They Know

Saturday Ben threw his back out while doing yard work. The kids and I were all outside helping when Hope asked what was wrong with daddy. I looked over to see him on the ground unable to speak or move. I thought he had had a heart attack. We were all very scared. Ben is a strong man and to see him like that was disturbing and I could have sworn that my heart stopped beating for at least a second or two. The girls kept asking him questions and trying to get close to him, so I asked Noah to take them back to their rooms so I could try to help Ben.

After Ben was able to stand I went back to check on the kids. Noah had turned on his church music and moved Hope's little table into his room. They were all sitting around it making Ben get-well soon cards. Thinking about how cute and thoughtful my children are I went back to my room to listen in case Ben needed me while he was in the shower. Yes, even though he had just been in severe pain and barely able to move, he INSISTED on taking a shower the minute he could stand. I've learned over the last 48 hours that he is even more stubborn than I thought. Anyway, while I was waiting I overheard Eden tell her brother and sister that they should say a prayer. Then her tiny 3 year old voice prayed for her daddy.

 I smiled with pride and thought about how lucky they are to know where to look for peace and comfort. Noah had immediately played his church hymns for them to listen to and Eden needed no prompting to ask her Heavenly Father to help her earthly father.

Taking three kids to church by myself has not always been easy (although it is getting easier as Miss Chevious gets older), but I'm so glad that I stuck with it. So many - okay EVERY-  Sunday mornings  I dreaded wrestling with two of my three children in the congregation while trying to feel the spirit. I often wondered "why even go"? I knew they needed it though, and I am grateful for the strength I received to push through the dread and often time embarrassment of sacrament with Miss Chevious.

I am grateful that Ben and I have had family prayer every night for the last year and that we continue to do it. I am grateful that they have heard us ask Heavenly Father to bless family members who have been sick and have seen them get well and know that Heavenly Father heard their prayers. I am grateful that Hope and Noah have CDs of hymns that they listen to while falling asleep and that we sing primary songs every night before prayer. Once again, I have often wondered what good it is all doing. The singing and praying, trying unsuccessfully to get the younger children to be reverent during family prayer. "Why am I even doing this?" is something I've asked myself frequently.
Last Saturday I got my answer.

Valentine's Day 2013

This year, Hope needed to make a box for her Valentine party at school. I found several cute ideas on Pinterest and let her pick which one she liked best. Of course she chose the horse. It was daddy's idea to make it a unicorn though. Since it was mostly cutting and hot gluing pieces together, daddy and I assembled the box and Hope drew on it.

 

 

It is hard to see from the picture, but she drew all over it. She gave it a "Cutey Mark" (which is the mark that My Little Ponies have on their hip) and drew hearts and eyes...oh, and a butt crack. :)

 

I also got to help with the party and made sugar cookies and frosting for the kids to decorate cookies. Hope and Eden enjoyed playing with the dough scraps. Amazingly enough they didn't eat the dough.

 

 

Daddy brought home Valentine treat bags for the girls with a balloon and stuffed unicorns. They were quite excited.

 

 

 

But not as excited as daddy. Look at his face. He loves his girls!

 

*On a side note, last week Hope was the spotlight student and on Friday I got to read a story to her class. Since it was also "Dad's & Donuts Day", Ben took the morning off so he could be there for the story too. At one point in the morning I turned the corner to walk down the hall and Ben was headed my way with a big smile on his face. I asked what he was smiling about and he said, "Hope's the spotlight student. That's exciting!"*

 

 



Say What?

Hope: It's weird on the planet today.

Hope: I've been feeling like snuggling with you all day.

Hope: Why do big people have big long hairs in their nose?

Eden keeps putting her little foot on Hope's reading book while she is trying to read and
Hope says: EDEN! You're going to get this all stinky with your STINKY foot!

Dad to Eden who has been throwing Zoe's bone across the family room: Don't throw that.
Eden: She likes it! *throws it again*
Dad: I don't care if she likes it. Don't throw it.
Eden hands on her hips: But she LIKES it!
Dad: Don't throw it. (I actually can't remember what he said here but this fits)
Eden: I DON'T CARE!
Dad: It isn't your job to care....
Eden: It's none of your business!
*Mom and dad burst into laughter*
Eden smiles and says: I just kidding.

Hope: Can I come?
Mom: No, because I can't watch you while I'm getting my hair cut.
Hope: I can watch myself.
Mom: You are too little to watch yourself.
Hope: No I'm not. See look at me watching myself.



It Snowed...

A lot!

And the weird thing is that the day before this happened was quite a perfect Fall day in my opinion, even a little on the warm side. But that's Utah for you.

While I was pregnant with Eden, Ben took Noah and Hope sledding. I made a post about it here. As I watched the kids and Ben play in the snow I thought of that post and realized that I was watching what would become one of my favorite memories.

