Back in Black! belt

Last Saturday was momentous. Huge. Epic. Because ... this is now my son.

He's a black belt!! I'm still smiling -- I'm soooo stinkin' proud of him.

Black belt testing is a grueling process -- 6 hours of physical endurance tests, sparring, form memorization and performance, board breaking and a written portion. It was brutal, both for Christian and for his mom who couldn't watch when he was being kicked and punched.

Of course, he needed the mother of all Gatorades to get through the day.

Proud (and nervous) mom & dad....

After he broke that board, he turned and kicked through another board and then kicked through 3 boards together with a different kick. Total bad-a#%. ;)

I couldn't help but cry when they handed him his new uniform and belt. What a huge accomplishment that's taken him about 4 years to achieve. 14 different belts, hours and hours of training, the occasional bloody knuckle or foot from board breaking.... I couldn't be more proud.

Some people's children....

De ja vu

Cracks me up that the Encore channel is playing the movie 'Groundhog Day' repeatedly today. Over and over and over and over ....

Cinema

I love movies. My mom instilled in us her love for movies early on. She denies it now but I specifically remember times when she would check me out of school to go see a movie. She still sees multiple movies each week -- sometimes 3 in a day, but I won't 'out' her as to how she does that. Creative ticketing on her part, that's all I'll say.

I see my fair share of movies, too. They are definitely an escape for me. If I'm feeling a little stressed or down, a couple of hours seeing a good movie cures all my ails. While I enjoy seeing all types of movies (drama, romantic comedy, action, foreign, even kids'), I'm kind of a movie snob about the quality of the show. Sitting through a bad show leaves me in a worse state than if I hadn't gone. I have no patience for poor writing in a script, and I've frustrated a few girlfriends by picking a movie apart at the end when they fairly enjoyed it. (Remember Leap Year or 4 Christmases, anyone? Puhlease.)

My sister, Kelly, and I saw Rabbit Hole late last night. We figured it was Monday - family night - so we saw it together since we're family. I can justify late night movies all day long. Anyway ... we were alone in the theater until six 20-something yr old guys walked in together and sat a few rows in front of us. Kelly and I looked at each other with puzzled looks. Why? Because Rabbit Hole is about a grieving couple whose 4 yr old son was killed and how their lives fall apart and then how they try to put it all back together. It's a painful, beautiful show. (Nicole Kidman deserves the nomination but the fact that Aaron Eckhart was overlooked is sad - he was more amazing than her, in my humble opinion.) Why would those 6 young guys choose that movie? Even more amazing was that once the movie was over and the credits started running, they all just sat there, not talking or whispering with each other, just watching the credits in silence. Go figure. It's a mystery to me, but kudos to them for braving a heavy, emotional show. Their mommas should be proud.

Passover

After a little lesson on the Passover, Christian's activity for the family was to draw a picture of the 'destroying angel.' I'll give you one guess which one is his....

Monday schedule

3:25 Pick up carpool
4:00 Drop Paige off at dance
4:15 Drop Haley off at voice lessons
4:40 Pick Christian up from home and take him to basketball practice
4:45 Back to pick Haley up from voice
5:45 Pick Christian up from basketball; he changes in the car just in time for ...
6:00 Tae Kwon Do
6:05 Pick Paige up from dance
6:30 Pick Christian up from Tae Kwon Do

Hello.  And Tuesdays aren't much better.  Wednesday, Thursday & Friday are much better.  I figured I'd stack our lessons on a couple of days so we'd have some open days later.  It's crazy, though.  Good thing that my mornings and early afternoons are generally pretty open, because once the kids are home from school -- we're off and runnin.'

Recital

I'm watching my 2 youngest girlies, wearing swimsuits, choreographing dances in our front room. Brings back memories of my sisters and me doing the same things. Since I was the tallest and least inclined to dance, though, Erin and Kelly always made me be the 'boy' - which meant that I had to catch them when they leapt into my arms or lift them up into some pose. Poor mom had to sit through countless "dance recitals" in our front room. But now I realize that she may not have minded so much.

Sooo NOT like me ....

My Haley is wonderful in lots of ways -- she can be tender and sweet with younger kids, she's smarter than she even realizes, she's extremely determined to accomplish whatever she decides to do ....  I just love her. 

