Yes, I Love these Kids

I had one of those days where I find myself smiling over each and every one of my kids.

There's Max, who was so excited to go goose hunting with Brett that he can barely sleep. In spite of that he was up and raring to go at 3am, ready to spend a large portion of the next twelve hours laying down in a freezing blind in the middle of nowhere. All for the chance to MAYBE get to use his hunting license for the first time. I'm sure that male bonding and munching on brownies and jerky somehow play into the mix as well.

Then there's Camille, who I found putting on her gloves and hat, announcing that she was going to go shovel the driveway?! I reacted in surprise. 'Wow. That's usually something that I do.' 'Yeah,' she responded, 'I figure I need to learn how to do it some time.' Huh. I can live with that.

Of course, once Cameron saw the snow he was almost instantly geared up in his snow suit, coat, boots, hat and gloves. I can pretty much guarantee that he will spend a large portion of his day in his happy place, soaking in the joy that blankets our yard.

Snow fever hit everyone today. For some reason, Natalie had a sudden yen to have snowshoes. Our ever helpful and very creative Elise quickly jumped in to help Natalie and managed to rig up a pair of 'snowshoes' that delight her little sister.

All little things, but little things that made me happy and reminded me how much fun they are. I love my kids.

My Fears are Realized

This is not a picture of Max in his first middle school wrestling match.

It is a picture of one of his teammates, whose name I don't even know.

Why didn't I get a picture of Max during this milestone event?

Because my hands were shaking so bad I couldn't even hold the darned camera, let alone keep it still long enough for a reasonable exposure.

My fears are realized. I am going to be a terrible Wrestling Mom.

Not the kind that makes a screaming spectacle of herself from the bleachers (though I did scream louder than I thought I would). And, heavens be praised, not the kind that crouches on the sidelines and pounds the mat with their fists.

I'm going to be the kind of Mom that dies a little death with every second of every match. The one that fears a coronary or stroke each time her son steps onto the mat.

Simply put, wrestling is going to kill me.

With the exception of boxing, there is no sport that is so personal, so intense and so brutal to watch. Especially for a mom. I don't know how many moms I've spoken to that have said they hate watching their kids wrestle or that they can't even go to the meets because it is too hard.

It isn't a team effort. There is no shared responsibility. Your child wins or loses on their own, under a spotlight, in front of the entire crowd.

If your child is shooting the last basket to win the game, or is up to bat with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, that heart in the mouth feeling only lasts a few seconds--as long as the basketball arcs through space or the duration of the swing of a bat. When they wrestle, every second of all three periods is just like that. A mother watching her son suffer, arching his back, every muscle straining to avoid a pin, goes through that same agonizing suspense, not for two or three seconds, but for thirty, forty or even seventy seconds at a time.

Even if their child is doing well, the heart still races and the hands shake. A single shift in balance or a slightly loosened grip changes everything. All that intense emotion is relieved by a brief break, only to experience the same thing all over again in the next period.

The worst part, and the one I am most afraid of, is the pain and suffering. It is watching your son twisted into inhuman shapes. Seeing their joints move in directions that are dislocations waiting to happen. Knowing that blood is common and expected and that occasionally, but not uncommonly, bones are broken. In their first meet, one of Max's teammates had to have his matched stopped twice for injury. The first he was able to work through. The second was a badly bleeding broken nose that ended the match.

That is why wrestling is going to kill me.

My hands weren't just trembling a little. They were visibly shaking. I seriously couldn't even hold the camera. My heart was thudding loud and fast, like a Kentucky Derby sound effect.

And this was when Max was doing well. He was in control nearly the whole match. He clearly knew what he was doing and was ahead in points (2-0) when he flipped his opponent over onto his shoulders and pinned him with one second left in the first period.

He won, quickly and fairly easily and I was like THIS? What's it going to be like if it is more suspenseful or if he struggles or gets hurt?!

I'd better get tougher or get some tranquilizers or this isn't going to be pretty.

