What Matters Most...

It's been one of those seasons in life where it is easy to lose track of what really matters.  I don't think kids are all that sold on the idea that summer vacation is a good time for cleaning the house.  Today, I admit that we got a lot of productive things done around here, but at some point I called it off and sat down to play some Super Mario Bros. Wii with Seth. 

About two hours later we had collected a voluminous amount of star coins, found a good place to save, and called it quits.  I was met by the stares of Grace, Caleb, and Ian who declared, "Mom...  you never gave us a turn!"  Bwahahahaha...  I cannot remember the last time I got that wrapped up in a video game!  At any rate, Seth and I had a blast together, and I wouldn't trade that time with him for anything, even if it was just us sitting together on the couch, and even if my younger children now think I'm a controller hog.  Parents...  stop what you're doing long enough to enjoy what your kids are doing!  Seriously...  the laundry can wait!

As a side note, the truth is the other kids just knock us off cliffs and stuff, anyway, so I guess it turned out alright.  Maybe we'll let them play next time... maybe...

L.

Mama Look...

"I have a flower.  It makes you happy"

Oh Miah... that it does.  I'm so glad you know it.

L.

Memorial Day...

... was sort of atypical for us, this year!

So... what that really means is we didn't grill...

However, we did have the first regional quiz team practice:

Olivet A Team:

And we got to hang out with family... First Brad and Sheri watched Ian and Miah while we were at practice, and then we watched Abby and Noah so they could go out...  Great trade!

Abby and Grace:

My sweet nephew Noah,

who decided Aunt Lisa was OK, after all,

once I fed him brownies...

The Pat-A-Cake and belly laughing high fives that followed
were worth it...

Double... Trouble...

It was a good day, overall, if long and tiring!  We got home at midnight.  Long week ahead...

L.

Beautiful Day...

I couldn't have asked for a better day to kick off our summer vacation!  Snuggling in the morning with Miah, followed by lots of Saturday morning cartoons (Darkwing Duck was our cartoon of choice today), a great workout, homemade Chinese food for lunch, and some good time outside with perfect weather.  Back inside for showers, some silent reading time, dinner, and now it's time for Garfield and Friends.  With any luck, everybody under age 10 will be in bed by 8:00, we'll all get some good sleep, and we can repeat this over... and over... and over again...

Somebody loves her new "toy":

Seth made a pretty awesome landscape on the stairs:

Miah continues to love the fact that she is allowed to 

color "on the floor"

Adding paint to the mix was a huge hit:

L.

I Now Declare It...

... Summer Vacation!

And there was great rejoicing at our house:

L.

Birthday Parties...

... are always fun... but maybe they are especially fun when they are for someone else's child...

We joined friends at Chuck-E-Cheese for Matt's 6th b-day celebration tonight!

A few things...

#1  Ian and Matt are a riot:

#2  Miah is not going to be a cheap date.  She kept following Matt around and getting him to use his tokens for two player rides and games.  Someone should probably warn Matt about this now:

#3  I sincerely doubt that I will ever catch Grace and Lexi rocking out on the Chuck-E-Cheese stage again.  I mean, they are already way too cool to chase Chuck-E around the restaurant and dance for tickets.  This was priceless:

L.

My Starting Line-Up...

Yeah... not for hockey... or baseball... or even quizzing (gasp)!

This is how I'm kicking off my summer reading.  Please take note there is nothing even remotely academic here.  I might pull out C.S. Lewis when I get to July, just to make sure I haven't lost too many brain cells...

Bring on the sunshine and lemonade...

L.

Growing Up...

... my cousins were my best friends.

Unfortunately, our family is spread hundreds of miles apart, so my kids don't get to see their cousins as much as we'd like.  However, these three managed to stay up talking well past 2:00 in the morning, so I'd say they like each other (more than just a little bit), even though they only get together about once a year...

Audrey, Elizabeth, and Grace:

L.

So, Here's How It All Went Down...

Seth and Grace's first Regional Celebrate Life is in the books.

Here's the haul:

Seth received a superior rating for his artwork, and Grace received a superior rating for her vocal solo and an excellent rating for her piano solo.  Grace also learned that it is difficult to run from one event to another in heels.

