Memorial weekend and performances

Memorial weekend was our first weekend without a million things to do. We were so thankful for the rest. Saturday the family went to a movie- I went to work. Sunday we had friends over for dinner. Monday we had an impromptu BBQ at our home with some friends. We were so glad we decided not to have it at a park, too. It started raining hard right in the middle of it. Then the family went to watch a movie and take a walk with our friends- I went to work. Hmm, I see a pattern here. Overall it was a fun weekend with lots of Dalmuti playing (Rob and I stayed out of the greater peon roll, for once!), sleepovers and good food. Rob was not impressed with the lack of attention the holiday was given in church, though.
Last week, Joseph had his Kindergarten performance. They did it at the schools health fair and did two really cute songs. Here is us waiting for it to start. Can you tell it took longer than expected? One of the songs I have been singing in my head since. Have you heard it?
Tony Chestnut knows I love you
Tony knows
Tony knows
Tony Chestnut knows I love you
That's what Tony knows.
You point to different parts of your body as you do it, like this
Toe knee, chest nut (head)
knows (head) eye love(heart) you
Then we sang with them.
Tony, Tony, and his sister Ilene (I lean)
and Ilene loves Neil (Kneel)
and Neil loves Pat
but Pat still loves Bob (Jump up and down).
And there's Russell (rustle) and Skip
this song is silly, but it's hip (shake your hips)Last night the older kids had their piano recital after a baseball game and a soccer game and an 8 mile run by Rob and I. Long day! Both of them did really well. Emma even played one of her songs by memory.
We ended the long day with a quick Happy Birthday to Max. We will do a real birthday next week, since that is not as busy- Roll on Floor Laughing! I had to write that out long hand instead of ROFL, because of how humorous that statement was. Next weekend we have a birthday party on Friday, 2 soccer games Saturday, followed by a soccer party, a farewell party and I have to go to work, again! hmmm.

Ash Cake, anyone?

The chickenpox have finally started clearing up. We didn't go to church this week, though, just in case people saw the little pox and still thought Max was contagious- which he wasn't. Joe only had a couple of pox. This was his very last one that had to heal before he could go back to school. It was mostly gone on Friday, so off to school he went- much to his dismay!
Saturday we had to take the kids with us to the stake center where we learned how to cook over a fire and in dutch ovens. We have been asked to be the Ma's and Pa's from our ward (along with one other couple) for the pioneer youth trek in July. This was one of our training days. We were told, no children, but since ours still had chickenpox (Max, did anyway) and they all had to be at various games throughout the day, they came, along with a bunch of videos and the portable DVD player. Three cheers for electronics! They stayed in the truck and watched their videos and made a grand mess, while we learned how to make stew, bake bread in a dutch oven, make yummy scones and butter, and ash cakes- everyone's favorite (not!) Seriously, who comes up with this stuff? One of our friends said, "I'm sure some idiot dropped his bread in the fire, picked it up, brushed it off and ate it and someone wrote it down like a recipe." Rob was quite the rebel the whole time. They could tell they had their hands full with him. For some reason we aren't allowed to bring belts. So while they were talking about going to a blacksmith to get your striker made for your flint to make a fire, Rob says, "while you are going to the blacksmith, I am going to go to the leather tanner and get myself a belt made!" We may have made them reconsider us as good Ma's and Pa's, but they did keep coming over to try our food. We were told by several of the stake leaders how we were the best and most experienced of the bunch and even the teacher commented how our cornmeal was the best. Got to thank Rob's Mom and Dad and Step-Dad for all those great camping trips and his Mom who taught him how to make cornmeal mush! Sorry- I still don't like it- made over a hot fire or in my own kitchen! I foresee a little weight loss on this trek!

Wuz up? and Chicken bawk in the house!

What are we up to? Soccer, soccer, baseball, piano, work, work, soccer, soccer, young women's, soccer, baseball, soccer, boy scouts. Life is crazy. At times we don't handle it so well- we start yelling at each other. I decide I have to call in sick just to get some sanity, then I don't. We want to make the kids all quit! One thing I know- they need that run around time. I just wish it wasn't so much my run around time! Summer is our friend. I may not like the constant children in my face and the yelling to get them to do anything other than vegetate on the couch, but we need the down time and the constant playing at the pool as a family time. We have a friend that keeps trying to get us to do swim team in the summer. Swim team would be good to keep them active, give them swimming lessons for cheap and get them lots of experience in the water, but it's also every night and all Saturday! No thanks!!
On the brighter side- we did plant our garden finally! I think the catalope and watermelon both died while they sat there in my sunroom for 2 weeks not being planted, but the tomatoes seem to be OK. If only we can avoid the white fly infestation this year! Any suggestions?
On the worse side- The chicken bawk is in the house! That is Chicken Pox for you lay people. Yes, all my kids had the shot. That is why they only have a mild case, but still I would like to ring the neck of the person that gave it to us, because they obviously don't immunize! I understand there are some reasons not to, but it does inconvenience me, so I am mad right now! Today, I spent Mother's day at home, trying not to be driven insane by my three boys while my husband spoke at church. He came home and gave me the down and dirty 3 minute version. It was not as good. Then he left for Suffolk.
Here's to hoping that all the bawks are out of the house by next week, because we are headed to New York. Any suggestions to help us with our very first New York City stay?

