Benson Facts

The girls have been talking about their favourite kind of dogs etc.  So yesterday I asked Benson:

Would you want a dog?

Yes!

What kind would you want?

Um, a real one.

Benson also was washing his hands yesterday in my bathroom and accidentally knocked over a can of hairspray.  It did something to the nozzle and jammed it so that there was a constant stream shooting out.  It was so strong that I thought the water was running.  Finally Benson comes out and is holding the can spraying straight into the air. "Mom, I can't stop it!  It's just too strong."  Yeah, I couldn't either.  There goes that full can of hair spray... And my floor and walls.  They were sooooo sticky.  Many much mucho hours scrubbing those babies.  

May 26, 2011

Anyone else have a CRAZY hard time getting up today? My kids had to be woken up multiple times.

Yeah, my kids just went out the front door, shut it and rang the doorbell. Perhaps they want my attention?

Off to pick up the kids, do violin, go to kindergarten orientation and RS meeting. Hopefully Jarett can come home from work regular time!

Today's comment:  Sounds like a pretty typical day to me.  ;)

Butter Fingers (today in 2013)

Out of everything that I've broken today - I've decided that the butter dish is the worst to clean up. Can't just sweep, vacuum and mop like the others. It's hands and knees with paper towels from the get go. Sigh. I suppose I have butter fingers in a couple ways today.

Remember this from 2009 SO well!

Waking up to a stray cat coming through the window right above your husbands head is a little bit terrifying.

Four Years Ago... Baby Benson

Benson up every 1-2 hours last night (of course, now he's having a FABULOUS nap), warm milk for breakfast this morning, immunizations after lunch... it's going to be a spectacular day!! 

Benson just got his immunizations done... didn't even cry. AND he's weighing 17lbs 7oz!

My Hero - from a year ago

Feel so good!!  We cleaned the house, moved the girls to the basement (we're talking assembling bunk beds etc.), and completely reorganized almost everything in there.  Also brought all baby stuff up to newly vacated room, and cleaned out the newly vacated garage.  Jarett also trimmed and mowed the lawn while I took the kids to their lessons at the Y this morning and prepared his lesson for church tomorrow.  He's now doing a 20 km bike ride.  I'm completely exhausted and I really did hardly anything compared to Jarett.  That man is my hero!

May be a year ago that I wrote this... But yesterday Jarett cleaned out the whole garage again.  Funny.  Still is my hero!

Flyers

We started doing flyers in February. Kaia has one route, Kienna has the other. Altogether, we deliver about 200 flyers.

Jarett has been helping Kienna with her flyers and I have been helping Kaia with hers. Kaia, more than often, prefers to do hers on her own so that she can practice.

Today, I decided to help her and do the last third. Benson came with me. He was so excited to run up and down the driveways. He carefully placed each flyer directly on the threshold of the door, not just on the doorstep (he has done this each time he helped).

Today, he also noticed that there was an alarm sign in the shape of a stop sign in someone's front garden.

He told me that he couldn't do that flyer, the sign told him that he had to stop. I told him that that just means that you're not allowed to go inside the house without permission.  He took that with caution, but still delivered the flyer for me. He is a boy that likes to stick by the rules, that's for sure!

My Littlest Bookworm

I just read Laya her two favourite stories. You might have even heard of them:  

Moby-Dick and Pride and Prejudice.

We have loved the BabyLit books!  Way to have a kid get a head start on the classics!

Saryn came in after and read them to her again...

She might have not wanted to get her picture taken though...

Little toothless bookworm

Jaymeson lost a tooth yesterday... or he might call it a business opportunity. He is so excited about making money whenever he loses a tooth, it is hilarious! This one was finally getting wiggly enough that he could move it, so he asked me to pull it out. I wouldn't do it until he worked on it a whole lot more, but with in a few minutes it was ready to go. He is one determined little boy!

As you can tell, he has made a lot of money recently!

