I'm really in no mood to blog right now. Kent's working odd hours and for the third night in a row, we're not seeing him until after eight. To be fair, it was probably 7:30 on Tuesday. So me and the kids, all four tonight, we're pretty sick of each other.
Who knew dad was such a buffer.
Some highlights of the day. I wrote that blog about the school lunch program, really railing over those parents that break the rules, right? Today I took that post, edited it profusely and emailed it into the local paper as a "letter to the editor"
How old fashion is that, I don't have to find a stamp and it's still called a letter.
With that accomplishment this morning, and with no idea if they even want my opinion, we went to the park, biking thank you very much and at one point, I realized Greg was missing. He was up getting a milk because he forgot his. Well guess what, that's against the rules!!! And *ducking* I told him next time he couldn't do that but I let him get away with it this time because I couldn't handle a meltdown.
I think I'm just going to bring some change to the park in case anyone forgets anything again. I know rules and I know the struggle that is language delay kids. It's hard enough with Ean and Kate and the fighting, I don't need a Greg meltdown as well.
The irony, I got an email back from the editor and he's publishing my letter.
So that's my big confession of the night. Bust my chops. I deserve it.
Speaking of busting chops. Kate apologized to Ean for something she felt bad about. You have to understand that for Kate this is a huge and I mean huge accomplishment. I was quite proud of her to take the effort to see outside herself and to honestly look at how her actions may have affected someone else.
So much for the heartfelt apology. Ean didn't even hear her words, all he heard was a grammar mistake and busted her on it.
I felt so bad for Kate and got after Ean. As much as we promote the correct use of the English language in this house, for someone as sensitive as Kate to take such a huge step and to have it all squashed with the ugly pointing out of a little mistake, she was really hurt.
I made a big point of letting her know that "I" noticed what she did, even if it went right over her brother's head.
My mom survived having a have five year old spend the night, two nights in a row. However she announced at the park that I can have my kids back, she's taking a break. Both boys stayed up until midnight although David was much nicer then Greg, at his sleep over he let my mom sleep in until 8:30. Greg had woken his Mormor up two hours earlier the previous morning.
I made a point to make a little me time. It was fabulous. I biked the long long way home from the park and loved it. It was the perfect day, warm, with a cool breeze. We didn't even turn the air conditioning on the entire day, it was so pleasant. Throw in some personal study time later that afternoon, I felt down right relaxed after a while
That ended when Kate had to bring me proof, in the form of recording her brothers committing the crime that is "get into everything they can in the garage". What happened to communicating verbally? So that ended my me time.
Going all out with cup of noodles for dinner for the kids, all in all, not a bad day.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
On My SoapBox
Since I have been (basically) called judgmental for being upset about those that abuse the park lunch program here in Pocatello, this is a bit of "putting myself out there". I did open the blog again to the public earlier in the month so in a way, I'm already "out there". Since this is my spot to say whatever I will, I'm going to climb on my soapbox and express some thoughts once again, about the summer lunch program.
For those that don't know the program in general, for multiple years now we've had a wonderful program offered to children via a federal grant. The program has a few rules which include.
1. Lunch is available to those 19 and under (they will refuse babies that obviously won't eat the lunch)
2. Lunch is be eaten, in it's entirety at the park.
3. Lunch provided for a child is not be eaten by adults.
I'd like to note that an adult is welcome to buy a full lunch, which includes a 1/2 pint of milk, a 1/2 pint of juice, some fruit based item, a chip, usually carrots or cheese stick and a main item, either hot or a sandwich for only $3.00. If you so choose, you can buy just the hot item or sandwich for only a buck.
A few years ago the rules were a bit looser. You only were required to eat your main item and drink you milk at the park however due to excessive abuse of the system either in the form of parents encouraging their children to break the rules and just walk home or using their children to get food for themselves, the rules were tightened up to "all items" being consumed at the park.
What people don't seem to understand is that this grant that pays for the lunch system is contingent on the program rules being followed. This means that if the feds say our school district is non-compliant they won't pay for the lunches that were provided that summer.
So you know all the awful cuts we've had to deal with in our school district. What will happen to our children if not only our school district is found non-compliant and has this sudden debt but in addition they lose the lunch program. Our children and by association their parents will be hit financially during the school year and during the summer with excess school expenses and food expenses.
In my house summer lunches equals twenty five lunches a week. About two hundred and fifty meals for the whole summer via this incredible program. I know my family is not the only one that would be hurt if we lost it. Or they change the program and instead of this park system, we have a cafeteria program like they do in Logan Utah. Not nearly so nice but this is what may lie in future.
You see, our lunch program didn't pass their inspection earlier this week. Why? Lets see, all the parents getting their kids to get food for them, parents leaving the park with the lunches, parents encouraging children to get lunch and walk home, I'm seeing a theme and it's P.A.R.E.N.T.S.
So, I say, have a backbone and follow the rules! Don't spoil it for the 3000 plus children that benefit from free lunches!!!
And if you were one of the parents I saw throwing a fit in the parking lot because you broke the rules and they're cracking down on you, I was cheering for the lunch ladies as we sat in park and my children cheerfully ate their lunch.
For those that don't know the program in general, for multiple years now we've had a wonderful program offered to children via a federal grant. The program has a few rules which include.
1. Lunch is available to those 19 and under (they will refuse babies that obviously won't eat the lunch)
2. Lunch is be eaten, in it's entirety at the park.
3. Lunch provided for a child is not be eaten by adults.
I'd like to note that an adult is welcome to buy a full lunch, which includes a 1/2 pint of milk, a 1/2 pint of juice, some fruit based item, a chip, usually carrots or cheese stick and a main item, either hot or a sandwich for only $3.00. If you so choose, you can buy just the hot item or sandwich for only a buck.
A few years ago the rules were a bit looser. You only were required to eat your main item and drink you milk at the park however due to excessive abuse of the system either in the form of parents encouraging their children to break the rules and just walk home or using their children to get food for themselves, the rules were tightened up to "all items" being consumed at the park.
What people don't seem to understand is that this grant that pays for the lunch system is contingent on the program rules being followed. This means that if the feds say our school district is non-compliant they won't pay for the lunches that were provided that summer.
So you know all the awful cuts we've had to deal with in our school district. What will happen to our children if not only our school district is found non-compliant and has this sudden debt but in addition they lose the lunch program. Our children and by association their parents will be hit financially during the school year and during the summer with excess school expenses and food expenses.
In my house summer lunches equals twenty five lunches a week. About two hundred and fifty meals for the whole summer via this incredible program. I know my family is not the only one that would be hurt if we lost it. Or they change the program and instead of this park system, we have a cafeteria program like they do in Logan Utah. Not nearly so nice but this is what may lie in future.
You see, our lunch program didn't pass their inspection earlier this week. Why? Lets see, all the parents getting their kids to get food for them, parents leaving the park with the lunches, parents encouraging children to get lunch and walk home, I'm seeing a theme and it's P.A.R.E.N.T.S.
So, I say, have a backbone and follow the rules! Don't spoil it for the 3000 plus children that benefit from free lunches!!!
And if you were one of the parents I saw throwing a fit in the parking lot because you broke the rules and they're cracking down on you, I was cheering for the lunch ladies as we sat in park and my children cheerfully ate their lunch.
Just For the Record
In the month of June I've officially written more posts then the entire year of 2010. This means I either really slacked off last year or possibly I just have a lot to say this month. Well, a little of both really, add in the fact that I recently left an internet board I was quite involved with, that leaves me a whole lot more free time and I find myself writing more. A whole lot more.
At this rate I'll write more by the end of the year then all blog posts from 2008 on, combined!
The only one with any room to complain would be Kent, since he's the one copying this nonsense for our family history. Since I believe the man loves this writing frenzy, then it's all good. As long as I don't embarrass him.
I haven't posted the already written tidbit about him wearing sneakers with slacks and his dress shirt yet, have I? You'll get to read about that probably next week. I'm sure you can't wait.
In the meantime, I'll insert a little comparison on how differently Kent and I think. I should make this little read worth while after all.
You see several years ago Kent and I blew a bunch of money on fireworks and I mean an insane amount, much more then we ever would have if we'd been keeping track. That's what happens when two adults buy willy nilly without communicating with each other, uh, every night for a week. It was not pretty. To clarify, the fireworks were very pretty, it was the budget that left a bad taste in our mouths.
So the rule since that splurge to end all splurges, we can spend $50.00 total on fireworks. That money is spent all at once. There is no going back after that initial purchase, because contrary to what my children may think, one more package of cracklin balls or smoke bombs will not bring them greater joy in their life. A painful lesson we've had to face ourselves. :)
I was telling my mom all about this and she promptly asked if she could add $25 to our spending fund. Well, heck yeah mom! So when I took the poor deprived boys (Ean and David) that didn't get a sleepover with anyone last night out for ice cream and bought fireworks, I promptly spent our allotted $50, plus what mom was throwing in. Then I told Kent that night.
Oh dear.
He still looked pained when I told him what my mom was contributing because immediately in his ever frugal brain he's thinking, if I'd spent our usual $50, we'd only be out of pocket $25, while I'm thinking, WHOOO HOOOO!! We're going to have some awesome firework fun this year!!!
I'm pretty sure the kids will side with me on this one.
At this rate I'll write more by the end of the year then all blog posts from 2008 on, combined!
The only one with any room to complain would be Kent, since he's the one copying this nonsense for our family history. Since I believe the man loves this writing frenzy, then it's all good. As long as I don't embarrass him.
I haven't posted the already written tidbit about him wearing sneakers with slacks and his dress shirt yet, have I? You'll get to read about that probably next week. I'm sure you can't wait.
In the meantime, I'll insert a little comparison on how differently Kent and I think. I should make this little read worth while after all.
You see several years ago Kent and I blew a bunch of money on fireworks and I mean an insane amount, much more then we ever would have if we'd been keeping track. That's what happens when two adults buy willy nilly without communicating with each other, uh, every night for a week. It was not pretty. To clarify, the fireworks were very pretty, it was the budget that left a bad taste in our mouths.
So the rule since that splurge to end all splurges, we can spend $50.00 total on fireworks. That money is spent all at once. There is no going back after that initial purchase, because contrary to what my children may think, one more package of cracklin balls or smoke bombs will not bring them greater joy in their life. A painful lesson we've had to face ourselves. :)
I was telling my mom all about this and she promptly asked if she could add $25 to our spending fund. Well, heck yeah mom! So when I took the poor deprived boys (Ean and David) that didn't get a sleepover with anyone last night out for ice cream and bought fireworks, I promptly spent our allotted $50, plus what mom was throwing in. Then I told Kent that night.
Oh dear.
He still looked pained when I told him what my mom was contributing because immediately in his ever frugal brain he's thinking, if I'd spent our usual $50, we'd only be out of pocket $25, while I'm thinking, WHOOO HOOOO!! We're going to have some awesome firework fun this year!!!
I'm pretty sure the kids will side with me on this one.
Facebook is an interesting phenomenon. Lets take a look. You have those that connect with only the closest family and friends. Then you have those that "friend" every person they've ever said hi too and then even beyond that you have the game junkies with friends numbering in the thousands.
It's not just the amount of friends that differ. The reasons people are there differ. Some people are nosy and it's an easy way to keep tabs on everyone. A snoopers cyber dream, so to speak. Then you have my husband, who has an account and occasionally he may even sign on, if he remembers his password but the majority of the time it just sits there.
I do confess I have used his account to send myself gifts on Farmtown but I digress.
Me, personally, I love the chance to keep in contact with the cousins I grew up with. They are now mostly married, with children and I love seeing their pictures. They are so happy and it's an absolute delight to get a glimpse in their lives. I also am on facebook for immediate family. Although we don't have a lot of contact, with one younger brother across the country and the other across the world, it's an easy way to communicate. We need that. It's important and I'll always have an account for that reason.
You can put in a little of time, or a lot of time. It's entirely up to you and although I have been trying to cut back on computer time in general, a quick glance at facebook while eating breakfast seems to put my world just a little bit righter.
I have decided to clean up my friends list and that's always messy. There's sure to be individuals that I cut, that I didn't mean too. A simple message is all it takes and then I'll re-add. Although I was brutal this last clean up. Simply put, if you're someone that I find gossipy, you were cut. If I find myself deleting your individual posts for whatever reason, you were cut. If you live in the same town with me, I just may have cut you unless I consider our facebook conversations to be something extra special, for whatever reason.
So I reserve the right to delete some family members and not others. The same goes for ward members, people in the neighborhood, whatever, you too may be deleted. I'm more likely to keep internet friends that well, I only have contact with on the internet. I'll tell you what, I promise to buck it up should you decide you need to delete me, for whatever reason. But just for the record, I also reserve the right to keep my half a dozen "farm town only" friends that send gifts.
After all, it is MY facebook.
It's not just the amount of friends that differ. The reasons people are there differ. Some people are nosy and it's an easy way to keep tabs on everyone. A snoopers cyber dream, so to speak. Then you have my husband, who has an account and occasionally he may even sign on, if he remembers his password but the majority of the time it just sits there.
I do confess I have used his account to send myself gifts on Farmtown but I digress.
Me, personally, I love the chance to keep in contact with the cousins I grew up with. They are now mostly married, with children and I love seeing their pictures. They are so happy and it's an absolute delight to get a glimpse in their lives. I also am on facebook for immediate family. Although we don't have a lot of contact, with one younger brother across the country and the other across the world, it's an easy way to communicate. We need that. It's important and I'll always have an account for that reason.
You can put in a little of time, or a lot of time. It's entirely up to you and although I have been trying to cut back on computer time in general, a quick glance at facebook while eating breakfast seems to put my world just a little bit righter.
I have decided to clean up my friends list and that's always messy. There's sure to be individuals that I cut, that I didn't mean too. A simple message is all it takes and then I'll re-add. Although I was brutal this last clean up. Simply put, if you're someone that I find gossipy, you were cut. If I find myself deleting your individual posts for whatever reason, you were cut. If you live in the same town with me, I just may have cut you unless I consider our facebook conversations to be something extra special, for whatever reason.
So I reserve the right to delete some family members and not others. The same goes for ward members, people in the neighborhood, whatever, you too may be deleted. I'm more likely to keep internet friends that well, I only have contact with on the internet. I'll tell you what, I promise to buck it up should you decide you need to delete me, for whatever reason. But just for the record, I also reserve the right to keep my half a dozen "farm town only" friends that send gifts.
After all, it is MY facebook.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
The Most Amazing Experience Today
This needs a little background so everyone can understand truly how miraculous this was. Lets start with a mere thousand square feet on the main floor of our home. Most days this is where the action is. There is no privacy. Children are everywhere.
Since we're stepping on each other's toes every other minute, there's usually minor disagreements to full time meltdowns in multiple portions of the house. When this is not the case, there is tomfoolery in someone's bedroom, usually a group effort and the destruction of something someone else in the house values is imminent.
Not all days are bad but the clock is forever ticking closer to the next argument, disaster, tween and/or teen hormonal meltdown and when the buzzer rings, the peace of five minutes before is usually not found again for at least an hour.
As stated previously, Jane is gone this week to girls camp, so no teen hormones, no thirteen year old to hype up her brothers when we're trying to calm them down, no non-stop bickering with Kate. Oh yeah, Kate, well she decided she wanted to spend the night at grandmas. I was given permission by my wonderful husband to let grandma handle all such requests so I dialed, handed the phone over to Kate and let her talk.
Kate scored a sleepover.
Well, two down.
Then Greg was extremely disappointed he didn't get to go to my mom's when Ean spent the night last week. When I say "disappointed" I mean, uncontrollable sobbing for over an hour. So my mom is letting him have a sleepover. He is over the moon happy with alone time with Mormor. David gets his turn tomorrow night. :)
We actually asked Greg what he wanted and he requested he go alone. I think deep in his heart is an intense desire to be an only child. He doesn't always appreciate having a sibling joined at his hip.
That left David and Ean with me. Despite a rough lunch at the park that included a huge meltdown with screaming and kicking the ground, I was determined me and the boys would have a good afternoon.
At one point David went to play with the neighbor boy and they did quite well for some time. Ean begged for computer time, so I let him on my computer, talk about giddy delight!
No one needed me. No one was calling for me. There was no bickering in the background. No tears. No sounds of any impending disasters.
Well HOT DOG, Me time!
I pulled out my scriptures and not only read a few chapters from John in the New Testament but had a chance to ponder, think and reread. Unheard of in the middle of the day! I'm also reading the autobiography of President Monson right now and although I didn't take time today to read that, I did read a bit of "Nibley's The Prophetic Book Of Mormon". The man is amazing with his spiritual insight.
