Handsome boys

The things kids say...

Tonight, Ben and I went on our usual Sunday evening walk, and took Lemur (on a scooter) and Mister (on a trike). Of course, we ran into neighbors and stopped to talk. The little ones got a bit bored, as little ones do, and Lemur was circling me, hitting my bum, etc. As our conversation was wrapping up, out of the blue he says to me "Mom, you have a penis?" I'm sure I looked mortified, but couldn't help but laugh, as did Ben. The neighbor said "What did he say?" and when Ben repeated it he said "Only from a doctor's kid!" It was hilarious, and one of those moments when you wonder where in the world that came from!

This one ranks up there with the time when my Bug was about the same age (maybe only 2 years old) and we were in line in the grocery store. I was holding him on my hip, and he turned to me, cupping my boobs in his hands and said "Mom, you have big nipples."

Yeah, I've had my fair share of embarrassing kid comments in my time. And I'm sure there are plenty more to come.

1st place!

Okay, I have to brag about Ben a bit more. This morning he ran a 5K fun run in Sunset. Not only did he place 1st in his age group, he placed 1st OVERALL! He claims it was only because no high-school kids showed up to beat him. But he was really fast, anyway. He ran that race in 21 minutes flat. He was running so fast, he didn't know where to go. He told the police escort he needed to go faster because he was about to pass him and he didn't know where to turn!

I took this picture after the race. (I had a better one, but my stupid camera hasn't been working right, and half the pictures I take it says "unrecognized file format" on it. Grrr.) We stayed for the parade after the race. The kids kept asking "will there be candy?" Candy at parades is something new to me. See, I grew up right down the street from the Provo parade; so to me, parades were a huge thing, with several marching bands, lots of floats, clowns, etc, but there wasn't the candy-throwing that goes on here. This Sunset parade was pretty impressive to me, though, being from Provo and all--there were actually 2 (count 'em: TWO) FLOATS!!! Finally, there was the real sparkle and glam that you expect with a parade, even if they were pulled by trucks. The kids had lots of fun, and got their fair share of candy, too.

Beach Bum

Anyone ever wonder what Ben would look like as a blonde?

We found out in June.

He kept it blonde for about 3 days, until he had to return to work.

Thought it might be too shocking, and not professional enough.

So, we put a pretty "nutmeg" brown over it. It turned out to be quite a nice color. Lighter than his natural color, but without the grey. (You can see the final results at the bottom of my blog, in the 5K race picture.)

It was fun, pretending to be a hair stylist for a couple of days.

School

This is my little sissy, Kristin. She graduated this spring, as a dental hygentist. She's worked so hard for so long on getting her degree. I'm SO proud of her. I also have to brag up her grades and test scores. She got 100% on her practical board exams, and 99% on her written board exams. She's a pretty smart cookie. If you want really clean teeth, I can hook you up with her. ;)

This is my Bug (K). In 2nd grade he had to do an animal report (can you see what animal he did, in the box behind him?--it's a cat). The whole class put on a program for their parents and he read his report. He did a great job talking in front of everyone, especially because he is normally very shy. As part of their project, they had to make their animal out of clay, and paint it. He did his kitty all by himself, and we had fun together, looking up "cats" on Wikepedia.

Castle Park

My kids' favorite park to go to is "Castle Park". When Lisa was visiting in May, her kids overheard my big kids talking about going to Castle Park. That was all it took, and they all wanted to go. Leemy was sick that day, so he missed out. Dall is there with his cousins (twins J and J, and A riding on the dragon's tale). It really is a very fun park.


They all had a great time...especially on the twirly tire swing.... Remember those barf-mobiles? First someone would get you swinging as high as they could, then they'd spin you 'till you tossed your cookies. Great times! Although, Dally thought not. Sis's kids loved it, though!

Look out, villians!

Lemur and Misterwere invited to their first friend birthday party. They were to come dressed as super-heros, to defeat the villians, who were running amok. When we went to the store to find a present, they both loved these Batman masks. They were cheap, and they saved me from making Zorro masks.


They were so excited to go! Mister kept asking me if it was time to go yet--he couldn't wait.







These are the "evil" villians that the super-heros tied up. They look like push-overs, don't they?







The super-heros enjoying a bit of leisure time on the trampoline. (They weren't the only Batmans there, by the way!)

Black and blue

Well, for the past week I've been helping Mom and Dad out. Dad had his knee replace one week ago, today, and is black and blue and red all over. I have some colorful pictures of his bruised and broken leg, but I have no way of getting them on the computer yet...thanks to Dad's weird sense of technology (where is the card slot on your computer?!). I'll post them, though, when I get home.




All things considered, he's doing very well. He hobbles around and can get himself to the bathroom, up the stairs, and even down the street to the corner. He keeps on top of the pain pills...which sometimes make him sick...like this morning....("Is that what we ate?") His physical therapist said he was doing very well, and he does his exercises several times a day. Hopefully he'll be much improved in a couple of weeks.

Mom is doing much better, too, now that the cardiologist changed her medication. She is acting like herself again--instead of being so tired and worn-out all the time. She wasn't eating much, because she had no appetite, etc, etc, etc. Now she's eating better, talking better (no cough), sleeping better, and she even pulled some weeds in the garden. All of this makes me feel like I am not leaving the invalid to care for the invalid when I go home.

