You Don't See That Every Day

It's Spring! But I didn't need the calendar to tell me that. My 7 year old appeared in the morning dressed in tank top and shorts. Which was fine inside the house where it's about 70 degrees. However there was ice on the car windshield and the dogs water was also on the rocks. Thankfully by the time we finished lunch and school, the sun was shining and I let the kids go wild in the fresh air. The youngest reveled in having her older siblings home for the afternoon (the Boy is in Finals week; the Girl who Swims is recovering from strep throat). My 12 yr old took a First Day of spring montage for me. Here are her pics: In related news, Little K has been starting her schoolwork almost a soon as she gets up in the morning. She has connected the dots of finished work = time to play, and the sooner she's done the sooner she can play, which is her favorite thing at this point in life. One game they have been playing for the past two days is Find the Egg, aka Hiding Eas...

Friday night we stepped back in time. The Mr. and I had originally planned on doing a local scavenger hunt run by a local running store; but due to schedule conflicts and earlier-in-the-week-sickness, we decided to make it a family game night. After dinner I cranked out some chocolate banana peanut butter milkshakes and we had a rousing game of Aggravation. I came in 2nd to last ... yeah we don't just play until someone wins. We have to play it out all the way. So during the game, the Mr turned on Pandora to a oldies country station. And oh the good ol' memories that came flooding back with those songs. Songs my parents used to listen to, and songs I heard in college. As the kids watched in slight horrified fascination we sang the songs and danced. One that got to me was "Redneck Girl" - do any of you know/remember that one?! It was a favorite of mine!  At the end of the song, my daughter asked, "Can I get a belt with my name on it?" Score! The song live...

Basketball has started. I've had a few bad-mom moments because of it. Most of them involve forgetting the camera for the game. oops. At least we're just at the beginning of the season, and there are plenty more games to watch. We've got the Boy playing in the evenings on different days of the week. And two of our girls play on Saturdays. And then there are practices (along with Swimmer Girl's practices). So the Boy's first game was a loss according to the scoreboard. But we were so proud of how well he did. The boy can jump! His rebounding and defensive skills have grown in leaps and bounds (pun intended :)) He has become a much better player than last year. Granted, it's a different team - and coach - than he had last year. But he has grown too, and filled out in the muscles a bit. Yes, it continues to surprise me to see a young man in my house instead of a boy. The girl's games have been fun to watch also. My girls seem to have my non-aggressive way of p...

 Thirty six people; Grandparents, cousins, siblings, fiances, a soon to be born baby; Lots of love and laughter in the house. We spent Christmas at my brother and sister in law's house. Which was great, because there is plenty of room for all of us,  and some years there is the joy of snow (although not this year!)  We did something a little differently this year. I spent a few weeks putting together a family trivia game, gathering little known facts/ experiences from family members. I put them in random order, printed out a copy for everyone, along with the names (because keeping track of that many is not easy!) Then people spent dinner talking, and guessing who was the beauty pageant entry, and who was the one to eat mushrooms out of the yard, among other things. It was fun to listen to and hear the stories behind them once the answers were revealed. I'm already thinking ahead to next year ... maybe baby pictures.  

We're watching the Olympics! Oh did I tell you we joined the 21st century, and now have cable TV? For the first time in our married life, we have cable. It has been .. interesting. I wasn't thrilled with the idea initially. After all, we are trying to get away from electronics consuming all our time. But the Olympics! We can't miss those! But, no that is not the why of  why we got cable. That has more to do with lowering our phone and Internet bill. We 'cut a deal' with the provider, and it included cable TV. So anyway, seeing the sites of London on TV has been fun. My dear husband likes to say, "See that bridge? I've been there" or "I was on that bridge." Now it was fun to hear and think of the first time he pointed it out. But now that it has been about 500 times .. the kids groan when pictures of the famous bridges appear. I just laugh. And dream of the day he might take me there ;) This girl. She's my first girl. She ...

Today was spent looking, pondering, playing. We relaxed most of the day, well some of us did. Some of us went upstairs and put up more sheet rock in the afternoon. But others of us had tea and watched a movie and played games. I got some gunpowder this year. (Along with a boatload of other teas! Someone has been reading my blog it appears.) G got some dynamite. Boy, that was a bit of a shock. Until we realized what it actually is. My mom made this ornament for Little K. It's one of her first - K's that is, not my mom's; she's a pro at that kind of thing. And my sister made each one of us a beautiful ornament also! Little K also got a doll for Christmas from Grandma that had matching dresses - I mean the doll's dress and K's' dress from Grandma matched, not that Grandma has a dress that matches the doll. K was pretty much thrilled by that gift. really, she is thrilled, she just doesn't like to sit still for a picture...

