young boys

Well since my last post was documenting life while having our young boys. Here's a few more. Heading up to Bountiful a few weeks ago... 3 out of 4 are zonked out sleeping. Made me laugh. Now if they would listen to their mother when I tell them to go to sleep at night or why they don't sleep in a little longer in the mornings, perhaps they wouldn't be so sleepy in the afternoons. One of the younger ones often falls asleep on "longer" drives.

Some updates on the boys:
Rafe loves giving me kisses, and they are always wet. He loves his red shoes and doesn't want new ones even though they have holes in them.
I took Rafe to the Dr. again today because he had all his tiny red rash bumps, which means he has strep again! Third time in the last few months. He had the saddest face when they said they had to swab his throat. He screamed, fought and cried. I had to hold him down. So then he hated the nurse and me. And wouldn't look at me or the Dr. he was being a little grouchy and mad at everyone for the pain he had to go through for the swab. But why does he keep getting it?

Creed stayed home from church sick yesterday and school today for a cold. He's been sleeping in his sleeping bag for over a week now. Just for fun. I need to put it away. What else, he really doesn't like his soccer coach. I'm kinda questioning him too, he's very strict and I think he treats them like they're teenagers who need discipline and not 8 year olds.

Jax played in his first baseball game tonight. They won! He is happy to have all new gear and everything. And he had 2 friends show up to see him. He was happy. He thinks he's all grown up. Then sometimes he'll cry over something ridiculous and we'll remind him how old he is. ;) Did I mention I fit into his cleats. Is that happening already?

Bodie is a silly one. He is moving right along in his reading books. I'm impressed. He gets all sweaty and hot when he plays video games. He wants to eat apples all day long. Like 2 a day. We've been putting "medicine" on his nails (he also thinks it has poison on it) to keep him from biting his nails so short. And it's working. I have to clip them now. Yay! I haven't done that for him in years. And his new thing is to fake cry and so we go to see what's wrong and he just busts up laughing thinking he's so funny. Oh boy.

Last thing to mention...

And over Easter weekend the cemetery placed my dad's headstone. And what a special time to do it. As we think of Christ and the Resurrection we also were able to remember dad. We took my mom and went and checked it out last week. My mom joked that it's kinda weird for her to see her name on the headstone as well. It looks good, and new compared to the others nearby. My boys liked seeing it. And liked the gold. Creed apparently was very interested as he's actually holding and playing w/ his ipod. Geesh. I kept telling Rafe and the others to not step right on it. And we had to remind Bodie about where grandpa is buried and to see how the grass is still settling. He thought the flowers on display a few spots away from a recent funeral was still g-pa's. Now they just need to look for the big "Williamsen" name.The end of this month marks 6 months since he passed away. Although sometimes it feels longer because he was "gone" well before that. We miss him, it's still weird to think he's not here anymore. The boys still talk about him or ask how I'm doing. They are funny. Rafe will see a picture or a family video of previous years of my dad and he will say something like "Grandpa wasn't dead there". I'll try and tell stories and memories over the years so the boys will feel that they know him a little and will recall memories or thoughts of him.
Well, now we will be ready for Memorial Day.

Date Night

Friday Night, Date Night! Ha! So we have a little joke that for our Friday night out on the town we take all 4 boys and go grocery shopping. We know how to live it up man. And the last few weeks I took a few pics of our Friday nights. Probably finally time to out grow the driving car cart. We hardly ever use those anymore and I usually refuse and say no. And then Rafe loves to get his own little cart to help collect items and this last Friday was special. We had 3 boys all get their own cart to help out. Jax was much too old and cool to do that. :) Lots of people smiled at us, I'm sure walking the isles with all the boys and all their carts was a sight to see. I wish we were orderly and single file, but it was more like chaos and bumper carts the whole time. Ugh. Fun nights for us. My favorite is when we get home, and finally get the boys in bed and Greg and I watch a movie. That's a real date!

I know one day we will go to the store for our Friday evening and the kids will all be able to stay at home or be out with friends. I'm kinda looking forward to that part. So I thought I'd document life with our little boys.

Easter Break

So Spring Break this year was over Easter weekend. Right in the middle of our break from school. The boys loved being out of school. We did some of nothing. Lots of lounging and relaxing. Some of the highlights were, a sleepover with the Williamsen cousins, eating too much and feeling sick from Chuck-a-Rama, playing at a park with friends, dinner in Alpine, Rafe's B-day, watching Conference, playing in the back yard, going to visit G-ma April and her newly finished & remodeled basement, watching movies and plenty of TV and video games. We only wish we'd get some of our warmer weather back. It was kinda chilly outside ya know.

Here are the few pictures that were taken.

