Is this an appropriate Sunday activity?

Ok, so on Sundays, we want to set it apart from every other day of the week. One of the ways that we do that is we refrain from what we call "screen time," that is we don't sit in front of a screen to entertain ourselves. Basic rules: No TV, no computer games, no playstation, no DS. We try to encourage the boys to find something to do to play together. Usually that means board games, building with legos or lincoln logs, and sometimes that means building tents. So I really didn't think about it when they started carrying cushions downstairs. After a few minutes, they came up and told me about their new game, "Avalanche." They bury a brother inside a mountain of blankets, pillows, and cushions. Then the buried brother triggers the avalanche to fall on the next boy to walk by the mountain. I obviously didn't move fast enough to go look at their mountain (I suspect they were looking for an innocent avalanche victim), so they took pictures.

Got to love the creativity of our boys.

Hello, Does a scout leader live here?

Aaron is the 11 year old scout leader in our neighborhood, and this past month he has been working on lashing (that's tying things with ropes, for those unfamiliar...) Anyway, to reinforce those skills, he decided to teach the boys how to build a tower, using only lashing to hold it together, in our backyard. Yesterday, they finished their masterpiece:



And, just as beautiful plants signify a gardener lives in a specific home, or grease stains in the driveway points towards a motor enthusiast's home, the lashed tower in our backyard says "Scouts at work here."

Brothers together!

I've been wanting to put Jacob and Levi in the same room together for a while. They're just too little to be in their very own rooms! Besides, I think it's good for them to learn how to share their space with others - after all, after home there's college roommates, then mission companions, then eventually marriage. It's a good skill to acquire while they're young. Anyway, we finally did it. I've been putting it off because I knew I would have to take apart the crib and put it together again in order to move it from room to room - no small feat. I got curtains for them (I am thinking ahead to when the sun doesn't set until 9:30pm, but bedtime is still at 8:30pm) and I also got a new "car" carpet with a map on it. It's a nice cozy room now, and the boys are really happy about it. Jacob loves his "new car room" and Levi loves going to bed, as long as his brother is right there across from him. It actually makes life just a little bit easier!




And now Levi's room is my "laundry, ironing, sewing, miscellaneous project" room. It's a bonus for all of us!

Here's to moms everywhere

who just want to take a bath by themselves...
Have you ever had one of those mornings, you know, where you just wake up feeling a little achy, didn't sleep well the night before, and you feel a head cold coming on?
The thought pops into your head, "If I could just soak in the tub, just long enough to relax my muscles, and maybe loosen the concrete block behind my eyes, maybe I'll be able to make it through the day and get something done." Those are the days when, as much as you love your children, you wish you could be left alone for just a FEW MINUTES!!!! I just had one of those mornings.
The exchange goes something like this:
me: "Jordan, watch your brothers for a minute. Levi's (here), Jacob's (here), and Zachary and Caeden are in front of the TV in the basement (no worries about them disturbing me - some Pokemon show is on)."
Jordan: "OK, mom, I'll watch them."
At which point, I turn to go down the hall to start the tub. Also at which point I hear Jordan run downstairs to watch aforementioned Pokemon show.
Cut to a few minutes later... I'm in the tub, head under the water. I come up, and there's Jacob, "Mom, whatcha doin'?"
me: "I'm taking a bath." (I start to feel my inner teenager come out, and I almost say "Duh, isn't it obvious?!?")
Jacob: "Can I get in?"
Mom: "No, bud. I just want to wash my body by myself."
Jacob pulls up his pants and leaves the room.
10 seconds later, I lather up my hair and open my eyes to Jacob standing there again. "Mom, I think you need some bubbles." He reaches for the button to turn on the jets.
me: "Noooo! Mom doesn't want to get her hair caught in the jets. Let me wash my hair by myself, please..." and Jacob leaves.
As I come out of the water again, trying to rinse my hair out, there's Jacob again. "Mom, I got you some soap." He hands me the baby wash from the other bathroom.
me: "Thanks, bud. Could you go out now?"
Jacob: "Of course." (He's into saying "Of course" for every affirmative answer - I don't know why.)
15 seconds later, Jacob brings in the yellow rubber duckie. "Here, mom, now you can play. You need the duck to play. Can I get in now?"
me: "No, Jake. Please go out and close the door. Where's Jordan? Go find Jordan."
Jacob: "OK."
About 20 seconds later, there's a knock on my door. Inner teenager creeps to the surface and I yell "Whaaaaaaaaaat?" with that really whiny up and down inflection in the middle of the word. Jacob wants to know if I want the shark and pirannah. "Noooo (imagine the whine here, too.) Please go away."
Jacob: "I want to take a bath. Can I take a bath with you now?"
me: "No, sometimes moms just like to get cleaned up by themselves. Hey, why don't you go watch TV with your brothers?"
Jacob: "No thank you."
me: "Go get a book."
Jacob: "No, I don't want a book."
me: "Why don't you play with your cars in your cool car room with your car mat?"
Jacob, opening the door: "Can I come in now?"
By this time, I realize that there's no chance of getting a relaxing bath until everyone is in bed. I pull my sad, achy body out of the tub and tell Jacob that if he wants to get in, he can. I dry off and get dressed and sit on my bed as I hear "mom, come look... I'm making bubbles come out of my bum!" And he wonders why mom doesn't want to bathe with him.
I love my boys.

