Sophomoric Pranks

Ours is a house divided. And there is no other time during the year that that is more evident then during football season. I am a BYU Cougar and Eric is a Utah Man. Although I constantly like to remind him that I am the only one with a degree from the university I cheer for! But I must say that I am not one of those pushy, obnoxious fans who is always antagonizing or referring back to the glory days of the Cougars. For the most part our children are being raised as Utah fans and I feel just fine about that. I like cheering for the U as well, especially over the past few years when their star has been rising so fast and high. But every once in awhile I like to assert where my true loyal lies.

I attended BYU in the early 90's and absolutely loved it. When I look back at my formative years, I can say I had fun in high school now but I'm not sure I could say that while I was going through it. But I can say with assurance that I knew I was having a good time in college while I was going through it. I think even while I was in my "Provo Bubble" I was oblivious to the true, full nature of the BYU-UTAH rivalry. I knew they were a foe but back then BYU was generally the dominant team. So I took pride in being the winning team without losing a lot of sleep of what the U of U students thought of me. Since my years at BYU I have since discovered the at times over-simplified, generic stereotypes that some fans from both sides like to place on each other. I won't go into those now because I don't want to perpetuate groups of people being painted with a broad brush. But needless to say there are a lot of both Ute and Cougar fans whom I love and adore.

But like I said, my children are inundated with a whole lot of Ute propoganda and paraphenalia. We have Ute blankets, t-shirts, sweatshirts, magnets, rugs, Christmas decorations, footballs, foam #1 hands, hats, pencils, banana chairs, flags, stickers, license plates, beads, pajamas, etc. And I am so not exagerrating. We have every single on of those items in our house and not one Y to be found. Well last weekend I decided to remedy that situation. Eric was at a scout camp overnighter with Finn. Friday afternoon a young guy knocked on my door offering to paint my house address on my curb. I had just recently had it done so I wasn't interested, but then a lightning bolt struck my head. I asked him if he painted letters too, like so many Y and U fans have on their curbs. I explained the college rivalry situation in our household and asked if he could paint a royal blue Y next to my house number. He said he could but he would have to come back tomorrow because he didn't have the paint or stencils. He thought it was so funny that he was happy to come back the next day. I warned him that he had to come in the morning because if my husband caught him, he would for sure stop him. So at about 9am Saturday morning he showed up with a buddy to paint this beauty on my curb:

After he was done, he had me come admire his work and told me he would come back in a month to see if it was still there. He even offered to later paint a U on the other side, free of charge, because he thought it was such a great joke.

Now the trick was waiting for Finn and Eric to get home and see how long it took them to notice. I made my girls swear not to tell them. Remember they have been indoctrinated too, so I pretty much had to threaten them with their lives to keep their "Utah Man" song holes shut! But when they did come home the girls kept saying things to them like , "Notice anything different?" or "What has changed around here?" But luckily the men in my home are use to vague, probing questions made by females in a vain attempt to get attention; that it didn't even faze them. So Saturday passed by with no reaction. Then Sunday nothing, and Monday the same. But Tuesday Finn and Eric needed to mow the lawn before the garbage man came on Wednesday. It was during a pass with the lawnmower down the front park strip that Finn noticed the inconspicuous Y on the curb. He immediately called Eric over to take a look at it. After which Eric marched right in to me, while I was in the bathroom no less and demanded, "Was that you or Harold who put that Y on my curb?" Now I must say here that Harold is a neighbor of ours who is a devoted BYU fan and an avid reader of my blog. So, Harold, I want you to know that I exonerated your name and took full responsibility. But I was curious to know why he thought it was you so I asked him. He responded, "Because that seems like the kind of sophomoric prank he would pull." So I'm sorry you got pulled into our household rivalry!

