door at Back to School night. I want to be involved in Jessie's class as much as possible and her teacher asked pretty, super please if I would step up and be room parent. It has been fun but only after the worrying about planning parties is over. Her party was last Friday and we had a good time. I also went in the day before to help Mrs. L roll out and bake sugar cookies with the class. Mrs. L whipped up some icing for the kids to decorate a few cookies. I learned that almond extract instead of vanilla in frosting recipes is SO good. I will do that from now on.
Anyway, I'm feeling too long-winded. J's party went well but we ran out of time. 30 minutes goes fast. We made these reindeer, ate some healthy snacks, and did a gift unwrap relay. The relay was super fun. Wrap up a few gifts several times with a direction taped on the top. You could use wrapping paper, newspaper, or all those ads that pile up in the mail every week. Each person has to unwrap their layer while following the direction, like "bark like a dog," sing "Jingle Bells," or "do 10 jumping jacks."

We sang at the temple Wednesday night which was a lot of fun. Mom, Dan, Tom, Denise and some friends sang and my Mr. Bennett and Denise's Arnold played guitars. The 2 programs went well, the second better than the first, and we had lots of family and friends there to help with kids. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for taking the kids! I'm so thankful I didn't get the nasty chest cold that Mr. Bennett had- an answer to prayers. I would have planned another trip to the temple on a night we weren't performing, so that Dave and I could wander around and go to the visitors center with the kids. They had fun with friends, but every year we sing I can't be there with them. I'm also kicking myself for not remembering to get a picture of our group at the end. I forget every year and it's a time I really want to remember. Singing with friends and family is the best.

Lastly, we took our annual trip to Christmas in the Park in San Jose for Family Night a couple nights ago. Lauren made yummy chili and baked potatoes at her house for dinner. It wasn't too cold. All the kids took their letters and personally delivered them to Santa. The people in back of us in line thought that was the cutest thing ever. It was. We drank huge cups of hot chocolate as per tradition. We saw some cool trees and lights. Our group sang carols with a big group of Elders and Sisters from the church. We ran out of time for the kids to ride any of the rides and they were too freakin' expensive. I promised them we would do rides next year and drink smaller hot chocolates (they weren't cheap either). Really though, it was all worth it. Coop is getting bigger and easier to take out in big groups. Little Syd was good and slept in the stroller a lot of the time. J and Toby loved horsin' around with their uncles. The kids loved riding the light rail from Dan & Lauren's house to see Santa. There was a glass-blower making ornaments which kept the kids attention until he finished. They didn't want to leave to see Santa until the ornament was done. The guy had a huge glowing furnace and was sticking rods into numerous colored flames in his observation box. What hobby could be better for little boys? They were mezmerized.

Merry Christmas to all!!

Sweet Feast!

It has become tradition that we have a Crab Feed every year after Thanksgiving. Usually we go to Half Moon Bay the day after Thanksgiving while all those crazy souls are shopping. This year we planned it for the weekend after, and it was a girls only trip to buy the crab right off the boat. My Jessie was just as excited as I was to have the crab feed this year because we didn't get a chance last year. Although, it wasn't for lack of trying, because of a fisherman's strike, an oil spill outside the Bay, and hectic schedules we never made it. So with renewed optimism and energy, we set out on a warm, beautiful mid-morning last Saturday to buy our share of live crab.

Most of the boats selling crab were docked next to each other and we would have felt bad buying all 20 crab from one guy. We visited 4 different boats and quickly filled our buckets. Jessie giggled sweetly at all the fisherman telling jokes and she loved watching them wrestle with the big feisty crab. We asked for the best, heavy crab with big claws, and they all obliged.
Jess carried half her weight in crab. She had to stop every 20 paces, but she refused to give up her job. She earned her meal!Little Syd was hilarious. The last month we have seen a change in her personality. By change I mean she has got an attitude! At 10 months old she knows exactly what she wants and will let you know if she doesn't get it. We took a load of crab to the car and were on our way back for more when we stopped to watch some birds on the water. I wheeled the stroller around to leave and she had an arched-back, red-faced, scream-her-lungs out tantrum. I picked her up so she could see better and we found this little friend. Sydney would have taken Sir Seagull home with her if she could. She stared at him on the railing and pointed at him like he was the next best thing since warm milk. He was nice enough to not fly away and we were really this close to him- no zoom on the camera lens. After that, every bird she saw she would wiggle in my arms, point and say "Aahh?" We'll keep working on "bird."
This girl is fearless about weird things. That crab is live! Sure, they've been out of the water for 6 hours but they are feisty when handled. Jess had no problem picking up a crab and freaking out her little brothers. I've seen crab almost take off a pinky and crush through a fingernail so I was mildly nervous.

