Thanks Grandma!

Thanks mom for such a fun package from Disney land! Tyler knew it was going to come today, and his preschool was cancelled due to a plumbing problem, so he kept checking the door about every 15 min. He kept saying, "I can't wait to see the toy grandma sent me, but if theres no toy, that's okay, maybe it's just candy or somethin!" He was thrilled to dump out all of that styrofoam to find a Transformer!! I wish you could have seen how excited he was, and to top it off there were mickey mouse ears for both of them with their names on them, the mickey mouse lollipops, and sweet bennion orthodontic backpacks with chapstick and floss!! Halle was down for a nap supposedly when we got the package, but woke up when she heard the commotion and started yelling "my suc!" (translation- my succer) from her crib:) She freaked out when she saw her disney princess phone:) She walked around with that the rest of the night talking to the princesses! I think you can see how thrilled they were in the picture with their loot! Thanks so much you guys are the best, I think they feel like they've actually been to disney land!!!

Life is good

Our Thanksgiving break has been awesome! Chase has had the entire week off from school! He had his finals the week before the break, and then will go back for two more weeks after the break to do work on kids in elementary schools (just doing sealants on them, nothing too intense), so he has been stress and study free, hooray! Chase has been so great to me and the kids, he has done so many extra things this week to make it fun. As you can see from the picture, dad has given the kids popcorn and hot chocolate about every other night this week, they have so loved this, being a dad can be so much fun, because afterwards the mean mom has to make sure they clean up the million pieces of popcorn all over the place:) Chase watched the kids while I did christmas cards with a friend one afternoon, and did the famous after thanksgiving day sales another. Both times I came home to a sparkling clean house, I so so so love that so so much:) He took the kids to the park and to the mall to get chicken nuggets, again why wouldn't dad be the fav? We went to the childrens museum, which we go to every Mon., but the kids loved showing dad all of the fun things to do there. We have had time to just hang out together and be a family, hooray for the best husband ever!

the dress

This ones for you mom:) Here is the dress I sewed for Halle for next summer. I had a good time making it for her with a little frustration mixed in. I really have enjoyed having little projects here and there to work on while Chase studies.

Cook like me???

Awhile back I believe I was tagged and have yet to post a recipe for the "Cook like me" tagging round started by cute Chelsea. I have not forgotten about this, in fact I have thought of it several times and have just the recipe for all of you. The recipe is called "Head 'em off at the pass white chilli" I know, random name, and white chilli? Are you thinking ...gross, that is what I thought everytime I was at a ward chilli cook off and I would see the random pot of the white stuff, but this is so yum. I got it from my mom who got it from her sister, my Aunt Peggy!

1/2 c. chopped onion
1Tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 c. chopped cooked chicken
1/2 c. chicken broth
1 (12oz.) bottle green taco sauce (LaVictoria brand)
2 (15oz) cans great northern beans (undrained)
1 1/2 c. shredded mozerella cheese, divided
1 tsp. dried cilantro
1/4 tsp. ground celery seed
1/4 tsp. celery salt

Saute onion and oil. Add chicken mixing thoroughly. Add broth, stir in beans, seasonings, and green taco sauce. Simmer over medium heat for 10 min. Just before serving add 1 c. moz. cheese. Add 1/2 c. remaining cheese on top of individual bowls. I usually double the recipe:)

I now get to tag two of my favorite people, Andrea and Kenna, give us some good ones!

Happy Halloween

Strike a pose Batman! Tyler seriously loves this costume! He was batman last year (notice how his shoes don't quite get covered by the costume anymore) he wore it almost everyday for a year, now he is batman again! Maybe he'll be batman next year! What do you think? That was the best $7 I have ever spent!

What is this costume thing I am wearing and why am I wearing it again? Halle was our sweet little ladybug this year:)

Batman with his trick or treating bag he decorated, and his little sister sidekick:) Notice how much happier she is without the costume on:)

Batman and the ladybug before heading out for a full street of trick or treating (both sides of the street woo hoo, Tyler was in heaven)! After that, we went to some friends house for hot apple cider and donuts, it was a fun night:)

Pumpkin Carving

The kids don't look too happy in this one, but doesn't dad look cute? By this point I think they were just sick of me trying to get them to smile:) They had a great time picking out their pumpkins and carving them, the only thing missing is a front porch to put them on!

