Blue And Gold

If you have a scout, were a scout, or ever hoped to be a scout, you know what Blue and Gold means. Yes, it's that time of year again, the Blue and Gold Banquet. All the families attending were asked to bring a "scout" themed dessert. I think ours qualifies. There will be judging, I'll have to post later with the results.

Fall Pictures

I took the kids to a park to see what it was like for pictures. I love taking pictures outside, but the kids love to "explore" more than they like me to take pictures. I can usually bribe them... there may or may not have been a promise of ice cream after.

It's the Best Time of the Year

Look at those bright eager smiles.

Doctor Visits

We're going on vacation and I do NOT want to have to deal with sick kids while vacationing. When Lily said it hurt to go pee, I immediately called to set up an appointment. Luckily, nothing was wrong.

The next day we hung out and I noticed that Lily's eye was getting more swollen as the day progressed. I kept telling myself not to flip out, but when Sunday morning rolled around and Lily's eye was nearly swollen shut, I had Michael take her to Urgent Care. Once again, it wasn't anything to freak out about, it was a mosquito bite that was on her eyelid.

Jack also happened to get knocked in the eye while playing with some friends and got a black eye. Lily and Jack were quite the pair.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Back To School Time

We start school a little earlier this year. August 19th is "D" day in our district. I haven't started school supply shopping yet, but I have managed to find a few pairs of uniform slacks for Jack and Emma. For the most part, I like having the kids wear uniforms. There are no argument about what to wear in the mornings. That being said, it can get a little spendy when you *gasp* have to pay FULL price for a pair of slacks.

Emma will have a new addition to her ensemble this year. The kids are required to wear a belt when they start 2nd grade. I've been keeping my eyes peeled for a "girlish" belt that is not encrusted with sparkles and rhinestones. A plain belt is not an easy thing to find when you're looking.

You Can Do Anything With Two

I got a call last week asking if Jack could attend a day camp this week. Short notice, but the session was going to get canceled if there weren't enough participants. I wasn't planning on signing up Jack for a camp, but I thought; "I can do anything with two." Plus, I got the camp for cheap since they were slightly desperate to fill the session.

Life is supposed to be easier with two. Not so when it's Emma and Lily. I think that they double the work. They seem to thrive on fighting with each other. I might have to preemptively take Tylenol.

On the flip side, Jack will be so busy that he'll hopefully be exhausted by the time I pick him up each afternoon.

Bicycle Ride

After so much rain/cloudy weather we left the house bright and early for a bike ride to the park. I figured that I could wear the kids out with fresh air and sunshine.

We met a friend of Jack's at the park and managed to stay for almost two hours. If that didn't tire them out, surely the mile to and from would do the trick. Emma was in a generous mood and let Jack's friend ride her bike home. I wondered how long it would take before she realized she had to walk all the way home.

I must have been in a crazy place, because I offered to let Emma ride on the bike with me. Mind you, I have Lily sitting in the kid seat behind me. Emma climbed on the bar between the seat and the handlebars. Yup, she didn't last too long sitting on that bar. I told her as I was slowing down that she needed to "hop" off the bike as soon as I stopped. Did that happen?

In a perfect world, she would have gracefully hopped off as I glided to a full and complete stop. Instead, she clung to the bike like a howler monkey which meant that I couldn't reach the ground without tipping the bike sideways. With Lily on the back, the bike gave up the fight as it could no longer defy gravity. We all took a slow motion tumble in the grass.

Not one of my brighter ideas. Emma and Lily didn't sustain any injuries and Emma went on to jog the rest of the way home.

Water

My neighbor got her pool out and I swear that my kids could hear the hose turn on from inside our house. I think that Lily had her suit on before she even asked to go play. What do you think of the kids and their "Charlie's Angels" poses?

Sunday Talk

I found out Saturday night, as I was going to bed, that Jack had a talk for Primary. I don't need a lot of time, but at least 24 hours notice is good to have. We pretty much sat through Sacrament writing his talk on 3x5 note cards. I then had him take the cards to class and "practice" reading his talk.

Jack starts his talk off a little shaky. He fumbled over the word Nazareth, but recovers nicely and talks loud and clear. I can tell he's getting to the end of his talk, he's in the middle of a personal story. Then, mid sentence, he steps away from the podium and bolts to his chair. From the back row, I try and tell him he has one more note card, but he's sheepishly sitting with his class trying to melt into his chair.

Next time, we'll forgo the note cards and write his talk on a regular piece of paper. Hopefully we'll have more notice.

Cub Scouts

Pack meetings are not my favorite things to attend. This week the meeting was planned for a park cleanup, which made the idea of attending tolerable. I was actually thinking of ducking out of going but I got a last minute plea to bring treats. If you sign on the bring treats, there is no ducking out.

After much "food storage" discussion with an unnamed sister, I determined that I need to beef up my cake/brownie/dessert in a box storage. I didn't have my usual bag of chocolate chips, all I had was a partial bag of mini chocolate chips. In a lack luster burst of enthusiasm I decided to make a pan of mini chocolate chip cookie bars. Let's face it, how much effort do you want to put out for a Pack meeting?!

Michael and I decided to divide and conquer, leaving him home with the girls and Jack and I heading off to Pack meeting. I actually didn't mind having the meeting at the park, the noise level was considerably more tolerable and there was a purpose behind the meeting. The boys headed off in a feral pack to find wayward trash, the adult leisurely parading behind.

