Halloween (a little late)

I keep thinking that one of these days I'm going to pull myself together and get organized, but I think that would necessitate a complete personality overhaul. I am what I am, I guess. Although, the many sleepless nights may be contributing to the mental lapses. That being said...here is Halloween! The kids were super excited to dress up! Unfortunately, with Halloween being on a Sunday they didn't get to do regular trick or treating. However, the ward had a trunk or treat and everyone was really generous. The kids got plenty of candy and I don't think they felt deprived at all!Ella as Snow White

Isaac as a Wizard

George as a warrior of some sort

Crazy Nightmare

It's funny how our brains connect things when we are sleeping and how real they can seem. I have a few nightmares that happen over and over again that I have a hard time shaking even after I'm awake. The other night Ella had a nightmare. It was the first time I have ever seen her freaked out like that. When I asked her about it the next day this is what she told me:

"Mom, do you remember the Zoramites in the scriptures? (Yes, I said) In my dreams they had a dragon, and they made the dragon blow fire on our house. So, our house was on fire and you and daddy were outside and the boys were out on the porch and I was stuck in the house with the fire. (At this point I asked her if she was scared and whether or not she got out of the house.) The boys opened the door for me so I could get out because it was too heavy for me."

This dream was so real to her that it took me an hour to get her back to sleep and when she came down the stairs the next morning she looked around the living room and said, "You were right, mom, there was no fire."

10 Months

I have been very bad about posting lately. The summer has been super crazy as expected. We have had lots of fun going on outings to the National Park and Washington DC. We have also done some home repairs! We got a new dining set and when Ben's mom was out we painted the living/dining area, and then my dad came to visit and helped us install a dishwasher and stove/oven. It's so fun to see out house taking shape and becoming ours!

Of course the best part of the summer has been my kids! Especially watching Amelia grow. She is now 10 months old. See how cute she is...

Initiation

Amelia was officially initiated into the summer kids' club today with the consumption of her first Popsicle. She thought it was very yummy and didn't seem to mind the cold at all. It's funny how you can just see these little ones feeling so big!

Tee Ball

I love Tee Ball. The kids are so fun to watch. I laugh and laugh. Their enthusiasm is so contagious! I only got to see the last inning of Isaac's game today, but the highlight was when the litttle guy who was running from 1st to 2nd stopped on his way to field the ball his teammate just hit. He picked it up and threw it all the way to home plate in an attempt to get his other teammate out, and then continued on to 2nd as usual. All the while MY son, who SHOULD have been the one to field the ball, stood in his "down and ready" position like a statue. In fact, I don't think he moved the entire time he was in the outfield. I can't wait until Thursday!

Tickle Beard

I have to post this picture for a number of reasons:

#1- This picture shows Benji with what the kids call his "Tickle Beard." He shaved it off a couple of days ago in honor of springtime and Amelia has been looking at him a little sideways ever since. (Who is that man that sounds like my dad?)

#2- It shows the head injury Iyah sustained when he fell out of the tree. According to him he scraped it on a branch on the way down.

#3- It shows our new trampoline! Thanks grandma and grandpa, great grandma and grandpa, and grandma and grandpa great!

What a cute bunch!

School Rules

So, I just had the weirdest phone call from George's teacher. She called to inform me that at lunch today another little boy took a bite out of the half of George's sandwich that he wasn't eating at the time. She told me that she offered to buy George something from the lunch line to make up for it and then informed me that the little boy had been punished by sitting out both recess and gym. What? Overkill, I say. She assured me that she would offer him a snack this afternoon since he refused the lunch line offer and just wanted to give me a heads up so I wasn't concerned when he came home talking about it. I wanted to laugh. I told her not to worry about George-he brings his lunch home half eaten all the time. If he ever came home whining about something like that I'd tell him to share-maybe the kid is hungry, or maybe I make awesomely tempting sandwiches (that must be it). Anyway, I felt sorry for the little guy having to miss his recess and gym. It's one thing if it's an instance of bullying, but this was a one time deal. I feel like people have a tendency to over-react sometimes. Weird.

Surviving Summer

Okay, so I wasn't very tricky. The top one was Ella and the bottom picture was Amelia. They're sure cute! I haven't updated the blog in awhile because we were sick, sick, sick, and then the weather turned super nice and we've been spending a lot of time outside. And now I'm starting to wonder if we are going to survive the summer in one piece. Seriously, little boys are maniacs! For example, just this week I had one fall out of a tree, one get a rope burn, one throw a brick at the other, one almost get hit by a car, and I could go on and on. We also put up the trampoline. Smart move...maybe not, but it sure uses up a lot of energy! Those emergency room people will probably get to know us really well. ;) Summer here we come.

