Did I do enough?

The day has finally come.  My little Benson started school.  Last week, he and I attended his kindergarten evaluation together.  We were both a little nervous.  He was scheduled to meet with Mrs. Bryson.  I had somehow convinced myself that whoever evaluated him would somehow convince the other teachers that she had to him in his class.  :)

We filled out a volunteer questionnaire form, where I basically volunteered to live in his classroom.    Then Mrs. B began to ask him questions.  He did great and knew his letters and sounds.  He even wrote down some words when she asked him.  He wrote his name and did math problems for what seemed like forever.  He honestly knew more math than I thought, haha.  At one point she asked, "I bet you can count to 100 huh?"  As to which he replied, "Yeah, duh."  Awesome.  A few other funny parts include:

Mrs. B: If you have three cookies and I give you three more, how many do you have?
Benson: six
Mrs. B: If you have 16 cookies and I give you one more, how many do you have?
Benson: 17!  But if you give me that many cookies, I will probably have to call my mom because I will have a tummy ache!
Mrs. B: Laughs!  I have never had a child say that before.  May I keep you?


Mrs B:  There sure are a lot of cars in the parking lot.
Benson:  I bet it is all the teachers, I saw a bunch in their classrooms setting up.
Mrs B:  A lot of teachers actually live close enough that they can walk to school.
Benson:  Well, that sure is nice.
Mrs B:  I am not one of those teachers.
Benson:  Ah man, that's a shame.
Mrs. B:  If I am ever having a bad day, I think I will come and find you to cheer me up.


Mrs B:  Spell the word "the."
Benson:  Oh that's easy (writes the letter D as in duh).
Mrs B. and mom:  Laugh uncontrollably.

We then spent the week in Boise celebrating my brother's return from his mission.  I found out while we were there, that he was indeed in Mrs. Bryson's class.  I think it is going to be a good year.  After our trip, we returned and tried our best to prepare for the big day.  We had a special Family Home Evening and talked to Benson about school.  I was being rather brave until Keith began to cry as he told Benson how special he was and how ready he was to go out into the world alone because he knows right from wrong.  Keith and I were both pretty much basket cases at that point.  We were not crying out of sadness (well, maybe a little), but are so proud of our little Benson and what he has become.  We know how much he can bless other people's lives.  We know how much he will love learning and how much school will enrich his life.  We know he will learn from making mistakes on his own.  We also know that we will never be our little stay at home family again.

And I can't help but wonder if I have done enough?  Had I taught him enough?  Had I prepared him for every situation he would face?  I am not perfect, but I certainly tried.  And thank goodness I can pray and feel reassured that God is watching over him.  Earlier in the day, I spoke to a random woman who had had a child in Mrs. B's class and she talked to highly of her.  Keith said exactly to Benson, "your mom has done enough to teach you right from wrong."  And the next morning, I woke up happy and ready to send my boy to school.  He was so excited, and so were we.  Keith stayed home and we went as a family to watch for the bus.  Then we followed it to school.  Keith also came home in the afternoon and we watched him walk out of school and get on the bus and then we followed it home.  The first words out of his mouth were "recess was so awesome."  He is such a boy.

And he already seems to be learning and growing so much.  He carries around a pen that he got at school all day and draws and writes things down.  And we find that three hours isn't so bad.  And taking two kids (not for much longer) to the store and the dentist office is actually quite a bit easier.  And it is pretty fun to have Griffin rule the house for a while.

Maybe we can handle school after all.  I am already grateful for a stricter schedule.  Plus a little blonde boy in a backpack and polo shirt is about the cutest thing ever.

The day before school.

Enjoying their last day together.  

Classic

It was very important to him to have a BYU backpack.

Waiting for the bus.  I'm so glad Keith stayed.

Me and all those cute boys.

Getting ready to line up.

Walking into school for the first time.

My new favorite picture.  They all keep saying how much they miss each other.

Sleeping with his brother and linking arms that night.  They sure missed each other.

