Memorial Day Countdown

10 mosquito bites per person (probably more).

9 times Little Ernie asked when we were going to the pool today.

8 Fanta Orange mini-cans for the kids at dinner.

7 kids running around, up and down stairs, and in and out doors.

6 jump ropes purchased this morning at Walmart.

5 pounds of pork loin in the smoker.

4 tired adults.

3 little girls who haven’t fought once this visit.

2 slightly overwhelmed pets.

1 pig trotting down the middle of the road on our way out of the neighborhood to get Sonic for dessert.

Cousins in the house

It’s Memorial Day Weekend and we have been lucky enough to have Dave come down this trip with Sylvia and the kids. Dave works a lot and stays very busy, so we feel especially lucky when he’s able to take time off and come for a visit.

Yesterday- I’m not going to lie to you- was exhausting and lots of fun, all at the same time. We went down to Gulfport and had an amazing time at the beach. Sylvia even enjoyed it! We stayed for hours until the storm clouds moved in, then we packed up and managed to get an early dinner without any crying or meltdowns. Seriously, it was a miracle. It was absolutely not a problem to get the kids to go to bed quietly last night.

Ernie got some great pictures of the kids after church in their church clothes.

Beans are good for your heart…

Ladies and gentlemen,

Boys and girls,

Chipmunks and squirrels… It’s guest blogger time!

Rebecca is frantically converting our home into “our pretend house” before her sister, Sylvia, and her brother-in-law, Dave and their three kids get here. (Our
“pretend house” is what we call our house when we clean up for guests and we act like it is always this clean). I was laying on the couch watching her, and playing a video game when she dropped the guilt trip on me, and asked me to blog for her. I will tell you, I will choose blogging over housework any day of the week!

Anyway, I take my blogging responsibilities very seriously, so here goes:

Tonight’s blog is about the latest pack meeting. It was quite eventful. First, the cub scout leadership did a fantastic job. The theme was “Movie night”, and they transformed the cultural hall at church into a huge movie theater replete with movie screen, decorated tables, and concession stand with an old-fashioned popcorn machine. Very cool.

Super-fun!

Anyway, as part of the festivities, the scouts had a talent show. Little Ernie, in typical form, decided to show a talent that was truly ambitious, and not well thought out. His plan: Climb a 20’ rope, hand over hand. I assumed, wrongly, that he had been practicing this at scouts, and that they would have a rope set up for him. The night of the talent show, as we pulled into the parking lot of the church, Ernie sheepishly admitted that he had never climbed a rope before, and that he didn’t even have one with him to climb. We had to improvise. Adapt. Overcome.

As the announcer called the scouts one by one, and the scouts performed their talents, Ernie and I were conspiring. At last, the final contestant was called up. “And now, Ernie will recite a lovely poem,” the MC announced.

Ernie, grinning, walked up to the stage and proudly took the mic. He spoke clearly, annunciating every syllable:

Beans, beans they’re good for your heart

Beans, beans they make you fart

the more you fart, the better you feel

so eat beans at every meal!

Then he put his palm underneath his armpit and made the sound of repeated flatulence, while grinning ear to ear. It was a proud moment.

The t-shirts arrived!

We got home from the Cub Scout Pack Meeting tonight (which was really well done) and found a happy package from the UPS guy waiting on the doorstep. Yes, as you probably guessed from the title of this post, our t-shirts came!

We all tried them on immediately and the kids love them.

 

Farewell 2009-2010

School gets out pretty early here in Mississippi and today was the last day of school. I like it because the kids finish up before the scorching weather starts and then at the end of the summer, when I’m tired and ready for them to go back to school, they head back at the beginning of August. The 2010-2011 school year starts August 6th.

My whole world changes when the kids are out of school and now, instead of thinking about homework and packing lunches, I’m thinking about chore charts and summer reading. I bought timers today and wrote each child’s name on one, that way they can keep their timer with them throughout the day and when the alarm sounds after one hour of playing video games, there is no debate about how long they’ve been playing.

I’ve ordered our family t-shirts (I will definitely post a pic when they get here), budgeted for our trip to Atlanta, and we’re heading to the library tomorrow to sign up for our summer reading materials. I think this summer is going to be one of the best! 

Astronomy

Tonight I went in to check on Little Ernie and say good night to him. We had a mildly stressful evening tonight that involved all 4 males in the family getting haircuts at SuperCuts and on the way home Little Ernie’s seat in the van offered him a perfect seat to listen to Ernie and I disagree.

