Here they all are on their way home.
Mason especially loved stomping in the puddles.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Raindrops Keep Falling on Our Heads
Summer is taking it's sweet time to arrive this year. It keeps raining, and I keep thinking that it will clear up soon and be hot all the time... but it doesn't. I finally caved recently and we picked up some umbrellas for the kids. Thomas didn't take his to school today. I thought it would be neat for Mason and Megan to use theirs, so we headed out in the rain to meet them at the bus stop. We didn't quite make it in time, which turned out to be a good thing because I got to watch McKenzie share her umbrella with Thomas. I love when I see my children showing kindness to each other.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Thomas' 6th Birthday
It's been a crazy week. It seems like Thomas' birthday was so long ago. He had an Iron Man theme party. I'm not super excited about Iron Man because women are very objectified in his movies, but Thomas has no idea and will never see the movie (at least, for several years and as long as I can prevent him from seeing it). He just thinks Iron Man is cool because of all the toys and heavy marketing. I almost bought a cake this time, but when I found out how much it cost and what it consisted of, I decided to just do it myself. I think it turned out pretty well.
Here are some pics from his party. We started with the standard, Pin-the-tail-on-the-_____, but this time it was "Pin the Spark on Stark." I explained very quickly the story of his power source so the boys would understand why he has the circle in his chest. (I saw Iron Man 2, and since he has a circle most of the time, so I stuck with the circle.) It quickly became evident that the blindfold we were using was inadequate,
Michael and David got in on the fun, really playing up their "blindness" by pinning the spark on a child's forehead (with tape), or a balloon, or, in David's case, eventually himself. The kids got a huge kick out of their antics.
While we were finishing up the blindfold game, Michael got into a wrestling match with all the kids against him.
Next, they headed outside to practice aiming with their hands (like Iron Man does to blast his opponents) with silly string. (A first and last for us.) I didn't have this game well planned out, so we just divided them into two teams and let them at it.
Michael had purchased some Iron Man water guns from the dollar store for the gift bags, but the kids saw them, so while we were setting up for pizza, they started shooting each other with them. Since that was what all of them wanted to do, we loaded up the Iron Men and let the kids fire away after they ate.
See?
That night after he was in bed, he called me over and whispered in my ear, "Thanks for my birthday. And thanks for the Iron Man costume and Super Mario Brothers Wii!" I'd say it was all worth it.
Here are some pics from his party. We started with the standard, Pin-the-tail-on-the-_____, but this time it was "Pin the Spark on Stark." I explained very quickly the story of his power source so the boys would understand why he has the circle in his chest. (I saw Iron Man 2, and since he has a circle most of the time, so I stuck with the circle.) It quickly became evident that the blindfold we were using was inadequate,
so we added a towel and started over.
Michael and David got in on the fun, really playing up their "blindness" by pinning the spark on a child's forehead (with tape), or a balloon, or, in David's case, eventually himself. The kids got a huge kick out of their antics.
While we were finishing up the blindfold game, Michael got into a wrestling match with all the kids against him.
Next, they headed outside to practice aiming with their hands (like Iron Man does to blast his opponents) with silly string. (A first and last for us.) I didn't have this game well planned out, so we just divided them into two teams and let them at it.
Michael had purchased some Iron Man water guns from the dollar store for the gift bags, but the kids saw them, so while we were setting up for pizza, they started shooting each other with them. Since that was what all of them wanted to do, we loaded up the Iron Men and let the kids fire away after they ate.
See?
That night after he was in bed, he called me over and whispered in my ear, "Thanks for my birthday. And thanks for the Iron Man costume and Super Mario Brothers Wii!" I'd say it was all worth it.
What I Meant to Say...
I intended to followup that evening or the next day of my last post, but I get caught up in other things and my blog gets neglected. (As if that isn't obvious. Well, maybe it isn't because then I catch it up by back posting things. Which I might do later on, making this post kind of out of place.) I was having a few rough weeks with my kids, until I stepped it up a little and started being more consistent and applying immediate consequences. Anyway, I think parenthood is payback for all the times we gave our parents grief. But it is also pay forward for all the joys our parents had when we were kids. I don't remember a lot of my childhood, but I really enjoy watching my kids grow. I'm trying to preserve what I can for them so that one day they can look back and enjoy their childhood, too.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Crazy Sunday
This morning, Michael had to be at work by 9:30. We slept in for the first time in quite some time until 8:30. It felt so nice. Lately, our kids have been waking up just after 6am. So not fun. They can get pretty grouchy and tired, but only Mason and Megan nap, and not every day, either. Thomas needs to nap, but he doesn't because he is in school (besides the fact that he refuses to nap). Anyway, at 8:45am, Thomas' Primary teacher called to see if either Michael or I could substitute for his class today. Michael was getting ready to leave right then so he could get the sacrament before he went to work. I thought (insanely) "hmmm... I'm not teaching today. I don't have much going on. A normal person could throw together a lesson in two hours," so I said, "Sure, I'll do it." Ummmm... I'm not normal. Especially this morning. Here were my challenges:
1. I have a severe problem with punctuality. I really struggle with estimating time and staying on task.
2. I had not had breakfast yet, nor had most of my chidren.
3. None of us had showered.
4. McKenzie still had to prepare her talk for senior primary (that I just found out about yesterday late afternoon), and I needed to help her with it.
