A Rockin' Day

Two bads, three goods, folks....Away we go!


Bads

• Had to do a timed three-mile walk today, so while #5 was having soccer practice, I went out with my little Nike+ thingy in my shoe and went for it on the track. As I would walk around the track and would get to the far side, each time, I would pass this extremely awkward couple that had draped themselves across lanes 7 and 8. They were in a rather intimate position there, so I tried not to look but pretended that the soccer field was so very interesting.

As I would pass, they would laugh. I didn't think much of it until #6 ran toward me on the track to hug me. As he did so, I said, "Are you coming to walk with me?" Within moments, as if there were a parrot behind me, a woman's voice (the one draped over lane 7) was mimicking me. Hmm....Interesting. I continued to walk. Whatev. Just strange. Haven't experienced anything like that since maybe....middle school?

• Cub Scout day camp rocked, but port-a-potties didn't. They were actually very nice port-a-potties, as those kinds of things go, but still....If I can avoid using the facilities in times like these, I will. Well, it couldn't be avoided all day long...unfortunately.

Goods

• I'm going to see if I can explain this as briefly as possible but still have it make sense. When things started out with our day camp registration, we had quite a few boys going. Because of this, four of our boys were going to be combined with another smaller den of boys--a group our boys didn't know. 

As of yesterday, boys were dropping out, so we ended up with only needing to have one group. But, because we were leaving this other group in the lurch as far as leaders were concerned, we promised them we'd provide an additional leader for them for today, as was originally promised, so that they could find an additional leader for each of the other days this week. Does that make sense?

Well, today, I was that leader for the other group. It was the SWEETEST group of boys. There were four of them. Because there were only four, there were open spots on the archery range, so we, the two adults, were invited to join in. I had never shot a bow and arrow before. It was SO fun! I actually got two bull's eyes. Yeehaw!

It was fun to go to day camp and get to be one of the guys. Our last station was the bottle rockets. Thought I'd share just what the bottle rocket station entailed with a short video of #5 (Thanks, Jon!):

Our little group followed my own ward's group (with #5 in it) all day. I met up with them just as they were moving on to the next station.

As I said before, water rockets was our last station before going home. We got in there and started filling the bottles halfway, putting them on, and pumping the air into the bottles. The rockets would fly into the sky and droplets of water would fall on you.

Well, I was hot. I was tired. And those little droplets of water just weren't cutting it, so I turned to the boys and said, "I want to get wet." Well, that was all the invitation those boys needed. We spent the next 20 or 30 minutes dousing each other with water. We were running and laughing and having a BLAST! Just when I thought it was over and I'd start to dry, another boy would come along surreptitiously and pour water on me.

Seriously, I've volunteered at day camp for at least a day almost every year since #2 went (he's now 17), and this was by far my favorite memory. We even ambushed one of the staffers that just kept hanging out in the area.

When all was said and done, I stood there and the boys gathered 'round, big, huge smiles on their faces, water dripping from everything--hair, eyelashes, earlobes, and they asked, "Are you coming tomorrow?"

That made me so happy. I felt so loved and wanted.

Seriously, what a great day! I LOVED being one of the guys.

• We went to dinner as a family. I found a gift certificate for $15 for a local restaurant on restaurant.com and paid $2.40 for it. Our good friends walked in as we were eating and were seated in the table right behind us. FUN! Love you, Megan!
• Went to pick #2 and #3 up from EFY. I LOVE this experience! These kids are so enthusiastic and happy when they come home. It's fabulous. They told us about all the new friends they made and how they went about doing it. I budget money specifically for this experience for my kids all year long so that they can go and participate. Every year, I decide that it was definitely worth it and the following summer will include the same activity.

Okay, so in other news, #4 took off for scout camp at 5:15 this morning. From what I understand, he signed up for a basketry class and a horseback riding class. He is also going to have a survival experience one night (at least, I think it was only going to be for one night).

He woke me at 4am so that we could run and get him some last minute snacks to have for today. I jumped out of bed, and we hit the road. Should be a fun week for him.

