EVIDENCE TO DOCUMENT SIBLING LOVE AND JOY

There is a lot of contention, arguing, teasing, hitting, ignoring, etc., that goes on at our house on any given day.  When I got back from a quick neighborhood walk it was great to hear ONLY laughter in the backyard.  When I looked outside I saw this.  They were all having fun; they were all included; they were all happy.  No one was cheating.  Sigh.  It was a beautiful few minutes and gives me a lot of hope.

Ben's BIG DAY

I suppose I have lots of things to share, but I'm starting with this weekend.

Ben is in a I don't want to smile phase, in case you couldn't tell from this year's family pictures.  He ends up looking like a boy from those Old West photos...living a hard life, homesteading it, but that's okay.  It will bring back fond memories someday.  On April 8, 2017, Ben was baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  He made promises with his Heavenly Father to remember Jesus always and to keep His commandments, trying to be more like Him every day.  It's a tall order for a little boy, but he was confirmed with the gift of the Holy Ghost too, which has been a huge a blessing in my life and will help him along the way too.

I remember thinking once I made a mistake after being baptized it was all over, so I emphasize to my kids again and again that we have the opportunity to renew our baptismal covenants (promises) every week when we sincerely and conscientiously take the sacrament.  Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want us to succeed more than anything.

One of my favorite quotes of all time, and it applies to every single human on earth who has a sincere heart:

“Our Heavenly Father did not put us on earth to fail but to succeed gloriously.”—Elder Richard G. Scott

It was a great day, a holy day, and took a few extra months than I would've liked, but it was worth the wait.  Mom and Dad wanted to make sure our resident class clown knew what he was doing and that this is serious business.  We had the missionaries come over just for him and teach him several lessons.  Yes, he knew most of the answers, but I think it got him thinking and realizing this is a big deal, not just something I'm doing because everybody else is doing it.

 We were very happy to have my dad and the ever-trusty Aunty Ja come for the big day.  My dad is a super reliable fellow, and I love him for that.  Life has few certainties - a father who is always there when he says he'll be and who has never made an empty promise is pretty fantastic.  Ja just jumps right into the madness and helps and it makes my heart very happy and our home a nicer place too.  She is well loved and seems to handle the hyper pretty well.

Lily graciously agreed to lead last minute even though she had no idea what she was doing.  Love that girl's Will-Try/Can-Do attitude.  Ben asked if Matt would give a talk, which was kind of a huge step if you consider it wasn't just our friends and family but 2 other kids were getting baptized and Matt has never done a talk beyond the walls of the primary room.  He learned about feeling the spirit as you put effort into writing a talk, and Matt ended up really being happy he had the experience.

I included the picture of Daphne because she was singing and *reading* the words intently as Lily led "I am a Child of God".  During the video with some songs and some sweet testimonies she sat with her knees up to her chest just drinking it all in.  Needless to say my heart was full of love for our whole family on this most important of days.

We invited the people who came to the baptism over afterward for lunch and visiting (and for the kids to run around and scream apparently), and it was just a great day, one for the history books.  Incidentally, in church the next day, a lot of people felt bad because last week was Gen Conf and so Ben's baptism date didn't get announced.  I was told I should have texted reminders to all, but, um, I guess I would have felt embarrassed, and we know we are loved anyway, so no worries there.  All that really mattered is that IT HAPPENED.  I love Ben and even though more than any of my other kids he likes to tease his mom to no end, all straight-faced as can be, he will always be well loved and worried about, prayed for and looked after in our family.

And now for your viewing pleasure, my 2 (only) blue-eyed boys with a few irreverent selfies before the meeting started.

Matt's 11th and Ben's 8th

Matt wanted a Minecraft cake and Dad delivered.  I bake/Lucas decorates, play to your strengths, right???  There was water, beach, and a few other terrains.  Matt was so happy.  I'm sure his simple expectations help.