In the picture above, that's as close as Toby would get to a crab. Even though he didn't say it, I think they remind him too much of spiders which he has become more paranoid about. Now that I mention it, I'm not sure why crabs don't give me the willies because spiders sure do. Toby was excited to try the crab this year, but he didn't really like it.
Logan didn't want to touch the things or go near them either. He kept asking to see them move. I set one down and........nothing. A few bubbles out of his mouth was all Logan got to see. He finally got brave and threw a claw that came off into the boiling pot. He threw his arms up in victory and that was the last of his crab experience.

Lauren caught a good moment where Dan was showing Jessie the yellow mustard stuff inside the crab. I learned that it is fat and many people like to eat. I will never be doing so because I also learned that toxins from the crab's environment are stored in that fat. They are scavengers after all. PSA- don't eat that jelly-like yellow stuff inside crabs!!! Nasty!Drawn garlic butter and lemon, homemade cocktail sauce, salads, rice & french bread were all a perfect compliment to our delectable, sweet crab. Dan and I were the last to eat because we kept getting stopped to cook more crab and clean them. It was so worth it though. We topped the night off with Marie Calendar's pies. The best!! Grammy Evie loves those babies. This is my Syd (left) and my friend's baby Izzy. By the end of the night Sydney was covered in dirt. Mom and Dad are over the half-way mark (I think) with their big house remodel, so there was concrete floor in the extension that Syd loved exploring. We all had a fabulous time and Mom and Dad got to test run their nice big addition off the kitchen. It was plenty of space!
My Dear Mr. Bennett. He ate some bad mexican food the day before and was not feeling his best. He doesn't even like crab, but every year he pays for it, cooks it, cleans it, and tolerates my excitement for our annual crab feast. It really was a fun night to get both sides of the family together for good food, games, and catching up. You better believe we talked about how much Ken & Cassie's family would have loved the day! We're hoping you guys can come do the crab and beach experience with us again soon!


Note to self: Don't leave all the laundry to do on one day. It's way too much to cram into 24 hours and things get wrinkled, stepped on, or thrown on the floor before they are put away. This isn't even all of it.........

GIVE THANKS!

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving! I hope everyone else did as well. Denise and Arnold organized a 5K turkey trot around our neighborhood bright and early Thanksgiving morning. Family and friends met at the park to run, walk, ride the behemoth man-trike in Mr. Bennett's case, and just hang out. There was hot chocolate, snacks, good company and Grandma Grace even brought a fun craft "for the kids."

Behold, the picture-fest below.

I love this girl. She is so cute and fun and spunky. I ran the first lap while Jessie bladed and we had a good time goofing off. She loved being rocketed ahead by the Mom slingshot. I ran one more lap with Dave and Toby riding their bikes. Toby is a speedster. We call him our sight hound because he sees the goal and doesn't stop until he's there. That crafty Denise. She made this cute sign and organized some delicious "puny snacks" as they are known in our family. The huge man-trike. Mr. Bennett, aka Gimpy ;), couldn't walk or run because of the sprained ankle, so he opted for the conspicuous pair of wheels. That thing takes up 1/2 the floor space in our office/storage space at the apartments. I think it comes out once a year. I guess it is worth the novelty because everyone took a turn on it and it does have a basket for carrying things. Just look at the sweet cargo it had that morning. Sydney was the designated water girl. She was so thoughtful to drop bottles every 100 yards or so for people to have as they ran laps.

The siblings. It's nice that all the Bennett's live close to each other. We miss Ken and Cassie A LOT when we get together for activities like this. We missed Tori too who was in Hawaii. loser. We missed Dan and Lauren who were up at her parents cabin too.

Our kids all biked and bladed the first lap which was a mile. Logan barely made it the one lap around. Toby could have ridden 5 more but wanted to play with his friend Jacob more. Jessie's feet were sore after one lap, so she ditched the blades and started crafting with Grandma. It was the perfect set-up to have our route start and stop at the park so the kids could play there while we started the day with negative calories. If only I could find the time and motivation in the morning to do that every day........this baby weight would be gone quick! I have to change my night-owl tendencies first so I can get up before the kids. That's a hard one for me.
Grace saw this in a magazine I think and brought all the supplies for us to make one. Jessie started one for our family, but got frustrated because we asked her to stop using so much glue. We had all the park gathered around watching us make these. It was a great activity to do outside and we hung ours up for the rest of the weekend. Thanks Mom!