8 Years!!!

Keith and I celebrated 8 years of awesomeness in marriage on August 13.  To celebrate-we got Keith a new wedding ring and we took family pictures.  We also took the kiddos to Wingers for dinner.  It was a great day.  I love Keith and I love being married to him.  I honestly have no idea how I ever survived without him.  The weekend before our anniversary, Keith was playing the piano and singing (quite a common occurrence over here).  He began to play the song he played for me when he purposed.  I sat by him and bawled.  Soon I looked at him and tears were streaming down his face.   We feel oh so lucky to have each other and three (soon to be four) sweet boys.  I love nothing more than to be with Keith and our children.  I am so glad Keith was brave enough to ask me to marry him and even happier that he continues to love and serve me each day.  I know that he works hard to take good care of our family and strives to serve God.  He is a valiant man and I am proud to call him mine.

Sorry to make anyone barf....now let's move on to our really cute family pictures that Keith's brother Adam took.  They turned out pretty cute, even if it is completely impossible to get us to all look at the camera at once.

Benson is a stud.  

I am giddy about adding another boy to this picture.  

One of the only family pictures we got when we are looking at the camera.  I love Leo's smile in this picture.

Griffin is the worst at taking pictures.  He hates it!  Adam said it was hard to get a picture of him where you could see his eyes because his eyelashes are so dang long.  I think this may be the cutest picture I have ever seen though.

Me and my hubby of 8 years.

I love this guy.

That is one beautiful baby.

Me and all four boys.  That is a big belly.  I am 26 weeks prego here.

I don't camp or hike...

It is no secret that I am not a big hiker or camper.  Perhaps this is the reason that I keep having boys because I need to learn to enjoy camping.  I actually quite enjoy a good hike.  I would probably like them even more if I wasn't always pregnant.  Haha.  This summer, we went on a couple wonderful hiking trips.  We hiked in Logan over the 4th, and then on our way to Vegas, we stopped at Zions and went on a quick hike with the boys (sans Leo).  And in August, we went on a "cheater camping trip" (aka we stayed in condos) to Jackson and hiked some of the Tetons with some of Keith's family.  I must say, I am hooked.  I hope to take the boys on lots more hiking trips.  The boys were total troopers the whole time and even I only complained a little.  Maybe I will even attempt camping one day.

This is all of us (except for Keith's dad taking the picture) after hiking up to the Intermittent Spring in Afton.  Keith's mom grew up there and I have only been there one other time...when I was pregnant with Benson over six years ago.  It was quite a steep hike at the end and I am proud of my little men (and my fat pregnant butt) for making it.

I love going on vacations with Keith.  He is the man.  It always makes me laugh to have other people experience just how crazy and superman-like he really is.  Keith did this straight up a mountain for a while.  

Lunch break.  Too cute for words.  When Griffin eats an apple, he eats clear down to the seeds.  The apple is generally the size of a quarter when he gets done.

These pictures uploaded out of order.  This is us in Zions.  It was about a million degrees.  Benson and Griffin loved it. What boy wouldn't love climbing all over huge rocks?

Benson with his hero at the end of our Zion's hike.

Leo makes a super cute "cheese" face these days.  He also choked on this apple and dropped it at least 40 times.

Nephew Isaac, me and Keith.  I love Isaac.  He was a good hiking buddy and kept me entertained-especially when he took a 5 hour energy.  

Proof that I actually hiked.  And carried a baby while doing it.

At Inspiration Point in the Tetons.  This hike was awesome.  And the view was amazing.

Leo fell asleep on most hikes.  His little head would bop around like crazy and he looked very uncomfortable.  

Me and my retainers checking out the moose on the side of the road.  Awesome!

Me and Boy4 at Zions.  Oh yeah, and my retainers.

Yay for hiking!  Can't wait to do more!

Benson Keith, you are 6!

Dear Benson,

How has it been six years since you were born?  I have loved every day.  You make my life so wonderful.  I am so glad you made me a mother.  Thank you for loving me when I act like the wicked witch.  Thank you for talking my ear off in the car.  Thank you for asking a million questions and wanting to know every little thing.  Thank you for your sweet tears when Heavenly Father answers your prayers or you get a special blessing from Dad.  I wish I could keep you home forever but I know you will love school.  And I know school will love you.  And I have every faith that you will grow up to be a very good man.  I love you buddy.

