Some Days Are Like That... Even in Australia

It began at 6:30 A.M. when our doorbell rang.

We were expecting it, a nurse coming to draw some blood and a check-up for my husband for a life insurance policy.

My kids began waking up around this time, unsure what to do with this new person in our house.

When people come over my kids tend to go in one of two modes, 1- supper shy forgetting how to speak or 2- this person is their best friend and an audience they have to perform for.  Today was #1.

None of them would even tell me what they wanted for breakfast and come eat, so we flipped our morning routine around and got dressed first; any parent knows totally changing the morning routine is a recipe for disaster.  They went upstairs to get dressed away from this home invader.

Finally around 7:00 it was safe for my kids to go downstairs.  They all got started on their breakfasts, poptarts, Ego Waffles and bagels, yes breakfast of champions there, but this is when the real drama began.

You see, Alex's waffles got slightly over toasted, and when I say slightly I truly mean it- they looked like they would be perfectly fine.  She pouted, gave lots of evil looks to her brothers, because somehow it must have been their fault, and just decided at that point her morning was going to be miserable.

I talked about lemons and lemonade and urged her to at least try as I figured with enough syrup they would be just fine.

All the while, I am trying to read from the scriptures for our morning scripture study, let's just say not much was learned from the scriptures this morning.

Eventually I cave and just tell her to find something else while I take Ryder upstairs to brush his teeth.  By now my panic button is starting to kick in as we already passed our usual departure time.  After teeth brushing, I come down to see Alex spreading cream cheese on a bagel she had made for herself, strawberry cream cheese... strawberry cream cheese, which we bought a while ago, I flip over the container, it was expired.

"Miss, I am so sorry."-- at this point it is now full on sobbing tears.

I hurry to make her another bagel, this time with regular cream cheese, not expired, and tell the boys to go get their shoes on and get in the car.  Now it is getting to be-Lucas will be late to school time.

We hurry put Alex's breakfast on a plate and head to the car, where Lucas is standing there and declares that one of the sprinklers is broken. Sure enough at the end of our driveway, one of the sprinkler heads is shooting out more than the normal amount of water.

I hurry down to investigate and find one of the pieces on the ground, I bet I can just shove it back in, I think in desperation.... I push the piece back in.....

Gyser fountain!

Half of my body is now soaked.  I hurry and turn the sprinklers off.  Tell everyone to hurry and get it the car, hit the garage door button only for it not to go down.  A shoe is blocking the sensor.  I hurry move the shoe and the garage successfully closes.  We drive off the school and some how manage to get Lucas there before the gates are closed.

When then drive over to the elementary where I am more than happy to say goodbye and come home to the quiet.

Deep breath.

What a terrible horrible, no good very bad morning.  But some mornings are just like that, even in Australia.

When Things are Stuck in Your Nose

I guess it was inevitable, it had to happen sometime.  As a parent there is almost a guarantee that you will make at least one trip to the ER.  For me Monday was my first.

I guess technically it wasn't my first ER visit- when Ryder came 8 weeks early- I went to the maternity wing via the ER.  Ryder is also not my first kid to require a trip to the ER.  When Lucas was about 4 and fell out of bed and hit his head on a nightstand when we were on vacation in Vegas, a trip to the ER was required- Eric took him.  I am starting to notice a pattern with vacation's and ER visits....anyway...  Monday was my first real ER visit.

Mondays are crazy days at our house.  The elementary school has early out day, but the middle school does not.  That means at 1:15 I have pick up at the elementary and then 1 hour later have to pick up Lucas from middle school.

I had a newborn photoshoot that morning that ended just in time for me to go to elementary pickup.  I got Alex and Ryder and brought them home; they made their semi-regular after school snack of popcorn.  They started watching a show, with the promise of doing homework as soon as I got back from picking up Lucas.

A quick run to the middle school and all would be well, as it usually is.

Not today.

While waiting in line I got a text from Alex.

Alex: "Mom, Ryder has a seed stuck in his nose.  It was a popcorn seed."

What a popcorn seed in his nose?  How did that happen?

Me: "Just keep him calm, I will be home soon."

Alex: "OK. You can't see the seed, before you could now you can't"

Me: "Okay, don't have him do anything, just sit calmly."

