Scrambled Thoughts XVII - End of School Style

1 - He's a heart-melter, this one.

And he knows it.  Just today this conversation went down,
"Hey Teek, guess what?"
"You love me."
"How did you know I was going to say that?!"
"Because you say dat all duh time.  And you say I'm duh k-YOU-tist."
"Well, you are the cutest!"
"Yeah.  I know dat cause you say dat all duh time."

Ego. fed.

2 - Miles is a competitor.  Also, his hair is amazing.

Sometimes my mind flashes back to one experience when Miles was in the transition phase between baby and toddler. My parents know the day because they were there, too, watching with amazement as little Miles, completely wrapped up in his own thoughts and determination, worked to master stepping up and down an inch-deep step where the porch turned to gravel.  He fell and fell and fell, and turned around to hit it again, again, again.  I remember my dad leaning slightly over to my mom and pointing his finger to pull her attention to the sheer grit that was coming from Miles.  We watched him work in that one spot with an attention span much longer than was appropriate for his age, and we knew that we were seeing one of his core personality traits.

Miles is amazing.  His mind is quick, his coordination is good, and we've stopped giving him any sort of handicap advantage when playing games with his older siblings.  Card games, basketball games, board games, soccer games... he has an innate ability to grasp the rules, strategize, and compete.

This is his game face.  Notice the kids in the background?  How relaxed and non-competitive they look?  It was a purely non-competitive field day... no points, no races, just fun.  But Miles was there to compete anyway.  It was fascinating to see him switch his game face on and off, on and off, on and off, when he was about to run, and when he was laughing and playing with his friends.

3 - Carson goes through shoes like band-aids.

Which is a small problem when you're trying to do the water limbo in a ditch.  During the school year, he wore through four pairs of tennis shoes (and we even bought expensive ones once to see if that helped... it didn't).  And so far this summer he's gone through three pairs of flip flops.  That's an average of 10 summer days a pair, people.

So, if you see him walking around with the soles literally falling off the bottoms of his feet, don't worry.  He is loved and fed and well cared for and will have new shoes eventually.  In the meantime, good thing it doesn't rain much here.

And if you see me coming out of the store with a cart filled with 48 pairs of flip flops all the same size, you'll know why.

4 - What would I say to someone who says they've met the Energizer Bunny?

Me too!  Seriously.  Carson's teacher has more energy than the kids in her classroom every. single. day.  She jumps and runs and plays their games.  She dances and cheers and pumps her fists in the air... you could make a movie about her, she's that unique and wonderful. She wasted no time during field day and jumped right into the games while all the parents and other teachers stood around and smiled.

5 - Carson has good friends and a good heart

Carson became responsible this year. Weird to say, maybe, because how do you really pinpoint the moment that you become something like responsible?  But he did.  He started taking responsibility for his school work, he started wearing matching clothes to school, he started remembering to brush his teeth every night, he started doing his morning chores without seventy six reminders... It's fantastic.  He's fantastic.

Plus, his caring heart spent a week in agony trying to decide which of the people in his class he should invite to the pizza party he earned.  The kids were rewarded for things like good behavior with Honey Bucks, and one of the thing they could buy with their accumulated Bucks was a pizza party with two friends during lunch time.  Several of the kids had earned this prize throughout the year, and Carson was one of them.  He had been invited to others pizza parties in the past, and had already bought one for himself several months before, and now that he had enough money to buy another one he was charged with the responsibility of picking two friends to eat with him.  It was near the end of the school year, and he told me one night that there were several kids in his class that had never been invited to a pizza party, or who never earned enough money to buy one for themselves, and he wanted to invite all of them (five-ish, I believe).  So I sent a text to his teacher, and she made it happen.  He has such a beautiful heart.

6 - Middle school band concerts can actually be amazing

Maybe it's because my expectations were so low at the beginning of the year, but I was blown away by the sound that came from our middle school band.  They were awesome!  And if it hadn't been for the fact that we were sitting on hard, backless bleachers, I could have sat and listened to them for quite a bit longer than they actually played.

Kenz worked hard at mastering her instruments this year.  She wanted to play the oboe, so her band instructor started her with a clarinet for the first half of the year (because, apparently, they are quite similar to the oboe and much easier to play), and then switched her when she was ready.  McKenzie brought the oboe home and practiced frequently, and I was so proud of her hard work.

