Ella Time

With Lily and Skyler both at school all day, I thought I would get a lot more done -- meaning more cleaning and more work in general.  Instead, I've found that I do get a lot more non-work stuff done.  A lot more cuddling to be specific.  My house is still a mess, but Ella and I get tons of glorious snuggles.  I'm mostly giving myself the week off of my non-urgent chores so that I can soak this up.  Because this yumminess won't last forever and I've got to take advantage of it while I can.

 Yesterday while Thad was taking his morning nap, I brought Ella into the bathroom with me to "help" me do my hair and makeup.  She stole my makeup in the process and put on blush and eyeliner when I wasn't looking.  Who wore it better?  ;)

The first morning of school was a little rough on Ella.  She didn't understand why she was alone.  She kept asking, "Where Guyer?  Where Iwwy?"  But I'm happy to say that she has perked up since then and has realized that she has all the time in the world to play with the most coveted toys in the house -- especially the plasma car. 

When Ben gave Lily and Skyler father's blessings before school started, Ella climbed up on the chair when they were done and demanded to have a blessing of her own.  Ben and I thought that was absolutely precious so we went along with it.  It turned out to be the most beautiful blessing of the three and Ben and I both got really teary.  The one thing I don't want to forget was that Ben could see Ella playing with angel children while Lily and Skyler were at school so that she wouldn't be lonely.

I am really excited for this year.  It's funny because if you would have asked me 5 years ago how I felt about having two babies at home I would have told you how tough it is and how crazy life is.  But now that I only have two babies at home, it's such a breeze!  Ha!  

Labor Day With Nanni and Papa

For Labor Day, we decided to get together with my parents and go to Pullen Park -- aka my most favorite park from childhood and adulthood.  We went on the train and carousel, had a picnic lunch, played on the playground, and fed the ducks.

The kids were a little bit thrilled about it all.

Ella was NOT happy to be on the train.  So we tried to convince her to be happy, but when that didn't fly, Ben took her off before the train started moving.  Of course, as we started leaving, she began crying that she wasn't on.  Oh the joy of two year-olds. 

Skyler sharing a seed with Papa.  He instructed papa to plant it in their backyard.

P.S.  Skyler plants seeds all the time and one finally has sprouted on its own!  We officially have a cucumber or squash vine under our deck.  Skyler is beyond happy with himself that he is that much closer to becoming a farmer. 

After the train ride, we headed over to the playground which is basically the best playground ever since it's divided into age groups.  Ella enjoyed the toddler playground while Lily and Skyler enjoyed the older one.

Also, Pullen Park earns two thumbs up from us for having those water mister poles that let us cool off.

Ella goes down the slide at our house when we help her.  To her defense, it's a seriously fast slide.  But here she went down by herself for the first time ever!  We were so excited!

Everyone rode the carousel except for the babies and me.  Let's just say my post-baby body has long since decided that carousels should make me look like an idiot by giving me jelly legs and serious dizziness.  But the excited faces I got to watch made it worth that sacrifice.  I'll gladly never ride one again just so I can watch them.

After we had all our fun at the park, we headed over to Nanni and Papa's so the kids could have their much needed naps.  Papa took the kids down to their neighborhood playground as he always does when we visit, and then we ate Cook Out.  We only had one diaper blowout, Ella didn't once say, "NO THADDEO!" and no tears were shed as we left the park or Nanni and Papa's.  I think all of this means that today was a success.

The First Day(s) of School!

Both Lily and Skyler have had their first day of school!  Lily started Monday along with the rest of the school.  But in Wake County, Kindergartners have something called "staggered entry" where they only attend one morning or afternoon in the first week in order to get tested and placed.  After they test all the kids, they evenly distribute ethnicities, levels of intellect, genders, etc.  On Friday we should find out Skyler's teacher.  We're crossing our fingers for Lily's previous kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Lockhart.

I was able to talk with Mrs. Lockhart after he was tested and she told me he was super sweet and he knew all the answers to their questions.  I'm not surprised though.  I feel like Skyler's ahead in everything except reading.  He had a fantastic time and was so excited that they even let him play on the playground.

We attended the "Meet Your Teacher" at school a week ago to find out who Lily's teacher was.  All the 1st grade teachers gathered us into the school gym, gave us a presentation on what to expect this upcoming year, and introduced themselves.  Lily pointed to one of them and said, "I want her."  Of course, I told her that we didn't know until after the meeting was done which teacher was hers, so don't feel bad if she's not yours.  Well, it turns out that she was!  Lucky Lily!  Miss Bauer looks like she's going to be just as fantastic a teacher as Lily's last one!  Woohoo!