5. I was a single mom this morning.
6. We had less than two hours until we needed to leave for church by the time I hung up the phone with him.
7. I still had to look up the lesson, print it out, and prepare it.
By the time we left for church, we were 15 minutes late, I was upset with my children because they were acting in their usual, predictable way instead of the perfect way I needed them to act in order offset my poor choices. Really, I was upset with myself for saying "Yes" instead of "This really isn't a good morning for me. I would love to substitute another Sunday when I can prepare ahead of time." It's all about boundaries, and I blew it. So, we missed the the sacrament and snuck into the overflow after the it was done being passed.
I handed puzzles to the kids to keep them quiet while I quickly wrote McKenzie's talk for her. I tried to look over my lesson, but Mason was in a bad mood because he couldn't finish watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory before we left for church (he had just started it maybe 20 minutes earlier), so he was throwing attitude all over the place. Megan got mad because her puzzle piece fell on the floor and since she was three chairs down from me, I couldn't pick it up immediately to keep her quiet. I took Mason out to time out because he started throwing a fit about his puzzle. When we returned, Megan had been drawing on the wall with her pencil, so I erased it the best I could. Thomas was instantly bored and hungry and not too quiet about it. McKenzie was engrossed in drawing some silly picture instead of listening to the speaker, which I think she should do now that she is baptised. I got really annoyed when, after asking her again to listen to the talk, she sweetly asked, "what would you like to draw in my frame?"
Finally, I needed a time out, so I took all the kids out to the car with 15 minutes of sacrament meeting to go. Thomas misunderstood and said, "Yay! We're going home!" I was tempted to bag it and go home, but I knew that would just make things worse. Then my kids would learn that when the going gets tough, we just go home, when church is where we really need to be (even if we did arrive too late for the most important part). So, after coaching McKenzie on her talk, we went back in and tried again. I took the kids to their classes and lucked out with my friend, Dayna, as a teaching partner. (Her son refused to stay in primary unless she stayed too, and she volunteered to help me teach their class.) Since she was helping me, I was able to duck in and out to watch McKenzie give her talk. McKenzie did a great job.
I'm glad we stayed at church. So many times, I have been stressed out or frustrated just getting to church, but I'm always feel so much better by the time we're done. And when I've skipped in the past for some lame reason, I always find out that I missed something really good. (Like when Elder David B. Haight stopped by our ward in Salt Lake one Sunday.) So, I've learned to go, because it is worth it.
1. I have a severe problem with punctuality. I really struggle with estimating time and staying on task.
2. I had not had breakfast yet, nor had most of my chidren.
3. None of us had showered.
4. McKenzie still had to prepare her talk for senior primary (that I just found out about yesterday late afternoon), and I needed to help her with it.
5. I was a single mom this morning.
6. We had less than two hours until we needed to leave for church by the time I hung up the phone with him.
7. I still had to look up the lesson, print it out, and prepare it.
By the time we left for church, we were 15 minutes late, I was upset with my children because they were acting in their usual, predictable way instead of the perfect way I needed them to act in order offset my poor choices. Really, I was upset with myself for saying "Yes" instead of "This really isn't a good morning for me. I would love to substitute another Sunday when I can prepare ahead of time." It's all about boundaries, and I blew it. So, we missed the the sacrament and snuck into the overflow after the it was done being passed.
I handed puzzles to the kids to keep them quiet while I quickly wrote McKenzie's talk for her. I tried to look over my lesson, but Mason was in a bad mood because he couldn't finish watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory before we left for church (he had just started it maybe 20 minutes earlier), so he was throwing attitude all over the place. Megan got mad because her puzzle piece fell on the floor and since she was three chairs down from me, I couldn't pick it up immediately to keep her quiet. I took Mason out to time out because he started throwing a fit about his puzzle. When we returned, Megan had been drawing on the wall with her pencil, so I erased it the best I could. Thomas was instantly bored and hungry and not too quiet about it. McKenzie was engrossed in drawing some silly picture instead of listening to the speaker, which I think she should do now that she is baptised. I got really annoyed when, after asking her again to listen to the talk, she sweetly asked, "what would you like to draw in my frame?"
Finally, I needed a time out, so I took all the kids out to the car with 15 minutes of sacrament meeting to go. Thomas misunderstood and said, "Yay! We're going home!" I was tempted to bag it and go home, but I knew that would just make things worse. Then my kids would learn that when the going gets tough, we just go home, when church is where we really need to be (even if we did arrive too late for the most important part). So, after coaching McKenzie on her talk, we went back in and tried again. I took the kids to their classes and lucked out with my friend, Dayna, as a teaching partner. (Her son refused to stay in primary unless she stayed too, and she volunteered to help me teach their class.) Since she was helping me, I was able to duck in and out to watch McKenzie give her talk. McKenzie did a great job.
I'm glad we stayed at church. So many times, I have been stressed out or frustrated just getting to church, but I'm always feel so much better by the time we're done. And when I've skipped in the past for some lame reason, I always find out that I missed something really good. (Like when Elder David B. Haight stopped by our ward in Salt Lake one Sunday.) So, I've learned to go, because it is worth it.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Our Little Dancing Queen
Megan is such a girly girl princess. She loves to dress up and dance and sing, so this tutu that my brother got for her from the Portland Farmer's Market was the perfect birthday gift. Thanks, David!
Friday, May 7, 2010
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