So....

So... one of the things I love most about Christmas is Grandma Merrill's candies. Every year she swears she isn't going to make them, but somehow they still appear. Well this year since I wasn't going to be around to taste test I thought I would just whip some of my favorites up and enjoy the little beauties. I called Gram and requested a list of her recipes. No problem, seems simple enough, not too many ingredients, lets get to it. Well, lets just say I've learned a new respect for Gram. I feel I am a pretty competent cook, if I stick to the recipe the meals usually come out pretty good. I stuck to the recipe, did just as it said... things didn't come out very good. Well, at least I can say they tasted fine. Unfortunately I can't say as much for what they looked like. If I was only making these for Greg he would just say "It all goes to the same place anyways." (A quote that I have grown to love and appreciate him for.) The original plan was to share with some friends, but I think these little beauties will stay in the Bench home. I called Gram in the middle of making them to see if she had any suggestions, all she could do was laugh. I told her I would post some pictures so she could see how bad they actually turned out. These are supposed to be Gram's Peanut Butter Cups. Her's are a lot prettier.

Christmas Catch-Up

Here are some pictures to catch you up on what we've been doing. First, there are pictures of Kade becoming Bryn's latest victim of "beauty salon." She absolutely loves to do hair and Kade just happened to be left unattended for a hair too long. Thank goodness Kade was a pretty good sport. Next there are pictures of Bryn sitting on Santa's lap. We were down at the mall and surprisingly there wasn't a line. Bryn was a bit nervous at first, but once she got up on his lap she warmed up. She even gave him the most adorable hug when she was all done, but I wasn't prepared with the camera. But you can just trust me... it was so cute! Lastly you'll see pictures of Tanner at his school Christmas Party. I love that I can go to these parties and help out and watch him interact with his friends and teacher. Their theme for the party was Polar Express. So they were all able to go in thier PJ's. They had a fog machine to make them feel like they were getting on the train and the kids thought it was awesome... but I think they thought it was even more awesome that it set off the fire alarm and the entire school had to evacuate the building. To top it all off they got a friendly visit from the local fire department. It took a while for the fog to clear out of the room so some of the pictures are a bit "foggy."

1 Year Anniversary

Can you believe it? We have been in Arkansas for exactly 1 year today. I didn't believe it until I really started counting the days and looking at the calendar. The year has definitely been full of fun adventures and a lot of changes. Here are a few:

1. Arrived in Arkansas on December 3, 2006.
2. Closed on the house on December 5, 2006.
3. We found out we were prego with #3.
4. Tanner started and graduated from Preschool.
5. We took the kids on their first airplane trip back to Utah.
6. Brynlee turned 2.
7. Tanner turned 5.
8. Tanner started Kindergarten.
9. Kade was born.
10. Bryn is potty trained!!!
11. We have made some really good lifetime friends. We are not sure where we would be without them. Thank you Hoopers!
12. We have experienced the lights in Bentonville square. (Bentonville's version of Temple Square. It is really quite humorous, they even have a horse drawn carriage. It's my goal to get pictures of it this week to post. I think all those who have experienced SLC in December will get a good laugh.)
13. We have taken a trip to Branson MO to experience an "Osmond Show". And learned to really dislike narrow, winding roads.
14. We have learned to appreciate family. Our little family here as well as our family far off. Thank goodness for Vonage or else those long distance bills might put us in the poor house.
15. We can almost add "Thank you for sending us to Arkansas." in our prayers at night.
16. And just today, to celebrate the day, we took the kids to Build-A-Bear Workshop. It has been something they have been wanting to do for quite a while and I thought it might be a fun way to celebrate the day. Here are some pictures of our most recent fun adventure.

Haircuts

Bryn and I had haircuts scheduled for today. Since we were in the haircut mode we decided to get Kade's done as well. It was getting quite crazy and definitely uncontrollable. Kade was a hit from the minute we walked in the salon...just imagine a room full of women whose job is hair and in walks (or is carried) a 7 week old baby with tons of dark, long hair. It may be a slight understatement to say he was a hit. I can't say that he enjoyed the haircut process, but he endured. It looks pretty cute. Here are some pictures to enjoy!

