Mr. T's horrilble, no good, very bad week

Mr. T

You might be wondering why our turtle is getting his own spotlight this week. And the very first one, too. I just feel like it's the least we can do after the week he's had. We all have a soft spot in our heart for Mr. T because he's our happy turtle. Our other turtle goes from hibernating to staying awake in one spot to hibernating. Mr. T knows that coming our way will usually get him a worm or two or even a strawberry. Well, he chose to come out of hibernating right before we watched two dogs, and one of them used him as a chew toy this week. It's actually not as graphic as it sounds because he does a great job at tucking into that shell and avoiding any serious damage. But I mean, it's still sad. Who wants to be a chew toy. So after I discovered the situation and rescued him and kept the dogs away from him the rest of the time, I felt like we were in the clear. Michael even went out at 10pm after being at the hospital and found him a late night snack of worms. #softestheart Then the next day Bennett found Mr T again and took it upon himself to protect him from the dogs. This meant taking a perfectly safe turtle, and trying to balance his bike near the fence so that he could then stand on it and put the turtle on top of the fence where no dogs could reach it. Which resulted in him dropping Mr. T on some rocks. Which then resulted in the dogs trying to use him as a chew toy again, until I once again intervened. So then we kept the dogs inside all Sunday morning, and Michael came home from the hospital and went out to check on Mr. T. Well... he escaped. Dug a hole under our fence and made a break for our back neighbor's yard. Who can blame him, but also, what a jerk! Michael and Westin went over to their house, knocked, then trespassed into their backyard after no one answered. Then they passed me the turtle over the fence and Michael literally said, "Don't drop him." I said, "Why would I drop him?!" And he said, "I don't know, but just don't -- he's been through a lot." And I mean, I couldn't argue with that. Michael filled in the hole by the fence and Mr. T is now back where he belongs, although I don't think he's convinced he belongs here. Sorry about the week, T. We really do love you.

Michael

Between taking care of turtles and patients, and trying to take care of himself (he has a pretty bad cough or maybe the coronavirus), he hasn't done much else this week. He doesn't have too many call weeks left so it's nice to get this one out of the way, but he still has to make it through Wednesday. On Saturday night he literally got called in, took care of a pit bull bite, came home and went back to bed, without me even knowing. But if Camden cries, you know I'm right up and Michael doesn't hear a peep. This is amazing to me. We are both adapting to getting sleep where we can get it. Which, sadly, doesn't seem to be enough for either of us but hey. You guys, don't ever get a pit bull.

Michael loves when the boys "push" his car out of the garage in the morning, and he loves telling made up stories with them at night. He invited a couple people from residency over for dinner Saturday and that was fun. He really has worked with a great group of people these past few years. He's also still a vegetarian and I'm over it, but I love him.

Maddie

keeps little boys, little dogs, a cat, two turtles, and Michael alive. Although Michael would probably do pretty well on his own thanks to meals at the hospital. And honestly Michael should get credit for Kitty because she definitely comes last on my radar, like when Michael came home from a two-day trip last week and noticed she had no water. Dang it. But his children were perfectly hydrated and I just do what I can do. I skipped stake conference for the first time in my mom life today and pretended it was general conference instead. I just decided on Saturday that home-centered, church-supported justifies the fact that there's no support for 3 and 5 year olds at stake conference... and we had a great Sunday at home! We got out our snack bowls for a couple general conference talks and Westin loved getting a cashew, raisin, or piece of cantaloupe whenever they said prayer, Jesus, or scriptures. Then when the talks were over I told them those three bowls were now lunch and they could eat the rest and he said, "Well.... that's annoying." Maybe he meant to say efficient, he just doesn't know that word. My week felt a little consumed by big decisions but I'm grateful for physical therapy appointments, daily walks, a friend who brought lunch over for us on Friday, and all the many times my boys make me laugh. I'm gaining a huge belief in the power of small consistency and it's really changing so much about my routine and outlook.

