The Sound of Silence

After a long and busy day, it sure is nice to enjoy the sound of silence. I'm not sure which child drifted off to sleep first, but I know it wasn't a boy. Benjamin and I were over at the church for the Young Men/Young Women combined activity tonight. It was a Jeopardy type of game and Stephen McCammon was the host. Let's just say it was an interesting evening. I don't think many of the youth care for this type of activity either. They have done it before and have not enjoyed it. I'm not sure why they repeated it this year.

Once Benjamin returned home, he didn't go to bed right away. I found he and Justin playing Gameboy in bed with the light on. I left their room, after telling them to go to bed a few times, and went downstairs to take care of Cameron. He was happy and loved playing with his dad. Once he was taken care of and laid down, I discovered that once again the boys light was on. It was about 10:30pm and I thought the boys were awake. As I peeked inside, I only saw sleeping boys. Either they were really sleeping or they faked it. Maybe I should have tried to tickle them to see what would happen.

One thing that I noticed after I took some pictures was that Anna's hands were all wrapped up. Her hands get extremely dry and red in the cold winter months. We use to have a large box of medical gloves that were leftover when I was pregnant with Emma and had home healthcare. These gloves came in handy and worked well when taking care of her hands. When the glove box ran empty, we began using plastic wrap to do the trick.

It's been a long and busy day and I need to head off to bed, too. So, now I lay me down to sleep, and pray my children won't make a peep. Ahh, the joy of sleeping kids, the sound of silence, and going to bed myself. It is something to be enjoyed. Sweet Dreams!

Justin is a "Hand" Full

Wow, Justin is now a "hand" full. Today was his birthday and he turned 5 years old - a full hand. He sure is a bundle of joy. We went to church this morning with Grandma and Grandpa Buss and the primary children sang the welcome song and the birthday song, too. He also got to choose his birthday meal, which on Monday during FHE, he decided he wanted carrots (raw), broccoli, mashed potatoes, jello, and ice cream along with his chocolate cake. Well, that's exactly what we had for his birthday dinner. Grandma had fixed roast for the main dish and everything else that Justin wanted. The funny thing is that he hardly ate any of it. He ate a few carrots and maybe some broccoli, as well as some olives that were opened up. We later had to get him to eat a little bit more of his food if he wanted the ice cream and cake. Look at that big kid blowing out his candles!

Following the desserts, he opened up his presents. Grandpa Buss gave him the traditional birthday bag of some goodies. I always loved that while growing up. This is a bag of goodies just for Justin, but he can choose to share if he would like. I know when I was growing up, having your own food was very desirable. When you have eight kids in a family you don't always get things you want or you have to share. Justin did say that he would share his jar of pickles with his siblings, though. Sweet boy!

Grandma Buss gave him an envelope with $5.00 in it so he could be treated to a kid's meal, shake, or something special. Mom and Dad gave him some Rescue Heroes that use to be Benjamin's. They have been in storage for a long time, so they would be "new" to him. Benjamin gave Justin his very own Gameboy Advance with a few Gameboy games. He made arrangements to purchase Ethan Smith's old Gameboy Advance and games from him. Ethan no longer wants them or would like to buy other stuff. It benefits Benjamin because they are very cheap.

Overall, I think Justin loved his birthday, his presents, and spending time with everyone. What a great kid he is and what a great help and example he will be to Cameron as he grows up. I don't know what I would do without Justin - he is such a fun and loving kid!