Weekend Wrap-Up

Whew!  Ever have one of those weekends that is just an absolute whirlwind of activity.  That was mine this weekend.  A flurry of fun activity - but speaking of flurries - the weather was FANTASTIC and there were no flurries!!

Top 10

10.  A clean house, purchased groceries, and laundry done and put away.  Best way to start a new week

9.  May's Meal Plan is complete!

8.  Pancake breakfast for "Imagine No Malaria."  Got to see the pancake man in action and Kevin got to catch pancakes.  I was glad the pancake guy picked "dad" and not "mom" to do the catching!

7. Tyler pitched for the first time and didn't hit anyone! (I didn't have my camera on Saturday so these are pics from this game last Wednesday... when it was MUCH colder!)

can you see the panic on his face?  Poor guy gets so nervous.

6.  AJ's first game of the season.  He loves his Cubbie uniform... NOT!

5. Helping with Discovery Weekend - preview of what junior high boys are like which is a reminder to embrace my current place in life with grade school boys.  :)

4. Unexpected dinner on Saturday with friends including some awesome homemade ice cream sandwiches.  (by homemade I mean home-assembled-purchased-cookies.  LOL)

3. A nice night out with some of my favorite ladies on Friday.

2. Gorgeous weather!  I mean seriously beautiful!!  Kind of reminded me of the weather we had on our wedding day which takes me to...

1. Celebrating our 12 year wedding anniversary on Sunday!!  Headed to Granite City after church for their awesome brunch and spent the day together - working around the house, watching the White Sox, and enjoying the weather!  I took a stroll down memory lane and here are some of my favorite memories from the big day...

My favorite picture of the two of us!

Precious, precious Jordynne.  She didn't walk down the aisle but how adorable is she!?!?

The party bus!  A little alone time with our closest friends.... and Grandpa Harold.  Grandpa snuck on the party bus!

Me and the Bros

This picture made me LOL as I remembered my entire wedding party trying to bustle my dress.  We attempted this after the party bus/trip to Jimmy's.  Thank goodness for cousin Trisha being sober -she finally figured out the puzzle!

A special picture for my blog-follower Grandma Jane!  A sweet Grandma-Grandson dance.

One of my best memories of this day.  I remember this conversation with Grandpa Harold like it was yesterday.  So thankful for my friend Margo for catching it on film.  :)

Making a Difference

Tyler has a "Making a Difference" project that is due next week.  We affectionately refer to this assignment as "the yellow packet."  The "yellow packet" has had several phases but as a last step he had to come up with a project to do that made a difference at home or in the community.  We had LOTS of ideas but finally landed on Backpack Buddies (a project close to my heart)!  Here are his pictures of him making a difference.  (Although... for what it's worth... he makes a difference in my world EVERY DAY just by being his kind-hearted goof-ball self!!)

 

Time to get the presentation ready....

 

 

 

 

What's AJ been up to you ask.... Just chillin' and chasing "women" (Kindergartners) at recess.  Apparently he chases a girl and sings Gangnam Style but, in his words, "I sing 'little' instead of 'sexy'" (Hey little lady....).  I told him it wasn't nice to chase girls but he informed me she smiles and laughs at him.  Of course she does.

 

 

An Independence Test

I've realized lately that my kids are capable of a lot more than I ask of them.  They are my babies so it's hard for me to wrap my arms around the fact that they are indeed becoming independent.  At least I'm realizing this now, right!?!?  I saw this post on Pinterest about Training Children to be Independent.  When I read it I actually laughed out loud and read through the list of things that Tyler "should" be able to do at age nine.  Oh how I would adore help in some of these areas that both boys "should" capable.  So....... this weekend I decided to test the list.... but I decided to start with one that Tyler would thing was fun! 

I now present - Tyler's first cake!  (Not made from scratch but not just a simple box recipe either.)  Here's the recipe for "Better Than Anything Oreo Cake."

NO Shells!!

 

Ta-DA!!

So Proud

The final touch - gotta make sure everyone knows who the chef was.

 

 

Swim Lessons in October!!

Tonight was the first night of Little Divers. Boys had a lot of fun and were pretty relieved when I told them the lessons were inside at a hotel. Although, Tyler wanted to hang out in a hot tub.

This week we are supposed to figure out one way to take care of God's creation. We will see what we come up with.

Is it a) Awkward; b) Creepy; or c) None of the Above

The boys LOVE to use the words "awkward" and "creepy."  Don't be impressed with their vocabulary.... they use them incorrectly 90% of the time.

Last night, I was taking Tyler to his first basketball practice that was at a local grade school (let's call it "C" assuming his school is "AR").  I told him we were going to C and he said, "that's the school that is the opposite of AR.  The gym and classrooms are on the opposite side....."

