Update

The other day at the store I was taking Joshy out of a shopping cart and when I unbuckled him, he picked up the strap and put it to his ear and started dancing (really it’s more of a bouncing).  The girls love to let him listen to their ipod’s and I think he was pretending or thinking it was an earbud attached to his own personal soundtrack.  It really cracked me up and it makes me happy that he loves music and dancing.  Our Squash is a busy walker guy and keeps me on my toes.   He has a sixth sense for whenever someone opens a forbidden door to a bathroom or a door to the great outdoors and makes a beeline for his window of opportunity.  He doesn’t love it when his mission is thwarted.  I don’t get very  much done when he’s awake, but the good news is that I get to go outside and play a lot.  We ride the plasma car together, look at flowers, watch grasshoppers and eat popsicles.  It’s nice to be young again.  He’s full of curiosity, adventure and affection.  We love Joshua.

 

Ben and Josh tricks from Andrea W. on Vimeo.

Benjamin is just as sunshiney as ever.  He’s so full of enthusiasm sometimes I worry that he might explode.  He is loving preschool and I love those moments when he’ll actually tell me about what he does there.   Most of the time he’s a little too busy to humor me by re-living/telling it all for my benefit, but every now and then he’ll sing a little song or mention something in his cute little grown up way.  Our neighbor kids have preschool and kindergarten every morning, but every day at 11:30 they are an inseparable little pack.  They bounce back and forth between our houses and yards and bikes and snacks.  Our yards look like bike cemeteries and it’s just pure heaven.  The weather has been so amazing as are our neighbors and I feel like Benny is getting to live like kids did 30 or 40 years ago.   Lately, he’s been really curious about Heavenly Father and asks a lot of questions.   One day I was lecturing him for something and told him that was his last chance or there would be consequences.  He thought for a minute and said, “What about Heavenly Father, He always gives us other chances.”   We love Benjamin.

First day of preschool

Nate is loving school this year.  Perhaps a little too much.  He loves to be funny.  He’s good at being funny so we’re just working on when it’s appropriate to be funny.  Oh dear.   He started karate lessons and LOVES it.  The other day we were outside while all the kids were riding their bikes and Nate showed me our neighbor’s bike that looks like a motorcycle and has the #1 on it.  He told me that he loved it because #1 is Ryan Dungee.  I asked Brennan about it and sure enough Ryan Dungee is like the number one guy in the motocross circuit which Brennan took Nate to once a long time ago.   His ability to remember random sports stats and names is only perhaps rivaled by his father’s.  We love Nathan.

Between school and her busy social life we rarely see Abigail.  She is either always with her friends Paige and Emily or joins the neighborhood pack.  She wants to be with people always.  Sunday we had dinner at my Mom’s and she found out some of her cousins weren’t coming she demanded an explanation.  I started to explain that they had had a lot going on and just needed a day to be home together.  She immediately said, “They’re not coming because they’re tired?”  The word “tired” was said with total disapproval.  I think perhaps she’s an extrovert.  We love Abby.

Anna is pretty swamped between soccer, her’s and Chloe’s production of Annie and homework.  She’s a busy bee.  I got to go to parent/teacher conferences and was relieved to find she’s doing well.  She’s seemed to adjust to Junior High really well and I’m proud of her.  She did miss the bus twice this week and that makes me a little crazy, but you can’t have everything, right?  Brennan was gone over the weekend and we had a lot going so I relied on her heavily and she handled it like a pro.  There’s something really sweet about siblings taking care of each other.  We love Anna.

Brennan had a fun golf trip with some neighbors.  He loved it and had a great time.  We really missed him.  I’m glad he got to go, but I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I don’t know how single parents do it.  It was only 2 nights, but it was exhausting.  I’m so grateful to have such a helpful, involved husband!  We love Brennan.

I got to take the 4 big kids to The Lion King.  Wow.  The beginning took my breath away – the costumes, the choreography, the music – just amazing.   Whenever I see something really beautiful it makes me emotional especially when my kids are able to partake.  I was so grateful to expose my kids to such a stunning cultural event.  My parents were such good examples of that and I’m so grateful Brennan is so willing to spend the money to give our kids these experiences.  We love Lion King.

Life is moving fast.  Our youngest is quickly transforming into a little boy and our oldest has crossed a new threshold of old.  It’s a sweet, happy though often challenging time of life for us and I am really trying to fend off the dizzying pace long enough to enjoy and absorb it all.  I have no doubt there are wonderful phases of life ahead of us, but I have a feeling that the stage we’re in right now will be the highlight of the highlight reel of our lives.