Business, busiest, busyness, busy-ness

I had a whole other post in mind, but got side tracked trying to figure out how to use/spell the word busyness.  I mean does the y turn to i, but then isn't that business?  Do you add the hyphen?  Busyness doesn't even look right.  Maybe I meant busiest?  That looks weird too.

And now I'm out of time, have 2 errands to run and be at  a meeting by 1 p.m.  It's 12:52.  Hmmmm.

My original title was It's Wednesday?  Case in point my week is all messed up due to Monday being a holiday and the kids being out of school & hubby not working.  I'm a mess.  What's new?  But way more than usual.  Ooops, 12:54.  Gotta run!!

Picasso part 2

We have more than 1 Picasso in our family.  This one is a lot more ideal to how we like to see the creativity expressed. 

Brianna (also referred to as Nina, for those who don't know and often confuse the two names as two different kids) is very artistic.  One day recently she told me "hey, mom I want to go paint". I'll admit, I sort of cringed and instantly envisioned this big mess that would be made & possibly requiring my help to clean up.  All for what?  A piece of 'art' that I loving say "wonderful honey" and then throw away in the trash after enduring a week of it hanging on the refrigerator.  (In my defense, my kids KNOW that I don't like clutter and stuff and that I consistently purge through our things & get rid of this sort of stuff).

Nina had two things going for her in this situation.  (1. She is actually extremely responsible with getting out & taking care of what she has used.  Any worries about a mess that I would have to clean up quickly faded away.  (2. I know how good Brianna is with her works of art.  Not to place value on which kids art is better than the other.  But she's good, really good.  Look, I'm no artist.  I have no training or knowledge in this area.  Having seen the kid version of art from 6 different children....she is GOOD!  Now if we were talking dance, I'd be saying Angel is GOOD!  Drama, Mandy.  Football, John, etc. etc.  (I didn't mention the two younger ones since they are younger & I haven't had as much time to see their talents develop).

So I took a picture of the picture that Brianna painted that day.  For fun.  Because she was bored & had nothing to do.  Her idea of a painting. 

To clarify, there are two works of art there.  I just liked her name drawing she brought home from school and paired it with the landscape she drew.  I think I'm going to frame the landscape painting & hang it somewhere in the house.  Now that is what I call a Picasso!

Picasso

It seems we have a little Picasso in our home.  We really like to encourage creativity in our children.  However it would be better if said child didn't express themselves on our walls.  For Pete's sake, we have plenty of paper in our home.  And yet, we still frequently find her works of art scribbled around the house.

It's a little hard to see in the picture, but it is sprawled across this whole wall.  Her preferred wall of choice.  It started small and eventually became a larger masterpiece.

 We have six children you know.  You'd think that we've probably battled this before.  It's not all too uncommon for an unknowing young child to "innocently" write/draw on a wall or furniture, bedspread, etc.  Actually, according to my parenting knowledge we've only had 1 instance of this.  When John was 3 he took a  black permanent marker & drew on my bedspread.  1 time, 6 children, 15+ years.  Well, that is until now.  This just adds to the list of things that we've never faced or battled until this particular child came along.  I'm tellin' ya....she's simply sealing the deal on being the baby.

 It's not that we allow her to do this.  Or that she has gone unpunished from said activity.  I have tried to teach/encouraged her relentlessly to write on PAPER ONLY!  She knows this and yet we often find more works of art.  Before you suggest it, yes, we have taken all the markers, pens, pencils, crayons, etc away from her.  She does not have easy access to these items.  But it is common practice to have a pen in your desk drawer or your purse.  Every once in awhile a permanent marker gets used & not put back immediately.  Can't put anything up high out of her reach....hello?!?!?  who are we talking about here?!?!?  Yes we give her plenty of color books & structured art time.  Yes, as I mentioned above, we believe in punishing our children for their actions.  (I won't dare say the "S" word in public, which, I know, sounds crazy)  My point....NOTHING WORKS!

