The Things We Do

So, I think I sort of shot myself in the foot...
Especially considering just this morning, feeling as though I deserved a break I laid on the couch and let my children eat cold cereal for breakfast asking myself, "Do I do too much for my children?" (After I had already packed 5 lunches, fixed oatmeal for a child that then decided they didn't want it, and had already fixed breakfast for a child that left before the others...) Typically, after arriving home from the gym around 6:20, I'm straight into wake-up children, fix breakfast, pack lunches, get out the door mode. This morning, I went on a temporary strike.

Let's back-up to give just a little background from a couple of different perspectives...

Point one: I came home from my early morning shift working at the temple on Saturday, to find Mike organizing our big pantry. It was a pleasant, much needed surprise, yet I couldn't help feel like a little ashamed when he mentioned a long list of things we are out of, and presented a handful of expired cans of food. (I typically pride myself on not having expired food.) Now before you start thinking of faulting me for feeling shame--it wasn't like you think--it's just, well, we eat so many fresh food, fruits and vegetables, that simply keeping a fridge and pantry full for 7 people for immediate consumption, sort of makes one forget the longer term storage that's wise to keep.

Point two: Mike has been requesting that we eat more rice. I've never been a huge rice fan myself, but he likes it, and I keep meaning to incorporate more rice into our meals.

Point three: I've been sort of low on rice lately, and yesterday while at Costco, decided to stock up on rice to help out with aforementioned points one and two.

On another note,

Point one: Though we have both an upstairs and downstairs furnace, due to the layout of our home, the master bedroom upstairs is always cold. I don't like climbing into my cold sheets at night and feeling like I'm camping outside in Antarctica. Last week, I remembered a rice bag that has probably gone unused for over a year or so, and have taken to having a child heat it up for me each night and bring to my bed. I love it!

Point two: For some reason last night before bed, Drew asked if he could use the rice bag. I might add, that I think Luke had originally requested it, but somehow (I think it had something to do with him swinging it at a sibling) it ended up in Drew's possession. Somehow later, (I think after Mike caught Drew with it in mid-swing with it ready to hit Joshua) the rice bag was sitting unused in my bedroom, and Joshua politely came in and asked if he could use it. I obliged.

For the first time in a week, last night I fell asleep with cold feet.

This morning, after I had risen from the couch to continue the morning duties with my children (like making sure children have needed library books, making sure papers are signed, lunches in backpacks, teeth are brushed, medication give to child with sore arm due to yesterday's shots, etc. etc. etc.) Joshua said to me, "Mom, if today you aren't doing anything or going anywhere and you have nothing to do, will you  make a rice bag for me to use?"

It wasn't really the fact that making a rice bag will maybe take 10 minutes maximum, it's the fact my son thinks a. I likely am not doing anything or that I have NOTHING to do.

As I hugged and kissed Joshua goodbye at the front door, he again said, "Remember if you have nothing to do today, can you make me a rice bag?"

For the record, I actually have several things to do today, a few places to go, and lots of I "want to get to's". Yet the selfish part of me, remember back to my first paragraph--for whatever reason, I woke up feeling sort of selfish today; begrudging the morning routine, thinking I do wwwaaayyyyy too much for my children, and not feeling guilty that they were eating cold cereal on a mid-week day. (Typically Friday's are the only days they eat cold cereal.), all I could think about was, "I AM NOT GOING TO BED WITH COLD FEET AGAIN TONIGHT. THAT RICE BAG IS MINE."

So, to ensure that Yours Truly gets the rice bag tonight, guess what I spent 30 minutes doing this morning?
Making not one, but 3 rice bags. But I'm beginning to guess, it may have introduced a whole new slew of problems.

1. When Joshua returns home today from school and sees the rice bags, he will be happy. But there is a risk that it will confirm to him that his mother does nothing and had nowhere to go, or nothing to do other than make him a rice bag.

2. Making the rice bags took up the last of a container of rice I'd purchased yesterday at Costco, and so that is one less "storage" of rice I had so proudly added to my storage shelf yesterday. (I may add, we had rice for dinner last night.)

