How We Pass the Time

Tomorrow will be Snow Day #7, making for an 11-day weekend. We’ve been out on the icy roads once in the last eight days. There’s been a little bit of outdoor play/work every day, but mostly, we’ve been holed up in the part of our homestead that’s NOT -20 degrees--the house. Here’s what we’ve been up do within these four walls:

Tobi:

• sleeping in
• facebook stalking people catching up with family and friends
• Pinning every remotely creative idea known to man
• blogging a little
• blog reading a lot
• prepping vocab cards and unit intro slide shows for the rest of the school year so I survive track season without having a nervous breakdown and/or killing someone
• finding awesome ideas to use in my classroom
• playing board games with the boys (and, before he knew better, Ryan)
• cleaning parts of the house and growling when I realize it’s futile
• organized the pantry
• marveling at how many dishes and articles of clothing we dirty in a day
• writing menu plans and finding new recipes to try; then forgetting to feed my family until 1:00 (lunch) and 7:00 (supper)

Ryan:

• sleeping in
• researching ways to spend all our money on trucks
• writing track workout schedules (we start practice in less than a week!)
• playing Spades on his phone
• yelling at his imaginary Spades partners (or opponents--not really sure), Julie, who always “goes set” and Bob, who’s an idiot
• wrestling so hard with the boys that they have whelps and beard rash
• reading
• finishing the entire series of Friday Night Lights

Munchkins:

• waking up in the wee hours of the morning to watch TV, burn up their technology minutes, and eat 17 breakfasts before they ask mom to make them three more
• talking in weird voices and/or screaming bloody murder all day long
• building a Lego city
• begging Mom to play Heroica with them (the official game, not their made-up version, which I've learned actually wasn't that far from the real game)
• being poor sports when they lose to the ultimate Heroine
• taking “victory laps” around the house, each with a different theme (crab walk, tiger, skip, backwards) after they beat the timer to pick up toys
• simultaneously making similar sound effects (I’m not fluent enough in onomatopoeia to spell these sounds) even while they're all in their own little separate toy worlds
• turning our pillows into potato sacks for a hop race around the house
• begging for more chapters of their latest Wings of Fire books
• having a spank-your-butt-more-times-than-you-spank-mine contest with Mom
• asking to eat all the food, all the time
• pestering each other
• fighting like cats and dogs
• spending a fair amount of time in the time-out chair
• Limbo-ing under a battle axe wedged between hall walls
• inventing new games to destroy the house entertain themselves
• getting whooped up on by Daddy

We may be going a bit stir crazy, and we may be beating the tar out of each other with battle axes, but there’s still time for a few sweet moments. Tonight, Reed and Calvin had were playing some kind of roll-y ball soccer game they’d invented. Max was perched on a stool checking out the situation.

M: Reed, you look awesome! (goes over to awesome-looking brother and hugs him)

R: (to Mom, with a knowing look) Ee’s-hay ying-tray o-tay ind-fay any-hay eason-ray o-tay ive-gay e-may a-hay ug-hay. (translation for those nonfluent in Pig Latin: “He’s trying to find any reason to give me a hug.”)

M: (with a big, sweet smile) Mom, I gave Reed a hug-hay!

Math Facts Fun

In an effort to ease my guilt over spending a ridiculous amount of time on Pinterest engage my children in fun and educational activities, I made a few math games. These will become new math facts centers for my classroom, but I had to run them by my favorite third grade guinea pig first. Of course the first grade mathematician and Tag-along Terry wanted to play, too.

Math Fact Jenga:

For this building game, I just wrote math facts on dot stickers and stuck them on our Jenga blocks. To keep the focus on the math facts, I let them touch any blocks to help stabilize the pile while they removed a block. Max got to take blocks off the top of the stack, but the rest of us had to take from any layer but the top. Max read his math problems (he’s learned to identify his numbers just from “helping” Reed study math facts this year). The other two boys solved Max’s equations. This game was more Calvin’s speed than a lot of the games we've played so far, because it wasn’t a race. He had time to calculate the answers and I could help him, if necessary. Almost every game ended in a tie, which is a whole lot less drama than I'm used to!

