Random Wrapup

Some photos from the last month that I forgot to post.

top row - Milo and our new porch railings
- Bentley (trying to hide) and Jonah singing at the
ward Christmas Party
- Ruby and Max at the same party
- bedtime snacks for the big boys


second row - Bentley and Milo play in the "snow"
- John gets bundled up to go to work (in the basement)
- Milo and our collage frame (finally hanging up)
- Milo excited about his stack of presents


third row (all band rehearsal pictures)
- Bentley and Max rehearse
- Bentley writes a song for his band
- Bentley works on the guitar part
- Bentley showing me the drum part

bottom row - Bentley and Milo's bedtime snack
- Ruby and her flower "earrings"
- Jonah walks his red wolf on a leash
- Maxwell uses his new cookbook to make pizza

Games, Crafts, and More Games

Tuesday was spent playing games, doing crafts, 

and watching basketball.

John helped the boys make and play Heroica 

(board game gift that the boys love - unless they lose).

My Mom helped Ruby make bottle cap jewelry

(a gift from Ruby's CA grandparents),

and beaded jewelry, and then all four of the older 

kids stamped leather bracelets while Milo

hit the BYU bookstore with Pa and Mindy.

After lunch my parents and Mindy went home.

Then after dinner, Bentley, Maxwell, and I joined

Greg at the BYU Men's basketball game.
Items of note:

We won!

One of the refs was injured.
 Bentley and Maxwell made

a poster, but didn't get any camera time.

However, the boys got to buy concessions, 

so they had a pretty good time.

They can't wait to be college kids so that they 

can be annoying (like the student section at the Marriott Center).

Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas Sunday.

Here's the pre-chaos (before the kids came in) and

chaos (after the kids came in) collage.

Once the kids tore through their stockings and the

gifts from Santa, we slowed down a little to open the

gifts that were under the tree. It was fun to see what

they were excited about (Milo's guitar and Jonah's bow),

and to take turns watching everyone watch everyone else.

Once all the gifts were open, we ate breakfast and tried

out some of our new things, then got ready for church.

After church it was back to the new stuff, and John

kindly made the rounds helping each kid try out their

new games and toys while I worked on dinner.

My parents, Mike, Greg, and Mindy arrived just in

time to eat and brought more gifts for us all to enjoy.
We also got to skype with Spencer and Brianna.

Milo was glad to have his Mike back, and they 

entertained us with a guitar duet and some dancing

(the dancing was just from Milo).

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Eve was packed full of activities.

Some were things that we usually do the day before Christmas,

but others just got left to the last minute.

The collage has our day in no particular order.

Here's the rundown:

tracking Santa

(Ruby watched his progress like her life depended on it)

making photo ornaments

cutting out sugar cookies
hanging stockings

frosting sugar cookies for Santa

acting out the Nativity

opening pajamas

BEDTIME!

It may not look like a lot, but we sure felt busy. :)

A Little Bit of Jonah

photo by the talented (and oh so patient) Raquel

I was planning to wait until my next FIVE post to update

everyone on Jonah, but I'm afraid I'll miss something

if I wait, so here's the latest on our middle child.

Jonah is no longer a vegetarian. 

He is a self-proclaimed "super-tarian."

He says that means he can eat meat sometimes.

That is just fine with me. 

Part of the reason he has switched diets is that

he is currently reading library books about wolves.

He plays "wolves" and is recruiting other kids

to be in his wolf pack. Jonah is the alpha male,

of course, but he has room in the pack for regular wolves.

When a (sort of) new boy was at church on Sunday,

Jonah jumped up, did a fist pump, and shouted, "Yes!"

He couldn't believe his good luck - a new recruit!

His new friend said he needs to ask his mom

before joining a pack, but Jonah is hopeful.

When Jonah and his siblings/friends are playing their

wolf game, the bad guys are the European Settlers.

I've tried explaining to Jonah that most of his

ancestors were European Settlers, but that hasn't

softened his opinion of these "wolf killers."