Grace warming up for her piano solo:

And quizzing... my goodness...

As I mentioned before, NEI went into the tournament seeded 1st.  After a bye round and a hard fought win, we entered into the round in which I could just feel the meltdown beginning to occur.  All year long, I have waited for the point at which Seth and Grace would hit a wall, and then they just... didn't...  Not on the district... Not at invitationals... Not at the St. Louis Quiz... And after an error out by Grace and then two correct questions by Seth and then three jumps Seth just couldn't get, I watched as he put his head in his hands and walked off from a really difficult loss.  And then the semi-final round began, and although he tried to keep it together, he just couldn't, and Grace wilted, too, and for the two of them, that was just the end.  But are you kidding me?  A regional semi-final quiz at this stage?  Who would've guessed?  NEI finished 3rd, and I couldn't be more proud of the contributions my kids made to that finish and the contributions made by the rest of the team.  Super... Stars...

Semi-Finals:

Once the team quizzing was complete, I admit that my thoughts turned to the potential for the top 16 quiz... and whether or not they (S and G) could really pull off anything else, this weekend.  Just hours before the meltdown, these are the faces of two kids as they waited for and then heard the individual results for the preliminary quiz rounds:

OK...  So... What Place Am I?

Grace went into top 16 in 4th place:

 16th?  Really?

I had mixed feelings about the Friday night concert.  What did they really need?  Probably sleep.  What did they want?  When asked, Seth, in his exhausted state, did not want to participate in the evening events.  Phil headed out to the van with him, and my understanding is that Seth was asleep in less than two minutes.  It was a good choice for him.  Grace, however, wanted to participate in the concert and evening activities.  As a mom who was super proud of her for making it this far and who knew she had earned the right to enjoy Celebrate Life in whatever way she wanted to do so, I agreed to stay at the concert with her.  Grace had an incredible time... so much fun.  I wouldn't trade it, but as a mom who was concerned about the next morning's quiz rounds; I can't say that I was certain I had made the right choice.

Six rounds of top 16 quizzing is a lot.  I think it is probably necessary to quiz that many rounds to get a fair and accurate outcome, but it's still a lot.  Coaching Grace is always interesting.  If she follows the game plan, there is almost no stopping her, and yet I trust her to make decisions outside of the game plan, as necessary.  At the end of five rounds, it was impossible for her to finish lower than 6th place.  I can't begin to tell you how many times I added... and re-added the numbers to make sure this was accurate.  At the time out after question 10, I was able to say, "Get one more, and you're definitely on the A team... no pressure or anything!"  And she did get one more, at which point I told her to just sit.  I'm not sure how huge the smile on my face must have been...

Seth had given a valiant effort in those first five rounds, but going into the last round it was obvious that the only chance he had at making the B team for General Assembly was to quiz out.  Even then, there were several other quizzers who would make the team ahead of him if they quizzed well in the last round.  But I have always said that anything can happen in a top 16 quiz off situation...

So... after Grace and I counted and re-counted and added... and re-added the scores...  And then after we added them again...  We had our own little celebration about her 4th place finish and headed out to the hallway to find Phil and Seth.  And all the time, I'm just hoping that I don't find Seth in tears, and then Phil just about bowls me over with news that Seth did quiz out in his round... and then Phil, Grace, and I are all standing in front of the white boards again... adding again!

Number nine.  Really?  Add it up again.  Nine.  Are we sure?  Add it up again.  Nine! 

And then I am just about crying (with an enormous smile on my face), because this kid has worked so hard, and I really thought we were coming to the end of the quiz year for him at regionals, and quite honestly, I just didn't expect this!  But that doesn't mean I never imagined it or never believed it could happen!  And then we're partying so hard about Seth we almost forget about Grace altogether, which is a complete riot, because no one ever forgets about Grace... but she laughed as hard as anyone...

A couple more shots for the road...

NEI A (AKA, "The Hobbits") Minus Sammy:

Grace and Jara walking back after receiving their awards.

Grace looked up to Jara all season long,

and it was fitting that Jara jumped over Grace

on question 20 of round 6

to be the 3rd place quizzer.

This shot makes me laugh, though...

They both look thrilled...

Sing... dance... make music... and quiz like your life depends on it!  Regional Celebrate Life was great!  General Assembly... Here... We... Come...

