Turn-it-off-Tuesday

Parenting is kind of like cooking. You try tons and tons of new recipes, in search of that perfect dish---you know the one--that has only a few ingredients, is quick and simple to prepare, yet yields great results. (It's a myth by the way, in both parenting and cooking. Sigh.)

This summer, among other programs, we have implemented "Turn-it-off Tuesday", wherein we as a family have a day without video games (that's been rough for me), TV or movies, ipods or ipads, or computers. There's been some grumbling, quite a few "I might die of boredom soon" speeches, but there's also been a lot of cooperation, for which I am grateful. But mostly I'm grateful for children who are always willing (albeit sometimes grumbling) to let me try out new "recipes" on them, in hopes that I get this parenting gig right one day.

So what do we do in the summertime when we're not scrambling to find something to do that doesn't involve a screen? Take a look:

Yuba Lake

Thanksgiving Point

 Swim Lessons

Garrett and his new career in fencing

the splash park

Of course, there are also lots of days spent at home, and those are fun too!

Happy Dad's Day and a few other items.....

Part 1:   Happy Father's Day, Rich. Thanks for being an amazing Dad.

Part 2: DID HE CATCH IT? And what's with the tongue?

and the tongue again...

and again.....

and fence climbing. It's an essential part of spending lots of time in a dugout. 

Part 3: Can you ever really have too many pictures of your two-year old? He's good company at all the baseball games.

Part 4: A day at the park with friends....

Part 5: Other things we did this week that I want to remember but we did not take pictures of:

• rode our bikes to the library, checked out books, rode home (the hill was fun)
• Ben got a fun new appliance in his mouth (Herbst) that totally changes the way he eats, talks, etc. He only has to wear it for a year
• bought a new car (well, new to us, but not actually new)
• R and I went to our second dance class, learned the Texas Two-Step (we're still really bad)
• G went to his second fencing class, got to use the foil (sword) and wear protective gear (squeal!)
• R, B, and G had a fab time at Father-and-Sons
• Me,C, and S had fun cleaning the church
• Then of course there was the laundry, clutter pick-up, dinner every single day (sigh), breaking-up-sibling-fights, tattle-mediation, a sprinkling of baseball games and probably a few other things I'm forgetting (because raising children sucks your brains cells right out of you).

June-evening Mind Dump

Rich and I are taking a country dancing class. A few items to note regarding said class: Rich is a really good dancer (who knew?) and I am being completely honest when I tell you I am the worst one in the class. I am also being completely honest when I tell you that country dancing is the most fun I have had in......maybe forever. Even though I am really bad at it. I hope there is hope for me. I watched instructional videos today on youtube so I can be better  before our next class. I call it my homework. We did line dancing and partner dancing. I taught Cass the line dance and she was thrilled. We danced it like a million times today.

Summer is here--well, at least the children are out of school. This week I have enjoyed roller blading with Garrett, flying a kite with Cassidy, and playing tennis with all of them. I have not enjoyed having to make lunch for all of them. I'm sorry kids that our home menu does not include "a cookie and your choice of white or chocolate milk" each and every day, nor do we have sporks, so buck up and get used to it. I can try and order in some of those little ketchup packets if it makes you feel better.

We are trying to do a morning devotional each day at 9am, before we have family prayer. One of my children (who shall remain nameless) told me that "devotional" was a funny word and we needed to call it something else. So now each morning I invite the children at 9am to "that thing we used to call a devotional." My neighbor told me I could call it a "morning-side." What I really want to do is yell at the children to get their butts in the living room for scripture and prayer but that kind of ruins the spirit of the whole thing so I maybe I'll use morning-side....

