Backwards Day

Today, Paul woke up and declared it backwards day. From what I've gathered, you wear your shirt backwards on this holiday and that's about it. When asked at the grocery store if I'd buy balloons for this special day, it was a definite no. I know, I'm a p-ah-ty pooper. No one else turned their shirt around either, but Paul boldly blazed his own trail. Grocery shopping aside, I would have joined the band wagon, had it not been for the gag facor. I can't let any clothes come even close to my gagger since I had kids, or I...you know...gag. Luke likes to sing. I am actually starting to hear words mixed up with all the "ahhs" and "ees." The other day I caught him staring at his refelction in some glass, singing his guts out, and directing himself with one swift-leading arm. I think it has to do with all the singing Elyse had been doing for Idol. Now the kid is hooked. Sometimes he really makes me chuckle. We'll be driving somewhere, singing a song, and out from the back seat pops out a "Me" or "you" or "tree"("popcorn popping" is a favorite with him). I'm bored tonight. Matt just finished a run of 5 evening shifts and tonight, his first evening home, is weekly basketball. He doesn't always get to go because of his schedule, but after a long stretch like this, I just get so tired of being by myself. And tonight I've hit a wall. I don't want to write, I don't want to read, there's nothing on TV, and I can't think of a single movie I'd like to watch. In cases like this, maybe it's best to go to bed. It's so hard for me to go to sleep soon after the kids. It's like I'm giving up my only break of peace and quiet for the day. I guess if I'm not going to do anything with my peace, I might as well get more rest. Off to bed.

Books and Bikes

Today our local library and the school library had their annual clean the library out book sales. I got 22 books for $23! Ah...I love bargains. I told Paul to pick out anything he wanted and wow, I've never seen the kid stick so close to my side or be so focused while shopping. He stood at one table for like 15 minutes. He ended up choosing five books for a whopping $2. It was kind of fun to tell my kid just once choose whatever and however much you like. Not a great mentality to teach him, but fun to do once. I was a little embarrassed at the second sale because books were more expensive and I didn't have more than $20 on me. The cashier saw me put six books back and tell Paul he had to put all except one of his back. So we get to the cash register and she marks down some of the books, telling me she wanted to round things around to the dollar, but I know was probably feeling sorry for me--not having enough money to buy my son more than one book. Ha! If she could only see the stack he'd bought that morning. Oh well, better deal for me I guess. Angie--if you want a bargain, Saturday is fill a bag with books for only $3 at Zaul and at Hemmeter Elementary tomorrow every book is half off from 2-3pm. And most are originally $1-$2. I got back on the saddle, so to speak, and rode the bike again today. I took the kids to the soccer fields next door on Matt's bike because it has the trailor hook up(they have a paved trail that's around 1/2 mi all the way around). Oh my fanny...I couldn't even sit on his narrowest of all seats, especially after yesterday. I figured out how to ride, though. I set the bike on its hardest setting and stood the entire time going slowly from one pedal to the other. Me and the kids had a fun, fun day. We played outside from the moment Elyse got home until bed time at 7:30. Matt worked all evening, so I decided not to even make dinner. We cashed in book it pizza coupons (which I usually loathe) and ate out. I LOVE SPRING!!!

