And then there were four...

Ben- 11 Months

2012-02-06T13:25:00.001-08:00

Ben- 10 Months

2012-01-06T06:17:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morn

2012-01-02T06:06:00.000-08:00

I remember Luke saying something cute like "Look at the village" but I can't remember exactly what because I didn't write it down.

He loved his cape. I noticed that I had failed to sew the velcro on and it was just a pin holding it together. Can you say mother of the year?

And, like The Flash, Luke disrobed so he could wear only his cape.

PJs

2012-01-02T05:58:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve

2012-01-02T05:09:00.000-08:00

Shepherd considering converting to Islam to hide her hair. Kidding. Mostly.

Narrator.

Uh, inn keeper? I forget. Whatever we was we were glad he was there.

The Holy Family with the donkey.

Kate as the angel, Ben was sore afraid. Or intrigued. It's hard to read him sometimes.

Oh, those wise guys. Hilarious as ever.

Ben was so curious.

Schofield Christmas

2012-01-01T22:44:00.000-08:00

Wise Men.

Holy Family.

Shepherds

Angel

Sword fighting Shepherds

Baby Jesus escaping into the cubby

Peter's face after being admonished for riding the Rody horse. Because everybody else was doing it.

Everyone.

Kevin was wearing "sunglases" that he made from the inserts of something.

Nana and Kev met me at the mall to do some much needed shopping. I bought one thing, when I should have bought much more. This is a pattern with me.

New Year's Eve

2012-01-01T19:26:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve we had to drive in to San Francisco to meet Bryan so we could trade back cars. Bryan found a beautiful trail for us. As you can see, I was all glammed up so I could go straight to New Year's Eve partying.

Ben didn't care for the backpack or the mei tei, and I ended up just carrying him. He needed a good view and he couldn't wait to get down and explore. He 'jumped' in my arms all the way down the hill.

On the way home we stopped at Ikea. The as-is section was good to us, as always. Mac was excited to see the kitchens, but they were all torn out! The boys had a blast.

It was a great way to end the year...

Utah Trip

2012-01-01T15:51:00.000-08:00

Looking back on the Utah pictures...

Lainey and Jonah both had parts in the Participlay at Treehouse.

Luke ran around and can't wait to go back.

Ben wanted to keep up with his cousins. Here he climbed up on the couch with Calvin.

Ben is a big fan of brooms.

No joke.

Assembling Legos.

I wish I had a shot of Mac's boyish grin. He loved it.

Recipe for fun: Videos, Pirate's Booty, and a cousin.

Luke learned a new rule: Only hit swords with swords.

Cousin bath!

Reading books.

PK and BK with Ben.

Fall Photos

2011-12-11T08:31:00.001-08:00

Running

and jumping.

Ben's first bike ride. He was happy going.

Coming home he was tired as can be and rested his head on Luke's shoulder.

Raking up the leaves with Dad. Luke is a great leaf-stomper. Mac told me fishing Luke's stomping boot out was a chore in and of itself.

Food + Books

2011-12-11T07:18:00.001-08:00

Nearly every time I go to plan meals, I freeze in a panic. As if I had picky eaters in my house, or as if we didn't end up eating roughly the same thing all the time (mexican one night, italian another, alternating to infinity). Still, it's not my favorite chore. Luckily I've been finding inspiration in a new place.

It started with The Super Hungry Dinosaur in which Hal's Mom feeds the Super Hungry Dinosaur something that resembles spaghetti with meatballs and peas. I try to substitute turkey in the meatballs, but have not yet been successful at making a turkey meatball taste like anything other than cardboard.

Luke loves this book so much that we've checked it out again. In it Domitila makes nopales for the governor's son and he ends up falling in love with her. So we (kind of) made nopales. I may have forgotten the key ingredient (cactus) but we still got the jist of it. And we loved it.

My parents have owned this book for years, but I didn't read it until this year when we checked it out from the library. This one is a must-own-someday book for me.

So last night we had the good, what? Shnitzle, Schotzle and Schnootzle! I used this recipe. It was edible but not delicious. I'm a novice at beef, but next time I'll know to do it in the slow cooker so it comes out more tender.

I have to say the best part was the baker's crusty loaf of bread. And dipping it in the soup? Divine.

So far I've given you three dinner ideas, none of which fully turned out. Aren't you glad you read this blog?

The meal took a long time to prep and make because I had to leave in the middle to take pictures of Peter's formal dance so while we waited we watched Elf. Luke didn't laugh very much, but he kept asking if there was going to be another snow ball fight. On the way home we talked about having a snowball fight while we're in Utah.

Mom: So who are you going to throw snowballs at?

Luke: Ben.

Watch out Ben. You're brother's gunnin' for you.

Winter Show

2011-12-10T13:21:00.000-08:00

Luke graduated last month to the 3-year-old class. His first day he didn't want to go in without me (I mean crying, clinging did NOT want to go in) and meet his new teacher. I went in and sat with him for a few minutes and told him I had to leave to change Ben (which was mostly true). For some reason he went from tears to totally independent in seconds. He never even looks to make sure I'm in the bleachers. Meanwhile, I'm missing being in there with him.

I love the bottom left picture. At first I thought he was covering his eyes because he was embarrassed he was being watched but he's making hand-binoculars so that he can focus on the teacher. Adorable.

For the holiday show they brought out Frosty again. As you can see, I failed to get both kids even looking at me, let alone smiling. Frosty, however, was very cooperative.

Ben 9 Months

2011-12-07T07:38:00.001-08:00

Hey, Ben, you're 9 months old. We'd better take a picture for the records.

Ready?

Uh, Ben?

...

Ah, you were going for the Lego box, I see.

You're hard to wrangle, but oh-so-fun.

I don't have my notes with me, but let's see if I can remember everything I wanted to about you this month:

- You like to share. Let's say you're being held by mom or dad and you're playing with a toy in your mouth. You don't mind trying to put it in one of our mouths, too. You know, in case we wanted to chew on a toy. So thoughtful.

- Some favorite activities include playing with any music toy: piano, xylophone, bells, anything. You also will push things around: the push toy, chairs- you even were pushing a popcorn tin around Nana's.

- Milestones: You cut your first tooth at 9 month 2 days (a bottom one) and the other one is right there. Consequently you don't want to be put down much. You're not too fussy, just clingy. Cling away, baby. I like your snuggles. You also took your first step at 8 months 3 weeks. Monday I was on the phone with Holly and you were pulling up to stand on the stuffed animal box. I almost didn't believe my eyes. Then you did it on Tuesday. Wednesday Dad saw it before work, and it relieved me to know I wasn't imagining things. Nana's seen it too. We've tried to capture it on film, but it's proved to be elusive.

- You continue to adore food. Really anything you see you want. Really I prefer if you'd just eat fruits and veggies till you're one, but occasionally I let you have grains or chicken. I even let you have a french fry at In-N-Out because you were so insistent. My favorite thing to give you is a slice of apple because it keeps you happy for so long. You are definitely more into feeding yourself than letting others do it for you. This is us with Nana and Papa at Denny's after going to see the train village. You had an apple.

-I've never seen you crawl so fast as when Daddy comes home from work and you want to go see him. Here you are waking up in his arms on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

- You like following Luke around, trying to knock down his towers or take his toys. Luckily Luke has developed a little more patience and a few skills so that you're getting clobbered is at a minimum. I love it when you two are laughing with each other and I have no clue why. Luke can get you to giggle pretty hard.

-I almost forgot another favorite pastime of yours- diaper folding time! I do diaper laundry every 3 or so days and when it comes time to fold you like to dump out the whole basket and play with all the different kinds of fabric. You try to rip them, you shake them, and you peek-a-boo with them. You love that basket so much you even dump it out when they're all folded.

New Park

2011-11-14T14:32:00.001-08:00

We found a new park. It was fun. The end.

Blah, Blah, Blaperture.

2011-11-13T06:48:00.001-08:00

Once upon a time, way back when we only had one child, we bought a "big" camera in hopes that we could take better photos of our children's lives. I have left the camera in auto mode these long months. I know some great photographers. My childhood friend, my sister-in-law, my brother-in-law. I don't dream of being a great photographer, I just get sick of my photos turning out so... icky.

Well, Tess was kind enough to show me The Pioneer Woman's photography stuff. Reading just a few posts gave me the confidence to try, to play. I will give you a before and after to demonstrate.

On auto mode.

Off auto mode. I bet I was playing with the aperture.

On auto mode.

Off auto mode.

I realize that there are many, many other things to learn. Like I heard about this thing called composition. And something else called ISO. I want to know what those things are some day, but I'm just glad that I tried and it was slightly better than auto mode.

I will now resume the regularly scheduled blog post.

Isn't my family great? Didn't we have so much fun at the park? Blah, blah, blah.

We left because Luke fell off the swing and there was blood. He got the coveted spot in the sling. Ben got jealous after a while and wanted to be held, too. Gotta love it when the stroller is empty and my arms are full.

The End.

Birthday Visitors

2011-11-13T06:19:00.001-08:00

Not only did we get a visit from JoJo for Luke's Birthday, which is reason enough for celebration, but the Abbots came too!!!

Luke was in heaven having his buddies around.

I wish I'd taken more photos. As you can see their aren't any of JoJo or Tess. Well, there was one of Tess, but it could have been part of my "funny candid face" photos, so I left it out.

My favorite moment was when Luke and Lainey were pretending to get married. Luke got really embarrassed and crumbled into a ball on the floor. After a second or two Lainey just rolled him over and said emphatically "Let's go PLAY!" There is no embarrassment necessary with cousins.

Another great thing about having cousins around was Luke's attention was off of Ben. Nearly Zero sibling stuff that week. Yippee!

ETA: Oops. I found some more pictures.

End of Season

2011-11-12T18:50:00.001-08:00

Supporting my siblings in their variousendeavors has always been a pleasure of mine. This season was alittle bit triekier with 2 boys to keep track of instead of 1, so weended up going to fewer things.

Peter I never actually saw play asingle play this season. The first game I didn't see him because Iwas playing with Luke, the second time he played after I left, andthe third game was so close they didn't let the second string in. Party poopers.

Still, I like going to his footballgames. Even though the nuances of sports are lost on me I get all excited about the lights, the cheering, the closescores, and the last-minute, much-needed touchdowns.

Ibraved the rain with both boys for the last game of the season. I'm not sure if heeven cares that I go, but I like to try anyway. I mean, most of hisresponses to my attempts at conversation are mono-syllabic thesedays, so this is my way of showing that I care.

As wewere walking up to the seats, Papa was very excited about the“complete rainbow” that was “almost a double rainbow”. Sadly, there was no one there but me to giggle.

I'mnot sure what it is about the rain and a football game. Somehow the whole is more than the sum of the parts.

Binoculars. For the serious spectator.

Peter is #39

In theend the team did some grunting. The captainsexpressed their love for their fellow players. The team did a shoutof thanks to the parents, and then the season was over.

Oh, the mixed feelings I have about Emily doing cheer. I did 5 years of cheer, so I know a bit about it. It's drama, hair bows, and ambulance rides (in Emily's case). Still, she was really good. I mean, if we weren't 16 years apart the emotion I might feel would be jealousy instead of pride.

She's the flier in the center

For their competition routine she didn't end up doing any flying. She does a lot of tumbling. If you can catch her she's in green shorts and a white top standing to the right at the very beginning. Afterwards I had her rattle off to me the different tumbling passes she does.

Emily: First I do a round-off double back handspring. Then another one of those. Then a standing triple back handspring. Then I'm supposed to do a round off back handspring back tuck, but I left out the back tuck because I was tired.

Me: Emily, why on earth were you tired?

Emily: [faint smile. not so faint eye roll]

Lean Up

2011-11-09T15:38:00.000-08:00

"Lean Up Roseville" is put on yearly by Johnson Ranch Racquet Club. Out of about 200 applications 24 people are given a 2 month membership, nutrition information meetings, group fitness classes and personal training. This year, one of those people was...

ME!!!