3. Mike isn't interested in using a rice bag. But I only made three, plus the one I have been using, plus one old one I dug out from the recesses of a closet. So that equals 5. There will likely be 6 interested persons in having a rice bag tonight.

4. It is likely one or more rice bags will again be used as a weapon tonight in an effort for the 6th person to acquire one.

5. On the bright side, perhaps someone will lose the privilege of using one, and that will make an easy solution for that problem.

Unfortunately, I have a feeling tomorrow I'll be making one more rice bag.

To answer this morning's rhetorical question to myself while laying on the couch, "Do I do too much for my children?" I answer with a resounding, "YES!!!!"

But I guess that's the price a mother has to pay to go to bed with warm feet.

A Back-to-School Story

With all of the recent back-to-school posts on social media recently, I was reminded of this experience last year that I never recorded. It motivated me to write the experience down and make sure it isn't forgotten.

In our family, it is quite traditional for my husband Mike to give "priesthood blessings" the night before a new school year.

Last year, for whatever reason, instead of assuming each child wanted a blessing, Mike asked the children to tell him if they wanted one, and he would happily oblige. Four out of five of the children asked for one. One child, my oldest son, Luke did not. {Here I want to  to say, that though I do put faith into Priesthood blessings, I have always been a firm believer that the sincere prayers of mothers are heard in the same light.} However, with Luke starting a brand new school-junior high no less-I was somewhat disappointed at Luke's lack of desire for any heavenly help.

Sending my first-born to junior high 4 years ago was very difficult for me. Likely due in part to my own difficult experiences with junior high after moving to one from another country! Sending my second child to one last year felt just as hard as it had been with my first. Actually though, it felt worse. Typically confident and fearless Luke acted more nervous than Megan ever had. I think exasperated by the fact that at the 7th grade orientation day just a few days previously, Luke could not figure out how to open his locker.

We practiced and we practiced and we practiced. I was determined to not leave the orientation until Luke had it mastered, but it was clear that either a faulty locker, or Luke's inability to master the lock was causing frustration and embarrassment. Instead, I suggested we take a deep breath,  leave the school and maintain high hopes that on the following Monday morning it would work for him.

Back to the Sunday night before school.

My mother heart could tell Luke was heading to bed nervous, yet neither my husband or I felt it appropriate to force any issue of a priesthood blessing thinking it may calm him. One of the last things Luke said to me before he fell asleep that night was, "Maybe I'll just take WD40 to school with me. That will help with the locker."

The next morning, I'm not sure who was more nervous for junior high. Luke or me! One of the first things out of Luke's mouth upon waking up and facing the daunting reality of his first day of junior high was, "I've figured it out. I know what I'll do, I am taking a screwdriver to school with me. That WILL open the locker."

My tough, can-do-nearly-anything-12-year-old son was nervous for junior high. He wouldn't admit it. He didn't admit it. But I knew. My mother heart knew he was nervous, and I knew the deepest root of his nervousness was that darn locker. Luke built a scooter when he was 5, he could change a flat tire on his bike at age 6, he built a make-shift shed when he was 10 and has likely outdone his peers on building or creating numerous projects.

But my then 12 year old, couldn't independently open his locker at 7th grade orientation.

Luke allowed me to walk him to the bus-stop his first morning of junior high. We didn't say much to each other besides me defending my decision that he couldn't take WD40 or a screwdriver to school. One of the last things I said to him, as a sort of consolation for none of his desired tools was, "Luke-I'll be praying for you."

And I did.
I prayed all day.
If I wasn't on my knees praying, I was praying in my heart. If I wasn't praying in my heart, I was praying aloud while going about my chores. My prayers centered around one thing.
Luke and his ability to open his locker.

Luke returned home later that day and of course one of my first questions to him was, "How did the locker go?" He looked at me, as though he didn't have any recollection of it ever being an issue and simply said, "It opened every single time."