Eric informed me that evening that the Y would be gone by morning, but I am proud to say that it is still there. This probably due to laziness rather than any newly developed sympathetic leanings toward the Y. But I did find this on my front window the next morning as I was driving my kids to school:

I commented to Eric on the subtlety of his U response to my Y. But I think that just speaks to U fans... they are kind of loud, obvious, in your face people whereas Y fans are a bit more refined and soft-spoken. In fact I think the term I'm searching for is "meek." ;) Oh, did I say I was going to stay away from stereotypes? Well I just couldn't help myself. But if you would like to help me continue these sophomoric pranks, I am up to suggestions. I have a few ideas ruminating in my brain, but I could always use more. After all we still have 3 more months of college football to go!

Ahh... School pictures

This week in honor of having school pictures taken, I am going to share some of my own classic school pictures.

This is first picture was taken in 4th grade. What is so great is I think it was the first time my mom let me do my own hair for my pictures. "Feathering" was all the rage back in 1983. I'm not sure if I didn't use enough hairspray on the right side of my hair or if I played dodgeball extra hard during recess, but somehow only one side of my hair stayed "feathered." Which I was probably mad about when I got my school pictures back, but now I think it tells a story about what I was like when I was that age. I'm glad my mom didn't insist on me getting a retake so my hair could look perfect. That wouldn't be near as interesting. And speaking of retakes, this is another one of my favorite school pictures.This was a year later, in 5th grade. Apparently I got the feathered look down, but not the keeping my eyes open look-because this was a retake. And even though this was my second and last attempt at a good 5th grade picture, I'm once again glad that my mom didn't destroy the picture because it wasn't perfect. Something I just noticed about these pictures is that in both of them I am wearing a button-down shirt with a sweater. I was living in Georgia during this time and I assume they took pictures in the fall back then like they do now. I can imagine I was hotter than hades in my sweater and button-down shirt in the southern heat and humidity. No wonder one side of my hair fell flat!
Needless to say, I have carried on the tradition of not requiring that pictures of my kids look perfect. I absolutely adore pictures of screaming kids on Santa's lap. Not that I enjoy making my kids scream, but what I like is that it accurately reflects the experience they had at that age. Last year I was out of town when my kids had school pictures taken. Before I even saw them, I decided I would keep them no matter what they looked like. I was very interested to see how they would look when their dad got them ready for school and especially on school picture day. And I was pleasantly surprised:

Sure they don't have bows, braids or curls in their hair and it looks like Katie and Annie have some static-y hair goin' on and could have used a quick comb-through but for the most part they look pretty good. I mean this is a more accurate reflection of what they look like day in and day out at school than any other school picture. Now don't get me wrong I did plenty to get them picture ready this year- Finn got a haircut the day before, I blew dry Annie's hair and Katie got braids but I think we should say no to retakes and let our kids' childhood shine through. I mean what says childhood more than big glasses, big-gaped teeth, half down hair and half open eyes!

P.S.- I got a little BYU/Utah rivalry experiment going on in my house right now. I'll let you in on the joke as soon as the intended targets figure it out!

Silly Bands and other Silly Stories

Really. She hasn't posted in close to two months and she is going to post about silly bands?!? I know that is what you are thinking. And my answer to that is ... "Why, yes. Yes, I am." See over the past two months I have had plenty to post about but nothing has really written itself in my mind. I know this sounds weird but often when I post a story the story has already written itself in my head. Sometimes the telling of the story will take a different turn when I go to write it, but I usually have a general idea of what they story will be like. But I've had a bit of a blogger's block over the past months and nothing has formed itself. Then today I had a lesson on journals in church and it inspired me to blog again even if the story isn't there to begin with. So my new goal is to post every Sunday and it may be a recall of events from the week or it may be my recording a past event or just my musings. Either way I trust that for good or bad some story will present itself. So in the name of recording our family's history of both the significant and the mundane this week's post is about the all important Silly Bands. If you don't have a 1st-6th grader you may not know what these are. So here is a picture of them along with the most Silly Band obsessed member of our family.