Tyler was very proud of his "scary pumpkin" and Halle was happy with whatever:) Chase cut the lid on Halle's too small to scoop out all the mush, so he made the hole in the pumpkin bigger, but then the lid didn't fit anymore, good thinkin':)

Halle was delighted to be able to squish her fingers into all of that pumpkin mush, while Tyler stood by and watched. She flicked the tiniest piece of pumpkin gook onto his hand and he said, "sick Halle!" You'd think it'd be the other way around:)

I've been tagged:)

Well, I've been tagged, which means I have to write 6 interesting, or uninteresting things about myself. Chase and I have had some good laughs over some of our quirks, and will probably not share most of them:)
1. I have a birthmark on my neck that looks like a hickey (sp?) I have received various comments on it throughout my life starting at age 10. The first time someone asked me if I had a hickey on my neck, I had no idea what they were talking about:)
2. When I was little I was known as the cartwheel queen in the family. I couldn't enter or exit the room without doing one, and I was even known for doing them outside of church. It would be really hilarious to watch me do one now, maybe I'll have to try one...or not!
3. I am almost completely blind without my contacts or glasses. When I take my contacts out at night, Chase likes to put fingers in front of my face, and then move them gradually back asking me how many fingers he is holding up, I totally don't find it amusing or funny, but he seems to enjoy doing it!
4. I went sky diving at the age of 18, I just wanted to show my parents how responsible I was, and what good decisions I was capable of making on my own ha ha. Actually, I inspired my dad, and he went skydiving for his 44th birthday:)
5. I cry really easily, in spiritual settings especially, but also watching things like home makeover edition I will need a few tissues:) ps I am a really ugly crier, blotchy sweaty face, it's great!
6. I hate driving to places I have never been to before, I fear that I will get lost, and I hate that feeling. Since we have moved to Cleveland I have been lost many times, especially on the highway, I really think they should just have a little area on the side of the road for me and all of the old people to pull over on so that we can figure out where in the heck we are:)

Well, I hope I didn't bore you to death, but now I get to tag 6 more people to get to know you better:) I tag Kenna S, Becky B, Adrienne L, Ashley L, Kim P, and Bethany J!

Here's the family room, it's comfy cozy, and I really wish I had cool stuff to put on all of those book shelves:)

Here's our kitchen! We are the dishwashers and suprisingly enough my hands have not fallen off yet and it hasn't been as bad as I thought it might, and oh yes the microwave is on top of the fridge but it is nice and spacious compared to a lot of other places around here:)

More pics of Halle's room. Yes that metal thing in the corner is a heater, but they don't get hot enough to burn supposedly. Soon we will be moving all toys away from it!! Our sweet Halle is getting so big, I can't believe she will be 2 this Christmas:)

Here are some pics of our new apt. We have loved living here, but it is looking likely that we will have to move next summer for Ty to go to a better school. Just remember that the decorating is a work in progress:) This is Halle's room. We have loved having nice sized bedrooms for the kids because they actually will play in there!

Go Indians!

Chase and I got to go to a Cleveland Indians game a few weeks ago! It was really fun, and according to Chase they are number 1 in the American League and gonna win the world series baby! We ate some nice $1 hotdogs, and sat in front of the 4 most hilarious Indian fanatics ever. What made them so funny is that they were all at least 65 or older! The dental school was selling tickets for five bucks, so Chase took Tyler to a game as well, but I still need to download those pics onto the computer, but he had a blast! He still has his ticket and "magazine" (some book with advertisements that they hand out to everyone at the game) on his dresser:)

pony tail

If you look really closely you can see that I have finally scrounged up enough hair on the top of Halle's head to put a ponytail in, which she usually rips out about 10 minutes later, but it is really cute for that 10 minutes!

First day of Preschool

This is Tyler on his first day of preschool which started a few weeks ago. He loves this green dinosaur shirt, and wants to either wear it or a cool Bennion reunion T shirt everyday to school. We have to screen what he can wear and when, otherwise they might think these are the only shirts he owns! He is loving preschool. His teachers name is Mrs. Binkofsky, but they just call her Mrs. B thankfully:) He asks her everyday if it is computer day, he loves all of the projects they get to do, he really loves pongo the class pet rabbit, and is a little shy in their creative movement class (the first day he told me he didn't like to dance, but I think he is warming up to it.)

Change is good:)

Well, our little fam has had a lot of change within the past few months. We moved to Cleveland, Tyler started preschool, Chase started Dental school, we live in a new city in a new apartment (well not really new but we like it), we have new callings, new neighbors, new friends (but we still love the old ones), and we are definately new to this whole blogging thing!