With tears streaming down my face, I placed Luke's face in my hands and looked him in the eyes and quietly asked him a question, I didn't need him to answer.

"Luke. Who needs WD40 or a screwdriver, when you have a mother who prays?"

There are a variety of explanations one can offer for Luke's first day of junior high, but there is only one that matters.

I have no doubt that there are few things more powerful than the sincere prayers of a mother. I am grateful that Luke and I learned firsthand that day, that a mother's prayer can transcend an earthly trouble.

Catch-Up

I can't forget the simple things in life that for whatever reason made me (or somebody else) want to record it with a photo.

My mornings alone with Drew are slowly winding down. His days at home for a few hours with just me are soon to end. At the beginning of the school year, I was in a business meeting and I told someone that I couldn't commit to a certain task. I explained to them that I've spent good quality time with all my children at home, and although it seems easy to drag the last child around, or find places for him to go, I wanted to be committed to him. I have been. Although Drew has been dragged around with me, or babysat by others plenty of times, I have spent so much quality time with him. I have no regrets.

I don't save all the papers the children bring home from school, but there are some that I absolutely have to immediately file away. This was one of them, except it stayed in the kitchen for longer than usual papers, because it was so fun to look at! I love the name Joshua gave himself, the wrinkles, and the long beard. Oh to have the imagination of a child!

Luke is still Luke. He still has the most vivid imaginations and inventions. He's progressed a little over the years as far as safety and specifics, but he still continues to think outside of the box. I LOVE this boy of mine.

(The old bike trailer he transformed into a trailer last summer, now became a children's ride when he tied a lawn chair to it. Helmets were a definite requirement to ride!)

A fifth grade field trip chaperone. A loud and bumpy bus ride, other people's children, and 4 hours at an aquarium. Need I say more? Those aren't exactly any of my favorite things. Except for Ellie is, so that's why I did it.

I love little boys and cars. Drew has more Hot Wheels, cars and trucks than any little boy needs, but he plays with them all the time. They make Mike crazy, but not me. It's one of those little things, I can't help but love.

I'm not exactly sure what was going on with a slew of photos like this on my phone. I think Kinzey and Ellie were attempting to illustrate some books they were writing, with pictures. Makes me wonder what the books are about??

(Joshua, Drew, Kinzey)

Joshua turned 8 recently. And he was given the CHOICE of whether or not he wanted to join the Cub Scouts at our church. (We view the involvement in BSA as an "extra-curricular", even though really it is a default activity by virtue of being a member of the LDS church.) Please, I beg you. Don't get me started on this subject.

But I will quickly say, I wore all of my PATHETIC Mother's Pins that I've never seen another mother EVER WEAR besides me. I wore/wear them to all of Luke's Pack Meetings and Courts of Honor, and here I go again with Joshua. What a complete and utter waste of money. Like I said, don't get me started.

(The only reason I took this photo was to send to my BFF. She's the only one that truly appreciates it.)

The girls spent far longer than they should have coloring plastic cups and then melting them in the oven to fun shapes and designs. No practicing of instruments or homework was getting done, but their giggles and camaraderie were not anything to put an end to.

Last Friday (my 18th wedding anniversary), Luke was diagnosed with strep throat AGAIN. This time I had to take a doctor note to school to excuse his millionth absence this school year. Lucky Luke ended up being a lunch date for me to a place of his choosing, DQ for a milkshake for his sore throat.

And that's about that for now. I could go on for hours sharing all the silly photos the children take on my phone, but we'll stick to these highlights for now.

I think I will always be a believer in the importance of the little things. I KNOW they are what really matter.

Brief Blurb

I have all sorts of blog post ideas written down on my writing list, but realistically, they just aren't getting written right now. Life has been very busy lately. A good busy, but busy. I have decided to take a much more active role within our company, and I have found myself capable of contributing some of my strengths to the business as a whole. There are some really exciting opportunities for me on the horizon, and I look forward to it. I am stretching myself beyond my comfort zone, and it feels good.

