Mom To The Rescue

If the kitties survive, it....will....be....a....MIRACLE!

Today I was called out to the garage by a frantic Luke. The kitties were in need of help once again.

I found this.

Do you see the kitty? Look very closely.

Let me help you out. Here's a close-up.

Simple deduction tells me Ben pulled the step ladder up to the car, climbed onto the car, and oh so tenderly placed the kitty on top of the garage door. Because, after all, he is such a tender guy and all!

Here Kitty, Kitty

The other day, as I walked out in the garage to find Ben "lovingly" carrying the baby kitty around in a stranglehold, I felt like I had stepped back in time. Back to a time when Scott and Josh were little and visiting their Grandma and Grandpa Pilling who had new little kitties.

The boys loved to visit Grandma and Grandpa Pilling. They loved to roam around the countryside and explore. And they loved the new little kitties. One day Grandpa Pilling took Scott and Josh with him to water all the newly planted trees around their property. Grandpa drove a four wheeler, behind which was a small trailer where Scott, Josh, a barrel filled with water, and the kitties sat.

As Grandpa was driving he heard Josh exclaim, "Look Grandpa! The titty-tats tan swim!"

Grandpa turned around to see Josh shoving the kitties into the water barrel, "helping" them swim.

Later that day, Grandma went out to the freezer in the garage to retrieve some food. But when she opened the door, what did she find? You guessed it! A very cold little kitty!

Grandma exclaimed, "Who put the kitty in the freezer?!"
Scott replied, "That kitty was being bad! He scratched me so I put him in time out!"

I guess there's a reason why cats have 9 lives.

And now, the drama is being replayed right here in my own garage with our very own little kitties. Ben dons is gloves (to avoid getting scratched) then heads out to visit the kitties. He picks them up by the fur on their backs, he grabs them around the neck, he climbs up on top of the water barrel and drops them, he "hides" them in cupboards, he puts them on the scooter trying to force them to go for rides. No wonder the kitties run and hide whenever they see Ben coming! Luke is also in on the action, but doesn't hold a candle to Ben.

We try to teach Ben to be gentle, but he doesn't seem to be getting it.

Enter Scott.

Scott, the kitty terrorizer has now become Scott the kitty rescuer. Fearing for the kitty's lives, Scott rigged a shelter for them where no Ben could go.

Notice, the opening is large enough for kitties, but not Ben. Behind the 'silver partition' is a comfy little kitty bed. You wouldn't guess it, but Scott is really quite a softy.

Now the kitties are safe. But the mama cat? Well.....Ben has now focused his attention on her. He thinks she should be with her kitties at all times. Sooooo, whenever he sees her out and about he decides to take matters into his own hands, picking her up and trying his hardest to shove her through the opening.

It ain't easy being a cat....at least not at the Pilling home!

The Three Amigos

Luke and Ben have partnered up with Addy, the next door neighbor. They are the best of buds. When the primary kids sang in sacrament meeting for Mother's Day, Ben stood up on his seat to yell hello....not to his own brothers and sisters, but to Addy! He kept calling her name and trying to talk to her. I told him, "Shhh, Addy can't talk right now. She's singing."

He frowned at me and growled, "I want to talk to Addy!"
I repeated my answer.
Again he growled, inching closer to my face, "I want to talk to Addy!"
And again I told him she couldn't talk right now.
In his fiercest growl yet, just inches away from my face he said, "I WANT TO TALK TO ADDY!"

And so it goes. Day after day is filled with playful bliss as they roam from our house to hers.
Yesterday we were in the car. The three amigos were sitting in the back seat. The conversation went something like this.

Addy: Last year Summer (her cousin) fell in the river. In my grandma's river!
Luke (gasping loudly): Your grandma has a river?!! My grandpa has a river, too!!!

Both grandparents live a short distance away from each other on the same river. Funny kids!

Luke the Great

A few of my favorite Luke moments as of late.

