May Highlights

 We invited our church friends over for s'mores and to say goodbye to an amazing family who was leaving for Korea this summer. The Elgan's have been such good friends for us and are really so wonderful. There were over 60 children and adults in our backyard and cooking marshmallows in our awesome outdoor fireplace. It was crazy to have so many children running all over the place, in the backyard jumping and swinging in the front yard and eating lots of sugar! We were sad to see the Elgan's leave so early in the morning- I didn't even get to hug my friend Tiffany goodbye. Yes, I cried.

 For a few weeks now the children have been riding their bikes to church. The weather has been perfect and they enjoy the fresh air. I've been surprised how reverent they have been during the meetings the weeks that they ride, they sure think it is fun!

My cute piano student Eli broke his arm, but I still made him play both hands!

The start of our little garden. It was neat to see the little plants sprout up and begin to grow.

The End (of the year)

Cael got invited to go with a friend to the Army vs. Marines basketball game. The other boys were so upset they weren't invited I had to promise to take them there as well. Our first seats were pretty high up and the kids kept running up and around the very top. I thought they were going to trip and fall and it just wasn't going to be any fun at all if that happened. So we moved after Cael and his friend (and his dad) found us and brought us to seats closer to the court and out of dangerous zone.

 These seats were much better for the second half of the game. Army had a good lead and it was fun to watch them hold on and win! I also got to explain most of the elements to the sport. In the picture above you can see where we were the first time. Way up to the top and in the middle! Of course a worker had to come and tell my children not to be running up there!

And this is how you spend New Years night at home with the kids! Playing computer games and letting the children observe--- they do love it, especially when they have candy to snack on.

**I didn't take any pictures, but NEW YEARS day we had 13 children in our house. We had agreed to watch the Elgan's children (6) plus the Tonelli children (3) plus my own (4) = 13. Ben was on-call for the hospital and so we needed to stay close for the day anyway. While they were all here I thought I would put away our Christmas decorations at the same time. It was a mess! But I got it all done, packed the tree away that I threaten to throw away every year, and Ben even got a call to admit a patient! So there I was with 13 kids all by myself for about 3 hours. With that many children there was always someone who was hungry, bored, or grumpy. I was pretty exhausted by the time dinner rolled around, and pretty confident that 13 children all under the age of 9 were still alive when their parents came back is an accomplishment in itself!

EASTER

This was a fun adventure for our family. To rule our appendicitis we took Brecon to the same hospital were Brielle was born after he had been having severe abdominal pain. It wasn't a big deal or anything, but just to be sure the hospital staff admitted him and we stayed there for 3 days. I think Brecon actually liked being there in the hospital, it was like going on one of our trips and the "HOTEL" was actually bringing in food to our room! Plus, when Ben was the parent there he let Brecon play as much video games as he wanted. This wasn't so great for me when I actually read him a story, we brushed our teeth, and went to bed... He got real emotional and said "I want Dad to be here." That's what I get for being the MOM!

 

In the end, all the results from the labs came back normal, and our weekend was spent between our house and the hospital when Ben didn't have to work on Friday or Monday!! GRRRR!!

 

*also funny to note: One of our adult friends went in that following weekend after some severe pain and she actually had her appendix removed !!

 

Our poor Brecon hooked up to an IV with his sister crawling all over him. The rest of the crew sat nearby eating our picnic.

EASTER EGG HUNT

Our Family Readiness Group for the medical clinic hosted an Easter Egg hunt, face painting, and balloon rocket/animal fun! Ben volunteered to help out with the balloons and the kids went crazy blasting them off into the sky. It was fun to watch Ben work his magic around the kids and there was a good line to get their rockets pumped up with air. He roped in a couple of assistants to handle the crowd and the kids all got way too much candy from the hunt.

 

APRIL FOOLS

Here are a few highlights from the month of APRIL:

 

CRAZY NAP HEAD and FACE (my sick kids)

We had some wicked bug fly through the three young ones. Connor and Brielle handled it the best, but poor Brecon honestly didn't leave the bathroom floor for two days! We brought in a small bed for him, so between the "out both ends" violence and sickness he could rest. I felt like I was on full-time comforter mode, snuggling was nice, but  there was nothing else I could do until it was all over. I felt so horrible for them all. It was a relief for them all to be healthy again.

 

 

BEAUTIFUL WINGS on an ANGEL

Connor's hair had been growing out for most of the winter and it was so beautiful and curly, here is the blown-dry version before we took him over to our neighbors house who just LOVED when he came strutting over to play.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!

To celebrate our amazing man, Ben took us all to the store and bought everyone in the family a present! The boys were thrilled and excited to get a gift on their Daddy's birthday. They even were heard saying "I want to do this for my birthday". They spent the rest of the evening building their guys and playing with them together.

 

I got out a little art activity for the boys one afternoon. Paint and goo  and little hands all over the place. By the end our entire table had their creations spread out to dry.

Brecon got a little bunny basket from kindergarten with a few pieces of chocolate and a real brown egg inside as well. He has also had some big changes going on in his mouth with different teeth falling out or being extracted from the dentist (poor guy) and lately I have been calling him the "Toothless Wonder".  To top it all off-- he also no longer has his two front teeth! It makes me giggle to hear him talk and watch his little tongue work around all the gaps in his mouth.

