Happy Halloween!

Last night started the first of the 3 Nights of Halloween trick-or-treat treat this year. We had a ward Halloween party complete with a chili/soup dinner, a carnival for the kids (where they got really cool glow-in-the-dark bracelets!), and then some trunk-or-treating. We got the boys all dressed up in their costumes, Wyan the Wion and Ben the Great Pumpkin! They did fantastic trick-or-treating and said thanks to everyone. Ben exclaimed somewhere in the middle of the trick-or-treating, "I love Halloween!" And Paul reported that as he buckled Ryan in to go home that Ryan told him, "Trick-or-treating is awesome!" They're both very excited to go again tonight. I told Ryan as I put him to bed, "Tomorrow is Halloween!" And he said, "Again?!" So I had to explain that last night was the fake Halloween and today is the real Halloween.

We usually go to Grandma's ward trunk-or-treat every year on Halloween night so that's the plan this year. And Saturday night (I know, weird) the Cosmo Kid's Club is doing their Halloween party on BYU's campus for kids club members.....which (naturally) my kids are. And Ryan is so excited about trick-or-treating with Cosmo that we'd really let him down if we don't take him. So that's it, 3 nights in a row of trick-or-treating!

Happy Birthday Mom!

This is MY MOM! Today is her birthday and I just thought I'd let everyone know what a great mom she is! She has been a huge support to me throughout my life as well as a great roommate, a personal/spiritual advisor, a fun grandma, and most of all a best friend! She is incredibly talented and has always been a wonderful example to me of faith, hard work, endurance, and love.

I love you, Mom!

Sorry!

