Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 10

Back to School Week

We started back to school this week, which has gone nicely. Mostly. The days have been long (seriously. long.) I'm going to give it a couple of weeks before deciding if I've given them too much. It could be that, or the weather. It could just be inertia that's kicking our butts. It could be a little of each. Time is an excellent sorter, though, so we're going to muscle onward and wait it out.
 
The boys also start back to music lessons this week. They've not had them in three months, and although they didn't touch their instruments for two and a half months, they've both picked up practice again willingly and enthusiastically. They were ready. So was I. It's nice to have music in the house, but it's not spontaneous for us. We need to be intentional about it. The bedroom with only one child inherited the instruments and practice space.
  
We're settling in nicely with the new arrangement. We all love that we have more room in the bedrooms, but there's still an entire toy shelf loitering in the hallway. I'm, um, I have nowhere to put it. We've simply outgrown this house. I've culled and culled and, for having five children, there truly aren't a lot of toys. It's just a lot of toys for a house this size. We need to repaint and add a little decorating in some rooms, but for now, I'm happy with the progress. The Littles feel like their space is downright palatial, too.  :-)

 
 The boys like having a safe spot for the Legos and other creations, and with the Littles in the bigger of the bedrooms, a full-scale invasion is less likely. I like roaming up and down the hall, glancing in to see fairly tidy rooms. (They don't notice the lack of artwork or curtains, but I've got to fix that soon.)
 And that's pretty well taken up all our days lately. Music. School. Tripping over things in the hall. Zorak has sketches all over the place for stairs from the balcony. I guess that's the next big project. Blessedly, he's designing it to use as little concrete as possible (but still be wholly over-engineered). I love that about him. Meanwhile, we're hanging out on the couch, fighting that inertia...


Kiss those babies!
~Dy







Wednesday, January 4

A Beautiful Start

We had such a great day today! One of my cousins was in town on a layover, and let us kidnap her for lunch and a trip to Burritt Museum. The kids are in awe of her, and I'm so happy that we re-connected. It's been 13 years since we've seen each other. Life gets busy, but it just shouldn't ever get that busy. I didn't get any pictures, though. We were too wrapped up in talking, eating, talking, and planning future visits.

The kids were amazing! Bless them. I didn't even do the usual, "For the love of God Almighty, PLEASE keep your brains on!" speech. (I meant to, but I forgot.) Serious fist bumps to the bigs and the smalls for keeping it normal on their own. Of course, we got back in the car after dropping her off, and all kinds of absurdity broke loose. There was so much poking and wrestling on the drive home that I began to wonder if their heads would have popped off if we'd stayed much longer. I love these kids. They make me laugh. I'm glad they didn't explode.

Tomorrow, our copy of The Codes of Hammurabi and Moses should arrive. I know, exciting times. Good stuff.

Friday, the bed risers should be here. If I can blow off skate day (unlikely, but one can hope), I can spend the day getting a little Old English Housekeeper action going on the master bedroom and storage plans.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Monday, September 12

Our Reward

Shortly after we moved here, I finally discovered what the Big Deal is about Spring. A month or two later, I then realized there is a price to be paid. We call it Summer. But, we've survived the hot 'n sticky - and this year with surprisingly less grousing (although, admittedly, I did not blog much, so really, you'll just have to take me at my word on that), and now, we reap the reward -- Gorgeous Weather from now until next May!

Friday, our wee Den (and ALL the siblings) went hiking at Hurricane Creek. It was a fantastic day, with a fantastic group, and a fantastic outing. We did get into a nest of yellowjackets at the end, which was a bit rough on those of us who got stung, but that was the only downside to the trek. (Side note: in spite of having been stung three times, John carried Jase half a mile uphill, of his own volition. Jase had been stung twice, once in the inner thigh, and walking at all just hurt like all get out. I carried him a bit, but the yellowjackets were still following us, and I needed to help the others move more quickly. John has enjoyed serious Super Hero status for the past few days.)

Jase was a little scared the first 200 yards of the trail (which are pretty much straight down - there are steps, but they're Park Service steps - so plenty of railroad stakes and old rocks). Once he found his balance, though, he kept announcing, "And I'm not scared at all! This is FUN! It's not even a little scary!" I'm glad for that. For a while, there, I was sweating the end result, and having to explain to Zorak just how'd I'd scarred our smallest child so terribly. But, no. All is well.