Use Your Head:

Two people drew a card and held it on their forehead without looking. The third person was the “caller,” who said the product (actually, we went with sums to be fair to Calvin, who knows his addition facts). The first person to look at the visible card and calculate what must be on their forehead won the round. I made a rule that if your first answer was incorrect, the other person got to answer before you had a chance to correct yourself. This kept certain shouty guessers from having an advantage. The winner of the round stayed in for the next round, when the loser and the caller traded places. Max held cards to his head for grins and giggles and got to be the caller when I would whisper sums in his ear.

Multiple Hop:

The first game was inspired by this. I cut an old sheet into four large squares of fabric with pinking sheers. I used crayon to divide each piece into three 1 ft x 1 ft sections (I used our kitchen floor tiles as a rough guide--nothing fancy). Then I labeled each section with a multiples of a certain number. I chose to make a mat for 6s, 7s, 8s, and 9s, since these are the math facts most of my students have the hardest time learning. 

Multiples of 6

On the back, I used hot glue to “label” which factor the mat was made for. The hot glue will provide a non-stick surface to keep the mat from sliding. 

To play, a caller will flip a flash card or call out a multiplication problem. The jumper will jump to the correct answer. Being super-competitive, the boys turned it into a race. Calvin had a cheat sheet made by Mom to level the playing field. Max just played freestyle, jumping wherever he felt like. I called out “7x9” and the boys raced to be the first to jump to 63. 

Apparently, if I decide to let the students do it competition style like we did, I'll need to cover a few simple rules:

• You may not play hopscotch all over the board.
• You may not push your opponent down to the ground if you think they are going to reach the product before you are.
• You may not throw yourself down on the mat, forming your body in the shape of a large “X” so that you cover five of the nine answer choices.
• You may not deliberately jump on top of an opponent’s feet.
• You may not shriek in a high-pitched voice, “That’s not fair! He’s trying to beat me ON PURPOSE!”
• You must not show up in your pajamas, shirtless.

Family Game Night

It’s been getting a little hairy up in here lately. As much as I’m loving the break these snow days bring that allow our family to slow down and spend some quality time together, there’s been a little TOO much family togetherness lately. Today was Ash wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Ryan gave up caffeine and spent the day in withdrawal mode. I gave up sweets and felt like the huge tub of Valentine candy on the counter was taunting me all day. The boys have been out to play in the snow daily, but never long enough to burn all of their pent up energy. And there’s still a good foot of snow on the ground, so we won’t be going anywhere soon. So rather than listen to the boys wrestle and break things for another night, I decided we should play a family game instead. 

We pulled out Scooby Doo Mystery Mine and got ready for an evening of family fun. The game has the members of Mystery Inc. climbing precariously up a mine shaft in search of clues. The goal is to get to the top of the mine and name the guilty suspect.  Every once in a while a mine car is released and you risk getting knocked off of certain danger spots on the track. Or, you might get lucky when the mine car gets stuck and you’re safe. 

Unless an overzealous Scooby shoves the mine car down the rest of the track just for grins and giggles. Then we all had to reset all the game pieces again. And again every time a super-coordinated Shaggy would try to squeeze himself past Velma and send the whole mine teetering. And again every. single. time. someone would bump into the coffee table and knock all the members off the track. Velma was getting a bit perturbed only halfway through solving the case. “She” even had to walk away to calm down at one point. Daphne started out frustrated, but eventually had to give up and just laugh and try to take pictures of the craziness for her blog. 

Even after passing a strict “DO NOT TOUCH THE COFFEE TABLE!” rule, the gang plummeted from the mine shaft at least a half a dozen more times. Fred, Scooby, and Shaggy thought the game was awesome and wanted to try to solve a new mystery. But both of the Mystery Inc. “girls” agreed that they will probably never be playing that game again. Zoinks!

Romance Is...

