Everything is beautiful at the ballet

    Just about anyone that knows we exist knows our second son is in the Nutcracker with the Kansas City Ballet at Kauffman.  My mommy heart has just about burst with love and pride in our son, and how he's grown through this experience.   Yet, while part of me today is going, "Yay!  Only three shows left!"  part of me is also deeply saddened that this magical experience is almost over for my child.
     Here in this little space I need first to thank the Company.  The unconditional acceptance of who he is, along with the attention they paid to him, is a great deal of what made this experience magical for my son. This statement especially applies to those men who have been fathers to my son in family three.  Not a day of rehearsal with the company went by where those men weren't what put the shine in my son's eyes as he bounded out to the car from rehearsal.
"Mom, today he picked me up!"
"Mom, today he just put a hand on my shoulder."
"Mom, I think they like my jokes."
   Another piece of what made this magical was seeing my son "fitting in" with other children.  Anyone who has a child who marches to their own drum will understand what I mean by this statement.  It has been a joy to be in line, waiting to pick him up, and see him sitting on the wall with his 3DS, sharing it with his "sister".  It has been a joy to hear about how these kids support each other unconditionally in the dressing rooms and on the stage.   What I have not heard is a joy too.  I have not heard about cliques, or bullying, or isolation...just about support, and kindness, and joy.
    Perhaps the most important part of this experience though has been watching my son mature.  He has always been a perfectionist, to the point of pain.  Through this experience he has started to learn it's okay to let go sometimes and just live to enjoy life and revel in  each moment.  He is a child who has always felt "different", but has learned to accept himself and that it take those small differences to make a complete work of art.  He has learned optimism, and his own strength.  Just last night he walked up to me flexing his arm and poking at a new little arch.  "Mom, what's that? Huh? What's that?"
"It looks like a muscle to me."
"Exactly!  I'm getting strong."
Yes you are, my son.  Yes you are.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

around Momma M's house.  We have our tree up, lights on the front of the house, and greens wrapped around the front porch banisters.  The kids have made the ornaments, and the gel clings are waiting to be put on the windows.
Before we started all this, I had the emotional battle of the ages.  What to do with Grandma's old oak round dining table?   We have justified it sitting in our living room these last few months by calling it a "library table."  It is right next to a floor to ceiling bookshelf after all.
When we bought my bright and shiny "new to me" table for my birthday in September we vowed that table would be out of the house by November 1st.   I  offered it to family right away.  I gave them the Nov. 1st pick-it-up-or-else deadline,  but no one had the magic combo of space & transportation.  So in my living room the table sat.  Then it started showing it's usefulness.  For starters, it gave people a place to temporarily park stuff like homework and mail by the door so our "real" dining table could be used for dining.  Then I had guests over a couple times in November, and it served as a beverage station. Kids played games on it on Saturday afternoons.  It seemed to have found a new role in our life.  Suddenly, Thanksgiving had flown by and I needed to get the tree up!  There was no way our huge tree and that table could both be in our living space.  It was time for one or the other to give.  Clearly it was time for the table to go, but no I just couldn't do it.  So we now have a 4.5 tree on top of a white lace tablecloth on our "library" table.  The ornaments the kids made are scattered around it.  The gel clings for the windows are resting under it. There might be a stray headband, or piece of homework or two, but it fits us.  My only thought after was "why didn't I think of this when we had toddlers?"

trivial things I am thankful for.

We all know the standard list of things to be thankful for on Thanksgiving:  our faith, friends, and families, our kids teachers and coaches,  public servants, modern conveniences like running water & electricity, having our needs met through homes, jobs, and ample availability of groceries.  We all have much to be thankful for.  One of the most eye-rolling repeated phrases my kids know is when I say
"Have an attitude of what?"
"Gratitude" they chime in unison.

So much of our happiness in life is based on what we're grateful for.  Some of the not-so-little things I'm grateful for are:

1)How well my kids get along.  Whether it's making up rules for a board game, or seeing our youngest son use our oldest son as a recliner, moments where my kids are together and enjoying being together are among my favorites.
2) Watching my husband with our kids, especially reading stories at bedtime, or playing games.  (Also watching my husband when he's concentrating...or happy.  Or pretty much anytime. I kinda like him.)
3) That my marriage is peaceful and harmonious.  That we still have fun together, and like each other, and want to be around each other pretty much all the time.
4) That my in-laws are present, involved with our kids, and all around fabulous.
5)  That my own parents are only a couple hours away, and always waiting in the wings when I need them.
6) My amazing network of friends, online and off. I never go a day without a smile or laugh because of them.

With that stated, here are 30 small, maybe silly things I am grateful for.

1) Caribou Coffee in Hy-vee.   Eggnog latte with real eggnog anyone?
2) Sunny days on my deck with a book.
3) When a parking space opens up just where I need it.
4) Music, art, and theater.  Without them my soul would feel incomplete.
5) Free time.
6) Being caught up on any single chore.
7) Magazines, especially in my bed when I'm half brain-dead.
8) Books as well...an affordable vacation to any world I choose.
9) spontaneous silliness, whether it's a chicken puppet or impromptu face contest
10) cooking- a creative outlet, a way to get information out of teenagers, teaching math and chemistry to elementary kids in sneaky ways, collaborative efforts with my husband, my favorite activity.
11) 24 hour grocery stores.
12) the smells of the seasons, from the first candle in autumn to the chlorine of the pool in summer.
13) Crocs.  The most indestructible, comfortable, summer shoe on earth.
14) Dollar Tree.  For the things kids lose faster than they blink, like gloves and sparkly barrettes..and necessities like soap and shampoo.
15)  Stuffed animals and pillows
16) Gardening
17) nice smelling hair and body stuff
18)  Door 2 Door Organics.  I love having produce delivered to my house, and how much easier to get kids interested in it because it's "mail".
19) Boiler heat.  Our current house has radiators.  That means it doesn't dry out in the winter, and feels warmer at a cooler temp on the thermostat.
20) Hardwood floors with fuzzy socks.
22) Ice cream
23) nice pens and notebooks, colored pencils, markers, and crayons
24) sports and games
25) fuzzy blankets, especially on the couch watching tv "sharing" with the kids
26)  small inconveniences that save me big problems later.
27) the kindness of strangers
28) the time and ability to volunteer
29) camping
30) improvisation...whether it's duct tape costumes or how to substitute for ingredients, new ways to old things are always fun.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today has been a bake-and-clean -a-thon for my darling husband...a last minute shopping and recipe checking event for me, and a whole lot of digital for the youngest three.  Our teenager is around here somewhere too, but he's pretty good at hiding when he smells housework.

After my second store run though, I had had enough.  We turned off the digital and kicked the kids outside.  It worked for a little while.  There were scooters flying down the sidewalk, neighbor kids to exchange yards with, and leaves and sticks to investigate.  Then they got thirsty and came inside, to find dad watching basketball.  This is where kid-watching today got entertaining.

Have you ever watched an eight year old play monopoly with a five and six year old?  It was an absolute riot.  "Mom, what's 500-106?"  Yes, let's break the big bills and get all our "change" in ones.
Let's buy houses....Let's abandon the game to play house!  Or wrestle.  Or play sesame street chess.

"Mom, we need some more games?"  (Yes we do.  It may be our family christmas thing this year.)
"Mom, look, I made a sling."
"Did you hurt your arm?"
"No, I just wanted to see if I remembered how.  Now I'm going to practice using only one hand for the rest of the day...but I put my right hand in the sling because I'm left handed."

With our GF/DF boy at Grandma's we had pizza for dinner.

Then there was the meaningless threats after dinner:

I swear if I hear the "minecraft" version of "dy-no-mite" one more time, that kid is going to be cleaning the baseboards in both the bathrooms.
Who wants to go to bed at seven o clock? (I do!)
Don't even think of touching those pies/rolls tonight or you won't get any tomorrow.
Did you ask to use that?  Hmmmm?
Forget it.  I'm going to hide at the computer and work on Nano for a while.
I emerge from my November novel writing project and it's soooo quiet.
"Where are the mini-minions? Are they all in bed?"
"yeah." the husband grunts from his computer.
They did get their hugs.  Sometimes I'm just too distracted by the urgent to pay attention to the important.  My family is what I'm thankful for....not just my baking/cleaning husband, but all of them.  So tomorrow we're alll just going to relax and enjoy the day.