My favorite spot of the day was the picnic area. The water is *right there*, so the kids sort of inhaled just enough food and water to get their second winds and then they dispersed to play in the creek. Thankfully, this was our last stop before climbing back up the mountain side, so we weren't wet for the whole day.

I hope we get back there again soon. It's just a stunning place to enjoy being out and about. You can hike, mountain bike, rock climb, or curl up on a sunny rock and enjoy the peace.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Friday, September 9

Happy Birthday, Jake Rabbit!



Jacob turns 8 today. Wow. We celebrated a little early, thinking Zorak would be on the road to pick up a friend today. So when he got home, he brought a bike with him. Jacob's been using John's old bike. We got it for John's 4th Birthday, so not only has Jacob looked like a Shriner on the 4th of July for most of the Summer, but this new bike seemed HUGE to him.








(The capes and hat are part of their costumes - they were Porthos and Athos at the time.) He ditched the cape (according to our stringent No Capes On Bikes rule, or something like that) and off he went. It's nice to be able to keep up with your big brothers. He can hardly wait to take his bike to Tannehill with him this fall.





We had his birthday dinner and cake last night, too, and we called it a day.

This morning, he got the rest of his presents (a couple of books I hadn't ordered in time - oops). His brothers did the wrapping, and they couldn't resist the bag-in-a-bag-in-a-bag-in-a-bag trick. Then we took his Cub Scout Den to Dairy Queen after today's meeting (which was an awesome hike to Hurricane Creek). He said it was a pretty darn great way to turn eight.






Ah, but he makes it so easy, with his laid back, happy nature and his willingness to find happiness in everyday things. Really, how could we not want to celebrate *him*?

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Saturday, September 3

A Day Out

It was hot today, but under 100, so I guess if you grade on a curve, it wasn't bad. We made it to the Battle for Decatur, and had a truly lovely time talking with the participants. The displays are always interesting - from the weaponry to the furnishings and food, the participants go the extra mile to make it as authentic and realistic and educational as possible. Some of them came from quite a distance, and all of them were absolutely delightful. The Union Army won today's skirmish -- here they are, returning to camp.

The boys took their earnings and bought birch beer and cream soda to soothe the effects of the heat. There were kegs of various beverages - root beer, cream soda, birch beer, cherry lemonade, and the like - you could purchase the bottle for a sum, then refills were significantly less expensive. The bottles were all different, and the set up was unique. Jase particularly enjoyed the cream soda from the bottle that's as big as he is.



We walked and walked, talked and visited. Eventually, the littles began asking if we can go home. History is great, but there is much to be said for the modern conveniences of HVAC systems, glass windows, and bagged ice in the freezer. I asked them to give me a wave for the camera on the way - not sure what Em's doing, but it was fun, nonetheless.




We had a thousand and one other things to get done today, but they will hold until tomorrow. It is worth the wait to have had the day with the whole family together.

Kiss those babies!

~Dy

Wednesday, July 27

Small Town Fun

Every summer, our little town hosts Concerts on the Courthouse Lawn. Granted, it's hotter than hades, and we live in the South. So it's like Hell, if Hell were humid. Obviously, we don't go very often. But we should. We have such a nice time every time we go.

The guy on the mandolin is the *son* of the guy on the far right. That blew us away. I don't know if it's clean living, or the mixed blessing of humid air that goes easier on the skin. But, wow. They were pretty good, and fun. They enjoyed being there and we enjoyed hearing them play. The guy on the upright bass (is that what it's called?) made it look Very Cool to play that thing. :-)

The Bigs enjoyed hanging out, chit-chatting, and listening to the music. They're cool to spend time with. I'm thankful for that.

The Littles had a harder time sitting still. I'm sure that's why they host it on the lawn, where there is plenty of room to run and dance without disturbing everyone who wants to hear. It's a nice family outing, and one of the many things we love about living in a small town.



Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Friday, July 15

Milestone Fun

Last night we joined approximately half the population of Northern Alabama in attending the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. This was big for us, as we usually only see one movie in a theater in any given year. But added to that was that this was the first time Jacob had seen one of the Harry Potter movies in the theaters (he read all seven books in the last year, and then started over, just so he wouldn't forget anything important). And the first time any of us had gone to an opening showing of the HP movies. It was really great. For them, it was probably great for different reasons than it was for me. I so enjoyed spending time with them, doing something we can all enjoy together (so, not Victorian literature *or* video games). JK Rowling, for the win! Thanks!

We made wands at the last minute, thanks to an instructable a friend linked. You can find it here. And these are the wands they came up with:

From left to right: mine, James', John's, Jacob's, Emily's, Jason's. (The bigs helped design Em's and Jase's. The Littles picked their own colors.) Not bad for 40 minutes' work! Go teamwork!

The boys all created their own costume ideas and we managed to cobble them together without stressing out much. James, with his blonde hair, fair skin, and thin build, is just a natural to go as Draco Malfoy.

Jacob rounded up the much-used, much-loved Harry robe and accoutrements from the basement to reprise another round of Harry. His longer, wild hair was perfect for it this time. Zorak chipped in with an old pair of glasses (minus the lenses) when we couldn't find any in the thrift stores (and I'd bought what Z informed me were "not cool round Harry glasses", but were in fact, "thick nerd glasses". Huge difference. Funny, coming from the man who reads in a Ben Stein monotone, just to get out of ever having to read Harry Potter books at all. But when it really matters, he can nail it.)

John was going to go as Ron Weasley. We had this maroon sweater and had planned to switch out the 'G' for an 'R', a'la Mrs. Weasley's Christmas Sweater. One afternoon, John commented off-hand that it's too bad we couldn't do the ear or he could go as George. I remembered then that one of our friends does the special effects makeup for the haunted houses every year, and thought if anyone could do it, she could. So I got with her and asked if she could do it. She graciously said yes, and she. was. AMAZING! In less than fifteen minutes of work, she took off a good portion of John's ear.

We drove home from her place in a raging thunderstorm, and all I could think was man, if we're in a wreck I hope this ear doesn't cause any problem getting him diagnosed and treated! We made it home without incident. (Yay!)

Because of the last minute wand making, we were a couple of hours behind our planned schedule, but still set to be there early enough to get in line and have a shot at good seats. The storm set us back an additional hour, though, and we arrived at the theater only an hour before showtime. So our seats were not *great*, but that didn't dampen the experience.

The place was full of great costumes, happy people, high energy, and a fun mood. Some of the costumes were really fantastic. I wish I'd thought to take pictures. Luna in her roaring Lion's head, Mrs. Sprout, a snitch (he made several laps through the theater while people waited), Cho Chang, Voldemort, Neville... it was so much fun to see the creativity that went into people's costumes.

And the movie. Ah. Well, yeah. This is the first time I'm not the last person I know who sees the movie. I'll return the graciousness of those who just smiled and said, "Oh, you'll have to see it and then let me know so we can talk."

So. You'll have to see it, and then let me know so we can talk about it. ;-)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Thursday, June 23

This week...

This week, we had the wonderful Aunt B with us. I have pictures, but Blogger won't recognize my phone texts, and none of us remembers where we put the camera upload cord. (It's a recurring theme with us, but this time it's a fairly legitimate loss, as we only recently found the camera battery charger, which had gone MIA back in March. I'm sure we've cleaned the school room at least once since then, so there's no telling where we stuck the random-at-the-time cable.)

We took her to Burritt on the Mountain one morning. Lovely, lovely time of day to go. Pretty little place, too. I was very tempted to climb under Dr. Burritt's dining table and refuse to leave, but settled instead for taking pictures so I could show them to Zorak and whisper, "Do you see those *ceilings*???" Some people might crane their necks up to the ceilings and think they just wouldn't want to clean them. I look up there and think, meh, I don't clean the ceilings I can reach by standing on my toes - at least these are high enough you'd have to squint to see the cobwebs instead of walking right into them. And the windows? And the straw-bale walls, reminiscent of old-school adobe construction. Gah. Gorgeous.