 I love Matthew so much.  In most ways he is an easy child to raise.  Except that once or twice a year when we find out he was supposed to be doing something majorly important at school for the last several months that we never heard about.  Then we whip him into gear and we are back to easy peasy.  The only thing I really worry about with my handsome boy is that he learn to work hard for his education which will hopefully lead to him working hard in his career.  Problem is we don't always get to choose what work we are doing (i.e., around the house or high school/college jobs), so I want him to realize the value of hard work in and of itself, even if it is not working hard on a dream (he's great and working hard at stuff he loves, but what he loves is kinda limited right now).

1.  Matthew is so kind and caring with Daphne.
2.  He still creates worlds of imagination and absurd role play games his brothers' love.
3.  Even his big sister wants to be a part of his imaginary world and begs him to play piano duets with her.
4.  His cub scout/scout leaders always have nice things to say about him.  He is lots of people's favorite just because he kind of has more of an adult perspective in some ways (unfortunately that doesn't stop him from daydreaming or becoming fixated on video game info and desperately wanting to share it with anyone in hearing distance).
5.  He is always trying to make choices that make our lives as parent easier.  I don't want him to feel any kind of burden and point that out, but his awareness of people and their feelings is astounding.
6.  He has been a good pet owner after getting his birthday present, a kitten at last!, a month before his birthday.  Litter boxes are pretty nasty to him and the occasional accident really grosses him out, but he does not complain (out loud).
7.  He is gentle.
8.  He has become quite the baker this year.  His favorites are snickerdoodles, chocolate chip cookies and brownies.  He at one point had the dream of being a baker when he grows up.
9.  He is a meat eater.  He can eat a couple pork chops or chicken breasts in one sitting.  I can't say the same for vegetables.
10.  He takes his responsibility of being in charge on occasion very seriously, getting his brother's home from school safely, babysitting for short amounts of time.
11.  He has the best sense of humor.  It comes out with the occasional comment and even more so in clever mini comic books he writes.  He has a whole series he is doing about an indestructible flower.  You have to read it to undestand.

Bonus:  His creativity with Ben's birthday present has blown my mind.  He creates little characters and game story lines for them to go through, like a rain drop fighting flames in order to make it up to the sky and rain down into Lake Love.  He has also created a toothbrush character and various food characters...just all these amazing ideas that you don't where they came from.  LOVE!

 Sleepover in front of Christmas tree.  Shawn's head is at the bottom of pic.  We finally let Lily do a sleepover at our neighbor's house, and this is what the boys choose to do that night without her.

 As BEN turned 8 this year, we let him have a party.  He is not in love with school, or so he claims, so he only wanted to invite over 3 boys he knows form church, Luke, McCoy and Nephi.  He wanted a MineCraft party with some video gaming, some actual games, cookie decorating (man he had some specific easy to fulfill but quirky requests), and he loved that those 3 boys sweetly came over and had fun with him and he quite loved his birthday weekend.  He really steps up and takes it seriously when he gets to be the center of attention.

 BEN IS:

1. The most affectionate little mama's boy.
2.  Painfully shy but willing to be adventurous with the proper bribery.
3.  For being painfully shy, he gets a kick out of making silly comments.  His favorite one this past year was to tell anyone, even strangers about my love of chocolate and to keep their chocolate away from me.  Yes, Ben, I know I have a problem, but it isn't THAT bad.
4.  He does not love smiling right now, so the picture below is golden and only because he really loves me and was willing to do just one for me.
5.  He is learning to think his dad is cool.  Had a weird complex that his dad was scary for awhile just because his dad is often more serious that his mom.
6.  He loves to tuck in his little brother and sister some nights, book reading, prayers and all.
7.  He is the number 1 reminder to remember to say our prayers and meal times.
8.  He just glows when he is in charge of family home evening or anything of the like.  His goofball personality suddenly gets very serious.

