Ben the Bull

Now a word about Ben....or should I say Ben the Bull. Because according to Ben, that is his name. He is not Ben Pilling or any other name. He is simply Ben the Bull. If you call our house and Ben answers, he will tell you so.

Ben is my energetic, determined, do-it-yourself 3 year old. He is full of mischief, and definitely believes in the motto "Where there's a will, there's a way". If Ben wants something, he doesn't ask. He simply figures out a way to get it himself. If Ben wants to open a package, he will retrieve the biggest, sharpest knife he can find to do so. If he wants something to eat, he helps himself, even if that means scaling the pantry shelves to get what he wants most. If he wants to listen to music or play a game, he will find somebody's iPod or his dad's iPad and find some secret hiding place to try and decipher the password.

I know Ben is guilty when I walk into a room and he immediately jumps down and runs for cover. Or sometimes he will drop whatever pilfered object he has and cover his eyes with his hands. He thinks if he can't see me, I can't see him.

You know how kids say things in their own funny way? Here is one of my "Ben" faves.

Be-see-cause. As in....

Ben: Why mom?

Mom: Just because...

Ben: But why be-see-cause?

If you do something that upsets Ben, he will look at you with his bottom lip poking out, on the brink of tears, and exclaim, "I not your buddy anymore!"

Ben loves to take baths, and will take it upon himself to add bubbles, which can be disastrous. Yesterday it took me forever to clean up all the bubbles after his bath! Today he came running in and asked me for bubbles right before he and Luke got in the tub. I told him No, not today. He turned and ran to the bathroom, calling out, "Hey Lukey! Mom said we could have bubbles!"

Typical.

He usually looks at me when I tell him no with his little look that says....Sure mom (wink wink). Whatever you say. He then waits until I turn the other direction and does whatever he darn well pleases.

The other day I was telling one of the other kids something when all of a sudden Ben jumped into the conversation, saying, "Yeah wight mom!"

Every night he likes to go through the same ritual. Prayers first, and then he says, "Hugs at the same time!" He squeezes me as hard as he can. Then he cries out, "Kisses at the same time!" He plants a HUGE kiss right on my lips. If I try to turn and catch the kiss on my cheek (you know, to escape the slobber), he will come at me again until he gets me right where he wants me. Then he calls out as I am leaving the bedroom, "I love you mostest and I love you both of us!" I'm pretty sure those two things mean the same thing, but who knows?!

One thing about Ben. He sure knows how to put a smile on your face!

Lost and Found

A couple days ago I lost Luke. Or at least I thought I lost Luke. We searched everywhere, called the neighbors, had friends helping us look for him, and even called 911. I was a mess. A total mess. 20 minutes can seem like a lifetime when your child is missing. The worst thoughts were going through my head.

Then we found him. Where? Sound asleep in our house, completely buried by couch cushions. Brek called out that he found him and I burst into tears. It's funny how we do that sometimes. I should have been jumping for joy, but the emotions I had been feeling all came to a head. And I sobbed.

After we found him, I felt overcome with emotion. For two reason. First, I was SO grateful that he was safe! I couldn't imagine life without my Luke. Second, I was so grateful for good friends and neighbors who jumped to help the moment they knew he was missing. One friend ran up and down the canal bank looking for him. Another got in her car and began searching and asking people. Several neighborhood kids joined my kids in the search.

I am so blessed. I am surrounded by the most amazing people. People who I love, admire, and respect. I am so grateful for my family. I am so grateful for good friends. At the end of the day, not much else matters.

One year older...

One year! I can't believe it's already been one year!!! My tiny little baby is not so tiny anymore. I could eat him up. Seriously! I adore him. I could just sit and watch him all day. I love the little looks on his face. I love his smiles and his laugh. I love to watch him explore and learn new things.

The past month or so has been huge in the life of Will. He went from zero teeth to four teeth in about three weeks. He went from rolling a little bit, but mostly just sitting (happy to be entertained by the action going on around him) to rolling everywhere, to "scooting" backwards, to crawling, to pulling himself up on things and walking around. Seriously, it has been a busy 6 weeks for that little guy!

He is very much loved by all of his brothers and sisters, his mom and dad, his grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles....basically, he is one lucky kid!

Happy Birthday little buddy!

A return to blogging

Time flies. We have successfully completed another Halloween, Thanksgiving (I hosted this year for the first time), and Christmas since my last post. Maybe one day I will feel ambitious and post some past photos. But then again....probably not. I can't even manage to keep up with the laundry for heavens sake! I had just about given up on my blog, deciding I just didn't have time for it. But recently I was sick, and with nothing else to do but lie in bed, I decided to look at my "old" blog. How fun it was to read about my family. I laughed, smiled, and WISHED I had written more. So, without further ado, I have decided to take up blogging once again. Or at least give it a try!

I think I will start with a little update on my children...one at a time, and in no particular order. I will start with Luke.

