Just Another Parenting Mystery

What is that word that means something like conundrum? Only it takes a lifetime to even begin to understand how to balance the enigma, without ever really solving it? Oh yeah, that's right. It's called parenthood.

I have this child.  When faced with food he didn't like, he complained his stomach hurt. Then one day it became a tooth ache.  Every couple of days he would mention his tooth hurting, but then, when prodded, would stop complaining and eat.

Finally, after complaining while eating  a meal where all the options began with Mc-, my husband decided it might be more than a food-avoiding gimmick. He looked into the deep pit of our son's mouth and found hiding in back a severely abscessed tooth. He should've been writhing in pain for at least a week.  That is when we learned he has excessive pain tolerance; for all he complains, a small stomach ache could be appendicitis!

On the other hand, I have this child. A papercut is the end of the world. Stubbed toes elicit animal like howling and scraped knees warrant headache-inducing screeches. I must hear him holler from stepped on feet, small pinches, or simple stumbles a hundred times a day. He has zero pain tolerance (and excellent vocal skills).

Just what is the mystery, you ask? I am describing the SAME child.

Got it? Screaming and crying = fine, calm or slight mention of pain = might be dying. My child with the highest pain tolerance happens to have no pain tolerance at all.

• So ... if you see my child complain of something small and he doesn't even seem upset, yet I give him a full history and physical, don't think I'm an over-hovering mom.
  
  
• On the other hand ... if you see my child come up to me practically wild with pain and I just roll my eyes and send him on his way, don't think I'm completely detached.

I'm just practicing balance with a personal parenting enigma.

I mistook my boys for mops

A few months back, I convinced my boys they wanted to grow their hair a little longer.  If you ask me why, I'll tell you it's because all the tween boys are wearing it like that nowadays and I wanted them to fit in, but in reality it had more to do with the lack of desire to drag them to the barbers.

Unfortunately there was a slight flaw in my plan: longer hair requires some necessities, if it isn't to to look like it's sprouting from a parentless urchin.  Things like washing it more than once a quarter, being willing to brush it, and not minding hair product.  Do you know how many of those things these lovely boys of mine were willing to do?  None. Zero.  Nadda.

I bought them gel and showed them how to put it in, three weeks later they were willing to swear they had never heard of gel, didn't know what it looked like, and couldn't tell me where it had disappeared.  Careless, awesome curls were a rarity and always the result of embarrassing Mom-can-still-tackle-me episodes. Instead my boys sprouted fluffy, bulbous knobs around their heads.

Basically, I had two tweenagers with mops as heads.

Did I tell you about the time I noticed one of them had enough grease in his hair to cook some fries?  When I asked how this was possible (he had come down from his shower with wet hair every morning), he replied he had not been using shampoo.  For over a month ... maybe even two months!  Why would you wet down your hair every day without washing it?  Unless a shrug and shake of the head is some deep answer that went over my head, there was no good answer to that question.

Basically, I had two tweenagers with dirty mops as heads.

What about the time (or times) I looked over at church and realized neither boy had even tried to brush their hair in the morning and both sported bed heads, complete with flattened down parts and peaks on the other side?

Basically, I had two tweenagers with dirty, tangled mops as heads.

And that is why, when one mentioned he wanted a shorter hair cut for summer and his brother showed similar interest, I practically killed myself running for the razor.  Their hair was so bad I was willing to risk cutting it myself before they changed their minds.


My boys have normal looking human heads again. But I suppose I will have to find the real mop again the next time I need to clean up a spill.

Someday they will actually care about how they look, right? Right?!?

(I don't have good before/after pictures so I'm posting some of all the kids.  Without too much effort I'm sure you'll be able to pick out the two that went from dirty, tangled mops to normal.)

The Whistler's Mother (A Cautionary Tale)

Once upon the time there lived a beautiful princess full of patience, wit and grace; but this story isn't about her. It is about a slightly frazzled, frumpy, grumpy mother who, cursed by the evil work schedule of her husband, had to take all the children to the far away land of piano lessons (even though only the oldest three take them).