Once the trash was collected, the kids got their ecology lesson for the day and then headed for the treats. I tried to cut the bar into as many as I thought I could get away with, I still only ended up with 2 1/2 dozen cookies. I knew that someone else was bringing treats and figured that would be ok. Wrong. The other mom decided to bring "healthy" chocolate wheat cookies. The kids had gotten a warning that they could only have ONE treat. The poor kids that chose the chocolate cookie were looking longingly at my cookies. On the sly, I handed those kids another cookie.

I thought that I was "getting away" with less work because I make the bar cookies. The kids still appreciated the treat, even with the bare minimum of effort on my part. Note to self; Don't make fancy desserts for cub scouts.

Spirit Week

The kids have had "spirit week" at school. I'm a little bummed that I didn't take pictures all week.

Monday was pj day, who wouldn't want to go to school in their pjs?! Tuesday was "twin day". Jack's partner chose navy school pants and a red polo. Pretty easy to get right considering it is essentially a school uniform. Emma wore a white t-shirt and jeans. There was some mix up and her twin didn't wear what she wore. It's very dramatic being in first grade.

Wednesday was "Sports day". We don't really follow sports at our house, so the kids don't have team jerseys. I let the kids wear athletic shorts and faux sport shirts from Target. Close enough in my book.

Today is crazy hair and clash day. We've got today nailed.

Tongue n' Cheek

Hey kiddos let's take an Easter picture.

Lily?! What's in your mouth? Of course it Easter candy.

Say Cheese

I had to limit the number of eggs that I wanted to hard boil. If the kids were to choose, they would have dyed a dozen each. I figured that if I let the kids each dye three, that would be a good number.

Surprisingly the kids did not fight over the flimsy plastic egg holder. They each took turns dipping eggs and even helped each other pick "cool" colors. It wasn't until I tried to take their picture that they starting sharing the "love".

Early Morning TV

I was up turning on the tv way too early this morning. We did get a considerable amount of snow yesterday and I just wanted to be sure that school was canceled. It's not that I mind school being canceled, I just like to know and can have some expectation of the day ahead. At about 5:15 AM the kid's school district had canceled school for the day.

Spring Break is supposed to start next week, it would appear that we are going to have an extra long Spring Break. Emma was also supposed to have a field trip today. She is a little disappointed that she isn't going. I'm sure she'll feel better knowing that the field trip will be rescheduled.

I need to find more gloves for the kids. Jack went out to play with some friends yesterday and forgot to wear snow pants and gloves. I'm sure he would have played longer but he nearly broke down the front door trying to get inside and get warm. His pants were frozen stiff and he broke down in tears because his hands were so cold. That was a lesson learned on what to wear when playing in the snow. (I need to find some empty bread sacks and tube socks)

Lily didn't want to touch the snow, she was warming up her thumb by sucking on it.

Pinewood Derby

Jack's big day at the races. It's pretty impressive how quickly the races go once they have everything set up. Jack finished 12th out of 21, I think he was happy with his showing. His was the best tank in the race.

Notice the paint job...Jack did it nearly all by himself. There is a streak of artistry in him.

Built It

Jack had a busy Saturday, he went to a Home Depot building clinic and he started his Pinewood Derby car. A friend invited him to go to Home Depot and they ended up making a mini race track. Perfect practice for the derby car. I guess I should remember to take my kids to these activities, Jack had a great time.

As for the Pinewood Derby car, much research went into the design. Michael had Jack look online for a car that he would like. There are lots of very cool designs, a little involved for some of them, and not exactly made by kids I'm sure. Jack decided on a tank (thank goodness) and got to work using graph paper and drawing out the dimensions. Then Michael and Jack went to work on the basic cuts. They still have to work out the weights and paint job, but they still have two weeks to get it done.

Logical Consequences

Jack has been forgetting his homework folder lately. As a consequence, he is grounded from all activities for that day. That seems pretty logical. Unfortunately, Jack is none to pleased with this consequence.

Today when he got home from school, he took a look in his backpack and realized he didn't have it. Tears started to well up and the bargaining began. "But Mom...that's a bad rule!" "It's not fair. I didn't agreed to this." "When you ground me, it only makes it worse."

I was very calm today and asked him if I should throw a party when he forgets his homework. He didn't think that was funny.

Coolness factor

During our dinner conversation, my coolness factor went way up.

Jack and Emma had a singing concert this evening, luckily at the same place and same time. They were bouncing off the walls as soon as we got home from school from the excitement of having an evening activity. Emma ran in the house and found her "fancy" dress for the concert. I did have to remind them that they had several hours before we had to leave, we even had to eat dinner.

As we sit down for dinner, Jack asks me if I was ever in a band. As soon as I said yes, Jack asks; "What did you play and what was the name of your band?" Yup, I just hit "cool" with the kids.

Jack has been playing Rock Band with his friends and I can see in his mind that I must have been in a band like that. I thought that I was going to disappoint when I told him that I played the trumpet and that I was in the school band. Nope, just young enough to be impressed that his Mom played in several bands.

Art Lovers

Last week, Emma and Jack brought home Art projects. I'll let you guess who did which picture.


I'm pretty impressed with both pictures and have one up on my wall right now. Jack wants to hang his picture up in his room, but I need to get a frame for his.

Carpooling for Chess Club

Jack joined the chess club a few weeks ago. This prompted a neighbor and I to start carpooling to school. I feel like I got the better end of the deal, I just have to drop kids off in the morning, she delivers them home in the afternoon.

I feel like the kids are in a bare minimum of after school activities, but I occasionally want to shake my head when I realize how much time is spent in the car driving places some days. And I feel like I get off pretty easy compared to others. How do these "soccer moms" do it?!

So, thanks to chess I am now saving the environment by carpooling. Who knew that chess would save the world?!