Really today was a miracle for me. I don't get time for that kind of spiritual contemplation often. Maybe tomorrow I'll be blessed with another quiet moment to pour myself into some more spiritual readings.
I hope so.
Since we're stepping on each other's toes every other minute, there's usually minor disagreements to full time meltdowns in multiple portions of the house. When this is not the case, there is tomfoolery in someone's bedroom, usually a group effort and the destruction of something someone else in the house values is imminent.
Not all days are bad but the clock is forever ticking closer to the next argument, disaster, tween and/or teen hormonal meltdown and when the buzzer rings, the peace of five minutes before is usually not found again for at least an hour.
As stated previously, Jane is gone this week to girls camp, so no teen hormones, no thirteen year old to hype up her brothers when we're trying to calm them down, no non-stop bickering with Kate. Oh yeah, Kate, well she decided she wanted to spend the night at grandmas. I was given permission by my wonderful husband to let grandma handle all such requests so I dialed, handed the phone over to Kate and let her talk.
Kate scored a sleepover.
Well, two down.
Then Greg was extremely disappointed he didn't get to go to my mom's when Ean spent the night last week. When I say "disappointed" I mean, uncontrollable sobbing for over an hour. So my mom is letting him have a sleepover. He is over the moon happy with alone time with Mormor. David gets his turn tomorrow night. :)
We actually asked Greg what he wanted and he requested he go alone. I think deep in his heart is an intense desire to be an only child. He doesn't always appreciate having a sibling joined at his hip.
That left David and Ean with me. Despite a rough lunch at the park that included a huge meltdown with screaming and kicking the ground, I was determined me and the boys would have a good afternoon.
At one point David went to play with the neighbor boy and they did quite well for some time. Ean begged for computer time, so I let him on my computer, talk about giddy delight!
No one needed me. No one was calling for me. There was no bickering in the background. No tears. No sounds of any impending disasters.
Well HOT DOG, Me time!
I pulled out my scriptures and not only read a few chapters from John in the New Testament but had a chance to ponder, think and reread. Unheard of in the middle of the day! I'm also reading the autobiography of President Monson right now and although I didn't take time today to read that, I did read a bit of "Nibley's The Prophetic Book Of Mormon". The man is amazing with his spiritual insight.
Really today was a miracle for me. I don't get time for that kind of spiritual contemplation often. Maybe tomorrow I'll be blessed with another quiet moment to pour myself into some more spiritual readings.
I hope so.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Jane's off to Girl's camp
Before anyone points out that it's crazy insane because I'm posting at midnight, let me explain that her stuff was PACKED at seven this evening. She actually leaves at seven tomorrow morning. Kent gets the job of getting her up at six am.
If she treats this like the first day of school, we're set. Otherwise, this won't be pretty.
Much to her dismay, I went over her list no less then three times on the essentials. You need to keep in mind that her idea of essentials and MY idea are two completely different things. As in, she has no bake cookies to share, why should she worry about a hair brush?????
Overall I think she did pretty well packing although I insisted she bring the inner shell of her winter coat. In this annoying teenage tone she turned to me asking "WHY?"
Darling because I care and the weather can turn in a heartbeat. Now go get the darn coat! Kent has her bringing a pretty warm sleeping bag so she should be set. I bought her new socks, only because I'd have to sacrifice "my" socks otherwise for the child and that won't do at all. I did threaten her with death if she brought them home packed in mud like last time.
Her dad, ever logical pointed out that if she followed the camp rules that she had signed, signifying that she's read and agrees to follow them, she better be wearing her *input dramatic pause by Kent* and Jane obediently interjects "shoes" in that teenage tone of hers.
She's bringing her dad's cowboy hat (yes, Kent has a cowboy hat) with more threats of death if it's not taken care of, for a skit. It's something about health and cowboys. No, I don't stay up at night wondering, I just say "Okay honey" as Jane fills in the bits of pieces. I just didn't have the time to get the whole story from Jane (which takes HOURS), I'll do that when she comes home.
It should be a good week for her.
In other news, for the sake of privacy, I'll refrain from naming the child but we're having issues involving personal hygiene. Not a favorite topic of mine but one that apparently I'm going to have to address multiple times this week because "the child" is cheerfully letting my words flow in one ear and out the other.
Please note any comments with guesses on the "the child" will be deleted. I was serious about privacy.
Who says motherhood is boring?
Hopefully we can resolve this quickly. At least Jane won't be home to tease. Although when not talking to "the child" I do intend to be down in Jane's room throwing oodles of treasures away.
Don't worry, her dad told her, everything on the floor goes. So she's been warned!
If she treats this like the first day of school, we're set. Otherwise, this won't be pretty.
Much to her dismay, I went over her list no less then three times on the essentials. You need to keep in mind that her idea of essentials and MY idea are two completely different things. As in, she has no bake cookies to share, why should she worry about a hair brush?????
Overall I think she did pretty well packing although I insisted she bring the inner shell of her winter coat. In this annoying teenage tone she turned to me asking "WHY?"
Darling because I care and the weather can turn in a heartbeat. Now go get the darn coat! Kent has her bringing a pretty warm sleeping bag so she should be set. I bought her new socks, only because I'd have to sacrifice "my" socks otherwise for the child and that won't do at all. I did threaten her with death if she brought them home packed in mud like last time.
Her dad, ever logical pointed out that if she followed the camp rules that she had signed, signifying that she's read and agrees to follow them, she better be wearing her *input dramatic pause by Kent* and Jane obediently interjects "shoes" in that teenage tone of hers.
She's bringing her dad's cowboy hat (yes, Kent has a cowboy hat) with more threats of death if it's not taken care of, for a skit. It's something about health and cowboys. No, I don't stay up at night wondering, I just say "Okay honey" as Jane fills in the bits of pieces. I just didn't have the time to get the whole story from Jane (which takes HOURS), I'll do that when she comes home.
It should be a good week for her.
In other news, for the sake of privacy, I'll refrain from naming the child but we're having issues involving personal hygiene. Not a favorite topic of mine but one that apparently I'm going to have to address multiple times this week because "the child" is cheerfully letting my words flow in one ear and out the other.
Please note any comments with guesses on the "the child" will be deleted. I was serious about privacy.
Who says motherhood is boring?
Hopefully we can resolve this quickly. At least Jane won't be home to tease. Although when not talking to "the child" I do intend to be down in Jane's room throwing oodles of treasures away.
Don't worry, her dad told her, everything on the floor goes. So she's been warned!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Just a quick note before bed
At 10:00pm while desperately trying to get all three older children to bed, we had not one, not two but THREE MELTDOWNS. Oh it was a sight to behold. And uh, hear.
Lets see, Ean didn't go to bed when he was suppose to. So his dad let him know, that the door prize for not listening was cleaning the office with older sisters. He was slightly less then thrilled with that announcement.
Then Jane. Oh my goodness Jane. Jane went into a complete information overload and despite everything we told her was convinced we'd screwed up and she was suppose to bring her gear for girls camp, tonight and we missed it so she wasn't going to get to go.
After numerous interruptions while explaining that she wasn't loading her gear until tomorrow night, I found the paper and showed her where it stated Monday not Sunday.
She didn't say a word. With a loud sniff she turned around and just left.
Then Kate. I'm not sure what Kate's melt down was for because Kate really doesn't need a real reason for a meltdown. The Cosmos spilling perceived bad Karma her direction is reason enough for Kate but I think this time, having to load the clothes washer was her reason. Because you know, it's very unfair to tell a ten year old tween to put laundry in the washer, put in soap and. Start. It.
Starting the Machine was probably the breaking point. You seriously never know with Kate.
So meltdowns galore. And to think, I made this crew rhubarb crisp and my reward? Emotion overload from the short people! Next time I'll serve them all lima beans, cause really, life can only get better if you've had to eat lima beans for dinner, lol.
Lets see, Ean didn't go to bed when he was suppose to. So his dad let him know, that the door prize for not listening was cleaning the office with older sisters. He was slightly less then thrilled with that announcement.
Then Jane. Oh my goodness Jane. Jane went into a complete information overload and despite everything we told her was convinced we'd screwed up and she was suppose to bring her gear for girls camp, tonight and we missed it so she wasn't going to get to go.
After numerous interruptions while explaining that she wasn't loading her gear until tomorrow night, I found the paper and showed her where it stated Monday not Sunday.
She didn't say a word. With a loud sniff she turned around and just left.
Then Kate. I'm not sure what Kate's melt down was for because Kate really doesn't need a real reason for a meltdown. The Cosmos spilling perceived bad Karma her direction is reason enough for Kate but I think this time, having to load the clothes washer was her reason. Because you know, it's very unfair to tell a ten year old tween to put laundry in the washer, put in soap and. Start. It.
Starting the Machine was probably the breaking point. You seriously never know with Kate.
So meltdowns galore. And to think, I made this crew rhubarb crisp and my reward? Emotion overload from the short people! Next time I'll serve them all lima beans, cause really, life can only get better if you've had to eat lima beans for dinner, lol.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Mac Rush Lives On
Or I should say, the spirit of Mac Rush lives on. For those of you that may not know who Mac Rush is, boy did you miss out. Mac was the kind of man who could make any person feel special. He'd listen to what you have to say as if your opinion and ideas were of great worth, even if he felt you were full of B.S.
Mac knew how to host a party even if his priorities were a bit different then my own, sending out invitations in the form of fliers with "Beer" being listed no less then 15 times, just so there was no mistake that alcohol was being served. Other favorites of his, ears of corn soaked in sugar water and then grilled with the husks on so that when the carcinogen blackened outside was peeled away a delightfully steamed ear of corn with the most wonderful smokey flavor was revealed.
There was also the steamed clams. No summer party was complete without the steamed clams with loads of real butter, usually with a touch of garlic, served for dipping. MaryLee would pass on the clams but with great delight Mac would loudly proclaim that was fine, more for him!
This man also had a great love for his family. When he was younger and inexperienced, it was hard for him to relate to his children but he learned and by the time his grandchildren came around, he had overcome his fears and relished the role of "grandpa" taking great delight in every accomplishment, tale, wonder and smile given by his grandchildren.
Unfortunately for those of us that loved him, and I consider myself one of the lucky ones who's life has been bettered by the influence of this marvelous man, we lost him at the tender age of 60 to a fatal heart attack. Jane is the only one to remember her grandfather, Kate was only 20 months old and Ean not even a glint in Kent's eye when he died.
Yes I am proud to have called Mac "dad" as an adult and for many years as a child he was not just "daddy" but he was "my daddy", something he often mentioned even after I was married with a streak of pride in his voice.
My middle son often turns my thoughts to my father. His interest are so "Mac like" sometimes, I can't help but see bits of my dad in his words and thoughts. It probably doesn't help that I know my father would gain so much joy out of Ean's incredible vocabulary and his ability to articulate his thoughts and postulate hypothesis's concerning the workings of electronics, forces of nature and pretty much anything he tries to figure out.
Ean loves to find answers, he searches for reasons, he dissects what he knows and strings together the most logical conclusions. The amazing part is that when he finds he is wrong (in anything with exception of sibling matters), he's quick to restate his hypothesis with a bit of triumph in his voice to finally know the answer.
At eighteen months I noticed his love of time pieces. Wrist watches especially were fascinating to Ean. Oh my goodness, how that tugged at my heart strings. Mac was obsessed with the time. He loved fine wrist watches and devoted an unheard of amount of time making sure all of the clocks and watches in the house was set according to the "Navel observatory time". The number was on speed dial on my parents house phone.
Actually at one time, he didn't get the phone completely on the cradle and logged over fifteen hours just getting the time! He managed to get the over $600.00 charge dropped from the phone company, and with great glee shared his mistake. Because, you know, it was hysterical and he knew it.
Back to the point, today I walked into my mother's house, we were going to set up her air conditioning and the boys were all there waiting for us. Ean had spent the night and there sitting on her arm chair was three, yes three radios, all blaring at the same time. Ean was considerate enough to set them all to the same station.
My mom said that she had a headache.
She also said that Ean positioned the radio's around his head last night and insisted he needed them all on to go to sleep. Oh my, the child is obsessed with SURROUND SOUND, even if he doesn't know what it's called!!! Instantly my thoughts turned to my youth, actually to around Ean's age when I watched my daddy stringing wires throughout the house to improve his placement of speakers so he could appreciate the quality of sound coming from different directions.
So Mac, my dear daddy, your grandson obviously has his priorities straight, he thinks like you do. I know where ever you are, you're damn proud.
Mac knew how to host a party even if his priorities were a bit different then my own, sending out invitations in the form of fliers with "Beer" being listed no less then 15 times, just so there was no mistake that alcohol was being served. Other favorites of his, ears of corn soaked in sugar water and then grilled with the husks on so that when the carcinogen blackened outside was peeled away a delightfully steamed ear of corn with the most wonderful smokey flavor was revealed.
There was also the steamed clams. No summer party was complete without the steamed clams with loads of real butter, usually with a touch of garlic, served for dipping. MaryLee would pass on the clams but with great delight Mac would loudly proclaim that was fine, more for him!
This man also had a great love for his family. When he was younger and inexperienced, it was hard for him to relate to his children but he learned and by the time his grandchildren came around, he had overcome his fears and relished the role of "grandpa" taking great delight in every accomplishment, tale, wonder and smile given by his grandchildren.
Unfortunately for those of us that loved him, and I consider myself one of the lucky ones who's life has been bettered by the influence of this marvelous man, we lost him at the tender age of 60 to a fatal heart attack. Jane is the only one to remember her grandfather, Kate was only 20 months old and Ean not even a glint in Kent's eye when he died.
Yes I am proud to have called Mac "dad" as an adult and for many years as a child he was not just "daddy" but he was "my daddy", something he often mentioned even after I was married with a streak of pride in his voice.
My middle son often turns my thoughts to my father. His interest are so "Mac like" sometimes, I can't help but see bits of my dad in his words and thoughts. It probably doesn't help that I know my father would gain so much joy out of Ean's incredible vocabulary and his ability to articulate his thoughts and postulate hypothesis's concerning the workings of electronics, forces of nature and pretty much anything he tries to figure out.
Ean loves to find answers, he searches for reasons, he dissects what he knows and strings together the most logical conclusions. The amazing part is that when he finds he is wrong (in anything with exception of sibling matters), he's quick to restate his hypothesis with a bit of triumph in his voice to finally know the answer.
At eighteen months I noticed his love of time pieces. Wrist watches especially were fascinating to Ean. Oh my goodness, how that tugged at my heart strings. Mac was obsessed with the time. He loved fine wrist watches and devoted an unheard of amount of time making sure all of the clocks and watches in the house was set according to the "Navel observatory time". The number was on speed dial on my parents house phone.
Actually at one time, he didn't get the phone completely on the cradle and logged over fifteen hours just getting the time! He managed to get the over $600.00 charge dropped from the phone company, and with great glee shared his mistake. Because, you know, it was hysterical and he knew it.
Back to the point, today I walked into my mother's house, we were going to set up her air conditioning and the boys were all there waiting for us. Ean had spent the night and there sitting on her arm chair was three, yes three radios, all blaring at the same time. Ean was considerate enough to set them all to the same station.
My mom said that she had a headache.
She also said that Ean positioned the radio's around his head last night and insisted he needed them all on to go to sleep. Oh my, the child is obsessed with SURROUND SOUND, even if he doesn't know what it's called!!! Instantly my thoughts turned to my youth, actually to around Ean's age when I watched my daddy stringing wires throughout the house to improve his placement of speakers so he could appreciate the quality of sound coming from different directions.
So Mac, my dear daddy, your grandson obviously has his priorities straight, he thinks like you do. I know where ever you are, you're damn proud.
Apparently I am Suppose to Write a Book
Kent has high dreams, mostly that I'll pen a best seller and he can retire and live off my income. He has no qualms about voicing his dreams based on my talent. Please note, he's the one that says "talent", I am not claiming to be a writer. If I want to toot my own horn, I'll talk about my incredible baking skills with light and fluffy whole wheat bread that will melt in your mouth. Writing? It's something I do to record my families antics. Someone has too.
While I'm flattered that he puts so much stock in my writing skills, the pressure to be witty is killing me. I'm starting to feel like I'm being critiqued every time my husband reads a blog post. I also get the feeling that he's taking inventory on how many stories from our family could be drawn on for potential book material.
The pressure, oh the pressure, to spout words of wisdom intertwined with witty tales from my children's lives!
Okay, it's not really like that. I write what I write because it's enjoyable to me. I like to share my feelings and thoughts and well, telling tales on the kids is all bonus for me. I love sharing the good and it's good to share the frustrating. It keeps me sane. Allows me to air concerns and worries. And I laugh. A lot!
