Another Spring Break Story OR Skipping Ahead Again OR Why I Don't Do Things OR Tuna Juice In My Hair

Today we awoke with a couple simple goals in mind:

Play with Michael.

and
Clean the house.
and
Plan ahead for the whole weekend since you're going to be away for most of it.

That last one may have been just mine.
But, anyway, it was looking to be a busy, but reigned-in day. Plans to play outside with our neighbor, Michael, were used as motivation for getting through breakfast, getting dressed, morning devotional, cleaning the playroom.
Then, FINALLY, time to go outside and play with Michael. But...it was only 9am. And Michael, being 10 yrs old and on Spring Break, wasn't up yet. So, upset kids equal not-so-fun driveway play. So, we threw sidewalk chalk, ran over each other on bikes, and screamed at each other a lot (well, I mostly just sat on the porch and tried to get some reading done in preparation for a lesson on Sunday).
It was all a little horrible.
But all the screaming woke Michael up and he came to play so maybe it was worth it?

Anyway...we all played. Front yard, Garage, ("Not inside though, Michael") Back yard, Front yard, ("No, really, Michael, not inside.")...kid has quite the interest in the inside of our house for some reason.
Trust me, kid, you're missing out on nothing. Ooh, unless your house is lacking in general clutter and dust. Oh wait, it is. (Seriously ALWAYS spotless. Literally spotless.)
After a while, it was getting a bit warm, the kids were getting flushed and bored and Michael's Grandma, AKA our lovely neighbor Candace AKA Sister Greer AKA The One Who Leads the Music in Primary came out to say hi and invited the kids to come play inside. We all went inside and enjoyed some fun play time in Michael's room. (Well, again...I mostly just read. But there was a cool train set.) Michael's Grandma AKA Candace AKA...nevermind...she had been mowing the lawn (yep) and disappeared to take a quick shower. The bunch of us moved into the backyard which my kids, by the way, think is the greatest backyard of all time. It was getting toward lunch so I warned everyone that we had about ten minutes to play then we would be heading home. Nobody was very happy with me (Michael had just had breakfast so he was quite suspicious of my reasoning, might I add) and I had a feeling it was going to be an interesting scene once the time came to leave.
Play time continued though, I pushed on Bethany on the swings and perused the raised garden bed, thinking of whether or not I would try something like that while the boys pretended to be pirates. I noticed that in one section of the yard(there are several 'sections'...corner lot), the sprinklers were on.
Good timing, Candace, I thought to myself since she had just finished mowing the lawn.
I also thought to myself "Good thing we're playing over here and not over there since the kids are terrified of nothing more than sprinklers spontaneously popping out of the ground and chasing them with their streams of water."
And that is where my thinking stopped. I broke up some sort of fight, and playtime ensued.
Then, things sort of happened in slow motion.
I saw the sprinklers stop and pop back into the ground.
I saw the kids all playing tag nearby.
I saw some funny movement throughout sections of the grass the kids were in.
I heard a sound like a dishwasher starting up.
I thought, hmm. That's a weird noise.
Then...the backyard suddenly exploded into arcs of water meant to refresh and pamper the freshly cut grass.
Screaming.
Running. (always the wrong direction)
Panicking.
Observing. (Michael)
Rescuing. (Me)
James was first, as he was closest. I scooped him up and delivered him, shaking but hardly wet, to the back porch...out of the line of fire.
Bethany had the good sense to remove herself to the section of the yard without sprinklers. But it was on the side opposite from where we all were. The island of the sprinklers separated her from her family and the tears started.
Poor Ben was running around like a chicken with its head cut off amongst the sprinklers. Once he got hit, he would turn and run another way until he was hit with water again. (Keep in mind, these are not the little wimpy fountain-type ones like we have. These are the kind that shoot a giant stream of water and make their way across the lawn, criss-crossing each other, the tops of their arches at about the height of my head. To the kids, these were like giant hybrids of their worst nightmare.) Eyes alternating between wide and panicked to squeezed shut in terror (all while running and flailing), Ben was trying his darndest to get the (word of your choice) out of the battle zone! I went in after him, tripping over my Old Navy flip flops (they are so slippery when wet) as he kept changing directions. He couldn't hear my calling and comforting over his own screams and shrieks. Finally, he notices me and turns my direction, arms outstretched, mouth open in a cry, eyes locked into mine. I can tell from five feet away that he is shaking like a leaf. And right before I get to him, right before he is safe, the minefield of horror strikes its last blow and a nearby sprinkler smacks him with probably a half gallon's worth of water right in the face. (That's when I actually felt super bad and...stopped laughing.)
Ben to porch. Hugs, kisses, face check (wasn't a forceful enough blow for pain, just really really wet). Boys huddle together.
Time to get Bethany.
She stands 20 feet from me, eyes wide and welled up.
"Mama."
"Don't worry, I'm coming" I say.
Back through the sprinklers, scoop her up.
"I don't want to get wet."
"You're going to have to, hon."
And like moving targets we went. Made it to the porch. Set her down. She joins the soaked, traumatized huddle.
(This is when I started laughing again.)

