Super Bentley

Every Tuesday, Bentley's kindergarten class

gets to go to the school library.

So yesterday, as we walked home from school,

I asked him if he had fun and what story the librarian read.

"W. . . e . . .l . . . l , when we got to the library, I climbed onto one

of the tables, and I had to go back to my teacher's classroom."

Obvious question: WHY did you climb on the table?

"Well, I didn't think she was watching me, and then she turned

around, and saw me, and told me to go back to my classroom."

(side note: When I talked to his teacher today, she said he was

really embarrassed when it happened, so I guess he knows it was not okay

to climb on tables and hopefully he won't do it again.)
We talked a little bit about how it's important to make good

choices even when no one is watching you,

(his teacher calls this being RELIABLE)

and then we arrived home and the conversation kind of ended.

Later that night, Bentley talked about the library thing

with his Dad, who also asked WHY he climbed onto the table.

"I wanted to be cool. Kind of like a super-hero that

climbs on a building, and then jumps off!"

After hearing that answer, I can imagine Bentley in his

own little world, acting out a scene from a story

where he's the superhero and the table is the building

that he's courageously climbing while others watch in awe.

Then suddenly, he's brought back to reality and sent

packing before he gets to jump off the building OR hear the story.

Poor guy. Totally not cool.

Lunchtime Conversation

Today, Jonah was having leftover Chinese food

for lunch - again. He loves it, even the vegetables!

While I was heating up his food, I commented that

maybe he'd go to China on a mission when he's older.

That way, he could eat Chinese food every day.

"No, I don't want to go there," he said.

Bentley and Maxwell chimed in, both saying they

want to go to Mexico on their missions.

When they finished talking about Mexico, Jonah said,

"I will go to Burger King on my mission.

They can make me Chinese food."

The Amazing Race

I hesitate to post this blog entry, because it has basically

nothing to do with my kids, and they are the Stars of this blog.

However, John and I recently went on a really fun date,

and I've got to share some of it. :)

Last week, this package showed up on our doorstep.

Inside, we found a clue (written in French),
and a picture of a Brigham Young statue.

By deciphering the clue, we found out that we were
to meet Saturday at the BYU Administration Building at 6pm.
Once all 11 teams had arrived, we began our first challenge:
filling a pvc pipe full of holes with water to retrieve a stick.
After completing that task, we were given our next clue.
A sealed can of beans.
Our teammate, Sheldon, managed to break the can open,
and we began to sort through all of the dry beans
to find the six beans with letters written on them.
M - U - S - E - U - M.
The BEAN MUSEUM.

Other clues and challenges included:
identifying flavors in Coldstone ice cream;
eating a bowl full of pudding with no hands;
counting parking places, tennis courts, slides, tables, drinking
fountains, etc. at a park to answer a complicated math problem
which was the address of our next location;
and shower caps, shaving cream, and Cheetos
in a final challenge of courage and skill.
The night ended at Noah's, where we could play pool,
ping-pong, racquetball, volleyball, eat treats,
or watch the Jazz beat the Rockets on TV.

Although we didn't win, our Brown Team took 4th place.

Sheldon and Wendy, me, and John
(I broke a promise to get this photo, because I told
John he wouldn't have to pose for any pictures.
Sorry John.
How could I not capture our amazing team, though?)

We had a wonderful time and I can't wait for someone
to organize the next Amazing Race date.

Thanks Mom and Dad for the free babysitting!
It was so nice not to worry about the kids.

Graduation!

Spencer graduated from BYU today!

(so if you need someone with a degree in Italian, he's your guy)
Congratulations Moose!

This summer, Spencer and Brianna will be on their way to Buffalo,
along with Bill (seen here sporting his new uniform),

and of course, Brady and Mia.

We'll miss you guys!

The Man

My little brother, Greg, is 18 today!

Happy Birthday little brother!

I have mixed feelings about Greg getting older,
because it means I'm getting older.

You see, as long as I have a teenage brother,
I can't be THAT OLD. He keeps me young. :)

But enough about me; here are a few things about Greg.
It takes him a while to warm up to someone.
When he was 3 or 4 years old, he told my Dad,
"I'm starting to like you."

As a little guy, he had a tendency to exagerate.
For example, after one of his basketball games,
he enthusiastically told me about the amazing shots
he made; three-pointers and lay-ups, he'd made dozens of them.
I reminded him that I had been at his game, and
while he had played well, none of that had actually happened.
"Oh yeah."

He loves his Mom.
There are very few pictures of Greg as a kid
without our Mom in the picture. Sometimes you can
only see him holding her hand, but she's always there.

Here's hoping Greg has a wonderful day!
Love you buddy!

Junior Achievement

For the last month or so, I've been going to Bentley's

kindergarten class every Wednesday morning

as a volunteer for a the Junior Achievement program.

It's been so much fun being in his classroom

and getting to know his classmates a little.

I didn't get a picture of Bentley with his class,

but here's one of Maxwell, Jonah, and Ruby

enjoying some of the left-over "loot" from the program.

