Spring Dance Recital and Giveaway Winner

Princess is third from the left.

Scout is second from the left.

So after we got trounced at the Countryfest Pinewood Derby (not to be confused with the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby...not that it matters, we lost there too), we piled in the van and headed for Chick-Fil-A.

They were giving all dads a free chicken sandwich between the hours of four and eight, Since we didn't have any other supper plans, I had grabbed all the free chicken soup coupons from the calendars Baby Doll gave everyone for Christmas. We fed the whole group of us for $17 although it could have been free if I hadn't sprung for fries.

Crafty (I like her in the Max costume better).

We rushed back to the house just in time (actually she was a little late) for Scout to get ready for the recital. She quickly pulled on her costume and the Drama Queen did her hair and makeup in record time. We arrived just as they were making the welcoming speech and hustled to find somewhere to sit. Scout did an awesome job as usual and when she was finished we ran home again so the kids could get their wiggles out for 30 minutes before the recital for the older kids.

Sport

The recital was awesome, as usual. I love watching my kids dance! I know I showed you some pictures of the small stage a couple of weeks ago at the Riverton Arts Festival, but here is what they look like on the big stage. And this time you get Scout and Sport too. Have I ever told you that Sport takes an all-boys ballet class? They have so much fun and they get to use swords and everything.

Prima Donna is second from the left.

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And since it's after midnight, I'm announcing the winner of my 500 post giveaway.

Ever since I learned to count and maybe even before, my favorite number has been the number 8. That's because you have to be at least 8 to get baptized into our church. It's also the age of accountability...the age when babies become responsible children.

At our house that means that girls can choose to have their ears pierced. Kids also have to start cutting their own toenails and fingernails when they turn 8 (unless they are so disgusting I just can't stand them anymore, in which case I am perfectly justified in helping them out). It's the age they can start wearing them long if they are girls and they take care of them. It's the age they can choose their own hairstyle (within reasonable boundaries), and the age they start learning to cook. Yes, for us it is definitely a turning point.

So no one else actually chose that number, but Becky and Steve did choose the number 7 and they are the winners of a $50 surprise package crammed full of Tupperware. Please email me your address and I will get it in the mail right away.

Thanks for playing everyone and thanks for being there for me. Have a terrific weekend!

New Bike Helmets

Remember last week when I told you about my kids and the bike helmet slogan? They were on Fox news and it was all so exciting...

Anyway, today was the day for us to claim Sport's prize, a brand spanking new bike helmet for everyone in the family!

It was all supposed to be so easy. The Dog Walker was going to pick up Princess and Prima Donna from the middle school and I was going to check out Sport, Crafty, and Scout early from the elementary school. It was impossible to get all of us there at once, but we were going to do our best. Bossy, the Gym Rat, and Teach were all unavailable, so they only got 11 of us, but that's pretty good for a weekday.

My sweetie came straight from work and met us in the parking lot, then we all headed for the front door of the Salt Lake Valley Health Department, Community Health Services Division. An awesome girl named Kathryn was waiting for us and she walked us back to her desk. She was so cute with Sport, making a big deal of his amazing slogan.

We crowded into her tiny area and the kids were thrilled with the huge pile of helmets spread across the table. They had a purple one for Scout and a toddler one for Baby Doll. Curly was the most excited, his had a huge picture of Spiderman on it and if that weren't enough, it also came with a bell to put on his scooter!


They managed to fit each and every one of us (after they went out to the shed for a few more). They even gave us three for our missing family members. I'm thinking all in all this prize was worth about $300. Not bad for an amazing 8-year-old. Good work, Sport!

Loving Each Other

We had an interesting discussion at lunch today. We had just come home from church and my sweetie had whipped up a huge batch of his famous German pancakes. As usual, we shared our various church lessons with the family. One of the main discussions in our class was about how to teach kids to get along. So now I figure it's time to pour my heart out.

Now I'm not a pro at this by any stretch, but before my sweetie and I were married, I made it very clear to him that there were a few things I didn't want in our home. Being completely smitten, I think he would have agreed to anything, but I didn't want to take any chances.