 We are trying to make sure Ben is prepared for the BIG STEP of baptism in April.  Being a class clown type, we want to make sure he really knows what it means to make those promises with God and the commitment he is taking on.  Again, I get impressed because he knows the answers when we ask questions and isn't shy to ask for us to explain when he doesn't.  I love him and can't believe I will soon have 3 children who have taken that wonderful, life-changing step.  Time sure does fly.

 And lastly, on a silly note, Ben thought Matt's cake was pretty cool and asked for a Minecraft Lego cake.  The artist just was not inspired as he had been and for some reason I was in a January fog and so, honestly, the cake ended up a disaster in every way.  I think I eventually pulled off my worst cake ever.  It wasn't even decorated except with an XBOX controller.  Oh, it was sad, sad but Ben is just too awesome to even care..  Like an elephant, he never forgets, so maybe some day he will complain about it to me, but as of that day, he didn't complain and just gobbled it up and was excited for presents.

I LOVE MY BOYS.  I LOVE WATCHING THEM GROW.  I AM SO THANKFUL GOD SENT THEM TO US!!!

CHRISTMAS '16

Daphne got to meet Santa in person for the first time.  She was nervous but eager, having written him several "letters" before the month had really even started.  When Lily tried to help her visit him, she said, "No.  I do it myself."  And she did even though she was scared.

 Three cheers for Lucas, the man who makes Christmas especially magical for our family.

 So funny the first snow wasn't until something like December 6th and then BOOM!!!  But anyway, the first snow was a whiz bang time for Daphne.  She took to hopping all over in it and laughing, refusing to come in until she was absolutely wet and frozen.

 I got Christmas present ideas for Daphne which involved dolls for a dollhouse Grandma Laura had purchased Lily a few years ago, but that meant I had the urge to paint and roof the dollhouse.  Fun, intense, but it now gets played with more and is super cute...and maybe I will paint my home just like it some day...maybe.

 This year's gingerbread house was a homemade kit that the bishop/bishop's wife delivered for our kids, especially Ben, because he wanted to give the bishop something SO BAD, but the bishop has a lot of allergies and is a type 1 diabetic, so I said NO FOOD.  We ended up making a pillow to deliver.  Then the bishop's MIL passed away, and so the pillow appliqued with the word LOVE ended up being a sweet thing for a 7-year-old to think about.  The kids did pretty great with a little help from Dad, but they always gross me out when for the next several weeks they ask if they can eat it.  Just seems so unsanitary.  NO!!!

 My little architect, Shawn, checking out the instructions!!!  He continues to build more and more complex train tracks and thinks about being a builder or a firefighter when he grows up.

 Daphne was so into Christmas this year it was very fun.  She and Shawn enthusiastically cut and decorated cookies for Santa with me.

 Ben's super cute reindeer that his gift to Mom and Dad came in.

 The stockings weren't hung by the chimney with care, but they got filled to the brim with tooth-rotting delights!

It was SO NICE to have Aunt Ja here again this year.  We were very lucky...sorry Tooele clan, but we had a lot of fun with her.  She is missed by all of us when she gets to be somewhere else.

It was a great holiday season...extended by all the snow days, and I am so thankful that Our Savior was born and for all I can learn from that event and His life and Atonement.  Merry Christmas in January!

To make it through this slightly dreadful month (until B's birthday this weekend), I am keeping up the Christmas cards/letters.

Snnnnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooowwww!

As of last week, we have had a lot of snow in Boise (more than any year in memory since 1984, according to my neighbor).  I moved here in 1999, so I am used to winters with lots of rain and the occasional skiff of snow.  Not this year.  It has been dubbed Snowmageddon by some and the Snowpacalypse by others.  Hilarious considering most wintery places I know get double, triple, quadruple this amount of snow, but if there is one thing I've learned in the last few weeks, Boise in its current state is not well-equipped to deal with this amount of snow.