As far as putting together a book, I don't believe most people would be interested in what I have to say. Lets face it, this frazzled mom's view of the world just may be a bit skewed. Who am I kidding? Raising my boys, my view of the world is warped!
So the plan is to keep dong what I'm doing and stand on my internet soap box and proudly proclaim my whacked world views, from narrow telescopic mom view and let my husband print them off to put in the family file.
*Cough* Sorry, he prints them off to put in the "Possible BOOK file".
While I'm flattered that he puts so much stock in my writing skills, the pressure to be witty is killing me. I'm starting to feel like I'm being critiqued every time my husband reads a blog post. I also get the feeling that he's taking inventory on how many stories from our family could be drawn on for potential book material.
The pressure, oh the pressure, to spout words of wisdom intertwined with witty tales from my children's lives!
Okay, it's not really like that. I write what I write because it's enjoyable to me. I like to share my feelings and thoughts and well, telling tales on the kids is all bonus for me. I love sharing the good and it's good to share the frustrating. It keeps me sane. Allows me to air concerns and worries. And I laugh. A lot!
As far as putting together a book, I don't believe most people would be interested in what I have to say. Lets face it, this frazzled mom's view of the world just may be a bit skewed. Who am I kidding? Raising my boys, my view of the world is warped!
So the plan is to keep dong what I'm doing and stand on my internet soap box and proudly proclaim my whacked world views, from narrow telescopic mom view and let my husband print them off to put in the family file.
*Cough* Sorry, he prints them off to put in the "Possible BOOK file".
Another "Save for Later" Post
As of June 24, Kent started work at his new job. The cell store will remain open for limited hours with Kent's sister working it until everything can get finished up there. Until that happens, I won't be able to post this.
Kent's new job requires a pretty big step up in wardrobe. Kent loves his comfort so working a job with high dress standards, quite a change for him. A tie is required every day except Friday. I suspect he'll live for tie-less Fridays, lol. Nice slacks, dress shirt and of course shoes to fit the whole ensemble.
Now, my dear wonderfully frugal husband was hoping he get away with his exercise shoes until he could afford something better. I told him that wasn't going to work but would he listen to his wife? Oh no, he stubbornly said that he'd see what would happen his first day. I let the matter drop because I'm not a nag and he is a grown man capable of making his own decisions.
Took only two hours in before he was called on his shoes.
I'm taking the high road and refraining from saying "I told you so" but the road isn't so high I haven't thought it. I'll work on that. :)
Kent says that what he needs to absorb is incredibly complex and it left his head swimming. This is a real switch for him, since he's been the "know all, go to guy" for so long in cellular. So to be in a whole new situation with no clue what to do, the guy being trained instead of the trainer, is really a change. Apparently there's no less then three different systems to sign into just to take a payment. All with different codes and procedures of course.
Apparently the new boss trusts Kent, who's received a key to the office on his first day! Kent says as the "boss, owner" he's never given new employees keys until a few weeks in and that's only if they've impressed the heck out of him. Kent was also left alone his first morning with instructions to "take messages" if the phone rang. His boss was a little desperate when he found out his teenagers were stranded and no one was answering his home phone.
He's working today, on Saturday. They're open the last Saturday of every month which really isn't to bad. Today he learns, collection calls. The thing he's looked forward to the least.
I really think my husband will do well, once he gets over the information hump. I will make sure he has clean nice dress shirts for work. And that he doesn't go out the door with inappropriate footwear although he's probably learned his lesson there.
Kent's new job requires a pretty big step up in wardrobe. Kent loves his comfort so working a job with high dress standards, quite a change for him. A tie is required every day except Friday. I suspect he'll live for tie-less Fridays, lol. Nice slacks, dress shirt and of course shoes to fit the whole ensemble.
Now, my dear wonderfully frugal husband was hoping he get away with his exercise shoes until he could afford something better. I told him that wasn't going to work but would he listen to his wife? Oh no, he stubbornly said that he'd see what would happen his first day. I let the matter drop because I'm not a nag and he is a grown man capable of making his own decisions.
Took only two hours in before he was called on his shoes.
I'm taking the high road and refraining from saying "I told you so" but the road isn't so high I haven't thought it. I'll work on that. :)
Kent says that what he needs to absorb is incredibly complex and it left his head swimming. This is a real switch for him, since he's been the "know all, go to guy" for so long in cellular. So to be in a whole new situation with no clue what to do, the guy being trained instead of the trainer, is really a change. Apparently there's no less then three different systems to sign into just to take a payment. All with different codes and procedures of course.
Apparently the new boss trusts Kent, who's received a key to the office on his first day! Kent says as the "boss, owner" he's never given new employees keys until a few weeks in and that's only if they've impressed the heck out of him. Kent was also left alone his first morning with instructions to "take messages" if the phone rang. His boss was a little desperate when he found out his teenagers were stranded and no one was answering his home phone.
He's working today, on Saturday. They're open the last Saturday of every month which really isn't to bad. Today he learns, collection calls. The thing he's looked forward to the least.
I really think my husband will do well, once he gets over the information hump. I will make sure he has clean nice dress shirts for work. And that he doesn't go out the door with inappropriate footwear although he's probably learned his lesson there.
Friday, June 24, 2011
No no no, we really DO Need to Ride in the Car Mom!
So this was Kate this morning. For at least thirty solid minutes she was trying to wear me down.
The plan, since it was a nice day, not to hot, not to cold, not a raincloud in sight, was to ride our bikes to the park. The park isn't far, it's within easy walking distance and makes for a pleasant little bike ride when the weather is cooperating.
I was looking forward to the ride, even with the bike trailer and the extra seventy plus pounds of red headed goodness in the back seat. Lunch starts at Eleven thirty, with us leaving just after eleven most days. Kate started about a half hour before we were suppose to leave, right after I asked her to get bikes out.
First it was just an inquiry, "Mom, are we riding in the truck today?" She asked this a couple of times, which was annoying enough when I knew she heard me answer each and every time that no, we were riding bikes.
So she took a different approach and told me she thought we should take the truck. I asked her why and she went into this long shpeel on how "We've only driven to the park ONCE, this week and we really really SHOULD drive one more time."
Uh huh. This was going no where fast.
After enduring this for far longer then my patience ran, she finally told me "But mom, if grandma comes to the park, if I have my bike, I can't go home with her and visit."
Finally! An honest answer!!!
Much to her dismay, we still road our bikes to the park and grandma didn't even come that day. Don't feel to bad for the girl, she's spending the night with her best friend. I think she'll be just fine.
The plan, since it was a nice day, not to hot, not to cold, not a raincloud in sight, was to ride our bikes to the park. The park isn't far, it's within easy walking distance and makes for a pleasant little bike ride when the weather is cooperating.
I was looking forward to the ride, even with the bike trailer and the extra seventy plus pounds of red headed goodness in the back seat. Lunch starts at Eleven thirty, with us leaving just after eleven most days. Kate started about a half hour before we were suppose to leave, right after I asked her to get bikes out.
First it was just an inquiry, "Mom, are we riding in the truck today?" She asked this a couple of times, which was annoying enough when I knew she heard me answer each and every time that no, we were riding bikes.
So she took a different approach and told me she thought we should take the truck. I asked her why and she went into this long shpeel on how "We've only driven to the park ONCE, this week and we really really SHOULD drive one more time."
Uh huh. This was going no where fast.
After enduring this for far longer then my patience ran, she finally told me "But mom, if grandma comes to the park, if I have my bike, I can't go home with her and visit."
Finally! An honest answer!!!
Much to her dismay, we still road our bikes to the park and grandma didn't even come that day. Don't feel to bad for the girl, she's spending the night with her best friend. I think she'll be just fine.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
I need a tape recorder
I'm so old fashion. There are so many gizmos that record what you say, but I think tape recorder! You should see the horrified looks on our children's faces when Kent and I talk about computer classes that taught "basic".
Anyway... Tape recorder!
I'd love to push a button and have something else repeat any of the following.
"Ean.. Ean.. EAN..... E A N!!!!!" Insert the other four children's names at this point, Ean just happens to be the name I call the most. I know you are shocked. That little darling imp that loves to see how things work, whether he has permission or not to take electronics apart.
"Put that down!"
"Don't Kick (or hit, or pinch or pull hair)!!!"
"No MUD!"
"Don't pet the CAT!"
Don't pet the cat? Oh yeah, I didn't give a full detailed report on the half dollar sized wound on the kitty's backside. It was not pretty and made for one grouchy kitty. She really handled it quite well but it was heck and half to make sure the boys didn't love on her while she was healing. She's much better now and is forced once again to endure the non-stop love that comes from three little boys rotating their pets in.
She's thrilled of course.
Jane is willing, big sister that she is, to utter all the above phrases and more if I let her. I don't think allowing that is conducive to a healthy, older sister, younger sibling relationship. It really just annoys the snot out of Ean and Kate. The little boys, not so much. But Jane's so busy being their best friend, she's not always aware of what they are doing.
Speaking of best friends, you know how every parent wishes, longs for and prays for their children to love each and to get along. Let me tell you, that it's not all that great.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that Ean and the twins have decided they are BEST FRIENDS. Ever since that dreadful day, our lives have been filled with non-stop and I do mean, every waking moment from all three, tom foolery like you've never before seen. The pushing, the shoving, the poking, all amidst non stop shrieks and giggles.
You may be thinking "that doesn't sound so bad". You. Are. Wrong.
They hurt themselves far more often now then they did when they didn't like each other. The scrapes, bruises and general owies (which may or may not result in swelling) has quadrupled. And it really doesn't matter that it happened by accident, the end of the world reaction is universally the same, regardless of cause.
Throw in riding bikes, swinging on the swing set, getting in and out of cars (which you may recall led to all the lost nails from smashed fingers two years ago) and there's a disaster looming on the horizon. I can smell it.
All I can do is repeat myself. Again and again and again and again and..........................
Anyway... Tape recorder!
I'd love to push a button and have something else repeat any of the following.
"Ean.. Ean.. EAN..... E A N!!!!!" Insert the other four children's names at this point, Ean just happens to be the name I call the most. I know you are shocked. That little darling imp that loves to see how things work, whether he has permission or not to take electronics apart.
"Put that down!"
"Don't Kick (or hit, or pinch or pull hair)!!!"
"No MUD!"
"Don't pet the CAT!"
Don't pet the cat? Oh yeah, I didn't give a full detailed report on the half dollar sized wound on the kitty's backside. It was not pretty and made for one grouchy kitty. She really handled it quite well but it was heck and half to make sure the boys didn't love on her while she was healing. She's much better now and is forced once again to endure the non-stop love that comes from three little boys rotating their pets in.
She's thrilled of course.
Jane is willing, big sister that she is, to utter all the above phrases and more if I let her. I don't think allowing that is conducive to a healthy, older sister, younger sibling relationship. It really just annoys the snot out of Ean and Kate. The little boys, not so much. But Jane's so busy being their best friend, she's not always aware of what they are doing.
Speaking of best friends, you know how every parent wishes, longs for and prays for their children to love each and to get along. Let me tell you, that it's not all that great.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that Ean and the twins have decided they are BEST FRIENDS. Ever since that dreadful day, our lives have been filled with non-stop and I do mean, every waking moment from all three, tom foolery like you've never before seen. The pushing, the shoving, the poking, all amidst non stop shrieks and giggles.
You may be thinking "that doesn't sound so bad". You. Are. Wrong.
They hurt themselves far more often now then they did when they didn't like each other. The scrapes, bruises and general owies (which may or may not result in swelling) has quadrupled. And it really doesn't matter that it happened by accident, the end of the world reaction is universally the same, regardless of cause.
Throw in riding bikes, swinging on the swing set, getting in and out of cars (which you may recall led to all the lost nails from smashed fingers two years ago) and there's a disaster looming on the horizon. I can smell it.
All I can do is repeat myself. Again and again and again and again and..........................
ADD
July 13, Jane gets tested for ADD. We've had some concerns with her attention span. She struggles focusing and cannot seem to stay on task.
I am very slow to medicate my children but she obviously hasn't improved with maturity. So it's time to test her. Her English teacher suggested possible small seizures because she actually fades out in class and has to be snapped back into attention but we have to eliminate ADD (or confirm) so we can really figure out what's going on with Jane.
I would feel horrible if there was *waving hands vaguely* something, we could do to help her and didn't.
Our family doctor was wonderful. He talked to Jane directly, asked her questions, compared having something like ADD, to seeing the world without glasses if you indeed needed glasses and just not knowing any different. He was fabulous, making sure Jane realized that testing wasn't a negative thing, if there was something that could be done that could help in daily life.
It'll be a good month before we know anything and I can't even speculate what answers, positive or negative from her appointment. Hopefully if there is a way to help her, we'll have a direction to go in.
I am very slow to medicate my children but she obviously hasn't improved with maturity. So it's time to test her. Her English teacher suggested possible small seizures because she actually fades out in class and has to be snapped back into attention but we have to eliminate ADD (or confirm) so we can really figure out what's going on with Jane.
I would feel horrible if there was *waving hands vaguely* something, we could do to help her and didn't.
Our family doctor was wonderful. He talked to Jane directly, asked her questions, compared having something like ADD, to seeing the world without glasses if you indeed needed glasses and just not knowing any different. He was fabulous, making sure Jane realized that testing wasn't a negative thing, if there was something that could be done that could help in daily life.
It'll be a good month before we know anything and I can't even speculate what answers, positive or negative from her appointment. Hopefully if there is a way to help her, we'll have a direction to go in.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Learning to Walk Away
It's interesting, I can usually tell if one my children is being dishonest by the amount of energy they put into denying whatever wrongdoing has been perpetrated. For instance, when the child believes that they innocent, and I mean truly believes they are being falsely accused, they get extremely upset, there are tears and sobbing, the voice goes up an octave or two. Usually hysterics are involved.
However the effort put forth when they are guilty, you couldn't power the front porch light with what they expend. A lightly stated "It wasn't me" with some kind of righteous indignation follows. Sometimes there's a foot stamp or alligator tears, it all depends on the child but their heart simply isn't into it.
So we know.
Let me repeat that for my kids, we know when you're lying. I think instinctively they know it's not worth the effort trying to disprove something they know their guilty of.
However, when they're trying to get a sibling nailed for a crime, oh the energy expended goes through the roof. It's unreal how invested they become, especially when they feel wronged.
I don't know how to break it to them, that even as adults, they'll still experience that feeling of being wronged.
The fact remains we are imperfect mortals doing the best we can and sometimes people make mistakes that hurt others, sometimes people are selfish and don't care who they hurt. Sometimes things happen that don't really matter. Sometimes we have to weigh the situation and figure out if it really actually matters. And if it doesn't we have to walk away.
Walk away.
I know my children don't understand that. I can't say, I simply can't count the number of times, I've had a child in hysterics over something a siblings done and I've had to repeat over and over again, that it doesn't matter. See, the upset child sees a wrong and that's all they see. They don't know that it's been dealt with, or there's a more serious problem that needs immediate attention. They haven't learned to see past the here and now.
Being an adult doesn't give us a free pass either. I mean, ask yourself, do you really know what's of worth?
Which is why, the past month especially I've had to make some choices and decide when to walk away. I've had to ask myself, is this really worth it? What would I gain in fighting? What would I gain by spending energy on stuff that simply doesn't matter if I look beyond the here and now.
This isn't easy for me. I like to explain myself. I double check to make sure all is right with people I know. If I can't for whatever reason, fix what is wrong, I spend more energy then I should over analyzing experiences and conversations for hours on end. I dwell. I can't seem to help myself. I'm trying to get better.
I'm sure my friends get sick of me, going over stuff half a dozen times.
I had an epiphany. I've realized that I can't teach my children to walk away if I fail to do so myself. I can't dwell. I have to move on. I have to look at my priorities and ask myself if it truly matters. Sometimes that involves biting my tongue.
But enough personal analyzing and onto a story for giggles and kicks. Last week at the park Kate came over extremely upset. She said her friend had dumped apple juice on her head so we called her friend over and immediately the tween started accusing Kate of dumping juice first which led to Kate denying vigorously, with tears down her face.
I announced, that those girls were awful lucky because juice in the hair happens to be one thing that is extremely easy to prove fibbing on.
Kate's friend's eyes got extremely big.
A little hair probing showed that indeed, Kate had juice in her hair and her friend did not, which led to an immediate time out.
Unfortunately it takes a week for Kate to let go and while her friend was wrong, both in the choice to dump juice and in the choice to blame Kate for starting it, I had to ask her if this was really worth being so upset over (we're talking a week later!).
According to Kate, it is. So apparently I have more work to do.
