Oh.My.Word

My youngest son's teacher asked him to work on his multiplication facts over Christmas break.  I can totally see why.  This is taking every ounce of patience I have, and I typically have a fairly strong reserve of it!

This child can ace every history and science test he has.  He remembers details about state, local, and national government, the electoral college, and our founding fathers (on a 3rd grade level, of course).  Information about conservation of matter, atoms, solutions, and chemical changes? No problem.

But math details....they just don't stick right now. 

Our practice session is sounding something like this...

Me: Okay, let's practice our 3's again.

Him: Okay.

Me: 3 x 6

Him: Was there a hot air balloon flight before the Wright Brothers had their first flight? Which came first?

Me: {Blank stare.} I think the hot air balloon.  Look at this one. What is 3 x 6?

Him: Do you think chickens glide?

Me: What??

Him: Do you think chickens glide?

Me: What are you talking about?

Him: I just wondered, if you threw a chicken up in the air, would it glide? You know, like a sugar glider. Would it glide like a sugar glider?

Me: What in the world is a sugar glider?

Him: It looks like a flying squirrel. You know, its legs and arms are connected with skin.

Me: Ok, of course.  What is 3 x 6?

Him: I don't know!!! 


I don't understand why not.  I mean, he's working so hard on studying these facts. Ha!

We've tried everything. Games, flashcards, visual, auditory, and kinesthetic activities, you name it, we've tried it. Except jumping on a trampoline.  That may be our next attempt - memorizing while jumping on a trampoline. Don't knock it.  I once had a student who couldn't pass a spelling test unless she was jumping up and down.

To his credit, tonight we learned that the first hot air balloon flight was in 1783 and the Wright Brother's flight was in 1903 (okay, I learned that one; he already knew the 1903 date).

We also learned about the differences between a sugar glider and a flying squirrel.

What we did NOT learn: 3 x 6.

There's always tomorrow.

Uh Oh.

It's 2015.

Back in high school, that date seemed so far away, so futuristic, so...impossible.

Yet, here we are.

We are not traveling around like the Jetsons just yet, but I will be the first to admit that I wouldn't have guessed that we would be texting, Skyping, tweeting, messaging, and the myriad of other "ings" we can now do with technology.

Usually at this time of year I get serious about New Year's Resolutions. I contemplate the typical resolutions (all of which need to happen) and brainstorm some new and original ones that I might want to focus on. I evaluate how much I can take on at this point in my life (yikes!) and how doable my choices might be.

Then it hit me.

I turn 40 this year.

Ouch.

I have been bravely hanging onto the 30's for years now.  And, honestly, I like the 30's.  A lot.

40?  I'm just not feelin' it.

I have friends who tell me the 40's are the best years.  We'll see about that.

As I was processing this little issue, I realized that I have bigger problems than simply choosing a New Year's Resolution. You see, back in 2010, I made this little list. It's called my "40 Before 40". At that time, I was working part-time. Now I work full-time, plus. I may have been a bit overzealous in my planning.

I revisited my 40 Before 40 to get a scope of what I have not yet accomplished.

Well....in order for me to achieve all 40, the first 6 months (my birthday is in June) of 2015 will need to look something like this:

• Read 1 classic per month.
• Landscape the front yard.
• Visit the Mall of America, Niagra Falls, the Grand Canyon, and go on a Missions trip.
• Exercise for about 2 hours a day to achieve that single-digit closet full of clothes.
• Write an adoption book for my son.
• Make a family recipe book.
• Relearn to play the piano well.
• Buy new living room furniture.
• Go water skiing.
• Try more foods that end with "ese"...Chinese, Japanese....
• Spend about 1,000 hours scrapbooking to try to catch up.
• Repaint all the walls in my house.
• Volunteer more.

No problem.

I'll just need to make a few adjustments...like quit my job, send the kids to live with grandma, and decrease my sleep to about 2 hours a night.

And possibly win the lottery to fund it all.

Happy 2015! 