Or, there is my other solution. I told Max that he just has to be so good that he has no competition. That would be a lot more fun than tranquilizers.

Congratulations, Max, on a great first pin and win! So proud of you!

Max cheering on his teammates

A Not-So-Very-Scary Halloween

Was it just me or did Halloween seem to go on forEVER this year? I think it had something to do with a three or four day observance because the holiday fell on a Monday this year.

Friday, Max had his 7th grade Medieval Feast, the concluding celebration for their Medieval History unit. This activity is over-the-top, including tons of food (whole cooked pigs head, chicken wings, meatballs, fruit, cheese, bread, bundt cakes, soda, and on and on) great medieval decorations and everyone in costume. I stayed up really late on Thursday night trying to throw something together from what I had at the house for Max's costume as a Medieval 'Lord'. Fortunately, I had an old red window swag from Cameron's room that I quickly sewed into a tunic and long cape and trimmed with 3" gold wired ribbon from a giant roll I had bought at Costco years ago. It turned out pretty well for no time, no planning, no pattern and scavenged materials.

Sadly, I have no pictures of Max in costume this year since his schedule was too packed with the tail end of cross country, the beginning of wrestling and early morning jazz band. This year we sort of just managed to whisk everyone where they needed to be with minutes to spare.

Nata-bug without her shoes, but ready with the bucket!

Friday night was our Ward's Trunk-or-Treat and Halloween (notice I didn't say 'Harvest') party. It was packed! Fortunately there was lots of food and everyone was a good sport about setting up extra tables (even in the nursery) and standing to eat when necessary. Brett dropped Camille and the little ones off at home and Brett, Max and I stayed to help clean up.

The back of the ladybug costume,
which has been worn by Camille, Max (haven't you seen
A Bug's Life--boys can be ladybugs), Elise and Natalie.

Saturday, Natalie had a birthday/Halloween party at one of her little Sunbeam friend's houses and went as a ballerina, much to her displeasure. She was hoping to be a pirate.

Princess Elise--Didn't get a picture of her cool up-do.

Monday morning, I got up early to do Elise's hair for her Halloween party. As a third grader, she has now graduated from Halloween Parade participant at Chester Elementary to Halloween Parade audience. A true sign of maturity!

I also had to scavenge in the house to come up with candy for Camille to take to the high school's annual preschool trick-or-treating event. She wore her nifty teenager costume (see below) with a purple and black stripped witches hat. Then I dressed Cameron in his costume and put him on the school bus.

With everyone else out of the house, I quickly grabbed a Cinderella princess dress out of Natalie's closet, dressed her in it and handed her a wand, crown and a treat bucket. We dashed over to the elementary school to join Cameron's kindergarten in trick-or-treating at the high school.

That place was a mad house! My favorite part wasn't all the cute little kids in costume, it was watching how excited the high schoolers were to see all the cute little kids in costume. One tall upperclassmen, obviously interrupted in some task, was stopped still in the library, watching the kids through the doorway with a book in his hand with the most wistful look in his eyes. Very sweet.

I had told Cameron that we were going to Camille's school and would probably get to see her there. As we wound through the halls, navigating the crowds, Cameron would call out 'Caaamiiiille . . . Caaaamiiiille . . . Where aaarre you?' It was so cute. He wanted to find her so badly. And I knew Camille was waiting just as excitedly for them. I started to get worried because there were only a few minutes left and we hadn't see her yet. As we approached the last wing, our friend Emily saw us and told me that Camille was through the next archway.

We hurried as fast as we could as the announcer came over the PA system and the kids started moving back into their classrooms.

Time was up! Oh, no!

Camille's minimalist teenager costume
(and as close as she'll ever get, she says, to wearing a corset)

But there, at the last doorway of the last hallway, was Camille. Everyone else had gone into their classroom, but she waited for Cameron and Natalie. It was a sweet Mom moment to watch that little greeting as they rushed to hug each other and Camille slipped the candy she'd saved for them into their buckets.

Parents live for this stuff. It's what makes all the other drudgery and chaos worth it.

