Back To School

Amazingly, it is now the beginning of another school year!!  The older my kids get, the faster time seems to fly.  Scott is a junior (he only has two year left!).  Josh is now at the high school with Scott.  He is a freshman....a very tall freshman.  I think he has grown a foot in the last year!  Syd is starting junior high this year (7th grade).  Maddy is in 5th grade, and Luke is in 2nd.  And I get to have Ben, Will, and Sam home with me.  No matter how sad everyone is that summer is over, there is always a bit of excitement in the air on the morning of the first day of school.  My kids know the drill.  Get ready, then head out to the front porch for pictures. With Scott in his fancy attire, and Josh in his "wooly" outfit, they were bound to be awesome!

  




  THE BOYS

 THE GIRLS (plus Will and Sam)

 

Attempts to take a picture of just the girls!

                                                                                          

    Check out Scott's "shnazzy" outfit!  The first day of school is picture day for high schoolers.  Scott and his friends decided to look sharp on top and be comfy on the bottom.  NICE!

 

THE "LITTLE" BOYS

I could stare at them all day!  They make me smile! 

  

Dress-Up

Today Syd came walking into my room and said, "You know how you always wanted a little girl mom?  Well....."

And in walked Will.   

 Or was it Will? 

 Maybe Will-amina? 

Lucky for the girls, Will is a very willing guinea pig.  In fact, he is more than happy to extend his fingernails for a pretty polish to be applied.  But he then retorts, "I not a sissy girl!"  Funny boy.

Sam I Am

It has been a long time.  Life has been so crazy and I decided there was just not room in my life for blogging.  But I have been thinking, and thinking....AND thinking that maybe I should try blogging again.  Because the bottom line is, I keep a better record of my family when I blog.  Sad, but true.  So here goes!  Much has happened in the last couple of years, but I think I will start with this...  

Sam is the newest member of our family.  He is now (almost) 6 months old.  He is SUCH a good baby.  He always has smiles for whoever he sees.  He sleeps so good, and is so content.  And he will snuggle!  When he gets tired, he nestles his little head right below my chin.  Ohhhh, I love him so much! 

It is amazing to watch the effect a baby has on people.  Total strangers will stop to admire and smile at Sam.  He brings out the best in everyone! 

Welcome to our family little Sam.  Let me warn you now... it is a bit crazy at times.  But I can promise you that we will have lots of fun, share our love of the gospel with you, share our love of music with you (even though your brothers and sisters may warn you this is NO fun), and we will love you tremendously.

When I Grow Up...

This month in kindergarten, Luke gets to tell his class what he wants to be when he grows up.

So I asked: What do you want to be when you are all grown up Luke?
Luke: Well, I want to be what dad is.
Me: And what is that?
Luke: Oh, you know, a basketball coach!

Ben the Bull

Now a word about Ben....or should I say Ben the Bull. Because according to Ben, that is his name. He is not Ben Pilling or any other name. He is simply Ben the Bull. If you call our house and Ben answers, he will tell you so.

Ben is my energetic, determined, do-it-yourself 3 year old. He is full of mischief, and definitely believes in the motto "Where there's a will, there's a way". If Ben wants something, he doesn't ask. He simply figures out a way to get it himself. If Ben wants to open a package, he will retrieve the biggest, sharpest knife he can find to do so. If he wants something to eat, he helps himself, even if that means scaling the pantry shelves to get what he wants most. If he wants to listen to music or play a game, he will find somebody's iPod or his dad's iPad and find some secret hiding place to try and decipher the password.

I know Ben is guilty when I walk into a room and he immediately jumps down and runs for cover. Or sometimes he will drop whatever pilfered object he has and cover his eyes with his hands. He thinks if he can't see me, I can't see him.

You know how kids say things in their own funny way? Here is one of my "Ben" faves.

Be-see-cause. As in....

Ben: Why mom?

Mom: Just because...

Ben: But why be-see-cause?

If you do something that upsets Ben, he will look at you with his bottom lip poking out, on the brink of tears, and exclaim, "I not your buddy anymore!"

Ben loves to take baths, and will take it upon himself to add bubbles, which can be disastrous. Yesterday it took me forever to clean up all the bubbles after his bath! Today he came running in and asked me for bubbles right before he and Luke got in the tub. I told him No, not today. He turned and ran to the bathroom, calling out, "Hey Lukey! Mom said we could have bubbles!"

Typical.

He usually looks at me when I tell him no with his little look that says....Sure mom (wink wink). Whatever you say. He then waits until I turn the other direction and does whatever he darn well pleases.

The other day I was telling one of the other kids something when all of a sudden Ben jumped into the conversation, saying, "Yeah wight mom!"

Every night he likes to go through the same ritual. Prayers first, and then he says, "Hugs at the same time!" He squeezes me as hard as he can. Then he cries out, "Kisses at the same time!" He plants a HUGE kiss right on my lips. If I try to turn and catch the kiss on my cheek (you know, to escape the slobber), he will come at me again until he gets me right where he wants me. Then he calls out as I am leaving the bedroom, "I love you mostest and I love you both of us!" I'm pretty sure those two things mean the same thing, but who knows?!

One thing about Ben. He sure knows how to put a smile on your face!

Lost and Found

A couple days ago I lost Luke. Or at least I thought I lost Luke. We searched everywhere, called the neighbors, had friends helping us look for him, and even called 911. I was a mess. A total mess. 20 minutes can seem like a lifetime when your child is missing. The worst thoughts were going through my head.

Then we found him. Where? Sound asleep in our house, completely buried by couch cushions. Brek called out that he found him and I burst into tears. It's funny how we do that sometimes. I should have been jumping for joy, but the emotions I had been feeling all came to a head. And I sobbed.

After we found him, I felt overcome with emotion. For two reason. First, I was SO grateful that he was safe! I couldn't imagine life without my Luke. Second, I was so grateful for good friends and neighbors who jumped to help the moment they knew he was missing. One friend ran up and down the canal bank looking for him. Another got in her car and began searching and asking people. Several neighborhood kids joined my kids in the search.

I am so blessed. I am surrounded by the most amazing people. People who I love, admire, and respect. I am so grateful for my family. I am so grateful for good friends. At the end of the day, not much else matters.

One year older...

One year! I can't believe it's already been one year!!! My tiny little baby is not so tiny anymore. I could eat him up. Seriously! I adore him. I could just sit and watch him all day. I love the little looks on his face. I love his smiles and his laugh. I love to watch him explore and learn new things.

The past month or so has been huge in the life of Will. He went from zero teeth to four teeth in about three weeks. He went from rolling a little bit, but mostly just sitting (happy to be entertained by the action going on around him) to rolling everywhere, to "scooting" backwards, to crawling, to pulling himself up on things and walking around. Seriously, it has been a busy 6 weeks for that little guy!

He is very much loved by all of his brothers and sisters, his mom and dad, his grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles....basically, he is one lucky kid!

Happy Birthday little buddy!