Life lately

I feel like maybe I should stop trying to keep up the blogs. I now have five blogs to keep track of (a family one and one for each of the kids), and since I have a total of like ten readers, I feel like it's maybe not worth it anymore. I basically do it just for journal-keeping, but maybe in this digital age it's better to just have everything online without trying to print it out. I don't know. I wish my entries were more meaningful or humorous, or not so much of a travelogue of our lives. The day-to-day stuff is hard to capture, but I do want to have a record to look back on to remind myself of the happiness that we enjoy each day despite the difficulties that are inherent in mortality. We truly are so richly blessed. I take for granted the happiness we enjoy in our home.

Here is a smattering of life of late.

 Here is Henry with Ms. Adrienne, his speech therapist. She is very knowledgeable and does a great job. His stuttering his still quite significant, but the goal is to work through the stuttering and make sure he doesn't feel defined by it but just accepts the "bumps" and moves on. They are also working on his "s"s.

 Ah me, the daily kisses/hits/squeezes/kisses/loves. I confess I will not miss the constant need to make sure that Henry isn't lying on him or being a little rough with him. And poor Benjy is exposed to so many germs from his loving older brother. I hope he has a super strong immune system.

 I had to get a pic of Benjy around the same age as Henry.

Here's Henry around the same age (about a month older, I believe).

 Here is Clara in her adaptive ballet class. She loves it so much, and it's so fun to see her joy.

 Check out that pointed toe!

 I love coming in to the living room to find Henry reading a book. He is good at remembering the words and enjoys "reading" it back to himself.

 Enjoying some family time on the trampoline.

 Clara is so cute with Benjy. She has been a big help to me with him, even if she doesn't like letting anyone else hold him and often picks him up while he's playing happily to bring him to me when I have my hands full. Still though, she seriously has been great with him and keeps him happy when I'm not giving him attention. He gives her such great smiles and loves to see her.

 During our last snow, Michael piled up all of the driveway snow and made a sweet little fort/tunnel over some plywood and sawhorses that the kids could all fit into.

 They're all in there!

 Coming out.

 I give thanks frequently for the sweet neighbors and friendships we have here. Truly a blessing.

 When Michael went out of town for his belated 40th birthday skiing trip, the kids enjoyed drawing a "welcome home" sign on the big window.

 I hate the messes and the markers left with their tops off, but I absolutely love when the boys are creating, especially together. When Henry gets frustrated that he can't draw like Robbie, Robbie will often draw him a picture, which is very sweet.

 The other day Henry vacuumed the whole living room for me and did a great job!

 A brief but savored time of sibling harmony.

 So many things going on here, but the first question to ask is, "Why?" The second is a comment that that little white bum crack is a daily sight. I just can't find pants that stay on him! I even got suspenders for his church pants.

 Our boys.

 Benjy absolutely loves the bath and kicks very seriously. He is our little river dancer.

 Benjy enjoys solid food but has a major gag reflex. Hoping that will calm down soon.

 We enjoyed a Sunday evening outside a week or so ago. I don't have too many pics with this beautiful boy!

A view from across the fire pit.

 Love this guy. And that girl ;-).

 We enjoyed a walk around Lake Shenandoah last week for FHE.

 Benjy was a cozy little hiker.

 Love where we live!

 On Sunday the leprechaun visited our house again.

 He left a note and some chocolate coins, too!

The traditional spinach "Hulk" muffins with teeny mugs to enjoy milk.

We are looking forward to spring and all the ensuing fun/busyness that that brings!

Trip to Philly

We had a fun weekend adventure up to Philadelphia last weekend. We took the kids out of school on Friday and surprised them with a quick stop off at Chocolate World. They were excited!

 Here we are on the chocolate tour.

 Check out these ginormous candies!

Hanging out with our friends Kiss, Hershey, and Reese.

We drove on to Philadelphia and visited with our BYU friends, Zeke and Kendra Hernandez at their house. We went to our hotel within walking distance of the temple, and the kids were super excited about staying in the hotel room, of course.

The next morning, I walked over for the 7am endowment and really enjoyed the recent changes and felt the Spirit (even with headphones while the rest of the session was in Spanish). Michael got to do a session while I took the kids over to the Natural Science Museum.

 It was a fun weekend called "Paleopalooza" with free activities for the kids.

 Pterodactyl!

 Butterfly.

They had volunteers/workers teaching about the ice age, glaciers, prehistoric animals, etc.

 Check out the Galapagos tortoise!

 Looking for a ride.

 The boys loved playing in the sand area.

 Clara was thrilled to see Eddie the T Rex.

 Hanging out in the eagle's nest.

 Daddy joined us and we checked out the mythical creatures exhibit (and got in trouble for hanging out on it--for the record it was not very clear).

 This T Rex was very cool.

The trip was full and fun, although it definitely made me appreciate my bed. I am thankful for the temple and will be thrilled when the DC one is open again!