Life lessons

Sometimes life gives you lemons...and you aren't in the mood to make lemonade. This is Fuller's lesson for the week. This school year has been a little difficult for my boys. After years of wonderful teachers, great experiences and only having contact with the principal when they gave an award out at an assembly, we have definitely hit a glitch. This year I fear I am going to get a reputation in the district for complaining. Back in the Fall we had so many problems with Grayson having a bad first grade teacher, but at my insistence he was moved to a different class and has been pretty happy about school since early October. It seemed like we were on easy street. Then came November, and Fuller's teacher, who we really liked and thought very highly of, took a leave of absence to care for an ill family member. The plan was that she would return after Christmas vacation. Then that plan was changed, and her leave was extended to the end of January. In the interim they have had a long term substitute, and another sub to fill in when the long term one isn't there. It has been a difficult situation for the kids to adjust to the expectations and styles of three different teachers, and there have definitely been things that have fallen through the cracks. Unfortunately the long term sub is not the greatest, and I think many of the kids in that class have been pretty unhappy about her presence. So after years of no problems, I have now had to talk to both the principals and the substitute about some concerns I have. I'm a fairly non-confrontational person, so this year has totally taken me out of my comfort zone. Yesterday Fuller came home with a letter from the principal informing us that his regular teacher will not be returning at all this year, and the long term sub (that we don't like) will be their teacher for the remainder of the year. My heart just sunk for poor Fuller. He asked if he could be home schooled the rest of the year, but then admitted that he'd miss his friends too much. After my last conversation with the sub it seems that she is making some effort to improve the classroom situation, and the principal and counselor both spent time in their class yesterday. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that the next 4 1/2 months won't be too terrible. As for Fuller, today he's pouting, and has it set in his head that these are going to be the worst 4 1/2 months ever. I hope he's wrong.

Snow day

As a kid I think there are few things as exciting as a snow day. Getting the news that school is canceled sends my boys into a frenzy. They were laughing and jumping for joy! We were out sledding down the hill next to our house by 8:30. My poor kids don't have any actual sleds, it's just never seemed worth the money, but the way the last few winters have been I think it might be time to invest in some. Luckily they have nice neighborhood friends who were willing to share with them. Fuller and Grayson are never just content to sled down the hill, they have to try and ram into each other in the process! Rowan was surprisingly not interested in sledding. He was much happier standing to the side trying to throw snow at the other kids as they went by.
Once everyone was soaked and frozen we had friends over for hot chocolate and board games. But that didn't last long, once they had all warmed up they went back out for more. Fuller and Grayson had really been hoping for another day off today, so they were seriously disappointed to see rain and clear roads this morning!

One month later

This weekends cold and wet weather gave Paul and Grayson the opportunity to finally finish building Grayson's big K'nex kit that he got for Christmas. This roller coaster has batteries and everything that keep the cars on it in constant motion. Grayson was so excited to get it finished! I lost count of how many hours they have worked on it the past few weeks, but I know Paul is relieved to be done with it.



One other funny moment with Paul and Grayson- In his continual search for healthier food, Paul went looking for a good recipe for making homemade power bars, with all natural ingredients. He found a recipe online that sounded good, but the result was a large hard brick like thing, with the flavor of cardboard. I took one bite and had to spit it out. Grayson out of love for Paul choked down a bite or two, and in a very complimentary way said, "it's not THAT BAD". The rest of us were brutally honest about how horrible it was, even Paul!

Pinewood Derby

Last night was Fuller's third and final Pinewood derby, next year he'll be too old. He was really hoping that the saying "third times a charm" would come true. Fuller has never done too well in the derby, having disappointing finishes the last two years. This year he was pretty hopeful, he is after all the oldest scout in the group, and it's his third attempt. He had a lot of fun building his car over in Grandpa's workshop, and was really proud of how it turned out. When watching the races it's sometimes a little hard to tell where you stand. They run MANY heats, placing different combinations of racers together and placing them in different lanes. Fuller's car had placed second in at least three heats, so he thought he might stand a chance of finally placing, and getting to go to districts, but in the end he came in 5th. Only the top three cars place and move on to districts. Ironically the first place finisher was the youngest scout present, a boy who has only been old enough to be a scout for about a month. Beginners luck I guess. I had been expecting him to be upset about how it all ended up, but he really showed his maturity. He enjoyed the races and seeing his friends, and even commented at how this had been his best finish ever. I'm really proud of him for keeping a positive attitude. He's such a neat kid!

