Jessica Simpson/Rascal Flats

For Valentines Day Mark bought us tickets to go see Jessica Simpson and Rascal Flats. I was so excited since they are both my favorites. Jessica looked so beautiful and she did a fantastic job. I love her!!!!!!! Rascal Flats put on the best show I have ever been to. It was such a fun night. I think I was the only psycho in our section that was absolutely in love with Jessica. Damon called before the concert started saying he was there so that was a nice surprise. Ashley and Josh were not too far away from us so that was pretty neat too. Ashley told me before hand that they would take away your camera if you brought one so I kept it in the car. I was very disappointed because it wasn't true. You could take pictures without a flash. People, of course, were taking pictures with a flash anyway and video taping. I guess I'll learn for next time.

At one point Rascal Flats pulled up a little girl on stage and took her around. All I could think of was I wish I had brought Marki and she was the one up there. She would have grabbed the microphone and started doing her own show! It was such a great concert. Thank you baby for the awesome night! I had so much fun with you. You are my everything!!!
Me and Ashley waiting for Jessica

Jessica is in there I promise! I so love her!

Jamers and me

Rascal Flats

Mark and I enjoying our night

I love you, Mark! Happy Our Valentines Day!

Simply Amazing

This morning my beautiful daughter drew a picture of me and Oliver. I absolutely love her little drawings. I wish I had captured her sparkly dolphin but she erased it too soon. When she gave me this particular drawing I noticed there was written "To Mommy" or rather "Mommy To" I couldn't believe it. Actually I can. This girl is amazing. She can write so many words and the days of spelling things in front of her are over. I guess my little girl is growing up. Sniff Sniff. Heavy sigh. I can remember when she was learning to say mommy and now she is spelling it. Marki, you amaze me every day and I learn so much from you. Keep up the good work!


Mommy and Oliver

Mommy To

Marki and Barack Obama....the obsession continues! :)

Ash Wednesday

I am so excited for Ash Wednesday. This is by far my most favorite mass. I am going to give up fast food for lent. That is going to be hard for me since hamburgers are one of my weakness's. It will be a hard 40 days but it is worth it. I am also going to do the stations of the cross with my children and read from the bible before bedtime.

Three sick kids!

I took all my kids to the doctor yesterday to see why they just can't get rid of their cough and runny noses. Marki and Levi have really bad allergies although they were sick prior to this and gave it to Oliver. He has to take some treatments a few times a day so he can breathe okay. He was so congested that he would choke on the stuff coming up from his cough. Poor baby! He was also diagnosed with an ear infection which is new to me. Marki and Lee never had one. So, Olli is on medication to help him and Marki and Levi are taking Claritin to stop their sniffles and cough. Levi has allergies so bad that if the claritin he is taking does not work better after a few weeks he is going to have to go and be tested for allergies to find out what exactly he is allergic to. I hope you all feel better soon my loves!

The Race To Robie Creek

I did it! I got in! I am officially running my very first half marathon this April. Yesterday was the day to sign up for the Race to Robie Creek and I wasn't even sure if I'd get in. This race is a very popular race and everyone is signing up for it. It took us about a half an hour to get into register and I was super excited. One of the questions they ask you when you sign up is "What color blue are you?" I picked baby blue. We also purchased a bus pass for Mark to go up and cheer me on at the finish line. He'll be able to chill out and eat and such while waiting for the ambulance to pick me up!

Damon and Jamie are running this race as well and we all got in! The registration was closed 51 minutes after it opened. Whew! I cannot even express how excited I am to do this. I will have a few races inbetween that I will do but none that even come close to this. I am officially starting training today. I know, I know, you should train for a race of this magnatude a lot sooner but nonetheless I am going to do this. Eating healthy, running, P90X, this is what I'll be doing until the big day.

This is my brother's favorite race and I had heard about it even before I moved here. I have copied from the website some info on the race. It sounds like it is going to be a blast. I also have copied from my email, (Damon, Jamie, and I were emailing back and forth before regisration and after), here is how they went:

Damon: Today at noon Cara signs up to be a sailtoad!! Congrats Cara!

