Pet Snake / Crazy Weekend

Sammy is checking out a pet snake at the Cub Scout Pack meeting yesterday afternoon. We took our dog, Serena and she got to socialize with lots of other dogs that came. One brave guy brought his two cats - they even had leashes on. My cats would go ballistic if I tried to leash them.

The last two days at our house have been nuts. Thursday night Dave and I decided to check out the new Star Wars movie at 9:45. We bought our tickets online and there was a long line inside the theater for seats. The movie was good, although pretty violent. It was also long, so we didn't get to bed until around 1 am. We both got up early the next day and headed to work. Usually I only work until noon on Fridays, but I was pretty involved in something, so I stayed until about 3 pm. When I got home Maddie had to be driven to a sleepover, then I picked up Sammy from daycare and went to the bank. Back home, I drove Ben to his friend's house to play, then dropped Maddie's bathing suit off at her friend's house. Back home again I got Ellie ready for soccer practice and sent her off with Dave (and Sammy).

Then I started thinking about the pack meeting, trying to remember what we were doing. I did remember that Ben's scout shirt was still at his friend Matthew's house. I called Matthew's house a few times, but the line was busy. So I tried his dad's cell phone. I got hold of Jason (Matthew's dad) - he was stuck in traffic and had just dropped Annette (Matthew's mom) off at the airport. So, I offered to pick up Matthew and our shirt and take them to the meeting. Then Jason mentioned they were taking their two cats and told me they'd be in kennels. I suggested that he bring the cats later, when I started thinking about 2 kids, 2 cats and dog in my car.

At this point I realized I'd better pick up Ben, so I ran to get him. Back at home he got dressed in all of his uniform but the shirt. We were headed to the car, but I couldn't find Serena's leash. After a 15 minute search, I decided to buy another leash at the drugstore. On the way to the store I called Matthew's house to let him know I was on the way. Jason answered - he'd gotten home, so he would meet us there with the shirt. We stopped, bought a leash, and headed to church. Once we were there, I called Dave and told him to come over with the little kids after practice, so they could see all the animals.

Now that I've typed all this out, I realize how crazy it sounds. The scary part is that the day was far from done. A few weeks ago, Dave and I signed up for a shift at the Houston cannery - the peanut butter factory. Our ward's shift was from 9 pm to 2 am. So after the pack meeting we got the kids settled and headed to north Houston to make peanut butter. Dave and I mostly worked at the peanut hopper, where we used an electric pulley to hoist giant bags of raw peanuts into a bin that fed them to the roaster. I also spent a little while sorting the roasted peanuts ( you check for burned ones on a conveyer belt as they go by), twisting the lids onto jars, and checking every tenth jar for a good seal. At 2 am the next shift arrived. We stopped at I-HOP, where I made myself sick with a milkshake and roast beef sandwich, then fell into bed at home.

Ellie had an 8 am soccer game this morning, and Dave was nice enough to take her to it. I dragged myself out of bed at 11 am to pick up Maddie. Back at the house I showered, dressed and got the little kids ready for Ellie's soccer team party. We met the team at CiCi's pizza, then went to someone's house for a swimming party. Summer has arrived in full force here - it was in the high 90's by noon, so the pool felt great. Dave and the big kids went to see Star Wars (again, for Dave). At 3 pm I came home, showered and dressed again, and now I'm here posting. Dave and I are headed to the store to buy ingredients for gumbo, that we want to make tonight. Thank goodness tomorrow is Sunday - a supposed day of rest.

Zoo Friends

We got a table at the Zoo Friends family party this year, courtesy of my employer. This is my four kids with my boss's four kids. It's kind of scary to see them all together and realize what a crowd we have. The party was lots of fun - free t-shirts, games, moonbounces and yummy food. We forced all the kids to sit down and eat, then they were off, for the next two hours roaming free. At one point I saw Ellie with no shoes on (the new shoes I bought two days earlier) and asked her where they were. "I don't know!" I spend about 30 minutes sifting through the piles of shoes by the moonbounces (I wasn't the only parent looking for shoes either). Then I tracked Ellie down and made her show me the last place she'd had them. She marched me right over to the back of the moonbounce - duh mom.

Sammy is completely in love with the gift bag he got at the party. He carries it around the house every evening. Today he wore his island hat (like the one Ellie's wearing in the picture) and a lei to school. He also brushed his teeth with his "island toothbrush" (a plain child's toothbrush that came in the bag).