Time to go home.
Nobody wants to.
Michael is appearing a little glad to be rid of us though, after that display.

I dragged James home (literally) while Bethany droopily led the way, Ben plunking along next to me in a bit of a daze, his shoes making squishing noises and leaving tracks on the sidewalk. I delivered James inside where he refused to stay. So, in order to clean up the bikes out front and get things all closed up, I had to lock him in his bedroom. I know it sounds horrible now that I'm out of the moment. But I really wasn't sure how else to get him to stay home. I know for a fact he would have escaped and run right back into the Greer's house soaking wet, slipping on their entryway and breaking something or other (whether in his body or without). So...into his room. Bethany and Ben sat on the stairs inside while I cleaned up out front, staring into the distance.

Just now writing this I remembered that I couldn't get the garage door to close. Still open. Hmm. JC will love that. Sorry honey. I'll get right on that.

...in a minute...

Back inside, I changed everyone's clothes. James stopped crying about that and started into it about something else. I think something about spiderman markers and a Mr. Potato Head. Ben busied himself with something in the corner of the kitchen (smart kid) and Bethany wailed about tuna fish and how she liked it last time she had it but she thinks this time she won't like it. Then, tired of the competition for the loudest wail, she clocks James on the side of the head.
I may have also locked her in her room.
Well, not really, but she did get sent there. Not as much of a flight risk.

Suddenly, I realized that this one spot of my head right around my ponytail had been itching for like, ever. (You know how that always happens after you've had a ponytail in for a while) And I was sure this is what was causing 96% of my irritation at this point. I couldn't take it anymore and scratched the itch, feeling much better. Except then I realized that I had used the same hand in which I was holding the can of tuna I had been draining. The first half of the draining had been done in the sink. The second half, right over my ponytail.
How do you forget you have an open can of tuna in your hand?
Hmm.

How indeed.

(JC and I are off for a little overnighter and day at the Renaissance Festival tomorrow and Saturday. It should be lovely and all the work I have to do today will be so worth it. Wish me luck. Especially since rest time just ended. At least I know that, if all else fails and I need something to refresh and relax me in the midst of all the preparations, Wet 'n Wild is just a couple houses down.)

kids.

It's spring break.
Bethany only has school three days a week and for only 2 1/2 hours at a time. But, for some reason, not having that in the schedule this week is so liberating. Clean all day, lazy in the grass all day, movies on and off all day, swing all day, or any combination of the above is possible.

This morning we are downstairs outside.

I am behind on my blogging (when does that ever happen?) and usually will not allow myself to skip ahead at all...writing about the present when the past is not yet accounted for leaves me feeling uneasy.

But the kids are happy and I am alternating between involvement and observation. They were amusing me just now so I grabbed my handy dandy laptop.


