Our weekend

Scott was out of town this weekend, so the rest of us enjoyed our weekend time as a group of three. Overall our weekend was quite relaxing - besides the part where John caught a 24-hour stomach bug on Saturday, which was a major hindrance in our plans for fun - and I am grateful to have had this time truly enjoying being with the children. This was my first weekend free of thinking about students and grading and the end of the semester, and I am glad to be in this more peaceful place now. As much as I really enjoy teaching in the classroom, there is something entirely refreshing about the end of a semester and attending the graduation ceremonies.

And as an added bonus I can now wear shorts and sandals to work until August, which I consider to be one of the greatest benefits of working in academia! Yippee!

Anyway, back to the weekend. Saturday was full of John being sick and graduation so Sunday was our big day for fun. Amelia, John and I went to the Katy Trail, a walking/biking/running pathway that runs through the heart of Dallas and is based on the track of a railroad that ran through Dallas dozens of years ago. We loaded up the kids' scooters in the car and went out to enjoy the beautiful day. I was hoping they would scoot along the trail while I jogged/walked behind them. I was trying to fit in some exercise this weekend since Scott wasn't here to trade-off parenting duties so I could go for a longer run.

After we had been on the trail about, oh maybe ten minutes, invariably one of the kids had to go to the bathroom. Luckily there was a Starbucks nearby, so we headed there for a water break and the bathroom.


Amelia egged me on here, saying, "Mom, please take my picture drinking my water!". So I did.
We had fun on the trail, but the children quickly got tired and we went about the rest of our day. After lunch and then quiet rest time, where we all watched The Princess and the Frog together (I highly recommend this movie! It was fun!), it was time for more enjoyment of the outdoors. So we went out back to hit balls and play on the swingset.
After enthusiastically hitting the tee off the stand with a particularly powerful swing, John decided to look down the tube and I caught this photo.


Amelia enjoyed her time lazily on the swings while I attended to batting practice with John.


Our weekend concluded on a happy note in that Scott returned home and we are now all together again. I made a new Italian pasta dish for supper and we are enjoying a relaxing end to the weekend.

Sweet kids

John gave me a sweet present for Mother's Day (with the tremendous help of his teacher!). John's teacher asked the children in her class to make their moms cards for Mother's Day, which they did using paint, marker, and fancy cardstock, with a message to mom inside. Each child spoke the message aloud and the teacher wrote it in the card and then the child signed his name. Here is John's message to me:

"Dear mom, I love you so much and I like it when you give me minty gum. Thank you for giving me soda only when we go on trips. I really like your broccoli and cheese soup, but you don't make it anymore. Love, John"

A few comments. Can you imagine what John's teacher was thinking with the mention of gum and soda at the top of John's favorites list? Yes, we win the award for allowing our children to have sweet treats when they are good. What a great, nutritionally-minded mom that I am! I don't understand John's fascination with mint gum but he sure does love it, as anyone who has spent much time with him can attest. The last sentence boggles my mind too. I have never made broccoli and cheese soup (I think he was referring to broccoli and rice casserole with cheese, which I have made in the past, and which I stopped making because the kids suddenly decided that they didn't like my version), but I did find it funny that John's entire message was about food. Fitting, given my love of cooking. It's just too bad that John never wants to eat much of what I prepare. Maybe I should try broccoli and cheese soup.

Amelia has also been sweet lately. She made a special effort to make Scott a card the other night. Just as she was finishing her work at the kitchen table, she spied him out the back windows as Scott walked from the garage to the backdoor. Amelia shreiked, "Daddy's home, but I am not finished with my card and I don't want him to see it!". This is what it said (words spelled as Amelia wrote them):

On the front: Happy Father's Day!
Inside (with peace signs and a skull and crossbones (!) as decoration): A poem for you...I know it's not Father's Day to early but not late. Making a father's day card for you makes me feel great!"

When Amelia presented her card to Scott and he saw the cover, he suggested that perhaps it would be better if she saved the card for June. But Amelia insisted he take the card now, as she said "I promise you will like it!" Very sweet.