Alex: "Okay, he won't (do anything)"

I swear the pick-up line never inched so slowly as it did that day.  I motioned for Lucas to hurry and get in the car then tried to remain calm while we slowly followed the traffic out of school.

"What happened?" I asked as soon as we got home.  I checked his nose and couldn't see anything, I had him lay down and used the flashlight on my phone and sure enough, I saw something up a little higher.  I tried to have him blow his nose, unfortunately has has almost zero nose blowing ability, always sucking in instead, so it was off to urgent care.

The wait was long of course, but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.  We made it back to the room and the PA was one of the nicest ladies with the best bed size manner.

 She helped Ryder feel so comfortable.  She tried with some little scissor type things to get it out, no luck. She even tried to flush it out, he did not like that.  She said she wished she had a little tube that she has at the other facility she works at, she even went around to some of the surrounding doctor's offices to see if they had it, no luck.

So off to the ER.

ER's are gross.

My husband builds hospitals, he will be the first to tell you how gross hospitals are.  My experience with a hospital has been limited to my heart surgery when I was a kid and the maternity ward- which typically is the nicest part of a hospital.  As we sat there for three hours, I began to believe his assessment.

As we sat in the ER I tried to get a better understanding of how Ryder got the popcorn seed in his nose.  When I had asked him earlier, he told me he was doing "the worm".  As he explained things more, it turned out he really was doing just that.  He had just eaten some popcorn and had not cleared his bowl.  One of the popcorn seeds must have fallen on the ground, and he was laying on the floor flopping up and down doing 'the worm', when -whoop- one big breath in and the small little seed shot right up his nose.

Waiting in the ER

We shared a bag of Cheeze-its from the vending machine for "dinner" and continued to wait.

Finally our name was called, the ER doctor used the exact same tool as the one at Urgent care and easily got the seed out.  She asked if we wanted to keep it, I said no, which Eric later chided me for saying no.

We drove through the ChickFilA drive-though to get some real dinner at about 8:00 P.M. then finally made it home.

Word to the wise, next time you are doing the worm, make sure there aren't popcorn seeds on the ground.

Feeling Like a Rockstar

Want to feel like a rockstar?  I sure did yesterday.

Yesterday, I woke up extra early (darn adjusting times after a vacation), I went right to the laundry room and began the 5,000 loads of laundry... okay maybe about 4, but still 4 big loads!

I got said laundry done before 10:00 A.M. - at 9:59 to be exact.

I even got the kids to actually put away their own clothes, impressed yet?

Then I went on to clean out the entire refrigerator.  When it is nearly empty after being gone, you have to take advantage right?

Pulled out every shelf, washed them down and put everything back in all neat and organized (not to mention the whole garbage bag of stuff I threw out).

Then I updated a bunch of needed stuff for my photography business and got a bunch of soccer team manger stuff done all before lunch time.

Then shopping, lunch, actually getting all the groceries put away before dinner time... the day just went on and on- with me being a total rockstar.

But don't worry today I will probably sit around reading or playing games on my iPad, as being a rockstar is exhausting.

Just keeping it real.

Have you had a rockstar day?

Books Make My Son Cry

---This Post Contains an Affiliate Link--

I love books!  If you have been reading my blog for a while now that is no surprise to you. I have shown you our shelves of kids books, shared my favorite books, and well you just know I love to read.

One of four of our shelves of kids books

Yesterday I helped out at our school's book fair.  This is a very dangerous thing for me, being there surrounded by hundreds of kids books, all just wanting me to buy them.  But it would help my kids' school raise money, that is a good thing right?  

There is just something so fun about working the book fair, maybe it is running the cash register.  I only had one job where I had to run a cash register; that cash register didn't even tell you the amount of change to give, I got really fast at figuring change.  Or maybe it is just the books.

Sometimes all of those hundreds of books can be a bit overwhelming.

Ryder came in with a few kindergarten classmates to pick out his books.  I was excited I got to be there with him.  Thankfully there was a lull so it was just the three kindergartners.  I showed him some funny books I had found, told him to look around and asked what he wanted.  He stood there looked around and then burst into tears; unsure what he should do or pick.

This is not the first time he has burst into tears at the book fair, in fact, he did the exact same thing in the fall.  I just wasn't there at the time to witness it.

