Author: Janae

Butterfly Festival

The past few years we have gone to the Butterfly Festival at Powell Gardens in August with the McDonald’s. Matthew went to another friends house for the day but the girls and I went. It is a fun time. Each year they have a theme. We decided last years was our favorite so far. It was mythical creatures and they had giant statues ‘hidden’ around the gardens to find. This years theme was big gardens. They had several extra big garden items around the gardens. It is a beautiful place with flower and food gardens. It is peaceful to just walk around and look at everything. My favorite part is the butterflies. They have a big atrium that they have butterflies just flying around in to see and hopefully they land on you. They are very pretty.

Summer happenings.

I have some ‘random’ pictures on my phone from this summer that I thought I would put in my blog.

These first ones are a double rainbow. We have had lots of rainbows this summer! Big beautiful full ones and at least two double ones that I can remember. Pictures don’t do it justice of course but it helps you remember.

 

 

double rainbow

Then we have Joaquin, Matthew, and Jake in that order. These buddies play on the same baseball team and they clicked immediately when they met. They have a lot of fun together and work hard at baseball together. Joaquin and Matthew play short stop and second and they are fun to watch. They are both little speed demons and are athletic and make some great plays. Joaquin’s family is going to be living in the Philippines for the next three years. They will come home for a 6-8 weeks in the summer and Joaquin will play with us when he is here but it is sad to see him go. They had one last sleep over together before he left. They stayed up late, played way to much video games, had pillow fights, talked baseball, and stayed fueled with pop tarts. An incredible night in Matthew’s words. 🙂

Three Amigos
Baseball buddies sleep over.

Emilee and dad were taking silly pictures on his phone together the other night and he ended up with this one of her and him among the silly ones. He told me he loves this picture and I need to do something with it. I think that means he wants a physical copy of it. He has a picture of Matthew about a week old that he keeps in his wallet, and a favorite of Alli and him making silly faces at work. Isn’t that so sweet!?! Ryan says he isn’t the sentimental type but he is. Pictures and t-shirts, he can’t get rid of either of them. 🙂

Dad and Emi, looking way to grown up for being our little peanut.

 

Emilee usually sleeps with the clothes she is wearing the next day under her pajamas-for time saving purposes obviously. When she wakes up in the morning she takes her pajamas off then usually comes and crawls in bed with me. I woke up the other morning and she wasn’t laying next to me so I went to see who was awake and who was still sleeping. Sometimes Alli likes to sleep in her bean bag instead of her bed and when Emilee woke up she decided to snuggle Alli in her bean bag and dozed off. I sat there and watched them like a creepy person and enjoyed their positive sister interaction. We are past the mid point of summer, happy sister moments are fewer and farther between the constant fighting and picking at each other. I will take it when I can get it, even if they are not conscious.

They do like each other!

We finally made it to the Penguin Park. We invited several people to go with us but it never worked out with schedules so we decided to just go ourselves one morning. It was a 40 minute drive. The kids thought it was cool but it just isn’t as fun to not have a bunch of people to play with at the park (heaven forbid you make friends with someone already there) so after 30 minutes the last kiddo (Emilee) came and said she was done playing. I think I have decided to not do park destinations for a while.

I tried to start some creative summer fun the other day to get the kids doing something different and stop begging me to play or watch electronics. I was hoping they would take off with it and do it on their own but instead they humored me and I kind of made them do it. Allison got mad before we started filming and wouldn’t participate anymore, but she was invited. Thanks for being good sports boys!

We tried to do some service related activities this summer. One of our favorites is the Harvesters Food Service facility. Most of the time the youngest you can be in 8 to help so Emilee wasn’t able to go with us yet but Matthew and Allison love it. We were able to go three times. The first time it was just the three of us. Then after that we tried to take friends with us. This last time we went we had a full car. Five boys, two girls and one me. I felt a little out numbered with that many kids. It was a little hard to keep some of them on task the whole time but it was still fun. It is good service, way better than video games and boredom. We grabbed some lunch afterwards and took everyone home. We also found a fun project that we can do at our house whenever we have time and that everyone can do together. We decorate book marks, place mats, and lunch sacks for the Meals on Wheels program. When we have a bunch decorated we drop them off at the office and they use them for the meals. Emilee can help us do that one too so it is perfect for Sundays, FHE, or times when they are bored.

