Bishop's Ball

We had SO much fun on Friday night!  My Mom was put in charge of decorating and my sister, Kim, was in charge on putting on a 15 minute floor show.  We were easy recruits and were signed up for the Swing and Disco numbers.  I was a little apprehensive at first, but it was so much fun!

We really bonded with the other couples, got some good exercise at rehearsals and really had a blast performing!  We enjoyed each others company so much we even went and took a group shot at the photo booth!!

My sisters and I had a blast trying on all the dresses at my moms house and getting ready for the ball!  It was such a fun night!

 Jarett was asked to sing "The Way you Look Tonight" with the Big Band and he sounded amazing!  It's a song I've wanted him to sing since we were dating.  He even dedicated it to me and I got to stand in front of the stage and stare at him with a cheesy smile. 

 
Karen Baker came up to me during the number and said, "I just told Don that if he dies before me, I'm holding auditions for the new husband.  He's going to have to dance and sing."  Apparently Jarett is making the cut.  ;)  Lucky for me, he's all mine!

Of course, those of Mullen & Co. who were present had to get a shot.  What a fun place to work...

My ever supportive Gran and Aunty Beryl came up to help and see all the decorations, the dancing and hear the music.  We love having them around SO much!

One of the highlights of the night actually happened after the ball.  We came home to this note taped to our closet.  "Mom and Dad,  I cleaned up the main floor a bit so that this Saturday can be fun.  We can spend the morning cleaning our rooms, practicing and such, then we can have fun.  -Kaia"

Sometimes I just am overwhelmed by how thoughtful our kids can be.  I came home to a perfectly clean main floor.  The kitchen sparkled, the dishes were done, the toys put away and it was wonderful!  It was the perfect end to the perfect evening!

Gross

With even more traces in the baby's hands and mouth, methinks it's time to baby proof the house!

Blonde Moment vs Senior Moment

I started cooking eggs the other day and threw some toast in the oven.  Kaia and Kienna were downstairs cleaning their room and suddenly came upstairs.  When they said it was because their room was clean, I couldn't believe my ears.... there wasn't even any fighting.

I ran downstairs to double check and it was almost completely done.  It was so close in fact, that I asked Kienna to grab the vacuum so that I could just finish it off for them.

I finished vacuuming and started to vacuum the stairs when I smelled burnt toast.  Oh no!!

I ran upstairs, saved the eggs.... not so much on the toast.  "Dang it.  What a stupid blonde moment!"

Kaia pipes up, "What do you mean by a blonde moment?"

"Well, it's just a stereotype of blondes being ditsy.  I guess it's kind of ironic that I'm mocking blondes when I am one."

"Oh mom, you're not a blonde any more... you're just grey."

Thanks smarty pants... you know how to make your mom's day.  Guess it was just a seniors moment.  Ugh.

Ironman to get Iron Man

Tonight, it was time for bed and Benson "went missing".  I decided to ignore him this time around and just focus on the baby and Jaymeson for a few minutes.  When I turned around, however, he was holding Jarett's "Iron Man" costume and was trying to put it on. 

"Benson, you need to get your Jammies on, not the costume."
"But I want to wear it"
"Not tonight buddy. Sorry."
"But it was so hard to get!"
"Sorry bud, but I don't want you to wear it... that's why I put it up high up in my closet."
"But I had to climb up your dresser to get it."
"BUDDY!  Don't climb up my dresser!!  That's dangerous!"
"But if I don't climb your dresser, how can I get the costume?"
"I don't want you to get the costume, that's why I put it up high."
"But I want to wear it, Mom."
"Okay dude, go get ready for bed and then you can wear it in the morning."

Why is it that I feel like I ran a full Iron Man after trying to reason with this boy??  And why does he try to do a full Iron Man just to get a superhero costume?  This kid just kills me - he's so funny!

A few changes

Saryn got a new duvet cover,

 I made a new Christmas decoration (only took me 3 months to finish – it is a vinyl rub-on after all… it can take a while) 

and Kienna got a new smile (well, she will by the end of it all anyway).

Kienna, very resentfully, allowed me to take these pictures.  She is not a fan of the fact that she is facing 3 years of orthodontic treatment.  6-18 months with a Herbst appliance and at least 2 years of braces.  She became a much bigger fan of the idea, however, when she found out what surgery would be involved if we didn’t go through with it.