On Friday there was some of this...

 

 

(Hope making snowballs to throw at Zoe) 

and some of this of course.

 

 

They are doing "cheers" with their hot chocolate.

After Eden woke up from her nap and had her drink, there was this.

 

 

 

then more of this.

 

 

Hope told Eden that she looked like a little farm girl in her snow suit.

When we woke up Saturday there was even more snow!!!! After extremely cold and red toes we decided that snow boots were a necessity and we made a shopping trip.

Then there was this

 

 

that turned into this.

 

 

Our neighbor across the street called to say how much she enjoyed it and would enjoy if for the rest of the season.

Then Eden, exhausted by all the fun, took a nap on mommy's bed

 

 

and daddy and Hope went into the backyard to do this.

 

 

We sure missed Noah this weekend. Hopefully there will be plenty more snow-filled days ahead for Noah to join in on all the fun. But in the meantime...

 

 

that is one big snowman.



Snow Bird

A couple of weeks ago Ben's work had their company party up at Snow Bird. Noah was here for once so he got to come to. They had a taco bar which was actually pretty good and afterwards they had a raffle. This year Ben won something! Unfortunately, the prize was two tickets to The Stadium of Fire and we felt like the timing was just wrong for us considering we have two small children who would need to be in bed and Ben had to work the next day. So he sold them on Craigslist for $75.

We rode a tram to the top of the mountains where you can barely see SLC in the valley below. The kids thought the tram ride was pretty cool, especially when it would swing back and forth.

There were several other things to do too. Noah rode a mechanical bull and thought that was cool.

He stayed like that (half on half off) for just about the whole time he was riding.

Then he climbed the rock wall.

And Hope and Eden tried out the bouncy houses.

Then Hope and I rode the alpine slide while Noah did the bungy trampoline and Eden took a little nap on daddy's shoulder. :) Noah was very proud of himself because he did two flips in a row and the crowd of people waiting in line all cheered and clapped for him.

We saw lots of squirrels which Hope and I were very excited about. She was very concerned while driving through the canyon because there was no fence to keep us from falling off the road. Finally on the way back dad convinced her that he knew what he was doing.

Father's Day - Cursed???

We are beginning to think that Father's Day in the Maxwell household is cursed. Last year I suddenly had to have my gallbladder removed and was in the hospital on Father's Day leaving Ben home alone with the kids for several days...no Father's Day celebration. This year I was determined to make up for it so I started preparing about a week in advance. Ben had been away on a business trip and I thought it would be great to decorate his office while he was gone so he'd get a nice Father's Day surprise the morning after his arrival. This was to be part one of my plan. I dragged all three kids to his office, which is no longer just down the road mind you, had the receptionist get someone to unlock his door for me and we went to town. Actually the kids just wreaked havoc while I put up a cute handmade banner and tied some balloons around his office. I forgot the camera so I didn't get a picture of it but here is what it looked like.

Super Dad

I copied this blogger's super crafty creativity and made my own banner for Ben. Only I hung mine on twine and in Ben's office surrounded by coordinating colored balloons.

He was pretty surprised and also a little embarassed. I knew he would be, but everyone already knows how awesome he is so I don't see what the big deal was. :)

Part 2 of my plan took place Saturday. Hope had her first dance recital as a part of Swan Lake, so I thought that was a pretty nifty thing to witness as a Father's Day treat. And he is so wrapped around her little finger so it was a great Father's Day activity to watch his little Hopie dance. Then he got these fun little questionnaires I had the kids fill out.

Click on the pictures to make the bigger and readable. I also used another blogger's questionnaire. I know...I have no ideas of my own anymore. What would I do without Pinterest?

 Just as a side note: Hope does know how to spell her name, but sometimes she likes to write Hopie, since that is her nickname.

He loved them and I felt like things were rolling for the following day. For part 3 we planned to go to Ben's favorite breakfast place in SugarHouse and then spend the day at the zoo and afterwards I would make one of his favorite meal, Chicken Marsala.

 I was so relieved I felt like I was doing a somewhat decent job of making up for last year's castrophe when 11 p.m. hit. Eden started crying. She hardly ever cries at night anymore, but when she does I can usually hold her for a minute and put her back down. I went in to her room and there was vomit all over her and her bed. Since Ben and I hadn't been to sleep yet, he helped me clean up the mess and I put her back to bed. We thought it was just something she ate, or just a fluke and we went to bed. The next morning Ben went into her room and immediately came back out and told me how bad it stunk in there. He was right. It was like she had taken a midnight dip in an outhouse...a frequently used outhouse...holy cow! It was bad. She had messed her pants like she had never done before. This was Eden's second load of laundry in less than 8 hours.