And then he described it as either "awkward" or "creepy". Take a guess.  Really.  Guess.

"....That's creepy!  And the building smells like ranch."

I love that kid.  I may have let him run with calling it "awkward" actually.  But not creepy.

You know when your kids say things wrong and it's sooooo cute?  That's how I feel about this.  I hesitate to correct them because I'm so entertained when they use it incorrectly.  I'm slowly correcting it.  Slowly.  This one I didn't correct because I was laughing too hard.  Maybe next time.  After all, I don't want him to be the awkward kid who is creepy or is it the creepy kid who is awkward???  Maybe I'm not the best teacher....

Rainy Day Mishap

It's October 9 and today was the first time it's been raining when school got out.  I started to stress about 2:15 when I realized it was raining and likely would still be raining at 2:55.  So I tried to plan.... because that's what I do.  Brainstorm all my potential solutions.  Weigh all my options.  Make a decision.  I had a few big obstacles:

1. When the boys left for school this morning, we did NOT discuss a plan for rain.
2. I could not get into their little heads to figure out what they were expecting from me.
3. I JUST read the school's newsletter last night and it stated that:
1. Parents should not email teachers to arrange pick-up procedures.  It's the parent's responsibility to be prepared for inclement weather. (OOPS)
2. It clearly stated that children shouldn't ride scooters to school and if they did they should be stored in their lockers - not on the bike rack.

IDEALLY - I would have sent this email:

Teachers-
So sorry to bother you but I didn't realize it was going to rain this afternoon.  Could you please let my child know that I will pick him up outside the first grade classrooms?  Please have him pick up his scooter from the bike rack before coming to my car.
Sincerely,
The-Parent-Who-Ignores-Your-Rules.

But because I read that newsletter and I don't want to break any stupid rules and I don't want the teachers to hate me and I truly don't want to create more work for them, I decided to park on the street behind the school.  I knew they would see me.  They'd still have to walk in the rain a little bit but I'd save them half of the walk at least.  So, I drove to the school.  Waited.  Saw them walking down the sidewalk and was relieved my "plan" was going to work.  One of my friends drove by as the boys were approaching my car. I waive at the boys.  My friend and I were chatting about the unexpected rain.  I look in my rear view mirror, and the boys are riding their scooters home...  I have been left behind!

I get home.  I'm laughing.  I ask AJ why he didn't get in the car.  He tells me, "I wasn't sure if I was supposed to!"  ?!??!?!?!??!  I ask Tyler the same thing.  He gives me the exact same answer.  So then I ask them why they think I would have been parked there if not to give them a ride home.  AJ said, "I thought you were just watching to make sure we got home OK. I didn't know if I should put my scooter in your car."  !?!?!?

And now please refer back to point #2 - "I could not get into their little heads to figure out what they were expecting from me."  Yep!  Never, ever, ever, ever crossed my mind that they would see me and think I was planning on watching them walk home in the cold rain... for fun.  It all worked out though.  They got home.  They did not melt.  And now I know, next time, I let them walk and I stay home curled up in front of the fireplace!

Fall is here

It has been cold the past few days.  Friday it was 32 degrees out when the kiddos left for school.  I yelled downstairs to see if they were ready to leave and Tyler said, "almost."  I walk to the stairs and looked down to see him in shorts and a tank top.  :)  Guess he was in denial.  Nonetheless, he left the house in sweatpants, long sleeve t-shirt, and a fleece.  Mom - 1, Tyler - 0.

 

It was cold on Saturday for baseball too.  Sure sign that fall is here.  That means it's fireplace time.  I *heart* my fireplace!!  I've noticed now with our new furniture that something is missing in this room.  What do you think?  Doesn't Kevin need a pipe?!?!?  I mean I don't want him to really smoke one but I think it would really class this place up!

Politics as Understood by my Children...

Even though we don't typically talk about politics in this house, politics regularly come up since every commercial is a political message these days.  Here was our conversation at dinner:

AJ: Who gets to vote for the President?
ME: American Citizens who are 18 and older. (Relieved the political questions are this level.)
AJ: Do you know who you are going to vote for?
ME: Yes.
AJ: I hope it's not Barack Obama because the commercial says he's killing American families.
ME: Uh, he's not actually "killing" families literally...this isn't District 12.

<Random comments from Kevin and me trying to explain killing means hurting... but not physically hurting...etc.... etc... >

Tyler: (clearly not paying attention to the past five minutes) So even people in Kentucky can vote??

Apparently, watching "Call of the Wildman" has skewed his opinion of Kentucky.