 Sometimes I try to find the humor in the situation.  Not that it's really funny.  But sometimes you have to just laugh at life to get you through from day to day.  So I joke that she is our Picasso and that someday her works of art will be very valuable.  Or I might refer to the caveman drawings that decorate our living room.  I actually don't even notice them much anymore.  We should probably eventually paint that wall.  A dark color...just in case.  Maybe not for another year or so when she's older and hopefully outgrows this habit of hers.

 If you haven't figured it out yet, you can see our little culprit in crime.  She proudly sits next to her masterpiece.  She doesn't confine herself to the living room walls.  Take note of the green permanent marker on the curtain on the door.  I could also show you pictures of the filing cabinet, closet door, bathroom door (both sides) and much more.  I think you get the idea though.

 She just as frequently uses her own body for such works of art.  As you can see, often influencing her friends to join in on the process.  Which I actually have no "issue" with works of art on the body, I have one myself.  One that I got when I was of legal consenting age.  Luckily her version EVENTUALLY  washes off.  (It's actually very hard to get done, I have to scrub it several times).

 Do I like this little phase?  Uh, no.  Do I find it acceptable?  Absolutely not.  In the grand scheme of things though she is 3 and the phrase "this too shall pass" just constantly rings in my mind.  It's life.  What are you going to do?  I plan to enjoy it and make lemonade when I find even more lemons scribbled on my walls.

28 Reasons Not To Be In A Play

The drama club at Mandy's Jr. High put on a production titled 28 Reasons Not To Be In A Play.  They called it a non-play with non-characters.  There is not a main story line they followed.  The students often played many different roles and each reason was a mini story line of it's own that all intertwined into the production.  In a nutshell, it was very funny & the kids did a great job in their own parts.

Mandy played 3 specific characters, but was also in many group scenes.  She did a wonderful job and yet it was all very natural.  Acting & drama is one thing that has always come very naturally to Mandy.

(Disclaimer to all my pictures.  Taking pictures was discouraged, but if you did you could not take any using flash. My point shoot is bad enough sometimes, doing so without flash is often even worse.  So I did the best with what I had to capture the moments.)

Mandy's first character was portraying that annoying little girl who grew up in your neighborhood that wouldn't leave you alone and had to turn every playdate into a story that revolved around her being a fairy princess.

 Next she was a student who was in a play and had a lengthy conversation with her mom after the production.  It goes through what the mom really thinks of the play despite trying to tell her daughter that the play was "great".  All the eye rolling, hands on hips and "MOOOOM!" parts that Mandy had to portray really was just her everyday antics with me.  No acting needed, just act natural : )  

 Here she is with part of the cast.  Listening to another person portray another reason not to be in a play.

 Lastly she portrayed a character named Pyro, who along with her friends, Flame & Nitro are techies who are in charge of special effects in the school play.  They get all psyched out because the play involves blowing up the school.

Here is a little snippit of video from her Fairy scene.



A few extra disclaimers.  When I spoke of Mandy's everyday antics with me.  I don't mean to portray her as a rude, back talking kid.  I meant that in the way she can be so dramatic or passionate in her conversations with me.  Also, I never really though much about the blowing up scenario until I was writing it out.  To be sensitive to such events that happen these days, the play portrayed these girls in a good light who are simply ooohed & awwwwed by blowing things up.  It was quite comedic as they had lots of lines like "duuuuude, we getta blow this up."  "duuuuuude"  "coooool".

It was a great production and I'm so grateful that we have a drama club the engages these kids to use their talents with good & fun entertainment.

Geography Bowl

Last Saturday was the Geography Bowl.  A few months ago the kids in 4th & 5th grade took a test and those that scored well advanced to the next step and eventually a team was selected to represent our school  John was one of those student picked.

All the schools in town participated.  Each round lasted 20 minutes & consisted of 20 questions.  Our school didn't necessarily finish so great.  Not that any of that really mattered to us as parents.  We were there cheering for them regardless.  Having them participate in the event was reward enough.  The kids had a good experience and learned a lot just being there that day.

John & Kelsi, our neighbor girl.

 There were 10 students per team.  Only 5 participated at a time, with another 5 alternates that all took turns during the rounds.

 The whole team with their advisor, Ms. Noonan.  She is awesome!!!