Eggs, lots of eggs at our house. A wreath on our door of eggs, egg lights in the family room, egg garland in the window with another wreath of eggs, trees dangling eggs on 2 tables, and eggs from the chandelier.  No more Eggs!  We also colored Easter Eggs and I kept calm during it. :)

We thought about celebrating Rafe's b-day on Sunday as well as Easter. What a fun memory for him to do both on the same day that he will remember. But then I thought, it will be tricky and more special in the moment if we separate the celebrations. So with Rafe's b-day celebrated on Saturday, we had Sunday for Easter baskets in the morning, and then watching Conference all day and then dinner in Alpine.

Here's the boys finding their baskets. Bodie and Creed's were in cabinets, Rafe's under a desk, and Jax was the very last to find his again, hidden behind all the jackets. Rafe actually pointed it out to him. Immediately after I said not to of course.

Our traditional picture showing off their goodies. I want to write this down in hopes I remember, next year, I'm not going to buy as much candy. We'd all rather have "stuff". I didn't think I got that much, (I mean the Easter Bunny) but not too much was eaten, so we have lots left over. Rafe and Bodie have hardly touched it. I guess they don't have my sweet tooth. :)

Flying kites down in Alpine, Bodie is being silly and turned around and sat down for a "break" while flying his kite - up behind him in the air. He can be so funny.

The End

4 Rafe

 A very happy birthday to this kiddo! 

Rafe was lucky and celebrated all weekend. He shared his b-day with Easter this year, and that was a bit much for his mom to juggle around. So the easy way out was to have Rafe celebrate his 4th b-day on Saturday. We woke up, did presents. Which he picked almost all of them out himself. Since he knew what he was getting it wasn't as exciting for him opening them. So we'll probably not do that next time :), and then he played, he picked out his balloons, and we had his favorite, Hamburgers, for dinner w/ Grandma April and Amy &Karl. And finished off with an awesome dessert! He wanted a doughnut for his b-day cake. Boy oh boy did we have doughnuts! A few days later and we are still eating them. Probably, only because with all the Easter candy as well everyone's sweet tooth is in over drive and kinda sugared out.

 Then... on Sunday we did Easter and still wished him an actual happy day. Dinner at Greg's parents in Alpine and singing and blowing out more candles. We flew kites in the park. He was so excited to do that. He still asks if he gets anymore presents. I told him at preschool this week when he goes back after spring break we'll celebrate again for him. He's loving it.

When Rafe was born and I was pondering thoughts on him being my last child. My last baby. I remember thinking, gosh, he'll be like a 4 year old boy running around before I know it. Secretly hoping time would slow down. And now here he is, my baby, a big boy 4 year old!

This picture was his blessing day when he was 2 months old.

I feel like I mention him quite a bit here on the blog. He's with me all day, he loves being with me. He can be so funny and sweet and cute. And I've said it before, he can also be a nightmare, for lack of a better word. Boy he has a temper and throws tantrums and is mean and mad. But, he is the youngest of 4 boys. He has 3 older brothers that don't let him do things and sees what they do and learns how to act from them I'm sure. Ha! In fact today he got mad at Creed (for good reason) and Creed now looks like he got attacked by a cat on the face and neck. Everyone else thinks he is such a sweet well behaved little angel. His school teachers and Primary teachers just adore him. I am glad he is that way for others. Now to encourage that at home or when it's time for me to take him on errands with me. :)  But I sure do love my little Rafey Pafey. He is a smart one. He loves laughing, always wants to eat, loves playing video games with his brothers. He's super tall for his age. He's good at going to bed, he loves doing his "goals' on the computer (learning, games, and music stuff). And when he gets sick or gets a cough, he sure gets a cough man. Hoping he out grows it. Bodie is starting to grow out of it as well.

Anyways, he is so happy to be 4 now. And I am not.  :)

The Famous Derby!

 I am so glad the Elders Quorum in our church ward took it upon themselves to organize a Pinewood Derby, and have the cub scouts be a part of it. I was sad and worried that Jax would leave cub's and never would have done the famous Pinewood Derby. Phew, both Jax and Creed were able to participate. And...

Jax won first place!! Creed was like #'s 6 - 10 it was all with-in hundreds of a second, like a bunch of "ties". Greg helped them with their cars, he studied some you-tube video's on how to make a fast car. And I helped a little with design and then the painting of them the way the boys wanted. It was weeks of anticipation. They were so excited. There were about 14 scouts participating and then about another 14 "non-scouts" like the EQ dad's and even a few daughters. They had 2 winner categories and the company we rented the race track from was very efficient. So many races, all lanes, and the average speed out of 3 tries all computerized.

Here's the boys watching and showing the cars. Blurry pictures from my phone, but we also have video footage that they will love watching. Rafe sat on the side-lines and watched all the racing. The other 3 literally stood the whole time watching and waiting.

The racers were able to wait at the end of the track to retrieve their cars after the race and take them to the top for the next run. I love Creed's hands to his face nervous look. And the last final round where Jax was cheering on his car. We actually didn't know if he would get 2nd, or 3rd place, but he announced 1ST! We were all so excited! And the last pic he is getting his lame prize. He really wanted a trophy or something. But nadda.

Good times, fun night, classic Pinewood Derby Race! So glad they got to be a part of it.

 I remember very well going to my brother's Derby's growing up. And my dad helping them with their cars. Even if one was in the mail the night of the event and we had to weigh it down with taped on money! It's such a fun event for everyone, I hope. And Greg was happy and validated that his precise efforts worked in a winning car! I love knowing they will have happy memories like this. That is all.

7 boys

 Lots of boys. Last week on our early out day of school we took a visit to Fashion Place Mall to see the Lego Roadshow exhibit. It was fun. We went with the boys friends the Gasik's. Their boys are the same ages as our boys. They have 4 boys and we have 4. But they are lucky and also have a girl, she's the oldest. She and their baby weren't there. Anyways, it was fun to walk around and visit with Amy Gasik (the mom) while the boys played and visited too. We had to keep counting heads to make sure we had all the boys in tow. The Liberty Bell was our favorite. Lots of texture and detail. Although the huge biggest one was impressive, the Nation's Capital building. And then they built and raced Lego's for a while.

And Rafe was so delighted this morning as he waved out the window at Creed and all the 2nd graders walking past our house while on a field trip to Wasatch Jr. high for a play. And it was even more exciting a few hours later when we got home with Bodie and they passed by again on the way back and both boys got to run out and greet them and hug Creed and say hi. I think Creed was the only one to pass their own house. He thought it was pretty cool too.

Garbage

Rafe can always be found on Monday's, garbage day, on the couch looking out the window to watch the garbage truck and even the recycle truck go up and down our street and then the street down across from our house. A little boy's dream. He'll be the first to tell me if the truck made the empty can fall over or not. And if he's in another room and hears the truck, he'll come running to the window to see it.

I appreciate how Jax and now Creed usually always bring our cans from the street back up to the house. And then they always do Mary's (old lady across the street) cans too.

Changing topics...

And after watching "baby Rafe" - home movies of his 1st b-day. Rafe said he wanted it to be his birthday. I told him it would be in less than a month. Then I said, " I don't want you to turn 4". He said matter-of-factly, "Too bad, I will".

Four sounds so much older than three. I don't want my baby to be four yet!

Russian Night

Not because we really love Russia right now but, for the past several years we have a "Russian" dinner night. It started a few years ago, because there happened to be 4-5 people in our ward who all served their missions in Russia (like Greg) or near and knew the language and loved the food and our friends hosted and started it. We "outgrew" their place so now we have it at our house. It's fun and the food ain't too bad. Of course everyone always brings and prepares their favorite "good" food. There's always Plov (yummy rice/chicken dish), Borscht (yummy beat soup) we always do Pelmeni with Smetana (like a homemade sausage ravioli and Russian sour cream) and lots of other things, breads, desserts sometimes - but they all say Russian desserts suck and aren't good anyways. 

I love how on the annual dinner Greg hangs his Russian flag from his mission, which is actually the old Soviet flag because he's that old. Ha ha - we are always teasing him. And he on occasion he has to say "it wasn't like that when I was there." But it's fun hearing them talk about the horrible living conditions, their nasty water, mission rules, things they'd see or eat or not allowed to eat. And boy have I learned a lot. I also appreciate that Jax loves it and is learning it too. He remembers who brought what food from the year before and he knew what Borscht was. A little culture is good for everyone. In the picture you see some of us, the Mildon's and Hall's. Good company and surprisingly good food. I would write something Russian, but that's a joke. I don't even think I could get my computer to type out anything in that difficult language. Good job to Greg for keeping up his Russian over the years.

Things

 Things I want to remember about now...

I took Bodie and Rafe both back to the Dr. because they both have not "beat" their infections. Bodie's thumb was swelling again, and he bit his toe, so that was also infected. He'd had a fever and was not himself. And Rafe's red bumps were back (strep), so they both were on round 2 of antibiotics. Ugh. Crossing our fingers that they both heal up.

Melaluca. Miracle oil # 2  I tell ya. For me, it has cleared up some blotches, pimples I've had for months, my adult acne and monthly break outs are pretty much gone. And for the younger 2 boys it has helped with their Molluscum Contagiosum (viral skin infection, causes all these little bumps on their arm pit and torso) and they are looking much better.

Rafe was able to fall asleep in church a few weeks ago... And the other half of the bench I'm sure provided entertainment for everyone around us. Kids and afternoons trying to hold still and be quiet just don't work very well. Why can't they keep their hands off each other and do things quietly during church? One day...

And we have Rafe's blonde hair back again after Greg chopped his hair short finally. Yeah!