Joys of Motherhood

I took the kids to a dentist appointment, yesterday. On the way there, Max fell asleep. When we got there, I got him out of the car with some difficulty (He is getting big!) and juggled a bunch of stuff as I walked into the dentist office. Regular mother stuff, right. Right, until I sat down with him and waited for the kids to finish with their cleanings. At that precise time Max decided to release the pressure in his bladder and I got a very yucky warm, wet sensation that went all down my legs and into the seat of my pants. Max was wearing a sweatsuit where you couldn't even tell he had gone, but I looked like I had released a whole days worth on myself. A kind lady next to me went and got me paper towels, but I couldn't clean up much with those- especially with Max still completely out. I sat in that for another 15 minutes as the kids finished with their cleanings. Then I had Emma walk very close behind me and I used my purse and Max to shield the front. Of course, that day was the busiest I have ever seen in that office! Ah motherhood! What a Joy!

Verdicts

Sam had his first baseball game the other day (there have been a lot of rain outs this season). The verdict from Sam- "Baseball is boring!" Since both Robert and I agree, it was hard to be encouraging. Rob tried his best and we will slug through the rest of the season- 3 hours twice a week. Sam says he is ready to try football, but Rob wants him to wait until he grows a little more. Our poor short boy. They took team pictures the other day- I brought my long lens and took them myself (because, hello $30 a kid is not cheap or worth it when you have three!) Anyway, he was the shortest one on the team, including the little girl. Rob gives me the "this is all your fault" finger pointing and I give it right back. There are no short genes in my family!

Our friend Jodi came and visited from Hawaii. We didn't get to spend much time with her. Mostly it was just on Saturday and even then, we all separated. She took Emma to her soccer game, while I took Joseph to his and Rob took Sam to his baseball game. We did get to do a dinner with adults that evening for one of the guy's birthday party. Here he is a couple weeks ago after the Saturday morning mountain bike ride. Can you guess what he got for his birthday?
The Verdict: Three in sports at once is almost impossible without good friends. We need our Scott and Jodi back! Also, if you can get your kid on a soccer team where they are the only Caucasian, including the coach who can only say, "you Ok, Joe?" then you know that your team is going to dominate!

On our Spring break trip we began and finished the book "The City of Ember." The kids loved it and we had to immediately find the next book: "The People of Sparks." We are currently reading it. The movie is coming soon from Netflix. We will let you know the Verdict then. I tend to not enjoy the movies as much as the books. I think the only movies I like as well were the Jane Austin books and the only ones I have enjoyed more are the Shakespeare ones like "Much Ado about Nothing." The Verdict for the book: Two thumbs up!
Another book we just finished was "The Mysterious Benedict Society." It is about a bunch of orphans and runaways that are recruited to help save the world. We really enjoyed the tests and questions they posed in the book. We would try to figure them out before we read how the children figured them out. The Verdict: Loved it. Two thumbs way up! The kids are very excited to read the follow up book.
I started this new thing to help the kids get to know their grandparents better since we don't live by any of them and probably never will while the kids are growing up. I sent out books with a question for them to answer. So much of our every day lives are never written down. I always wonder how women handled things like periods back in my grandparents day- did they stay home from school? Did they use rags back then- how do you do that? How about how they dealt with the Civil Rights Act- did they see any of these terrible things that you hear about? Anyway, our first question was about the TV. When they got their first TV, what they watched, what they did instead of watching TV- things like that. We have gotten one grandparent and both great grandparents books back and they have been a lot of fun to read. The Verdict: A little expensive to send back and forth, but I loved the responses and reading about my parents' and grandparents' childhood. Even my grandfather who has done a ton of history writing, had to write some more to answer the question. I definitely recommend it!

For Inquiring Minds

Update:
Rob broke his fibula while running up to meet me at the gym. I had already run for 50 minutes and had jumped in my car to go home. He thought I would leave without seeing him, so he jumped off the curb while raising his arms in a very cute "Hello, I am here" pose and then forgot to look down at where the ground was. Everybody thinks it is very cute that he was trying to impress me after so many years of marriage, but I think that is the way marriage should work. Pretty soon I will be married to him longer than I was single and I will still want to impress him!
He was put only in an air cast, because they said that they only wanted to restrict the side to side movement. He was also given PT. He went to PT the other day and he said, " this is what they said, 'walk on it as soon as you can. oh, you are already? Ok, keep it up.'" He wasn't impressed and probably won't go back.
No he does not wear his air cast, except at night- big turkey! He wears his boots to work and figures that is all the support he needs. He wears it at night, because as we all know, children are attracted to your painful sights and they long to jump upon them!
Yes, he is swollen, black and blue and hobbling, but no he didn't stop working out. He even rode the stationary bike the other day and worked on Sam's baseball with him last night. He is a good Daddy! And apparently he rode his motorcycle to work- Crazy Turkey!

Trust who?

Why is it that the people we love the most are sometimes the people we trust the least? Mom has to tell us we are pretty, right? But when your Emergency Department nurse wife tells you that you have broken your leg, you might want to believe her! Can anyone else see the obvious indent in the lower leg on the outside? Rob had all kinds of excuses for it and so even though I called up the charge nurse in the ER and got a bed for him- going through the ambulance door, so all the other people who were waiting wouldn't know, we waited at home, he took an old percocet we had lying around (and then got a urinalysis today- oops) and then went into sick call this morning. Confirmed and vindicated! It's broke alright! And luckily the sick call doc gave him a prescription for Percocet or he would have had some explaining to do on that urinalysis!!