Art Night

I wanted to document my full time job. Ha ha. I kid. But man, it feels like a full time job. I was on the Art Night committee at the boys school again this year. I was in charge of all the art getting displayed and hung in the school to be our museum. We had 1,600+ pieces to be hung on the walls. What a task. I luckily had a lot of people helping. It takes a team. I was organized and worked it out and that week of, everything got up and looked great I might add! I was at the school everyday and spent lots of time. Bodie and Rafe were troopers and even had lunch at the school with their brothers one day. I caught a picture of Rafe giving Jax a karate chop massage. And then one photo with one of the boys projects. Bodie's pretending to sleep, Jax is pointing to 2, and Creed wasn't smiling because his sun/moon was kinda morbid. The one to the side of his arm. It might have stood out from all the others. :)

The night of, I only captured a few pics with Jax. He hung around the whole time with his friends. And even rode his bike through the school as we were leaving. Don't tell. And he and Creed won like 5 bags of Beanie Babies (stuffed animals). So we have like 2 dozen little animals that the boys are hoarding. I did check them to see if selling them would be a nice profit, but not worth the time I think. And I also did 2 class projects for the auction. Bodie's Kindergarten class painted our rocking chair I donated and then I helped some 3rd grade class with their art and took a photo with their hands shaped in a heart. They both made some good money.

The whole evening was a success. Thousands of dollars was made and helps fund our art program and art teacher. I loved art and thinks it's so important for the kids to learn and do art as well.

Bo's tonsils no more

 Bodie boy has always had enlarged tonsils. This winter was the first he seemed to really be bothered by them. He said he couldn't swallow his food very well. And of course sometimes he would snore. And we didn't want sleep apnea to develop or anything. They weren't going down in size so we scheduled to have them removed.

Several weeks later we were chatting and come to find out our niece Lucy was having hers out the same day, same hospital, and the exact same Dr.!! Talk about a small world. 

Monday the 4th came and we took Bodie to Primary Children's Hosp. He was nervous. In fact he would request that we "just don't talk about it" with him for the weeks leading up to it. He was good and brave until they took him down the hall to leave us. He cried and hugged me. It made my mom heart so sad for him. But he said he remembers breathing in his bubble gum flavor and then woke up. He was sad and weepy when  he woke up. It took us a bit to get him ready to go home. To wake up enough and get enough oxygen, etc.  We tried to see if we could visit his cousin Lucy too, how cool of a picture to have with family doing the same as us. But we were in different areas and it didn't work out.

The top 2 pics are before. Happy silly Bodie. And the bottom 2 are after. Drugged, pain, no silly going on.

We took him home, got all of our medicine for him and then my mom (who was babysitting the other boys for us) took Greg to the airport! Yep, he had a business trip and was gone all week. While I tirelessly tended to Bodie, by myself. And boy, this was quite the recovery for Bodie. He doesn't like pain. We did the 2 hr. medicine rotation. And he had all the soft foods you can think of. I was up in the nights giving medicine. He missed almost 2 weeks of school. When the 7-10 day mark came with the scabbing, he was in more pain and it lasted for 14 days!!

His voice is different. They said it should go back to normal. It's higher and he sounds different. I think he actually isn't speaking as clearly either. 

Oh and to make it worse, right before surgery he got a cold. His cold was short and went away. But with our younger boys it always brings their asthma coughs. So we took him to the Dr. to get his steroid so he could have the surgery. I can think of nothing worse than coughing while recovering from a tonsillectomy.  But it cleared up, so we did the surgery. Then it kinda came back on day 2 after! Ah! So we did more steroid and got it under control.

While he was on all his meds the first week - he was so EMOTIONAL! It was weird. Everything would make him cry. We would all be puzzled at why he was crying and kinda have to laugh. So we ended the narcotic (which I wish I would have saved it for the scabbing week) and then one night he woke up freaking out and crying in pain. He was holding his ear and some stuff was seeping out so we assumed he had ruptured his ear drum. And the next morning, we find out that his ears are perfect and perhaps the ear pain is just from the adenoids. 

All I know is, it's done. Thank goodness. It was rough. It was a looooooooooong 14 days!