 

FAIRY WARRIORS

Ben has this amazing talent with making balloon animals and swords. Little did me know he is also great at making the neighborhood into fairy warriors with balloon wings. The kids all loved running around with their wings on, only popping them on the wall a few times!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIELLE!!!



A first birthday just isn't complete without a shower to wash off the birthday cake mess. Actually this is a pretty normal occurrence after any messy meal, but we can still pretend that this is the traditional birthday bath!

To celebrate this special day I made angel food cake for the first time from scratch and it  took forever!!! Add some flour, gently fold in the flour, separate 12 egg white (WHAT?!?!) Beat for 20 minutes until stiff peaks form.... you get the idea. SO just in case my cake from scratch didn't turn out I made a Betty Crocker back-up--- YES, now this was more like it. There didn't seem to be a preference for either one and Brielle seemed to enjoy the strawberry shortcake and whipped cream. She is such a sweet little girl and growing up so fast! We all love her!

 

RED HOT READER

Cael worked really hard to be a gold medalist for the Red Hot Reader month at school. This included reading for an hour on school nights and 2 hours on the weekend. I was impressed to see him dedicate that time to reading, even if he really wanted to do something else. He is competitive that way and he really does love to read!

My sweet Baby Girl

I can't believe how big this little girl is getting. We sure love her smiles and giggles she has developed lately. The boys are so great with her, helping for the most part when she is sad. You will often hear Connor say "don't cry baby" (which is great for his vocabulary) Brecon is right there holding his little sister and bringing her to me when "she needs milk." Cael sings crazy songs that are usually just her name over and over, at different pitches from high to low, trying to soothe her when she is upset. It really is a family effort over here.

THESE BOYS SURE LOVE THEIR SISTER

Her most recent milestones include:

Rolling over front to back- mostly by accident, but I like to claim it

Sleeping MUCH better at night

NOT screaming her head off every evening (and basically throughout the day)

a big BELLY laugh giggle, so now we look like goofballs trying to get her to do it again.

andlast but not least--- POOPING on guests when they come to dinner. Just happened tonight so we feel pretty special.

It really is a party having a new baby in the house! WAIT! She is already 3 1/2 months old! When did that happen? I've got a lot of catching up to do, birthdays, baptisms, anniversaries, stitches and broken fingers. This summer has been an exciting one.

New Territory- and family update

Where to begin. For starters  this will be my first "private" post for reasons which I felt necessary for our family at this time, which you will know about shortly.

But first of all our summer was busy, relaxing, some traveling, and spending a lot of time together. Birthday parties, water fights, riding bikes in the neighborhood and FUN! But there was still something else, like a large troll in the living room, that we knew would be soon causing a great change for our family for the next year. We didn't like to talk about the "troll", but at the same time it was there and it was going to make its' presence known. The "troll" I am talking about is Ben's Deployment for 1 year to Afghanistan.

I guess we always knew that our time in the military would come with different obligations and sacrifices, but I kept thinking they were always in the way off future and not something that was really going to effect us. This really caused anxiety and stress leading up to the departure date. I would watch the boys playing and wrestling with Ben and think those thoughts that occur when someone is going away. This is our last time sitting together in church before He leaves, the last drive home, family prayer, dinner, etc... It wasn't easy. That time was spent trying to get everything ready, packing, cleaning, and trying to make good memories with the boys.

So now Ben has been gone for a month... 11 more to go! We have been able to talk on the phone and we've got email to keep in touch, although sometimes the connection is not always the best. He is on a small FOB in the middle of nowhere in the Patika province in the eastern side of the country. In order to get there on the last leg of the journey it could have been a 16 hour convoy or a 30 minute helicopter ride. He was so glad they rode on the helicopter and Ben also said that is the only way they get any supplies to their area. There is not a lot going on where he is at. They have seen a couple of the locals to treat due to car accidents, but nothing very serious. He seems to be doing well and he is making the best of his situation while on his deployment. It is just hard to be away from the family...

As for the boys and I...we have been doing alright, the boys miss their daddy and I miss my husband, but we are busy now that school has started and having soccer in the evenings is a good activity to look forward to.  Brecon started German kindergarten during the day and that leaves baby Connor and I to run errands and get some work done around the house. You would think it would be easier, but it has been more difficult to have only one at home!

So that is that. I know our lives aren't exciting or glamorous but we will still try to keep updating. Ben is usually the entertaining writer for the blog, so I apologize in advance :)

Let's review...

There has been a terrible accident where the rest of our Italy trip pictures are currently in limbo. We are hoping they are recovered, but until then I thought I would show a little bit of what our family had going on in May and the first part of June.

 "All I want for Christmas are my two front teeth"... such a funny looking smile, which has quickly changed already!

 Lookin' good boys! Poor Connor was not feeling to excited about the group huddle I guess.

 Cael had his birthday and we went camping in teepees with the Durtschi's. Yes we had a great time and Yes the boys are running around without their shirts on. That is how we roll.

 The boys were having a great time with the glowstick dance party.

Rise and Shine. Julian tried to help baby Connor wake up the next morning... but he was just too tired I guess.