Since he's gone, and I'm missing him tonight, I have to share one thing that #4 does that makes me giggle inside (Sorry, this was the only clip I could find that had the part I wanted. It doesn't even happen until 2:36 into the video--the very tail end. If you want to skip ahead, please do, but this scene is all so classic, so you may not want to. The winking part? AWESOME!)....

Whenever one of us says "I love you" to the other, we always follow it up with that last little thing Ferris does, the "I love you too. Mi mi mi mi" thing. Today, one of the kids said "I love you" to me. Of course, I said, "I love you too." But, "Mi mi mi mi," popped right into my head, and I instantly missed #4.

Tomorrow will be a day spent at home getting a package ready to send off to #1--getting a blanket and cookies made. I have some work to do and an interesting post to write for the Oregon Association of American Mothers, Inc. I'm looking forward to spending time with #s 6 and 7--just the three of us. I promised them chocolate peanut butter milkshakes at some point during the day.

Yep. Today was a good day. If I could spend everyday being a kid, man, I'd do it in a heartbeat, so glad I have the kids so I have the excuse. I just need to let my hair down more often. Who knows, maybe there'll be a water fight here tomorrow. I don't think I quite got my fill. Except, next time, I won't be wearing jeans and Converse.

Double Talk

Sometimes the things I resort to as a mother surprise even me. Let's take today's tactics for instance....

Maybe it's because they've grown unaccustomed to hearing my voice during the day when school is in session, or maybe it's because they've already grown tired of my voice in the couple weeks we've had of summer vacation, but my children (my younger boys, in particular) don't hear anything the first time I say it. EVER....anymore.

Now, I'm not the kind of mom, usually, who knee jerks the consequences I dole out in response to my kids' behaviors. I just don't. As much as possible, the punishment must fit the crime. It must be logical. It must somehow tie to the broken rule. I must admit, I've become fairly creative in tying the two together over the years. I mean, how can you avoid a little creativity when you've set those kinds of ground rules for yourself and you've been doing the same thing for over 19 years--and the end of that tunnel is so far off that it seems nonexistent?

Today, we were driving in the car. I, for the umpteen-millionth time, repeated myself. I swear the first time I speak I must sound like Charlie Brown's teacher. I just MUST.





The second time the defect must clear up because the second time around, there is sometimes some kind of response that shows acknowledgment, but I hate to admit that at times clarification is needed a third and fourth time.

There is always a lag time between the first utterance and the repetition as I stand there waiting in full expectation that there will be some glint of understanding. That's where the frustration begins. I mean, why do I even wait. I already know I'm going to have to say it again. Shoot! Pavlov's dogs learned faster than I do--excuse me while I wipe my chin.

Today, I decided that I was tired of wasting such valuable time, so instead of saying something once and then waiting for a response to see if I needed to repeat myself, I just went ahead and repeated myself right away. I just went head and repeated myself right away.

And you know what? You know what?.....

It WORKED! It WORKED! I mean like a charm. I totally had their attention. Not only that, but they were talking to me in hopes that I would respond....at first.

This carried on for about an hour. This carried on for about an hour. Then, the 13-year-old decided that he'd had enough. So, after he and his brothers promised that they'd answer the first time, I went back to normal. They wanted me to promise that I'd never do that again, but you know what?...

....I didn't promise. I didn't promise.

Unity through Family Chaos

At the Warden's school, near the end of every school year, they have a big after school soccer tournament. Yesterday was the day.

The Warden invited us to come watch. I had to take #5 to an eye appointment at 5pm, so I turned him down, but after the appointment, knowing that the tournament was going to go on for awhile, I swung by the house, picked up the kids, and we took off for the school. #1 was at work and works close to the school, so she drove over and beat us there.

image: jsgilbert.com

Before arriving at the school, we stopped and picked up some pizzas. While waiting for the pizzas, the Warden called. He said that he saw #1's car in the parking lot. Where were we?

