Ode to Ben

You know what I LOVE?

When Ben snuggles up to me, then starts patting my back. It is the sweetest thing!

You know what else I love? When I make a smoothie and Ben runs to the drawer full of cups, and pulls out one of his very own sippy cups. He then stands at my feet, cup in the air, waiting for his cup to be filled.

I love it when I come walking into the house and Ben comes running as soon as he hears my voice, huge grin on his face, reaching his hands up towards me!

Or when he walks up to me, smacks my leg, squawks at me, then emphatically raises his hands up high as if to say, "I want you to pick me up....right NOW!"

I love the way Ben laughs. I love to see his funny little sense of humor. I love the way he tries to tackle me and smother me with kisses when I am sitting on the ground....even if I am trying to read scriptures to the other kids.

Then there's bedtime.

Usually Ben goes in the crib and then I tuck Luke. Ben watches as I give Luke hugs and kisses, then stands up and starts making popping sounds with his lips....his way of asking for goodnight kisses. I kiss him goodnight and he squeals and laughs. I love it!

But you know what I love most of all???



None other than the little guy himself.
LOVE HIM!

Let the creativity juices flow

Maddy had a great Christmas. So great, in fact, that she wrote Santa a letter to tell him thank you for the best Christmas ever! I already mentioned the hula hoops....a huge hit! However, she also got a great big supply of art "stuff". (I'm not sure why the big guy is getting all the praise. After all, she did get the art stuff from ME.) J/K I am a big Santa fan, you know!

Anyway, she LOVES her art supplies. Almost daily, Maddy pulls the supplies out (much to her daddy's dismay). You see.... art supplies = big mess!

Her art "stuff" consists of paper, markers, stencils, stickers, feathers, glittery stuff, pipe cleaners, etc. All the kids join in on the fun.

A couple nights ago, the art supplies came out and the kids began creating. On this particular night, they were all interested in the pipe cleaners. Are you wondering what in the world a pipe cleaner is? Well, it's a fuzzy sort of wire stick that you can bend into shapes. And it is altogether possible that they aren't actually called pipe cleaners. I'm not exactly a craft expert, you know!

They look something like this.


And this is what Josh made with his.... a personalized necklace made completely out of fuzzy wire sticks. It was an early birthday present for Maddy.



Maddy was so thrilled with her gift that she decided to make something for Josh in return. Don't ask me what it is, because I have no idea! But, she was quite proud of it.

Ahhhh, those sweet moments when they are nice to each other does my soul good. We have our fair share of taunting on the one end (Josh) and whining on the other end (Maddy), but who wants to blog about THAT?

They really are great kids!

Lukeisms

Yesterday after Josh's basketball game we were running out to the car. It had been raining and was wet and soggy everywhere.

Luke's grandpa was helping him out to the car. Luke turned around and called out, "Watch out for the muddle puddles, Grandpa!"

Then last night, we went to our friends' house for a birthday party. There were lots of kids running around playing. We gathered them all together when it was time to eat. I told Luke to sit on my lap and be quiet so we could have a prayer and bless the food.

He looked at me, bowed his head, and said, "Hea-nly Fadder...I'm not hungry."

And off he went.

Say Cheese

One day, Luke and I stopped at one of those photo booths in the mall....you know, the ones where you pay a couple bucks and they take four shots of you.

Well, apparently Luke thought it was fun, because the next time we were in the mall, he wanted to stop again. But I wasn't too hot on the idea of spending a couple bucks every time we walked by the photo booth, so we moved on.

Who needs to pay for photos when you can take them for free yourself?! At home, we created our own photo booth, which consisted of me holding the camera at an arm's length while snapping pictures of us making silly faces. We had fun taking pictures and then laughing at them. Even Ben wanted to get in on the action.

You gotta love digital cameras!

Will we miss it?

The other day, amidst the chaos in our home, Brek looked at me and said, "So, do you think we will miss it someday?" (referring to the chaos)

I thought for a moment, then replied, "Yes."

The house will be cleaner, the laundry will be significantly less, the noise level will be drastically reduced....but we will miss it.

Because we will miss them.

Along with the chaos comes so much joy. Families are the best!

A Mighty Fortress

Luke is going through a phase.

A phase which I hope he grows out of soon.

I will call it the fort building phase. In case you don't have kids, or maybe you don't have fort building kids, allow me to explain.

Building forts (in my house) includes pulling all the pillows off the couches (as in more than one couch!) and stacking them in random ways. Usually it also entails running from room to room to gather more pillows.

Luke is still a beginner builder, and his forts usually end up looking something like this.



This a fort built Lukey-style. Or in other words, it is a great big pile of pillows. Usually the creation looks a bit more.... well.... fort-like, when the older kids join in the fun. And on the grand scale of fort-building, this fort is actually quite small, having used pillows from only two rooms.

My response to the forts usually goes something like this.

Day one: I think to myself, "I am glad they are having so much fun. They are being so creative! I'll just let them play and have fun, and we'll pick up the pillows later. Because really, pillows....no big deal!"

Day two: I think to myself, "Wow, forts again? They sure are having fun building forts. Do they really have to use all these pillows, though?"

Day three: I think to myself, "Oh man, forts again?! Didn't I just pick up those pillows?"

Day four: I say right out loud, "Luke! Not again! I just picked up all those pillows. No more forts!"