It feels good to accomplish something.

7 - TK looks cute in pigtails

Also, how awesome is it that the K-2nd grade school has little paintings like this up all over their hallways? This school is amazing, and I just loved being there every week.  They encourage the children to be good students, of course, but way more than that, they encourage the children to be good people.  I felt like everyone was on the same page over there... the office staff, the teaching staff, the principle - I just loved being there every week, and I was happy to have Miles there every single day.

8 - It's a delicate balance trying to find music for the car that pleases both TK and me.

TK's music class CD was not one.  I put him in a little music class this year and, let me tell you, it was the highlight of his life.  Every single morning he would wake up and ask, "Is it my moozik cass today?!"  And every single morning except for Mondays I would have to say, "Not today, bud.  Your music class is on Monday." He loved it, of course, and I loved most of it, too.  The teacher was spunky, the songs were fun, but the CD of all the songs made me want to rip my ears off.

Seeing him up on that (tiny) stage was so fun - he loved it and felt so proud to be there.

9 - This girl is stealing my heart lately

She is turning into such an incredible young woman.

Of course, I suppose that she's been turning into an incredible young woman from the day she was born, and perhaps it would be more accurate to say that she's continuing to turn into an incredible adult.

She has landed in a great group of girls.  Drama and fun.  Kenz doesn't do the drama very much.  She mostly stays out of it, but the challenge has been to help her feel sympathetic towards those that do feel the drama.  I get it, because I was quite anti-drama when I was her age, too. I ended up settling with one best girl friend, and tons of boys because, less drama.

But, drama or not, she sure has fun with her wonderful friends.

Scrambled Thoughts XVI

*We have decided that duck poop is not something we'd like to make part of our backyard landscape.

Call us picky, but we seem to be having a problem.  Can you see it?  Let me zoom in a little closer for you:

There.  Now can you see it?  Or, them, I should say?  In the pool?  We have been chasing these ducks out of our pool all spring long (which has been a while since spring here starts early) and they haven't really gotten the hint that they are most unwelcome here. I don't mean to be inhospitable, and generally I do love to entertain guests, but most of my other guests have a rather more advanced skill of keeping their poop out of our pool and surrounding pool decks (and I do mean most.  But we won't get into that story).

I have given the children the green light to do anything they'd like to scare them away once noticed (besides throw rocks - I'm not cruel) and I believe Carson's favorite method involves his Nerf gun.  Our ears have become highly sensitive to the quacking of the ducks, and whenever we hear it we jump to action as if it were a war siren.  Which, softly, I suppose it is.

*The cub scouts Blue and Gold Banquet this year did not go well.  For me.

Because I'm weird.  And those of you who know me well might be able to guess what is coming simply from the picture above.

It all started at a planning meeting a couple of weeks before the event:
Cubmaster Dave: Okay, this is what I'm going to do... I'm going to blow up a hundred blue and gold balloons, set one on each chair, and then right at the start of the meeting I'll tell everyone to take their balloon and sit on it - then I'll say, "I wanted to start off with a bang!"
Me in my head: ... ... ... ... Liiiiiiiiinds, these people don't know you well enough yet for you to display your irrational fear of balloons.  Force a smile here... hurry, it's getting awkward...
Me out loud: Ohhhhh!  That is such a great idea!  That's so funny!  Oh, everyone will just laugh! Ha! Cool! So funny...
Me in my head: Okay, you need to back off, you're sounding forced.
Me in my head: I know! But... balloons!  INTENTIONALLY popping!
Me in my head: Just keep your cool.
Me in my head: Popping against METAL chairs, no less!
Me in my head: You can step out for a second when they pop.
Me in my head: METAL!
Me in my head: Don't worry about it yet.
Me in my head: The AMPLIFICATION of a hundred balloons popping against METAL!
Me in my head: Shhhhhh..... there now....
Me in my head: I don't like this idea at all.
Me in my head: I know...
Me in my head: I'm so weird.
Me in my head: I know.