So I know it's been a very long time since I've posted. Sorry about that. (Side Note: Has anybody else noticed my posting habit? It goes 1, then 6, then 2, and then repeats all over again? That means next month should be a good month! (Well, that's when I was only thinking I'd have one post for this month. I guess I kind of messed that up since now there are/will be officially 4 from this month.) Anyway, we've been busy, busy, busy between Cub Scouts, Enrichment, (I'm both Wolf Den Leader and Enrichment Leader in our ward. It makes for some busier moments for sure.) and Halloween! And preparing for Mom's visit and this weekend we're helping Lissa move..... Anyway, busy is good, I really do get more done, I think.
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So for the last couple of weeks Paul & I have made a goal that I get up with him every morning so we can read some scriptures together before he goes to work. It started of pretty well and then a week into it, his schedule got changed and now he's going in half an hour earlier...7:00 instead of 7:30. Which wouldn't be such a big deal if it wasn't already hard enough for me to get up at 6:45; now it has to be 6:15! But even through the schedule change I have continued to get up with him and I must confess, even though it's hard for me (anyone who knows me well knows I'm not much of a morning person), I actually like it....sort of. Tuesday, Paul, trying to be considerate, allowed me to sleep in and to be honest, I kind of wished I'd gotten up. I told him thanks for the thoughtfulness but I think in the future I'd prefer he just get me up! And I meant it!!.....I KNOW! If I have a night where I really just don't sleep well, I'd still prefer to get up and then just take a nap later. It's only been about 2 weeks I've been doing this but it really has made a difference for me. I've been able to take time after Paul leaves (and if I'm lucky, before my boys are up but most of the time now Ryan gets up to see Daddy off in the morning) to read scriptures personally and really take time for personal prayers in the mornings. It took less time than I thought for my spirit to adjust to that....now if I could just get my body to adjust!
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This month Ryan and Ben have been watching a lot of home videos from when he was born, birthdays, Halloween and Christmas last year, and just random recordings. It's been so much fun to watch how much they've progressed and how much they enjoy watching the younger versions of themselves. They will watch them over and over and over again and never get tired of them! I'm so thankful we took the money when we had it to invest in such a worthy toy. I will always be able to treasure the memories we make as a family and they've meant more to me than I ever thought they would have.
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Thus far this year we've been able to take the boys to 3 BYU football games. It's been fun but it's a lot of work at the same time. I'm really embarrased to say though that 2 of the three times I had my camera on me and I didn't get any pictures. I'm still learning to be in the habit of taking pictures. Anyway, we took the boys to one game with Grandma & Papa and then two games with Kendra & Graham. Ryan did awesome! He sang the fight song everytime we scored and appeared to have fun. Ben on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed the stadium and the experience, but wasn't as big a fan for sitting for 3-4 hours straight. At the first game we took him to, by half-time he was done. I took him down to get something and he refused (and I mean reFUSED) to go back up to the seats. So we walked up and down the ramps the entire second half of the game. For his second game, I was able to convince him to stay for 3 quarters before we walked the ramps, and then the third game I was able to keep him in the bleachers the whole game. I think he had the most fun at that game too because he actually danced and sang the fight song when we scored and was more attentive that time. I had a camera (thanks to Kendra) for that game but then the batteries died before I could get his little dance recorded. Oh well, there's always next year!
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In other news, Lissa and Nate came and hung out with us Sunday night and that was fun. I figured since she's supposed to be having a baby any minute now that we'd better have them over one more time before we probably won't get to see them down this way for awhile. So we ate chicken & rice (or as my family has always called it "Sunday Chicken") and then played Settlers of Zarahemla. I've never been very lucky in that game because I always manage to position myself on numbers that just don't get rolled very often. It can be a lengthy game but Nate was apparently positioned perfectly in the first game because that one lasted, what, 20 minutes, I think? And he beat us so bad I don't think anyone else had more than 2 points by the time he won. The second game took a little longer and was more of an actual challenge. Lissa & I both made it down to the end and were tied right before going out...Fortunately for me, due to Lissa's over-development (she didn't have anymore cities that she could place which would have won her the game) I was able to pull off my first win ever in the game! It was very exciting! I later learned I may have made a somewhat shady deal so I'll have to be more careful next time, but I considered it part of my strategy....and it worked!
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Other than that, I'm sure there are several little things throughout the month I probably said I needed to blog about but since I never did it, I probably don't remember what half, if any, of those instances are. I really do want to make sure I don't miss the special little things that make day-to-day life so enjoyable (my boys are SO FUNNY!!), and I've received some rather pointed comments for not blogging enough, so I will make a renewed effort to blog more. Please forgive me.