After I got him settled down I pretty much picked out some books for him, making sure to first pick a funny one about bears and giant underwear (it really is a cute book).  

Some of us get overwhelmed with loud noises, for some it is crowds of people, for my son apparently is lots of books.

Have books ever made you cry?

Making Homework Time Mommy Time

First let me say, I hate homework.  I think kids get way too much of it.  As a child, I don't think I ever got homework in grade school; there were a couple of projects and I remember coming home so excited as I had "homework" just like my older brothers and sister.

I am all for kids reading everyday, or if a child is truly behind or not doing their work at school, then yes homework is necessary; other then that, it is way too much.

Homework has meant days of torture, with tears, fits and pleadings to 'just do your work then you could be done already!'

Thankfully, the tears seem less frequent now and overall my kids do pretty good just sitting down and doing their homework.  Once they gave in to the inevitable, that yes there is always homework and yes they do have to do it, it got easier.  Doesn't make me like it though.

I have found the solution for making homework time my time.

When it is homework time we all gather round the table in our spots, the kids with their books and me with my iPad or computer.  You see, when I am sitting right there by them, it seems like I am with them, it seems like I am part of the torturous process with them, so they aren't suffering on their own; but me, I am happily playing a game, writing a blog post, like this very one and having some Mommy Time.

It really becomes a win-win.  I know they are getting their work done, I am here if they have any questions or are legitimately stuck, and here to give the not so subtle reminders to keep working as needed, but I can get me-things done.

I've got this homework thing down pat.


**To my parenting friends with little ones, kinder, first and even second graders-- sorry you might not quite be able to work this system yet, but endure those first few years, your time will come.

Kids Refuse The Craziest Things

Kids are funny.   Sometimes they seem to cry for no apparent reason.  Sometimes they will refuse to do something you know they will like.

My kids love orange chicken, I mean love it!  It is one of those meals that I make that they all get really excited about and I never seem to make enough, as they just want more and more.

For a couple of months now Eric and I have been telling the kids we should go to Panda Express for dinner.  This suggestion has been met with tears and crying and squeals of noooo!

We told them, they have good orange chicken, you all like orange chicken; yet they continued to protest.

A couple of weeks ago, on Friday night, as we all got in the car, the usual chorus of 'where are we going?' began.

Eric and I just smiled at each other and didn't say anything.  Should we tell them?  Would that make it worse? Or were we setting ourselves up for disaster?  "Some place fun." I answered.

"Chuck-E-Cheese, John's Incredible Pizza..." the kids began rattling off all of the fun places they could think of.

"Maybe fun wasn't the right word." Eric replied.

We pulled into the parking lot and then they knew, we were going to Panda Express.

"No!" the wails began.

One child  (who I won't name to save them from shame) was even saying they were not going to go in and had the tears to match their feelings.

Finally after a few minutes, once the tears and tantrums stopped, we all went into the restaurant.

To make a long story short, they loved it.  They all loved it and were so happy to have their orange chicken, and now they are asking when we can go again.

Ah, parenting.  When you can make kids cry doing something they like.

Now That My Kids Are in School

Everyone keeps asking me what I do with all my time now that all of my kids are in school.  Yes for three glorious hours a day- five days a week, I am totally kid free.  So what do I do?

1. I eat whatever junk and snacks I want all morning long.

2. I watch HGTV, while pretending to fold laundry and eating chocolate.  Yes, it sometimes occasionally means I have to rewash clothes when I get chocolate on them.

3. I play games on my iPad, lots and lots of games.

4. I run through the stores skipping and laughing as I am shopping all by myself!

5. When shopping lots of things magically jump into my cart.  When you have time to browse, well it's dangerous.

6. I crank up the music as loud as I can and dance.

Okay so those all might have been completely false slightly exaggerated, okay maybe only some of them are true.

To be honest, even being almost a month into the school year, the mornings just fly by and I feel like I don't have any time to just sit around and enjoy the quiet.  Not to mention that I have volunteered to spend some of that free time at the school, with the children I am supposed to be getting a break from.

Crazy right?

Actually, it's not. I love being a mom.  I love being involved in my kids lives and being able to see a bit more inside of their worlds at the school.  I even kind of miss them when they are gone...

though I do like the extra chocolate I can eat.