So for the past 8 weeks I have been waking up, putting in between 60 and 120 minutes at the gym, and then coming home to go about my business.

For the nutritional meeting my Mom was able to help watch the boys until Mac got off work.

I had already been losing weight on my own by trying to eat sensibly and exercising but working out at home with the kidlets around my ankles is a lot trickier than doing it at a gym. Not that I don't love Luke shouting "Faster Mommy!" from the jogging stroller, or doing squats with Luke on my back, but you can push things differently when your kids are still asleep.

The nutrition meetings were pretty eye-opening. The more I learn about nutrition, the more I want to learn. The leader was really into "clean eating" and "traditional foods", which I was somewhat familiar with. It's just hard for me to change how I plan, shop, and prepare meals. Frankly, it gives me anxiety. Slowly but surely I'm "cleaning up" the foods I buy and someday will get better about eating more "traditionally". She wanted us to journal our food, but I can't do that. I end up being too restrictive and not eating enough, so I just tried to pay attention to my hunger level and eat when I'm hungry. I had a few epiphanies about my "food issues" and I think it'll be a long journey for me to get to a place where I have a normal relationship with food.

As far as the workouts go, I loved it. Were I single or married without children I would probably be a huge gym rat. I like working out. At least after the first five minutes when I'm warm. Those first five minutes I'm thinking "Ugh. I wish I were home in bed." or "I really don't have what it takes to work out today. I'll just leave after 20 minutes". But after that first five minutes I'm usually excited to be there. It was especially interesting because in the "Lean Up" classes I was one of the fittest people, but I got humbled in the regular classes by ladies 20 years older than me with better balance and/or strength.

This is the move I call balance ball bridge with 40 plus extra pounds.

These are the books I've been reading:

This was the first Michael Pollan book I read. He is witty and sensible.

Any one who has ever struggles with their weight or has a less-than-healthy relationship with food would benefit from this book. The author worked in the food industry. He explains how humans are biologically driven to like foods with sugar, fat, and salt, and how the food industry can layer those 3 ingredients to make foods hyper palatable. Eating hyper palatable foods can trigger people to eat too fast so they have a harder time telling when they're full. He doesn't offer simple solutions, because there are none, but it's helped me be more aware of why food affects me the way it does.

OK, so I didn't read all of this book. I need to buy my own copy because it's like a reference book and a cook book in one. I like the premise that there is wisdom to be found in how people have been eating for hundreds of years.

Between the food changes and all the working out I lost 16 pounds, 16 and a half inches (5 from my waist and 4 from my hips) and dropped my body fat percentage by 5 percent. I should feel great- and part of me does. I have a hard time not focusing on the last 5-10 pounds and the things that I wish were different. I dare to dream that I'll get those last few pounds and that for once in my adult life, losing weight will not be on my New Year's resolution list. On my list will probably be refining how I eat, building muscle, and holding on for dear life!

Luke Version 3.0

2011-11-09T15:10:00.000-08:00

Luke, how old are you today?

Try again.

Yup, that's it.

Luke's loves and recent milestones:

Loves building ships with his legos.

Loves riding his balance bike andtrike, playing with friends, and going to the park.

Loves reading fairy tale books.

Loves nearly all food you put in frontof him. Except bell peppers. I've tried to brainwash him abouthealthy food but he reminds me “I still like junk food, too.”

Knows nearly all of his sounds and canread a teeny tiny bit (For example if I put the word “all” up andtell him it says all and then put different letters in front of it hecan read “ball”, “tall”, “wall”, etc).

Is writing some letters. This isself-taught.

Is between 31 and 32 pounds. Is 38inches tall (grew 2 inches in the past 6 months).

I know this seems ridiculous to mention, but he can fall asleep on his own for naps. That's like bragging you've just taught your 15 year old how to use the potty, but it's big for us.

The Celebration

The night before his birthday he opened some books. Partially because he had a bunch of books to open and partially because I love spreading the presents out.

Luke woke up on his birthday a littlebit honery and whiney. Not a total terror, but it made it a hard to be lovey-dovey and nostalgic. Luckily he took a nap andwhen he looks like this I forget he's ever done anything wrong.

In the afternoon we went to Nana'shouse to set up for his birthday dinner. I was running around making drumsticks, baked potatoes,veggies, brownies and mud pie. I haven't cooked like that in awhile, and I kind of miss it. Probably not since the FLSR at BYU. I should tell thosestories someday, but back to the birthday...

Luke saw his Halloween costume andwanted to put it on. His Aunt Tess relayed this exchange to me aftershe helped him get dressed:

Luke: Do pirates wear unders?

Tess: This pirate does. Are you a goodpirate or a bad pirate?

Luke: I'm a nervous pirate.

Tess: Why are you nervous?

Luke: Because I don't know what apirate does.

I sowish I'd been there.

Afterdinner we opened presents. I was still kind of running aroundgetting things together so I didn't see all his presents, but what alucky, loved little boy he is!

(Ben and Lily seem to like each other. Just had to throw this picture in there.)

Luke had picked out these candles at Whole Foods. It reminded me of a Demetri Martin quote: "I'm in a weird position, because I like rainbows, but I'm not gay. So whenever I go out wearing a rainbow shirt, I have to put "Not gay." But I'm not against gays, so under that I'll have to put "... but supportive." It's weird how one group of people took refracted light. That's very greedy, gays." Yeah, thanks gays. Luke is taking rainbows back for children everywhere.

Luke and I looked at my desert recipe file in preparation for his big day. This is what he picked. Oreo crust, layer of chocolate ice cream, layer of crushed oreos, layer of cookies and cream ice cream, layer of chocolate and almonds, real whipped cream, and another drizzling of chocolate and almonds. I savored it as much as I could. Apparently so did a lot of people.

Originally I wanted to do a bigger party and invite all of Luke's little buddies. Quickly I realized I couldn't handle it so I pared the list down. I was sad to not invite everyone, but looking around I still felt so blessed. We've got wonderful people in our lives.

Ben was immediately addicted to this snake. I find myself mesmerized by it, too.

Cal may have liked the mud pie. You'd have to ask him.

The last (and don't worry, they asked permission) present was from Peter and Emily. Luke's (and the Christensen's) first pet ever. It's a beta that Luke named "Fireworks Thomas". I'm not sure if he had help with the Fireworks part of it, I'd have to ask Emily. We have remembered to feed him both mornings since his birthday. Maybe, just maybe, we're responsible enough for a pet.

Ben- 8 Months

2011-11-06T08:42:00.000-08:00

Here's what Ben's been up to this month:

Starting to really chat- b, m, r, y, blowing raspberries, fishy noise.

You reach for me, you kick your feet and smile when I walk towards you. I'm glad.

You're growing like a weed. Sometimes Mac and I talk about it over breakfast that you must have grown an inch in your sleep.

You had a really tough week last week. Part of it was your teeth pushing up. They still haven't cut through, but you're in pain. Part of the tough week was boredom- I was sick and we didn't get out much. You like lots of stimulation..

I like to think of you as my easy-going baby, but still you have those clingy days where if I even think of putting you down you're upset.

You're figuring out that you don't like having things taken from you- whether it's Me or Dad taking a hazardous object or Luke taking a toy. You definitely express your frustration! Sometimes we baracade you away from the little legos, but you don't like it! In fact, you've figured out how to get around most of our attempts to keep you away from them.

It's been cute watching you warm up to different members of the extended family. First came Emily- you liked her, no problem. Then you warmed up to Nana and then Peter. You were still intimidated by Papa up until this past week. When he would try to say hi you would either bury your face in me or pretend he wasn't talking to you. When we went to the football game with him you finally decided you were ready to be his pal.

I love the way you smile at Dad when he hands you to me. I'm not sure what that smile is saying, but that grin is unforgettable.

You want whatever we've got. You know that saying "The best toy is the one in someone else's hands". You're always swiping at my water bottle or book.

Milestones: I haven't seen it yet, but Mac says you can stand for a few seconds.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T13:38:00.000-07:00

Halloween morning I asked Luke if he wanted to trick or treat in our neighborhood or Nana's. He said he didn't want to go trick or treating at all, but he did want to go to Nana's. We donned our slightly more put together costumes (little kids as pirates, big kids as...uh... teenagers from yesteryear).

(I'm continuing my series of wrong-moment photos. Because I'm so good at it. You're welcome.)

Luke was convinced to practice trick or treating at Nana's and that gave him the confidence to do a couple more houses. After sending Peter and Emily off we did two houses. In my mom's neighborhood (and I imagine many such neighborhoods across the country) candy is thrown to the children by fistfulls. So we did two houses and said "Luke, do you want to go home?" "Yeah," was the reply. Sweet!

We came back, gave Luke his previously agreed-apon amount of candy (a piece per year old, rounded up because his birthday is in a week). Mac and I finished it off (one peice per big kid) and we were done. Hooray! We'll see how that goes next year...

(Mere seconds later...)

(Again, you're welcome)

Ben was, of course, upset that we wouldn't share with him. That's pretty much been his stance since he was 3 months old.

Luke's favorite part of Halloween was greeting trick-or-treaters at the door, checking out their costumes, and giving them candy.

We came home, gave candy out to those later trick-or-treaters and went to bed.

Now the task of today is ignoring the bag of candy that Mac bought for us to pass out.

Disney on Ice

2011-10-30T13:01:00.000-07:00

Oh, Disney. It's hard to not be entertained by you. Luke tried, and failed. He sat stony-faced for a couple of songs, but by the time Peter Pan flew through the air and did his solo, he turned to me with an enormous grin. That grin resurfacesed for the Dwarves ("I know this song!" he said).

Dear sweet Ben was first on Dad's lap, but as soon as the music started he tensed up and boo-boo faced and needed a mama. Back at home base in my arms he calmed down. He didn't watch much of the show- he preferred to chew on the seat. By the end of the show he thought everyone was smiling and clapping and cheering for him. You should have seen him light up thinking it was all about him.

I brought my sweater in case it was cold. It wasn't, but Luke loves to take my stuff. My food, my water bottle, anything. Isn't that adorable? (Sarcasm intended). Sometimes I wonder what he'll do for a living when he grows up. I think he may have a future in something that has to do with negotiations or hostile takovers. It's a good thing he's got that cute little face (no sarcasm intended).

The next day Luke practiced his ice skating moves. In his pj's. At 4:30 pm. He's going through a pj phase, which is a little funny because there was a point of time not too long ago that he couldn't be convinced to put on a pair because he thought they were uncomfortable. And that's just how it goes.

He's already asking to go again. Oh boy!

Sleeping Babe

2011-10-23T10:02:00.000-07:00

Can anything be wrong with the world when he is asleep in my arms?

As my babies get older and nap less in my arms and more in a bed, I surely cherish holding them more.

Ben Movies

2011-10-23T09:57:00.000-07:00

For your viewing pleasure...

Trunk-or-Treat

2011-10-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

One of these days, I'll get my act together. It was not today. I had thought about Halloween costumes. Unfortunately for me, Halloween costumes are not gifts. It's not just the thought that counts. The morning of Trunk-or-Treat came and we went scrambling through the dress-ups box. I found a Ben-sized cap, a Luke-sized cap, and a Mac-sized cap. They could be golfers! I found a visor for me and decided to be their caddy. Mac found a little golf kit at the dollar store on his lunch. I dare say these costumes worked out pretty well, considering the time and energy that went into them. We did not win any contests, however. People saw Mac and asked "are you a Scottish guy?" or "are you a tourist?". Wrong. He was a Scottish golf photographer.

Yes, I think this club will do quite nicely.

Who needs a golf cart? This caddy carries the clubs and the golfer.

Seriously, Mom. Stop taking my picture and get me some food!

I'm not sure what it was about this costume, but I thought he looked extra handsome. I'd marry him all over.

If I may speak candidly...

2011-10-23T07:59:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken at Abby's birthday. When we got home and looked at the pictures Mac and I had a good laugh at this face. I asked him several questions: Do I always look so pained over trivial things like painting pumpkins at a birthday party? Is my face really that contorted all the time? Why on earth did you marry me? Sometimes I do wonder: Do normal (or average) people have candids (Spell check tells me this isn't a word. What does spell check know?) taken of them that make them look silly?