Lots Going On

I tried to post this over a week ago and something went awry, but here it is now:
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So it's been awhile since I've posted. There have been several little things where I've thought, hey! I need to write that down, only to continue NOT writing things down. I've put a few things in my MSN quote bar but then forgotten to type them down somewhere else so I don't even know if I remember all those funny little quotes.
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I do remember one though. It was a couple of weeks ago and Ryan asked Ben, "Ben, can I get you some water?" I thought it was so thoughtful of Ryan to ask Ben if he could serve him. And Ben's excited reply, "Yes!" was nice since he doesn't always want his big brother's help. But I had to laugh after that when Ryan then said, "Mommy, can you get Ben and me some water, please?" Yeah, serve his brother indeed. I guess he follows the sentiment, it's the thought that counts.
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Oh! & I just remembered the other funny quote I put up there of Ben's. Ben was being unreasonably emotional one day, throwing tantrums left and right and so I threatened him with a nap if he couldn’t get himself under control. "I'm going to put you to bed if you can't calm down." The threat only made him more upset. And then after a few moments of me not paying attention to him (trying to give him time to calm down) he started yelling, “Put me to bed! Put me to bed!” I willingly complied and he was happy to be put down. He took a long nap too!
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We really have had a quite a bit going on. I don't know if I mentioned that Paul & I are the new Wolf Den leaders in our ward. Wow! Talk about a challenge. Seven (it was EIGHT but one recently moved) active little 8 yr old boys! Last week Paul had a conference in Park City for his work and was there for a couple of nights so I got to do cub scouts all by myself Wednesday night. I thought about cancelling but knew that wouldn't really be fair to the boys. Instead I got one of the parents to join me and then we went over some requirements that would help most of the boys accomplish yet another "achievement" for a bead, that much closer to earning their Wolf. I was nervous about Paul not being there but it worked out pretty well. I put together a "Utah State Flag Pop Quiz" for the boys of 10 questions pertaining to things on the flag so that we could learn about the Utah state flag and they were awarded three pieces of candy corn for every answer they got right. I actually gave them the quiz before we went over any of the answers but they still did surprisingly well! Overall, I really think it was one of our more successful activities. The boys payed pretty good attention--well, better than usual anyway-- and I think they may actually remember some of it.....maybe not but it still went well.
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We've been attending BYU football home games and they've been a lot of fun. We took the boys with us to the last two and go figure, I had the camera and don't think I even got any pictures.....oh well, it's not like I don't have enough pictures of my boys with BYU football! Paul & I decided that we're not so sure if we could continue to be season ticket holders though because it takes up so much of the day. Two games a year (which is what we averaged before this year) was about enough for us. We really enjoy watching the games at home with friends and family. We'll see what happens though. We're not against the idea entirely for future years, we just think it may be better to wait until children are grown and they can enjoy it better too.
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So far we've been visited by the "Phantom Ghost" twice this year which was fun. There's a cute little poem attached to a plate of goodies from an unseen stranger and in turn, it becomes your turn to be the Phantom Ghost for someone else. That was fun. It's made Halloween a little more fun this year.
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Honestly, I've got a LOT on my mind right now but my thoughts are very unorganized....I just figured it's been awhile since I posted so I should probably post something. Sorry it's nothing exciting. I'll be getting back on track soon.

"Spank 'im! Spank 'im!"

So sometimes we let the boys trade beds (Ryan in the crib and Ben in Ryan's bed) because they think it's such a privilege. It's kind of funny because Ryan loves to sleep in the crib now! He couldn't wait to get out of it originally and now he loves any chance he gets to sleep in it. Anyway, the problem with allowing them to trade is that Ben will sometimes get out of bed because he can! (He hasn't yet figured out how to get himself safely out of the crib.)

After putting the boys in bed for the third time or so, Ben got out again. As I chased him back into the room I heard Ryan from the crib telling me, "Spank 'im! Spank 'im! Spank 'im, Mommy! Spank 'im!" It was so funny because there was a big smile in his voice as he said it! And since I hadn't spanked either of them the first, second, or third times, he really had no reason to think I would spank Ben this time. (.....I just kept threatening they'd have to sleep in their own beds again.) I asked Ryan why I should spank Ben and with a big wicked grin he explained something to the effect of because he got out of bed when you told him not to!

I don't really know why he thought it would be funny but I did notice a mischievious "older brother" look in his eye, trying to get his younger brother in trouble. I didn't spank Ben. I was laughing too hard on the inside because I could tell it wasn't really out of malice, just mischief. Of course on the outside I was letting him know it wasn't very nice to try and get his brother in trouble. I'm sure this is only the beginning so I'll have to be much smarter about how I discipline them both so that Ryan will be less desirous to see his brother punished!

Way to Go, Ben!

So since last year Paul & I have been taking the boys with us to the KSL Cougar Coach's call-in show that they broadcast live from various car dealerships in Utah valley. They usually have hamburgers & hot dogs and then you can win various prizes too! Until last night, Paul & I had always entered ourselves into the raffle but never our boys. However, after last week's show (where they raffled off several pairs of tickets to the first game) we determined that if our boys were old enough to have to buy a ticket to get into games, they should be old enough to win tickets to get into the games! I mean, they're already helping to pay for everything and we have, on average, already taken them to at least two games a year for the last 2 years! So last night, Ryan's & Ben's names got put in and Ben's name got picked! He won a really nice jersey! He was pretty excited about it!

