Mystery Solved

A strange thing about me is that I hate cutting my fingernails and usually don't bother unless they break (or look like they ought to be used for doing cocaine.  Whichever comes first).  But at the same time, I also hate it when my toenails grow at all.  I used to cut them obsessively because I just can't stand when they scrape against the sheets when I'm trying to sleep (or read in bed or nap or whatever).  But recently, it's like I can't find the time to cut those blasted toenails!  And while I don't think they've ever gotten bad enough that any normal person would see them and think twice about their length, I've still sort of wondered what was wrong with me that this was slipping by the wayside.

And then Craig pointed out that I am currently in charge of keeping 100 toe- and fingernails at their proper length.

Well that explains it!

Pinewood Derby, Again

You may or may not recall, but last year we were kind of embarrassed at the Pinewood Derby.  It all started when Craig freaked out worrying that all the little kids' dads were going to build crazy fast cars and if Bentley lost every race, he'd be a mess and hate it all.  So Craig began doing research, buying weights to put it in the car, drilling holes for the weights, polishing the wheel shafts and all sorts of stuff to make the car as stream-lined, smooth, and fast as possible.

And then Bentley went on to win every single race, win all the races for the entire pack, and have to go to the district level to race (where he placed 1st for his age division).  And it was embarrassing.  We had inadvertently become the annoying parents that make their kid's car impossible to beat, even though Bentley didn't really do much of anything (except insist that Craig put a tiny R2D2 on top).  And although Bentley was thrilled to have won two huge trophies, we worried that we hadn't taught him a thing about how to lose gracefully, a lesson he could have really used.

So this year Craig was determined to not go quite so overboard.  And he held himself back pretty well, I thought.  He still did most of the work (Bentley's only seven, after all), but encouraged Bentley to do more.  And this time, if Bentley got bored polishing wheel shafts, then that was it and they were done.  And we were pleased with the results: Bentley won three of the four races in the first heat, and none in the second.  And then it was all over!  And he handled himself very well, which made me a lot more proud of him than last year, actually.

Overall it was a good experience!

And now, the pictures:

Watching his car race

Racing against his best pal, Peter

Ryder was very excited about it all

Colton was more interested in sucking his thumb and trying to scratch my face off

Happy after a win

Watching the 3rd heat with Peter, after they'd both been eliminated

His car received the award "Most Adventurous," which he was thrilled about

A close-up of his car, the Prime-8.  (Get it?)  Craig very sneakily didn't tell me that they were spending money to put a monkey on it.  Aren't chimpanzees just the creepiest things ever???  {Shiver}

Smiling with his Pack Leader

Now that I know what to expect from these things, I think it's all pretty fun, too.  Last year, when it was way longer (thanks to him winning so much), I rarely could find a chair, and I was super pregnant and not sure what was going on or what I was supposed to be doing, I didn't really love it.  But this time around when I knew what to expect, I found it all very enjoyable.  And I think there are a lot of great lessons to be learned here about winning and losing and sportsmanship.  Especially for the grown-ups.

Accomplishments

I just posted my most recent review on Goodreads and noticed that I now have 401 books in my "read" folder!  Depending on how much you like to read (or how much time you have for reading), this number is either amazing or embarrassing.  But it makes me happy, which is all I'm concerned about.  I've been on Goodreads since around 2006 or so, but it took me a while before I seriously began writing reviews of the books I read.  (Mostly because we didn't have reliable internet for several of those first few years, so reviewing books wasn't a high priority.  My biggest priority at that point was emailing baby pictures of Bentley to my Mom!)  Now, I feel as though I haven't truly "finished" a book until I've posted my review of it.  I like that it forces me to think about what I read and why I did or didn't like it.

I also enjoy seeing other's thoughts on those same books-- it's like having a quick book club session, except I didn't have to clean my house first.  And if someone is boring, I can just skim their comments. 

From reading other people's reviews, I've learned that it will NEVER be possible to write a book that everyone loves.  I'm constantly amazed at the books that I hate (and often couldn't even finish!) that people give five stars to, and the books that I thought were wonderful that other people couldn't stand.  You just can't ever make everyone happy.

Remind me of that fact some day when I write a book, okay?

Just because I'm already bragging anyway, I'm also going to point out that I don't bother recording on Goodreads books that I start but don't finish.  It was a truly liberating moment when I realized that I was no longer in college and therefore no longer obligated to read anything that I didn't want to read.  Since then, if a book isn't holding my interest (as evidenced by an increase in time wasted reading failblog and other such crap because I'd rather do that than read a boring book), I eventually put it down, return it to the library, and find something else to read.  Life is too short and there are just too many books out there to waste time on the boring ones!  But somehow the idea of marking these lame-o books as such on Goodreads seemed a little too spiteful or something.  Although I sort of wish I had a record of them all, now...

