Sometimes I feel guilty about my son's lack of friends. Okay, by sometimes I mean most of the time. I hate that I have no idea who he likes to hang out with. Luckily we have family. Josh loves his cousins. He and Olivia are best friends and he has asked me (through signing) multiple times if we can adopt Trevor to be his big brother. This is the only thing that staves off terrible guilt. Each year at the end of school I ask the teacher which kids he enjoys spending time with and I try to talk their mother into play dates. This has never once worked. Maybe I am doing it wrong.
I am always shocked at the number of kids that shout their hellos to Josh while we are out in the town. During parades, at the store, in the mall, on the street, all the time I hear, "Hi Josh! Hi!" repeated as Josh usually smiles and completely ignores the yelling child and keeps walking. I try to make him stop and say hi. This is always an odd situation because I know the kid isn't from his regular class (maybe from his integrated class) but I don't know the relationship. Does this kid play with my son? Do they say hi in the school halls? Do they only say hi when the other kids aren't around? I have no idea how he feels about them. Here are two situations on two ends of the spectrum. Sadly, because I don't see him with many kids other than family, I don't have much to go off of and these are a couple of the handful I have had.
We are coming to the Fourth of July celebration for our neighborhood. If you remember, this was a wonderful day for us overall, but as we arrived, a little girl in Josh's Primary class said, "Oh no! There's Josh. Let's hide from him." She ran and hid from him with a couple of other kids. The rest of the kids just ignored him completely. Of course, Josh just ignored them as well.
But compared with this:
We went swimming the last day of the summer. Josh and I were swimming in the lazy river (his favorite) when we heard a little voice calling his name. It was a boy maybe a year older than Josh. "Hi Josh! I saw you at the parade too!" Eye contact, smile, equality. He said goodbye and swam off but he either smiled or said hi when we ran into him. After noon I told Josh I needed a break and I would watch him go around the lazy river. Truly I didn't need a break but I felt the need to not be the helicopter mom that won't allow her son to swim without being 2 feet away. As he went around the river, the boy came up to him again. I couldn't hear what he was saying but they were both smiling. As they went around the corner, the boy reached out and grabbed Josh's life vest. My heart jumped not understanding what he was doing. The boy pulled Josh closer and put his arm around him so they wouldn't lose each other around the corner. I cried as I saw them laugh and talk together. This lasted about 5 minutes. I found his mother and thanked her for her son explaining a little of the situation. She seemed a little uncomfortable but whatever, I hope that she can later think of it and know how amazing that was for me and how proud she should be of her son.
Now I have to figure out how to get more of the second example and lessen the first. All I can say is thank goodness for family. Built in friends and the best company we could ask for. If only Mandie lived closer...
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Josh's 7th birthday party
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, that was the theme, and I have to say I was pretty darn excited. I have loved the Ninja Turtles ever since I was 3 or 4. So planning this party was like a dream come true. I may have been priming Josh for this for some time now. We watch the new Ninja Turtle TV show together, I bought him the four movies for Christmas along with all four of the action figures, and all of the original seasons on DVD. When he asked for another super hero party I gently nudged to just do Ninja Turtles and what-do-ya-know? He said yes!
On the morning of this party I was mostly ready but there was one thing that I was concerned about; I don't know about you but our yard has become wasp city. They are everywhere! And not like those paper wasps or whatever that Mom always swore wouldn't hurt you, no they are yellow jackets. And of course I can't refill the wasp catcher thingys. What if I got some of the attractant on me? Worst nightmare. So I had to wait for Tyler to do it. He put up two (all the refills we had) and within 30 minutes were being swarmed with wasps. After one day, both of them are literally half full of wasps and still have 5-15 wasps surrounding them at all times. It is terrifying. Anyway, they were completely distracted so we could do most of the party outside.
The guests all came in green, as I asked. I provided the green hairspray, homemade shells, and turtle masks. They all looked so cute! By the way, we always go through the cardboard only recycle containers in the area to make all props/games and then return them to the recycle bins so this is not only free (with a lot of time and effort) but relatively "green" as well!
First Josh wanted to do the pinata. It was WAY stronger than expected so not only did everyone get to hit it 3 times with a blindfold, but also 3 times without a blindfold, then we just let Josh wail on it until it broke.
Next it was the ninja star toss. Essentially a bulls eye with increasing point values was drawn and the kids threw the stars trying to get the most points, the older kids further back than the younger ones. Most of the kids got between 75-95 points. Trevor was the clear cut winner with 230 points! If you look carefully you will notice that one of the stars even landed on top of another in the bulls eye! Impressive.
Next was pin the Kraang on the Droid (new TV show style). I was super impressed with Tyler's work with this. Mine would have never looked this amazing. Thank goodness one of us has some artistic talent! And can you believe it, this game was totally free (but a lot of work). Christina was the winner here. I forgot to buy prizes for the winners so Trevor and Christina each got 3 of the ninja stars. Luckily, they seemed to think this was a suitable prize and the other kids were somewhat jealous which I suppose is a good sign.
