Summer Adventure #4: Wingnuts Game

So, for some odd reason, I got it in my head that the girls need to go to a baseball game at least once in their lives. (Genetics? I don't know. I do remember the Tigers game I went to as a kid, but I really liked going to the Buzz games in college.)

Anyway, every summer as part of the library's Summer Reading Challenge they get a coupon for free tickets to one of home games for the local team's (it's the Wingnuts; they're minor league, but not a feeder team for the majors). This year we took them up on it, redeeming the coupons and buying a few tickets for cheap. Unfortunately, Caitlyn was invited to a party and Megan was exhausted, so they didn't get to go.

But Alison and Kristen did.

First, we had to stop by the bouncy thing that was set up inside the gate.

Then we made it to our seats. (As you can tell, they weren't sold out, so we had our choice of where to sit.)


Proof there was actually a game going on....

We liked the low-tech scoreboard.


And this is the t-shirt that Alison managed to beg out of the t-shirt guy (or maybe it was bother? Finagle?):

She was proud of it, even though the t-shirt guy called her rude (indirectly).

We only stayed for a few innings, but we had a good time. Maybe we'll go again. (Or maybe not...)

Adjusting, Week 2 (Or: Things We Learned

1. I do not handle getting up at 5:30 a.m. well at all. My natural body clock is from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., and I messed with it. I figured I'd get used to it, but after a week of completely shutting down at about 7 p.m., we decided that I needed to sleep in in the mornings, if only so that I can manage the younger two girls in the evening. They ran wild, and didn't get to bed until late (for them). Mom being off her schedule really affects (or is it effects?) the mood and the rhythm of the house.

2. Megan can make it on her schedule from Monday through Thursday. It's hard, it's stressful -- there's a LOT of work involved (not to mention she's actually exercising more than she's ever done between Marching Band and PE class) Then she crashes. She just hasn't been able to get out of bed on Friday mornings. We haven't made her go to Seminary yet on Friday, but it's not a good habit to have. Any ideas how to help her make it through one more day before crashing?

3. School is hard. And so is adjusting to a school schedule. We've still got residual summer habits (mostly watching too much TV and wanting to do something fun every night), but there's homework and places to go, and things that need to be done. It's so easy to forget how being busy feels.

4. Speaking of busy, I have three extra hours in my day because Kristen started her first full week of preschool. She has a great time once she's there; she has friends, she loves her teachers. But, getting her there? That's a different story. By Wednesday, she was asking "Do I have to go every day?" And you would think that having three extra hours means I'd be nice and relaxed or take a nap... but no. Aside from Tuesday, when I spent the entire day reading Mockingjay, I've been busy-busy-busy. Who knew.

I think that's it for the major adjustments. I'm sure we'll settle down. Or at least everyone's telling me that we will adjust to this. *crossing fingers* The weekend was pretty low-key. Megan had a fall sports kickoff thing she marched at on Friday night, then she came home and crashed. Caitlyn had a birthday party to go to. We took Alison and Kristen to our local minor league baseball game (free tickets courtesy of the library summer program). We arrived the bottom of the 2nd and left the top of the 7th.. (There will be pictures, but a quarter inch piece of plastic broke out of the laptop's power jack, and so now it's in the shop for the next week, being repaired. (ARGH. Not covered under warranty, either.) At any rate, I'm not downloading any pictures on our desktop because it'll completely freeze up.) Russell and I were interested -- baseball's not really that intense of a sport to follow -- and the girls just climbed around. Alison noticed that there was a guy going around getting the crowd excited and handing out free t-shirts. She decided that she wanted one, and set about following him around asking. Eventually, when he got near us, she asked, and he asked her to point out where her parents were. He shouted out: "She finally said PLEASE! After seven times!" (Then added, "Stop homeschooling!") I laughed; he was just being obnoxious. He gave Alison the t-shirt, and she came back and asked what he'd meant. Russell said, "He was making fun of you because you were being rude." Alison burst into tears. And wanted to go home. And called him the "mean t-shirt guy" the rest of the evening. Poor girl.