Although I had tried to text him earlier, he hadn't replied, so I didn't know that the tournament was over. We'd missed it.

I asked him to scrounge up some soccer balls, and we'd meet him there anyway.

image: rolphroadschool.com

We all met up at the front of the school and headed to the back. We broke open the pizza boxes and went to town eating pizza while we sat on the hillside by the soccer field.

As soon as the pizza was gone, so was everyone in the family. #7 and #6 were appointed team captains and each chose a team.

#7's team:
The Warden
#1
#3

#6's team:
#2
#4
#5

image: safelawns.com

I, being the odd man out, volunteered as cheerleader. It was pretty much girls against guys. They took off for the field.

You may wonder who won, and to be honest, I can't tell you. Chaos reigned in the funniest way. #2 was out there chasing people more than he was chasing the ball.

As we walked away, I turned to the Warden and said, "Now I remember why we had them all."

A little family activity once in awhile, no matter how simple, sure seems to increase family unity.

We're going back to doing this kind of thing once a week.

To Those Who Think I've Got Too Much on My Plate....

You're right.

I do.

I give up.

HAHAHA!!!

Just kidding.

NEVER!!!

Still over here chipping away....

Melinda Mae

Have you heard of tiny Melinda Mae,
Who ate a monstrous whale?
She thought she could,
She said she would,
So she started in right at the tail.

And everyone said,"You're much too small,"
But that didn't bother Melinda at all,
She took little bites and she chewed very slow,
Just like a little girl should...

...and eighty-nine years later she ate that whale
Because she said she would!!!

Written by Shel Silverstein (1930-1999)

Someday....

Yes...someday.....

Friday Night Surprise

To make a short story long, this afternoon, while sitting in a dr's office with #2, who is having knee problems, I read that the Children's Museum is free on the 1st Friday of the month.  Yes, that is TONIGHT!

We hadn't been there in FOREVER, so I called the Warden, who was still at work and would continue to be for a number of hours.  Knowing he'd say no, I asked what he thought.  Surprisingly, he said, "Let's do it."

We got home after receiving a referral to the physical therapy department (yay!), ate pizza for dinner and headed out.  While the pizza was cooking, the kids were trying all kinds of ways to get out of me where we were going.  "Mom, I want to wear these shoes, but if I do, will they get all wet and ruined?"  "Do we need our heavy coats?"  "Will we be inside?"  "Are we going to #2's basketball game?" #2 didn't have a game tonight, but they knew that wherever we were going it was free because I'd let them know that much.

It wasn't part of the original plan to keep it a secret, but it just felt like a fun idea, so we did.  We drove up by the zoo, and the kids said, "Where are we going?"  When we told them the Children's Museum, to be honest, I thought the oldest kids'd groan, but I was thrilled to hear a cheer go up from the back seats in the van.

Back when we had two children, we had a membership to the museum.  It was in a different location back then--in an old house, and it was great for wet Oregon days.  With the membership, you could go whenever you wanted to and just let the kids play and play.  A membership is currently $85 if you were wondering.

Watching them in the museum cracked me up.  They stuck together through everything.  I thought for sure one kid'd go off one direction and another another, but NOT AT ALL.  First, they had to go see the Lego display then they went to the giant light bright and worked together to create a work of beauty.  They went to the water room and then to the play house and the vet.

It was a mother's dream--that my kids WANTED to be together.

We were there for an hour then came home, put #7 to bed, and got everyone in their jammies.  I made brownies in a mug.  We had family scripture study and played a game of Uno.

I've decided there's nothing quite like playing games with the fam.  They just show funny sides of their personalities.  Tonight, #1 was imitating #7 saying, "I no yike it" in a rather evil tone whenever someone'd play a bad card on her. 

Oh how I love my crazy family!

So you can feel like you were there with us, here are the photos of the evening.  

The Lego display is at the museum until January 22nd.

#6 jousting

#2...umm...jousting?

The window behind #1 and #7 is all made out of transparent legos.

Hmm.  Someone's missing.

Oh, there he is.

