BEN

This is why my boys want more babies. Jacob has decided that it is his job to make babies laugh - they especially love Ben. This video was taken towards the end of their "make Ben laugh" plan. He was seriously cracking up in the beginning - you can't really tell that here. Jacob still asks when we will be having a baby. Spencer the other day was quite engrossed in watching Ben eat and asked DeAnn if his mommy could have a baby Ben too. That of course led into the question like - will she feed Ben like you are - how does the milk get made, etc.. They will be pros when it is our turn to have a new baby. I almost forgot to explain the video. They are pretending that Ben has an electric force field around him. When they try to touch him they are thrown off him. That stinkin video just won't run - maybe next time.

LAZY BLOGGER!!!

I think I have won that award - I work hard for my titles. We have been busy it seems, and K doesn't like me to blog when he is home - WORD!! The crazy thing is I am thinking he is going to be home more now. He started family practice today and he LOVED it!! I think his exact words were - "today was such a stress free day" - plus he looked super hot with his fresh hair cut and shirt and tie. I thought I would miss scrubs, but I think not!! He is actually home now, but he is studying in bed next to me - that is fair.

On Presidents Day the Whitaker Center was free to the public. We started the day with some Chucky Cheese and then went on to the Whitaker Center. My neighbor and I must have been feeling a little crazy - we took the other neighbors with us - that is equivalent to 5 extra kids. The 10 of us had a ball. The museum had tons to do that was hands on. It didn't hurt that there were a bunch of college kids there with booths handing out candy if you tried what they were doing. We made silly putty, learned about dung beetles (nice), made a light go on with batteries, built a little thing with marshmallows and sticks, saw human organs etc... By the end of the day I was sooooo tired - the things we do for our kids. They of course wanted to stay longer but I was pooped. Jacob and Spencer loved being with their friends. Jacob's favorite part was the human body - organs, bones etc.. He obviously takes after his daddy. Spencer's favorite part was frosties at Wendy's when it was all over. He obviously takes after me.



This picture is just to show that child labor does have benefits. Look at his attention to detail. He also thought that it was a HUGE treat for him to help - plus he got to do it in his dunt-da-dunts (underwear). Jacob had a turn too, but I didn't pull the camera out in time. It also didn't cost a thing - their reward was they got to play in the bath afterwards.

Holy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day has come and gone (well technically there are still 2 hours left). Interestingly enough I still have not seen Khuong, but I did talk to him and he loved what we gave him. Of course Valentine's Day is all about the pink and red - favorite - colors in the Phui house. When asked to make a valentine for Khuong, Jacob used green paper and Spencer black - nice.

I am sure I forgot to mention that we got some crazy ice AGAIN! I am beginning to think that PA can only produce ice. This was a different kind of ice - it didn't coat the trees - it came right after a snow storm creating a sea of ice. I really mean sea - the ground is white glass. Jacob's face is proof of what happens if you dink (one of my favorite words) around and land on your face. He did this as we were waiting for the school bus - he and Mateen were glass skating. The bus was in sight when he did it. Being a really nice mom I asked if he wanted to come home and clean it up - then I would take him to school. Of course he replied - no - and he got on the bus bleeding face and all. I am sure I have moved even higher up on the good parent chart at school.



For Valentine's Day my mom sent the boys all the ingredients for some PINK COOKIES. Jacob made some pink comments while we were working, but Spencer ignored them and was able to bask in the glory of pink sugar. Mom made the rockin aprons for them!!

Jacob looks really happy rolling away - maybe he realized the rolling pin is red?

This is our finished plate of cookies that we took over to the Smalley family. We had our FHE lesson at like 3pm about service (w/o Khuong of course). Then we proceeded to make cookies in service of the Smalley fam - I mean everyone needs a little baking service. It was really all a ploy to create an excuse for K to go and help the Smalley's hang a door on a Monday night. It worked flawlessly - we all served in our own capacities. Thank goodness mine had to do with cookies.


Do not allow my lack of loving on Khuong on my blog fool you. That man owns my heart!!

NEW YORK BABY!!

Dang I look hot in that beige hat!! Oh - I guess thats not me... well anyways.. It was really fun to bug Olivia again.


These were the ladies I went with - DeAnn, Jenna (her sister visiting from AZ), and Ben - most definitely not a lady!

