August – Page 2 – Terry Family Shenanigans

Farewell to Summer Break

As the end of Summer approached we did our usual back to school shopping and registering and getting ready to start back into the routine of school. Ryan has been toying with the idea of getting some kind of property by a lake. His brother and him have been talking about it for the past year or two and they are trying to convince their dad to join them. Matthew was still on his high from boating for the first time this Summer at High Adventure. When August arrived he doubled his efforts and focused his ideas and requests to do it again on Ryan. Between that and a client of Ryan’s offering to let us use a time share of his we decided to squish in one more fun Summer trip before school started. We invited our cousins and Grandpa Terry even came down for a day and played with us.

We went to Branson Missouri and Table Rock Lake. Branson is very similar to Gatlinburg Tennessee. There is a touristy main street area with lots of fun shops and museums and things to do. Gatlinburg is more Dolly Parton themed, Branson seemed more Elvis Presley. A lot of the places are in both locations, one of them being the Titanic Museum. We didn’t have the chance to go to it when we were in Gatlinburg so I made it a must for Branson. My children rushed me through it a little faster then I would have gone on my own but it was a very interesting museum.

The place we stayed was basically a two bedroom apartment. The adults each took a room and we had air mattresses all over the place for the kids to sleep on. Roger just came up for one day and didn’t stay the night because Rhonda wasn’t up for traveling and he didn’t want to leave her alone. We played games and ate dinner and checked out the pool the day we arrived. The next morning was our boating day. I went boating a lot when I was growing up. My grandparents had a cabin and boat and we spent many weekends playing at the lake. We rented a pontoon boat that all 11 of us could ride on at the same time and did the tube, knee board, and wake board. I’ll tell you what. It was pretty awesome to show up and have a boat already in the water, fully fueled and ready to go with any toys we needed on board. I did the math roughly in my head and for how often our family would likely go boating if we made it a thing in the Summer it is well worth it to rent verses buy our own boat. I’ve tried to get Ryan to go boating several times in the past and he said he wasn’t interested and wasn’t a boat person. About 30 minutes into our day he came over and told me he loved it and we need to do it more often.

It was a great day. We packed a few coolers of food and drinks and we were on the boat from 10-6pm and didn’t get tired or bored once. Everyone had a great time. Everyone took a turn on the tube, some of us tried a few other things. We found a little cove around lunch time and thru the anchor and the lilly pad out and ate lunch and swam for an hour or two. Grandpa even got on the paddle board and did a flip off the boat with the kids. The lake is really nice, the water is pretty clean for a lake (I think because it is mostly rock on the bottom not mud) and the water is perfect temperature. Ross, Grandpa and Ryan were all pretty comfortable driving the boat by the end of the day. We all want to do it again and more often. The only bummer is that it is a three hour drive to get there from our house.

After we got back to our place that night everyone took a quick shower and then headed to Lambert’s for dinner. They have home style country food and they throw the rolls at you whenever you want one. The kids really liked it. Sherrie and Dave and Genevieve and Robert and their son Eric were close to Branson so they met us there for dinner. Roger and I stopped by to say hi. He met Sherrie for the first time. (It went well 😊) We didn’t stay long, he wanted to get home to Rhonda and I had to work the next day so we went home while everyone else ate.

The next day everyone that stayed went to Silver Dollar City, which is an amusement park. It was another fun and successful day. There were rides and food to please all the people. There were different level of thrill seekers that could pair up and have fun together. After a full day at the park, they played games and played one more night at the time share. The next morning they headed home.

It was a pretty fun, basically spontaneous, farewell to Summer trip. We have already talked about making it our Summer kick off next year too. Ross and Lauren’s kids started school the day after they got back. Our kids still had a week- the final count down to back to school begins!

August Festivities

We packed in a lot of fun activities the last few weeks of Summer.

First up was all my children returning home from their visits to se Grandma and Grandpa Jones. They were all happy to see each other and be home together again. It took them about 5 seconds to remember how to push each others buttons though. 🤦‍♀️ I put a few of the pictures grandma and grandpa sent from their adventure in an earlier post but here are a few more they sent after I wrote that.