The orthodontist commented to me that she must have a really high pain tolerance because she was so tough when they were putting the appliance in.  Her 12 year molars are about to pop through and, therefore, her gums are super swollen.  In order to put the appliance in, they had to push the gums back and wiggle the brackets into the back of her mouth around them.  He said that a lot of kids in that boat freak out and won’t let him do it.  She didn’t even flinch.  That’s my girl!!  Here’s to a very expensive 3 years (that hopefully will be worth every penny!)

Little Laya

Well, Lanaya has been shortened to Laya - like Leia.  Suits her well, as she is the little Princess of the house. 

Laya is now 8 months, has two teeth (second one popped out in California) and, as of two days ago, has started to scoot (do the worm) around the house.  She is getting places quickly!!

This little girl has such a fun, bold little personality.  I just can't wait to see how much fun she'll be as she grows.  Scratch that.... I can wait.  I want my baby to be a baby for a while still.  Slow down little Laya!

 Oh, she also had her first smoothie the other day - as you can clearly see, it was a big hit!!

... Oh, and speaking of mileage - check out what our Sequoia did the other day.  It was super fun to see it.  Had to pull over and take a quick picture. 

Valentine's Breakfast

Jarett and I had a fabulous dinner our friends, the Felix', house on Valentine's day, so we decided that we'd make a fun brunch with the kids to celebrate as a family.  We just have the best kids!  They can be so helpful, so much fun and just way too awesome!!  So glad I get to be their mom.

Snuggles

I love snuggling.  Jarett loves snuggling.  Somehow, all of our kids love snuggling too.  Shocking, really.

It came as no surprise when our kids would ask for snuggles every night.  We always had mixed feelings, because, as so many parents know, you love to have those tender moments with your child, BUT you have SO much to do once they go to bed that it still needs to be done
.

SOOO.... we came up with a plan.  When it was going to be a busy night, we would always snuggle when asked, but simply say, okay, how long should I snuggle you?  The kids would frequently answer with 5 seconds or 10 seconds.  They would then proceed to count and then almost push us away when they were done.  This way, they felt loved, we were able to snuggle and we didn't take too much time away from preparations for tomorrow.  Perfect plan.  It has worked for YEARS.

Benson, however, has taken snuggling to a new level.  He comes in a 3 in the morning, 4 in the morning or 6 in the morning and wants Mommy snuggles.  At every night time, he wants snuggles.  He comes to our room every morning as we wake up and wants more snuggles  It's getting to the point where we have to limit the snuggles or we wouldn't get anything done during the day.  He takes out blankets to snuggle with, stuffies to snuggle with and still doesn't fill his quota.

On Valentine's morning "snuggling" on the stairs with the blanket I got at a Valentine's White Elephant Exchange

There have even been a few nights when I've given him a few minutes of snuggles at 6 in the morning, where afterwards, he sneaks out of bed and goes to the older girls room (two flights of stairs away) to get more snuggles.

He has crawled into Lanaya's car seat multiple times and put the cover on to get all "snuggly".  Sometimes to the point where he fall asleep - such as this time

The other day, I asked Benson, "Okay, how long do you want to snuggle."  "Oh, forever."  I simply answered, "Me too!!"  Fortunately, the kids didn't have school today, so we did get to snuggle a long time.

That night, I tried a different approach.  "Benson, what number do you want to count to while we snuggle?"  "Um, the one at the very end."

I love my snuggly boy.  Oh, how I'll miss all these amazing, tight, tender snuggles when he grows up.

Random

I cut Benson's hair on Saturday.  Randomly, he says to me, "Mom, Sunday is for handsome."  "Well, yes, we try to look our best for church, but church is to make us happy..."  "Yeah, because we laugh at people's funny haircuts."

His hair cut, however, was a hit.  He keeps on saying that he looks just like Daddy.

Speaking of hair, I had a blonde moment the other day.  When I told Kaia that, I said, "I suppose it's kind of ironic for a blonde to have a blonde moment".  Her response was, "don't worry mom, you're not blonde anymore, you're just grey."  Unfortunately, that's very true.

California Trip - thus far (first 4 days)

Love this picture - you can see the pent up energy, but we finally got to California!