During this long journey, amidst conflicts and territorial disputes, an annoying sound permeated the air: the sound of whistling. "Please stop whistling," this mother would ask her 3rd child and for a time it would stop. But the yearning of expression is strong and inevitably the whistling would start again. Loudly, the same lines over and over and over and over till the mother wanted to jam something, anything, into her ears to keep that tune from echoing inside her already stressed out mind.

"JUST STOP WHISTLING NOW!!!" She finally exclaimed in a last ditch effort to preserve sanity. In the stunned silence that followed the mother could (finally) hear her conscience whisper, "Dude, that was a bit harsh." In an effort to restore any lost or broken confidence in her tender son, she followed the outburst by weakly chuckling, "You know, you are just like your father, he is always whistling, too. Can't help it."

And That Was The Fatal Flaw Which Sealed Her Fate Forever.

"Just like Dad. I whistle all the time just like Dad." Now her entire house is filled with the whistling of this young child. Interspersed with, "You know I whistle all the time, just like Dad." One can hear the forced quality to the whistle, but it is quickly being engulfed by a more natural, habitual sound. Years of living with a unaware, prolific whistler are now twice as fun. She inadvertently created a monster.

The moral of this story? Never, ever, EVER drive with Peter or Ethan on a long car trip. Especially if the radio is broken.

The End.

Speaking of Random

I am blogging tonight for a reason. It isn't to preserve my family history, tell a funny story, vent a difficult day, or philosophize about motherhood. It is to avoid folding laundry. Because really, I rather like huge piles of laundry sitting in the middle of my bedroom floor. If anyone sees them I can claim "abstract art sculpture." I mean folded in the drawer is only the temporary step between pile on my bedroom floor and pile on the kids' bedroom floor and I am all about cutting out the middle man.

Speaking of middle men, my middle son (Ethan) cleared the table, washed the cupboards, and cleaned up the front and living room yesterday for no reason at all. Without being asked. Seriously it was the sweetest thing ever. Today he was in time out for slapping his little brother on the back, but, hey, nobody's perfect.

Speaking of perfection, have I mentioned before how much I enjoy living on the beach? Today was rather hot and after finishing cleaning up the kitchen (every pot and pan I owned may have been dirty) I let the kids go cool off in the water while I sat in the shade of my backyard and read a book. It was lovely and refreshing. I wonder what we are going to do when our house in North Carolina finally sells and we no longer have to rent and so must leave this house for one we own.

Speaking of North Carolina, someone did a pre-offer inspection on the house today. Keep your fingers crossed that they will decide to put down a real life offer! Two years is a long time to wait for your house to sell.

Speaking of 2 years, when my two year old turns 3 next month I am going to begin potty training. Every time I change his diaper I remind him that his birthday signifies the end of diapers and the beginning of underwear. Now he randomly shouts out that he is about to be a big boy and pee in the toilet and wear underwear. This can get awkward in public.

Speaking of underwear, if I don't tackle that laundry tonight, the kids will be forced to claw through it tomorrow in search of their underwear and I might as well transfer the clean laundry directly into the dirty laundry pile. So good night.

Pinewood Derby

It's that time of year again, where the desire to let my boys feel a sense of accomplishment is countered by my desire for them to make it into adulthood with all their fingers attached. That's right, last Friday was the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby.

Ryan's car was "The Frankenstein" & Ethan's was "The American"

After reading a friend's post about his boy cutting out his own car, I approached Peter about doing the same. He promptly reminded me that Ryan almost cut off his hand last year when carving soap with a pocket knife. In other words, no way. So I settled on letting them draw their own designs on the block of wood while Peter handle the band saw. They did sand and paint their creations (I might have done some touch up after they went to bed).

And here is the amazing thing: Ethan took 1st place!! I think he was glad I wouldn't let him go with his first choice in car design (a book) or his second (a ruler) or his third (scissors). In fact, after our original brainstorm, I decided to insist on a car looking design. Although slightly underweight, his car zoomed!

We thought for sure Ryan's car would be faster, but a small design flaw (weights too far back and back wheels too far forward) caused his car to wheelie at the bottom of the track. He did win one heat and took it all in good measure.

