Mommy Tip Tuesday

 

  I started driving my kids to and from school a couple years ago after a pretty big incident involving Justin that the driver handled quite terribly. He had been suffering some pretty bad bullying for several months without my knowing, by some older girl, and finally retaliated. If you know Justin, he's pretty easy going and very kind, but being the 5th boy in a large family, he tends to handle things himself once he's had enough. The driver is a former jail guard, so she can be pretty intimidating. She punished him with an incident report, which if you get three of, you lose bus riding privileges for. Then she told me about the situation from her perspective in front of him when I went to meet him off the bus. When we got inside, the 3 children all broke down crying and things that had been going on for quite some time started spilling out. Immediately I tried to get a hold of the head of the bus system, but he was out. I called Justin's teacher and notified the school councilor (who apparently had a lot of experience with the bully) and they both said they would watch the situation.

This incident is what made me realized that the bus driver was putting a lot of stress on my kids daily. If they were running a minute late, or if they had a limb in the isle, a pencil out to do their homework, turned around to talk to the person behind them...she was on them constantly. Occasionally stopping the bus to yell at all of the kids for their behavior. I tried to get a hold of the bus system head to let him know the issues we were having for a good two weeks. I started realizing that I loved dropping them off and picking them up. I was the last one to see them before they entered the school, and the first one to greet them coming home. It became a time I could really connect with them. I come to  what all their favorite parts of the day were, how the music teacher is obsessed with coffee, whether they were getting along with their friends, who their friends were...the list goes on and on.

It's been two and a half years since this experience now. Other neighbor kid's parents drive their children now too. I suppose I should really resolve things with the bus driver head, but don't plan to stop driving my children anytime soon. There is more history than I was able to describe here, but I'm giving you the shortened version. The moment we reached our breaking point. Suffice it to say that the driver has been driving my children since Michael, who is in 10th grade, was in elementary school. I asked for a different driver when Alyssa, now in 5th grade, was in Kindergarten. It never changed. I'm a problem solver, not a complainer. 😀

My tip is this: 

Connect with your Kids.

Know what's going on in their lives. 
There will never be an age where this isn't important or valuable. 
Their concerns always matter. 
These relationships are precious, and will last beyond this life. I really believe that.
I'm grateful to my own mother who was always there for the six of us. It wasn't easy, it was often very difficult. But she held firm and consistent in her care and nurturing. I still turn to her for wisdom and comfort. What a HUGE blessing!

Rhino Man

Justin is a joy. There is no other way to describe him. 

From the moment he entered this world (my first and only cesarean) he batted those long curly lashes and my heart strings started twirling around his little finger with so many layers that they will never break free. 

He is the child that doesn't ask for much. He is considerate and kind. Polite and sincere. His prayers are like an angel speaking to the Lord, so thoughtful and genuine.

Yet he is fun and silly too.

With a witty sense of humor that can't be imitated or contrived, it's just real.

So when he put this helicopter seed from our maple tree in the backyard on his nose, I just purely enjoyed it...and had to get some pictures of what became Rhino Man.
Children grow up too fast.
This life is such a blink...
I'm grateful for pictures that capture special moments.

Crazy Hectic Wonderful Memories

The last few weeks of school were crazy. As I've talked to friends, I've come to realize this is normal for mothers of several children. It hits like a rush that you didn't expect. Suddenly you are running around like a wild woman trying to keep up and playing tag team with your sweet husband who seems to be the only steady force in your life. Though things were so busy, I'm grateful for the events that took place and am so happy my children could have the opportunities they have. Here are a few of the events that took place in one week's time: 

The children had dental appointments. This takes approx. three days with 2 children going in for check-ups each day. I learned that this is the longest I can handle at a time. Any more makes for a really rough experience. This particular visit was Amy's first! She left that office with successful check-up and a clean bill of health. 

No cavities and a beautiful smile! *whew!*(this makes us feel like through it all, we must be doing something right).

The children had a day off for a teacher's grading day. We met a couple friends at Lone Pine Farms which the children LOVE. They have a lot to do all year round. The kids love playing on their playground especially since it has a merry-go-round. It isn't common anymore to find a park that has one of these. This is strawberry season so we picked strawberries.

Two buckets full! I had made strawberry jam already, so we froze these for smoothies and ate a few in crepes with cream. They were delicious.

They also have goats and bunnies to feed, so the children enjoyed doing this. The goats are a lot of fun. They have ramps that go up to a second story and the children can fill a can with food and pully it up to the goats. It is entertaining to do.

 Michael had a game in a town called Lowell. It is 45-60 min. each way and was the furthest game he played in the season. I was tagged to take him on this particular night and Amy wanted to come. So during the game, we swung on the swings together. 

 The trip was very enjoyable and gave us an opportunity to really enjoy each other. Sometimes it's a blessing in disguise to have to pull yourself away from the busy life you think you can't take time away from. The weather was perfect, the game was enjoyable and the ride offered us opportunities that we would not have otherwise enjoyed. We picked flowers, swung on swings, and looked at the beautiful view of the Willamette River and covered bridge.

These two are so alike that it was a pleasantly delightful experience. The game ended up being so long that we ate at Subway for dinner on the way home out of complete hunger. 

