Go Bulls!

Lily doesn't sit.

Thad plays with dirt.  Ella cooks with dirt.

Thad tries to covertly escape my sight -- in plain sight.

Ella steals my sunglasses.

Papa walks around the field with those who claim they are "bored."

Ella snuggles.

Skyler runs fast.

Thad is caught and trapped on Papa's shoulders.

Ella gets dirty.

 Thad gets dirty.

I check out a certain coach.

Skyler throws to home base.

(His head coach behind him is our Elder's Quorum President)

 Skyler's tongue might bring him good luck?

Skyler and Tyler (from my Primary class) and Kyler (no joke) all say, "Good game."

"Go Bulls!"

Memorial Day Weekend

My parents (particularly my dad) always encouraged us to watch the Memorial Day Concert on PBS each year.  He always told us that since we didn't serve in the military, hearing true stories of those who have died for our country would make us more grateful for their sacrifices.  As a kid, I always thought it was boring.  But as I got older, I began to truly appreciate it.  Now I look forward to it each year as I bawl my eyes out with a box of tissues.  I am so thankful for everyone who has served our country.  It is because of them that my family lives a very richly blessed life where we take the simplest things for granted on a daily basis.

Ben and I decided to make this past weekend a great one.  To our kids that means giving them lots of attention and letting them have a few out of the ordinary experiences.

First off, we headed to Bass Lake here in Holly Springs.  We found a mama duck and her ducklings!  The kiddos fell in love.

 They fell even more in love with this baby turtle that was smaller than my palm.

 But when we found this giant heron/crane, they just wanted to keep walking.

Crazy kids.

 The kids eventually asked to turn back and we gave in.  It was perfect timing because we walked by right when a stranger caught a catfish.  He pulled it in with a little difficulty but let the kids watch the whole process.  He showed how he weighed the fish and then showed them how big her belly was.  The kids thought it was so cool that they got to see a pregnant fish which somehow ended up with them mentioning how fat I am when I'm pregnant for the rest of the day... anyhoo, they cheered when he threw the fish back in the water so that she could have her own little babies.  Good times.

When we got home we made the kids lunch and they ate it on the deck since the weather was perfection.  One of our scouts came by doing a Krispy Kreme fundraiser so the kids were thrilled that they got doughnuts with their lunch.  Then we put all the kids in bed for naptime and miraculously all four of them slept!  I worked on stripping more paint off of an antique I just bought and then Ben pulled out two hammocks for us to take a nap in.  We crawled in, fell asleep, and at one point I woke up because I was drooling.  I hope none of the neighbors saw that action!

We took the kids to Sunni Skies for ice cream (rated one of the top 15 ice creameries in NC) when we all woke up from our naps.  While we were there Ben said, "And why don't we have popcorn for dinner with a movie!"  So that's what we did.  To say I woke up for church the next morning feeling completely miserable would be an understatement...  but somehow the kids didn't seem to be fazed...

Today we spent the day at my parents' taking it easy.  We played a lot in the back yard, the kids went to the park, we ate lots of great food, and the men folk even squeezed in some naps!

What a perfect weekend!  Now time to get into gear and get these last 10 days of school over with!

My Favorite Things

I always wonder if life will ever calm down and then I remind myself that with 4 kids, I'm just at the beginning of a long whirlwind ride.  In the past week we've had 2 kids with stomach flu, 4 of us with head lice, and this morning I woke up with pink eye.  I've washed the master bedding 3 times in one week.  I think that's a record.  So with all the craziness (and since this is my journal) I wanted to write down some of my current favorite things.  Feel free not to read.


THAD:  The way he isn't just held, he holds you too around your shoulders -- and for as long as he can.  His little evil mischievous voice that he uses for his punchlines when he tries telling a 19-month-old version of a joke.  The way he can make his face completely neutral when he knows he's being mischievous.  The way he loves cuddling stuffed animals.  The way he holds his books across his lap in his crib.  The way he yells "Yiwwy!  Yiwwy!" when he sees Lily and Skyler running off the bus (he can't say Skyler yet).  How he clears his own plate from the table and is so proud of himself when he does.


ELLA:  When I tuck her in to bed and she reaches for my neck and hugs me until I have enough will to leave her.  The way she always says, "I love you more" when I tell her that I love her.  The way she sings Daniel Tiger songs to get her through her toddler trials.  Her hair.  When she does her "ballets."  That she is mature enough that I can trust her with a task when I'm not watching.  When she sees humongous dogs on our walks and says, "What a cute little puppy!"  That when I was picking lice out of her hair that she was so concerned about them that she kept asking if I could take them back home.  I told her I had already sent them back home.... to Heavenly Father....  That I'm not allowed to get out of bed in the morning until she comes to "wake me up."  Oh, and once again, her hair.


SKYLER:  How he races when he's wearing his backpack and it just flops against him.  When he cries in class when he learns that he's not assigned to one of my groups when I help out on Fridays.  That his teacher told me that Skyler is a great mentor and friend to the kids in his class who get sad or lonely.  When he gives me "cheeky-squeezes" because he wants me to be happy.  When he shares his T-Ball snacks with all of his siblings after each game.  That his favorite part about camping is "cuddling with Daddy."  That he "secretly" climbs into Thad's crib to play with him at night.