We rented a pontoon boat and spent the day on the river. That was John's birthday, too, so we brought some friends along. There is something absolutely magical about swimming in a river on a hot summer's day. Even moreso when there are no venomous snakes or alligators along for the fun. (And there weren't, so it was one of those Great Memory days.)

We met Zorak for lunch in town, and hit the little-bitty farmer's market in town, and made s'mores on the balcony. It was a really lovely visit, and we're so glad she came. I wish it hadn't been so blasted hot, but then we had rain for two days, and that's always a treat to someone from the desert. (We've been here six years and we still geek out when it rains over a quarter of an inch at a time.) So pretty!

Today, we knew the letdown would come. So we rolled with it. The boys played Monopoly. Em and Jase watched Wonder Pets until we couldn't stand it anymore. I did all the little, boring chores that needed doing, but didn't rate doing while company was here. It was a quiet, restful day, and it was good.

Tomorrow starts our Summer of FUN. Full title and everything. Should be interesting, if nothing else...

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Wednesday, May 25

Family Fun

What an amazing week this was! Jacob bridged up in Cub Scouts. He's a Bear now. (Coincidentally, I finally completed the rest of my training. I get a nifty patch on my shirt, come payday, too!)

We had our first Bear Den meeting today, and it was amazing! We had a new boy (which, in our Den, means we had "a new boy and all of his siblings"), and everyone melded in beautifully. The other moms indicated that there is enough interest that we may be able to stand up an entire line of daytime dens in our Pack, which would be great for the Pack, and great for the boys who haven't had access to Scouting so far because of the evening meeting requirement. At any rate, we made newspaper seed pots and planted some things in them - we're hoping to have a Harvest Party when they come ripe later toward the Fall. But no matter how the crops turn out, the day was fun. We'll do Day Camp, and then break for the rest of June since everybody will be gone at least one week, most for two, in June. (I'm thankful, as this gives me time to figure out what I'm doing! Yay!)

On the nights the Bigs have Boy Scouts, the Littles and I try to come up with something fun. This week we made volcanoes out of modeling clay. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but there were three official types of volcanoes, and of course, casualties. I think the squid fared the worst, but the pink clay man took a pretty hard hit, too.



And we're still enjoying the plow disc cooking as often as possible. As long as it's nicer to cook outside, we will. Plus, I think Zorak enjoys the time he gets with whichever child helps cook. It's not often anybody gets to have an uninterrupted conversation around here. Aside from the paparazzi, these two seemed to have a good time. (But they were so sweet while I stalked them with the camera, trying to figure out how to get a decent nighttime shot on the phone.)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Sunday, May 15

Taking it Outside

I love our balcony. If I'd known how much we would use it and love it, I might have foregone finishing the bedrooms or some other project in lieu of building the balcony our first year here. It's like having an entire extra room for the house. There's room to play, room to read, room to sprawl out and relax. It's high enough off the ground that mosquitoes aren't much of a problem (although James has a citronella plant in a pot that he hauls to wherever we'll be eating, just in case). The view is gorgeous, and thanks to the zealous over-engineering of my awesome crew, this thing could hold up a three-ring circus without fear of giving out. Or, you know, a family. (It's a fine line...)

As soon as the evenings or mornings lose their bitter winter bite, we start meandering out there for meals. For some reason, it's as much fun as a picnic, without the traditional picnic drawbacks. Plenty of fun.

On a side-note, we're on day 24 of the Whole 30, a 30-day food challenge. It's been fun. It's been fantastic, actually. I can write more about it, if anyone is interested (although there are far better, more diligent bloggers out there who have documented every single day of it - we had a week without power, and a Mother's Day campout thrown in there during our project, both of which shot the blogging to pieces.) And I can attest that we've experienced definite improvement in many areas because of it. But anyway, this is an example of how we've been eating, and it's. been. delightful.
Link


Kiss those babies!
~Dy
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Thursday, May 12

Easter.

Huh. I'd posted a couple days ago about the recovery process here in Northern Alabama. But it's... gone. Ah, I guess Blogger was doing something while I was posting, perhaps? Ah, okay. I'll have to write that one up again, later. Right now, I'm geared up to get these Easter pictures up.

