Pool Friends

Savannah has been working as a water safety instructor at the Natatorium since March.  She teaches the Sharks and Minnows who are primarily elementary aged kids, and also an occasional water babies class.  And she loves it!  I think we've all known that she has a skill for leading people, but I don't think she would ever have listed "teaching" as one of her talents.  It turns out, teaching is definitely one of her talents.

During the last week of school, she and McKay were the only two at home one afternoon, so she decided to spend some time with him at our community pool.  She wanted to practice her teaching skills, and he just wanted to swim.  They were there for a couple of hours before we got this text from her...

and these videos...

I can't tell you how much my heart fills with gratitude to know that my kids are friends.  The following day, I had a chance to talk to McKay and he said the exact same thing about Savannah.  "She's so cool, Mommy!"  I don't know what about the swimming experience helped them to see each other a little differently, but I'm so grateful for it.  Whatever it takes to help them discover each other is a great thing.   "...just keep swimming..." - Dory 

Sick Days and Football

McKay woke up with a sore throat and a little fever this morning.  I'm hoping we're not starting another round of strep.  He slept until 10 and then dragged himself out to the living room wrapped in a giant blanket.  While I showered and got ready for the day, he watched all of the NFL playoff games…yep, the ones from last month that he's already seen.  He is deeply entrenched in football these days.  He made me sit with him and watch the end of the Cincinnati game because he really loves the Bengals???  I really don't know what determines his loyalty.  

And then when we could endure no more TV, he went into his room and played with his Legos.  McKay has always been a Lego kid.  He can sit  for hours and work on some elaborate construction.  After a few minutes, he came out looking for the iPad.  He said he needed it for the details.  

The afternoon went on while he continued working on his Lego project.  He kept the doors closed until it was completely finished and a proper unveiling could take place.  I cleaned a closet, filed some stuff, worked on a RS talk, made dinner, picked up two different girls from two different schools, and still he worked…

Finally, late into the night, after I came home from Enrichment, he was ready to show us his masterpiece…

Do you recognize it?  Maybe this will help...

It's MetLife Stadium (where the Super Bowl is being played this weekend)

Let me give you a closer tour of McKay's replica…

the Press Box 

 that's Peyton Manning in the helmet

 and Pete Carroll in the blue and black 

this is a retractable net behind the goal post that actually works!

 and that thing suspended in the air is an aerial camera…of course it is.  

Let me just mention that I didn't know who any of those people were last night during McKay's tour of the field, and he named ALL the players!  I thought Peyton Manning still played for Indianapolis!  But after listening to all the stats and McKay's predictions for the game on Sunday, I definitely feel much more prepared to watch.  Did you know that if the Broncos win, Peyton Manning will be the second oldest quarterback to win a Super Bowl?  Well, I didn't.  And I don't know who the first oldest quarterback was but I'm sure McKay does.  He talked himself to sleep giving me the stats about all the past Super Bowls.  He was shocked at how much I don't know.

I'll leave you with an aerial shot of McKay's MetLife Stadium…

It's amazing to me that THAT stadium up there came from this pile of bricks…and one very creative little mind.

And one more funny thing…

Just before I went to sleep, I woke McKay up to make sure he went to the bathroom, and in his half asleep state he said, "It's not halftime yet."  

Yep, we're eating, breathing, and sleeping football around here these days.  

Beds Made

This morning was insane.  We all accidentally slept in until 6:30.  (Seminary starts at 6:00…eek!!)  Savannah needed gas in the van.  People needed breakfast and lunches…and showers.  I jumped out of bed, gave a few quick directions to the kids, and never walked back into my room.  

Remarkably, everyone was in a really good mood.  They pitched in and helped with lunches.  We skipped scriptures, but sat around the island and had breakfast together.  And then we flew out the door to get Emma to choir by 7:30.  

McKay typically walks to school, but since it was one of those frigid 32-degree January mornings, I drove him.  As he jumped out of the car, he gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and said, "Oh, and I made your bed for you.  Love you!" and off he ran into the school.  

Craig has been gone all week and therefore my bed hasn't been made all week.  That's one of those things on my list of "DO NOT ATTEMPT during recovery" items, although I don't know why.  Making the bed isn't that hard.  But along with no vacuuming and no lifting, there has been no bed making happening…at least for me.  The kids have taken on the vacuuming responsibilities and hauling in groceries and boxes, but the bed is low on the priority list.  What a nice surprise it was to walk into my room this morning and not even have to think about my messy bed.