Bike Ride

The weather has been so fine this week, we decided to go on a family bike ride yesterday. From the point we decided to go and by the time we actually hit the road was close to one and a half hours. All the tires were flat, Elyse had a blown tire, and we couldn't find the bike trailer for Luke, oh, and Luke didn't even have a helmet. Matt ran to the store, tuned up all the bikes, and I threw dinner in the backpack. Aunt Meghan ended up having the trailor in her storage shed, so Matt walked over there with Luke (with shortcuts through neighbors' yards it only takes ten minutes) and me and the kids biked the half mile to her door. We talked Uncle Adam and Aunt Meghan into riding with us to Gramma's house for dinner. Gramma Sue is about five minutes away by car. Any guesses on how long it took us to get there? Keep in mind that Paul got his first two wheeler for his birthday in December and this was his first real bike ride. And then factor into account that right as we left aunt Meghan's house, one training will kept loosening and loosening until Paul was riding at a crazy tilt to one side and slowing down more and more. I rode in the very back of the line, behind Paul. I'd pedal once, coast, try not to fall over because I'm going so slow, pedal, BREAK (because Paul was watching a truck and forgot to pedal), pedal once, stand on my pedals because my behind hurt, pedal once, BREAK!!! It took us so long to get there that Gramma actually got in the car and started looking for us for a while. But forty minutes later, we reached Gramma's door. Paul was bright red, and tired, but ecstatic when I pointed out that he'd made it the whole way without taking a break. A fact which he bragged too much about at dinner. The ride home took about as long and they all went to bed late. You'd think the boys would sleep in this morning, but no. My rear end sure hurts this morning, though. I always think I'll enjoy a bike ride and then the next day I hurt too much to want to get on it again. Oh, the patience we must have sometimes while making good memories for the kids! Maybe if I actually did ride every day, I wouldn't get so sore. Me and Paul are going to try and ride around the soccer field next door a couple of times each week to get more practice.

In the last week:

I haven't posted much in a while because nothing is really going on around here. It's just regular school days and weekends. I think spring has FINALLY come, though. Every day this week we've been outside all afternoon long enjoying the 70 something degree weather. Luke wants to be outside all of the time and gets quite disappointed when I drag him back in to do menial stuff like cook dinner and fold laundry. I think my arms and face got a teensy weensy bit of color from all the sun. Gramma Sue watched the kids for me this week so that Matt and I could take his brother out to dinner (He's moving to Oregon and we're all going to miss him. Especially Paul who cries when he says Uncle Dave won't be around to give him foot rides anymore). We got back and Gramma said Paul entertained her with a story about three nervous female pigs. I didn't even know he knew the word female. That kid cracks me up. Luke thinks he's pretty neat, too. All this week he's been mimicking his brother. If Paul drags his hand along the school wall as we walk down the hallway, Luke has to also. When Paul says, "Mom, look at that." Luke yells, "Mom, da!" You'd think Paul would get annoyed by it because it goes on all day long, but I don't think the kid even notices. Miracles, of miracles, we made it through two whole days of Luke not hitting Paul. I think the no hitting lessons are finally beginning to sink in. It's been hard to be consistent because his hits are more like experimental taps to see what me and Paul will do and I've been bad about ignoring them. No more! I've really been on his case this week and we're finally seeing some improvement. Yesterday I taught a workshop at the annual Stake Enrichment activity, and let me tell you, I am glad it is over. They had me teach from a book by Linda J. Eyre: A Joyful Mother of Children. Great book with helpful tips, so it was easy to put the whole thing together, but I don't think I've ever talked for a straight 45 minutes before in my life. And then they had me teach it three times in a row. I felt less nervous each time, but seemed to sweat more as the day progressed. By the third workshop I thought I could have drunk a gallon of water in 60 seconds flat. The third group looked pretty stone faced and tired, especially the pregnant ladies trying to find a comfy spot on the metal folding chairs. All in all, I don't think I failed, I even got a few laughs, and it was a great growing experience for me. My sister in law said I didn't even sound nervous. Ha! I guess it's good to stretch yourself, but I'll happily go back to sitting behind the primary piano in the coming weeks. Thanks friends for the pics on your blogs. I love watching your children grow and seeing what you're up to. It's great that the world is a little smaller with all this technology.

Elyse takes the Silver

We forgot to charge our video camera and so took this video with the digital camera--which is why it's so grainy. And I forgot to turn the pictures above so you'll have to tilt your heads to look at them. Anyway...Elyse sang in front of her whole school today and won the silver medal out of the three first graders that sang. She didn't look nervous at all and I think she had a lot of fun. Paul and Luke had a challenging time waiting through an hour and a half of singing. We all painted our faces to say "Go Elyse" or "I love E!" And we made a big poster for her so she could spot us way in the back. Gramma Sue even brought her flowers. All in all, I think she thought the whole experience was pretty cool.