Kaeleb

This was Kaeleb's big week. On Tuesday our little "Oh" as we call him (long story for a little nickname) turned FIVE! We had so much fun! We let him open his presents after breakfast and it was all he could do to wait that long. He got an Indiana Jones costume and a Playmobil Castle set.

We had a little birthday party consisting of 10 boys and 2 girls... what was I thinking? 12 kids? Sheesh! It was really fun though. We had a Holy Grail relay race, a treasure dig in a bowl of snakes and a search for the Ark of the Covenant. All the kids were super good and so nice to Kaeleb. He loved all his presents and all the friends who came.

On Thursday he started Kindergarten. I got to go with him, as it was a 45 minute "get to know the classroom" type of day, and his first "real" day was today. Yesterday was peachy... but today, when I had to say goodbye was a bit harder. He wrapped himself around my leg and whimpered. It was the old "silently stubborn" approach. He didn't yell or cry out loud but he looked at me with pleading red-rimmed eyes and locked onto my leg like a clamp. The teacher's assistant came and rubbed his back saying soothing things but he was not going to let go. I finally pried him off and said "I know you are scared but you have to trust me that you will be safe. I love you, goodbye." and walked away. I looked at him through the window and he was still looking at me with those deer in the headlight eyes, and that is when I lost it.

I cried all the way to Target where I distracted myself by shopping for my niece's birthday.

I am really excited for some one on one time with the Brenster. I have been feeling so guilty because by the time Kaeleb was two he could sing the whole alphabet, knew all his shapes (including trapezoid and octagon), could count to 20 and knew all his colors. Meanwhile, the only colors Brenny knows are brown and blue, I had only heard him count to 2, the only shapes he knows are triangle and rectangle but he calls them both "tangle" so I am not sure if it counts, and he can only sing "ABC and XYZ".

So, I decided while Kaeleb is at school I would work on bringing him up to "speed" and after only one day we are cruising! He surprised me in Target, when I asked him to count how many Goldfish were in his bag and he counted to eleven. Who knew he could do that? On the way home we sang the ABC's and he got all the way to G and added W to the XYZ. He also started counting backwards today from 5 to 1. This is going to be fun! In his defense, he is physically advanced. He can balance and hop on one foot, put on his own shoes, tumble like crazy, and make shots in a 4 foot basketball hoop.

We love these guys!!

Brenny has been conversing fluently the last couple months. He frequently says things like "Look Mom, I hurt my foot, right here." or "Budder punched my face!" or "Daddy pulled my plug out!" (bathtub) His latest phrase is "It's my life!" I expected it at 17, but never expected it at not-quite-two. *Sigh*

Another faith promoting experience brought to you by a little child...

This weekend we escaped the heat again by going up to the cabin... where the high was 73 and we played outside all day!!! Ah, fresh air! Here are a few shots of the fun...
First, just cuz she's pretty, here's Dee

Next, Chris and Amy at the campfire

Here's Brenny with his foam padded weapon, which all of the little boys played with the entire time.

Me and the Brenster sitting around..

The guys putting up our tent, which we slept in half the night (or should I say, didn't sleep?) before we gave up and went to a comfy bed inside the cabin.

Here are the boys with said foam padded weapons

Here is Kaeleb sporting the sword...

I love this one of Krystal after she and Tate took turns dropping dirt on each others heads. :-)

Next, my main man Tate, who shares my affinity for chocolate chip cookies.


We had a great time there, and also really LOVED the shower when we got back to grandma's. We enjoyed our visit with Kwint's parents. Grandpa couldn't resist buying the boys Transformer Super Soaker squirt guns which are now their pride and joy, though they are so huge that they can't lift them when they are full of water.

Upon arriving home, Kwint came down with a really bad sinus infection and was on his way to pick up some antibiotics when we realized we had lost his debit card. The last place we remembered seeing it was at a gas station in Fillmore, so we were a bit nervous. We searched the wallets, the luggage, the cars... and finally said a prayer that God would help us find the card. I sat down to call the bank and report it lost when Brennan walked into the office and said "Here Dad." with the card in his cute little hand. He was unprepared for our reaction of utter joy and amazement and became very proud of himself.

I love answered prayers and knowing that He is listening, even to the small stuff.

24th of July fun

Pine Valley Hiking.... We wanted to escape the heat and look what we found!!
It was 65 and pouring rain!! We hiked the whipple trail and fell in love with the world all over again!!

Weekend fun

Oh these funny guys!! We had such a fun weekend with Kris and Barbi... of course we forgot to take pictures....

We went to Pirate Island Pizza... does it seem like I always say that? We hardly ever go out to eat, but that is where we go (NOT because of the food, it is gross) but because the boys love it. This time, though, the Brenster was none too thrilled by the cannons going off right above our table. We've never sat near enough for the noise to bother him. He cried and shook with fear for a long time and then tried to play like he was sick. He said "I sick! Go home!" We'll remember that when school starts Buster!

The rest of us had so much fun, though. For those of you who don't know Kwint's brother, Kris-- He and his wife Barbi have the four cutest kids on the planet, next to ours, of course. They played so well and said the cutest things.

