Mother's Day 5/10/2020

Mother's Day this year was rough.  David worked a 24 hour shift so we was gone all day and the boys were in rare form.  It started with Jonas and Mason fighting over a purple bowl.  I had no idea how important that bowl was to each of them.  Out of frustration, I threw the bowl in the outside trash.  This only escalated the problem.  For the next hour or so Jonas went on a rampage.  He was hitting the kitchen window with stuff and he even threw a skateboard at it.  Then he headed to the basement where he dumped out bins of toys and then mixed all the clean laundry with the dirty laundry and poured laundry detergent all over it.  After that he emptied Mason's dresser drawers.  He was screaming and crying and it was hard to even get him to settle down.  Then while I was taking a shower the smoke detector went off and I had to jump out, throw my bathrobe on and try to figure out what was going on.  Fortunately there was no fire, but I'm still not sure why the alarm was going off. 
Now, the day wasn't all bad.  There were definitely some highlights.  Ash stopped by and hung out on the lawn with us for a bit.  She had helped David make videos of the boys answering questions about me.  Gayle also stopped by and I was able to chat with her for a while outside.  I needed someone to cry to and I felt much better after talking with her.
In the morning when we wanted to have church I knew I was going to have to be somewhat creative to get the boys to sit down at all, so Mason and I made chocolate chip cookie dough and church was simple and around a bowl of cookie dough.  Porter told people later in the day that we had cookie dough instead of the sacrament :). 
I also had a sweet moment playing with Jonas and Brooks.  We were laughing and enjoying one another as I pretended to have Brooks use his boxing moves against Jonas.  Jonas's sweet laugh is very healing.
Porter and I also had some sweet time sitting in the yard together. 
Melissa Quigley had sent me a text with a church video about motherhood.  It was a great reminder that I can partner with God in this work and He will help me.  Not only will He help me, but He trusts me to do this work. 

5/3/2020

Today Mason pooped a little bit on the rug in the bathroom.  I asked him what happened, if he just wasn’t able to make it to the toilet.  He said, “My butt just wanted to be rude and pushed it out.”

I always call Porter, “Porter-man.”  Tonight when I said it, he looked at me and said, “Mommy-girl.”  It made me chuckle.

5/11/2020- Jonas

Rachel was in our yard and she asked if she washed her hands if she could hold Brooks. In a weak moment I said yes.  But, I guess when she went to get him from Porter. Porter told her no.  We told Jonas this story and he said, “We’re not supposed to touch people, so why’d you say yes?”
Then we were talking about how Ash and Gayle want to hold Brooks and how lucky we are that we have each other to hug. Then he said, “Why don’t they get married and have their own babies?”

3/30/2020

It has been just over two weeks since Porter's school was closed and we've been homeschooling.  To be fair, we home schooled one week and the second week was Spring Break.  He has been doing really well.  He actually enjoys being at home rather than going to school.  That is a huge blessing.  And, the boys have been learning to play together and have enjoyed one another.  David and I love to watch them play and interact.
Last week on Wednesday, March 25th around 7:15am there was a 5.7 magnitude earthquake in Magna, UT.  So, we definitely felt it here in Salt Lake.  Porter, Brooks and I were awake in the dining room.  Mason was sound asleep.  Jonas was awake, but rocking in bed and David was at work.  I ran downstairs with Porter and Brooks to get the other boys, but by then the earthquake had stopped.  Fortunately it wasn't too bad, but it definitely rattled me a bit.  I just had this realization that if something happened when David wasn't around, I'd be responsible for all the boys and that thought was a bit overwhelming.  Meg was here, so that was good, but she won't always be here.
Porter thought the earthquake was cool and felt like a roller coaster and Jonas just thought it felt exactly like it does in bed when he rocks himself.  Neither one of them were scared or worried, so that was good.  It was another good reminder that we need to be prepared.  I sent Meg to the store to pick up more flash lights and batteries.  After testing all ours, they were either broken or I couldn't find the nice ones.
Tonight I had the sweetest time jumping with Mason on the trampoline.  We found our shadows on the garage and we played with them for about 30 minutes.  Mason loved it and I loved seeing his cute shadow and watching him play with it.  He gave it a kiss and a hug and taught it how to fight :).  I would jump with him, holding his hands and help his shadow jump way up high.  Then at bedtime he prayed and thanked Heavenly Father for letting him play with his shadow.  This is such a tender age.
The other night Jonas and Mason taught Brooks how to defend himself if Porter attacked.  They taught him to hit, punch, slap, kick, head butt and use a "butt shield".  It was pretty funny.  Hopefully he won't ever have to use those tactics.
David and I have really enjoyed being home with the boys these past few weeks.  Almost every night that it hasn't snowed or rained, we have spent time playing on the trampoline after Brooks goes down.  The boys have loved playing dodgeball and just being together.  Usually David has things a couple nights a week, but since he is only going to work at the hospital, he's been around a lot more.  I'm pretty sure the boys aren't going to know what to do when he's gone again.
Having to social distance has actually been a big blessing.  It allows us to slow down and be present.  It has shown me areas that I need to improve and refocus.  I get pretty uptight and want things done a certain way.  Changing habits is hard, so I need to be deliberate about my actions.  The boys adore David, he plays with them and is much more relaxed about certain things.  I am definitely not as fun and I'm always thinking about what has to be done. 

Mason 5/8/2020

Early one morning, 5:50am to be exact.  Mason was up because Porter had pulled a blanket out from beneath him and woken him up. When I came out of the room, Mason had a big smile on his face and he said he wanted to show me something.  He walked me down the stairs and points to the open storage door.  Then matter of factly he says, "The lock keeps opening and we can keep sneaking food." 
"The lock keeps letting us get food.  It keeps opening."
David and I had put a lock on the laundry/food storage room so that the boys wouldn't be able to keep getting food whenever they wanted.  Well, Mason was so proud of himself to be able to get in there and still get food.