I also have found myself focused on my mornings with Drew. He wants to be outside playing most of the time with his friends, but I have made a very deliberate effort to really live each morning to the fullest with him. Next year he'll be in 1st grade all day. It is no longer a day I anxiously anticipate, as I always thought I would.

I'm also trying my hardest to be really, really present with my children after school. Some days it is hard. Too often five children talk to me at once, there is far too much homework cluttering our time, our kitchen table and our moods, and the fall weather is beckoning my children to be outside after school rather than working on their spreadsheets (chores/responsibilities). I'd be lying if I said that I never second guess my decision to let them be children first and foremost. But that's what I'm trying to do. There's still so much responsibility to teach them, chores for them to do, lessons they need to learn, homework that must get done, program guidelines they need to follow, etc. etc. etc.

But the stark realization that they are only young once rings through my head constantly, and that makes it easy to prioritize things far easier than it was, say, 3-5 years ago.

As a result of all of these things, some things (like writing) are getting a little neglected.
And that is OK.
(Repeat that three times in your head Tiffany. It is OK.)

As I've said before, I love Instagram for this very purpose. It provides a quick, snippet of a day or a moment and I'm hoping that years from now that simple photo and comment will be enough to recall a wonderful memory.

My life is full of so many moments worth remembering, and I'm realizing more and more I can't write essays about them all. Instead, I have found myself stopping what I am doing and basking in the moment with my child(ren). I've found myself looking in their eyes more, and letting distractions get in the way less. My children still make me crazier than crazy. But I shouldn't complain.

The messes, homework, scattered laundry, meal preparations, fingerprints, discarded socks, sand everywhere but the sandbox, garbage left in the car, cupboard doors left open, wet towels on the floor and hairdryers in the sink will not last forever.

This blurry photo is a prime example of what I'm trying to do more of...weeks ago Megan asked me to buy a few jars of baby food (some "okay" tasting ones, some disgusting ones"). I bought them and they've sat in the pantry since a couple weeks ago on a rainy Sunday afternoon, the children perched themselves up to the counter and begged Mike and me to administer the "tasting game."

It wasn't anything that memorable, but we all took turns laughing and it was a perfect example that a "nothing", really was an "everything." I love that I don't even have a decent photo to capture the memory...that isn't what it's about.

Sometimes I Do Hard Things

There was a time a few years ago when someone asked me if I would lead/conduct a song at church and I responded, "I would rather give a talk naked than do that!" I was then given the assignment of a prayer instead. I've NEVER had much musical confidence, and certainly not in leading music. Part of the problem comes from not being able to figure out what "the beat is", and the other part of the problem is feeling like an idiot waving my hand in the air. And I guess another part is the same question I have as Luke, "Why do you really need someone leading the music?"

Regardless.
Sometimes, I do hard things and over the last couple years I have really made a deliberate effort to (somewhat) learn to conduct music, and did it last year in a very small meeting.

Sometimes I do even harder things...

Like last Sunday, my dear friend Lori was going to be absent from church. Her role each Sunday is to lead the older children (8-11) singing in Primary. (The children's organization in the LDS church.)  A few weeks ago, in a weak moment, I committed to being her substitute.

I'll sum up my past experience and expertise in the area in Mike's simple comment when I told him a month ago what I had committed to do...

His reply? "Oh dear."

So much for that boost of confidence.
So then I told Megan, and her reply was something along the lines of, "You?"

Thanks to her too.

To make a long story short, Sunday was my big debut. Somehow in the days preceding my leading, Mike was asked to play the piano. (Served him right for his "Oh Dear!" comment.) He ended up only playing the opening song, and Megan took over for the rest of them. (He didn't feel confident or able to do the "spontaneous" song choices that my singing time activity required.)

It felt a little bit like a Sowby Family Circus with me conducting, and both Megan and Mike having taken a turn at the piano, but then turned into even more of a circus when the "Singing Time Dice" that was rolled required "stand on one leg" for the duration of a song. Not only did I have to wave a hand self-consciously in the air, while sweating profusely, I also had to stand on one foot IN HEELS, all while singing right along. As if I wasn't feeling self-conscious enough, I happened to look over to my left and saw the Primary President taking a photo of me!