Who's the Baby?

Sometimes I like to look back at old pictures and look for resemblances between our children. Then I like to quiz people and see if they can tell which kid it is. So now I'm taking it to to the web and asking you. Which one is Ella and which one is Amelia? Can you tell them apart?

Birthday Boy

Little Isaac

So I am super late with this post, but I need to wish this guy a super happy birthday! I can't believe he is already 5 years old and that he will be starting kindergarten this year. It's going to be hard having him gone all day! He is such a kind-hearted little guy. We love you Iyah! Happy 5th!

Big Isaac

Scripture Stories

This afternoon I went upstairs to check on what the kids were doing-they were being very quiet. When I paused outside the door to listen I heard Isaac telling the story of Jonah and the Whale to Ella. Some memorable lines:

Isaac: "He was trying to run away from Heavenly Father. That's bad huh?"

Ella: "Then he got stuck out in the ocean?"
Isaac: "No, the people threw him out of the boat!"

Isaac: "And then he decided to be good and the whale spit him out."

It's so great to know that things are sinking in and that these kids are understanding some of the things that we talk about and then they share it and teach others. My testimony grew today hearing his.

or not...

...back to the grind. They just called another snow day. Sigh...

Another Snow Day

Yet another snow day was called today. Luckily Benji had the day off from work, so he decided to take the kids sledding. It was a drenching snow, but the kids had a blast! Back to the grind tomorrow...

Birthday

Happy Birthday to this big guy! George turned 7 on Friday. It's hard to believe that he's this old already. However, it's fun to see him growing and learning and turning into a wonderful boy! We are so proud of him. Love you George!


As many of you are aware, George had a great love for the sea and all of it's creatures, especially those of the weird varieties. When we lived in CA and used to visit the aquarium we spent vast amounts of time in the jelly fish room. He has checked out just about every book in 3 states having to do with creatures of the deep and can recite numerous facts about monsters such as giant squid, angler fish, gulper eels, viper fish, etc. So, for his birthday we decorated our house with streamers (seaweed) and balloons (fish) to make an underwater world. I also made an angler fish cake. He was very pleased when he came home from school to our handy-work.

Sisters

PJ Princesses

Every time I see my cute girls together I want to sing that song from White Christmas,

Sisters...Sisters...
There were never such devoted sisters

Venting

I just need to vent a little bit and I don't have any friends or family here that I feel comfortable venting to. So, all you who happen to read this blog today get to hear it instead. Lucky you!

It's about the elementary school here. I don't think I've met with more rude people or ridiculous policies in all of my life! I won't even go into the whole registration process right now, I just need to talk about the latest...We want to volunteer in George's class one hour a week. Yesterday I was informed by his teacher that in order to do that we need to fill out a "Volunteer Application Form" in the front office. So yesterday I haul all of the kids over to the office and pick up a form-which is 3 pages long and requires 3 character references that I've known for over 2 years and that are NOT family, and a possible background check. Huh? I was then informed that if I want to go on any field trips I have to be fingerprinted. What?! She then told me to make sure that my references can be reached during school hours because they only call during school hours and if they can't reach all of them I don't get approved. I've applied for jobs that don't require as much. I'm not even going to be left alone with any kids. Seriously.

Then today when I dropped George off at school he forgot his library book. So I found a place to park and hauled all of the other kids out of the car and into the school to take it to him. As I'm walking down the hall this "hall monitor" (in a very rude voice) says, "If you are going to walk down this hall you need a visitors pass." I said, "Oh, I didn't think I needed one before school had started." She said (again rudely), "Yes, you do." Maybe we've just always lived in small enough towns until now that the people at school always knew who my kid was and who I was. In our old schools parents walked their kids to their classrooms all the time. It was only when school was actually in session that you needed to check in at the office.

So, my question is. Are these things normal? Am I getting bent out of shape over normal policies here? I would love some feedback. Although, I have to say that I probably wouldn't be as annoyed if these people were nice once in awhile.

3 Months

It's hard to believe that it's already been three months. Amelia is growing so big and cute! She is laughing and talking and playing with her toys and her brothers and sister. She really is a joy. We love her so much!!