We started at 5am (after a lot of long packing and unpacking) and headed down south in the 15 passenger van.  We had almost reached High River (25 minutes into the trip) and we hear a little voice pipe up, "Mom and Dad.... it's taking a long time to drive to California..."  Jarett and I laughed out loud.  25 minutes down out of 25 hours.

The trip, however, went very smoothly.  The kids were amazing!!  Lanaya took to traveling extremely well and the other kids set the perfect example for her.  Two days straight in traveling is hard on anyone... but the kids handled it like champs!  Slight problem at the end of the trip... a person started yelling at us that something was going on, so we pulled over.  We couldn't find anything wrong, so we kept going, but when we got to the resort, we saw a red/brown liquid coming from the van.  According to the mechanic, the next morning, our transmission housing and a seal need to be replaced.

We spent all day Monday getting the mechanic/car rental/condo all set up.  We got it all figured out and were all ready to go for Tuesday at DISNEYLAND!

Highlights of the day in Disneyland:

1. Jaymeson was selected to do Jedi Training.  He now has a certificate that makes him an official Padawan.  He fought Darth Vader, followed the instruction and listened intently without cracking a smile.  This is very serious business... After, I asked, "Jay, did you fight Darth Vader?!?"  With complete sincerity he answered, "Yes, and I almost killed him!"  If only he had more time...

2. Benson loved the Peter Pan ride and seeing Goofy, Mickey and Frozen characters in the parade (Saryn loved the Frozen parade as well).  For Pirates and Haunted Mansion, he had his hands over his ears the entire time (his scared position).  He said he loved them afterwards, but had no interest in going again.  "They was just a little too scary, Mom".  He also was too nervous with Mr Toad's Wild Ride and enjoyed moving the Dumbo ride up and down.His favorite ride (he was pushing me back to it to do it again and again) was Buzz Lightyear.

One ride that he really did not love, however, was Space Mountain.  He clenched my hand through the whole thing and had all his strength going into it.  Afterwards, he was almost in tears and told me he liked it, but it was just a little too scary.  This was almost the exact same reaction that Kaia had 6 years ago.  Jaymeson, however, LOVED it.  It would be the one ride that he'd go on again if he could.

3. Fantasmic was definitely one of the most favorite things by everyone (unfortunately, Benson fell asleep just before it started and slept through the fireworks, music and everything).

4. The kids have enjoyed seeing the pictures after the rides.  Saryn is making it a resolution to do an Egyptian dance or something next time through.

5. The Indiana Jones ride was a huge hit - Jaymeson held my hand to make sure that I didn't get too scared all 3 times that we went.  He would reassure me that it wasn't real - it was just pretend, each time.  Kienna loved trying it from different seats and seeing what things became more or less scary with where you were seated.  (She may have been thinking too much about that when she left her hat on the ride... luckily they have an awesome Lost and Found).

6. Jarett put "Skipper Dan" by Weird Al on his iPhone while we were in line for the Jungle Cruise ride.  This was right after there was announcement for a missing person, "She is approx. 5'7", has dark hair, enjoys basketball, snuggling and the occasional romantic stroll down the beach.  If anyone has seen her, please bring her right to me as I have been looking for her my entire life."

Benson - scared on the Jungle Cruise.  This was his position for almost every ride.

7. Kaia loved Thunder Mountain, and Indiana Jones the best.  Space Mountain definitely went up in her books from last time, but isn't a FAVORITE favorite.  She loved pirates and is disappointed (as we all are) that Splash Mountain is closed.  They also have the castle closed which has been super sad.


8.While Jay was doing his Jedi training, Darth Mal came and kept scaring Benson.  Benson would just look down and ignore him no matter what happened.  Darth Mal kicked his shoes and did everything he could to get Benson to look up, but to no avail.  Kaia, on the other hand totally missed Darth Mal standing right behind her until people were laughing and she turned to see what they were laughing at.  She was NOT expecting that!