It made me feel much better when I took this one of Mac at Trunk-or-Treat. Granted, he is eating, which lends itself to more socially acceptable levels of face contorting. But still. To know that someone whose face I loved so much that I married it can make faces like this is comforting. I'm so glad that I'm not alone. And glad that Mac didn't bat an eye when I asked if I could blog this.

Luke stories

2011-10-23T07:44:00.000-07:00

"I'm going to jump in the bush, climb the tree, jump up with the birds, put on my batman suit and jump to the rescue"

I love how his speech is getting more 'sophisticated'
"you can cut it up of course"
"actually"
"all my books are totally good"
Rainboots inside 'inappropriate'

Mom to Dad: What time is it?
Luke: Thirty Forty

Looking at the scroll designs on the couch: I see an alligator! Making up stories with the imaginary figures in the design.

Emily complaining to my Mom: we can't drive AND walk!
Luke: I can

[Luke is struggling to put on his socks]
Mom: Socks can be hard
Luke: I can do it every time... Can you help me with this one?

One night Luke was cracking himself up playing peek a boo with Ben. Problem was, Ben wasn't even aware there was a game going on.

Colored a picture of the family: I love Dad and Mom and Ben and Luke and Luke and Luke and Luke.

We were playing at the park when a Dad came to practice kicking the soccer ball with his son. Luke really wanted to get in on the game. I said "Sure, go ask if you can play". He walked a few feet towards them and then ran back and buried his face in me and said "I'm nervous!"

Luke picked up Winnie the Pooh from the library. With no pictures to go on, he started 'reading' the story. I was driving and grocery shopping while he was doing this so I didn't get to hear all of it, but there was something about a pot of honey and Piglet and finding a house for Eeyore.

Mom: I wonder what Ben will be like when he's big like you.
Luke: I think he'll be a superhero.

We were at dinner with the Schofields and Luke turned to me and asked "Mom, are you a drama queen?" Which no one heard but Mac and me. He then turned to Nana and asked "Nana, are you a drama queen?" I won't say what happened next, but I'll always remember it.

Luke: Mom, you're getting old.
Mom: Oh yeah? How old? 21, 22 23 ...35?
Luke: Yeah 35.
Luke then guessed that Mac was 25. I need a better night cream. Or just any night cream, as I don't currently wear one. Recommendations are welcome.

With the renovations in the kitchen we were eating in the living room. Luke was eating at the train table and I was sitting on the couch. He asked if he could come snuggle me and eat, but I just wanted him to stay at the table. He argued "But I love you so much!". How do you argue with that?

Oh, Brother

2011-10-23T07:29:00.000-07:00

We have just gone through a rough patch of brotherhood. It's mostly over now, so it's safe to talk about without me getting...anxious, worked up, or emotional.

Luke didn't really seem to resent Ben at all. Until he started moving, that is. And going for toys. And generally being more kid-like. I think a light went off in Luke's head- I have to protect my territory!

Things were not pretty. At first I had to be in between them to protect Ben. As things got better I could narrate to Luke "OK, Ben is coming after your toy. What should you do?" And he could solve the problem by giving Ben a new toy or sharing or just asking me to move him or distract him. These solutions are in contrast to Luke's default of pushing Ben over or bopping him on the head. Luckily Ben usually wasn't hurt and didn't even realize he should be offended. Still, I can't leave them alone together.

At the height of it, I asked Luke "Sometimes do you feel like getting rid of him?". Very seriously Luke answered "Yes." He almost went to go get his shoes on, so we could leave and take Ben somewhere. I just started sobbing. To know that he felt like that. It just ripped me in half. After Luke's nap, the first thing Luke said to me was "Let's keep Ben. I don't want him to go away."

We're not out of the woods yet. I don't even mean the sibling-rivalry-for-eternity-woods, just the current phase of it. But it's much, much better, for which I'm grateful.

For a bit the only time I could count on Luke not lashing out was when they were reading together or snuggling together.

It made me hang on to moments like this really hard:

At the park Luke was playing with a new kid and started bragging to him "Look, that's my brother!" I almost cried to see that glimmer of hope that Luke wouldn't always resent Ben.

We were talking about his birthday party:

Mom: Luke, what friends do you want at your party?
Luke: Ben. And Nana.
Mom: [Heart melts. Wipes a tear.]

Seriously, anybody have a copy of Siblings Without Rivalry I can borrow?

Party Time! Excellent!

2011-10-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to Luke's friend, Abby!

We had a zip-linin'

Pumpkin-decoratin'

Simply loungin'

Terrific time.

Harvest Festival

2011-10-09T08:30:00.000-07:00

As Luke is almost three, this is his first potential preschool year. He won't start kindergarten until he is 5, nearly 6 so there are three of these preschool years. When Labor Day hit, it threw me into a little frenzy of reading a dozen or so books, scores of articles, and researching several local preschools. He's still 2, so I told myself to calm down a little bit, that everything doesn't need to be decided all at once. Still, the task of making sure my children have a rich and varied education and are "prepared for the future" weighs heavy on my mind. Not to mention the fact that I would like to continue my education and learn things that my schooling left out.

In doing this research and talking to people we discovered a local resource. It's a charter school that is Waldorf-based. I can't be sure how committed I am to that philosophy until I do some more research, but let me tell you, I am smitten with their home school kindergarten. There's no doubt in my mind that Luke will have plenty of academics from his hyper mother (that's me!), but for the 'rich and varied' part of his education I might need some support. Their home school program basically consists of home support and supplies and two days a week they do an outdoor kindergarten that is basically a nature walk, free play, and snack time. I think that's exactly the kind of thing my kids need. Of course that's still a ways off, but to visit the school and get a feel for the community went to the fall festival.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect- how waldorf-y would it be? Would I even be able to tell a difference between this and a regular public school? It wasn't your typical crowd- lots of women in long, flowy skirts, and lots of men with beards. The kids seemed fairly typical, though. We made our way around to the various activities. It's funny how many people we ran into- our midwife, the LLL leader, another mom I know from an AP group. I guess we're all just drawn towards similar things. Luke and I strung an acorn necklace and then played at the park. We walked through the booths of wooden toys and handmade necklaces and clothes on our way to the balance beam and to watch the archers.

Then we did the cupcake walk- Mac and Ben won the first time. Mac and Luke couldn't reach an agreement as to how to split the cupcake so we did it again.

Ben and I won the second time, but Ben was generous enough to let Luke have the cupcake. Ben must be our lucky charm! Then we visited the petting zoo. The first rabbit was too scratchy, the second was a biter, but the third was just right. When I asked Luke later what his favorite part was, this was it.

Ben liked the sheep best of all.

We still had 4 tickets left to spend before we left. I thought the face painting looked fun and devised several different ways to split the tickets so Luke and I could both get our cheeks done. In the end I had a heart on one side and a ladybug on the other because Luke was terrified of the sweet twelve year old who was doing it. Indecisive as ever, Luke told me on the way home that he really wanted his face painted and he really wanted me to wash mine off. Then later when I did wash my face to go grocery shopping, he wished I had it back on.

We told Luke he could do one more fun thing before heading home. He chose to twirl around in the grass and do the balance beam.

I'm glad we went- it was a fun event, and I was glad to look at the school and get a feel for the community. We will definitely be keeping this school in mind for the future.

(Thank you for excusing the quality of the photos. We forgot all but our camera phones!)

Ben- 7 Months

2011-10-06T15:09:00.000-07:00

Here's what Ben has been up to this past month:

I kept trying to help you sit still. You were too busy trying to get somewhere!

A few times you've said "Ma" when distressed. Probably not a real word- but it's pretty endearing that when you're sad you know who to call.

Just going in the backyard makes you squeal and kick your feet. You crawl over to the sliding glass door when you're ready to head out.

I never know what to expect from you when meeting strangers. Sometimes you are so friendly and other times you just bury your head in my shoulder.

Milestones this month: You pulled up to stand at six months and ten days. You promptly fell over. You've gotten much better at falling so that you land on your bum instead of your head. Still, you seem to manage to whack your head on lots of things. You're so sturdy now- letting go with one hand and cruising a tiny bit.

Hey, Ma! I got Luke's water!

You tolerate your brother extremely well. I'm glad you don't take offense, even when it's intended.

This toy can keep you busy for half an hour.

So far your favorite toys are: the door stop, slinky, any spiral bound notebook, the "needle thing", and whatever is in Luke's hands (or mine).

You love singing with me and doing hand plays. Yesterday Luke and I were kicking around the soccer ball and I started using you as a foosball player to kick it back to Luke. You thought that was hilarious.

Mealtimes are sometimes frustrating for both of us. I have no clue what you want other than table food, which you're not getting yet, sorry. You eat some baby food and some "practice food" (soft pieces you won't choke on) but this clearly doesn't cut it. You tear the bumbo tray off (for which dad calls you "hulk baby") and try to escape. Where to, I'm not sure because you're equally ticked in the saucer and on the floor. I sure hope we figure this out soon!

Green beans? Not my favorite.

Luke notes

2011-09-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

Here's what Luke's been saying and doing this month:

Intensifying my workouts. This will probably turn into a post in and of itself. Luke loves to join me, jump on me, and cheer for me.

Never one to like solitude, when I go to put Ben down for a nap sometimes I hear from the couch: "I'm lonely. I'm all alone." over and over until I return or if I leave him for a minute on the potty he'll holler "I need some love!"

"But I do but I don't." This is an entire concept that I've come to embrace. Luke sometimes likes the idea of something, but doesn't like the reality of it. "Luke, do you want to try some pickles?" I say. "I do, but I don't." is the reply. He thinks they're fascinating, but he doesn't like the taste. Sometimes he'll chant it for a while: "But I do, but I don't, but I do, but I don't." I've even found myself saying this. My mom might ask, "Do you want to go to Costco?" I get that mental tug of war "But I do, but I don't."

I was talking to my mom about Mac and Luke chimed in and called him Mac instead of dad, so Nana jokingly said...
Nana- Who's this Mac guy?
Luke- [seriously and thoughtfully] He's a big guy and he's my buddy.
I love that Luke described him that way.

I was talking to Luke about what we might grow in a garden next year. "Macaroni and cheese" he said. And THAT is why we need to at least attempt a garden.

Luke picked a book from the library called Shades of People about how people come in all shades. A few days later he came over to compare our shades. It was decided that I was slightly darker. He said "You're brown- good for youuuuuuu!" and galloped away saying "Hooray!"

I was reading a book called School: The Story of American Public Education. Luke climbed into my lap and wanted to see the photos in the book One was a painting of a teacher who caught his student sleeping and was hovering over him, about to whip him awake. Luke was very upset by this and said "I don't want to get spanked in the tush. Never!" I explained to him that they don't do corporal punishment in school anymore, just verbal abuse (School of Rock, anyone?). Later he was coloring and said "I'm learning school. You should spank me!" We have great fun joking about that. Sometimes he wants me to "spank" him and sometimes he wants me to pretend to be the student. Don't worry, they're just love taps. We're not getting too violent with our schooling.

One day he walked over to me and got real close. He had a very mischievous look on his face. He proceeded to tell me "you're stinky!" "you're disgusting." He loves to play with the power that certain words have.

Any time Luke catches Mac and I kissing he says "I want some love too!"

"Benny, you're my pet."

I love to listen to his pretend games. One day his little figurines were going to neverland on a tractor.

Ben, Luke and I were snuggling on the couch. Luke looked up at me and said "who is your best boy?" Later while snuggling before bed he asked "what boy do you love best?" We've talked a lot about that.

It's so cool to me that he understands perspective. Although he never has been on the roof he said "when I was up on the roof I could see the neighbors." It shows me that he can imagine what it would look like if he were on the roof. That's the root of emotional intelligence- imagining what different perspectives look like.