Romance Is…

...An early gift--made by two high school chemistry students on behalf of your husband (but with a sweet note inside written just by him)

...Spending Valentine’s Day playing dodgeball for a high school fundraiser.

...Going out to a quiet lunch at a Hibachi grill. In your sweats. With five other adults. And all of your/their children.

...Watching basketball, playing air hockey, shooting hoops, and testing out an elliptical.

...Getting home after dark and going for a moonlit stroll together. To load a wheelbarrow with firewood for the night and wrestle it back to the house.

...Falling asleep watching a movie together.

...Waking up early before church for another jaunt to the clearing to load the truck up with wood for the upcoming storm. Then making yet another trip after church when the forecast sounds like it’s about to get real.

...Not doing lesson plans, instead staying up super late to wait for the snow to start.

...Sleeping with the outside light on and waking up every hour or so to watch the flakes fall.

...Waking up to a foot of snow and the sweet promise of a week at home together!

Summer "Break" So Far

Whew! I'm not sure where our first four weeks of summer went, but they're gone. Here's a peek at what we've been up to:

- Ryan (with help of secretary Tobi) coordinates a first-ever fundraiser for his Cross Country team - a Dash of Color 5K and mile race.

collage and photos by Karen Belcher

photo by ESP (Eric Shrum Photography)

photo by ESP

photo by ESP

photo by ESP

photo by ESP

- Bigguns start summer school at their new district! This requires two trips to town a day - one at 6:45 a.m. Luckily, it still gets good ratings!
- Ryan and Tobi start and coach a club track team, requiring four practices a week, four weekend meets, ordering equipment, begging hurdles off of a high school, lots of paper work, and tons of tracking down teenagers to try to keep everything going!

- Ballplaying four nights a week. Daddy coached Cal's T-ball and Reed's parent pitch teams. Two weeks of rain required an upgrade in our texting plan, due to all the "Is the game cancelled?" conversations.

Thank you, Sherry Long, for taking photos. I've been a major slacker!

- Max tags along to almost every game and practice and we try to keep him happy (which is not easy when every time he tries to race a runner they "beated" him!)
- We babysit our two-year-old niece during her Daddy's work times for a week. I still can't do piggies.
- Two bouts of sickness.
- Minimum of 16 trips to town (20 mn one way) per week
- Trip to Kansas to visit family. A great time by all!

-  Usually-nine-hour drive home from Kansas with frequent pit stops for a child with diarrhea.



Did we overcommit? Probably. But we survived, and, after one more week of ball and track, July looks free and clear!

Full

Why my weekend rocked:

1) Decorating

I got to help decorate for Ryan's school's (soon to be mine, too) prom. The coordinator bedazzled that ballroom like a champ! She has only sons and it gave me hope that I may never get to help plan a wedding, but I could be a prom mom and still get in on some big, fancy events (and not on my own dime!)  The boys "helped" too - moving balloons from air compressor to dance floor - and then all over the entire place, including under tables and chairs.

2) Color Run

I ran my first 5k! My sister-in-law, Rachel, and I had signed up on a team with some of her friends. Rachel invited me to join a fitness motivation facebook group she was in, and it's been really inspiring. We've done plank and squat challenges and shared recipes and then a few decided to try out this Color Run.  I've never had good endurance, and I totally hadn't trained for it - just went on a couple jogs a week and tried to run a minute longer each time. But, I figured it couldn't be too serious, if the participants were willing to be accosted with colored chalk multiple times throughout the race (and wear tutus, which approximately 50% did). Then, the night before, I dreamed that I busted out the 3.1 miles in 22 minutes.  Then dream Ryan yelled at me and I cried.  