Why start with Luke? Mostly because I don't want to forget some of his classic statements as of late. Not too long ago, I spent the day in Boise with my sister-in-laws (on the Pilling side). While I was there I started getting sick. When I finally arrived home, I was greeted by my kids.

Luke: Mom, are you sick?
Me: I don't know buddy.
Luke: (reaching out his hand to feel my forehead) Let me check.

Luke: Yep! You're sick alright. (feeling his own head) I have a cold, and you have a hot.

Another funny tidbit about Luke....(but you must promise to keep this a secret, for it is a GREAT secret). Luke is a spy. At least that's what he tells me.
One day he whispered into my ear, "Mom, did you know I'm a spy?"
"Really?" I responded.
"Yes," he whispered. "But don't tell my teacher or they will kick me out of school!"

A while later, Luke came home from school and informed me that he needed to talk to me in his bedroom....just me and him.

OK, I said.

Later we had our secret talk. Luke whispered, "Mom, do you know what spy food is? It's SNOW. Sometimes, instead of eating popcorn while we watch a movie, I might eat snow, because snow is secret spy food."

You learn something new every day!

Luke is an amazing kid. He delights me. He loves kindergarten. Often, he gets his homework out and does it all on his own (even though he is supposed to read everything to me). He then signs my name for me...."M O M". Just like that. (I told him his teacher was pretty smart and might figure that one out, so he lets me listen and sign now.)

Luke is learning to play the piano. He is unlike any child I have had thus far! As I sit here and type, he is in on the piano (without being asked to do so, I might add). He has turned on the metronome and is "performing" his latest song. (If only he were actually playing with the metronome..... But nobody's perfect!)

Luke has learned my phone number. Last week while driving, I received a phone call about every 30 seconds. "Mom, when are you going to be home?....Hey mom, I forgot to tell you that I love you. Love you the most!....Mom, Ben wants to tell you he loves you....Mom, Maddy won't let me play with her...." etc., etc., etc. Finally I asked, "Luke, who taught you my phone number?!" "You did!" he responded.

And last, but not least, let me end with one of my favorite "lukeisms" as of late. Every now and then he says to me, "Kiss me you fool!"

He loves to give me hugs and kisses. One day he was literally smothering me with kisses during home evening. Finally I said, "Thank you! That's probably enough for right now."

He responded, "I'm just kissing you because I love you SO much mom!"

And I love you SO much my little friend!

Homework Time

It's a good thing Luke is going to school, because I am learning so much!

This was Luke doing his math homework last night.

Luke: OK mom. So if there are six bears that go to the movies and two bears decide to leave and go home, how many bears are left?
Me: Ummmm, four bears?
Luke: Yes!! Good job mom. (He is so proud of me)

Luke: OK...now there are only two bears at the movie and one leaves to get a treat, but then three bears come back. Now how many bears are there?
Me: Oooh, that's a tricky one. Four bears?
Luke: Right!! Good job mom.

And so it continues. At this rate I will be a genius by the time he graduates.

There's something about a baby

As I sit here, I can hear my baby upstairs waking up. He is making cute little happy noises. Because he is, after all, happy. He just woke up from a good night's sleep and is not even starving thanks to a little early morning snack (around 5:30 am to be exact).

When I hear his cute little noises, I can't help but smile. And it's not just me. Have you ever noticed the way people (even total strangers) smile when they look at a baby? You just can't help yourself!

See what I mean? There's just something about a baby.

I think people look at me and my seven kids and think I was probably one of those kids that adored babies. You know the type....they love dolls, babies, babysitting, etc. They love to hold babies, play with babies, gaze at babies. If a baby is in the room, they want to be holding it.

But that was not me. I was content to just look at the baby, and then be on my way. Don't get me wrong. I didn't dislike babies. I liked them and thought they were cute. And I definitely did my fair share of babysitting, being the oldest child in my family. But given the choice, I would be playing....and not with dolls. I wanted to really play. Baseball, basketball, trampoline jumping, tetherball, tag, hide-and-go-seek......

I guess you could say I was a bit of a tomboy. (I did, however, have a cabbage patch doll complete with a versatile wardrobe. But who didn't?!)

But then came marriage and I knew I wanted to be a mom. But what I didn't know was how much I would absolutely fall in love with my babies. I love the way their little faces light up with huge smiles whenever they see me. I love the way they kick their legs and shake their arms when they get excited. I love the way their little mouths open like a bird when they want a bite of food. I love the way they snuggle their little heads right beneath my chin.

Like I said, there is just something about a baby. And boy do I love my baby!

Where does the time go?

Ahhh, general conference weekend.

It's amazing how quickly time flies by. I am still trying to finish reading all of the talks from last general conference! (I confess I am not much of a reader post-baby....for a while anyway. I always seem to fall asleep when I start reading!)

I love general conference. I haven't always "loved" general conference. As a kid, I watched general conference because my parents told me to, and because I knew I should. But now I really do love watching it.....or at least, I WOULD love watching it if it weren't for all the not-so-quiet children I live with!