My three crazy kids-- who would have thought I would miss them.

What stage of life are you in? Are your kids all gone at school, still home, just have fur babies?

*******************

Linking With Shell's PYHO 

The Art of Manipulation

Life is full of lessons.  There are always those little moments, those fleeting times that a lesson can be learned.  When you are a parent, your goal is to take advantage of those perfect times.

The other day Alex asked if I could get her tea-set down.  Ryder overheard and asked Alex if he could play with her.

"Well," she began, "you might be able to, but first I have to invite some other guests first.  Like my doll."  she said pulling her doll from her shelf.

"There are still more cups." he pleaded innocently.

"And some of my stuffed animals might want to go." she quickly added.

This continued on for several minutes, and finally Ryder left.  Ryder is no dummy, he knew where this was going, he had experienced it before.

Instead, he came downstairs to play a game of baseball with his Dad.

"Alex," I called up to her, recognizing this teaching moment.  I reminded her that she should be grateful she has a brother who still wants to play tea party with her (Lucas wouldn't be caught dead doing that now) and that she usually is always wanting him to play with her.  I told her it was fine if she didn't want to play with him, but she just needed to tell him she wanted to play by herself, rather than the little mind games.   I told her it is better to just be honest and straight forward with people.

Alex returned to her room.

"Oh, who should I have come to my tea party?" she said rather loudly.  "It is just so hard to decide!  Ryder do you know who I should have come?" she almost pleaded.

I don't think my eyes could have rolled any further back into my head at this point.

"Oh who should come?" she said again and again.

Did she not just listen to a thing I said, was she really playing this game right then.  Part of my talk had sunk in, she obviously now wanted Ryder to play, but not humble enough to admit her mistake and just ask him to play.

After she called down several times Ryder responded "your stuffed animals should have a contest then you will know which one to invite."

At this point it was all I could do to constrain myself from busting out laughing.  I just wanted to run over and kiss him; his completely innocent comment shut down his sister's manipulative tirade.

"But it would be too hard to play both of my stuffed animals in a contest." she said still trying to dig her way out of this one.  "Couldn't you come just be one?"

Eventually he did end up having a tea party with Alex and they had a great time.

I wonder what my next teaching moment will be... and if it will even sink in.

Her royal majesty... 

Family Night: A Dare

Once a week we have a family night.  We begin with a song and a prayer, followed by a spiritual lesson given by one of our family members.  How spiritual that lesson turns out to be definitely varies greatly from week to week depending upon the cooperation of the kids; but despite the downs, we keep trying each week.

When Ryder is in charge of music he always runs to grab a pencil to use for his conducting wand.  Our songs rotate between a few favorites, like Scripture Power, I am a Child of God, Called to Serve and of course Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam (jumping including).

After the lesson, there is someone in charge of games.  The games... well they often don't work out so well.  When someone chooses a more 'competitive' game, there always seems to be someone that ends up in tears.  Or when someone chooses a game that takes a bit longer, to play there is inevitably whining about, 'let's just hurry and get to treats'!

Our treats- if you follow me Instagram, almost always consist of ice-cream, which we always have a good supply.

This last week, Alex was in charge of games.  "Hmmm" she contemplated when it was time to pick a game.

"I know," Lucas interrupted, "tickle Daddy!" as they ran over to torture poor ticklish Eric.  (Tickle Daddy sometimes becomes our only game when we are really ready for treats).

But this week Alex had a different idea, Truth or Dare.  Ryder ended up hopping around the kitchen, Lucas spun in circles and admitted that yes one certain girl in his class drives him crazy and he really does not like her, and the game continued with just funny and simple little dares and truths.

Until Alex said she wanted a hard dare.

Her father was up to the challenge.  We all went into the kitchen, where he began making a concoction, a brew we will call it.  And well, you just have to watch to see what happened next.


Do you have a family night?

What I've Learned About Earthquakes

I am a midwest born and raised girl.  I've experienced -40 degree windchill, and thunderstorms so loud they shake your house.  I've experienced 100 year and even 500 years floods, and even a F5 tornado that destroyed my town, but none of that quite prepared me for an earthquake.

Living in Southern California for over six years now, I have learned a few things about earthquakes.

