Guest Blogger - The Quest for Reverence by Sweetie

So we have 11:00 church now.  My wife loves it but I prefer the early schedule. Church is a three-hour block, and the first hour and ten minutes are the most sacred meeting when reverence is expected. With little ones it can be a challenge.    

Years ago when Bossy, Gym Rat, and Drama Queen were little we actually did a fairly good job at teaching them proper behavior.  And then it all fell apart. You see, undiagnosed or not, a three-year-old Autistic boy is NOT going to sit quietly on a bench! Our expectation levels had to change. The problem is that once they changed, the example was broken.  

We do all the things you're not supposed to do...small toys, mostly Hot Wheels, crayons...  We used to do  Cheerios but gave up on that because the big kids just eat them. For a long time it wasn’t that big of a deal because there were lots of young families in the ward, but now most of the ward is past the young kids stage and it's actually really quiet. Except in the back corner where Curly is making loud truck sounds lying on the floor kicking at his brother and pushing the large folding curtain so it hits unsuspecting ward members 35 feet away in the back of the head!

Back to why I hate 11:00 church. Well the last few months have been pretty good.  Baby Doll is big enough that Sandy can’t just head to the nursing room with her when things start getting ugly... and it really hasn’t been that bad...the kids are mostly quiet. (Sleeping kids tend to be quiet.) So when we switched to 11:00 and they were wide awake it was like a slap of reality. I hadn’t really made any progress. 

A few weeks ago Drama Queen had quieted Baby Doll down with an Ipad coloring app. So today I was prepared. It’s not as big, but my Kindle Fire could do the same thing. When Curly started acting up I coaxed  him over. He reluctantly came expecting to be cussed good. Instead I told him he could color as long as he sat on my lap and was quiet. He didn't know I had a new app on the Kindle and was quickly engrossed. It worked like a charm until the others saw what was going on and all wanted a turn. 

It wasn't long before attempts were made to tip him off my lap. They were moving all over the place. Finally I had had enough of anyone walking around and I made the area completely off limits. And that solved the problem until they decided they could walk behind the chairs.  All they had to do was push really hard on that curtain so they had enough room.. and if they moved it fast, cool waves shot down the way. Poor unsuspecting souls on the others side of the church! By the time the meeting was over, I was exhausted.

My dad wasn’t a church-goer and he would say, "no rest for the wicked." If we stayed home from church we worked the whole time, often weeding. Man, weeding in the hot sun sure sounds restful compared to this parent stuff.  

Guest Blog: Pinewood Derby Cars by Sweetie

When Sport was less than two years old, we noticed that two things seemed to get his attention… cars and girls… maybe it’s just the curves they share?   It was actually fun to watch.. He would play with his toys (toy cars if they where present) and ignore the TV until  a car or lovely lady came on the screen.  . He would stop... watch until it went away, and then go back to playing.  

That love of cars has continued on.  He loves hot wheels, watching the Velocity channel, etc.  Since he also loves Cub Scouts, pinewood derby is one of his favorite activities. In the last calendar year we have built and raced three vehicles...at three different races…  

Every time it’s the same thing, he loves designing the cars and he’s most excited about the design. He doesn’t care if it’s the fastest because he doesn’t like flat, very aerodynamic pinewood derby cars that don’t look like cars.  And that’s all true until about 20 seconds before the first race… when suddenly he wants to win. 

This last race was interesting.  He wanted to make a jeep..  Tall and short, it would be slow …even if I spent hours on the wheels and axles.  He didn’t care, he just wanted it to look cool.  Once we got there and he found out there was no prizes for design, he watched the first race.  The jeep took fourth on a 4-lane track…so Sport quickly headed off to the exhibits, leaving Dad to the humiliation.

In the end the jeep was only about 0.8 seconds slower over 4 runs than the fastest car…good enough for third  place…. from last that is. Point 2 seconds doesn’t seem like a lot but it’s several car lengths.  

When we were finished, I told him not to play with this one because I wasn’t building a new car for the town days race. I'm just not sure I can lose that many more man-cards, but I am thinking about buying special cheater wheels and axles on the internet.  And Sport is warming to flat aerodynamic designs.. and...dang I hate to be in the bottom half.  Oh and everyone says he’s just like me… and while I’ve learned not to jerk my head when a lovely lady walks by  (love will do that), an Italian sports car.. a nice custom… or a really cool pinewood derby…well, that’s a different story… 

Maybe it's genetic.