When I went in to say good night to him, he seemed emotional and stressed- and I assumed (with much guilt) that the argument that Ernie and I had in the car stressed him out. So I bit the bullet and asked him if something was wrong.

Ernie: No, nothing is wrong.

Me: Well, you seem upset, are you sure you’re ok?

Ernie: Well, Mom actually I am upset about something, but I didn’t want to talk to you about it.

Me: Ok, well it’s ok to talk to me. What is it? (*cringe*)

Ernie: Well Mom, I’m just really upset that we never get to see any eclipses. I mean, I see them happening all the time in China and we NEVER get them here in Mississippi and I’m really upset about it! (almost in tears).

Me: (relieved that this isn’t my fault) Buddy, we’ll see if we can work something out.

Ernie: Ok mom, thanks. 

And then, because he was so tired, he almost feel asleep right then.

So long, Weekend- it’s been fun!

Church today was illuminating. Mostly because Max and Emmaline didn’t sit with me and I actually got to listen in Sacrament Meeting. I’m also reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey- which I realize has been around for just about forever and I’m a little late to the game. It’s been a good weekend overall. We rocked the smoked chicken (not ducks, Larry, and certainly not Chihuahuas) last night for dinner. My kids adore fruit dip and playing in the water at the beach (no oil yet, *fingers crossed*). A few awesome things from this weekend:

• My Ernie, per the usual, is the best!
• I really, truly, 100% think that my kids are awesome and I genuinely like them.
• Old friends are great. Thank you John Miller (a friend of ours from Indiana, Kentucky, and now Mississippi [Ernie worked with John in Indy, hired him in KY, and then hired him again a few weeks ago here in MS]) for being a part of our lives.
• Max might be the most feisty out of all my kids- I didn’t expect that.
• Sister Pendleton’s talk in church today was a beautiful expression of her testimony.
• The lesson in Relief Society today was about Mothers. It’s given me a lot to think about. I’m still processing.
• The end of LOST is tonight. Awesome!
• We’re making summer plans, lots of summer plans (which, according to the kids, means planning on going to the pool every day).

Oh- and we came up with our family motto: Love Family, Work Hard, Never Give Up

Bring it on Summertime

We are ready for you Summer. It was 90 degrees today at 10:30 in the morning, the neighborhood pool opened yesterday, today we set up the smoker, and Bogart got his summertime shave last week. Bring it on.

In case you’re wondering- dinner was delicious.

How does your garden grow?

Here’s what the garden looked like back in March:

Here’s what it looks like now:

And to help you get a little scope, here’s the front of the garden:

… the middle of the garden:

… and the back of the garden:

Here’s what we pulled in today:

There’s going to be much more where that came from!

Firsts in the month of May

We’ve had some “firsts” happen this week at our house:

• Ernie IV had his first Big Field Trip. His class, along with several other 3rd grade classes, took charter buses to New Orleans and went to the aquarium today. Ernie had a “magnificent time”!
• Max has had Hand, Foot, and Mouth virus this week. That’s the first time any of my kids have ever had it and it’s been pretty annoying in my opinion. Max has had a high fever, along with the mouth sores and the blisters on the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet. He’s been miserable and so have I.
• Max is now sleeping in Emmaline’s room, and it’s a first for him to share a room. He and Emmaline are both really happy about it and Emmaline is now super attached to Max. I think that this could go a long way in solving some sibling rivalry issues.
• We harvested the very first of the veggies from our ginormous garden. 3 potatoes (harvested by accident), a handful of basil leaves, and 2 perfect yellow squash.
• I set up, started, and cooked on our charcoal grill for the first time ever (all by myself) and the result was the most delicious Beef Roast. I’m not sure I ever want to grill on the propane grill again.
• I made Basil Mashed Potatoes for the first time (gotta use those veggies while they’re fresh!). It was pretty much awesome. We had those the same night as the grilled Beef Roast, along with Steamed Summer Squash.
• We used the Repenting Stairs for the first time. Nigel and Emmaline (of course) were the ones to break it in. They liked it. I think they liked that it gave them a structured way to solve their disagreement and a clear resolution plan. They were over the disagreement in about 3 minutes. I’m curious to see how this discipline works when it comes to something more serious than sharing a pair of binoculars.

Good times at the Smith house. School gets out on May 26th, so I am furiously planning the impending summer so that we all stay sane! I will post when I have all of that figured out.