Poor Bodie going through all that recovery. He played hours and hours of video games. Like I mean hours! I feel bad, but it took his mind off of it and he loves playing and I let him do whatever he wanted. Ice cream for breakfast sometimes too. :)

stuff as of late

 March came and went, with a lot of lion in there. Boy we've had quite the spring snow storms. And we've been able to finally get some skiing done. Creed and I on the Cecret lift at Alta with Jax and Greg and Bo behind us. Then our family (minus Rafe) Bodie is happy he can do it on his own now and gets to use poles. That's like a right of passage or something for them? So proud is he. And Jax is super proud that Greg took him on his first Black Diamond run. I probably won't ever do that. :)

Speaking of skiing... Rafe is doing it now too! We put him in some spring preschool lessons at Brighton. He picked it right up. He was ready to ski. He was loving it. And then, they took the clips off his ski's. And he struggled to keep his legs together. Pulled some muscles and was discouraged that he couldn't do it like the week before. But he's got this. Maybe a refresher next winter then we will all be skiing together. Isn't my baby boy cute?

What else have we been up to? The boys discovered the fun childhood game of MASH. So I showed them how I did it and they had some fun and good laughs seeing who they marry and where they live, etc. I mentioned the tea party with cousins, there they are with their minions they made. And Rafe's asthma cough just won't go away. We had some x-rays done of his chest to rule out pneumonia and things. He is good, just a forever lingering cough that the steroids won't take care of. Ugh. But he sure loved seeing his skeleton!

 We had Greg's Bangerter cousins party at our house. We did some karaoke! Then lots of big snowflakes during one of the many snowstorms, so glad I have a car that can "do" snow. Jax forgot he had (another) talk to give in primary. So minutes before we chatted about what he can maybe say, and he got up and was "winging it" giving his talk. Everyone was impressed. I'm glad he's like his dad and can just speak in front of everyone with no fear. I played a women's basketball tournament with our stake and region. It was fun, but both games I jammed my ring finger on both my hands. One turned all black and blue, and still is hurting and healing. And boy some women play to the death! Geesh! But I had lots of fun playing again. And the last picture is of little Rafe who fell asleep one afternoon. Jax put a blanket on him because they were playing and a few minuets later, he was out cold.

Ha ha, I also mentioned a naked dance party. I had to capture silly Bodie jammin on a guitar while sporting his undies pulled up to show some cheek!  He is a wild character. Takes after his father! Silliness!

And I've been getting lots of movies from the Library. This week while Greg was out of town I watched The Man From Snowy River and Return to Snowy River. I was worried the boys would think they are too slow. But they loved them! I had to explain things as we went along but it was fun stuff. And I took this picture last night of them playing horses like in Snowy River. Fun boys!

 

Rafe my baby!

 All about our Rafey Pafey. From the moment he was born, here in the hospital he was welcomed by all this brothers. They have loved on him ever since. The baby of the family is always "babied" right?

I'm glad he still loves to sit on my lap and be with me all the time. I can see that having him be so "clingy" is a good way for me to hold on a little to the baby years.

His blessing day in June, about 2 months old. He was our little old man baby. Skinny, bald, even some pimples, he was long and growing even more into a cutie pie.

Oh he was so darling. I miss my baby so much! Rafe was almost 5 months old in the picture below. Seeing all these baby pictures kinda hurts my heart a little ya know. I still can't believe he is already 5. The baby of the family. My last one. I knew he'd grow up, but man it happened fast! Enjoy it while you can. Truly. Because now I have no babies or toddlers and he's 5, almost done with preschool! That means he's a big boy. All I have are big kids and boys! I'm trying to embrace the next phase of motherhood. But gosh, it's hard to only have memories of my babies. My cute toddlers, the cute voices, all that is gone and now we get to look forward to other things. A little more freedom will be nice. We're bracing for the teenage years while trying to enjoy the childhood years.

Here he is at 18 months. Oh his blonde blonde hair! It's totally getting darker now. At least he's still my blue eyed boy. He, Creed and I all have blue eyes. The other half of the fam has brown. 