This last picture is Allison and her friend Michael Dunn. These two are two peas in a pod. They get each other that is for sure. They have known each other since they were born and they tell their parents all the time that they are going to get married someday. Our families went swimming together for one of our last days of summer. We were there all afternoon, the first little bit was a little rough for these two. They had to work their grumpiness out and get along with people. Not each other, they were both having issues with other people. This is both of them in time out taking a break until they can be nice. About two minutes after this picture was taken they went back and played just fine for three more hours.

Allison and Michael working through their emotions together.

Dear Allison

Dear Allison,

This year is a big year for you. There is a lot of growing up in third grade. You are getting old enough that more will be expected and required of you. Your teacher will expect more responsibility from you. I want you to be a happy person Allison. Sometimes you might not think that, but I promise you it is true. I want nothing but the best for you. I want you to have real life long happiness. You are a sweet special girl to me. I LOVE YOU!! So, here are a few things I want you to remember as you start your third grade school year.

Pick good friends. Friends are important. Friends feel like everything, but if you don’t choose wisely, you can easily end up where you don’t want to be. Pick friends that have high standards. That think learning is cool, and that make you feel good about yourself. Pick friends that aren’t into being mean, and controlling you, and putting others down. Pick friends that want to do good, and be kind, even when someone isn’t kind back. Remember to be a good friend to others too. If you are kind and happy, you will attract kind and happy people. You are lucky to have a sister and a brother to be your friend your whole life. They can always be a friend when you need one.

Be yourself. Just because all your friends want to do something, doesn’t mean you have to. True friends will admire your confidence in being true to yourself. You are blessed with confidence Allison. I love that about you. Sometimes I think you feel like you have to be perfect and know everything. You don’t sweetheart. It is okay to admit you don’t know something. If you aren’t sure about something it is okay to ask for help. It will actually help you be more confident to recognize when you need a little extra help. It is good to let others help you.

Take care of your body. You do a good job at getting ready and wanting to look nice when you go places. That doesn’t mean having the trendiest clothes or the coolest shoes, or looking like someone else. You are a beautiful girl Allison. I want you to feel pretty and special and comfortable. Don’t stress about what everyone else wears or how they do their hair and having to be like them. You are beautiful the way you are. I love helping you do your hair and make sure you have clean nice clothes to wear. I want to help you. I love it when you accept my help. Your body is a gift, feed it good healthy food, drink water, and keep it clean. You are gifted at gymnastics. Use your talent to have fun, learn, and grow. Challenge yourself to learn and be able to do new things. Let your coaches help challenge you. Remember to take care of your body physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. All are very important.

School is important. Remember to enjoy learning and really learn stuff. Not just learn it enough to pass the test then forget it. I wish I had taken more time to enjoy learning when I was in school. It is hard to imagine now but when you are done with school, you will miss it sometimes. Having no responsibilities other than learning doesn’t happen as much the older you get, if ever. Enjoy that opportunity now.

Have fun. You’re going to be adjusting to a lot of new experiences in school, and it’s important to have fun. Try not to worry about being perfect, and relax into everything that comes your way. You only get to be this age once– you don’t need to grow up too fast.

Talk to us. If you’ll talk to me, I promise I’ll try to be understanding. I’ve been there. Friends hurt my feelings. I hurt my friends’ feelings. I made mistakes. I also know you’ll hear and see a lot of things that might make you scared, or worried, or confused. Talk to your dad and I about them, and I promise, you’ll feel better. Your dad and I love you like no one else does, and we always want to help you.

