learning to ride a bike

I realize this happened over a year ago but I must post it for memory sake. Seeing as how I am loosing mine, I decided I should have a record of stories like this.
William really wanted a build-a-bear. In our house we get a build-a-bear for 3 reasons. 1, you buy it yourself. 2, you learn how to ride a bike. 3, you get baptized. I reminded William of these conditions. Afterward he promptly announce "well lets go to the park and teach me how to ride a bike." That simple huh? We had nothing important to do that day so I said. "Why not. Everyone get ready we are going to the park." Once we got their it was just a matter of business according to William. Ellie was very excited and supportive because she had just learned the year before and knew what an accomplishment this was.

After a few words of advice we got started. It only took him 3 tries and he had it. On his 3rd try I let go and watched my baby grow up before my eyes. But the best part was, as he was pedaling down the track, Ellie was running right along side him shouting at the top of her lungs. Yay William! Your doing it! THAT'S MY LITTLE BROTHER!!!! Whohoo. THAT'S MY LITTLE BROTHER!! all the way around the track.

I have never been more proud or had more joy in my posterity than I did at that moment. To this day I still get emotional when I think of that afternoon. This is what motherhood is all about. At moments like this, nothing else matters. It is pure joy!

On a side note after 10 more minutes of bike riding. William pulled up to me and asked "Now can we go get my bear?" To which I replied "Sure buddy lets go get your bear."

sleeping dragon

I never knew my living room was so dangerous. Just this afternoon I walked in my front room to find a rare site.
A sleeping dragon.

I've heard they exist but I never thought I would get so near to one. Once I got a closer look I realized. . .They are not so scary.
Sure they terrorize others and destroy everything in their path. Turning calm and serenity into mayhem and chaos. They are loud and wild, and nearly impossible to corral. At rare moments when they are asleep, you can see how sweet and precious this species can be. So maybe they should not be feared but understood and enjoyed. On the most taxing of days this is how they can be treasured.

Halloween party 2010

We decided to have a Halloween party this year because Halloween falls on a Sunday. I threw one a few years ago so this shouldn't be too hard. I have always loved Halloween probably because my Mom loves Halloween. Growing up we would have a party every year complete with spook alley and headless horseman hayrides.
First things first I decorated my house. I did "Witches Brew" potions on my mantel. Plenty of spider webs and ghosts hung from the trees. Lighted luminaries and pumpkins all about.
I decided to go old school with the games. We had donut on a string, bob for apples, and my favorite toss the eye. A variation of pin the tail on the donkey. I painted a picture of a monster/alien on my sliding glass door then we use those sticky eye balls (kind of like sticky hands) and try to get the eye in the right spot. The closest one wins.
One thing that is a must at my party is for EVERYONE to dress up. Even adults! I hate it when people are wet blankets and don't do anything to make the night special. So I told them not to come if they weren't going to dress up. I did give those people lacking the creative gene a web site for easy homemade costumes. (Familyfun.com) It had thing like draw black "P"s around your eyes and you could be the black eyed peas. Or put a pic of a quarter on your back and you were a "Quarter back."
For costumes Scott was William Wallace from Braveheart. I was an organ grinder and Peter my monkey. William was Boba Fett from star wars. Ellie was a Greek muse/goddess, Brennen was a dragon. The only costume I didn't sew or alter was Williams
I then assigned everyone either a spooky dessert or spookey Hor derve. Here are some things they came up with. It was a lot of fun. I just might make it an annual thing

Cupcake Wars

For Ellie's 10th birthday party we had a CUPCAKE WARS. It turned out to be pretty good. When the kids first started to arrive we had them decorate their chef hats and aprons. Once everyone was properly adorned I had them each make their own mini pizza. We used English muffins for the crust and a handful of different toppings for the kids to choose from.
While the pizzas were baking we played "grenade toss" For this game I set up a bunch of cupcakes on a long piece of wood resting on two ladders. Each kids got 3 tries to toss a grenade (tennis ball) to get as many cupcakes off the board as possible. The person with the most "kills" won a candy bar.
After the battle was over the kids ate their pizza and chips while I cleaned up for the next event.
A round of "basic training."
they had to play the game where you put a cookie on your forehead and wriggled or scrunched your face until the cookie traveled down into your mouth.
Next they had to decorate a cupcake especially for Ellie's birthday. We had ton of candies and different frosting's 3 kinds of cupcakes with 4 different wrappers. They couldn't ask Ellie any questions. Just to see who knew Ellie the best. Once the cupcakes were finished we set them aside for the judging and prepared for the ultimate war.

This is where most of you might think I'm crazy but I knew the kids would love it. I dressed the kids in their armor (plastic garbage bags) set out a few ground rules and let the war begin. Basically throw cupcakes at each other until there were no more cupcakes to be found. (I baked 72 cupcakes) the kids had a BLAST!!!! the whole thing lasted about 10 min. or so. But according to them it was AWESOME. We cleaned up from the war Ellie chose the winning cupcake then opened presents. Believe it or not the clean up wasn't too bad. I offered everyone who helped a special treat (left over candy) So the clean up was quick All in all it turned out to be a memorable birthday party.

Another Williamism

William was watching Star Wars the Clone Wars, when he came up to me and said. " Mom, do you know why they call him the crime minister? Because me makes a lot of crimes." Now he wasn't telling me a joke.! He really thought the guy was called a Crime Minister. After a few laughs we said "William the word is Prime, Prime minister not Crime Minister." I think this says a lot about government officials. Classic William

Continue in Patience

Continue in Patience
Please click on the title above "Continue in Patience" or click on this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=654QGjYHlJY
I try to think of myself as a patient person . This is not always the case but still I try. I recently told my children to stop praying for me to have patience because I just get opportunities to be patient.

I got this of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint website. I think this is so important for today's youth. As I watch my children everything is becoming more about instant gratification. We have DVD's that start and stop or skip to the exact place you want instead of VHS where you had to wait till the movie was rewound. They want to spend their money now on a toy they don't really care about just so they can have something now. Instead of saving for something they would really appreciate. I feel like they want everything NOW. As parents we get sick of the fights and stop everything we are doing to answer their call. I know we mean well but I noticed in my family it is causing their patience to be nonexitant. So I am vowing to teach my children the blessing of patience. I know it will take time (no pun intended) but I truly hope they can learn this valuable skill.

Ellie 10

My Ellie is turning 10! I can't believe it. What happened to the time? Wasn't she that little sassy thing that was WAY to big for her britches using words most grownup don't use?

Wait she is still sassy and has a sea of vocabulary. She is just bigger. She actually ran for class president and lost because her peers couldn't understand her. She used phrases like, "I wouldn't attempt to use this form of power for my own personal gain." The class was baffled. I heard whispers of "what did she say?" "Is that real English ?"
As much as she drives me crazy sometimes she is a big help around the house. Especially when it comes to the boys. For her "double digits" (turning 10) we got her ears pierced. I myself had to wait until I was 12 AND had to go through the towns spook alley for Halloween. I was a big chicken back then. Scott and I saw no reason why she couldn't get them now. She certainly is mature enough.
I am sad to see her grow up. Maybe that is because I am getting bursts of teenager from her. Usually when I wake her up in the morning. Just not that ray of sunshine I was hoping for. I almost always am doing something wrong. Like turning on the lights to wake her up instead of opening the blinds. Whatever.
Other times I am hopeful. Everyone wants to come to play at our house. I guess we have the cool house? I am greatful for that. Its how I grew up. Although my house is always a mess with all those bodies I wouldn't have it any other way.
So heres to Ellie. The roller coaster that she is, I am still amazed at the person she is becoming.