The "Cast Off" Day

Today Bentley's cast came off!!!
For good!

The Doctor gave Bentley an ace bandage

to wear if his arm bothers him.

We (the doctors and I) had a difficult time

determining whether his arm hurt or not.

The doctor would push on the arm where it was broken,

and ask if that hurt. Bentley would either

say nothing, grunt, or say, "I don't know."

So verbal results were inconclusive, but the x-rays

looked ok, and it's been FIVE WEEKS after all.

End result - no more casts!

Hurray!!!
But he does have an impressive collection, doesn't he?

*Just a quick note about my sweet Bentley - I don't think I've mentioned what a trooper he has been through this whole cast thing. I don't remember hearing him complain once. One time I caught him trying to scratch his arm, and when I asked him if it was bothering him, he said, "Mom, that's just the way casts are." I'm sure it was uncomfortable - you can see marks on his skin where it rubbed him a little - and it looked really uncomfortable at night when he was trying to sleep; but he was calm, submissive, patient, and brave through this whole experience.

I'm so proud of him.

Snowy Sunday

It's a good thing John got his weeding done yesterday,

because this is what we woke up to:

Lots of snow!


The "nice" thing about this snow,
is that it melts as soon as it hits pavement,
so we (by "WE" I really mean John) don't have to shovel.

(those are our tulips popping up through the snow)

Saturday Afternoon

Jonah helped John weed.

(It may look really nice outside, but it

was actually pretty cold. Jonah came inside

to get a coat right after this picture was taken.

I think we might have hit the high 40s today. sigh.)

Bentley and Maxwell teamed up for
an intense game of Warcraft.

Ruby (the lucky girl) took a nap.



Hope you all had a pleasant Saturday!

My wonderful friend, Jennifer,

shared a cute story about Max on her blog yesterday.

(Thanks, Jennifer, for sharing that story.)

Going along with the theme of his comments on that post -

he will threaten to buy you a DOLL if you're not nice to him,

but if he's happy with you, he'll promise you an action figure.

Caught in the Act

Jonah took a quick bathroom break, and

returned to find Ruby eating his lunch

(as quickly as she possibly could).

(this is her watching Jonah's reaction - i.e. screaming)

She also managed to eat part of Bentley's cupcake.

New Cousin

Warren, Becky, and Kenna welcomed

Kylie Marie

to their family this morning!
7 lbs. 11 oz., 19 1/2 inches

7:52 am

Welcome to the world Kylie!

We can't wait to meet you!

Mikey (my missionary brother) is getting transferred!
Read all about it here.

He even told us (in a second email, later in the day)

where he's being transferred to!
What is more amazing is that he didn't mention

BYU sports

once in this weeks' emails!

Easter Weekend Slideshow

Happy Easter!

hmmm . . .

"This Easter Bunny really tastes

like Christmas chocolate."

They Do Have a Soft Side

Bentley started saving his allowance money in January.

His plan was to buy himself a Bionicle, but today we

went to Target and he bought Maxwell a knight costume.

Bentley says he felt bad for Max
because Max doesn't have a lot of money.

This post is brought to you by the letter U

Today our preschool "letter of the day" was U,

and luckily for the kids, Aunt Mindy was here

to help with some creative and yummy treats.

She ran to the store this morning for donuts

(made into U's by cutting out a small section),

and Umbrella straws for the kids' milk.

Needless to say, snack time was a big hit!
Afterwards, our innovative Maxwell discovered
that he could invert the Umbrella to make a sword!

I think Maxwell has yet to find something
he CAN'T turn into a sword.
Talk about gifted . . .

The Truth

While working on Bentley's latest cast,

the nice doctor tried to make conversation.

He used Bentley's Power Ranger shirt

in an attempt to get things going.

"So . . . you like the Power Rangers?"

-non-committal grunt from Bentley-

(This is unusual for Bentley - he's usually very vocal, but he was

fascinated by the whole cast procedure. Even the 3rd time around.)

"Do you watch them every Saturday on TV?"

-another non-committal grunt-

So I chimed in -

"He and his brotherdon't get to watch

Power Rangers because it makes them violent."

At this point, Bentley said something under his breath.

The Doctor turned and asked if I'd heard it.

"Nope."

"He said, 'That's because we ARE violent.'"

Jonah and Ruby

Ruby loves all of her brothers,

but she has a special relationship with Jonah.

She loves to do things that drive him crazy.

Lately, Jonah's screams have been quickly followed

by the soundof Ruby's little feet running down

the hall to find me (for protection).

She takes his water bottle.

She takes his shoes.

She wears his clothes (or tries to).

She hides his toys (I think that's mostly an accident).

And she sits on his bed.

The other day we were in Jonah's room

and I was helping him get dressed.

"Stay off of my bed!" he told Ruby, who had wandered in.

She grinned, and plopped down on the bed.

"Get off of my bed!" Jonah responded.

Ruby smiled again, and put her head on his pillow.

"GET OFF MY BED!" He was really getting mad.

This time, Ruby laughed and waved at him.
"GET OFF MY BED!!!"

At this point, I finally finished getting Jonah dressed,

and was able to remove Ruby from the bed

before Jonah clobbered her.

A few weeks ago, we checked this book out from the library.