Don’t get wrapped up in girl drama. Sometimes girls aren’t nice. I wish I could stop you from ever having someone say something mean to you but I can’t. I can help you when you feel sad or your feelings are hurt though. Always remember to not be the mean girl too. Remember how you feel when your feelings are hurt and don’t make others feel that way by being mean, even when it is hard. You are a funny, smart, creative girl Allison. I love it when you share your kindness and happy side with me. Other people love it too.

Be the example. It’s hard being the example, and sometimes it sucks. But, people will look up to you for standing out, making good choices, and being kind even when you feel uncomfortable or uncool. Kids can be mean. So, stand up to the bullies, speak out against things you know are wrong, and don’t be afraid to be different. Even when it sucks. You might miss out on things, but I promise it’s not the end of the world, even though it feels like it. Be the example when you can, because you are brave, and strong.

Remember that we love you. I may not always know exactly how you feel, but I was your age once, and I remember the fun and not so fun things about third grade. You are never alone. You have a family that loves you, and even though we fight and argue sometimes you are one of my greatest treasures Allison. I love you more than I can explain. No mistake you make will ever make me feel different. YOU WILL ALWAYS BE LOVED. No matter what. Your Heavenly Father loves you too. No matter what situation or where you are, you are never alone. Heavenly Father is always there and will here and answer your prayers. I know this Allison. I promise you this. There have been many times in my life when He has comforted me, helped me, protected me, guided me, and reminded me that I am never alone and He loves me. Learn to listen, recognize and follow the promptings you receive from the Holy Ghost. You get them daily. It takes a lot of practice, but you are so amazing and smart and I know you can do anything you put your mind too.

Enjoy third grade my beautiful girl! You’ve got parents at home that always have your back. You are a power house Allison. You have the tenacity, brains, courage, and confidence to do so much good in your life, and bring so much happiness to those around you and yourself if you choose. You are beautiful inside and out. Don’t be shy about showing others how kind and thoughtful and sweet you are. I know we sometimes drive each other crazy but I wouldn’t trade you for anyone else in the entire galaxy. I love being your mom. I am blessed to be your mom. I love you!

 

 

Dear Matthew

Every year at Christmas I write each of my kids a letter from me that I put in their stocking for them. Sometimes they read them but most of the time it is quickly forgotten in the excitement of Christmas. I keep them for them each year and when they are older they can have them. I came across an article the other day that was about starting middle school. It got me thinking and I decided that I wanted to write Matthew and Allison a letter for starting school this year. I left it on their pillows for them but I decided to put it here for when they are older. It is my proof that I told them these things at some point too. Don’t worry Emilee, I will make you a fun picture or something with a note. You can’t read yet anyway. 🙂

Dear Matthew,

I’ve been thinking about you starting middle school next week a lot. I am excited for you. When I look back at any time in my life and what I was doing, most of the time there are a few “I wish I had known…” or “I wish I had done…” thoughts mixed in with all the memories and experiences. A little perspective it always helpful but ironically when you are in the middle of something it is sometimes the hardest point to get perspective from. It is hard to remember every specific thing you are taught but the hope is that eventually with enough reminders and repetition things will start to sink in and help you grow and develop your character, habits, and traits into a happy successful person. So, here are a few things I want you to remember as you start your middle school adventure.

Pick good friends. Friends are important. Friends feel like everything sometimes between now and through college, but if you don’t choose wisely, you can easily end up where you don’t want to be. Pick friends that have high standards. That think learning is cool, and that make you feel good about yourself. Pick friends that aren’t into being petty, and controlling you, and putting others down. Pick friends that want to do good, and value being kind, even when someone isn’t kind back.

Be yourself-confidence looks good on you. Middle school is a time to figure out who you want to be. You are trying to fit in, and that’s totally normal, but don’t blur who you really are with who you think you should be. Just because all your friends want to do something, doesn’t mean you have to. When they question you, don’t be afraid to just tell them that you’re not that interested. True friends will admire your confidence in being true to yourself. Confidence will always be a good look on you. I have seen your confidence growing the past year. I love it. I know you are more on the shy side and that is hard to overcome. Your dad and I both had that too, we know how you feel. When we push you we are trying to help you realize that the uncomfortableness is okay to push through so you don’t hold yourself back. Challenge yourself to continue to overcome that and develop your confidence.