Ryan and I went to the Garth Brooks concert with some friends and a couple people from his work. It was the second time we have seen him. It was his first concert since COVID and I think Garth was pretty pooped. He usually sings a lot longer than he did. It was still a great concert but between the ridiculous heat and not being used to it, it felt a little brief. Martina McBride made a surprise appearance. That was cool. It broke back memories of listening to her while we painted our house one Summer in Wyoming.

Our favorite neighbors through a party-Jeff and Margarita-so we attended that. We usually try and get out of neighborhood shin digs but we made an exception this time.

All the kids find school supplies that they really need for school when we go school shopping-that have nothing to do with school. Emilee tried to sell me on this, but settled for a picture instead.

We squeezed in our 3rd (maybe 4th) annual cousins trip to World’s of Fun and Ocean’s of Fun. We are now only one kid away from having no height restrictions on any of the rides. Jovee is 2 inches away from 100% ride qualification. We have it down pretty good now on what rides we have to hit for each person and then head over and spend the rest of the time at Ocean’s. We did come back for the evening to World’s this time. The kids liked the lights and music they turn on at night for the rides. The night ended with fireworks at closing time, that was fun too.

Emilee was really excited to get back to horse lessons when she got home from Grandma and Grandpa Jones’. I caught a picture of her taking a little break and stretching for a second during her lesson. Her and Reese are becoming quite the horse lovers. These two have been besties since birth and they were born two weeks apart. After their lesson one day Reese told Liz and I that they would skip their birthday presents and just get a horse for Christmas since it was ‘kind of a big present’. Emilee looked at Reese and said, “Well, maybe less birthday presents but not NO birthday presents!”

Allison

This girl keeps our life from being dull. Allison just started 6th grade this year and she is loving it. She is one step closer to being an adult which she has been looking forward to since she was 2 years old. Allison sees the world differently then the rest of us. She is creative and smart and keeps us on our toes.

At the end of last year we had her tested and moved to a more advanced Math class. Her brain loves math and she incorporates it into anything she does from planning her day to doing the dishes. She is learning the cello this year in orchestra. She is still doing gymnastics and moved up to level six this summer.

She can be one of the wittiest and funniest people I know, or one of the grumpiest. Whatever emotion she is feeling is level 10. There is no lower gear for her. For a while it seemed like her and I just butted heads constantly but I see more and more of Allison’s pleasant and reasonable side lately.

Allison loves a peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich. She is my only kiddo that will eat a fruit or vegetable without any prompting-just because she likes them. She is amazing at making cookies and brownies. She usually keeps our house stocked with them, which is awesome. She has a tough outer shell but her inside is sweet and caring and very thoughtful. When we are driving around if we see any cat or dog without a leash on-even if it is most likely in it’s own yard-she wants to stop the car immediately and save it from whatever it needs to be ‘rescued’ from. She is very responsible when she wants to be. She takes care of Peanut her guinea pig everyday without any reminding. When we go out of town she arranges for someone to take care of him and leaves them copious amounts of notes on the proper way to feed him.

Crafting is another thing Allison enjoys doing. She is often decorating or creating some art for her room (or Emilee’s if it doesn’t meet her standards when she is done 😂) If I have something I need to make or get ready for Primary she is always willing to help and does a great job at it.

It is a treat to watch her grow up. Allison will be a mountain mover in whatever she decides to invest her time and energy in.

Matthew

Matthew, Matthew, Matthew…what can I say about Matthew. I could say he is the spitting image of his dad is looks and personality. That would be the quickest way to describe him. Every year those two become more and more alike. Matthew tries to deny it sometimes but he can see the similarities. They are a fun pair and I love watching Ryan guide and teach a younger less mature version of himself. So do his parents.