Our list of activities/rides went along these lines.
Magic Morning - Peter Pan, Mr Toad, Dumbo,Teacups, Storybook Land (we decided we should have skipped this one as the line was too long - but we did get a chance to snack while in it, so that worked out okay).  We then headed over to Tomorrowland and saw a little bit of Jedi Training.  We left so we could get to Autopia.  We then breaked for lunch and while we did, noticed that they were starting Jedi Training again.  We decided to do it if they picked one of the boys.  They picked Jay (Benson bowed out).  Then we took pictures with some stormtroopers, his Buzz Lightyear, got a couple fastpasses and headed over to do Indiana Jones.  Once we finished that, the parade was starting, so we booked it back.  Mom had reserved us some seats and it was super fun.  After the parade, we did Star Tours, and Space Mountain - twice (along with a mini-dinner).  We then headed over to Indiana Jones, Pirates and the Haunted Mansion.  My mom then saved us seats for Fantasmic while we hit Indiana Jones one more time and Thunder Mountain.  We got back just in time for Fantasmic to start and then the park closed.  We just stopped in at a Glass Blowers/Crystal Shop on Main Street.  My mom remembered seeing the Glass Blowers working when she was a little girl.  They no longer do that, but she asked a worker at the shop if she remembered correctly.  He responded, "Yes, they were across the street and my father was one of the blowers".  After we walked to the tram, my mom walked to the car and we headed home.  By the time we got home - all 6 kids had fallen asleep.  What a day!!

 

Snippets

Tonight, at family home evening, Benson gave each of his sisters a note. They all said "I love playing games with you, doing silly shows and when you acted like a baby and cried!"

Today, I had lunch with a friend. As I was walking towards the door Benson had to hug me at least five times before I could leave. He got really teary-eyed and made me promise that I would come back for him.

A couple days ago, we found Benson had climbed in Lanaya's car seat, put on the winter cover, and fallen asleep. He is such a little monkey!

On another note, Lanaya got her very first tooth today! We are very excited, it was quite an uneventful teething process!!  

Today at cello, however, she was talking, squawking, rolling, and laughing the entire time. I have never heard her make so much noise. It was quite funny (even though it was quite distracting)!

20 Questions

I did this years ago with Kaia and Kienna.  I just published a blog book for my girls for Christmas and they loved reading this so much that I decided that I'd do it again with my boys.  Wish I had done it earlier with Saryn.  She is probably too old for this.  Oh well, live and learn.

1. What is something that Mommy always says to you?
Saryn - Hi
Jay - I love you
Benson - I love you

2. What makes Mommy happy?
Saryn - When we clean the house
Jay - Doing things that she doesn't tell us to do - like cleaning the basement and stuff like that.
Benson - Getting a silly show - it's so hilarious!

3. What makes Mommy sad?
Saryn - When something bad happens to us.
Jay - Breaking something that's really important to her
Benson - Doing no silly shows.

4. How does Mommy make you laugh?
Saryn - Tickling us
Jay - By singing the Bumblebee song.  It's just really funny because it makes Lanaya laugh and it makes us laugh.
Benson - Doing a silly show

5. What was Mommy like as a child?
Saryn - I have no idea.  Fun?
Jay - Like she is now except for way smaller and younger and stuff - and without the wedding things.
Benson - Cleaning up

6. How old is Mommy?
Saryn - 32
Benson - Um, I can't figure that one out.
Jay - 32.  I know that's actually right because she was 31 - and she told me, but now she had a birthday, so she's 32.

7. How tall is Mommy?
Saryn - 5'6"?
Jay - About 50 foot.  Or 5.8
Benson - *laying on the floor, he raises hand up high

8. What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?
Saryn - Spend time with family
Jay - Love us!
Benson - Nothing... I don't know.  She likes eating dinner.

9. What does Mommy do when you're not around?
Saryn - Clean the house
Jay - Work.  She does work - cleaning and stuff.
Benson - She can't find you.

10. If Mommy becomes famous, what would it be for?
Saryn - Being super fun
Jay - Buying things she needs to buy that are really expensive
Benson - Turkey

11. What is Mommy really good at?
Saryn - Tickling?  No.  Being a mom
Jay - Loving us
Benson - Kissing and snuggling

12. What is Mommy not really good at?
Saryn - Dancing
Jay - Saying yes
Benson - Getting the ball through the basketball hoop

13. What does Mommy do for her job?
Saryn - Be a Mom
Jay - Take care of us
Benson - Cleaning up for her brothers and sisters

14. What's Mommy's favorite food?
Saryn - Banana
Benson - We don't know that.  Maybe strawberries?
 Jay - Guac.  Guacamole.