I love that sweet, thoughtful little boy.  

Baseball

Another last game of the season before we start tournaments next week.   I LOVE these late night games.  Perfect weather.  Great opportunity to practice some night time photography.  Awesome color.

I got to the game just after it started and I was shocked when I saw Upside Down #5 McKay PITCHING...what???  McKay never pitches.  He always wants to, but there are usually a lot of other boys ahead of him.   Apparently tonight was the night to try out an alternate pitching plan.  Everyone pretty much got to try that position.

But if I'm being perfectly honest, I have to say that I really don't love when he pitches.  It's too much pressure...on ME.  I get so stressed out with him in that high profile position on that mound, I can barely breathe.  He's not a bad pitcher, but he's a better catcher, I think.  So when he put all that catcher's gear back on in the next inning, I was very relieved.

 He had a couple of great hits tonight against a REALLY good little 9U pitcher.  

This game was so exciting that we were tied almost throughout the whole thing.  This picture of the game winning run coming up to bat with the scoreboard in the background is my favorite.  It sort of says it all right there.   

Bring on the tournament!  Love these boys.  LOVE this game! 

Creative Organizing

Do you know that I have not even been on my Mac for over a week?  And by the looks of things up here, I don't know that I've even walked upstairs at all.   I'm shocked that it's been so busy this October.  Usually this kind of craziness doesn't start for us until after Thanksgiving.  

I was going to try to do a recap post of everything I've neglected to write about, but there's too much.  So, instead, I'm starting from today and working backwards.  You don't have to read all of the back-posts,  I just need to have them recorded eternally in the blogosphere for my sanity.  Sorry in advance for the onslaught.

Here's a quick look at today, and the little boy who lives here, who seems to become more delightful and funny everyday.

This morning, I asked McKay to unpack the giant Costco-sized pack of toilet paper I bought yesterday and put it all away in the bathroom closet.  I secretly love this job, because come on...stacking and sorting?? that's kind of my dream chore.  But I was in a hurry to get out of the house and I happened to see a jobless little boy wandering around in my bathroom, so he lucked out and got the privilege.  There were about 7 rolls already in there so I figured what I wanted was pretty self explanatory.  Three rows across, three high, and four deep.  The wall is the natural border on one side and the stack of toothpaste is the other border.  Kind of clear to the average person, right?  (And slightly OCD now that I'm reading what I just wrote.)  

I finished getting ready and left him with the job.

When I got home a few hours later and opened the closet, here's what I found...

Well, it's not exactly what I had in mind, but he spent a lot of time on it and apparently bragged about his work to his sisters after he was done, so I don't have the heart to fix it.   

I'm not sure if this is a sign of a brilliant mind or a confused one.  He's definitely an innovator and a creative thinker and isn't constrained by existing borders.  Maybe engineering is in his future???

Cub Scouts

I don't know if I mentioned that I'm one of the Den Leaders for McKay's little group of Webelos.  

Well, I am.  And I can't even tell you how far out of my comfort zone this calling has launched me.  First of all, Cub Scouts is a totally different language for me.  Like what in the heck is a WEBELOS anyway?  

There are merit badges, rank advancements, academic pins, pack meetings, den meetings,  crossover ceremonies, uniforms, little beads and patches to put in specific places on those uniforms, arrow points, deniers, a scout oath and motto, and a whole manual full of other stuff that is still pretty foreign to me.  

But I'm getting there.  

Every Wednesday afternoon, another mom and I meet at the church and have organized activities to help our little den of Webelos progress toward becoming Boy Scouts.  This week, we were working on the Handyman Requirement.  I volunteered to teach this one because I figured I could handle talking about the importance of being responsible, doing chores in your family, and maintaining things around your home and school.  Easy, right?  

Well, there are a handful of other things the boys have to do to earn this requirement, including checking the oil in a car, checking the air in the tires, and washing a car.  

Are you laughing yet?  It's ok.  Everyone in my family did when I asked Craig to help me figure out how to open the hood of his Jeep so that I could find the engine.  That is where the oil lives, right?