We ate our Thanksgiving Feast, as Toby calls it, late afternoon. My parents, Tom & Kristy, and our neighbors the Gilstraps all squeezed into our apartment and had a good time. Some of the food was a little cold (dangit!!) but still delicious. The big and little kids watched Wall-E and then we scooted over to Gram's for Dad Sr.'s b-day.
It's always fun to get out the china and set a nice table once in awhile. Jessie had fun folding the napkins and the big kids helped peel potatoes, set the table and general gopher chores. They were pretty good helpers.
"Uncle Tom Sandwich"

Mr. Bennett has been training for a mini-triathlon next April. He rolled his ankle on a rock in the road and sprained it badly last Wednesday or Thursday. He could barely walk the first few days and really wanted to keep running, swimming and biking. Admittedly, I have been teasing him a lot. Not because he sprained his ankle, it was a freak accident after all, but because he wants to keep training/swimming like nothing happened. If he were one of his patients I think he would tell them to rest longer than he is resting himself. That whole doctors are their own worst patients saying comes to mind. ;)
So we have both been having a frustrating week since then. He wants to keep on his work out schedule and mad that it happened in the first place. There were a lot of things on the honey-do list that my honey can't do. I rely on Mr. Bennett a lot during the weekend for apartment jobs and heavy lifting that he is not able to do yet. The kids are going crazy too. Their rough and tumble Dad is relegated to sitting on the couch or computer chair with his leg up. I am trying to pick up the slack in silence. Until Mr. Bennett tells me he is going to go swim today!! We have a friendly wager going. I think it's too early and he's going to relapse. He thinks his ankle is healed enough and will be fine. For all of our sakes, I hope he wins. We'll find out in the morning.

thankful for you!

In my need to catch up on family and friends through their blogs I came across this story, life rather. It's the life story of an amazing young woman, mother of 4, funny, creative, child of God who has touched many by sharing her life through her blog. Stephanie, or NieNie as she is known in the blogoshpere, is truly tuned into what is important in life. And now she is fighting for her own life. She and her husband were in a devastating plane crash. Her life that was filled with yoga, creating, changing diapers, fixing meals, endless laundry, savoring her children, and enjoying her young family is now concentrated on staving off infection, undergoing countless surgeries and skin grafts, and healing her body that was over 80% burned. Her husband is also in the middle of a long recovery from burns and broken bones. They are both an incredible example of strength and courage. I ache for those sweet young kids who miss their parents so.

And after a good little cry, I am most thankful for MY four chillies who are the light of my life. Mr. Bennett is my love and together we are enjoying this wild ride of life. I am more determined to find joy in the little things and make my home a place of peace and comfort for my family.

Rarely is an entry complete without a photo so here is the latest. Dave decided it was Hawaiian Day for the kids Sunday morning so they all matched at church. I snapped these after church when the kids were tired and cranky so there was not a good one of all 4. I totally photoshopped someones head in the group one below. Any guesses who? ;)Yesterday, during a particularly crazy time of day when Syd was tired and crying, Coop was whiny and self-destructing from lack of food, and we were stuck in the car waiting for Jessie after school, I lost my temper and yelled for everyone to please be quiet. I got the quiet I asked for, but Toby so innocently and quietly said, "I want to go back to school." Oh that hurt. I know exactly what he meant and then realized I am smarter and better than letting the mundane craziness get to me. These little spirits just want love and attention and I need to put some more effort into listening and being the Mom I imagine myself to be. Someday the peace and quiet will come when they are older and I will never get these days back. I want to be able to say that I lived every day to the fullest.

Check ya later. I'm going to rock some playdough sculptures with Coop.

i'm gonna love you forever and ever.

Dan and Lauren were sealed in the temple on a beautiful, clear afternoon last Friday. Dave and I took Jessie and Sydney with us and enjoyed sharing this special event with them. Uncle Tom and Kristy watched the girls while we were in the temple and Lauren's family was waiting outside when we were done. There was just enough daylight left to get some group photos. We left the boys with their buddies at home which ended up being a good decision! (thanks Scott & Sami!) Afterward we all enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Jack London Square to celebrate (thanks Katie and Jeff!!!).

Our Jessie is getting so grown up. She loved being with the adults for the evening. She learned why there are so many forks and spoons at a formal place setting, and how to twirl long noodles on a spoon instead of playing tether ball with her tongue. When we sat down at the long table for dinner she picked up the menu and started to look at all the items. I leaned over and asked her what she wanted to eat, to which she replied, "I'm looking for the shrimp! I want something with shrimp or crab!" Her and I both ordered Fettuccine Alfredo with Prawns which was DElicious. It ended up being a little rich for Jessie because she got sick that night. :(

So, in case one didn't know, Lauren is a big fan of cake, especially frosting. Her wish was to have cupcakes for dessert from a shwanky bakery in Los Gatos. These cupcakes looked fabulous and they were just as delicious. A very sweet end to a wonderful night. Thanks for sharing your special day with us Dan and Lauren! We are so happy for you!