He has also started to read more and more. He is top of his class in reading, and way past our wildest expectations. He will have no problem letting you know that either. Right now he is working on reading the book series Fablehaven.  He has seen his sisters reading the box, so he wanted to give it a try. He tells you every single time he is done the page, lets you know his favorite characters, plot twists, and anytime anything does anything. He is determined to read almost as much as he's determined to inform!  

He saw that the girls could read from 8:30 to 9 o'clock on their chore chart. He was wondering if he could also do that but have his lights out at 8 o'clock instead. Last night, I found him like this when I went to go put Benson to bed.

See the size of that book?  This is one determined boy!!

My little monkey - goes productive

As I put both Lanaya and baby Bruce to bed today (I watch my nephew Bruce on Thursdays while his mom works), Benson decided to go downstairs.  Normally, this scares me quite a bit. Today, however, he had a paper airplane in the car, so I wasn't quite as worried. I put the babies to bed, waited for them to stop crying, and then came downstairs to find Benson like this:

Besides a little bit of water that had overflowed, he hadn't made any mess, but was actually cleaning. He was so excited to show me that he was cleaning! He was using our scrubber from the sink and using it on the cupboards around him. He is such a sweet little guy!!  He has a mind of his own, but he is so well-intended (90% of the time anyway).

Some kinds of cute!

Lanaya has been doing the cutest things recently.

1. She squishes up her nose and inhales and exhales sharply.  This is when she's being silly, frustrated, excited or anything else.  She just enjoys doing it apparently.  We think it's hilarious!

2. Laya likes to play peek-a-boo.  If she sees a blanket, a piece of clothing or even an hair elastic that's thick enough for her to think she can hide behind it, she is covering her face until you say, "Where's Laya?" enough times for her to uncover herself and surprise you.  Most of the time, she isn't really even covering her face, but she's lifting the item over her head until you say it none the less.

3. She has started to put her hands in front of her with her palms up - like she's wanting you to give her whatever you are holding.  I thought that's all this was, until she does it to be picked up, to eat, to show excitement or anything else.  It's just a fun thing for her to do apparently.

4. Lanaya climbs onto the bottom bunk of the boys bed.  No problem.  She just gets on up and plays with their stuffed animals.  So far, she hasn't even tried to get down, but I've sure had a heart attack a few times when she's playing a little too close to the edge for my comfort.

5. She has decided to take after her big brother Benson and play in the toilet.  All bathroom doors are to be shut at all times now.  This is NOT a favorite thing - and I most definitely don't find it cute.

6. Lanaya is my first baby who has fallen in love with blankets, in general.  Saryn loved her bankey wowers, but it was exclusive.  Laya likes any soft fuzzy blanket and gets super excited if you even are walking towards her with one.  She grabs it, snuggles in and has the happiest face on - ever!

7. She has discovered her ability to click her tongue.  As long as she's not upset about something, if you make a click with your tongue, she'll do it back - and do it for a long time, most emphatically.  This is a very fun toy!

8. She says "Wow" in such a cute, high pitched, sweet sounding voice that it melts your heart.  I could be happy listening to it all day long!

Lanaya has just been the greatest joy!  She is starting to play strange with most people.  She definitely is a Mommy's girl... but will go to Kienna, and then Daddy if needs be.  She generally would prefer to keep it to just the three of us.  She is super smiley, her hair is a little curly and she just melts my heart with everything she does!

Surprise!

A year ago today, I had a surprise baby shower.  Today, I saw the video of all my friends and family who came to support me and was overwhelmed with love.  I'm so grateful for all those who generously gave me so much love and support through a tough pregnancy, delivery and recovery.  So glad those days are behind me - and that I still get to enjoy my awesome friends!

Nature's Memory

I think that, as mother's, we forget things - and it's a blessing.  It's the only reason we would ever have more than one child.  I have been thinking recently how I must've been such a baby - my hips were never that bad during pregnancy.  Then today, on my facebook flashbacks, I read this status from one year ago today.