There Always Comes a Moment...

...when I wonder what in the world we were thinking.

Each year during Christmas vacation we bring out a new "Christmas Break" puzzle.  It has been a tradition for quite some time now (hence the word "tradition"), and one that we all love immensely.

Well, 3 of the 4 of us love it.  

The other 1 of us sits at the table now and then until he gets frustrated that he can't find any pieces.  That usually takes about 3-5 minutes.  

Last year my son chose this puzzle.

We were in the midst of getting a bedroom ready downstairs that would someday be his, and he was already collecting KU paraphernalia for it.  He had visions of completing the puzzle, gluing it, and framing it to hang in his room.  

Two of the three have occurred...and it is currently sitting in the basement collecting dust. Apparently 13x39 is not a frame size that the average Walmart, Target, Kohls, or any department store in the midwest carries. It is so convenient, however, that there is a website listed on the puzzle box where one can buy the perfect size frame.  That's a handy little business arrangement.

I digress.

This year, in honor of our family's first Chiefs game in October, we chose this puzzle.  Same theory, smaller people. Waaayyyyy smaller people. 

You see, last year, if one looked at the picture on the box closely enough, you could basically tell what the vast majority of the KU fans were wearing.  This was hugely helpful in putting the puzzle together. 

This year, all we can tell is that there is a lot of red.  Lots and lots of red. 

And a green field.

Here they are, getting started.  To the credit of the little guy, he did actually help sort edge pieces for a really long time.

 

He did not, however, help put them together.

  

I had to capture this rare moment as well.  Two boys working on a puzzle and not fighting.  It's a happy mom moment...even if it only lasted for a moment.

 

Everyone needs a weapon made out of hot wheels race car tracks and duct tape to help them put together a puzzle.

See all that progress? We decided to start with the field -- because it's not red.  See the hundreds of pieces left? All red.  Lots and lots of little red people.

Stay tuned for the finished product, sometime in the year 2015.

We are excited to get it completed and glued together.

So it can sit in the basement and collect dust too.

Where Did We Go Wrong?

I walked out of the bedroom today, to hear my son singing this rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas.

On the 9th day of Christmas, my mommy gave to me...9 brand new X-Boxes,

8 iPad Airs,

7 iTunes cards,

6 hundred dollars,

5 diamond rings (which I would sell for lots of money)....


We have obviously done something drastically wrong somewhere along the way.

And, we are going to have some seriously disappointed children in about 5 days.

This is So Not Okay

Ten years ago this month we started building our house.  And we I say "we", I mean my husband, his father, and our builder.  Not really in that order.

From the very beginning, people told us we would probably have trouble with mice.  Apparently living in the country is strike one, and living in the middle of a wheat field is strike two. I'm sure there is a strike three that I am not aware of.

Against all odds, we have been here 4 months shy of 10 years and have not had even one mouse in the house.  Not even ONE.

Well, I take that back.  A year or so ago my husband opened the door leading into the garage, and a brave little mouse ran into the house right in between my husband's feet.  He chased that thing down, caught it, and got rid of it in less than 5 minutes.

That has been the extent of our mouse issues.

Until now.

Our youngest son came hauling up the stairs the other day insisting that he saw a mouse run behind something.  We did some searching, but came up with nothing.  He still thinks he was mistaken, but in reality we caught one that night. 

My husband discovered their little entry way near the air conditioner.  He secured it right up, but we aren't sure how large of a family moved in before we closed off their mousey door.  So now I have these lovely things.

I know that a lot of people have to deal with this, but honestly, this is a new thing for me, and it grosses me out. 

Not only that, but these critters are incredibly rude and do all of their snacking at night.  It is great fun to wake up to the sound of a loud SNAP.  Even better is when it is not a clean kill and you wake up to the mouse flailing around trying to escape.

It is in that moment when I do what any good wife would do -- wake up her husband to tell him that the mouse trap just snapped.

Three down....hopefully none to go.