Damon: CONGRATS TO EVERYBODY WE GOT IN!!!
I just checked to see if there were still people trying to log in and found that Robie Creek was sold out and closed in only 51 minutes this year.
That might be a new record.
Great job now that the exciting part of registering is over, we can now once again prepare ourselves for the Daunting task of trying to rationalize why we would ever want to run 8.5 miles straight up the side of a mountain J
This is going to be GREAT!!!

Jamie: Come on Damon….you make it sound bad, there are donuts, cigars and shots of tequila at the top……what more do you want from life? ; )

Damon: That is true and one shot of tequila is all you need to get completely snockered after the climb. I took mine from a guy wearing a coconut bra and speedo’s last time. HE WAS CUTE!!!

Not sure what to think of that Damon! :)

Here is some interesting race info:

The moon and stars no longer shine,
the dream is gone I thought was mine.
There’s nothing left for me to do
but cr-hi-iiiiy over youyou
got me singin’ the blues.

Robie Creek, the Blue Period, is paying tribute to Pablo Picasso. In his early twenties,
the young Pablo began to tint his paintings a pale, cold blue. The color blue, deep and cold, signified the misery
and despair he felt at that time in his life. This was his blue period. He painted with sincerity about suffering and
he believed blue was the perfect color to express his feelings. Over time, there have been many other artists who
have used the color blue to express both great sadness and great joy. The color blue is cool and calm; it is strong
and steadfast, or light and friendly. There are many shades of blue.

The Rocky Canyon Sailtoads are currently feeling a little blue. They are feeling the effects of the recession,
including loss of jobs. They are feeling blue over the loss of their retirement funds. They are feeling fat and
wish they had trained harder. They are feeling those donuts and beer they consumed last night. Blue is a good
color to describe them right now.

On Blueberry Hill: This course is the toughest 13.1 miles in the Northwest. The race begins at Fort Boise Community
Center, starts climbing on Shaw Mountain Road, continues the climb through Rocky Canyon until you
reach Aldape Summit. Then it begins a steep, bone-jarring descent into the Robie Creek drainage and along Robie
Creek Road to the finish. The road will be closed early, no early starts permitted!

Blue days, all of them gone
Nothin’ but blue skies from now on

Let's get it on! Well, my babies are waking up from their naps and I have to pick up Marki from school as well. I'll keep posting my goals and more info as we go along. YAHOO!

Watch Out Broadway, Here Come The Benjamin's!

This is the kind of entertainment I get to watch every night! These two are hilarious together. I have had the pleasure of watching concerts, plays, and Broadway musicals in my own living room, done by my own talented children. Life just can't get better than this!

I Love You This Much Daddy!

Smooch! From Daddy's love bug
Three Daddy!

A smile just for you!

From your littlest Valentines!

Well, my children have been at the table for the past hour decorating and coloring like crazy. At the request of Marki I have done yet another blog today. This one was her idea and I just thought it was so cute. If you happen to get a chance to see this, Mark, keep scrolling down a few blogs to hear a Valentines message from your babies.

Oliver's first word!

Taking a shower

In his "Property of Mom Forever outfit"

He is officially talking! And what is his very first word?? It is the same first word that his sister and brother first spoke.......Da-da! He has been saying it for a while now but I am just now getting it on here with his adorable little picture. I can't wait to hear what you say next! I am hoping for ma-ma!

Daddy's Girl

We celebrated Valentines Day early this year since Mark is at work today. Every year since Marki was born she has received flowers from her Daddy. I love to watch her face when she gets something special from her dad. You can just tell that she feels like the most important little girl in the whole world. And of course, to her daddy and me she is. Today Marki told me that her Dad was going to be her Valentine forever and she would not have any other Valentine except her dad. You'll have to show her this later on in life to make sure she is true to her word, Mark! Here is a Valentines Day poem to Mark from his daughter:

I love you Daddy and I want you to marry me and when my flowers die you can buy me knew ones. The End. I love you, Daddy. Okay, that's it mom!

Here is a Valentines Day poem from your son, Levi:

Hi Daddy! I love you.

Hmmmm.(He puts his hand to his chin, thinking intently) I know! You are joking.

I love hot cocoa. Hiyha! I want to make you cookies.

Three!

For those of you who don't know when Levi says, "Three" he is saying that he loves you. I don't know where he picked it up but that's our Lee!