When we were kids, my parents figured the best way to raise a bunch of Super-Over-Achievers was to put them in constant competition with each other. And I suppose it worked to a certain degree...except that I always came out of everything feeling resentful and like I wasn't good enough. Or if I did come out on top, I was boastful and irritating. This didn't exactly lend itself to a harmonious home environment.

So one of my stipulations as a brand-new bride was that we would never encourage our children to be better than their siblings. I wanted them to help and lift and love each other, and if the Super-Over-Achiever happened, great. If not, oh well.

Now I don't even pretend to know all there is to know about motherhood. In fact, the older I get, the more I realize just how clueless I am. But people comment all the time about how well my kids get along with each other and that's because in everything we do, family is most important.

I don't put up with fighting, name-calling or belittling. If the kids get caught fighting, they are immediately sentenced to do a job together. If they can't work together, they are assigned separate but much harder jobs. Usually they settle their differences pretty quickly.

On our recent trip to Vernal, we were horsing around in the pool at the hotel. The Prima Donna thought it might be fun to dunk Sport. He didn't think so...he came up sputtering and bawling. My sweetie thought she ought to be sentenced to a deck chair for ten minutes. No way! That was too easy. I told her she had to haul Sport around the entire pool on her back three times. She grumbled a little at first, but by the second lap they were laughing and playing and having a good time.

My mantra has always been to preserve the relationship at all costs. Sometimes saying "I'm sorry," can be as hard as saying "Hippopotamus," but those words can make all the difference.

I also encourage my kids to serve each other. In the book "Cheaper by the Dozen," they talk about assigning an older child to a younger child to make sure things happen. I am a great delegator! For a while we had specific olders assigned to specific youngers, but now I like to mix it up so they all get a chance to help each other.

I am constantly on the prowl for problems and broken relationships so I can help the kids repair them. I want their siblings to be their best friends.

How do you keep your kids from fighting?

Bike Helmets and Safety Slogans

Dog Walker and Curly

Despite the fact that we are in the middle of a huge ugly construction mess at our house, good things are happening! Back in March when my kids were off track, our city and a neighboring city sponsored a contest. They were looking for a catchy slogan that would encourage people to wear helmets when riding bikes, scooters, skates and skateboards. We have always insisted that our kids wear their helmets, so this was one I really wanted them to enter.

I remembered the contest late in the evening on the night before it was due. Then I almost decided that this was one of those times we should just pass. But the kids were off track so I figured it wouldn't hurt to let them stay up a little longer. Despite the late hour (or maybe because of it!) they came up with some pretty clever stuff.

Sport and Scout

I dropped the pictures and slogans off the morning they were due and promptly moved on to other things. Then last week I got a call...

Scout and Sport were both semi-finalists and they wanted to make sure we could come to the Bike Safety Fair on April 21. Of course we would be there! A letter from the school also promised them each a new bike helmet from the police department for their semi-final win.

So yesterday, after we ran our first baseball clinic for the little kids...me in my corner with Scout's team and my sweetie in his corner with Curly's team, we showed up at the fair. Scout and Sport immediately got their new helmets and then headed for the bike course.

It was only a few minutes later that they called everyone to the stage area for the presentation. They even had Fox News there! Scout's name was the first one called and she received an awesome backpack full of fun goodies. There were seventeen semi-finalists and after 15 had been called, Sport's name had still not been read.

Sport's Awesome Slogan!

He was looking pretty uncomfortable until the announcer informed us that there were two names that had not been read. Those two names had come up with the winning slogan! Then he called Sport's name and the name of a girl from a different elementary school. Their slogans were one word off. Sport's version, "Don't Be Insane, Cover Your Brain!" is the official version. The girl's version used the word "protect" instead of "cover."

Baby Doll sure wanted to ride a bike...

Both kids get the benefit of all the first prizes...a pizza party for their classes, exposure from the advertising campaign, including a news story on Fox (although I was going to link it and I can't find it on the internet), and last but not least, a new bike helmet for every member of their immediate family. I don't think they had any idea just how much that was going to cost them...