They are little jelly/rubbery bands (I like how they are named "bands", not "bracelets" so as to not be gender specific and thus exclude the profits from the allowances of half the elementary age population). Kids wear multiples of them at a time and of course trade them. When they are on their wrists they look like most bands except they are a little more wavy. But then when you take them off they take the shape of all kinds of things... animals, crowns, wands, hearts, stars, lips, looney tunes characters, automobiles, etc.

What really struck me about these things is how quickly they became a pop culture sensation/kid fad. Katie got some for her birthday the first week of school; this being the first time I had seen them. Then within a week Annie was coming home from school begging for me to take her to the store so she can spend her allowance on them. Before i knew it every kid I saw was wearing them. It got me thinking what makes these fads and who decides them. It seems like a few years ago pokemon cards were the big thing. And I remember when i was in elementary school trading stickers on the bus. I even had a photo album I stored them in so I could see all my prized possessions at once. And of course the scratch and sniff stickers were like the Snickers in your Halloween loot, meaning they were the most sought after. Annie has informed me that the Tie-Dye silly bands are the Scratch and Sniff of the silly band world and that the simple ones like an ice cream or a heart are like the Bit O Honey of the Halloween loot, meaning they will take them because they are technically candy but they won't be happy about it. So my purpose in recording all this is maybe one day twenty years from now Annie will read this and say, "Oh, yea! I forgot how much I loved those silly bands."

I also wanted to tell another funny story about Annie. When Annie was little I was chalk full of "Annie" stories. She was such a character and everyone loved hearing about her antics. This was all during the pre-blogging era and I tried to write them down but I don't think I got this one down. When Annie was about 3 or 4 years old we were down in St. George with my family- meaning my parents and siblings. My sister was the only other one with kids and we decided to take them to McDonalds for ice cream. When we got there my nephew, Jeffrey, decided he wanted french fries. So we gave everyone, including Annie, the option of having ice cream or fries. Annie said she wanted ice cream so that is what she got. But then when everyone got their order Annie experienced 3 year old buyer's remorse. She really wanted fries once she saw Jeffrey's. But being the mean mom I am I told her she had to have her ice cream because that is what she told me she wanted. And I wasn't even offering to get her fries if she ate all her ice cream because I am that mean and that cheap! It was eat your ice cream or eat nothing. Well Annie relented and finally started eating her ice cream. But between her pathetic, weak licks at her ice cream she kept casting jealous glances at Jeffrey's fries. It was hilarous to watch because you knew exactly what she was thinking without her saying a word. Her look spoke loud and clear "I don't want this stupid ice cream. I really, really wish I could have those fries." So now when me and my sisters make a decision and then realize we made the wrong choice and start coveting the choice we should have made, we pretend we are licking an ice cream with a frown on our face that says, "I really wish I could have those fries."

Can I get a Witness?

I have heard it said that what most of us need and want from life is a witness. Someone who we can tell our "stories" to right after they happen. Someone who we can nudge when we see something cool. Someone we can call when we think, "Have a thought, must share." I am very fortunate to have several of these witnesses in my life, and I am grateful for each of them. But one of my main "witnesses" is my older sister, Michelle. And since it is her birthday today I thought it only appropriate that I express how grateful I am that she is my witness.

Michelle and I are two years apart and some people think I am older and some people think she is my mother. (Note: If you don't want to be on Michelle's "list" don't ever ask if either of her younger sisters are her daughters.) And more often then not people are very surprised when they find out we are sisters. We don't look anything alike and our personalities and interests are quite different. Some of the things we do share are the same heritage, similar sense of humor, mannerisms and stage of life. It is the perfect combination to make our relationship work so well. Our differences allow us to strengthen each other and learn from each other and our similarities allow us to relate to and appreciate each other. Michelle is one of my very favorite people to tell a story to. Because our humor is so much the same, I know she will laugh the hardest when I have a funny story to tell. She always has as what we call "the script." She knows what to say to make me feel better or to validate my feelings. I don't think there is a detail about my life she doesn't know and vice versa. And because we are so close, some of our different interests and talents have become the other one's talents and interests just because we are willing to try them because the other one does them.