A Midwest Girl Talks Earthquakes 

1- Earthquakes happen all the time.  Seriously, all the time.  I have  quake feed App and if I open it up and see the list of earthquakes in my area it is kind of freaky.  Yes, most of them are so small that you don't even feel them, but there are a lot! 

2- You might not even feel it.  Anything smaller than a 3 and you probably won't even feel it.  It also depends on how close you are to the actual epicenter.  There have been times where Eric and I were sitting and watching a movie and he will ask, "Did you feel that, was that an earthquake?" (it was), but I didn't even feel it.

3- Earthquakes are noisy. For me the earthquakes I have experienced, many of them you hear more than you feel.  It isn't things shaking in your home either, it is the noise of the actual ground moving or crashing and sometimes they are loud.  One time it sounded like a big semi hit my house.  

4- Most earthquakes are really quick.  By the time you have a chance to react and realize there is an earthquake, it is already over (thankfully- not looking forward to the 'big one' where that is not the case.) 

5- There are different kinds of earthquakes.  There are the shakers, the rollers and the jumpers. (All the scientific names of course).  The shakers are the ones you see in the movies, but sometimes it feel likes a wave just rolls through the ground and other times everything just seems to jump. 

6- Most people from California try and act like eh just another earthquake- but check Twitter right after one and you will see all sorts of comments about it.  Yes, you do start to become "immune" to them, but I bet they always get everyone's heart racing.

My last tweet after a recent earthquake even made the local news! 

7-Stuff rarely falls over during an earthquake.  Like I said there are a lot of little earthquakes all of the time and things rarely fall over.  Even with our recent 4.2 with the epicenter only 5 miles away, only a few pictures went askew.

8-No matter how many earthquakes I experience, they will always make my heart race, plus my tear ducts start working.  Something about that jolt makes my heart skip a beat and a few tears slide down my cheek, it seems almost automatic for me.  

Have you ever experienced an earthquake? 

The Cool Kids Club

As a mom you want your kids to get along.  You dream of days where they all play together nicely, all share, all think of these fun creative things to do that don't involve a screen.

This weekend Ryder got a new bed, he finally decided he was big enough to move out of his toddler bed.  We went to IKEA and purchased a fun fort bed, it is one of those beds that is up a bit higher with a play area underneath.

Ryder was so excited about it and so were his siblings.  They even created a club, the Cool Kids Club or CK for short.

Sunday night they talked all about how they were going to meet there first thing in the morning when they were all awake.  They talked about taking turns picking what they wanted to do and could even play games in the club house together.

"But Ryder, just don't freak out if you lose." Alex instructed her little brother.

I couldn't help but think, 'don't call the kettle black', as Alex has had her fair share of freaking out.

But I had to hope for their new club.

This isn't the first club they had made, disagreements and squabbles ended all of those.   My kids really do like each other; just put all three together and they can't always work out the best dynamics.

Monday morning I lay in bed, the sunlight filling my room,  I rolled over, it was almost 8:00.  I sighed knowing these mornings of sleeping in were quickly coming to an end.  I could hear the kids playing in Ryder's room.  It sounded happy and friendly, but soon it began.  The "no's", the whining and then the tears, followed up with an "I quite the club."

Less than 24 hours.

Maybe their next club will last two days.

Bravery, Bribery and Parenting

When you have more than one child, you realize how different they just naturally are.  Sure you learn things along the way and your parenting skills and beliefs change a little, but overall you raise each child the same, yet they often turn out so different.

Yesterday my family spent the day at Knotts Berry Farm.  When the gates first opened the boys and I hurried off to Camp Snoopy to ride the ferris wheel and the other calm rides, while Eric and Alex rushed off to get on Silver Bullet, a big roller coaster, before the line is too long.

Alex, our middle child and the only girl, is the bravest of bunch.  She went on space mountain at Disneyland at two-years-old (she was just tall enough).  At Knotts she has gone on Silver Bullet, the Boomerang (a roller coaster that goes backwards up a big hill and through a loop) and just about every other ride there.  Lucas who is older by two-years will ride hardly any of the big rides.  He loves roller coasters though, knows all sorts of facts and statistics about each ride, but he won't ride them.

