The Niagara of the South . . .

This past weekend the Hubby and I packed up our crew and headed to Great Falls National Park. Known as “The Niagara of the South”, the park’s crowning feature is a series of overlooks that showcase a point in the Potomac River where the water has built up great speed and falls over a series of steep, jagged rocks through a striking and narrow gorge.  It was quite breathtaking and had us all marveling at the wonders of nature.

I am embarrassed to admit that we have lived in Virginia for seven and a half years and just visited this amazing place for the first time.  It offers multiple trails for hiking, large grassy areas with picnic tables and grills for barbeques and Frisbee with family and friends, a very nice visitors center with interactive exhibits and that gorgeous view.

And it’s only 30 minutes from our house.  Shame. I know.

How about you?  What’s in your area worth visiting over and over?  Would you send me a picture? It would make my little kayaker and I oh so happy!

ps.  Hannah has her first acting gig!

pps. No gifts left on the doorstep this morning.  Whew!

An Omen?

Here’s a little Monday morning quiz intended to exercise those dormant brain muscles in order to make you a more fit parent just in time to send the winkies back to school:

Question: What does it mean when you wake up and find an over six foot tree branch sawed off and sitting on your front porch?

Possible Answers:

a.  Your neighbors take you for a severe environmentalist and think they can offend you by hurting a tree.

b.  Somebody knows your daughter just auditioned for The Wizard of Oz and thought an extra tree might come in handy for the haunted forest scenery.

c. The word is out that your Scouting son is trying to get his woodworking merit badge.

d. A {beaver, squirrel, badger, woodpecker, possum – you pick} is playing mind games with you after years of harassment.

e.  Teenagers are annoying and pull stupid pranks in the middle of the night all the time.

Let me know what you think, because truly, I am in the dark on this one.  Should I be creeped out?

Dramatic Decision . . .

Photo by Sue Richardson (yep, there are still oodles of outtakes!)

Currently it is 8:15 and the house is quiet except for me and Mr. Ollie.  Those other three kid-types are in for a world of hurt in a week when they have to start getting up at 6:45 AM!  Our attempts at weaning them off their summer schedules are proving unsuccessful. 

But sweet, theatrical Hannie B. has her last crash course in singing for the stage this morning, so wake up she must.  We have been belting out the first sixteen measures of “Part Of That World” from The Little Mermaid for the past three days to the point that little Ollie claps when we are finished.  {Don’t know if that means we sound good or he’s just glad we’re done.}

She’s perfecting her facial expressions, her body movements and most importantly her volume.  Tomorrow at 3:00 she auditions and I can stop thinking about Ariel and hopefully starting thinking about ruby slippers.  Don’t worry, Hannie has no grand aspirations to land a major role.  She’s actually just hoping for Munchkin or Flying Monkey.  But still, it was the 71st anniversary of the Wizard of Oz this week, and I do love that movie so, so much even though the Wicked Witch of the West scared the dickens out of me as a kid . . .

So, the question of the day is:  Which character from Oz would you like to play? 

Me, I’m all for Glinda.  That dress is a show stopper.  And really, what gal doesn’t want to appear in a pink bubble?

For Melissa . . .

I had a request for video of my little Owl in action.  It’s the best I could do, so here you go sis!  (And for the life of me, I have NO IDEA why it is sideways!  Oh well.)  Love you.

Another Summer Art Project . . .

The goal was to do one every week this summer.  I think we’ve done four.  I’ll have to reevaluate for next summer, especially since Big C seems to think he’s way too cool for art.  Sad day.

You’d better believe it was pretty awesome when I went to the Home Depot and took one {or even two} of EVERY SINGLE Martha Stewart paint sample.  The gal at the paint counter may or may not  have coughed loudly at me. But it was all for the sake of art, so I have no guilt.

The idea for this art project came from a Sherwin Williams ad I saw in a magazine that used paint chips to create three dimensional objects.  Ah-mazing!

