Jumping Ban

What do you do when you have some extra home-made roping dummies?

You make a bike ramp.

Helmets were required.
Neighbors kids were not allowed to attempt.
And when Dad showed Mom the photos...
And then Luke showed Mom one jump.
The roping dummy bike jump was banned for good.

Oops

"Uh-oh. You gotta hold on tight." came the advice of the three year old brother.

An In

Friday afternoon, Mike, Luke and Joshua returned home.  Within minutes, my kitchen counter was filled with  hats for each family member, a pricey belt buckle, bags, a pizza cutter, papers, pens and general junk.  Surprisingly, it was Luke's 'connection' we had to thank rather than Mike's...

A year and a half ago, Luke accompanied Mike to a trade show.  It was there that Luke enamored sales reps with his uniqueness and received his first 'Cat' hat that has been worn daily ever since.  (Surely you've noticed it in nearly every photo of Luke that is posted, including the one above.)  It is ripped on the front, it is dirty, stinky and well worn.  But, with a roping horse embroidered on the side, it quickly became Luke's favorite item.

It has been in desperate need of replacement, and so when Wheeler Machinery hosted a customer appreciation day on Friday for contractors and children, and the flyer said, 'free hat for each child' you can bet Luke counted down the days/hours until attendance.

Only thing was, the free hat was just a 'freebie', and not exactly what Mike knew Luke had in mind for a replacement...

But, never mind that, when you are as important as Luke obviously is...

After all of the rides and races in the construction machinery, you are given a trip into the Wheeler Machinary Gift Store and told to pick out a hat.  (And oh the searching that was done for an identical horse roping one, but try as they did, it couldn't be found.)  Though Luke is pretty content with the duck hunting one he chose instead as he declared to Mike on the way home, "I'll still wear my old one and I'll keep this one for nice things like going to restaurants."

Joshua picked out several for himself, and then narrowed it down to one.

Luke carefully handpicked pink hats for each sister, generously picking out Ellie a horse roping one that couldn't be found in a boy color.

And then onto the belt buckles.
Now you have to know, Luke eyes belt buckles at every store that sells them.  He carefully peruses each one, he is eight, he pays no attention to price, he pays attention to detail, design and desire.  And belt buckles my friend, are no cheap things...

So it was no surprise to Mike when  he heard the 'Wheeler Machinary Shopping Assistant' say to Luke, "Pick another one, that one is kind of expensive."  And just as Luke had his eye on another more cheaper one, the kind 'Wheeler Machinary Shopping Assistant' quipped, "Oh, never mind.  Have the one you want."

Too bad Luke's connections aren't at my kind of stores...
Instead I gratefully accepted the gift of the 'freebie hat.'
It's the thought that counts.

A Memory For Monday (With Underwear)

(My brother Matthew, and me in 1982)

My kindergarten through second grade years were spent at Cheam Park Farm Infant School in England.
It was the late 1970's...
It was England...
And apparently somethings were normal to do...

Each day, I wore the required school uniform to school.  A grey or green skirt or dress, a white button down shirt and a grey or green cardigan.  Black shoes and white knee-high socks.  (I wore the same uniform 3rd-6th grades with the addition of the required tie.)

PE was held in the lunch room.  Climbing frames, ropes, jumping mats, etc. were pulled out from the sides for the PE class.  Before each PE session, we would stand at our desks in our classroom, girls and boys together and remove our skirts/trousers, sweaters and shirts.  We would then walk down to the lunch room in our underwear and vests (undershirts) and our shoes and socks.  Once in the lunch room, we would remove our socks and shoes on the stage and then begin our PE activities.

This was normal to me. I didn't think anything of it, until in high school (by then living in America) and I randomly mentioned it to a friend. She laughed and laughed in disgust and unbelief.

It's just what we did. There was no impropriety or insecurity.  It's just how it was done.
Although, there were a few things that seemed amiss,even to a young child...

The identical twins, Louise and Kate, who had to leave their shirts on, because their pet goat ate their vests (undershirts)...

And, Alex.  The boy who more often than not had to keep his trousers on during PE, because he would frequently forget his underwear...

And that is the truth.

A Full Days Work

Mike's company donated the labor and materials for a park for some refugees in Salt Lake City to use and enjoy. On Saturday, the sod and trees were placed by volunteers from several different civic and religious groups from nearby. Mike wanted to take the children along to help.

Apparently the children did not complain once during their eight hour shift.

Before:

After:

After an enjoyable day to just Drew and myself, I couldn't help but smile when Joshua walked into the house, sleepy after a nap in the car and exclaimed,

"Mama, we builded a park."

Good, Better, Best?

Last night I attended my girls' dance recital.  It was very bittersweet.  A lot of thoughts and emotions ran through my head.

Megan has been doing dance for several years.  She has also been doing piano for about the same time, and for just shy of a year now she has been playing the harp.  She is very musically talented.  Both her harp and piano teachers speak highly of her musical abilities.  In fact her harp teacher, recently mentioned that Megan is at the progression of a 2-3 year student.  Megan's dance teacher even speaks highly of her, because of her musical ability to keep to the beat and is often the leader that the other dancers look at.  However, Megan has made the difficult decision to quit dance and focus on the piano and harp.  It hasn't been an easy decision, she and I both have days we second guess it, but Megan is almost 12 years old, she still needs and wants to have time to be a kid.

(gotta love the background!)

This was Ellie's first dance recital.  She too, did a fabulous job.  It is so fun to watch the young girls dance and see their confusion, enthusiasm, timidness, talent and childness all rolled into a short dance.  Mike is not a dance fan.  Ellie is kind of indifferent. And I, the mother, am trying to make the best decision possible for my children.  Ellie is progressing at the piano, and has a keen interest in beginning the violin. (Those music genes from Mike's side of the family are making a strong appearance...)  And so this could well have been the first and last dance recital for Ellie!

While at the dance recital, a kind neighbor shuttled Luke back and forth from his last fishing class.  (No sibling support at the recital this year, but oh how pleasant it was to not be dealing with a one year old and three year old like the lady in front of us was...)  Luke has talents and interests all of his own.  With the exception of piano lessons, which he is not fond of some of the time, and the spring fishing class, most of his interests and hobbies lie in his own explorations, not in organized classes.  Although he does have an interest in playing basket-ball this fall...

My thoughts have been heavy these past few weeks as I contemplate doing what is best for our children.  I am a very firm believer in limiting extra-curricular activities as I am very protective of our evening family time, family dinners and my children being able to P.L.A.Y.  Not to mention, the responsibility to be fair to the family finances.  I see children around me involved in too much, and for some it shows in their lack of imagination.  I see some children around me involved in nothing, and for some it shows in their self-esteem.  How do we choose?  How do we as parents help our children choose their talents and interests with our guidance and hope we are choosing the right things?

Just before one of the dances began last night, the mother in front of me was juggling her hot, sweaty, wanting-to-go-home one year old, a tripod and a still camera.  I leaned over and asked if her daughter's dance was next, she responded yes.  So, I took the hot, sweaty, whiny one year old to the back of the dark auditorium, hoping the baby wouldn't see my face, and realize she was in a stranger's arms.  As I stood bouncing the baby, I was touched by the trust that existed between two stranger mothers.  We mothers trusted each others and our own instincts. 

And so, I'll try to take that same thinking into my parenting decisions.  I will have to trust that I'm doing what's best...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Summer Solstice

Did you have a Summer Solstice party on Monday to celebrate the longest day of the year and/or the first day of Summer?

We did.