LILY:  How enthusiastic she is about everything.  How she is so loved by all of her teachers at school because of her kindness and dedication.  How she rarely thinks twice about putting her brothers and sister before herself.  How she could read and write books all day.  How she has unlimited patience when her baby brother destroys her artwork or notebooks.  How she would wear dresses every day if she could.  How she writes notes to people almost any time she plays with them or goes to their birthday party to tell them how much she likes them.  How obedient she is.


BEN:  How diligent he is in his calling even though it's rarely convenient for him or our family.  How friendly he always is on work calls even in the hardest of situations.  How he organizes his work schedule around the kids so that he can have as much time as possible with them.  How he knows me well enough that he can sense when I'm starting to lose my patience with the kids and he steps in to give me a breather.  That he has made me laugh every single day since we got married and knows exactly what to do to put me in a better mood.  That he always strives to make me feel good about myself.


Some non-family favorite things in no particular order:  Watching The Amazing Race, nap time, coconut cake (a very new discovery that has been added to my very short list of non-chocolate desserts I like), Jimmy Fallon hashtags, PTX, this (only click the link if you're not squeamish about girly topics), party planning, my Toyota Sienna, having complete back yard privacy, having tickets to travel internationally this year (my first stamp in a passport EVER!), the antique dresser we just bought that needs to be stripped and repainted, and Humans of New York.

Girls' Afternoon Out

(blurry photo credited to my lack of knowledge regarding how to turn on the flash on an iphone)

In the beginning of the school year, Lily and Skyler's school did a unique fundraiser -- selling tickets to the Carolina Ballet.  They had a few shows to choose from but since I immediately knew I wanted to get Lily tickets for Christmas, I picked Cinderella since I knew she'd love it.  Then I asked my Mom if she'd want to come too.  Of course she did and so we have been waiting months for this.  

Little did I know what a great deal we were getting.  The fundraiser charged $27/ticket which I thought was great anyway for a professional ballet (I even price compared online and couldn't find anything that cheap).  The only catch was that ticketmaster chose your seats for you, so I knew to expect back row seats.  Saying we were surprised when we found our seats would be an understatement.  Our tickets gave us 8th row seats on the floor aka $70 seats!

I knew that Lily wouldn't love it as much as my mom and I would.  What can you really expect from a 6 year-old?  I really just wanted to expose her to that kind of talent.  But she really did like it, especially the fairy godmother and the cute little 10ish year old ballerinas who made up the clock.  When it was done we walked outside and pointed out the smaller connected theater that Lily is going to be performing her dance recital in next year.  Lily seemed to be a little amazed that she would be dancing in such a gorgeous theater (the Fletcher Opera Theater.) Nanni took us out for ice cream afterward which was the cherry on top of a perfect date.

When we're homeschooling this upcoming year I may or may not stalk our current school to see if we can score some more tickets.  All in the name of fundraising... right???

Mother's Day

Yesterday Thad's temperature spiked and he got a tummy bug.  The throw up was not fun and I felt so badly for how miserable he was.  I knew Mother's Day was likely going to be a disaster.

Little did I know that a little miracle pulled through and we were able to have a fantastic day!

I woke up and started getting ready for church.  Ella ran into my room and announced, "Happy Father's Day, Mommy!  I love you!"  She tucked me back in bed with her own blankie and pillow pet, and even turned on my "light" aka electric blanket.  (Yes, I do sleep with one year-round because I'm crazy).

Ben made me a fabulous breakfast.  Jalapeno and tomato omelette with fresh fruit and lots of bacon.  Ella even gave me half of her bacon, and if you don't know my kids well, just know that that is LOVE.  Ben stayed home with the babies just in case Thaddeo was contagious.  I got to listen to Lily give her very first Primary talk by herself (she did great!)  And I came home to a clean house and happy babies.

My parents came over early so that we could all attend the biggest event of the day:  Lily's very first dance recital.  Oh. My. Goodness.  It was the perfect way to spend Mother's Day.  I seriously can't think of anything I'd rather do than that.  After watching the recital I eagerly ordered a DVD copy for myself!  I can't wait to watch it over and over again!  If I'm lucky I'll figure out how to post Lily's dances on the blog because she was amazing but also hysterical!  She was thrilled with her flowers afterward and my parents' wand that they gave her.  As we were driving home from the recital Lily asked me, "Are Nanni and Papa coming back home with us?"  I told her yes and that they would be eating dinner with us.  She was so excited because apparently she had just made a wish on the wand that they would spend the day with us.  Yes, Lily, it was totally the wand and not previously made plans...

Ben and my Dad have a history of spoiling us on Mother's Day.  Filet Mignon, mashed potatoes, fresh fruit, salad, and jalapeno poppers were on the menu with a killer chocolate mousse cake for dessert.  What can I say?  We're food people.

I ended up with some fabulous gifts.  Ben  The kids got me my favorite flowers -- a potted hydrangea.  Skyler made me a construction paper purse with hilarious notes inside.  In his art class at school he also made me a clay heart pendent to wear on a necklace.  When Lily saw it she asked if she could have it.  When I told her no she asked, "Well then can I have it when you're dead?"  Uh... morbidly creepy, are we, Lily?

It was a perfect Mother's Day!  I'm so grateful for this wonderful holiday where I get to be appreciated for all these long repetitive days that so often seem to be meaningless.  But when I watch Lily dance, and I cheer on Skyler during his T-ball games, and when I paint nails with Ella, and when I read books with Thad, everything is right in the world and I remember that this is the best.  I could want nothing greater than this.