Me and my Girls

Squishy Face girl... making time go by as we wait for the ferry.

Weekend in Seattle

Lexy side saddle on the Pike Pig

The Market is always so crowded, but in the winter, it was open and easy to wander about.

Lexy, Grandma, Me & Riley

Watching it "fake" snow inside the Mall, only to go outside and have it snowing for real. All the Christmas lights, and Christmas Cheer in Seattle and then to have it snow... pure magic in my eyes. Absolutely Beautiful, I love this city!

The Stroller pout

Too funny, Riley couldn't put her arms down in this coat, I had her bundled up, just like Ralphie's Mom. (one of our favorite movies)

A group of men walked by, pointing at Riley saying "She is straight out pimpin' in her fur coat"

Island Medical Spa

(Kelsey, Me, Andie, Meghan, Kristy, Farrah, & Ludmila)

My Spa co-workers along with 2 friends that showed up for our Meet & Greet Party)

My new job (I've been here for over 5 months), It is great working in a spa...free treatments!!! Facials, massages, skin resurfacing, Laser hair removal, IPL, Botox, Fillers, and much more. Fun stuff! Maybe now I'll have that perfect skin I've always wanted!

Pepe Sitting Pepe is one of my friends dogs, every now and again he needs to be puppy sat, and we are quick volunteers. (because he's so darn cute) Riley adores him, but the feeling isn't 100% mutual. He tolerates her, and likes her when she has food or he wants a warm lap & fuzzy blanket to sit in. But that's a dog for ya.

Darth Snow White

This is an older Picture, (well I guess the crib kind of gives that away) Riley loves to dress up, and for some reason really likes the Darth Vader mask, the mask also has a voice changer in it. It's pretty funny to her a little girlie Darth Vader voice. And like most little girls, she loves dresses, Disney Princesses are the favorites, but will wear any dress if it sparkles!

~Sorry it took so long to post, I have been working a ton and don't have any desire to sit in front of my computer at home. (I sit in front of one, 40 hours a week... going blind!!)~ Also, my camera disappeared, and when it reappeared it wasn't working = ( So once again you get to look at blurry cell phone pictures. I guess it's better then nothing. ?right?

MY GIRLS

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Here is a little Gnome I painted on Abby's bedroom wall. (Abby is my girlfriends 5 year old daughter who loves gnomes and Fairies) I will be spending a few more nights there to paint a female gnome, couple Fairies and a giant red mushroom.

BUSY SUMMER!

Summer has been super busy, I started a new job, working in a spa, but am still making coffee a few days a week. Riley got to go camping a few times this summer, go to Oregon, Seattle, the Zoo, aquarium, a couple local Fairs, and much more. Lexy also had a busy summer, doing pretty much the same thing, she went camping multiply times with family and friends, inter-toobing, water skiing, and just hanging with friends.

So please enjoy a few of our pictures I have added, now that School is back in session we can get back into a schedule routine.

Sweet driftwood house

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Camping at Lake Riffe

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Camping again, ...in Coupeville, lots and lots of candy!!!

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Oh yeah, like you girls need energy drinks. I really like thing picture, Kimber, Lexy's friend took it

Schools back in session!!!The first Football game was just a boat ride away

(Lexy is in the top left corner)

Dinner with Papa

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Now, Riley eat your dinner, or else Buddy is going to eat it....

.....Buddy is laying under the table next to Riley's chair eating everything that fall off her plate. That's the one handy thing about dogs, they clean up all dropped food.

Sophie, ready, set, attack!!!!!!

TOTAL RED NECK

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It's obvious that Riley has been spending a lot of time with her Grandpa.

*it is only a toy gun

Thanks for your prayers

David is now home and is recovering quite well. He is able to eat whatever he wants, and just has to take it easy (that means playing lots of video games), soon they will remove his 22 staples from his stomach. Another scar to add to his chest. (he thinks its kind of cool)

CRABS

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Riley and I spent the afternoon playing at a local beach, the perks of living on an island, plenty of beaches to choose from. Riley loved flipping over rocks and watching the crabs run for dear life. She even caught a few and got to check them out, up close and personal. She kept calling them Spiders, I guess in a way they are like spiders, but by the end of the day she learned to call them "Cabs".

Update on David

David is finally out of the I.C.U., the only bad part is, he has to share a room.
David has been quite a trooper, listens to the nurses, tries to do everything with out crying, and he let Riley sponge the inside of his mouth. (pictured above) The sad part is he wants to eat so badly, and now that he shares a room he can smell his roommates food. That has been super tough to handle.

Pray for David

Y

Yesterday, while David was having a blast at Summer camp he was in a bicycle accident, he was emergency helicoptered to Harborview Hospital in Seattle. Late last night he went in for surgery and is now recovering in the intensive care unit. I do not know exactly what injuries he had, only that internally he had many rips in his intestines. He is hooked up to hundreds of wires and tubes, and is not allowed to eat or drink anything for 5 days. He is in good spirits but it is obvious he is in a lot of pain. (and being a 10 yr old boy he's trying not to cry)
So please say a little prayer for his recovery, pain, and his desire to want to eat. Thank You!

