Up in the middle of the night

Jake woke me up when he got up to pee (and he may or may not have already peeded a little in his bed...I'll check when it is light outside). In the meantime he is sleeping like a baby on my floor and I am wide awake...ugh!

Madi won a 40 lb pumpkin at AWANA last night for the costume contest. She was a pack of lifesavers. She'd changed her mind about her costume three times. First she had decided months ago that she was going to be a 1920s flapper and wear the dress she wore in Thoroughly Modern Millie and the hat, gloves and purse that belonged to my Great-grandmother, Gramma Kitty. Then she borrowed a costume from friends and was going to be a queen/ Renaissance Lady (which she can still wear to the Ren Faire we are going to next week {if this BLAZING HEAT goes away}), but then a better (read...more complicated) idea came to her. We met "Nana" in Orlando on Sunday because she had been at a conference there. We got to hang out with her at a great resort hotel with a lazy river. We ended up with four brightly colored inner tubes for the kids and Nana to use in the lazy river (Mike and I sat in the lazy shade). By the end of the evening Madi was putting on all four innertubes, and thus the costume was born! How do I know the pumpking weighed 40 lbs you ask, because the kids and I had to struggle to get it to the car (along with the innertubes) when I picked them up last night. When we got home I asked my muscular husband to please bring it in the house for us. I asked him how much he thought it weighed, his guess was "oh about 15 lbs." FIFTEEN?!! I thought it was more like a HUNDRED POUNDS, so then I had to proove myself, I weighed myself and then weighed myself holding the monstrosity...40 lbs!! Incidently Jake weighs 52 lbs, but is much easier to carry than this thing!

Jonathan is going to hit some golf balls with a friend this morning (right now it is 4:36 am). They have a standing golf date on Thursday mornings which began last week. This is great for him since golf is his sport. I'm not sure how he feels about this, but I've been planning on him joining (trying out?) for the local high school golf team next year...we'll see.

Speaking of trying out...are you familiar with that email that circulates from time to time about how people born between the 30s and the 70s turned out OK in spite of the way we were raised?! Does this bother anyone else besides me? You know the whole "my mother smoked and I'm OK", "we didn't have helmets and seat belts and I'm OK" "not everyone made the little league team and we're better for it". This email really drives me crazy!! What about all the cancer, what about the millions (billion?) of dollars people spend on medication {not to mention drugs, alcohol, and all kinds of "therapies"?!) Did we not learn anything?! Do people really agree with this email?! A local little boy died recently when the van his mother was driving flipped over on the highway...he wasn't wearing a seatbelt. Yes, my car often looks like a clown car when we pull up somewhere and sometimes 7 kids climb out of it (we have an extra third row seat)...you can be assured every kid was properly buckled in their own seat belt. The email goes on to say that the last 50 years produced some of the greatest risk takers, problem solvers, and innovators of all time (ALL TIME? that's debatable I'd say), but even so for every great innovator of our time how many more disfunctional people are there? (I'm pretty sure the word disfunctional wasn't used 100 years ago!) Now don't get me wrong there are plenty of things wrong with how kids are raised today, and I'm doing everything in my power to counteract that kind of stuff with my own kids. Kids are overscheduled, have too much screen time, get almost everything they want (except for often not enough family time), most kids today in this country are being raised by someone besides their parents, and some kids aren't even allowed to go play in their own backyards. Only in the years between the 30s and the 70s was breastfeeding not the norm for babies, only in these years did doctors and mothers decided the mother shouldn't have to feel anything when delivering a baby. It was in these years that high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, meat with hormones and antibiotics made it into people's diets. I can limit my kids screen time, my kids can play outside (even during (gasp) school hours),but they are going to need sunscreen if they are out in the Florida sun too long though because, as I child of the 70s, I've had skin cancer three times and I'm not even 40 years old! I often get defensive when people talk about the "good old days" because I believe we can still capture most of the positive things from those times, in fact I believe I am doing just that. My kids get to tromp all over the woods...even to the point of getting stuck in quicksand remember? I was not standing right there hovering, but thank God I was close enough to get him out before it passed his waist. What would've happened to the 50s child that was in the woods alone not expected home until supper? (his friends couldn't have helped him...Jonathan and a grown man couldn't get Jake out...it took his MOTHER!!) It is possible to get back to the good old days in some areas without having to go backwards in everything you don't have to let your kid stand up in the front seat of the car or lay on the back dash to have a good childhood. All summer my big kids walked to Theatre (they even had to cut through people's yards like Wally and the Beaver used to do), but you know what, they had a cell phone in case they got into trouble and needed me! Hug your kids, hold them tight...but not too tight!!