11:20 am
"Well, it seems as though I'm staying put for the day. Managed to get down the stairs... So that was good. Lol."

I clearly wanted to understate my pain, because within a couple hours, I needed help.  This was my post at 2:16pm:

"Okay, when do you use ice and when do you use heat? Called physio and they're closed for the holiday. Hips are so loose that my leg has dislocated and I can't move. All advice would be appreciated!"

I remember this day vividly.  I sat on the couch at the most awkward of angles and cried as I sorted baby clothes.  My parents took all the kids to Calaway Park or the Zoo or something so I could cope with the pain better.  Yeah, there's a reason we forget... and why we're done.  I can't do that to my body again.  So glad I have all my sweet babies here now!

Firecrackers

Benson watched Kungfu Panda for the first time in his memory this past weekend.  Today, he was walking around and randomly giggling for the whole day as he would remember one part or another.  I asked him what his favorite part was and he said, "Like, the whole thing!"  Of course, if you know him, his eyes were as big as possible, his hands were stiff and firm and he said this with very serious enthusiasm.  He cracks me up. 
I asked him if he liked the part where Po flies up in the air when he's sitting on a chair and the firecrackers go off. 
"Firecrackers?!?  They're firecrackers?  You can EAT them??"

Apparently any kind of crackers are edible in Benson's mind.  We'll have to talk that over before any Canada Day or Fourth of July celebrations.

What a week!!

We went down to Southern Alberta last weekend.  Left on Friday.  Thursday night, of course, was greeted by Saryn throwing up.  This always seems to happen right before any trip.  Someone has to get sick.
We were staying with my cousin Caylee, so I called to see if she'd be okay with us still coming.  She said it was fine, and Saryn said she was feeilng better, so we headed on down.  That whole night, and the next day, we were all fine.  We went to visit some friends in Barnwell, went over to Taber, went to Stirling and watched their school play, 'Willy Wonka'.  That night, we were staying with Sachie and Josh, when Jaymeson started to feel a little sick (around 1am on Sunday morning - Mother's Day). 
We moved into the house, from the trailer, and settled down so that we could be closer to the bathroom.  Sure enough, around 3, he threw up.  Around 5, he threw up again... and by 6:30, we needed to be up for the day, so that we could make it back to Barnwell for church.
As we were heading back to Calgary after church, we couldn't leave Jaymeson in Stirling.  We were trying to figure out what to do and we had decided to do Sacrament Meeting and then maybe just have me and the rest of the kids stay in church for the rest of the time.
By the time we got there, Jaymeson had thrown up again.  By the end of sacrament meeting, Saryn was complaining that her stomach hurt again, and Lanaya had blown out of her diaper onto my lap.  We decided to just head home.  Good decision....  We had barely made it to Lethbridge when Benson started to throw up as well.  Happy Mother's Day to me!!

Monday night, Jarett and Kaia both joined in.  They were throwing up all night long.
Tuesday night, Kienna and Lanaya joined in as well.  This bug had taken down everyone in the house except for me at this point.  Kienna missed a school field trip and a cello recital.  Kaia missed a test at school...  There have been upset stomachs on all fronts, nasty smells and much cleaning.

(This is probably 5 out of 10 loads of laundry that I did that day - the boys were clearly feeling better and joining in the "help")

I have LOVED, however, having so much down time for the kids.  They watched the entire Star Wars series 2 times (Episode 2 became a favorite - and they claim they have it memorized now).  We finished up the Lord of the Rings series, watched many shows on Netflix and had just fun talking time (in between episodes of being sick).  The girls watched Roman Holiday, with and without commentary - and the boys just stayed and watched both times.  Not really a normal 4&6 year old boy thing to be doing.  They really were so sick.  The kids have been finishing up books as well.
Lanaya being sick has probably been the hardest to watch because she seems to be in so much pain, but can't tell us where or how.  She's been so sad, but it seems like she's interested in eating and drinking milk again.  So here's hoping.
The only good part, as all mother's know, to all this, it the snuggles!  It's been so sweet to see the kids snuggling, and to get a great deal of snuggles by myself!