Take care of your body. Wear deodorant, and take pride in how you look. That doesn’t mean having the trendiest clothes or the coolest shoes. It means that you should take the time to look presentable, put together, and ready for whatever life throws at you. No need to impress anyone with your clothes, but instead focus on treating your body as a gift. It is one. Feed it good healthy food, hydrate it, and trim your toe nails. J You know dads saying, ‘don’t be the stinky kid’. You are pretty good at this but as you get another year or two older it might feel like more of a struggle to do. You are gifted with a pretty good athletic ability Matthew. Use your talent to have fun, learn, and grow. Remember to take care of your body physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. All are very important.

School is important. You will have a lot more social activities, but school work is actually good. I am very impressed with your self-motivation and responsibility since you were in kindergarten to come home and do your school work and stay on top of all your assignments with very little if any reminding or help from me. Remember to enjoy learning and really learn stuff. Not just learn it enough to pass the test then forget it. I wish I had taken more time to enjoy things I was learning and process and internalize it more. It is hard to imagine now but when you are older and done with school, you will miss it sometimes. Having no responsibilities other than learning doesn’t happen as much the older you get, if ever. Enjoy that opportunity now.

Have fun. You’re going to be adjusting to a lot of new experiences in middle school, and it’s important to have fun. Try not to worry about being perfect, and relax into everything that gets thrown your way. You only get to be this age once– you don’t need to grow up too fast.

Talk to us. If you’ll talk to me, I promise I’ll try to be understanding. I’ve been there. I was awkward. Friends hurt my feelings. I hurt my friends’ feelings. I made mistakes. I also know you’ll hear and see a lot of things that might make you scared, or worried, or just plain confused. Talk to your dad and I about them, and I promise, you’ll feel better. Friends are a great resource, but your dad and I love you like no one else does, and we have a pretty decent perspective since we already went through middle school.

Don’t get wrapped up in girl drama. Middle school girls are full of hormones and drama. It’s a given. Be kind and honest with them, don’t make fun of or tease them for their feelings. Don’t play games with people’s emotions and feelings, or let them play games with yours. Respect them, and expect respect back. They are a person just like you, talk and act like yourself around them.

Electronics are not required. Your dad and I have talked to you about this often and a lot, and we will keep doing it. There are relationships to work on, books to read, and life to live. Don’t get sucked into what is happening on social media, the older you get the more you will feel the pressure for this. Social media is not required or necessary for having a happy social life. Video games are not required for a happy successful life. Go outside and live life, do something good for someone, create a memory, develop your talents.

Be the example. It’s hard being the example, and sometimes it sucks. But, people will look up to you for standing out, making good choices, and being kind even when you feel awkward or uncool. Kids can be mean. But, you’re not. So, stand up to the bullies, speak out against things you know are wrong, and don’t be afraid to be different. Even when it sucks. Sure, you might miss out on things, but I promise it’s not the end of the world, even though it feels like it. Be the example when you can, because you are brave, and strong.

Remember that we love you. I may not always know exactly how you feel, but you are never alone. You have a family that loves you, and we’ll always try to be a soft landing place for you when you fall. No mistake you make will ever make us feel different. YOU WILL ALWAYS BE LOVED. No matter what. Your Heavenly Father loves you too. No matter what situation or where you are, you are never alone. Heavenly Father is always there and will here and answer your prayers. I know this Matthew. I promise you this. There have been many times in my life when He has comforted me, helped me, protected me, guided me, and reminded me that I am never alone and He loves me. Learn to listen and follow the promptings you receive from the Holy Ghost. You get them daily. You will never regret it.