Here is what I learned:

• there are a lot of sites with printable car templates;


• googling "pinewood derby car templates" will bring up a mix of those site and really nasty sites;


• using masking tape is an effective way to let boys add stripes to their cars;


• polishing the axles makes a huge difference;


• in a scrape, drywall patch can be used to cover holes drilled to add weights;


• see the weights sticking out of Ryan's car- never use that kind they are hard to cut;


• and as much as Peter rolls his eyes in reference to my blog, I heard him telling all his family I was posting about the pinewood derby and they should go check it out.

Ethan's Party

What do you mean he turned 8 a month ago? You mean it isn't customary to celebrate a month late? What if the boy wants a party at a skating rink and his birthday is right before Christmas? Isn't it OK then? What is with all the questions I keep asking?

Ethan wanted to go to a skating rink. Even though this is not how I typically do parties, Peter pointed out that we only have them every four years and we did buy them all rollerblades for Christmas. This was our second time at a rink (the first being a birthday party the day before Ethan decided he wanted his party there and the reason we decided to buy skates for the kids). We sent out the invites a little late (like three days before the party), but still had a nice turn out (6 of the 10 kids invited). I realized it would be rude of me to post his friends pictures without permission, so all you get are my own family. Minus me, who was behind the camera (although I took the picture in the post below that same day).

Here is Ethan and the cake and cupcakes (he wanted a sport theme):



And in case you adore seeing pictures of my family:

Finding a missing library book

So the other day I lost two library books. I didn't actually LOSE them on that day, I just realized they were overdue and tried to find them that day. Which, in my house is no small chore. Although I have a library basket, it always seems to be empty. And, because I believe books should be "well loved," they are EVERYWHERE.

To find a missing library book I must first look in all the places books belong: the 3 huge bookshelves in the living room, the bookshelves in the girls' room, boys' room, and other boys' room, the playroom, the basement cupboards, the library basket, and the other 5 baskets of books.

If all these places prove useless (as they did the other day), I have to search the next tier of hidden books- dressers, under beds & couches & dressers (where I find all kinds of useful things like missing pairs of pants, candy wrappers, half eaten candies, a few monsters waiting to gobble children, and a grumbling mother realizing how the kids manged to get a clean room so quickly last week), cars, kitchen countertops, kids' backpacks and other such places.

If the book is yet to be found, it is time to search the "Really?" places. This includes bathrooms, laundry hampers, INSIDE dressers, UNDER couch cushions, BETWEEN mattresses, the garage, and closets floors(actually this probably is in the same group as beds because I often find the same things in them), etc. All the while thinking, "The book couldn't have just disappeared!!"

But sometimes it has done just that. And no searching can find the book. Of course, most times I've just overlooked it in the mix of books we own. Because I have a bit of a problem. Not helped by scholastic books fairs, $25 free super shipping option on Amazon, and the great used book store 3 miles from my house. I have baskets of "early reader, non-fiction"; "beginning chapter"; board books; workbooks; and "cover ripped off so I can't keep them out, but we still love the story so I will hide you in here". On a side note, I have taped together more books than I would like to admit.

And the illustrated classics? I have a half shelf devoted just to them. And an entire shelf to award winning books and authors. But my true weakness is books in a series. I did a quick count, I own 16 series of books and a few more where we own a few books in the series but not the whole thing. That is the list you see on the side (because I went to all the trouble of writing them down when I was counting). I also own lots of adult books, but not a single copy of any book written by my favorite author, Charles Dickens. You know he wrote so few... But that is a different story, I don't lose MY library books.

Anyway, I found one of the missing books (behind the girls' book shelf), but not the other. Not wanting to continue racking up a fine, I went in and confessed my crime and paid the $3 replacement cost. And 1/2 hour after getting home, Kirsti found the book. In a cabinet in her bedroom (that I had checked 3 times). I might take it back and try to get my money refunded, but I was thinking of going to the used book store to start a "Henry and Mudge" collection instead. After all, I now already own one.