On Saturday Tam's family babysat all 6 of them so we could go see Harry Potter 6. Jolly good show, albeit a bit depressing at the end there... so was the book... had to be... We thought the actors have all improved and are still cute, and the special effects were amazing. I want to know if anyone else jumped out of their chair when the inferi grabbed Harry's hand out of the water, even though we knew it was coming. Sheesh!

Kaeleb and Talan played with paper airplanes ALL weekend. I love them together-- they are both unique from other kids but like each other. I am so glad they have each other. Brennan and Krystal were funny-- two two-year-olds having power struggles. They pretty much yelled at each other all the time "NO!" and "Dat's Mine!" Or, in Brenny's case, "Dat's Mine's!" He pluralizes like Dan and Sebastian's. OH, that takes us back!!!

4th of July

We hope you all had a happy 4th of July!!
We celebrated with Grandma and grandpa up North and had lots of fun! Kris and Barbi brought their family and camped in the backyard with Kwint and Kaeleb. (Brenny had a fever from teething which got me out of sleeping in a tent-YES!) Here are some pics of the fun!
Kaeleb requested a flag cake- this is what we came up with...

Grandpa got a Wii for his birthday with an Indiana Jones game, which captivated all of the kids....

We went to Ogden's Dinosaur Park and had a good scare trying not to be eaten...

This is Kwinten's favorite picture, taken by him for the purpose of becoming the wallpaper on our computer...

I love this one of Kaeleb pretending to be scared of the dinosaurs...

And this is us at the Roy Aquatic Center, where the boys had fun and I got grumpy. I was tired, sorry everyone.


I have a funny video of Brennan at the Dinosaur park, but it won't upload and I am too lazy to contact support. We were hoping to get him to re-enact how he had been yelling at the dinosaurs as we walked through the park. It was his way of confronting his fear-- he was nervous for awhile and then he started yelling "Hey! Rrarr! No! Rrarr!" and pretending to punch them. It was funny.

My Guys

I love these guys. They are soooo different. They approach life from opposite angles. Here's one example:

Last night for dinner I made broccoli soup and whole wheat muffins. Kaeleb complained that he only likes broccoli with ranch, but when we weren't looking he tasted it, liked it and ate nearly all of it. He made me cut every bit of crust off of his muffin-- yes, on a muffin, that is the entire outside, and then he happily and carefully ate every crumb.

Brennan sat and looked at his food for a moment, then grabbed his muffin, threw it into his soup and smashed it with his spoon. Next, he dumped the whole slop onto his plate and ate it with his hands. Halfway through, he looked up and said "Jam?", which we declined giving him, as we assumed it would not mix well with the broccoli.

Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em.

Pirates and fire ants

Last weekend we celebrated Kwint's un-birthday. Kwint's real birthday is Dec 23rd. He never gets attention and presents that aren't surrounded by Christmas. It doesn't bother him, but I am a big fan of birthdays and I think he deserves a little party on a non-Christmas occasion. So, we got presents, we made a cake, we went to dinner.

The pictures came up in reverse order and I am too lazy to change it, but as you can see, the party was a pirate theme. Here we are at Pirate Island Pizza...


Here is the Pirate Cake...

Here are the boys "helping" me make the cake...



We had a lot of fun as a family and we all love Kwint so much.

We intended on playing Pirates of the Caribbean Monopoly, but Kaeleb stepped outside for a moment and got bit by a fire ant which very quickly ended the party. We had a good little spiritual experience with it, if I may share.

Fire ant bites burn like crazy, sometimes for hours. So, Kaeleb was writhing in agony and we couldn't distract him. We tried a baking soda paste-- don't know what it does, but my mom used to put it on my bee stings, we tried an ice pack, benadryl, ibuprofen, and a movie. Nothing worked. So, after an hour we decided to try what we know works-- a priesthood blessing. In the blessing Kwint felt inspired to tell Kaeleb that he was given this experience to learn the power of personal prayer. After the blessing he asked Kaeleb to say a prayer that Heavenly Father would heal his bite and make his foot stop hurting.

Kaeleb was still crying and sobbed out a little "Heavenly Father, please make my foot feel better..." and what do you know? Not five minutes later his body suddenly relaxed, he threw off the ice pack and said nonchalantly, "It's better." And that was that. He got up and started playing. I love the priesthood!

I have one more matter of business. I have lost much sleep over this. One of my mission comps daughters inspired me. I am thinking about donating my hair to locks of love. It would be a super huge deal. I have only had short hair twice in my life and I just don't like it, not to mention that in order to grow my coarse, dry, frizzy hair that long without major split ends is to stop blow-drying, curling or straightening it for the next 6 months. So, do I put up with ugly, frizzy hair for 6 months and then sacrifice it all for the greater good, or do I hold on to my identity and selfishly keep it long and shiny? I am putting it to a vote. It may not help me decide, but I am curious. Last time I cut it I was amazed by how personally some people took it, so I wonder what my family friends think about it.