How I Know He Loves Me

Greg had to get creative this year in hanging up the Christmas lights. We didn't have a ladder tall enough for him to reach to peak of the roof so Greg improvised. This picture doesn't even show the worst of it. He was still about 2 inches short to reach the peak so he went total redneck and put the 4 wheeler on top of the trailer and was finally able to reach the top. Kade woke up from his nap just as all that was happening so I wasn't able to get a picture of it. Needless to say Greg went out and bought an extention ladder the next day. I would have to say that his neck (life) is worth the cost of an extention ladder.

Bryn and Noah

Today was a prefect fall day in Arkansas, well almost perfect. Upper 60's and a slight breeze, and I can say if it wasn't for all the spiders flying through the air and making webs for us to walk through it would have been absolutely perfect.

Here are some pictures of Bryn and her friend Noah. We decided to go to the park and take advantage of the beautiful weather.

Kade's Contribution

Kade has already started to contribute to the family and earn his keep. Each night Tanner has to work on his sight words for school (he has passed off 100 so far) and each night it is a battle to get him to sit still and focus. Well, last night we found the trick. All we have to do is put Kade in Tanner's lap and he is stuck. Granted he doesn't realize our little tactic, but oh how it worked magic. We actually got through working on his new words and reviewing all his old words before he started to even wiggle. Thanks Kade!

Meet Kade Bench

I thought I would pass on a few things about Kade to help all those who are so far away to get to know him.

1. To Sleep or Not to Sleep: Kade is a pretty good sleeper. He does a great job during the day, and at night it is just twice a night at 2:30 and 5:30 and he goes back to sleep right after eating. I really can't complain.

2. Hair: Of course he has a bit of a calick (sp?) in the front, nothing like Tanner's but it adds some character. He also has 3 crowns on the back of his head. We are going to have fun with that when he gets older. The main difference between his hair and Tanner and Bryn's hair when they were baby's is that Kade's actually lays down really well. It almost styles itself.

3. Features to mention: Kade has a slight dimple on his right cheek. It shows when he smiles, but you can't really see it otherwise. He also has a dimple in is forehead. Yes, that is right, his forehead. This mostly shows up when he is upset and he wrinkles his forhead, but it is definitely there and noticable.

4. Eyes: Kades eyes are beginning to turn into a deep blue. I would love it if they would go bright blue like Tanner's.

5. Talents: Kade has an amazing talent to dirty at least 3 diapers during a changing. I haven't figured out if it is the cold wipe or what, but as soon as his bum is clean -watch out because there is more coming. Which means the clean diaper that was ready to be put on is now dirty. Whenever Bryn is around when I am changing a dirty diaper she will pat his head and say in her cute 2 year old voice "Whoa buddy, that was a stinky one!" I love it.

6. Personality: Kade is pretty laid back and easy going, unless he is hungry. He can still sleep the day away, but would prefer to sleep where the action is. I almost think that Tanner and Brynlee have made him immune to noise. This kid can sleep through anything. I love it, I don't have to worry about being too quiet when he is asleep.

Mostly Kade is just growing up too quickly. I can't believe he will be 4 weeks on Tuesday. He is starting to fill out and getting his second chin. He is such a handsome, cuddly and loveable boy. He constantly melts my heart.

Costume Time

My Halloween pictures are kind of lame this year. We had to squish them in between Bryn waking up from her nap, picking up Tanner from school, feeding Kade and leaving to go trick or treating at Sam's Club Corporate. But at least Halloween is documented to some degree.

We met Greg at his work to go trick-or-treating and the kids absolutely loved it. At every corner cubicle there were people handing out candy by the handfuls!

Our Little Stinker(s)

Each of the kids have worn this skunk costume for their first Halloween. Kade was adorable. Although I do have to say he didn't wear the costume for much longer than it took to take these picutres. In the slide show there are pictures of Kade and Bryn... can you guess which is which? I so wish I had digital pictures of Tanner in the costume as well.

Pumpkin Carving

Since Greg and I have been married I don't think we have ever carved pumpkins for Halloween. This year was a first, and I am sure it doesn't have anything to do with a 5 year old who is beginning to catch on to the different holiday traditions. But we did have a lot of fun and ended up with some simple, but decent pumpkins.

Greg dug in, but Tanner was not sure about how involved he wanted to be in this process.