The Kraang totally looks like he is attacking the droid in that one picture huh?! Josh got to open his presents next. He got some awesome stuff. A big thanks to all.
You can see him signing "thank you" on that last one. Anyway, at this point it was time for pizza. However, the wasps attacked and so we had to go inside for lunch and cake and ice cream. Of course, my camera runs out of batteries and sits on the charger for this part. I didn't make the cake this year (I decided it was more than I could take on) but Maceys does a great job so he had a great cake with all 4 Ninja Turtles popping their heads out of the sewer. It was green and blue and the icing was so staining that as I took it out of the box I accidentally put my finger in it (GREAT! It was perfect just a moment ago, now that it is time to sing Happy Birthday...." and my fingers were stained blue for the rest of the day.
Now best for last. Each year there is one part of the party that I work extra hard on and spend WAY too many hours perfecting. This year it was the "goodie bag". Tyler created the picture for the box. I spent one day calling around and I got these boxes for $0.29 each! They each have ooze, stickers, tattoos, candy (extra candy that didn't fit in the pinata), and a sugar cookie pizza. Thanks Chantelle for making the pepperoni as I made the olives (all candy melts). They are my favorites!
Great birthday party! I love doing this. I may be crazy to do this every year but as long as there is Pintrest and I am still nuts, don't care about sleep, and have helpful talented people around to assist, I will continue doing it.
On the morning of this party I was mostly ready but there was one thing that I was concerned about; I don't know about you but our yard has become wasp city. They are everywhere! And not like those paper wasps or whatever that Mom always swore wouldn't hurt you, no they are yellow jackets. And of course I can't refill the wasp catcher thingys. What if I got some of the attractant on me? Worst nightmare. So I had to wait for Tyler to do it. He put up two (all the refills we had) and within 30 minutes were being swarmed with wasps. After one day, both of them are literally half full of wasps and still have 5-15 wasps surrounding them at all times. It is terrifying. Anyway, they were completely distracted so we could do most of the party outside.
The guests all came in green, as I asked. I provided the green hairspray, homemade shells, and turtle masks. They all looked so cute! By the way, we always go through the cardboard only recycle containers in the area to make all props/games and then return them to the recycle bins so this is not only free (with a lot of time and effort) but relatively "green" as well!
First Josh wanted to do the pinata. It was WAY stronger than expected so not only did everyone get to hit it 3 times with a blindfold, but also 3 times without a blindfold, then we just let Josh wail on it until it broke.
Next it was the ninja star toss. Essentially a bulls eye with increasing point values was drawn and the kids threw the stars trying to get the most points, the older kids further back than the younger ones. Most of the kids got between 75-95 points. Trevor was the clear cut winner with 230 points! If you look carefully you will notice that one of the stars even landed on top of another in the bulls eye! Impressive.
Next was pin the Kraang on the Droid (new TV show style). I was super impressed with Tyler's work with this. Mine would have never looked this amazing. Thank goodness one of us has some artistic talent! And can you believe it, this game was totally free (but a lot of work). Christina was the winner here. I forgot to buy prizes for the winners so Trevor and Christina each got 3 of the ninja stars. Luckily, they seemed to think this was a suitable prize and the other kids were somewhat jealous which I suppose is a good sign.
The Kraang totally looks like he is attacking the droid in that one picture huh?! Josh got to open his presents next. He got some awesome stuff. A big thanks to all.
You can see him signing "thank you" on that last one. Anyway, at this point it was time for pizza. However, the wasps attacked and so we had to go inside for lunch and cake and ice cream. Of course, my camera runs out of batteries and sits on the charger for this part. I didn't make the cake this year (I decided it was more than I could take on) but Maceys does a great job so he had a great cake with all 4 Ninja Turtles popping their heads out of the sewer. It was green and blue and the icing was so staining that as I took it out of the box I accidentally put my finger in it (GREAT! It was perfect just a moment ago, now that it is time to sing Happy Birthday...." and my fingers were stained blue for the rest of the day.
Now best for last. Each year there is one part of the party that I work extra hard on and spend WAY too many hours perfecting. This year it was the "goodie bag". Tyler created the picture for the box. I spent one day calling around and I got these boxes for $0.29 each! They each have ooze, stickers, tattoos, candy (extra candy that didn't fit in the pinata), and a sugar cookie pizza. Thanks Chantelle for making the pepperoni as I made the olives (all candy melts). They are my favorites!
Great birthday party! I love doing this. I may be crazy to do this every year but as long as there is Pintrest and I am still nuts, don't care about sleep, and have helpful talented people around to assist, I will continue doing it.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Cabin 2013 part 2
After we got them clean, we made the messiest meal ever and they got all dirty again, but it was cute.