Anyway, but the point of this post (if a blog post ever has a point) is that with four kids, I still manage to be a reader.  And that makes me extremely happy.  I sometimes worry that I could get a long more done if I read less.  But then I realize that there just isn't much out there that I find more worthwhile than a good book, so why change what's working? 

And as my friend Laresa used to quote in her tagline at the end of her emails, "People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading."

If we're not friends on Goodreads yet, are we even friends at all???

It Snowed Here, Too.

I'm sure you heard about the big snow storm on the east coast.  Between the two snow days and President's Day, we're enjoying a 5-day weekend here!  And since last week felt crazy busy, I am more than happy to kick back and just stay home with everyone for a few days.  But this sure is bad for my whole "I'll diet during the week, but allow myself to eat sweets during the weekend" plan-- I may have to rethink that one...

Anyway, I finally ventured outside for a few minutes today, mostly so I could take pictures:

Making good use of our baby bunting!

When Craig shoveled snow yesterday, he piled it all up in one spot so they could build an igloo.  See Ryder's boots poking out there?

Helping Daddy dig it out (while Daddy holds on to his boot in case it collapses)

Kendra with the igloo

One more of Ryder inside the igloo

The snow is just icy enough that the kids can sit on top of it without breaking through.

Ryder enjoying a chance to be outside

Colton, however, is done being outside.

I think I was out for ten minutes and then Colton and I headed back inside.  That's enough for one winter!

A Bunch of Pictures of Colton

I'm addicted to taking pictures of my sleeping baby.  Mostly because a) cell phones don't make noise, so it doesn't wake him and b) usually I'm going in there to wake him up anyway so even if it did, that wouldn't be a problem.  And I HATE waking him up, so this is something I do to stall.  It is in no way a creepy thing to do.

Colton has finally joined the wall of baby portraits.  (He's the one with the hat on!)

I already admitted I have a problem.  Can we just let it go already???

Think of these next four shots as being part of a series.  Like in a photo booth or something...

This one especially cracks me up!

Picking the big kids up from school (the reason I'm always waking him up).

He really does love sticking his tongue out.  It makes him happy.  And me, too.

So happy!

Except when he's not!  I have no idea what he was so upset about, but it was kind of funny.  We are not glamorous criers, my kids and I!

I finally let him have goldfish crackers.  He was delighted.  Naturally.

"I can't put my arms down!  I can't put my arms down!!!"

And that's my baby!  Although he won't be a baby for much longer-- in just two days he will officially be 11 months old!  My, but times flies, doesn't it?

Happy Little Surprises Along the Way

The interesting thing about having kids is that they think so differently from grown ups.  And sometimes that can be pretty frustrating, like when nothing I say or do can convince Ryder that he needs to PUT HIS SHOES ON so we can leave the house.  Or when I find peanut butter smeared, well, pretty much anywhere (hand towels, doorknobs, sink faucets, walls, the toilet...  etc...).  But sometimes it can be absolutely delightful.  Like when I come downstairs and discover that Bentley is still excited about putting toys away, and he and Kendra have cleaned up the back room for me! 

So here are some of the fun surprises that I have run into.  (I usually don't bother to take pictures of the not fun surprises.  This being the big exception to that rule.)

Everyone enjoying watching Bentley play video games while they eat breakfast

Colton waking up from his nap looking like this

Bentley totally excited because his Pinewood derby car award was "Most Adventurous"

Wearing a bee headband and a cowboy hat.  And thinking they look pretty awesome!

Learning to stick out his tongue

Finding Elephant like this and learning he was being "punished because he was being bad."  Oh, dear...!

Having fun sitting in a laundry basket

Laying on the floor playing with cars

After I told him he could feed himself, sighing and saying, "Weawy, Mommy?"

When they randomly decide to wear Daddy's t-shirts (I thought I was the only one who liked to do that!)!

Finding Elmo all buckled and ready to go!

Wearing fire hats as they eat breakfast

Almost makes up for all that peanut butter I keep finding...!

This. Just, this.

If this doesn't make you laugh, then I don't even know why we're friends...

Thanks, Tracy, for sharing this one with me!

More Overanalyzing Song Lyrics

I've got two songs to gripe about for today: "Drive By" and "Give Your Heart a Break." 

Yes, I know they are both completely passe by now.  They were flash-in-the-pan songs at best and now they're gone from the airwaves.  But for that flash-in-the-pan moment, it was like you couldn't turn the radio on without hearing them.  And I have to admit that I listened to them and sang along and all that, because otherwise it wouldn't make sense that I can pick apart the lyrics as well as I can, so yes, I am guilty of listening to these songs.  And if you actually pay attention, they are all kinds of horrible.

