That One Time Cisco Bought Me Lunch

Due to some technical problems and funky solutions at Delta, it sucked to be Doug yesterday  But Isaac and I got to see him so I count that as a good day on my end.  He was flying from Boston to San Jose by way of a ten hour layover in Seattle that started as a five hour delay on a flight that wasn't even supposed to go to Seattle.  

Yeah.  Not the best day for him.

So Isaac and I got some shopping done in the morning (apparently all three older boys have been wearing holey socks and underwear for ages and only mentioned it to me yesterday!!!!) and then headed up to SeaTac to take Doug to lunch and just to get out in the fresh air for a little bit.  After Cisco treated us to burgers and fries, we headed over to a tiny little park on the water called Marine View Park.  I hoped for good views. 

What we got was a steep path to the water.

And a warning in bright red CAPITAL letters about an aggressive owl.

I was a little disappointed that we did not encounter the owl.

We took a little walk on the path and then a little detour to a picnic table with a pretty view.  It was time for this munchkin to refuel (the fries he had just eaten apparently didn't do the trick).

We had a lovely time hanging out with Uncle Doug.  And I even got a chance to see what he looks like from Isaac's perspective.  Uncle Doug is kind of a giant.  Luckily a friendly giant.

And then we took him back to the airport because we thought his flight was going to leave at 3pm-ish.  We thought wrong and sadly left him there for many, many more hours.  Again, it was a good day for us because we saw him and a horrible day to fly on Delta....unless you like hanging out in the airport.

Court of Honor

Sunday was Josh's second Court of Honor.  He has earned several merit badges (like 9) and his Tenderfoot.  We are proud of him and the hard work he has put into his scouting.  We're also incredibly grateful for his scout leaders and all the time and work they put into helping him succeed.

Pinewood Derby

About a year ago, we attended our first pinewood derby in this pack.  Shortly thereafter I was called to be the cubmaster.

Not going to lie.  I didn't see that coming.

It's been quite a learning experience, but I have been surrounded by wonderful and supportive cub leaders who have pretty much made this year a success regardless of what I was able to get done.  Thank goodness!

Last night was the first pinewood derby I had a hand in.  Luckily, I had the template of the last year and a lot of help, so I think it was a success.

There were some pretty creative cars.

Michael's is the second from the left and he didn't really seem very interested in putting much effort into it.  He told Jason that since he's won the last two years, he didn't really need to win this time.  And he didn't.  Always nice to meet your own expectations.

Our track doesn't have a sensor to indicate who won, so I enlisted the sister missionaries.  This may have been the most intense evening of their missions.

The bishop of the other ward has a computer system all set up to run the races, so we got him some tables and let him do his thing.

The whole evening had a chaotic feeling to it.  Lots of talking, lots of food, lots of kids.  Most of the cubs were excited and paying attention to the races even if their parents and siblings weren't.  With the exception of Ben, who was right in the thick of things.  He can't wait to join cub scouts.

An incomplete picture of the car table.

In the end, everyone had enough food, the evening was over by 8pm, and everyone seemed happy.  For the win!

Sometimes I Forget

I am not talking about the fact that I can never find my keys (although I do have a system that narrows it down to 3 likely locations and a total of 5 possible - woohoo!).

I am not talking about the fact that I have less than a 25% chance of using the right name when calling for my kids (do the math - that is weird).

I am not talking about the hazy blur that is the first years of my kids' lives (that is what the blog is for).

No, sometimes I forget more important things.

As I look at my lanky (soon-to-be) teenager who is rushing towards my height at an incredible pace, I realize that I sometimes forget that we only have 5 more years with him.  Now I realize that some years of his life so far have been slower than others (the first year lasted for.ev.er), but I don't think that is going to be the case with the next 5.  He is already gone quite a bit with the scouts and the youth and his clubs and sports.  So when he asks to have a friend over, I try to say yes when I can because that means that they are here for a little bit at least.