When we were growing up we weren't all that close. I was the annoying little sister who always wanted to tag along with her and her friends and she was the bossy older sister who never let me borrow her clothes. She may still have the physical scars of my fingernails on her back and I'm pretty sure I still have the emotional scars from being locked in the bathroom multiple times even though I was assured by her everytime that she wouldn't lock me in this time. (Have I mentioned before that I was a gullible kid? and Michelle took full advantage of this!) I'm sure my mother worried about us growing up but we have grown to be each other's biggest supporter and defender.

One of the things I admire the most about Michelle is she knows who she is. She doesn't downplay her strengths and she doesn't make any excuses for her weaknesses. She is who she is and you can take her or leave her. I prefer to take her because I think she is a wonderful sister and person. She is extremely loyal to those she loves and would do anything for them (as long as it doesn't fall between 9:00 and 11:30 am when she is at the gym everyday !:) See the great thing about our relationship is I can tease her like that and she knows I do it in love and fun. It is part of our charm, so we think! So Happy Birthday Missy! Thank you for being my greatest cheerleader and witness. I love you!

The Summer Of . . .

I realized we are a little over halfway through the summer and i haven't posted anything about what we have been doing. We haven't been on any big vacations this summer since "Tuition" has been rented out for most of the summer. "Tuition" is the name I gave to the motorhome we bought a little over a year ago. I christened the RV "Tuition" because instead of saving for our kids' college tuition we decided to buy an RV. But this year decided it might be a little more financially prudent to actually have some money in the bank when it is time for our kids' higher education, so through a vacation rental business that one of Eric's friends owns we have been renting out "Tuition" and actually saving for tuition at the same time. It is what Stephen Covey would call a "win-win."

Anyway I have noticed that sometimes there are certain events that can define a summer. Things like a certain song (think "Summer of "69) or a movie- like I remember seeing "Back to the Future" in the summer of '89. So in that vein, here are some of the things that have defined the Summer of '10 for our family.

*Car games- In our travels back and forth to the pool or to the store or to friends' houses, my kids have created an amalgamation of several different car games which include "Slugbug", "Bingo", "Mustang, motorcycle, convertible" to name a few. Basically they look for certain cars and try to "call" them before anyone else and then reward themselves points for them. For example if you see a motorcycle you get one point. If you see a "bingo"(yellow) mustang you get two points. And the piece de resistance is a bingo slugbug convertible with the top off. Of course they don't keep track of the points and make the rules up at will and it sometimes causes one of those highly intelligent arguments that my kids are famous for. But it does keep them entertained and it can be highly entertaining for me to listen to. The best is when Katie is talking to me and doesn't even take a breath or miss a beat in her sentence to call out a car she has seen. "Mom, I really want to play with motorcycle! Sarah because I haven't mustang convertible! played with her in a long time." And the only way to end the game is if you see missionaries because they are worth like a million points.

*The Drive-In movie- We have discovered the drive-in movie this summer and we are never going back. It is the only way to see a movie in the summer with young kids. It is much cheaper because kids under 10 are only $1 and we can bring our own treats. Plus when Suzie gets bored about 2/3 into the movie which she almost inevitably does she can move around more without disturbing other people. The only draws backs are the late start time- 9:30pm and getting pulled over at 11:45pm with all your girls in the backseat. But that's a post of a different color!


*My flower-pots actually surviving and thriving. I have grown a garden for years and seem to manage a pretty healthy harvest. But my flower pots are another story altogether. Usually they look like this: And this year they actually look like this:

Although I do have to say that when I started to type this I remembered I hadn't watered them today so I had to stop and go do that. My inability to consistently remember to do this may have something to do with their early demise every year.