One thing about Haley that makes me chuckle, however, is that the child just doesn't care about typical girlie things.  She doesn't care at all what she wears most days, and actually prefers it when I choose her outfit for her.  I usually have to force her to go clothes shopping with me, which I've had to do more of lately since I'm still unsure what size she actually wears these days.  She hates it when I ask to help her with her hair, mostly because that means that I'll actually do something to it.  She would rather just wear it down, uncombed generally.  Unfortunately, her hair takes quite a bit of upkeep since it's so incredibly thick.  If we don't really comb through it a couple of times a day, she has a bunch of pre-dreadlocks at her neck by bedtime.  I keep telling her that thick hair is a blessing but she doesn't believe me for a second.

Today, her pre-teen, very fashion-conscious cousin came over and asked Haley to go shopping with her.  Haley was thrilled at the chance to spend time with Emmy but returned without having bought anything.  I wasn't in the least bit surprised.

I remember being her age, begging to go to the mall, asking for clothes for Christmas, looking through clothes catalogs - anything clothes.  And I'm still very much that way.  I don't buy that many clothes anymore, mostly out of lack of places to put them, but I still love clothes.  Shoes.  Purses.  Jewelry.  I'm very girly, that way.  As are my 2 younger daughters.  They both spend lots of time choosing outfits in the morning, choosing accessories and the perfect shoes for their outfit.  Paige will often change her coat or backpack to match her outfit. 

I'm not saying one is better than the other.  In fact, Haley will probably make my life a lot easier when she's a teenager by not begging for the latest fashion or whatever.   I just enjoy seeing the differences in each child.  And for Haley, I love that her intense interest focuses on things other than fashion and appearance.  I should learn a thing or two from her.

Tea Party

The high school put on the production of Cinderella. We have several friends who were in it so we planned on going anyway ... but when I heard that the cast was throwing a tea party beforehand for little girlies, we were SO THERE!! And it was actually really fun.

The fairy godmother threw lots of sparkly fairy dust and asked them what their one heart's desire was. Elle couldn't think of anything. Paige said something about being able to have magic bubbles that could explode into thousands of tiny bubbles. Fairy godmother wasn't quite sure what to say.

This is Jenna, one of the 2 ugly stepsisters. Love the makeup. Jenna & Kelsey stole the show as the over-the-top, bumbling, ditzy stepsisters. Kelsey's mom told us that she isn't allowed to do her stepsister laugh in the house -- it was that annoying (but still funny).

Paige & Laila were partners during dance lessons for the ball....

... they made picture frames for their portraits taken with Cinderella (inside her carriage -- they were excited)...

... they had royal treats from the royal chef (love the mustache) ...

... and colored princess pictures.

I gotta hand it to the high school kids, who did a fab job of keeping so many little girls entertained. Seeing the actors up close was pretty cool for them.

The creepiest part of the whole thing? These mannequins. Don't they remind you of I Am Legend? Seriously.

9-1-1

Elle learned about emergencies in preschool.  She proudly showed me her 9-1-1 magnet and started to tell me all about being able to call the police on the phone.  That always makes me a little nervous.  None of our kids have ever called 9-1-1, knock on wood, but my cute niece did and had an unhappy policeman on her doorstep 10 minutes later.  Unfortunate for Sydney but good teaching moment for my kids about not calling 9-1-1 unnecessarily.

Since Elle was so excited about it, though, I decided to turn it into a game -- the What is an Emergency? game.  Goes something like this....

Is it an emergency if mommy falls and hits her head and can't wake up?
YES!

Is it an emergency if you have to clean up your toys and you want someone to help you?
No.

Is it an emergency if Elle has a seizure at Murray Pool?
YES!

Is it an emergency if you fall down and scrape your knee?
No?

Is it an emergency if your house is on fire?
YES!

Is it an emergency if Haley and Paige are being mean to you and you want to tell someone about it?
No.

Is it an emergency if we get in a car accident?
YES!

I'm hoping the message has gotten through.  Although, the next day when she said, "I want to get in a car accident so I can call
 9-1-1", I was a little nervous about her grip on the concept.  After we talked about car accidents and how scary they are, she's fortunately changed her mind.