However the effort put forth when they are guilty, you couldn't power the front porch light with what they expend. A lightly stated "It wasn't me" with some kind of righteous indignation follows. Sometimes there's a foot stamp or alligator tears, it all depends on the child but their heart simply isn't into it.
So we know.
Let me repeat that for my kids, we know when you're lying. I think instinctively they know it's not worth the effort trying to disprove something they know their guilty of.
However, when they're trying to get a sibling nailed for a crime, oh the energy expended goes through the roof. It's unreal how invested they become, especially when they feel wronged.
I don't know how to break it to them, that even as adults, they'll still experience that feeling of being wronged.
The fact remains we are imperfect mortals doing the best we can and sometimes people make mistakes that hurt others, sometimes people are selfish and don't care who they hurt. Sometimes things happen that don't really matter. Sometimes we have to weigh the situation and figure out if it really actually matters. And if it doesn't we have to walk away.
Walk away.
I know my children don't understand that. I can't say, I simply can't count the number of times, I've had a child in hysterics over something a siblings done and I've had to repeat over and over again, that it doesn't matter. See, the upset child sees a wrong and that's all they see. They don't know that it's been dealt with, or there's a more serious problem that needs immediate attention. They haven't learned to see past the here and now.
Being an adult doesn't give us a free pass either. I mean, ask yourself, do you really know what's of worth?
Which is why, the past month especially I've had to make some choices and decide when to walk away. I've had to ask myself, is this really worth it? What would I gain in fighting? What would I gain by spending energy on stuff that simply doesn't matter if I look beyond the here and now.
This isn't easy for me. I like to explain myself. I double check to make sure all is right with people I know. If I can't for whatever reason, fix what is wrong, I spend more energy then I should over analyzing experiences and conversations for hours on end. I dwell. I can't seem to help myself. I'm trying to get better.
I'm sure my friends get sick of me, going over stuff half a dozen times.
I had an epiphany. I've realized that I can't teach my children to walk away if I fail to do so myself. I can't dwell. I have to move on. I have to look at my priorities and ask myself if it truly matters. Sometimes that involves biting my tongue.
But enough personal analyzing and onto a story for giggles and kicks. Last week at the park Kate came over extremely upset. She said her friend had dumped apple juice on her head so we called her friend over and immediately the tween started accusing Kate of dumping juice first which led to Kate denying vigorously, with tears down her face.
I announced, that those girls were awful lucky because juice in the hair happens to be one thing that is extremely easy to prove fibbing on.
Kate's friend's eyes got extremely big.
A little hair probing showed that indeed, Kate had juice in her hair and her friend did not, which led to an immediate time out.
Unfortunately it takes a week for Kate to let go and while her friend was wrong, both in the choice to dump juice and in the choice to blame Kate for starting it, I had to ask her if this was really worth being so upset over (we're talking a week later!).
According to Kate, it is. So apparently I have more work to do.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
100 Things About Me
My friend Marja did this on her blog so I decided to give it a shot. See how well you know me and uh, how desperate I get to fill in the list. Please note, there is no particular order, lol!
1. I was born and raised in Bennington Vermont.
2. I was born February 14.
3. I was an early talker.
4. My dad always said I never stopped talking.
5. I've only broken one bone, my clavicle when I was a toddler. Scott shoved me out the back door.
6. I remember lots of useless facts but can't remember doctors appointments.
7. I can sound authoritative on many subjects, even if I only know a few facts, a quality I learned from my dad.
8. I make up words when I talk.
9. I love sugar maples.
10. I use to climb the maple in our backyard to read books.
11. I've been pregnant 6 times, have had 2 losses and have given birth to 5 children.
12. I went on an exchange my senior year to Sweden.
13. I also served an LDS mission in Sweden.
14. I was teaching Swedish the semester I met Kent.
15. I met Kent in Pocatello on a blind date.
16. We were engaged on the third date, six weeks after we met.
17. I knew the moment I met Kent I could marry him.
18. My vision cannot be corrected in my left eye. It's permanently blurry.
19. Classical music makes me think of pipe smoke and red wine, because my dad always smoked his pipe (later in life, cigars) and drank red wine late at night while listening to classical music.
20. I love steamed clams.
21. I make incredible homemade baked bread.
22. I have hay fever.
23. My mp3 player has music from "The Fray", "Journey", "Chicago", "Kelly Clarkson", "David Cook", "Bon Jovi", " Fred Astaire", "Nat King Cole", "Aerosmith", "Barefoot Truth", "Casting Crowns", and multiple sessions of conference talks. It's quite an eclectic collection.
24. I've washed 3 mp3 players and the house phone at least twice in the washer.
25. I try to be kind.
26. I try to be honest, everywhere.
27. I feel like I make a good "acquaintance" but I don't think most people I know think of me as a close friend.
28. The female friend I've had the longest, I met at girls camp when I was 12.
29. From 19 weeks pregnant until the day before I had my c-section at 32 weeks, I didn't know if the twins would live or die.
30. I married my husband in the middle of December, 1994.
31. I dropped my maiden name when I got married.
32. My maiden name is Rush.
33. During my mission, the Swedes would ask after reading my name tag (Sister Rush), "Rusch? betyder det bråttom??" "Rush, doesn't that mean hurry?"
34. I made no attempt to correctly spell the Swedish above, I cheated and used a babelfish program.
35. Kent and I were married in the Idaho Falls Temple.
36. My paternal grandfather died 5 days before I was married.
37. Kent surprised me with the most beautiful bunch of roses the day after my grandfather died.
36. I was completely touched when my dad chose to come to my wedding, even though he couldn't come into the temple instead of staying with his mother. I know it was an extremely difficult time for him and I knew how much he loved me.
37. I hate hand sanitizer.
38. I drink herbal tea.
39. I give my children herbal remedies when they are sick.
40. When I can't breath because I'm sick or have allergies, I sleep on the couch.
41. I use to be an early riser.
42. Having children cured me of being an early riser.
43. I like naps.
44. I can bake some incredible Swedish pastries.
45. I never thought my mom would move near us.
46. I was wrong. :)
47. I spent three years at college trying to get into the Design program. I was never accepted.
48. When I grew up I wanted to illustrate children's books.
49. I taught myself how to quilt when Jane was a baby.
50. I learned how to crochet when I was 10.
51. We have two water color paintings in our front room that I painted.
52. Stockholm is the most beautiful city I've ever seen.
53. I've been through the crown of the Statue of Liberty. The windows are much smaller then they make them look in movies.
54. I grew up loving Alfred Hitchcock movies.
55. I also love Fred Astaire movies and the classics like "Arsenic and Old Lace".
56. I was 28 when I had Jane.
57. My hopes for being done having children by the age of 30 went out the window when I had Jane.
58. I've been to the top of the Washington monument. My grandfather, bless his wonderful heart waited hours with me, so I could have the experience.
59. I use to own a kite shaped like an old fashion airplane.
60. By own, I mean my dad let me watch while he built it and flew it at the park.
61. I use to swear a lot.
62. I've worked hard to clean up how I speak.
63. I try to see the good in everyone I meet.
64. When I can't find good myself, I pray for help in finding that good.
65. I took three years of French in high school.
66. I was terrible at French.
67. I never finished college. The semester I married Kent was the last semester I went to school.
68. I'm terrible at journal writing, that's why I blog.
69. I did some incredibly stupid things as a teenager.
70. I'm pretty sure my mom still doesn't know some of the things I did.
71. I pray my children are smarter then I was.
72. I don't like shrimp.
73. I sometimes order shrimp at restaurants just to give it to Kent.
74. I threw away Kent's pillow when we first got married. He was absolutely livid. The thing however was really gross and needed to be replaced.
75. I also, without any regrets, threw away a dead cockroach Kent had saved from his mission in a little film container.
76. I would do it again too.
77. I pray for my children daily.
78. I frequently wonder what I did to deserve such a beautiful family.
79. I frequently wonder how Kent puts up with me.
80. I nursed Jane past her fourth birthday.
81. I hated having to wean Ean so young (just past his first birthday) but strongly felt inspired to do so. A few weeks after he was weaned we found out how much trouble my twin pregnancy was in.
82. I have one of my dad's pipes in my desk drawer right now.
83. I can't manage money as well as my husband can.
84. It's been over three years since I've nursed any of my kids.
85. Putting each child end to end I've nursed my children over eleven years of my life.
86. That's really only eight years of my life because there were several overlaps.
87. I love bright and beautiful colors.
88. It drives me crazy my husband only wants to paint walls, white.
89. I blame his father for the white wall thing.
90. I'm afraid to go to sleep at night. I don't know why.
91. It's taken a few years, but I'm content with our house, which is to small. We can afford it and that's what matters.
92. When I was pregnant with the twins, I was amazed at the generosity of others. From the Ward members that helped dig out our window well (so we'd have room to sleep kids) to the wonderful sisters in the ward that cleaned our house while I was on bedrest. Truly a humbling time in our lives.
93. My hair is dyed a medium auburn right now.
94. It's nice to not have people ask where my boys got their red hair from. lol
95. I know how to make tofu from scratch.
96. I've spent more times in men's public bathrooms the past three years then my husband has his whole life. See I worked custodial for just over two years at an office building.
97. Not working so much has been a huge blessing for our family. I believe our children are much happier.
98. For family home evening last night, we brought Kent's grandmother sloppy joes for dinner, pulled her weeds and then ate watermelon together in the great outdoors.
99. I hate folding laundry.
100. My pink bike was actually my dad's bike and I LOVE IT!!!!
So for what it's worth, there's a hundred things about me. :)
1. I was born and raised in Bennington Vermont.
2. I was born February 14.
3. I was an early talker.
4. My dad always said I never stopped talking.
5. I've only broken one bone, my clavicle when I was a toddler. Scott shoved me out the back door.
6. I remember lots of useless facts but can't remember doctors appointments.
7. I can sound authoritative on many subjects, even if I only know a few facts, a quality I learned from my dad.
8. I make up words when I talk.
9. I love sugar maples.
10. I use to climb the maple in our backyard to read books.
11. I've been pregnant 6 times, have had 2 losses and have given birth to 5 children.
12. I went on an exchange my senior year to Sweden.
13. I also served an LDS mission in Sweden.
14. I was teaching Swedish the semester I met Kent.
15. I met Kent in Pocatello on a blind date.
16. We were engaged on the third date, six weeks after we met.
17. I knew the moment I met Kent I could marry him.
18. My vision cannot be corrected in my left eye. It's permanently blurry.
19. Classical music makes me think of pipe smoke and red wine, because my dad always smoked his pipe (later in life, cigars) and drank red wine late at night while listening to classical music.
20. I love steamed clams.
21. I make incredible homemade baked bread.
22. I have hay fever.
23. My mp3 player has music from "The Fray", "Journey", "Chicago", "Kelly Clarkson", "David Cook", "Bon Jovi", " Fred Astaire", "Nat King Cole", "Aerosmith", "Barefoot Truth", "Casting Crowns", and multiple sessions of conference talks. It's quite an eclectic collection.
24. I've washed 3 mp3 players and the house phone at least twice in the washer.
25. I try to be kind.
26. I try to be honest, everywhere.
27. I feel like I make a good "acquaintance" but I don't think most people I know think of me as a close friend.
28. The female friend I've had the longest, I met at girls camp when I was 12.
29. From 19 weeks pregnant until the day before I had my c-section at 32 weeks, I didn't know if the twins would live or die.
30. I married my husband in the middle of December, 1994.
31. I dropped my maiden name when I got married.
32. My maiden name is Rush.
33. During my mission, the Swedes would ask after reading my name tag (Sister Rush), "Rusch? betyder det bråttom??" "Rush, doesn't that mean hurry?"
34. I made no attempt to correctly spell the Swedish above, I cheated and used a babelfish program.
35. Kent and I were married in the Idaho Falls Temple.
36. My paternal grandfather died 5 days before I was married.
37. Kent surprised me with the most beautiful bunch of roses the day after my grandfather died.
36. I was completely touched when my dad chose to come to my wedding, even though he couldn't come into the temple instead of staying with his mother. I know it was an extremely difficult time for him and I knew how much he loved me.
37. I hate hand sanitizer.
38. I drink herbal tea.
39. I give my children herbal remedies when they are sick.
40. When I can't breath because I'm sick or have allergies, I sleep on the couch.
41. I use to be an early riser.
42. Having children cured me of being an early riser.
43. I like naps.
44. I can bake some incredible Swedish pastries.
45. I never thought my mom would move near us.
46. I was wrong. :)
47. I spent three years at college trying to get into the Design program. I was never accepted.
48. When I grew up I wanted to illustrate children's books.
49. I taught myself how to quilt when Jane was a baby.
50. I learned how to crochet when I was 10.
51. We have two water color paintings in our front room that I painted.
52. Stockholm is the most beautiful city I've ever seen.
53. I've been through the crown of the Statue of Liberty. The windows are much smaller then they make them look in movies.
54. I grew up loving Alfred Hitchcock movies.
55. I also love Fred Astaire movies and the classics like "Arsenic and Old Lace".
56. I was 28 when I had Jane.
57. My hopes for being done having children by the age of 30 went out the window when I had Jane.
58. I've been to the top of the Washington monument. My grandfather, bless his wonderful heart waited hours with me, so I could have the experience.
59. I use to own a kite shaped like an old fashion airplane.
60. By own, I mean my dad let me watch while he built it and flew it at the park.
61. I use to swear a lot.
62. I've worked hard to clean up how I speak.
63. I try to see the good in everyone I meet.
64. When I can't find good myself, I pray for help in finding that good.
65. I took three years of French in high school.
66. I was terrible at French.
67. I never finished college. The semester I married Kent was the last semester I went to school.
68. I'm terrible at journal writing, that's why I blog.
69. I did some incredibly stupid things as a teenager.
70. I'm pretty sure my mom still doesn't know some of the things I did.
71. I pray my children are smarter then I was.
72. I don't like shrimp.
73. I sometimes order shrimp at restaurants just to give it to Kent.
74. I threw away Kent's pillow when we first got married. He was absolutely livid. The thing however was really gross and needed to be replaced.
75. I also, without any regrets, threw away a dead cockroach Kent had saved from his mission in a little film container.
76. I would do it again too.
77. I pray for my children daily.
78. I frequently wonder what I did to deserve such a beautiful family.
79. I frequently wonder how Kent puts up with me.
80. I nursed Jane past her fourth birthday.
81. I hated having to wean Ean so young (just past his first birthday) but strongly felt inspired to do so. A few weeks after he was weaned we found out how much trouble my twin pregnancy was in.
82. I have one of my dad's pipes in my desk drawer right now.
83. I can't manage money as well as my husband can.
84. It's been over three years since I've nursed any of my kids.
85. Putting each child end to end I've nursed my children over eleven years of my life.
86. That's really only eight years of my life because there were several overlaps.
87. I love bright and beautiful colors.
88. It drives me crazy my husband only wants to paint walls, white.
89. I blame his father for the white wall thing.
90. I'm afraid to go to sleep at night. I don't know why.
91. It's taken a few years, but I'm content with our house, which is to small. We can afford it and that's what matters.
92. When I was pregnant with the twins, I was amazed at the generosity of others. From the Ward members that helped dig out our window well (so we'd have room to sleep kids) to the wonderful sisters in the ward that cleaned our house while I was on bedrest. Truly a humbling time in our lives.
93. My hair is dyed a medium auburn right now.
94. It's nice to not have people ask where my boys got their red hair from. lol
95. I know how to make tofu from scratch.
96. I've spent more times in men's public bathrooms the past three years then my husband has his whole life. See I worked custodial for just over two years at an office building.
97. Not working so much has been a huge blessing for our family. I believe our children are much happier.
98. For family home evening last night, we brought Kent's grandmother sloppy joes for dinner, pulled her weeds and then ate watermelon together in the great outdoors.
99. I hate folding laundry.
100. My pink bike was actually my dad's bike and I LOVE IT!!!!
So for what it's worth, there's a hundred things about me. :)
Monday, June 20, 2011
Lagoon 2011
We managed to swing a trip to Lagoon last Friday. To say the kids had a blast is a huge understatement. We had our family, my mom and older brother and my good friend Marja and her three children. We brought lots of food. To be honest, I brought some food and Marja brought everything else with chips and drinks too, lol! Kent loves doing things with Marja's family because she provides much better food then I do and Marja loves doing things with us because as a single mother, it's hard to do trips and stuff when she doesn't have any other adults to interact with. Plus, Marja keeps me laughing non-stop!
That makes it a win-win for everyone!
Kent was a little worried about bringing my brother. However Scott loves to
1. Travel
2. Eat
3. Go on Rides
Which means the amusement park was perfect for him.