What????? A permanent record of my circus act for all to see?!

Speaking of that "Singing Time Dice" that I used, there was one option on it for "No Chorister". I told the children ahead of time if they rolled that choice, I would personally deliver them a treat that evening. (Only one child rolled it, but she is my new favorite Primary child now.)

One of the options was, "No Piano". Both Megan and I were mildly concerned for this one in the days previous,as we are both well aware of my inability to sing on-key. When one of the children rolled it, I found myself looking over to Megan for some kind of immediate help and escape, and instead found her trying not to laugh. Fortunately she played a nice intro, and then I looked to a capable adult in the room to start everyone.

What a day.

Then, as if enough Sowbys hadn't participated in Senior Primary, Ellie was assigned to give the closing prayer. As proud as I am/was of doing something so completely out of my comfort zone, I am glad the  Sowby Family Meeting last week's Primary meeting is now just a memory. I'd much rather teach or speak than wave my hand in the air while people sing.

Oh well! I did it! I did something hard. When my friend later emailed me the following photo, she praised me for doing hard things and complimented me for staying right on beat! (At least I was during the balanced-on-one-foot song.)

On beat and on one foot in red heels while conducting a song.

I can do hard things.
Yay me.

(Not sure why my mouth is closed here. I was singing too!)

Insta-Purge

If you know me very well at all, you know I am passionate about focusing on "the little things" in life. I am such a firm believer that those are the moments that will really matter in the grand scheme of things. I think it is for that reason that I have become such a lover of Instagram.

First I have to tell you, I fought joining Instagram for months and months and months. But I finally did a few months ago, and I love having quick, simple, (instant!) ways to preserve a moment or memory. I've carried a notebook with me for years, and I am always quickly writing a thought or a sentence in either that or my phone. But with the constant availability of cameras nowadays (phones), I snap even more photos than I would have a decade ago, and I end up with a million photos on my camera and often wonder why I had originally desired to capture that particular scene or moment.

So I love Instagram for that.
But, I don't love it because, I find myself with a particular way to capture exactly what I've used my blog for, for so many years that I find myself neglecting my blog more and more. Although, that being said--I have about 7 post "drafts" that I just haven't gotten around to finishing. So never fear, I will not stop writing. I have too much to say. (One of Megan's pet-peeves about my Instagram account-I write too much in my posts sometimes.)

But for today, I'll purge (some of) my Instagram photos into this nice little post, so they are recorded here too and add a few that didn't make it to Instagram.

Here's a glimpse of summer time at our house...

"enjoy the little things in life, for one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things."

Finally got around to adding additional sand to our sandbox. I remember distinctly the day Mike built that sandbox! Drew was a newborn, and I was typing a much needed PTA email on the computer, while he laid at my feet with a bottle propped in his mouth with my foot!! (Yes, I can admit that!) I couldn't imagine the day he would actually be able to play in it. He and Joshua love that sandbox, even though it is too small. Mike doesn't love that sandbox because the sand always "disappears" and there are too many trucks in it. He did however oblige us all and take the boys to get some more sand for it. The boys (and Mike) obviously loved watching the loader load the sand into the trailer. Hooray for boys.

 I love that my boys wake up each day asking for "holdies". They too often squabble over my lap, but I've always told them that's why Heavenly Father gave me two legs. One for each of them.

 If there were a mother-of-the-year award for moments, I think my BFF and I would get it. Luke and Jacob decided to take our inflatable raft on this bike trailer Luke made to the local pond. It was all fine and dandy until it came time to bring it home and they couldn't get it deflated and folded up as small again, AND it was wet and heavy. Melanie and I came to the rescue and were lugging fishing poles, life jackets and who knows what else around the pond trail. Thank goodness for cell phones, and boo on the fact Luke didn't take enough drinks for them. We are nice mothers.