I'm not sure if it's one the boys grabbed, or if I chose it,
but until we got it home and read it, I didn't realize
that it wasn't actually about a monster,
but a little sister.
(Maybe Jonah can already relate?)
The nice thing about the book is that it
suggests kind things to do for each annoying
thing the little "monster" does.
Like singing softly to the monster when it roars,
reading a book together when it's grumpy,
or playing baseball together when the monster
throws things at you.

One thing that is so great about Jonah is he never
really clobbers Ruby. He gets angry,
he chases her and yells.
He retrieves his stolen (borrowed) property.
But I don't think I've ever seen him
hurt her on purpose.
Maybe that's why he's so fun for her to tease.

Take 3

Last night, Bentley had a hard time falling asleep

because he kept thinking about getting his cast off today.
Here he is, ready to go the doctor to get rid of that cast:

He was a little nervous about the saw,

but the cast came off without any trouble.

Next, they took x-rays of Bentley's arm,
and a couple of doctors checked him out.
Their decision - TWO MORE WEEKS IN A CAST.

Poor Bentley.

He was pretty disappointed, but rallied enough
to choose a color for his new cast.

By the time the new cast was finished,
he seemed just fine.

The Other Side of the Door

Jonah has spent the last 2 1/2 years on the outside

of the door at The Little Gym, watching

Bentley and Maxwell have fun on the inside.

Today, he got to see what it's like to be part of the fun.

Things started out well, but during "free-putting time,"

another little kid took Jonah's golf ball.

(it's a sports skills class mixed with gymanstics)

It took him a while to recover from the golf ball theft.
(that's Max 1st in line, and Jonah on the floor - he needed a minute to pull himself together)

After a quick pep-talk, he was ready to jump back in.

Here he is on the little balance beam - all by himself!
I think that overall, he had a fun time.
Just don't ask about that missing ball, (you might see some tears if you do).
What can I say, it was a little traumatic.

As for Ruby, well, now she's the one watching the fun.

In a little less than TWO YEARS she'll get to
have her turn on the other side of the door.

The Big "3."

Jonah turned 3 yesterday!

His request for breakfast was pancakes or french fries,

but he settled for some Smorz cereal (normally Sunday-only'' cereal).
He got to choose who said family prayer, and after choosing

himself (big surprise) he said the prayer on his own for the first time!

At lunch time, John came home from work, and

I got to go on a date with the birthday boy.

After lunch, the kids sampled the cupcakes
(and made a huge mess).

Here's our Jonah, ready for his party!

Guests included Jennifer, Diana, and Elise,
Brianna, Spencer, and Elizabeth.

I love watching kids open presents at birthday parties.
All the other children gather in closely to see the action.
Here's Jonah, surrounded by his brothers and friends.

One of Jonah's gifts was a book his Grandma H*
put together from this post.

It was nice enough yesterday that we took the
kids outside for the pinata.
Spencer was the brave soul who held the thing
while the kids swung at him, I mean the pinata, with a baseball bat.

Happy Birthday Jonah!
I love you!

For Jonah's birth story, go here.

His first birthday is here.

And last year's birthday report is here.

Her Brothers Think She's Cool

About a year ago, Bentley discovered the faux hawk.

With a lot of persistence and hair gel,

he was able to sport his own faux hawk.
Yesterday, Ruby's hair did it on its own.

No coercion, no gel.

I simply washed her hair, and as it dried, it stood up.

It's just one more thing in a long list of Ruby's talents.

Oh dear.

I woke up early last Friday and decided it was

time to start exercising (again). At the time,

I realized that with Daylight Savings Time beginning on Sunday,

my "early" morning workout would be put to the test this week.

However, I thought I was up to the challenge.

Well, 7:00 came really early this morning, and it

was 9:00 before I actually got started.

The problem with a 9am run vs. a 7am run is that

more of my neighbors are up and about.

One of my sweet neighbors saw me running,

and quickly phoned to see if one of my children was lost.

"No, no. I was just exercising."
How embarrassing.
I really need to get out more often.

Don't Mess With "The Batman"

(Maxwell as "The Batman")

Our Batman's war on crime is centered here in our home.
He is the enforcer of all laws, rules, or beatitudes

(except for the ones that pertain to HIM cleaning his room).
About a week ago, John and I were discussing Maxwell's
tendency to get in a lot of "disagreements" with his brothers.
John pointed out that Max likes people to follow the rules,
and when they don't, he tries to make them.
I thought, "Sure, that probably happens once in a while."
Then I started to pay attention.
John was right!
(not that I should be surprised, so scratch that exclamation point)
Almost every time Max got in a fight it was because
one of his brothers (or his sister) wasn't following the rules
like Maxwell thought they should be.

I'm not sure how to solve this "problem."
It's wonderful that he thinks rules should be obeyed,
but I wish he didn't think he had to pound his brothers
every time they make a mistake. sigh.
I also wish he'd remember that
pounding people
is against the rules.

Lunch Date

Earlier this week, we had a lunch date

with Brianna and Spencer at McDonalds.

Poor Moose got stuck at work, (hey Moose - I linked you)

but we did get to spend some time with Brianna.

(Bentley and Jonah)

(Brianna and Maxwell)

(Ruby caught on quickly - it was her first "real" lunch at McDonalds)
"No! Don't take my picture!"
Jonah looked so cute sitting right next to Ronald,
but evidently he thinks it's bad for his image or something
because he didn't want me to document the moment.

Stinker. :)

Abs of Steel

She does this on purpose.
A lot.
And she doesn't get stuck! She can sick back up by herself.
Our girl has skills.