It was a stretch, I tell you, to make the boys think that I knew all about cars and try to keep a straight face while doing it.  Fortunately, McKay was the only one who knew my secret and he didn't say a word.  In fact, in these pictures it sort of looks like he had a pretty big role in the instruction portion of this lesson.  I promise I did most of the teaching.  

We ended the day with five happy (and wet) boys, two squeaky clean cars, and one new den leader who breathed a sigh of relief that I got through another den meeting without anyone finding out that I don't have a clue what I'm doing.  

Weekend Update

The girls and I had an awesome weekend road trip to Round Top and Austin.  We piled into our rental car at 9:00am and set off for a great adventure.  

First stop...Jamba Juice!

Armed with a little juicy sustenance, we were on the road...

This trip was quite a bit longer than we expected, and we had a teeny little bit of rental car trouble.  In the 5 hours that we were on the road, we filled up a slowly leaking back tire a handful of times.  Savannah and I became pretty well acquainted with this little machine...

When we finally arrived in Austin at 8:00pm on Friday night, we took a quick detour to the airport and traded out our Chevy Malibu for a Chevy Impala with all four tires adequately filled with air.  Huge relief...

Just before we got to Round Top, we stopped in Brenham, TX at the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory.  What a beautiful place that was!  We didn't go through the tour, but we did stop into the little ice cream shop and each of us grabbed a scoop of our favorite flavor.  Awesome treat after a long drive.

And look at all these flavors we had to choose from!...impossible decision.  

 Finally, late in the afternoon, we rolled into Round Top and got to stop and wander around all the amazing treasures there.  We could have spent days in this place and not seen everything...seriously.

About three hours later, when the sun started to set and all the little tents started to close, we reluctantly left and headed toward Austin to find our hotel (and trade out our pitiful vehicle.)  I so wish we had gotten to Round Top earlier and been able to explore more, but the girls and I loved it so much that we might just have to make this an annual event!

On Saturday morning, we drove to the University of Texas campus and wandered around.  I have wanted to stop and explore here the last few times we've driven through on our way to or from San Antonio, but we've always been so short on time that only a quick driving tour was possible.  This time, I made sure that it was our first stop so we could get out and walk around.   

Our first stop was the Fine Arts building so I could show the girls where I spent half my life during college.  We wandered around the lobby and the practice rooms and the gorgeous concert hall and I was flooded with memories of a million choir concerts and music classes.  There happened to be a mini Strings Camp going on this weekend, and when we wandered into the lobby, some cute little Strings Boosters were selling last year's t-shirts for $1.  Megan had to have one of those!!  

From the Fine Arts building, we drove to the football stadium, the second most memorable place of my four years at that school.  

And then the Tower.  Gorgeous.  Regal.  Right in the center of campus.  And right next to all of my Psychology, Architecture and Latin classes that I took before I decided on an Elementary Ed major.  I was so flaky, but I learned so much about so many things.  The amount of useless knowledge I still have floating in my head is pretty awesome.  :)

 

We ended our little tour at my dormitory!  Oh, I can't tell you how strange and wonderful it was to walk back into that quad and into that building with my three daughters in tow.  We saw the piano in the lobby that I spent hours playing during my (very few) free hours.  We saw the rows of mail boxes that held excitement, anxiety and heartbreak, depending on who did or did not write to me.  We saw the dining hall where I ate nearly every meal for two whole years.  And we saw college girls who are closer to my daughters' generation than mine, but who look remarkably like I remember myself looking and how I mostly still feel.  

I loved taking my girls back with me to my pre-mom/pre-wife years.  It's so hard for them to imagine that I ever even had any of those.  I love that they are just as excited to see anything UT-related, and that their blood now bleeds as orange as mine!

After a little pizza lunch, we started the trek back home.  It was a great weekend.  We talked and ate and laughed and we all like each other a little bit more because we spent two whole days together doing something out of the ordinary.  

Wanna see what the boys did?

Craig bought McKay a hiking backpack and they went on a two-mile hike around Cedar Bayou and camped in their new mini tent that Craig got last year for his birthday and has never had a chance to use.  He's doing this same hike with his scouts on the 18th, so he wanted to try it out with McKay first.  They had a great weekend, too, and are looking forward to their trip in two weeks.  

Hooray for safe, fun, adventurous weekends, and for bonding with family!   Hope you had a wonderful weekend, too.