Westin

is reading so well! It's so fun. He loves listening to Circle Round stories in the car. He took on the role of Mr T protector very well once he learned about the rough time that turtle had while he was at school. He's a rule follower at school, and I think he's pretty quiet there. He LOVES homework and always wants to do the worksheets they've started sending home as soon as possible. Every day when we walk home from school he asks what we did while he was gone, and if I list 5 things or 50 things he'll still always say, "....is that all you did?" and yes it drives me crazy every single day. I love him so much and I really love reading chapter books to him.

Bennett

stuck a popcorn kernel up his nose today, so there's that rite of passage. I was helping him with a bloody nose when it came out and I realized what was really going on. Later Michael had the good sense to ask him how many popcorn kernels he put up his nose and he said 3. Oh man. Then we asked him how many he got out and he said 2. So I think that meant I got the third out and we were in the clear, but we made him have that conversation a lot of times with a lot of nose checks to be sure. It's still hard to get straight info out of Bennett sometimes... but oh we love him. I love how he rides his bike on the dirt hills next to the sidewalk when we walk to and from school and always says, "Mama don't see me!" So that he can pop out of the bushes and "scare" me. All because one time he really truly did and I screamed. So he's all about trying to recreate that moment, twice a day every day :)

Camden

Still hates food, still so sweet, still so good at sleeping but cried himself to sleep a couple times this week which always has me feeling so anxious since it's not his norm. He LOVES attention from his brothers, and I think he's still a mama's boy. But to be honest that's not as clear cut as I'd prefer... he sure loves when Michael comes home. I managed to keep Bennett a mama's boy way longer than Westin, but I think my work is cut out for me this third time. Camden still loves bouncing in his little monkey bouncer chair even though he's way too big for it and it makes us laugh every night. He's up once or twice each night but it's not for long. I'm still not sure if his eyes are going to be brown or not? I feel like I should know this by now. But he's adorable either way.

Ready to ride that tunnel. They fly! 

Watching Pete's Dragon. Such a good show.

Besties at their Valentine's party!

Grandpa's rock stacks from their walks to school together are STILL there,
and he thinks that's pretty awesome

Circle Round had a story about the months of the year,
and at the end it said to draw a picture of your favorite month or season
and what you like to do during that time.
Later Westin came and handed me this and I thought that was so cute.
Sledding in winter is this California boy's favorite thing.

Had to take a picture of the fire truck in our neighborhood to show Westy when he got home from school.

Last day being six months old!

Early morning digging right after breakfast. I LOVE our backyard.
We basically chose this house because of it and it was 100% the right decision.

When you fall asleep 10 minutes before we go get brother from school...

After school fancy snacks. Apples, cashews, raisins.

Mr. T after the first traumatic day.

Late night lettuce wraps, hand served by Michael.

I've been making this bread whenever we have people over for dinner.
Dutch ovens are the best!

Bonus general conference day.

Mr T's attempted escape.

Love Day

Michael:

makes us all so happy! He took me on a date Saturday to a restaurant on our bucket list -- it's a remodeled schoolhouse from the late 1800s/early 1900s on the way to Kings Canyon & Sequoia National Park. We took Camden with us because I knew then I wouldn't be stressed about taking our time. He was an angel an he never interrupts our dinner conversation :) We love all our kids very much. But Camden is the only one that made it on the Valentines date this year. On our way home from there we stopped at Sprouts to buy some buckwheat flour for another bon appetite recipe. (We made them today and Michael thought they were too rich, which means you automatically know I loved them. What is too rich?) He played t-ball with the boys today, and we went on a little walk/bike ride. He's still a vegetarian this month and doesn't even miss meat much if it all. We spend our nights catching up on Modern Family right now and it makes us laugh so much.

Maddie:

I'm upping my cross stitch time again, and I still am just amused at the randomness and instant enjoyment of that hobby. It just didn't exist and then existed and I really like it. I loved being on a date with Michael (and Camden) so much. Valentines Day was super fun this week because Westin just LOVES holiday food fun as he gets older. We focused on showing each other and some friends some extra love that day and I just really like that holiday. Michael brought me a beautiful purple live orchid. I love that buying dead flowers is just so sad to him. Anniversaries and valentines means another live plant moving into our bathroom :) 

Westin:

was so happy on Valentines Day. From making valentines for his class that week (the easy store bought kind that come with a sticker -- did NOT know class Valentines was yet another extravagant Pinterested activity now but zero regrets about our easy way out on that one), to planning some fun valentine food, and drawing some valentines for his teachers and for Hadley, Annie and Winnie. We made CSE chocolate waffles that morning with raspberries, and he kept asking if it was time to go to school because he was so excited about his Valentines party. I signed the boys up for T-Ball this spring and they'll be on the same team. I told Westin that and he said, "What?? Bennett doesn't know how to play!" But his face was happy and excited and he said it in disbelief, and it was so cute. I'm excited they get to do that together since they'll both be in the 3-5 division.