The fact that Josh seems convinced that he is another parent in this family bugs the crap out of me.  But, really, is an incredibly responsible and dependable kid with a strong sense of duty.  He is often a leader of his brothers (sometimes by sheer willpower) and of kids at school in his classes.  He loves to read and it is fun to now be able to share more of the things we enjoy with him (Helllloooo Doctor Who!).  I can see that he notices how difficult Isaac can be for us, but at the same time he is so good with Isaac that I think he will make a great father.

As I look at my 10 desperate-to-be-11 year old (so he can watch Doctor Who), I realize that I sometimes forget how extremely talented he is.  Truly, Michael has it all: a natural at sports, good at school work, musical, creative, and a wicked sense of humor at times.  He is by far the most sensitive of the boys and that makes him a good friend and an excellent teacher.  Like excellent.  But he doesn't see any of those things about himself is a little worrisome to me.  He doesn't need to be cocky, but coming up behind Josh who is obliviously confident at times, has got to be rough.

The fact that Michael cannot stop making noise bugs the crap out of me, but it is really (at least I tell myself) a manifestation of his musicality and creativity.  Or ADHD.  I guess we'll see.  But he already enjoys writing his own songs on the ukulele and enjoy practicing all of his music without be asked to do so.  I do realize this is every parent-of-a-child-who-plays-an-instrument's dream.  Hopefully it will last.  I have dreams that he will be the kid in our family to continue on the tradition of playing an instrument (skipped me, but my grandmother played piano, my mom piano, my uncle just about everything, my dad clarinet, my sister clarinet).

As I look at my 7-year-old, I realize that I sometimes forget that he is actually only 7.  Going on 30, yes, but 7 nonetheless.  He is an old soul and has spent so much of his life around older kids that he often seems so much more mature.  Until he doubles over or falls out of his chair laughing because he said or heard the word "butt".  Then his actual age becomes glaringly apparent.  Ben is our super quick kid. Not necessarily with his feet, but with his brain.  I am constantly surprised by the leaps of logic he is able to make or conclusions he reaches with what seems like not enough information for someone his age.

That fact that Ben intentionally baits Isaac bugs the crap out of me.  As if Isaac isn't difficult enough left to his own devices.  Seriously, Ben?  Seriously?  Truly, it is all probably normal older brother type of harassment, but Isaac is so difficult when he isn't being bugged that anything Ben does to bug him seems completely uncalled for.  Having said that, Ben really just wants Isaac to give him hugs and love him.  Of all the kids, I miss having Ben home all day the most.  He was (is) such a good, little buddy.

As I look at Baby Rage, I realize that I sometimes forget how little he really is.  His personality and behaviors are so often larger than life, that I catch a glimpse of his tiny little wrists and all of a sudden the reality of his actual size comes crashing down on me.  When he wants to be cute, this kid is adorable.  He reminds me of a poem my mom told me when I was little:

(adapted to fit Isaac)
There was a little boy,
And he had a little curl
  Right in the middle of his forehead.
When he was good
He was very, very good,
  And when he was bad he was horrid.

I won't bother listing the things Isaac does that drives me crazy.  But I will say that I am fascinated to see what his personality is like when he grows up a little bit.  I am also fascinated to see if we survive him as a 3-year-old.

In any cases, just some of my thoughts lately when I have a quiet moment (ha!) to consider these 4 boys.

ChamBRRRs Bay and Defiance Point

You know how in Virginia they tell you all the time, "It's not the heat...it's the humidity!"? (Which is absolutely true, by the way.)  Today's motto could have been, "It's not the cold...it's the wind!"  

The sun was actually shining and the temps were above freezing (hooray!), but a brisk wind definitely made it feel colder.  

Rachel had taken Jason to Chambers Bay when he was out here a little over a year ago and he wanted to go back.  So we bundled everyone up and headed north.  Minus the cold, it is a really cool place and definitely on my go to list for later in the Spring.  With the wind, we ended up booking it back across the grass because Isaac's hands were red and freezing.

But before that we had fun exploring.

When everyone was fed and warm-ish (the heater doesn't work in the van), we drove further north to show Jason around Point Defiance.  The kids and I had done a hike here last year and I remembered that there were some really beautiful overlooks along the road.  Again, this is another place we will repeat in warmer weather.  For today, I just hopped out of the van periodically (when it was stopped) and took some pictures.  This isn't a great picture, but there is this fabulous bridge that takes you to Gig Harbor.  Someday we'll have to drive across it.