Easter was lovely. We have such a fun mix of ages. James "hunted" eggs by walking with the littles and making casual remarks like, "Oh, that tree would be a lovely place to hide an egg!" and "I wonder if the Easter Bunny likes horseshoes?" Emily and Jase would squeal with delight as they discovered their treasure after acting upon these "subtle hints". We had so much fun watching him at work.

Emily helped Jase, too. And Jase just had a wonderful time. I think he still checks the yard when he goes outside to play.

Jacob is at that wonderful age where he's able to find, able to help, and still young enough to be really excited by his own discoveries. Every year, I think this is it - I couldn't possibly enjoy these kids more. And every year, they surprise me with their joy and their depth. This is a really cool gig.

Sharon generously took about a bazillion shots of all of us together. I need a super editor that can paste the heads from other shots onto the one that's the best of most of us. Until then, this was a relatively decent family photo. The last one of the year, most likely. Next time, Jase won't need to be restrained and James will probably be taller than I. Wow, where does it all go? I could have sworn I was right here for all of it!



We hope your Easter was just as blessed as ours. There is, truly, so much to celebrate.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy
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Sunday, April 24

Color us contented!

We are notoriously non-crafty people, Zorak and I. As such, we tend to forget (or blow off) the craftier aspects of holidays. Paper chains, doily hearts, and even, I'm sorry to say, Easter eggs. Every year we insist to one another that we'll do better. Every year, we experience some kind of neurological twitch that blows the whole thing, and the kids end up bringing us unearthed boxes of egg dye in September, asking if we can use them now. Well, not this year!

This year, we dyed those eggs. There were rainbows, and layers, and wax. (And plenty of supplies, from prior years' boxes...) The kids really got into it, and just did a fantastic job. As a matter of fact, we're so flush with the joy of pulling it off that I'm thinking next year we'll go Big Time and try Pysanky. (That gives me a year to remember to buy/build/borrow the pens... someone remind me of that in a couple of months?)

I think a few factors really came into play. One, the balcony. There's room, there's light, and there's absolutely no worry about messes. It's like having an actual studio right off the school room, but one I don't have to *clean*. Another is the round yard sale table Zorak picked up last year. It's a fantastic table for doing crafty things - sturdy enough to handle Jase clambering about on it, large enough to fit everybody comfortably working around it, and at $10, I don't feel compelled to worry if it gets stained. Actually, between the Christmas cookies, the gingerbread houses, the kite-making, and now the eggs, it's starting to look quite colorful and festive.



The kids and their attitudes make the whole process infinitely more enjoyable than we are prone to expect it to be. I love them for that. And finally, I think we're just wrapping our minds around how much these things can mean to the little guys when we can relax and let it be about what it ought to be about: spending time together, doing something delightful, learning something new, and enjoying the whole thing. So, that's what we're doing. Pretty crafty!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Friday, March 25

Newfangled Technologies, and Springtime



It's the end of March! Sheesh. Well, here we are. Or, here we were...


Z's Granny celebrated her 97th birthday this month. She went out dancing for the actual event, but her daughters put together a family get-together in Texas so that everyone could come. This is the first time since we've left New Mexico that we have been able to make it out for something like this. In the past, there's always been something - too broke, no vacation time, vehicle transmission died, children got sick... Needless to say, we held our collective breaths until we actually arrived at our destination! It was a great time. The kids had cousins galore to run and play with, and they did. All the children got loved on by their Grannies and other people's Grannies, and total strangers who they were assured were relations of some sort or other. It was pretty awesome.

Upon our return, we found that Spring had arrived! And so, we got to work on projects. First up, the dishwasher. We got word some months ago that our dishwasher had been recalled due to spontaneous combustion. Never a great thing. So we hammered out the details and got a new one, using the rebate offered by Maytag, supplemented by our willingness to pay a little extra not to have to either put out kitchen fires or have to do dishes by hand. (Maytag did offer to replace the faulty component at no cost, but considering ours leaked heavily enough to soak a beach towel each load, we chipped in for the full replacement machine.) It's in, now, and seems happy. Hard little worker, that one. I have pictures, but they're on my phone and I can't get them off.

