Visitors and a holiday

We had such a fun week last week. Jacob's two cousins, Stephanie and Annalee,
came to visit for a few days. Annalee's boyfriend, Jeremy, also joined us for
a couple of those days, which made it even more fun. It was great to be
with family and especially to be with family on a holiday.

Thanks for coming you three! We had such a fun time!

We were able to spend the most time together on Independence Day.

An exciting game of croquet took place.

Annalee celebrated her birthday while she was here and so Stephanie and Annie
made special 4th of July cupcakes for her on the day before her special day.

Our darling friends, the Berrys, joined us for our July 4th barbecue,
as well as my super cute friend, Lorraine. We were so glad they would come!
Here are the cute Berry kids, who are so well-behaved and fun to have around.

And finally, the fabulous Allen family tradition of spitting cherry pits. We loved having
our annual contest, but soon realized it was fruitless (pun intended) to even try to
compete with Jeremy. Standing absolutely still, he launched a cherry pit 37 feet!
It was ridiculous. And awesome. And discouraging for some of us that
have been in the family for years and can barely get 20 feet.

Fun times though. Definitely fun times. Thanks everyone!

July the 4th

Happy Independence Day everyone!

Healthy snacks

So as you all know, I often use our blog to ask questions about things
that are on my mind. And apparently it is that time again.

What are your favorite healthy snacks?

I am getting more than tired of our same snack ideas and would love to hear what
you give your kids when they ask for something to eat. Thanks ahead of time!

We thank thee, O God, for a prophet

This morning I didn't have time to get in my run, so I had to do it tonight after I put the kids to bed. Jacob stays late on Wednesday nights, to work on his dissertation, so after making sure the kids were settled, I headed to the basement to exercise on the treadmill.

As I have been doing for the past few weeks, I started with a slow run to warm up, then transitioned to a much faster run for interval training, and finished with another slow run to cool down. Usually when I am running slowly, I listen to a fun radio news show. But tonight, when I picked up my iPod, I saw that it had stopped on a session of general conference from the last time I was walking for exercise. I remembered I was in the middle of a talk by our prophet, President Monson, and I wanted to finish that talk. I hit play and started to jog slowly.

I don't know what it was about that moment, because even though this particular talk makes me emotional each and every time I hear it, I felt even more so. Who doesn't respond with tears when listening to a story about a mother who loses all four of her children? As I neared the end of my slow warm up, I felt overcome with my feelings. The talk ended, but my emotions did not.

I knew that my fast running would start soon, but instead of switching over to my regular running music, I decided I wanted to listen to the closing song of that particular session of general conference. I began running fast, the music started playing and The Mormon Tabernacle Choir began singing "We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet." I have always loved this song. But if you have not heard the way it is sung at the end of the Sunday morning session of conference, it is a powerful, powerful experience. I do not have the words to describe the feeling of pushing my body to its absolute limit, while listening to a song that also seemed to "push" my soul to its limit. I ran as hard as I could, while a feeling of peace and joy and gratitude and truthfulness filled my entire self. I can't imagine ever forgetting such an awesome experience.

And so, this long post for two reasons. First, so I never forget how overwhelming and amazing the Spirit feels when it touches your soul. And second, because every single part of me knows that President Thomas S. Monson is our prophet on the earth today. For both of these reasons, I am beyond grateful.

We thank thee, O God, for a prophet
To guide us in these latter days.
We thank thee for sending the gospel
To lighten our minds with its rays.

Love these four!

A bird feeder is so 2008

But a feeding table, now let me tell you this is the way to go. It not only allows for more food
consumption (do be on guard for a rise in animal obesity), but also allows a greater variety of
animals to participate (showing we are equal opportunity feeders). And look at all of those patient
birds, lined up, waiting for their turn to partake. It teaches them manners also? Boy howdy,

I think we are on to something. Animals everywhere are singing/chattering our praises.

Summer...

...fun

...water games

...sweetness

...strep throat

...sky

...visitor

...storm

Fog

I was very young, maybe six or seven, when I got my first cold sore. And if I remember correctly, it wasn't even one, but several. When it comes to sickness or injury or weird ailments that young children should not get, I don't do anything halfway. A fourteen-year old with shingles? Seriously. Ridiculous. Although now that I think about it, I am still that way. I don't get truly sick often, but when it happens, look out. But I digress.

After that first group of cold sores, my body somehow decided it had found a long lost friend that it couldn't do without for very long, and I continued to get cold sores very often. Emphasis on very. The mention of any cold sore seriously sends me into clammy sweats, but I'm telling you, the cold sores I get are absolutely frightening. They are about six times bigger than anyone else I know and they often multiply. Why have a party and not invite your friends? In fact, I missed the last two days of sixth grade because I had over twenty cold sores covering my lips and nose. It was the first time in my life I remembering praying to die.

