Turtle Troubles

Happy Birthday to my sweet Mom! Wish we could have partied with you today!

Our week was simple with a few low lows. Namely when we thought a dog killed our turtle (I think I'll share that full story below because... Westin will probably have that burned in his brain and I'll want to have this post to set the record straight someday) and when Michael and I ran out of parenting energy on Friday around 5:00 for the rest of the weekend. Struggle.

Michael:
Finishes his radiology rotation tomorrow and that's a bummer. It was a goooood two weeks. So so easy! It was nice to have him around and he helps so much. Westin is in heaven with so much dad time. On Tuesday he starts two months of internal medicine, so we'll see what life is like when that comes. When Michael has more time he gets back into signing us up for mystery shops, fixing up things around the house, lots of yard work, and playing with the boys. He's such a good person and good dad. After internal medicine he is halfway through residency! I'll be honest, that isn't as exciting to say as I want it to be. Halfway...

Maddie:
Loved my scripture class about Patriarchal Blessings on Thursday, and hated my dentist appointment. All I've ever had done is a cleaning and it's still such a miserable experience in my mind. I felt stretched this week when we watched 3 dogs from Wednesday to Sunday. That's sometimes just not my favorite thing but it's so hard to say no to the extra cash. I also keep debating about what to do with Westin and preschool in the fall. I'm leaning toward just keeping him home with me but it's been occupying my thoughts a lot.

Westin:
looked out the window on Friday and said, "Why is there a turtle shell in the yard?" My heart sank. We had set up a little barrier to keep the dogs away from the turtle's home but it was not much. The dogs didn't even venture over there the first two days so I turned a little too relaxed having them outside. I looked out the window and sure enough saw an upside down Mr. T in the yard and I felt SO SAD and guilty. Poor little guy. I went out there and he looked dead. I won't go into gross details but just know that I felt without a doubt that he was in heaven.

I went back inside and felt so sad and messaged Michael. Westin kept asking me what the turtle was doing and I told him he was in heaven because the dog thought he was a toy. He started crying, I started crying, Bennett started crying. Ridiculous, I know. But we were responsible for that innocent little life, people! A couple minutes later Westin looked out the window and said, "But why is he moving??" I looked outside and sure enough, Mr. T was turning himself over and then walking across the yard. Ummm... what? Westin pulled a line straight from the Easter version of The Friend magazine and yelled, "He's ALIVE again!" He just kept yelling that he was back from heaven, and I went outside to check things out. I put Mr. T back in his home and to be honest I didn't have the courage to look him over too closely... This is not my comfort zone. I don't have the heart or stomach for such things. Westin continued celebrating that his turtle had been resurrected and I didn't know how to make him understand that this was not exactly what happened.

Michael got home right about then, went and inspected Mr. T, fixed up his home with more protection from the dogs, and all was well. Big shrug, guys. It was an emotional morning with a weird ending and I'm just still confused. Westin has wanted to reenact the entire situation so many times. He lays on his back and says, "You say 'Oh no, what is that turtle doing? Is he dead?'" Then after I say that, he starts moving all around like a born-again turtle, flips over and says, "Now say 'Oh my gosh! He's alive again!'" So I say my line and Westin laughs and laughs. Westin is all about directing specific pretend play. It's entertaining and draining, depending on your current energy reserve.

Bennett:
Opened the dog's jerky treat bag and was handing them to all of them before I noticed what went down. His comfort with animals cracks me up and he's just so at ease with them. He absolutely loves our daily walk and if we miss it for some reason and go to get in the car instead in the morning, he stands by his stroller and makes angry noises at me. He went to nursery by himself for the first time today. He had to be held the whole time by a sweet nursery leader but I call that progress. He liked seeing a baptism for the first time and hugged Michael's leg the whole time in the confirmation circle. It was so sweet.

Brothers checking out the baptismal font.

Doooooogs. Three at a time this week was a little much.
I do the dog thing first for Bennett and his serious love of animals,
second for some fun "play" money,
and third because I hate saying no. Even to strangers, apparently.
Maybe it's good for me to get used to having animals around.

Latest cross stitch for Michael's sister, Katie. This was supposed to be a Christmas present!
My cross stitch part of life is always a little overwhelmed but I still love it.

Bennett takes lollipops seriously.

My sweet Bennett. Anytime I'm busy he needs me to pause, sit down, then he climbs on my lap and just holds me. Physical touch is for sure his love language. After he feels like I've paid sufficient attention to him, he goes on playing and I go on getting things done. This happens multiple times a day and I love him for it.

Three dogs, guys. It's been a circus.

I love our roses right now! We have a few groups of these in our backyard and it's beautiful. Fresno spring! Sunny and 70s, temperatures are climbing fast and we just want this weather to stay as long as possible.
Also, rosy cheeks. Those come around a lot, too.

Michael's hat stayed on Bennett surprisingly well. That 98th percentile head holds its own.

They thought the real goldfish in that pool were pretty awesome!

He held on tight to these three little ducks through all of Mornings with Mommy.

Obsessed with the plastic duckies, oddly and uncharacteristically unaware of the REAL baby ducks.

Guys, I still call Bennett my baby. This picture makes me laugh so much. This boy has GROWN.

Playing while Daddy picks oranges. We keep picking " for the last time" but then we finish that crop, and go back to see how the trees are doing and come home with another bag. They're the yummiest.

We love this Rosie girl. We'd keep her in a second if we could!