He went running this morning with John, and asked if 

he could run on his hands and feet (like a wolf) but 

that idea was vetoed. Poor Jonah.

Another disappointment is that his mother has yet to 

make "Wolf Soup" for dinner.

Jonah devised the recipe: turkey, chicken, milk, cheese,

chocolate, and marshmallows.

Bentley participated in the PTA Reflections competition
again this year. His entry placed at the school level,
and went on to council. I went to the school's assembly,
and watched him get his trophy. He was very silly,
and I think he was excited about doing so well.

The theme this year was "Diversity Means . . ."

Bentley knew right away what he wanted to do.

He asked Maxwell to wear the reaper costume,

and had Ruby dress up like a princess (a real stretch).

Then, he had them use the scythe and the wand to "rock."

His description said something like this:

Diversity means that anyone can rock,

whether you are a grim reaper or a princess.

His wording was better, but you get the idea.

For the Reflections competition, all the ideas and the work

have to be from the child entering. He edited the photo himself.

My friend, Tammy, puts in hours and hours to run this program

at our school. Thanks Tammy!

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Ruby's birthday celebrations lasted three days!

First off - her actual birthday.

She woke up and commanded all of us to wish her a 

Happy Birthday. Only one brother did not comply.

Then, she ate breakfast with Milo, where they finished off some

root beer with their cereal. She went to Joy School and played

with her friends, then went to lunch with her Dad.

She picked pizza and root beer (Pizza Pie Cafe).

For dinner, she asked for macaroni and cheese
(we had homemade), and more root beer.
Mike and Jenny came up to celebrate,

but Greg had to work (and Liz is in Maryland).

Ruby opened presents and we ate cake.

Day 2 of the birthday celebrations began with a walk to school

with her brothers. Then party preparations for her friend party.

She invited all of her Joy School friends, plus a few neighborhood

friends who don't have school in the mornings.
Ruby had a definite idea for her party,
I am still not sure what it was exactly,

but here's what we ended up with. Costumes, rainbow streamers

and balloons, rainbow cupcakes, a tea party, duck duck goose, 

the hokey pokey, rainbow coloring sheets, and Ruby in charge.
She changed costumes three times this year, up one from last year.
(Strawberry Shortcake, Merliah - Barbie mermaid, and Bat Girl)

Day 3 was a mini party for a friend who missed the

 party yesterday. He came over and Ruby's brothers participated 

in some party games, then snatched the friend away for a 

Beyblade match. Poor Ruby. At least she has a lot of new toys 

to play with while the boys steal her friends.

Ruby's Birth Story

1st Birthday and here

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday

4th Birthday and here

Ruby is Five

from this -

to this -

Our Ruby girl turned 5 today!

I will post more pictures if I survive her party tomorrow.

Seeing Santa

3rd year in a row without anyone crying!!!

Of course, we sort of cheated by having Bentley hold Milo.

Milo knew before we got to the mall that he would be scared,

so we talked about it and found a compromise.

Jonah is wearing the antlers he made at school today.

Maxwell is wearing the Redskins hat Spencer snagged for him.

(Thanks Spence!)

Here are their Santa requests:

Milo - Beyblade

Ruby - yellow light saber that glows in the dark,

rainbow unicorn pillow pet, a real computer,

and a pack of Beyblades.

Jonah - Winter the dolphin and a ??? (secret)

(a test to see if Santa is real - awesome, huh?)

Maxwell - huge stuffed animal tiger

Bentley - mohawk hat, wrist bands, skull necklace

Here are some past Santa photos and posts.

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Dog Day

Two dogs tried to come to school today,

and one of them was successful.

While he was inside, his partner took off.

The dog left behind was pretty lost once it

was kicked out of the school. As I walked past the

school on my home from the park, it followed me.

I tried walking around some other neighborhoods,

but the dog wouldn't go away. So, I gave up and

walked home. The dog accompanied me the entire way,

and after gazing sadly at Ruby and Milo through

the front window, he sat down on the front step

and waited. A little while later, John left for his run.