*The Norwegian Pancake Pan- My ancestry comes from Norway and so does one of our favorite breakfast foods- Norwegian pancakes. My mom made them, her mom made them, her grandma made them, etc. They are similiar to crepes and my kids love them covered in butter and syrup. A few years ago my mom tried to find authentic Norwegian Pancake pans to give to all her children and couldn't. But she did find this pan:

I think it is suppose to be for making tortillas and it does a good job of making other ethnic fare like Norwegian pancakes too. But this summer it has been our go to pan not only for pancakes but also for grilled cheese, cheese quesadillas, etc. It can't be washed with soap, but almost everyday I am scraping it clean.

I do have a funny story related to this pan. A few weeks ago we had my very honest, very adorable 6 year old nephew, Easton, over for a sleepover. I was making Norwegian pancakes for breakfast. My sister, his mom, also makes these pancakes and Easton was bragging that he could eat 5 Norwegian pancakes. We make them basically the same way but I do one thing different. I use whole wheat flour instead of white flour because it is a way to get whole grains in my kids when they don't know it. I didn't think it made much difference in the taste, but my nephew proved me wrong. After eating just one pancake he proclaimed he was done. I questioned his earlier claim and said, "But I thought you could eat 5?!?" He responded, "Yeah, that's at home where they're good." Oh, I see!

*Lofty Goals- I make lofty goals for my kids in the summer about things like reading, working on math facts, learning a new skill, etc. But like I said, these are goals I make, not them. They make goals like not sleeping in their bed the whole summer. Finn accomplished this last summer and is working on it again this year and so far he is rockin' it. He sleeps on the coach mostly but sometimes he makes a fort or sleeps outside with a cousin. And isn't that one of the secrets to being successful at a goal... make it one that is attainable so you don't get frustrated and give up. Who needs a goal like reading 10 books in the summer when you accomplish another one and not have a bed to make in the morning? Now that is what Finn would call a "win-win!"

What I learned about being a mother by watching my husband be father.

I'm sure like many parents out there, my husband and I have very different styles of parenting. Being two different genders, this really shouldn't have come as a surprise. But in my less mature days when I was naive and a novice at partnering with my husband to raise our children, I foolishly thought if my husband would just be more like me- it would be better for our kids. I know, extremely "young and dumb" thinking. But in my ever more enlightening condition I have come to realize that it is indeed not detrimental for our children to be raised by two people who view the world in their own way but extremely beneficial and maybe even critical. So here are some of the ways I am so grateful my husband is so very different from me:

*Streamlining- I first noticed this when I watched Eric give the kids a bath. You see Eric considers that when he has rinsed the shampoo from the kids hair, the cascading soap and water has done a good enough job of washing their bodies. To wash their bodies after that would just be redundant. This principle bleeds over into his discipline style. He sends them to their room with very little fanfare or discussion. To him a lecture about what they did wrong or how they need to change their behavior would just be redundant too. But I, on the other hand, am all over the during and post game analysis of what could you do next time to not get in trouble.

*Caretaking- If you are sick or injured in our house, you would much rather have Eric take care of you than me. I'm more of a "fever is our friend... don't give 'em any medicine so the fever can kill the infection... don't come to me unless there is blood...shake it off... if you stay home from school because you are sick than you are in bed sleeping" kind of gal. Eric comes from the "making you as comfortable as possible with your favorite movie to watch while on the couch home from school...let me kiss it better... do you need some ice for your owie or a pillow for your back" school of thought.

*Cash- Flow- I can guarantee that when our kids grow up they will say, "Mom never had money and Dad always did." Eric is extremely generous with his means to just about everyone, but especially where his kids are concerned. This use to frustrate me because I felt like I came off as the tight-wad and Eric was the money-bags. But I've come appreciate this about Eric because it is just part of who he is. To expect him to change would be like asking him not to be Eric. He works very hard and likes to take care of people. And I believe our children can learn something from both of us where money is concerned.

*Souvenir buying- I know this seems like a random quality to mention but it just so accurately depicts another aspect of his "caretaking/taking care of" personality. When we go on trips Eric goes to painstaking lengths to make sure the kids get what souvenir they want. He wants everyone to be happy so he will visit mulitple stores and take souvenirs back if you find a better one. It also part of his whole "make it happen" attitude. When he gets an idea in his mind he doesn't let grass grow under his feet for sure. Whereas my mantra is when we walk into one store where everyone can get one souvenir...."You get what you get and you don't through a fit."