Due to Matthew getting a little older and closer to adulthood we picked a few activities to help him develop his more mental, emotional, and spiritual side, disguised with lots of physical fun too of course. One of them was High Adventure with the boys at church, and the other was FSY (For Strength of Youth) a church camp with most of the boys from church. They were both very fun activities and very good for him. One was a little more obviously fun to him but he did enjoy both. High Adventure was boating, zip lining, and camping. He has told us no less than 5 times week since he has been home that we need to go boating, get a boat, or make friends that have boats. Along with our trip to the beach where he body surfed as much as possible he tells us we can move to a beach at any time and he will support it. Since those activities he has loved going to YM activities and a lot of the boys hang out together on the weekends.

He is almost 15 so he does have some teenage brain development going on but so far I still really enjoy him and his company. Along with the teenage stuff he also has his dad’s iron will, and it does show it self more and more often. Just. Like. Ryan. His voice takes on a certain tone, and his jaw sets and his eyes lock and there is nothing you can say or do at that point to change his mind. Ryan will look at me and say something about how ridiculous and stubborn he is being and I say, “Yes you are, I mean, yes he is.” Also like his dad when he gets like this he usually goes off somewhere and mulls over whatever the issue is privately then comes back and is more reasonable. Until then you will have more luck paddling upstream with a fork.

He really enjoys watching and playing sports. His favorites to play are basketball and baseball. He likes watching football too. Most of the time when Matthew is talking to you it is frustratingly quiet. The exception to this is when he is watching sports or playing video games. Then you can hear him anywhere.

Matthew is quiet and a little shy when you first meet him but once he feels comfortable he is a fun kid, he likes to joke and tease. We like to joke and tease him too. Being a teenager he is a little more concerned with appearance and ‘image’ than the average person. Ryan often likes to get photo evidence of him looking like a dork to pull out when its convenient. These pictures of Matthew playing with the VR glasses is a good example. He has a pleasant and witty sense of humor.

He starts 9th grade at the High School this year. He says he is excited and looking forward to it. He has always done great at school. Last year with stupid online learning and his particular math teacher (she was fine just taught differently than Matthew learns) he struggled with math. Since kindergarten I have never had to check his work and make sure he turns stuff in or even remind him to do his homework. He stays on top of it and keeps things organized. When he started middle school he came home overwhelmed about keeping track of so many different classes. I showed him what a binder and dividers are and he has continued to do great since then. He has a good singing voice but doesn’t want to do choir. Or theater. He has taken several art classes and enjoys them. He also humored me by taking a cooking class/sewing class. Right now he thinks he will go into something sports related like a trainer or physical therapist. He can’t handle even talking about blood so I wonder if he will change when he realizes how much anatomy and physiology there is.

He takes drivers education in a few weeks. It is still a while before he gets his drivers license but I am looking forward to it. Him being able to drive himself to weights, practices, seminary, and everywhere else he goes will be awesome.

A new hobby he just discovered thanks to his buddy Carter is fishing. They have gone a few times together and Matthew caught a fish within 2 minutes the first time. He hasn’t caught one since but he still really likes it. He even asked for fishing stuff for his birthday.

Firebird Baseball Club Fall 2020

Matthew started his new baseball team for Fall. I mentioned it a little before but Ryan and Jimmy joined with another coach named Robby and they combined part of three teams into two teams. For Fall they will be mixing and matching the boys up different for each tournament and then settle into more permanent teams in the Spring. It is still new but we have played several times and are getting to know each other and learning to play with each other. Matthew caught a ball with his cheek bone the other day and has a nice black eye to show for it. They have finished in the top three for several of tournaments we played which is fun and encouraging.

First Day of School

Well, it was delayed 2 weeks and then middle school and high school were changed to virtual only for an undetermined amount of time based on a ridiculous skewed made up ‘gating criteria’ but we had the first day of school this past week!

The principal kept all the walkers until after the car riders were gone so Allison sat in the class room an extra 45 minutes, got home an hour after school ended, and crossed a four lane road without a crossing guard, but after what I can only imagine was a full inbox, many phone calls, a meeting with the teachers, and even more in person conversations she decided against that and let the kids go when school was over the next day. This was a big issue several years ago but the principal in her never ending attempts to control every single thing tried it again. Four years left of this woman…four years.

