repairs

These last two weeks, my body has been in the repair shop. First, I got my second root canal in a year. The next day I got a laser procedure done on my leg to get rid of some painful varicose veins I've had since I was pregnant with Elsa. My leg was really swollen for a few days. And, I wasn't allowed to stand or sit. Then I got three blood clots in my leg that were pretty painful. Once again, I couldn't stand or sit. I wasn't so sure the procedure was a good idea. Check out how swollen my leg was:

But, the pain isn't so bad anymore, and I've had at least 2 days of being able to sit and stand now. I feel like I've emerged from a cocoon of sorts. I can finally function again. I was talking to my sister yesterday, and I said that I needed to start cleaning for my mom to come on Thursday. She said, "Is your house really so dirty that it will take you more than 2 days to clean it?" I didn't know what to say at first, but the answer is YES. It really is that dirty. I am so happy to be able to clean again.

making stuff

Here's some stuff I made for Elsa's room:





And here's what Elsa made for me:


Here's some other stuff I made a while ago, because my sister asked to see it:



I really think they look a lot better in real life. The colors are so weird on my crappy camera. But, you get the idea.

elsa's irrational fears

Elsa has never been a typical girl. She has never liked princesses, pink, fancy dresses, getting her hair done, etc. She loves snakes, lizards, bugs, video games, swords, etc. She plays video games a lot and loves fighting games--Super Smash Brothers, Lego Star Wars, that kind of thing. However, this week she has been VERY afraid of two things that completely baffle me. First, Wubbzy growing a large, polka-dot nose. (Sorry about the nose-picking quote, it's the only clip of the show I could find.)
Wubbzy's New Nose
I personally thought it was funny. But, she had to hide and try to get me to turn it off. I told her to just stay in the other room, since her brothers were thoroughly enjoying it.

She was also terrified of this book:

It was actually a pretty cute book. I was just picking up books at random at the library and found it. When the Opposite is around, the opposite thing always happens for the little boy in the book. He tries to paint neatly and instead paint gets everywhere except his paper, that kind of thing. The boys loved it. But, Elsa started to frown as if she would cry and said, "You shouldn't have read me that book." She wouldn't go to sleep until Brandon said he would take it back to the library that night. It's probably bad to laugh at your children's fears, but I just really think she's funny. Sweet, sensitve, perfectionist girl.

happy birthday dear henry

Henry turned 8 yesterday. We celebrated with honey bran muffins from Provo Bakery, a family trip to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch, buying him a new bike, and a family party at night. The next day he said, "You know what my favorite part about my birthday was? It wasn't the presents. It was playing games at my party. And Chuck E. Cheese."

My favorite part was that I got to remember the day he was born and how incredibly grateful I am for him. He is without guile. He's such a happy helper. He tells me he loves me out of the blue at least 3 times a day. He loves his brother and sister, and he loves to pray and read his scriptures. He has so much energy and enthusiasm for life. What would I do without my Henry B.?

Chuck E. Cheese fun:





New bike and birthday soda at Allen's with Dad:


Party games. Henry really wanted to do a relay, and he specified that he wanted to hop with balloons between our knees and do the crabwalk. My favorite is the grandpas doing the crabscoot. Will decided he needed a ride from Grandpa Kim.

Disneyland retrospective

We took our first real family vacation last November to Disneyland, and it's about time I mentioned it. We had a great time. The kids were in heaven, when they weren't whining about the heat and their sore feet. The lines weren't bad at all, and Brandon and I were surprised at how much we enjoyed it. Many thanks to Brandon's parents who organized and planned and paid and helped with kids. Hip hip hooray! Elsa's favorite rides were the rocket one at the beginning and the Go Gadget Coaster. She wouldn't go near any of the princesses or other people, but loved the animal characters. Henry's favorite rides were the Matterhorn and the Maliboomer. And, he was our most devoted autograph-getter. Will was particularly emamored of the new lightsabers. And, he charmed the princesses by giving them huge hugs. He didn't have anything for them to sign, so Belle tracked down her own piece of paper and asked for his name so she could write him a note. We all enjoyed Tom Sawyer Island and the treats (although those cupcakes were pretty nasty). However, we didn't much enjoy what we came home to. After a long car ride, I carried Elsa to her bed at 11:00 p.m., and it was raining in our basement. But, we'll always have Paris, I mean Disneyland.

from the tongue of henry

So, Henry has something called tongue thrust, which essentially means that the only muscle in his tongue that functions is the muscle that makes the tongue go backward and forward, like when a baby suckles. His speech has always been pretty messed up, and he's done a lot of speech therapy in the past, but this year we started doing tongue thrust therapy. He hates it, and I can't say I'm a big fan either. It's pretty disgusting to poke a tongue with a stick. But, every day we do tongue exercises anyway.

About a month ago, Henry was having a really hard day. So, I brought him to our bedroom to read scriptures with me (he loves reading scriptures). After a little while, he said, "Mom, everyone's different."
Me: Yeah, everyone is different.
Henry: And everyone sounds different.
Me: Yeah (getting skeptical).
Henry: How would you like it if I hurt your tongue with a stick just because you sound different?

I explained how everyone sounds a little different, but that the way he sounds is even more different than usual, that I want people to be able to understand him, that the way he talks could make it hard for people to know how smart he really is and that I don't want that to happen, etc.

Then about a week ago, we were in the car and this song came on my iPod (or maybe another song by her, but this is the best link I could find).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYl0uLrXP7U&NR=1
Henry: Her voice sounds funny.
Pause.
Henry: She needs to do tongue exercises.
I started laughing. Another pause.
Henry: Now I understand why I need to do tongue exercises.

mmmmm chocolate

Every year for Valentine's we feel the need to break out the fondue pot, and tonight we had my niece Megan join us in the festivities. Will wasn't big on dipping things, he just wanted to eat his chocolate with a spoon.

Hooray for chocolate!



Playing paper, rock, scissors with Megan. Henry and Elsa decided it's more fun to make up your own weapons in the game. The winners tonight were dinosaur and bow and arrow. Cause what paper, rock, or scissors can stand up to a dinosaur?

And, here are a few more favorites from the last month or so. Here is Elsa's zoo that she created one morning. That girl amazes me at the amount of effort she puts into her projects. Will left this creation alone for about 20 minutes before he stomped all over it.

The other day, the kids were playing superheroes. Henry and Elsa were wearing too-small Batman and Superman costumes. But Will wouldn't wear any costumes, he just wanted to be "Gunner": the caulking avenger.