You know, fitting a bike helmet can be so confusing, especially for so many different sizes of heads! Here is an excellent guide to help you figure out how to "cover your brain."  https://www.foldingbikezone.com/how-to-choose-a-bike-helmet/

Cub Scout Stuff

Remember in February when I told you about the Blue and Gold Banquet? Well, my sweetie is still in charge of the Cub Scouts and he has to prepare an activity/awards meeting for them each and every month. Last month wasn't too bad, they all made paper airplanes and then had contests to see whose went the furthest and the longest.

This month they are supposed to do another craft or a service project and we have been wracking our brains trying to come up with something cheap and relatively easy since most of these boys are only about 8 years old. Except for their fearless leader who is 48 going on 11. Yup, I'm confessing...my sweetie is just a big overgrown kid at heart. He loves this kind of stuff!

When I mentioned that I wanted to go over to Beck's Leather and Craft for some supplies for my Girl Scout meeting today, he was right with me. I was a little confused by this because we already did leatherwork for the Cub Scout pack last summer. That's when he casually mentioned that they had a catapult kit he thought the boys might like. Trouble is, those kits cost $7 each!



Does anybody have a catapult pattern they might like to share? No, not one for throwing Cub Scouts, although I'm sure they would love that, just the right size for ping pong balls?

Some Awesome Fun at Classic

Curly

Monday was a special day for us. My elementary-aged kids are all off track, so they are home. And it was the end of term for the older kids so they all got the day off while teachers figured grades. That meant that other than my poor sweetie who had to work, we were all ready to play!

Scout

I had originally planned a trip to the zoo with my sister and my sister-in-law and their little ones, but the weather ruined that idea. So I pulled out my coupon envelope and started looking for an alternate activity.

Teach

That little guy in yellow is Curly.

When the Dog Walker made his personal appearance at the Spooka Palooza in October, we had been given stacks of coupons for food and fun. This seemed like an appropriate time to use some. As soon as Crafty got off work, we headed for Chick Fil A for lunch. I fed eleven of us full dinners including drinks for less than ten bucks!

Prima Donna

Sport

Then we piled back in the van and headed to the Classic Fun Center in Sandy. Three of our passes were for unlimited access so we put them on the kids most likely to use them...Crafty, Sport, and Scout. The others all had one free activity. After some discussion, we signed them up for an hour of bouncing in the bounce houses. And yes, adults are allowed and even encouraged to participate! (Sorry for all the pics, Teach insisted you had to have one of everybody!)

Drama Queen

Drama Queen

Teach

Because of my bad knee, I did not sign up to bounce (I know, I probably would have been fine...), but somebody had to take pictures so it all worked out. I loved watching my big kids act like the little ones. Curly could get up the big slides quicker than anyone else. Baby Doll had no fear! She just giggled and giggled as they sent her down slide after slide.

Princess Free Falling

Prima Donna and Crafty

When our hour was finally up, we cashed in all our free token coupons and headed to the arcade. Teach and Drama Queen earned a pile of tickets playing skee ball and the little kids rode on the rides. Then we discovered the Deal or No Deal game. I have seen that show a couple of times on TV and the game was basically the same. It cost 5 tokens to play, but if you were really good, you could win a hundred tickets for your investment.

Crafty, Baby Doll and Drama Queen

Dog Walker

We decided we were never going to make a deal and we played it all the way to the end four times. The first time we earned 20 tickets. Then the Drama Queen came over and after listening to her advice, we managed to get one ticket! The next game was the best. We won 40 tickets! The last time we played we pulled out 8.

By the time we were finished, we had a cup stuffed with tickets and we headed to the exchange counter. Baby Doll has recently learned the word "dog" and to her every animal is a dog. But she was very excited about a particular brown one that cost 400 tickets. Since we only had 325, the Drama Queen handed over $2.25 to make up the difference and Baby Doll got her dog!

By then Princess was getting nervous about being late for dance but our unlimited pass holders wanted to stay a little longer and skate. The Dog Walker agreed to stay with them and I handed him one more pass for free skating and $3 to rent all of their skates. Then we ran all the other kids home. An hour later I picked them up.

We had an awesome time as you can see from the pictures. And the entire day cost about 15 bucks including lunch...not bad!