A couple of weekends ago we went to NY.. That is some ladies and I. Khuong - the most amazing husband on earth (I think he could compete nationally for that title), stayed at home with the boys. What they did while I was gone was an adventure in itself. I am sure there was a lot of fighting and Jacob is quick to recall some moments he spent in daddy's smelly armpit (word in the house is his head then smelled). Enough heard on my part - Jacob was quick to ask when another boys day in would be occurring.

Now for the fun part - New York City. This is my second visit so of course I am a pro - NOT!! Thank goodness for Olivia who knows the best parts of NY. She took us to a really good place for brunch - the name of the place was - good. Before that she informed us of the place to go for excellent cupcakes - and if truth be told AMAZING banana pudding. Of course I would NEVER have purchased it without the pro insisting that I do. I am running out of time but I cannot finish without explaining the fun and crazy part. We went shopping for the fake bags. The pro again sent us in the direction to find the much sought after bags. When we arrived we didn't have to go looking. Just walking down the street people would say to you - "want a bag - coach, prada,.." This is where the adventure began. Sadly we only needed to take 2 adventures to find a bag satisfactory to each of the ladies. One jewel was found as we were escorted around the corner and the ladies went into a minivan to go shopping. For the next adventure the ladies landed in a closet in a store - weird. On our way to this location we saw a bag seller getting arrested. It was crazy! What I loved about NY was seeing all the ethnic diversity - I miss CA for that.

Varicella rears its ugly head

That is right - Jacob got the chicken pox. Actually about 2 weeks ago he got the third series of the varicella vaccination - sometimes that can bring on the pox. You probably can barely see the ones on his hands and wrists, and he got a few little ones on his face. Anyways I sent him to school not knowing what it was - thinking it was some kind of rash, but no! How embarrassing - I was even telling my friend in spin class that it wasn't like chicken pox. Now I am banished to my house until saturday. The vaccination version of the chicken pox is much milder - no fever, only like 30 blisters in all, and only a week of incubation.

Here is a picture of Pence and Jacob practicing safe computer playing. They must have been playing some intense games.

HUGE, BIG NEWS is that it is official - Khuong has decided to change to family practice. He is soooo excited. He says that surgery is fun, but the hours are killer and he didn't want that kind of lifestyle. What lifestyle you ask - lifestyle of the rich and famous - yep he doesn't want that kind.:)(I am just kidding) We have been praying about this huge decision for months and everything just came together perfectly. This is what he should be doing. Khuong just had a really hard time being away from us. I think he was tired of not being part of the family. Jacob was drawing pictures and leaving him out, and in the primary program the children gave their real responses to questions. Jacobs response was "I am grateful for my mom and I love her." After that comment someone turned around and asked me - "what about his dad?", to which I laughed and said "he is never home". Sad but true. When Khuong was on call we would sometimes visit him at the hospital - every time it was time to go home Jacob would be bawling because Khuong wasn't coming home. That is the main reason behind Khuongs decision - to bad I wasn't as easy as Khuong - The Lord had to work harder on me.:) We now only have a little under two years left - kind of crazy considering we had 4 1/2 left. My house is not ready so there will be some major work going on in the next year.

News in my life is I have finally signed up - I will officially participate in a mini triathalon in May. I am excited and very nervous. It is a 500 yard swim, 14.8 mile bike, and a 5k. It should not be that bad. I also had a really fun trip to NY this last weekend, but I will wait to post when I have pics.

IT'S January 12th

How is this happening.. where has the beginning of the year gone. I guess I should be glad that I have been busy. You know busy with things like - playing Scrabble with my neighbor 4 times this week. Her husband was working Khuong hours this week and K was just working normal so we got together while the kids played OUTSIDE!! That is right the weather was pretty excellent this week. Well I cannot welcome the new year without saying goodbye to 2007. Hershey Park is going to be the big miss of 2008, and really the only thing I am going to say goodbye to. We got season passes last year and we went so much I can't believe my kids are not super sick of it!! I would guess we visited the sweetest place on earth like 50 times - maybe I am exaggerating, but I don't know, that sounds about right. Of course I only have a couple of pictures because I just forgot to take my camera. I did remember our last trip to HP. Here are some of the highlights.
Jacob and Spencer would hug every Hershey man they could find - high fives were also always swapped


Mr. Hershey bar thought he was being so cute jumping in on this picture... OK he was.





