And So We Begin Another Year of School

They're off!

Another school year has begun. We had varying degrees of excitement around here. The older my boys get, the less excited they are for school to start. I guess they know what's in store! However, Josh did admit he was a little bit excited, but ONLY because it was his first day of junior high.

We had a lot of firsts this year. Scott's first year of High School (wasn't I just there?!), Josh's first year of Junior High, and most importantly....Luke's first day of Kindergarten!! If ever I was sad to part with a child on the first day of school, it was with Luke. Luke is my little friend. He is a gentle soul who delights me with the things he says. But boy, oh boy was he excited to go! He wasn't one bit nervous. He has been waiting for this moment for quite a while!

One day I asked Luke, "Will you please stay home with me??? What am I going to do without my Luke?!"

"No," he replied. "I need to go. But I won't be gone for very long."

Then Brek chimed in with his usual...."Why are we sending him to kindergarten anyway? He already knows everything they are going to teach him!"

So I asked, "What do you think they will teach you in kindergarten?"

He thought, then said, "Ummmm....I think they will probably teach me to ride my bike without training wheels, so I better go."

Anyway, back to the first day of school. Each of the kids looked shnazzy in their new school attire. The girls, especially, were SO excited to wear their new clothes/shoes that have just been sitting there, taunting them for the past couple of weeks. Madelyn painted her fingernails sparkly pink and silver, to match her shirt. Impressive, I tell you!

I dropped them all off, waved goodbye, blew them kisses, and anything else I could think of to embarrass them (J/K), then headed home to a very unusual sound....quiet. Well, at least quieter!

Hello School....it's nice to have you back around for a while!

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!

Blessings and BBs

It has been a while. It's not that I haven't been on the computer, but my computer time usually only comes when I'm nursing, which leaves me one-handed. Not exactly ideal for typing. And when I do have a spare moment (do I ever have those???) I am exhausted and choose my bed over my computer. However, tired or not, life carries on in its usual, busy way.

So, time for me to catch up.


The month of April began with a baby blessing for Will.

It went something like this.

Saturday: Wake up bright and early to clean the house. Get myself and all kids ready then go to my niece's baptism. Spend the day enjoying the Pilling clan and Kelly's delicious cooking. Hurry home. Run out the door to a piano recital. Get home and begin food preparations/finish lesson preparations for the following day. Midnight....finally go to bed, just to be awakened less than an hour later by Will.

Sunday: Up at 6 am after a few hours of very interrupted sleep. Get ready....finish food preparations....get other kids ready....quickly take a few pictures....run out the door (can't be late for church because I have a lesson to teach)!

Brek gave Will a beautiful blessing, we loved having all our family around, and there was lots of good food to eat. It was a good day. A long day....but a good day. And at the end of the day, I collapsed from sheer exhaustion.

Will looked darling in his little blessing outfit, which barely fit him. He is a growing boy!

All the kids....minus one. Scott had to go to church early for meetings.




And now on to the not so fun events of the past few weeks, which included sickness and doctor's visits.

First there was Scott. After four or five days of fever, headaches, and coughing we decided it was time for a doctor's visit. The diagnosis? Bronchitis. After being down and out for nearly a week, an antiobiotic was prescribed, and he was finally back to normal....for a day or two that is. Then the stomach flu hit.

Scott, Ben, Maddy, Syd, Josh, and I all took turns being sick. Luckily it was a mild dose of the stomach flu that didn't last long.

But that wasn't the end of it....the doctor's visits anyway.

There was the day when a little blue plastic bb found its way into Luke's ear. And how did that happen, you may ask? Well....the bb was placed in Luke's ear by none other than Luke himself. Then, to make matters worse, while attempting to get it out he managed to push it in just as far as it could possibly go, making it impossible for me to get out. So to the doctor we went.

But the family doc couldn't get it out either. Or rather, Luke wouldn't let him get it out. He screamed and thrashed whenever his ear was touched. There were three of us trying to hold him down, but it was no use.