On the first day of school, Lily was confident enough to find her own room at school that we let her ride the bus.  Lily has been beyond eager to start school all summer.  Basically as soon as she graduated kindergarten, she's been counting down until first grade.

(I couldn't decide which Thad face I liked best.  They're both so Thad.)

Ben thinks it's hilarious that I get weepy about the kids growing up when he loves the fact that they're getting older and trying new things.  So this year he kept trying to induce tears whenever we'd bring up the kids going back to school.  He'd say things like, "Man, they sure are getting bigger," *big stare to see if I'll cry,* or "Before you know it, we're going to be sending them to college and on their missions," *big stare to see if I'll cry,* or "Just think, Skyler used to be just as small as Thad.  That went by fast," *big stare to see if I'll cry.*

The Husband of the Year Award definitely does not go to Ben.  At least not until I'm used to the kids being back in school.

And while I actually haven't cried at all about the kids starting school, I was not ready at all.  We still have so many things left to accomplish on our summer bucket list.  We basically had to throw away the entire month of August since Ben had an appendectomy and we've been sick ever since.  Goodness gracious, we're one of the few people around here who actually gets a whole summer break since most people are in year-round.  I still feel like the break was too short!  Homeschooling next year will be good for us.

2 Week Appendectomyaversary

These past two weeks have been full of so much emotion for me.  Ben had spent so much time planning the 50-miler that all I kept telling myself was Once it's over everything will calm down.  But then Ben had his appendectomy, we got hand foot and mouth, then Ben and I started getting colds while the kids got tummy bugs and started throwing up.  Ben and I are still sick but the kids seem to be getting better.  My only prayer is that Lily and Skyler are in good health for when school starts next week.

Lily is the only one who got over everything quickly.  That was another answer to one of my prayers.  She has dreamed and dreamed her whole life of being able to go to dance.  In the first couple of years we couldn't afford it.  Then last summer we moved to our house and were so overwhelmed with unpacking, having Thad, and Lily starting kindergarten, that signing up for dance was one of the last things on my mind.  Yesterday she went to her first class.  Typically when she does something for the first time she holds back and is more timid.  But this time she was so free and happy.  It made me tear up to see her joy after she had waited so long for this opportunity.  Man, I'm going to be a mess during her recital at the end of the year.

Ben's recovery was a very difficult and slow-moving one.  I won't go into details, but he ended up getting a blessing from someone 5 out of the first 6 days.  It was horrible to watch his pain.  I was so consumed with getting him better and with taking care of the kids on my own, that when people started bringing us meals it really touched me.  It's been so nice because I've only made dinner once since we were in the hospital.  We have felt so much love and kindness, it's so hard to say thank you sufficiently.

Last Sunday I knew there was no way Ben would make it to church.  So I crossed my fingers and took all the kids with me.  I was smart enough to sit on the very back row in the gym because I knew how hard it would be to control all of them.  Ella's little tupperware of crackers slid down her seat and fell behind us on the floor.  I had Lily and Skyler help me pick them up.  No biggie.  When the sacrament ended, two friends of mine walked in through the back entrance in the gym, saw me alone with the kids, and sat next to me to help.  I can't say how grateful I was!  Because just then, Ella's tupperware started sliding down her seat again and in an effort to save it, I hit it wrong and catapulted it up into the air, spreading the crackers over several rows of seats.  That was the point I had been waiting for all week -- the point where I had to burst into tears.  These sweet women took Thad and helped Lily and Skyler pick up the crackers while I cried.  I don't cry often, so it wasn't a surprise when Lily asked me, "Is this a good cry?"  When I shook my head she said, "Oh.  Mom, you've got black rain on your face."  Ha!

But really, Ben and I have seen first hand how wonderful our friends and neighbors are.  We are so grateful for the meals, the offers to watch the kids, the kind words, the priesthood blessings, and overall concern.

The Hike Full of Life's Lessons

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to go hiking with the Harris Lake Ward's young men.  After months of planning and multiple preparation hikes we were ready to go.  We all met at 4 in the morning to drive up to Mount Rogers, VA.  To say that it was early was an understatement, but all of the boys and leaders were on time and we were able to hit the trail by 10:00. 