 John & his friend Bradley.  These two have been such good friends since they met in preschool.



Sweetheart Swirl

Last Saturday was the Sweetheart Swirl for the high school.  This is quite the big affair.  It ranks up there with Prom.  Or to me it seems like it.  The formality of it anyway.  Which amazes me.  What happen to prom being THE ONE EVENT that you went all out for.  Now there is homecoming, swirl & prom.  Except I get that prom is only for the seniors.  Anyway, I'm "old fashioned".  You know, just wanting the girls to wear their best skirt & blouse to the dances.  That's how it was when I was growing up.  You know, way back in the last century.  Anyway....back to THIS day in age : )

I wouldn't personally drop a load of money on the formality of this event.  I know God knows this and finds ways to bless us abundantly in this area.  The dress Angel is wearing was bought for her by her small group leader for a mere $10.  Yeah, ten smack-a-roos!!!!  The gold dress you see her friend Danielle wearing is also Angel's.  Bought for her by her aunt, with the tags still attached for $15.  Wow!! 

Anyway, it appears my mind is very ramblish right now.  If it hadn't been a week since my last post and the need to blog about many things I'd save this & finish later.  So I'll hush and just talk about the pictures.

I helped Angel get ready for the dance.  She really did most of it herself.  I was just available to help with a few little things when she asked.  I liked being available for her.  There, but yet not in a hoovering let me smoother kind of way.  Taking what I can get when I can, because I know that not all my friends got to share in this same experience.  ((((hugs Steph))))

 Doesn't she look like a Barbie or something?

 Yeah, she's cool like that!  *giggle*

 Here she is with her friends.  Dani is wearing the gold dress on the left.  Angel had wore it for her 8th grade graduation.  She wanted to help her friend who might not otherwise be able to afford a nice dress.  I'd rather see it get more use out of it than it sit in her closet.  Kind of goes with the whole concept that I stress to my children that because we are so blessed by others we need to bless others in return.   I know that sounds like common sense, but I don't see it shown or encouraged by society very much.  That's not what today's world is all about.  Ok....rambling....hush....

 The girls didn't want to spend a bunch of money eating out or fighting the crowds so they opted to have me fix them supper.  My friend, who is also Angel's small group leader, Rikki helped me in this area.  Including taste testing a recipe she found online.  It was yummy!!!!  Yeah, the things we do for our children ; )

 I tried to make the dining room special looking for them.  Pulled out my fine china (don't even remember the last time I used them) and borrowed some fancy glasses from the church.  The girls had a great time, I'm guessing by the amount of laughter & fun they were having.  Such precious memories.



Happy 10th Birthday John!

My first baby boy is now double digits.  That puts over 1/2 of my kids in that range.  *siiiiigh*

John specifically wanted an OVERNIGHTER for his birthday.  He made that very clear.  It was NOT a slumber party or sleepover.  That was clearly what girls do.  Not this man boy.  So I gathered a couple of his friends and had his party.  I'm on the fence as to whether have boys spend the night vs. girls is better or worse or what.  On one hand we never once had any drama or crying or shrieking at the top of their lungs.  But have you ever heard 6 boys racing through a 3 story house playing war.  OH!  MY!  I finally went to bed at 11 and even though a few had fallen asleep there was a good group still up & just starting Jurassic Park 3.  Usually a late night can ensure some sleeping in the next morning.  uh.....nope.  They started stirring about 6 a.m.  I finally got out of bed at 6:30 to tell them to quiet down.  Which only lasted so long and soon we had yet another full fledged war being fought through out the house.

They were a good group of kids and it made the whole party a great experience.

Pizza, pop & chips is all these boys needed to keep them happy.  Of course it was accompanied by a lot of burping, other boys noises and "hey watch this" moments.

Remember all that cooking I did during our recent epic winter storm?  Yep, came in very handy as I didn't have to labor over hot fresh french toast that next morning.  It was all cooked up and ready for them to eat!

John never had an official birthday cake. (bad mommy moment, I know).  I just plopped some candles into his french toast and wah-la we created a special birthday moment for him.

 Boys & their guns....enough said  : )