It's nice to have a kid around to show you what you need to improve. Luke has started saying things in an accusatory manner like "you always..." and "you never...". I've started watching myself and realizing how often I'm guilty of that kind of talk and thinking.

We got a phone book dropped of at our door. Luke was so confused. "Is it my Birthday?" "Is it your birthday?" "Is it my homework?" "Is it your homework?" For the record, Luke has no homework, he just knows about homework from Peter and Emily.

Luke has a new game that he loves to play that he calls "sash." It's just acting out the scene where the stepsisters mess up Cinderella's dress. He begs Emily and I to act it out. Sometimes even Nana joins in as the Fairy. I have to take care to remind Luke that if he wants to play as the stepsister that he needs to rip off the sash and beads, not skin. Man, he's intense!

It cracks me up when Luke corrects my speech: "Mom! It's not el-e-phant it's ef-el-ant." "Oh, thanks, Luke!"

One night at bedtime he told me "you're the sweetest girl in the whole wide world." Aw!

I overheard him telling Mac "I like this house. We should make this bathroom blue. And maybe the bathtub blue. And my hair blue."

Last night he was singing eensy weensy spider in his sleep.

Luke has very mixed feelings about Ben. Sometimes it's passive-aggressive with a hug that's a little too tight or more like a tackle than a hug. Sometimes it's plain aggressive-aggressive. Lately he's been struggling with bopping him on the head and pushing him over when he's pulled up to stand on something. Luckily Ben doesn't realize that offense was intended and so he takes none. I've been trying to help Luke work through those feelings and figure out why he's doing those things and what he can do instead. My theory is that a lot of the time he is just wanting more attention and stimulation. (Of course sometimes the problem is that I'm in a foul mood, which trickles down to Luke, who then hits Ben, but I wouldn't want to convict myself too much now, would I?) If I'm absorbed in something he knows that's a sure fire way to get the attention back on himself. I think we're making progress because most recently he pulled up his hand to hit Ben, stopped himself, and turned to me and said "I need some attention". Of course that's probably not the end of it, but little signs like that are reassuring. Oh, and Ben, if you're reading this, I do protect you as much as I can. I try to keep my body in between you two most of the time and I try to stay close enough to catch Luke's body or arm if it's aimed at you. That's just not possible 100% of the time.

La Provence

2011-09-24T16:39:00.000-07:00

In honor of the September birthdays (Emily's and mine), and as a cultural activity for Peter's French class, we went to lunch at La Provence in Roseville. It was amazing.

Luke had a blast with the wikki sticks the waitress brought us, and a lot of fun exploring the grounds in between "courses".

We all had a hard time deciding what to order- everything looked delicious.

First off was bread and a chickpea dip (which was basically hummus, but I'm told it wasn't). This was followed by fondue (artichoke, smoked gouda, smoked paprika, spinach, and cayenne). We all gobbled it up.

I wish I could recap how everyone's food is, but there wasn't much time to discuss it. Unfortunately, the slow food movement is lost on us. Most of the party had to leave for the football game Emily was cheering at, and Mac didn't even get to eat his meal at the table because he was rushing off to an interview. I can tell you that I was a little bit disappointed with what I ordered. I had the open face chicken sandwich with whatever the french version of pesto is, sun-dried tomatoes, and goat cheese. The best part was the goat cheese, but I didn't really think the rest was that great. Oh, well. Now I'll have to go back and try something else. The boys and I headed to a park to wait for Mac to get back from his interview.

"Hey, mom, is there a ball?"

"Sorry, Luke. You'll have to play with this sack."

And he did.

I'm told the interview went pretty well. The burger was quite good. I can tell you myself because I got a couple bites. The fries were good enough to eat without ketchup.

Benny had a great time.

Tackle!

Ben- 6 Months

2011-09-08T14:33:00.000-07:00

Hey, little man. Here is a view of yourself at 6 months old:

You love to chew on stuff. Your favorites include my knuckles, books, shoes and feet. I've caught you going for the broom, mop and flyswatter, but that's where I draw the line. Your big brother likes to help you stay away from stuff you shouldn't have like paper and other choking hazards.

You are delighted to put weight on your legs and stand up like the rest of us.
You're not a big sitter. You're getting better all the time, but I make sure you're set up for the inevitable spill.

You're getting around just fine: you can roll and army crawl wherever you want. You do a little bit of hands and knees crawling, but you're faster army crawling.
You love bringing your arm down real fast (you've been called Bam-Bam for this). I'm not sure if it's frustration, a new schema, or a defense mechanism against Luke. Maybe a little bit of all of those.

I love the exuberance with which you meet each day. Your smiling face sets the mood for the morning.
You're called Benny-Boo, Scandinavian baby, Viking baby and Bam-Bam.

It was so funny to watch you watch Papa watch football. Papa yells at the t.v. and you are completely perplexed. Just like most of us.
You are obsessed with food. I didn't really want you to have solids till at least 6 months if not later, but you are pretty insistent. You're there for breakfast and dinner with us at the table and I feel like my options are 1) Only eat when you're asleep so you don't see the food and get jealous. 2) Leave you alone in another room while we eat 3) Let you fuss and get frustrated watching us eat while we give you toys to play with or 4) Just give you some food and be done with it. I chose option number four, but I wish I could have thought of a better one. Your mind and your mouth might be ready for food, so I sure hope your gut is ready too. So far I let you suck on a nectarine and apple in the little mesh-feeder thingy and you got a couple bites of my banana "ice cream". A few days after your six month mark we added spinach and carrots in there. The first time I gave you really soft carrot bits you pincher grasped it and put it straight to your mouth.

One more story for ya: We were at the library and a dad and his kids walked into the playing/reading room. I tried to chat him up, but he was deaf and didn't vocalize. My signs are not that good, so there was a pretty good language barrier. We sat there in silence while the kids played. I think you thought it was odd that your usually chatty-with-strangers mother didn't keep talking to the dad. You took it on yourself to smile and engage him and he seemed to like you a lot. While not an extrovert, you certainly have some pro-social tendencies. If I may project onto you, I think you're just a sensitive little soul. I think you care about other people and want to make sure everybody around you is doing o.k.

What's for dinner? (We only did this once, it didn't work so well)

Hmmm. You let me grab your spoon. What is this?

Weird.

Better try it again.

You were sitting on my lap and were able to pull up on the ottoman. You can't really pull up yet.

Seconds later, you took a spill. Good thing I got it on camera.

Benny Boy, you are such a joy! I don't want to believe your baby-hood is halfway over. I hope you're enjoying it as much as I am!

Emily's Birthday Party

2011-09-03T16:19:00.000-07:00

Here's some highlights from Emily's birthday party:

Papa and Ben

Peter "pictures will cost you" Schofield graced us with his presence for a minute. He then left to "tailgate" because he needed to put on "body paint" for the Varsity game. I have no idea which parts of that he was kidding about.

Ben likes our faces so much he wants to eat them.

It's a little known fact that children have a sugar quota to meet. Kind of like a sales person has a sales quota to meet. Luke is a real go-getter and managed to get down shaved ice, a cupcake, and some ice cream. Well done! Now you can take the rest of the month off. Please.

The shwimming was shwell. I'm feeling a little shilly.

Ben and Mac-daddy.

Nana and Ben.

When I sent Mac in to take pictures of the gang watching the movie, he found Luke and Papa "I wear my sunglasses inside" Schofield. Papa thought Mac was coming to whisk Luke home and said "You can't have him". They are two peas in a pod.

Long after the girls decided Disney's movie "Prom" was derivative, we found Papa had paused for a snooze.

And eventually, so did Benny boy.

Some days are like that. Even in Australia.

2011-08-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

This week I had one of those days. A terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day. A just surviving, just putting out fires kind of a day. It's days like those for which I'm glad I have stored up pictures and memories like this.

Luke, is that mascara?
Yes it is.

Mom, can you put Ben in here with me?

I'm Moses!

Can I go in the sling like Ben?

Twinners

2011-08-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

Um, Mac?

Did you realize you dressed Luke to match yourself?

Tee-Hee. I did the same thing to the boys on accident yesterday.

It's amazing how often that happens around here.

Pure Delight

2011-08-24T13:32:00.000-07:00

Funnies

2011-08-24T13:11:00.000-07:00

Luke's prayers are becoming longer and longer. He's grateful for everything from Jackie Robinson to the Dun-Dun guys (think about the imperial march). Sometimes it's adorable and sometimes it's an exercise in patience for me.

Luke went to go pull the tab on the Brita water filter and it was going to spill out on the floor. I said, half jokingly, "Don't even think about it". He looked at me quizzically and said "I do think about it". As if to say 'the thought already went through my head- I can't un-think it'.

He's mashing up songs: Where is love with down by the banks of the hanky panky.

Mom: It's almost bedtime. Are you tired?
Luke: No. I'm superman.

Luke ran by me and was wearing nothing but rainboots. I smiled and laughed at him and said "you're the best" and he shot back "you're the best too".

In the same vein any time he gets a compliment or observation from someone he chimes in "Yes I am!" or "Yes I do!"

He's starting to make up little rhymes. One of my greatest wishes for my children is that they have a better command of the English language than I do, so my heart soars every time he makes one.

He's added into our bedtime routine some nights that he stands at the foot of our bed and puts on a little show- singing, doing a 'trick'.

He's asking so many questions these days. Even 'why'. He wants to know how things work, like plumbing or what happens to his food after he eats it. Sometimes this is so fun exploring new concepts with him, and sometimes it's an exercise in patience.

I'm dealing with the post-partum hair loss and when the fallen out hair tickles my arm it drives me nuts because I think a bug is on me. One morning I felt the familiar tickle and thought nothing of it. Then I felt a painful pinch. I looked and swatted the spider off of me in one motion. I saw red, so it could have been a black widow (we have a few that we've killed). I screamed and startled both the boys (Ben woke up from his nap). This experience has really stuck with Luke and he re-told the story over and over, sometimes inserting himself as the spider's victim.

I was watching him swim in the bath and he said "Look at me- I'm swimming downloaded (he meant to say down low) in the water!"

I love to hear him making up stories to go along with pictures in books. He even adds "he said" and "she said".

While at dinner with the Schofields Mac and Emily were talking about the new Spiderman movie. Emily was obviously disgusted and asked "Why are they making another one?". Luke answered back matching her tone and body language "Don't worry! It's Spiderman!"

Mom: You have to put on pants.
Luke: But I don't have to wear pants at home [That is the rule at our house]
Mom: We're going to Home Depot
Luke: Home Depot, Home, it's the same!

I love how literally a two-year-old thinks. I was talking to Mac about a girl I know and said "She's so sharp". Luke got a confused look on his face and said "She cuts people?"

Luke has said some pretty charming things to me recently: "You sure are pretty" and "You're my best girl", but my favorite has to be this one:

Luke: I wonder why you're a girl.
Mom: Oh, really? What should I be?
Luke: [covers face and whispers] A princess.

Grandpa Schofield

2011-08-18T13:42:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to spend the whole day with Grandpa Schofield when he was in town for cousin Ashley's Dental Assisting School graduation. Luke wasted no time in become good pals with him and telling him all of his stories and asking to climb into his lap for a book.

Grandpa was sure impressed with Ben getting himself all over the room to play with toys, and we all had fun playing Monopoly Jr. ("Opoly-Dopoly" as Luke calls it).

I kept asking Grandpa questions about his life. I never remember hearing very many of his stories, and now I can't get enough of them. I got to hear about him growing up in Idaho through the Depression and how his family survived with the help of his father's gardening and the family cow (raw milk, I'm sure). I also got to hear a little about all the different Universities he studied at before finally getting his BS from Cal Berkley (If I remember correctly) and his Masters from USC.

Later we went over to the high school so that Grandpa could see Peter practice football. There were 7 of us that went in a rag-tag little band of relatives and it was somewhat embarrassing to Peter. I'm so glad I'm not a teen anymore and I don't get embarrassed anymore. Luke brought his umbrella for shade.