Happy thanksgiving!

Warning: Theology and politics ahead.

    The current election cycle has come to an end.  At least in my circles, a lot of the controversy has been about social issues like health care and welfare.  Now for the most part my ticket was purple as usual.  I'm not affiliated with either party and vote according to my personal legal ideals, which are not the same as my personal moral ideals.
   However, if there is any one Bible passage I take as a directive on how to live my life, it is this. (I'm using the New King James off Bible Gateway today.)

Luke 10: ²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”

²⁷ So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’^[a] and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”^[b]

²⁸ And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.

Love God.  Love our neighbor.  The story of the good Samaritan follows...and is summed up by who was the neighbor?  The one who showed mercy.  Jesus replies like Nike.  "Just do it."(Luke 10:37)

Mercy seems to be really important to God.  It's mentioned 275 times in the Bible.

Another of my favorite verses about mercy is a kid's song too.

Micah 6:8  He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?

Mercy is not to be brushed to the side, so sayeth Jesus.

Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.

Yes it does say justice along with mercy, but justice isn't judgement.  Most NT references to justice regarding how we treat others refers to seeking relief for the oppressed (like the parable of the widow and the judge.)  I feel this passage in James also makes the ordering of our priorities clear.

James 2:13  ¹³ For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

A couple other verses that affect my politics, and are in accord with my view that my legal views and moral views don't have to necessarily be one and the same.

I Corinthians 6
¹² For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? ¹³ But those who are outside God judges.

This verse comes at the end of a long sin laundry list, and how the church should handle others within the church who commit these sins.  But then it explicitly states, "don't hold unbelievers to this standard." (paraphrase.) 

The bible also says to protect the innocent in multiple places, so I'm not totally liberal.  I am kind of rabid where tiny humans are concerned, born or unborn.  

So how should we treat unbelievers?  See Good Samaritan story above.  I feel that the fact that health care and welfare are such huge issues is because the Church has failed.  I have failed.  Thus the government feels the need to step in.  In the end, my duty as a Christian is to make sure people are taken care of.   

"By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”" John 13:35

How did our oldest son's birthday & Halloween slip by?

Eeek!  Don't feel too neglected, blog-land...I've just been directing my writing energies in a different direction, Nanowrimo.  Today, at this exact second, I am caught up so I get to backtrack to much more important things, like my kids.

First and foremost, we have survived our first official teen year, our oldest child turned 14!  He just wanted to have cake and a movie with a couple of friends...so it was an easy birthday year from the parent point of view.  Did I mention he wanted to take his friends with to a movie with his family?  He hasn't disowned us yet.  We must be doing something right.

Once we cleared that hurdle it was on to Halloween.  This had to be my biggest cheater Halloween ever.  Most of our recycled costumes were in sad-sad shape...stained, holey, missing pieces, sizes no one has worn in a while, so we sprung for new ones this year, except for above mentioned 14 year old.  He just recycled his skeleton mask & gloves sitting in our driveway handing out candy...or eating it.  Probably both.  My costume creativity was spent on the girls.  They both wanted to be Hello Kitty.  Thing is, the store costumes looked like sized down teen ones...so instead of cute little girl, they looked more like He-lloooo Kitty.  That just wasn't going to work.  So they each got some new clothes fitting the theme, a set of ears w/ bow I found at Deals!, and a tail.  I bought this infinity scarf-muff thingy at K-mart and was going to butcher it into two tails w/ scissors and duct tape.  Grandma graciously offered her sewing services instead, and the end result was soooo cute!  Or maybe it's just my daughter that's cute, but I'm biased.

Courtesy of K-mart's 1/2 price costumes, our twelve year old was a ninja, our ten year old batman, and our kindie boy spidey.




 Even though Si guy is kid # 6, he was kid number one to get me to do anything for a kindergarten party.  Sugar-hyped cat herding w/ hovering nervous parents is just not my idea of a good time...so I dropped off my monster fingers for healthy snack, and excused myself to go home and get showered and dressed.  Yeah, Halloween was that kind of morning.  At least my PJ pants and sweatshirt matched.
   


I did return to the school in the afternoon for my 4th grade room parent duties.  It was, well, an interesting experience.  These kids have soooo much energy, and I don't.  Maybe it's because there's 16 boys and only 7 girls, or maybe I've been in the 5th & 6th grade rooms a little too long.  Movie titles are just too abstract for 4th grade Pictionary.  They liked making up the story and the glow-in-the-dark eyeball bouncy balls, so all wasn't lost.  One party down, two to go.

We did trick-or-treating differently this year too.  E1 & E2 went w/ a gaggle of older kids, so I just had the youngest three.  With the wonderful weather, it was probably the longest trick-or-treat treck we've ever taken, and I didn't even have to make meaningless threats after the first block or two.  The boys seemed to be having a good time too when we crossed their paths once.  I love that we live in a friendly neighborhood with gaggles of kids.  Another note.  Buy more candy next year.  We ran out before eight.

Since Halloween, we've had our oldest's last football game, and Nutcracker rehearsals for E1, and been selling Girl Scout cookies!  Anyone want some?  Y'all know where to find me.   Signing off to take Ms. P to her troop meeting tonight.

Today I took my kid to the ballet...

    Today I took my twelve-year-old boy to the ballet, and we both had a fabulous time.  It was his second time in the Kauffman Center, and my first.   The headline show was Carmina Burana, but End of Time just about stole it's glory.  This was only the opening weekend!  If you're in KC, it's an opportunity that shouldn't be missed.  The symphony, chorale, and ballet of KC collaboration was a breath-taking experience.  You can get more information and tickets here:  http://ticketing.kcballet.org/single/psDetail.aspx?psn=4331

  After parking on the street and climbing a lot of stairs (come on mom!  I am.  oof.), we admire the view from the top of the hill, go in to retrieve our tickets,  & sit in the "Footnotes" chat to learn more about the show...Then the real fun begins.  First, he inspects the stairs, how wide they are and the shape of them.  Then we look at window wall and ceiling.  We look at the same view we had outside from the various height balconies.  Seeing that spark and interest in his eyes made my day.
  Then we find our seats, and blessed be, we are next to a music teacher.  She chirps about how nice the high seats are, since they allow us to see into the pit.  She's happy to explain what the various instruments in the orchestra are that he's not familiar with before the show.  (He had never seen an oboe before, or the timpani drums.  He was quite impressed by the showing of his instrument, the cello.  They had four of them, right in front of the conductor.)  We were definitely starting on the right foot.
   The first piece began, leaping and lifting, and color everywhere.  The music was Haydn.  A showy piece to bring excitement in from the very beginning....and lots, and lots, of male dancers.  Just what my ballet boy needs to see.  He's not alone.  He's also not the only boy his age in the audience.  That didn't hurt either.
   There is a short break between the first two pieces, where we stay in our seats.  The lights kind of come up.  This is where restless tween syndrome kicks in.
 "Is this intermission?"  No it's just a mini-break.
"Can I play on your phone?"  It won't be that long.
  Just when I feel the energy about to explode the magic begins again.  The curtain parts.  There's glorious starry back-lighting.  A spotlight is on the only two instruments on the stage, a piano, and a cello.  We both are entranced by the piece.  What feels like 30 seconds later, the lights come up and it's intermission.  We stretch our legs, admire the glass shelving built into the wall around the concessions stand, and people watch for a few minutes.  We spread out a little more since there are empty seats next to us, and settle in to watch the "main show."
   E1's reaction to Carmina was at first a "what?"  Then as it progressed into less intense and lighter fare he enjoyed it more.  I did not enjoy explaining the "roasting of the swan" after though.  I fully admit the "nude" scenes made him bury his head in my shoulder, and I was okay with that too.  The show was not over the top, it just was pushing the boundaries of what my very proper pre-adolescent  could handle.  We brought the topics back down to earth in our discussion after the show.  (He kept the latin/english translations of the poems too.  I think the show made an impression.)
  What he was most excited about after the show though, were the elevators.  We climbed up to the top level so after the patrons who needed it cleared out, we could go down it and see the view of our hill through the glass sides.
While waiting he had questions.
"What kind of glass do they use in the ceiling to protect it from hail?"
"How much does the elevator weigh?"
"How does it work?"  (I showed him the pulleys.)
After we took it down, we looked at the lower elevator.
"Look mom!  It works differently."
(I *think* it has a hydraulic lift...but don't quote me on that.)
We look at the angles of the windows.  In some ways, I think he was more excited about inspecting the building than seeing the show.  I think a cellist who majors in "architectural engineering" has a nice ring to it.
But he's only 12.  Who knows what the future really holds.