I went there hoping to a) run as much of it as possible, b) not look a fool. I ended up running all but the three steps I walked by the water station! I was slow, but that was the longest I've ever run without stopping - both time and distance. And I even got to re-live a tiny bit of my competitive athletic career when two 50-something ladies thought they were gonna pace on me and pass me just before the finish. When they passed me early in the "race" (I use that term very loosely) I thought to myself, "Dang! I just got passed by two old ladies!" Soon, they slowed down to a walk, and I thought, "Ha! Ha! Nice try old farts! Slow and steady wins the race." As soon as I passed them, they started jogging again. This happened the whole race. At first I thought it was just a coincidence, but the fact that it happened seconds after every time I passed made me suspicious. Then, when I was jogging right by them and spied a shortcut, I joked, "Think anyone would notice if I snuck through there?" I didn't get an amused chuckle. Just a dirty look. From then on, it was on. "On," meaning that I hoped they wouldn't run faster than me and every time they passed me I called them mean names in my head and every time I passed them, I mentally trashed talked them. When we were in the last couple of blocks, they were behind me, and I thought they were getting close. I picked up the pace from dog turd slow to a snail crawl. Then I heard someone say, "Come on!" That made me step it up to turtle mode. Pretty soon, I heard the disappointed "Ahh!" of defeat and I finished my glorious approach to the finish line, victorious. Grannies everywhere, fear me.

3) I had "people" all day Saturday

By "people," I mean a personal stylist and nanny and chef and chauffeur. My sister and her hubs watched the boys all day, hauled Ryan and me around town, grilled us a yummy lunch, and yelled, "We love you!" at me when I panted by them toward the finish line (ok, that mightta just been my sister). Then, after I scrubbed the rainbow off of my body all over her shower, she offered (or, rather, begged) to help me do my make-up and hair for prom. I felt like a diva all day--even though my stylist told me that only old ladies use hot rollers. Maybe old ladies who kick other old ladies' butts in super-competitive sporting events.

4) High School Prom

Ryan was a Junior class sponsor this year, so we did a little reliving of the good ol' days at the high school prom. It was actually really fun, especially knowing the next prom I attend with Ryan will be for "our kids."

5) Sunday

Super relaxing day of rest with family fun, which we've been short on lately. Reed, who wants to train for next year's Color Run, went on a short jog with me. Then Calvin and I made a homemade bow and arrow. Then, we had a strawberry and banana "shake" that's completely lent friendly, followed that evening by brinner (waffles and bacon) and jalepeno poppers (recipes below).

I love my life!

...And then, we ended the night with this little gem:

Mom: Max, you need to get your toothbrush and bring it to Mom or Dad.
Max: I'm picking up. (which, to his credit, is rare and shocking)
Mom: No... I said you need to brush your teeth.
Max: (casually) I can do whatever I want.
Dad: (quietly) hee hee hee
Mom: Come here. Look at me. No, look at me (etc., etc., etc.) You are NOT the boss.
Max: I'm the son of the boss!

---------------------------------------------------------------

Strawberry Banana "Shake"

chopped-up-then-frozen bananas
chopped up strawberries

- Put strawberries in bottom, then frozen banana slices.
- Blend until smooth and creamy.

(In a week, I'll be making this with peanut butter and cocoa powder instead of strawberries. Heaven!)

Easy Jalepeno Poppers

jalepenos, sliced in half and de-seeded
1 pkg cream cheese, softened
6 slices of bacon, crumbled
1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

- Mix bacon and cheddar into cream cheese (my sister-in-law's brilliant idea--waaaay easier than wrapping them in bacon).
- Smear mixture into each jalepeno half.
- Bake on cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Three

Ok, this is super late but I have to write it down just for my own sake. Because someday (probably soon, given my memory), I'm going to forget what Max was like at this age. And he's stinkin' cute, so it needs to be preserved.

