Little Boys

Since we have moved to Michigan, our whole family has made a friends with another family, The Johnsons. Our kids love getting together with the Johnsons and have asked since the second week we moved here when the next time will be that we see them (we see them at least once a week). Being so far away from aunts and uncles and cousins, the Johnsons have helped us fill that void, and they literally feel like family to us. We really love them!

Perhaps the most interesting friendship that has developed

is that friendship between Jacob and Griffin (or Fiffen as Jacob used to call him). Those two have always had such a fun time together. By themselves, they are two normal boys, but when they get together, there can be some significant trouble. For example, when they were really about 2, we would have to listen very carefully when they went upstairs. They loved to fill up my tub with water, put their hand in front of the spigot so water would spray all over the bathroom, and then climb in, shoes, clothes and all. This, fortunately, was good clean fun. We had a lot of dirty fun too.

For example, one time, Griffin and Jacob took a permanent magic marker to my bathroom, and they inevitably would make a mess with toys (this I can't blame entirely on them, their older siblings played and still play a very large part in these messes). Perhaps the most memorable mess was on Alden's birthday last year when they took three full bottles of maple syrup and squirted them all over my kitchen. This momma was not a happy camper. I called Michael in hysterics. He came home and didn't know if he should comfort me or Griffin, both of us were still crying from the incident (Griffin was crying because I was screaming so loudly, and I was crying because it took me three times of scrubbing the floor on my hands and knees to get rid of the stick). Alisha and I hoped that the boys were approaching maturity from these messes, but as a Valentine's Day treat for the Johnson family, Jacob and Griffin drew all over nearly every level of their house. Interestingly, the basement was a map complete with hieroglyphics and arrows showing one where to go. Griffin's drawings were certainly more complex than Jacob's, but both made quite a mess on their walls. Alisha and I scrubbed for quite sometime, and in the end, she and Ryan painted their basement (I felt really bad about that).

Nonetheless, I thought all of this was bad. I thought

Jacob might be my toughest boy. After all, for my 38th birthday, Jacob ran into the wall and cut his head open so badly that he had to have stitches, and literally, 31 days later, he ran into our couch and should have probably had another set of stitches above his eyebrow (they glued it instead). Together with Griffin, I thought no little boy could be more crazy. However, after reading previous posts of when Hyrum was little, I remembered that little

Jacob, even coupled with Griffin, is no match for our little Hyrum. Although Hyrum can still be a handful at times, he is nothing like he used to be. I laughed and laughed as I read about him hauling buckets of water out of the tub to ruin our kitchen ceiling (now it's funny), I chuckled when he made a "storm" in the basement from cooking something way too long in the microwave downstairs, and I couldn't imagine how we paid for all the cereal he dumped in various parts of the house when he was little. I remembered how every day, Hyrum made extreme messes and taught me the importance of responding to his requests immediately!

Today I was reminded of all that when he was making himself a quesadia. He wanted to make it himself, so with a big porcelain plate, he carefully climbed upon to the kitchen

counter top, went from a crouching position to a standing one, balanced carefully over the microwave, and then put his plate in.  When it was finished, he took his hot plate out and was about to complete the whole process in reverse. To save him from death, I took the plate from him so that he could jump down, and I then cut up his dinner. He asked if I would cook him a piece of toast, which I did. About three minutes later, he said urgently, "MOM!!! My toast!!! It's burning! Come quick!" I jumped up from eating my oatmeal (Michael wasn't home for dinner tonight, so our dinner was shall we say hodge podge) and ran over to the toaster oven. When I got there, Hyrum lamented, "You're killing me, Mom!!!" That boy! For some reason, that whole interchange reminded me of my post when Hyrum fell from the football stadium seats and how for a brief minute I thought I lost my mischievous yet remarkable blessing from God. I truly feel so grateful for him. Though he may lose his temper from time to time (he's too much like his momma) and be irritably independent and stubborn, I wouldn't trade him for anything. I love him with all my heart and will be sure to thank God tonight for blessing me with him and his special brothers. What a blessing it is to have these four wonderful boys!

Growing UP

I can't believe that Alden will turn 12 this month. He is kind of past that cutsy stage where he is always saying things that are so cute and fun and make us laugh. He does make us laugh. He loves to tell jokes and has a very fun sense of humor (it is much like Michael's, which may be scary to a few of you). He is really growing up. He is conscientious, caring and helpful. He never complains when I ask him to help me. He is always willing to do anything I ask from simply running upstairs and grabbing my cell phone to doing the arduous task of cleaning the basement. He seriously does not complain. I can't say how much I appreciate his happy and willing disposition. I feel like I am the luckiest mom in the world to have him as my oldest son. I truly am blessed.

Something Hyrum will hate me for in the future

Back in March, Diane and Doug decided that for their kids' spring break, they would leave the 70 degree weather in Hurricane, Utah, and come and visit us in the snow covered tundra of Michigan (they were able to see a lot more snow in one day than they had probably seen the entire winter--Doug even got to try out our snow blower). We had the BEST time with them!!! They arrived late, late Saturday night (some might call 2 AM Sunday morning) and stayed until the following Friday. We loved every minute of their visit. The boys were in heaven having their cousins here to play with them 24 hours a day, and they adored baby Airika (who really isn't too much of a baby anymore--she just turned 3).