When we first entered the park, we lost Greg and Scott. We went one direction, they went another. I think the adults were so busy trying to make sure the tweens and teens didn't run ahead, we lost sight of those in the back of the pack. Scott was spotted quickly and bless his heart he was holding Greg's hand, just waiting to be found. Greg did so good to hold Scott's hand as well.
The twins don't understand yet that Scott isn't really a "grown-up" that you can turn to for help since my 42 year old brother needs so much supervision but in this case, it worked out perfectly.
Here is Scott on the kid's train. When we split up for between the kids stuff and the adrenaline junkies, Scott opted for the kids stuff.
And here is the rest of the kids that didn't want to do more roller coasters (or were to short!)
Speaking of the roller coasters, my two girls are fearless! I'm embarrassed to say that we didn't get a picture of Kate, she was so busy doing the fastest, loopiest, craziest rides she could find! Kent did score a picture of Jane waiting for a ride to start. This is the dinosaur drop, a nice little ride the whole family got to go on.
Could the girl look more like a teenager? She is just so insanely grown-up now! She's by herself because there was just one spot open. Most of us were on the next turn and Kent got some insanely cute shots of Greg.
Isn't he adorable!!!?
Here's David in his own cute shot.
And here's both boys in their favorite little boy boat ride.
Ean and Noah scored, both guys were little enough for the little people bumper cars AND the big people bumper cars.
Kate's shot up enough she couldn't ride the little rides anymore but she MORE then made up for it on everything else!
We hit what we could. Everyone had so much fun. There was some disappointment we didn't get to any of the water rides before leaving. However it was 7:00 pm, everyone wanted dinner, Marja's oldest was reaching his "unmedicated" time of day and his behavior spirals quickly out of control after 7:00, so we needed to get going. To make up for missing the water rides, we let the kids play in the fountain. Oh my goodness! A few really made the most of it!
Dave in the fountain is right at the top of the blog right now, he had so much fun but boy did he get wet! Here he is, looking like he'd gone swimming with his clothes on!
So that was Lagoon. I think we built some great family memories that day. It reminded me of when my family when to "The Great Escape" when we were kids. Those were good times as well.
That makes it a win-win for everyone!
Kent was a little worried about bringing my brother. However Scott loves to
1. Travel
2. Eat
3. Go on Rides
Which means the amusement park was perfect for him.
When we first entered the park, we lost Greg and Scott. We went one direction, they went another. I think the adults were so busy trying to make sure the tweens and teens didn't run ahead, we lost sight of those in the back of the pack. Scott was spotted quickly and bless his heart he was holding Greg's hand, just waiting to be found. Greg did so good to hold Scott's hand as well.
The twins don't understand yet that Scott isn't really a "grown-up" that you can turn to for help since my 42 year old brother needs so much supervision but in this case, it worked out perfectly.
Here is Scott on the kid's train. When we split up for between the kids stuff and the adrenaline junkies, Scott opted for the kids stuff.
And here is the rest of the kids that didn't want to do more roller coasters (or were to short!)
Speaking of the roller coasters, my two girls are fearless! I'm embarrassed to say that we didn't get a picture of Kate, she was so busy doing the fastest, loopiest, craziest rides she could find! Kent did score a picture of Jane waiting for a ride to start. This is the dinosaur drop, a nice little ride the whole family got to go on.
Could the girl look more like a teenager? She is just so insanely grown-up now! She's by herself because there was just one spot open. Most of us were on the next turn and Kent got some insanely cute shots of Greg.
Isn't he adorable!!!?
Here's David in his own cute shot.
And here's both boys in their favorite little boy boat ride.
Ean and Noah scored, both guys were little enough for the little people bumper cars AND the big people bumper cars.
Kate's shot up enough she couldn't ride the little rides anymore but she MORE then made up for it on everything else!
We hit what we could. Everyone had so much fun. There was some disappointment we didn't get to any of the water rides before leaving. However it was 7:00 pm, everyone wanted dinner, Marja's oldest was reaching his "unmedicated" time of day and his behavior spirals quickly out of control after 7:00, so we needed to get going. To make up for missing the water rides, we let the kids play in the fountain. Oh my goodness! A few really made the most of it!
Dave in the fountain is right at the top of the blog right now, he had so much fun but boy did he get wet! Here he is, looking like he'd gone swimming with his clothes on!
So that was Lagoon. I think we built some great family memories that day. It reminded me of when my family when to "The Great Escape" when we were kids. Those were good times as well.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
What I've apparently forgotten to say
It has been brought to my attention by my non-blogging, non journal writing, non recording husband that I've missed a few points from his tales. He would like it recorded that he does take pictures.
The manly camp out. While driving, Greg pointed to a sign with an arrow and asked his dad if he knew what it said. Kent asked him, what it said and he responded "that sign says Go Fishing".
Also, while going through the town of Grace, Ean asked Kent what language they speak there and Kent responded that they spoke English and Ean went into a great shpeel on how if they needed to stop, that meant that they could talk to each other. He also asked when they'd get back into Idaho. Kent let him know that they never left Idaho.
Greg wanted to feed the fish with a fishing pole at the fish hatchery. I don't think that would have gone over to well.
See what happens when don't record your own stories? ;-p
The manly camp out. While driving, Greg pointed to a sign with an arrow and asked his dad if he knew what it said. Kent asked him, what it said and he responded "that sign says Go Fishing".
Also, while going through the town of Grace, Ean asked Kent what language they speak there and Kent responded that they spoke English and Ean went into a great shpeel on how if they needed to stop, that meant that they could talk to each other. He also asked when they'd get back into Idaho. Kent let him know that they never left Idaho.
Greg wanted to feed the fish with a fishing pole at the fish hatchery. I don't think that would have gone over to well.
See what happens when don't record your own stories? ;-p
Our Spirtual BackYards
I am not a natural born gardener. I have several and I do mean several, strikes against me. The list begins with some killer hay fever, followed by exercise induced asthma that is acerbated by my hay fever and finally, throw in actually breaking out in hives while pulling weeds and yes, you have someone inclined to put their fingers in the ears and sing "LALALALALALA" when it's time to work in the backyard.
Kent doesn't exactly have a lot of free time either, which means minimal upkeep most of the growing season. We're pretty sure we have neighbors that specifically built their privacy fence so the view from their perfectly manicured lawn wouldn't be marred by our occassional weed fest coupled with dead and drying grass. You see we have a bad habit of watering things that provide food and often forget the other parts of the lawn.
Actually years ago we planted raspberries along our fence. Would you believe those plants sent shoots under the fence and literally left our yard for the other side of the chain link fence, where the neighbor actually waters regularly? Traitor plants. :)
Well, we've had a lot of rain this past month which of course means lots of growth of, well, pretty much everything. Throw in rain Every. Single. Time. Kent has tried to mow and you have a jungle in a very short period of time.
Today, looking across the backyard, it was painfully clear we needed to tend to our yard. Our poor neighbor next to us doesn't own a privacy fence and her yard is looking so incredibly pretty next our green disaster. Her raspberries look especially nice as well.
So the girls started the great dog poop hunt. Kent moved the last bit of cattle panel, a remnant from when our dog was young and strong and use to jump the fence to go play with the neighborhood dogs and I, well, pulled a lot of weeds and grass.
I worked along the two side fences and into an especially weedy section of the yard. I cleaned out around the three grape vines and the fruit trees and cleaned up the fence bordering our raspberry neighbors. I noticed that the weediest section of the yard was an area that Kent had rototilled repeatedly the year before. You see, Kent was thinking he'd try raspberries again in a raised bed. So he rototilled the grass up and kept it clear all summer. We never got the bed built and winter went with that portion of the yard unnoticed.
I hadn't thought before on how the grass helps keep the weeds out and it struck me on the how similar our yard was to spiritual matters. When we have our spiritual self filled with good things, that we tend and care for regularly, it's a lot harder for those awful weeds to get in. This patch of former yard was filled with the most noxious weeds I've encountered, thick and well established. It was very different then the prickly weeds I pull from the established and well tended grass, that are young with little roots, easy to pluck out.
Speaking of easy plucking, when we bought our first house, I was terribly unfamiliar with Idaho weeds. Our front flower bed had a little teeny weed that looked harmless enough and I just didn't bother to pull. Each time I looked, that weed was a little bigger and a little stronger, still I didn't pull it. Before long, I realized how formidable that weed looked and finally decided I'd better get it out of the garden.
I then realized this weed had spines all along the stem, these spines give some of the most painful splinters I've ever experienced. The root also ran very deep and was thicker around then my thumb. I could not even start to pull out the weed. I wasn't strong enough. This ugly reminder of my laziness stayed all summer near our front gate. As fall fell around me, I tried to get all the seeds from the weed before it could spread further and of course my efforts were fruitless. Finally with it's death, I was able to get the shovel and remove this eyesore from the flower bed.
I have since learned that when this weed first appears in the spring, you can easily pluck it out of the soil with just your thumb and pointer finger. I now pull this weed whenever I see it, where ever I may be.
How easy is it to pluck the things amiss out of our lives when the problems are small and haven't had a chance to burrow deep, thick roots into our being? Ignoring may be easier in the short term but I promise plucking Satan's weeds out of our lives will in the end be the easier choice. And if there's nothing good or bad there in our spiritual selves, then it's time to fill ourselves with things of worth, so those bad seeds don't have anywhere to go.
Like the raspberry patch that was rototilled and never planted, if we leave ourselves devoid of the things that invite the spirit, prayer, scripture study, quality time with family, service, love of our Savior and everything he has to offer, then whether we want weeds or not, the weeds will take root. No matter what you believe, you can still fill your life with things of worth, family, charity, love of others, love and care of this beautiful world. I promise your life will be richer should you do so but don't leave yourself blank, rototilled and unplanted.
The weeds are ugly and ruthless if you do so.
If your yard is overgrown and full of weeds, the support of family working together makes taming that yard much easier. Sometimes you just can't shoulder the burden alone and it's surprising how many are willing to help.
So my beautiful children (because, who else am I writing to?), make your spiritual selves bloom. Plant only those things of worth. Pull baby weeds daily and if you miss something, pull that ugly weed out as soon as you realize it's there, before the root is thick and deep and painful to pull out. And if you need to, take benadryl (pray, read scriptures) before you go out in the yard. You'll be a much happier person and when people meet you, they'll admire your inner strength gained from tending your spiritual backyards.
Kent doesn't exactly have a lot of free time either, which means minimal upkeep most of the growing season. We're pretty sure we have neighbors that specifically built their privacy fence so the view from their perfectly manicured lawn wouldn't be marred by our occassional weed fest coupled with dead and drying grass. You see we have a bad habit of watering things that provide food and often forget the other parts of the lawn.
Actually years ago we planted raspberries along our fence. Would you believe those plants sent shoots under the fence and literally left our yard for the other side of the chain link fence, where the neighbor actually waters regularly? Traitor plants. :)
Well, we've had a lot of rain this past month which of course means lots of growth of, well, pretty much everything. Throw in rain Every. Single. Time. Kent has tried to mow and you have a jungle in a very short period of time.
Today, looking across the backyard, it was painfully clear we needed to tend to our yard. Our poor neighbor next to us doesn't own a privacy fence and her yard is looking so incredibly pretty next our green disaster. Her raspberries look especially nice as well.
So the girls started the great dog poop hunt. Kent moved the last bit of cattle panel, a remnant from when our dog was young and strong and use to jump the fence to go play with the neighborhood dogs and I, well, pulled a lot of weeds and grass.
I worked along the two side fences and into an especially weedy section of the yard. I cleaned out around the three grape vines and the fruit trees and cleaned up the fence bordering our raspberry neighbors. I noticed that the weediest section of the yard was an area that Kent had rototilled repeatedly the year before. You see, Kent was thinking he'd try raspberries again in a raised bed. So he rototilled the grass up and kept it clear all summer. We never got the bed built and winter went with that portion of the yard unnoticed.
I hadn't thought before on how the grass helps keep the weeds out and it struck me on the how similar our yard was to spiritual matters. When we have our spiritual self filled with good things, that we tend and care for regularly, it's a lot harder for those awful weeds to get in. This patch of former yard was filled with the most noxious weeds I've encountered, thick and well established. It was very different then the prickly weeds I pull from the established and well tended grass, that are young with little roots, easy to pluck out.
Speaking of easy plucking, when we bought our first house, I was terribly unfamiliar with Idaho weeds. Our front flower bed had a little teeny weed that looked harmless enough and I just didn't bother to pull. Each time I looked, that weed was a little bigger and a little stronger, still I didn't pull it. Before long, I realized how formidable that weed looked and finally decided I'd better get it out of the garden.
I then realized this weed had spines all along the stem, these spines give some of the most painful splinters I've ever experienced. The root also ran very deep and was thicker around then my thumb. I could not even start to pull out the weed. I wasn't strong enough. This ugly reminder of my laziness stayed all summer near our front gate. As fall fell around me, I tried to get all the seeds from the weed before it could spread further and of course my efforts were fruitless. Finally with it's death, I was able to get the shovel and remove this eyesore from the flower bed.
I have since learned that when this weed first appears in the spring, you can easily pluck it out of the soil with just your thumb and pointer finger. I now pull this weed whenever I see it, where ever I may be.
How easy is it to pluck the things amiss out of our lives when the problems are small and haven't had a chance to burrow deep, thick roots into our being? Ignoring may be easier in the short term but I promise plucking Satan's weeds out of our lives will in the end be the easier choice. And if there's nothing good or bad there in our spiritual selves, then it's time to fill ourselves with things of worth, so those bad seeds don't have anywhere to go.
Like the raspberry patch that was rototilled and never planted, if we leave ourselves devoid of the things that invite the spirit, prayer, scripture study, quality time with family, service, love of our Savior and everything he has to offer, then whether we want weeds or not, the weeds will take root. No matter what you believe, you can still fill your life with things of worth, family, charity, love of others, love and care of this beautiful world. I promise your life will be richer should you do so but don't leave yourself blank, rototilled and unplanted.
The weeds are ugly and ruthless if you do so.
If your yard is overgrown and full of weeds, the support of family working together makes taming that yard much easier. Sometimes you just can't shoulder the burden alone and it's surprising how many are willing to help.
So my beautiful children (because, who else am I writing to?), make your spiritual selves bloom. Plant only those things of worth. Pull baby weeds daily and if you miss something, pull that ugly weed out as soon as you realize it's there, before the root is thick and deep and painful to pull out. And if you need to, take benadryl (pray, read scriptures) before you go out in the yard. You'll be a much happier person and when people meet you, they'll admire your inner strength gained from tending your spiritual backyards.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Some Parenting moments are just So Hard
About two months into sixth grade, Jane went through an extremely painful experience of getting dumped by her best friend. For reasons I'll never understand, this girl couldn't just not do things with Jane, but she shunned her and encouraged others to shun Jane as well.
As a mother, it broke my heart. No mother wants to see their child in pain and to know another was purposefully cruel to my beautiful, loving girl just wrenched at my soul. The day this girl announced she wasn't friends anymore, I went over to her house and she tried to run in so she wouldn't have to hear whatever I was going to say. Luckily for me, her brother locked her out and she had to hear me. I let her know that I expected better from her because I knew she was capable of so much more.
I also let her know that I knew Jane wasn't "cool" or part of the in crowd, but she was making a huge mistake because Jane is loyal and kind, the sort of friend that would never let you down and that I felt bad that she couldn't recognize that. Of course I cried buckets too, my heart was wide open in the pain I felt for my child. Then I left, there was nothing left to say.
I struggled with an incredible amount of resentment. Especially when these girls went to actively shunning my child, running in front of her so she wouldn't be near them while walking home. At school, making cruel comments to tear my girl down.
We were also having trouble with Jane's teachers at this point. I blogged about my struggles with Jane and school earlier, so those struggles are already chronicled. With the whole peer thing and my fear of Jane's self worth being torn apart coupled with all the troubles with school, Jane was pulled and for the rest of sixth grade I home schooled her.
It was a difficult period but I felt spiritually guided to help Jane in areas that she struggled with. I know it was the right decision, I saw her improve in areas of her social development, her comprehension and her maturity. That really helped her last year when she went to public school again. Throw in this girl leaving to live with her mom out of state at the end of sixth grade, Jane had a chance to stretch out and thrive without the constant antagonism.
Before she left for her mom's house, I had a chance to wrestle with my own feelings and find peace. I want my daughter to be the bigger person, to be able to forgive others when wronged but I can't teach her that if I'm unable to do so myself.
I ran into this girl at Walmart and grabbed a minute to put my arm over her shoulder and let her know that that there were no hard feelings towards her. That is still true, I don't have hard feelings towards her but that doesn't mean I want my daughter to let this individual back in wholly and completely when she's possibly not changed.