Max turned three a few weeks ago. Here's what little man has been up to lately:

- He bounces everywhere he goes, usually narrating his actions.
- He cries -- and, thankfully, dries it up -- very quickly.  A typical (and very exhausting) conversation goes like this:
       Mom: Do you want to juice up your toothbrush, or do you want me to?
       Max:  Wah wah! I want to go potty first!
       Mom: Then what do you say?
       Max: (in chipper voice) Can I please go potty first?
       Mom: Sure!
       Max: Ok! I'm going to go potty and den brush my teeth. Wah wah! I want to juice my toothbrush!
- He's coined a new phrase: "Tada Moose." We really have no idea where it came from or what it means, but he uses it frequently in a variety of unrelated ways.
- He does this thing with his cheeks/lips/eyes when he gets happy-serious that I can't explain or impersonate (or catch on camera, dangit) that is absolutely adorable and makes him seem so grown up.
- He loves starting pretend sword fights and wrestling matches, but he hates it when his brothers fight back. He'll come crying to me for protection, then go right back to picking another battle.
- He doesn't usually like main dishes. He takes for-e-ver to finish a meal, but insist on finishing it (usually) if dessert is being served.
- He still sits down to pee.
- Every night, he pretends like he doesn't want a good night hug and kiss, expects me to fake cry about it, then relents. Then he insists on a regular hug and kiss followed by a bonus and then Tada Moose hug and kiss.

We had his birthday party last weekend. It was a gorgeous sixty degree day, so in true redneck fashion, we did what we did at his two-year birthday party: we shot skeet. Max shot a bb gun for the first time. Reed and Calvin shot a shotgun. My babies are growing up! Wah wah!

Snow Day Surprise

On snow day #20 (I learned the official count last night), we decided to get the heck outta Dodge! We told the boys we had a surprise for them. Of course the pestering was incessant, but it was kind of fun driving them nuts! We decided to eat at McD's to save time and, since we were spending gift cards for the meal, we let them get Happy Meals. Reed asked, "Is this the surprise?"

This is a rare treat, as we are usually dolla menu kinda tightwads, but, no, that wasn't the surprise. Then, we headed to the big city. At this point, we asked the boys for their guesses. Reed thought we were going to Le Bounce (a bounce house heaven). Max had no idea what was going on, he was just along for the ride. Calvin decided someone had a "whole bunch of Legos and they're gonna give them to us for free." Sorry, bud, but you're closer than you might think...

We were going to THE LEGO MOVIE! But first, we passed up the theater to get candy. The surprise? No, but I was starting to think we could sure get off cheap with our surprises if all they were expecting was Happy Meals and candy...and a bunch of Legos. Ok, maybe not. Legos are most certainly NOT cheap! When we turned around from the candy joint and headed back toward the theater, the boys figured out that we were going to a movie, and they were excited. But they thought they were going to see Frozen, which their aunt and uncle had taken them to see recently (and then kept them overnight - HALLELUJAH!) It wasn't until I purchased the tickets that they knew what they were in for. I had hoped for a great response, and I wasn't disappointed. "Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you!!" Reed proclaimed. Calvin made similar exclamations. Max was giddy, and kept bouncing around while we made our pre-movie drainage trip to the bathroom. When I showed him to a stall, he said, "You give me some privacy," and loudly added, "and den we're gonna see the LEgo Movie!"

The movie was adorable. Since we practically live in Lego Land, Ryan and I got a kick out of several of the little "inside" jokes. The two bigs were so into the movie, they hardly touched the candy. Max and I totally made up for them in that department.

After the show, Reed said, "Thaaank you, Mom and Dad! How can we ever repay you?" I totally should've taken advantage of that question, but their reactions were payment enough.

Jocks and Nerds

We're on snow day # - Oh! Who am I kidding? I've literally lost count. And if what the boys did on the grass today is any indication of slickness of the roads, we aren't going anywhere for a while. So how do you pass the time with a houseful of rowdy boys? (Besides playing the most complicated board game ever?) Well, if you're Ryan, you resurrect P.E. Here was today's line up:

Upside-down sit-ups:

Push-up position hold contest:

(Some lasted longer than others)

Resistance band work-out:

It was this point that Ryan wished he would've required protective gear - for himself. It's all fun and games 'till someone gets hit in the sweet spot. 

After supper, the Layton Olympics took a more academic turn, with math races.

The winner of each round (and Max - and the loser, if he snuck off fast enough) got to take a victory lap.

We rounded out the evening with family Zumba and our post-Zumba treat: strawberry puppy chow!