L.

Smart Women...

... tell no tales. 

Well, OK...  maybe not no tales, but I don't have time for too many at the moment.

A few pictures, I do have:

Found a double-headed monster...  oh... wait:

"The Hobbits" getting ready to quiz:

Oh, Seth...  We can onlyh assume he is saying, "Yoooooooooke":

After seven rounds of quizzing, NEI is seeded 1st.  Grace is currently sitting in 6th place, and I do not think it is possible for her to not make the top 16 to quiz off for a spot at General Assembly.  Seth is currently sitting in 16th place, about which I have mixed feelings.  It is my hope that he will have a great 8th round and jump up a couple of places, but much of what will determine his final placement is well beyond his control... or mine... so I am not holding my breath.

Let me just say this...  Both of these kids of mine have far exceeded any possible expectation we could have had for them in this rookie year of quizzing!  I have mentioned it before, but the truth is we didn't really go into this with any expectations, at all, except to get their feet wet and to hopefully develop a love of quizzing that would last throughout middle school... high school... and OK, let's face it, hopefully their whole lives.  But competitively, we have not pushed them.  They were simply born with the Q gene... or something... must be dominant...

Can't wait to see what they do in future years... and... uh... the rest of this weekend...

L.

Just When I Think...

...Miah can't possibly do anything funnier than she has already done, I turn around and find this:

 She is packing herself in my luggage for RCL:

 She even buckled her "seat belt":

And then she peeks over the edge and says, "Now I can go!":

Miah is, perhaps, slightly more than a little ticked off that we are not taking her to RCL, this weekend.  I am relatively sure she will get over it as soon as she wakes up tomorrow morning and finds Grandma and Grandpa.

And speaking of RCL, it's been a really long time since we've been there, ourselves!  Here's a shot of our last trip to RCL, 12 years ago:

Seth wasn't quite ready to quiz just yet, and... well...  Grace could only have possible auditory memories, because she was there, but she wasn't born yet...  I wonder how this trip will compare to their first RCL...

Comin' up in 18 hours...

L.

Mother's Day...

…is sort of a funny card holiday.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love being a mom.  But this year I have been thinking about what Mother’s Day has become, and I don’t really like it.  I keep hearing mothers talking about how all they want is to sleep in, take a bath without someone knocking on the door, and have someone wait on them hand and foot.  So, let me get this straight.  What we really want is a day on which to not be a mother?

Now, I’ll be honest.  As many of you know, I have taken an occasional “Mommy Vacation” (OK…  I’ve taken two of them), and you know what?  I love that time away.  I love the opportunity to focus on myself and get refreshed for another long season of being a mom.  I am not, in any way, making light of the legitimate need that moms have to take care of themselves and catch an occasional break.  I get it.  But even when I am away from the kids (which isn’t often), I call every day to talk for a few minutes.  I think about them nearly constantly.  Once you’re a mom, you really can’t ever go back to not being a mom, even for a day.  And that’s OK.  That’s great!  Isn’t that what we wanted?

My perspective might be a little different than some.  Believe me, I know what it is to sit in a church service on Mother’s Day and to cry because you’re not a mother.  I legitimately question the addition of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and Independence Day to the church calendar.  But whatever.  It’s the culture in which we live.  However, I know there are an awful lot of ladies out there today who would give just about anything to have a diaper that needs changing or a screaming kid pounding on the bathroom door.  If you’re fortunate enough to be a mom, today, don’t forget that!  You are celebrating Mother’s Day because of the children who are coloring on your living room walls and causing you to go prematurely gray.  Without them, today would be sort of sad.  

And one more thing…  I will never quite understand the moms who complain that they can never go to the bathroom without a child in the room.  Uh…  lock the door.  I can’t promise that the children will not stand at the door and talk to you the entire time.  But you can maintain some sense of privacy.