But that is an adventure for another day.

The Cheese Is Strong With This One

Isaac was playing so nicely by himself with his toys this morning that I thought I would try to get some spontaneous pictures of him.

Apparently I have trained him too well to respond to the camera.  (Pavlov anyone?)  As soon as I brought it in the room, he began doing a series of poses for me along with some super cheesy smiles.

Cute cheeseball.

The 2016 Countdown

Many moons ago I made the mistake planned an evening of fun for New Year's Eve.  There were balloons to be popped with slips of paper with activities inside to carry us on and keep us awake until midnight.  It was a wildly successful night from the boys perspective and they have been begging to do it again.

Then there was Isaac.  Born right before December 31st.  No fun night that year.

Then we moved across the country and were trapped in a hotel in Utah with two vomiting people the next December 31st.  No fun night that year.

Then there was this year.  I figured it was safe to go at it again (with Isaac going to bed at 8pm).

We started about 6pm right after dinner.  Balloons were replaced with envelopes because they open more quietly after Baby Rage is in bed.

10. Chain reaction.  The idea was to arrange craft sticks in such a way that they created a chain of sticks that would explode when the load bearing (?) stick on the end was removed.  Following the directions was not very intuitive, so the rest of us messed around with the extra sticks while Jason and Josh worked it out.

The boys did remember how to make the ninja stars Doug taught them how to make, so Michael and Ben entertained themselves, and Isaac, with those for a while.

Once they got the hang of it, Jason and Josh got to working on a very respectable chain.

It looked pretty cool.

Jason did the honors so the rest of us could get a good view of the explosion.  It was pretty cool.

Sticks everywhere!

9. Activity Cube. I got all cutesy on this one and definitely paid for it.  Pinterest gave me the directions on how to make the cube (easy) and some ideas of activities to put on the sides (seemed too easy).  I thought it would be fun to let the boys make up their own activities to put on the sides.  Because for a few minutes I lost my mind and completely forgot what boys are like.  And thus we ended up with such gems as "slap your butt and do 10 push ups" and "shake your bootie and tickle everyone in the room".  Charming.  Hilarious.  Rather inappropriate.  Naturally, they loved this game.  Isaac just liked throwing the cube.

8. Marshmallow Popcorn.  Really this recipe called for peeps, but shockingly (SHOCKINGLY) I couldn't find any at Walmart.

My faith in peeps is destroyed.

Don't they have peeps for every holiday????

Regular marshmallows work in a pinch, so we had grabbed a bag of large, strawberry marshmallows at the store last week.  It made a gloriously gooey mess.

Ben thought this treat was O.K.

Michael thought he was a dog.

Isaac thought it looked delish...and then refused to touch it.  And thus it ever goes with toddlers.

7. Catapault. Forks. Cotton balls. Cups.  Need I say more?

6. Watch Sandlot.  At this point, it was Isaac's bedtime.  We needed a quiet activity.  Watching a movie is relatively quiet.  I had found Sandlot at the library and, even though I hadn't seen it, seemed to remember that it was a classic.  The boys LOVED it.  Ask them about it sometime; they'll give you the highlights.  Probably with voices.  And spoilers.

5. Flubber. Water + more water + glue + borax + food coloring = snot-colored goop.

The boys played with this stuff for much longer than I expected.  So long, in fact, that I started dozing off.

4 thru 2. So I wasn't very disappointed when the boys asked to watch another movie instead of do more activities.  Jason had predicted they would end up watching a second movie, but I had planned learning to do card tricks, making duct tape wallets, and playing board games for the next few activities.  Instead, we rented Wreck-It Ralph on Amazon and got situated for the last little while until midnight.

1. About Me form.  I am trying to have the kids fill out one of these a year.  Eventually we should have several years worth to compare so the kids can see how they have changed through time.  At about 11:45pm, I paused the movie and busted out the forms and the pens.

And before we knew it, it was MIDNIGHT!  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!