Apparently, one of my children (Ellie?) has a fascination with the clouds. I love that they appreciate beauty and nature, but man does it take up a lot of space on my Dropbox account. (Nature and selfie (not of me) photos are in large quantities on my phone.)

I love these two boys. I love that these two boys so frequently remind me about what is really important in life.

I've tried to make a few trips to the local swimming pool with my children. Luke likes to try all sorts of tricks off of the diving board. He is always disappointed when I don't quite capture them on film.

 Ellie is quite typically found on her hands doing cartwheels, on her head doing a head-stand. Or on the ground having accidentally back-flipped off the trampoline.

Some days I let Ellie talk me into doing funny face selfies. Not my favorite thing to do, but quite easy to say yes to.

Ellie did a nice little Instagram post on my account with this picture of the two of us. She hashtagged herself as #favoritechild, which is a family joke. Megan was not amused. For some reason she thinks that hashtag applies only to her.

The fact that we no longer have a need for a bike trailer for a child to ride in, Luke converted it to this "flatbed" trailer. It's actually come in handy. He helped move stuff from one office to the other during our recent office move, he's hauled chairs and a cooler to the local parade, and chairs to another activity we attended. Hooray for Luke's creations. Boo for anything left in his path that may be remodeled. Drew took the inaugural ride on it (with a helmet I might add), to Mike's office to show it off.

Why do children think any and every little scratch needs a band-aid? I actually don't care though if they want one and use one (or two or three), just don't leave the wrappers out for ME to clean up!!!

 
Yours Truly helped the scouts put up flags on the 4th of July. Our church leader (Bishop) was mightily impressed I was participating in a scouting event, but come on, it's flags, and I am one patriotic gal.

Our dutiful attendance at the local parade. Not sure how this became "a tradition". It's kind of a lame parade, but we always receive an invitation for a good seat, so we can't complain. The children love it, Mike tolerates it..

Seeing these three quietly eating popsicles while swinging one day screamed, "Idyllic childhood" to me. These are the type of moments I hope my children remember of their childhood.

As opposed to them remembering the night times when the boys got yelled at to settle down, and Drew always ends up having to "lay lith" Dad to settle each night." "Why do I always have to lay lith?" Drew whines, but I think he and Mike secretly love that it happens every night. I enjoy seeing my children innocently sleeping ... it makes me forget *most of* the difficult parts of the day.

Megan got her driving permit. Mike is teaching her to drive. She prefers it that way and I prefer it that way. I don't have the patience, calmness or peace of mind to help her with that. It's Mike's department all the way.

Mike suggested the kids send a postcard to themselves from the Grand Canyon. Joshua was beyond thrilled when we received it in the mail. He couldn't quite process how it happened, but his smile was contagious.

Megan has visions I do not. She saw this dusty old, yucky dresser and transformed it into a nice little "table" for our front entry way. I LOVE it. Most of all, I love that she could do something like that!

Mike took a hiatus from shaving. I LOVED it. It made him crazy, but I think he liked how many more kisses it earned him. It was a sad day for me when he shaved it, mostly because he temporarily (for about 2 minutes) left a mustache and tried to kiss me with it despite my screaming very loudly. I strongly dislike mustaches. The kids thought it was hilarious.

While Luke spent a week at scout camp. I spent the week feeding animals. Ugh. Not what I signed up for at all. But I love Luke and sometimes that translates into feeding HIS animals for the week. Thank goodness for Megan and Joshua (and Mike) they took turns helping out too.

These boys were a little more trouble than they were worth during our recent office move, but then I see this innocent little rest they were taking at the end of the long day and wonder what exactly they could ever possibly do wrong!?!

I've tried to make more of an effort to "say yes" more. One night it translated into me sitting on a backless metal bench for 2 hours in 90 degree temps while Luke participated in some BMX racing.

 Other times it translates into Ellie cooking. I don't know what happened to my photos of that.