I'm not a wild pig!

My Mom sent this story to me a few days ago and I haven't been able to get it out of my head. It's been going around, so many of you may have read it already. I think it is so pertinent to our times right now, especially after seeing who won the election.


A chemistry professor in a large college had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab the Professor noticed one young man (exchange student) who kept rubbing his back, and stretching as if his back hurt.

The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He has been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country's government and install a new communist government.

In the midst of his story he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked, 'Do you know how to catch wild pigs?'

The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said this was no joke. 'You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming.

When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side.

The pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat, you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd.

Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught.

Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.

The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening to America . The government keeps pushing us toward socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, etc.. While we continually lose our freedoms -- just a little at a time.

One should always remember: There is no such thing as a free lunch! Also, a politician will never provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself.

Also, if you see that all of this wonderful government 'help' is a problem confronting the future of democracy in America , you might want to send this on to your friends. If you think the free ride is essential to your way of life then you will probably delete this email, but God help you when the gate slams shut!


Sadly, the fence-building commences January 20, 2009. How long will we tolerate it?


"The inherent vice of Capitalism is the unequal distribution of blessings, the inherent vice of Socialism is the equal distribution of misery."
- Sir Winston Churchill

super mario rescues the princess.....

We have almost recovered from a fabulous weekend and crazy week last week. How was everyone's Halloween?? We had a huge and FUN night. A friend and I were in charge of the Halloween Carnival at our church on Friday night. We did it up right; dinner, carnival games, popcorn machine (thanks Jen!!), cotton candy, bounce houses, pinata, face painting and crafts, etc. A big thanks to all who helped set-up and take down and with the food. My Mom and Dad, Dan & Lauren, and Tom & Kristy came too. They all dressed up, if you call Dad's Hawaiian shirt a costume ;), and bailed us out big time by helping with the games and cotton candy that we didn't have helpers for. Thanks so much guys! I received so many compliments that everyone had a great time and we had a lot of visitors.
I thought making 3 of our 6 costumes this year would be no problem and that I could get them done with time to spare. I love making costumes that no one else has. Halloween has become a big holiday in our family because Dave and I and the kids love dressing up as themes every year. I figure we will do it up right until the year the kids are too big and too cool to do so. As usual, the weeks in October flew by and I was just finishing up Syd's turtle on Halloween morning before racing off to the school kids' classrooms. My Mom seriously saved the day by hemming my Daisy dress and finishing Syd's Koopa while I packed up to get us to the church early. We decorated as much as we could the night before, but some of the help that promised to be there didn't show so we were a little slower than planned. As soon as school was out I packed the kids and costumes in the car and we met Sami and Jen at the church to finish setting up. All the work was worth it because we had a great night and so did everyone else.

Introducing the Super Mario Bros. clan. The kids were introduced to the next gen of Super Mario on Wii and that's where the idea started. I remember wanting to go to my friend Ali's house in 5th and 6th grade so I could play Super Mario 3. I would walk in and ask if her big brother was home because that meant the Nintendo was free and we could play. Dave downloaded that same game on the Wii a couple months ago, and I sat down and played a video game for the first time in a very LONG time. It didn't take long to get frustrated and guilty about wasting time so the nostalgia didn't last long.
Denise rolled in 9 months pregnant and I was rolling with laughter. Her belly looked so real! She even had the walk down and that strained roll-up-from-a-chair-belly-first thing going on. NO, she is not at all pregnant! It was a great costume and she fooled several people that didn't know her. You can't tell, but Arnold is sporting some serious black eyeliner. He had fun pretending 'Nise was pregnant. Lauren is a teacher and walked around school as the Name Police. She had a huge pencil in her back pocket and the kids loved playing with her handcuffs. Dan decided to go low-key with a Wicked t-shirt. *side note* I want to go see Wicked so bad! It's coming this way in January. I have to figure out a way to get tickets and talk hubby into going or letting me go without him!Tom and Kristy look awesome! Little Sydney loved snuggling on Kristy's shoulder and even fell asleep. We wrapped up the night with showers and sorting candy for the Great Pumpkin. The chillies all got to keep 10-20 pieces of candy and put the rest in the pot for the Great Pumpkin to take while they were sleeping. He left them a small toy in their pumpkins and we have a lot less candy in the house. Yeah!!