Ethan's Baptism

Top to bottom, left to right:

My sister and her family; moments after the baptism; Dad and Ethan;

Elise did great conducting; Ethan; Matthew getting desperate for his turn;

watching the font fill; did I mention Matthew was a little obsessed?; Ethan; Ethan again;

my mom with my nephew; My parents; Dad and Ethan in white; and Peter's parents

We are so proud of our Ethan. It seems like yesterday he was on his way home in a stocking, and now he all baptised and a member of the Church! Eight years and his smile still takes my breath away. He is very much like his father, both in looks and personality (which might explain my reaction to his smile).

Since his birthday is so close to Christmas, we hatched an evil plan; family would want to be there, and if they were coming out the weekend after Christmas, why not just come for Christmas itself? We knew this would limit the friends who could be there, but it did allow both grandparents and his Aunt Tami and Uncle Jared to be there.

Ethan and his Dad did wonderfully! We ordered him a tie from our Church distribution center and the night before I made up some easy white pants. Grandpas were witnesses and Grandmas gave the talks. Uncle Jared played the piano, Elise conducted, and Aunt Tami and I gave the prayers. Thanks to those who were able to make it, I really appreciated it (even if I forgot to get any of your pictures!)

Matthew was fascinated with the large "bath" and thought he could get in (if only we would help him undress). He was not happy when we drained it before he had his chance!

2 Birthdays

If I ever had cause to worry that Ethan would feel bad about a birthday so close to Christmas, his choice of birthday cakes would calm that worry. He ALWAYS wants something Christmas related. Normally I force suggest he make a different choice, but sometimes I give in. Since he is having a friend party in January with a cake, I didn't mind making him the Santa cake he wanted. I did try to talk him out of the lemon frosting (clashed with the red), but he persisted. I was pretty happy with the results. Unlike my regular cake decorating (described by my sister in this post), I hand drew this one.
Getting his gifts (he asked several times for those Perplexors- the level C was too easy, he wanted level D and Expert). If you look closely at his gifts you'll notice I'm still in love with Mindware. Almost as much as Amazon and Google.
Blowing out the candles. We picked up my parents on Ethan's actual birthday. Why we thought picking someone up in a NYC airport on the day before Christmas Eve was going to be easy, I don't know. It took WAY too long and the presents were opened late that night. The cake had to wait till the next day (because I hadn't decorated it yet- I underestimated the driving time for my parents by hours). I just noticed that he is wearing the same shirt two days in a row and the second day it is a LITTLE dirty. Oops!


My sister has a birthday 2 days after Christmas. This happened to be Ethan's baptism day and she happened to be at our house (a mere 12 hours away) so we had cake. Actually we had cheese cake.

This is her husband lighting the candles and everyone digging in.

6 Births and 1 Epidural Part 3

That December in 2000 was one of the most organized in my life. And I made no plans. I was due to have a first millennial baby: January 1, 2001. (Everyone knows the millennia really began 2001 NOT 2000.) My first two children had come early and I was petrified that my third would arrive at the most inopportune time- Christmas. This fear drove me to finish buying before the first of the December and wrapping before its first week was over.

And then I waited. The eternal wait of the last month of pregnancy. Any day, any hour, any second. Every RSVP ending in “unless I have the baby, of course.”

Two mornings before Christmas morning, we planned on heading over to my parents (in case I wasn’t there for Christmas, grandparents would have to substitute). My family was lounging around in bed with me when the first contraction came. By baby number three, labor was routine and we didn’t panic. We leisurely got ready, loaded the car, and headed over to my parents. All while timing the contractions. Then I helped my mother finish wrapping (she was not as prepared as I and needed to get finished quickly now that her next few days were going to be otherwise occupied).

We were still wrapping later in the morning when the contractions contracted to 4 minutes apart and we headed off to the hospital. When the nurse found out it was my third labor and I waited till 4 minute spacing before coming, she wisely decided to call the doctor before getting me checked in and checked out. And she was glad she did, because I checked out at 8 cm. Do you know what that means? I will tell you. No epidural.

