First Day of Kindergarten

I have to confess that the first morning of school was so hurried that I didn't take photos before we left the house, so I made Bethany pose after school. She was tired and not happy about it, but I insisted. We thought we knew how much time we would need to get ready and get there on time, but our daughter is not a very motivated child in the morning. We have learned in the 2 1/2 weeks since the first day that we have to stay at her side throughout the getting dressed, eating breakfast, brushing teeth, and other parts of our morning routine and keep her focused and moving. Breakfast is the hardest because she's never ready to eat when she wakes up, but I will not let my little girl go to school without a healthy start to her day, so we fight it out every morning. She is so excited about school, though. I insisted that I get to take her that first day, as the Mommy, while Brad stayed with spotted Mallory. He takes her most mornings because he's headed off to work anyway, and I pick her up. I knew she'd be fine, but I walked her to class anyway. It was so strange to turn around and leave the room knowing my baby would be gone for 7 hours a day, five days a week.....but I stayed strong. By the middle of her second week, Bethany told Brad that she didn't need for him to walk her to her classroom. She said, "just drop me off at the curb, Daddy. I'll be okay, Daddy, but you're not going to cry, are you?" He called to tell me about our independent daughter, and we laughed and felt a little sad at the same time. Our big girl is just fine, but I miss her during the day. Mallory and I are having a good time together, though. We watch a little PBS kids and play and laugh and go to WalMart together. When she naps, I try to get more house organization done and catch up online, then we go pick up Big Sis. I feel like a whole new phase of life has started for us, and we're still getting used to it.

*Oh, yes! Bethany insisted on wearing her new skirt to school on the first day. I kept thinking in my mind that the adults in the school were going to think that she was part of that religion that wears skirts and doesn't cut their hair. The next day she wore shorts, so that was all cleared up. ;)

What's this?

The night we got home from Tennessee was our first night in our house. The next morning Mallory woke up with some red bumps on her face, and as the day progressed she got more of them on her arms and legs, etc. I thought it must be chicken pox, and lived like it was for a couple of days, then got worried that Bethany would get it, too and was supposed to start kindergarten in a couple of days. So, we visited an Urgent Care on Labor Day and they said it looked like a viral rash. I sent B. to school, and I'll include some info on that in another post, and she started to get a few bumps. I woke up covered with bumps one day that week and mine itched really bad....I think I must have had at least 100 bumps that felt like bites. We saw the pediatrician just to be sure, too, because I was worried about bugs being in the house or an allergy to the new carpet. Nope, virus. Weird, huh? I tried to take pictures of Mal's bumps the 2nd day, but my crappy camera doesn't do closeups. Soccer also started the same week school did. I'll be posting some of that action through October. Brad is coaching Bethany's team. They are pretty small and young, so they get beat often, but it is fun and we're not officially keeping score anyway. She has scored goals in 2 of her 3 games, and is so much better than she was in the spring.

More Vacation Pics

Photo #1 - The Bennett Bunch in front of the Black Bear Jamboree theater where we went to a dinner show including all kinds of music, dance, and black bear characters that kept the kids interested.

Photo #2 and #3 - I love these! During our 2nd Dollywood day, it rained and we got soaked. Well, Mallory especially got soaked because during this rain she insisted on going with the others on a very wet water ride. I took these photos afterwards while we waited under some shelter.

Photo #4 - the girls posing in a pretend go cart in front of a mini-golf/ go cart racing place

Pidgeon Forge, TN

We visited a new place for vacation this summer.....no beaches for us in 2008 which we missed, but we really had a good time in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Brad's parents have a couple of condo units at a resort in Pigeon Forge, so we were invited to go since it's the last year the week would work for us because we have a school-aged child now. What a relaxing place, and beautiful. The landscaping was breathtaking, the pool was refreshing and the shopping and entertainment was very fulfilling. We attended variety shows with singers doing tributes to famous singers/performers like Elvis or Buddy Holly, and shows with just really talented singers and dancers who made us laugh and our kids smile. Outlet shopping was fun, and we brought home plenty of new clothes for the girls and a few things for us, too. Then, there was Dollywood! Yes, it is Dolly Parton's amusement park, and it was really much better than I expected it to be. There was a wonderful kids' section of the park and rides that we enjoyed, too. We actually went twice during the week, and I took some pics of the kids on the rides which I'll share. Watching Bethany and Mallory enjoy themselves was just the best part of the whole day. Bumper cars, flying elephants, all varieties of animal themed rides, and the carousel....I hope they'll remember how much fun they had.

Let's go back to August....

Well, I'm going to give you the breakdown of what's been going on with my life for the last month and a half, or so. Over the summer I mentioned that we were looking for houses and we decided on a house in our current city of Elkins. The house is great.....old, but great. I love the beautiful wood floors and windows that are original to the house, built in 1920-30?....I don't remember the exact year right now. It's been interesting trying to merge my decor from our NC house to this older house's oak and charm, but I am making progress. Anyway, we decided and we started planning. In the meantime, we were getting Bethany ready for kindergarten which included an added shot because the state changed their requirements for chicken pox vaccinations.....they have to have 2 to start school. Imagine all of the almost-kindergartners in the state who thought they were finished with shots for a while, and now we had to drag them in to get one more (just cruel!)....so I'll share the after-the-show photos in this post. Very dramatic experience, let me tell you! She started out just refusing to sit down because she was "not ready yet". Well, eventually I had to pull her onto my lap while Brad and I held her head back against me and pinned her arms while the nurse gave her the shot, as she was kicking and screaming the whole time. Mallory started crying and we got the heck out of dodge as soon as the band aid was in place. I took pictures later as she bragged to Grandma that "I was brave (long pause), but I did cry." We spent two weeks trying to get moved before our end-of-August vacation and the start of school. Let me tell you about this......the former owner of the house died in January or February and her only son is in very poor health so was unable to visit the house to remove items or help clear it out. His sons only took what they wanted and left the rest. Needless to say we had a huge job on our hands of boxing up, selling, and donating all of this almost 80 yr old woman's possessions including furniture, bedding, craft items, kitchen items, and closets full of things she held onto for years. Just picture this.....4 bedrooms with closets and shelves on the walls, an office with cabinets, shelves and drawers, 3 bathrooms with closets in each, as well as knickknacks and shelves and mirrors and pictures all over the walls. AND, we were wiping down everything because it needed cleaned and she was a smoker. Can you tell that we had quite a busy couple of weeks? After and during all of this, we were priming and painting the upstairs bedrooms and hallway so that we could get new carpet installed before moving in. Then I had about a day to pack up our apartment before we moved everything over to the new-to-us house. We were so incredibly blessed with help from friends at church and family members. Countless hours of service were given to my family. There is absolutely no way we could have been moved in before school started without these folks, and I don't think I could have maintained my sanity without them. People cleaned, painted, watched my kids and/or put them to bed while we worked, packed up, unpacked, yard-saled and more for us. My Heavenly Father definitely knows me and my limitations, so He sent angels to assist me. Well, we moved all of our stuff on Tuesday night, stayed at the in-laws for a few nights while we worked on stuff before vacation started on Friday. And, now I move on to my next post....

Why these particular colors? Well.....

I got the urge to change up my color scheme tonight because I can smell fall, feel it, and I'm starting to see it in the trees and in the way the children are wearing jackets in the morning as they wait for the bus. I LOVE FALL!!! So, the red background reminds me of my favorite fall leaf color....usually found on the Sugar Maples, certain oak trees, and some of the smaller trees and shrubs that I can't name. The green reminds me of the grass, which is still beautiful and lush. The yellow and orange shades symbolize the trees which have already begun to change colors this month. And, the blue is similar to the clear skies I enjoyed today while I edged and cleaned up my yard. Blue skies lift my spirits. Just thought I'd share my thoughts.

I promise!

I'm going to update soon,....forgive me. We've been moving and vacationing and starting school and soccer, etc. for the past month. I've got some photos to upload and I'll fill you all in soon! Oh, yeah....Happy Birthday to my Mallory! It's almost over, but today was her 2nd birthday. Oh, how I love that little girl!

More Train pics (lots of posts below)

Family Train Pictures

Pictured above are:

1st: Will, 4 1/2
2nd: Bethany, 5 1/2(all teeth!)
3rd: Audrey, 9, and our grand-nephew (that's right!), Tyler - 2 1/2
4th: Alison, our sister-in-law, and Tate, 6 1/2
5th: Brad's Grandma Rosie, his Aunt Linda, his sister, Shellie and brother, John (who share a birthday)

* Most of the kids in the Bennett family, little ones anyway, were winter babies- so they've been celebrating their half birthdays. I couldn't forget the "1/2" part.

Cass Scenic Railroad

Another family activity this week included our trip up to Cass, WV to ride the old steam engine train they have there. We rode it halfway up the mountain and back. (I can't remember the name of the mountain. There are so many around here.) After about a 45 min. ride up, changing directions by switchbacks, which is how they built tracks up the mountain back in 1900, we stopped at Whittaker. Whittaker is now a picnic area and outdoor museum, of sorts, where they show some old train cars and timber machines, including an old meal car complete with the original kitchen equipment. There used to be a busy sawmill in Cass, but it's been closed for many years. The tour guide told us that the entire mountain had been cleared out by timber companies by 1950, and all that we saw had grown up since then. It was really amazing that an entire mountain could be covered by forest in around fifty years time. Also, this railroad was built mostly by immigrants from Italy who used picks, tools, and some black powder. They would then walk all the way to the top of the mountain at night to sleep at a little camp-like town up there, and back down again in the early morning to start work again. It's incredible to me that so many worked so hard to build railroads, and then to keep them in working and safe condition. My dad and grandpa worked for the railroad, so it was especially interesting to me to learn about all of this stuff.