A poem from your son Oliver:

Daaaaaaaada

ohhhga maah

Then some more babling

We love you Daddy! From all of your Valentines!

Poppy Comes to Visit

We had a great time visiting my dad this week. Marki and Levi were ready to go home with him this morning. We were all coughing with runny noses so most time was spent at home. We already miss you and can't wait too see you in March if we come down. Love you!
Poppy's girl

Oliver in Lee's Bronco's cap

See how well we get along Poppy!

Poppy and his grandkids.

Valentines Greetings from Papa and Gramma Benjamin

Marki, Levi, and Oliver received a package in the mail from their grandparents today. They LOVE getting packages and it was fun to watch them open up their gifts. Levi loved his Deigo card and Marki is still playing with her barbie doll and dressing her up. Thank you so much! Getting excited for the presents

Levi and Oliver got matching Irish T-shirts. How cute!

Levi and his Deigo card

Marki and her Barbie card dress up doll

Oliver taking a break after the receiveing his stuff

Footie Pajamas just for you

2 stars are born......Ok maybe we should get some sleep tonight, but first thing tomorrow we are loading up the fam and moving to HOLLYWOOD!!!

Preschool Party

Today Marki had her Valentines Day Party at school and I was able to help out with the festivities. I came up with a craft for all the adorable kids to do. We had a blast! I was so proud of Marki and I cannot wait until Lee goes to school with her next year. The kids did lot's of Valentines projects and they all did such a wonderful job.



Luke, Alex, Marki, Dylan, and Hannah

Presenting their art work

Marki's fabulous teachers, Miss Tracey and Miss Arisa They are the best teachers EVER!

Marki making her Valentines bag

Miss Tracey at work

Miss Arisa at work

Marki thinking, I wish my mom didn't always have a camera.

5 Months! How time flys by

Happy five months Oliver! You are really getting to be a big boy! Your laugh makes my heart melt and I can't wait to see the new things you will do in the next month. Right now you are getting used to your hands and fine motor skills. I bet you'll be sitting up before we know it. When ever you are awake you are smiling and laughing. You are really interested in your brother and sister and what they are doing. You will also be getting solid foods soon. We love your smile. Keep growing into the wonderful person you are!

30?!?! Your Old Brother!

Happy 30th Birthday Cody!!! Wish we could be there to celebrate it with you. Marki and Levi have made some birthday art. I just have to get it in the mail. I'll send it out today so it will get to you within a few days.



Do you remember when this picture was taken??? We went with dad and Gwen to Cold Mountain. Every time one of those "naughty" scenes came on you would whoop and holler and try and make it more funny and a little less awkward that our parents were at the movies watching the same naked stuff. Ha Ha Hee Hee.

I miss the old days of going to movies with you and you making me walk a little behind you as to not let any girls think I was your girlfriend. I hope you had a great time at your surprise party and remember, I am still younger than you are!!! You are also my favorite brother. Damon is a little sketchy and Scott, well, we all know about him! Love you!

Also, we hope the fire department is treating you well. They have fire departments here too you know!

Winter Fun

Marki and Levi sledding in our back yard.

Super Bowl XLIII

We had a really fun time with our friends, the Fewkes, on Super Bowl Sunday. Dave and Irene are the best people to host a party. We always have a great time with them. They had a great food set up with my favorites, penne pasta and chicken and lasagna among other things. I had such a great time talking with Irene about our kids and other things we have in common. She has a daughter Marki's age, a son Levi's age, and soon another son who will be Oliver's age. Our daughter's go to preschool together. It's funny to think that last year Marki would beg me to call Cheyenne's parents to get them together to play and I never did as shy as I am. I really wish I had done so. We are going to get together more often. I am looking forward to spending more time with them.



Marki waiting to go to play with Cheyenne

Cheyenne and Marki playing with moon sand

The best hostess ever, Irene six months pregnant with Konner.

Me and Irene

Oliver, upset with Arizona

Making a mess!

Purple tea anyone???

The girls helping to clean up thier mess

This is how they help clean up! Wow! I can't believe the mess we've made!

The kids played with Moon Sand while Irene and I talked and watched the Super Bowl. They made quite a mess. Atleast they had a blast together!!