Decision made... "This stuff stinks"

Bryn was not afraid to dig in and get "big handfuls."

The kids were pretty happy with the final product...maybe we'll have to make it a tradition. Sorry Kade was not featured in this family time, he did his part by sleeping nicely through the entire thing.

Recipe Exchange

I have been tagged in a recipe exchange by my friend Alissa and since she added "if you don't have these new recipe's on your blog in the next 3 days then you'll have 45 million years of bad luck, fungus growing on your face and toes, and MAJOR hair loss! ;)"

So, with that warning/threat I thought I better jump on it before I forgot all about it. This is a recipe my mom introduced to me when she was here visiting. Greg and the kids loved it, so needless to say it has made it into our rotation,

Pasta al Forno

Marinara Sauce

Fresh Basil
Oregano
1 lb. Ground beef browned
Sauted onion
2 cans diced italian tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
Mozerella Cheese

Cook beef and add other ingredients. Set aside.

Bechamel Sauce

1/4 c. Butter
1/4 c. Flour
2 1/4 c. Milk
Pinch of nutmeg
Salt and Pepper

Wisk until boil. Simmer 20 minutes. Cool 10 minutes.
Cook Penne Pasta. Drain and put in 9x13 pan. Add Marinara Sauce. Pour Bechamel Sauce over. Top with Mozzerela cheese.

Cook 20 mins on 350.

Yummy Yummy Yummy. Good as leftovers too!

2 Weeks

Kade has now survived us for 2 weeks. There has been a lot happening in the past 2 weeks, beginning with a fun surprise, then a shed, a blessing and saying goodbye to 2 sets of incredible grandparents. We miss you all and thank you for all your help while you were here.

Here are a few pictures to celebrate!

Kade

So, Kade hads been a part of our family for a week and a half, it is funny that it seems like he has been around forever. He has such a sweet, content personality. He puts up with his brother and sister like it was nothing and sleeps right through all their chaos. The nights haven't been so bad, the last couple nights he has been getting up only once or twice and he's easily put back to sleep. Tanner and Brynlee are as proud as they could be about their brother. Tanner will come home from school and just sit and hold him while he sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Brynlee loves to hold him and comment on "all his dark hair." I think she has been listening in on the conversations going on around her.

We are beginning to make the adjustments to having a new baby in the home... although it is a whole different ball game now that Nana and Bampa flew back to Utah this morning.

I have to put in a bit of a tribute to my mom. Honestly, I do not know how I would have been able to survive the last couple weeks without my mom. She is absolutely amazing. When we had our little surprise and brought home a Kade instead of a Kaylee she was right there on top of things. Helping Greg with the kids while I was in the hospital and getting Kade's things ready for him to come home to. She woke up early in the morning and got Tanner ready for school before I even cracked my eye lids. She ran wash through almost every day, kept my house clean, made dinners, held Kade, played with Bryn and Tan. You name it she did it. She even learned her way around Bentonville and Rogers so she could take the car out by herself and make it back home without getting lost. There is so much that she did for us that I really don't know how to thank her for everything. She was definitley heaven sent. It was so hard to let her go back to Utah. I tried not to think about her leaving, but I was already dreading it at the beginning of the 2nd week. I honestly don't know how I am going to do this without her help. I guess it just comes down to putting one foot in front of the other, and constant prayers. Thank you Mom. We love you so much and had more fun with you here than you can even imagine.