So, what is NaNoWriMo anyway?

    NaNoWriMo is for National Novel Writing Month.  It's a place for everyone whose ever "wished" they could write a book to do it!  It's a mass literary madness support group.  Since they wish to make the process as masochistic as possible, they choose the month of November for this project.  Anyone who'd like to learn more about NaNoWriMo just follow the link here:  http://www.nanowrimo.org/

   Why yes, I've decided to participate in this event this year.  Thanks for asking.  What do my kids think about this decision?

"Hey, I'm doing NaNo this year.  You want to do the teen version?"

"Nah, I'd never win."
"Sure you could.  It's just like the spiral "book" you were writing with your friend A."

"But it would never get picked."

"Dude, you win by finishing.  It's 50 thousand words in 30 days."

"When would I do this?  I have school, and football, and stuff."

"I have to feed you, drive you, and stuff too.  What's your point?"

"Mom, writing a novel in 30 days is just crazy.  WHAT is that?"

"Those books are my research materials for the novel."

 Hey, Greek Wars?  Gimme that book!"

Gee, thanks for the support kid.  NEXT!

"A fifty thousand page book in a month?  Why would you want to do that?"

"Gives me something to do while waiting for you in rehearsal."

"Oh.  What are we going to eat?"

Good question son.  Good question.

"Mo-om.  Why are you we-search-ing?"

"For my book."

"My teacher must be smarter than you.  She never has to look anything up."

"No computer for a month?!  Mom, you can't do this.  Or at least Dad should buy you a laptop."

Dad?  What does Dad think about this?

"Whatever you want to do is fine with me honey."
"Are you sure you don't mind?  It's not like I'm a great housekeeper to start with."

"We'll be fine."

"I'll still feed you."

"We'll be fine."

"This doesn't seem fair to you.  You already do more than your share."
"Honey, do it.  You want to.  WE. will. be. fine."

There you have it.   They'll be fine.

Salisbury steak: a walk through on recipe conversion

Tonight, this was what I was craving for dinner.  Trying a new recipe in our house is always an adventure, because well...we just don't eat the same way as everyone else.  Ingredients in a typical salisbury steak recipe I can't use include, "cream of whatever" soup, worcestershire sauce, "onion soup mix", bread crumbs,  and flour.
It doesn't help that as soon as I start to plan a recipe, someone walks in and says "Mushrooms?  Do we have to eat that?"  or "brown gravy.  yuck.  Can I have tomato sauce instead?"

Tonight the minions were lucky.  I was feeling benevolent.  I needed two pans to make enough for our crew anyway, so doing one with mushroom sauce and one w/ our typical meatloaf red sauce was no big deal.
That was step one.  Break down the recipe into it's elements.  Salisbury steak has 2 elements really, a browned meatloaf patty for the "steak" and the gravy.
Step two:  What are the primary flavorings.  In Salisbury steak, they are beef, onion, salt, and mustard.

So for the "steak"  I started w/ a basic meatloaf blend, 1 egg per # of meat, a couple of forgotten UDI hamburger buns broken into crumbs by the food processor, an onion and four cloves of garlic chopped in the food processor, and two carrots grated in the food processor.  To make it more salisbury, I added Penzey's toasted onion and Rachel Ray beef stock to the mix, along w/ dry mustard, salt, and pepper.
Then I dredged it in potato starch w/a dash of salt and 1/2 sharp paprika, and browned the oversized hamburger/min-meatloaf on the stove in some oil & put them in a 9x13 pan.  Steak part, done.
Now it was time to make the gravy. :)
1) Drain oil out of browning pan.  Put 2-3 Tb potato flour into pan w/ an equal amount of solid fat of your choice.  (Butter, Palm shortening, lard, etc.)  Once the flour looks "sandy" and brown, start adding about 1/2 box of beef broth and a bottle of sorghum beer, and about 2T of brown sugar, and more dry mustard and paprika.  Throw in the onion/carrot bits that were stuck to the sides of the food processor and a package of sliced mushrooms.  Let it simmer a couple minutes and we're good to go.  (Add more liquid/thickener to whatever floats your gravy boat.)

2) Dump over "steaks."  Throw in 375 degree oven for thirty minutes.
3) Let cool about 10 minutes, then stuff face.

All things work for the good

   I really do try to see the rainbow in every hurricane.  It keeps me almost sane.

Yesterday was no hurricane, but it wasn't a picnic either.  While I volunteering at a local clothing center, my phone walked away.  There's not much to make you feel more miffed than something bad happening when you're doing your "good deed for the day."
   After my initial outrage/panic/disbelief, I switched modes.  It is, after all, just a "thing."   We were out of contract w/ the phone company, so I'd get a good deal on a new phone.   The only mild sense of panic I had left was because my entire calendar was stored on that thing.  I was determined not to make that mistake again.  My next phone would have an off-phone calendar of some sort to back it up, and e-mail access, and a decent camera.  So there!
   One advantage of having a spouse with flex-time that works at home is being able to derail their day too for minor emergencies.  In this case I needed him anyway.  The phone bill is under his name after all.  So yes, after lunch I kidnapped my husband to go phone shopping.  Bonus:  the teen had stayed home sick today so the kindie could be left with him.  Woo-hoo! A date!  I'll take any time alone with my husband where a hospital isn't involved.  So we were off....

   Step 1:  Look at what Sprint had to offer.  It was pretty good, but the store couldn't figure out if we were out of contract w/ T-mobile or not.  Fine, we'd run across the street to check w/ T-mobile.
   Step 2:  Get better offer from T-mobile.  Stay with T-mobile.  End up with 4th phone in the process.

     This two step process took about 2.5 hours.  I am forever grateful I let the "maybe sick, maybe allergic" teen stay home from school yesterday.   That kind of time frame without outside entertainment would have been a disaster for Si Guy.  He'd much rather eat junk food, watch t.v., and jump off the couch onto a beanbag chair with his brother "watching" him.
   What, exactly, took so long?  Well, the first forty five minutes were wasted with step one.  Maybe not totally wasted, because by the time we entered the T-mobile store I had a pretty good idea what I wanted for my phone.  So it only took me another thirty minutes to settle down on my final choice...a Galaxy SII.  The 8 megapixel camera did me in...or perhaps, the Android factor.  My calendar would be synced w/ Google online, never to be totally lost again.  Mr. Man upgraded his phone too, so the tortured, babysitting teen could get his phone back.  We also added a "no-frills" call only phone for the elementary age kids to tote to their activities.  It just makes a mom feel better.  Another note, our bill will be about the same as it was before.  Thank you T-mobile for free kid lines, and PTA for a 14% discount I didn't know about for the past 5 years.
 
So here is the proof all things work for the good.
Bad thing:  Phone disappears
Good things:  time alone with husband, better phone than I ever dreamed of, peace of mind with the kids.
Oh, and a kindle app.  Excuse me while I go play with my new phone.

My middle son is (deca)dent!

Happy 10th Birthday Mr. Sunshine!  Glad to see you're enjoying your day.

This morning we started the day with donuts.  He chose oreo and lemon-filled  for his two.
He still calls me mommy when we're alone, but ignores me when we're around his friends.
He has girl friends, but is mortified at the idea of girlfriends.
He blends in with the group, yet stands alone.
His actions comply, but his thoughts are his own.
He's still a whirlwind, but maturity is starting to peek through.
He's always been kind, but recently he's been learning patience too.

Tonight, we went to a birthday party for a friend.  He didn't seek attention for himself.  He was just happy to be there.  Go Karts, Laser Tag, and heights with harnesses.  It was fun watching him up there.  Some of the kids were swinging from their harness.  He didn't.  He practiced walking the ropes until he knew it was there, but he didn't need it.  I kind of hope that's how this parenting gig goes with all our kids.  They know we're always there, but they practice the skills they need to be "grown" until they just know we're there for them, and they're glad we're there,  but they don't need us.

Happy Birthday to me, about a week ago.....