All of us had high spirits as we went into the hike.  As we hiked we talked about games, girls, hobbies, technology, cars, etc.   It was a great morning.  We ate lunch and kept going.  It then started to get hard.  There were a number of steep climbs followed by long descents.  Little by little the entire group started to get tired.  We were surrounded by trees and the trail just seemed to keep going and going.  During the afternoon we started getting minor injuries, but nothing that we were concerned about.

As we slowly came into camp that night we were a tired and sore group of hikers.  Thankfully we had worthy priesthood holders who were able to administer blessing to the boys and leaders.  We finished dinner and went to bed.  It was significantly colder that night than we had planned and a number of the boys were cold, but everyone slept pretty well.

 

Day 2 started a little slower than I would have liked, but all of the boys were in good spirits again and so we started out.  Our hike that day started with a 1.5 mile climb and it was a very slow hike.  We had a couple of the hikers who were struggling, but we finally were out of the forest by noon.  We had a couple of the boys who very excited about that and went running to see the views.  We decided to keep on hiking instead of having lunch because no one was hungry yet.  We kept hiking and were able to hike through acres of blueberry and blackberry bushes.  All of us seemed to get a little pick-me-up from the plethora of berries.

 

We finally ate lunch at 2:30.  We had a good lunch and we were back on the trail.  Almost immediately, one of the boys started to struggle.  He just didn't have the energy to keep going.  I asked all of the other boys if we could have a moment of silence and pray for him.  We decided that I would take the faster boys and then send some back to help with the other boy's backpacks.  We made it to the point where we had planned on sending one leader and one boy home due to injury. Our only problem was that there was no water for 2 miles in either direction and we couldn't leave the two of them there with no water.  We were pretty low on water and all the boys spirits were starting to flag, but we decided to push on to the next water source. We decided this so that the following day we would only need to make up .8 miles, but we chose to take a "shorter" trail, but we soon learned it was the hard trail.  The one blessing of the day seemed to be the wild ponies that were grazing next to the trail.  We started going up these steep hills that had boulders for stairs.  At one point we were bouldering trying to get over the Rhododendron Gap only to find out that the "longer" trail was 200 feet away and much easier and safer hiking.  During this time I had fallen and felt my hip come out.  I was able to get it back in, but it hurt extremely badly, but we were losing day light.  I estimate that we only had an hour left so we had to keep hiking.  Finally we made it to camp.  I sent one of the boys back to help the slower group navigate the horse trails. One of the other boys with me I noticed going into to phase 2 hypothermia.  I helped him get shirts and pants out of his and my bag.  We got his sleep pad and sleeping bag out and had him wrap up in it while I hobbled frantically around looking for wood -- which there was none of.  As I got a fire going, the last of the boys came into camp.

 

That night was extremely cold.  At 10:30 it was already at 46 degrees.  The dew point was also extremely high so everything was getting wet.  Where the water source was there were no trees.  I made everyone pair up in tents, but I only had my hammock.  Thankfully one of the other leaders had a bivvy tent and I had brought and extra rain fly so I was able to make a make-shift shelter.  We tried to get all of the boys to eat their dinner, but some of them were just to tired and I was in too much pain and couldn't keep my flavorless pasta down.  We finally went to bed.  I slept horribly.  My make-shift tent still let me get wet because of condensation, one of the boys had labored breathing all night and at 3:00 in the morning I  knew it would only get colder and I needed the night to end.  That is when I started to pray from the depths of my soul.

I asked the Lord if he would make the morning come more quickly.  I knew that He had the power to do this if He willed it.  Right after I finished my prayer, I received a text from Heather telling me that she had being praying and had received the answer that angels were watching over the boys.  I received the distinct impression that God would keep them safe and that I needed to worry about me.  I then remembered my rain jacket.  I spread it out over part of my sleeping bag and was able to produce a small warm spot and was able to get about an hour of sleep.

The next morning I was the first one up.  I wandered off a bit to do my business and started to think about all of the hardships the boys had gone through.  It was then that my eyes were opened to how much God's hand had been directing us all that previous day.  The 1st thing that I realized was every single one of the people who had received a blessing the first night had received what the Lord had promised them in full.  One of the boys had a bad knee and was blessed that the pain would go away and it did.  2 of the boys had problems with the ankles and had been blessed that they would be healed and were.  One of the other leaders had been blessed that with his back pain he would be able to continue and he did.  I was blessed that my hips would stop bothering me and I had no problems, until the previous evening (I will explain this later).