Okay, so it's a little big...just give him a few years! Ben saying "Touchdown!"
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When I took Ben up there to claim his prize, the "Voice of the Cougars" Greg Wrubell, the host of the radio show, made a joke about how the winners need to be potty-trained to qualify. I could see they were slightly hesitant (only slightly) to let him win but I let them know, "Hey! He's old enough that we have to buy him a ticket to get into games!" And they laughed and said well okay, and just kind of laughed it all off, making the comment to everyone that being potty-trained was a requirement for all winners present.

Incidentally--this is the part I didn't tell everyone at the dealership--just five minutes prior to the drawing, Ben forced me to take him to the bathroom because, "I want to potty-train, Mommy!" No joke! Those were his exact words! And then he actually did go potty on the toilet! Maybe his timing was inspired! Funny, huh?

We've now got the jersey hanging on the wall in their room....We're kind of thinking maybe next year at the Cougar Kick-off we could get Max Hall (QB) to sign it since it's his number!

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Backtracking.....August 7, 2008

**Here's Ben getting ready to blow out his candles.....again! Later that evening, Ryan was already in bed and Paul & I sang "Happy Birthday!" to Ben all over again, let him blow out the candles another couple times, and then let him have another small piece of cake. It was fun! Kind of like our own secret little party! Ben got a chance to play with his toys for a little bit too without any interruption from his big brother!!**

Benjamin is 2!! I can't believe it's already been a full two years since he joined our little family! He's grown so much and so fast! He's very smart and doesn't have the slightest problem telling you whatever it is that's on his mind. He's quite articulate for barely turning 2. I'm sure having Ryan to converse with has helped speed up his vocabulary progress. I think that's the part of Ben that has always amazed me! His ability to communicate so clearly at such a young age, whether it be through words or body language. He is very good at conveying his thoughts and feelings to others whenever he chooses and is very rarely at a loss for the correct words.
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Ben's personality was fairly slow to reveal itself. He has always been very much in control of his thoughts and emotions. I remember as a baby, about 3 months, we would always try to tickle him to get him to laugh but when he didn't want to laugh, no amount of trying on our part could crack him. I could literally see the determination in his face to hold back, not give in. I always thought it was so odd because it seemed like such a conscious effort on his part (I'm not gonna laugh! I'm not gonna laugh!) and yet he was so young. As he's gotten older, he's become much more prone to laughing and smiling but still, he exercises control over when. He won't just laugh at anything like his mommy does!
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Ben is not shy. He's not super outgoing either but he seems to trust most people Mom & Dad trust and although he can be reserved and observant before he likes to interact with people, he's not afraid to look a newcomer in the eye either.
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Ben LOVES his cars!! He loves BYU football and anything of that nature. He loves playing with his brother, although, there's still some learning going on in that area. He's still a cuddler! I love that about him! He still likes to cuddle up with a big blanket on my lap and just sit with me (and he still sucks his thumb). He's just learning to pray and is getting pretty good with the beginning and endings of prayers but still needs help in the middle. He's always very pleased with his accomplishments, frequently yelling, "I did it!" for putting something in the trash or putting a puzzle piece in place or singing a song or catching/throwing a ball, any little random thing that to him is such a big deal. I love his enthusiasm for his accomplishments! He's a good napper and still hasn't figured out how to climb out of the crib despite Daddy's efforts to teach him. (Don't ask me what Daddy's thinking even trying to teach him! I'm happy that he can't get out yet!!)
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In about July Ben started saying "I'm mad at you!" which I thought was pretty funny for some reason. He furrows his eyebrows as he says it or actually, sometimes all he does his furrow his eyebrows and give you a serious "mad" look but usually, even when he really is mad, if I do it back to him it becomes a game and then he can't do it without laughing. It's pretty funny.
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We held a family party for Ben and he made out pretty well! A car, a truck, a big dump truck, some shirts, a puzzle, and a couple of books!