So glad this week is wrapping up and we can get back to things as usual around here, but I'm also going to enjoy the memories of the snuggling... and I'm sure the kids will never forget their Star Wars marathon.

I also got to go to the temple in the middle of the week while Jarett held down the fort.  Slower weeks make life simpler - and easier to get back to priorities.

A look back on Today

These reminders on Facebook came today:

6 years ago today, I got a note from a friend, Robyn Woodruff, in Edmonton (we had left a couple weeks before)

"Hey Ashley, hope things are well in Calgary. Thomas is finally going to school willingly again. I couldn't figure out what was wrong until he broke down last week and said that he didn't like school without Kaia there to play with. How romantic..."

5 years ago today (Jaymeson would have been 18 months-ish)

"I find it really funny that Jaymeson closes EVERYTHING from cupboards to doors. I guess he DOES have some Mullen genes in him..."

Saryn's Perspective (Facebook flashback)

May 10, 2011

Saryn's quote of the day: Mom, old people don't wear flip flops...

I was telling her about canes.  "They're what old people use to help them walk."  Then she jumped in with: Oh, and old people don't wear flip flops.  I'm still trying to figure out where that came from.  I like it though!  That way I'll ALWAYS be young!

Dinner

I have dinner all ready to go and it's just after 2:30. It feels so good to have it done early. Why, oh why can I never remember this? It is so much easier this way! And it looks so good too!

Who knew?

Who knew that something so sweet

Could find so much pleasure playing on something - well, not so sweet.

At least she's having fun with her cousin Bruce in the meantime...

Musings of Ashley

On Monday, we went to the wave pool with the kids for family home evening. Jarett came over to the kids pool a few times to offer to take Lanaya so that I could go play, but I was enjoying her so much that I let him keep playing with the older kids. In some ways, I might've missed out, but in other ways, I was just soaking it all in!

From where I was, I could watch all of the older kids. I could see them play with each other, go down slides, and have a blast! It was so much fun to just watch them.  I had Benson and Lanaya by my side, and we had so much fun just splashing and enjoying the 'little guy' pool. I don't have much more time with a baby in my arms. This makes me so sad in some ways. I just thoroughly enjoyed sitting down and enjoying having a baby. I will just ache for that in a few years I am sure!

It was a wake up call for me. I only have about five years until Kaia leaves for university or a mission. I so badly want to buckle down and do all the things I imagined doing with my kids when I grew up. The clock is ticking!!  These are precious years. I am going to make the most of them!

Posts of Facebook Past

There is a new app on Facebook that shows you what you were doing on this day, however many years ago.

Apparently, today is a Jaymeson day. These two quotes came up as my memories for today.

One year ago:

"Jaymeson:  Mom, we just had fast Sunday, right?  So is this one going to be slow Sunday?

Me:  Yes

Jaymeson:  Okay, so, when is it going to be an ice cream sundae?"

I think the answer should be "every Sunday!"

Five years ago:

"I'm kinda laughing that Jaymeson just got stuck between the chair and the footrest.  I had to literally SQUEEZE him through to lift him back out.  How the heck did he get there?"

That's my boy!!

What happens

What happens when you leave Saryn in charge of taking care of the boys while you finish up the basement?

You find your upstairs transformed into a whole new building!

Each room has been transformed for a new purpose as well!

(Aka the girls room)

(Aka the boys room)

(Aka the kids bathroom)

(Aka the Master bedroom)

You will also be given a ticket to enjoy wrestling match. It will be hand delivered and everything!

I love it when Saryn plays with them like this. She has such an amazing imagination and really opens up an entire new world of play for them. She plays "the map" from Dora with them all the time. She also takes time to really make it a fun activity for them. She is a pretty special kid!