Being strep B positive, I needed two shots of antibiotics, an hour apart, before the baby was born. Someone forgot to tell my baby. The doctor came in to check me and I mentioned I felt like pushing. “Well give it a try next contraction.” I know he wasn’t expecting the reaction to that push. I know because he was still dressed in his street clothes. I pushed, the baby entered the birth canal, and things started moving quickly around me. Through the intensity of pushing, I remember nurses frantically dropping the table down, throwing scrubs over the doctor, and preparing the baby bassinet. Less than one hour from entering the hospital, I was holding Ethan in my arms. Born two days before Christmas with beautiful, angelic white hair.

His voice, however, was not so angelic, unless you’re including the angels with trumpets. Ethan’s cry was loud! That adorable raspy newborn cry has never exited my son’s mouth. He was born hollering loud enough for the entire floor to hear. Nurses came to see who was making the commotion. I could hear him from my room as the nurses tended him in the nursery. Even now, his voice can rattle the windows.

In fact the doctor decided his lungs seemed so healthy, we could go home early, skipping the 2 day watch period necessary for missing the second shot of antibiotics. (I’m sure this had NOTHING to do with the fact that the doctor would otherwise have to come in on Christmas Day). Ethan left the hospital on Christmas Eve in a cute red stocking.

And I missed my first try for an epidural. Reason? Waiting too long before coming into the hospital.

Ethan Baptism

Due to the fact that

1) it is Christmas,

2) Ethan turned eight 3 days ago (wasn't he just being blessed yesterday?),

3) I have three families at my house (in addition to my own), and

4) church was canceled last week,

I am not sure I have given out the information about Ethan's baptism this Saturday. For all who are interested in coming, email me or comment and I will give you the information. Otherwise you'll have to wait till I post about it (which might be a while due to the reasons already listed).

Gingerbread Houses, if Gingerbread was made out of Graham Crackers

As a Christmas tradition, Gingerbread houses are awesome. As a reality, they are a lot of work. Because they involve mixing, cutting, baking, etc. So we use a simpler, lazier alternative. Graham Cracker Houses. One box makes 5 houses. I doubled the frosting recipe (but you could also half it easily)

Notes-

• Make one bag of icing per person, it is easier!!
• This is a great project for inviting people over (the frosting and graham crackers are cheap and the candy lasts FOREVER- even making 10, we had tons of leftovers)
• You can dye the frosting red and green (forgot till after I made the houses)
• The houses need to set for an hour before using, but put the rest of the frosting in bags right away so they don't also set
• Waffle Icecream Cones are great Christmas Trees

Cookie cutter houses are so boring!!

Wouldn't you rather live in this neighborhood?

(minus the frosting splattered EVERYWHERE)

You'll have to click to enlarge this collage:

1. Ryan likes to build walls 2. I have my white picket fence

3. Uncle Gordon likes lots of SNOW 4. Matthew enjoyed eating the candy the most

5. Kirsti added presents around her tree 6. Ethan likes the overgrown garden look

7. Elise added a little of Everything 8. Simplicity was the key for Aunt Jessica

9. Joseph takes us inside the mind of a 4 year old 10. Peter likes Candy Pavers, Stones, and Ponds.








Here are pictures of Uncle Gordon setting up the frosting, the mess left over, and what we did instead of cleaning up (which made the frosting set on the table=a lot longer to clean up)

What Kids Know Tag

Last tag. I told my friend I didn't want to know my kids' answers, so she tagged me in her comments. I asked the kids as they woke up so they didn't know each other's answers (except the youngest two). Please note that we are in the midst of nighttime wars, making them all sleep in their bed at night (this has been hard on the youngest two and the last few nights have been pretty tough battles). That helps make some of the answers make sense. Also, if you can't tell, Matthew is in the parrot stage. Answers are listed oldest to youngest.