So with less then two weeks back into town, after a full two years of causing Jane so much pain with one of those years out of state with no contact at all, this neighbor has showed up at our door and announced she wants to be friends with Jane again.
To my daughters credit, and in a showing of how incredibly trusting and forgiving she is, Jane is willing to move forward and have a friendship with this neighbor again. At the same time, Kent and I are afraid of this girl crushing what Jane's built while she's been gone. I truly believe forgiving and not putting yourself in a potentially hurtful situation are two different issues. We love Jane for being the person she is but want her to exercise caution with an individual that frankly, hasn't been in town long enough for any one of us to know truly where her heart lies.
So when the neighbor was at our door, I invited her in and spent some time with her and Jane. We visited and at times it was awkward for all three of us. I found out that while gone, this individual had failed to apply herself towards school, essentially flunking the seventh grade. I found this ironic considering how incredibly bright this teenager is with incredible potential that she's apparently not even aware she has.
It's also ironic because Jane has struggled so much with school herself and even with her learning disability which involves math skills, with the support of an incredible teacher pulled an "A" her last trimester of pre-algebra. Yes my heart swells just a bit when I type that. I am incredibly proud of all the effort she poured into school after such a rocky start that first trimester. I'm not only proud of her academics but Jane's made some extremely close friends.
I pointed out to Jane how good her friends are to her. They love and accept her for who she is, the good, the crazy, the smart, the annoying, embracing all of her without criticism or guile. These are the people she wants to lean onto. These are the friends that will continue to love her for who she is. No matter what happens with the neighbor, I want her to continue to spend time with these other friends. We know these other girls aren't reaching out simply because there is no one else to reach out to right now.
So I guess we wait and see what happens. I trust Jane's judgement and we have an open enough relationship, I hope she will come to us if she needs to. As for myself, I will encourage Jane to spend time with the friends that I know will support her no matter what her choice is concerning the neighbor. Forgiveness or not, time is still needed to trust again. I hope Jane knows that.
As a mother, it broke my heart. No mother wants to see their child in pain and to know another was purposefully cruel to my beautiful, loving girl just wrenched at my soul. The day this girl announced she wasn't friends anymore, I went over to her house and she tried to run in so she wouldn't have to hear whatever I was going to say. Luckily for me, her brother locked her out and she had to hear me. I let her know that I expected better from her because I knew she was capable of so much more.
I also let her know that I knew Jane wasn't "cool" or part of the in crowd, but she was making a huge mistake because Jane is loyal and kind, the sort of friend that would never let you down and that I felt bad that she couldn't recognize that. Of course I cried buckets too, my heart was wide open in the pain I felt for my child. Then I left, there was nothing left to say.
I struggled with an incredible amount of resentment. Especially when these girls went to actively shunning my child, running in front of her so she wouldn't be near them while walking home. At school, making cruel comments to tear my girl down.
We were also having trouble with Jane's teachers at this point. I blogged about my struggles with Jane and school earlier, so those struggles are already chronicled. With the whole peer thing and my fear of Jane's self worth being torn apart coupled with all the troubles with school, Jane was pulled and for the rest of sixth grade I home schooled her.
It was a difficult period but I felt spiritually guided to help Jane in areas that she struggled with. I know it was the right decision, I saw her improve in areas of her social development, her comprehension and her maturity. That really helped her last year when she went to public school again. Throw in this girl leaving to live with her mom out of state at the end of sixth grade, Jane had a chance to stretch out and thrive without the constant antagonism.
Before she left for her mom's house, I had a chance to wrestle with my own feelings and find peace. I want my daughter to be the bigger person, to be able to forgive others when wronged but I can't teach her that if I'm unable to do so myself.
I ran into this girl at Walmart and grabbed a minute to put my arm over her shoulder and let her know that that there were no hard feelings towards her. That is still true, I don't have hard feelings towards her but that doesn't mean I want my daughter to let this individual back in wholly and completely when she's possibly not changed.
So with less then two weeks back into town, after a full two years of causing Jane so much pain with one of those years out of state with no contact at all, this neighbor has showed up at our door and announced she wants to be friends with Jane again.
To my daughters credit, and in a showing of how incredibly trusting and forgiving she is, Jane is willing to move forward and have a friendship with this neighbor again. At the same time, Kent and I are afraid of this girl crushing what Jane's built while she's been gone. I truly believe forgiving and not putting yourself in a potentially hurtful situation are two different issues. We love Jane for being the person she is but want her to exercise caution with an individual that frankly, hasn't been in town long enough for any one of us to know truly where her heart lies.
So when the neighbor was at our door, I invited her in and spent some time with her and Jane. We visited and at times it was awkward for all three of us. I found out that while gone, this individual had failed to apply herself towards school, essentially flunking the seventh grade. I found this ironic considering how incredibly bright this teenager is with incredible potential that she's apparently not even aware she has.
It's also ironic because Jane has struggled so much with school herself and even with her learning disability which involves math skills, with the support of an incredible teacher pulled an "A" her last trimester of pre-algebra. Yes my heart swells just a bit when I type that. I am incredibly proud of all the effort she poured into school after such a rocky start that first trimester. I'm not only proud of her academics but Jane's made some extremely close friends.
I pointed out to Jane how good her friends are to her. They love and accept her for who she is, the good, the crazy, the smart, the annoying, embracing all of her without criticism or guile. These are the people she wants to lean onto. These are the friends that will continue to love her for who she is. No matter what happens with the neighbor, I want her to continue to spend time with these other friends. We know these other girls aren't reaching out simply because there is no one else to reach out to right now.
So I guess we wait and see what happens. I trust Jane's judgement and we have an open enough relationship, I hope she will come to us if she needs to. As for myself, I will encourage Jane to spend time with the friends that I know will support her no matter what her choice is concerning the neighbor. Forgiveness or not, time is still needed to trust again. I hope Jane knows that.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Kate Might Have Asthma
She's had a non-stop cough for months and it's become noticeably worse since spring set in. My mom observed her wheezing while pulling weeds with her. So we're pretty darn sure.
I scheduled an appointment and took her in to our family doctor. The concensus was, he could order a bunch of tests or we could take into account family history (that'd be me) and assume asthma, treat for a month, and if it's not better go from there.
I'm all for treating and seeing if it works.
So Kate got a prescription for singulair and for an inhaler. While we were there I asked for a prescription for an inhaler as well, since what I have at my house is at least four years old. I also refilled my expensive "more fluoride then you can imagine" toothpaste at the pharmacy. The stuff that strengthens my teeth that fall apart even with impeccable care. A side note, four children out of four had no cavities last week at the dentist. Thank Heavens the kids apparently haven't inherited my teeth!
But back to Kate. The pharmacy was it's usual brand of chaos, so of course I opted to pick up the prescriptions later that night instead of waiting an hour. Of course I promptly forgot until 9:30 at night. Oh dear.
I was already for bed.
In my pajamas.
Time to change I guess. So change I did and Kate decided she HAD to come with me and she opted to stay in her pajamas, so she ended waiting in the car.
It took longer then expected. The pharmacist asked for names, I gave mine, I gave Kate's. He asked a second time, I gave mine with my birthday, he said, okay he had it. He got a bag with several prescriptions and told me how much was owed. While checking me out, he mentioned the other pharmacist wanted to talk to me about prescriptions.
I walked to the other window, glanced down and realized everything was for me. Oh dear, I said you forgot about Kate! He said, "Well, I asked for names again." Oh sheesh.
So onto discussing the prescriptions. I was asked if I'd ever used these before, I proceeded to spit out all the information I knew, I'm very familiar with both the fluoride toothpaste and the inhaler. So back into line I went, I still needed Kate's stuff!
Ten minutes later (Kate was in the car this whole time), I finally get helped and a prescription is pulled out, scanned and I'm asked "Is the inhaler all there is for her?" Uh, that'd be a big fat no. So he looks up Kate's stuff and lets me know that they are out of the singulair in Kate's dosage. G-reat. So after a call to the pharmacy in Chubbuck and a drive by their window, we're finally taken care of, literally minutes before the Chubbuck pharmacy was closing.
What a way to end the evening!
At least we had some fun before that with a pleasant family night discussing "modesty" using the "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" song to illustrate how you can tell if you're dressed modestly followed by a fun trip to the McKees pet store and ice cream for refreshment.
Hopefully Kate's cough clears up now!
I scheduled an appointment and took her in to our family doctor. The concensus was, he could order a bunch of tests or we could take into account family history (that'd be me) and assume asthma, treat for a month, and if it's not better go from there.
I'm all for treating and seeing if it works.
So Kate got a prescription for singulair and for an inhaler. While we were there I asked for a prescription for an inhaler as well, since what I have at my house is at least four years old. I also refilled my expensive "more fluoride then you can imagine" toothpaste at the pharmacy. The stuff that strengthens my teeth that fall apart even with impeccable care. A side note, four children out of four had no cavities last week at the dentist. Thank Heavens the kids apparently haven't inherited my teeth!
But back to Kate. The pharmacy was it's usual brand of chaos, so of course I opted to pick up the prescriptions later that night instead of waiting an hour. Of course I promptly forgot until 9:30 at night. Oh dear.
I was already for bed.
In my pajamas.
Time to change I guess. So change I did and Kate decided she HAD to come with me and she opted to stay in her pajamas, so she ended waiting in the car.
It took longer then expected. The pharmacist asked for names, I gave mine, I gave Kate's. He asked a second time, I gave mine with my birthday, he said, okay he had it. He got a bag with several prescriptions and told me how much was owed. While checking me out, he mentioned the other pharmacist wanted to talk to me about prescriptions.
I walked to the other window, glanced down and realized everything was for me. Oh dear, I said you forgot about Kate! He said, "Well, I asked for names again." Oh sheesh.
So onto discussing the prescriptions. I was asked if I'd ever used these before, I proceeded to spit out all the information I knew, I'm very familiar with both the fluoride toothpaste and the inhaler. So back into line I went, I still needed Kate's stuff!
Ten minutes later (Kate was in the car this whole time), I finally get helped and a prescription is pulled out, scanned and I'm asked "Is the inhaler all there is for her?" Uh, that'd be a big fat no. So he looks up Kate's stuff and lets me know that they are out of the singulair in Kate's dosage. G-reat. So after a call to the pharmacy in Chubbuck and a drive by their window, we're finally taken care of, literally minutes before the Chubbuck pharmacy was closing.
What a way to end the evening!
At least we had some fun before that with a pleasant family night discussing "modesty" using the "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" song to illustrate how you can tell if you're dressed modestly followed by a fun trip to the McKees pet store and ice cream for refreshment.
Hopefully Kate's cough clears up now!
Monday, June 13, 2011
The Pefected Sunday Seating Plan
Kent and I perfected Sunday seating earlier in the month. We thought we had a handle on the kids but there are a few snags when we seat everyone on pew.
1. Although Jane is thirteen and she tries to help, she's so busy being the "fun" sister more often then not she causes more mayhem then she curbs. Really and truly she tries but inevitably if there's a boy next to her, that boy is giggling, shouting or climbing on her head in less then five minutes.
2. Ean has to sit next to a parent.
3. If Ean sits next to me, then I end up with all three boys next to me and/or on top of me.
4. Kate's feelings get hurt when she doesn't get to sit next to me. Oh my goodness, if looks could kill!
5. If I leave to track down a child that went for a "drink" five minutes ago, all the boys follow me out of the chapel.
6. Three weeks ago all three boys decided they were best buddies. Oh the problems that has caused!
So earlier in the month, I had Ean next to me, and forced him on the side where he was sandwiched between his dad. We then had one twin on either side of us, with girls at the end. So the perfected order was Jane, Greg, Me, Ean, Kent, David, and then Kate. Of course, the girls and twins are interchangeable with each other as long as we don't have two twins on one side with the girls on the other. That's a recipe for disaster.
Well the perfected seating plan was moot yesterday because Kent was called to give a talk at another Ward. That left me with all the kids together and from Kate on down, well, one person just is not sufficient.
Why was Kent speaking? Well Kent's the Stake (Wards and branches are separate congregations organized in groups, these groups are called Stakes) representative for Emergency Preparedness. The Stake has individuals called called "High councilmen" and they speak monthly at the various wards and branches bringing messages that the Stake presidency believes wants delivered. These High Councilmen ask people to be speaking partners with them and since Kent has a Stake calling, he's on the list to be a speaking partner.
All that to say, from now on, Kent will be gone once a month leaving me with the kids. Alone. During Sacrament meeting. Well at least when our Sacrament meeting overlaps where ever he's speaking at.
He was at the same building my mom meets at, but her Ward meets first. Mom has had issues with Scott walking into the next Ward's Sacrament meeting and going to the pulpit, to get a Kleenex and then blowing his nose in front of everyone and standing there for a few minutes.
So when Kent saw the Bishop lean over and snatch the tissues and hide them during the meeting, it didn't take Kent long to spot Scott in the back of the chapel. For those not up on the latest, mom moved Scott from Vermont to Idaho almost five months ago. He's in a group home here in town and loves living near our mom again.
Kent says he spoke to the Bishop after church, who was very understanding and Kent let him know Scott's his brother in law.
Back to our meeting, with me sitting alone with the boys, who tend to get unruly. Before the meeting started, our Bishop asked me how I was doing and I mentioned that was a loaded questions since the boys are so unruly and I was there alone. He mentioned getting someone to sit with us.
The meeting started and during the opening song, the Bishop remembered us and went down, spoke to a young lady who promptly came over to us and sat in our pew. I sent David over to her and she entertained and helped him the entire meeting. Just being one boy down really made a difference. Jane helped Ean and that left me with velcro boy (that's Greg if you didn't know) and Kate.
At one point Greg joined the couple behind me and I felt like I was missing kids, they must have escaped, it was so quiet! lol
I am very grateful for the Bishop thinking of our family and for the individuals that helped with the boys, between them all, it was a fairly peaceful meeting with only a few meltdowns.
Next Sunday while Kent is there, they'll be lined up in the perfect order again and hopefully, it'll still work. You never know!
1. Although Jane is thirteen and she tries to help, she's so busy being the "fun" sister more often then not she causes more mayhem then she curbs. Really and truly she tries but inevitably if there's a boy next to her, that boy is giggling, shouting or climbing on her head in less then five minutes.
2. Ean has to sit next to a parent.
3. If Ean sits next to me, then I end up with all three boys next to me and/or on top of me.
4. Kate's feelings get hurt when she doesn't get to sit next to me. Oh my goodness, if looks could kill!
5. If I leave to track down a child that went for a "drink" five minutes ago, all the boys follow me out of the chapel.
6. Three weeks ago all three boys decided they were best buddies. Oh the problems that has caused!
So earlier in the month, I had Ean next to me, and forced him on the side where he was sandwiched between his dad. We then had one twin on either side of us, with girls at the end. So the perfected order was Jane, Greg, Me, Ean, Kent, David, and then Kate. Of course, the girls and twins are interchangeable with each other as long as we don't have two twins on one side with the girls on the other. That's a recipe for disaster.
Well the perfected seating plan was moot yesterday because Kent was called to give a talk at another Ward. That left me with all the kids together and from Kate on down, well, one person just is not sufficient.
Why was Kent speaking? Well Kent's the Stake (Wards and branches are separate congregations organized in groups, these groups are called Stakes) representative for Emergency Preparedness. The Stake has individuals called called "High councilmen" and they speak monthly at the various wards and branches bringing messages that the Stake presidency believes wants delivered. These High Councilmen ask people to be speaking partners with them and since Kent has a Stake calling, he's on the list to be a speaking partner.
All that to say, from now on, Kent will be gone once a month leaving me with the kids. Alone. During Sacrament meeting. Well at least when our Sacrament meeting overlaps where ever he's speaking at.
He was at the same building my mom meets at, but her Ward meets first. Mom has had issues with Scott walking into the next Ward's Sacrament meeting and going to the pulpit, to get a Kleenex and then blowing his nose in front of everyone and standing there for a few minutes.
So when Kent saw the Bishop lean over and snatch the tissues and hide them during the meeting, it didn't take Kent long to spot Scott in the back of the chapel. For those not up on the latest, mom moved Scott from Vermont to Idaho almost five months ago. He's in a group home here in town and loves living near our mom again.
Kent says he spoke to the Bishop after church, who was very understanding and Kent let him know Scott's his brother in law.
Back to our meeting, with me sitting alone with the boys, who tend to get unruly. Before the meeting started, our Bishop asked me how I was doing and I mentioned that was a loaded questions since the boys are so unruly and I was there alone. He mentioned getting someone to sit with us.