Love, Mom


We had a little surprise party for Benson, Isaac and Libby in Logan before we went on our camping trip with the Johnson clan.  I brought the world's largest pinata for the occasion.

Griffin giving it a whack.

Benson getting blindfolded.

The crew.

That pinata must have weighed 30 lbs.  And it had good stuff in it.

Isaac giving Aunt Mary a good laugh.

Leo loved it!

And we all enjoyed the candy on our trip to the Tetons.

Because we had a party with his cousins, we just spent his special day together as a family.  

And I spent most of the day wondering how on earth my baby was six.

Benson and Griffin decorated the cake themselves and had fun blowing out their candles.  Benson let Griffin blow out six on one side and he blew out six on the other.

We went to Brick Oven for dinner and Benson scarfed down one of his favorite foods, cheese pizza.

I told Benson he could stay awake as long as he wanted.  He was asleep before we got home.

A few things about my little six-year-old boy:

1.  He loves his iPod.
2.  He worships his father.
3.  He wears a hat almost every day and wears them to bed sometimes too.
4.  He prefers his nike shoes and socks to sandals or flip flops.
5.  He requested a BYU backpack for school.
6.  He knows all of his letters and sounds.
7.  He loves to do math and count.
8.  He is a very good big brother and takes good care of Griffin and Leo.
9.  He has a funny sense of humor and loves to tell jokes.
10.  He loves to learn new things.
11.  He is very obedient and does things the first time he is asked.
12.  He just barely hit the 40 lb mark and was very excited to take the back off of his booster.
13.  He can pour himself a glass of milk.
14.  He loves to play soccer and dribble a basketball
15.  He can swim to the bottom of the pool (10 feet) and swims completely independently in the pool.  He is a little fish.
16.  He is a picky eater but will try most things if you ask.  He just tells you how gross they are afterwards.
17.  He is very photogenic and looks good in most pictures.
18.  He loves to talk.
19.  He is kind.
20.  We think he is an old man.

Off to kindergarten in just 11 short days.

A little about this pregnancy of mine . . .

I am getting pretty excited about having another boy.  I love boys.  Today I watched my boys throw rocks in the stream and play with hot wheels and I fell in love with boys even more.  The boys all hug and kiss my belly at night and Griffin rests and lays on my belly several times a day.  Leo likes to fall asleep resting against my belly.  I think he thinks I have a ball under my shirt, that kid loves balls.  Haha.  Benson and Griffin like to discuss baby names.  They like the name "Perry" as in Perry the Platypus from Phineas and Ferb (perhaps a sign we watch too much netflix).

I love how people say "awwww"  like they are disappointed that baby 4 is a boy.  Actually, I don't love it, but it does make me giggle a little.  Or they tell me countless examples of people they know that had a gazillion boys and then finally got their girl.   Let's just say, I hope boy 4 is our last child.  Who knows if that is true or not, but a girl can hope right?

While in Jackson last week, I had a 70 year old man tell me he was certain that I was having a boy because I am all belly.  He told me I was pregnant in my belly and not my bum, so he knew it was a boy.  Funny?  Yes.  Creepy?  Also yes.  My belly is quite big and I am measuring three weeks ahead of schedule.  This is nothing new or unusual to me, but I am hoping it means a healthy hefty boy is in store (maybe even early like his brothers?). :)

I was sicker at the beginning of this pregnancy than ever before, but still not really "sick."  Nothing tasted good and from 4 until bedtime (and all night too) I didn't feel too good.  Now in the second trimester, everything tastes fantastic!  I seriously want to eat everything (and I pretty much do).  I am grateful for my retainers (actually I hate them), but at least they keep me from eating too much.  I feel good and pregnant and happy.  I know that will end soon, but I am trying to enjoy it now.  The thing I hate most?  Dirty face!  I get terrible melasma with each pregnancy and it seems to get worse with each boy.  Basically, I look like a raccoon.  I don't love being a fatty either.  Keith loves me pregnant and just assumes I am permanently that way.  That guy is crazy.

ME and boy 4 hiking in the Tetons.

I can already tell how tender-hearted and sweet this little boy will be.  Can't wait for him to join the team!