And so it goes. Hopefully I will have a brief reprieve from the land of forts.

The best Christmas present EVER!

For Christmas, kids often ask for that one and only thing they have been wishing for. Perhaps an American Girl doll. Maybe a new bike. Maybe a RipStik. This year Madelyn asked Santa for that one thing her heart had been yearning for....a hula hoop. More than anything else, she wanted a hula hoop!

On Christmas morning her joy was complete when she found not one, but TWO sparkly hula hoops awaiting her.

Shortly thereafter, the hip swinging began. Soon Maddy was able to walk across the entire length of the basement....while swinging the hula. She could even go up and over obstacles. Impressive, I tell you!

The other kids have joined in the fun. Syd and Josh are both quite proficient at the hula hoop. The kids have started branching out, trying things such as the neck hula (swinging the hula hoop around their neck), and the double hula (swinging two hula hoops at the same time).

Today Madelyn had show and tell, and she wanted so badly to show her hula hoops. Problem was, they wouldn't fit in her backpack. But, being the fantastic mom that I am, I agreed to bring them to her at the agreed upon time.

The time was 2:45. I arrived outside of Madelyn's classroom just in time. As soon as she spotted me, a huge grin spread from ear to ear. That grin did not leave her face throughout the entire show and tell.

When it was Maddy's turn to show her treasure, she walked to the front of the class, ducked her head, and quietly told the class about the new hula hoops. My crazy and very talkative little Maddy....shy in front of her class.

After her brief explanation, the class was allowed a few questions. Maddy beamed as she got to call on her classmates. She answered each of their questions with a very happy "Uh-huh."

After the questions, her teacher asked if she would care to demonstrate. I was surprised to see her shake off the shyness and begin doing the hula for her class. They ooohhhed and aaahhhed. She beamed!

I am so glad I was there to witness the showing of the hula hoops. It was one of those moments you treasure as a mom. The kind that make you also smile from ear to ear!



Tonight I came home from mutual to find Sydney and Maddy casually swinging hula hoops, with the timer set for one hour! They could have done it, too....if only they didn't get bored.

Just Smile

Often times, I go about my day doing the normal day to day things, unaware of the suffering that is going on around me. I am absorbed in the life of my little family, taking care of their needs, hoping for their safety and well-being.

But then there are those who are just hoping to make it through another day. For one reason or another, their days are filled with heartache, worry, pain, and sorrow....to name a few.

Today I have practiced with my kids, cleaned the kitchen (several times), done laundry, exercised, fixed meals, ran errands. You know, a typical day. Meanwhile, my friend Lana was shaving off what little hair her daughter Emma had left. One more reminder that her daughter has a life-threatening illness. So much for the ordinary, cancer-free life that was hers a few months ago.

I sometimes finish out my day feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. But I am sure Lana would take my exhaustion and stresses ANY day. On top of the normal worries that come with raising a family, Lana (and Jeff) are dealing with leukemia and all that comes with it....and there is a lot that comes with it. It is one bumpy road.

It makes me feel like I should focus more on the positive each day. My troubles are nothing compared to Lana's. I need to be more grateful for all the good around me, not take it for granted. You never know how quickly things can change.

Tonight I stopped by Lana's to drop off Ty who had been playing with Luke. My kids stayed in the car, and as we drove away, Maddy asked, "Who was that in the pink clothes?"

I told her it was Emma.

"But she didn't have any hair," was Maddy's reply. She wasn't bothered by the fact that Emma had no hair. She was just confused.

I explained that Emma had a very bad sickness and the medicine she needed to help her get better made her hair fall out. I then said, "But didn't she look great!"

They all agreed!

I then told them....

"Emma is beautiful, and you know why? Because she always has a beautiful smile on her face, and people who smile are beautiful."

How true it is. Emma is truly beautiful and makes me feel happy when I am around her. Thank you Emma for sharing your beautiful smile with me all the time!

Random Thoughts

I am feeling so not creative.

Nevertheless, there are a few thoughts running around in my head. And I must jot them down.


I love my calling! Seriously. I am the laurel advisor, and it is one of the best callings. It's not always easy breezy...I mean I do teach every Sunday. But other than that, I get to be around and have fun with the youth. And let me tell you, they are amazing! I am so proud of them and all the good they are doing. Yesterday, Brek and I went with the youth to the temple. What a great day!



OK, here's a random question?

Why do you suppose babies feel compelled to throw things? When Ben is done eating, he squawks at me (his way of asking me to get him down). However, if I don't respond quickly, like within 10 seconds, he just starts picking up any remaining food and tossing it. Now really, what possible good can come from that?!

And then yesterday, out of the blue, he threw a phone right at my face (from close range I might add!) I seriously thought he gave me a fat lip. He laughed...ha-ha...what a fun game!

That leads me to my last question....

How can you be mad at a giggling baby???

Seriously.

They are just too loveable!

Hair Troubles

THIS is the one thing I don't like about gymnastics!

Every time Syd has a gymnastics performance we have to put her hair in spiderwebs. I am what you might call "hair challenged." I can handle the basics....straight hair, pony tail, pig tails. But anything beyond that is a major stretch! Last year it was french braids for clogging, and this year it's spider webs. Talk about stepping out of my comfort zone!

However, once it's done, she does look very cute. AND she is very fun to watch. She is quite the little gymnast!