The Wednesday News, August 25, 2010

Malcolm as Swamp Bite!  Art by Lillian

Rain, rain and more rain!  I am one of those people who LIKE rain.  http://somanykidssomuchfun.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-favorite-saturday.html  It's fun to do rainy day things like reading, puzzles, crafts and drawing.

Of course, not having the opportunity for my kids to get exercise outside does get old.  We're onto Day 4.  Andy has been playing football in the rain (what troopers these kids and coaches are!), but the rest of the time the boys are wrestling, jumping, yelling and bickering!  Lilly has channeled her energy into writing a comic book, painting her brothers' faces (see photos for examples of her work) and having playdates with friends.  Overall, we're surviving and the weather folks have promised some drier weather for the rest of the week!  Hey, maybe we can even go to the beach!

Harry, the Last Airbender

Dad

I can't remember if we ever had Dad go first on The Wednesday News!  Dad's had a pretty run-of-the-mill week this week.  Commute to work, work, come meet us at football practice, arrive home for the first time all day, help me feed the kids a second dinner and then crash from exhaustion along with the rest of us.

Dad volunteered to stand out in the rain with Andy during his first football game this past Sunday while the rest of us enjoyed the shelter of the mall and the car.  I was in charge of driving to fetch dry clothes for the two of them (I know, I should have thought of that before we left but I really thought it was going to stop raining).  On the way back to the game, I treated the other 3 kids to a special snack at the mall as a reward for getting dragged all over creation.  (The event was about 45 minutes from here!)

We had a lot of family time this weekend!  Ironically, even though it wasn't raining on Saturday, we went to an indoor arcade/playplace.  Dad, apparently, is a whiz at the video version of "Deal or No Deal"!  He had a good plan.  Have the kids go through their tokens, next have them play at the indoor playground (this place has rides and everything!), then have a snack, get a few more tokens and then go HOME!  That way we avoid going broke and having bored kids on our hands.  We got to eat out on the way home which was a lot of fun too!

Andy

I thought it was fitting to have Andy's name written in his football colors since that's the name of the game this week/month!  Andy is really getting into it!  He's been looking for our local NFL team on TV at every opporunity and been arranging pickup games with his brothers.  However, because of the rain, he's been forced to do it indoors and I will not allow it.  So whenever I hear, "Hike!"  I gotta shut it down.  Sorry, dude!

His first game was kind of special since there were a bunch of teams from the area playing.  We came and rescued the drenched Dad and fullback and then we went out for lunch.  It's a rare treat eating out so much so we (almost) didn't mind that there was only one waitress on.  I guess the rest of the staff must have melted with all of the rain.

We were kind to her, but it was really hard to wait so long for our drinks, our food, our SILVERWARE and our check...

Tonight's practice should be wet too, but at least the rain seems to have stopped finally.

Lilly

Lilly has the biggest news this week: SHE HAS QUIT KARATE!  Ever since she was about to start the advanced class and all during the advanced class, she has been miserable.  We kept her going, however, because she had been getting closer and closer to her black belt.

Well, she's been at one belt below her black since March 2009.  There was a black belt test coming up again in September.  I, as I had before many times, talked to the Senseis (her karate instructors) and it was the same story.  She was only doing 2 out of the 3 necessary skills well enough to test for black belt.  Now, it's not that she CAN'T do the third skill, which is her form, with intensity.  She just doesn't want to.  Her kickboxing and self-defense are all set for the test.

She has been saying all of this time that she simply does not want to look like "an idiot" yelling as she carries out her moves ("Hi-YAH!") and punching the air hard as is required.  We finally came to a decision.  She has gone as far as she can in martial arts at this time.  There is nothing else her Senseis can do at this point.  It's up to her and she just won't do it.

We even offered her a cell phone if she would just "bring it" to class, test and be DONE this September.  We had been talking about getting her one with a LOT of restrictions anyway.  She said that even the best phone in the whole world wouldn't convince her to do what it takes.  She has been told in the 18 or so months since she got her red III belt (the one right below black) that she could not pursue other activities of interest like swim team, skateboarding lessons, dancing, etc. until the black belt was completed because she was SO close.  However, enough is enough.  She has held to the commitment for a long time and it's time to stop.  She said herself that she may want to go back and finish it at some point.  Either way, we're very proud of how hard she tried.

She has a new happiness since the decision.  Lilly was getting to the point that she dreaded the entire days that she had class.  Now, she is happily illustrating and writing chapter after chapter in her comic book and painting her brothers' faces!  Glad to have her back!

Mom

As much as I love having my kids home and we've had a fantastic summer, I am ready for the kids to go back to school next week.  Everyone is excited!

It was my turn to hang out at Andy's soggy practice last night.  I had brought everyone like I normally do, but this time, I dropped him off, brought the other 3 home and when Dave came home from work, went back with a towel and dry clothes.  I waited in the warm car (lucky me!) for the opportunity to nurture my post-practice, waterlogged, miserable boy.  It was a great Mommy moment!

I went to the gym last Friday and tried to do some of the same free weight exercises that my neighbor taught me the week before when we worked out together.  My legs didn't hurt nearly as much as they did the day after I trained with her so I mustn't have pushed myself enough!  I'm planning to go A LOT when school starts.  I'm still waiting to do one more bloodtest that my doctor ordered.  I'm convinced that all I need to lick the fatigue is to eat less and move more.  I've been dieting, but to no avail, which is not normal for me.  I'm just going to have to keep trying I guess!

Here are some photos from our blueberry picking trip last week!  http://somanykidssomuchfun.blogspot.com/2010/08/wednesday-news-august-18-2010.html  Look at how big they are!  They're delicious and they just fell off the branch into our hands!

Malcolm looking for his next picking spot.  So many to choose from!  One of the friends we went with had the forethought to bring along fabric strips so we could all tie the buckets around our necks and pick hands-free!  BRILLIANT!

Andy and Lilly in the bushes.  Where did Harry go?  Hope he's not off snacking!  Tsk, tsk...Nope!  I see him behind Andy!  What was it, yellow shirt day?

Harry

Harry and Malcolm are about to embark on an adventure...first grade!  Not only will they be going to school for the WHOLE day this year for the first time, they will also have their very own teachers!  Even though they were separated in preschool and kindergarten, they had some of the same teachers overlap AND they ALWAYS had the same activities and homework.  Both boys are excited and anxious at the same time.

Malcolm

 Malcolm showed initiative with the facepaint himself.  Lilly went off on a daytrip with a friend this morning suddenly.  She was able to do Harry up in all-red (including his eyelids and ears!) but ran out of time to do Malcolm's face.  He then did his own. 

Unfortunately, neither of these latest faces lasted long enough for a picture.  I think the red eyelids were bothering Harry and after he washed his off, Malcolm didn't want to be the only one with "a face on" so he followed suit.