Justin loved soccer. He ended up on the team that was younger than him this season. When I told him I was going to get him on the right team, he asked me to leave him on this one. He loved his team and looked forward to each practice. This was so refreshing since, although each time we've had a child in sports, they've asked for the experience, every once in awhile they resist because they don't feel like going. That never happened with Justin. When he learned it was his last game, he was very disappointed and asked if they would at least still practice. 

Since he was so disappointed at the response to that question, we signed him up for fall and spring of next year. We are delighted that he loves it so much. His team was great. I attribute this largely to his wonderful coach Mrs. White, who's son has become one of Justin's best friends. 

 Here they are at the end of the season party at the park with their trophies. What a fun group of kids!

The same weekend that we went to Lone Pine on Friday, the following Saturday was a busy one, but Steve had wanted to go to the parade of classic cars. We've come to realize over the years that we don't want to take anyone that doesn't want to join us in an event. So announced that whoever wanted to go to the parade get in the car, and off we went. It was Just Steve, Tyler, Amy and I. It was so enjoyable. I'm grateful for experiences like these.

So among the crazy and hectic, the blessing is that we have created wonderful memories. I'm grateful to be "stretched" so that we can recognize the enriching joys life has to offer. 

Do I Have Something In My Mustache?

The other day Jeremy and I found these mustache tattoos at the Dollar Tree. It was something we couldn't resist! One package was enough for 6 people, so since Justin fell asleep before the kids got them out, Steve was a great sport and applied one too. Now I know what he would look like with a mustache, never thought I'd see the day! 

I think we have a lot of performers in the family. 

Aren't they fun?!

*Funny Face*

**WARNING: the tattoos are hard to remove. 

Amy went to church with black spots on her upper lip. People were probably wondering why her mother didn't clean her face. (hahaha!)

She Wears Curlers

 Is that a song? She wears Curlers? If it isn't, it ought to be. Sounds like a good one to play when a girl's getting ready, huh? The other day we I found some velcro type curlers at the thrift store. If you know me well, you know I love a good thrift shop trip. I found them so cheap, all of them were there, and they looked like they may have been used once. So for about 2 whole bucks, I got 'em.

                                                  Alyssa had said she wanted to try them.

 I thought Steve was going to roar with laughter when he walked by the bathroom and saw what I was doing.

The next thing I knew, he was showing me an old "for strength of youth" pamphlet that said that girls shouldn't leave the house wearing hair rollers. He was laughing because of how times have changed. 

 I have to admit it brought back memories of Sunday nights as a child. We would sit and watch love boat as my mother would roll my hair in sponge rollers. If they came out in the night, I would walk to her room in the dark to re-roll them. She was amazing! 

The girls got impatient with the process and asked for me to take them out before they ever dried, so I don't have any "after pix" for you. Let's just say, I don't think they will be doing it again. Sponge rollers are much nicer. (These ripped the hair upon removal-accompanied with a lot of screaming and crying. Poor girls!). 

I gotta say, though, it was worth the pictures! 

Girl Time

There was a time when the Father and Sons outing would come along that I would bide my time alone. I never really thought it would be different, but fantasized having a couple girls to enjoy the night with. I just couldn't see the future. I wouldn't have been able to wait had I known that these two darlings would be a part of my life, making my girls' night alone so much more special.

We started out the night with a trip to the store and picked up this fun and princess girly tea set.

Then we went to the dollar store and picked up the girls' favorite treats:

And had a fun night including a tea party, nail painting and Barbie movie watching {not pictured, we were having to much fun to remember to take pix ;)}. 

It was the BEST "girl time" I've EVER HAD.

I look forward to more in the future!

A Chef in the Family!

In April, Michael had the opportunity to be in a "Young Chef's Competition". This is where the children are able to show off their creative skills in foods to be used in the school cafeteria (or so I was told...).

Just before the competition started

He decided to do a "Specialty Sandwich" that our family created a few years ago. It was a version that he loves the most including a special black bread that's toasted, tomato, black pepper cheese, onion, mayo/mustard, and avocado.

Here he is, serving it up!

Sandwich samples

There was a prize offered to the best decorated table, so we decorated the table to go along with the theme of the food he was serving.

Michael named it "Chef's delight" since that is
exactly how he feels about it!

So as you can see, we ran with the Chef as our theme.

Breath mint anyone?

here is an overview of the whole table (half).

All competitors, just before serving their dishes.

There were quite a few children entered into the competition. 

Michael was the only one from his school to enter the challenge.

After group pictures, the children served their tables 

beautiful display!

                                          And the judges came around to sample their foods:

                                                      Then the winners were announced:

The boy that shared Michael's table was the winner, who was also an only from his school his name?
 His name was John, who made a veggie apple wrap. So delicious!

The grand prize was an ipod touch.

                                                          Everyone received an award, and consolation prize.

During the competition I learned that not all the judges try all the dishes. Had I known this, I would never have allowed Michael to enter. A true, fair competition, gives everyone the real opportunity to be recognized.

So I'm glad I didn't know, because then we would never have had the experience, which was a good one. Though Michael was disappointed he didn't place, he did a wonderful job and expressed his happiness for John winning. He walked away a good sport. Great job to Michael, it was definitely worthwhile!