Here's a little play by play of the race action.


An anxious Fuller waiting for the racing to begin.


Proper placement at the starting line is apparently very important.


You've got to line it up just right.


AND THEY'RE OFF!


The finish line is a hot spot! Unless you're a judge it's a little hard to get a good view.


Fuller and his fifth place car. Isn't that paint job awesome?


The design team of Fuller and Grandpa. They had fun building it and watching it race.

Poor Grandma and Grandma, the pinewood derby fell right between their birthdays, Grandpa's was on Monday and Grandma's is today. So instead of a real party they just got cake and then were carted off to a noisy gym full of cub scouts. We love them a lot and appreciate their being such good sports!

Just a spoonful of sugar.....

...helps the medicine go down. Boy did Mary Poppins know what she was talking about! OK, so today it wasn't just a spoonful of sugar, it was more like a maple bar, chocolate milk and a new puzzle. Rowan had his well child check up today, which included 4 shots (two in each leg) plus a finger poke to check for anemia. He was not a very happy camper! He was doing pretty good for most of the visit, and the doctor was wisely referring to "immunizations" instead of "shots", but then the medical student working with the doctor had to blow it and use the "shot" word. I guess that's a lesson he hasn't had yet. Rowan knew what was coming then, and started his mantra of "I want to go home!" By the time the nurse came in his lower lip was trembling and tears were welling up. I think this is really about my least favorite part of motherhood. I'd rather clean up barf than take my kids for shots, and that's saying a lot! The doctor said Rowan is completely healthy and has grown like crazy. He's at the 71st percentile for weight and the 87th percentile for height. I think he's probably going to be our tallest kid. At the same age Fuller and Grayson were both closer to the 50th percentile for height and weight. After his appointment was over we went to the store for a little reward for bravery, and I felt so bad for him that he talked me into three treats instead of just one. I just can't say no to his little tear stained face, especially when he keeps telling me how much his legs hurt.

He's just so darn thoughtful!

I'm such a mean mom! There was no school today, and what did we do in celebration of Martin Luther King day? Did we play with friends? Have a meaningful history lesson? No, we cleaned out the toys in the boys' closets! YEAH! While I was going through Grayson's stuff he seemed to notice that the trash bag in my hand was getting quite full. But instead of complaining, this is what he said: "Mom you're working too hard, you should really go take a break. We don't want you getting too tired from all this hard work." Yeah right kid, nice try!

What's wrong with me?

This morning while all the kids were at preschool I loaded up the van with all of the junk I've been cleaning out and headed to GOODWILL. I was feeling really excited to be getting rid of so much stuff. I just love having a cleaned out house! As I was unloading my van my good feeling about cleaning out the house started to leave me, and my eyes began to tear up. I fought them off the best I could so the GOODWILL guy wouldn't think I was totally nuts, but I just couldn't help myself. One of the big items that we had decided to get rid of was the trike. Now that Rowan's riding his big bike, there's just really no reason to keep tripping over it in the garage. While the GOODWILL guy looked at me questioningly I actually had to set this aside and think about whether or not I was really ready to part with it. This seems like the last tangible piece of little boyhood at our house. They're all just too big and too independent. This trike has been the first set of wheels for all three of the boys. It had the extra cool feature of having a bucket on the back, perfect for taking stuffed animals, action figures and sippy cups along with you. Even though it's a little banged up and the dinosaur stickers are peeling off, there's still just something special about it. I hope it's next owner will love it as much as we have.

Nostalgia

Our two days last week where school started two hours late due to "weather", got me thinking about this picture of my Grandma that my dad recently emailed me. We have made many advancements in transportation in the last 90 years, but are certainly not as hardy as the folks who lived then. I love looking at this photo and thinking about what life was like for grandma back then. When this picture was taken she was about the age that Grayson is now. It's amazing to think about how the worlds that they grew up in are so different. I really think Grayson would like getting to ride to school in a sleigh like the one my Grandma rode in.

The big time

This morning Fuller had his first two games of the season. Basketball is a little different this year than when he played in third and fourth grade. For the last 2 years he has been playing four on four, half court games in the elementary school gym, and they didn't officially keep score. This year they play five on five, full court games in the high school gym. Fuller realized pretty quick that that means a lot more running. He was really huffing and puffing at the end. His team suffered two losses today, but they really showed some good skill, and excellent effort. I think Fuller was excited and also a little daunted to see their score up on the big lighted score board. It's going to be an interesting season, and in six weeks I'll get my Saturday mornings free again!