I then thought about the young men who were continually going back to help the other boys.  One of the young men told me when we reached camp that last night, "I don't feel like I have been hiking at all today.  I still have a lot of energy." When he came back into camp from helping for the last time, he told me that as soon as he came into camp he felt all the energy leave and he was exhausted.  The other young men who helped also had similar experiences as well.  One of the leaders had prayed that one boy would have his pack lightened and during the day he kept taking thing from the boys pack and he never felt his pack get heavier. Me being the leader with the boy who had hypothermia, I had the same experience since I grew up in Idaho and knew exactly what it was and what needed to be done.   Also the angels who kept guard over our camp and kept everyone warm.  Everyone except me had been warm that very cold night and had been able to sleep well, which I later learned was in answer to my mother's fervent prayers.  In an area where there was no cell-phone coverage, I was able to call my wife very briefly and ask for prayers during the night.  And I can continue with the list of miracles that followed this extraordinary group of young men.

The next morning my hip was in bad shape and the weather forecast said that there would be thunderstorms for the next 3 days.  We decided to call the hike off and go back the 2 miles and then hike out to the road.  I was heart broken.  I know what miracles happen on a 50 mile hike. This was my 5th one after all.  But as we came off the mountain I started to ponder again.  I realized that when we had decided to keep hiking the previous evening, the Lord had being telling me to stop.  I had received the impression that we should end it, but I hadn't wanted to.  As soon as I started hiking again the previous evening, God took away my blessing of no pain in my hip.  The last 2 miles had been excruciating and when I still refused listen, God allowed me to fall while bouldering and twisted my hip so that I couldn't keep hiking. That way the boys, leaders, and myself would be safe and off the mountain in time for the storms.  But as I hiked the last 2 miles I realized as well that every single person who had gone had received a 50 mile experience in 25 miles of hiking.

Also as a side note to ending the hike early -- I started getting appendicitis the day after we arrived home and my surgeon said that if we would have been hiking still, I would have been in a lot more trouble than I already was.

We arrived at our pick up destination early, so we stopped and watched the wild ponies graze.  One of the boys decided to take some close ups of the ponies and they were very gentle ponies that acted just like dogs.  One of the fawns came up and started nuzzling him.  After that all of the boys and leaders spent the next hour just enjoying the opportunity to share time with these ponies and revel in God's creations.

 

These past few weeks have taught me a lot.  God is always aware of us and what we need.  We may be blind to the reasons behind everything, but God knows what we need.  I want every one of the boys to realize that God will never leave them alone.  If need be, He will send an army of angels to protect them.  I know that God has been watching over me.  Many of these miracles I have spoken of could be looked as being coincidence, but they were not.  They were miracles and I hope each boy uses these experiences to build their testimonies and realize that God does have a specific plan for each of them.

Ben's Appendectomy

Ben was on a 50-miler on the Appalachian Trail with a 50 pound pack last week, so it's easy to understand why he was achy and in pain once he got home.  On Monday Ben told me he thought he was getting an ulcer from the stress of the 50-miler.  But on Tuesday, things got really bad. He was having a harder time just walking around and doing normal things.  He's had his fair share of kidney stones so he knew it wasn't that.  But his pain still seemed worse to me than what would come from an ulcer.

Wednesday morning Ben woke me up and told me he needed to go to the doctor.  He was looking into urgent cares so he could get in ASAP, but none of them could see him until a couple of hours later.  He decided to just wait until then while I was getting the kids' toast made.  But just from the time that I started making breakfast to when the kids had started eating, Ben's pain worsened dramatically.  He was having a hard time hiding it.

Finally, I convinced Ben that he needed to go to the ER.  He came to terms with that but thought he'd drive himself ON THE WAY TO WORK.  Okay, I'm sorry.  I had to say that because this is Ben and sometimes he's crazy.  (I love you, Hubs!)  I knew I was going to have to drive him there right away and so I told the kids to put on their shoes and bring their toast in the car.  We ran out the door with just my purse and Ben's work bag.

We called my parents on the way to the hospital.  I dropped Ben off at the ER entrance while I parked and waited for my dad to switch cars with me.  Luckily he arrived 5 minutes after we did and he drove the kids to their house.  Can I tell you what a huge blessing it is having my parents so close?  I didn't have to worry about packing anything because I knew my parents are always ready to have the kids since they have their own diapers, formula, pack'n'play, etc.  What a relief!

Ben started a number of lab tests right away.  While I was getting breakfast in the cafeteria they took him in to a CT scan and they confirmed that he had appendicitis.  We had arrived at the hospital at 8:30 but they told him they wouldn't be able to perform the surgery until 1:30 -- but since we're talking about a hospital here, he actually went in at 2:45.  Ben was pretty drugged up and was finally able to snooze off and on which was great since he hadn't slept really the night before.