"I got called down to the principal's office today."

Just what every mom loves to hear.  And he wasn't kidding, unfortunately.  Here's the story, the way he told it to me:

"So I came in from recess and my teacher said, 'Christian, go see the principal immediately.'  I had no idea why.  No, seriously, mom!  I didn't do anything wrong!  So I walked down to Mrs. Larsen's office.  She said, 'Have a seat, Christian.  This is serious.  I'm really disappointed (as she handed me this typed letter) .... I mean, I'm REALLY PROUD OF YOU!  Way to go.'  I turned over the letter, mom, and you'll never believe it.  I finally got a congratulations letter!" (Meaning, all of his homework had been completed and turned in for the week.)

"Who's the man, mom?  Seriously."

The child has an inflated sense of accomplishment, clearly, since this is only one successful week out of the school year so far, but it's a start.   I love how great his teacher made the experience for him, and that the principal was a good sport about it, too.   Hallelujah for good educators.

A conversation

Elle loves to talk about Jesus being in heaven and that Papa is now with Him there. The other day, she continued and said, "Yeah, but I know where Jesus' house is."

"Oh really? Where exactly does he live?"

She pointed to the picture above our mantel. "Right there."

And that's when I understood ....

Makes sense to me.

Is the cup half-full or half-empty?

Half-empty: I had the dreaded colonoscopy yesterday. The doc found another polyp. That's 3 in 3 years and I'm only 38.
Half-full: Taking the pills was sooo much easier. I'll definitely go that route again next time. And at least we're finding these polyps early before they have a chance to grow into anything scarier.

Half-empty: My dear, sweet child (who shall remain nameless to protect his privacy -- oops) cannot for the life of him get the hang of completing a homework assignment and actually turning it in. Something gets lost in the process.
Half-full: He has an amazing teacher who is trying to help him correct that habit and works with him to make sure his assignments get turned in. Teachers will keep hand-holding him like that all through jr. high and high school too, right?

Half-empty: The house looks so empty after taking Christmas down. I miss the twinkle lights all over the house.
Half-full: I didn't buy a single new decoration this year. Wait ... I mean, I only bought one new Christmas decoration this year. Major improvement over years past.

Half-empty: I have spent an abnormal amount of time reading lately. My house has definitely taken a hit.
Half-full: I found a new author that I have really enjoyed and have flown through her books. If the names Wendy, Finn or Tove collectively or the names Alice, Jack or Peter collectively mean anything to you, we should talk.

OK, fine!

I guess it's time to take it all down.Boo.

Sleddin'

Probably TMI

So this was supposed to be me last night and this morning ....Ever had to drink this stuff?? My first time was 3 yrs ago. My dad was battling colon cancer, which both my grandpa and great-grandpa had also passed away from. My 27 yr old cousin was in medical school and had a routine colonoscopy and, shockingly, the dr. found a polyp. That caused me and most of my siblings and cousins to go get colonoscopies ourselves. When they rolled me into the procedure room, the dr. looked at me and said, "Now, tell me why we're doing this to a 35 yr. old woman?" I explained my history, the dr. said, "Good enough" and then actually found and removed 2 polyps. Several of my cousins had them, too. Scary. So now, I'm on the 3 yr colonoscopy plan. My 2nd one was supposed to be this morning.

Getting a colonoscopy really isn't so bad. You're either out cold or they give you some kind of amnesiac so you don't remember the procedure. The absolute worst part of the whole ordeal is the prep. See that container thing? You have to drink two of them (1 liter each), filled with the nastiest liquid, in a short amount of time. The problem is, the minute that stuff hits my mouth, I'm gagging and spitting it right back up. So much so that I wasn't able to keep enough down this time to make it at all effective. Years of morning sickness has made my gag reflex so strong that I often have a hard time just brushing my teeth. So good luck with drinking large amounts of nasty liquid.

I called the nurse this morning and explained that I couldn't complete the prep, to which she said, "Why don't you try taking the pills, then?" What?! That was an option?? Why didn't anyone tell me the first time? Granted, it's 32 pills (no joke) but I'll take that over the super salty, ocean-water tasting stuff.

I'm scheduled for next week. And I'm not actually dreading it anymore so that's a start... Good times, people. Good times.