Spotlight

This week at preschool Max got to be the star student, which entailed a show and tell, treats, a spotlight, and an assignment to create an "All About Me" poster. Max and I worked together to make what has become my signature poster:

I love Max's blurbs: "I want to be an Allstate insurance worker when I grow up." "My wish is to have a bb gun." "I have 4 brothers." "My favorite colors are blue and white." "My favorite thing to do is play catch with my Dad." and "I like to eat steak!"

Max and I do flashcards or workbooks together most mornings before school, but I think of his "homework" as more of an activity to keep him occupied than as active learning, so I was very surprised when Max brought home a few reader books...and he READ them! Seriously. He reads! What a smart little boy! Perhaps only second to watching a child take off riding a bike, watching a child actually grasp reading for the first time is a magical experience.

Dirty Mug

The other day I picked Hank up from school to find him chewing on a straw of some sort and, unbeknownst to him, covered in some kind of black ink all over his face. When I told him to look at his face in the mirror, he glanced at his reflection--black stained mouth and all--shrugged, and said, "what?" Can you imagine?! I would be completely mortified if I had just walked around all day with black marks on my face. I can't decide what to make of this: is it a good thing that Hank is so child-like, unaware, and has the self-esteem to be totally unphased by things like having a dirty face, forgetting to brush his teeth, or wearing a mismatched outfit? or is it a bad thing that he lacks any personal grooming standards? While I try my best maintain a certain level of hygiene in our home, I guess I feel like the day will come when I will find him obsessing in front of the mirror, styling his hair just so, and begging me for the latest brand name fashions, so, for now, I think I'm ok with this boy who is cute, black-stained mouth and all, who hasn't the least bit of concern for his own appearance.

Return and Report

As promised, here are the follow up posts to capture the daily dealings in the Grover household....and what could be more real than the diaper line-up? These three little stink-makers make me feel like a diaper-changing machine!

Tired Mama

I have been meaning to update my blog for several nights now, but can't seem to find the time to get on the computer to post anything. Well, to be more precise, I don't seem to have enough energy left at the end of the day to do anything much more than stare blankly at the tv in a semi-comatose state induced by a combination of exhaustion and sensory overload. Take Sunday for example...all things considered, they day really couldn't have been any better...I managed to get the kids ready for church in the morning without any fighting and we even arrived five minutes early. My strategy to wake up Rocky early so that he was ready to nap by 9am was successful and I was able to listen to the better part of the speakers during sacrament meeting. I thoroughly enjoyed subbing for Hank's primary class and felt energized after singing time in the nursery class. After church I enjoyed a lovely--and very rare--nap. The sun was shining brightly and I spent some precious one-on-one time walking around the neighborhood with Hank. I made an outstanding dinner and capped off the night with a pleasant family board game. The day really couldn't have been much better....and yet, at the end of the day, I was COMPLETELY drained. Because you know what? Under the best of circumstances, taking care of five very dependent people is a lot of work. At the end of the day, there just isn't much left in the tank, and what is leftover probably isn't suitable material for our family journal. And so, to make a long story short, my much loved blog has been neglected because, well, I'm just tired. Given my present energy level, I could just be setting myself up for failure, but I resolve to try a little harder to capture the everyday moments of our everyday life. Albeit a mundane blur of diaper changes, fight refereeing, taxi shuttling, and never ending house cleaning, my day is filled with fleeting bits of heart-melting joy, gospel-affirming life lessons and simple answers to prayers, and sentimental family happenings that are too precious to forget because I lack the physical energy to log onto my computer. And so, I begin anew the blog project to delve into the ordinary to examine the extraordinary.

The Collector

I am posting this picture not because it's something extraordinary, but because it is extremely ordinary. Typical Ben. It would be unusual to find Ben WITHOUT a collection of some kind or another, busily sorting objects of various shapes and colors into different containers and baggies. On Valentine's Day, his conversation hearts didn't get eaten, they got sorted into piles by color. Breakfast is a drawn out process of eating his Fruit Loops one color at a time. I even opened my bathroom drawer to find that my makeup had been grouped by type. If only I could figure out how to apply Ben's penchant for order to my disorganized pantry or toy room.

Jr. Jazz

It's really hard not to be prideful when your kids really ARE amazing. Hank did score a rather impressive amount of points, but what gave me the most enjoyment was just watching him do something that he loves to do! Every game, Hank was the kid begging the coach to stay in for one more quarter, the first kid racing back down the court after the play and jumping up to touch to net in celebration, and the kid waving his arms frantically and yelling, "I'm open! I'm open!" And I was the mom in the stands loving every minute.

In Heaven

Aaron and I are confident that our family of seven is complete, but I think if they would just stay four months old forever I would keep on having more babies. This little four-month old is pure heaven! He gives me the biggest open-mouth smiles, has the softest, pudgiest baby rolls just perfect for pinching and kissing, and will occupy himself for quite some time with nothing but his own feet for entertainment. Rocky is an absolute doll baby and I can't get enough of him.