Soccer Star II

The older version of the soccer star - Maddie. This was Maddie's second season playing. Last fall her team was very bad - so bad that they never won a game and only scored a few points during the season. This year's team started out with most of the same players and the same coach, but then the coach had to quit because she was moving. The team finally showed some improvement, winning two games and tying a few others. The last game was this past Saturday and neither side was able to score. Maddie played fantastically though. I've never seen her so aggressive on the field. It's not just me, because the coach and the psycho fanatic soccer dads who roam the sidelines noticed too. Right before the game ended Maddie got knocked hard by the ball and had to come off the field. Even though they only tied that day, Maddie played like a champ.

Crabby Crabs

Ellie and Lindsay got inside these giant shell in the Children's Zoo and pretended to be crabs.

King of the Jungle

Last Thursday I was chaperone on Ellie's kindergarten field trip to the Zoo. There were lots of parents, so we each just got a pair of kids to watch. I had Ellie and her little friend Lindsay. We checked out the zebras, owls, giraffes and koala bears. This picture was taken from a tunnel by the lion habitat. There are windows into the lion's area - the lions were all laying right there next to the glass. It was cool to get up so close to them. I'm guessing that the glass is reflective or opaque on the other side, because the lions had no response to hordes of kids jumping up and down and yelling "Look mom, a lion!".

Birthday Ben

Ben had an Incredible's cake. This cake was barely big enough for all the kids - at the end we were cutting pieces in half to hand out. We also handed our Incredibles gift baggies, with noisemakers. Instead of hats we gave out masks - these were a big hit. Of course I'm not even close to being organized enough to have ordered the masks ahead of time. I spent the two hours right before Ben's party driving around to every discount, drug and grocery store in town looking for party stuff. I found two packages of masks at Target, then finally tracked down a third package at Kroger.

Pump It Up

Ben's 9th birthday party was at Pump it Up again this year. This is a really fun place - they've got a giant room full of inflatable slides and bouncy stuff. The kids go wild for 90 minutes, then there is an adjoining room to serve cake and open presents. For the last 15 minutes of Ben's party, I let them turn off the lights and turn on the disco ball. Ben's little brother and another young friend did not like that part, but the rest of the kids loved.it.

Soccer Star

Ellie is a member of the Grey Tiger Sharks this year. It's her first year playing soccer and her favorite postion is goalie. At the first practice she stood down in her goal, yelling "People - I'm over here!" because the rest of her team was wildly chasing the ball around the middle of the field. Her coach calls soccer at this age MagnetBall - the kids all chase the ball with no further thought than kicking it in the first available direction.

On the day of our first game, the team met at a local school beforehand. We made posters, painted our car windows and attached balloons to everyone's vehicle. Then we drove about 3 miles to the soccer field, honking our horns the entire way. This is a league tradition, and the kids loved it.

Sleepy Sunday

Sammy, Dave and Sasha are passed out on the couch after church, this past Sunday. Our ward meets from 1 - 4 pm. At first I thought it would be horrible, but I've really grown to like that timeslot. The congregation is so big that we don't rotate with the other wards, because we need the whole building to ourselves. The nursery alone has 30+ kids and meets in the Primary room, plus two other rooms. Sammy is always extra crabby after church though, and last week was no exception. He was grousing around my chair, so I ordered him to go sit with Dad for a few minutes. Next thing I knew they were both asleep, then Dave's favorite cat, Sasha, joined them.

4 More Years

Here is the Birthday Girl with Mom and Dad. It's hard to believe she's already 6 years old. Last year on her birthday she said "Mommy, I'll never be four again", which almost made me cry. This year she kept saying "Only 4 more May 7s until I'm 10!"

Pinata!

At the very end of the party we had a pinata, stuffed with candy. The three smallest kids at the party were able to wack it with a big stick, then the fourth kid knocked it off the rope we had tied to it. At that point, Dave ripped open the bottom and scattered the candy. It's good that it worked out that way, because while the kids were lining up, I noticed that the pinata was hanging right above the dirt under our backyard swing. 25 kids scratching in the dirt for lollipops is not good.

6 Year Old

This is a picture from Ellie's 6th birthday party, held last weekend. There were approximately 25 kids at the party. We rented a moon bounce for the backyard and ate hotdogs. It was a wild and crazy party - next year I think we'll just invite girls to cut down on the numbers.