My kids and I love art, but even I recognize our limits.  So the project was simply to create a two dimensional piece using paint chips.  Here’s mine before I pasted it all together:

Here’s the skinny on this project:  I thought it was really fun.  So did Hannie B., but she is very crafty.  RedDog was done after two minutes.  In hindsight I should have cut out shapes for him to use or given him a specific object to create.  And Big C. didn’t want to touch this with a ten foot pole.

The rest of the paint chips went into our scrap paper bin for future use.

Reliving My Past Future . . .

Last night my children saw the movie “Back To The Future” for the first time.   I predicted they would love it, and they did.  I can’t begin to tell you how much I loved that movie as a twelve year old. I can still remember walking out of the theater saying awesome over and over.  I was pretty sure Michael J. Fox was the cutest actor alive complete with puffy vest over jean jacket look!

What I didn’t remember about the movie was all the swearing.  And believe me, my kids noticed – and kept tally!  The D-word, the H-word, two different B-words, the A-word and even butthead, which is a seriously bad word at our house.

So my question today is this:  Why is this language a big deal to me today?  It obviously wasn’t a big deal to me or my parents when I saw the movie twenty-five years ago {man, I’m old!}.

Have you watched an old favorite with your kids and been embarrassed by the language?  Just curious.

Over The Weekend . . .

{A temporarily blank wall in my house…}

• I rehung the many pictures that were taken down as painters gave our first floor and upper landing a new, serene coat of  Benjamin Moore’s Sweet Spring.  Stay tuned for a how to on Ancestoral Walls later this week.
• I had dinner with the Queen & my Photobro as all of our families were away from us {Ollie stayed with me, lucky guy!}  We dined on salmon and mahi mahi, summer greens with fresh garden tomatoes, sweet potato fries and fresh fruit.  It was scrumpdileicious!
• My kiddoes and their Daddy made the annual trek to Williamsport, PA to catch three games of the Little League World Series.
• I spent a good portion of Saturday painting board and batten in my basement.  I will spend a good portion of today doing the same.  You will soon see photos of our hard work.
• The Hubby and I spoke at a Fireside for the youth of our church congregation.  The topic was testimony.  The purpose was to share some life experiences that had helped the Hubby and I come to know the truths we believe and live by.  It was a little piece of heaven on earth.

It was a great weekend.  Now it is Monday.  There are only two weeks of summer left.  And only nine things left to do on our summer list.  Help me Rhonda.

Mr. Spaghetti Head . . .

We’re just barreling along here at breakneck speed.

My oldest is getting braces.  Ouch! Just thinking about it makes my mouth hurt.  And yay!  Girls won’t want to touch him for a few years because he’ll constantly have food stuck in his teeth.

My daughter is emotional.  And dramatic.  And hilarious.  I can tell I am totally going to love her tween/teen personality.  When I’m not completely bugged by it.

My RedDog is changing.  His teeth look too big for his mouth.  And he is starting to whine, which is new for him.  It makes me sad.  Then he tells me he doesn’t want to grow any bigger because we won’t fit good for snuggling and I feel like for a moment all is right with the world.

My baby is a hoot.  He loves owls. Perfect, right?  He also loves laughing when other people are laughing, just to hear the sound of himself.  And he thinks he’s the king because I let him have his own little bowl of spaghetti with a spoon the other night.  What he doesn’t know is that I was wishing he’d turn himself into Mr. Spaghetti head.  Wish granted.

Cue laughing {and baby laughing}. Cue crying because it’s all going way, way too fast.

Drama Mama . . .

All photos by Sue Richardson

I couldn’t go to sleep last night because Hannie B. was having one of her drama moments.  She was whimpering in her bed and kept coming to our bedroom door complaining that she couldn’t get to sleep.

I comforted her and then I snuggled her.  The Hubby comforted her and then he snuggled her. And still, the drama ensued.

Finally I had to give my girl a little sip of the Benadryl.  Because I needed sleep.  Yeah, as a mom, I pretty much rock like that. I retucked her and climbed into my own bed for what I was sure would be the last time.  Then I heard the sobbing.

I rushed to her room, worried she might actually be sick.  A once over and a few questions determined that no, she was not sick.  Finally, I asked THE question: “Sis, can you just tell me what’s wrong?”