So, we usually divide and conquer throughout the day to fit their different likes.  There has always been one ride that Alex would not ride, The X-celerator.  It is a roller coaster that launches you from 0-82 in 2.3 seconds then shoots you straight up only to come straight back down at a 90 degree angle.  It is intense.  I know I would have never rode it as an 8-years-old.

Eric has tried to convince her to go on it, but she has always refused.  Then one day she came up with an alternative, if she won a prize at one of those carnival style games, the ones you have to pay extra money for, she would go on X-celerator.

Yesterday, with some cash in tow, we let her take a crack at one of the games.  She desperately tried to throw the ping-pong balls into these little floating bowls, but no luck.  Then we spotted a game that required 4 players to play at once, whoever whacked the most little moles that popped up of the four players won.  No one else was around, so just our family played, ensuring a win.  Eric technically won, but Alex got the prize so she was happy and ready to keep her promise.

We stood in line, she said she was nervous.  The teenage girl in front of us asked if Alex had been on the ride before, unsure if she wanted to ride it herself.  We reassured them both how fun it was, once you get past that initial launch.

We got closer to the ride.  My heart suddenly started pounding, the ride didn't scare me but the anxiety for my child, my little girl and how she would handle it began to take over. I knew she would probably like it in the end, but my heart couldn't help but beat a little faster. She got on the ride, all ready to go.  Eric sat by her side, I sat in the row behind while the boys walked through to wait by the exit.

The lights blinked, counting down to the moment of truth.  The coaster rocketed forth with incredible speed.  I could hear Alex screaming, her deep alto scream.  The ride was over before I knew it.  Eric was high-fiving Alex saying 'you did it!'.

And Alex, what did she say after we got off?

Can we go on it again?!

Right after she rode the X-celerator, the first big straight up part which you can see in the background

Parenting, where sometimes a little bribery incentive really does work.

I'm Not a Good Sports Mom

I didn't play that many competitive sports growing up.  I did do a few years of t-ball, was actually pretty good, even made the All-star team one year.  But then the idea (and fear) of having to switch to fast-pitch ended my baseball career.   I even took a shot at ballet, it was a ballet/tap/gymnastics combo style class.  My inability to do back-wards summersaults ended that for me.   I even tried out for the volleyball team in junior high, but apparently setting is a necessary skill in volleyball.

I might have tried out for more things, but my heart doctor wasn't the biggest fan of that idea as he was afraid coaches would push me too hard.

So I grew up playing in an occasional church volleyball game, sports in gym class, etc.... but nothing too hard core.

Alex is our athlete.  She recently finished soccer, where she was an awesome goalie and then went right into basketball.  I love watching her play, watching her out on the field and court....

I feel I should interject now by saying, I consider myself a pretty laid back, calm person.  Now I might not have always been this way, just ask anyone who knew me as a teenager, but when I watch sports, especially when I watch my kids playing sports, something lights inside of me.

That calm, laid back happy persona slowly gets eaten up in one bad call after another.

I begin with lots of good cheering, lots of great support... until the ref makes a stupid call.

What is it about refs?  Why do they always have to make dumb calls?  If they would just call things perfectly, then my crazy-sport-mom side wouldn't have to come out.

Totally blaming this one on the refs.

I have never gone down on the floor or out on the field, I have never cursed at a ref, never really caused a scene (at least I think not), but my mouth and my volume leave no doubt that I don't agree with that call, don't agree with the play.

I get all wound up, my whole body nearly shaking with crazy emotions and I don't let it go, for many many days hours after the game.

So I am a bad sports mom.... or maybe, just maybe I am a good one, as someone needs to yell at those refs.  Right?
Any other bad sports-moms out there?  How do you handle your kids games? 

Friday Five: If No One is Looking

Happy Friday! Join me every Friday sharing 5 thoughts and 5 pictures from the week.  This week my Friday Five (#Friday5) involves rides, shows and a streaker.

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5 Thoughts

1. We got Knott's Berry Farm Passes again!  We took last year off, but decided to get them again this year.  I don't think we will go as many times as we did the first time we had passes (which was like 15 times I think), but the kids are excited and we already went last Friday.

2. Eric got home from work only to have Alex and Ryder beg him to be in their race.  He agreed and lost the race of course (due to cheating by the kids and daddy letting them win).  They then handed out ribbons they had made, Alex had a first place ribbon, Ryder got second place ribbon, and Eric.. well he got a ribbon that said "Lost" and then another that said "You did badish".  Alex said, she first wrote "you did bad" but thought that was too mean, so change it to badish.  Oh yes, Miss, that makes it so much better.