Rafe saying, "not just yet" for when he's letting me know something. Or how proud he is about being able to use and scroll around with the remote to the TV. Or how he calls the cereal Honey Bunches of Oats, "Hunchy Hunchy n Boats".
 
And how Rafe literally jumps around all day. I call him my jumping bean. If he's watching something, he's jumping. When he's playing, he jumps. If he's asking for something or waiting, he jumps, jumps, jumps.

We all love playing games with Rafe. He has his own silly rules and we all laugh at how he "tries" to play. Candyland and Chutes & Ladders & Slides (as he calls it) will never be the same.

Bodie and Rafe love to play "I Spy with my little Eye" together. It never gets old for them.

I love how smart Creed is. For playing piano he moves along in the piano book quickly while we wait for Jax to catch up. He is speedy in his timed math and is one of the top in his class, he always gets 100 percent on his spelling tests, he's a good reader and is trading books with Jax.

Now if we can just get Creed to sit, listen, and stop talking in class, it would sure make his teachers happy. He is a good kid, they love him in class but often have to remind him to stay on task.

I love finding random pictures on my phone that Rafe has taken.

The movie Hitari! You know, with John Wayne. It's the best. I made Greg watch it and then the boys started watching it and LOVED it, they kept asking to watch more. It's a long one and we'd only watch a bit at a time. What boy wouldn't love to watch Rhino's and Monkey's in Africa be captured. They loved, loved, loved the baby elephants too.

How Jax is still working on his slight lisp with the "S" sound in Speech at school, Creed sometimes sounds like he's British, Bodie is still in speech to help with his annunciation and so we can understand what the heck he is saying, and Rafe sometimes sounds like he's from Brooklyn or Boston or somewhere. What is up with them?!

what else...

How Jax will only wear "skinny" jeans.

Creed still hasn't learned how to tie his own shoes. -He just never unties them.

Jax going up and helping Bodie recite the scripture in primary instead of me or a leader helping him.

When Bodie says his prayers he always says "bless the angels". He started doing that after my dad passed away. 

How the world ends when I ask Jax or Creed to load the dish washer. I'm trying to teach them to do it my way. There are a lot of things I need to start teaching my children instead of me just doing it all, ya know.

Creed telling me and started crying how another kid at school tricked him into saying the "F" word and how bad and mad and sad he felt. We cheered him up and made him ok.

I love going skiing with the boys. Bodie learning and doing well. I'm sure tiring for Greg but he is glad to do it. (me, Bodie, Creed, and Jax a few weeks ago)

Driving home this past Tuesday from dropping Bodie off at school and seeing this blizzard approaching our neighborhood. -then 30min. later driving home again from dropping off Rafe at school as the storm hit. And I love having a 4wheel drive that can get me around in weather like this, passing cars on the side of the road. Phew.

I love this picture. Blurry, yes. But so fun. This family of mine is so great. Sure there is lots of fighting, yelling, disobeying, and certainly rowdy boys. But also, hugging, wrestling, helping, laughing, and bonding.

Bodie

This Bodie boy I tell ya! Today he had his Children's Dance Theater program at school. His kindergarten class did some moves for us. And they even had the parents go and join them at the end. He had a great time.

Greg and I have often been wondering where our extremely shy boy has gone? His shyness is no more I tell ya. There are moments, sure, but the kid is not the same little boy. I tell Greg that he's a mini-Greg. He is a goof ball. He volunteers for things, he likes to have fun and be silly - in front of people. His laugh is outrageous. He has totally come out of his shell. Gone are the days of clingy-ness, refusing to leave me to go into school, or primary, or someone else's car. He is a brave one now.

I am amazed with Bodie. Finally he is reading better and better. He's further along than I thought he'd be this year in school. We just had his parent/teacher conference and he really is doing so great. He's come a long way since September. I figured it would be an option to keep "the door open" on us holding him back another year so he will be the oldest in his grade instead of the youngest. But he has improved by leaps and bounds. A part of me wishes I knew we'd wait another year for 1st grade. But now I don't know, and have a feeling he will not wait and move right into the 1st grade this fall.

With some things, he definitely needs improvement and needs to learn and grow. But all his scores have increased, his teacher is surprised and happy as well with what he's doing now.  He is really bright. He's just so young for kindergarten, that's all. We were impressed when he played the game "Memory" and remembered everyone, unlike the rest of us. I was proud and didn't realize he could do that. Great memory. And he can give his older brothers some strong competition in video games.

Greg says we have underestimated him. I suppose I have to agree. I do just want whats best for him. I worry too much. And he is always on my mind. Always observing in his class, comparing to his peers, talking with Greg about my fears and observations with Bodie. There are still areas that truly concern me. I just want to know what the decision is and know it is right. It stresses me out. And I want to remember our thoughts and feelings about Bodie and school and his age. Then I can compare it to when he graduates from high school. Ha!