Baby Surprise

Sorry it has taken me a few days to get a post up...things have been a little crazy around here. Tuesday turned out to be a very long day with an exciting twist at the end of it all. We arrived at the hospital about 5:00 in the morning and got situated in our room. Dr. Hannah came in and broke my water about 7:30 and then the waiting began. We waited and waited and waited. My contractions wouldn't stay consistent enough to make much progress and the nurses were having a hard time keeping the baby's heart rate on the monitor so there was a lot of adjusting and laying in different positions to try to keep the heart rate visible. Finally about 2:30, I had just about had enough and we called in for the epidural...thank heavens for the epidural. Just when the world is about to close in there is light and the pain is gone. I would love to say that I was tough enough to try to go al natural, but nope. I go for comfort, really, there is no other way. After hours of fighting the heart monitor the nurses decide to put in the internal monitor so they can have me sit up and have gravity help move the baby down. It seems from there things started to move along a bit faster. Finally the nurses said we were ready to have a baby, they called Dr. Hannah, 5 minutes later he arrived and we were all set up ready to go. After about 4 contractions the nurse said "Ok, on this next contraction, you'll have your baby." One push, two push and the baby is here. Dr. Hannah starts talking about all his hair and the nurses join in, she will look so cute with bows in her hair. Greg begins to catch on... he... it's a BOY! He says, "Amy, it's a boy!" I'm a little slow... what, it's a boy? Then it hits, if I could have felt or moved my legs I would have jumped off the bed, but since I couldn't do either of those I sat up as best I could to get a good look. Yup, we had a boy. There he was peeing all over the Dr. As soon as I saw him I instantly knew his name would be Kade R Bench. Don't ask me how because Greg and I had a hard enough time coming up with and agreeing on a girl name (by the way, her name was going to be Kaylee) to even think about a boy name, but I knew that is what his name should be. Wisely Greg agreed. The R for his middle names represents his two grandpas, Ralph and Roger. He has two incredible role models in his life and hopefully this will be a reminder to him to always look towards them as examples and for guidance.

The rest of the night was spent in shock and strategizing on how we were going to get ready for a baby boy. We were completely prepared for a girl. We had purchased all the pink clothes, taken the tags off all the pink clothes and washed all the pink clothes. We had painted the blue room in our house pink, so we had pink walls. All the pink bedding had been washed and was waiting for a princess to sleep on them. We thought we were completely prepared. Now we knew we didn't have anything ready. But, we knew it was right. Kade is supposed to be in our family and we are so grateful for this fun turn of events that has brought him here. The morning after Kade was born Tanner informed us that he had been praying for a baby brother and that Heavenly Father answers prayers. I just wish T would have shared those prayers when we were listening.

Thanks to everyone who has helped us these past few days. Greg and I count ourselves completely blessed to have friends and family who take care of us and help us when ever they can. I count it a double blessing that my mom could fly in a couple days before Kade was born. I honestly don't know how we would be as far as we are in the pink to blue transition without her. We are anxiously awaiting my dad flying in tomorrow night and Greg's parents flying in next Thursday night. Family is good. It is good to have them around, we just wish we could share all this with our brothers and sisters as well.

I'll post better pictures when I can get them off my mom's camera. Love you all!

Baby Update

October 9th, 5:00 am.

So, I went in for one of those lovely end of pregnancy appointments today and everything checked out nicely. We are progressing and the Doc scheduled an induction date, October 9th. Plans are to go in to the hospotal at 5:00 and get the IV and antibiotics (for Group B Strep, the test actually came back negative this time, but since I was positive with my other two we decided to go ahead and run the antibiotics to be on the safe side) Dr. Hannah will come in around 7:30 and break my water and the rest will be history. Hopefully a short history. Dr. Hannah seems to think we will have a baby by 1:00 that afternoon. I think I will have to hold him to it.

I am just grateful there is a date to plan towards...if something happens between now and then I can work with that, but it was killing me just sitting around waiting. Especially since B came 2 weeks early, my mind has automatically adjusted the due date for this one. Oh well, just one of the joys. We'll keep you posted.

Baby Shower

On Thursday my sweet friends Stefani, Rachel, Jen and Nicole threw me a baby shower, it was so much fun to get together with the girls from the ward. It is so nice to have such good friends here when family is so far away.

This is a picture of the 'latest and greatest' in baby gear. It is called a Bumbo. It is a soft squishy chair that helps young babies to sit up and enjoy the scenery. The sweet baby in the picture is Adeline, she is 2 months old and loving the Bumbo. The seats have a deep pocket so the baby can't fall out. I was told they even have a tray you can buy seperately so the baby can have a place for snacks or toys. I am sure this will come in handy for baby #3. (Yes, we still don't have a name for her. I am open to suggestions.)

B's Braids

These first pictures were taken in January. I can remember how excited I was that B's hair was finally long enough to pull back into pig tails. I cannot believe how much my little girl has grown up in the last 8 months. Today we were playing around with her hair and we were able to put 2 french braids down the sides! Not only has her hair grown in the last 8 months, but she has grown so much. She is such a good helper and such a sweet girl. We went on a little walk this morning to the park that is by our house. She was riding her bike and we passed a house that is under construction. There were some workers out laying the brick for the house. Now, if it were T and we passed this same house he would have focused on the backhoe that was sitting the in front yard... not my B. She stopped and said "Look those boys building a house, it's so beautiful." It seemed that everything was beautiful to her today. The clouds, her hair, her princess dress, and the flowers we passed on our walk. I love my girl.