And what a way to end the week. I took the kids to home school PE Friday afternoon. We don't go as often as we used to, mainly b/c it is in the middle of nap time. But since the Boy got out of school early, and my dear husband was working from home, I was able to take the 4 older kids in to play. (and Little K got a much needed nap at home.) Part of me wishes I had not. It was sure fun to see my friends again and visit. But what happened next wasn't so fun. Poor sweet girl's head met with another boy's knee. Ouch! See that bump on her forehead - that is not an optical illusion, nor is it her hand on the back of her head. That is the goose egg she was left with! It looked pretty bad, but thankfully she did not have a concussion, and she didn't cry very much either - she has always been a tough one. We monitored her for the evening and nighttime. And she came through with flying colors. I think we I may have 'over' monitored her. I asked her, before...

So I have a little game I want you to play. This is going to need some audience participation, so get your brains and fingers ready! Answer each of these simple questions, quickly and easily. What is 3+4? What is 5+2? What is 6+1? What is 8-1? What is 10-3? What is 9-2? Name a vegetable. Okay - what veggie did you come up with? Leave me a comment and let me know how it went. I'll let you know tomorrow what my minions and husband said when asked these questions. 'Cause if I told you today I'd ruin the whole thing.

We've been having a little trouble this summer with a certain child who continually asks to play computer, or Xbox. That's just not gonna happen in our household when there is sun shining and nice weather. It doesn't last long enough in Oregon to spend it holed up inside playing with some box. So we gathered some materials and set the Boy to work on making a game. Some call this game Snakes. Some call it Ladder Golf. G. managed to get the PVC pipe at a local store for a few bucks; compared to what you would pay for it in the store, we saved mucho-bucko. Hurrah! We found a bunch of old golf balls laying around the house; G drilled some holes into them and attached some nylon rope (which we also happened to have laying around the house) - hurrah for the frugal folks! (please disregard girl-with-towel-on-head - she likes to walk around after a shower with her towel-turban on. It does great things for her hair, so I don't say anything.) So now the kids have this game...

We are not a 'baseball' family. Never had the kids in Little league, or any other kind of baseball league. Except for the Backyard League. Today was one of the game days. Mainly because it was sunny out and there was no school, and Dad was home to play for a little bit. The kids and G. spent a couple of hours, with a neighbor joining us, to hit the softball, run the bases, work on their catching and pitching skills. We even had a concession stand. Except the (5 year old) proprietor left abruptly when a better gig came along. And the general manager was left to clean up the pretzels, yogurt-raisins, and cookies. Eventually the players found other interests and the game disbanded. But it was a good run while it lasted.

high fashion shoes We took the kids bowling Friday night. Our scores from Xbox Kinect bowling didn't exactly transfer over to real life. My best - 110 - with a real bowling ball was nowhere near my 268 on the game screen. But it was still a hoot! We showed up at the bowling alley after a dinner of fast food. The lights were dimmed and the neon was glowing. The kids seemed to enjoy seeing their teeth aglow. neon, and flashing disco balls Even the baby had plenty to look at and stay entertained for most of the time. glowing pins in the background

It's all about the tower. And the crash. We build them up, she topples them over. Claps and cheers to follow. Repeat as needed.

After days of being stuck in the house because of rain, and runny, gunky noses, we had a high case of cabin fever.So I decided we had to get out before I threw the kids down the street. A local children's museum is sponsoring a scavenger hunt; so we downloaded the clues and looked over the details. The clues were actually 2-part. A small photo shows a part of a feature from a local downtown business, so we had to figure out the building. And then there were clues on the elements - parts of the periodic table. Perfect for school! So even though there was fun, there was also education. Sneak it in anyway we can, y'know. The hunt was on! We were able to figure out places from a few of the photos before we left the house, which helped get us started. Once we were in the designated downtown area we found more clues as we went. It was so cold out side though! We did some walking around the downtown area, but not for long! We jumped back in the truck and drove to find the other clu...

It was party weekend here. The kickoff was actually on Wednesday, or rather, Tuesday afternoon when the kids were scurrying around making Valentines to give to their friends at a party at Bible study the next day. And then on Friday we attended another party at a friends' home. We had a fun lunch, played games, and visited. They exchanged Valentines and capped the day off with a game of musical chairs! How long has been since I/we have played that game! But the fun wasn't over! On Saturday we went to a wedding shower for my niece who is getting married in two weeks! I was in charge of the games this time around. I love being in charge of the games - then I don't have to play, and I get to tell other people what to do! (Always a huge plus for the youngest in the family.) So I came up with these games: The Price Is Right Name that Spice and  What's In Your Wallet? Lots of fun, lots of laughter, and some cool prizes, in my humble opinion. Unfortunately this ...

I know it has been awhile since Christmas, but this is the first chance I have had to write. We spent the Christmas day up at my brother's house with most of my family. 7 out of 10 siblings and their offspring were able to make it. We had the young -- the "old" -- and the "in-between" -- We ate tons of food and goodies, played some fun new games. New games at Christmas seems to be a tradition here. Speaking of new games ... an earlier post of mine alluded to a present we were getting our kids. Most years, well every year actually, we buy a few presents for each child, plus a book and a little toy and something sweet to put in their stocking. This year we decided to do it differently. We didn't buy individual gifts for each child; so my holiday shopping was quick and easy since my husband picked up this sweet little number at the store:  and I didn't have to do anything but find the books for the stocking stuffers. The looks on their faces...