This constant cold sore game went on for years and years. Whenever I was stressed (I didn't realize I was such a stressed little kid) or ate a certain food (I found out hot dogs would give me one within hours) or was in the sun too long (what little kid isn't?), I would end up with several cold sores. They became the bane of my life. Well, cold sores and the ocean and jungle and dolls, but again, I digress.

Whenever I would feel the cold sore tingle coming on (and anyone who has had one knows what I am talking about and is most likely cringing right now) I would seriously be beside myself (which I'm sure didn't make it worse or anything). Still to this day, if I even hear about someone getting a cold sore, it can often cause me to get one myself, out of cold sore pity or something. It is a lovely attribute of mine.

When I was around twenty years old, I learned something that literally changed my cold sore life. A coworker, who was an experienced cold sore getter, told me that Benadryl worked wonders when it came to those frigid blisters. He said that if you took it at the first sign of a cold sore, it would either keep them from coming or make them much smaller than they would normally have been. And he was right. And my life has never been the same.

And so today I am in a fog. A Benadryl fog. I am better than when I first woke up, but am still groggy and moving in slow motion. How does anyone do this on a regular basis? But that being said, it is definitely worth it. I woke up this morning without a cold sore. And last night, I was most assuredly getting one.

Hooray for coworkers. Hooray for Benadryl. Hooray for fog. Hooray for long blog posts about cold sores, the likes of which has not been seen before, nor hopefully, will be seen again. Hooray for rambling me and my cold sore-free mouth. Hooray I say.

Finally

Three more hours and then...

FREE at last!

The fauxhawk

His day

 I absolutely adore this man.

A Father Indeed

In honor of tomorrow, I wanted to post a link to this wonderful and sweet Father's Day video
that was produced by the church. I promise it is worth every second it takes to view it.

How grateful I am for my dad, for my father-in-law and for the father of our
 four children. I do not have words to express how thankful I am for Jacob and
the dad he is to our kids. He is without question, "a father indeed."

Random musings of my day

It is raining and I love the rain. Absolutely love it. The weather forecast calls for several more days of this weather. Wahoo for me. A little less wahoo for our dehumidifier in the basement. That thing is going to explode if it runs for much longer. (Kidding you lovely, faithful dehumidifier, just trying to be funny on the blog. Please don't give up on us yet.)

Today for the second time in our parenting lives, we ran completely out of diapers. Well there was the one on Ben, but that was it. I had to run to a local drugstore to grab some, which bugs me because they are definitely more expensive than where I usually buy them. But hey, who's fault would that be? Yup, you got it. Ben. He completely insists on wearing them 24/7.

At the drugstore they asked me if I would like to purchase some M&M's or a Snickers in addition to the diapers I was overpaying for. What the...? Is the National Center for Obese Adults (NCOA) paying them a commission or something? I told the cashier, "Yes. Yes I really would. Which is why I won't be. Thanks."

I also ran to the kids' school to place my order for school t-shirts for next year. Because nothing screams school spirit like an overpriced t-shirt. While we were there, Ben decided he would try out his new trick for everyone who happened to be at the school today. If a strangers comes within five feet of him, he begins to cry like someone just stole his favorite toy/ice cream cone/right arm. I really like it and it doesn't embarrass me at all. Or the poor people who innocently walk by us. I think I had seven parents apologize for waving at him. Seriously, this spend-all-your-time-as-a-family-because-you-still-know-very-few-people-and-your-neighbors-still-don't-leave-their-homes lifestyle we are living is going well. Super well.

On the way home Matt old me that it was impossible to close my eyes. Okay? I responded that it was not a good idea while I was driving, but I would be glad to attempt the impossible when we got home. "You can't, it's impossible," he informed me again. In an attempt to avoid arguing with a little boy, I told him he was crazy. Okay, I didn't, but I did tell him I was pretty sure that it was not impossible to close your eyes. He responded by closing his and then asked me to look at him. One more time...okay? "See mom, I'm closing my eyelids, not my eyes." Touché little boy. Touché.

Another visit from family

We are having a wonderful time with Jacob's dad and brother, who had an appointment
in Boston and came to visit us for a couple of days. It has been great fun and we
are so grateful they would spend time with us. We have enjoyed talking and
laughing and going on animal-finding walks and just being together.

Thanks for coming Rex and Danny! We love you!

While visiting a store the other day, Matt saw a hat he knew his grandpa would love
and so we picked it up. It was so sweet of Rex to make such a big deal of the hat.
But enough about the accessories in the picture, look at all of these cute Allen people.

Ben had already gone to bed when the first picture was taken, so here is a great one of
 him and his grandpa. Our darling Benjamin Jay, named after his grandpa. Happy times.