     Just taking a moment to celebrate how fabulous it is to be me.  My birthday this year started with a kids dentist appointment, complete w/ cavity, and almost ended with meetings.  Then I was surprised at  the last minute with a late night date at Steak n' Shake w/ my husband.  That  definitely ended the day on a good note.  
     My favorite part of the day though, was the afternoon.  Hands down.  A mom of six kids doesn't have much quiet, don't touch me time.  I spent the morning with my husband, picked up the mini-minion from kindergarten, and walked him home.  
     After lunch, it was bye!  I'm off for two whole hours by myself.I stopped at my favorite "forgotten" strip mall.  I decided to window shop in my favorite consignment store "Revival Home Furnishing" to poke around.  We could use a night-stand or two, a couple more dining room chairs, and oh yeah, a table.  Our table needed  some serious repair, and we had neither time nor inclination to do it.  I had been shopping for a new dining room table unsuccessfully off and on for a couple of years, due to my exacting requirements:

• big enough to seat 10-12 
•  not too formal 
• preferably a medium to dark finish.  
• Oh, and not pine.  I really, really, dislike pine.  

Buried in a corner, with it's leaves, a stack of dishes, and a folded up table cloth on top of it, was the table below.  It's hard to see, but this table has great legs.  They even have little brass "shoes" on the bottom.  Maybe it's because I'm a stay at home mom, or quirky, but I really fell in love immediately with the 1950's art deco with a cherry finish.  I called my husband.  We came back for it the next day.  Bonus:  It didn't break the bank.  $98 suited my inner bargain hunter just fine.

If the table wasn't fabulous enough, next door to this furniture store is a 1/2 Price Books.  I counted the table as my "family gift", and had a birthday check from my in-laws to spend.  Nothing is more therapeutic to a bibliophile than an hour alone in a bookstore.  I spent that hour wisely, walking out with five books from the $1 clearance and two regular "1/2-price" had to haves.  This with two more books off Amazon did in the splurge money quite nicely.  What were these titles?

The Time Traveler's Wife- AudreyNiffenager; I've read it before, but wanted it to be MINE.
In the Shadow of the Ark-Ann ProVoost; kind of has a Red Tent vibe.
LOST-Gregory Maguire; creepy, but not gross, better than Wicked IMHO
The Secret Life of Bees-Sue Monk Kidd;  awesome, relatable "sisterhood" 
Fire & Bitterblue-both by Kristin Cashore; fantasy w/ strong women which  doesn't tear down the men!            amazing, isn't it?  
A Ring of Endless Light-Madeleine L'Engle; haven't read this one yet.  I realized  it was book 4 in a series I haven't started.  My OCD side demands finding the first three, then reading them in order.
PEAK-Roland Smith;  This one disappeared into my teenage son's room.  It hasn't reemerged yet. 
Daughters of Rome-Kate Quinn;  I'm a sucker for historical fiction.  I'm going to read this tonight.  It's sitting right here by the keyboard.

All these glorious books, and my  husband even gave me a week off housework to read them.  Did I mention I think he's fabulous?  

One week down for Si Guy!

Short week it was.  The verdict:  School is GREAT mom!
Upon pickup his teacher informed me how transformed he was by his haircut.  So transformed she thought he was a misguided full day student, and sent him on down the hall.  He was returned.   Doh!  Note to self, schedule haircuts for before school starts.
Walking home he was full of chatter.
"What did you do today?"
"We had art! "
"What did you do in art?"
"We read a story." Okaaay.  A few minutes later...
"Mom, a bug!"
"It's okay.  It's just a cicada."
"Wow!  That's a big bug.  They're loud."
"Mmm,hm.  See that hole in the ground.  That's probably where he came out."
Then the inevitable...
"Mom, can we go to Quick Trip?"
At Quick Trip, "Look mom!  A bird!  A hummingbird!"
"Uh, no Si.  That's a dragonfly.  But the way it uses it's wings to hover is kind of like a hummingbird."
So now we're home.  He's eating hot dogs, running back and forth between the living room and his room singing random songs.  I'm glad he's back.

One day down!

Two posts in one day...a bit much.  Yet the after is short and sweet.

A few highlights about their first day.
1) Ms. D can make friends with a rock.  Nobody wanted to talk to her today, except H,J,A,K,.....
2) Both boys the Ethanator knows are in the other class, but he's okay with that.  He's a bit disgruntled to have homework on the very first day.  (Welcome to life, kid.)
3) Princess P isn't sure what to think about school yet, but she certainly enjoyed the walk home!  Oh, and her teacher is the only friend whose name she can remember in her class.
4) And the sixth grader?  I could barely get him to name his classmates, much less tell me how his day was.

And what did mom do?  Well, the kindie and the 8th grader are still home today.  So we went for a teen haircut and ate lunch at Taco Bell.  Tomorrow there will be only one.  And after that, quiet mornings to come.

Welcome to the 2012-2013 school year.

Today is the first day for four of our kids, and the kindie meet and greet conferences.   Around 6:45 when I was trying to get the baked oatmeal for breakfast in the oven, the first kid bounds in!
"What's for breakfast?"
"I'm making baked oatmeal.  It should be ready around 7:30."
"Can I have cereal now?"
"You can wait."
"Can I make my lunch?"
"We need to clean out the lunch boxes first.  They've been stored a while."
"Can I do that?"
"Sure, whatever."  (Translates, just let me get the oatmeal in the oven, pleeeaaaase!)
Repeat this conversation at 6:50 and 6:55...and back to the first kid at seven....except wait, one of these little badgers doesn't start school until Wednesday!  He doesn't need a lunch!

"Mom, can I have yogurt in my lunch?"
"Mom, will you cut up the watermelon?"
"Mom, where's the hairbrush?"

Uh, you guys know Dad is still here too, right?


Hey, where's Ms. D and E1.  Somebody better go wake them up!

"Mom, I can't find any socks!  Never mind.  They're in my drawer."

"Change your shirt.  What's the rule for the first day of school?"
"It has to have a collar.  Really?"
"Really. You can wear your angry birds t tomorrow. (or sonic, or hello kitty....)"
"Lose the athletic shorts too.  Khakis or denim today.  Okay?"

"Okay!  We're ready!"
"Guys.  It's only 7:30.  They won't even let you in until 8.  Sit down and eat your baked oatmeal."
"It has whipped cream on it!  Wow, thanks mom."
"Hey, it's the first day of school.  We have two more first days of school this week, so that means two more hot breakfasts.  Aren't we all lucky here?"
"Can we have pancakes twice?"
(Ha!) "No.  I believe canned cinnamon rolls are on the menu for tomorrow.  Maybe eggs."
"How about waffles?"  (Okay kid.  Ya deaf.  What time do you think I'm getting up?)

Because of the heavy, supply-laden packs I generously offer to drive them today.  Pulling out of the driveway I scraped the bumper on the side porch.  This is not hard to do.  At least I didn't back into the rock wall again.  So you can just imagine the van ride conversation.  I already was feeling kinda off, w/ Dad dropping off the sixth grader and all.  (Mr. nonverbal still hasn't given me a drop-off report, or picture.  He probably didn't take one...even though it's sixth grade, and our last kid in that school.  Men.)

I park on the street perpendicular to the school.  We all unload.
"Hey, I told you guys to wait.  Mr. 4th grader, you need to keep your first grade sister with you.  I will be walking to school with you until you do!" (Eye roll, smirk, then semi-glare.  He does slow down and take her hand though.  I call that a win.)
We get to the door.
"I love you guys.  Have a great day! Not you littlest man, you stay with me!  Your first day isn't until Wednesday."

Then Si guy and I head to Kindergarten.  His teacher is Ms. J.  I walk in the room.  There are frogs everywhere, just like in Mrs. S room at our old school.  He unloads his supplies, and has a frog to color while she has her meeting....except he's done coloring before it starts.  She has books there for him to look at, but reading silently isn't his strong point.  So now all the parents know Si already can recognize his letters and a few words. I turn over his frog so he can draw, but he spills his crayons.  Yet he gets down and picks them up without being asked.  Thankfully, at about this point, she ends her speech, reiterating the importance of coming to back-to-school-night to sign up for stuff.
He is impressed by the faucet thingies that turn the classroom sinks into drinking fountains, the snap-together popsicle letters, and the "Mom!  She has legos!" moment was my favorite.  He has to touch everything.
"Mom what's this? It looks like a hand!"
"It's a pointer."  He uses it to point to the numbers on the calendar.
"13!  Mom, there's 13!"
"Uh-huh.  That's the date today.  August 13th. Look she has the numbers up to the first day of school.  What number is that?
"55!"
"Uh, no honey.  It's 15.  Two days from now is the fifteenth.  That's your first day."
"Yay!"
"It's time to go now.  She's going to have another group soon."
I predict I'm going to have to say that exact sentence again in May.