3. I am so excited that Downton Abbey is on again!  So love that show.  Oh and I may have started watching American Idol this last week.  I didn't actually watch it probably the first 9 or so seasons.. and I always think I am not going to watch it, but then I do in the end.

4. Last night after Ryder's bath he began streaking around my bedroom.  "Stop you streaker!" I called.  "What's a 'treaker'" he asked (that darn s at the beginning of words is tricky)  I told him that it was someone running around with no clothes on.  After he was half-way dressed, he declared himself a "pants- streaker".  I said, no that is not how it worked and besides streaking is not a good thing.  To which he replied "it is if no one sees you!"

5. I started writing my book again!  It had been several months since I had worked on it.  My goal is to get it done sometime this summer, then send it to willing wonderful friends to edit it, then this fall start trying to get it published.  There, now that I said it out-loud I will have to stick to it!

5 Pictures

Our traditional Knotts Berry Farm Picture that we take every visit 

Our family goal is to do service every month- this month we cleaned the church building

He got sick on Thursday-- found out 9 kids from his class were sick this day

What is your Friday five this week?

You Found What in your Washer?

Oh laundry.. love it or hate it, it has to get done.  There just seems to be no way around it.  With laundry, pant pockets and kids, well you are bound to find some interesting things in your laundry.

Like the one time Ryder left a wrapped starburst in his white church shirt pocket, made it all the way through the dryer before it was discovered.

I have found a few Legos before, not quite sure why they were in someones pocket in the first place.

And of course there is money, though I don't find this nearly enough in my laundry.

But yesterday, I had a first, something I don't think I would ever find in my washing machine....
Yes a fork.

I was throwing in a load of towels and placemats when I heard a clink.  I turned off the water and started pulling out the towels I had thrown in.  I couldn't see anything, so I stuck my hand in the soapy water that had already filled the bottom and pulled out a fork.

A fork....

I guess one of my kids was trying to clear the table the really fast way.

Wonder if I will find a plate next time?

What is the strangest thing you have found in your laundry?

The Changing of Seasons

When you live in SoCal the seasons really don't change that much.  You have the hot summers, the hot fall, and then the warm winter.  But let me tell you when you have a hot summer, that warm winter feels darn right cold.

The fall really is the worst, one day in the 90's, the next day only in the 60's.  It is enough to make manic and really unsure how to dress.

We have had several days of "cooler" weather now, so I have broken out pants for my kids.  Lucas' size 12 pants, still need to be cinched in majorly at the waist but are starting to head towards being too short.

Alex is not far behind at a size 10, but thankfully has lots of pants that fit right now; something about being a girl and mom always buying her clothes.

Then there's Ryder, my one child who isn't insanely tall and off the charts in height.  As I went to find some pants for him, all hand me downs from his brother, I found most had holes in the knee.  Why did I even save those?

I finally found a pair that didn't have a hole but were starting to get too short, though the waist seemed stretched out and too big.  It made me wonder if we got the pants from someone else, as I don't think Lucas with his skinny waist ever stretched out a pair of pants.  I said good enough and sent him off to pre-school.

After school we stopped by the store for a few quick things.  Ryder voted to walk and was helping me push the cart.  We pulled up to the ice-cream; I was lost in the bounty of flavors and might have even squealed a little when I saw the limited-time egg-nog flavored ice cream.

"My pants are slipping!" Ryder said from behind me.

I turned to see him standing there, his pants down to his knees.  I quickly yanked them up, looking around grateful we were the only ones in the row at the moment.  When we walked a bit further and they began slipping again, we opted for him to ride in the cart to avoid any more exposure.

It reminded me of this moment from a few years ago

Oh the changing of seasons and with it the changing of the wardrobes.

I think we need to go shopping.

The Bearer of Bad News

No one likes being the bearer of bad news; but as a mother.. well you kind of get used to it.

"It's time to get ready for school."... followed by wails or choruses of NNNOOOO!

"Yes, you do need to eat your vegetables."---"But they're poisonous!"

"It's time to clean up and get ready for bed."  --- "Why!?! Can't we play just a little longer?  It's not fair!"

"No you cannot wear shorts, it's only 60 outside!" (We live in Southern California that's freezing here!)

As a mother you start to become a bit immune to the wails and cries of indignation and injustice.

But for once wouldn't it be nice to be able to just say all good news?

I think this might be why I started my Yes Day.

For one day a year, I am the hero, the mouthpiece of the word Yes!

But, until then I will just sigh, roll my eyes and join in whaling with them.... it really throws off their game when you do that.

My kids and I- I really do love them

Always a Winner

Ryder likes winning... a lot.

If we are playing a guessing game, he will wait until he hears what everyone else says before making his guess.  If it is a trivia type game he will just simply refuse to answer rather than being wrong.  Game playing can get interesting and he and I have had many talks about how it is just fun to play and you really shouldn't cry when you lose.

The other day as Alex and Lucas did their homework, Alex informed Ryder that he would win since he was on her team and she was going to finish her homework first (a twenty-minute bathroom break by Lucas put him way behind-- but that is a whole other post).

Ryder with a twinkle in his eyes said "I am actually on the team of the person who finishes last, that is the team that is going to win."

He may look innocent but he is on top of his game

Alex baffled replied, "but I thought you were on my team?   I am going to finish first, so I will be the winner."

Ryder: "No, Lucas' team, the team that finishes last is the winning team as he is going to give me a toy."

Apparently Lucas likes winning too..... and isn't above bribery.

The Costco Trap

I write a list.  

I vow I am going to stick to it.

I show my card and step into the big glorious box known as Costco.

I walk by the big TV's not giving a second glance, that is my husbands weakness.

Image from here 

I do a double take at a little blender- no it was a juicer we were taking about getting.

I haven't yet made it out of the entrance row when I see them.  A whole rackful.

Beautiful long dresses perfect for Alex.

Dresses are so hard to find nowadays, I justify.  I pick out one, then another, than one more.

Oh shoot, too many, I put one back.

She needs dresses. I say to myself as I hurry away from the rack of temptation.

I head to the health care section after the one thing that I really came for today.

I make it past the school snacks, the paper goods.

Oh samples.

Well now I have to go up and down almost every row, because we can't miss a sample.

Burritos, ice cream, little crackers with cheese.  Yum.

Is that a Christmas tree? I feel a moment of disgust at the fact that Christmas is set up earlier and earlier every year- yet I am drawn to those twinkling lights.  I pass through the Halloween section on my way to see the grandeur.  Oh I should buy some Halloween candy.

Oh is that a bag of chocolates,

I really shouldn't...

I do.

Oh and look a bag of sorted caramels, Eric would love these.

And so it happens all through the store.

We are done!   Let's go pay, I firmly declare.

Wait are those puzzles?  Eric Dowdle puzzles?   Puzzles that I once made a second trip to a Costco in Utah while on vacation specifically to buy these puzzles and they were all gone! (Oh it was tragic, trust me)  Now here they are in my Costco in California!! 

Heaven.

Oh Costco I hate you...... (I'll see you again next week)

My Son is Humble

Every Thursday Kmama and I used to do Proud Mommy Moments, where we shared both the proud and the "proud" moments in motherhood.  While we are not resurrecting that meme at this time, I do have a proud mommy moment to share.

For school, Lucas is supposed to write a little note or letter to Eric and I every month.  Last week, we got his first letter.

As it may be a little hard to read, I will type it below:

Dear Mom and dad,
  The first month in fourth grade was awesome.  This year I've learned algebra, about CA's regions and that I have a awesome teacher.  My favorite thing I learned was algebra. It was my favorite because it was easy. (Everything was easy)
  Although I learned a lot, I struggled with, (drum roll in the background) nothing!  I struggled with nothing because I'm awesome. (And everything was easy)  I could use your support on homework. (A.K.A "stink work")
   I'm really proud of getting an A+ on most of my grades.  I worked really hard to get good grades.  I'm proud because I like good grades.  I love you a lot.

   Love,
    Lucas (a.k.a. Super Lukenator)


I have to admit- I laughed and giggled through the whole thing.  My favorite party is the 'drum roll in the background'.  And oh, his humility, is totally amazing, don't you think?

Do you have any 'proud' mommy moments this week?