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.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
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.
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.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
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.
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.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
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!
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
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!
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!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
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.
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.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
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.
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