Yesterday I took Megan shopping (I'm just the driver these days; she used birthday money, and found some good deals on clothes). And we had the annual Friends' faculty/staff family party out at Eberly Farm. It was nice -- it's been gorgeous weather all week! -- and Russell even won a windbreaker he can use when biking to work.

Church was good today, as well, even though my shoulders are aching from too much piano playing. Which reminds me: I need to get off the computer before they totally tense up.

The Stained Glass Class

I was invited by our friend, Kelly Dumler, to attend a beginning stained glass class with her. We got to learn the basics of cutting and sautering. I really liked the pattern and cutting parts. It was a lot like sewing or quilt making. But the sautering... not so much. It was a lot of detail work, and without the wonderful bonus of frosting to make it worth while.

Still, I came home with a lovely little project. And the knowledge of how stained glass windows are made. And that's pretty cool, I think.

First Days

It's that most glorious time of year, when school starts again!

Alison and Caitlyn started last Monday (Alison got a new backpack, which she's very proud of):

And Kristen started last Friday, but I forgot to take a picture, so we took one today instead. She LOVES preschool.

Megan also started school, but is too, um, grown up for pictures.

Adjusting

First, a brief apology: this is late mostly because we dumped the three younger girls off at the Austins house so Russell and I could take Megan down to Conway Springs to get her patriarchal blessing. It was a very nice trip (well, the drive was longish and hot); the patriarch is nice, he chatted with Megan for about a half hour or so, and then he gave her the blessing (Russell and I got to listen). Three weeks and we'll have a written copy. Anyway, she took the initiative and wanted to do this. I'm glad she did.

Anyway, we stopped to pick up the kids and got stuck chatting and cooking and eating. We meant to come home sooner, but it just didn't happen. It's hard to remember to get into a fall schedule when it's 98 degrees outside...

The rest of the week was spent adjusting: to the new schedule, to a lack of sleep, to high school, to preschool, to school in general, but not to work. It made for some very cranky children, and sometimes a cranky mom, but we managed to survive the first week.

Highlights... Megan has discovered high school is, well, interesting. Aside from lugging the very heavy textbooks around, and two gifted classes, and band for 2 1/2 hours three times a week, it's... okay. There are very scary hairy seniors, but they mostly leave her alone. She spends the time running back and forth to classes (it's a rule that classes can't be right next to each other, in order to force students to get some exercise...) but seems to enjoy most of them. Science will be the most work. We've heard the most about English and social studies (those are her two gifted classes, and she really likes the teachers). Her seminar study in German is slowly getting started. She says she's not sold on marching, but seems to practice walking around in marching steps. We picked up her band uniform on Saturday, and amazingly enough, they haven't changed that much in 20+ years. And then there's early morning seminary. She likes it once she gets there, but it makes for some very tired afternoons. One day, she came home and crashed for 2 hours and still went to bed at her usual time. Poor girl. I'm sure we'll adjust. (Oh, one more thing: never, ever, ever, EVER, drive in the high school parking lot after school. It's a madhouse.)

The rest of us have had it relatively easy. Caitlyn's come home from school with stories about her teacher (it seems she's been having seizures, and she informed the class on what to do if it occurs, and it's happened about 4 times already this week. It's a major event.) and the class, and about just liking 5th grade in general. Alison has been more quiet, though she said at dinner that she's going to have to be smart this coming week because she's going to have homework. Kristen managed to have a good week alone with me -- we went to the library and playgroup and played with friends and went on outings. She didn't want to go to preschool on her first day, Friday, but I convinced her. Afterward, she was happy: "Mom, I like school!" It helps that her teacher gave her a sheet with pictures of all her new friends, and she's been looking at it ever since.

Whew.

Saturday was royally lazy. Sort of. On a whim, Caitlyn invited the Kitchen girls over and they ended up staying the whole day on Saturday because their parents went down to the temple. The older girls played, Alison pouted until she realized Kristen was okay to play with, too. Russell went to a meeting. I went to see Eat, Pray, Love with a friend (it was good; surprisingly so. I really liked the Italy section -- great scenery, good food. The rest was pretty good, too. Then again, I liked the book.). I crashed when we got home; we'd been up to midnight on Friday watching Lion in Winter (we tried it on the girls, and after about a half hour they asked if anything was going to happen. We said that it was mostly just talking. They bailed.)

