We have two brace faces, so this is the train track version of caramel apples.
I got granny smith apples, and they were so gross. No flavor at all. Boo.
Ok ok, this is going to be hard to explain...I might not be able to.
But ok, I was watching old videos of my kids from when they were young (do you ever do this?). It's so bizarre to see them little because my brain must have been wiped, because I don't remember them at all that little.
So there is a video of Avery doing a science experiment. It is a 30 MINUTE LONG video. I have never actually watched it before because it's 30 minutes loooonnnnggg, but here I was watching. It was so funny to see her pretending to be scientific. She was wondering about pop and what made it bubble/fizz. She would pour it into cups and listen to the sound and write down thoughts and questions.
About 15 minutes in, she said that singing songs helps her figure things out, so there on the spot she made up a song and sung it - "why does it bubble? why does it foam? why is it brown?" etc.
At this point I took my computer into her room to show her the rest of this video of her doing science.
Then at about the 20 minute mark, she said she was going to ask her mom to help her figure out the science. She called me over.
I was so nervous to see how I would react. What mom version of me was going to show up? annoyed mom? busy mom? patient mom?
I came into the screen and she asked me, "can you help us figure out why it bubbles?"
I immediately reply, "it has carbon dioxide in the pop...."
and she got so annoyed with me.
Her shoulders drooped and she said quietly "you ruined science. I wanted you to tell me HOW to figure it out, not tell me the answer."
haha
So what is my recovery going to be?
I have never really watched myself "mom" before. And I have to say, I am impressed with this particular performance. I watched the wheels in my head turn. I watched as I looked around for an answer, swapping air in my cheeks as I attempt to say the right thing.
I said, "Do you know the answer? because I stopped saying it right in time. How about you look at the ingredients to help you figure out why it bubbles?"
And from there we had a good give and take of scientific information about gas release and what makes it bubble, what makes it foam...
Then I said "well I'm going to moonwalk out of here now..."
haha that made me die laugh on the ground.
Later when she needed me for more help, I was upstairs telling Evan to get out of the shower, so she hollered to me, "Mom moonwalk back here!"
and I didn't, so she said to the camera:
"my mom did NOT moonwalk back here".
Anyway, what is the point of all this? To say, watching myself be a mom was wild. It was surreal and entertaining. It made me happy and proud and I wanted to pat myself on the back and say, that was great, let's see that moonwalk.
The picture up there that Andrew drew..."Coke Conspiracy With Avery"...
he watched the video with us and was rolling on the floor laughing with us, then he got up and made a "movie poster" for the video.
Monday Jim decided to go check out Scotland.
He did a road trip around the northern tip. While he was there, Nettie texted from Norway!
Look how close they are!
I love my friends.
On our way to eat some BARBEQUE.
Dang the other night Avery was playing an intense game against Meridian.
The score was zeros for most of the game until about 4 minutes left Maddy bumped one in on a corner kick. We were all stoked.
I yelled in desperation "everyone on defense! EVERYONE!"
And then with probably one minute left, Meridian shot in the most beautiful goal and we ended in a tie. It was so stressful.
I don't ever want the season to end but Avery is DONE.
It's a lot, but so so fun to watch!
This was after an away game at Mt Vernon Christian...
A couch in the parking lot.
Last Saturday we went to hell. I mean comic con.
We didn't know exactly what it was going to be like, but it was the worst. Wall to wall people (people who don't generally shower) in a small convention center.
We thought it might be fun, so me Jim Lisa Joe and the little boys went. It turns out it's just a room full of people selling their comic art. We lasted about 45 minutes before we died and buried ourselves in the ground and then left.
EXCEPT Andrew didn't hate it. In fact, he signed up for the costume competition. And the competition started in one and a half hours.
So everyone ELSE left, and I stayed behind with Andrew.
I can't even explain how painful it was. Mostly because it was so crowded and Andrew kept talking to me, but I couldn't hear him, so I would bend down and try and hear, and my neck was getting sore and my body was revolting and my battery was dead.
But then the costume parade started and that was better. There were chairs to sit on and Andrew went in the back part to line up with all the other contesters.
He was so funny as he walked down the cat walk - doing a little jig and arm wave. He was not one bit shy.
Then Jim came to pick us up, but Andrew protested: they announce the winner at 2:00!
But there was no way I could stay another minute, so I said, "if you win, they have my email address. They will let us know."
PS he is Boris from Bendy and the Ink Machine.
(it's a video game...)
Lots of kids got excited when they saw him and asked if they could take a picture with him.
Evan is SO CUTE in his uniform. I can't even stand it.
Evan doesn't get to play a ton, but I love his hustle. He sprints on and off the field.
One day back in the spring, Jim talked to the kids about how in his days he had to sprint everywhere he went during baseball - into the dugout, out to the field, over to the coach -
Think about what that communicates to the other team and to the coaches when you sprint from here to there, versus walking. Larsens are not walkers at practice!
Evan, Cooper, Christopher.
Here's a close up of my knee. I needed Jim to reassure me a few times that I was going to be ok. haha
This is me playing a board game that Andrew invented.
I'm such a good mom.
Bless my forest. It's my favorite and it's so pretty out there in the fall.