Zorak's shoulder is healing beautifully. It aggravates him no end, because he wants it to be all healed rightnow. Of course. I can't say I blame him. Thankfully, it's a self-limiting thing - if he tries to push it, it pushes back and makes him stop. I think, in general, he's doing splendidly, and handling both the healing process and the frustration very well and with a great attitude, which we all appreciate.

The washing machine is our next project to tackle. I was going to wait for Z's arm to be back in the game, but the washer leaks and now the dryer makes a horrible racket (sounds like someone kicking dogs in there, it's awful!) With the amount of laundry we need to do, and how small the washer is to begin with, the non-stop squealing, spraying, wailing (that last bit is me) really needs to stop. We can avoid the squawking dryer by hanging clothes when it's not raining. But we've got to do something about the leak before we're all driven mad by a return of the mold! James agreed to help me with that.

Actually, the boys have all been fantastic about helping out around here. John built a rose garden bed for EmBaby. (Pics are held hostage on the phone.) Jacob helped Jase put in strawberries around the tea garden. (Yep. This danged phone is killing me!) EmBaby decorated every flat surface in honor of Jase' birthday.

Yes! Our Easter Baby is three, now. THREE! He was so un-ruffled over it, too. We've had two who refused to turn three, and two who kind of hoped they could maybe be four, or three-and-four, or just skip straight to five. Jase just nodded and said, "Yeah. I'm three now." It's all good.
Oh, have mercy! It's all going too quickly!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Friday, February 11

On Not Resting

Wow, Monday came in with a *bang* and then *fwoosh* the whole week flew by, and now *pow* it's Friday! Dang. Good stuff, but still. The calendar pen is near to bursting into flames.

Monday we had Scouts. I had to go wrangle some of the Boy Scouts to come set up and take down for Blue & Gold. My official pitch was that their reward would be service hours and all the homemade desserts they could stand. But we have a phenomenal bunch of boys, and they'd have agreed to come, even without the food. I think. Food is a pretty decent motivator for kids, though. We also got a team to volunteer to teach the Webelos how to do a color guard. Yay!

Tuesday was Scouts for the little guys. I had to give a quick presentation to them on the plan for the Blue & Gold, then go over the plan with the other Den leaders. We also kinda-sorta went through the supply closet. It's in a basement, and it's an old building. It was gross, really. However, thanks to the joy of plastics, most of the stuff is salvageable and/or sealed and totally still good. Score!

Wednesday we had the 6-month mass invasion of the kids' dentist office. They're so good to us, and the kids did fine. I forgot, again, to bring food (it takes a long time to get through five kids), and was on the verge of eating a hygienist by the time we left. We met Zorak for lunch at a buffet, thus saving hygienists across the Valley a gruesome fate. The rest of the day was taken up with music lessons and groceries and all the other normal niceties that Wednesdays bring.

Thursday, we got another 2" of snow! Zorak went in to have his arm looked at. He'd injured it when we went skiing, but... well, anyway, he went in. The doc suspects he damaged his rotator cuff and sent him for an MRI today. We'll know sometime next week if we're looking at surgery. We're really pulling for a big fat, "Hey, you just pulled it!" Meanwhile, the Wolf Den was snowed out of the outdoor flag ceremony for the morning, so we did what you do when you get snow in the South - we went out and played in it before it melted away.

And today... we got caught up on all the things we weren't doing the rest of the week. We had our postponed Den meeting, did ALL the schoolwork, tidied the house and prepared for the weekend, then collapsed for a movie night and shuffled everyone off to bed at a decent hour.

I honestly have no idea what we have going on this weekend. Zorak just told me we're getting the driveway graded tomorrow, and considering how badly it needs it, that's right up there with getting a dozen roses, so I'm pretty stoked about the potential for a great weekend! Maybe I'll return the favor by doing something equally romantic, like pruning the fruit trees. ;-)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Saturday, January 22

Something New

One of the things the kids wanted to do this year is take more family outings. They like the intentional living concept, and they love time together, so a combination of the two makes sense. Zorak heard about a little place not far from here, where we could go skiing and be home for dinner. He loves to ski, but we haven't gone since about a week before we learned of James' pending arrival. In the 13 years since, we've had neither the time nor the energy to pull it off. I'm not saying we have more energy, now, but we've realized this is probably as good as it's likely to ever be again and we'd better run/amble/hobble with it. So, that's what we did!

