A Whole New World

A lot has happened since I last got onto this blog.

We moved!  Derrell started a new job!  The kids grew and grew and grew!

It's Mother's Day tomorrow.  I'm grateful to be a mother.  I'm grateful my children have a wonderful dad.

Valentine's Day 2012

Ethan high up in our white pine tree, March 2012

Anna after just getting her ears pierced on her 12th birthday, 2012

Fun at the Beach

Recently, we went to the Outer Banks, North Carolina with friends.  We had fun at both the beaches we visited!  Naomi's most memorable event was being knocked off her feet by a wave.  She hadn't planned on getting in the water at the time, but the ocean had other thoughts.

Soundside

Oceanside

Snow Fun

Five hours.

That's how long the kids stayed outside playing with the neighbors instead of going to school.

Snowball fights!  Guess who usually had the upper hand?

Just happy to be included.

Showing off his ammunition.

Her Indian name is Runs In Snow With Apple.

Playing Fox & Geese

I think this one should say, "And here we have a nice red minivan driving by for your viewing pleasure."

And what was Abigail doing this whole time?  Reading books, playing with lacing cards, and prancing around like all good three-year-old girls...

...in her swimsuit.

The Snow Storm Begins

They cancel school here for the tiniest amount of snow.  So, when there was a big storm in the forecast for this afternoon, Ethan woke up asking, "Why haven't they canceled school?"

Well, they should have.  Or at least had an early-out day.

Gratefully, MY kids got home safe and sound and only about five minutes later than usual.  Unfortunately, our friends' kids didn't get home until 5:30pm!  The buses couldn't get through.  The roads were (are) horrendous!

Now I know why they cancel school here for the tiniest amount of snow.  Those poor kids. 

Our First Break

Boys will be boys, the saying goes. And ours has now officially been inducted into the
Royal Order of Boyhood.

He broke his first (and hopefully last!) bone.

Being left-handed, this left elbow break was a bit inconvenient. The writing difficulty was nothing compared to the torture of missing out on PE at school, though!

Some lessons learned:
Humans cannot fly. Gravity is real. Showing off can get you hurt.

I was inside, and didn't see the actual event. But from eye witnesses I've gathered that the kids were taking turns swinging really high and jumping out of the swing. ED said that this particular time, he thought while in mid-air, "Wo. I'm really high. This is going to hurt." It did. He landed just right (or wrong), and heard the crack. It was a Saturday. We got to spend four hours in the Emergency Room.

Check Your Books at the Door

My friend has her children hand over their books as they walk in the door from school every day. WHAT!? you ask? Yes, it's true. The children are not allowed to read until their jobs, homework, and even sometimes playing with friends is done. She doesn't have to kick her kids off the TV or the Wii; she has to limit their reading time. I use to say that if you have to have a problem, then that's the one to have!

Until I entered her world.

Staying up two hours past bedtime...
Using the bathroom for 30+ minutes...
Setting up a camp chair in the sun because mom said "Go outside"...
Fibbing about how much homework is in the backpack...
Missing dinner and asking, "Why didn't you wait for me?"...

TO READ!

It's still not the worst problem in the world, but it can get annoying at times.

But here's the rub: I know how they feel. I would rather read than do the laundry or the dishes, too. And I stayed up until 3am one night last week to finish our bookclub book. Obviously, I'm being punished by having children take on my bad habits! :-)

Moderation in all things, right? I guess I need to adopt that as my motto.

Webelos

ED is now in Webelos! He is 10! He told us that he actually feels different. D said he could expect that every ten years. Pretty significant! The weird part for me is being able to remember when my older brothers were Webelos. And now I have a son that age! He got a lot of awards at Pack Meeting last week. Always more fun when you get recognition.

We are very impressed with how kind and responsible our eldest chooses to be. He is a great big brother, and a good helper. He can clean a room (when he chooses) almost as quickly as his dad. :-)

Double Digits

We had the easiest friends' birthday party ever last Saturday. Eleven boys bowling, playing video games, eating pizza--two hours flew by!! I could hardly believe it was such a great success. Even the very novice bowlers enjoyed themselves. I had to bite my lip a few times, so I didn't full out laugh at some of the "performances".

One boy would grab his ball, run as fast as he could to the lane, then drop the ball straight down. I'm surprised he didn't smash his toes. Another (somewhat large) boy clumsily threw his ball with all he had half-way down the lane. I fully expected it to fall into the next lane over. Another boy refused to tie his bowling shoes.

The birthday boy got two strikes! I didn't catch either one on video, but here is a sampling of his "style".



For his class on Friday, I made camouflage cupcakes. Then for his family party, he picked out a Boston Creme cake. And for the friends' party he requested an ice cream cake. Talk about a sugar rush!! Birthdays are a big deal around here, and I'm pretty sure we overdid it. But ED was grateful. And they don't get friends' parties every year.

Summer Swim League

ED and AM are now swimming every day. The YMCA started a new swim team just for the summer. There are about twenty kids ranging in age from 5 to 13, and only two have ever been on a swim team before. It's a great set-up for those of us who don't feel the need to push our children to win the Olympics. I'm really pleased.

They practice at the Y where there are kids' classes and nurseries for the three younger girls, and workout equipment for me. They practice for an hour a day getting instruction from one of the best coaches in the area and a bunch of teenagers from the year-round team.

There will be six meets against other "young" teams, (so there might actually be a chance of winning). It only costs $35 dollars. I can't believe it! I'll say it again, I'm really pleased! I think we'll plan to do this every summer. LL will get to be on it next year, and she can't wait.

Pirate

The third graders all got together for pirate-themed activities the last week of school.

Here is our resident buccaneer looking as mean as he can. (Not very mean, I know, but that's my son!) He knew just how everything needed to look, and I came close to creating it for him. He helped make the shirt--who wouldn't want to rip and cut? It's supposed to look like it's been through fights and storms. Holes, dried blood, dirt.

I have a nine-year-old boy!

Spring Soccer

ED and AM just finished their soccer season. They had a lot of fun! ED ended up playing goalie most of the time. He was quite good, making saves in the midst of kicking feet. It made me nervous to watch. The last playoff game was in the rain at 9am--very windy and cold. ED had extra layers since he was in the goal, but poor AM was freezing. She had a smile on her face, though! So, here are some "after-game" photos. Be glad you can't touch or smell them... I'm sure you can imagine the sweat and dirt well enough. :-) I've decided to throw in a picture of ED grabbing a ball. You can barely see it through all the other players, but look closely. (You can click on the photo to enlarge it.)

Coat of Arms

E.D. made up his own coat of arms at school. Fire and arrowheads; two necessary elements. Notice the tatoo on his forehead. This was taken on a Saturday. He had to do a lot of scrubbing to remove said tatoo before Sunday. Ended up with a very red forehead...