Through tears and sobs and snot and shaking she let me in on the secret, “It’s this room*, Mom. I don’t like it - it’s just SO big!

*Sidenote:  We just moved Ollie into Hannie’s old room, giving her the biggest of the three kid rooms upstairs.

Now, I have to admit, I laughed.  And then I wondered to myself if this display of acting chops coincided with me asking my girl if she wanted to try out for a community theater run of The Wizard of Oz next week. In my mind, I handed her the Academy Award.  In reality, I tromped down the hall in a semi-conscious state and crawled into my bed next to a snoring Hubby.

My girl, she is drama!  And for the life of me, people, I cannot figure out where she gets it from!

His Name In Lights . . .

 

Last night RedDog had his summer lateover with a friend. It was pretty great for lots of reasons.  But if you ask my boy, he’ll tell you it’s because he and his best bud got on the jumbotron {and immediately had a case of stage fright}.

We ventured into Maryland for night out at a minor league baseball game. If you want a genuinely comfortable American experience, I highly recommend minor league baseball.  I also highly recommend leaving your baby with his grandma!

Monday nights are ‘Kids Eat Free Night’ at the Frederick Keys games.  Hot dogs, chips and soda all for the cost of one child’s ticket.  But then you have to factor in that any Little League baseball player wearing a uniform gets into the game for free.  Now I’m going to pause and do the math in my head {not my strong suit}.  Yep, I’m pretty sure that means that the kids got into the game and ate dinner for ZERO DOLLARS.  Can you say awesome?

They seemed to think so.

I should probably mention here a general truth of life which is that best buds are one of the coolest things about childhood.  And summer.  And life, really.

RedDog and his buddy ran up and down the stadium the entire night gathering signatures from players, hanging out by the dugout, posing for the cameras, dancing with the mascot and catching game balls thrown up into the stands by the players as they came off the field.

This is what’s great about minor league baseball – it’s so casual and kid/family friendly!

The boys ate hot dogs and nachos and cotton candy and ice cream in little plastic helmets.  And for one night I was the coolest mom on the planet instead of the meanest mom on the planet.

We also convinced my dad to come along.  He and Chris donned their rally caps {turn your baseball hat inside out} to help the Keys come back from a three run deficit in the seventh inning. 

Everybody had fun.  Everybody came home with a souvenir.  And I got to sit, relax, not cook and finish my book {while also watching parts of the game, of course.}

Reality vs. Blog Reality . . .

Photo by Sue Richardson

This blog is my sincere attempt to capture the happy and fun moments of my family’s life. It often seems like I might be living in a rosy little universe where everything is ‘just so’.  This simply is not my reality. My reality is a lot more like the picture above – an attempt while in Utah to get a picture of me and the four kids for the Hubby.  Epic fail.

I occasionally have to share the brutal truth about my crazy family either because it’s too hilarious not to or because I need to vent and writing is one of the best forms of free therapy I’ve found.

Some people aren’t comfortable airing out their dirty laundry on a worldwide stage for all to partake in.  I, on the other hand, recognize that maybe fifty people read this blog regularly and a good majority of them already know my dirty laundry, how it got so dirty and what I do to clean it all up.

But just in case you aren’t one of the fifty {or thirty-two, as my ‘followers’ button says}, did you know . . .

My kids fight all the time!  As in non-stop. There are two in particular who might actually despise each other to the very core.

My house is messy! I have been known to straighten an area strategically so it looks fab for a photo op, but much of the time {and especially this summer}, it’s pretty darn untidy around here.  I’ve learned that four kids and two adults are not clean 100% of the time – or even 68% of the time.

My Hubby and I get on eachother’s nerves.  It’s true.  But those moments pass and most of the time I pretty much adore him to the moon and back.  Most of the time . . .

My family is quirky.  As in my children, and my siblings, and my in-laws – all of them and me too.  Sometimes the quirkiness can make things complicated and hard.  At other times the quirkiness is what makes them all so dang fun.

My reality and my blog reality are two entirely different things.  But they are both part of my real life.  And it is a good life that teaches me as I navigate through the ups and downs, the perfect and imperfect.