While Cameron was at his school party, Natalie and I slipped over to Walmart (princess dress, wand and all) to replace the candy we'd given to Camille and got home just in time to get Cam off the bus.

We had a special Halloween dinner that night:

Jack O'Lantern pizza


and Sausage Pizza with Bugs:


then we headed out for Trick-or-Treating, leaving Camille an three of her friends to watch a movie and hand out candy to all our little visitors.

This is Max's last year Trick-or-Treating since our cutoff is age 13. So, he made the most of it, going off with two friends for several hours, filling his knapsack with candy.

Not surprisingly, Natalie ran out of gas first, so Brett took her home. Cameron lasted a while longer, but started drooping and begging to go home after about an hour. Elise was a trooper, but by the time we hit the front door, she was happy to call it quits.

Whew! Another Happy Halloween under our belts. Elise has been carrying her Halloween candy everywhere with her in a square Rubbermaid kitchen storage box. It doesn't leave her side until she goes to school, when she carefully hides it in her room. She even sits on it at dinner. I think if she could attach it to her wrist with a handcuff like traveling nuclear secrets in a spy movie, she would gladly do so. But, you can't argue with success. There hasn't been any snitching from her stash (except the two little Twix bars I 'liberated' tonight. Hey, it's a Mom tax. Parents are allowed a little sneaking.)

And finally, just for you, Mom: Pictures of the new Halloween decor I did this year, as you requested.

Total cost for this one was $1.

The kids LOVED these Dollar Tree crows and dubbed them Paco, Pedro and Pancho. Pablo was downstairs on the fireplace mantel next to one of the scarecrows.


I actually got a craft injury from these blocks I made at our Super Saturday. I'm still taking Advil for it a week and a half later. Only I could get a craft injury. I am truly craft impaired.

This one is my favorite. I saw something similar online and made my own version of it while listening to general conference. If you enlarge the picture you can see Frankenstein's bolts and the ghost's sparkles. The kids and Brett loved this one and would come back over and over to look at it or touch it.

Until next year! Boo!

First Day of School

Camille: First day as a Freshman at University High School. First child in seminary, early morning variety. Is taking geometry, accelerated science, spanish (teacher is our backyard neighbor), health/fitness, language arts, and art(!). Taking tennis lessons to help prepare for the high school tennis season in the spring.


Max: First day of seventh grade at Horizon Middle School. Invited into the accelerated math track. Playing the french horn for concert band and the trumpet for jazz band. Thought he'd die the first day of cross country practice (95 degrees--I'd have died, too!) but comes home looking much better now. Will be doing debate, wrestling and baseball as the year progresses. Running around with glasses held together by wire until we can order new ones--at least it isn't duct tape, right?


Elise: First day of third grade at Chester Elementary School. Student of Mrs. Skeman, possibly the most beloved teacher I've ever known. Ready to read and write and learn up a storm. Loves routine and hates change or uncertainty (her mother's daughter). Totally self-directed and almost too self-sufficient (her father's daughter). Part time student, full-time friend to her BFF Katie.


Cameron: Kindergartner at Chester Elementary. Student of Mrs. Nurvic and Mrs. Helma (can't wait for those Leprecaun Traps to come home at St. Patrick's Day!). Thrilled to be at a school where he gets to see his sister on the playground. Home sick after just a week of school with a cough and a fever. Recently began meeting with a private reading specialist with a thick New York accent and the fast pacing of a locomotive. Good things to come! Adores Dad, likes Mom okay, too.

Natalie: Doesn't care if she's in school or not, but dead serious about getting her first day of school picture taken anyway. Spends her time making over her stuffed animals into 'princesses' and dressing up as and acting like a pirate or a super hero. Failed Meal Eating 101, but is working toward an advanced degree as a professional snacker. Completely content with her role as Mom's sidekick.


Here's to a fun and (hopefully not too) exciting school year ahead of us!

