Who is this masked man?

I sit at my computer

crying, thinking of some very sad news I received today. Feeling heartbroken. I don't talk about my faith often because I feel it's such a personal thing. But today as I reflect I feel comforted to know that this life isn't the end. That our spirits go on.

Today I am so thankful for some many things. For healthy children who drive me crazy. And love me like crazy (as I love them). For a husband who makes me laugh out loud - alot. And often. And puts up with me. For friends who will listen to me and care about me. Who I can count on. For the best parents, in-laws and family in the world. I'm not rich. Sometimes I wonder how the bills will get paid, but I am extremely blessed and I hope I never forget it.

Oh and I forgot...

Max said family prayer this morning. And in it he said, "Please bless Ben's weiner to feel better."

That kid provides us with so much entertainment.

Pain-full

Yesterday Ben got hurt. This is a daily occurrence. When I hear the wailing and screaming and realize it's Ben, I tend to ignore it. Because he over-reacts. A LOT. Like that time when he had a red string stuck to his leg and he thought it was blood and he was screaming and crying at the top of his lungs until Ian plucked the string off his leg. So excuse me if I don't take my child's pain "seriously". That boy has cried wolf one too many times.

Yesterday when I heard Ben in the backyard crying and wailing I ignored it. Until he came inside and cried that Max had jumped on his private parts while on the trampoline. I immediately told Ben to go into the bathroom and "assess" the situation. When he came out he tearfully told me that his "tenders" (as we refer to male parts over here) were black and blue. You'd think as a mother of 4 boys I would've dealt with something like this before. But I haven't. I then had him show me the injury. It didn't look too bad but was definitely red and a little bit swollen. I got the "headache" bag out of the freezer (our cure-all) and had him lay down with that on his parts.

Poor Ben. He would hardly speak to Max the rest of the day. Ben started feeling better after I made him a huge ice-cream sundae. Ice-cream makes everything better. At least it does around here.

What!

This kid rocks. It's almost impossible to be mad at him. Even when he is screaming at the top of his lungs. His current word is: "what" . He says it when he doesn't know how to answer or doesn't feel like answering. I'll ask, "Evan are you poopy?" And he'll say, "What!" Or "Evan, can you put that toy away?" and he'll respond, "What!" It cracks me up everytime.

Last night I was having some trouble getting him to go to sleep. His new thing is that he tells me, "Mama, go to sleep" and then points to my bed (yes, his crib is still in our room - don't even go there). There is NO way I'm laying down - because if I do I'll fall asleep. I fell for that trick 2 times last week and ended up going to bed at 9:00. No way.

Consequently, Evan kept climbing out of his crib and I kept putting him back in. And everytime he'd exclaim, "Mama - go to sleep!" I finally got the idea to give him a stuffed animal to sleep with. I found Cookie Monster and put him in bed with Evan. Boy, was that a mistake. First he made me put a diaper on Cookie Monster. And then I had to get Cookie a binkie. And his own blanket and pillow. The worst was it didn't even help! Evan still kept climbing out.

At 10:15 I finally gave up and layed down. And we went to sleep.

Max and some random stuff

*Note: if you are not familiar with my church this next paragraph might not make sense to you.

Today at church I sat in on Jr. Primary singing time. The chorister was picking children's names from a jar with popsicle sticks and wouldn't you know, Max's name was selected. Then he had to pick a heart from off the wall. Each heart had a key phrase that was part of a song the primary would sing. So Max's name was picked and he happily picked the farthest heart on the other side of the room. When he brought it to the chorister she realized that it was a song that none of the kids knew. She then asked Max what his favorite song was so the kids could sing that instead. He briefly looked at her and then proceeded to look for another heart to pick (all the while me and the chorister are asking, "Max! Do you have a favorite song?" and he's happily ignoring us). He picks another heart and the song happens to be: "Mother, I love you". The kids sing the song. And then Max exclaims, "Just so you know, that is NOT my favorite song!" and keeps repeating that until he sits down. At this point I just pretended like he wasn't mine.

Have you been watching America's Best Dance Crew? Did you see this? And did you notice at the end the girl puts on her sunglasses while doing all those head spins. Seriously. I think Quest Crew might be in trouble.

Did you watch the Oscars? And see the opening when Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway sang together? SWEET. And the middle when Hugh Jackman and Beyonce did a little song and dance number? Pretty darn good, that's all I got to say. Enough to make me watch the whole show even though I had to listen to all the stars and their political rants. It seems like they are only tolerant of people who feel the same way they do. It irritates me. But I'm over it. Do you think Heath Ledger only won out of sympathy? I'm only asking because I didn't see Dark Knight.

Making music mixes makes me happy. Try saying that 10 times! I made a Coldplay mix and a Killers mix today and can't wait to listen to them.

It's the little things.

You know I love Dr. Pepper

*Picture stolen from Kim's blog
Out of all my kids Max is the most challenging. I don't feel bad saying that. Sometimes I think it's his personal mission to drive me insane or to a nervous breakdown. Lately he's been defiant, mean and loud. Really, really loud. Yesterday we were driving in the car to get the older boys from school and Max kept talking and talking and talking. About nothing really. Mostly he'd say things like, "What's color is that car?" or "Do you love Dr. Pepper?" Just to annoy me. He does stuff like that all the time to get under my skin. And I'm ashamed to say it works. ALOT. Finally I said, "Max, you need to just chill out and relax." To which he replied, "Mom, I'll relax when I go to the rest-room."

Last night as he layed in bed I went in to check on him. When I sat on his bed he said, "Mom, it's your birthday tomorrow and I don't have a present for you." It almost made me cry it was so sweet. I replied, "The best present you could give me would be to mind what I say tomorrow." "I will! I will all day!" he replied.

Then he paused for a second and said, "What about if I just mind for half of the day?"

Liberty or Death

Xander has an awesome teacher this year. He's having such a great time at school - and learning so much. Last Friday his class put on Revolutionary War plays. Holy cow they were good!

Xander was one of the narrators in the first play.

He played a British solider in the second play.

And one of General Washington's men in the third play. He was also Samuel Adams in one of the plays, but I didn't get a picture. His teacher provided all of the costumes and backdrops. My parents were able to come too and we all were so impressed. And I was so proud of Xander.

What a great and effective way for the kids to learn the history of our country. Hooray for awesome teachers!