The great thing about hearts

        Hearts are like the "lockers" in the Percy Jackson books.  It is unbelievable how much we can stuff in there.  We are reminded of this every time we have another child.  How can we possibly love this tiny person as much as the amazing kids we already have?  Yet we always do.  Sometimes we even grow to love all of them even more.
       Yet last weekend I was devastated by a letter.  My kindie would be unable to attend the same fabulous school his siblings had attended since we moved back to KC about six years ago.  Last summer, we moved a little bit east, so it was a transfer to attend there.  This year there are already sixty in K.  There is no room.
     So we went through some stages of grief.  First denial.  A phone call to the district going "what do you mean there's no room?"  Well, they meant there's no room.  20 kids per class is a pretty full kindergarten.
Then there was anger and confusion.  How many kids should we move?  How could we handle two drop offs?  This was outrageous, insane!  Next of course, was acceptance.
   I walked down to the new school and roamed the building.  At this point I still wasn't sure how many kids to send with him.  Then I saw the library.  Yes folks, bibliophilic art freak I am, it was the library that pushed me over the line.  I must have spent half an hour in there, just taking it in:  the bronze sculptures on top of the shelves, the three shelves per grade level of chat 'n chew books, the mix of "pop" kids books and literature, the state symbols painted on the wall and two story ceiling, the "surprise art" on the shelves with books and "street signs" named after authors.  The books pictured clinched it for my third grade daughter.
I will always love our first elementary in a special way.  It's just my heart has grown, and I'm starting to love this one too.

I'm taking the teen to a movie tonight.

Our oldest just returned from Bartle on Wednesday.  He leaves again, this time for a missions trip, tomorrow.  He chose to hang around at home yesterday, and had a friend over today.  It's nice having him around.  He really hasn't been around much this summer.
His summer started w/ a two week Shakespeare camp.  Oh how he loves acting!  Especially when he gets to be a ham.
That wrapped up and he was off to church camp.  He was home for about a week...and then Bartle.
Tomorrow I have to let him go again....and I know that every summer from here on out is really just preparation for the BIG letting go.  I'm so thankful that's a few more years out.
He's here now though, so tonight we go to a movie.

A tale of two pool trips.

This summer my kids have been rotating between here, camps, and grandparents...so every week it's a different mix.  We have season super-passes to the local outdoor pools.  The kids can count on swimming about twice a week when they're home.
Early in the summer, it was just me and E1 a lot.  We'd go to the pool.  I'd take a book.  Read a little,doze a little, watch him dive and slide, and occasionally hop in the water to meet the kids he was playing with and cool off.  It was fun and relaxing.  My kid was happy I was there, but happy to be "on his own" for the most part.  I sensed if I tried to be "too close" it might backfire.
Yesterday, I took the youngest three to the pool.  I didn't even bother to bring a book.  I was in the water pretty much the whole time, except when I watching Ms. D dive and Princess P & Si Guy go down the big kid slides.  In the water, I was a log, a frog chasing flies to eat, a frog being chased by a snake, and a snake ramming against a lobster shaped "rock" trying to knock a frog into the water.  I adjusted goggles and found diving sticks.  I gave "rides" on my legs under the water.  I was exhausted by the time I came home.  It was great fun.  As time goes on there will be fewer days like this, and more drop offs or just hanging back with a book.
Today, my three oldest get home from camps, and for two whole days I'll have all six of them before my oldest goes on a mission trip.  I wonder what those two days will have in store.

Happy where we are, fifteen years in.

     Today Mr. Man & I have been married fifteen years.  We have moved ten times.  The home we're in now we believe is "forever", but that doesn't mean we don't appreciate the other places we've stopped in our journey along the way.
    Our first place was a furnished summer sub-lease, which we found out after moving in, hadn't been approved by the owners.  They graciously let us stay. It was a beautiful place to get our start as us.  
The next place we were offered was a trailer.  It was $100 a month for a reason.  Tiny, twenty minutes into nowhere, spongy floors, and an oven that didn't work.  We were so grateful for the toaster oven we received as a wedding present!  This is the place that made every single one since look like a castle.
Then there was an opening in on-campus married housing.  A larger apartment, with classy vinyl furniture, tile floors, and metal cabinets in the kitchen.  The first night the mattress sank into a U.  Campus living at it's finest.  
       And all that was just the first six months.
       By our first anniversary, we had been living in Lawrence another six months.  My in-laws were our landlords, graciously allowing us to abide in a beautiful white 2 story, 4 bedroom house.  It had a huge combined living/dining room, and a front porch with a swing.  One caveat, the only room with a/c was our bedroom.  Due in early November with our first child, I spent a lot of time in there.
Shortly after our first anniversary Mr. Man got his first real job in Topeka, so we moved yet again...this time to a huge one bedroom apartment.  I loved that apartment.  That apartment is where our "real lives" took off.  It's where we lived when our first son was born.  It was where we met the best friend a new mom could have, Marmee.  When the baby was about a week old, I felt like superwoman.  I was going to be the perfect wife, and make husband beef stew from scratch to surprise him after work on his first day back.  Never has a neighbor across the hall who wants to hold a baby been more welcome.  She was my best friend for the next eight years, and we still try to stay in touch.
       At the end of a year, we realized we needed space.  Marmee's brother bought a house for us to rent.  It was a three bedroom ranch with a mostly fenced back yard, and laundry in the kitchen, the perfect home for our growing family.  The following June, E1 came to join us.  We got a dog.  We had a garden, flowers in front, vegetables in back.  Eventually though, we got the itch to own.  Marmee's health was starting to decline too. The second floor apartment was getting to be too much.  Mutually it was agreed, we'd buy a house and Marmee would move into the rental.
         Instead of buying a house, we ended up building one.  Some people say that's the big marriage "test".  I felt it was more of an adventure.  Mr. Man & I agreed on pretty much everything, except the color for the exterior of the home.  I submitted to his preference gladly, for rarely do we disagree.  The realtor wasn't too happy about the blue carpet, but I didn't do brown, and he wouldn't do grey.  We both liked blue.  We had a couple more kids, added a ferret, and had July 4th parties in our front yard.  It was the american dream.  I could write a book about the idyllic years in that home from our kids point of view.  Unfortunately, we really couldn't afford to stay, so  pregnant with our fifth child, we moved again.
      This time from the american dream to the american nightmare...except I really, really, loved that house.  I just wish we could have transplanted it into a better neighborhood.  It was a huge, sprawling four bedroom traditional two story.  We had a nice sized living area, and a "real" dining room.  The floors in two of the bedrooms were wood.  It had a covered front porch that caught cool breezes on hot days.  The kids could ride their trikes on the sidewalk in front of the house for hours.  We only had to walk about a block to go the park.  On the downside, Mr. Man fell through the stairs to the basement once doing laundry.  We had to pick up broken glass from the yard and watch the kids every second they were outside.  Somebody broke in and robbed us through our bedroom window, which we then noticed did not have a lock.  We heard gunshots once or twice, from about a block south.  The kitchen counters weren't anchored to the wall.  The kitchen pipes froze in the winter, and our bedroom was built on without insulation.  When we checked once in the winter, the temp in our bedroom was forty degrees.  (The kids rooms were fine.  They were in the original part of the house.  Our gas bills, not so much.)  In the summer, our only a/c was a window unit my parents gave us, so we spent a lot of time at the pool, the mall, and the library.  We moved in in November.  The following August, Mr. man had a new job in KC.  We got to move back "home", to where both our roots were.
      We had found a family to replace us on Clay, but we had two weeks to find a new place...a new, four bedroom place that wouldn't mind five young children living there.  We had our work cut out for us.  In the end, we had two options, JoCo or Northland.  Close to where we grew up, or close to work.  In the end, having to go through a garage to get to a bedroom was the deciding factor, and we chose the home close to home.  About a week after moving in, I found out I was pregnant with our sixth child.  So, that home was already marked special.  The friends I made through the school made it even more so.  Eventually though, the disrepair the house was in overcame the location and layout.  It was time to move again.
    So here we are, in our "forever" home, courtesy of my in-laws.  The house couldn't suit us better.  It has five bedrooms, a formal dining room, a porch on the side, & a huge deck with built in seating.  They playground is shaded in the morning, a fact I appreciate especially today, as I'm watching Si out on the slide.
This is where we'll build our story.  Indeed, each of those homes holds many stories about us, and maybe someday I'll share them.  The story of us is a beautiful thing.

