To Infinity And Beyond...

We took the girls to Toy Story 3 On Ice last night. They had a wonderful time! Ainsley dressed like Jessie and never stopped smiling through the entire show. Brynn was Buzz Lightyear... she had a rather serious face through the show and told us that she liked the movie much better (but I think she still had a good time). Brooke dressed up like a mini-Jessie and stayed very engaged in the show. We have gone to quite a few of these types of shows and I was very impressed with this one.

Basement Stairs

I have turned our basement stairs into a mini art gallery. I love looking at the artwork that the girls make at school, so I figured that we could show it off for everyone to see. We had just enough room for 2 girls and 1 school year of art. I think that I am going to have to take them down and start over for next school year. Since Brooke will be going to "school" one day a week, we will need room for 3 girls' artwork...
The girls each have a big tub for their "special school stuff". I just can't bring myself to trash their projects. I have gotten better about throwing out things like half colored photocopied coloring sheets, but I just can't throw out anything creative! My mom kept all of my stuff and gave me my big tub of projects when I got married and had a house to put it in. It was fun to look through it and my girls like seeing it as well.

American Girl Day for Brynn!

Brynn earned her money for her American Girl doll. She chose Molly and was super excited! The woman working had Brynn count out all of her dollars which took quite a while, but it was very sweet to watch.

Little Fairies

Playing Around With My New Camera

I am super excited about getting a new camera. I haven't studied how to use it yet, but I can't wait to learn all about it!
Here are a few pics from today:

I Have No Idea!!!

Tsunami

We watched news coverage of the earthquake and tsunami a lot of the day. Ainsley was quite worried because "her best friends Jack-n-Lainey and Carter live there" and because Pops is in San Diego. Brynn had a much better solution. Don't just sit and worry about it... make a boat!

"Aren't These Great?!?!"

Brynn came in to the family room yesterday and said, "Aren't these great?" I looked up and saw her with her "boobies"! She told me that it is easy to get grown-up boobies. All you have to do is go to the boobie store. Darn, I wish it was that easy!

"Rocking Out!"

Ainsley put on a concert for us last night. She got herself all dressed up and then started the show. Brynn was in charge of flashing the lights when she started the show. At the end of the concert, Ainsley would throw beads to the audience! It was really impressive!

Yeah For Ainsley!

Ainsley has worked very hard to earn her money. I had calculated that it would take her about 22 months to earn $100 for an American Girl doll. She reached her goal much faster than we expected! It was such an exciting day for her to go pick out her doll. I was very proud of her as well. She stayed focused and has really started to understand the importance of earning money and delayed gratification.
I am now responsible for getting 4 heads of hair fixed before we leave the house and making sure that Julie has her own plate of food before anyone can eat a meal! She has her own seat in the car as well.
Brynn is close behind. Another 2 weeks or so and we will be back to pick out her doll!

Birthday Party Fun

We had two birthday parties last Saturday. The girls had so much fun!!! The first party was at a really cool horse stable where they got to take pony rides. The second party was at a local bounce house activity center. It was a fun filled and very busy day!

Have I mentioned that Brynn can be a little anxious??? This is on a fake pony... she felt like I was too far away from her. Sad.

Dad's Night at School

Dad's Night was this week. Ainsley invited her Poppy to go as her "dad" and Jesse went with Brynn.

Quiet...

We recently went to a family member's funeral. Before we left, I asked the girls to each pack a backpack of quiet things to do during the funeral. I didn't double check their bags before we left...
So, we were pulling into the parking lot of the funeral when I opened up Ainsley's bag. Barbies, books, some doll clothes and a few small toys. Wonderful. I opened up Brynn's bag... panties! Seven pairs of panties! That's it...
I said, "That isn't very helpful." Brynn replied, "Yes, it is if I pee in my pants seven times. And they are quiet."
Well, you can't argue with that!

ex·u·ber·ant

Ainsley had her kindergarten round-up this week! She loved being in the school and meeting her new teachers!
She walked right up to the principal, shook his hand and said, "Hi. My name is Ainsley Elizabeth Bennett. This is my mom, Jillian Bennett. This is my dad, Jesse Bennett. What would you like me to do now?"
One of the kindergarten teachers described her as exuberant (Full of unrestrained enthusiasm or joy) Isn't that awesome?!?!?
She keeps asking us how many days until it starts. We have been reviewing the "suggested list to be ready" and I am amazed at how much she already knows! It was a very good decision to have her do one year of Transitional Kindergarten (although I know she would have been ready last year as well). She is doing excellent on her counting, pattern recognition, sight words, telling time, etc... She is one smart kid!
Here she is getting ready to go to Kindergarten Round-up. She picked out her own outfit. It is difficult to see the red cowgirl boots in the picture. I love it!

Consignment Crazinesss!!!

We decided to try out consigning for the first time. There is a huge sale in Overland Park this weekend. We stayed up most of the night for about a week to get everything ready and then dropped off two very full SUVs on Tuesday night. I was feeling very sentimental about getting rid of the baby stuff; however, I am over it after working so hard to get rid of it! We chose to donate almost everything that doesn't sell. I certainly don't want to have to deal with it all over again!
Brooke was a big helper! She would take many things out of the bags and would scream "MINE!!!!" when we would try to carry things to the car! She did get very worn out the last day... we all were! Can you see her and her baby???

Baby Brecken

We LOVE baby Brecken. Isn't he just adorable?!?! We are enjoying him as much as we can... and we don't even talk about the fact that they are moving away soon.