You know what that means, right? If the kids want to spend time on the computer, they have to write at least a 2 paragraph blog post. Just our little way of making sure they stay literate over the summer break.
If you want a peak into the minds of the 12 year old, almost 11 year old, and the 5 year old, visit nothingontv.net. While the older two will be writing, Alli may sneak in every once in a while with some pictures or a video post.
We’re back. Well, if you can read this we’re back. New posts coming soon.
Greg and I will be doing some blog maintenance over the weekend. One of the things is moving over to a different server. On Monday, you will need to update your feedreaders and bookmarks. Also, don’t be surprised if things look a little strange over the next few days.
Have a great weekend!
A few weeks ago, Nathan was at a friend’s house (that kid is never home anymore). The girls and I decided it would be great fun to make a girlie night of it. Avocados, cucumbers, pretty wash cloths, and other assorted items were gathered.
We made our facial mask by mixing avocados, yogurt, and honey. It felt pretty gross. I’m not sure if we benefited from them, but it sure was fun. After we were done, Allison decided that she needed to try it out for taste. Not bad, but not delicious either.
Thanks to his grandparents, yesterday we dropped Nathan off at a nearby college for band camp. One whole week away from home with no parental supervision. Just Nathan and one of his best friends in the smallest dorm room I have ever seen. There are pictures of dropping him off, and the tiny room, but they will have to wait a week. We couldn’t find the charger to his camera in time, so he is using mine.
After we got the boys checked in, it was time to warm up and tryout chair assignments in one of the three bands. Honors, Pine Log, and Tejas. After Nathan auditioned, he came out saying, “Man, I’m going to get the last chair in the lowest band. They had me play the one scale that has the hardest note to hit.” It didn’t make him any happier when he heard there were only a few other Baritone (Euphonium) players at the camp, “Now I know I’ll be stuck at the bottom”.
Both of the boys were instructed to call when they found out what band and chair they had made. Of course the ideal situation would be for them both to be in the Honors band. They could do everything together. Nathan told me he was in the Honorable Tejas band. “Yeah right”, I told him, figuring that he was just joking about the Tejas part.
Could you imagine? kid, “I promise I’m in that band.” parent, “No you aren’t! You are better than that!”. Way to make a kid feel bad about themselves. That’s just about as bad as telling them, after they struck out, they did their best. Clearly they know that if they had done their best, they would have made it on base. Leaves them with the impression that you must think their best sucks.
Anyway, back on track. I lucked out and he was just joking. First chair in the Honors band. Not too shabby! His friend is also in there, thanks to some mad trumpeting skills. I hope they don’t get sick of each other.
The boys’ days will be packed. It looks like from 8 until 5 they will be spent either in rehearsal or just learning about music. When they are done with practices/classes for the day, there is some sort of 3 hour activity planned each night. I hope he remembers to call home or by Friday he’s going to be really embarrassed when I crush him with a hug in front of everyone.
The older kids are still going strong with their sports (another week of baseball for Nathan and two of softball for Zoey). Allison’s season was finished almost before it even really began. She was super excited that this year she would get to join in and play sports just like her siblings. She picked out pink everything; helmet, bat, shorts, and shoes. Adorable. I know.
We showed up to the first practice and it was a madhouse. Girls were wandering around not sure what to do, half of them were too shy to talk to the others, the practice went longer than it should so most of them were tired. After about 30 minutes Allison decided that she was done. Practice was boring and she wasn’t having any fun. We decided to just chalk it up to Alli being tired and first time coaches who were not really sure how to handle that many five year old girls.
The next practice would be better, we hoped. Allison found out that she loves running the bases. She could also hit the ball farther then almost every other girl on her team. Not too bad! She enjoyed practice more, but it was still unorganized and she was always ready to leave after about 20 minutes. She went back and forth between liking and just not wanting to be there. It did not help that the whole season we had to remind the coach that she plays left-handed. You would think after 3 months of practices and games this wouldn’t have been necessary.
Every practice and every game she would teeter totter. We gradually stopped going to practices and games. She is still pretty young. We didn’t want to force her to play if she was not having fun. We feared she end up hating sports later in life because of it. When scheduling conflicts with Nathan and Zoey’s games kept her from playing the last two games, she did not mind at all, “Yes! I am done!”.