Soooo....to the ear specialist we went. He tried the same route the family doc had tried with the same results. Sadly, it was looking as though Luke may have to be sedated, which was not a pleasant thought all the way around. I wasn't too excited to pay a small fortune, nor was I too thrilled to have my little Luke sedated. The doctor hesitantly mentioned that he could try strapping him down. Did he think I would be opposed to this idea? No way! I was all over that!

So, out came the straight jacket. (I asked the doctor if I could borrow it for the weekend, but he didn't think I was very funny.) Even with Luke strapped down, I still had to hold his head while the doctor numbed his ear. After 20 seconds or so, the numbing medicine started taking effect and Luke stopped screaming. Poor little Luke. It had been a rough go for him.

Now there was no more pain, and exhaustion began to settle in. He had worn himself completely out. There he lay, on the verge of sleep, when suddenly he turned his head and said to the doctor, "Hey! What's the big idea? I can't hear anymore!"

I knew Luke really wasn't losing his hearing (the doctor had warned me the fluid behind the bb might make it seem like his ear was plugged momentarily). This struck me so funny I couldn't stop giggling. The doctor must have been quite impressed with this crazy mom who asked to borrow his straight jacket, and laughed at her son's distress. But then the doctor doesn't know Luke like I do!

Luke was very brave, and soon the bb was out. But the fun didn't end there. When Luke tried to stand up to go, he just about fell over. Luckily the doctor was prepared for this possible reaction and caught him. The medicine didn't sit well with Luke and he had no control over his legs. And on top of that, it made him very sick. He threw up twice before we even got out of the doctor's office. As you can imagine, he was not a happy boy! Mercifully, he fell asleep on the way home and slept for hours. When he finally awoke, he was good as new, and acted as though nothing had ever happened.

And when Grandma Pilling showed up with a bouncy ball equipped with special flashing lights, it all seemed worth it!

However, I think it would be safe to say that Luke will never stick something down his ear again!

Is it bedtime yet??!

Today is not going so great for me.

Ben is in rare form. He must think to himself before he enters each room....Hmmm...what is the one thing in this room that mom really doesn't want me to touch?! He is in destructo mode today, pulling things out as fast as he possibly can. What is fun about pulling every DVD out of its case and throwing it on the floor I ask you? And really, where is the fun in throwing the folded laundry all over the family room?

To make matters worse, I haven't slept. Not much anyway. I feel like I am just about at my breaking point. You know, the point where you are ready to just collapse onto the floor and burst into tears. At least, that's what happens to me.

And to make matters even WORSE, Ben has finally discovered that he can climb out of his crib. I must confess, I thought this day would come much sooner, and for this I should be grateful. But his timing is, once again, impeccable. Of course he would choose now, when I need him to take a nap more than ever, to decide he has much better things to do. He and I are in the midst of a serious power struggle right about now, and my lack of sleep isn't helping matters.

There is so much to be done. I can't seem to get on top of things. I just simply don't know if I have what it takes to get it all done today. Homework, practicing, dance, dinner, laundry (yes, it must be folded again), etc., etc., etc.

What I really wanted today, more than anything, was for all three boys to take a nap this afternoon so I could take a nap. Oh, foolish me. What was I thinking?

Well, it was a semi-reasonable thought. After all, Ben and Luke were up until who knows when last night, given Ben's new-found crib freedom. And usually Will just sleeps the day away. But alas, today is not to be one of those days. Will is bugged by something, and peaceful sleep seems to be eluding him this afternoon.

And so here I sit, complaining to the world about my sorry case. Poor, poor me.

Alright, enough wallowing in self-pity. That has never gotten me ANYWHERE! Time to look on the bright side of things.

First there is Will, the source of my exhaustion. I must confess, I adore him. What a blessing it is to have such a sweet, healthy little boy join our family. At least if I have to go without sleep, it is for a good cause!! And tonight, Brek will take Will for the first shift of the night and I might get three whole hours of uninterrupted sleep. This may not seem like much to you, but to me it would be a welcome change to my past few nights!

The bottom line is this....Life is hard. It is hard for each and every one of us in its own way. Sometimes it is harder than others. But then, that's how we grow and become better people. And at the end of the day, I am so grateful that, despite the hardships, I am surrounded by people that I love!