I say bring on the snow! I'm loving the together time with my little mathletes!

Epic Board Game

Today was yet another super-relaxing snow day. And the fact that I'm blogging at 3 a.m. should be an indicator that I'm in for another day off tomorrow. So why does my head hurt?

Probably from playing this game with my two oldest.

Game name: Heroica (apparently after a real game)

Set up:
- Make tiny player guys (2 per player) and bad guys (a bunch). Arm each with a sweet Lego weapon.
- Make "hero packs" for each player. This can be any kind of device, but keep in mind its purpose is to hold loot. Weapon hooks and bowls to collect jewels (and cats) are highly encouraged.

Someone is optimistic with his hero pack construction

- Attach two large Lego base plates together, then cover with a buttload of random Lego pieces and bad guys.

Rules:
Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure these rules were mostly made up as we went along, but the boys must have some sort of secret language, because they were able to explain each decree in tandem, complete with laughing at me for not understanding the logic.  Also, be warned that the complexity of this game rivals that of the games my brother introduces my family to every Christmas - the games that take an entire week of playing and discussing among nine adults to begin to fathom.

- Each player takes a turn moving one of their two player pieces. A basic turn consists of rolling dice (or "accepting the offer" of the dice thrown across the room from a neighbor if you like what it landed on) and moving that many Lego dots in any direction. Or you can jump over objects, but not too far. Or you can shoot stuff or buy stuff or trade stuff or blow stuff up, but you don't necessarily have to do it during your turn.
- When you come upon a random item on the board, you get it or fight it, or jump over it, or go through it. Items include:

These items are actually all pictured in the best hero pack of all. Note the game-winning (or not) reachy thingie near the bottom. 

-- food - for energy; You have to have, like, at least two. What happens if you have less than two, you may ask if you've been playing the last 10 rounds with only a banana? "That means that in a matter of time, one of your guys will have to leave," says game master Reed.
-- bad guys - roll the dice. If you get a 4, 5, or 6, you win and get to remove the bad guy from play and keep his weapon. Anything less than four results in moving back one space. There is one ultimate bad guy who has to be beat three times in a row.
--weapons - to add to your hero pack; seemingly useless, until the rule masters reveal halfway through the game that you can use guns or bows to shoot things. They may be used eight times and you may shoot at any bad guy five spaces away (except the ultimate bad guy) or at any item you want anywhere on the board. A hit results in getting that item for your hero pack. (Hint: Don't shoot lava. You don't get lava. And don't ask why, or you'll get this face.)
-- binoculars - can be traded for energy or used to make you see bad guys from farther away (which provides no advantage, btw)
-- jewels and money - to buy stuff at random times for random prices; or they could be ammo, cleverly disguised as emeralds. In this case, you will be mocked for not knowing the difference - or knowing that you could have been shooting things with your cross bow up to eight times.
-- pets - add them to your hero pack; Use them up to three times to move an extra six spaces.
-- dynamite - blow up stuff and keep it; Use it, like, three times.
-- reachy thing - use this long item to possess anything within it's range; Unlimited use.
-- obstacles - lava, fences, etc may be jumped over; doors may be opened if you first possess the key by beating the bad guy who guards it
-- trophies - for bragging rights - and to hold your jewels/ammo

Winning the game:
- The player who kills the final bad guy by rolling three successive rolls greater than three, wins...
- ...the chance to get the map. The player who acquires the map, wins...
- ... the chance to race to the pole that just got added to the game board by the battle winner who got beat to the map by another player who cleverly used her reachy thing to capture it first. The player who gets to the pole first, slides down it and claims victory, which results in an arm-wrestling competition to distract the sore loser, who may or may not have won before the pole element was added to the game.

Confused? So was I. But I'm not outlawing the game until blood is shed. That sucker kept them entertained half the day. I was only in on one round, then found convenient excuses to bow out of future sessions. My last distraction was inviting them to participate in a whole-family Zumba  party. Everyone, even Daddy, joined in the 20-minute series of routines. But that is a post of its own...