Are we there yet?

When Brittany and Justin where small I made the mistake of making a "count down till..." calendar for any trip we might be taking, it was a fun little page we hung on the fridge and we would put stickers on each day as we counted down to the excitement. This year I have not done any such calendar for any of the trips that we have taken and the kids have apparently had enough of my fun sucking and are revolting to the nth degree. You see we are going to my parents for Christmas this year and Justin asked if we could count down days, I told him sure thinking he would forget like he does with most things ie. make his bed, fill wood box, brush his teeth, change his underwear, you know the basics. Well everyday for 2 weeks Justin has been asking me how many more days till we leave, it has gotten so bad that today I had to tell him I was going to cancel his trip to Colorado if he kept bouncing off the walls. Rebekah promptly asked "Where are we going Mom?" I said "To Denver" she looked at me sad and almost started to cry "I don't want to go to Denbur, I want to go to Papa and Memaws house." So I spent a good amount of time convincing her that Denver meant Memaw and Papas and that yes she did get to stay in their house. When I asked Michael how he was feeling about meeting all these new people he said "Happy" :) and the other day Justin said to him "Michael, something even more better then Memaw and Papas house is this restaurant called Chipotle." Brittany is giddy with excitement and I am looking forward to a 16 hour nap with ear plugs so I do not have to hear "Are we there yet, are we there yet?" oh and Coby is thrilled beyond words. Lookout Colorado the Bennett's are coming and you will NEVER be the same!!!

Commercialism is here...

The "Christmas" season is in its full swing, parties, programs, shopping, singing, running, and so much more. I am trying to keep a positive attitude, it seems to me each year this season gets more and more about the bigger and better then about Christ. That bothers me, it bothers me so much that this year I almost gave in to my desire to cancel the whole thing. I mean what do I really need? What do my kids really need? Why do we need a whole month just to celebrate greediness? These are the thoughts and motivations that Coby and I try so very hard to NOT have our children succumb to. We spend 11 months of the year teaching them the exact opposite of this and in one page turn of the calendar its seems to be undone. The focus is changed and all of the sudden I feel as if the world is going to have more influence over my children then my husband and I do. I tend to focus on that and not see what is right in front of me, four pairs of eyes, four hearts, four tender spirits that remind me they DO know what this is all about. For all my concern about commercialism and selfishness they are still wanting the simple things. You see just this morning I had a little person come in and get me out of bed with HUGE eyes all sparkling and pulled me into the living room NOT to point out the pile of presents under the tree but the big icicles hanging from our eves outside. And on Sunday those same eyes were sad upon hearing that we were not going to be able to go caroling at the Care Center like we have done in the past years. You see I am still reminded that, yes, they do have their priority's in order, and even if the world has theirs messed up my four little chickens have their hearts in the right place. I am amazed at the simple fact that during this time of year when it is so easy to get "caught up" in the me me me attitude they are still wanting to give of themselves and are finding joy in the icicles. :)

bE DeLiGhteD

The other day Rebekah came out of her room carrying a Lego ship she had just created, she stopped and asked me if I liked it and after I gave it the "Rebekah designated allotment of praise" she continued on her way to my bedroom. I asked her what she was doing and she said "I am going to put it in your room and you will be delighted." ahhhh yes delighted am I to have toys strewn about my house. Thank you your royal highness for sharing with me.

BORING!!

Apparently our Christmas trees have been boring for the past 6 years. At least that is what my children told me this past week. They have had fun pointing out all the "Pretty COLORED lights" around town. A couple days ago Brittany even said "Look at those lights Mommy." pointing to a house all decked out with green, blue and red lights. "See how pretty they are Mom. Our tree could be that pretty if we put colored lights on it." To that I responded "When you have a house of your own you can decorate it however you want."

The next day we were getting the Christmas stuff out to set up the tree and there were sighs all around. I kept hearing them and thinking to myself "are white lights really that big of a deal?" so I finally said "ok, we can go get some colored lights from the store." that was met with a chorus of cheers and shrieks of delight. So Brittany and I went to the store and bought lights and the ever important candy canes then headed home. On our way I told her I was excited for next year when Daddy puts a new roof on the house and extends the eves making us able to put lights on the outside as well. She decided that she was excited for that too and I told her "BUT, they WILL be white lights on the house." to that without skipping a beat and with little smile she said "That's ok, as long as our tree is pretty."

So back at home trying to get the "Pretty" lights on took three tries, 1 I put them too close, 2 I started with the wrong end and try 3 they were as close to perfect as I was gonna get. In the end we all had fun. Rebekah got to put the star on top and they all started singing "Oh Christmas tree..." But would get mixed up with the words so it ended up just being the one line over and over. So my friends our tree is up. It is "pretty" with NO white lights on it. All the Bennett chickens are happy.

look in the sky its a bird, its a plane, its.....Rebekah

So the day has finally arrived, and I am not sure how I feel about it. I knew in the back of my mind it would probably come. I knew that the possibility of never having this moment occur was slim to none. And yet here it is and I am not sure how to handle it. I am trying to get my mind around just how your child comes to the point they really, truly, think they are a bird. Yes, yes you read that right, my youngest thinks she is a bird and not just any bird but really thinks that one day she will grow wings and be able to fly in the "high high sky" with her fellow birds.

It started a couple months ago when I was helping her put on her pants and she jumped as I hung onto her jeans and said "look mommy I really flied". It has now progressed to a couple weeks ago she came out of her room and gave a little sigh and said "Mommy, when will my wings get here?" I being caught a little off guard said "what?" she replied "My wings, when will I get them so I can fly higher?" and then just last night when she went to get in bed she looked at me and flapped her arms and said "I need to fly, can you help me?" so I lifted her up as she flapped her "wings" and lightly tossed her in bed, she then turned to me with eyes as big as saucers and said "MOMMY, I REALLY FLIED!!!"

I think I may need to accept responsibility for this, I mean you cant go for three years calling your children chickens and not have at least one end up thinking she is really a bird. Bummer.