Weekend update

Tonight is Sunday evening and I feel very content, which is what I should feel after having enjoyed a relaxing weekend. There was nothing unusual this weekend besides the normal Saturday morning t-ball for John and ballet for Amelia, except that today was Mother's Day as well. Scott and the kids helped me to enjoy the day in peace. I am grateful for the wonderful rice cooker and recipe books they gave me - I asked for the rice cooker, as I love to experiment with new recipes and I am terrible at cooking rice! - the Indonesian rice tonight was delicious! - and I even got to go for a medicure today. Lovely.

John's second t-ball practice Saturday morning went smoothly. It was much chillier than it looks in the photos below - Amelia and I were shuddering everytime the breeze blew and it felt really chilly! - but I suppose we should be grateful for mid-60's temperatures at 9:00 a.m. in Dallas this time of year. It won't be long before we get to 100 degrees on a daily basis and I will long for cooler tempreatures.

This week John's team started batting practice with pitchers throwing the balls. The first week the kids didn't thouch the bats, but John and his dad have been practicing swinging in the backyard so John is accustomed to this. Below John is at bat.

Nice swing, buddy! John actually hit a few balls and we were proud of him for continuing to try during this difficult task. I know I am a first-time participant when it comes to organized sports, but since the game is called t-ball I couldn't help but wonder why the coaches had the kiddos practicing the more difficult task of hitting a thrown ball versus balls placed on the T?

What surprised me was that John really seemed to enjoy fielding the ball during the downtime when he wasn't at bat. The field was relatively unorganized as little boys were pretty much doing anything they wanted while awaiting their turn at bat, but John approached a few boys standing near him on the field, crouching down and showing them how to put their glove down on the field to catch the ball. John is anything but shy, he will go up to anyone and say whatever is on his mind.

And while I enjoyed a lot of time this weekend playing wtih Amelia, I realized late in the game that I hadn't taken any new pictures of her over the past several days. So tonight I snapped some photos while she and John were watching their pre-bedtime show on the couch, supposedly relaxing before stories and going to bed. I don't know what possessed Amelia to strike a yoga-like pose, but she continually held her arms out and gave me the pleasant, "I am meditating, mommy!", smile. I am so grateful for my kind-at-heart, photogenetic girl!

Glorious spring weekend

We enjoyed a beautiful weekend! The highlight was a visit by grandma and grandpop McLaughlin, who stayed with us for several days on their way out west (more on that later). We certainly enjoyed our time with them.

John finished the six-week soccer term a few weeks ago and started t-ball this week. Below is a shot of John, warming up and throwing the ball to Scott. This was his first t-ball practice and he did great.

After throwing practice the kids got a chance to run the bases. Here is John reaching home plate, as Scott cheers him on in the background. Who knows if John will enjoy t-ball, but I can honestly say that John is a fast runner so that has to be a good start!

This is what the rest of us did while John was playing - relax and cheer him on. Amelia and grandma were wonderful spectators! Amelai even sounded like a cheerleader at some points shouting out "Go, John, Go!", but we are definitely not going to encourage the cheerleading thing! cheering for her brother is fine though.

On Sunday we drove out to the campground where grandma and grandpop had parked their RV when they arrived on Thursday. We were fortunate in that our geographical location favored a visit from them, as they stopped through Dallas on their way out to Jackson Hole for the summer. Grandma and grandpop report for duty as temporary employees of the National Park Service working in Grand Teton National Park this coming weekend. We wish them well in this stage of their retirement and we look forward to seeing them in Wyoming in July.

So we went out to the RV for a picnic lunch (where we ate our sandwiches in the RV, as you can see the campsite was not scenic!), and how many times do you think the adults had to remind Amelia and John that "YOU DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING IN THE RV!"?? Maybe a thousand? That might be a close estimate. And we were there less than an hour. It was maddening. Even though Amelia and John had been to the RV once in Gainesville, this was their first chance for more lengthy exploration and they basically got in trouble the entire time. So we quickly ate, reprimanded the children constantly, and once they had said they were sorry we went to a local children's amusement park for some fun.

We all enjoyed being outdoors at the amuseement park on a beautiful, sunny Sunday. Amelia and John enjoyed the rides and the adults enjoyed the nonexistent lines for the rides (compare and contrast to the Texas state fair, which can be a nightmare!).

Grandma even got to ride the train for a tour of the park with the kiddos.