Truth told, I did sleep in today.  I was going to get up when I heard Miah yelling for me in the baby monitor at 6:54 this morning (she gets up at this time like clockwork), but I felt Phil roll out of bed and suddenly remembered that it was Mother’s Day.  I am supposed to sleep in on Mother’s Day, because if I don’t my kids get really bent out of shape.  It is part of the Mother’s Day entitlement program or something.  I stayed in bed for as long as I could, because Seth sometimes gets frustrated with me if he doesn’t get to serve me breakfast in bed.  At some point it occurred to me that maybe that wasn’t the plan, this year, and I could safely get up.  I took a bath, and almost no one knocked on the door.  I did, eventually, hear a little tap..tap..tap… and well…  it was Phil.  I had locked him out. 

He proceeded to give me instructions about how I should stay in our room until the kids came to get me.  I complied.  The children eventually made their way up the stairs and presented me with wonderful handmade cards and a bowl of chocolate covered strawberries.  Miah’s exact words were, “Happy Mother’s Day!  We have chocolate strawberries!  I’m so proud of you!”  Apparently, Grace and Caleb made the chocolate covered strawberries.  My understanding is that they couldn’t find any chocolate and tried to melt Tootsie Rolls in the microwave to accomplish this task.  Phil ran out to the store and got them some chocolate.  There are definitely hazards that come with sleeping in.  The strawberries were, however, fantastic.

Phil made “brunch”, and I am so full I may possibly explode.  Waffles… eggs… bacon…  It was good.  And, of course, this was accompanied by some beautiful roses and a wonderful card.  As a side note, I thought Grace was going to kick Ian down the stairs when he told me that Daddy had a surprise for me on the table.  Poor guy… he just cannot keep a secret for even two minutes!

At present I am considering how inappropriate it would be to take a little trip to Lowes or Home Depot to pick up the materials I need to build my laundry boxes.  Who goes to a construction store on Mother’s Day?  Maybe me…

I love my kids, and I would not trade them for anything.  What I really want most, today, is to just be their mom.  And I have that, even though those chocolate covered strawberries are long gone…

L.

Muisc Awards Program...

I always look forward to the music awards program.  This one was bittersweet.  As some of my readers may know, Nancy (our kids’ music teacher) lost her husband this past year.  I always liked talking with Rob at the awards program, while walking the halls with wiggly little people who could not sit still for one more song or dance.  Rob was always so encouraging, talking about the days when he walked the halls with his own children.  It made me legitimately sad to not have him there today.

But we have an amazing music studio family.  I found it incredible how everyone seemed to jump in to fill the void… from setting up chairs… to serving drinks… to even my little attempt to help by taking the group picture.  It’s amazing how many people it takes to fill the role of just one, but I think we did it for this short period of time… maybe far less than perfectly, but at least we tried.  It was a solid group effort.

The program, itself, was pretty hysterical from my point of view.  Ian (who apparently suffers from stage fright) stood with his arms crossed and never cracked a smile.  Caleb (who has always suffered from stage fright) was unable to find a place to sit while drumming and it was just about more than he could take when he had to dance to “Mr. Banjo” with the new sparkly hats that were getting glitter all over his forehead, hands, and clothes.  “Mr. Banjo” is a class favorite, but poor Caleb just can’t dance (The ongoing joke is that he is a good Nazarene.  I should have had him wear one of his Naz. college T-shirts…)  Miah was also a riot, because after every class she would ask, “Is it time for cookies now?”  She sat amazingly well through four classes and then decided she was done, right before Caleb’s class was on… of course…

Caleb finished off the peanut gallery by taking three cookies, six crackers, and one Rice Krispy treat when it was time for refreshments.  May I never, ever neglect to get in line with that child, ever again!  I am so sorry. 

And that’s a wrap…  5 music awards programs down, 6 to go for this family…

L.

Moments At The Kitchen Table…

Miah is such a little artist lately.  As always, she is cracking me up with the things she says.  I never know what will come out of her mouth!  Today, as she finished drawing “Miah and Mama” at the kitchen table, she stopped and asked, “Do ya like it?  Do ya?”  As of late, Miah has gotten in the habit of asking every question this way, “Can we do it?  Can we?,”  “Is it time yet?  Is it?,”  etc.  I find this exceptionally cute.

Of course, I loved Miah’s picture.  One of my greatest qualities as a mom is the ability to genuinely gush over every piece of art.  I truly love every paper to which these kids of mine put a crayon…

When Miah was finished coloring she asked, “Can I stay in here forever?”  Uh… no.  But I love that she wants to…

L.