Farmer Riley

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Riley and I went to a party at my friend Mimi's little farm. she has mini horses, cows, chickens, etc. Riley realized that when you are inside the chicken coop the chicks are trapped, making it easier to catch the dumb little birds. Well, she had the greatest time catching them, holding and talking to them, she even tried to take one home.

We had a blast that night, and Riley can't stop talking about it. The only downfall of the evening was when Mimi's cute little kids came running over to me to show me what treasure they had just found, only to realize they were holding a family of snakes. Okay the may only be gardener snakes, but I am extremely afraid of snakes, and guess who had a nightmare 2 nights later. ugh!

Look what I can do

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Riley is quite tricky and a bit of a dare devil, (that's scary for a parent) One of her latest tricks is pushing a chair over to the counter and getting into the high cupboards, I for once didn't have any candy (shocking, I know) but Riley found something even better then candy, pure kid rush ... brown sugar! I love the fact she used the biggest spoon in the kitchen to eat with.

"Mommy try it, it's good, try it, okay Mommy" - Riley

Mommies little helper

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Riley loves to be close to me at all times, if I'm cleaning the house, she is following me with a broom and dust pan, if I am using the computer, she is sitting on my lap, (and yes she is on my lap right now, asking to go to "kitty load" that would be cuteoverload.com) She even follows me to the bathroom, whats nice is that it helps with potty training...for her not me silly! So when I am trying to cook, she wants up on the counter to help me attempt to make a tasty meal.

Y@@@@@@@@@@@@@Y

Riley is even helpful at other peoples houses, Aunt Krissy and Uncle Brian are remodeling their kitchen and Riley got to use a hammer, Aunt Krissy even had Riley use some power tools, the drill was Riley's favorite, she could wait to show me. ...Maybe the next Bob Villa?

A few Easter Pictures that were a little late being posted. Riley picked out her own dress at the store. We looked at many but this is the one she loved, she liked it so much she put on over her clothes while we were still in Target (one of my all time favorite stores). I enjoy all the pretty foo-foo dresses for girls, for a short time in a child's life you get to pick out the silly outfits they wear, and I'm all about the glitter, the fluff and the over the top dresses, its just too bad they grow out of them so quick. (Riley did chose a great dress)

Lexy Made her own shirt! Tie-Dye! Sweet!

la la la lolly pop

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Riley thought it was so funny that her tongue turned blue. She stood in front of the mirror a good 5 minutes admiring her brief new change.

oh the simple silly things in life, ...lolly pop anyone?

PEEP SHOW

10 years ago

Lexy was always making me laugh, doing silly things, resiting lines from our favorite movies (mostly Chris Farley movies) Using tape to distort her face was regular event in our house, we love to make ugly, funny faces, anything to get a laugh.

Things sure have changed, Lexy is still a funny girl, but just not as silly as she use to be. I guess that happens to teens.

...and to think I use to get irritated, because we were always out of scotch tape.

Have you ever seen the movie "Parenthood"(1989) with Steve Martin? A cute little kid playing Steve Martins son, puts a bucket on his head and head-butts the wall over and over again, why I don't know. Well, I heard thumping noises coming from my room, and there was Riley, playing out a scene from one of my favorite movies. She's never seen it, so I guess this is typical toddler behavior. And it's a mystery to parents as to why?

*Another crappy cell picture, but you need to use whatever is close to catch the moment and my camera batteries were dead. (hum I'm starting to sound Like my uncle Alan, dead camera batteries)

The Sequim Game Farm

This is one of the really cool things to do when you go to Sequim, the "Drive thru Zoo". Some of the animals are fenced off from the driving path, but still very close, and others are free to stick their heads in your window. (NO JOKE!, and yes some Bite) When you enter the Buffalo area, you're glad you own a giant gas guzzling SUV because these buffalo are bigger then most cars, the good news, their heads can't fit in the window, but their long slimy tongue can. ugh buffalo slobber.

One of the best parts of the zoo, you actually are allowed to "FEED the ANIMALS" that's a blast, the bears do the best tricks to win your love and a piece of your stale bread you bought from the front gate. Anyways, Chris took Lexy and Riley there for some laughs, screams, bear feeding, and buffalo drool.

*oops he forgot his camera, so this is the only picture, (he used his cell phone) Oh well, going to the game farm is easy when you live 2 miles from it. And I plan on going over sometime this summer... does anyone have a big SUV I can use? ; )

Hair Cut

well just the bangs

Riley has thick blond hair (she gets that from her Dad, because my hair is thin and very bleached) Anyways she has never had it cut, first off it's dangerous to put sharp objects that close to a squirming toddler, and second I love to put braids and ponytails in her hair. With that said, it is a huge task each day to wrestle her down, brush out all the "rats nest" (that's what my mom calls tangles) and try to get the part straight and the ponytails even. Because she looks ridiculous with her hair down, it's too big for her little body.

So Chris and I have been talking to about cutting her hair, giving her a cute little pixie bob, Lexy hates the idea and thinks Riley will look dumb. Only because Lexy had the cutest little bob when she was growing up and looks back at pictures and thinks her hair was awful, oh no it was CUTE!