Amelia enjoyed the roller coaster, though she declared that it was "too easy" once she got off the ride. I guess we instilled a sense of greater adventure after putting her on more thrilling rides at Sea World last fall.

Amelia was also not afraid of the spinning teacups. Now we know she didn't get that from me as I have one of the queasiest stomachs in our family. Spinning round and round on the kiddy ride might not have been good for me but Amelia had a great time.

Wonderful weekend with family, beautiful weather too! We are crossing our fingers for more good weather to enjoy being outdoors this coming weekend. Goodness knows the 100 degree temperatures will be here soon enough.

John at church

John has started attending church services with us. At our church children age four and under can attend children's playtime during service, which Amelia did until she turned five. Amelia seemed to enjoy the playtime and I enjoyed having an hour uninterrupted to focus on the service.

However, John has expressed interest in attending "big church" with us so I try to take him when I am up for the challenge. John is actually pretty good at being quiet when he has to and his favorite activity is children's time. Just before the sermon, kids are invited up for a short lesson with the children's minister. I can tell that John thinks it is fun to talk to the front of the sanctuary with his sister.

Today John was very vocal in answering Pastor Rachel's questions about the story. So vocal in fact that two different church members came up to us after service to comment on "how funny" and "so outgoing" John was during children's time. John made comments that made the entire congregation laugh, and I tried not to feel embarrased since he clearly was engaged and was just being honest with his thoughts. But of all the kids up there today, John was the only one who spoke aloud on his own while Pastor Rachel was talking with them.

The theme of the lesson was that today is the fourth Sunday of Easter, and that even though we celebrated Jesus rising from the dead four Sundays ago with traditional Easter activities we still celebrate for 50 days after that Sunday. She explained this, and then said that each year we will celebrate Easter for that long to remind us about how much Jesus loves us.

Pastor Rachel: "So next year when it comes time to remember Easter, to remember the story about Jesus on the cross and then rising from the dead, we will do that and then celebrate his rising for 50 days afterwards. Even though we have easter eggs and chocolate bunnies and all the fun things you enjoy with your family on Easter Sunday, we always want to remember how much Jesus loves us."

John (raising his hand): "Pastor Rachel, can I ask you something? Did you know that my dad threw out all of our Easter eggs? I was so angry with him. Can you believe that?"

Pastor Rachel laughed (so did the rest of the congregation) and then got the children to refocus on the idea of why those who believe in Jesus are called Christians. She said that it's because we are always trying to act in the ways Jesus would want us to, and that we are called Christians because we are all continuing to learn about Jesus. Pastor Rachel said that just as children learn stories about Jesus in Sunday School, moms and dads and other adults are always learning about God too and how important he is to us.

Pastor Rachel:" Even the oldest people you know, even me and the other pastors in this church, everybody, is always learning new things about God and what it means to have God in your life."

John (not even raising his hand this time): "Even astronauts? Are they learning about Jesus all the time too?"

Pastor Rachel: "Yes, John, even astronauts".

I don't know where the astronaut comment came from, but John's reference to his dad throwing out the eggs was because we used to keep spare eggs in the garage and every now and then during non-Easter season the kids would hide them for each other in the backyard as a game. Scott must have gotten tired of seeing them on the shelf so they were thrown out the last time he cleaned the garage. The children found out that they were gone and were upset.

Anyway, I don't know that my translation of John's comments came across well here, but he definitely stole the show during children's time and the fact that people came up to comment on it afterwards makes me wonder if we are in for repeated performances on Sundays to come.

After church it was time to burn off some energy (for the kids at least) so we went to the park. Our weather has been absolutely spring-perfect gorgeous all weekend long that it would be sinful to stay indoors. I ran the kids ragged this weekend visiting various parks, playing in the backyard, and riding bikes and scooters around the block. Below is a shot of John chasing random kids on the playground, of course looking quite athletic in his "exercise clothes" and his beloved Crocs.

Amelia loves the monkey bars! This was a new park for us, one where Amelia had never mastered the monkey bars before. Instead of traditional bars placed in a row there were discs placed on an angle, so that they spun once weight was placed on them. Amelia was quite strategic in trying to figure out how to use the spinning to get her connected to the next disc, and thus travel across the playground.