Allison rode the bus the first day with Emilee so she wouldn’t be by herself and is in 5th grade. Her last year of elementary school. Her teacher is Mrs. Brown and seems to be pretty awesome so far. Back to school night was all virtual and she did a good job so you could actually hear and see what was going on. I think she will be a good fit for Allison. As I mentioned, she can ride the bus but most of the time wants to walk or ride her bike to see her friends because none of her best friends ended up in her class. We have made the deal that on days I work and dad isn’t working from home she has to ride the bus, other days she can pick. She is going to do one more year of girls scouts. She is doing cheer one last time (hopefully) and has gymnastics twice a week for 2 1/2 hours. She color coded all of her school supplies to the correct pencil box they go in. As usual she is up to date on all the school gossip and happenings, even some from the middle school, despite being with her class and her class only all day long. Lunch is in the class room, and recess is rotating to different areas with your own class. She is glad to be back in school though and see and interact with more people.

Emilee is starting 2nd grade. She will ride the bus each day. She puts her mask on and they take her temperature then she is whisked away to the school. Once she is dropped off she walks around a one way loop at the school until she arrives at her classroom. Her teacher this year is Mrs. Trimble. Allison had her for 2nd grade as well and I wasn’t impressed. I requested a change but the principal said she can’t do anything about it. For now we will keep her there and hope that it goes well. If it doesn’t I will have a meeting with the principle about it. Anyway, she is doing good so far. There are 18 kids in her class, 6 of those are girls. She seems to be pretty comfortable now since she knows most of the kids and is familiar with the school. Recess rotation on the grass with no balls and not allowed to play tag is pretty boring but she did find two frogs so that brightened her day. She is not going to do Girl Scouts this year. Hopefully activity days will be starting again before to long. We will get her on a basketball team in the winter. We are also looking into horse lessons with her bestie Reese once a week.

Matthew is in 8th grade. He started conditioning this summer with the intentions of playing football but ended up deciding against it. He has put on a grand total of 5 pounds this last year and 1 inch making him 5 feet even and 85 pounds soaking wet. He decided to focus on getting better at basketball and baseball instead of getting squished in football. He was supposed to start school full time in person, but the school switched a few days before school started to all virtual. Apparently it is safe enough to play sports…but not sit in a desk at school. So he has four classes a day for 1 1/2 hours each via zoom. That is a long time to be staring at a computer screen. We are trying to make the best of it and hopefully it will not last much longer. He is pretty social and is finding and settling in with a good group of kids it seems like. None of them are close enough to hang out after school without parent assistance in getting there but they are close enough it is pretty easy to get them together. There is one boy in particular we are glad he is buddies with. Tyson Beshore. The whole family is a great family, anytime we can get them together we are more than happy to do it. Matthew can get his learners permit for driving in October. That is pretty crazy.

So the 2020 school year if off to a start. It is going to be a different, frustrating, and hopefully end well but we will see. I hope my kids can learn and grow mentally, physically, socially, and emotionally.

Random Cute Picture

Kayaking

We got a new neighbor last August right next door to us. They are a nice family. I chatted with them a little but when COVID quarantine was going in March and April her and I got to know each other a little better. Her name is Margarita. We started going on walks together and then she asked if I wanted to play tennis with her on the neighborhood court.

When we started playing I was only half interested. We plan on playing for an hour and after 40 minutes I was ready to be done. My endurance has improved along with my skills so I enjoy it much more now and look forward to going. I even asked for a new racquet for my birthday. I also got a brace for my elbow because I am old and got tennis elbow. Maybe in a few decades we will be in the Senior Olympics together in tennis. She is a good friend and we have fun together. We can share our woes of children with each other too when we are on our walks.

She got into kayaking this summer too and invited me along with her. It is very peaceful and relaxing and we enjoyed the sunset.

Butterflies

We made it to Powell Gardens again this year with the McDonald family to see the butterflies and walk around the gardens. It is always beautiful. With the COVID restrictions we had to wait in line a bit to go into the conservatory but it wasn’t to bad.