Peter's playing on the third string, so I got to hear about how Papa moved his way up from fifth string on the freshman team to first string on the varsity team. At his high school reunion someone told him "I've never seen someone do so much with so little talent". We got a good laugh out of that because 1) While my dad isn't the most talented athlete, he's certainly not the least and 2) That's not a particularly nice thing to say to someone. Peter's plenty talented, we'll just have to see if he cares enough.

Luke likes to tell everyone what's what. Including his Great Grandpa.

Later we went out to dinner. Sometimes I worry what my children might be doing to add fuel to the "brat ban" fire. But really, Luke is pretty good. Can't you tell?

I have to say I have a knack for catching people right in the middle of a funny face.

I can't wait to see Grandpa Schofield again soon!

I got Ice Capades. I know a guy.

2011-08-14T08:28:00.000-07:00

First off, name that movie. It's a classic.

Second, how cute are these little size 9 skates?

I know, right? And this little guy in those skates? Even cuter.

Luke was really impressive. He has this thing with textures- you know, stuff touching him. We deal with it on a daily basis getting dressed so when they wanted him to put on a bracelet I thought that would be a melt-down. But it wasn't. Then it was time for skates. Luke basically has one pair of too-small flip-flops that he won't complain about. Everything else he hates, so I figured we might have another melt down over the skates. Wrong again. Luke can also be cautious and unsure of himself in new situations, so I thought he might cling for dear life trying to walk in his skates. You guessed it, I was wrong again. At this point I'm 0 for 3 in the being-right-about-meltdowns game, but that's a game I don't mind losing. Luke and Mac skated together for a while while I held Ben and they looked like they were figuring it out.

Then Nana came to watch Ben, Emily came with a friend to skate, and Peter came against his will. Although, he wasn't surly about it. At least not to me. Don't get me wrong- Peter's a great person, but he's kind of flunking out of this teenager thing. Very little surliness. I told him to work on his dirty looks. For the record I was an excellent teenager. I aced dirty looks.

When I stepped out on the ice holding Luke's hand with Mac on his other side, I thought for sure I would take us all out. There were a couple close calls, but I got my balance back after a loop or so around the rink. After a while I wanted to be all finished skating and leave, but the chicken dance song is like a siren's call to me- it kept luring me back to the rink.

Mac and I even got a few minutes of skating together- like a mini date. Eventually Luke's legs were just too tired to hold himself up any more, so we went home. As we were pulling up to our house the ice cream man was stopped by some neighbors. I have tried so hard to keep Luke from knowing that the truck that plays music also has ice cream in it. Almost like some parents try to keep their kids from finding out about Santa. But since it was right there (it was a sign, right?), we got some ice cream. We ushered him in the house as fast as we could so that maybe he wouldn't hear the music and put two and two together.

This morning in his prayer Luke said "...and please bless that we can go ice skating again today."

Amen.

Blackberries

2011-08-10T13:08:00.000-07:00

Last week we bought blackberries at the farmer's market. They were flavorless and expensive. This week Emily, the boys and I went on a walk in the greenbelt by Nana's and found plenty. I was pretending I was a hunter-gatherer because I'm weird. These berries were amazing. After our little jaunt was over and we escaped back inside to air-conditioned bliss we couldn't help but finding some baskets ~~still left out from Easter~~ that were easily accessible and going back for more. Usually I dread summer because Sacramento is so hot, but this year I can't get enough. Maybe it's because there haven't hardly been any triple digit days, but I wish this summer would last forever.

P.S. I'm not quitting my day job to become a hand model.
P.P.S. On this walk Luke may have tipped over in the stroller. With Ben in it. Thank goodness those straps held my poor baby in ok. He just looked at me, mildly terrified, as I righted the stroller and reminded Luke that the stroller is not a jungle gym and he is not a monkey. I sure hope Ben makes it to his first birthday.

Ben 5 Months

2011-08-05T18:47:00.000-07:00

I've been terrible at keeping notes this month- sorry Ben!

(Luke wanted in the photo shoot- see his hand?)

You desperately want to crawl. You can scoot a little bit with an earthworm crawl, but that's just a foot at most. You want to figure it out already and grunt and whine when frustrated. Sometimes you roll front to back until you get somewhere new. I think you could sit up if you didn't wiggle so much. After a couple of seconds you wiggle yourself right over.

(I love your rolls!)

You know the game chicken, where two cars speed towards each other until one of them is too scared and swerves? Well, we play food chicken with you. Because you're so interested in what we're eating, sometimes we let you get it. Or I'll pretend like I'm going to feed you something. You look so excited until it's nearly at your mouth, and then you 'chicken out'. You want to be ready to eat, but you're just not.

(You wiggled over)

In the same vein, I let you play with my camelback water bottle. You can't drink from a baby bottle, so I figured you wouldn't be able to get anything out of it. Well, you did! You had a look of complete horror on your face with you had that sip of water. Now we know what to give you in an emergency- the camelback!

You've got a cold right now. You must be uncomfortable because you haven't complained like this since your newborn days. Sure makes me appreciate how mild-mannered you usually are!

We sure love our rolly-polly wiggly baby boy!

Off the beaten path. Er, paved road.

2011-08-05T07:11:00.000-07:00

I am a homebody, this you probably know. My children are not. This is rather inconvenient, but the best kind of inconvenience. The kind that makes you grow.

We were quarantined with an eensy weensy cough and a itty bitty runny nose, but I knew if we didn't get out of the house soon we'd spontaneously combust out of boredom. Betcha didn't know that was scientifically possible, but just suspend your disbelief until the end of this post. So I thought a walk would be great- that way we're outside, but we're not exposing people to our germs.

Instead of a walk in our neighborhood that we've done a million times already we got carried away and found a trail that tricked us into thinking we'd ventured somewhere exciting.

I was prepared with a double stroller, mei tai for Ben, and bike for Luke. All of them got used at one point or another. The trail was lover-ly with a nearby stream, ducks to see, and side paths to explore. On one of these side explorations we saw something in the distance. We went in for further exploration.

What's this? A park in the middle of our nature walk?

Quarantine over. In my defense, no one comes to this park, so no one else will get sick.

This park is called Taylor Park, named after the late husband of the woman whose basement Mac rented with Sam and Mark when we were dating. Mac and I even visited the park once in our courtship because it was so close to said basement.

Mac also makes these stickers for the city that they stick on the play structures. They don't pay Mac to install them, but they should because Mac wouldn't do it crooked. Mac pointed this crookedness out to me and now I notice it at every park and it bugs me. Thanks a lot, Mac. Obliviousness was bliss.

Oliver

2011-07-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

This year Emily was cast in Oliver as one of Faggin's gang at Music Circus. I'm amazed that she was able to work so hard (40+ hours/week). She has so much fun being in the show and making friends with her cast mates. What's even more impressive to me is that she would still go to swim practice in the morning and put on a matinee and an evening show all in the same day. Ah, to be young and energetic again.

Mac, Marv, Peter and I went to see the show. Nana took Luke and Ben to see the Winnie the Pooh movie and met us at intermission. Luke watched the rest of the play from the t.v. in the Subscriber's Lounge. I had major Ben withdrawals, but he seemed fine without me.

Emily was thrilled to have so many supporters ("There are 17 people coming to see me" she said), and Mac and I really enjoyed the play. We've been singing the music ever since. Emily did such a great job, especially considering she was playing a pick-pocket street urchin and in real life she's more of a... what's a nice word for "goody-goody"? You know what I mean. She's a good kid.

That night I said to Mac "please, can you get one good photo?"

He said "It's hard to get a good shot, she won't sit still". So I said "OK, I'll try".

He was right. She won't sit still.

Great job, Em!

Funnies, Smarties, and Sweeties

2011-07-19T13:50:00.000-07:00

Usually I write down things Luke says and does that I want to remember, but I guess I can't call all of these Funnies...

Luke is in love with Babybug magazine. One week he'd memorized all the stories and poems in a day and the next week he wanted to check out every single one from the library. I let him.

After church one day I asked, "Can you tell me about nursery?". He replied "I can't. I have no words."

He's been asking a lot of questions lately. Not a lot of 'why' yet, but so far I've heard: What is freedom? What is honesty? Where is...? (He's very interested in different locations we go to)

We got a book about the Flag because the Fourth of July was coming up. Sometimes I start a sentence and let him finish to see if he remembers. On a page about George Washington I started "General..." and he finished "Grevious" (a Star Wars character). He memorized the pledge already in just a few readings of the book.

He created an imaginary friend named Thomas for a few days. Apparently he's very, very tall with blue hair. We haven't seen him in a couple of weeks, so we'll see.

Luke was playing with a balloon that got away. Later at lunch he said "I need a cape so I can fly up and get my balloon".

The drive to JoJo's overlooks a beautiful valley and as we were driving up the road Luke said "I can see the whole world"

Luke declined to watch the fireworks at Liberty Days. He buried his face and when asked if he wanted to look he said "My candy's watching"

I don't usually sing lullabies to Luke, but lately he's been asking for the Star Spangled Banner.

He's had his first celebrity crush. We went to see Little Rascals at an outdoor movie. The next day we were talking about the characters. I said something about Darla and Luke chimed in "and she's pret-ty" then he covered his face with a pillow and said "I love Darla, I love Darla, I love Darla".

Ever since we watched Muppets in Space Luke has been very concerned about things 'falling into space'. One night he was taking forever to fall asleep and he finally said he was worried about his teddy falling into space.

I can't remember what he was eating, but one lunch he was eating and said to me "This makes my tummy laugh!"

I lost my point-and-shoot and was pretty sad about it. For family home evening we talked about the parable of the lost coin and were going to look for the camera. We related it to how important we are to Heavenly Father and Jesus and how much they love us. Luke said "I want to play hide and seek with Jesus!". Not sure if he got the point, but we took the car apart looking for the camera. I found it the next day- it had fallen into a weird pocket in my diaper bag.

OK, one last one, but this is from my sweet Benny. As I mentioned in my last post I was somewhat pouting on the way home from the fair. I was just staring out the window, spacing out when Ben started getting my attention. He cooed at me and smiled at me as if to say "is everything ok, mom? Don't worry, mom." Any time I'm in a bad mood or even if I'm just spacing out, he's sure to check up on me and try to engage me.

Big Fun

2011-07-19T13:21:00.000-07:00

As kids we were dragged to the Antelope Valley Fair and Alfalfa Festival year after year. I think I still have a little chip on my shoulder about it. I was hesitant to go to the State Fair because of it, but I wanted to spend time with my brothers, who were all in town.

We started out visiting some of the small animal exhibits, then some exotic animals (including my favorite- a little baby albino kangaroo who was being fed a bottle in a little pouch), and then to the Rock and Roll exhibit.

Luke was loving the Big Keyboard.

From there we visited 'The Farm'. The ride was just mild enough that he agreed to go- and he liked it!

The last thing we did was see Dick Dale, a surf rock guitarist. He and his son were playing and they had a great act. Dick Dale was very enthusiastic, and his son kept rolling his eyes at the things his dad said and did. Almost like I roll my eyes when Kevin and my Dad bust out their air guitars and start a jam session in public. Or when Kevin refuses to button up his shirt. Oh, that Kevin.

Peter spent the whole concert filming the drunk guy a few rows ahead. He was so drunk that he didn't even realize his bottle was out and kept trying to take sips out of it. That's part of the fun of a fair, I suppose. Well, the laughing-at-drunk-people part, hopefully not the sloshed-out-of-your-mind part.

By the time we decided it was best to get home and get to bed for the long day ahead of us I was really sad to be leaving. I pouted all the way home about not staying a little longer to see the fire works and maybe the art exhibit. Just because I have to be somewhat responsible and get the family home at a decent hour doesn't mean I have to be happy about it. *Hmph, Grumble Grumble*.

As I mentioned before, the brothers were all in town (as you can see I failed to get a picture of all of them, which I meant to do). Lyle came to ordain Peter to be a Teacher, and the other brothers came in town, too. It was great to see all of them, I just can't wait for Thanksgiving when we'll hopefully have a bit more time together and we'll see Ciara (who was too close to her due date to fly) and the newest Schofield grand baby.