1. What does mom always say to you?

1. Quiet or you'll go to bed.
2. Get off the computer or turn off the TV
3. I love you
4. Go to bed
5. I don't know
6. I da-no

2. What makes mom happy?

1. When we go to bed
2. When I do my chore and take out the garbage
3. my smile
4. Dad
5. reading me stories
6. mom happ-ee

3. What makes mom sad?

1. When she has to clean up stuff she already picked it up (too true, Elise, too true)
2. When I don't get off the the TV when she tells me to (got grounded last night when I found him at 10:30 watching TV)
3. Me going to school
4. A lamp getting broken (Random)
5. When I have a bad dream, that makes you sad. Last night I dreamed . . .
6. Mom dad (sad)

4. How does mom make you laugh?

1. When she does something funny on accident
2. When she complains about me not laughing
3. tickle me
4. tickle me
5. Ha,ha,ha. You just made me laugh
6. Mom waff

5. How old is mom?

1. 32
2. 32
3. 31
4. 30
5. 29
6. Josive two

6. How tall is mom?

1. probably 5'2'' because I am 4'9''
2. 5'7'' (how does he know that?)
3. 62 inches?
4. 20. (Me: feet or inches?) Um...inches?
5. 20 and one half pounds
6. How taw mommy?

7. What does mom like to do?

1. drink hot chocolate
2. write comments on blogs
3. clean
4. yawn (Kirsti is on a random streak I guess)
5. clean the house every day, duh. (it was the duh that really got me)
6. cwap (clap) (it was either that or he was saying lap, as in "I want on your wap". I couldn't tell.)

8. What is mom's job?

1. To help us and clean the house
2. to stay at home and watch the younger kids
3. clean
4. cooking dinner
5. clean the house
6. mommy jab

9. What is mom's favorite food?

1. chicken, maybe?
2. teriyaki chicken
3. chicken and rice
4. Mexican soup
5. stir fry
6. bagel (Again, I think he was actually asking for a bagel, not answering the question)

10. How do you know your mom loves you?

1. you're always nice to us and help us in places and times we need help
2. because you give me lots of hugs and kisses
3. you give me hugs
4. you give me lots of hugs
5. I don't know how you love me, I only know how I love you
6. luh-you. Maw-maw luh-you.

Halloween Costumes & Results of an All Candy Diet

This year I went with an easy, no-sew costume idea. All I used was felt, under wonder, fabric paint, and hot glue. You'll notice that my "quirky" dresser opted for a lollipop over a candy bar. And yes, we dressed as Almond Joy and Mounds just for the joke you could make.

Trick or treating was a lot of fun. I was worried when at dusk there were no lit porch lights. By the time we went out there were plenty of lights. Everyone in the neighborhood gave out candy bars (see diagram at right)! By the time we finished half the neighborhood, our bags were full and heavy (chocolate weighs more that smarties, I guess).

Anyway, today after an all candy 24 hour diet, my kids reacted quite strangely. The older three had to take turns. Not on the computer, or the wii, or even the TV. They took turns using my sewing machine and proudly displaying their creations. Then they spent at least 3 hours playing on the beach (except Elise who opted for rare, alone, creative time upstairs). This gave me time to clean up the house and catch up on old Clark Howard Podcasts. If this is how they react to candy, I think that is all I will ever feed them.

PS We had spaghetti with bread sticks and corn for dinner and now they are fighting. I think my theory IS true . . . .

Family Update

Thought I would leave a quick post on what our family is up to these days.

Elise has been doing great in middle school. She got all A's on her progress report and just found out she made it into Chamber Choir.

Matthew has learned the value of talking. He talks all the time and seems to add at least 3 new words every day. Last week he learned "uh-uh" and "ya". Now that he can tell us his opinion, he thinks he should always get his way! He is starting to put words together. His favorite song? We Will Rock You. I will try to get some video one of these days.


Ryan is enjoying school, too. Last week he finished testing for the gifted program. He was accidentally signed up for flag football (there are 4 Ryans in 4-5th grades and somehow his name got added to the list). That means he is doing tackle football and flag. His last tackle game is this Friday during the high school football team's half time. He really enjoys it.

Ethan loves, loves, loves football. He kept circling the play, always holding back, and then on his last game of the season, something clicked and he was in on every play. You can find him outside playing pretty much all the time. Only 2 more months till baptism time!

Kirsti has become a reading fiend. She can finish the Magic Tree House books, although her true heart is with Henry and Mudge. This is a picture of her school project. Those are strips of paper we wrapped into circles and glued onto a the pumpkin she brought home. We had a blast finishing this project together (although it did take a little longer than I expected).