The meeting started and during the opening song, the Bishop remembered us and went down, spoke to a young lady who promptly came over to us and sat in our pew. I sent David over to her and she entertained and helped him the entire meeting. Just being one boy down really made a difference. Jane helped Ean and that left me with velcro boy (that's Greg if you didn't know) and Kate.
At one point Greg joined the couple behind me and I felt like I was missing kids, they must have escaped, it was so quiet! lol
I am very grateful for the Bishop thinking of our family and for the individuals that helped with the boys, between them all, it was a fairly peaceful meeting with only a few meltdowns.
Next Sunday while Kent is there, they'll be lined up in the perfect order again and hopefully, it'll still work. You never know!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
The Great Manly Camping Update
This would be so much better with Kent telling the tales, since he was there and I was not. We are the experts on what we personally experienced and otherwise we're just some bloke retelling someone else's tales. Guess I'm the retelling bloke this time around.
Kent was a little sad on the way up. Kent has all the Harry Potter novels on audio, set up so he can listen while driving. Even though no one has touched the audio book stuff, or I should say, no adult has touched the audio books, Kent couldn't find them for his drive. That left him listening to a little music and a whole lot of Ean on the way up. The real entertainment was apparently the twins conversation.
They had a lively discussion about every broken tractor they passed. They discussed how sad it was. How the farmer couldn't use that tractor. What was wrong with it. You get the idea. Real in depth, broken tractor stuff. Kent said that when they finally passed a tractor that was obviously new and parked someplace like the driveway, the twins erupted into cheers for that tractor and the farmer that had fixed it.
If I could have been a fly on the wall for that one.
Then there was the actual drive up the eyebrow of a road to the campsite. David gave his daddy instructions to not fall off the mountain. Actually, first David made sure they were on the road, then made sure they were headed up and then he strongly advised Kent to back down the road where they would be safe. Kent had to break it to him that if he wanted to camp, they had to keep going up. Well, David conceeded that if that was the only choice to camp, they could keep going up, but his dad had better be very careful and not fall off!
Kent's been watching this trucking show on Netflix that takes place in India with extremely narrow roads on thousand feet cliffs. David probably would have been more at ease on that mountain road if he hadn't watched the trucking show with daddy.
They made it up the road and since Kent was sleeping with all the boys in the suburban, All he had to do was park. The stress of finding that "perfect spot" for a tent, was alleviated! Now Kent was searching for a fire. See last "father, son" camp out, Kent just borrowed a fire and didn't worry about building his own. This time no one was building a fire. Kent hadn't brought his own fire building stuff, so this was a problem.
Kent had brought hot dogs for dinner and marshmallows for the boys. Not having a fire really put a damper on his evening plans. Luckily a good friend of Kent's came up with his sons. This friend is studying to be a chef, and to Kent's absolute delight, he was able to feed hot dogs to all the kids and eat a dinner far nicer then he had dreamed of when packing earlier that day.
It was a win-win for all the men and boys involved, lol.
Both the twins did manage to burn their fingers on marshmallows later that night unfortunately. I don't believe the memories of these injuries will hinder the roasting of marshmallows during future camp outs. As far as the boys are concerned, it's just not a camp out without marshmallows!
The boys announced they were tired and ready for bed at ten. However Kent says the movement in the suburban kept going until well past 11:30. On the drive home the next day, there were some exhausted boys that napped in the car.
Kent was extremely impressed with how much ground the boys cover while they sleep. Ean stayed in his section of the 'burb. He was down by the front, with his personal belongings stashed in all kinds of crevices, that he of course lost by morning. However Greg was near Kent's head, okay, so he didn't start out close but he moved right next to his dad several times during the night.
Kent also said that David undid himself from the sleeping bag over and over again.
Now for morning, I didn't get any reports on breakfast, but I assume everyone was fed and happy. There were activities the next day. Someone obviously went into a lot of effort to plan what happened next and it's so painfully obvious the planners were men and not mothers.
Someone had this nifty idea to have Gadianton robbers, an evil group of murderous thieves in the Book of Mormon, attack the camp. For simplicities sake, we will now refer to them as the twins do, Bad Guys, attacked the camp.
Kent would like me to point out that whenever the twins called them bad guys, Ean corrected them and said pretend bad guys.
Passed out to the group of children were wooden swords, extremely long wooden swords, so the children could fight the (pretend) bad guys. This is the part where obviously no moms were present in the planning. The swords are at least three and a half feet long, definitely taller then the twins.
At this point I planned to insert photos to show the wicked looking swords, but photobucket isn't cooperating with me. I may just download Kent's pictures to facebook.
Anyway, the boys all attacked the (pretend) bad guys with the swords. Kent said it looked rather hairy for the (pretend) bad guys, so a little organization allowed each boy to take a turn sword fighting.
At this point there was a problem with all the self starters who felt that throwing pine cones was an acceptable method of continuing this battle against evil, even if it wasn't their turn with the swords. It took the words of multiple adults to multiple children multiple times to stop the assault on the (pretend) bad guys. Ean was amongst the pine cone throwers, I know you're all surprised by this. Yeah right. :)
Kent said that there was only a dozen or so instances where eyes were almost lost but in the end everyone survived including the (pretend) bad guys without anyone needing first aid. I should add, I don't know how many mishaps were narrowly avoided that Kent did not see.
Someone also made real metal tomahawks, which were thrown at wooden targets. Kent filmed both of the twins throwing theirs. I would have had a heart attack on the spot if I realized my five year olds were throwing sharpened metal at wood.
Finally Kent did take his boys fishing. The twins are determined that fishing is to feed the fish. They will be scarred for life if they ever catch anything and witness a fish being gutted and fried for dinner. There was also a stop at the Grace fish hatchery to really feed fish. After Kent lost a quarter in the food dispenser, he was given a huge chunk of fish food which the boys dumped into the water by the fist fulls. Talk about feeding frenzy!
So that's the guys big camp out. They had a blast, obviously. They may be disappointed our next family camp out when we're not attacked by (pretend) bad guys. Oh well.
Kent was a little sad on the way up. Kent has all the Harry Potter novels on audio, set up so he can listen while driving. Even though no one has touched the audio book stuff, or I should say, no adult has touched the audio books, Kent couldn't find them for his drive. That left him listening to a little music and a whole lot of Ean on the way up. The real entertainment was apparently the twins conversation.
They had a lively discussion about every broken tractor they passed. They discussed how sad it was. How the farmer couldn't use that tractor. What was wrong with it. You get the idea. Real in depth, broken tractor stuff. Kent said that when they finally passed a tractor that was obviously new and parked someplace like the driveway, the twins erupted into cheers for that tractor and the farmer that had fixed it.
If I could have been a fly on the wall for that one.
Then there was the actual drive up the eyebrow of a road to the campsite. David gave his daddy instructions to not fall off the mountain. Actually, first David made sure they were on the road, then made sure they were headed up and then he strongly advised Kent to back down the road where they would be safe. Kent had to break it to him that if he wanted to camp, they had to keep going up. Well, David conceeded that if that was the only choice to camp, they could keep going up, but his dad had better be very careful and not fall off!
Kent's been watching this trucking show on Netflix that takes place in India with extremely narrow roads on thousand feet cliffs. David probably would have been more at ease on that mountain road if he hadn't watched the trucking show with daddy.
They made it up the road and since Kent was sleeping with all the boys in the suburban, All he had to do was park. The stress of finding that "perfect spot" for a tent, was alleviated! Now Kent was searching for a fire. See last "father, son" camp out, Kent just borrowed a fire and didn't worry about building his own. This time no one was building a fire. Kent hadn't brought his own fire building stuff, so this was a problem.
Kent had brought hot dogs for dinner and marshmallows for the boys. Not having a fire really put a damper on his evening plans. Luckily a good friend of Kent's came up with his sons. This friend is studying to be a chef, and to Kent's absolute delight, he was able to feed hot dogs to all the kids and eat a dinner far nicer then he had dreamed of when packing earlier that day.
It was a win-win for all the men and boys involved, lol.
Both the twins did manage to burn their fingers on marshmallows later that night unfortunately. I don't believe the memories of these injuries will hinder the roasting of marshmallows during future camp outs. As far as the boys are concerned, it's just not a camp out without marshmallows!
The boys announced they were tired and ready for bed at ten. However Kent says the movement in the suburban kept going until well past 11:30. On the drive home the next day, there were some exhausted boys that napped in the car.
Kent was extremely impressed with how much ground the boys cover while they sleep. Ean stayed in his section of the 'burb. He was down by the front, with his personal belongings stashed in all kinds of crevices, that he of course lost by morning. However Greg was near Kent's head, okay, so he didn't start out close but he moved right next to his dad several times during the night.
Kent also said that David undid himself from the sleeping bag over and over again.
Now for morning, I didn't get any reports on breakfast, but I assume everyone was fed and happy. There were activities the next day. Someone obviously went into a lot of effort to plan what happened next and it's so painfully obvious the planners were men and not mothers.
Someone had this nifty idea to have Gadianton robbers, an evil group of murderous thieves in the Book of Mormon, attack the camp. For simplicities sake, we will now refer to them as the twins do, Bad Guys, attacked the camp.
Kent would like me to point out that whenever the twins called them bad guys, Ean corrected them and said pretend bad guys.
Passed out to the group of children were wooden swords, extremely long wooden swords, so the children could fight the (pretend) bad guys. This is the part where obviously no moms were present in the planning. The swords are at least three and a half feet long, definitely taller then the twins.
At this point I planned to insert photos to show the wicked looking swords, but photobucket isn't cooperating with me. I may just download Kent's pictures to facebook.
Anyway, the boys all attacked the (pretend) bad guys with the swords. Kent said it looked rather hairy for the (pretend) bad guys, so a little organization allowed each boy to take a turn sword fighting.
At this point there was a problem with all the self starters who felt that throwing pine cones was an acceptable method of continuing this battle against evil, even if it wasn't their turn with the swords. It took the words of multiple adults to multiple children multiple times to stop the assault on the (pretend) bad guys. Ean was amongst the pine cone throwers, I know you're all surprised by this. Yeah right. :)
Kent said that there was only a dozen or so instances where eyes were almost lost but in the end everyone survived including the (pretend) bad guys without anyone needing first aid. I should add, I don't know how many mishaps were narrowly avoided that Kent did not see.
Someone also made real metal tomahawks, which were thrown at wooden targets. Kent filmed both of the twins throwing theirs. I would have had a heart attack on the spot if I realized my five year olds were throwing sharpened metal at wood.
Finally Kent did take his boys fishing. The twins are determined that fishing is to feed the fish. They will be scarred for life if they ever catch anything and witness a fish being gutted and fried for dinner. There was also a stop at the Grace fish hatchery to really feed fish. After Kent lost a quarter in the food dispenser, he was given a huge chunk of fish food which the boys dumped into the water by the fist fulls. Talk about feeding frenzy!
So that's the guys big camp out. They had a blast, obviously. They may be disappointed our next family camp out when we're not attacked by (pretend) bad guys. Oh well.
Kent's New Job
Well this post will be a little different because I'm actually writing it weeks before I can post it. You see Kent has a new job but I can't talk about it. Oh where to start?
Well first, to field all the inevitable questions.
What about the store?
Well the store will close. We are extremely grateful with the Lords blessings and even with the inevitable frustrations that come along with working the family business, we've seen the Lord's hand in all the years Kent's work there. Decisions on what to sell, and to stay there were definitely inspired, especially when I found myself pregnant with the twins. Kent was going to leave and had actually given notice right when I found myself pregnant. We both felt strongly that he needed to stay and the store provided flexibility for our twice weekly trips to Salt Lake, along with the blessing that was pretty incredible insurance that covered most of what would have cost us a quarter of a million for our extremely expensive miracle boys.
That said, there is a season for everything and the season for the store has passed. The others that worked to sustain the store had left leaving Kent alone (occasionally getting a break from his younger brother, but not often). The glory days were over and so were the days of great profit. Truth be told, at best the store broke even and there were times where that did not happen leaving us without a steady income.
It is frustrating to see my wonderful husband pour so much of himself into something that gave little in return.
Since our family was the only one left carving any living out of the store, then Kent leaving means closing is inevitable. This opens other opportunities for other family members that hopefully will leave them better off financially as well.
Why can't I post this right away?
Well I'm writing this on June eleventh, 2011 but I probably won't be able to post until early to mid July. Simply put, every company Kent's ever worked for has stiffed the business their last check and Kent's trying to collect that. Keeping in mind that this is a commissions check of money already earned.
Really it's frustrating to not shout from the rafters about this change in our lives, so if you know me in real life and this takes you by surprise, this is why I didn't say anything. Anyone that knows me knows the extent this particular challenge is. :)
So what's Kent's new job?
In a real career change, Kent is being hired as a loan officer for a company that, well gives loans out.
I hope there are opportunities and stepping stones here for him. I hope and pray it's something he can really enjoy. His new boss is an incredibly nice individual that seems to really like Kent. Apparently Kent was THE only person remotely qualified for the job and his people skills will be put to work in this new career.
Kent initial nervousness over his career change has slipped into a real anticipation and excitement over doing something new.
What's Kent doing until his job starts?
The business has been going for a decade at it's current location. So Kent's been cleaning, dejunking and preparing the building for sale. Kent's still going into work, still making sales when people want to buy but he's putting a lot of effort into cleaning now. He's also getting stuff ready for his new job. He had to take a drug test (the kids asked what this meant and all went "EWWW" in unison when they found out it meant peeing in a cup). There's a ton of paperwork he's had to fill out, not to mention the background check.
Of course he needs training before he can start as well. So there's lots to do the next few weeks.
There's down time as well. Kent's closing the store at five instead of six. There's simply no reason for him to stay late when he could be spending time with his family in the evening. Of course we love having him earlier.
What kind of hours will he be working?
He told me and I can't remember exactly but a few nights a week he'll be late, quitting at seven at night. He'll have an hour for lunch during the day and actual vacation time! His new boss seems extremely flexible given enough notice. Kent's hoping we could actually pull off a trip to Southern Utah over spring break next year, something we've never been able to do in the past because Kent couldn't take the time off on his own.
So that's that. The big huge update of the biggest change in our personal lives since the twins were born. I will proof-read this, probably miss a few grammar mistakes and post this at some later date, mistakes intact. I hope for more positive updates for our family with this career change for Kent. We are excited!
Well first, to field all the inevitable questions.
What about the store?
Well the store will close. We are extremely grateful with the Lords blessings and even with the inevitable frustrations that come along with working the family business, we've seen the Lord's hand in all the years Kent's work there. Decisions on what to sell, and to stay there were definitely inspired, especially when I found myself pregnant with the twins. Kent was going to leave and had actually given notice right when I found myself pregnant. We both felt strongly that he needed to stay and the store provided flexibility for our twice weekly trips to Salt Lake, along with the blessing that was pretty incredible insurance that covered most of what would have cost us a quarter of a million for our extremely expensive miracle boys.
That said, there is a season for everything and the season for the store has passed. The others that worked to sustain the store had left leaving Kent alone (occasionally getting a break from his younger brother, but not often). The glory days were over and so were the days of great profit. Truth be told, at best the store broke even and there were times where that did not happen leaving us without a steady income.
It is frustrating to see my wonderful husband pour so much of himself into something that gave little in return.
Since our family was the only one left carving any living out of the store, then Kent leaving means closing is inevitable. This opens other opportunities for other family members that hopefully will leave them better off financially as well.
Why can't I post this right away?
Well I'm writing this on June eleventh, 2011 but I probably won't be able to post until early to mid July. Simply put, every company Kent's ever worked for has stiffed the business their last check and Kent's trying to collect that. Keeping in mind that this is a commissions check of money already earned.
Really it's frustrating to not shout from the rafters about this change in our lives, so if you know me in real life and this takes you by surprise, this is why I didn't say anything. Anyone that knows me knows the extent this particular challenge is. :)
So what's Kent's new job?
In a real career change, Kent is being hired as a loan officer for a company that, well gives loans out.
I hope there are opportunities and stepping stones here for him. I hope and pray it's something he can really enjoy. His new boss is an incredibly nice individual that seems to really like Kent. Apparently Kent was THE only person remotely qualified for the job and his people skills will be put to work in this new career.
Kent initial nervousness over his career change has slipped into a real anticipation and excitement over doing something new.
What's Kent doing until his job starts?
The business has been going for a decade at it's current location. So Kent's been cleaning, dejunking and preparing the building for sale. Kent's still going into work, still making sales when people want to buy but he's putting a lot of effort into cleaning now. He's also getting stuff ready for his new job. He had to take a drug test (the kids asked what this meant and all went "EWWW" in unison when they found out it meant peeing in a cup). There's a ton of paperwork he's had to fill out, not to mention the background check.
Of course he needs training before he can start as well. So there's lots to do the next few weeks.
