Update

It's done!  Tubes in, adenoids out, and all is well.  Benjamin was a champ about it too.  Paul took him in while I stayed home with Peter and Nora, and he said Benjamin was very mature about the whole thing.  Benjamin was telling me afterwards about the wagon he got to ride in, the mask he got to wear, and the funny red balloon that went up and down right before he fell asleep. :)  I had stocked up on soft things for him to eat when he got home, assuming he'd be down for the rest of the day, but he requested McDonald's straight out of surgery.  I thought that was an odd choice, but we all went. We even let him play in the play place there for a few minutes.
I felt a thrill this afternoon when I whispered from across the room and he responded. Hooray!  My boy is back!

Remedying the Problem

Overheard at lunch today:

Peter: Do you have a bird in your ear, Ben?
Benjamin: What did you say?
P: Do you have a bird in your ear?  Do you have a bird in your ear, Ben?
B: I can't hear you!
P: Do you have a bird in your ear?
B: No. I have fluid in my ear.

Yes, my friends, we have a serious problem around here.  Benjamin's hearing is so bad these days that it's like he's covering both his ears with his hands, or like he's underwater.  Actually this problem has been going on since the Fall.  The first time I took Benjamin in to the doctor to get his ears checked, they told me his hearing was fine but that there was conductive hearing loss, or fluid behind the eardrum.  They told me it's normal for fluid to stay in the ears for weeks and not to worry about it unless they got infected (which they never did).  Anyways, we're finally getting the issue resolved on Monday and getting tubes put in and the adenoids out.

I can't wait for my bright boy to hear again.  It will be so nice when he doesn't have to put his ear next to my mouth or ask "what?" for the umpteenth time.  I think I might even be a better mom, not having to repeat myself or yell all the time.  Poor kid.  He's had it rough!

Kentucky Fun

This past weekend we loaded the kids up in the car for a six hour drive to Morehead, Kentucky. It was sort of in the middle of nowhere, but it was a great meeting spot for us Missouri folk and our Indiana and Virginia-dwelling families. It's been a year and a half since we've seen Paul's brother Brigham and family. The boys took no time getting reacquainted...

Little Gloria got to meet everyone for the first time, and charmed everyone! She is sure growing up fast!

On Saturday morning, we headed out to the nearby lake and dam where the kids threw rocks.

The wind was sort of unbearable though, so the outdoor fun didn't last long.

Yes, Peter is wearing Benjamin's sweatshirt over his coat...

Because it was so cold, we found other ways to occupy the kids inside the big A-frame we were all staying in, including this closet which we converted into the Lego room. Andrew, Will, Henry, and Benjamin would disappear for hours in there.

We mistakenly assumed that this cabin would have internet, so we could watch General Conference. But it didn't, and now we're playing catch-up. We did have a few movies for the kids to watch on the laptop, which was nice for all that indoor time.

Here's Henry, Benjamin, Andrew, Brigham and Will. Paul's cousin Adrea is in the picture above.

"Epic Hugs"

The day we left was beautiful, so we spent the morning on the playground.

I love that our kids are all friends! As we were parting ways, Andrew told Benjamin that when he was a teenager and had a cell phone, he would call him.

And here's a picture of all the siblings that were together (we were just missing Josh and Mike), plus three of the four 2010 babies: Porter, Gloria and Nora.

We love our family!

My Muse

I finally broke out my oil paints yesterday after 5 years and just smelled them. I had a flood of wonderful memories rush back to me; of days before kids, of an awesome little studio overlooking Utah Valley, and of endless free hours to paint. I still don't have a safe place to leave my paints out to work, but I'm going to figure something out. Nora is like my beautiful little muse these days. I don't like painting portraits, but she makes me want to learn how. I just need to settle on a picture...

Fashion Show

Alright, here you go- the pencil skirt and two of my favorite shirts. I think modeling is totally awkward.

 And I was too lazy to fix my hair or accessorize, but you get the idea. I love the black and white tweed.

Spring Cleaning

This weekend was a bit less Springy, so Benjamin tried sledding down the 3 foot drop into the neighbor's yard. He didn't get very far. :)

 We ended up getting a thick blanket of about 6 inches, which completely killed the gorgeous Magnolia blossoms on the tree out back. The daffodils survived though. 

 Paul and I got on a Spring cleaning kick anyways, and decided it was time to gut our closets. I got rid of everything I haven't worn in over a year, plus all the stuff that "almost" works. Like shirts that are almost long enough, or just a little faded, and most of my pants and skirts that had "frumpy" written all over them. Paul got rid of about half his closet too. It was magnificent, and we feel about 100 pounds lighter...

I've never been very good at finding the right clothes for my body. I prefer online shopping (because it's easier than juggling three kids in a store), which usually gets me burned, but I end up keeping the stuff anyways. I'm also really cheap, so I'll end up getting something that's just OK because it was less expensive than the thing I really liked. I'm still trying to get over my fear of actually spending money on clothes. 

After cleaning out our closets, we decided to hit the outlet mall. The kids were excited about riding the train around the mall, and we were committed to finding a few things to that we loved, even if it meant spending a little money for said things. I totally scored though. I've been looking for a pencil skirt for a while, but could never bring myself to pay $60+. This one at Banana Republic was a perfect length, color, style, quality- and marked down from $90 to $16. Sweet! And I got a few shirts and sweaters (which I coincidentally love) for roughly $5 each.
It feels great to look in my drawers and closet and see things a few things that I love to wear instead of tons of things that I don't.  I'm still not sure if I will ever be able to comfortably spend retail prices for clothes (or even if I should), but I think I'm at least making small steps to de-frumpify my look. I even got Peter's endorsement this morning when I put on a new shirt. He told me, "You look nice and cool!"

A Dog Party!

This afternoon, Peter and Benjamin were playing outside, when Peter ran in and announced that he wanted to go to a party. I had no idea what he was talking about, so he led me over to the giant holly tree in our front yard, where I could just barely make out a little red shirt- oh, maybe 20 or 30 feet up! I called up to Benjamin (who was still trying to climb higher), that he should probably come down now! He told me that he was climbing to the top of the tree to find the dog party, you know- like the one in "Go, Dog, Go."

It would be pretty cool to find this at the top of a tree! I used to pore over this page as a kid...

Once he climbed down, I told him we should probably not climb that tree anymore, but he just replied, "No, I'm safe. I think the Lord's protecting me!"

True! And apparently He's protecting Peter too, as he did not follow his brother up in pursuit of a dog party!