One moment I am loving it, and the next I am completely frustrated because I can't hear a thing they're saying amidst the chaos. At one point today, we had to pause the TV to get things under control. You see, someone had knocked over someone else's domino creation, and they didn't mean to, but some kids thought maybe they did mean to, and on and on and on the debate went, getting more heated by the moment. That is, until we paused the TV (technology is amazing!) and sorted things out.

Josh, who felt he had been very wronged, was not about to admit that he had any part in the chaos. I suggested that maybe he needed a haircut so he could "see" things more clearly, and you should have seen Brek! He jumped off the couch, whooping and hollering, and ran to grab the clippers! He was ready to shave Josh's "beautiful golden locks" completely off and was loving every minute of it. I wasn't really serious, but Josh panicked. Brek had fun harassing Josh for a few minutes until Josh finally decided he could see things perfectly well and admitted he may have had something to do with the quarreling.

Conference reconvened.

A favorite talk of mine was directed specifically to parents of teenagers. It was really good. He spoke of several things, including the dangers of sleepovers. (We don't let our kids have sleepovers and they have never been too thrilled about that.) When Scott heard the word sleepover, his ears perked up.

He listened for a moment, then turned to Brek and I and said, "Is THAT why you won't let us have sleepovers?"

A moment later...."Who is this guy?"

Then, standing up and walking towards the kitchen to get a drink, he turned, pointed at the TV and said, "Stop talking!"

It was hilarious!

Now that conference is over, I look forward to reading all the talks. I know there is much that I missed and I loved the things I heard. (I would love to sit down right now and listen to Elder Holland's talk again.) As I listened, I felt inspired to be a better mom and a better wife. There is always so much room for improvement.

Goodbye conference weekend. Hello "real life". (I think I am tired just thinking about you!)

Love Those Blue Eyes

This is what I see every time I turn on my iPod. It always makes me smile!

Luke, my sweet little boy, my only blue-eyed child, is such a gentle soul. AND....a very handsome missionary in the making! (Thanks for the suit hand-me-down, Lana!)

A Sunday Afternoon

A month or so ago, I looked at our cat and thought she must definitely be pregnant. Having experienced pregnancy a time or two myself, I was much nicer to the cat than usual. By this, I mean I actually took notice of the fact that she might be hungry or thirsty. (Usually I figure she's a big cat and can fend for herself. Her job is, after all, to catch mice.)

But then, a couple of weeks ago, I looked at the cat and thought I must have been imagining things. She didn't look pregnant at all. The thought did cross my mind that she might have had her kittens and I hadn't noticed. But as I had seen no sign of new kittens anywhere, I quickly dismissed the thought.

Saturday night I was on a date with Brek when we received a phone call from the kids informing us that we were now the proud new owners of baby kittens. Looks like I was right....and then wrong....oh, I am so not a cat person!

"How many?" we asked.

They didn't know. They could only see one, maybe two. Phewshhh!

But Sunday afternoon brought about a new revelation. We had not one, not two, but SIX baby kittens! And they aren't exactly "new" anymore. Their eyes are open and they are romping around.

The new kitties entertained my children for many hours on Sunday afternoon. First there was a photo shoot (I think it is so funny that my kids want to pose with the cats!) Then they began creating beds and houses for the kittens. Because, you see, one soft bed wasn't good enough. Each kitten needed their own separate "wing". And, of course, there was time spent trying to name each kitten. (I'm not sure what was decided upon.)

So....while I am definitely wishing I didn't have to find new homes for SIX cats, I appreciate them for entertaining my kids for an entire afternoon. And, I must admit, they are pretty cute.

If only they could stay little forever. (Sigh)

An Independent Boy

Ben is a do-it-yourself kind of kid.

Don't try helping him put his shoes on. You'll just get your hands slapped away, and hear, "No! I do it myself!"

This is a phrase that I hear often....VERY often. Like when I try to help him put his shirt on. He bats my hands away and says, "I do it myself!" And when he gets stuck with his shirt halfway on/halfway off and cries out in frustration, I try to help (after all, he did give it a valiant effort). But once again I get the, "No! I do it myself!" And guess what? He actually does it....all by himself.

Sometimes the shoes are on the wrong feet, sometimes the shirt (or pants, or underwear) is on backwards, but he did it all by himself.

He wants to pour the milk on his cereal. "No, I do it, " he says. He wants to cut his own meat or cut his own pancakes or wipe his own nose or buckle his own seat belt. "No, I do it." He wants to say every prayer that is said in our house, and when someone else is chosen he exclaims, "No, I do it FIRST!"

But I've got to hand it to little Mr. Independent. For the first time in my many years of motherhood, I have a child who went from diapers to underwear "all by himself". Yes, it's true. One day he decided the toilet was the way to go, and began frequenting it throughout the day. I started asking him if he wanted to wear underwear. For the first few days he said no, but then one day he said, "I a big boy. I wear underwears." And that was that!