The Most Boring Post Ever

 Here are a few things we've added this month. Some new, and sorely needed carpet. And bunk beds. Both have changed my life. Not only has my vacuuming dropped from 5-6 times a week to 1-2 times a week, but my sleeping through the night without a sweet little person hopping on top of me at 12:30am has increased from 0 to 7 times a week! Miracles do happen with sleeping schedules and with many other things. And, if you ever want to talk about miracles and faith and power, I'd love to share my experiments and experiences this past month. Life changing . . . and I thought just having new carpet was good.

My Happy 2^5 Birthday

A cake (with a tractor and a tiara), an entire cheesecake for me, friends, sunshine, a little volleyball, and a sweet, sweet husband. What else could I want?  

 Oh, yeah, these beauties. What a great day.

Just A Few Things We've Been Up To Lately

Happy Fathers Day to Me!

I've sailed the seven seas and never found finer fulfillment than Fatherhood.  Kiddo's thank you for teaching me how to love.  Thank you for the dance and chant you do when I come home from work.  Myna, thanks for always saying, "Daddy, how was your day?"  Milo, thanks for showing me the vehicle of the day.  You two love me and trust me.  You come to me when you're scared or need someone to play with.  You want me to be a part of your games and your life.  You let me read you stories and hold you at night.  You are kind to each other and you are kind to me.  Please don't ever stop being such great friends to me.  God was beyond generous in giving me the privilege of being associated with you.  Thanks for letting me be your father.  I hope I live up to that challenging role.

Letter To Juliet

Dear Juliet,

I know this is crazy since my Myna is only 3, but seeing her grow up is so hard. And yesterday, as I played with her at the park, I watched her stop to look at the older kids playing together. I can't even describe how painful (and exciting in some ways) it was to see the yearning in her eyes. She just wanted to play. She just wanted to be a part of the group.

She asked my to walk with her to where the kids were playing because she was to scared to do it alone. And, my sweet, shy little Myna would just inch closer and closer to the children (and farther and farther from me) to try to belong. She wanted to belong so badly. And, my heart hurt to see her struggle with what to do.

After about an hour at the park, we were about to leave. Milo was still playing though it was late, but Myna was done playing. I tried to play with her, but she was not interested. Then, you came over and asked if Myna would play with you. Oh, how her countenance changed! I can't thank you enough. The elated look on her face when she glanced at me to see if it was okay to play was the best part of my day, and I'm sure it was the greatest part of many days for my sweet little girl who wants to big like you.

I am grateful to your kind friendship. Thank you for including someone you didn't know and who probably did not talk to you and who was a foot smaller than you are. You are our super-hero. I hope you find others along you path who do as much for you as you did for Myna yesterday.

Sincerely,

A blubbering mom at the computer

Oh Beautiful For Heroes Proved

Hi everybody ~ My little brother Milo (who claims "I big, Myna little!") and I, we have a lot to be thankful for. Besides a perfect day for a parade, we have a beautiful country, men and women who have worked and fought to protect our freedoms, fellow countrymen who love our nation, a God who prospers us in this land, and a whole day of fun every last Monday in May!

Here we are waiting for the Glens Falls Memorial Day Parade to begin!

We didn't get any pictures of veterans, but there they are!

Milo and I were quite impressed at the breadth of this small town parade - it was 45 minutes long! (oh, and Milo says the most important part was that there were over 25 fire rescue vehicles) Mom says the most important part was learning that Milo could sit still for 45 minutes! (who knew it would only take a never-ending supply of fire engines, an equally numbered concourse of wiener dogs, and some Boy Scouts singing Christmas Carols while marching to grab this 2 year old's attention)

Milo and Daddy liked waving at the Veterans - and the Veterans liked waving back.

I was too shy to wave, but I wore a pretty poppy to show them my support.

I had to ask Mommy why that man was "all wrapped-up in that instrument."

 

Me, well, I liked the marching bands and the lollipop that a nice girl on a bus threw out to me.

Still, checking out the fire engines . . .

After the parade, we listened to our Senator talk and heard an orchestra play the anthems of all the armed  forces. Mommy only cried once. She said she was happy though. I guess this fun day makes American people so happy they cry. I cried, but only because my lollipop was gone.

I got a bit restless during the speeches and this is what happened instead of solemn reverence.

But, we had fun and enjoyed our lives and remembered our duty to our country and those who have given much for us, and isn't that what all those veterans fought for? I think so. And, I'm just three.