Most recent conversation:

Bethany: James, you be the daddy.
James: K
Bethany: Who is the mommy?
James: I dunno.
Bethany: Well, who do you want to marry?
James: I donwantu.
Bethany: Yes you do. We're supposed to get married.
James: No, I don't want to. (more forcefully this time)
Bethany: Yes James, you have to find a friend who you love the best and you marry them. A girl. Someone who wants to follow Jesus like you. (This tickled me. We have been talking a lot about Isaac and Jacob's choices in spouses since I have been preparing lessons about this for Sunday School and Bethany always asks what I'm learning about. Then, to my delight, she always wants to talk about it all in very much depth. Prepares me for the teenagers.)
James: No!!
Bethany: Yes!
James: NO!!!!
Bethany: Uh! (in frustration) Ben?
Ben: What Mahnuhnee?
Bethany (Mahnuhnee): Who do you want to marry?
Ben: What?
Bethany: Who do you want to marry? A girl.
Ben: What?
Bethany: Uh! (in frustration)
Ben: Uh! (in amusement)
Bethany: (to all) I am going to marry Rowdy. (our little friend who moved to Utah! Made a reappearance this week for a visit! Yay!) Or...I might marry Buzz and Woody. (of Oystry - - Toy Story - - fame)
Boys: (stare at her, slightly amused, waiting for the punch line)
Bethany: Just kidding! You only marry one. (thinks) But...Mama married two.
(everyone shrugs it off and moves on to a new topic of conversation...something about the sandbox.)


Ah, to embrace the rules of communication that kids abide by.

Now back to the sandbox...

P.S. I dedicate this post to my sister, Katie. When I sent her pictures of the kids playing outside this morning, she expressed her envy. Slaving away in her cubicle at 'Make-A-Wish" she says, "My soul aches behind a buttoned cardigan and hosiery."
And though mine aches just a little at my stained t-shirt, cut-off shorts, un-shaven legs and crocs, I totally know what she means. And I don't feel a bit sorry for myself.
So, Katie, our morning antics go out to you!
(...call in sick tomorrow and join us...)

(This is how you eat trail mix on spring break)

To Bike or Not to Bike?

As spring has begun to make its way to our little homestead, we had two exciting things coming up for our little Bethany - - her birthday and her trike-a-thon at preschool.
Every year, the school does the trike-a-thon through St. Jude's in which you pledge a bit of money to go toward a good cause and the little ones learn about bicycle safety and then ride back and forth on the sidewalk repeatedly. It is a big deal.
These two events merged together for good this year and we decided to buy her a bike. Last year, as I was packing up the van on a preschool day, suddenly remembering it was trike-a-thon day, I grabbed a helmet and one of the kids' tricycles (seemed appropriate) and headed off to school. Little did I know that this was a bigger deal than I thought, with all the kids and their big-kid bikes (shoot, I just didn't think about the fact that she was probably old enough for one of those!) and cute little princess or spiderman helmets and a big hoopla.
I swore that next year I would make a bigger deal of it so she could feel excited and festive. And maybe have a big girl bike.
SO, we decided to get her a big girl bike for her birthday, but just a little early. JC was still without a job at this point, so one morning we just up and decided to make a trip to Target and see what we could find. Now, keep in mind that our children all think they are exactly the same age and get all the same privileges at all the same times. So, at times like birthdays and other special circumstances, they get really confused.
You can imagine what this was like, trying to let Bethany pick out a bike (which she was ecstatic about) with two little brothers who don't understand why in the world she would get one and they wouldn't. Now, there are times to enforce this kind of thing and birthdays are definitely it. But...after watching all their little faces just light up with all the fun options in front of them...we decided pretty quickly that they would all get bikes for their birthdays...just early. :) Then, when the actual birthday came around they would get just a small present to celebrate.
With all the figuring out and decision making done, we ended up heading back home with a princess bike, a spiderman bike, and a smaller toy story bike.
SO cute.
JC set to work on putting them all together. Little did we know this turned out to be a bigger deal than anticipated (as was the whole morning it turns out) and it all became quite hectic. It was quite the morning!