Our next hike took us over the dam and around the lake. This was our only off road hike. Most of the trip was spent frogging and we began catching our frogs right away. I am not sure why Josh decided he likes frogs so much because in the past he wouldn't hold them at all, but this year he couldn't get enough. The only time that he would turn down holding a frog was if someone else had a bigger frog to hold.
We got some different views of the lake and a very interesting face from Olivia.
Rocks were a close third to frogs and horned toads. Josh and Olivia were always finding "cool rocks". On each hike Josh would come home with mounds of rocks in his pockets, weighing him down and pulling his pants off.
One of my favorite pictures:
And of course we spent a lot of time in the official "frogging area".
The next morning my hair was driving me crazy. I adore my haircut when I am at home and able to use a straightener but when there is no electricity...I couldn't manage it. So Chantelle says, "I will do your hair really crazy". So of course I said yes, and then Josh had to get his done and if Josh does it, Olivia has to as well.
With our hair done the same way it is crazy how much Josh and I look alike so we took pictures to prove it.
And with Olivia
Even baby Daphne got in on the action.
And since the lighting wasn't half bad and we were all done up and we were already in a photo frenzy, we took more!
After we had our photo frenzy, we hiked down the the lower lake. I didn't bring my camera because it looked like rain but I wish I had. My brothers and sisters will understand this: this year, the lower lake was as alive with frogs as the frogging area when we were little. You take a step and the grass hops away from you. Each step upsets at least 10 small frogs. The frogging was mildly intoxicating and we were laughing and yelling and stomping around. Nothing makes you forget you are an adult as a good frogging area. The kids tried a little but mostly cheered us on. We made bets who could catch more or the biggest. The kids were running from adult to adult holding frogs, letting them go. Josh would run to me only to have Jeremy yell, "I got a big one" then ditch me for Jeremy with a look like, "Actually, no, I don't want to hold your pathetic tiny frog." Chantelle was my frog wing man even though she had the front pack on with Daphne. Teamwork is best with frogging. It took us well over an hour, maybe two, to make it 3/4 of the way down ONE side of the lake. I wish we had one of the five gallon buckets with us. I remember as kids frogging like that and putting all the frogs in a 5 gallon bucket. We would put our arms into the bucket and feel the little feet of 50 frogs bouncing against us. And the release was always pretty epic. We had a blast.
We had such a good time together. I love sharing this with my son. And to end, here are just some cute pictures of Daphne!
Our next hike took us over the dam and around the lake. This was our only off road hike. Most of the trip was spent frogging and we began catching our frogs right away. I am not sure why Josh decided he likes frogs so much because in the past he wouldn't hold them at all, but this year he couldn't get enough. The only time that he would turn down holding a frog was if someone else had a bigger frog to hold.
We got some different views of the lake and a very interesting face from Olivia.
Rocks were a close third to frogs and horned toads. Josh and Olivia were always finding "cool rocks". On each hike Josh would come home with mounds of rocks in his pockets, weighing him down and pulling his pants off.
One of my favorite pictures:
And of course we spent a lot of time in the official "frogging area".
The next morning my hair was driving me crazy. I adore my haircut when I am at home and able to use a straightener but when there is no electricity...I couldn't manage it. So Chantelle says, "I will do your hair really crazy". So of course I said yes, and then Josh had to get his done and if Josh does it, Olivia has to as well.
With our hair done the same way it is crazy how much Josh and I look alike so we took pictures to prove it.
And with Olivia
Even baby Daphne got in on the action.
And since the lighting wasn't half bad and we were all done up and we were already in a photo frenzy, we took more!
After we had our photo frenzy, we hiked down the the lower lake. I didn't bring my camera because it looked like rain but I wish I had. My brothers and sisters will understand this: this year, the lower lake was as alive with frogs as the frogging area when we were little. You take a step and the grass hops away from you. Each step upsets at least 10 small frogs. The frogging was mildly intoxicating and we were laughing and yelling and stomping around. Nothing makes you forget you are an adult as a good frogging area. The kids tried a little but mostly cheered us on. We made bets who could catch more or the biggest. The kids were running from adult to adult holding frogs, letting them go. Josh would run to me only to have Jeremy yell, "I got a big one" then ditch me for Jeremy with a look like, "Actually, no, I don't want to hold your pathetic tiny frog." Chantelle was my frog wing man even though she had the front pack on with Daphne. Teamwork is best with frogging. It took us well over an hour, maybe two, to make it 3/4 of the way down ONE side of the lake. I wish we had one of the five gallon buckets with us. I remember as kids frogging like that and putting all the frogs in a 5 gallon bucket. We would put our arms into the bucket and feel the little feet of 50 frogs bouncing against us. And the release was always pretty epic. We had a blast.
We had such a good time together. I love sharing this with my son. And to end, here are just some cute pictures of Daphne!
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