I cannot keep my house clean. That same force that literally sucks the money out of your wallet as you enter a Costco is wreaking havoc in our home. At this very moment on my kitchen counter (where we sometimes eat and frequently prepare food) there is a bottle of nail polish, a bottle of Advil, an apple core, a potato masher, 4 cans of tuna, a gumball machine, a plant,  a tub of butter, scraps of paper that Sam tore up, and a half-eaten package of Ritz crackers. My kitchen could be re-named "the sticky shoe", only we are not showing movies or selling pop corn (but you could probably find some popcorn in the far recesses of the microwave or on the floor).

I love having my kids home. They are fun and funny. I'm re-reading a favorite parenting book of mine and I am reminded that:

• my kids make lot of mistakes, and that is ok
• there is not just ONE way to be a perfect parent, but there are THOUSANDS  of ways to be a really great parent every day
• all of us--parents and kids--are trying our best
• keep it small. keep it simple. give it time.
• my cat Tyler snores (okay that wasn't in the book, I am just listening to him snore as I type this)
• children are actually listening to you even when they act like they are not
• traditions and routines are important to children
• my children really want to please me and make me happy
• it's ok that our family is not perfect (I mean, we're close, but we're not there yet)

I should really go to bed now, but instead, I will probably read my book a little longer and then be super tired in the morning. Oh well, at least with the Ritz crackers and tub of butter on the counter I won't have to worry about making breakfast!

Lost

BIG day at our house---first lost tooth.

Happy Birthday Rich

Another year older and wiser too.

Happy Birthday, love.

(Just picture in your mind this really cool photo of Rich on his birthday, surrounded by his loving children, his expertly decorated cake in front of him and a pile of presents beside him. Just imagine it, because as it turned out his birthday was on fast Sunday and it ended up being a crazy day and I didn't take the pictures I wanted and so the one pic I did take is not really that great so I'm not posting it.)

Happy Birthday to the greatest guy I know, a rich king at that.

I hope they call me on a mission...

It was our great pleasure to host the missionaries for dinner recently.

It's hard to believe that in not-so-many years another family somewhere will be hosting our missionary son at their house for dinner. Fortunately I still have those not-so-many years left to teach meal-time manners and re-visit the topic of why burping contests at the table are generally considered taboo in most parts of the world.

The best part of feeding the missionaries? The post-dinner basketball game:

Even though they had many inches on Ben, Ben's got some skills (if a mother's allowed to brag a little bit) and he held his own.

Thanks Elders, and thanks future Elder King. You being a great missionary is a slam dunk.

End of School Pizza Party

To celebrate the end of carpool school, we gathered a few friends, a few slices of pizza, some ice cream and soda (nothing but healthy, organic foods over here) and enjoyed the sunshine in our backyard.

Either this kid really likes the ice cream or he is super excited about his future membership in the NRA.

This kid really did like the ice cream, and I know for certain he is super excited about his future membership in the NRA. 

Last Day of School

I've heard tell that sometimes, in some families, on the last day of school, you might really want to take a picture of all of your children heading off to their last day of school--IT MIGHT EVEN BE THEIR LAST DAY OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL EVER--and then sometimes, in other families of course, there might be a big argument about how someone eats their oatmeal loudly or how someone is always in someone else's face etc, and so it ends up that certain people are MAD and POUTY and refuse to be in the cute family picture that mom-photographer had dreamed about for 12 years. That would never happen in our family, but sadly, I've heard it does happen in other people's family. I'm happy to report that my children are practically perfect in every way, so we never have contention in our home. Cough cough.

(Thank you and extra Christmas presents to Cassidy for being in said picture when said brothers chose not to.)

Dance Festival

Such a fun tradition, the end-of-the-year Dance Festival at Freedom Elementary. As usual, I picked the perfect spectator spot to snap great pics:

I'm glad he was able to sense the zoom lens across the field and make that precious face  while dancing the Hukilau

Surfin' USA for Cass

Not enough zoom, but you get the picture. Squint your eyes. The boy in the gray shirt, kind of in the middle, getting his grove on---that would be Ben.

(Everything they know about dancing they learned from their mom. )