The first video shows the one and only basket Fuller made today, unfortunately Grayson was operating the camera at the time so the quality is a little lacking. The second video has better quality, but he missed the shot.

In the immortal words of Kermit the Frog....

It ain't easy being green! But these cute new reusable shopping bags from IKEA make it a little easier.

One of my big goals for this year is to go more "green". This is the beginning of stage one. A word of warning to my local friends, our local Walmart clerks need a minute to adjust to change. And if you see me leaving the store with tons of their white plastic bags, please scold me.

Rowan's Rules

Since Fuller and Grayson have been so into chess lately, Rowan has decided that he'd like to play too. However, he has no apparent need to learn any of the rules. Instead he has devised his very own set of rules. If you ever come over and he challenges you to a game of chess you're going to want to know these.

1. Rowan always wins.
2. Rowan's pieces can move any direction and as many spaces as they want.
3. Rowan's opponents pieces can only move one space at a time.
4. Rowan can have two turns in a row any time he wants.
5. Rowan can (and will) take one of his opponents pieces each turn.
6. Rowan's opponent is not allowed to take any of his pieces.
7. ROWAN ALWAYS WINS!

As you can imagine, he's having a hard time finding people willing to play him!

Forgotten Christmas videos

One of Rowan's favorite things this Christmas was the electronic whoopie cushion that Paul got from one of his brothers. He loves to listen to it, or hold it near Buster's rear and pretend that he's farting. Which in my opinion is a little redundant since Buster does enough of that on his own!


This was Fuller and Grayson's first taste of Wii boxing. They kept getting closer and closer to the tv like they were really going to hit their opponent.



And they wondered why their arms were sore the next day!

Back to life, back to reality

Aaahhhh... Right now all of the kids are off at school, and I have the house to myself for the first time in what seems like forever. Even with all the effort put in to trying to get the kids ready to go back to school, this morning was a rough one for all of us. Sleepy kids, lost shoes, and undesirable breakfast choices added fuel to their grumpy demeanors. Hopefully time spent with friends today will help to remedy that. Spring vacation seems very far away. Before we get too wrapped up in the new year I want to take a minute to remember a few more fun things about Christmas vacation.
-Fuller and Grayson's daily chess battles- I can't even explain how cool it is to watch these two play chess. I don't play them much anymore, because truth be told I think they can both beat me. They are so intense and serious, and yet have huge smiles and "happy dances" when they make an especially good move. The high point this last week was when Grayson finally beat Fuller. I think Fuller was almost more surprised than Grayson. It was also neat when our power went out this last week and they ended up sitting in front of the fireplace playing chess.
- Fuller and his cookbook- Fuller got two new cookbooks for Christmas and spent quite some time perusing the recipes. He even cooked us lunch one day (with a little help with the stove). Then he and Grayson did quite some planning on the items they're going to serve at the restaurant they want to own when they grow up. They even decided that they'll give me 10% off on Saturdays. Such generous boys!
- Movie quotes galore!- This vacation the boys became fixated on two movies, "Elf" and "Napoleon Dynamite", and quoted their favorite lines from them endlessly. In fact it got to the point that I would have to demand no quotes at dinner just to keep my sanity and keep them from getting too silly. Here are some of their favorites:
"I like to whisper too."
"What's a Christmas gram? I want one." (Except they didn't say Christmas gram, they substituted any word or item that worked in the situation. For example, I would ask them if they wanted a bowl of cereal and they would say "what's a bowl of cereal? I want one."
"Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?" This quote got so bad that Paul even started saying it when he answered the phone (if he knew who was calling).
"Hunting wolverines, what do you think!"
"Grab my arm....other arm...MY other arm!"
"Can't find my checkbook, hope you don't mind if I pay you in change."
"Bow to your Sensei!"
"...scientists tried to blow Nessie out of the water.."
And so many more that I've tried to block out!
-Rowan and his puzzle obsession- He's become so into puzzles, sitting for over and hour at a time working on 100 piece puzzles, and finishing them on his own.
-Having Paul home to install new lighting in the bedroom, and cook some Lumpia!

Hope 2008 is as much fun as 2007!

YAY! He did it!

Rowan finally tried out the bike that Santa brought!

Art Appreciation

Paul and I are both very blessed to come from families with really creative and artistic people who generously share their talents with us. This year for Christmas we were very pleased to get these two beautiful watercolor paintings from Paul's mom. She is such an amazing painter!