More February

Our family has been battling a bunch of little sickness lately, and it rotates through us all ever so slowly, one at a time. I haven't been to church in almost a month! Geez! The main culprit has been pink eye, and Lindy has had it the worst. We're crossing our fingers that we're almost out of the woods with sickness for a while. Amid all of the nose and eye wiping, here's what we've been up to.

The day Miles got baptized, we came home and started cleaning up and working on some Saturday chores. Richie casually mentioned that he needed to go to IFA to get some rabbit feed etc. I was changing my clothes, when Gwen rushed in the room and told me to come out quick! I heard some faint chirping, and there in our kitchen were 6 baby chicks! We had talked about possibly getting chickens this year, but I was not mentally prepared for them to be here now! Richie looked at me apprehensively and said, "I wasn't planning on getting them yet, but they were there in the store and so cute!" (This same scenario happened with the bunnies! Ha! I'm sensing a pattern.) They have assimilated nicely into our "homestead" and I'm anxiously awaiting some fresh eggs this summer!



A few years ago, coming up on Richie's birthday I asked him what he wanted and told him that it had to be something totally selfish. He sheepishly admitted that there was a nerdy computer game (Star Craft) that he used to like playing and it would be fun to have around in case he had some time to kill. Extra time is hard to come by these days, so he hardly ever plays it. But sometimes, he and his cousins (who also all have the game) correlate schedules and all play over the internet together. I tease him mercilessly every time. This time I even snapped a picture. I think the only thing this picture is missing is a giant bag of cheetos and a huge mountain dew somewhere in there. Also, it would make it ten times better if Richie had legit headphones with a microphone etc. One day. ;)



One of Richie's urban farming idols (Curtis Stone) is big into farming micro greens. We decided to experiment with some sunflower shoots and pea shoots. It was kind of fun having them sprouting up on a table in our bedroom. They were pretty and delicious!


Lady Killer here :)



Gwen randomly checked out a surprisingly advanced ballet video at the library. Richie watched her do it one night and loved it so much that he challenged Gwen that if she would work hard on this video every day for fifteen minutes, for x amount of days, he would take her for ice cream, give her $20 and put a ballet bar in her room. WOW! He wants her to develop the desire and initiative to complete a hard task. So far so good.


2 cuties caught snuggling



Valentine's Day! I tried making these mini heart pies again this year, and this time they were better. It was a fun part of our breakfast. The kids and I headed to homeschool where we learned about the 100 years war and Joan of Arc, and had lots of Valentine's fun. Again, I'm so grateful for this group we're a part of! That night, we were planning on having our annual "fancy" dinner, and ended up inviting the Beckstroms over last minute. It really made it feel more festive.



Here's Benson's first try at solid foods! Waaaah! Why is this happening so fast!! I tried to hold off as long as I could for 2 reasons: 1. Introducing solid foods is just one more thing for me to keep track of. 2. I can't believe he's already nearing 6 months and I want him to stay tiny as long as possible. However, he's been showing more and more signs that he's ready. So we went for it. After hearing advice about when and what a baby's first food should be, my mother in law loaned me some slippery elm bark powder! I'd never heard of it before, but apparently it's supposed to be really gentle on tummies. Out of all my kids, he took this initial introduction the best. He was completely eager and pleased.

First week in February

Homeschool project: Learning about the layers of the earth and involving treats. :) Win.


Art class- Studying line by making sculptures with pipe cleaners and then painting those sculptures


Someone found their toes!!


Science experiment-Seeing at what temperature water hot chocolate mixes the best. (hint: it's the hottest water)



Lindy helped me with the dishes on Saturday. She was SO proud of her ability to load the dishwasher. :)


January had a 5th Tuesday, so instead of throw off our scheduling groove, we decided it was a field trip day. We booked it all the way up to Ogden to go to the much anticipated Tree House Museum. It was definitely a big day, but worth it. It was a really cool museum, complete with a lot of medieval type activities, so it fit in perfectly with out history stuff for the year. And Gwen only got lost twice. (And I only freaked out twice!)



Practicing sight words/letters with bubble wrap. (I just wrote the words/letters on the bubbles and they said the word when the popped that one) Went quickly, but super fun. Also pictured is Lindy doing the letter sticker book. I'm just trying to follow her lead with the whole school thing. She's seeming more interested in academic things, so we worked on colors for a while and now we're starting letters.



Miles's first official scout activity was the annual Blue and Gold banquet. Our scout leaders are so awesome. I'm so excited for Miles to have this new outlet. He's beyond excited and is repeatedly reminding me to buy him his scout shirt and book.



What a cute little chunk. Check out that drool right about to hit my face. :)



On weeks when Miles and Gwen go to the Beckstrom's house for art class, Lindy gets a little sad and jealous. So we try to make those 2 hours special by really focusing on Lindy. This time I asked her what she wanted to do while her older siblings were gone, and she, "May Bown-ies!" We didn't have any brownie mix, so she settled for chocolate chip cookies. :) She was pretty pleased with the process and the product.

Birthday and Baptism

The Sunday before Miles turned 8, we had dinner at that Garner's house and celebrated both he and Jeffrey.



On Monday, I tried to do a few things here and there to make the day feel special to him, but what was the most exciting thing was going to Nickel Mania! Gave the kids each a cup of nickels and they were feelin pretty rich. The place was totally run down and kind of creepy, but the kids had such a blast. On the ride home, Miles told us he was so spoiled and "thanks Mom and Dad for making it such a perfect day." :)


Everything about the Baptism was wonderful. These types of big events are always a little surreal to me. I kept having to pinch myself to realize that I am old enough to have a kid getting baptized. Crazy! He was so ready though. It was extremely rewarding to watch him make this step.
He was the only one from our ward getting baptized that month, so he got to choose all the participants, which is pretty special. I wrote down lots of details in his "baby" book, so I don't think I need to write them here, but suffice it to say that the spirit was very strong. I know I'm biased here, but it was the most tender and reverent baptism I can remember being to. My favorite thing that was said was something Brother Murray (1st counselor and conducting) said. He made reference to how I had Miles come up and look out on the crowd when I was giving my talk. I wanted him to get a visual of all the people there who loved and supported him. When brother Murray made his remarks, he mentioned that sometimes in life you may look out and not see anyone, and that's because, like your mother during her talk, they are all behind you- ready to support you and help see you through anything. He had Miles look down the row at our family and told him that these people (Mom, Dad, Gwen, Lindy Benson) especially will be your biggest supports and cheerleaders. I lost it at that point- because it's true. Afterward we had lunch with family and friends. I was so grateful for the support we had and I felt so uplifted by everyone's involvement. What a happy day for our family!! I was sad that I had to miss church the next day because I was sick. I heard he gave a really sweet testimony. Love that boy of mine.