Monumental

Today was a monumental day for the mom and dad of the little boy you see to the left. Something akin to when your baby sleeps through the night for the first time. Or your little girl buckles her own seat belt without you climbing into the car to help her. Or your little boy makes his own breakfast without spilling a half gallon of milk. Or your husband picks up his own socks. (Okay, so Jacob is incredibly clean and leaves his clothes on the floor never, but I was on a roll.) Now what is it that happened to us today?

Ben sat through all of sacrament meeting (the first hour of our church meetings) without being taken out into the hall. My mother's heart thought it would burst. And while I am under no illusion that it will happen on a regular basis (at least for several more months), I will take it. One glorious hour of not wandering around the halls of the church building.

Oh, and as an added bonus, he also goes to nursery already (has for several weeks now), even though he will not be eighteen months old for a few more weeks. Our ward has a very small class of nursery-age children. So they actually enlist younger kids to come and enjoy the fabulous teachers and closet of toys. And the first few times were quite the struggle, as they always are, but it is getting better. And he seems just a little less traumatized each time we pick him up. Today was his best day yet.

Sitting through all of sacrament meeting, minimal crying during the two hours of nursery, what in the world will happen next? Changing his own diapers, folding the laundry, color coordinating my closet, cleaning the bathrooms, tracking down the Daylight Savings Creator, starting his own blog ? I mean really, the sky's the limit!

Another derby

Remember this last year? Well, we made it through another pinewood derby. Our ward 

decided to have it for the entire family, which was fun. Cam made his car and then Annie

and Matt made one together. And while we were by no means the winners, I think it was 

less dramatic and heartbreaking than last year. And we got some great tips from the winners,

 a family that was just here temporarily and had super speedy cars for sure. More fun, more

great lessons, more being appreciative for my darling kids and my wonderful husband. 

And the delicious cookies and ice cream only made it that much happier.

Seriously funny

This is one cute girl, if I do say so myself. Here she is the morning of her field trip, excited and ready to go. I know I say it often on this blog, but she really is as sweet as they come. So helpful and happy and cute and funny. Seriously funny.

For instance, the other night she was telling us a story that she had heard in church. It was very involved and with a lot of detail—as all stories by cute little girls usually are. But my favorite part came as the story came to an end and Annie paused for dramatic effect.

And then she finished with these words, "And that is an I-don't-get-it story."

Happiness is...

...giving your baby a box of blocks to play with and having him say "day do" without any prompting.

Block towers

This morning was unusual. Jacob, Cam and Annie left for the day before Matt and Ben had woken up. It was strangely quiet at our house. And I liked it.

Eventually the little boys joined me downstairs and we started our day. A few minutes later, I realized I'd better get a shower before it got much later. Matt was playing a game by himself, so I pulled out some blocks to entertain Ben while I was upstairs.

As I was nearing the top of the stairs, I heard little footsteps coming around the corner. My baby stared up at me from the bottom of the stairs, with his funny little smile on his face.

Automatically, I called out to Matt, "Matt, will you show Ben how to build a block tower while I am in the shower."

And his reply came immediately, "Sure Mom!"

It really doesn't take a lot to make my mother's heart happy.

Man, I love my job.

At a barbecue with friends today, I wondered...

...is it a good thing or a bad thing that our kids had to ask how to open a soda can?

Goosebumps...and not the good kind

There are several things that bother me. Not as in annoyance, really, but as in creepola. I know you are dying to know some of them, so I'll mention three just for your inquiring mind. And then tell about a little thing that happened to me last night.

#1 - The ocean. I love to sit and relax at the ocean, I love the beauty of the ocean, I love to play in the ocean. But once the ocean floor drops to a point that you cannot reach it, I'm done with it. The ocean should only be as deep as I am. Nevermind that whales (shivering as I type this) and large mammals have to swim in it. I still feel that the ocean would be best if it were only as deep as your average wading pool. I have huge issues with the depth of the ocean and what is in that depth.

#2 - The jungle/forest. Beautiful in pictures, beautiful in books, beautiful to trolls and fierce animals. Once again, I'm sure it has to do with the fact that I do not have the ability to know what is in there, but I am not a fan of either the jungle or the forest. Such a big space, with so many possibilities, and you have no idea what is around the next corner. Until it is too late (more shivering).

#3 - Dolls. I think I used to like them when I was young, but not such a fan anymore. They are so...so...fake. And yet, every attempt is made to make them look real. But they aren't. And they sit there watching you and you know they aren't real, but their fakeness is almost as creepy as their attempt at being real. Dolls most assuredly creep me out (most shivering yet).