A couple of weeks ago, the kids got little cardboard banks.
Today, they each got a miniature version of the
book we used during the program.
The book was a big hit with my little kids.
Max knew I had one for him, so the minute I got.
home from the school, he asked if he could have his copy.
We've read the story several times since then,
and I'm sure we'll read it a few more times, at least.

Tucanos

Tonight, we all got dressed up and drove to

the Gateway for the grand-opening dinner
at Tucanos with Elizabeth, Brent, and Carla.

We got to see Elliott, too.
Here he is with John and Elizabeth;

and here he is getting ready for the ribbon cutting ceremony:

(of course I missed the actual cutting, but the man
on the far right of the picture is holding the
really big scissors that they used to cut the ribbon)

The boys were happy to see Elliott, but wished that
his cute kids and Ginger had been there, too.
(We can't wait to see you guys this summer!)

Bentley's review of Tucanos:
"This is the best restaurant I've ever been to!"

So there you have it.

Trying to Buy Some Time

I had this great idea yesterday.

I needed to get some things done in the house,

and the kids were fighting and driving me nuts.

We had a bag of 12 candy-filled eggs left over

from last month, so I decided to hide them.

The kids thought it was a great idea, too.
They waited patiently in the house, while I found

12 perfect hiding places; not too hard, but not too obvious.

Or so I thought.

When I finished hiding the eggs, the kids ran out,

immediatly found two or three eggs,

and ran around the yard looking for the rest.

That lasted for maybe 5 minutes,
and then Jonah came inside to ask for help.
So much for my perfect plan.
I spent the next 5 minutes helping the kids find their eggs.
And the 10 minutes after that were spent picking up the
Nerds candy that they spilled all over the kitchen floor.

On the bright side, once they'd devoured their candy,
the boys went back outside and played while I got my work done.

If only they'd done that in the first place!

Now just for fun - h e r e ' s Ruby!

Spring Break - Part 4

On our last day in Idaho, Kenna and Ruby became friends.
Hopefully they'll remember that when we go back

the next time so they won't have to start all over.

Monday morning, the boys hunted for, found, and washed
the "perfect stone" for Stone Soup.
Then they carefully wrapped it, packed it, and took it to Idaho.
Today we finally made their soup, and I didn't take any pictures. Rats.

After their dinner of stone soup, the kids were
loaded into the mini-van, and my Dad drove us home.

Jonah, Maxwell, Ruby, and Bentley on our way home.
(All three boys are watching episodes of Voltron.
I'm not sure why they look so concerned.
Maybe the Voltron Force was fighting a Robeast or something.
The sun was shining on poor Ruby, who couldn't care less
about Voltron. She was a trooper on the drive, though.)

Thanks Dad, for driving us both ways,
and thanks Mom and Dad for letting us
spend our spring break with you!
We had a wonderful time!

Spring Break - Part 3

Today, Kenna and Ruby played Princesses with Grandma.

These two girls are princesses everyday,
and together they make a great fashion team;
Kenna loves clothes, and Ruby loves shoes.

Aunt Mindy took the day off,
so we got to spend some time with her.
She and Pa took the three boys to see that "Horton" movie
while the Princesses (and their attendants) took naps.

Here she is with that sweet Kylie.

This evening, I was able to see my good friend, Alisa
her cute little boy, Landon, and their beautiful new home.

Jonah and Ruby helped Landon feed the ducks.
(Landon may or may not have sampled the bread.)

After the duck adventure, we got to spend a little time
with Warren, Becky, Kenna, and Kylie.

We also got to meet Greg's "friend," Andrianne.

She was kind enough to let Greg's crazy older
sister take their picture. I like this girl. :)

Spring Break - Part 2

Tonight we met lots and lots of family members for dinner
at the local "Chuck E. Cheese" type pizza and burger place.

It was great to see Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and siblings.

The boys had a lot of fun on the playset,
in the arcade, and on the rides.

Also tonight - it snowed. I heard that it snowed in Utah, too,
so we'd have gotten the white stuff at home anyway. sigh.

Spring Break

This morning, the kids and I packed our bags.

Then they boys walked around the house wearing

their huge backpacks for a couple of hours.

THEN, we rode with my Dad to Idaho!

The boys were excited to play with all of my
brothers' old toys (He-Man, Power Rangers, Voltron and more).
They spent most of the afternoon playing with swords.
(Imagine that! My boys and swords. How strange.)

Ruby and Kenna are getting reaquainted,

and I got to hold my sweet niece, Kylie.

Bare Hands

Said cheerfully, "These are my bare hands."

"I can crush bad guys with them."

BYU Kids Clinic

Today was the 35th Annual BYU Blue and White Scrimmage,

and for the third (and possible last) time, we took the

kids down for the kids clinic before the big game.

The boys had a lot of fun smashing into things,

trying to catch the football, and meeting BYU football players.

But the best part was hanging out with their Uncle Spencer.
Once the kids were tired of standing in lines,

Spencer grabbed a football and played with them.

Thanks Moose, we all had a great time!

Last year's report is here.

and our first kid's clinic experience is here.

Interested grandparents and others can see videos here.