The kids image shown on the ceiling--they were directly under it looking up.

I felt someone tugging on my pant leg...turned around, and this is what I found.

The work of art on the giant light bright.

Can't make out #1 in the middle very well, but #2 and #3 are on either side of her.

The three amigos.

#7 found this dolly.  We thought it belonged to the museum.  We found out otherwise later.  Funny!

The crew on the boat.

The babysitter.

This window is upstairs looking down on the first floor.

#5

This was SO FUNNY!  The kids stuck him in here very willingly.  Right about the time they shut the door, a voice came on the loud speaker saying the museum was closing in 15 minutes.  The kids, thinking the voice was telling them not to stick their brother in the cage scrambled to let him out.

#5 and #7 upstairs

 What a BLAST!

Functional Family: Relationships

In a functional family, "relationships are of supreme importance." 

This is the sixth point in James MacArthur's Functional Family speech.  He has some GREAT ideas on this.  Here are a few of them:

• Rate your relationships with your family members on a scale from 1-10.
• Work harder on those relationships that are ranking low. 
• Pay attention to those relationships in obvious ways--spend one-on-one time together.

Actually MacArthur's ideas were so wonderful that I think I'll just throw it all out here for you:
"Talk; play together; spend one on one time with the person; send love letters, cards or notes; give compliments; try some 'surprises;' ask for forgiveness; say 'I love you' or 'I like you;' listen to the other person; ask for their help in some area of need you have; share personal feelings; and 'notice' the other person."

He also emphasizes the fact that this is you "unilaterally" trying to "feed or nourish the relationship."  In other words, don't expect anything in return.  This is your opportunity to serve that person.  What is it they always say? "You love who you serve."  It's true.

Earlier this evening, I got the opportunity to hear #1 sing with the school choir out across town at the Grotto.  Every year, they have a festival of lights and invite choirs to come sing in the sanctuary.  The acoustics are AMAZING!

I have never been to the Grotto, and I was dreading driving alone.  As the time got closer, I found that #5 might be my only hope of a companion for the evening.  #5 is a quiet kid.  He's also a good kid.  Let's just say he's not the "squeaky wheel."  He often gets the shortest end of the stick.  It's not that we have a bad relationship, we don't.  It's just a relationship that needs some time and nurturing.  I also knew I was going to need a co-pilot.  I wasn't sure if he, at eight, could do what needed to be done.  The instructions looked like this:  "217N to 26E to 405S to I5/I84E...."  Would I end up getting frustrated because of messed up instructions and get us lost or end up fumbling in the dark on a busy freeway?  Could he handle it?  Could I?

I knew I had to give it a try, and more important than those instructions was the relationship I need to nurture.  If we got lost, so what; we'd be lost together.  We could probably even find the fun in that because honestly, that wasn't what mattered.  If we got lost, we'd miss the performance.  Eh.  There'd be other performances.  #1 and I are rock solid; she'd know I didn't miss it on purpose.  #1's a 10.  #5's more like a 5.  He needs this, so do I.

So, I took him along.  After we got in the car, I asked him if he'd co-pilot.  The numbers and letters didn't throw him off in the slightest--honestly, best co-pilot I've ever had.

We had a BLAST!  We sang about [#5] the "blue-nosed reindeer" who everybody envied for his cool colored nose and [#2] the "black-nosed reindeer" who was allergic to trees and [#6] the "yellow-nosed reindeer" who got a Target gift card for Christmas.  We also learned that if you put everyone's name in our family into the "You know Dasher and Dancer..." part of the Rudolf song, they fit perfectly.  We had a lot of fun rewriting that song.  We've been home for hours now, and the tune's still running through my head.

It was time well spent, and I learned of a talent I didn't know #5 had.  What a great night!

On Sunday evenings, when I sit down and organize the week, I'm also going to take a minute to "rank" my family and figure out a "love plan."

Because according to James MacArthur, "Relationships usually don't improve accidentally."

Wordless Wednesday - Way Back Video (Camera's Broken, and I need a laugh)