"Delilah" the craft teacher still comes almost weekly. This time she gave them puppets to color/make and then disappeared into the piano room for some quiet time. Somehow, the children found her and she became the perfect audience for the puppet show. After too many minutes of puppetry, the children were excused, and yours truly enjoyed a nice little nap.

I "said yes" to ice cream during swimming lessons. Instead of dropping both boys off, and one waiting while the other has lessons (parents can't watch), I took each boy to Dairy Queen during the other's lesson. Joshua thought it was the best day ever, and I was once again reminded that it's the little things the children love the most!

That's probably enough pictures for now.
Summer is moving along nicely.
Some days it is kicking my bum, other days, I feel like I'm doing okay. It's a great balancing act.

Happy Summer!

Megan's Hard Life

When Megan was a very young child, we lived on a fairly main road. As such, a frequent summer sight and sound was the ice cream truck. As first children's luck would have it, I was more than willing to splurge for an over-priced ice cream treat.

Except we had a slight problem. 

Whenever the ice cream truck's music was heard in the background. Megan would begin to scream hysterically and run to my arms for safety. It didn't matter if she was out front in the yard, or safely inside a locked house. Megan feared the ice cream truck.

Fast forward 10-12 years... We live in a cul-de-sac in a somewhat quiet neighborhood, and I can't say as we hear (let alone see) an ice cream truck very often.

Until tonight. Just as dinner dishes were being cleared, my almost SIXTEEN year old daughter became hysterically EXCITED that she could hear the ice cream truck. A couple of the younger siblings were anxiously and anticipatingly looking on at her excitement, when a look of sheer dismay came upon their faces when I announced, "Oh dear. The ice cream truck only plays music when it is out of ice cream." I had them for mere seconds, until Megan turned to me with a look on her face and asked facetiously, "Are you really going to ruin their childhood?"

With that comment, and my general motherhood motto that you all know (enjoy the little things in life for one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things),  I ignored my strong feelings about the high prices of an ice cream truck's offerings, I bit my lip from announcing aloud my firm belief/stereotype/judgement that most ice cream truck drivers are child predators, and handed Megan a $20 bill. She ran out the front door, with three younger siblings trailing her out of the cul-de-sac.

Minutes later, they returned home empty-handed and Megan gathered two of the three siblings for the following selfie:

She then posted the photo with the following caption on Instagram...

My mom should win "mother of the year award"... Me and my siblings were sitting outside when we heard an ice cream truck, so naturally we ran inside to ask her for money. Being the loving, caring, giving mother that she is, she told my younger siblings that the ice cream truck ONLY PLAYED MUSIC WHEN IT WAS OUT OF ICE CREAM!! Really Mom?! Are you trying to ruin their childhood? When I finally talked her into letting us go, the ice cream truck had passed and was too far to chase down. Thanks Mom. We love you too. Now our evening is as dull as this picture. (I don't know what is more sad: that my mom said it only plays music when out of ice cream or that my siblings believed her. #iliveatroubledlife #mysiblingsdotoo

Despite her Instagram post being slightly longer than a typical Instagram post, her friends seemed to like it and I did too!! So much so, that I decided to repost her picture and put it on my own Instagram feed. We laughed about the event all evening. 

Well, I did. Megan not so much. She had been so excited about introducing her siblings to the ice cream truck experience, that she harbored a few ill feelings towards me and my slowness to grant permission that resulted in the near-miss of the whole experience.

When we all settled in for the evening (after sharing store-bought ice cream on the front lawn with our neighbors I might add), I handed Mike my phone to look at the Instagram post. I knew he'd appreciate it especially as Megan's younger years ice-cream-truck-hysteria is a fond memory of ours. It was all fine and dandy as Mike read through the post. He laughed. He chuckled. He made a few comments and then all of a sudden he gasped. Handed me the phone and announced, "You have to edit that right now!" One of Megan's very innocent hashtags, turned out to be not really very innocent.