Finishing touches on the princess bike!

While James grows quite restless waiting for his turn...

Scout makes himself comfortable inside the box previously occupied by a bike.

Bethany is so prepared with her lovely little helmet!

And James takes matters into his own hands with the opening of the box!
(This is where I start thinking that I sure hope that we don't end up having to return it!

JC plays biking coach while I play photographer.

And off she goes!

Woohoo! She's a natural!

After much laboring, the spiderman bike appears nearly ready to go!

And James gives it a try.
And then throws himself on the pavement purposely in an effort to express his frustration that he can't quite work it.
(This is where I start thinking...hmmm...we might end up returning that one.)

Ben helps with oystrybike (His pronunciation of Toy Story bike) assembly.

Then, gives it a shot.
Looks adorable.
Can't quite work it.
Doesn't care all that much.
(This is where I start thinking...maybe they are both going back...)

But, with this kind of good time, 1 out of 3 is not a bad result!

Then, a week later, it was Trike-A-Thon Time! Bethany had practiced and practiced and we were all excited to see her participate!

She leads the line of preschoolers! All in their school shirts! Cute!

So sweet.

After her much practiced and perfectly mastered bike riding, she was rewarded with her very own water bottle and some treats.

Which led the boys to believe it was okay to try to raid the treat basket.
It was, however, not really.
Therefore...

Able to ignore the fact that her brothers were melting down just feet away, Bethany enjoyed the rest time with her friends after the big "race."

And her bike rested amongst all the others.
Sad that it only got to participate in one trike-a-thon. Because, alas, the end of preschool is coming near for our little girl.
But, do not fret, little bike friend, kindergarten is within riding distance. :)

We Own the Night

Evenings outside start out innocent enough...wanting to burn off some after-dinner energy, enjoy the twilight during a time of year when mosquitos have not yet claimed it, your average run of the mill motivations going on...

You swing a little swing to lull your body into the gentle rhythms of sleepy-time breathing

But, before you know it, the sun sets and a new-found energy envelops the backyard.
An old, broken window screen combined with an old, broken baby swing rope become something that propels you into motion. A toy golf club becomes a sword that readies you for whatever game is coming your way.

The shining eyes of your domesticated cat from the balcony above become ominous reminders of the change in the air present as the moon takes over the sky.

To-do projects you have been avoiding suddenly feel pressing.

Regular backyard objects become thrill-seeking opportunities.

And yet, still, like any other time of day, when it's time to follow mom and dad inside...
much like the moonlight...
you can't fight it.

Love Is . . .

With it being February - - a month famous for its celebration of all things love . . .
I thought it appropriate to ask the following question:

What is love??

Love is helping Mommy make lunch.
Slicing eggs for egg salad sandwiches.
Because it's Bethany's favorite.
And the rest of us show love by dealing with the hard-boiled egg smell in the kitchen so she can enjoy her sandwich. :)

...stirring in celery and relish...

...together!
James is great at showing love through helping.

Love is playing together!
Although we surely have our share (and more than fair) of altercations, the kids really do play well together. Everything ranging from make-believe play to simply playing with the same sorts of toys in close vicinity to each other, I know the kids really enjoy being together.
Even though they fight hard sometimes, I take heart in remembering doing the same with my siblings!
And now that we are all grown, we are all living happy, healthy lives...we love each other, are kind and respectful to one another, and laugh about our days of violent disagreements.
I'll take the trade-off!

Love is caring for our world!
Is it a secret that we love our fruit trees? We somehow seem to have a connection to all foliage on our property here...but the fruit trees are our babies...we tend to them in hopes that they will live happy, fruitful (literally) lives!
We may not do a whole lot outside our little homestead here, but we do our best to care for the beautiful creations we are blessed to be surrounded by. I take great joy in our backyard...our trees...our future garden spot...our soft grass for the kids to play in.
We love our backyard.
Anyway...here JC is doctoring our apple tree. It appears to have some sort of something-or-other that has left it a bit fuzzy and sad. After talking to the nursery, JC got to work caring for it in the way recommended...dish soap and water.

