Boys Night Out

This is what our house would look like if Jeff were a bachelor. Sheets as screens all over the house and cords running every which way. There are camp chairs set up all around and another giant screen in my office.

We girls often go out for a girl's night out - time to breathe and relax and take care of just us, bonding in our common times as moms. The husbands have been talking about why they never do that. We came to the conclusion that it is because they don't plan one for themselves, and we'd probably have to plan one for them. They didn't just want to go to dinner or just hang out and talk (about what? they asked). There had to be an activity.

And so game night was born. Among other titles, the night was also called "NOT Scrapbook Night." Jeff invited a whole slew of guys over and had them bring their gaming systems. I think by the leftover snacks and the way the house is now set up that they had quite a time.

The boys and I opted to sleep and grandma and granpas house so that there would be some actually sleeping. I'm glad we did. It would have been fun to see everyone in action, but I would guess that they weren't playing the same kinds of games that I find enjoyable. Jeff said it got pretty loud (not my thing) and there were plenty of shoot-em up games (definitely not my thing).

We instead had a lovely quiet evening on the dock feeding the fish, kayaking, fishing, and SLEEPING.

The boys were excited to find all of the games set up when we came home this morning and will not be interested in doing much else today, I'm sure!

Sundays

Sacrament meeting always proves interesting with two busy boys. I know we're not the only ones out there with these issues, I see others dealing with the same thing every week. When it happens to you though, you feel like you are the only one and you are a huge nuisance to the reverence of the meeting. There probably are people out there that see it that way, but when I see other parents struggling I actually smile and think, "I'm so glad that's not me right now." or, on a more empathetic day, "oh, man... poor sister so-and so."

This week we had a lot of exercise moving in and out of the chapel. Jeff excused himself just before the sacrament to use the bathroom. I was surprised, but suspected it was dire with that kind of timing. We made it through the bread just fine, but just as the water was about to reach us Lincoln announces, "I need to poop." I ask him if he can wait just a few more minutes and he answers, "no" as he climbs over me and heads out the door. I grab Jackson and start the chase and Jackson screams (ok, he wasn't screaming, but I'm sure everyone heard) "no Lincoln poop, no Lincoln poop, no Lincoln poop" as we made our way from the front to the exit in the back.

After taking care of business Lincoln quickly returned to his seat (before I could catch up and ask him to wait until the sacrament was over) and so I followed him in carrying Jackson (who was the one keeping me from keeping up with Lincoln because he had to have a drink from both the little fountain and the big one and wanted to go to class then, etc. etc.). Lincoln was all situated back in our pew and Jackson almost immediately banged his little head on the side of the pew letting out a big shriek. Back out we went. Back in we went. And back out again for good measure.

We've been having drink issues, so I decided to bring water bottles instead of making trips to the fountain. This was not a good plan either. I looked over to find Lincoln laying his water bottle on the edge of the pew and letting it drip down so that he can wash his hands. I quickly grab it and give him "the look" and tell him that is not a good choice. His response was, "But I want to make cookies." Apparently it's ok to get the chapel all wet if you have a good reason, like sanitary baking.

I often refer to Sacrament meeting as a wrestling match. I remember watching families as a young teenager and dreaming about being a mom with all of my kids and husband surrounding me in our own pew. It's not so much a dreamy vision now as it is a hazy one.

What's your favorite secret to reverence on Sundays? And/Or what is your favorite un-reverent moment?

Our Fourth Weekend

I had quite a busy week leading up to the fourth of July, so I hadn't made any plans for it. Usually it is a family holiday, but I wasn't sure if family would be doing anything. My parents were out of town and Kim hasn't been feeling well, so I thought we might just have a quiet day at home. And I was ok with that.

Jeff had been out of town, I had Kim's three kids for a couple of days and Jeff had invited work people to dinner just before I was hosting book club at my house. I worked really hard on Thursday to recover my house from a little extra chaos and get things in order to make a nice dinner for these people I'd never met and some extra (since I was making it anyway) to share with my book club friends.

Lincoln had a fever and had put himself to bed around 4pm. My mom came over about 30 minutes before it was all supposed to go down so that she could help. She found that we had everything under control, dinner was ready and the house was all in good shape. What didn't happen was any guests. The visiting co-worker made other plans and everyone in book club had something else going on. It ended up being a delicious dinner with just us and mom and a very quiet night. I was disappointed, but not upset at anyone. I know that happens. I was trying really hard not to be upset. It's no fun to throw an unattended party.

Lincoln woke up at 2:30 in the morning and was ready for the day. He never did go back to sleep. Jeff and I took turns being up with him. I wasn't too much in the party mood when I woke up on the fourth, so I was glad when we got a phone call invitation to join Jeff's parents and siblings at a friend's house for the afternoon and evening. I relaxed and just enjoyed it. There were an amazing number of people there and everyone had something to do. The kids swam all afternoon with dad. There were games of bocce ball and ultimate frisbee going. They had people singing karaoke (most of them NOT well!), and the hostess, Jeannie, drove all of the little kids around the yard in her tractor trailer. One guy brought a bounce house type thing which ended up having a nest of tree ants in it. At least two people could be seen at any one time trying to spray them off with the hose. There were a lot of theories out there about how best to get rid of them. The kids were just as happy spraying them off with the hose as they were jumping inside the thing.

As bedtime was approaching Jeff made this proposal to me: "I don't want to make this a fourth of July tradition or anything, but do you want to do what we did last year?"

Me: "You mean you go shoot off fireworks while I take a kid to the emergency room?"

We opted to stick it out and let the kids stay up late. We were incredibly off schedule anyway. You wouldn't believe the number of fireworks set off. Everyone who came must have brought some. And all of the surrounding houses were shooting them off as well... not sparklers and snakes either, full blown, up in the sky do your own show stuff. It was insane. They were in front of us, behind us and on both sides. And it went on and on and on. Lincoln preferred to stay inside and sneak junk food. Jackson sat with me through most of it. We had a great time.

The next day our cousins Sarah and Bobo (ok, his name is Jeffrey, but no one calls him that) flew in so we went out to meet them at the airport. We ended up spending the whole afternoon and early evening with them out at Granny and Papa's house, again mostly in the pool. It was quite enjoyable and so fun to be with them again.

Mickey Confusion

We all got a big kick out of Lincoln's declaration that Mickey was at the temple last year when he saw a flyer laying around our rental house in Orlando with a picture that looked like this.














Then we actually went to Disney by getting in through Epcot, so I guess he thought Mickey's house must look like this.















Because when we drove by this (a former bank and much debated icon of Oklahoma City) he yelled out, "Mom! I just saw Mickey Mouse's house! Did you see it? Did you see it?"