As you start middle school, remember that you’ve got this. You’re ready. You’ve got parents at home that always have your back. You are a very good person Matthew. I truly enjoy watching you grow and become the person you are. You have a good, kind, gentle, generous, loving heart. You came that way straight from Heaven the day you were born. I am blessed to be your mom. I love you!

 

Allison turns 8!

I remember having count downs for the next exciting thing when I was younger. Shoot, I still do it sometimes. It is different when you are a kid though. Allison’s count down for her birthday finally arrived! We only do a big party every other year or so and this year was a party year. She debated on a party at Main Event and doing bowling and laser tag, or Urban Air and doing a glow in the dark trampoline party. She decided on Urban Air. Sometimes it is a little tricky finding people home in July but we had a fun party with ten friends, lots of pizza, cake, glow sticks, presents, and fun. I think she had a great time and it was fun to see her having fun. Her friends know her well and gave her all kinds of stuff to make all different kinds of slimes. She was beyond ecstatic.

For her actual birthday Allison gave me a list of things that would make her birthday the ‘best birthday ever’ some of it was pretty specific. First up was her cousin Leah spending the night the day before her birthday and the day of her birthday. Then she had a friend with her on her birthday the moment she woke up until she went to bed.  She requested crapes for breakfast. Her and Leah like to cook together so they helped me make them. Then filled them with powdered sugar, brown sugar, and whip cream, and blueberries so they would be healthier. Their words not mine. They played with slime and makeup for a bit after breakfast, then we met the rest of the cousins at the Olathe Community Center Pool to go swimming. She has wanted to go to an indoor pool for a long time. We have four neighborhood pools that we can swim at so I am not very willing to pay to go to another pool. I gave in for her birthday though and we all went and had a great time swimming at an indoor pool. It was nice to not bake in the sun and have to worry about sun screen.

When we were done swimming we went home and had cake and ice cream, followed by opening presents. Allison requested mini chocolate bundt cakes with hot fudge so it looked like a lava cake and everyone could have their own.  She also wanted her cake to have some sort of decoration on it that was not a candle and was not laying flat on the cake. I found a happy birthday banner that she thought was perfect. By the time we got the candles and banner on the cake there wasn’t much room left. I liked her individual cake idea, great idea for birthday cakes so you don’t get a cake that is blown all over, kids especially can get a little free with their saliva when blowing out birthday candles. We opened presents after her cake. She got sequence color changing back pack and pillow, birthday money, a soap making kit, tile painting kit, squishies, and more slime stuff, oh and a whoopi cushion that she had her heart set on too. I haven’t figured out if her fascination with less appealing bodily functions is to get a rise out of me or simply extra funny to her, either way she never fails to bring up her ‘potty humor’ whenever she feels like it. Most of her gifts are probably pretty self explanatory except for the squishies. I will fill you in on an 8 year old must have. A squishy is basically really soft foam in the shape of any number of things. Food is a popular one. You squish it, and it bounces back to hits original shape. That is it. I think it originated as something to help relieve anxiety and has expanded to be a collectible toy like stuffed animals or barbies.

After presents and digesting our cake a little more Allison picked dinner at Pizza Street and invited her cousins too. She loves pizza, so the buffet is great but the reason she really likes to go to Pizza Street is their cinnamon hot rolls with icing. She loves them.  She got her fill and then we came back home her and Leah played with her new toys the rest of the night. When it was all said and done she said it was a great day and she had a fun time. Mission accomplished!

Now we are focusing on the next big part of turning 8- her baptism! We ordered her scriptures and got a white dress to wear. Aunt Lauren was really nice and took her out and took some nice pictures of her in her dress. She is growing up fast. Tonight she went to her first Activity Days activity with the girls in our ward. She is very excited to get to go to that all on her own.

A day on the beach in Kansas?!?