There's down time as well. Kent's closing the store at five instead of six. There's simply no reason for him to stay late when he could be spending time with his family in the evening. Of course we love having him earlier.
What kind of hours will he be working?
He told me and I can't remember exactly but a few nights a week he'll be late, quitting at seven at night. He'll have an hour for lunch during the day and actual vacation time! His new boss seems extremely flexible given enough notice. Kent's hoping we could actually pull off a trip to Southern Utah over spring break next year, something we've never been able to do in the past because Kent couldn't take the time off on his own.
So that's that. The big huge update of the biggest change in our personal lives since the twins were born. I will proof-read this, probably miss a few grammar mistakes and post this at some later date, mistakes intact. I hope for more positive updates for our family with this career change for Kent. We are excited!
Our Girls Night
Still no word on Kent and how his overnight camping went with the three red headed boys. I assume they're fishing right now. They'll come home when they're hungry and out of food, I'm sure. So I figured I'd chronicle our girls night. I know the girls will want to remember this.
My mom being the sweetheart she is took us out to dinner. Well actually, we said, how about dinner and she treated us. We had fun at sizzler, Kate had chicken strips with fries, Jane had a burger and mom and I enjoyed some delicious fair from the salad bar. I also had a third of Jane's burger, she pronounced herself full after less then half of it.
We had a blast just spending time together and talking. Jane's not always the most talkative girl (unless it's transformers or some other obsession) but even Jane opened up and joined the conversation.
We then went to Walmart and traveled up and down the hair dye isle. Jane decided she really wanted high lights, so we bought a high light kit, I bought some medium auburn for myself, really it's like my own hair on steroids and for Kate we bought pink dye. Mom opted to go home and skip the hair dyeing session. Wimp. :)
So while watching tangled, which Jane and I hadn't seen and Kate's only watched twice (snicker), we did hair. Well I did hair. I put highlights in Jane's hair, and after hers was done, did Kate's hair which was sorely lacking in directions. The most I had to go by was the sentence "for a more natural looking color, apply to unbleached hair..." Well of course we wanted more natural (as if pink is natural) and we did not want a shocking, in your face color. I failed to take into account that Kate is a natural pale blond, and the dye actually adhered to her hair as if it was bleached.
Now Marja has put this pink in Kate's hair before but I had no idea the time frame she had it in, searching my memory this morning, I'm thinking possibly five minutes. I'm thinking I had it in for far longer. So Kate's hair has some shocking pink in it! It's fabulous and it will wash out but I won't make her wash her hair until Monday so she can have the full effect for a few days.
Kate's dad is extremely conservative with hair. Good thing it will wash out, uh, eventually. :)
Our girls weekend ended with all of us sleeping in, except Jane who gets up insanely early on Saturday, but Kate and I had our priorities straight. Then I made french toast with some yummy sausage and we sat together at the table discussing "real" maple syrup vs fake "maple" flavored syrup. I'm pretty most people know where this Vermont born lady stands, now to just teach my Idaho born children, lol.
So when I know, I'll update on the guys but no matter what happened with them, I can guarantee we girls enjoyed our weekend together!
My mom being the sweetheart she is took us out to dinner. Well actually, we said, how about dinner and she treated us. We had fun at sizzler, Kate had chicken strips with fries, Jane had a burger and mom and I enjoyed some delicious fair from the salad bar. I also had a third of Jane's burger, she pronounced herself full after less then half of it.
We had a blast just spending time together and talking. Jane's not always the most talkative girl (unless it's transformers or some other obsession) but even Jane opened up and joined the conversation.
We then went to Walmart and traveled up and down the hair dye isle. Jane decided she really wanted high lights, so we bought a high light kit, I bought some medium auburn for myself, really it's like my own hair on steroids and for Kate we bought pink dye. Mom opted to go home and skip the hair dyeing session. Wimp. :)
So while watching tangled, which Jane and I hadn't seen and Kate's only watched twice (snicker), we did hair. Well I did hair. I put highlights in Jane's hair, and after hers was done, did Kate's hair which was sorely lacking in directions. The most I had to go by was the sentence "for a more natural looking color, apply to unbleached hair..." Well of course we wanted more natural (as if pink is natural) and we did not want a shocking, in your face color. I failed to take into account that Kate is a natural pale blond, and the dye actually adhered to her hair as if it was bleached.
Now Marja has put this pink in Kate's hair before but I had no idea the time frame she had it in, searching my memory this morning, I'm thinking possibly five minutes. I'm thinking I had it in for far longer. So Kate's hair has some shocking pink in it! It's fabulous and it will wash out but I won't make her wash her hair until Monday so she can have the full effect for a few days.
Kate's dad is extremely conservative with hair. Good thing it will wash out, uh, eventually. :)
Our girls weekend ended with all of us sleeping in, except Jane who gets up insanely early on Saturday, but Kate and I had our priorities straight. Then I made french toast with some yummy sausage and we sat together at the table discussing "real" maple syrup vs fake "maple" flavored syrup. I'm pretty most people know where this Vermont born lady stands, now to just teach my Idaho born children, lol.
So when I know, I'll update on the guys but no matter what happened with them, I can guarantee we girls enjoyed our weekend together!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Camping in the June Rain.
Thank Heavens it's not me. lol!
Kent is going on the Father and Son with all three of his sons for the first time tomorrow night. Kent will be cozy and warm in the suburban but I'm thinking that won't work if Ean gets any taller.
Speaking of which, Ean proudly told me, that he is "almost" taller then me. Well, not quite son, he actually comes up to my armpit and he will most definitely be taller then me, probably by early teens. I'll break it to him gently that it's actually not hard to be taller then his mom. :) Now if gets taller then his dad, he's got a shot for some real height. Maybe Ean's got some Papa in him? We'll see. :)
The twins I fear may be Rush through and through. Now my paternal grandfather was an extremely tall man. He was over six foot but my grandmother was a little wisp of a woman and well, my dad took after his mom height wise. So my dad's genes may well be what the twins are channeling, we will just have to wait and see.
So the girls and I need to have an evening of something special. Now to figure out what that will be....
I will retell the tails of Kent's camping after the fact because of course anything said now is just speculation. Everyone knows that those Hill boys often out do themselves then the absolute worst my imagination conjures up.
Kent is going on the Father and Son with all three of his sons for the first time tomorrow night. Kent will be cozy and warm in the suburban but I'm thinking that won't work if Ean gets any taller.
Speaking of which, Ean proudly told me, that he is "almost" taller then me. Well, not quite son, he actually comes up to my armpit and he will most definitely be taller then me, probably by early teens. I'll break it to him gently that it's actually not hard to be taller then his mom. :) Now if gets taller then his dad, he's got a shot for some real height. Maybe Ean's got some Papa in him? We'll see. :)
The twins I fear may be Rush through and through. Now my paternal grandfather was an extremely tall man. He was over six foot but my grandmother was a little wisp of a woman and well, my dad took after his mom height wise. So my dad's genes may well be what the twins are channeling, we will just have to wait and see.
So the girls and I need to have an evening of something special. Now to figure out what that will be....
I will retell the tails of Kent's camping after the fact because of course anything said now is just speculation. Everyone knows that those Hill boys often out do themselves then the absolute worst my imagination conjures up.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Report Cards.
Jane: Well we haven't actually received Jane's report card yet, they don't trust the middle school kids to bring them home, so they mail them. However despite a rocky start to the school year, Jane ended very strong. Our beautiful girl started the year with an experiment called "Not turning in any assignments in English".
It didn't go so well.
After an extremely difficult first trimester of having no life except school and homework, she realized that if you work, you can actually see your friends socially. This was a turning point for her. Now in all fairness, Jane was in resource room most of her school career, with an IEP allowing for assignment extensions. So it really was foreign for her, this whole idea that the teacher really did expect stuff turned in, when she told the class it was due.
Jane was also going through this extremely slow and messy process of being put back on an IEP. After much testing, it was confirmed (six weeks before Summer vacation) that she does have a learning disability. She struggles with reading fluency and comprehension and she also struggles with basic math skills.
Now amazingly, Jane was blessed with a math teacher that recognized her struggles and gave her extra time to finish quizzes and tests along with extra instructions when needed. Because of this incredible teacher, Jane was the only student in her class to get an A on the second trimester pre-algebra final. She was carrying an A the whole of the last trimester, so I expect she did well overall. She will also stay in mainstream math with extra help. I'm so proud of the effort she's put into school and am thrilled that her IEP is in place for not only eighth grade but when she starts High School the following year.
Kate: Kate's year was similar to Jane's in that the first of the year was kinda rocky grade wise but with the help of excellent teachers and the diagnosing of learning disability and a brand new IEP, she finished the year with a fabulous run of A's and B's in all her classes. I am so proud of Kate.
School has always been such a struggle for her. She has a really low score in what is called "Active learning", which is the process the brain uses for multi-tasking in the classroom. It looks like she's being inattentive but it's actually her just not being able to process everything as quickly as needed. It's super frustrating for her and I've had issues with teachers believing she's slacking. Very. Frustrating.
Like Jane, Kate's IEP will be in place during a critical transition, for her, Middle School. After that nightmare that was Jane, not having an IEP in sixth grade, I can't fully expressed how relieved I am to have Kate taken care of.
Ean: Well. Things are pretty much the same with Ean. If he didn't score well on something, it was because he didn't try. Every time he put forth effort, he easily breezed through the work. His biggest struggle remains to be his emotional maturity. It's hard for him to interact with other children and he gets frustrated easily when things aren't as he thinks they should be.
Best quote from Ean this year "Make sure the twins don't get Mrs. Ellis for first grade, she's MEAN! She says I get in trouble ten times a day but that's a lie!!!!!! I only get in trouble once a day.
I mean, what do you say to THAT? Bwahahaha!!!
I'm trying to focus on Ean's interactions with others. Trying to help him problem solve verbally and trying desperately to get him to use a nicer tone of voice. I know he'll get the hang of it eventually. I do hope we can find him a close friend. He desperately needs a friend.
Greg and David: Really each boy should have their own report but there's not to much to say that's different at this point. They're going to Kindergarten in the Fall. They've grown so much. Have learned letters, numbers and really have gained valuable skills for school.
They are mischievous little imps that will melt your heart in a moment. They are quick to hug, quick to kiss (me! lol) and quick to blame either Ean or each other when something goes wrong.
Greg is sure that everyone is confused at his identity, even daddy and mommy, so he always makes sure that we know who he is. David rather likes it when people are confused over who's who. :)
So we're headed to a new part of lives. Past babies, past toddlers and pre-schoolers, one a year short from high school and another a year short from middle school and boys taking elementary by storm! Watch out Wilcox! Are you ready for my three red headed boys???
It didn't go so well.
After an extremely difficult first trimester of having no life except school and homework, she realized that if you work, you can actually see your friends socially. This was a turning point for her. Now in all fairness, Jane was in resource room most of her school career, with an IEP allowing for assignment extensions. So it really was foreign for her, this whole idea that the teacher really did expect stuff turned in, when she told the class it was due.
Jane was also going through this extremely slow and messy process of being put back on an IEP. After much testing, it was confirmed (six weeks before Summer vacation) that she does have a learning disability. She struggles with reading fluency and comprehension and she also struggles with basic math skills.
Now amazingly, Jane was blessed with a math teacher that recognized her struggles and gave her extra time to finish quizzes and tests along with extra instructions when needed. Because of this incredible teacher, Jane was the only student in her class to get an A on the second trimester pre-algebra final. She was carrying an A the whole of the last trimester, so I expect she did well overall. She will also stay in mainstream math with extra help. I'm so proud of the effort she's put into school and am thrilled that her IEP is in place for not only eighth grade but when she starts High School the following year.
Kate: Kate's year was similar to Jane's in that the first of the year was kinda rocky grade wise but with the help of excellent teachers and the diagnosing of learning disability and a brand new IEP, she finished the year with a fabulous run of A's and B's in all her classes. I am so proud of Kate.
School has always been such a struggle for her. She has a really low score in what is called "Active learning", which is the process the brain uses for multi-tasking in the classroom. It looks like she's being inattentive but it's actually her just not being able to process everything as quickly as needed. It's super frustrating for her and I've had issues with teachers believing she's slacking. Very. Frustrating.
Like Jane, Kate's IEP will be in place during a critical transition, for her, Middle School. After that nightmare that was Jane, not having an IEP in sixth grade, I can't fully expressed how relieved I am to have Kate taken care of.
Ean: Well. Things are pretty much the same with Ean. If he didn't score well on something, it was because he didn't try. Every time he put forth effort, he easily breezed through the work. His biggest struggle remains to be his emotional maturity. It's hard for him to interact with other children and he gets frustrated easily when things aren't as he thinks they should be.
Best quote from Ean this year "Make sure the twins don't get Mrs. Ellis for first grade, she's MEAN! She says I get in trouble ten times a day but that's a lie!!!!!! I only get in trouble once a day.
I mean, what do you say to THAT? Bwahahaha!!!
I'm trying to focus on Ean's interactions with others. Trying to help him problem solve verbally and trying desperately to get him to use a nicer tone of voice. I know he'll get the hang of it eventually. I do hope we can find him a close friend. He desperately needs a friend.
Greg and David: Really each boy should have their own report but there's not to much to say that's different at this point. They're going to Kindergarten in the Fall. They've grown so much. Have learned letters, numbers and really have gained valuable skills for school.
They are mischievous little imps that will melt your heart in a moment. They are quick to hug, quick to kiss (me! lol) and quick to blame either Ean or each other when something goes wrong.
Greg is sure that everyone is confused at his identity, even daddy and mommy, so he always makes sure that we know who he is. David rather likes it when people are confused over who's who. :)
So we're headed to a new part of lives. Past babies, past toddlers and pre-schoolers, one a year short from high school and another a year short from middle school and boys taking elementary by storm! Watch out Wilcox! Are you ready for my three red headed boys???
Three days
Do you know what can happen in three days? Okay, unfair question, pretty much anything can happen in three days. Life changing events can happen in far less time. World changing events for that matter.
Or, my children could just elect me warden in that time.
See, three days is exactly the time it took after the last day of school before Kent put a padlock on the pantry door.
Last day of school was Wednesday and by Saturday afternoon, Kent was installing the lock. This was with copious warnings. Dire predictions, all to no avail.
See I spent an extra hundred dollars at the grocery store on Thursday for kids afternoon snacks. Now that they're home, I felt the need to plan ahead. I looked for more nutritious snacks, did not buy pure garbage. Yogurt without dyes and additives, cheese sticks, more apples (I'm always buying apples, lol), Tons of peanut butter crackers, almonds, those kinds of snacks.
They kept getting into them, even with a specific time eating these things was allowed (We'd have snack between 3:00 and 4:00 on weekdays). The proverbial straw was breakfast Saturday morning. Kent made homemade corn beef hash. I had a huge bowl of fresh cantaloupe chunks. There was plenty of food. However when Kent was away from the table, he came back to the majority of the children eating the crackers instead of their breakfast, some even throwing food away so they could eat snacks!
Heck no kids!!!!!!!
So, now there's a padlock on the pantry door. It matches the padlock on the deep freeze, David had been helping himself to chocolate chips and at the rate they're going, the fridge is next.
That really isn't a problem, the fridge is outfitted for a padlock thanks to all the trouble we had with Ean a few years ago. Now to find the lock.
Or, my children could just elect me warden in that time.
See, three days is exactly the time it took after the last day of school before Kent put a padlock on the pantry door.
Last day of school was Wednesday and by Saturday afternoon, Kent was installing the lock. This was with copious warnings. Dire predictions, all to no avail.
See I spent an extra hundred dollars at the grocery store on Thursday for kids afternoon snacks. Now that they're home, I felt the need to plan ahead. I looked for more nutritious snacks, did not buy pure garbage. Yogurt without dyes and additives, cheese sticks, more apples (I'm always buying apples, lol), Tons of peanut butter crackers, almonds, those kinds of snacks.
They kept getting into them, even with a specific time eating these things was allowed (We'd have snack between 3:00 and 4:00 on weekdays). The proverbial straw was breakfast Saturday morning. Kent made homemade corn beef hash. I had a huge bowl of fresh cantaloupe chunks. There was plenty of food. However when Kent was away from the table, he came back to the majority of the children eating the crackers instead of their breakfast, some even throwing food away so they could eat snacks!
Heck no kids!!!!!!!
So, now there's a padlock on the pantry door. It matches the padlock on the deep freeze, David had been helping himself to chocolate chips and at the rate they're going, the fridge is next.
That really isn't a problem, the fridge is outfitted for a padlock thanks to all the trouble we had with Ean a few years ago. Now to find the lock.
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