A Visit to the Big "D"

A week long visit full of fun with Grampa Bud & Gramma Susie has included playing hide-n-seek, coloring, playing the piano, listening to music, decorating pumpkins, and sharing sushi. We started out with 3 small pumpkins but by week's end, Samson has eaten 2 whole pumpkins. He is still on a diet and often rebels. Grampa & Gramma even brought some home grown veggies from their WV farm and fixed some fried squash. Stella & Mommy loved it! The adults took a trip to the 6th Floor Museam on JFK's assassination which was very intriguing and saw "The Grassy knoll". We celebrated birthdays all around and one BIG 10 year anniversary.

Chuck E. Cheese with Friends

A birthday party with friends at Chuck E. Cheese is the BEST! Stella had a lot of fun playing games and dancing with her friends from Primrose last Sunday. A total kids zone!

The Big 5

Stella celebrated her 5th birthday with a visit from Jacquee! They had so much fun doing all of the special things together: Pizza Palace, shopping, watching movies, and ice cream treats. For that special day, we asked Stella what she wanted for dinner and there was no pause, "Sushi!" So we celebrated with friends and opened some gifts. This week at our 5 year well visit, we found out we needed a visit to the eye doctor. Today we ordered eyeglasses just like Dad's. Too cute!

The Big "D"

We have been here about 5 weeks and it has been filled with adventure and a little drama. Let me see if I can summarize the latest happenings for The Bentleys. The kids and I left Nashville alone and drove the trip because of some last minute planning for getting Samson to Dallas. For future summertime movers and owners of malamutes: Airlines will not let you fly your dog in the heat of summer, and the USDA requires 14 days advance notification for transporting pets via a pet moving service. T was on the road so he joined us on Sunday night June 21st at a Sheraton in North Dallas after driving all day with Samson. We had to stretch the truth about 10lbs on Samson because it was the only hotel that even came close to accepting his size. The movers arrived at 7:30 am the next morning. We received an official welcome to Dallas from the Pfizer crew, Robb and Janice, later that day with food and beverages! 6 weeks later we still have a few boxes in the garage. Tom has been home a few days here and there and still has trouble finding the grocery store.
Will celebrated his 2nd birthday on June 28th. Stella, Will and I had some cake and ice cream, then ventured off to The Wizard of Oz puppet show. Work has been great and I love all of the projects and challenges. Many of you have asked what I do but it is too many projects to explain but my official job description is Sales Operations Manager for Pfizer Oncology: I have 13 states, 47 specialty reps, 1 sales director and 10 managers that I support with a number of projects. I get to use that math education finally to some degree, and find myself laughing and smiling over pie charts, spreadsheets and forecasting graphs. Most of you probably would never know that about me.....but analytics get my fancy and now I get to do it for a living!!
For those of you who wonder about the new digs (Leah this one's for you!). We settled on a typical Texas ranch house that has been remodeled but still needs some work. It has great bones, as the realtor put it! But, everyone knows I love a challenge, and at least this one is an investment challenge. We have plenty of space and it is split with 3 bedrooms & living on one side and a guest room and office on the other side. I have a HUGE kitchen and a pot filler at the stove! Lately, I haven't had time to cook and even let my Gourmet mag subscription expire. Maybe in the fall, life will settle and slow down enough to put my touches on the new digs. Perhaps a visit from a decorator friend (not mentioning any names here....LEAH!) could visit and get the house looking snazzy!
We are members of the Town North YMCA and visit the pool every weekend faithfully. Stella finally passed her swim test last week and received a pink wrist band to go down the slide. Every Sunday, we go to Starbucks and Inwood Donuts, just around the corner from the house, and take a morning snack to our neighborhood park.
I still haven't sent out those address cards, but it IS on the To Do List! Miss everyone and hope to talk to you soon.
~AMB

Boogie Time

Gramma Susie and Papa Bud were the highlight of the dance floor at the wedding of my niece, Ginger, and her new husband, Cody. Stella was a flower girl. We were holding our breath until she reached the end of the isle. We were so proud of her for staying the course. Ginger was a beautiful bride. Our time with family was a blast. Stella and Will got to play with all of their little cousins. The wedding was beautiful and the reception amazing! It was nice to see so many friends and family and breathe some fresh WV mountain air.

3 Day Holiday Weekend....and a BOX!

ConCon gave us a box from her new patio furniture and we had so much fun! Painting and drawing and playing house. At one point, Samson even got in on the action. I was working with Will on drawing "cewrcles".....when Stella announced she had made Samson a doggie salad to eat in his new doggie house. I peeked in to find Samson enjoying his dog food with Vanilla Cheerios. Later, at dinner, I asked Stella what her favorite part of the day was and she said, "Making Samson a doggie salad." Fun times!

Pre-K Graduation

Stella and her classmates celebrated their Pre-K Graduation from The Gardner School on May 14th at the annual Spring Fling. They opened with a song about the 50 States That Rhyme, which we practiced for weeks. Each student accepted a certificate from Ms. Loretta. It was sad knowing this was the last event we would attend for The Gardner School, a home away from home for both kids. Notice the green kitty socks that Stella insists on wearing all the time. We tried to convince her she needed to wear dress socks that matched with her dress for graduation but she said "no thank you." We pick our battles.

Sibling Fun...Finally!

Stella and Will have finally hit their stride and enjoy playing together....well, at least for a few hours. Today, Stella convinced him to "be a baby" and drink from a bottle. They had so much fun pretending.

My First Friend

Cole Doerschuk and I met in the fall of 2004 and have been friends ever since. We have had so much fun over the years. Some of my favorite memories are Halloween at the zoo, Birthday parties at the Jumpy Place, the ballet at the library, Easter at Cheekwood, trips to Dragon Park, and Puppets in the Park at the Nashville Library. Today was another fun day and another great memory. We saw Jack in the Bean Stalk at the Belcourt Theater with my other friend from TGS, Ian Tibbs. This is Cole and me after the play making silly faces. We love to do that. ~Stella

The Easter Bunny!

Stella and Will awoke to baskets full of treats and Easter Egg surprises! Will loved the stickers and his barn the most and enjoyed sipping milk from his new Thomas cup. We read about letters, numbers and shapes then played with the animals in our new little barn. His speech has improved since he had tubes put in his ears and has even begun to say 2-3 word sentences. He learned that he could throw his eggs and they would crack open to reveal some yummy candy! Stella was so excited to get new slippers, a clipboard, and new headbands. We did catch her trying to swap out eggs from Will's basket because she doesn't care for the jelly beans. Well, it's time for breakfast and off to church to celebrate the Resurrection and His unfailing Grace!