Benny's Birthday

 Yesterday Benny turned 4! Benny is my sweet boy. He loves to snuggle (probably because he's always cold). He loves to be loved on. He is *typically* very good at sharing. He hates being alone. And he feels emotions very deeply. When he is upset, the whole world knows.

We started off his birthday by opening cards. Why cards you ask?Because that's where the money is at!

Just like Steven, he got completely spoiled so he got to go crazy at a Toys R Us. He got a Spiderman Lego Car, a Spiderman Motorcycle, a play set for cars and an Angry Bird Board Game. After we finished up at Toys R Us we ate lunch and then headed to the zoo. Lucy, our little pink monster, took a nap on the way there:

For his birthday he was presented with several options on how to spend the day and he chose to go to the zoo where he would be allowed to pick out a "baby" (aka a stuffed animal). Last time we went to the zoo, it was very cold and he complained a lot. I think he just wanted to go this time with the sole purpose of picking out a "baby." 

The weather was much better this time (no snow/rain, little wind, and temps in the high 30's) but he was still a complainer. "It takes sooo long" he would cry as we walked to each animal exhibit. Once in the exhibits he had fun. Needless to say, we didn't stay long. But we did see a couple exhibits that we didn't see last time. Like the amphibian house, which oddly enough housed a Sting Ray that Steven was OBSESSED with: "Will it kill you if it stings you?" "What if it stings your jacket?" "What if you touch it?". And we saw the butterfly room for the first time:

And we saw a lot of the same animals (because they were inside and warm). This time we didn't see the penguins during feeding time so the kids were a lot less excited by them:

And some more zoo pictures:

When at last we were all done, Benny had fun picking out a baby. He decided to get a giraffe because it was pretty much the only animal there he didn't have:

For dinner we went to Big Boys and they sang to him. It was pretty adorable how shy he got. He tried to hide behind me. When we came home we had some shark cake (a creation by both Tyler & I) and then he opened presents:

It was truly a fun day! 

I feel so blessed with where we are at as a family right now. For so long, Tyler couldn't be involved in a lot of our family outings and if he was, it was completely difficult for him to be there. Now, he can just come. No stress of what he should be doing when he's hanging out with us. We can be a family and do normal family things together- like go to the zoo! Though life is cold here and I often find myself missing our extended family, I know I am blessed and life is truly good.

Lucky

Last weekend we spent Sat afternoon at a small swap meet sort of place where I got an awesome "teething" necklace. Really Lucy has no desire to chew on it but that's fine. Truthfully, I just got it because I thought it was stinkin' cute! So here's a picture of me sporting the necklace and sporting my 18 week pregnant belly. Less than 2 weeks until the gender revealing ultrasound folks! 

Monday was St. Patrick's Day. I am not one of those amazing Pinterest moms who does a million awesome things for each holiday but I always try to do one or two (easy)fun things. So for breakfast my kids had some Lucky Charms with green milk. I will admit that the dyed green milk just looked awful but Steven claimed excitedly, "It tastes just like milk!" (Ben, of course, had his breakfast by the heater vent in the kitchen):

 I also gave Steven a green lunch- dyed mac n cheese, and broccoli. Oh yeah, super delicious!

This last month I have been (finally) working hard on teaching Benny his ABC's. It is so nice that I am at last at a point in my life where I can do this. BUT he is VERY difficult to teach and it can be quite frustrating. He doesn't catch on quickly and sometimes I feel like I am a terrible teacher BUT then we have moments where it clicks. And since preschool is not in the budget and the mom's in my ward failed at their recent attempt to do a co-op, it looks like I am his only hope ;)

 

On the other hand, Steven is doing splendidly in Kindergarten. We had a conference with Mrs. Hornyak Thurs and were told he is right on target, if not a little ahead. Yippee! Lately, his favorite thing to do is staple pages together to make books. They have a title, lots of pictures and the last page always states "the end". He's made an AFV (America's Funnies Videos) book and a Calvin & Hobbes book these past 2 days. They're quite entertaining to "read."

And yesterday I had a tender mercy occur. We were blessed to have a babysitter come watch our kids while we went to the Detroit Temple (for free nonetheless, thanks to a personal progress goal!). So I went to pick up some pizza for the kids and the babysitter but when I came home I realized my wallet was gone. I remembered putting it on top of the pizzas after I bought them and that was it. I was panicking! 

I threw my now poor, jacketless kids in the car and rushed back to the scene. I was praying out loud in the car as we drove there and in retrospect Steven's reactions to my prayers were pretty great, "Can He really hear you?" "Will He find it for you?" "Can He take it away from the bad guys?"...