On Friday morning Brek had to run to work quickly and couldn't wait to take the kids to school as he usually does. A few minutes after he left, Luke came into the bathroom where I was getting ready.

Luke: Mom! The girls didn't wake up soon enough. I forgot to wake them up!
Me: (playing along with him) Oh no! I guess they better hurry then.
Luke: But the Pharoah has left!

Not sure who the pharoah is? Remember Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat in which Brek starred as Pharoah? Well....apparently Luke hasn't forgotten his dad's claim to fame!


Luke really loves his little brother Will. A little while ago, during scripture study, Luke and Ben were wrestling around and accidentally kicked Will in the head. Will screamed his protest and I wasn't too happy with them, either. Luke kept saying, "He's OK mom, he's OK."

After a few minutes Luke said, "I didn't mean to kick Will."
Brek said, "I know you didn't mean to. It's OK."
Luke replied, "Besides, I LIKE Will!" (he only kicks people he doesn't like on purpose, I guess)


One of Luke's favorite things to do lately is "shoot hoops" out on the driveway. The other day I went out to tell Luke it was time to come in.

"One last shot?!" Luke asked.

He then started singing while he dribbled around: I believe I can fly. I believe I can touch the sky....

Funny Luke.

Faith of a Child

Today Luke was looking at one of my house plan books. I have these books because someday we will build. And more than likely Brek will come to me one day and say he is ready to build and needs a house plan ASAP. That's kind of how he works. Take our boat, for example. He talked about buying a boat for years. He looked and looked. Then one day he all of a sudden bought a boat....right time, right price, right everything I guess. It will be the same with our next house.

Anywho, Luke was looking at one of these books. On the front there is a picture of a rather large house.

Luke: Mom, can we move into that hotel?
Me: Oh no, we don't want to live in a hotel. Besides, we have to build our own house before we can move in.
Luke: Oh. Well then we need to ask Jesus for help.
Me: Do you think he could help us?
Luke: Yes. He helped that little guy beat the giant (David and Goliath), and he helped Nephi build a boat. So he can help us build our house.

Luke is amazing. He always makes me smile.

How Fast They Grow

Will is officially 2 months old (as of May 6th) and weighed in at 11 lbs. 6 oz. He was 23 1/2 inches long. And I am happy to report that he has slept for 7 straight hours twice! I'm not getting my hopes up for a repeat tonight, but I will definitely take it when I can get it!

Luke and Ben were with me when Will got his two month shots. Neither of them liked to see their brother get poked. They were very concerned. When I turned to Luke to tell him everything was going to be OK, he had tears welling up in his eyes. He sure loves little Will.

I was curious how Will measured up to my other kids at 2 months, because he seems to be growing so fast! 4 lbs. in two months is quite impressive. A few more pounds and he will be double his birth weight. But I guess for a Pilling, he is pretty average. Luke weighed 10 lbs. 4 oz., but he was a week shy of being two months. Ben, on the other hand, weighed 12 lbs. 2 oz. and he was also a week shy of being two months! (Ben is a tank) Anyway, just kind of interesting.

Now back to Will. What did we ever do without Will? He delights us with his smiles and his "cooing".



Some of my favorite moments come when I am holding Will. He gazes up at me as though I am the most important thing in the world. (And to him, I probably am. I am the meal ticket, you know!) I will be distracted by....well, life....and when I look back at him, he is still gazing up at me and gives me a big smile. It is the sweetest thing.

A couple of times he has laughed right out loud. So cute! Last week at piano, I was holding him on my lap. When I turned him around to look at me, his face lit up with the biggest grin and he squealed right out loud. It was darling! Josh stopped playing and piano lessons came to a halt while we all huddled around Will to see what he might do next.

I love my little guy!

Happy Mother's Day

Seven reasons why I love being a mom....










And one reason why I am the luckiest mom.



I am married to the greatest guy!