Last night Jacob and I watched another episode of Lost. Would you like to venture a guess as to what it included? It started out with the doctor swimming out into the ocean to save someone else. (Heroic, yet insanely dumb. Do you not realize, Jack Shephard, that after only a few strokes you can no longer touch the bottom?) It then proceeded to show young Dr. Shephard running through the jungle (no longer heroic, just plain dumb I say) chasing what I believe at this time to be a ghost or hallucination, but knowing the insane show, is probably not. And when he finally stopped, what did he find floating in a small pool of water? A doll. Of course. What else would be in the middle of the jungle, floating in a pool of water, but a doll?

Thank you producers of Lost. Thank you ever so much. I'll be sending my therapy bill your way.
And being as I have only watched five episodes to date, I'm sure it won't be the last time.

Asks Matt

"Mom, if 'e' is silent in lots of word, why don’t they just take away it?"

Miscellenous photos from our time outside

Here is the cool bubble blower that Matt made in preschool. Careful how you breathe in
between blows. Just some helpful advice, not from personal experience or anything.

This is how excited Ben's eyebrows feel about being outside.

Help me! I'm falling, I'm falling. Oh wait, that would be my mom's camera inabilities.

This is how Annie feels about three more weeks of school.

This is how Annie feels about water.

This is what Cam spends a lot of time doing. (Playing basketball, not being washed out in photos.)

In all seriousness, can you really beat the trees in our backyard?

In all seriousness, haven't you been waiting forever for a photo
of  our driveway?  I'm sorry you've had to suffer so long.

Yellow flowers...delicate and cute.
Green foliage...awesome to the eye.
Three trees growing close together...ever so friendly.
Pointless picture and my commentary...priceless.

June 25th

I really enjoy reading the blogs of friends and family. And I try hard not to be covetous of the gifts you receive or the wonderful vacations you go on or the delicious meals you make. And I have been pretty successful. Until now.

I am truly happy for all of you who have children that are off school for the summer. I am. But does everyone have to talk about it on their blogs? And mention all you are doing with your schoolless children? Accompanied by photos of your children—making it obvious they are home and not at school? Just so you know, there are mothers out there that do not have their children out of school yet. And I would be one of them. As near as I can tell, I am the only one. And it is not even like we have a day or two or seven left. We have four weeks. No I am not kidding. I wish I was.

Welcome to Massachusetts. Where they pay policeman large amounts of overtime to direct traffic around a construction zone. And where they keep your children in school until it nears Independence Day. Brings new meaning to that particular holiday eh?

Paper airplanes, homework and cereal

My kids really make me happy. Right now I am watching them fly paper airplanes all over the back yard. They are in heaven making them and then testing them out. And if you would allow me to brag for a minute, I think they are geniuses—when it comes to the art of paper airplanes. Impressive to say the least.

Today after school we had homework time, as always. I'm grateful that we have yet to have struggles to get them to do their homework. I know that some of it is because they are just good kids and some of it is because they get a mark on their charts (enough marks and they eventually get a late nighter with mom or dad) and some of it is because they really love to study and learn and some of it is because they get to play and have fun when they are finished. I'll take it all.

But for some reason, I just had to laugh as I watched them do their homework on this particular day.






Every Monday, Campbell man has an extra class during school that he attends and really enjoys. He brought home several pages on figural analogies from this class today. After his regular homework, he started on this extra work and sped through it much more quickly than I thought he should. And when he was finished, as the kids always do, he handed it to me to check. Should I admit it took me almost as long to check it as it did for him to do it? A little embarrassing? Yeah.

Annie girl brought home a worksheet on fractions and worked on it as fast as she could to get it finished quickly. She was more interested in reading. She started reading the first Harry Potter book last week. I thought it was cute that she wanted to be like Cam, but worried that with her being seven and in first grade, it would be too much for her. Doubting mom for sure. She is on page 133 and cannot get enough of it. She and I have talked several times since she started her magical journey and she is definitely comprehending what is going on in the book.

And Matt boy. He certainly wants to be one of the big kids. He takes one of the Harry Potter books to bed every night and looks at the pictures and tries to sound out some of the words. Today he asked if I could print out worksheets that were not so easy. Where he doesn't start Kindergarten until the fall, I have been printing Kindergarten-age work for him to do. Silly me. Today he wanted something more difficult so I printed off some first grade math. That little boy sat down at the table and I watched him do every single problem himself. As you can see if you enlarge the picture, he missed two, but considering the problems, I'm not too disappointed.

Ben baby is not so much a baby anymore. He didn't ask for any preschool worksheets or anything, but he looks more like a little boy and less like a baby every hour. Instead of homework though, he entertained himself, once again, by constantly stealing the cereal boxes out of the pantry and grabbing a handful of honey nut goodness. It no longer has to do with being hungry, but with doing something that mom does not like. He thinks it is the funniest thing ever. And secretly, I kind of do too.

I sure love these kids.