My daughter is 8?

Thankfully she still has a couple more years of being more child than adolescent, I think.  

Her favorite things tell a lot about her.

Her Bible.  It lives in her bed.   She reads it daily and sleeps with it nightly.

Her princess doll assortment.  The newer ones even have their clothes on!

Books.  Books are everywhere.  Sometimes we read aloud Louisa May Alcott, or Laura Wilder.  She reads Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the Middle Moffat   .A lot of times she reads to her sister too.  After all, it's not that she still loves Pinkalicious!  

Creative stuff.  Our girls have markers and make up to play with.

and that's just what's in her room!

12? Really..

Yes, in our last episode I noted E1 is 12.  He had a great evening at Worlds of Fun w/ our family and his friend Ms. A to celebrate.  A few things I learned from the day.
1) Some people just don't do heights. (Thanks dear husband, for making me go on the Detonator.  I love you too.)
2) Some people don't do jerky rides either.
3)  A room full of guns, vacuums,  and foam balls will keep kids of all ages occupied for-ev-er.
4) Planet Snoopy really can be fun for all ages.  Spinning birds nests, whiplash race cars....above mentioned ball battle area.
5) The fish smell of the viking voyager is still there.

On the more serious side, it's good to see Mr. E1 getting more confident, and able to assert what he does and doesn't like politely.  He's losing some of the self consciousness and gaining some self confidence.  Of course this leads to some "alpha wolf" moments with big brother, but I guess that's part of growing up too.
So here's a root beer toast w/ koala crisp crispy treats to growing up!

Testing. Testing, so this is what it's like not to have little kids.

For the next couple of weeks, our youngest four are hanging out with grandparents.  This leaves us with twelve and thirteen year old boys at home.  It is so much quieter!  It's kind of a sneak peek at our life eight to ten years down the road.  When they left, I wondered if I was going to be lonely and bored.
  Fortunately, I'm not.  I am somewhat calmer though.  There is no lack of things to do.  First, is carting the thirteen year old to and from Shakespeare camp, which he LOVES.  It seems I have a fellow literature/theatre nerd in my line.  Yay!  He's performing this Saturday in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Southmoreland Park at 10am if any of y'all want to come see us in the flesh.  Next week he'll be gone-gone, at Super Summer with our youth from church.
  Next, is making sure the twelve year old has enough to do.  He's pretty easy though.  Just keep him in video games and library books...with occasional outings to the pool.  Sweet quiet boy, takes after the sweet quiet man.
  Then comes the undercover mom.  With all these kids gone, it's the perfect time to clean their rooms!  So far, we've just worked on the boys room downstairs.  We've found some neat things, and some oh-dear-what-was-that kind of items.  All in all, they've done a pretty good job of taking care of it themselves for a five and nine year old.  We only used one trash bag.  They will come home to a new bookshelf and storage cart for toys as well.  Mostly toy cars with those two.  Although E2 has expanded into action figures and dragons.
  I thought I'd have plenty of time to clean the rest of the house as well, but other obligations keep sneaking in.   Maybe I should pencil in a couple days to lay around at the pool with a book.  Nah, there's plenty of time for that once the kids I can't drop off are back.

Happy Birthday Littlest Man, and recital dancer boy, and camping scouts....

         Yeah this weekend is a tad busy.  First thing up of import was Si Guys birthday yesterday.  Littlest man turning five was a huge deal in the world of mom.  My baby is growing up.  So what did we do for this monumental, tear-inducing milestone?
" I want monkeys with bananas."
"Sure we can do monkey cake w/ bananas"
"And chocolate!"
ok.
"And lunch at Taco Bell!"
ok.
So that is what we did.  I made banana cupcakes with chocolate frosting and Si Guy & I put monkey faces on them.  What was awesome about this cupcake was how "kid help" friendly it was.  The faces were just vanilla wafers with smiles drawn on in red gel & noses w/ food coloring pens.   We used pre-made candy eyes, (available at Wal-Mart), and mini vanilla wafers cut in half for ears.  No, he didn't draw or cut...but he had a great time eating and decorating with cookies and candies.  We also made banana flavored fondant from a recipe I found on Pinterest!  It turned out kinda like a mix between floam and play doh in texture, so the kids had a great time making "bananas" for their "monkeys" to eat after school.    We did manage to sneak in lunch at Taco Bell too before I took off for our next event, the all school end-of-year party.

This was E1's last "all school" party, because sixth grade does their own thing.  It was perfect day!  The kids loved the inflatables, frozen desserts, DJ, hula-hoops, all of it.  I loved seeing them have a great time.  I loved that there were no major injuries.  I loved recruiting one of my favorite people into a chair for PTA next year.  Clean up was fast, and it was fun getting whisked away in the van in the car line.   Good  to see things from the kids perspective.

After getting home from that, it was time to take E1 to his dress rehearsal for his recital today & get dinner for the herd that remained.  (Our oldest is on a 2 night camp out to prove his "manliness" with minimal food.  I have until 12:30 tomorrow to have my refrigerator stuffed.)  After his rehearsal, we went for a mother-son meal at Wendys, came home and gave the birthday boy his present...(a hot wheels track the older kids have played with as much as him,) did some grocery shopping and collapsed.

Then it was off the the farmer's market this morning, getting the girl scout ready for her camp out, and the 2PM performance of E1.   It was great seeing him a stage again with the "dance joy" look on his face.  I hope this wasn't the last time I get to see it.

I still have Sunday ahead too, with being Mrs F & picking up the oldest & the grocery store gauntlet I haven't gotten around to yet.    I love being busy, but I'm still  hoping next weekend is a quiet one.

The 3K book project.

The 3K book project is a bit of a self-revelation project.  Right now, I'm still on the easy part...kids books.  Sure I've touched on spirituality and nonfiction a bit, but those sections are far from done.  Yet even in the little bit I've accomplished, there are some titles I cringe as I type, and others I puff out my chest and lift my head with the "see what good taste I have" pride.  I swear before I'm done, there will be a section called "I've read these of course!" and another called "Books that need a shredder"....or maybe just "books I'm embarrassed to admit I've read."
Now imagine that instead of just books, it's every single word and action of my own life, on record.  I'm so thankful that day is probably far off.  I'm also thankful that Jesus is my editor.   He's the best white-out ever.

Project 0-3K.  What a great reminder that every word matters now.

Writing...

You'd think with everything going on lately I'd be writing on here more, but there's an inverse relationship between the amount of stuff worth writing about and the time available to write it in.  That, and I've been doing a bunch of "busy" writing lately,so the more creative stuff has taken a back burner.
With VBS only a few weeks away, I have been busy writing schedules, lesson ideas, craft plans, and supply lists.  Another writing project diverting me is making a list of every book I can remember reading.  The idea for this project came from here.  http://sahmiam43.blogspot.com/2012/05/and-it-was-still-hot.html
But enough about the mom!  Here's the kid summary of late.

Our oldest is about to complete seventh grade.  He's been promoted to Patrol Leader for camping in his Boy Scout Troop.  He's going to be selling hot dogs and snow cones at Old Shawnee Days from our church overhang.  (This fundraiser pays for our youth's summer trips, so please stop by if you're around!)
He's grown taller than Grandma, but not quite taller than me, this year.  He's starting to realize that he can't schmooze his way out of everything.  I expect next year will be a bit smoother at school.

E1 is having a fantastic spring!  He was accepted into the 6th grade Pre-Algebra program.  He was "darth cello" for the SMN area strings festival.  Today, he found out he was chosen to play his cello in the school talent show.  He enjoyed his last field day as a participant.  (6th graders work it and then have their "olympics" at one of the high schools.)  He just went to Exchange City earlier this week.  His "adult" job was web-site designer.  Next weekend, he'll be performing with his ROAD class at the Folly Theater.   He's a bright, accomplished kid.  He knows that in his head.  I'm hoping it will take to his heart soon.