And today's been good. Church was nice, the afternoon's been nice, and now I need to remind the girls that there's school tomorrow and we need to go. to. bed.

Uninspired

I can't be super creative every week. Then it would become boring. Right?

We have been more than usually lazy this week. Monday was Megan's birthday, and (because her sisters insisted) we opened presents first thing. Which meant that, aside from making frosting for her three-layer marble cake with chocolate frosting and pink roses birthday cake which was super rich and took us all week to eat which we think is a record for the family, we didn't have much to do on her birthday. We went swimming at the Y for a couple of hours. We watched movies and TV shows on Netflix. We got used to the idea of Megan being fourteen. It was a good day.

She spent the rest of the week getting used to high school. There was marching band Tuesday through Thursday (a few observations from her: 1) she misses Mr. Goter and 2) she likes band, but five hours of band every day is a bit much and 3) she likes hanging out with the trombones and wonders if she should have played trombone.). And then she started school on Friday. They do a freshman orientation (they do the same for 6th graders, but we missed it when she was in 6th grade) half day the day before everyone else goes to school. She figured out her locker, where her classes were, met all her teachers (loves the two gifted teachers, everyone else is okay), got excited about the whole school thing, though she's still a bit nervous about the "big, hairy seniors" on Monday. She says it would help if she were a few inches taller...

I also took her shopping for school clothes on Thursday (while the rest of them were off at friends houses for birthday parties). I must be getting over my inherent uncoolness, because there was only one store (instead of all of them) that I felt too old and dowdy to be in. Ah, to be a teenager again. Then again, maybe not.

Tuesday there was a Primary activity where the girls donned swimsuits and played because it was really hot out in the morning. Thursday was playgroup where the girls donned swimsuits out and played in the fountains because it was really hot out in the morning. We never made it back to the pool, and now they're closed except for weekends until Labor Day. Perhaps we should get back at least once more. Though I may be pooled out for the summer...

Wednesday, we hung out at the Austins for a while and then I got a massive headache. Heat probably, and not catching it soon enough. Either way, I was laid up for the rest of the night. Oh, and I started a stained glass class with Kelly Dumler last week. She got two gift certificates and invited me to go along (what fun!). I had a good time with the first week of class -- it's a lot like sewing: picking a pattern, making all the pieces work. And I really liked cutting the glass out (once I got over the "I'm going to break this, aren't I?" fear). But, this past week was sautering, and I'm not sold on that. It was a lot of little detail-oriented work, but wasn't that fulfilling. Then again, I never really liked the sewing part of sewing. I'm almost done with the project that came with the class; I'll stick a picture up when I get it done. I'm not going to do another project though. At the very least, now I can tell you how those nice stained glass windows were made...

Friday was our anniversary, so we threw a murder mystery party. It was fun -- we started late, and so it went a bit late, but everyone seemed to have a good time. I got a bummer of a part, so it wasn't as silly for me as it could have been. But the everyone else seemed to have a lot of fun. I made a yummy trifle (I should make those more often!), and Russell realized that he could get costumes (or at least components of costumes) from the Frriends theater department. Next time, we're both raiding the costume closet!

The rest of the weekend's been lazy. Yesterday was just the minimal Saturday work, though we had a barbecue at a friend's house last night. Russell spent the day reading the Percy Jackson series (he's nearly done with the third book), which inspired Megan to pick up the books, too. I'm sure something else happened, but I really don't know what.

And today's been fine. I've been down with low energy (possibly related to donating blood on Friday, I just realized) again today (I was yesterday, too), and the girls have been chomping at the bit: they want it to be tomorrow! (Any bets on how long it'll take them to want a vacation?)

Friday the 13th

Since we got married on Friday the 13th, we feel a need to celebrate every time one comes around. Doubly so when our anniversary actually falls on Friday, as it did this year. Sure, we could have done something romantic (*snicker*) or gone out on a date (to a movie?), but instead we decided to throw a murder mystery party. It just seemed like it was fitting.

Because the party was set in an English manor, I decided to make a trifle.