San Francisco

Ghiraidelli Chocolate Factory

We haven't really been on that many vacations during our married life. It wasn't until Bossy was in middle school that we actually took our first real one where we did all the planning, scheduling, you know.  Sometime I'll tell you about that one, but today I want to tell you about our first out-of-state trip.

I wanted to take the kids to see the ocean. I had been there once as a child and it was something I wanted to share with them. California is obviously the closest for us, but we couldn't really afford Disneyland, so we decided to head for San Francisco. My sister had recently been there and she gave it glowing reports. It was the summer of 2004 and from the pictures you can see that Sport was the baby and Scout wasn't born yet.

While I was busy making reservations, I ran across City Passes for the first time. They saved us SOO much money! But even more importantly, they helped us plan our trip. We got these 4-star hotels in Burlingame which is just a short drive from San Francisco. I'm pretty sure our room rate was $46 per room per night. I loved that hotel! It was beautiful and clean and new. I brought home all the extra shampoo bottles and every time I wanted to remember that trip, I would sneak one out of the drawer and use it.

My first glimpse of the bay was absolutely breathtaking. We didn't know where we were going and we were traveling by this wall of rocks. I told my sweetie to pull over and I would quickly scale this wall (I was much younger then...) and I thought we might be able to see the bay in the distance. Wrong! When I got to the top, the bay was right there! I could have stuck my foot in it. I had the kids carefully climb the wall to see what I saw and we were all mesmerized by the sight. Thankfully no one fell in.

One of the things the kids were most excited about was the cruise we took around the bay. We had never really spent much time in boats, so it was a whole new world for us. We took my MIL with us. She was sweet and patient with the kids (although she has refused every vacation since!) and I think she had a little fun anyway.  The Pier itself was awesome even though we didn't shop much. We loved the underwater aquarium and the seals sunning themselves.

I have always been a little terrified of tons of water, so the bridges were scary to me. Not because I'm not a good swimmer, but because I didn't know how I could possibly save all these kids if we were to suddenly plunge into a large body of water and how would I choose? But I digress...

My sweetie wanted to drive on the bridges. The Golden Gate Bridge was fine, but then we got on the San Francisco/Oakland Bay bridge. It was rush hour and we were stuck there for quite some time. After nearly an hour, my very autistic Dog Walker announced that he had to go to the bathroom. He was bouncing around in his seat, doing the potty dance until we finally got off the bridge. We stopped at the first gas station and wouldn't you know it, it was closed! The poor kid, I don't know how he held it for so long.

Ghiradelli Square, the cable cars, the Golden Gate bridge, everything was so new and exciting! The favorite place though, was the Exploratorium. I think the kids could have spent a week in there looking and touching and playing...oh yeah, and learning. We loved San Francisco so much we planned a second trip back there the next year. Some of the magic was gone, but it was still a fun trip. And I got more memories and more shampoo bottles...

DARE Graduation

In our school district they have a program called DARE that helps the kids make a decision early on to avoid drugs and alcohol. Crafty graduated from that program yesterday. Curly was so excited to see the DARE car when we were walking in to the school! Nobody is EVER allowed to park that close to the front doors!

The fifth-graders filed into the gym and took up the three front rows. Crafty ended up on the opposite side from us so we could hardly see her.

After all the proper introductions and thank yous, they introduced the six essay contest winners. One boy and one girl from each of the three classes read their essays. I already knew Crafty didn't win, but after I heard the essay by the girl in her class, I was not a bit surprised. I don't think anyone could have written a more touching essay. This little girl's mom died of an accidental prescription drug overdose several years ago. She had gone to the dentist and she was in pain and she mixed a couple of painkillers that shouldn't have been and she just didn't wake up.

I remember when that happened. She was in Crafty's class then too. The kids were devastated to think that a young mom of one of their own just died when she wasn't even sick!
DARE is such a good program for these kids. Most of them are so sweet and naive at this age they have no idea what can happen to them.

I am so proud of Crafty for making a pledge to stay drug-free. Now if I can just figure out a way to get them all a ride in that awesome car!