Finally they took Ben back for the surgery.  The surgeon told us it would be a half hour procedure.  So I waited in the waiting room with my lunch and my buzzer, just waiting for them to buzz me to let me talk to the surgeon after the procedure.  But time kept passing and while I had felt peaceful all day, I started to worry more as time kept passing.  Finally, an hour and a half later, the surgeon finished the surgery.  He told me that Ben's appendix was partially ruptured and that the surgery was pretty complicated.

Apparently with a typical appendectomy, they snip the appendix off of the large intestine and staple it up.  Simple, right?  Well Ben's appendix was so sick that just when they touched it it fell right off on its own.  They weren't prepared for it and so his intestines leaked fecal matter into his body cavity and they had to clean him up inside.  The surgeon told me that Ben had had appendicitis for at least 5 days.  We consider it a miracle that Ben kept getting prompting after prompting that he needed to end the scouts' 50 miler early.  Ben's appendicitis started the day after they after they all got home.  We knew back then that the Lord must have had his reasons for letting them only cover 25 miles, but now we know.

What turned from "Since you got here so early in the morning you might be discharged tonight" turned into "You're definitely staying overnight" which turned into "You're definitely staying overnight again." So Ben and I stayed in the hospital for 3 days while we watched way too much HGTV.

We want to thank everyone who prayed for us, sent us well wishes, offered to help, and otherwise came to our aid.  I especially want to thank my parents who at the last second took all the kids for 3 days and 2 nights so that I could be with Ben through the whole ordeal.  They even had to go out and buy each of them a new outfit since they arrived in their jammies.  Overall, we are so grateful for the many experiences we had through the whole thing and we realize just how blessed we are.

(Now someone remind me of this when we receive our medical bill.)

Skyler's 5th

On the 30th Skyler turned 5.  Ben was on a 50 mile hike with his scouts on the Appalachian Trail at the time so I tried to make it the best day I could on my own.  We spent the morning at the pool (which I now feel comfortable taking all 4 kids to by myself now that Lily and Skyler are both swimming), we had Chick-fil-a for dinner, and Skyler got to choose all sorts of fun things to do throughout the day.

When Ben got home, we opened presents together and then Ben took Skyler out to lunch since he missed his special day.

Skyler is our scientist.  Some of his biggest fascinations are seeds of all things.  He constantly asks where certain seeds come from and what they'll grow into.  I would say he has quite the collection but in reality he has none because whenever he has a seed he holds onto it for dear life and then a couple of days later he plants it in the back yard.  One of these days one of them will sprout.....  But since he's a scientist and he wants to be a farmer when he grows up, we gave him a clear gel ant farm. He's really excited about it.

Our home teachers dropped off a present for him.  LEGOS!

He ended up with a couple of movies, two toy planes, and some spy gear (aka laser tag).  Lily and Skyler love pretending to be spies around the house and so I knew that would be perfect for them. 

On Saturday Skyler chose Chuck E Cheese for his birthday activity.  It was raining and so we thought it was a good idea.  We met up with my parents and every other family in Raleigh as well.  It was PACKED.  But the kids didn't seem to mind and actually asked why we couldn't just live there on the way back home.  Um, because those animatronics still creep me out.  Sorry.

We are so glad to have Skyler in our family.  Skyler completely fascinates me with his unique personality.  He's the kind of kid who would just as much want to watch Planet Earth as he would The Lego Movie.  I've heard many a groan from Lily when it's his turn to pick the movie and he chooses documentaries about the earth or how fireworks are made or shark vs. swordfish battles.  Half of the time he would rather give up his pre-bedtime playtime with Lily and Ella so that he can play with Thad in their room.  When I asked him what kind of a cake he wanted me to make him for his birthday he insisted that I make my favorite (chocolate) because he wanted to make me happy.  (Don't worry, I finally got it out of him what he really wanted).  

Skyler is by far the most emotional child I've ever met.  His tears and breakdowns have been constant since he was born.  But we have been working hard for the last few months to help him get in control of his tears before he starts Kindergarten.  I am happy to report that he is getting better!  (With bribery of course)  But being sensitive has also given him a very sweet and sympathetic side that makes him such a joy to be around.  Despite how he sometimes acts, he really does want to make good choices and tries to make others feel good around him.

We love you Skyler!