It’s Monday.  Life is crazy.  But it’s also so, so good.

Random Thoughts: August Edition . . .

• The above picture has not been altered or photoshopped in any way.  My baby can indeed fly. True story.
• I’ve just purchased zitty face wash for my almost-a-teenager.  In other words, pray for us, because we’re in trouble, it has begun.
• My spell checker doesn’t recognize the verb ‘photoshopped’ or the adjective ‘zitty’.  Hmm…
• My older brother is being featured in a national ad campaign.  He pretty much rocks, but don’t tell him that – it would just go to his head.
• I have no less than five MAJOR house projects in various states of undone going on at my house.  I’m working at my own pace, much to the dismay of my mother The Queen.
• Our summer list is getting shorter.  Still left:  National Zoo, camping, fishing and mini-golf!
• While in Utah I had my first ‘meeting of people I don’t know except from the internet’ experience.  And it was completely awesome {sigh of relief}.
• I left two pounds of chocolate covered cinnamon bears in my mother-in-law’s freezer in Utah.  Excuse my while I go wet my pillow with tears over that fatal error.

The T-Shirts . . .

A few of you asked about my design for the reunion T-shirts, so here’s a quick explanation:

Megan, this year’s reunion organizer, wanted a baseball themed shirt for every one to wear at the game we usually play during the reunion {sidenote: we didn’t end up playing this year due to heat and too much fun going on at the house!}

I found that great font “Marcelle” with it’s vintage, worn look and fell in love! Then the Hubby came up with the fabulous idea to have not one, but two shirts, representing two teams from the “Twin Cities” where my in-laws grew up. 

She is from LaVerkin, Utah.  He is from Hurricane, Utah.  And believe it or not, if you pronounce it correctly, those two cities actually rhyme {say it HUR-I-CUN}. 

Once we thought for a night about what the team mascots could be,  it was actually quite simple – the LaVerkin Flash, to honor the nickname given to Mona after she entered last minute into a race in college and turned out to be speedy fast, and the Hurricane Farmers to honor Bob who was the President of the Future Farmers of America in his day.

On the back of the shirts is a roster of all the “players” on the team for the 2010 Tournament.  In other words, the name of every family member that attended this year’s reunion.

Everyone seemed to like their shirts and thought the idea was funny!  A huge thank you goes out to the amazing Jennie Doezie who brought my idea to life.  She rocks big time.

Here’s a shot of the seven Lee kids and their mom, “The Flash” and their dad, “The Farmer” in the t-shirts.  Enjoy.

Cookies & Milk . . .

Things are changing around here and I have to confess, I’m feeling a bit of a struggle coming on.

My little Ollie has abandoned crawling as his primary form of transportation and is now master of the walk, quickly turning to the walk/run.

RedDog commented yesterday, “Wow, Mom, did you see that?  He just turned on the spot and went the other direction without even thinking about falling down.”  Boo. Hoo.

Why do babies have to grow up?

But growing up is cute.  He carries the phone around up to his ear and babbles all the while believing he is carrying on an actual conversation.

He dances to the music in the car, in his crib, or on my lap at church.

And my all time favorite new thing is to peek out of the corner of my closed eyes during prayers and see my little Owl with his arms folded waiting patiently for the prayer to end so he can clap his hands in “Amen!”

Unfortunately, with each new skill added to his repertoire, I realize that my same little Owl is more and more done with me.  He has not nursed for three days now and my heart aches a bit to know that the ties between mother and nursing babe have been cut and just like that my body will never create food for another human again.

Why, oh why is it so hard to face facts?  I know he still loves me.  But he also loves cookies.  And milk.  Of the bovine variety.

Waaaaaaaa!

Reunion Recap #9: The End

I cannot tell you how much I enjoy the other thirty-four people I spent a week with in Southern Utah.  They are funny, they are spastic, they are sincere, they care for one another and are a great source of comfort to me and each other.  Here, as a last post, are miscellaneous shots of all thirty-five:

 

    

 

    

It was an awesome reunion.  Thanks Megan and Tyler for hosting!