Unfortunately, Instagram doesn't have an edit feature, and (un)fortunately, Megan learned a new vocabulary word tonight. Megan and I each hit the delete button on our phones tonight with a little bit of disappointment of such an innocent, silly, mistake that we didn't want published on the world wide web. (Not without copying it out onto this blogpost first though!)

Note: I changed the wording of the hashtag written above to essentially say the same thing, just in a better way...

Megan has now gone to bed tonight feeling down, because not only did she get no ice cream from the ice cream truck, but then she had to delete the post that she was using as therapy to work out her ice cream truck/motherhood issues, and she was feeling mildly scarred about the brief educational moment she had with her parents. 

Just as Megan said goodnight to me for the last time she reminded me of the time we were in Washington DC and I splurged and bought her, Luke and me an over-priced ice cream from a nearby ice cream truck. She chose a silly Spongebob Squarepants ice cream, and within seconds of her first taste, it landed face first onto the sweltering DC street. She didn't laugh as we watched Spongebob Squarepants melt into a pool of yellow on the hot asphalt road. I choose to remember the experience being that Luke and I didn't laugh either, but instead had absolute sympathy for her distress.

I might add, when Megan emailed me the above photo so I could include it in this post, she titled the email: "ice cream trucks continue to ruin my life."

Poor Megan. 
She obviously has ice cream issues.
I'm hoping there is therapy for that.

The Ordinary

One evening in late March, Drew ran an errand with Mike over to our office. I'm not exactly sure why Drew was wearing his swimming suit, and I'm pretty sure the temperature wasn't any higher than the 60's, but nonetheless Drew went. Turns out they made an unexpected visit to The Chief (friend in the next office over), and Mike captured this beauty of Drew deep in conversation. I think I should begin a scientific study as to why Drew's little bum crack is more often than not...exposed.

Unfortunately, Mike and I are not the kind of parents to laugh at all of our children's antics. Too often we're irritated about the children's poor timing and/or lack of judgement to give into the capers of youth. It seems they always attempt their comedian acts right around bedtime, when Mike and I are not typically in easily entertainable moods. However, one particular night when Ellie stalled the bedtime routine to return downstairs to show us this hairstyle, we couldn't help but laugh.

My in-laws are great to invite my children to their house to sleep-over. Apparently, Joshua and Drew put on quite the "Pirate Show" for them.

You'd think perhaps I should let this next photo be a blog post of its own, but not this time. There's getting to be too many...Meet Packer, (as in Green Bay Packers) Luke's newest goat. Which I will take 100% responsibility for adding to the family. Hank was getting to be lonely, and Luke felt badly for him, which in turn made me feel badly for both Luke and Hank. Luke kept saying he wished Hank had a friend, and I would think, "Oh dear! How lonely for Hank not to have a friend!" and Mike would roll his eyes and say Luke has enough animals and tasks to keep him busy, and then Luke would look at me and I'd think about lonely ole Hank outside all day by himself, and so I, yes, I took Luke to get this new goat. It is actually Dudley's brother from the same litter, which of course endeared him to me even more. What?? Why oh why are goats endearing themselves to me?????????????

(Mike rolled his eyes when I told him I teared up while taking this photo of Packer and Hank meeting for the first time. Or maybe he was rolling his eyes because I was tearing up about it still hours later when telling Mike about the meeting. Roll your eyes if you must, but I see the beginning of a tender goat friendship here.)

When the stomach flu went the rounds of all seven of us last week, I tried not to mentally blame Joshua for being the first to get it and thus pass it all along to us. But then I see his sad, sick face in this photo and wonder what kind of mother was I to think it was his fault?

(Yes, we use empty ice buckets as throw up buckets around here. In fact, Ellie returned from somewhere recently and was describing the ice cream they had at the event: "It was the ice cream that you get in throw-up buckets.") 

Megan thinks she is hilarious and wanted to trick everyone into thinking this was jello in the glasses. Upon the "fool" lifting up the glass it was discovered it was nothing more than colored water and we had quite the mess to clean up.

Such is life around here.

“You need to let the little things that would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you.” 

― Andy Warhol