Ben 4 months

2011-07-08T13:58:00.000-07:00

You're really finding your voice- lots of screeching and vowel sounds.

Sometimes you're reserved, but sometimes you warm right up.

People are always remarking about how wiggly you are. I think you like to always be on the move because you've got a lot of things to do.

You're starting to get a little bored and frustrated. If you're on you're on your back, you roll to your tummy. If you're on your tummy you're trying to crawl.

Milestones: Rolled from from back to front at 15 weeks. Starting to sit up.
Stats: 15 lbs and 24.75 in (below average, which is funny because he seems like a chub to me!)

Cousins

2011-07-08T13:55:00.000-07:00

At one point I was chatting with Luke as he was naming off his cousins. Then he said "Mom? I have so many friends". We've been home for a couple of days now and his behavior tells me 1) he's a little behind on his sleep and 2) he misses his cousins badly. He's already talking about when we can go for Christmas. If only our house were fixed up to sell and we had a job lined up and somewhere to move to. Oh, and if only I weren't so daunted by the idea of snow.

Hanging Out

2011-07-08T13:41:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July afternoon we hung around JoJo's. The company was great and there are always a lot of laughs. Matt Codina played some mood music while everyone chatted. We even got to hear Babo sing "Come, Come ye Saints" as Sting. No joke.

Liberty Days

2011-07-08T13:34:00.000-07:00

I have been hearing about Liberty Days for as long as I've known Mac. I was so glad I was able to come and we've been scheming to make this an every-summer tradition. There are so many events: flag ceremony, parade, pancake breakfast, eating contest, craft booths, greased pig chase, chicken chase, mutton bustin', sac races, you name it. Seriously, that's just the start of it.

Mac and the Boys

2011-07-08T13:26:00.000-07:00

What an amazing Daddy my boys have!

Grandma Gwen's

2011-07-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

When we got into town we headed to Grandma Gwen's first for a swim party. I don't know the Christensen side of the family very well yet, so I'm always meeting new relatives. Luke had a blast in the pool and it was so fun to spend time with everyone.

1) Raw corn.
2) Ready for a deep-sea expedition.
3) He can be so fearless!
4) Oh, Ben. What a sweet face you have!
5) Lainey is a seasoned vet of this pool. She showed us the ropes.
6) Tree swingin'.

Road Trippin'

2011-07-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

This year we took our summer trip to Utah for the Fourth of July. My car broke down the day before we left while I was running last minute errands. If you want to renew your faith in humanity just have your car break down in blistering heat with two small boys in tow and a dead cell phone. We were helped by several different people along the way, and the day ended with us picking up a rental car. The next morning we headed out bright and early because we were so eager to get there.

1) Two sleeping boys as Mom and Dad packed the car.
2) Good moms give bored kids toys. Great moms give bored kids trash to play with.
3) He will sleep in the car. It's just a matter of how long you keep in him strapped in.

Girls and Grandsons

2011-06-28T19:20:00.001-07:00

Nana, Emily, Luke, Ben, and I went on a little trip to the KOA in Willits, CA. The trip was dubbed 'Girls and Grandsons'. We loaded up the Suburban, hitched on a rented pop-up tent, and set off. First, I must mention the slogan of KOA and a gentle reminder:

Remember. It's not camping. It's kamping.

There were so many things to do: 3 playgrounds, a spray park, regular pool, kiddie pool, hot tub, a private hot tub at our site, a trail head, a catch-and-release fishing pond, outdoor movie theater, dog park, basketball court, an arcade, a game room, a petting zoo, 18 hole disc golf, 18 hole mini golf, bocce ball, and horse shoes. I may have even forgotten a few. So many things to do, in fact, that you might forget to do nothing and take in the beautiful surroundings.

Sunday night after we got unpacked we chilled in the hot tub and had roasted marshmallows (except for Luke who abhors sticky things and had an un-roasted one, and Ben who isn't eating anything 'cept milk).

Monday morning we had organic whole wheat pancakes. From a can. Weird. Oh, and some Krispy Kreme doughnuts. To go along with the Kamping. And to counteract the organic whole grain.

We then went out on a little hike.

All that hiking tired poor Ben out.

Luke had a blast climbing around the playground.

It was sure fun to watch Luke and his tiny plastic club playing mini golf. His technique reminded me of Happy Gilmore.

Luke thought all the animals at the petting zoo wanted to eat him. I wouldn't put it past them, but these two just wanted to but heads. Running around the park were bunnies who had escaped from the petting zoo.

Luke's favorite parts were the hiking and the hot tub.

Ben really seemed to love the animals and the outdoors. I've never heard him be so vocal. Although he did do a lot of this.

My favorite parts were the hiking and the swimming. My least favorite part was the sleeping* (or lack thereof).

I think Nana loved all of it.

Emily is just on the cusp of being a teenager. Since she's a Schofield there may be some rough waters ahead, but for now she's still innocent and un-jaded and seemed to enjoy everything.

Luke will have to teach you the S'mores dance.

If it can be taught, that is.

Tuesday we ate, packed up and left. We got lost, but it turned out to be a blessing because we saw a whole new part of California. It's hard to find a part of California that's ugly, but driving through wine country was especially beautiful.

*The first night Luke was up about a bajillion times in the night. Maybe just a gazillion. It's hard to say because I lost count. He kept sitting up and saying things like "Don't eat the watermelon", "I want my mommy", "my tummy hurts", and "I'm having fun". Despite the fact that I am not the queen of falling back asleep and lost several hours of sleep, I kept my sense of humor about the situation. I just think of nights like that as some sort of a parental hazing from the universe. Plus, I assumed he would sleep better the next night. He did not. He started having a stuffy nose and he has a miserable time sleeping with a stuffy nose because he forgets how to breath through his nose in his sleep, wakes himself up, and is M-A-D. I have a hard time seeing the humor in being woken up every ten minutes to a child that is extremely distressed. He woke me up at least every ten minutes between 9 pm and 2 am. That's more than just parental hazing. That's like hidden-military-base grade torture. They could learn a thing or two from Luke. Next time I'm bringing the drugs. I'm not quite sure which ones yet, but I'm bringing them.

The Wall* (*not the Pink Floyd album)

2011-06-26T09:40:00.001-07:00

One day I caught myself looking at the wood paneling in the kitchen thinking "You know, it's not so bad. It's kind of homey." It was then I realized that I had become desensitized to the ugliness of the paneling, and that they needed to go immediately before I sunk further into my bad taste. We started the project that weekend, back in late January or early February thinking that we could get it done before the baby came. The baby is nearly 4 months old now, and we 'finished' yesterday. We're more 'tortoise' than 'hare'.

Step 1: Remove the paneling. Live with the glue residue that makes the walls plaid for several months.

Step 2: Chip away at the glue. This takes several weekends.

Step 3: Patch the walls where the glue took off all the paint and even some of the dry wall.

Step 4: Sand the putty and left over glue.

Step 5: Spray canned texture on the walls. Fret about whether it's all going to turn out (it did).

Step 6: Paint!!! We went with 'milk pail' by Martha Stewart for a couple of reasons. One being we had to make sure it didn't clash with our ugly counter tops and the second being I really wanted to venture out and do some color. I'm pretty terrified of color so I thought I would start branching out. I think it's lovely. If you have to shatter that illusion, do it gently.

This was the only part of the project that I could really help with. I was glad to come off the proverbial bench.

Step 7: Relax a bit. Don't look down at the floor. Remind yourself that someday, somehow, a child will draw on the wall and that will be o.k. because we have more paint left in the can. Figure out what the next project will be next.

It's not quite fully finished because the trim needs to be finished. We don't want to do that until we do the floors, but I don't want to do the floors yet for several reasons. We were discussing what's next over Cheerios. Refacing the cabinets, replacing the counter tops and sink? The hall bath? Fixing the weird texture throughout the house? We'll see. If only projects were less costly and time consuming...

Father's Day Weekend

2011-06-23T14:01:00.000-07:00

You get the condensed version today. Lucky you!

1. Swim Meet.

Peter made this cap. Silly Peter.

"Uh, Papa? You have no games?!?!"

"Could I be any sweeter?"

2. Dinner at some Italian place in Folsom. Yummy!

3. Sunday Dinner at the Schofield's with Bryan. Yummy again!

4. Father's Day movie with the Schofields.

It's cheesy. It's Canadian. It's "The Little Kidnappers".

The opening credits bring on a Pavlovian emotional response of choking back tears.

Luke took turns with everybody. He came to me for the scary parts. I'm glad he still needs me for something.

Funnies

2011-06-14T14:35:00.000-07:00

It's so interesting to see Luke's vocabulary, mind, and attitude develop. Here are some of the funny things he's been saying and doing:

Luke found some of my money so I was telling him all about George Washington and the Revolutionary War. Afterwards he said "OK. You're the Bad King and I'm washing tub. Pew!"

Luke: I'm going to have lots of brothers and lots of sisters.
Me: Oh, yeah? How many?
Luke: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
Me: [Stunned silence]

He's been making up songs:

We went to the market with JoJo and Babo and Hannah and we were looking at stuff and we bought a rake... (The tune wasn't so special but the lyrics made my heart happy)
Daddy is my favorite pal and he plays with me and he comes home from work to be with me

He likes to do both parts of the conversation, which may show how predictable I am:

"I'm helping. That's nice."

"I like that game. Me too."

One morning I asked Luke to tell Mac breakfast was ready. This is what I heard:
"Breakfast is ready, daddy... Time to be finished with the computer, daddy... I'm sorry, daddy"

Our Elder's Quorum had a pine wood derby. Mac's car was up on the high book shelf because it was falling apart and had a nail sticking out of it. Luke knew he wasn't supposed to play with it until it was fixed. While we were out of the room he climbed up and got the car. When he walked by Mac he was tucking the car under his arm and covering his face with one hand. He figured if his face was covered we couldn't see him and he would get away with it. I'm still laughing about it.

I was reading a parenting article on my iPod when Luke walked up and asked to borrow it. I explained what I was doing and when he didn't want to wait I asked, "Don't you want me to be a nice mommy?". He replied, "No, be a silly mommy". Silly mommies are much more fun than nice ones!

He's noticed the pattern of our dinner conversations. Last night he turned to Mac after the prayer and said "So... How was work today?". After listening a bit he said "Ok. Let me tell you about my day" (This made me think of Kramer from Seinfeld, just look up Kramer's theory on marriage on You Tube).

We've been listening to the same CD in the car for a while, so after we listened to all the songs yet again I turned on a Mazzy Star song. Luke asked for the CD again and I said "I'm going to have a turn and just listen to one song and then we'll listen to the CD again". Luke said "I don't like this song. It's disgusting. Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting".

TNT is dynamite

2011-06-11T05:42:00.000-07:00

Summer isn't really summer for me without going to a TNT production at Royer Park. TNT (Take Note Troupe) is a local non-profit theater company headed up by a lady I've known since Schofields first roamed these parts: LaRee Florence. She's all kinds of wonderful, and the work she does with teenagers is life changing. While it may seem to the naked eye she's putting on a play, what she's slyly accomplishing is so much more. They almost exclusively do community service with their plays and teach workshops in using principles of improv to improve relationships and build leadership skills. Need I go on? I really hope that my children get involved someday.

This summer TNT put on As You Like It. Just grab a blanket and some organic junk food. Regular food works fine, too. I dare say it was their best production yet.

(Ben stole one of my carrots and tried to put it in his mouth. Silly Ben!)

Some highlights of the show: When they came to the pancakes and mustard part they did an audience applause poll to see which was naught and which was good and tossed pancakes and mustard to the audience. I'm not sure if they were meant to be eaten, but they were. Together. Ew.

When the wind blew down some of the scenery the reaction of some of the actors was adorable. While the main actors continued with their lines some minor players acted extremely agitated and embarrassed and awkwardly put it back up. It looked rehearsed and it probably was. I think LaRee teaches them to not take the play so seriously that you get flustered by things going wrong, which they inevitably do. See? One of those life skills.