The last game she got to play, she had a blast. For part of the game, she played catcher, just like her brother. She liked it more because she got to be a part of every play. Carefully putting the ball back on the tee for the next batter. We’ll see how she feels about it next year.
So, I have a favorite new recipe blog that I thought I would share with you. I was already planning on typing something up today mentioning her site and then she decided to have a little contest. All the more reason to share Foodie with Family.
A few months ago, I was looking for a quick and easy smoothie recipe to make for the kids. “The Purple Cow” came up and sounded like such a fun name that there was no way I could not make it. Easy to make and really tasty. It was a hit.
Because of that, I decided to check out more of the recipes on her blog. You should too because they all sound really good. Her Cuban Pork has quickly become a staple recipe. What’s not to love about something that practically cooks itself, makes enough for 3 meals for our family of 5, and is incredibly delicious? In fact, it’s cooking right now for our dinner tomorrow.
Stop by Rebecca’s site, decide to make some of her recipes and enter yourself into her giveaway!
Almost 3 weeks ago, we went camping with some of our very close friends. We had been planning the trip for a few weeks and thought the whole thing was going to fall apart when the reservation office called to tell us the camp grounds were closed due to flooding. This place looks beautiful and like it would be alot of fun. We’ve been looking forward to going there since we first heard about it. Good thing we can go some other time.
Last minute arrangements were made and we decided to go to Huntsville State Park instead. We don’t want that State Park Pass to go to waste!
There were so many campsites at this park. We were lucky to get two that weren’t really close to anyone else, but were right on the water’s edge. We’ve gone camping a few times with just the five of us. That’s nice and all, but it was also a great experience to go with friends. It’s nice to have other people to talk to and more kids to help keep each other entertained.
Here’s a picture of Greg and the kids heading off to canoe for a while. They are looking over at Brenda and Leon and the alligator that was right next to their canoe eating a bass. The guy at the canoe rental place assured us that no alligator had attacked a human in a long time.
The lake itself wasn’t huge, we were able to canoe around the whole thing in just a few minutes. Canoeing was such fun. It made us seriously consider buying a canoe for future camping trips.
Here are all of the pictures I took from this camping trip.
Keep in mind that I wrote this 3 weeks ago! I don’t know why I didn’t post it. Probably waiting on pictures. Over the next few days I’m just going to publish the drafts I’ve had sitting around for a few weeks. Maybe that will help me get back into the swing of things.
My brother and his wife had their first baby. Along the lines of how terrible and aunt I am (never send birthday wishes and am lucky to get Christmas presents to any of my nephews), I still need to finish making the baby gift. Maybe it will be done by the time we visit them this summer.
We celebrated a birthday and then the birthday boy abandoned our house for 3 days on a school field trip.
We’ve gone to lots of softball and baseball games.
We had two welcome visitors:
First up was Greg’s mom, Kathy.
Next in line was my dad. We didn’t do anything too exciting. Watched a softball game and then just hung around the house. Even if we did completely bore them, it was great to have our family here. We miss those guys.
Last night after Zoey’s game, Allison and I were walking to the car holding hands and just chatting about things. “Mom, If you could have anything you ever wanted in the whole entire world, what would it be?”, she asked.
Knowing that Mother’s day had been brought up, I tried to think of things my five year old could easily obtain. “I know, a beautiful drawing.”
She seemed pleased with this answer, but then asked, “What else?”.
“Hmm, lots of hugs and kisses.”
“You always want that Mom, what else?”, starting to remind me of “Dude, Where’s My Car?” where the lady at the fast food place keeps saying, “And Then?”, over and over.
“I don’t really know. Breakfast in bed?”, grasping at straws.
“Yeah! That’s something I forgot about. Okay, you would also want to have a bouquet, right?”
“Of course! I’m surprised I didn’t think of that myself!”, I said to her.
As I started to make dinner, Alli let me know she was bored. This seems to be a constant state for my kids. This time it was different, instead of complaining any more, a light bulb popped above her head and she scurried into the living room. A few minutes later, she called, “Mom! Look out!”, and then, “Catch!”.
A paper airplane flew past me. When I opened it it said, “I luv Mom, From Alli”. She’s starting early with the presents. What are you getting for your mom for Mother’s Day?