We took burritos and warmed them on a camp stove - that was awesome. We didn't take hot chocolate - that was not so awesome. The staff at this place is amazing, and the slope is a lot of fun. The weather was gorgeous - calm all day, then turned to snow as we pulled in the driveway at home.

James, once he figured out the math behind it, was fearless and amazing. He did all the jumps and wiped out much. Twice, I fully expected to see blood and have to call the dentist for an emergency surgery. Nope. Turns out the kid's not much of a bleeder.
.

John muscled his way to competence by sheer will power. He was in heaven, and had a fantastic, wonderful, laid-back time of it. At one point, he just ran out of steam, but he was still 2/3 of the way up the hill. So he laid back on his skis, spread his arms out and rode the hill down that way. Got a burrito and a coke, and hit the slopes again. I may be able to stop worrying about him. (No, I won't. But it's fun to say.)


Jacob fell and fell and fell and fell, and got up smiling every time. (He's either incredibly optimistic, or batsnot crazy. Still unclear. I suspect this kid's glass is not only half-full, but that he's brought other glasses in a variety of sizes so he'll have his bases covered.) He finally mastered the skiing part, and got the hang of the rope tow. Happy, happy, happy child. He was one of the last off the slope at the end of the day.


Emily could not get the hang of the rope tow, but she so enjoyed the skiing that she side-stepped up that hill all. day. long. just so she could ski back down. All. Day. Long. She just took the run of the place. There are pictures where you can see her in the background, skiing back toward the office to get a drink or another burrito, all by her big old self. When did she get so big and self-confident?

Jase was an angry, angry elf. Poor kid. Didn't like his snow boots b/c they were "too slippery". He finally came to terms w/ them, and then we got there and he had to put on ski boots. He stood up and slipped on the concrete floor. "Too slippery!" So what did we do? We put him on skis and set him on an icy surface. Yeah. I can totally see how, from his perspective, the day just went from bad to worse. Thankfully, he'll not have any concrete images upon which to hang his vague, nebulous fears in the future. So we can blame some total stranger, right? (We took his skis off, and he had a wonderful time climbing the snow residue at the edge, and eating Cheetos by the fire inside the office. He's fine. Really.)

Zorak had a blast. He loves to ski. Today, he got to ski with his children. He was so happy.

I... hurt like you would not believe. Dear heaven above, it's like someone woke me from a coma and made me run a marathon. But, it was a magnificent day! I'm so glad we went. :-)
Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Sunday, January 16

Study Buddy!

I realized a while back that, with as many boys as we have, we were going to have to ante up with Scouts and do more than just arrive and offer to do grunt work. One (or both) of us was going to have to get certified and cleared to serve in some kind of Official Capacity.

I didn't particularly relish the idea. Not that we weren't already active and busy with the organization, but let's face it -- Those pants would be unflattering on Lauren Bacall. And I'm not Lauren Bacall. Plus, there was the training. The study. The seemingly endless mouse-clicking exercises.


And I was right. There are hours upon hours of training to wade through. And that's just the online stuff.

Thankfully, I don't have to do it alone. The kids hear voices coming from the computer and they come running to make sure A) I haven't been sucked into a program, like TRON, and B) they don't miss anything (like getting sucked into a program, like TRON). So, aside from the Youth Protection Guideline Training - which I managed to do before they figured out I was doing Something Interesting, the kids have done the training alongside me. They rock. They know just what to take seriously, and what to mock. They get that a training program for adults doesn't really need cartoon guides from a children's magazine. I quietly had to wonder whether that's really the best way to weed out predators and/or the mentally unstable. But, meh, there ya go.

They (the Scouts) are stuck with us for the next 15 years, no matter how well or poorly I do on these tests. We're a package deal. Love my kids, tolerate me. That's just how it's always gone, and probably always will.

And no matter what challenges or hurdles we'll surmount in the future, I know we'll rock it, becuase we've got Studdy Buddies. And they bring snacks.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy