1st ponytail

I dressed the girls alike yesterday, and after Bethany went to school I fixed Mallory's hair into her first-ever ponytail. I just adored it so much that I had to capture it in a photograph, or two or three. She's reading one of her favorite books as she enjoys Bethany's room without Bethany home to set any boundaries. The ponytail lasted until naptime, and after that I couldn't get her to cooperate with a re-do. Oh, well.

WVU gameday at the Buckwheat Festival

Notice all of the WV shirts and other gear.......we attended the Farm Day parade of the Buckwheat Festival last Saturday and watched the game afterwards. Go 'Eers! The kids LOVED the 4H barns that were full of cows, pigs, goats, and sheep. Mallory kept saying, "Hey! Hey!" and pointing at each cow. She would say "OW!" and "eep". Very cute. We really enjoy attending the festival with my family. There are tons and tons of craft and handmade goods exhibits as well as locally produced honey, jams, salsa, etc. It's just a bit of the neat culture I grew up in......I've only missed a handful of Buckwheat Festivals in my lifetime and now I get to watch my children enjoy it which is very special. I think my parents enjoy it more as grandparents than they did even as parents. ; ) (the adorable little boy is my nephew, and the others included in the pictures are my parents and brother and sister, even a glimpse of my sister-in-law)

They actually cooperated with me.....

I bundled my kiddies up for a night at the carnival with Daddy, and then they let me take pictures of them on the steps....shocking! Yes, they are wearing winter clothes, but it is quite cool this evening at least compared to recent summer temperatures. I get some alone time at home during Daddy/Daughter night which I certainly don't mind. :)

I know these are the first pictures I've taken of our house, too....just know that that porch will be painted and have a new railing all the way around it soon. Just wanted to share a few pics of my sweeties in their excitement. (Mallory's solo shot above is at the end of the session when she was starting to shake and clench her teeth in anticipation....I guess I made her pose for too long and she was ready to go.)

I think she's got her Mama's aggressiveness......

Some of you may not know that I'm the toughest, and yes -shortest, forward in Relief Society (Church Women's) basketball. Do you know why coaches put me in at forward when I'm less than 5'3" tall? Because I have no fear.....I box out those bigger ladies and get the rebounds. Okay, enough about me......heehee;) I recently witnessed my 5 1/2 yr old Bethany taking on an entire team of aggressive little 5 yr old boys in a soccer game. Okay, they only play 3 on 3, but her only teammates to show up were a little (most adorable) 4 yr old boy, Noah, and a tiny (very thoughtful) 5 yr old girl, Evelyn- who were both too intimidated to play any offense because both got hit by the ball early on in the game by these little "not-so-nice-but-because-of-coaching-and-parenting" team of all boys. The other team had 6 players and we only had the three, so we didn't get to substitute. Bethany would kick the ball all the way up the field and try to score without any help and actually scored their only goal of the game, and then she'd run back down and try to steal the ball from the boys who kicked not only her, but each other, and go up the field once again.....trying to score without her teammates. I don't fault the little sweeties...they were doing the best they could. Eventually, Bethany just gave up on offense and most of the game was played on one side of the field as she would stand in front of the goal and block nearly every ball they tried to kick into it. It was really something to see....this girly-girl besting the boys. I loved it. They didn't seem to mind either because they kept getting to try again as she would block each kick. Other parents even complimented her after the game. And, wouldn't you know it? I didn't even get the camcorder out to capture it. Just had to share.....proud Mommy and all. ( Don't miss my Mallory post below. :)

My Mallory

So, I had my first conversation with my daughter the other night. You may not know that she is in speech therapy. This little girl just never started talking, so we referred her to Birth to Three and now she has an amazing speech pathologist coming to our house to work with her. She teaches Brad and I methods to use consistently, as well. Anyway, the "conversation" started as I was rocking her just before bedtime. She waved her hand in the air and said "shinshi" as she pointed to the hallway and then said "Da-ee". I said, "Daddy is stinky?" "Yeah!" I laughed, then she pointed to her sister's room and repeated the hand motion and her word for stinky, "shinshi" and then said her almost-the-same-as-stinky word for Sissy, "Shishi". I said, "Sissy is stinky, too?" Again, "Yeah!" This time she laughs at her own joke. Then she points at me and says, "Shinshi, Oooooh!" I appear startled and say, "What?! Mommy is stinky, too?" She laughs at me and then I say, "Well, are you stinky? Is Mallory stinky?" "YEAH! (heeheehee)" I'll forever remember that my first conversation with my Mal-Mal was one where she made a joke of us all. Is this Brad's daughter or what?

* Pictured above are a few of her modeling shots from yesterday. We found the purse in her sister's old clothes that we pulled from the basement for fall/winter. She was trying on the sweater from last winter to see if it still fit, and was sporting the Dora slippers that were also handed down from Bethany.

* OH YEAH, I should mention that I hadn't fixed her hair yet.....hence the crazy 'fro! I just had to include the backview of her hair. It's grown so much lately.

* Another note - after she finished hugging the Care Bear, she viciously threw her to the floor and took the rocking chair for herself. With a growl and everything.....whoa.

Flu Shots?

I'm just wondering how all of you moms out there feel about flu shots. Our pediatrician in North Carolina never suggested that the girls get them, and I turned the doctor down last fall when he recommended it. I've never had one and Brad has never had one. Also, I was told today that since they've never had the shot, the girls would each have to have two shots, one month apart. Maybe the flu season here is worse than in NC? I've just heard conflicting reports about the value and risks of the flu shot or flu mist. Please share your opinion.....not just moms, any of you may have an opinion and information that I don't. Thanks in advance!

Mallory's 2nd Birthday

With so much going on, Mallory's birthday just snuck up on us. We got together with our family the weekend before her actual birthday so it'd be easier for my family to drive up, rather than on a night during their work week. It worked out perfectly because Mal finished her nap just as people arrived, and she was so sweet natured and focused on her gifts and cake. She didn't want to blow out the candle, so Bethany helped her out. We all enjoyed it. Brad and I felt sorry that for the pictures of her 2nd birthday she had bumps and stuff around her mouth and on her skin from the virus, but we think she's still just adorable.

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