Oh, one more thing to explain the pics... Sport and I have built and raced 3 cars... Curly and I - 2 cars,  Scout and I - 2 cars… Crafty one car, Prima Donna one car, Dog Walker one car…

   

Guest Blog - For She's a Jolly, Good Fellow! by Drama Queen

We Twelves are good at sharing!

What a day!  Phew.  I for one, have been running since 5 a.m. which is pretty darn unusual for me.  I like my five o'clocks on the sunset side.  I was at work for a good chunk of the day and while I was, Mum and Daddy packed up for another little Tupperware trip.  Teach had the convocations aspect of her graduation this morning.  I'm pretty sure Gym Rat took care of the little kids...rumor has it he bought a cheeseburger for Curly for breakfast.

Mum's looking to get our house re-appraised so the afternoon was a sea of kid-running and trying to bolster the troops.  They got it together and we got some of the bad things checked off the list.  After dinner the kids disappeared downstairs to watch a movie.  As soon as it was over (literally to the second) I announced that we were all going to go to the Village Inn to celebrate awesomeness in our family: the awesomeness of Teach!  

What's with that face, Crafty?

Except for Princess who went to a sleep-over and Baby Doll who was with Mum and Dad, the lot of us drove over at nearly 10 and ordered up some pie.  On the way home, I started off a round of "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow" that lasted nearly the whole ride home - including lovely new lyrics.  

Curly, that's a huge piece of carrot cake!

"For Teach is a Jolly Good Fellow!
Yes, Teach is a Jolly Good Fellow..
So everybody eat some pie!
She's joined the new teacher supply!" 

We love pie!  And Teach!

Guest Blogger: Harry Potter Fanatic by Teach

There are two types of people in this world.

Those who like Harry Potter

and

those who don't.

As it turns out, I am one of those that loves Harry Potter. I'm pretty sure J. K. Rowling is borderline genius and I really love all seven of those books. I have a self-inflicted rule that I am only allowed to read Harry Potter once a year.

I allow myself to start reading HP on Thanksgiving (for the past three years) and I read the whole series usually finishing around mid February. Due to my busy schedule I managed to drag Harry out until April. The day after I finish is always the worst. I can't hardly manage without having a book to read, so trying to find a new book or series is necessary for my sanity.

So, for the sake of my sanity, dear blogger world... PLEASE offer me some good book titles!  I love most anything as long as it isn't scandalous or super violent. And although I know Harry Potter is the best series ever... I am not allowed to read it for another 7 months, so save me the false hope.

Thanks everyone! You all are rockstars!

Guest Blogger: Honor and Guilt, Doing My Share by Sweetie

Sweetie on far right with Gym Rat in front and Bossy on his left side

Remember when my wife was asking about baseball?  I am a bit opinionated about kids’ baseball.  I really wanted Sport to have a machine pitch league this year.  It’s a great way to let the kids learn to hit and field.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t help develop great pitchers so it has fallen out of favor.  Now Sport is playing real baseball, and thanks to some coaching by his mom, he is doing great. 

I also have a strong opinion about tee ball.  I truly love preschoolers and early grade-schoolers.  I love to see them having fun, but to say tee ball is not my favorite would be an understatement.  Everyone bats every inning.  Throw the kid out at first?  He still runs the bases…no one strikes out…gets out… and the last kid up always gets a home run! The only thing worse is little kid flag football (where the idea of four downs to make 10 yards is taken away… What’s the point?).

Drama Queen is holding the sign and Teach is on her left

My sweet wife knows how I feel and I thought she mostly agreed, that is until the other day she informed me that Curly was going to play tee ball with a friend.  A few days later, I learned that Scout and the grandsons were also playing tee ball and that she was going to be the coach.  And Bossy was going to be the assistant coach.  I couldn’t believe my ears!
And then there was Thursday… She called me to tell me about the cutest thing Curly had said… They had been talking about tee ball and the fact that his mom is coaching Scout’s and the grandsons’ team.  My three-going-on-30-year-old wondered out load who would be his coach.  Would Mom coach his team too? When his mom gently reminded him that she was coaching Scout’s team, he didn’t skip a beat.  With a big grin he said, “Maybe Dad will be my coach, he’s the awesome-ist guy ever!” 

