Our weekend

I'm not exactly sure there is an adjective in the English language that could appropriately describe how the weekend went. 

It was fabulous to have everyone home ... something the kids pointed out a number of times. (By the way, there is a growing awareness of the five of us being together or not together ... the kids are meshing as a family and sincerely miss one another when they are with their other parent.) At the same time, with the rain and being cooped up inside for long periods of time, the kids were a little on the wacky side as well. It got to the point on Saturday night where we started to think that they are professionals at doing just enough to drive us absolutely nuts! 

Perfect example ... Chuck and I were sitting on the couch talking. Zack was sitting to my left and Chloe was sitting on Chuck's right. Zack had a piece of construction paper (read: a treasure map he had just finished drawing) and was rolling it up. It was a thick piece of paper and it was loud and he must have rolled it about 15 times. It got to the point where I couldn't even hear Chuck talking to me, so I asked Zack to stop. About the time we got a little silence, Chloe began slurping water out of her cup ... and noise was back! I understand that noise happens with three kids, but it was hilarious how well they did in tag-teaming us! Just about the time we'd get one settled down, another one was there with a different tactic! 

It's been cute though too ... after going to the school yesterday (mainly to let the kids run wild in the gym ... a big plus of having a dad who teaches PE!) we got all the kids in the house. The rule is that shoes have to be removed once we get in. Zack needed help getting his shoes off and his ever-helpful big sister was attempting assistance. Actually, Zack had on lace-up tennis shoes, so Chloe was doing more of pulling really hard on Zack's foot. As I walked over Chloe looked at me and said, "Can you hold him down so I can pull harder?" Gosh, thanks, honey, but I'll take it from here. :) 

Our toy pickup at night has turned into a bit of a flop. We set the timer for seven minutes and the kids have that long to get things put away. Anything that is left out when the timer goes off, gets taken away. The toys can be earned back the next night if pick-up goes better. Friday and Saturday nights saw some of the best philosophical discussions happen during this toy pick-up. Seriously, Chuck and I stood in amazement as they completely disregarded the timer and sat around and talked. Needless to say, all of them lost some pretty major toys both nights. It was weird behavior. Generally, they do a much better job. 

This morning on the way to church, I started laughing out loud. All three kids were talking at one time ... each to themselves about nothing in particular. There was nothing left to do but laugh as noise overwhelmed the confines of the car. :) 

At the same time, I wouldn't trade any of this for the world. There is something so wonderful about the noise the kids create in the house ... and it's most noticeable when no one is here and the house is quiet. 

Moving on ... we've had a few big things in the last week or so ... 

1. Gavin is the star student in his class this week. We just finished working on his poster that will hang on the wall. Some facts for you: 

* Gavin is 6 1/2 years old. 

* His favorite animal is a sabertooth.

* His favorite color is red.

* His favorite things to do are ride his bike and do Kuk Sool. 

* If he had one wish, he would wish for a pool. 

* The movies are his favorite place to go. 

* When he grows up he'd like to be a police officer. 

2. We bought a scale ... and the kids have loved weighing in. The stats: 

Chloe: 56 pounds

Gavin: 46 pounds

Zack: 36 pounds

No joke ... that's actually how much they each weighed! 

3. Zack continues to struggle with food. We've been trying to ask him to try one new thing each week. Nothing crazy ... this week was a piece of pasta. One small piece of pasta ... and he refused three nights in a row. *sigh* The reward is chocolate chips and yet he passes each time. I never thought a child of mine would refuse chocolate! 

Anyway, I think that about sums things up. Our next big events will be birthdays ... Chloe on February 1 and Gavin on March 18. Chloe turns 5 and Gavin turns 7. HOLY COW! :) 

Hoping this finds you all well. 

Much love,

--M

A rainy day

Hello friends, 

After a couple weeks of fabulous weather we now find ourselves in the middle of more January-like weather. It's rainy and foggy. It's the kind of weather that makes you want to curl up with a good book, a warm blanket and a cup of hot chocolate. It's the kind of weather that makes you want to stay snuggled up in bed with a massive heap of cozy covers on top of you. 

And then you come back to reality. It's 6 a.m. and a munchkin is in the room excitedly sharing that it's 6 a.m. and it's time to get up. And then another muchkin joins in the excited discussion. After gently telling the muchkins to find something quiet to play with for a few minutes ... the third munchkin joins the crew and, well, he's hungry for cereal. Go ahead, try to hit the snooze button on the muchkins, but there just isn't one to be found. Darn. It's Saturday morning at 6 a.m. and so the day begins ... *sigh* 

:) 

We started the morning with a Kuk Sool class for Gavin and Chuck this morning. Chloe, Zack and I joined the expedition and sat and watched (and played with stickers, of course) while the class went on.  We've had a quick snack, enjoyed a showing of Star Wars. Lunch (grilled cheese sandwiches) will follow, quiet time and then we'll head over to the school gym for some running around. 

I hope this finds all of you enjoying your weekend. I have pictures to post and more stories to share, but I will post it all as soon as I get a minute. 

Much love, 

--M

Here's a quarter ...

Hi friends, 

Allow me a moment to share you with my latest, "I feel old" moment. 

The scene: It's Friday afternoon around lunch time and the yearbook club is meeting. It's a great group of kids (yearbook is a club where students miss their lunch break on Fridays to put together the book ... so you can imagine the group of kids who would be attracted to that. Awesome group!) 

One of my students, Mikey, is downloading about 250 pictures to my computer. Sydney is standing next to Mikey and I'm sitting at my computer watching the photos. Sydney pulls a quarter out of her pocket and makes a statement like, "Wow, here's a quarter ..." Sydney has a great sense of humor so I follow up her statement with "... call someone who cares!" I was joking, of course and then I started laughing. It wasn't long before I realized no one else was laughing. 

It had nothing to do with the fact that the statement wasn't funny (although I suppose that was the case, t00) Instead, I got blank stares from both Mikey and Sydney. Why? THEY HAD NO IDEA WHAT THE PHRASE MEANT! In fact, they'd never used a pay phone before. In a world with cell phones, why would anyone need a pay phone? 

I had to take a step back and laugh again ... not at a joke, but at the way things have changed. I can remember the 8-track tapes my parents played when I was a kid, the VHS and BETA tapes that were available at the video store and the first VCR we owned that (gasp!) had a remote control. (The remote had to plug into the VCR and the cord was rather short, but still ...) My high school students have probably never seen at 8-track, heard of BETA or lived in a world without a remote. Heck, even our kids (at 6, 4 and 4) ask to hear the iPod or to send an email or a text message! 

I know I'm not old and I know that everyone has stories like this to share, but the quarter story certainly made me take a step back. 

Happy Monday. :) 

--M