Just to be clear, my youngest still does not know about this little mouse issue.  I'm pretty sure he would be turning every room upside down and inside out to find them.  Then he would want to catch them and keep them all as pets.

No thank you.

No thank you.

No thank you.

Although they are better than snakes...

You caught what?

Tonight when I walked into the house, my son's first words were, "Mom, do you know what a silverfish looks like?"

"A silver fish?"

"Yeah."

"Um, sure, I know what a silver fish looks like."

"Great," he said, "I think I caught one. Look in this jar and see if this is a silverfish."

Wait...what?  "You caught a silver fish in a jar? When?"

"Today. Here, look."



Ahhh...A silverfish.  Not a silver fish. Who knew.

"How in the world have you ever heard of a silverfish?"

His reply, "From Minecraft.  And the bug book great grandma gave me."

Of course.

"Mom, do you know what a silverfish eats?"

"No, sorry, I have no idea."

His brother chimed in, "Why would you think she would know that?"

"Well, I don't know.  I thought maybe she interacted with silverfish in college or something."

Seriously...those were his exact words..."...maybe she interacted with silverfish in college...".

No, son, sorry.

No interaction with silverfish.

I am such an uncool mom.

It Takes Me Back

I seriously do not know where the time has gone.

I am not sure how my son is already 12 years old. I think I have said that every year since he was...about 3.  "I cannot believe he is already ____ years old." In the blink of an eye, I will be old and gray and the number that fits in that blank will be the age I currently am.  

That is scary.

My son is in 6th grade this year.  When we had a chance to win tickets to the KC Chiefs game that just happened to be on his birthday, it seemed like the perfect gift.  He loves football (really, all sports), and we don't usually spend the kind of money it takes to go to a professional game. Apparently God thought it was a good idea as well...or luck was just on our side...because we were the holders of the winning number.

He was ecstatic (which for this wild-and-crazy child means a really big smile) when he found out we were going to the game. 

My parents joined in the fun and bought them shirts for game.

Long sleeve shirts...which made sense at the time since the game was on October 26.

 

Little did they know it was going to be nearly 90 degrees.

Someone should have reminded me to pack sunscreen. #MomFail

We got to the stadium a tad early.  There really were more fans at the game than what this picture suggests. 

This was the first time at Arrowhead for all of the guys in my family.  It brought back great childhood memories for me. 

I have loved NFL Football since I was a kid.  It may have had something to do with the fact that one of my good friends' uncle played for the Los Angeles Rams. I had no claim to fame, but as a kid, when you know someone who does, you start to think you are big stuff.

My dad had back surgery when I was in 6th grade, so my parents' best friends got stuck taking my brother and I to KC for the weekend for the KC Chiefs vs. Los Angeles Rams game. I had two goals: 1) get Nolan Cromwell's (aforementioned Ram's safety) autograph, and 2) get Eric Dickerson's (Ram's running back) autograph. 

Goal #1 was not so difficult since we were staying with Nolan's wife at the hotel.  Family connections are always nice.  Goal #2 was also accomplished, and I am fairly sure I can still scrounge up the magazine he signed for me.

Odd as it may be for a 6th grade girl, I was on top of the world.

I had a really hard time not thanking my dad for having to have back surgery.

I'm pretty sure I shed a few tears when Eric Dickerson left my beloved Rams to go to the Colts the following year.

But time marches on...my players left...I grew up....the Rams moved to St. Louis...

and I became a Chief's fan along with my family.

6th Grade for me - Chiefs vs. Rams

6th Grade for him - Chiefs vs. Rams

28 Years Later....Same Stadium

He loved every minute of it. 

His brother...well, I think he watched the cheerleaders more than he watched the game. The cheerleaders and the giant TV screens - thank goodness for those.

Happiness is ending the day at Culver's.
 

If you've never gone, you need to fix that. Right away.

And then go run a few miles.

Unless you are my kids.  Then you will just fight all the way home to burn the calories.  And then sleep.  Sleep is good.

Happy Birthday, old child!