Here's our Family Home Evening lesson: The Pledge of Allegiance. This is Milo's second try at covering his heart - the first attempt was more like hand-on-belly-button.

I found my heart and could repeat all the words. "Did you know I can say America? I can. I'm big and can say 'America.'"

Lehi's Baptism

This past weekend brought many adventures, the most exciting of which I must share.

Well, it started out like a normal baptismal service. Our nephew who had just turned eight was excited to be baptized, there were friends and family, there was a nice musical number, we were taught about Baptism and the Holy Ghost, but somewhere in the middle of learning about the Holy Ghost, Milo got too noisy to stay in the meeting. So, like a good mom, I took him to the back doorway to stand and watch. And, he promptly ran off. Following behind him (picture a mom in high heels chasing an energetic two year-old), I caught up to him when he stopped at the drinking fountain. I helped him get a drink (and probably said something about going back in by Daddy and Myna), and then I got a drink. As I was drinking, Milo stuck his finger in the metal ventilation slits on the side of the fountain. He started to whine like it hurt and he was scared. I picked him up to try and help him pull his finger out, but it was twisted or caught, and it got cut, badly.

I saw it start to bleed a lot, and ran with Mi into the bathroom where I rinsed it off and tried to wrap it up, but I soon realized that it wasn't stopping bleeding. Also, Milo didn't want me to touch it and kept pulling his hand away from me. So, blood is flinging everywhere, I can't figure out how to get help without making a huge scene in the baptism service (of course, this was the meeting our family decided to sit front and center . . . ), and I am getting super hot.

Finally, Pete heard the screaming enough to come and check on Milo and me as we are running up and down the hall trying to figure out what to do. Pete's Dad came to, and all of us were directed to the kitchen for first aid supplies. Pete takes off down the hall for the first aid kit, and I (in my heels carrying a screaming two year old) race after him.

Things get even more ridiculous in the kitchen as Pete tries to find a band aid amid the first aid supplies - who uses gauze and tape, really? Milo keeps screaming that he hates bandaids, and I start to pass out. I'm not sure how Pete finally convinced our son to put a bandaid on because I started crumpling to the floor. Luckily, my very able sister-in-law happened in on the scene in time to yell, "somebody catch Ashley!" She made sure I got juice and a cold compress.

So, I didn't really ever pass out totally, Milo's finger is doing pretty well, Lehi got baptized (so we were told), and we have really vivid memories of a family event.

The best part was that after we left the baptism, we made a stop at a store where a nice man gave us ice cream sandwiches, and later that night, I was playing with the kids in the Primary room of another church building during Stake Conference. Myna spent the entire conference at the pulpit playing "Primary" at the microphone.

The "messages" she gave while playing included what she learned that day about baptism (since she was the one member of our family who actually saw the baptism). I thought I should share.

- "If somebody gets baptized, we can have ice cream"
- "Milo, the Priesthood says you can get baptized and get ice cream"
- "My message is Milo needs to come over here and get my purse"
- "If you want ice cream, come here and get baptized"
- "Ding a ding a ding, it's a bell for a baptism and ice cream"
- (handing Milo a tithing slip) "Here's a card for a baptism - you can get it wet if you want to and then get an ice cream"

Thanks Myna, I really needed to laugh that night. You are a gem.

Birthday Fun and Fire Engines

My Milo Turns Two

       

Happy birthday to a little man who has acted 2 since he turned 1. Your energy inspires me, your love encourages me, your intelligence astounds me, your devotion amazes me. You want nothing more than your tractors/trucks/fire engines and to be loved by Daddy, Momma, and Na-Na (unless you take the time to say Myna correctly - which you can do, but I'm glad you still have some cute baby things about you). Other things about life are a distance second to those important items listed above. Eating is a burden when there are tractors to play with. You do love to read and will bring us book after book and say, "wead it again, Momma, wead it again."

You are persistent and are hard to say no to. When anyone plays with you, they must be sitting all the way down - no legs propped up - all the way down, or you will not play with them. You want all the toys to "talk to me". You can often be found singing while playing trucks by yourself. "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," "I Love to See The Temple," and "The Danube Waltz" are you favorites at the moment. You are getting the hang of saying prayers. You always give thanks for your tractor, the wheels, the buttons, the wheels . . .  :)

At 23 months, you began sleeping through the night! Thank you! And thank you for all the joy you have brought to our family the during the past 24 months. Our family needs you and is so much stronger, funnier, and happier with our little boy with the big name. 

Happiest Birthday Michaelangelo Christopher Bontorno.