Battlezone

My little guys should sleep well tonight.

They spent the day battling with their uncles.
First, the boys challenged Charles and Hugh

with swords and shields.

(looks like the little people are winning, doesn't it?)

Then Bentley and Maxwell teamed with Hugh and Charles
to fight 3 computers in Warcraft.

Bentley

Maxwell

Hugh
Charles

Unfortunately, our brave warriors lost that match.

(John then showed them how it's done by beating

three computers all by himself. Nice job honey!)

We did manage to fit in a few activities

that did not involve fighting.

We laughed a lot, ate yummy food, talked about weddings,
played baseball, and then after the kids went to bed,
the grown-ups played Wacky Six.

We're so glad Hugh, Charles, and Laura could come visit!
(and of course we're always happy to see Elizabeth.) :)

Bill

Monday evening, our family braved the storm raging outside,

and went to the mall where the boys made "Bill."

This is Bill.

Today, we gave Bill to Spencer as a graduation gift.

Spencer graduates next week from BYU,

so Bill is sporting a BYU t-shirt.
(A Buffalo Bills uniform is on the way, becuase our Build-a-Bear

only carries Denver Bronco uniforms. Broncos? Really?)

ANYWAY, the sad part about Spencer's move to Buffalo,
is that we won't get many more pictures like this.

He and Brianna will be so far away,
and we're going to miss them a lot.

We're also going to miss this girl,
who is getting married and moving back
to a place where it doesn't snow in April
and this guy,
who still has one year left in Brazil.

Sigh.

BUFFALO

Last week, I got a call from my brother, Spencer.

"I thought you might want to know where we'll be

living next year," he said.

Did I ever!

and . . .

"We're moving to Buffalo. I got a job/internship with

the Buffalo Bills. They're an NFL team in New York."

Yes, I know who they are. Silly.

(Spencer's always been careful to explain things fully.

When he was very little, he would occasionally call our house

from a friends house - probably to ask if he could stay longer -

anyway, the conversation usually started like this:

my Mom - "hello?"

Spencer - "Hi Mom. This is Spencer. Spencer Larry H*."

You know, just in case my mom had another

little squeaky voice kid named Spencer.)

Anyway, he and Brianna will be moving to Buffalo
this summer. Spencer will be working for the Bills,
and attending Canisius College, where he will earn
a master's degree in Athletic/Sports Administration.
Brianna will be able to work as a nurse
(she's a "highly skilled and in demand" shock trauma nurse,
she also works Lifeflight - which translates to super hero
status for my kids because Brianna flies AND saves people),
and then she plans to attend the University of Buffalo
where she will get her masters in nurse anesthesia (CRNA).
You can read Brianna's post about their big news here.

So next fall, along with cheering for our BYU Cougars,
we'll be following the Buffalo Bills.
Who'd have thought THAT?

This N That Boutique Giveaway

Check out This N That Boutique for lots of cute products
and an apron giveaway contest.
Or don't.
Because then my chances to win go up. :)

Conference Weekend

*disclaimer - this is long, but it was a busy weekend :)

My friend, Elaine, was able to come from Texas to attend

General Conference, and was brave enough to stay with us!
She generously shared her tickets with me, and we were

able to attend two sessions in the Conference Center.

It was wonderful.

Here's a glimpse of the rest of our busy weekend.
Before Elaine arrived, we cleaned house.

Hope you were sitting down for that one. :)
No, it doesn't happen often, but
I really wanted the house to look
presentable for our guest.
Here's Ruby, helping to mop the floor.

When I asked Maxwell to be careful not
to mess things up before Elaine arrived, he asked,
"Is that because she doesn't know how our house usually looks?"
(me) "How does is usually look?"
(Max) "Like a mess."
(me) "Right. Well, I just want it to look nice for her."
(Max) "But I'm going to tell her how it usually looks."
Great.

Anyway, this weekend I caught another one of our kids
entertaining himself without computer or TV.
Could this be a new trend?

John recently cut down a little tree in our back yard.
Saturday morning, the scouts came over and cut
it up for firewood.
The boys were pretty happy to see the tree leave.
Max had tried to fight it, and the tree scratched him,
so he hated it. Jonah was wary of the tree as well,
although I don't think he was ever wounded by it.
Here's a photo of John and Ruby waiting for the scouts.
Ruby loves following her Dad around. :)

Saturday evening, Elaine made us her famous
Spanish Chicken and Rice for dinner.
I think Jonah ate half of it all by himself.
Dinner was wonderful, and it was made better
by Elaine's niece Jana, and Jana's cute son Benjamin
coming to eat, visit, and play with us.
Benjamin is two, and he was very tolerant of
Ruby's constant attention; including lots of hugs.

That night, Jonah discovered he can
fit in the container for "playgroup toys."

On Sunday, the kids spent a lot of time outside,
waiting for Conference to end,
and playing baseball.

Then on Monday, they spent time outside
playing in the snow. We got a big storm that
knocked our power out for a couple of hours.

If this is spring, I might be ready for summer.

Elaine - Thanks for coming to see us!
Hope that you had fun and that we'll see you again!