 

 

 
We are ill equipped for the snow because we haven't needed to be equipped.  So, yes, my children don't all understand the concept of GLOVES or ZIPPING UP, and we certainly only have a few pairs of snow boots, so it's been interesting, but even with single digit temps, Ben and Lucas and then later Lily on her own were able to make some killer miniature sled hills from the berms on either side of our driveway.  Daphne thinks sledding is amazing!!  So did I - I can't help myself but become a kid again sometimes...call it youngest child syndrome.

It has been a winter of what feels like never-ending shoveling which is GREAT because suburban kids need to learn to work.  The driving has been interesting.  I've scared (and impressed) the kids, but it has certainly been an adventure at all times.

Our family learned 1-3 snow days = AWESOME, but maybe a few kids were desperate to go back to school after snow days 4 and 5.  Poor social, loves a routine, Lily.  Things appear to be getting back to normal.  We will see what this week's storms bring.

A Little Christmas Cheer - I LOVE KIDS!

Brief because I've no time but:

An Instagram friend (CardiganEmpire) posted what her 3-year-old little boy said after seeing the mall Santa.  "Him had a white beard, and him had his red dress-up on, but him did not say, 'Ho, ho, ho!'"  That has brought a smile to my face all day.  Kids are always thinking.

In our family prayer tonight, Shawn prayed, "Please bless that we can have a lovely Christmas Eve and please bless that we can have a lovely Christmas Day."  I have to think that a 5-year-old boy who uses the word lovely, especially in a prayer, must have some fine parentage!  *wink*

They are bouncing off the walls 'round here this week, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  On a long drive which involved several errands and some car-bound kids, Lily, Ben and Shawn started singing a Christmas song, and Daphne said, "You guys are going to make me SCREAM!"  Sometimes she thinks she is the only one allowed to sing, make a racket, own me as a mom...you know, the usual.

In a lot of ways, though not all, it is indeed the MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!!

Boo2016 Especially for Grandma

Ah, what can I say about Halloween this year.  Nearly a week out I can say NO MORE CANDY!!!  These kids have been emotional messes this week.  Thanks a lot, Sugar!  I think we shall take a different approach next year, even if it is less fun.

 But other than the griping, I do get excited about Halloween - the beautiful holiday that takes virtually no planning and is just a few hours of fun, fun, fun.  Granted, getting ready was complete madness, but we did okay, and I am endlessly thankful for not-super-complicated

 Lily was a beautiful cat.  We curled her hair and tried some makeup techniques to make her look extra catty.

 Matt was Dendrosaur, a monster from a game he plays called Monster Legends.  He is notorious (to his father and me) for picking obscure characters to dress up as.  Easy costume, though.  We just needed green, lots of green.  I bought him a cheap dinosaur tail to make it a bit more exciting.

Shawn was a pteradactyl.  So Bro's green jacket, plastic dino hat that barely (BARELY) survived the previous week, and some dino fabric and safety pins for wings (he totally let me get away with that), and he was quite pleased.  As I type, he informs me he wanted a green face, too.  Whoops.

 And here is our lovely red panda, his favorite animal, the cutest animal ever, the best animal ever -- you get the idea.  Dad did a great job doing Ben's face paint, but it was very hard to keep it on after it was done.  He also got a tail (fox, actually) to be more legit.  Yay again for non-type-A Halloweeners

And you can't see it in any pictures but Daphne (who wanted to be an elephant but was coerced at times into being a princess by her sister) was a Princess Elephant.  She had a tutu on with her elephant costume (100 bonus points for warmth. princesses get way too cold in those slinky little numbers), and she had a tiara.  That girl was on fire.  She lasted longer than some of her siblings.  She wouldn't even take a potty break.  "Candy!  More candy!" ................................

Which was cute the night of Halloween, but has gotten really old as it has been chanted, screamed, whispered and demanded in tormenting fits every day, multiple times a day, for the last 6 days.  Excuse me while I go get a Tylenol.  *sobbing in angst*