E2 is just enjoying life as always.  He's looking forward to summer, where he can daydream, bike, and play with his water rocket.  He may be hanging up his football helmet for culinary classes this year.  We'll see how it all works out.

Princess D is already chafing for the workbooks of summer, and the pool.  Not that she isn't having fun at school.  She is!  She had a great time at field day (except when her little sister beat her at a game),  and is having her "dot auction" in EL on Monday.  She finished the entire Sparks program and review this year.  She has a shiny new plaque to show it!

Princess P has thrived in Kindergarten.  She's feisty, determined, and a ray of sunshine.  She's even managed to keep track of both pairs of her glasses for a whole year!  First grade is coming....

And so is Kindergarten for my Si Guy!  Ack!  I don't know what I'll do without my little companion in August.  I know he's ready.  He was counting on the Abacus earlier today.  He can cut out shapes and write his name.  He'll still give hugs freely but "no kisses mom! Blech!"  My baby is turning into a big boy indeed.

A moment of mush.

  You know why Mother's Day is in May?  I am convinced it's because it's the most sentimental month of the year for us moms.

What other month starts by ding dong ditching your neighbors with hand-made baskets of flowers/candy, scribbled kid notes?

Other notable May activities:

Squeezing in that last field trip

Spring sports banquets.

School concerts & talent show.

Field Day.

School concerts & talent show.

End of year parties, and of course the big one.

Graduation.  I don't care if it's kindergarten, sixth grade, or high school.   Some mom is going to cry.  (In the case of high school, consider it wedding training.  Wedding?  Yeah, if you have a Mid-June or July wedding guess when you mail those invites?  Yep.  MAY.)

So for all our trouble and tears, history gave us a holiday.  Wasn't that nice?  

See. I can finish a project? mostly....

There it is.  Our dresser turned raised bed, filled with dirt.  We had it built and painted a while ago, but were lacking the motivation to get it "planted."  So there it sat, with the roll of hardware fabric,peat moss, and organic soil until I checked the weather for last weekend.
"Honey, it's supposed to be kind of windy this weekend.  50/50 on a tornado within fifty miles.  Let's get the raised bed in place and weighted down."
"Ok."
That was last Saturday before lunch.  Hey, I didn't say I was motivated by logic.
So out in the yard we went....and like any other project with a deadline, children magically appeared.
"Can I help?"
"No, I wanna  help!"
"I'd help, but I don't want to get my dress dirty before the party. So I'll just sit here and watch."
"Mommy, I move rocks!"
"Can I dig?"
"I have the hoe!" (Uh, no.  You're swinging that thing a little close to Dad's head.  Thanks.)
"Wow.  This ground is hard."
"How many rocks are there?"
"Let me break open the dirt with the shovel!"
Exciting times to be a kid.  Digging a hole, moving a box into it, and filling it with dirt.
"So when are we getting cucumbers?"
Not this year.  It's a bit late for cucumbers, and I want to train those to a trellis.
"So what are we gonna grow?"
Tomatoes and peppers.
"When do I get to pick?"
When I have more than one raised bed.  I guess I better start scouring yard sales for old dressers.

      I hope everyone had a lovely Easter.  I know our family did. Those eggs up there were colored on Saturday.  It's so much fun to see each child's unique take on "art."  On Sunday, we had them on the table for breakfast, both to admire and to eat.  Some were also featured, in deviled form, at dinner.  The kid's baskets each had two "spiritual" items.  They ranged from Veggietales to a cross of nails on a leather cord.  They also each received one "entertainment" item, a bunch of candy, and two quarters to symbolize "silver."   Next year I think I'll put forty cents in that egg.  We had several conversations on what "Easter" is about for us.  We talked about why the resurrection is so important.  We had an egg hunt in the back yard.  Grandma & Grandpa came, took us to a movie, and hung out for dinner.  The weather was great, so we were outside a lot.  We basically had "home church" and some great family time.   No, we didn't go to church-church.  We're too introverted for that on Easter.
       We understand for a lot of people, Easter is the annual "church pageant."  The church building has to look it's best, and so does everyone in it.  The regulars want to look their best to make a good impression.  The twice a year peeps pop in to show yes, they get it.  Whole families attend to make grandma happy.  The pews are full.  The sermon, about hope, or conviction, or the cross.   Everyone smiles, waves, and goes to Grandma's for dinner.  Then life goes back to "normal", whatever that is.
    Our family refuses to play that way.
    Yes the girls both wore dresses, and were adorable.
    Yes, we reviewed what Resurrection Day is about.
    Yes we partook of Easter as well, in the nonreligious sense.
   We just don't feel a need to partake in the pageantry, and crowds make us cringe.  Heck, wearing dress clothes and make up make me cringe.  I just don't feel like "me" in that stuff.  I'd rather celebrate the carpenter angle, by working on my new raised vegetable bed.  That covers the new life aspect too, planting seeds or fledglings into healthy soil.
   I do admit, if our church had a candle-lit sunrise service I would probably feel differently.  The quiet of watching the sunrise to symbolize the "SON-rise" holds a lot of meaning to me.  I still did kind of see the sunrise, because the kids were up at oh-heck thirty in the morning,  (upstairs, awaiting us to get out of bed, but still noisy enough to wake us up.)  Once we we did arise, it was a glorious day.

My daughter is Xena, warrior princess.

I'd already had suspicions that Ms. D wasn't as prim as she looked.  It just took laser tag to bring it out.  She scored solidly in the middle of the pack as a seven year old girl playing with nine and ten year old boys.  (No, I'm not comparing her to the teens or "adult" men playing.)  She loved every minute of it.  I have two pics of her there on Facebook.  One is now my profile pic.
   The other kids had a great time too.  One thing I love about my friend J is she has "whole family" birthday parties.  Her baby boy Mr. M was turning 9.  I swear he and E2 share a brain.  Even though they only see each other a couple times a year they gravitate towards each other....even in a room full of Mr. M's other friends.  It's amazing to watch.  Of course given where those brains go, it's probably best we live in different school districts.
  Mr. Man came along on this venture too.  I was absolutely shocked that he *cheerfully* attended a party with me.  It turns out laser tag is a draw for grown ups too.  He consistently came in second, behind J's oldest son S, who is a mere child at 21.   He was sweaty and smiling, just the way I like him.
   So where was I during all this?  Watching on the monitor, cackling with the rest of the moms.  Not one of us went in there.  I thought about it, but socializing just seemed like more fun this time.  Maybe we'll go back another time as a family and I can show Ms. D where her warrior princess tendencies came from.

valleys

    It seems we are in a series of valley right now.  Another acquaintance lost her husband in a head-on car accident last week.   This one, a mother of five kids, all in the same age range as my own.  My husband came home from work that day and I met him at the door.
   "These things come in threes.  Don't you even think of being next."
   Yesterday, I received an e-mail that our beloved principal is retiring.  She has been out much of this year, due to being needed by her family.   She has been a part of our lives since we transitioned from home schooling to public school.  She made that transition smooth, eased my mom guilt, and didn't condemn my previous choices in our previous situation.  She had a gift with parents, of empathy, of being "real" without being rude.   There's a lot more I could write about her, her humor, her selflessness, how she worked with the kids....
   It leaves an air of uncertainty around us, especially since our children are transfers...and our incoming kindie hasn't been approved yet.  If they close transfers for the transition....well, then things get interesting.   I'll take that interesting over what either of those women are going through right now.
Peace be with you both, and may there be a river in your valley.

Spring Break

      Spring break for our house was fantastic.  The kids rotated through grandparents.  We had a family movie night.  The weather was perfect for lots of time outside on skateboards, scooters and swings.  We ended it with swimming, a kindergarten play date, and a kid-friendly dinner.  In my bubble, all was well.
      Outside my bubble many were also having a great time, but others we know are hurting deeply.  A parent at our school loses her husband to cancer.  A key staff member is going through the same, drawn out, slip away, pain.  This year our school family has already taken so many hits with student illness, parent hospitalizations & surgeries, and the loss of a sibling in the adoption process to another family.  Yet, for the sake of our children, we keep smiling, waving, and moving forward.  Privately, the adults gather to express their anger, pain, and ugliness...but we keep a cocoon of warmth, safety, and happiness around our kids.   They aren't fooled, but it does help them stay focused and move forward.   They have each other, and us, to turn to and sort things out.   The younger kids lean more on us, the older, on each other.   We know this is life, but we wish we could shield them from this side of it just a bit longer.
   Today is the first day back at school.  Somehow, it seems appropriate that it is raining.  Everything is muddy, but when the storms clear, the blooming flowers and green grass are back again.