A Cold Spring Day

Spring Break this year was really cold and yucky. The kids were trapped inside the house most of the week and were ready to get outside--for any reason. It was windy, too, so we took our dragon kite to a nearby park and had some fun.




Natalie has her mother's athletic gifts. See?



How Natalie gets up the playset.

Spring Break Broken Down

I thought I'd post some pictures of Spring Break while it's still 2011. It is still 2011, isn't it?

Brett could only take one day off that week, so we decided to surprise the kids with a mini tour of Spokane (I refuse to use the word 'staycation'). They had no idea Brett was taking vaction or that anything was planned other than another day at home. We woke them up early and told them to get their clothes on because we were going to have an adventure.

We started off by taking them to Frank's Diner, a place they've heard us talk about, but never been. It is an old passenger rail car that has been lovingly restored to all its polished hardwood and art deco glory. And they serve yummy, huge breakfasts. It was a total hit. Cameron caught the waiter's attention every time he walked by saying "Excuse me, sir. Can I have some sausage?" Cam has a special relationship with sausage.


When we left Frank's, we headed to the Garland Theater, an old time movie palace style theater to watch Despicable Me. I don't know which was the funnest part: listening to Brett laugh himself breathless during the movie or the rocking theater seats. They kids would probably vote for the seats. I don't think their chairs stopped moving through the whole movie.


They showed the original preview reel from The Wizard of Oz. How cool is that?

Can we get some of these at our house?

When the movie was over, we drove down to look at Gonzaga University's beautiful campus. I have vowed to go for a run there some day on the trails along the river. Except I think I'll have to find a way to run faster and look lots younger so I don't stick out so much.

One of the distinctive pieces of Gonzaga's architecture is St. Aloysius, a beautiful church.




Our visit was shortly after the NCAA men's basketball tournament, where BYU knocked the Zags out in the second round. And I was unintentionally decked out in my Cougar gear. The Zags are a polite lot, though. No one threw anything at me. I will admit to a little quiet gloating, though as we passed the McCarthey Arena.

I may have gotten a little overzealous, though, when setting up the following picture. After a few tries with the standard 'Say Cheese' prompt, I switched it up for "Say 'Go Cougars'!" (Of course, not until after carefully checking that no one else was in sight. I didn't want to press my luck. We did win pretty convincingly.)

Brett wasn't expecting the 'Go Cougars! line.'

From there we went to Riverfront Park for a picnic lunch and some fun.



One of the best parts of Spokane is the red wagon 'sculpture' in Riverfront Park. It is a giant, red Radio Flyer wagon. The kids climb up the back and slide down the 'handle'. It never fails to inspire surprised gasps, smiles and an expression of 'That is so cool!' when we take visitors there.

A picture of the red wagon from an earlier visit with my brother.

Another favorite, especially for the kids, is the garbage goat. It is a metal goat sculpture hooked up to a vacuum system. Push the button on the wall, hold your garbage to the goat's mouth and it is sucked up and away to some remote dustbin.

Ride 'em cowgirl . . . uh, goatgirl?

With all the crazy weather this year, they were letting a lot of water out of the dams to avoid flooding. This meant that Spokane Falls was absolutely CRAZY. The noise and violence of that water volume is almost scary.

It was hard to let the kids go onto the bridge, but I wanted to let them experience the Falls in their full power. It was hard to not get wet.


To end the day, we went for ice cream at The Milk Bottle, where they do dozens of flavors of homemade ice cream.

The little kids liked the Bubblegum ice cream (the flavor ONLY a kid could love). Brett preferred the Huckleberry. He's a huckleberry kind of guy. My personal favorite is the Lemon Custard. I have a hard time ordering anything else when I go there or to their Valley location 'Mary Lou's' because I'm sure it can't possibly measure up to lemon custard and I know I'll go away disappointed.

By the time we were done with the ice cream, the kids had pretty much had it. They were so exhausted they just wanted to go home and lay down. So were Brett and I. So, we stopped off at Winco for pizza on the way home. A perfect, non-stress ending to a terrific day.