Carnival

Amelia's elementary school had their annual spring carnival this weekend. I feel like I have enjoyed the carnival more in previous years, because now that the kids are older and are more prone to wander off on their own I am less interested in the messiness and chaos of the event, trailing around after them while they indecisively select where to go next. However, the children had a good time and it feels good to support Amelia's school. I look forward to the day when I can let them wander around solo with friends while I lounge in the shade talking with other parents. Still a bit too chaotic for me to do that now.

One of John's favorite things was the spray-painted hair tent. John selected green and was so proud of himself! And what was even better was that I didn't make him take a bath Saturday night so there was a bit of green left in his hair for church on Sunday morning. You could barely notice it but John thought that was hilarious. This was a gross mistake on my part - who lets their kids wander all over a dirty carnival with colored hair spray and then not take a bath that evening? - but we got past it.

Both of the kids got their faces painted. Amelia selected a blue butterfly with sprakles and John selected a lightning bolt.

The only game where I was able to snap decent shots of the children was the surfing game. Despite watching several children in line ahead of him, John acted like he didn't know what to do when it was his turn. After this he mainly stuck to the games he could identify most with - bowling, throwing a ball towards a target, etc.

Amelia on the other hand knew what to do with the surfing and I think she enjoyed herself a=for a minute before getting bounced off.

John the thief

John was a manipulative little thief today. Just being honest. As much as I love my spunky kid, the boy with a bit too much personality sometimes, I have to admit that he was both a thief and a liar today.

Here's the story. Scott left some money on the kitchen counter this morning as we were all downstairs getting ready for the day. The money was for our cleaning ladies as they were coming to our house today. Scott left the house first with the children as it was his day for drop-off and I went upstairs to shower as I had just returned home from the gym.

When I went downstairs to get coffee and make final plans for the day, I realized that the money was not on the counter. I looked all over for it, including on the floor, random places like the junk drawer, and finally gave up and called Scott to ask him if he had removed it from the counter. I was going nuts looking for something valuable that had just been there 20 minutes before. Of course Scott didn't know where the money was - he was still in the car driving to work after having just dropped off Amelia and John after all - so I panicked and ran out to the ATM to get replacement cash. I figured out that the original money would turn up eventually, and rather than be super late for work I decided to replace the bills.

After I returned home from the bank I noticed that Scott had sent me a text message. It read, "Check John's money bank. I suspect he took it." I thought to myself, no way, John's not old enough to want to take money yet. But I went to his money bank anyway and sure enough, tucked in with a few ones and loose change was our cleaning money. Sitting there plain as day. Even though I was relieved that I had found it, I'm sure my mouth fell open in shock. Scott later told me that he was suspicious it was John because this past Sunday at church after Scott had given John a dollar to drop in the collection plate, John had refused to put it in the basket, declaring that he wanted to keep the money for himself. I have never seen John act this way personally but now I can believe it.

So here's how the confrontation played out on the car tonight after I picked up John from school.

Me: "John, I want to ask you about something. Daddy left some money on the kitchen counter this morning. The money was for the ladies who come to clean our house. The money was missing this morning before I left for work and I am wondering if you know where the money is."

John: "I have no idea where the money is."

Me (staying calm, though completely amazed that the little stinker lied outright to me): "John, I am not mad at you. I just want to know if you saw the money or if you can tell me where it is. I am not angry. It's just that that money didn't belong to us - it belonged to the ladies who work hard at our house - and now it is missing and I cannot pay them for their work."

John: "Mom, I do not know where the money is."

I gave him one last try, all the while looking frantically in the rearview mirror trying to see his expression. And then Amelia piped in declaring something along the lines of "I saw John with the money and I told him to put it back but he didn't listen to me." Amelia's statement finally got him to admit his guilt.

Me: "John, when I couldn't find the money I went looking for it. And one place I thought to look was yoyur money bank. When I opened your money bank, the cleaning money was inside, so would you like to tell me how our money got inside your bank?"

John (big sigh): "Mom, I'm sorry, but I took the money."

We discussed the matter for awhile longer because I wanted the message to be that we don't take things that do not belong to us. Plus we don't lie in the first place when asked about something, but I am not sure that part came through very clearly. When I finally got a good look in the rearview mirror, that little stinker was smiling broadly while at the same time sounding passive and declaring, "But mommy, I am so sorry."