We did go to the beach for the day! Our cousins invited us to go to a lake with them. It was a fun day. We packed a picnic and went to the Hillsdale Lake and spent the day playing in the water and sand on a little swim beach. The girls dug a moat and built a castle. They all skipped rocks. Jumped around on the floaties. Screamed like little girls (even the ones that aren’t girls) when a dead fish floated by. Then screamed again when a live fish swam by.  They made up a game where they got a big rock and named it Timmy. Then they threw it in the lake and tried to find it. The water was a little murky so eventually they lost Timmy, but then replaced him with John, then Jacob, and I think there was a Jovee in there too. It was great just relaxing and letting them play and be silly and enjoy the day. If we hang out with the cousins to often then they get more into sibling mode and start fighting and arguing more but if it has been a little bit between seeing each other then they all get a long great and it is perfect because they all have a buddy to play with.  When we were done at the lake they asked to keep playing so Lauren kept the younger girls and the boys and the older girls came home with me.

Find the silver lining.

With Alli getting sick and being stuck home for a few days and then the not so great school supply shopping incident, we were ready for a reboot.

Luckily, the McDonalds who had been gone for over a month were finally home, and when your kids are around other people they are supposed to be on their best behavior and stop fighting. Unluckily, we have known the McDonald’s for years and years so my kids are way past impressing them with good behavior, they are more like family then friends to them-but they still fought less than usual.

We made super fun plans to pack a picnic and go check out this really cool park in North Kansas City (40 minute drive) that has GIANT animals like a penguin, giraffe, elephant, and a kangaroo to climb and play on that they kids have wanted to play at! Not so super, steady rain with intermittent down pours settles in over the entire KC area for the day and being outside isn’t going to happen.

Luckily, I remember that the Rainbow Play Ground Store lets you bring your kids in to play on all the play sets for free in hopes that your kids will love them so much you have to buy one. Unluckily, Rainbow Store has decided that you are welcome to come in and play on the play sets but they now charge $7.50 per person and Lori and I won’t pay that on the principle that we don’t go to stores that have decided to charge an entrance fee.

Luckily, we remember that the 360 Gym has open gym and we can all head over there. Unluckily open gym doesn’t start for 40 more minutes when we arrive. Luckily they have a big empty room that they let us eat our picnic lunch in on the floor while we wait for open gym to start and restrooms to use as needed, which is handy with seven kids and two adults, one of them pregnant.

Open gym is great fun and everyone loves it but only lasts an hour. That is not near long enough for the moms to catch up and the kids to be worn out. Luckily the rain looks like it is done, and even though we don’t have time to go to the original park we find a fun one close to home. We had towels in the car (we tried really hard to make the first plan work) that we used to dry the slides and basically everything else at the park off so the kids could play. Unluckily the before mentioned available restrooms were not used by the children and within minutes of arriving at the park, and emergency bathroom trip to a near by Walgreens was made, Once we returned it was smooth sailing for the next several hours and we had a great time with our friends. We are glad to have the McDonalds back in Kansas.

360 Open Gym

School supply shopping…I fall for it every year.

Not all my posts have a purpose other than for me to write something but this one does. The purpose of this post is to remind me to not take my kids school supply shopping! So to my  future self I say, “Leave the kids home to fight in peace without you. Go late at night when ‘normal’ shopping hours are long gone. And buy yourself a Kit Kat for a job well done afterwards.”

I had a brief visit to the ‘Panic Phase’ of summer this week. Next week is AUGUST! Yikes! It seems like once August gets here summer starts to get run over with activities and school stuff starting back up. I hadn’t registered the kids for school so I did that and the school supply lists where attached to registration so after three days of being stuck at home because Alli was sick, we decided to make going school supply shopping our first outing when she felt better. We went through all the stuff they brought home to see what they already had. Which was not a lot.

Emilee didn’t have anything except a backpack she has used for two years and Allison used for two before that so it was pretty sad looking so we ended chucking it, so she had no supplies to start.