My basketball boys

Yay, it's Monday and my boys are still off track! I actually love it when they're off track. I get to sleep in, and we can do something fun. We are going to go to temple square today. Last time we went was at Christmas time, and it was so crowded that the boys didn't get to get close to the Christus statue. Zachary, especially, was bummed. So I figure we'll go today. Hopefully it won't be too crowded (knock on wood...)

On another note, yesterday we got Zachary's basketball pictures. Instead of doing the usual team photos, the team elected to have their pictures taken by the coach's sweet, patient, and extremely talented personal photographer and wife. (Thanks, Jeni! They are awesome!) Here they are:

Stud man Zach

What talent!


Go Team!

(If you want to see some more of Jeni's photographic prowess, go to her website: www.4getmenotphotography.blogspot.com. She is awesome!)

Ever have one of these mornings?

Every morning I greet my children as they get up with an enthusiastic "Good Morning, (insert name here)! How are you this morning?" How they respond is usually a good barometer of their grumpiness or happiness for the morning. Sometimes I'll get a "pretty good" response, or a "grrrrrr" as they swat at me. This morning, every time I asked Levi how he was doing, I got this:

I wonder how today's going to be?

Caeden is Seven!

Oh my, what's going on here? When do these boys find the time to grow up?
Saturday was Caeden's birthday. We love the little man - and although his teasing is paramount to his life, our family wouldn't be the same without him. He is our "vocally expressive" child - in fact, his dad used to call him the "Scarlet Demon" when he was a newborn! He would put his whole body into his cry and turn a deep scarlet color as he expressed his displeasure. It's a trait that still continues today. But he loves and squeezes and is always so eager to be a helper. He loves back scratches and hugs and to be told that he is, and always will be, "My most favorite Caeden in the whole world!"

Meeting Caeden

My 4 boys (in 2002)

At FairyTale Land, age 1 (and, no, this is NOT Levi.)

Caeden showed a passion for candy at a very early age! He is absolutely his mother's son.

Caeden loved this bear (he named him Rhett - we don't know why!)


Caeden has always been a fan of soft squishy things, especially dinosaurs!

Checking out dino bones at the museum is great fun for Caeden!

Caeden goes to great lengths to keep up with his brothers and friends!

So, here's to you, Caeden! Know that we love you dearly and we're so glad you're part of our family!

Jordan's stitches

Be careful of what you say...
Just a few weeks ago I was talking to someone about their daughter getting stitches, and I made the casual comment, "We haven't had to do stitches - yea!" I should have knocked on wood.
Jordan went to the winter camp with the scouts and at about 8:30 pm Friday night Aaron calls me and says something like, "Now, it's really not serious, but could you find me the nearest Urgent Care center to the camp?"
"What!?!"
"Well, Jordan was working on his wood carving merit badge..." Do I really need to go on?
So now he has a sweet little finger splint and a few stitches. On the plus side, he ended up going back to camp that night and finishing the wood carving badge the next day, as well as his fingerprinting badge. (They let him get it even though he was only able to take impressions of 9 fingers.) And he came home with a great story of his first winter campout!