15. What makes you proud of Mommy?
Saryn - Being a mom
Jay - How much she did for us.
Benson - Cleaning up the basement

16. If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Saryn - Snow White because she's nice and kind.
Jay - Belle, because she has light hair and you have light hair.
Benson - A Police Officer because you gave out a ticket.

17. What do you and Mommy do together?
Saryn - Go to dinner
Jay - Play games
Benson - Have dinner, and breakfast

18. How are you and Mommy the same?
Saryn - We both like to colour
Jay - We both love eachother!
Benson - We both eat.  We have green eyes.  We make Lanaya happy!

19. How are you and Mommy different?
Saryn - I like to sing and dance on stage and she doesn't
Jay - Mommy has green eyes and I have blue eyes.
Benson - We have good stuff.

20. How do you know that Mommy loves you?
Saryn - Because she does nice things to us and she's not mean.
Jay - Because everyone says that you do.  And Heavenly Father says that you love me because you gave birth to me and so you gave birth to me because you love me, so you gave birth to me.
Benson - Mommy makes me happy when I feel sad.

Moments to Remember

This morning I was doing my "insanity" workout.  Benson wanted to join in.  He kept on saying, "Mom, look, I'm so good at this!"  and "Way to go Mommy!" and kept rooting us on.  It was so sweet!  Such a sincere face and encouragement.  Made me so happy!

I drove Kaia to violin, gone a total of 10 minutes, and left Kienna and Saryn in charge.  I asked Kienna to make sure that Benson finished his dinner.  Within 5 minutes, I had two phone calls from home.  They went straight to voicemail where I heard:

Saryn:  "Mom, Benson isn't eating his dinner - and Kienna's being super bossy."

Then the next message:

Kienna:  "Mom, What Saryn said about Benson is true, but if anyone is being bossy, it's her."

People say that I'll miss and forget these moments.  It made me laugh so hard, so I thought I'd jot it down.  These little conflicts make them what they are later, right?

Yesterday, Jaymeson and Benson had a race upstairs and Jaymeson, being 2 years older, won.  Benson broke into tears.  His heart was completely broken.  After talking about practicing more and getting bigger and better as you grow, he calmed down... just in time for Jaymeson to remind him that he didn't win... but maybe next time.  The tears started again instantly.

Over Christmas holidays, we had a few adventures.  They all seemed to start New Year's Eve.

My Nana and Grandpa Dan were here for Christmas.  Gran and Aunty Beryl came up  Boxing Day.  On the 30th, Nana had a cough and started to feel under the weather and didn't even end up coming upstairs on New Year's Eve at all.  It spread fast.  Gran was sick the next day, as was Grandpa Dan.  The flu also started to spread.  Almost everyone in the house caught this nasty cold/cough or the flu.  All three of my Grandparents that were here developed Pneumonia.  My kids had boughts of the flu and coughing/colds (Lanaya was probably the worse), but they all got over it faster than Gran, Nana and Grandpa Dan (who are still dealing with it). 

Of course, we aren't usually staying at my parents anymore, as we live about 5 minutes away, but we were here for all of this as the Elder's, who are in our basement, brought Bedbugs into the house.  We found this out on New Year's Eve as well.  No big deal as far as health is concerned as it had just stayed in the Elder's apartment, but if they fumigate, they have to do the whole house - which means we had to prep for that.  It was an enormous undertaking.  We were there for DAYS washing, drying and bagging every piece of fabric in the house.  We had to throw away pillows and cushions and any stuffed animals as they could have eggs in them and we couldn't wash them thoroughly enough.  You don't realize how many linens, clothing, kitchen cloths, curtains etc. that you have until you have to wash all of them.  What a nightmare!!  We also had to empty out every closet, every dresser drawer and under every bed.  All furniture has to be a couple feet out from the wall and we had to sort through all of this and put it in the garage...  Then we had to shower, change into uncontaminated clothes and not touch anything as we came to my parents house to stay over night. 

We have a friend who is an exterminator, and he came and fumigated once, then has to wait to weeks for any eggs to hatch and then fumigate again.  Currently, we are still at my parents house, anxiously awaiting the chance to get back in and unpack.  What a headache!