And finally used those crystal dishes that we got for our wedding. About time (and quite fitting), isn't it?

I was a mystery writer...

Russell was the illegitimate son of the dead guy (he raided the costume stash in the theater department at Friends; why did we not think of this before?!?).


And this was everyone who came (half dressed up, half didn't...)


It was a fun evening.

And the next morning, Alison discovered the costume stuff laying around, she decided she *had* to dress up.

Wow, 14 Already??

Monday was Megan's 14th (eep!) birthday. We celebrated in style, first thing when we got up... (mostly because Alison and Kristen insisted.)


Her favorite present...

Because it kind of looks like this coat that Beckett wore in an episode Castle.

Then she opened the rest -- it was mostly envelopes with gift cards and money -- but her sisters got her an actual present (which they picked out and paid for themselves):



She requested a marble layer cake (we made three layers; I'm sorry we didn't get a picture of the inside...) with chocolate frosting (which she made herself) and pink roses.

We did wait until after dinner (and swimming at the Y for a

She's such a beautiful young women. (And now... high school!)

The August Blues

(feel free to sing along...)

Up at six in the mornin'
And it's almost 90 out
Should get something done
But all we do is lay about

The kids are all fightin',
Too bored to play right.
Watch TV all day
And stay up all night.

But you know, yeah,
It happens every year
When we get the August Blues (the August Bluuuuessss....)

Go swim at the pool
But the water's too hot
Not refreshing at all
We just soak and sweat a lot

Try swimming at night
Have a much better time
Slides, dives and friends
And no standing in line!

But you know, yeah,
It happens every year
When we get the August Blues (the August Bluuuuessss....)

There's nothin' goin' on
Though the house got clean
And we bought presents
For when Megan turns fourteen

The garden's survivin'
This oppressive heat
Cucumbers and tomatoes:
Something good to eat

But you know, yeah,
It happens every year
When we get the August Blues

But you know, yeah,
It happens every year
When we get the August Blues (the August Bluuuuessss....)

The Dog Days of Summer

And what keeps us occupied.

It's a Proven Fact

that heat drains one of one's memory, which is why I can't remember anything from the last week. Right?

It's time for summer to be over. (Thankfully, school registration started this week -- Megan got her schedule, yay! -- and there's only two more weeks until they go back. It can't come soon enough.)

We did go see the Yo-yo Spin Master (whatever his name is) on Monday. He came through about three years ago, and I remember being really impressed. Not so much this time, though Kristen danced up a storm in the back and Alison liked it a lot. He's been touring for years (ever since he won the world championships in 2002), and I'm not sure he's changed his act in all that time. And he seemed a little rusty. That said, he's still way more awesome than I am with a yo-yo, so I'm just nitpicking.

The rest of the week was spent doing usual stuff: pool a couple of times, watching too much TV (because it's cool in the basement), playing games, library, play dates, work (Russell's second workshop was this week), canning, trying not to spend too much money (and failing miserably; all the free stuff is outside!).

Russell took the girls camping Friday night for the ward campout (because he's going to be gone at conferences back-to-back weekends in September, and so he was being nice and giving me a night without kids). It was hot, muggy (for Kansas, anyway), but the kids had fun. They didn't sleep, though, so everyone came home, showered, and then crashed. Which made everyone cranky Saturday afternoon.(Or maybe that was the heat?) I hung out with our friend Sarah, watching Merry Wives of Windsor (yep: still an absolutely ridiculous play!), eating gelato, and talking until 12:30 a.m. (Why not?) I didn't sleep in, though... which probably was why I was cranky.

Today's been... hot? (Is that getting old yet? It's been three weeks of "it's hot here; we're not doing much". Sorry. Give it a couple more weeks, and my tune will change. Either that, or just plug your ears.) Church was fine -- Kristen's going through an "I HATE SUNDAY" phase (been that way all summer), so getting her up and moving Sunday mornings is REALLY tough. Today, it took digging a "new" dress out of the hand-me-down boxes. Anyway. The meetings were nice (Elisha and Naaman in Sunday School and Strengthening the Family in Relief Society), but we've been like limp Dali watches ever since.

I can't wait for fall....