I was still determined though. I thought that for sure since she had messed her pants and thrown up that whatever it was was surely gone by now and we could go about our plans. So we got the kids dressed and oops! More vomit! And now Hope was vomitting and had diarrhea. We weren't going anywhere. Not only that but there had been so much vomit and diarrhea that Ben no longer had an appetite for his favorite dinner. Once again Father's Day was a bust.

So the family spent the week sick. Ben and I waited last to be sick but now we are better *fingers crossed*. Saturday we decided to have a re-do and went to breakfast and the zoo.

I love the way Eden is looking at Ben.

Ben, I hope you feel how much you are loved and appreciated, because you certainly are. And, if next year Father's Day gets ruined too I think it's safe to say it is definitly cursed. In which case I will just come up with my own holiday to celebrate your awesomeness. It will be called Ben's Day...or something a lot cooler. I love you.

Also...

"Maybe there is some sort of animal we could make a sacrifice to. Like a giant buffalo or some sort of monster like something like the body of a walrus with the head of a sea lion. Or something with the body of an egret with the head of a meerkat. Or just the head of a monkey with the antlers of a reindeer with the body of a....porcupine." --Michael Scott The Office

"I'll do some research." -- Jim Halpert The Office

Swan Lake

Today was Hope's first dance recital, or as she calls it, her "big dance class". She has been excited all week to go back and do her dance again.

Here we are getting ready.

She wasn't nervous at all, until about 15 minutes before they were supposed to go on and it was only because there were so many people stuffed into a crowded little nook backstage. I was a class mom, so I stayed with her backstage while she did her part and was able to talk the jitters away.

When she actually got on stage she acted mesmerized by the audience and stood there for a minute just looking at all the people. I wasn't able to see her very clearly because there was quite a bit of chaos in the wings, but Ben and one of the other mom's told me it was pretty cute and funny. She is a brave girl! If that would've been me at 4 years old I probably would've freaked out and started crying or run off stage. She was very proud of herself and very pleased that daddy and I were so proud.

Hope was in the first act so we got to go sit in the audience with daddy for the rest of the show. While we were watching some of the swans dance she leaned over and whispered to me," When I get big will I be a swan?"

Here are a few pictures after the show.

Daddy is so thoughtful, he brought her flowers! I didn't even think about that. I am SO grateful that my girls have a man in their life to teach them and show them how they should be treated by other men -when they are old enough :}-.

I think she is doing her bunny hops here.

Trying to stuff her into her car seat with all the foof from her costume.

Here is the program and tickets.

Here is the page in the program that had her name under "Bunnies."

And here are her beautiful flowers resting in a vase.

Congratulations Hopie! We are so proud of you!

Horsey

Daddy is home from a business trip! Of course he brought surprises back for the kids. Hope got a purple horse which she freaked out about. Her favorite color is purple and one of her favorite things is horses, so daddy did a great job picking out her present. Soon after he gave it to her I saw her in the other room introducing her new horse to one of her older ones. It was pretty cute. I asked her what she was going to name it and she said, "Horsey." I thought we were passed that stage, but apparently not. The older horse in the picture is named Marbles, so at least they aren't all named Horsey.

Eden got a little kitty which she kissed and hugged and loved. I asked her what she was going to name her kitty and she said, "Ummm...Kitty!" Of course. :) Noah got some straw glasses thing that is pretty cool. I will have to get a picture of that when he comes home from his dad's. We're so happy you're home daddy! You were missed - GREATLY!

In The Backyard

In our backyard, that has been open to the public since our fence blew down last winter, we have a custom made playhouse with cute purple door/swing set by Ben, a trampoline with a worn-out net, six raised garden beds made by Ben with the wood from said fence, and a kiddie pool that is just a little over a foot deep. Of course there are other things, like two grills, a sand pit under the swings, old garden beds full of mulch-stuff, a basketball hoop, an old outdoor glass table, a rocking chair and an old sitting chair and lots of other stuff that I don't enjoy looking at. Most of all though, we have a few children who who share a lot of laughs, splashes and jumps together and those are things I LOVE to look at.

It took the girls a while to get used to it. They just walked around for quite a while. Finally they got all the way in and the real fun began.

They took turns riding on big brother and tried to make a whirl pool by "swimming" around the pool really fast.

Finally the girls were ready for a swing break.

The girls also love to help daddy water the garden. One day while mommy was watering she sprayed everyone (including daddy) really good.

Hope and Eden were taking turns with the watering can, but as you can see Eden really had it the most and wasn't really even watering the plants.

This is when Eden laid in the middle of lawn and started piling grass on her tummy.

And this is when cousin Caleb finally got the knack of pumping his legs while swinging!

I'm honored he did it in my backyard. :) This must be a special place.