Signs of Spring, St. Patrick's Day

It's been awhile since I posted. About the time I would have posted last, Justin got sick, and then Benjy got sick, and then either the evening was busy or I was exhausted! 

Spring has been tiptoeing in over the last couple weeks. All the snow finally melted and the weather has been warm enough some days to get outside. This picture was taken a couple weeks ago on the first warmish day after the cold spell. Benjy found the first ladybug of the season while we were at the playground. A sign of spring for sure!

Emmie's teeth keep coming in. She now has her two upper front teeth and one lower front tooth, as well as an upper molar on either side. This picture was taken as the right top tooth was just coming through. I don't know which I love more- the tooth just peeking through or the fabulous yogurt beard.

Speaking of yogurt, that reminds me to post a few things about Benjy that I've been meaning to not forget. His favorite breakfast right now is yogurt with "gan-erla" (granola). He loves to do eenie-meenie-miney-mo anytime we're saying prayer to pick who gets to say it. He also calls me back into his room every night after I've tucked them in and turned out the light to ask, "What day is it tomorrow?" After I've told him and started to leave the room again, he calls me back to ask, "What day is it after that?" At that point I refer any further inquiries to the brother on the upper bunk or else I could be there all night.

I found this picture on my phone that Eli had taken from the backseat. 

And this selfie Benjy took on the sly. The boys aren't supposed to play with my phone but it seems they always find ways to get hold of it. "I just want to call Daddy..." 

 Last Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day, and I made green pancakes and green smoothies for breakfast.

Eli was very proud of his green mustache, which stayed on for all of five minutes.

Benjy looked delightfully impish in his green mustache and goatee. 

Last year we adopted the tradition of having corned beef, cabbage, and red potatoes on St. Patrick's Day. After we had dinner on Tuesday, Eli declared it was the best meal he had ever eaten and has been asking me when we are going to have "that delicious corned beef" again. Too bad you can only find it once a year.

On Wednesday, I made cinnamon rolls with the Activity Days girls. My co-leader had just had her baby so I asked another mom in the ward to come provide extra adult supervision. I brought the ingredients and my stand mixer to the church and showed the girls how to measure out the ingredients for the dough and mix it using the dough hook. We talked about ingredients as we went, and had a lively discussion about the yeast in particular. They liked the idea of tiny creatures having a warm bath in the milk. :) After the dough was mixed, we rolled out some dough I had premade since it requires an hour of rising and we didn't have that amount of time to wait. They had fun rolling it out and then spreading the butter and cinnamon sugar. While the rolls baked, they wrote cards to Shayla. It was a fun activity that hopefully taught the girls a useful skill they can use in their homes.

One afternoon the boys and I got under a big blanket on the couch and told stories during naptime. On our second round of storytelling, I recorded the boys, but I couldn't get the audio files to upload to this blog.

Cougars, Stories, Aliens, First Tooth

The other night before bed, I was wearing a BYU sweatshirt and Eli started asking me about the cougar on the front and then just about BYU in general. I told him what a great college it was to go to and how Justin and I met there. Eli had some questions about it and asked if he could go there when he got bigger. I told him we'd be thrilled if he goes to BYU! Of course we will be happy if he goes to a different college, but there's nowhere like your alma mater :). He disappeared for a few minutes and then came back with this note for Justin and I: 

(It says: "I luv the coogers frum byu I luv you to seru and Justen frum Eli)

Benjy loves to tell stories. He's full of imagination and invents really creative dreams, stories, and experiences he says really happened. Eli is very literal and often indignantly exclaims, "That didn't happen!" when Benjy is telling his tales, and I try to remind him gently that Benjy is using his imagination and we should just listen. I caught part of a story Benjy was telling this morning about a picture he drew. I missed the beginning where he talked about how he dressed up like "Marlin" (Merlin) from the movie "Sword and the Stone" for Halloween, but I caught the second part of it:

Benjy also likes to practice his ABC's and do crafts.

 The other night we had some extra-terrestrial visitors. March is Alien month, and my family knows some aliens whom they send our way bringing goodies. My sister had told the boys a couple weeks ago about how the aliens would be coming, and it was all Benjy could talk about. When they finally came, he was fascinated but definitely kept his distance! 

Emmie's first tooth finally came in two Saturdays ago (Feb 21st). It's her top left front tooth, which seems so unusual. I always thought babies got their bottom teeth first. As I was examining her mouth that day, I noticed that she actually had cut a molar on that top left side as well! So that was probably her actual first tooth, even though we didn't discover it until second. I did another oral exam yesterday and discovered a right top molar has broken through as well. We're still waiting on the right top front tooth and bottom teeth... I've been thinking they're on the brink for weeks now, but they're still staying below the surface.

Emmie is saying new words every day. She has started saying "Ali" for Eli, and she gets really excited and says his name over and over when we pick him up from school. She also loves to climb into things. Baskets, hampers, the dishwasher... if it's a small space, she will try to squeeze her little self inside.

I snapped this photo of our neighbors' icicles. They have no gutter, so their icicles are pretty gargantuan. I can imagine a cartoon character setting off one and then running for his life as they all come cascading down. Watch your tail, Wiley Coyote!

Sick day, Snow day

Brr! We've been surviving a winter blizzard over here! Thursday school was cancelled because of the snow. We went sledding and made soft pretzels, but I didn't get any pictures. I did take a picture of the boys with their "ice swords:"

Eli started the week off sick and stayed home from school Monday. He was feeling better by Tuesday and just happened to have his annual checkup that afternoon. He is healthy, 75% for height, and 25% for weight. Tuesday morning before his appointment, he was extremely nervous. Not about getting shots (he said he liked getting shots), but about being naked in front of the doctor. I told him he could wear a gown to cover up, which he did happily, even though he looked like a "Disney princess" (said Justin).

Emmie is saying lots of new words. "Kitty" is her new favorite word. "Fuff" is what she calls dogs, "nana" for banana, "shish" for fish, "soss" for sauce and socks, "side" for outside, "ba" for ball and bath, "nanny" for candy, "wawa" for water, "buddy" for blankie, "beedee" for bird. Here is a short video of her saying "kitty". You can see sick Eli in the background.

We've spent a lot of time inside this last week, and that has meant lots of dance parties. Eli loves to turn on Billy Joel and jam to "We Didn't Start the Fire." I took a video but it mostly consists of the boys almost crashing into each other and stepping on each others' heads while jumping on the couch and me saying "Watch out!" and "Be careful!," so I will not bother to post that one. :)