Total Momsense

My wonderful Aunt Sheri sent this to me and I had to pass it on. Thanks Sheri!

The Navy Seals

Tanner had his first soccer game of the season this morning. It started out at a chilly 50 degrees. (I thought the south was supposed to be warm!) He did pretty good. Although we do have to work with him a little bit on the purpose of the game. Tanner is pretty much happy as long as the other team doesn't have the ball. Which is definitely a good idea, but he interprets it so he should just kick the ball to the nearest sideline in order to keep it from them. It was pretty funny to watch him get the ball and head straight out of bounds. Definitely working with a purpose. All in all I think it will be a fun season. He seems to have a good coach and I think he will catch on by the end.

Backyard Update

So, what do you think, will we have enough dirt? After taking a look at this pile Greg gave up the idea of shoveling and went and rented a small backhoe. It was definitely worth it. Instead of ending up with a husband with a broken back I was able to get a happy husband, happy kids (because they were able to ride with Dad) and a almost completed garden project. All that is left is to level out the dirt and rig up a sprinker system for the garden. Oh wait, or is that just the beginning? Half way through moving the dirt from the frontyard to the backyard Greg stopped and asked me if we had just created a lot of work for ourselves. Huh, a little too late for that question. We are starting to take orders from the neighbors to see what they want to plant in the garden... or maybe we could just have them rent their own plot! :) Anyway, things are coming along and Greg can't wait for our Dads to come in October for the baby blessing. Don't worry guys, he is excited to see you, but he's also excited to have some extra hands to build the next project...a shed.

Marathon Mayhem!

Ok, first of all I'll clear everything up and say that I am not running a marathon. Come on people I am 8 + months pregnant. Running is the last thing on my mind. However, there are two people that I would like to give the highest praise to that have chosen to put their minds and bodies through the torture of a marathon: Casi, my sister, and Heidi Bird. I cannot in my wildest dreams imagine being forced to run for 26 miles and these two beauties are chosing to do it. I was talking to Casi yesterday and in her training she is up to running 7 miles. What a woman! I love her and I am so proud of her for doing this. Way to go Casi and Heidi! Maybe you two can dedicate a mile to me!

Backyard Projects

Anyone who knows Greg knows that he always has to have a project going. Nothing has changed since we moved to Arkansas. Recently, he has got a bug to put a garden and a shed in the backyard, with a goal to have it done before the baby comes. Last weekend he started on the garden and was able to finish the retaining wall. It has rained every day this week so it has slowed his progress a bit, but this weekend he is working on laying water-logged railroad ties along the perimeter that meets up with the fence, laying weed barrier and removing the tree in the middle. Of course, he has his side-kick T helping every step of the way. The pictures aren't great because 1) I didn't want to walk out on the wet grass to get a really good one, and 2) Greg kept ducking behind the tree and utility box whenever I put the camera up. Hopefully next year we'll be able to post some pictures of us eating some scrumptious sweet corn that was grown from our garden.

I Couldn't Resist Any Longer

There are way too many cute blogs out there for me to keep doing boring old Flickr.com. So, here is my attempt at a cute blog. I am going to have to recruit Heidi Bird for some customization. I am so lucky to have such an awesome friend. Hopefully we'll be able to keep up with it all!

Homework... Good for Kids, Torture for Parents

T had his second day of homework today... what should have taken 20 minutes ended up taking 3 hours. Yuck! What does it take to get my 5 year old to trace and write his numbers 1-30???

Who knows. Finally we were able to finish up and we had the discussion, I am sure we all know how it goes... "You know, T, if we just focus on our homework and get it done first thing, we'll have lots of time to play." Now if I can just get him to understand. Here are some pictures of him and B. These were taken in the beginning portion of the 3 hours when his off-the-wall questions and gazillion excuses were still cute and funny. I don't dare to publicly post any evidence of what it was like at the end of the 3 hours.