I personally relished having my sister here and so appreciated all the projects that she and Doug did around my house (we painted my vaulted ceiling entryway and living room, and Doug installed lights and ceiling fan in my 18 food ceiling). I so appreciated them coming and was so sad to have them leave.

On Monday night, we thought it would be fun to go bowling for Family Home Evening. We had such a fun time, and the kids enjoyed riding with their cousins in the way back home. Michael and I ended up with Bridger and Hyrum in our car. Michael stepped out of the car to gas up, while I sat and listened to Bridger and Hyrum's conversation. It went something like this:

Bridger: I really need some new DS games.

Hyrum: Well, actually, you don't need DS games; you just want new DS games. Wants and needs are two different things. And actually.... electronics are kind of a bad thing.

Bridger: No, they aren't.

Hyrum: Yes, they are. When you play electronics you can get distracted, and when you're distracted, sometimes you can poop your pants....at least that is what happens to me and my brother Thobe.

I actually didn't hear the rest of the conversation because I was laughing so hard. Typically, this little insight that Hyrum shared hasn't been a laughing matter for me. However, hearing this explained in such a fashion really made me laugh. At least he is aware of the problem...right?

Vocabulary

Thobe is quite the kid. He turns a whopping decade this month, which seems almost unfathomable to me. The kid is crazy smart too. He always amazes me. I have had the pleasure of homeschooling him for the past two years and have loved being able to gain an understanding of his strengths.

Perhaps his strongest academic ability is his vocabulary. He is always saying things that surprise us and make us ask him where he learned that word. A couple of days ago, we were in the car, and he said, "Mom, I have a plurality of green puffles in Club Penguin." I asked if he said he had a plurality of puffles, and he said that was indeed what he had said. 

I said, "Thobe, what does plurality mean?"

"Well," he replied, "it is not the majority, like over 50%, but I have more green puffles than any other type of puffle."

Admittedly, I'm not sure that I could have used the word plurality correctly, and even if I could, I don't know if I could have defined it as well as he did. He's pretty amazing.

Robbers and Teddy Bears

Jacob in his robber shirt posing with Ruffy Junior

Jacob is 4 years old, and I can hardly believe how quickly the time has passed. He is seriously so cute and adorable and makes us laugh every single day. I really can't get over how cute he is. He loves to play and be silly. He is always asking me if he is my silliest kid. Despite that, he is also very snuggly, tender and loving.

To illustrate, a few weeks ago, Michael was lying on the couch, curled up in a blanket. Jacob came up to Michael and climbed in the covers with him. In his gentle, cuddly and awfully sweet voice, he suggested, "Papi, you be the daddy, and I'll be the teddy bear." He then nestled himself right into his Papi's arms and snuggled away.

Jacob is also very thoughtful. He will often say things that surprise us. For example, he and I were driving back from school when Jacob asked me, "Mom why do robbers like money so much?" 

This caught me off guard. I told him that they probably aren't happy and that they think that money will buy them things, which they think will make them happy. I told him, "But you know Jacob, money can't buy happiness." 

Jacob was quiet for a minute, and then announced, "Mom, I'm kind of like the robbers." 

I was surprised by this announcement and said, "Oh really, why is that?"

Jacob confidently added, "Because we both love money."

Apparently Jacob's priorities are not quite where I thought they were.

Regrets

I want to pick up on writing my blog again. I hate that I haven't really written here for several years. My boys do the most amazing, remarkable cute things that I don't want to forget. Years ago, I found that blogging was a good way for me to keep track of what they have done, but with the birth of my Jacob (which was nearly 5 years ago--uggh), I just haven't seemed to do nearly as well of a job. That being said, I can't change the past, I can only change the future. I really am going to try to write the cute things my boys do. They are growing up before my eyes, and I just don't want to forget this tender and wonderful time of my life. Enough said.

Periods and Exclamation Points

The past month has been quite an adventure for our family. All our school details will come in a subsequent post, but Thobe and I have been doing homeschool this year, which has allowed me to spend a lot of time with my sweet boy and has really allowed me to see how amazing he is.

Because we are always together, Thobe gets to go a lot of places with me. We have Jacob with us most of the time too, which has been really fun to watch them play together as well. The other day, I went visiting teaching. I was telling the people I was visiting with how I sometimes feel like I have two families. I have Alden and Thobe who are calm and easy going and really obedient. Then I have Hyrum and Jacob who, well...., aren't. I explained how they push me more than the older two ever did and have so much energy. If they decide that they do not want to be obedient, they aren't. Sitting through church, though easier than it used to be, is still difficult, and they often get into things that they should not get into. I also noted to my friends how even though Hyrum and Jacob are hard sometimes, they are also extremely loving and sweet. I said, "I guess, Hyrum and Jacob just put an exclamation point at the end of everything they do."

My friends smiled and made a passing comment or two. Thobe then piped in, "Yeah, Alden and I...we just put a period at the end of everything."

I really couldn't have said it better myself.