Sweetie on the far right Bossy in the back middle and Gym Rat on her right

Ouch!  How do you respond to that?  After she repeated it several times, I finally got the message… I had been honored and guilted just one too many times.  Tomorrow she’s going to sign me up as the volunteer tee ball coach. I love my son… I (still) love my wife…. but tee ball?  That’s a different story.

Guest Blogger - Falling for Bossy by Gamer

 

***I asked Gamer to write a guest post in February when we were putting up all the First Kiss stories. It took him a while, but I'm excited (and a little nervous) to put up his first (and hopefully not last) guest post. Gamer's going to hate that title, but I have to throw in a little romance, don't I? And he didn't give it a title, so I'm perfectly justified, right? Right???***

Well here it is. My guest blog appearance.

This is Gamer aka as SIL. This is going to be one weird trip for us all together. Let me just say I don’t listen very well. This is the story of how me and Bossy met.

One night I was at a place called Hastur's Games and Hobbies. I had been hanging around there playing AD&D, Magic the Gathering, and some other games most people don't agree on. Well on one fateful night Bossy had barely gotten off work from her job at a local retail store. Unbeknownst to me her friend had a boyfriend who was a friend of mine. On this night Bossy and her friend showed up to watch her friend's boyfriend play AD&D (Advanced Dungeons and Dragons). I was wearing basically the only clothes I owned, Black pants with chains and straps everywhere, a black tee shirt, and a grungy jacket. Mind you this was in February. I was sitting there watching people come and go and characters get killed. 

Well after Bossy showed up something changed in the room and it wasn’t me. I was now being watched. You know the feeling you get when someone is watching you? I tried to figure out why I was getting it and from whom. Every time I got up to use the facilities or to buy a soda the eyes would follow me. Well OK not into the facilities, but you know what I mean. Finally I couldn't take it anymore.... I went outside to smoke a cigarette. 

Bossy followed me outside. She asked me for one of mine which at the time was Camel Wides. They are shorter and fatter than most. Well I gave her not knowing she was willing to go to such extremes to talk to me. She had quit smoking and was now willing to throw it all away just to get to know me. She took one drag and started coughing and couldn't stop.

I didn't know what to say at that point. I tried not to laugh at her while she was gasping for air and me snickering. When she could breathe again, I asked her if she had ever smoked a Camel Wide before and she reluctantly told me she had never heard of those. 

After that night the two friends decided on their own to take our relationship from just a casual smoke break. Ok more like me smoking and her almost dying from mine. It was decided by 2 people to have both of us over to his house and have dinner, play more games and see if anything ever happened between me and Bossy. Cause the next guy in line they wanted to set Bossy up with was nice in a very weird way. 

So after a few dates and dinner at Bossy's parents house. We made it official and got married and have been together for over eight years now.

***You know, Gamer, I'm still waiting for the kissing part...wait! Never mind, maybe I don't want to know.***

Guest Blogger: I'm Getting So Big by Baby Doll

I turned 17 months old today so Mom thought it might be fun to show you some of the amazing things I'm big enough to do. I'm awesome on the skateboard!

Princess taught me how to play her clarinet today...I only broke the reed a little. Why would you put something in your mouth anyway that you don't plan to eat?

Crafty didn't want to do her job so I told her I would help with the vacuuming.

Scout unloaded the dishwashers but Mom needed a little help loading. Who needs a stool?

After all that work I needed a little time to relax so I decided to do a little table dancing in my jammies..

Look, Mom! No hands!

It's a good thing I never fall.

Mom says I'm driving her crazy.

I don't know why.

Do you?

Guest Blogger - My Bucket List by Teach

All of last year I kept coming up with things I wanted to do before I died... One day I decided it was time.  Time to write a legit bucket list.  This is the bucket list that my 20-year-old self wrote. I have completed 3 things and have 23 more to go. I absolutely  love my bucket list and I am excited to do all of these things some day. I hope you enjoy it! (:

1. Own my dream car (done)
2. Get married in the Temple
3. Kiss a man during a fireworks show
4. Read all 7 original Harry Potter’s
5. Walk through an “authorized personnel” door as authorized and as a rebel (done)
6. Do something that terrifies me
7. Be in a successful “High School Musical” jumping picture
8. Pray for a solid hour
9. Complete a 365 photo challenge or something similar
10. Win a contest
11. Read Pride and Prejudice
12. Write and finish a collaborative story (half way there)
13. Go on a blind date (done)
14. Watch Star Wars
15. Own a turtle
16. Take a Zumba lesson
17. Paint a fence
18. Become a mom
19. Become a teacher
20. Do something crazy in an obscure location
21. Find a secret hide out – take a boy there
22. Create a “Heaven on Earth” spot
23. Have a real life pillow fight
24. Have my heart broken (hopefully just once)
25. Become organized
26. Give a speech

*************
Word from Mom
How about you? Do you have a bucket list? I've made lists of goals before, but never something like this.