Signs I may be approaching middle age

     Okay, forget approaching.  I'm there.  I know I'm there for many reasons.

     1) My favorite live action movies are in the $5 bin at Wal-Mart, and go on sale for 1.99 at Christmas. 
     2) Lavender.  I love wearing it.  The scent, or the color?  Yes.
     3)  I have as much "peach fuzz" as my 13 year old.
     4)  My old injuries remind me of where they were when the weather changes.
     5)  I find myself liking clothes in fabrics and styles I once dubbed "old lady".
     6)  My karaoke list consists primarily of songs from before the current "21"s were born.
     7) Anti-aging cosmetics don't seem ridiculous. 
     8) I count grams of fiber and glasses of water.
     9) My kids have to explain technology to me, like flip notes.  I think of flip notes as a notebook w/ the spiral at the top.
    10) I can never again wear a sleeveless dress.  Even if I do finish "taking off the weight" there is a cleavage issue.  As in when I put on a strapless bra, instead of "lifting" I "fold", leaving the ever attractive "hoochie line" in plain sight.  My tatas need engineered straps to stay over the gut line now.
   and of course,  having a teenager in the house.  I imagine when there's more of them that will age me faster than anything.

Field trip Thursday

   Yesterday was a double-field trip day.  Both my daughters were off to new and exotic destinations, Kindergarten to Kaleidescope, and 2nd grade to the Natural History Museum.  Days like that moms want a clone so we can be in two places at once.  I had the next best thing, a friend leading my daughter's group in 2nd grade who sent me a pic, and grandparents who worked at the university to eat lunch with her.  Thus I was able to go on the kindergarten field trip with a clear conscience.
    At Kaleidescope, I skillfully maneuvered to volunteer at the puzzle station.  It's fun to watch the kids design their puzzle pictures and use the machine to "magically" make it into pieces.  One child came to me saying, "LOOK.  It's a crown in the center!"  (ha,ha, crown center & Hallmark.  Very cute.)   My daughter swung by to visit me twice, and was obviously living it up.  While she was happy I was there, she didn't need me there.  Oddly that was reassuring.
   Meanwhile, at the museum my other daughter was also having a great time.  She was given the opportunity to build her own dinosaur and name it.  Pentacephaquadrosomethingsaur.  (Five-headed-four-tailed-lizard.)  She won the prize for longest name...since parents were disqualified.  There is a photo of this fine creature on my FB page.  She too, was just fine without me.
    I arrived back home to "Mo-mmy!  I missed you!"  and littlest man fell asleep in my arms last night.  I held the monkey with his stuffed monkey for over an hour.  It won't be much longer a child wants to use me as a mattress.

WHAT a week!

Well, after miss P's birthday last Friday, everything rolled into fast forward.
Saturday we had  a wonderful church baby shower for one the sweetest, most domestic, wifey gals I know, who also is a high school English teacher!   The "cake" was cupcakes:  a row of blocks spelling her last name, with a cupcake onesie under it and cupcake flowers surrounding.   She got tons of cool pink stuff, and a few not-as-pink too.  It was kind of a mad rush after to clean up quickly because that same night  was our elementary PTA auction.  Lots of money made, a kitchen smoothly run,  food/beverage flowing freely.  This is a family blog, so I'll just leave it at whatever happens in PTA, stays in PTA.
      Sunday was a boy scout pancake breakfast, stretching in bed after grandparents picked up kids and getting struck by the DOH!  fairy.  It was the first Sunday of the month.  The kids were supposed to sing in big church.  So it was a text to grandma and a drive to the other church where the pancakes were to get our kids to our church in time to sing.  After that we came home for a fast lunch and were off to see THE Lorax, the last part of Ms. P's birthday celebration.  After that, Mr. Man fed the kids dinner and took them to AWANA and I went to bed, at 4pm.  No, I did not rise again fully until the next day.
     Even then, Monday was more sleeping than not.....except that Ms. P had a Petal ceremony for D-A-I-S-I-E-S.  She carried the flag for flag ceremony & got to be the D in daisy.  She was definitely quite the little star.  FLOWER POWER!
    Tuesday was laundry and Brownies for Ms. D.  Our dryer is temporarily out of order, so laundry right now consists of running the washer all day, then hauling five loads to the laundromat to dry after dinner.  That's where we hit the 6pm snafu.
 Brrring, from grandma"Can Isaiah go do his Den Chief thing tonight?"
"Sure."
      Then tell the husband he has to take 3 kids under 10 to laundromat and leaving for Brownies  very quickly before he thinks to switch jobs.
Then said Brownie gets sent home from school today.  "tummy ache" ...prob from all the cookies, doritos and cake last night.  We just don't eat that stuff that often.
     Today was pretty simple.  Mr. Man found out some good news.  I got to spend the morning planning a  family camping trip.  Then I spent the afternoon making soup from scratch as per the man's request.  Then I had a middle school PTA meeting.  Our nominating committee had the roster filled, except for the spot of co-president w/ Ms. M.    (an overall great gal I hounded out for the nomination, thankyouverymuch.)  Then we sat down to start the meeting, and she turns to me;
"Why don't you be my co?'
"What?  I'm no politician.  See me here in my sweats and a bandana in my hair?  Besides, we want an incoming 7th grade parent.  You want someone with tact."
She;s quiet for a minute, and then writes it on my agenda.
"Be my co-president, please?  We know we get along."
"Fi-ine"
Then she sells it to the board, pointing out the real reason we wanted a 7th grade parent  was we just wanted someone who'd be around a while, and well, I have 5 more kids to go through.  I'll definitely be around.  That and she thinks I'm pretty smart.  We'll just let her think that.
So, I'm left wondering, how'd I get here? 
Tomorrow I have another PTA meeting.  At least I know there aren't any big surprises there.

Happy Birthday Princess P!

    My kindie girl is six today!    She's already exhibited some birthday generosity this morning.  She was very concerned about what to share with her class, and shared her "good morning" gift of snap bracelets with her sister on the spot.  Miss. P likes to make sure everyone is included.
    She always has been my little "mommy"...but is so close to the end of the kid line she has to content herself with dolls and stuffed animals to practice on.  Later today, we're going to add to the stuffed animal end.  Her "big" gift is the stuffed unicorn from the (color)-alicious books.  We have pink, purple, and gold.   
    After her birthday dinner of meatloaf, her grandparents are whisking her away overnight.  She'll be back tomorrow, in time to go celebrate another baby that's almost here.  On Sunday, we're going to a movie, The Lorax.       
    Yet all that is ahead of us.  Today is picture day at school, so she had double incentive look her best.  We even took the time to "do" hair this morning.  She's stepping out in style and growing up in grace.  It is good to be queen for the weekend.

The thing about kids getting older....

is that we're getting older too.  I had a stark reminder of this at my local Sam's Club yesterday.
   We had survived a Sam's run without any kid behavior incidents of any kind.  It was amazing.  We were checking out with the rudest cashier on earth, (herding kids takes a bit of time, and she was snipping about not getting her the card fast enough, not the getting the cart around the bend fast enough,etc) but I was taking it all in stride.  Then she turns to me as she's ringing my stuff and says the words that just keeled me over.
"Are those all your kids?  Or are some your grandkids too?" 
   This blow was especially harsh, because I was having one of my more "fashionable" days, pants that weren't sweats, actual closure in the front of the blouse, all that.   For the lady who goes to Wal-Mart in PJ/Yoga pants fairly regularly, I had really put forth an effort.  Yet I managed a flat-toned civil reply.
"I'm not even forty yet.  They're all my kids."  (For the record, I'm 37.)
"Oh, well.  You ought to know how to move them along then."
  Excuse me lady.  There are six of them.  You waited about 5-10 seconds to get the card after your last customer finally pulled out of the way so I could move forward.  It took less than a minute to get the cart around the corner.  You and your blue eyeshadow up to your dyed copper silver hair with the roots showing are just going to have to wait that 20 seconds or so.  There's only one person behind us in line, and they don't have a problem.    My rage at the moment was well contained enough not to say any of this, barely.
   All the same, I did look at anti-aging products that evening.