Let's shoot down ahem, pick apart Train's "Drive By" first, shall we?  It begins with a guy thinking he's seen some girl he had a one-night stand with.  And then the chorus kicks in wherein he explains that the "reason" he left her after their one-night stand was because he fell in love with her so hard and deeply that he was scared, so he split.  Because that makes perfect sense, right?  Okay, not really.  But even if it did, the rest of the song continues to kill me.  Because he immediately just wants to sleep with her again!


So let's skip the"how you been"
And get down to the "more than friends" at last


This would be bad enough, but then he reassures this poor girl:



Please believe that when I leave
There's nothing up my sleeve but love for you
And a little time to get my head together, too


So in other words, let's sleep together and THIS time when I completely abandon you (AGAIN), don't worry-- it's just because I love you so much.  And if you think I'm just being cynical here, let me point out that the name of the song is "Drive By."  It is not-- for example-- "This Is Not a Drive By" or anything that might indicate that this guy has actually changed.

So even though I find myself singing along with this song, usually by the end I'm screaming, "Run away, girl!  Run away!!!  He's a jerk and he hasn't changed at all!!!!!!  Go back to west LA or New York or Santa Fe or wherever it was you went!!  JUST GO!!!!!"

My nerves can't handle this song at all.  Delusional girls in bad relationships stress me out.



The next one, Demi Lovato's "Give Your Heart a Break" has a similar problem, except this time it's the delusional girl doing the singing.  She is urging this boy she's in love with to trust her because, unlike all those other girls, she is not going to break his heart.  And it's all fine and dandy until we get to the bridge:


When your lips are on my lips
Then our hearts beat as one
But you slip out of my fingertips
Every time you run


So wait a second-- you're kissing and letting those old hearts beat as one, but he's the one afraid of getting hurt????  Girlfriend, he's playing you!  Big time!  And you've fallen for it hook, line, and sinker!  He's getting the action without any commitment because he's led you to believe he's been hurt so much!  Trust me, you're the one getting hurt.  My advice is the same as for the last song:  RUN.  RUN LIKE MAD.

Oh, these poor girls.  And these horrible boys leading them on like this!

And these horrible songs that I memorize...

Parenting Fails and a Win: Snow Day Edition

Monday was a difficult day for me.

It was a teacher workday, which means the kids stayed home (and not for snow, like all of last week and like today!), but Craig had to work.  And, Craig had a bunch of projects to work on plus teacher training and meetings, so he had warned me that he would probably be home after the kids were already in bed.

So I had the kids all to myself all day long.* And man, I had Bentley screaming at me for the most ridiculous things.  At one point, he wanted to play with his new multi-tool he'd gotten as a reward for his popcorn sales with cub scouts.  There was a block of wood sitting outside on the picnic table, so I told him he could play with that, but he had to dress warmly (Monday was surprisingly NOT frighteningly cold; then the temperature dropped about thirty degree the next day).  So he pulled on some pants over his pajamas and threw on his coat and boots.  And then thirty seconds later he's back inside, but now with the block of wood!  I told him he had to play OUTSIDE with his stuff, and he begins screaming at me that I had never told him that and that he'd already taken off his shoes!!!!  I pointed out that he just needed to put his shoes back on, but if he continued yelling at me, he'd just get in big trouble.  Five minutes after that, Craig (via text) told me to remind him that he couldn't use the blade without Daddy around, and we were back to him screaming at me.  Good times.  It makes me think of this awesome blog post.  A lot.


Earlier, we'd had the following conversation:

Bentley: I'm bored!  There's nothing to do!

Me: Okay, but I want you to understand something.  If you complain that you're bored, I'm going to find chores for you to do.  I'll let that one pass, but from now on, whining that you're bored will just mean chores.

Bentley: But there's nothing to do!!!!!

Me: Okay, so that means you can put away your clean clothes.

Bentley: But- but- I'm bored!!!

Me: Yes, so now you won't be bored while you put away your clothes.

Bentley: AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!  THIS IS SO UNFAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



So that was frustrating.

Later on, the conversation started all over again, but ended very differently.  This time, I made him help me clean up the downstairs because he was bored.  He whined for a few minutes about it.

And then.  Then...  He caught the vision.  He began running around actually helping me put stuff away!  And he was loving it!  He would exclaim, "Our house is so clean now!  It's like a reward for tidying up!  I love having a clean house!  We should do this EVERY DAY!!!!"

He spent at least a half hour helping me out and was ecstatic over the whole thing.  I will never understand my son.

Ever.

But my house is sure a lot cleaner now...!

And today, with a snow day and Craig having class tonight so I'm back in the same boat I was in on Monday, I feel like I'm handling my kids much better. 

So I guess I'm learning from my mistakes.  Or figuring out what works.  Or something...




*Except for about a half hour when I totally ditched them with my friend Vangie so I could sneak out and visit Tracy in the hospital and meet her new baby!  Thanks for being awesome about that, Vangie!!!!!