Joseph has started preschool. It is 1 hour twice a week. He gets so excited every week. Matthew, however, gets upset every time we drop him off. He loves to tell stories and they totally crack me up. Today he told Peter and I about the billy goat gruffs. It involved "the highest number" of goats, grass that was made into necklaces, and jumping over the trolls.


He had two birthday cakes. The Pirate for his party and this one the week earlier on his actual birthday. For the last year, ever since he saw this cake, he has told everyone, "I am having a Transformer birthday." I knew he would eventually realize if I didn't make it, so I did. The picture was taken after some frosting surgery to repair Matthew damage to the cake.


Peter is doing well. Lots of recruiting and what not. They lost a doctor last month, which was hard, but a new hire starts Monday and another in November. And at least one in July. We are hoping for 2-3 more hires this year (which means lots more work). He is going to the American College of Emergency Physicians conference in a couple weeks and is hoping for some good leads while out there.

And me? I have 8 costumes to finish by Friday. I also have a basement to clean out, library books to find, 2 school parties and plan, and a wheat grinder to still buy. I'm keeping busy.

Another Later Week

I’ve gotten behind on family updates, so here is a week all in one post. (Lest you think I have oodles of friends, there are only two women talked about in this post)

Saturday (9/13)
The boys had their first football game. They are really enjoying playing. (right)Ethan has the red striped socks and (left)Ryan is playing with his mouthgaurd. We got home with just enough time to clean the downstairs (I raced Peter for bragging rights- family room vs. kitchen~ I lost) and make the cookies I signed up to bring to the church picnic.

The church picnic was held at Harkness State Park. I hadn’t been there before and it was really nice. Quite indignant that a church party would be planned at the same time as a BYU football game, Peter hinted that we would only be staying 45 minutes. We had so much fun that we ended up staying the whole time (it helps that our DVR faithfully recorded the game for us and Peter was getting updates via his balckberry).

As we were leaving, my friend asked if I was up for a girls’ night out, and our husbands (looking forward to a guilt-free golf date, no doubt) agreed to watch the kids. It helped that there was that game waiting to be watched at home. She came home with us and we got in the car to head out. Then we remembered that we are completely rusty on kid-free time. After some deliberation, we decided to walk downtown Mystic. It was nice to browse the shops and just talk. As my friend pointed out, we’ve forgotten how to have uninterrupted conversations lasting longer than 4 ½ minutes.

Sunday (9/14)
Primary program! The kids did great. Joseph was the only Sunbeam to give his part. During Primary, one of my Sunbeams had a full out tantrum and had to be taken to his Dad. Unfortunately it happened to be the only Sunbeam brave enough to do his part in the Primary program. Always fun to carry your own screaming, kicking child to the Primary President to take to your husband!

We celebrated Matthew's birthday after church and before Peter left for work.

Monday (9/15)
Happy Birthday to me! The older kids had their first piano lessons with their new teacher. They have been practicing all week and seem to really enjoy being back into lessons.

Tuesday (9/16)
I took a reconnaissance trip to Costco. My BJ’s membership comes due in a couple months and I wanted to see if it is worth the hour drive to go to Costco. My friend (aka the kids’ piano teacher and the Primary president) mentioned she was going and I was welcome to tag along. So I did (and brought along another friend for the fun). Definitely better selection and prices, but I don’t think it makes up for the $25 in gas and hour in drive. While there, I did make my first appearance at Trader Joes. This was cut short by another tantrum by my 3 year old.

Peter took advantage of his guilt-free golf date and the boys had their first night of cub scouts.

Wednesday (9/17)
Cleaning day

Thursday (9/18)
More cleaning, trip to library, Boys to football practice, read a book.

Friday (9/19)
Lured by the prospect of free breakfast, I went with a friend to IKEA (about an hour away). It was a lot of fun. Who can’t love a store with a built in babysitter and Swedish chocolate?

Saturday (9/20)
Another football game for the boys and then I watched my friend’s twin boys in the afternoon.