When we got there I checked the parking lot to no avail. So then I checked the pizza place but still no luck. But from the beginning I had the feeling I should check Kroger's which was pretty close to the pizza place. So I did, and there it was, money, cards and all. Definitely a blessing! And we made it home just in time for the arrival of Tyler & the babysitter.

Then I got to go do my very first Endowment Session in a temple besides the Mesa Temple. It's true, I have never been inside another temple before (not counting temple open houses that is). It is beautiful but significantly smaller and you actually have to RSVP. They had a list and if you weren't on it, it was more than likely you weren't getting in. Anyways, it was nice to finally be in the temple again! Can't wait to go back!

And here are some cute pictures Steven took today:  

Temperamental Weather, Packages, & a Haircut

This week we had a few days of downright beautiful weather (which I never would have considered beautiful when we were living in AZ). We were in the 40's and even hit the 50's one day. The snow was melting, our driveway was a complete flood- I loved it! 

I even took the kids out on our front porch to play (the only non flooded place we had). Even crazier, I took my jacket off and just wore my light sweater while I was out with them because I WAS HOT. Weird right!?

But wouldn't you know that just two days later this happened:

The temp dropped to the 20's, there was crazy wind (15-20mph)and it snowed for a full day. Steven had yet another snow day, I swear this kid never has school!

But I have an amazing family that keeps all of our spirits bright despite our temperamental weather. This week we got 2 packages in the mail. One from my mom with lots of fun things for the boys, including "Jake the Pirate" jammies for Ben & a very Jamaican hat for Steven:

And the other package was just for me from Mecca. I am so blessed to have such an amazing sister-in-law to put this package of AZ sunshine together for me and, of course, an amazing brother to mail it to me ;)

The last event this week was the cutting of Lucy's mullet. I had been opposed to cutting it because she already gets mistaken for a boy ALL the time and I felt without the hair she would just become a permanent boy. But the mullet was VERY bad...So went to Cool Cuts 4 Kids in the mall and got it trimmed:

She did such a good job, thanks to the brain rotting TV in front of her, and now the mullet has been tamed! The place even gave me a cute bow to clip in her hair which she actually didn't pull out! Time to invest in more of those! 

Afterwards we went and played at the kid area in the mall and she gave me this nice drunken pose:

Later, at home, I tried to get pictures that better showed the cut. It's still long but definitely an improvement:

And I shall end the post with this gem I took of Ben, the Pirate Reindeer Student:

A Week...

This week...

Tyler decided he wanted to fit in at work so he invested in an awesome Michigan University lanyard. Doesn't he look cool?

The toilet below decided to explode (for the umpteenth time!) but this time it would not be stopped by a plunger. I finally jimmy rigged it with a rubber band then used 8 towels to clean up the mess (and I had literally just cleaned that bathroom that morning!). Tyler comes home and 3 plunges later, it's all fixed. Stupid toilet. 

Benny became a super hero and Lucy decided to run around with a mesh hamper on her head. 

Thursday night Steven's loose tooth finally made an exit. He has been dreading the loss of this thing for months now. As I was brushing his teeth, it pretty much completely came out- it was hanging on by a thread. So Tyler grabbed some pliers and finished it off. It was a very traumatizing experience. Steven cried so hard, he gagged on the blood and threw up a bit. Ugh.

But the hole is pretty cute and the Tooth Fairy gave him a whopping $2 for it (he got a bonus $1 for it being his first tooth). And she even folded the dollars into cute hearts-- which were destroyed within moments of finding. So not worth the effort Mrs. Tooth Fairy...

And lastly, this week has been full of sickness. Steven caught a cold which has led to endless coughing... I ended up keeping him home from school for 2 days because it was just easier than having to tote his Nebulizer (for breathing treatments) to and from school. This school does not have a Nebulizer of its own, like his last one did, and it doesn't even have a Nurses office. Lame. 

Both Lucy & Ben also got a cold as well and have been coughing (though not nearly as bad as Steven). And on top of it, Ben got pink eye today. The worst part of all this sickness is the weather was *beautiful* Thursday and Friday- we're talking 40's with NO wind chill! And where was I? Stuck inside with my sick babies, who spent most of the day fighting over who gets to sit in my lap. Mostly Lucy just wants to sit there when she sees Benny there and then she screams and cries until she gets her way. I am so not looking forward to the jealousy that is going to arise when I have this baby in August...