Things I Think About When I Ought to Be Doing Something Else

Back at the end of last May, there was a flurry of people freaking out about some hippie couple-- Heather and Adam Hana (or possibly Barringer-- accounts vary)-- who had decided to move to Hawaii so they could have a dolphin-assisted water birth.  Pretty much every news source-- from Jezebel to marine biologists to MSNBC-- agreed that it was a terrible idea.  The marine biologists, usually the champion of dolphins, pointed out that giving birth amongst highly intelligent carnivorous predators, (and in a habitat to which they are uniquely adapted and you are NOT) was just asking for problems.

Even me, lover of whales and natural birth, figured these guys were certifiable.  And while I'd give them decent odds that things would turn out just fine (just because birth does tend to go fine more often than not), my stomach still turned when I considered the very real danger they were blithely putting their baby in just because dolphins are "cool."

So what I'm wondering now is, WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?  She was due in early July, so she definitely had the baby by now.

I did about ten minutes of internet research and found absolutely no follow-up about these guys at all.  Even their facebook page had nothing, except a couple people asking how it went (and a spot where you could donate money.  Of course).  Those queries had been left unanswered.

How totally rude is that???  If you're going to announce to the world that you've come up with the stupidest plan ever, I think the least you can do is get back to us and tell us how it actually went.

A House Divided

During this time where I think the highest temperature we've experienced all week was approximately 10, I've been dismayed at the number of times I've found ways for the cold air to sneak into the house: windows left unlatched, doors to the outside only halfway closed, and the (only) vent to Kendra and Ryder's room completely shut.  Who is doing this???  No one-- not even Craig-- will fess up to any of it.  And it's driving me bonkers.  Here we are blasting the heat day and night for what exactly?

Parenting is about fighting a losing battle on so many fronts: laundry, dishes, and just keeping the house clean at all.  And for the most part, I've made peace with this fact.  But I thought on at least this one thing-- trying to stay warm-- my children and I could all agree to work together?

Informal Pictures from Christmas

I told you the Smiths would keep us busy all during the Christmas break, and I wasn't lying.  In addition to Christmas Day and all that means, we also hit the Air and Space Museum in DC (which is a lot harder to drive to than the close-by Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum, but had a lot of cool stuff to see), went snow tubing at Massanutten (sadly, it was snowing too hard there for anyone to be willing to pull out their camera; this is a shame because with no sleep, no shower, and wearing a huge warm ski hat on my head, I was a real picture of beauty, let me tell you!), saw Frozen, tried to see the temple lights (but after realizing that 495 wasn't moving AT ALL, settled for seeing the Lights at Bull Run instead), prepared and ate a heck of a lot of food, and played endless rounds of Settlers of Catan (regular, kicked up, and Space versions).  And in addition to that, I spent a lot of time feeding Colton and not sleeping, since he decided he didn't like sleeping in a pack-n-play any more.

And here are pictures from most of those adventures!

Kendra giving a talk (or the scripture?) at church.  We loved how all the girls had similar Christmas dresses!

While the Houston crowd was making the trek across the country, we managed to slip in our annual Messiah Sing-along with my friends, Sarah, Nate (in the background), and Angela!  One of my favorite holiday traditions!

Matching pajamas for Christmas Eve-- can I just point out how hard it is to find matching things for mixed genders, and ranging in size from 7 to 12mo???  This was the best I could do.  And I think they turned out pretty cute!

The only thing harder than finding those pj's was getting a decent picture of all four of the kids wearing them.  Never quite succeeded there, actually...

But I sure tried hard!

That short lull after Santa comes but before the kids wake up...

Excited Bentley

Excited Kendra

Excited Ryder

Slightly sick, but still excited Colton (poor thing!)

Ryder slips away to actually play with one of his presents

Craig and his Dad test the range of his new Ollo Clip camera lens

An extreme close-up of Craig's pajama pants, courtesy of that new lens...

Nothing like a slinky skirt on a 3-year-old boy!

Branching out with our Bay Hay & Feed clothing...  We also got mugs this year!

Bentley and Eli became best of friends (to the point that Bentley was willing to let Eli hold his hand!!!!  And that he's been asking why Eli doesn't live closer by ever since...)

A valiant effort by Maya to welcome in the New Year...

Colton knows he's cool

Happy Bentley

Enjoying riding in the Houston Smiths motor home, dubbed "Mo"

Also enjoying playing with cousins, who graciously gave piggyback rides whenever called upon!

At the Air and Space Museum (in case you hadn't already figured that out!)

Walking back to our car and VERY thankful for my new warm winter coat!

Kendra really enjoys having girl cousins to play with!

Kamryn was always super helpful with the little kids

Colton spent some quality time working on standing up

What can I say-- it was a fabulous Christmas!