Allison decided she would donate her supplies to ‘new kids’ for next year. I asked her what that meant because they do have donations at the end of the year that takes unwanted school supplies and will find ways to reuse almost anything-recover notebooks, take the middle of dried out markers out and make jump ropes with them, they even remelt crayons and make new ones from them and give them to kids that need them. It is pretty awesome. I have told my kids that if they want to donate their notebooks and crayons, markers and things like that they can, but to bring home scissors and head phones and rulers-things they will need again for the next several years. So when I asked Allison where all her stuff was she said she donated it. I asked her what exactly she put in the box and she said she didn’t put anything in a box she left EVERYTHING in her classroom for the ‘new second graders’ except for her clip board which she doesn’t really like anymore and wants a new one. I try and think that it was a sweet gesture but honestly it was more likely motivated by laziness. So besides her backpack zero supplies for Alli to start except for the clip board which I told her she can use unless she wants spend her own money on a new one. Which got a big eye roll from her.

Matthew had all the notebooks I bought last year with his name and a subject written across the cover in giant permanent marker and then…not a single page used. He had scissors and a protractor and his backpack.

Not as big of a dent in the shopping list as I hoped for. I am pretty sure I spent over a hundred dollars on supplies last year and all we have to show for it is three notebooks, a protractor and a pair of scissors.  I remind them all we are only getting what is on the list and be good listeners and help me check stuff off the list as we find it so we don’t forget anything, they all agree and we hop in the car excited about our school supply shopping adventure. I always get excited about school supply shopping and look forward to it. The preparer/organizer gets to come out in me and imagine how fun it is to go and find new folders and pencils and come home and organize it-sounds like fun right!?

About five seconds after we walk into the store Allison has already stormed off mumbling about some injustice she has endured and Emilee has already made the rounds and has an armful of things she ‘needs’ for school that have nothing to do with school. Plus the craziness of the hundred other people with their kids all doing the same thing squeezing into the same four aisles that look like they have been ransacked three times over. Then the arguing of who is copying who, who saw it first, who gets to put it in the cart, who needs a new this or a new that. Convincing them if they bring a 24 pack of crayons because the 16 pack is gone they will not be kicked out of school. Then crying over having to settle for the cheap boring regular pencils instead of the perfect $10 glitter glow in the dark forever sharp pencil. I got another eye roll when I said that even if the pencil wrote by itself and sang a song I wouldn’t spend $10 on it. Even Matthew who is usually fine, thought he was being hilarious by grabbing something ridiculous and saying “Mom I need this” ten times was driving me crazy.  Over an hour and $150 later and no Kit Kat because “No one behaved well enough to earn a treat!” I was irritated and mad walking out to the car, reliving the memory of myself saying last year (and every year before that), “Next year I am doing this without them.”

 

“I’ll take the physical challenge!”

The other day Allison asked if she could watch a new show called Double Dare. I started laughing and said I would watch it with her. It is the same show I watched growing up! I love it! They have kept the same logo and style and even have Mark Summers(the old host) as the announcer. It seems a little tamer than the original-not as messy in the physical challenges-but the same silly questions and rounds and finishing with the obstacle course (picking the giant nose, and sliding down the giant throat) and finding the flags. Ha! It made me smile. Good times watching a little Double Dare.

There was a show called Wipe Out that we watched for a while until it went off the air. It was some crazy obstacles that regular people did to win money at the end. The first obstacle always had three giant red balls that you had to jump across and of course it was hilarious watching people try and do it. It was a family favorite. The other day we found a similar show to Wipe Out with two teams- one celebrities, one ‘regular’ people. Each person on the team races through the course against someone on the other team and gets a point for winning. It was called Exalton. Which if you are thinking is Spanish, you would be correct. I saw the advertisement for it on an English channel and set it to record, but the show is actually on a Spanish channel so everyone is speaking Spanish. I thought the kids would get bored because we had no idea what they were saying but we figured out the gist of the show and each picked our team to cheer for and had fun watching it together. We decided next time to have Ryan watch it with us so he can help us figure out some of the rules we were a little fuzzy on since we are not Spanish speakers.