The dog trotted along behind, and at the end of

John's 3 mile jog the dog was still following him.

We decided that the dog wasn't going to find its

way home on its own, so we put him in the back yard

where we hoped he'd be safe till we could find his family.

(Ruby even made him a bed of leaves.)

I made some flyers and took them over to the school,

hoping that one of the kids there would recognize the dog.

(side note: I left my computer up while I was gone,

and when I got home, instead of saying FOUND

in large letters at the top, the screen said "milo."

Milo had deleted the heading and personalized it. )

Earlier in the day, I had put a picture of the dog on Facebook,

and around 1pm, a friend called to see if I still had the dog.

She had run into a man and his son who were looking for

their lost dog. She passed our number on to them, and they

came right over (unfortunate because if they had waited

just 15 or 20 minutes longer the older boys would have

been home from school and able to see the dog for a minute).

The dog, Max, was happy to see them, and they were relieved

to have found him. Someone had let the two dogs out of the

yard around 8pm last night, and the family looked until midnight

last night, and searched again today until they found us.

We're glad that the story has a happy ending - the nice dog

has a nice family and they are all back together.

The only sad note is that poor Jonah didn't get to enjoy

having a real animal around today. He would have loved it.

Super Girl and Super Why and the Nativity

On Thursday our Joy School group went to a local

retirement home and performed the Nativity for the residents.

Milo was happy to join in, even though he's not "official."

The kids have been practicing for the last month or so,

and each time they switch parts (all the girls want to be Mary).

For this performance, the parts went this way -

Ruby, Abigail, and Gina - angels/3 wise men

Eliza - Mary

Eric - Joseph

Milo and Tyson - shepherds

Clark - inn keepers 1, 2, and 3

(the audience especially enjoyed the "3" inn keepers)

At the end of the Nativity, the children sang a few songs,

then presented the residents with cards they had made.

The kids felt so happy about sharing something with

the "grandpas and grandmas." It was really neat to see

them excited about it all. One of the kids asked if we were

going to another home after the first one. There's and

idea for you - preschool road shows to retirement homes.

Maybe next year . . .

Dancing Queen - Part 2

I got to watch Ruby's dance class this week for the

first time since her long-awaited first day.

She only ran over to me once during the class,

a big improvement over previous parent viewing days.

I left Milo with John (once again) and enjoyed watching

Ruby dance and participate in her class.

I also enjoyed taking pictures - the one in the middle

of the collage above is my favorite pose. She is so funny.

December Five

When John and I got married, I had this plan to have 8

kids, each two years apart. For one month out of the year,

it looks like my plan worked. I love this month. :)

Milo - 2, Ruby - 4, Jonah - 6, Maxwell - 8, and Bentley - 10.

I couldn't choose just one photo for today's post,

so here are three recent ones. The top picture is the one

that I took specifically for my "five" project.

(can you tell who didn't want to be in the picture?)

This second photo was taken about 10 minutes later.

I was making dinner, and the five kids were playing

Bey Blade together in the kitchen.

Bentley bought a stadium a little later this evening,

so they know longer use bowls for their battles.

This last picture was taken at their "sleep-over" on Saturday.

Ruby and Jonah asked for a night when they could sleep

in their sleeping bags, watch a movie, and play games.

Bentley, Milo, and Maxwell eventually joined in.

Milo and Bentley slept in Milo's room, but the other three

slept (eventually) by the Christmas tree that night.

updates:

Bentley - Ten years old, wishes I would have let him try out

for the competitive basketball team instead of signing him

up for the rec league. (I'm not - John gets to coach and Max

is also on the team. Hopefully it will be a good experience.)

Hasn't complained about piano lately, and seems to like

playing the songs in his Christmas book. Latest infatuation

is Bey Blade - something that the kids liked last July.