 4 1/2 years old. Gosh we love him! He's a charmer! And he can still be a non-charmer. Ha! Boy he has happy moments and then jumps to sad or angry temper filled moments. Sometimes we steer clear of him. He loves preschool, loves being with mommy, loves cereal, jumping and running around the family room playing whatever is in his imagination, playing with his brothers, he's learning to read, he's a smart kid. He's always surprising me with what he knows. He has a great memory and loves watching family home movies of him and us. I'm sure I've mentioned all this about him before. And he's into Super hero's like Superman, Avengers, Transformers, and all things boy.

Greg says "Rafe is spirited! He has a contagious laugh/cackle, a good snuggler, he's bright and smiley, and a quick learner."

We love our baby Rafe!

Rafe's B-day Celebrations

 Rafe turned the big 5 years old! We celebrated quite a bit too. First he had his friend party. When our boys turn 5 they get one. He has been waiting and counting down the days until his party and until his actual b-day. He would ask for the calendar the last few months to check. So glad it finally came. He is persistent I tell ya. He wanted to have a superhero party.

Jax, Creed, and Bodie were to be my helpers during the party. Greg was working from home and was going to help when he can, but that didn't really happen. And the boys weren't quite as helpful as I wanted. But, thank goodness my mom offered to come help for the party too. She seems to always be there to help during these 5 year old things. :) It went better than I thought. It wasn't too wild or crazy with so many little kids. In fact it seemed kinda quiet and mellow. Everyone seemed to have a good time and enjoyed the games. We did our usual "fishing for prizes" game, pin the "S" on Superman, opening presents, and we ended with Creed and I doing balloons of puppies, giraffe's, swords, and hats.

 Rafe is a quiet and shy child, well, around other people. And when it came time for all eyes on him while we sang and he blew out candles I don't think he was a fan of that. Ha! You can see his face and the big stare down he had with the candles while blowing. I had to tell him to smile a little. Geesh.

Because Greg was leaving town we celebrated with him before he left. I made another cake, and he opened one present that Greg put together for him before he left. Lots of marble fun. The 9 year old brother might have enjoyed it the most. :)  And then the next day my mom and sis Amy were at our house because babysitting while we were at the hospital with Bodie getting his tonsils out. So we had a "little" party with them as well. And used the same left over cake. :) He opened more presents from them.

 And on his actual birthday, Greg was gone, and we were home bound with poor recovering Bodie. So we did the tradition of opening presents in the morning. (you can see Bodie laying on the couch) and Rafe was happy getting what he wanted. To dress up as his favorite Superman and Master Chief (from Halo- video game) So we've been putting these on and off all day long for days now. He wanted me to take pictures of him in costume to see his cape or see himself. He loves to look at the pictures of him on my phone. He's so funny.

This is a long post, so I'm going to talk about Rafe in the next post!

Our Easter

All week we reviewed day by day the last week of Christ's life and the resurrection. I love it, Rafe knew what day it was and made sure I remembered and stayed on top of it everyday for me to tell them about Christ. 

The Friday before my mom had one of her "tea parties" at her house. It was spring break and we had the other Williamsen cousins in town too! It's nice having Drew & Alecia live in Reno and within driving distance to visit more often. The kids had fun, eating, playing, Easter egg hunt, crafts, Creed and I did balloons, grandma W does it all!  (2 cousins were missing in the picture and 2 adult children joined in. He he.)

Saturday before we went skiing, came home to my sis Amy babysitting Rafe for us and we had dinner and colored our Easter Eggs and then had a little dance party which involved some clothes to be removed.

 Easter morning before church... finding their baskets that the one great female Easter bunny did completely on her own. Rafe's under the sofa table and luckily didn't melt any chocolate being by the heat vent all night (phew) Bodie's in a kitchen cupboard, Jax's hidden in the couch cushions downstairs and the very last with lots of hints and help Creed found his in the lower oven.

 Here's our boys all helping Creed search for his basket. I love the picture of them walking youngest to oldest, single file one after another. So funny. And my traditional Easter morning basket/loot picture. The Easter Bunny cut in half the amount of candy and stuff they got, and nobody seemed to notice. :)

After church Greg and I were standing in the kitchen and Jax was asking something about kissing and asked Greg and I to smooch a good one. So we did and I turned and looked at all of them gathered and looking at us. It was funny, so I told them to freeze and not move and I grabbed the phone to take a picture after re-enacting the kiss again for them. 

Then we had my family over for dinner and had some ham n'stuff. :) It was a nice Easter.