The integrated lots of fun music, mostly "They Might Be Giants". It fit, oddly enough.

Luke's favorite part was the wrestling match. They did a few seconds of regular wrestling and then interspersed slow-mo sequences as if it were a cheesy sports movie. Then some actor-spectators blocked the audience's view so that Orlando could wrestle a dummy and toss it in the air. Luke (and the rest of the audience) was delighted.

The fact that the show kept Luke's attention for so long is a tribute to both Shakespeare (or as my father has only ever called him, Bill) and to TNT, but eventually he tired. We left at intermission after visiting the swings for a minute or two. On the way home I asked Luke his favorite part and he said [Touchstone's] "funny pants", "the music" and "the guys and the girls". Oh, and he kept calling Duke Frederick "Count Dooku". Too funny.

Besides the play I think my favorite part was playing 'musical parent'.

I know it's cheesy, but I'm not sure if it's a Diana blog post without some over-sentimentality about how much I love my family. If all the world's a stage and the men and women merely players, then I think whoever did my casting is pretty great (I know, you can go puke now).

Getting Unstuck

2011-06-08T05:56:00.000-07:00

We get stuck around here. In various ways and for various reasons. For now I'll expound on our playing rut. Seems like we get in this routine of what we usually do on a certain day and this monotony is getting old. So why not change things up?

Play dough first thing on a Monday instead of my usual clean-the-house panic and resulting foul mood? Sure. While you're at it, scrounge the kitchen for everything that might be good for playing.

Never mind that while I am away for a minute (cleaning the house I vowed I wouldn't) Luke uses the scissors on the reusable cupcake liners. Obviously I don't think outside the box enough to realize that a 2 year old is going to use the scissors on anything he can find, not just play dough.

We make the play dough and mix the colors ourselves. I take a few deep breaths when my beautiful green, blue, and purple balls get mixed together to make something that looks like the Grateful Dead threw it up. It's moments like those when I really wonder about myself. Really? Should mixed play dough colors even be a blip on my radar?

While we're getting creative, how 'bout playing some dress up with Mom's freshly laundered shopping bags? Sounds good to me.

While Mom takes a few minutes to transfer this sleeping babe from sling to bed...

...grab a pillow, blanket, and book and jump in the shower. You know, to read.

Fully refreshed, head out to the front lawn. The back yard is so yesterday.

Stare up at our beautiful tree and see the sun shine through the leaves.

See all the bugs climb through the grass.

Color and read.

Play hopscotch. For two seconds.

Then go inside for the scissors. You must know what is inside of the bags.

Poke yourself in the eye while you're trying to get your fist to your mouth. It's a must.

Fall asleep while playing baseball. In the sling. Facing out.

Then have a Popsicle.

Not too bad. Now let's get even crazier tomorrow.

Ben- 3 Months

2011-06-05T19:34:00.000-07:00

You often smell like sunscreen because 1) we're outside as much as possible and 2) you have very fair skin.

You are pretty chill. One day I left you on the trampoline for a minute to start water boiling for pasta for dinner with Luke under strict orders not to jump. When I came back it was to Luke using the stick sunscreen to plaster you with sunscreen. You didn't mind one bit. Luke's lucky to have such a patient brother.

You are so interested in food and books. You grab at toys a tiny bit but I can tell you're going to be wanting food sooner rather than later. You're always grabbing and hitting books, too.

You chuckle on occasion, but you don't laugh often or much. Nana says you're 'a tough nut to crack'. If you're sleepy though, you sure to be more liberal with your smiles and laughs.

You hate the car. Period. If I try to go anywhere when you're the least bit sleepy or needing to pee, you will wail. There's a very small window of opportunity when those things don't apply. When you were even littler you would work yourself into a full body sweat in a matter of 2-3 minutes. Luckily you don't get that distressed any more, but I still hate taking you in the car. I hope this passes soon.

We're lucky to have you, Ben. I never tire of snuggling you close and looking at your sweet face.

Milestone of the month: You rolled tummy to back at 10 weeks

ETA:

You still love exploring your hands. You don't suck your fingers but you certainly have favorites to chew on. Sometimes it's the fist, sometimes it's the sign language letter 'p', but the holy grail for you is your thumb. If you can figure out how to relax your fist you sure are pleased with yourself.

One day dad put you in a green shirt and green pants. Jokingly I said "Really, Mac? You do realize that he's little, a red-head, and dressed all in green." Mac and I got a good laugh out of realizing you sort of resembled a leprechaun.

We went to visit our friends the Florences. Leah has seen you 3 times and every time she just thinks you're the most beautiful thing and says "How do you get anything done?" (meaning that I must just get lost in your adorableness all day). I realized, I don't really get anything done besides the basics. That's ok because I realize that there are times and seasons to things. Right now is the season for taking care of you and playing with you and gazing at you. Soon you and Luke will be running around the back yard having lots of little boy fun that I won't be invited to and then I will get stuff done.

Teeny-Tiny Cones

2011-06-05T08:13:00.000-07:00

We needed ice cream last night. Mac and Luke went to the store to get some and came back with the most adorable cones ever. I read somewhere once that eating your ice cream on a cone makes it distribute better to the part of your tongue that senses fat, and therefore is more satisfying. I eat my ice cream on cones whenever possible. I eat ice cream whenever possible as well. It's a blanket policy.

I have no idea what this face says.

"I can eat you in just one bite!"

What a weirdo.

"I really shouldn't, I'm watching my figure"

After Luke had his allotted amount of cones he was playing around with the baby gym.

"Look it's a rainbow!" and then "Now it's a jump rope" and then (as with so many, many things) "It's a gun! Pew!".

Ben Movies

2011-05-29T11:45:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure I love this age and this kid. I love how he's so easy to carry around that he's become my perma-side kick. I love how he smiles and coos. I love that he entertains himself trying to pick a favorite finger to put in his mouth. I love how he'll let me put him in the bouncy seat while I make dinner and when I look over at me he has a huge grin like he was just waiting patiently for some attention. Basically, he's a pretty sweet little baby most of the time.

He thinks he can scale the boppy.

I'm not sure what to call his impressive moves. The "bennie" maybe.

Fathers and Sons

2011-05-21T23:15:00.000-07:00

I thought Luke and I should go on this year's Fathers and Sons campout. The ward got a site at Rollins Lake up near Colfax, CA. I did my best to get off work a little early so we would have enough light to set up our tent and play before bed. Diana's brother Peter still needs a few campouts for his Camping merit badge, so he and his dad came with us. After getting some dinner we headed up the mountain and found the campground without much trouble.

We found a spot between some other tents and got our big tent set up.

After a little while Luke and I couldn't find Peter and Marv, so we started walking up the hill, through the campground, until we found them playing catch in the fading light. Luke wanted to play too, so we headed back and got his bat and a small beachball. We played until it was too dark to see the balls well, and headed back to camp. I had made Luke a little bed next to mine in the tent, but he ended up in my sleeping bag with me. :) Once he was asleep I got up and went to get some dutch oven dessert. It wasn't done yet, but Marv and I had a good conversation by the fire, until it was ready to eat. Cherry and Blueberry and Peach dump cakes! hmmmmhmhmhmm.

The next morning we packed up our stuff, and took the tent down.

I let Luke use the camera while I was working on the tent:

The ward high priests were in charge of breakfast, so Marv and Luke played ball some more while we waited for it to be ready.

Luke loved the pancakes, sausage, eggs and hashbrowns.

After breakfast, Luke and I went to check out the lake. We were joined shortly by Papa and Peter.

No rock or stick was safe from taking a dip.

Peter had to get back home so he could rest before his baseball game, so we headed out.

And I let Luke play with the camera a little more...

Luke version 2.5

2011-05-07T09:23:00.000-07:00

Luke had a half birthday! I named of all the breakfast foods I could think of that I would and could make him: from German Pancakes to Breakfast Pizza. He chose Kix. I don't mind low-maintenance one bit.

We got him a little present, which he's excited about (but it involves Star Wars. I'm afraid I'm going to scare off my small reader base if I mention Star Wars one more time. OK, it was Star Wars Guess Who. I'm really excited to play too).

Luke, here are some things I never want to forget about you when you were two and a half:

You are full of wonder. You asked "Where is the Prophet?" and we said Utah, near JoJo's house. Then you asked "Where are Heavenly Father and Jesus?" and we said in Heaven, which is far away. You said "Oh, by Nana's house." Another day you asked "Where is Moroni?" so I said he was in heaven with Heavenly Father. You corrected me and said "No, he's in the scriptures."

You have such an imagination. You said to me "Mom, when you get little, little tiny I'm going to rock you like a baby." I suppose if it turns out I have the same affliction as Benjamin Button I know who will take care of me.

Sometimes you hang back and are shy with peers but often you don't hesitate to run up to other kids at the park and ask to join in their play.

You are so confident. You even tell me sometimes "Don't use mean voice. Use a nice voice. You need a do-over". You remind adults "don't say 'Oh my gosh' say 'Oh my goodness'". What would I do without you to help me become a better person?

You love to eat. Your favorite fruit is strawberries. You could eat a whole pound in one sitting. Your favorite vegetable is broccoli. When you finish yours you beg some off my plate. Your favorite dessert is anything. If you get wind there is dessert you stop eating your healthy food to save room.

You are busy! One day you were coloring with crayons when Ben went to sleep. I put him in his crib and ran to take a quick shower thinking you couldn't do too much damage in the three or so minutes I'd be gone. Sure enough when I came back you had written all over the front door. My bad. You were so proud to have written W's all over it that it was almost hard to be mad. Almost. That afternoon I found that you had gotten the shampoo and spilled it by the front door. I curbed my anger and called you over to the couch for a chat. You told me you were "trying to put it on the door so there would be no more crayons on it". I sometimes forget that even when you are making messes you have the best of intentions. I wish I didn't hate messes so much. I have to remind myself that were not in a rental- we're not losing a deposit. Plus EVERYTHING in our house needs to be renovated, it'll be replaced eventually. Plus, in the end, it's all just stuff.

You have music and rhythm in your soul. You are nearly always singing a song or tapping a rhythm.

You want to be included in everything- especially food related. For example if Emily and Peter are having an afternoon snack you have to have one too, even if you just ate. What's worse is you try to insist I be included too even if I'm not hungry. It can be a little upsetting to you if I decline participation.

You are growing so fast and learning so much. You love to try out new words, even if you don't know what they mean, like "It seems..." and "The reason" or "Talk about pressure!".

You fill our lives with laughter, for which I am most grateful.

(For the records you are just over 3 ft and just over 30 pounds)

2 Months

2011-05-05T14:19:00.001-07:00

Oh, Baby Ben! You're 2 months old!

Your eyes are still blue and your hair is still shockingly lightish and reddish. It's pretty unanimous that you look like a Schofield, especially Peter.

I don't know what to say about you because you change so fast. You've been smiling for a while and both Dad and I have almost gotten a laugh out of you. You make us work for it, but your smiles are so worth it.

Your tummy issues are starting to go away somewhat. That's good for so many reasons, but best of all you get to actually enjoy life and interact with us. When you aren't feeling sick you are so pleasant and content.

You've bonded with your Daddy more than I thought a newborn could, but you sure think he's interesting. You also watch your older brother with fascination as he rides his bike, jumps on the trampoline, and plays with his toys. Sometimes Luke just wants to smother you with his love. Sometimes he's a bull in a china shop jumping and running around and I have to stiff-arm him to protect you. Sometimes he gets past security but you're really tough and half the time you don't even make a peep.

Tummy time is more frequent and enjoyed. I showed Luke pictures of himself when he was your age and since he liked toys, he thought you might like them too. You don't really enjoy them yet, but that doesn't stop Luke from trying!

(Luke bringing the bag of baby toys around for Ben)

Feet...UP!

2011-04-28T19:33:00.000-07:00

I just had to show off Luke's new skill.