See that big smile on Pence - 2 seconds before that he was in tantrum mode, THEN I found 5 bucks and gave it to him. Oh the smile that followed - how do kids know money is fun to have?

We were lucky enough to have friends visit to go with us. This is the Handy clan - they came up like 4 times to go. This was obviously around Halloween. Cameron also came up to go - I have pictures somewhere.


All of these pictures - but I didn't get one of Jacob on his favorite ride. The cars - that is right - one night we went on them 7 times in a row. Khuong finally put an end to it - he said the gas smell was making him sick. Jacob loved to drive, he says he is ready to drive my car. Like a good mom I told him that when he is 25 he can drive my car. Hershey Park was perfect - this year was its 100 year anniversary. That meant a new water park that was kind of crazy and cool. Spencer loved it, while Jacob was more of a ride man. Spencer preferred to sit in the stroller and eat crackers instead of riding some rides. We will miss you HP, but 2009 may bring season passes again.

Welcome 2008 - 2007 was AWESOME, FRESH, RAD.. you know all those 80's words. 2008 will be better - I can feel it!! So 2008 bring it.. On January first 2008 I went to bed at 6am. That must have been some party - it was!! Khuong and I rang in the new year tiling the rest of our kitchen and hall.. It was actually a lot of fun - I really like to work with Khuong. Neither of us had done any tile work before, I called my brother like 4 times a day to ask him dumb questions like, "what is the consistency of the grout suppose to be like, peanut butter or pizza dough?". Thank goodness he kept answering his cell phone. What a couple of days. I am sure that I am suppose to have some New Year resolutions - maybe this year I will shave my legs more or lose some weight.. doubtful.. but it was fun thinking about it. I hope everyone has a rockin 2008!!

Wait maybe I will paint my kitchen and put up baseboard. This may be possible!!

Jacobo - tan grande

OK so not the best picture of Jacob - what can I say I am lazy at a lot of things. I can't even believe I can kind of remember what I was doing 6 years ago, yesterday. The pain is still somewhat vivid - I only really remember when it is time to do it again. I gave birth to a beautiful and I really mean beautiful boy named Jacob. He was only 6 lbs 7 oz so the pushing was kind of a breeze. The question you must ask yourself is, "was it worth it?".. Duh - even I, a semi decent mom will admit that it was! That boy was so beautiful - I thought he was a girl for the first couple months of his life. As a child Jacob did not like to be held - he preferred to be wiggling on the ground. That is probably why at 10 months he was off and walking.

He also did not like to sleep. True to himself he still does not like to sleep. He has a really hard time relaxing to go to sleep and he does not sleep through the night - poor guy. He did NOT inherit this problem from me. He likes to cuddle now more than ever - he loves the love, affection and attention.

This boy talks A LOT - he can make me crazy with talking. He talks about everything and anything - he loves to ask those religious questions I have a hard time answering. He likes to ask me to describe the Transformer or Spiderman movie scene by scene. Did I mention he is and elephant - he remembers most everything. He is very stubborn and doesn't give up if he really wants it. Olivia reminded me the other day how obsessive Jacob was and is. He still REALLY likes Spiderman, but now he is able to like other things as well. The love started at the age of 18 months when his cousin introduced him to the web spinning hero. He used to ask where Spiderman was in the scriptures - he now gets it that only cool prophets like Abinadi tell their stories in the scriptures.

This kid astounds me. He loves people, and doing things. He LOVES babies and yearns for one. He has an amazing thirst for knowledge and is loving learning to read. He is INSANE for puzzles, but mostly Transformer ones. He can DRIVE ME CRAZY in 2seconds, and undue it all in 1. One day I was laying down for a nap (the fact that he can hold down the fort while I nap makes him supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!! (I am sure that is spelled wrong) He is in the kitchen playing playdoh when I hear him tell Spencer, "let's clean everything up, it will make mom so proud of us!" I got up to him donning a broom and dustpan putting the finishing touches on the kitchen.:) What mom can resist that. He loves to eat out!! When we drive by a restaurant he will read the sign and say something like "Red Robin - we haven't eaten there yet - we need to". For his birthday he chose to eat at Red Robin and he kept asking me if I had told them it was his birthday because he wanted them to sing to him. He got to stand on the bench while they sang and he was in heaven - then Spencer was in heaven because Jacob gave him the sundae. Well my little kung fu fighter you are a blessing in my life in so many ways - I LOVE YOU!!