I was right to panic, by the way.  It was very awful. I did step outside during the 'opening bang' (and I do mean outside) but not every balloon, as you might imagine, was popped during that time... which left lingering, startling pops ringing through the gymnasium at any given second throughout the remainder of the night.  Also, how inadequate is the word pop?  I'm not sure what a good replacement word could be, but surely there is something a little more dramatic than pop.  Anyway, I might have left right after Carson received his awards but for two reasons: I was a little bit in charge, and also had been asked to take pictures during the event. And in order to take pictures, you might imagine, I had to actually be there.

By the time the evening was wrapping up, I had enough adrenaline running through my body that it felt like little needles had replaced my blood.  This caused me to become quite jittery and I jumped at the slightest sound of a footstep or a baby's cough.

Hanging on by a fraying thread, eventually I did just leave.  I looked at Brian (who knew, bless his heart) and we communicated to each other without words through the chaos of the party that I was going to go.  I rushed out to the car and barely shut the door before the tears started falling.  TEARS, you guys!

Stupid balloons.

I'm cool now, though.  Everything's just great.

*Wanna know why else everything is great?  Because we have a house stocked with toilet paper.

If you don't think this is really great, then you probably don't run out of toilet paper much.  Don't get me wrong... we try not to make a habit of it buuuuuuuut, it happens.  And, no, I did not buy all of this toilet paper.  Just one package.  But one package is enough when you didn't have much to begin with.

*Whether shopping for toilet paper or milk, this little guy is fun to be with.

Mostly.  He's also very difficult to reroute and if I let him out of the cart to walk through the store he gets his heart set on Things We Don't Need and it's nearly impossible to talk him out of it.  So he ends up in tears and I end up the bad guy who always says no.  Seriously, why can't he ask for a bright shiny apple or a stalk of celery?  I might say yes to that, ya know.  But Go-Gurts (what he is enraptured by in the picture above) just aren't really my thing.  Sure, they're kid-delicious and quite handy... but the sugar content looks a little like 'dessert' in my book, and the price just isn't something I'm comfortable with.  I'm a total hypocrite though, because I do buy packages of fruit snacks and dish them out as if they were actual fruit. Soooooo....

Anyway.  On a quiet day like the one pictured above, I don't mind the meandering quite so much and I sure do love the sweetness he adds to the minutes of my days.

*Looking out my bedroom window is a favorite.

For Teek and for me.  There really is so much beauty outside that window... beautiful skyscapes, jagged mountains, and happy children at play every spare minute.

The neighborhood kids come over to play in the mornings about 15-30 minutes before they all leave for school.  As I'm cleaning up breakfast or tidying my bedroom I can hear them... anywhere from two to eight children playing ball, riding scooters and bikes, playing make-believe.  It's one of the very best parts of my whole day.  I hate to break up the party, but the clock ticks on and eventually it's time for me to sound the Time to Go or You'll Be Late for School alarm.  Then, in a flash, backpacks and helmets are collected from all around the yard, and I watch them speed down the driveway for school.

After school, my kids have about 30 minutes to do their homework before the doorbell starts ringing again.  I don't even answer the door.  Like, ever.  Because it's always for one of the kids... and they know it and are happy to run through the house to invite whoever is on the doorstep to join in the fun.

*My kids are so happy.  

They have a freedom here - and I see so much fertile ground for the experiences they are having to take root and become memories that they will treasure for a lifetime.

Scrambled Thoughts XV

*Teeth Glasses.  It's a thing.

Maybe you can't tell from the photo above, but this girl got braces. (Also pictured in the photo, she got her Daddy's face.)  There was a lot of excitement and anticipation in our home in the weeks leading up to the event - and the morning of the appointment she came down the stairs to breakfast and confessed, "I am so nervous.  My stomach feels all weird - like butterflies."  She handled the appointment like a champ, even though there were a few tense moments that were rather uncomfortable.

Teek didn't know what to think about the whole situation.
"Hey, Ken-zee, what is doze sings on yohw teese?" (*What are those things on your teeth?*)
"Hmmmm.... I don't know, buddy.  Can you guess?"
"Is dey gasses?  Gasses on yohw teese?" (*Are they glasses?  Glasses on your teeth?*)


*Well, why not play cards in costume on a Wednesday?

This kid kills me.  He is such a character.

And so fun to have in this house.

