Good Sports

Gabriel and Elijah are athletic. This is shocking because they are my children and I am the most unathletic person quite possibly in all recorded history. I think I have mentioned before my ability to not only be bad at sports but also be bad for sports equipment. I was the girl who shot holes in the wrestling mats during archery (oops), managed to hit a golf ball backwards into the parking lot (sorry truck!) and after a series of embarrassing and improbable events ended up completely mangling a locker in the locker room with a pair of bolt cutters. That one I'm going to blame on my gym teacher, he should have known better than to give me a pair of bolt cutters.
Anyway, I am happy and thankful that my little guys can sport and stuff! This spring they both did soccer and Gabriel did gymnastics.

Fourteen

Fourteen years ago, today, we founded our little family in the Mount Timpanogas Temple in American Fork, Utah. I thought I loved you then, and I did, but I didn't know you well enough to know just how much I should and could love you. This was partly because we had only dated for two weeks and were only engaged for three and a half months for a grand total of four months of courtship, but it was also because we hadn't lived together. We hadn't struggled, fought and waded through difficulty hand in hand. I didn't know just how perfectly your strengths would make up for my weaknesses or that my strengths could balance your few flaws.

Stoned

You know how, when you're a mom or just a really busy person and you keep having nagging excruciating pain you just pretty much ignore it? Yeah, you shouldn't do that. It's a bad idea. That will land you in the hospital with a kidney that's not working very well because there is a giant rock lodged in there that your body felt the need to produce for some unknown reason. It also doesn't help if your kidney is a little special and has an almost non-existent opening which makes your surgeon and the surgical robot cry during the procedure and then go out and have a beer together afterward.
It turns out that pain is your body telling you that you are eating too many healthy foods. You know what causes kidney stones? Spinach. Popeye lied to us people, it doesn't make your muscles as hard as a rock, it just makes actual rocks. Also, kale. Kale, the superfood. I feel very betrayed. Other culprits are whole-grain wheat, nuts and strawberries. You heard me, strawberries. I had a Strawberry Shortcake big-wheel when I was four and this is the way you repay me? I always knew you looked too cute and innocent to be real. Faker! So, that's it. The problem was I was eating far too healthy. Too many fruits and vegetables and whole-grains. Of course, you know what else can make those pesky rocks? Peanutbutter. And chocolate. It's entirely possible that Reeses Peanutbutter Cups are my favorite candy. It's also entirely possible that peanutbutter is my go-to comfort food. Furthermore, I may have a habit of eating peantbutter and nutella on graham crackers for breakfast. There may or may not be a layer of peanutbutter an inch thick on those crackers. But I'm sure that had nothing to do with it. Curse you spinach!

Dino-sore

Once upon a time there was a crazy woman who decided to take her five boys to a thing called Jurassic Quest because she wanted to be a good mother. Unfortunately, she ended up in the hospital for surgery just days before this very exciting activity. Fortunately, her saintly mother-in-law decided to come help. And so, despite being a little loopy from medications and a little sore she embarked on the journey to Bismarck with her husband, mother-in-law and five hyper children. Will she survive the carnivorous giant reptiles? The throngs of small children? The bathroom trips? The dreaded craft table? Find out in this photographic saga called DINO-SORE: A Prehistoric Pain (that was also kind of fun)

Preschool Pomp and Circumstance

Benjamin graduated from preschool on Tuesday. He is officially on his way to kindergarten. We are thrilled. His preschool program and graduation was very cute. I took videos of it because Marc couldn't be there. When I rewatch them I notice that I'm laughing a lot. I was on a lot of pain killers so everything probably seemed extra funny at the time. Anyway, the students did several nursery rhymes and songs for the parents. Benjamin got to be the spider in Little Miss Muffet, Jack in Jack Be Nimble and Jack again in Jack and Jill. This last one caused some drama because Benjamin's "best friend" Lola was not Jill and she really wanted to be. Benjamin had to HOLD HANDS with a different little girl. Tears were shed, but it all ended up being okay. Benjamin did fall down a little before his cue for Jack and Jill so they had to do it twice. His falling down and breaking his crown was quite convincing. The songs they sang included the days of the week in English and in Spanish, Itsy Bitsy Spider and Wheels on the Bus. Most of the children did all of the actions to these songs. Benjamin did not. He sang them, but while he sang he sat on his hands or squished them between his legs and stared around absent-mindedly. That's my Jami.
When his name was called to receive his bag and medal he grabbed them before Mrs. V could even hand them to him and tried to escape her grasp and the dreaded picture takings. She caught him and we got a picture but he still has that vacant look on his face. We'll assume he's just staring off into the future, envisioning the great things he's going to do. Yeah. Let's make that the story.
We are proud of all of the progress he's made this year. Mrs. V is confident that he's ready for Kindergarten.... and Beyond!

Benjamin and Mrs. V

Fun Run

This year the boys' school had a fundraiser where the kiddos got pledges and then ran laps to earn money for the school. Tobias and I came to run with David John and cheer him on and then Marc was even able to come to run with the twins for a bit. Elijah ran the most laps of anyone in his class. It was a real scorcher that day so David John pretty much just walked the whole time but for a kid who doesn't love organized physical activity I thought it was pretty great that he participated at all. Good job boys.

Some Pigs

The boys are still very much enjoying the guinea pigs. There are sometimes grumbles and moans about cleaning out litter boxes or cages but mostly they do a good job. Gabe, especially, has taken to making sure they have everything their furry little hearts desire.
David John still loves them even though he does not enjoy the cleaning chores. He's decided to change his middle name to Guinea Pig and spends time reading guinea pig articles online. He even read a National Geographic about the very large ancient ancestors of guinea pigs and then drew pictures of them at school the next day. The teacher didn't even question him when he said they were guinea pig ancestors. She figured he knew what he was talking about. His computer log in is guineapig09. He might be a little obsessed.
Benjamin and Tobias also love the guineas. They love to pet and groom Calvin and Hobbes. Tobias gets discouraged that the piggies run away from his chubby little hands. Sometimes he tells me, dejectedly, "Calvin not want to pet me." He's getting better at being gentle but, unfortunately, he and Benjamin still need supervision to do those things. Recently, the little boys decided to play with the guinea pigs all by themselves. I was up in my office working on school-board related business when Benjamin came upstairs to deliver the following news.

"Mom! We are playing hide-and-seek with the guinea pigs and Hobbes is really good! We can't even find him!"

"You mean, he's hiding in his cage?"

"No, we let them out to play hide and seek."

"You're telling me that Hobbes is lost somewhere in our basement."

"Noooo, he's just hiding and we can't find him."

"I see."

Isn't it great how kids can rebrand things? No, he's not lost, he's just hiding and we haven't found him yet. It's a game! I wish I could tell you that I was completely calm and patient but I was a little freaked out about the idea of Hobbes climbing into the furnace or something so I panicked a little bit. I found him hiding under a couch and was able to coax him back into his cage. I told the boys that hide-and-seek was probably not the best game to play with guinea pigs, even if they are very good at it. Yep, they're some pigs.

Melting My Heart

A while ago I made the boys little hearts with compliments and taped them to their doors. Yesterday, David John made me hearts to tape on my door. It was one of those parenting moments where it's all worth it.

In case you can't read them, here is what they say:

"I like playing games with you."

"You give us what we need even when you're stressed out."

"Mom you take good care of us! I like the food. (well most of it)"

"I like going to restaurants with you and I'll try to be good there."

"I am thankful for you. I love you. <3 David John"

Yep. Heart melted.