Easter

2011-04-26T07:17:00.000-07:00

Luke thoroughly enjoyed his first Easter egg hunt at the ward party.

What's this?

Candy!?!?

I think I can get on board with this.

Sunday morning Luke's Easter presents were sitting out.

He liked his sheep.

He loved his candy. Originally I had not planned on having candy. There's plenty of that to be had between parties and grandparents. However there was a ten year old from down the street doing a fund raiser who gave me the hard sell. She said "But it's for a fundraiser...Not even the smallest box? Really?" I am such a sucker.

I'm not sure what Ben thought of all this. Seems to me that whatever he's thinking, his face is starting to lose its newborn look.

We had Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast. With a side of cheesy smile.

Then got ready for church. I sure love nakie baby pics.

After church we headed to the Schofield's house. Luke likes to hold Ben's hand in the car. Ben tolerates it for a few seconds, but he isn't a fan.

The Easter Egg hunt was predictable: I suggest that we make a map, so that we can keep track of where all the eggs get hidden. This is vetoed because it would take too much time. Marv hides the eggs (80 or so this year). Peter and Emily are very competitive in finding the eggs (except Peter quit this year after a few minutes).

Luke gets helped by the big people (which is becoming annoying to Emily who claims it isn't fair). In the end there are always several eggs that don't get found (around 20 this year, which is why I suggest a map). We redouble our efforts and find a few more, but the rest remain a mystery.

This being repeated year after year might be maddening if it weren't so shtick-y. Luckily Lorna has stopped putting candy in the eggs and started putting paper in the eggs that get redeemed for candy after the hunt. At least somebody has been learning from past years. Marv says next year I'm to follow after him and take pictures of where he hides all the eggs. We'll see if we remember come next year.

Ben slept most of the day, but he took a moment to say Hello.

I tried to get a shot of the boys in their Easter clothes. This is the only one without a binky in Ben's mouth.

Speaking of Easter clothes, this was the first time Ben wore this outfit. It will probably be the last because he's nearly outgrown it already. Even though he's barely seven weeks it's almost time to pack away the 0-3 months clothes and bust out the 3-6 months clothes. I don't remember Luke getting this big this fast.

Yes means yes

2011-04-22T14:49:00.001-07:00

Lately we've been having some conversations like this at home:

[Mom is making eggs for breakfast. Luke enters stage right]
Luke: Can I have eggs?
Mom: Yes.
Luke: Can I?
Mom: Of course!
Luke: Please?
Mom: Uh-huh.
Luke: I need eggs.
[Mom bends down and puts a loving, if not slightly annoyed, hand on Luke's shoulder.]
Mom: Honey, you can have eggs when they're finished. It takes a minute. You'll have to wait.
Luke: Ooooooh.

End Scene.

This repeats itself periodically about various things.

Getting Together

2011-04-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

I never know what to call this group of girls. You know, the girls I've been friends with forever? Granite Bay 2nd ward girls? That's not quite right, but I can't think of what else to call them. Well, we got together (minus Alena because she's living back east with her hubby) at Noel's the other night before Alexis had to head back to her brand new home that was just finished in Utah. Between the four of us there are now 12 kids under 6. Luke definitely had a blast with the toys and going around the property looking at the tree house and goats. Very little of the mom's got documented because we were busy catching up. But that's kind of how this blog goes- it's Luke-tastic, Luke-centric fun around here.

Some of the kids.

Luke enjoying the camera.

Ah, see. There we are. If you look closely you can see Nicolette's ponytail and a smile from Noel. Maybe next time I'll get a shot of the girls.

I wish we could have stayed longer, but we had to get home and get to bed because the next morning we were going to Discovery Kingdom. It's so fun to see how their kids are growing and I can't wait to do it again.

Just me

2011-04-22T14:30:00.000-07:00

Ben has started to smile and coo at more than just mom and dad. Luke loves to get attention from Ben. He also loves attention from the camera.

Mom, take a picture!

No, mom, just me!

Luke and Mac

2011-04-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

I love it when the boys both take a nap at the same time in the afternoon. I get the house back together and (gasp) have some *me* time. It's also really fun when first Luke goes down, and then Ben goes down for a really long nap. That way I get Luke asleep, spend some one-on-one time with Ben and wear him out, and then when Ben crashes I get a little bit done before I get play time with just Luke. It's nice to focus on just him. Even though he's handled the transition to being a big brother pretty well, I know he misses having his mommy all to himself. On one of these afternoons we were playing Superman and I had to capture the look on his sweet face.

I was looking at the picture and realized there was one that was really similar of Mac.

I'm not sure what else to say other than it makes me smile.

Discovery Kingdom

2011-04-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we were invited to go to Discovery Kingdom with my mom, Emily and Lyndsey Benner. We had a blast!

First came the carousel (while the big kids went on big kid rides). Then the kiddie roller coaster. Luke tried to be brave, but it was a very jerky ride and he was getting tossed all over.

Next we tried a milder ride, but the damage was done. Luke wasn't interested in rides any more so we moved on to animals.

Sea lions, dolphins, otters, walruses, penguins, sting rays and sharks were seen in the Sea area.

Then we saw cougars, tigers, snow tigers, lions, camels, giraffes and butterflies in the Land area.

I love his face. I wish I could know what he's thinking.

Checking out the koi pond.

Looking at a butterfly.

Feeding the giraffe.

On our way out we tried to convince him to do one more ride. He turned down several before deciding he could handle the carousel again.

The only way I could have done a day like this was with some big helpers. Mom (especially), Lyndsey and Emily helped push the stroller and entertain Luke when I had to take care of Ben. Ben, although not pictured here, had a great time. He slept most of the time in the front pack but woke up a few times to eat and get changed. The few times he was alert he loved looking around and taking it all in and cooing at me. Nana even got her first smile! It's about time. She was starting to think he didn't like her. And although it's hard to explain to a newborn, you really want to suck up to the grandparents. It's well and good to smile and coo at Mom and Dad, but there's a much bigger payoff in getting grandparents to love you.

Luke's main entertainment in the car was books, but Emily and Lyndsay humored him with a game of hide and seek. It didn't get old to Luke.

Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, Luke fell asleep in the car. The last time this happened outside of a 10 hour road trip was probably a year ago. It's good to know it is possible if he's behind on his sleep and really worn out.

Ben's Blessing

2011-04-14T14:15:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to have the Christensens in town for the weekend of Ben's baby blessing. Fun was had by all and I know Mac especially appreciated getting some father-son time with Layne. Here are the highlights: Mimi's, heckling brides on Say Yes to the Dress, the mall (including JoAnn splashing Layne on the first floor from the second floor), watching Tangled, the grand opening of the bike shop, Denios, and the baby blessing (of course).

JoAnn made lunch, because apparently my hands were broken.

Luke thought all of this fruit was for him. He was, thankfully, convinced to share it. Oh, and you could have plaid walls like us. I'll write a tutorial that involves wood paneling.

Don't you love my body language? I crack myself up.

Ben getting ready. What a cutie.

We all looked at the camera! Aren't we talented?

The blessing was great and it was so nice to have lots of family there. Thankfully JoAnn and Melanie both took notes because I forgot my pen. And paper. I would have forgotten my head if it weren't attached at the neck.

And because I couldn't stop myself there are more pictures of my boys. Ben is becoming a wee bit more aware. I can tell he thinks Luke is fascinating from about a foot away or more. Any closer than a foot, though, and his wincing lets me know he either 1)barely tolerates him or 2) has a healthy fear of him.

Especially for Max

2011-04-14T14:10:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Ben makes pretty sweet faces.

Sometimes Ben makes pretty funny faces.

The former, we think, he gets from the Schofield side. Possibly from his mother. The latter is definitely from his mother.

Put down the books...

2011-04-14T13:59:00.000-07:00

I like books. Mac likes books. Luke likes books. At some point, though, it's time for us to put down the books and go outside. I knew it was time when these things all happened in a matter of days.

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On the morning of Ben's doctor visit:

Me: Today we're going to the doctor for Ben.
Luke: Dr. Seuss?

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While walking by the escalator at the mall:

"Oh, it's like Corduroy!"

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While on a walk around the neighborhood we saw a ladybug:

"Oh, it's like The Grouchy Ladybug"

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Me: Uncle Lyle lives in New York, and Uncle CJ lives in Italy. That's across the sea.
Luke: And George lives in Africa.
Me: Who is George?
Luke: George the Monkey! (Duh, mom)

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Luke was playing with his castle and dubbed one of his guards "Sneelock". You know, the world's bravest type.

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96 Twice-Baked Potatoes, 60 Burritos

2011-04-07T14:25:00.000-07:00

I joined a freezer meal group. Call it peer pressure, call it an experiment, call it insanity.

Once a month I make 2 different recipes 6 times. Then 6 girls meet up to exchange. I come home with 12 different recipes to feed my freezer, which means I don't have to cook 12 nights in a given month. I like that part.

The few days before the exchange is the part that's a little tricky.

It involves LOTS of prep work. During this prep work the baby gets worn...

The house gets turned upside down...

Luke keeps himself occupied...

(This is Luke's baseball, "bat" and "glove")

The toys ALL get played with...

A movie or two gets watched...

And the kitchen gets thrashed...

Thankfully, I'm finished for this month. Now I can take care of my neglected kid, neglected self, and neglected house. In that order.

"Mom, please come play with me!"

2011-04-07T14:08:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning was spent with the Schofields. We watched conference, hung out, and had a big lunch.

Emily reading "Arnie the Doughnut" to Luke. Man, he loves this book.

Merlin came to visit with Kevin, as he is Kevin's baby. Kevin only wishes they made a baby Bjorn for 90 pound dogs.

My mom decided on a new tradition for conference weekend: Legos. I think it's great. Especially for people who need to be busy with their hands in order to pay attention with their ears.

After saying goodbye to the Schofields (I'm missing my brothers already), we headed over to the Lucina/Slade/Haas household. We're so glad we have them to spend time with! Luke loves his Aunt Melanie and Uncle Johnny and we just love it over there.

We made some pizzas (YUM!)

And Luke walked all around outside with Johnny.

Days don't get much better than this...

Social Smile

2011-04-07T14:02:00.000-07:00

The best way to get Ben to smile at you is by lowering his inhibitions with some binge milk-drinking. Then sing him a song or smile and talk to him and you may get a crooked smile (a la Edward Cullen) or even a full on grin.

(He can smile bigger than this it's just hard to capture it on film. Plus, he's a little reserved)

Brother-Mania

2011-04-03T08:57:00.000-07:00

There's nothing better than when brothers come to town. Except, of course, when they ALL come to town, but that's pretty tricky to arrange. We all met up at Peter's baseball game. Don't ask me which team won, because I didn't really watch much of it. Between taking care of Ben, chatting with the baseball moms, hanging out with my brothers, and making sure somebody was watching Luke, not a lot of game actually got watched. I did happen to see a couple of good catches by Peter (once at 3rd and once at short stop). I missed all of his at-bats, though. Oops.

Luke immediately found his Papa and watched some game.

Then he convinced Papa to play their own game and be the hitter so he could be the pitcher. This eventually became a game of Luke first hitting Papa with the ball and then playing catch with himself as if he were a dog with opposable thumbs.

Then the brothers showed up. Kevin is the kind of super star that can pull off crazy facial hair and wearing a bath robe in public (he calls it his 'smoking jacket'). He tells me he's even worn it to work for the past couple of weeks. I guess you can get away with that when you work in film. And you're Kevin.

Bryan held the baby for me while I took a turn with Luke. I miss just hanging out with Luke!

Luke also convinced Bryan to play with him. Luke's got this first-born-leadership thing going on.

I'm afraid baseball games have come to be associated with Doritos. I swear there was a healthy snack that got packed before we left home. It just didn't make it to the car. We've got a lot of gear to keep track of these days.

Before we left Luke found this tree stump that he dubbed his home. It was quite the ordeal to get him in the car after that. The words "birthday", "cake", "Elephant" and "Bar" may have been used to entice him.

At least somebody watched all of the game.