So far he seems to like Webelo Scouts. (fingers crossed)

He is going to throw his neck out one of these days because

he is constantly tossing his hair (think Bieber).

Maxwell - Helped me make dinner last week and loved it.

I need to figure out how to have him help more often. Likes John

to teach him computer programming. He and Bentley

have learned to burp after swallowing air. I am so proud.

He is doing a great job in both piano and scouts.

He is ruining the tips of his shoes and the knees in his

pants playing some game at recess. I need to find out what

the game is and how to stop it.

Jonah - still going strong as a vegetarian. We don't eat a lot of

meat, but when we do it can be difficult to find things for him.

He has been eating this way for about 6 weeks, I wonder

how long it is going to last. Decided two weeks ago to play

a different song at his piano recital (next Monday) because

too many kids were playing versions of his song. He is doing

a great job learning his new song quickly.

Ruby - Super excited about her upcoming birthday and is busy

planning her party and telling everyone that she will be

five in "two weeks." In November she got to see all of her

cousins - a trip to California early in the month,

and then our last minute trip to Idaho. She was happy to see

all the girls - what a novelty. She loves babies, and I am afraid

that at Joy School this month she spends most of her time

trying to get the teacher's baby. Luckily the little one is the

youngest of 9 and is pretty tough.

Milo - still likes the wii, but his new favorite thing is Liken.

He loves to watch the movies, especially Nephi, and listens

to the cds every night and at nap time. He can now be found

singing both Bieber and Liken. He likes going to nursery,

and I think his favorite part is singing time. He was pretty

happy to recognize his music leader at church on Sunday.

Bentley's Birthday Bash

Bentley's long awaited birthday party finally happened!

He wanted a "late-night" and this past Friday was the

first that we'd had free in the month since his big day.

I have to admit, I was hoping he would change his mind

about the party (or the guest list) but he held firm,

so I crossed my fingers and we went ahead with the party.

He requested pizza, popcorn, candy bars, skittles, soda,

cupcakes (from Target), Roderick Rules, and dog tags.

At the beginning of the night, the boys bragged about their

bottomless stomachs, but by the end of the party, as they ate

their cupcakes and finished off the cream soda and root beer,

there was a lot of moaning and stomach holding.

They ate a ton of junk.

Bentley was really happy with his "late-night," so despite lots of

4th grade humor, a room full of spilled popcorn,

and one light saber injury, I'm counting the night a success.

As a bonus . . .

The little kids got to stay up later than usual, and

were able to have a mini-late-night of their own.

Everybody was happy! Even me, because John

vacuumed the popcorn up while I drove kids home!

A little bit (more) of Ruby

Ruby's dreams of having long hair came true the other night.

She bought a Rapunzel wig at Target!

(Well, I thought SHE bought it, but when we got home

she told me that I actually bought it for her.)*

The very next day, Ruby got to go to Jr. High again.

This year we got her up and ready to go in plenty of time.

She had a lot of fun with Elli, although she was surprised

to learn that her friend Bo has three older sisters.

Ruby remembered the other two, but Elli was new to her for

some reason. Next year Ruby will be in kindergarten,

so this was probably her last time visiting Jr. High.

Maybe Milo will follow in Ruby and Jonah's footsteps and get

to go to school next year with one of the kids in our neighborhood.

*Ruby is wearing a Spider-man costume because her friend Clark

came over earlier in the day. Clark believes that he IS Spider-man,

so I'm not sure whether Ruby was trying to make him happy

or just really mad by wearing the costume. She did both

throughout their play date that morning.

Birthday Dinner/Deck the Halls

On Monday, I got to celebrate my birthday!

We ate take-out from Mountain West Burrito, decorated the

Christmas tree, and had cupcakes from the Sweet Tooth.

Mikey, Greg, and Jenny were able to skip their FHE

and join us for ours, and Jenny kindly took pictures of our

tree decorating. The best part of the day was 5 healthy kids.

Here's to a healthy December and a fun holiday season.