*Salespitch- Eric can talk our kids into just about anything. He has this great way of selling any idea to them. I can't even begin to understand or duplicate it because I just don't posses that skill. For example one night Eric decided Suzie needed to throw away her favorite blankie because it had been loved into dirty shreds. So he proceeded to do just that. Suzie was livid to say the least. You would have thought we had surgically removed her heart or at least just thrown it in the garbage. Eric took the thrashing beast into her room and at first there was a lot of banging, throwing and general chaos. But after a few minutes Suzie came out peacefully holding a new blankie to love, asking to watch a movie and have popcorn. I asked Eric what he had done to calm her down and he vaguely answered, "Oh, we just had a talk." I think he knows this skill can't be taught, you have to be born with it. If I had been the one dealing with her I probably would have just shut her in her room and let her wreak havoc until she fell asleep.

*Inclusion- Eric is very good at making all kids, be they our own, the neighbors or cousins feel included. He has no problem taking all our kids and a few extra cousins places by himself.. like to ward campouts or waterparks. A lot of kids doesn't stress him out which is probably a byproduct of being the oldest of seven children. I don't think that not including or not being able to handle a crowd of kids in necessarily a weakness of mine, but I do think not all fathers can count this as their strength.

*Playfulness- This is probably true with a lot of fathers, but Eric is definitely the more playful one of the two of us. Most pictures we have of our kids in silly positions like with diapers on their heads or rolled up tight in blankets are usually Eric's doing. Here are some examples:

If that previous comment about diapers on heads didn't make any sense, this is what I mean.

All Eric's handiwork!

Guess who was the first to make bandanas out of Grandma Shauna's 4th of July napkins?!?

This is Katie and I know she doesn't look very happy, but look who is the one who has her riding the rooster!

Eric loves letting the kids fill the bathtub to the brim with bubbles.

Now I'm not trying to say that Eric is the perfect father just like I'm not the perfect mother. But together I think we cover a lot of bases. There are areas that he is much stronger than me and there are areas where I am the strong one. But to my kids, Eric is their hero. When he walks through the door at night, it is like a rock star has come in. They absolutely adore their father and there is no one else they would rather be with. So Happy Father's Day to the other half of our parenting team who has taught me so much!

The conversations I had during what was suppose to be my 5 minutes of alone time in the shower and it is only the first day of summer!

Katie: Mom, can you help me set up the slip n slide?
Mom: I can't right now. I'm in the shower. You'll have to wait or ask Finn or Annie.
Suzie: Mommy, can I go to the potty?
Mom: Yes (because I am the bathroom permission giver)
Katie: Mom, Finn says he won't help me set up the slip n slide.
Mom: Tell him I said he needs to help you.
Annie: Mom, can I have a lemonade stand today?
Mom: No, not today.
Annie: PLLLLLLLEASE!
Mom: Nooooooo.
Annie: Oh-kay.
Katie: Mom, Where is the pump to fill up the squishy part of the slip n slide? I really want it to be squishy.
Mom: In the hall closet. ( Because I am the household supplies clairvoyant.)
Finn: Mom, where is the ibuprofen? I need it for my sunburn.
Mom: In the medicine basket.
Annie: Mom, the phone is for you.
Mom: Take a message and tell them I'll call them back.
Katie: Mom, is the pump in the hall cupboard or the hall drawers?
Mom: The hall cupboard.
Annie: Mom, the music store called and they don't have my recital piece.
Mom: Okay, I'll call them when I get out of the shower.
Katie: Mom, is the pump in the hall cupboard or the hall drawers?
(No, I didn't accidentally type that question twice. She came back and asked it again. I don't know if she didn't hear me or couldn't find it.)
Mom: In the hall cupboard.
No part of these conversations were invented or exaggerated. So much for Calgon takin' me away.