Daybook

For today...Monday morning October 26th.

Outside my window...it is a little cloudy and we are supposed to be getting more record highs this week...ugh...the air will probably have to go back on.

I am thinking...about how nobody comments anymore...I try to not live for comments, but I'm human and I just can't help it!

I am thankful...for health.

From the kitchen...I need to get down there and make "pumpkin stuff" and taco dip for our book club meeting today.

From the learning rooms...Jonathan just finished a report on the Walt Disney World Monorail System...it was really good. Madi did a report on Harry Potter and she included some fun little known facts and a word search. Next they each need to do a research report on a state of their choice. Jonathan is having no trouble with Algebra 1, as it is all stuff he did with Singapore Math (I can't say enough about Singapore!) Jake is doing Miss Rumphius for FIAR.

I am reading...The Lamb's Supper by Scott Hahn.

I am praying...for everyone with sad news on facebook...two friends' fathers passed away this week and Cindy's father passed away 5 years ago today.

Here's a quote to ponder...Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.
~St. Francis of Assisi

I am listening to...Jonathan and Jake check out their bags of goodies that they got from Nana last night.

Around the house...I'm not going to put the clothes on the line because I'm going to be gone all day and I think it might rain.

In our yard...I'm loving our swing...it is a great place to read.

One of my favorite things...sleep...and I don't think I've been getting enough lately.

I am "googling"...St Francis of Assisi.

I am going...to Catholic Book club this morning.

A few plans for the rest of the week...all typical stuff this week I think...then Halloween!!

Some picture thoughts... "working" the AWANA pumpkin patch...



my ghost pumpkin...


great pictures by OBM...

Jake

Finally a birthday post for Jake! Jake's birth was the best day of my life. Our wedding and the other kids' births are right up there, but Jake's was a day I'd truly like to live over and over. He was born in a wonderful birthing center (that sadly isn't even in existence anymore), Jonathan and Madi were there as were my parents and some great friends. Jake knows the stories well...Jonathan and Madi watched Monsters Inc with Meme and Grampa Carlie, 4 year old Madi whined for some grape soda, and Jonathan missed the delivery of the placenta because he was in the other room frosting the cake. Jake makes our life complete...and very exciting! Happy Birthday 7 year old boy!!





This morning when Jake came downstairs I said, "Good morning handsome boy." He replied, "Good morning beautiful Mommy."

The other day his nostrils were a little raw (from his licking them...ewww) and I told him we'd have to get some ointment on there, he looked in the mirror and responded, "Yeah, it's a jungle in there."

Once on This Island

OBM took some amazing pictures of the play the other night! (Thank you!) There are tons more and eventually I'll get some video on here as well, but in the meantime...

Daybook

For today...Monday October 19, 2009...Jake is SEVEN today!!

Outside my window...the sun is just coming up.

I am thinking...about all of the sickness that was rampant at the Theatre this weekend and how great the show was in spite of it.

I am thankful...that all three of my kids had fevers that went away within 18 hours of getting them...I am thankful for the natural and homeopathic remedies that friends shared with me that I think really worked...and I am thankful that I had the fortitude to nurse each of them for as long as I did because I am sure that plays a part in their ability to get well so quickly.

I am praying... for everyone else who is sick...and for those of us who didn't get it to stay healthy.

From the kitchen...we have lots of left overs, but after breakfast we are headed to Disney for Jake's birthday.

From the learning rooms...I hope to sneak in a little schooling in the car, and then the rest of the week we'll be playing catch up.

I finally finished a book this week...A View From Saturday by EL Konisburg, it is our mother-daughter bookclub book...meeting is Tuesday here.

Around the house..."show weekend syndrome"...it will have to wait one more day.

One of my favorite things...my kids!

We are listening... to the radio because they are going to announce Jake's birthday any minute now.

A few plans for the rest of the week...Disney all day today, Tuesday...Grandma goes home, bookclub, the kids begin working on the next show (Seussical), babysitting Wed and Thur, plus trying to get back on track.

Some picture thoughts...

Show pics etc...

I have no business being on the computer right now since I have a bookclub book to read, not to mention a sleep deficit to catch up on, but I wanted to at least get a few pictures up here of this weekend's show ONCE ON THIS ISLAND. You still have two more chances to see it...Madi and Jonathan have their leads again tomorrow night (Saturday). More pictures and video will have to wait for another time, but here's a sneak peek...






...and a few more pictures....

Grandma Marge...


the annual orthodontist skating party...





pumpkin patch fun...




a 50's dance...



a new camper...



unloading pumpkins...