In other news, I took L to a pediatric surgeon today. When he was born, he had hydrocele (which is fluid in the scrotum), but when he was about 18 months or so, it seemed to disappear. Well, in the last couple of months, it's looked like he's had a hernia down there, so we went to get it checked out. The surgeon said he's confident it is not a hernia (not bowel that is in the scrotum), but that it is the hydrocele, which is back again. It is only on the right side, this time, though...whereas when he was younger, it was on both sides. So, the fix for it (since it is highly unlikely to go away on it's own, and it could get worse) is to operate. The surgery is essentially the same as a hernia repair, though. He'll go in and sew the "hole" closed which is allowing the fluid to enter into the scrotum, and drain the fluid that is there. It's just an outpatient surgery, so that's good. We have it scheduled for Aug. 20...just in time to get the big kids ready for school again.

The race is on!

Tonight M, K, and I signed a contract. We're going to have a race to see who can re-read all the Harry Potter books fastest. K gets to use the books-on-tape, but I made sure it was in the contract that M had to read them by herself and not use Jim Dale's help. (For those who don't know, Jim Dale is the reader of the HP books-on-tape/CD...at least the US version ones...I've heard that the UK versions have a different reader. Some day, when my HP obsession intensifies, I'll own the UK series, too--the books, and CDs. Currently my obsession hasn't reached that level...yet.)

In the mean-time, to help me realize my obsession is not of "fanatical" level yet (there are worse than me out there!), I found a fun Harry Potter fans messageboard at iVillage. And, I even had a little "follow me" link made (thanks to the community leader of that board). It's super cute:


I can't wait for the Half-Blood Prince movie this year. It's still my favorite book in the series. Although, the only one I bought at midnight on the day of release was Deathly Hallows. I took E, M, and K with me. They've all read (or listened to) the whole series. I can't talk Ben into reading them, yet, though I think he's seen the movies (even if it has been in pieces). Someday....

Husband interview (from Loni):

What is your full name? BRM

How long have we been married? "13 years"

What is your dream job? "Quality control manager of a brothel." (Okay, after that answer, it might be better if I answer for him!)

What is your claim to fame? "I'm no one of consequence."

What do you like to do? "Run"

What is your biggest fear? "Dying (???) and cheese, constipation."

What animal describes you? "Dog? Cat..."

If you could choose any era to live in, which would it be? "1870's, 1860's...Brigham Young"

What is your major goal for 2008? "1/2 marathon in 1:30"

What is your guiltiest pleasure? (I had to preface this with "keep it clean") "Jimmy Kimmel Live and Guitar Hero" (or Rock Band, as that's all we have)

What do you love about me? (again, the preface "keep it clean") "I guess this is for my sisters to read: your frugality--you're good with money" (I say "huh?" to that one!)

Pictures from our trip to WA

All of us together

Cute cousins!!!

M splashing in the water

E at the beach

D enjoying the ocean. I thought he wouldn't dare get wet, but he was fearless.

L, on the other hand wouldn't go near the water, and preferred to make sandcastles with dad.

Game of Tag, anyone?

One word tag: (some of my answers just had to be more than one word)

You are feeling? Comfortable

To your left? Nightstand

On your mind? Who? (I'm going to tag)

Last meal included? Chicken

Something you find it hard to do? Lose weight

The weather? Hot

Something you have a collection of? Childbirth books

A smell that cheers you up? Clean

A smell that can ruin your mood? Gas

How long since you have shaved? 3 days

Current state of hair? So-so

The largest item on your desk? Printer

Your skill with chopsticks? Fair

Section you head to first in a bookstore? Fiction And then? Childbirth/parenting (see "collection" question)

Something you crave? Salsa

Favorite place to go to for quite time? Bed

You have always secretly thought that youwould be good at? Doula (explains the childbirth book collection)

Something that freaks you out? Critters (geckos) in my house

Something you have eaten to much of lately? Chocolate-covered cinnamon bears

You have never? Scuba-dived

You never want to? Skydive

4th of July weekend

We had a great time on the 4th, except that daddy was working and couldn't join us. We drove to Grandma's and Grandpa's in Provo where we had a yummy barbeque. 2 of my sisters were able to be there, including one who lives out of state. It was great to see her and her two adorable little girls. We set off our little package of fireworks, and watched fireworks from the Stadium of Fire on a neighbor's front lawn.

On the 5th, we went swimming in G & G's neighbor's backyard pool. L and D are so funny, they think they are big swimmers when they have life-vests on. D was fearless--he went off the diving board (into Grandpa's arms), and down the slide. L went down the slide, as long as Grandpa was there to catch him before he went underwater. We also took my nieces swimming...M, who is 2; and C, who is 7 mos. They were cute as could be in the pool! My M was daring, too--she did front flips off the diving board, and practiced her dives.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera for this trip. I'm waiting for K to email me the pictures she took...*hint* *hint* ^_^

I'll probably be going back to Provo again, next week. Grandpa has knee surgery scheduled this week, and Grandma hasn't been the same since her heart ablation, so I'm thinking they'll need some help.

Hooked...

So, last week we got a Wii...and I have to admit, I'm addicted. Well, everyone in the family is. Mario Kart is a favorite, and it's fun to beat each other up in boxing, but you should see/hear us on Rock Band! I'm sure the neighbors have heard how awful we are! It's great fun, though, making fools of ourselves!