The kids played in the fountains for a little while. There was a new kid area for them to dig in the dirt and plant stuff. There was a second monarch butterfly house as well. The weather was not ridiculously hot so it was a nice day.

It was nice to get out and have something to do. We usually go to the Cultural Festival with the McDonald’s in August as well but that has been canceled this year.

Just Going to Leave This Right Here.

All right dear Allison. This post is about you. Maybe no one ever reads it again. Maybe we laugh about it together in the future. Maybe it is just for immediate therapy.

You are a strong willed, determined, passionate human being. I love those qualities in you but I admit they are also sometimes difficult to help you learn to manage and direct. I know sometimes I am to overbearing and short and impatient with you. I promise it is something I work on daily. Darn it girl! You don’t make it easy sometimes. We seem to struggle more sometimes than others with getting along with each other and lately it has been more struggle than not.

Yesterday we had some dentist appointments and then were meeting some friends at the Butterfly Garden to spend the afternoon. The dental appointments went a little quicker than usual, we had an hour drive and were still going to be a little early to meet our friends. There was a McDonald’s right next to us so I asked the girls if they wanted to get a little snack to eat on the way at McDonald’s. This is how the next few minutes went.

Me: Ok, I will swing by McDonald’s and you can each get something.

Allison: Is there a Wendy’s? I like Wendy’s better.

Me: No, there is not a Wendy’s around here. We are by McDonald’s already, that is why I said McDonald’s.

Allison: We passed a Burger King on the way here. Can we go there instead?

Me: (deep breath- 9 out of 10 times when we have any plans or decisions made Allison will request they be changes for her convenience- we have time to kill, it isn’t a big deal) Sure, it isn’t on the way but since it is pretty close and we have a little extra time we can go to Burger King instead.

A few minutes later pulling into BK I ask the girls what they want. Emilee wants french toast sticks and Allison requests mozzarella sticks. It is still early so I ask the employee if they are making mozzarella sticks or not. They say they are not but will make them ‘special’. I look at the menu and it says 4 or 8 sticks, and ask Allison how many she wants.

Allison: I want 5.

Me: They don’t do 5. You can do 4 or 8.

Allison: I only want 5. I will eat 6. Can you ask them for 6.

Me: (deep breath-Allison often likes to ignore facts, rules, or guidelines and will just keep repeating her question/statement to see if the answer will change) 6 is not an option. 4 or 8 is the option. If you want 6 get 8 and share the rest with others.

Allison: Uugg. I will do 4. Ask them for extra mozzarella.

Me: They are already made sticks, you can’t add mozzarella to them.

Allison: Why can’t you just ask. It doesn’t seem hard to add cheese to something.

Me: (deep breath) Tell the person we are ready to order and ask for 8 mozzarella. As I do this Allison repeats over and over in my ear from the back seat to just ask for extra mozzarella. I ignore her.

Allison: Rolls her window down (which I usually have locked for reasons just like this) and interrupts me and asks the employee if she can change her order to 6 sticks and add extra cheese.

I take another deep breath while the employee says, as you might expect, “We only have 4 or 8 sticks, and we can’t add extra cheese but we can do extra sauce.” Allison then changes her order to 4 sticks and NO extra sauce. I take another deep breath and pull forward to get the food. As we wait she repeatedly asks in my ear from the back seat to ask for extra sauce because she now wants extra sauce. They hand me me the bag and there is a large container of sauce-easily plenty for 4 sticks. She insists it is not enough, so I ask for an extra sauce and we drive away.

Allison ends up eating 4 sticks with no sauce because ‘it tastes weird’.

I have had several conversations with Allison in the past when my patience is better about doing things efficiently, or easily, or conveniently, or considering others time or preferences. When I finish she explains to me that efficiency, ease, and convenience are below zero on her scale of importance when making decisions and other peoples needs she will try to consider more often but by her tone are barely above the previous reasons. Her desires, interests, aesthetic appeal, and fun are what drives her decisions. So we continue our daily interactions with very different approaches. One thing is for sure, we will both help each other build our patience and endurance.