Guest Blogger: Being in the Ballet by Prima Donna

There's me right in the center!

Scout is growing up into a beautiful ballerina!

I love to dance!! I have been dancing since I was three, doing two performances a year one at Christmas and one in spring. It becomes really fun when you turn nine because then you can participate in the ballet. They do an annual ballet every year and it is so fun!!  I have been in Sleeping Beauty twice, Coppelia, Swan Lake and now I’m in Sleeping Beauty again. A ballet is a dancing play for those of you who aren’t familiar with dance. I’ve never had any main roles, but Princess has. In Coppelia she was Swanhilda’s scaredy-cat friend, and in Swan Lake she was a princess the prince could have married (I guess that’s not a main part, but it was a solo). This year for Sleeping Beauty she has the best one though. She is Carabosse!! (Maleficent if you are familiar with the Disney version). She even gets to be on the advertisement poster!

Princess in the middle in her tutu.

   
The ballets aren’t just fun and games though, for 3-4 months we have practices almost every Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Normally practices are 2-3 hour, with most of us sitting there dead silent for half of the time. We have to be SUPER careful with costumes and props since they use the same ones year after year.

Sport is the second one from the left.

The ballets are so much fun too. We get three more performances a year, and we get to hang out with our dance friends every weekend. We get to buy candy from the vending machine in the school we perform at when we aren’t on. I mean we stay in the dressing room * sheepish face* and we get to character dance. Character dancing is cultural dancing with ballet mixed. It is the most fun thing EVER! I don’t have a character dance this year though. We get to do solos! We don’t do solos during our recitals so this is our only chance. We get to act, especially with Princess’s Carabosse figure, she has to act tons! She even gets to do a silent laugh!

Ta-Da!

We do the ballets as a family thing. Princess, Crafty and I do the normal dances. Dog Walker  is in it too. He is part of the Rose Adagio this year so he gets to flip and turn Aurora. Last year Sport was in it as a trumpeter. Mom always makes costumes. She made a BEAUTIFUL queen costume this year and is still working on the king costume.

 I love the ballets. I would do them twice a year!

Guest Blogger - Valentine's Day by Princess

This is Princess. My mom told me to go write a blog even though I really didn’t want to, but I also really don’t want to be grounded. When she said, “Make it about crazy boys on Valentines Day!” I was like Blehh! Who cares about boys?

Now yesterday, the answer would be ME! I love boys! but today… The boy I liked got a girl friend this week, the boy that liked me did too, though I’ve heard it’s just a rumor. Every where you turn in the halls at school there’s a couple making goo goo eyes! The girls talk about flowers, teddy bears and heart shaped chocolates, the boys, well, they still talk about basketball. But they’re going totally crazy, they’ve started to wear nice clothes and all of them are being more social. Everyone’s looking for their Valentine.

There are the occasional few that don’t get caught up in that stuff. My group of friends talk about never getting Valentines, and how excited we’ll be in high school when we can date. So, I’ve spent my weekend listening to Adele. Prima Donna and I ate cookie dough and watched High School Musical! Who needs boys when you’ve got a Taylor Swift album?

My turn!

***Is this pretty much what you all think of Valentines Day? I know my older unmarried kids call it Single's Awareness Day.  Why are we so caught up in the holiday? It's easy for me to say that it's no big deal, but I've been happily married to my sweetie for 28 years so I have a valentine every day. I'm not really complaining about Valentine's Day, obviously this is a day that we celebrate at my house. I have three November babies, four if you count Baby Doll who was born a month early in October.

When we were kids we sweated over the valentines we made for our friends. We checked each little candy heart to make sure they didn't say anything that could be misinterpreted. And then of course when we were looking at ours we read each and every one just hoping there WAS a hidden  message from a secret admirer. My heart aches for my girls every year when they come home without a flower or candy heart. The Dog Walker is totally bummed that no one invited him to the Sweethearts' Dance. Yesterday he was trying to convince me that it was OK for him to ask someone to this girl's choice dance.

I think Princess is right...everyone's looking for their Valentine. I'm grateful every day that I found mine.***