Well still no hair cut for Riley, just the super trim of the bangs. I'm not sure if or when the hair cut will happen.

Graceland

Back in February Kris, Brian, Lexy and I went to Tennessee for the ACA Conference to sell our kits. During our 5 crazy day stay we managed to find a little Elvis time. I mean, if you are going to be in or near Memphis you better go visit The King.

I think Kris and I loved it the most, walking through his tacky yet beautiful house, hearing all his music, seeing all his fabulous outfits, everything from his Army uniform to leather peices to his glittered jumpsuits. It was Awesome! Then again, Kris and I are odd and like all the same crazy crap.

It's on it's way!

Our Happy Camper Collection

by

Kris & Katy

(above) is a picture of our product all finished & packaged, the notebook on the left are our instruction for the factory to duplicate our product. (and it's exact as our prototype we sent in March, pretty impressive)

BOXES BOXES BOXES BOXES BOXES BOXES BOXES BOXES

All this time, and thought of starting a business with my sister is very real now. We have designed products, traveled to trade shows to sell our awesome little kits, Kris and Brian have put countless hours doing the tortuously boring business side of it all, and now, our kits are on their way. From China to Seattle port, via big huge gigantic ship, then to Whidbey via super big Truck. Then we will be adding a custom camp logo stickers for each camp and ship them to camps all across America for Happy little campers.

It's a photo album, 12- 8x8 sheets of paper, epoxy stickers, journal cards, adhesive, & glitter gel pen. It's way cool, and you can buy one at KrisandKatyDesign.com (come on, I had to try, sell sell sell) Yippy.

Ugh, bad lighting,very yellow, anyways Riley and I were just being silly before her bed time last night.

I'm A Slacker...
Two months without posting... bad bad bad.
I lost my camera, first I thought maybe Lexy took it to Mexico, then wondered if Jimmy borrowed it for his not so great Disney trip, (lots of $$$ and David was scared $#!t-less and didn't get, feel, or see the magic that is Disney) but no, still no camera. Then my brother in law Brian called asking me if I was missing anything important... well it turns out that Easter Sunday we all gathered at my parents for Brunch and the super fun egg hunt and somehow my camera ended up in their egg hunting clothes* bag, which they just now unpacked. (note* when egg hunting at the Bennett's you need spare clothes, due to the pushing and shoving to find the most eggs, or finding the $20 egg of brag)

Whats happening at our neck of the wood?... Jimmy my ogar brother and roommate has found a great girl, shes a keeper. David (Jimmy's boy) was on the school Chess Club and beat every kid he played. Way to go David!!!! I played him once and lost, still feel pretty stupid about that, don't think I'll play him again anytime soon.
Riley is still potty training, and has found a new love to sing, she enjoys sing on the top of her lungs so we can all hear. (even our neighbors can hear) pretty funny.
Lexy got to go to Mexico with her grand parents, she came back pretty tan, (no burns thank goodness) She needs to put her head in the books at school and stay out of trouble, but that's hard when you are 15.
And Sophie, well Sophie has moved out, she is now living Chris, he pays more attention to her, grooms her regularly etc... She was getting depressed at our house, just laying around sleeping , trying to hide from Riley, because Riley shows her love through squeezing her like a boa constrictor.
The girls go to Chris's about every other weekend and say that Sophie looks the happiest shes looked in a long time. Chris brings her over from time to time when he visits the Island.
I'll do my best to keep my blog updated at least every month.

YCOUSIN LOVEY

Every Sunday after Church Grandpa takes all the kids to Wendy's for lunch. Well, Grandpa was busy soaking up the rays in Mexico, so Aunt Krissy and Katy took over lunch duty. Because we were in charge we let the kids pick the fine dining place, so we took it up a notch and went to Arby's. (ooooh so fancy) We feasted on deep fried food, sodas, milk shakes, and plenty of laughs. Now I see why my dad does this every weekend, it was quite fun.

Sandwiched between her cousins she loves so much Riley was a happy camper, also happy because she had her own soda, that she wouldn't let go of.

YIPPY!

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Tonight was a big night in our house, little miss Riley actually went pee on/in her potty!!!! The silly but genius thing is that the little toilet she has plays music when it gets wet!!! No joke, so even the toilet celebrates the peeing on the pot. You don't know how huge this was for me (and for Riley), I was getting a little worried because she has had no interest in using the toilet. Yippy the training has started!!!!!!!

All grown up...

..................................... well not really, she is still only 14..almost 15,

the time is flying by.

She is my beautiful girl.

I Y you Pumpkin!

SHOPPING

Oh brother she loves to shop!

Monday at the Mall, here Riley is helping me carry a few items, well actually two of those bags are empty. The ladies at each store thought she was so cute caring one of my bags that they gave her, her own bag filled with pretty tissue paper to carry around. Riley didn't just walk through the mall but she strutted, there was a little extra bounce in her wee baby steps.

Riley loves Sophie, Sophie tolerates Riley.