*Feed them and they will come

I may have mentioned this before, but this table full of kids is one of the reasons I LOVE living where I do.  This was just a regular night, and when the neighbor kids found out we were having waffles, they stayed.  It made me want to make waffles every. single. night. (Who are we kidding?  I want to make waffles every single night anyway.)  A table full of happiness.

*Guess who has two thumbs and signed up for a 70 mile bike race.

This girl!  Here I am after my first bike ride - that's how you know I'm telling the truth.  The girls in the neighborhood took me out on a 20 mile ride one Saturday morning and I fell in love with it.  Here's to hoping that I actually have 70 miles of leg power in my legs. Go legs!

*Guess who has two thumbs and knows how to open up a bottle full of sprinkles.

"Can I has a cookie?!"
"No, not this morning."
"Can I has a jelly bean?!"
"No, buddy.  No candy this morning."
"Can I has some sprinkles?"
"I know you want some, Teek, but no sugar this morning."
It was the morning after McKenzie's birthday, and all the sugar was still just sitting around.  What's a boy to do when his mom turns her back for a minute?
"TK, did you get into the sprinkles?"
That Face. The one up there. That melts my heart every time I look at it. Staring back at me. Hoping he's not in trouble.  Slowly nodding his head, truthfully responding to my question.  What's a mom to do?  Hug him and kiss him and praise him for his honesty, then tell him about the importance of obedience while cutting him a giant piece of cake, that's what.

Scrambled Thoughts XIV

*A reader is born from the tears

You don't even know how huge this is. Helping Carson find a love of reading has been enormously complicated and difficult, but after hundreds of book suggestions, thousands of hours, and supreme patience, the spark has finally caught.  I wouldn't say we're at the bonfire level, but at least there is a sustainable fire going.  He was one of only a handful of 2nd graders that won a trophy for reading the most (and by 'win a trophy' what they meant was 'get your name put on the paper trophy on the wall'.  A rather disappointing realization at the end of the year when no physical trophy came. He had to work blastedly hard for it, and if ever a thing deserved a trophy... anyway).

McKenzie has an unquenchable love for reading and was heads and shoulders above the second place kid in the entire school with her score.  She'll pick up anything.  Novels, magazines, picture books, cereal boxes... if it has words, she'll read them and soak in them like a hot bath.

Carson doesn't understand this.  "Why do you always have a book, Kenzie?" he asked one afternoon when he wanted to chat with her during snack time.  "Because I like them," she replied.
"Carson, you're starting to like books too now, right?" I plugged
"Yeah - but not all the time.  If I read all the time I get really bored."  That's where the look above came from.

*It's not every day you step into your bedroom to grab a laundry basket and find yourself standing in a puddle of water.

And it's quite disheartening to turn your head and realize that the puddle you're standing in goes on, and on, and on.  Upon further investigation, I found that Teek had tried to flush an entire roll of toilet paper down the toilet.  But not down the toilet in the bathroom pictured above... no, it was from the toilet that is behind where I'm standing, around the corner, and down the hall a bit.  There was so. much. water.  This kid has brought new meaning to the phrase 'terrible twos' for me.

*Plus, he believes that he is capable of doing all the things that ever there were.

He can do many of them, I admit.  It just takes a long time, and a lot of patience.  "Nomee," he says five thousand three hundred and twenty seven times.  No me.  I want to do it.  "nomee, nomee, nomee."

*His head strong and insistent personality made potty training at 2 years and 3 months a snap.

I was nowhere close to potty training him (he was barely 2, and we were getting ready to move, for heaven's sake!), but he started showing such interest, and my wise mother-in-law pointed out one afternoon that, given his head strong nature, if I missed this window of opportunity he was giving me, I might not get another one until he was five years old.  I let this stew for a few days and saw her point.  If Timothy didn't want to be potty trained, there would be no convincing him of it.  And so, we gave it a try.  And three days later I was shocked at how easy it had been.  Hooray for no diapers!

*Turns out that the desert knows how to do spring if you look for it.

*But then, you turn around and realize that Target is selling little pots of grass as a SuperFun thing.  

Look kids!  Buy this and you can watch something grow!

*The three-day rainy season was fun this year.

Though, Teek didn't really understand the idea behind the umbrella we gave him.

Happy Miles.

*As much as I would have liked the spring to stick around for a bit longer, summer did come.

And we tote the waterbottles around all day every day to prove it.