Bennett:

is so funny. My favorite moment with him this week was when we introduced the boys to how to play 20 Questions. He just observed the three of us playing for a while, watching how I'd count questions on my fingers and listening to the way our conversation went. After a while he wanted a turn and we were all laughing trying to guess what Bennett was thinking, then when it was someone else's turn again he'd count his guesses on his fingers while throwing out his cute words. Elephant? (Voo?) Dog? (Heh-heh?) Potty? (Potty? He says some words spot on, haha). Cow? (Moo). Tree? (Tee?) Each time putting a little finger up. He also loves to fly down the hill on our bike path that goes into a little tunnel and it's so cute and funny.

Camden:

Is so HAPPY and so BOUNCY and has had a few foods without screaming but without much swallowing either. So far he's had somewhat good luck with applesauce, raspberries, egg crepes, hummus, and some roasted cauliflower soup. It's so funny to watch him bounce in his monkey chair. He grabs my hair so so much lately. He was an angel on our date. He loves when he gets attention from Westin or Bennett. He's so content in the car, mostly content on walks, loves naps and bedtime, wakes up 1-2 times a night, has to get his second flu shot this week, and still looks so much like Westin to me. He'll hit 7 months this week and it just makes me sad. I want him to stay so small! And I really love this stage. 

Making Caterpillar Valentines

Just chatting together

Mr. T came out! Lots of dirt on his shell, he must have been hibernating somewhere again for a while.
We gave him a Valentines strawberry and he loved it.

I made some CSE wheat bread which was very fast and easy,
though it doesn't look attractive at all.
Next time I'll score after it raises rather than before,
and I'll remember to put the olive oil in that the recipe calls for.
We'll see if those help :)

Roasted cauliflower soup and honey wheat bread.
Some healthy foods taste like you're trying to be healthy,
but others are a completely easy trade.
This soup was one of the great trades -- we seriously loved it as much as any potato soup.

Valentine's morning!
Some treats from dad, books from mom,
and some books from Grandma and Grandpa Daetwyler.

First time with Reddi Whip for those CSE chocolate protein waffles.
They LOVED them.

Grandma Daetwyler sent the cutest books -- two of us made us laugh out loud and one made me cry.

Making valentines for Emily's girls

I took the opposite approach of Halloween and let them eat whatever their belly wanted on Valentines Day...

Then we made these...

And then Bennett threw up into that bowl of chocolate he's licking after strawberry dipping.
Ew.
I guess that's how "eat what you feel like" goes for him still,
but Westin has figured it out really well. Bennett will get there.

I was so excited to show these boys that snake skin,
then Westin asked me if it was a rope.
It's a rope.

Clean little cutie

School photos from the restaurant we went to

School house remodeled into the dining room

They make every single thing on the menu from scratch, down to the ketchup and all sauces/dressings.
We ordered their signature dishes -- grilled brie, meatloaf (they spend 4 days preparing it, which I don't even know what those 4 days would entail but there you go), grilled pork loin, pear bread pudding.
There were zero vegetarian options on their menu, so.... sorry, Michael.

Then we stopped at Sprouts on our way home. Even a grocery store is fun on date night.

Everyone has their own style of transportation on our walks.

Valentine's Morning!

I LOVE watching them read books.

We're reading more and more to try and help Benny boy and his speech,

and I think it's helping. Westin especially loves listening to chapter books lately.

Cruising so fast on this walk!

We started walking to this incline through a bike trail tunnel,

but we won't come back without bike helmets -- they are too fast on these little balance bikes now to not need a helmet for even those. Sunday walks are so fun.