Still fuzzy.
She will pull through though...she's a solid old girl.

The kids were concerned that she was sick.
So they pet her lovingly.

Ben gave kisses.

While we're discussing this...oh how I love our sweet peach tree.
Look at the beautiful blossoms.
Look at them!

Love also sent some beautiful rainfall lately.
Which fed these sparkling buds on the plum tree...see the white blossoms just starting to peek?

Love is art.
I love this picture. James is a perfectionist when it comes to anything he does (more reasons for me to believe he is a small, male version of my sister, Monica!) so it is rare that he even attempts to draw something or color a picture. It sometimes feels like he is uninterested in attempting something that he knows won't turn out just perfect.
So, I LOVE this picture he drew with sidewalk chalk.
It is Woody from Toy Story.
You can see that he has a hat on and a badge right under his simple face.
Two arms, two legs.
Perfection.

Love is making friends.
We live on a cul-de-sac with people whose children are mostly grown. So, in our immediate little neighborhood, not a lot of opportunity for little playmates. But, one of our neighbors has a grandson who sometimes stays there - Michael. (Therefore, our kids think any ten year old child they see anywhere is named Michael.)
The kids have really taken to him and one day he came over to play. He happened to have a friend visiting...a girl we used to teach in primary. The kids just played and basked in the concept of neighborhood friends!

Love is a catnap.
Enough said, really.

Love is glittery valentines.
I decided to make valentines with the kids this year. With glitter.
I don't know why I specifically chose to use glitter except that I just felt like being festive.
I think JC thought I was crazy but he supported my craziness.
Bethany was really excited.
Me too.
I cut some shapes out of construction paper, rounded up some glue, etc. and we got to work!

Bethany was very creative.

Ben was glitter-happy.

And James...was a perfectionist.

They all did a really lovely job and I was quite pleased with our first Valentines Day Involving Glitter.
The kitchen table, after the fact.
(You should have seen the floor...and our faces...and clothes...and fingers...)

Love is sharing excitement!
It is finally time...time to move on completely from the world of baby swings!
Ben has been ready for a big boy swing on our backyard swing set for quite some time.
It finally came down last week.

Everyone gathered around in excitement as JC replaced it.

and Benny Boy loved it.
(and I was a little emotional.)
Yay for Big Boy Ben!

Love is NAPTIME!!!
Naptime. Yes, naptime.
Do you remember what this is? I, for one, had forgotten.
But, on one glorious day in February, my kids reminded me what it was like to have children who took naps.

Wow.

Love is Valentine's Day!!!
Yes, the cliche ol' holiday.
I love it.
I didn't always love it. I never hated it, I never felt like it was just another commercialized holiday. I could enjoy it.
But now I love it. I love celebrating love.
JC and I went out a couple nights prior and celebrated at our usual love-day spot, Flancer's. Then we picked up some frozen custard (which I technically do not eat...shhh, don't tell anyone...) and watched a movie at home. Saturday we delivered some valentines with the kids and that night, JC came home with this:
(I was working on a lesson for Sunday School...hence the stuff in the background...)
Roses, a little bear with chocolate (which I technically don't eat either...shhh...) and Martinellis.
I love girlie, flirty gifts like this!

On Valentine's Day, we made sugar cookies.

We did NOT eat any of the dough.
Did we, James?

My sister, Monica (two mentions in this post...famous...), made a beautiful cake.
She is becoming quite the cake designer. (I don't know if there is an actual title for this...if so, I'm just about certain that is not it...)

Anyway, it was a lovely Valentine's Day.
It's been a lovely month.
I have lovely children, a lovely home, and a lovely sweetheart to spend all of forever with.
Most importantly, I have a lovely knowledge of where all these blessings come from...why I am blessed with one day after another of joy, challenges, opportunities, and LOVE.
Lucky me.