Flowers in the Garden

Our yard here in Mississippi is heavily wooded, so almost everything that grows in our yard is a shade loving plant of some variety or other. It’s starting to smell really good here. Right now our deck is incredibly fragrant from the jasmine vines that have grown so well, they really need to be cut back. The front yard smells amazing too, with the tall magnolia tree and the gardenia bushes that have just started to bloom. If I wore perfume- which I don’t- but if I did, I think I’d have to wear a perfume that had gardenia notes in it.

 

Discipline

Four kids, all close in age, seems to breed arguments. Particularly from the Nigel and Emmaline arena. Those two fight over nothing pretty much all the time. So tonight I announced that starting tomorrow all arguments and fights and tears will be resolved on the Repenting Stairs. This is my twist on the Repenting Bench. Our stairs are hardwood and would not be comfortable to sit on for very long. The point of the Repenting Stairs is that the kids will have to sit there- next to each other- until they can tell the other one what they themselves did wrong. Once they can both admit their own part in the fight (I predict that this will be difficult for both Emmaline and Nigel), they have to say sorry and hug each other.

Emmaline’s response to this announcement was, “What if I have to go to the bathroom while I’m sitting there?” I told her that if she has to go to the bathroom while she’s in trouble, then she’d better own up to her mistakes and say sorry quickly. (She didn’t really like that.)

The form of censure that our kids are already quite familiar with is putting their nose against the wall. It’s essentially a time out place that doesn’t require a special chair or corner. The best part about it is that wall’s are everywhere! All of the kids have tolerated and mildly disliked putting their nose against the wall. Usually they stand there and fume. Except for Max. For some reason, Max thinks it is the most hilarious game ever when he has to put his nose against the wall. Tonight we were at Ernie’s office and Max was rude to Emmaline, so I told him to put his nose against the wall until he was ready to be nice. At which point, Max literally skipped over, happily placed his nose against the wall and said (with his nose pressed into the wall), “I counting! 1,2,3,1,2,3…”.

Apparently we need to find another way to put Max in time out, because now we know that he thinks that he is simply playing hide-and-go-seek every time we put him there.

Smith Team

At our house we call ourselves the Smith Team. This has gone on since Little Ernie was 4 years old and he got mad at me and told me that he was “going to tell Daddy on me” and I responded that he could try, but that Daddy and I were “on the same team”. He then started crying and asked if he could be on the team too. Hence, the Smith Team was born. This is now a common phrase in our house and I say things a lot like “I need all of the Smith Team in the car in 5 minutes”.

After going to Time Out for Women and listening to the Eyre’s presentation on families, I realized that it’s time to step it up a notch. So, dear reader, I am looking for feedback and ideas on chore charts, allowances (fiscal responsibility), family councils, etc.

In addition to the nuts and bolts of family dynamics, we are also currently working on a motto and a symbol to represent our family. Here are the suggestions so far for a family symbol:

• UGA (the Georgia Bulldog mascot)
• an oak tree
• the sun (to represent the celestial kingdom) [this was Little Ernie’s idea]
• a wildebeest [thanks for playing Big Ernie]

Regarding the family motto, we are all coming up with concepts and ideas that are important to us that we can hopefully turn into a motto. When we come up with the finalized motto, I’ll be sure to post it here.

Sunday Friends

Say hello to two of my favorite Sunday friends:

Both (as evidenced by the baked on splatters) are well used appliances at my house. I bought the delay timer rice cooker when I was working full time. You can set it up to 12 hours before a meal, so it was perfect for setting up in the morning before work and then coming home to cooked rice, all ready to eat.

Today we’re having Hawaiian Chicken and Brown Rice, with a Spinach Salad and fresh fruit for dinner. All of that is easy and absolutely perfect for a relaxed Sunday. I had all the food prepped and in the cookers before naptime, so this afternoon I didn’t have to worry about waking up in time to fix dinner. Perfect!

Chef Ernie

Ernie cooked dinner tonight and it was delicious! I don’t want to embarrass him, but I think it’s been years since Ernie cooked dinner and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him plan the way that he did today.

• He started by discussing menu options with me this morning that I might like (which felt very luxurious to me- multiple delicious choices!)
• He decided on Gaeng Dang Curry- my very favorite Thai dish.
• Then Ernie got online and found the perfect recipe and made a list.
• He went to the Asian Market (with 3 kids in tow, even) and bought all kinds of delicious ingredients like fish sauce and red curry paste.
• When it came time to cook, he propped the laptop on the counter and then followed the recipe!
• The kids were impressed and I was in heaven. It was literally just the same as the dish at our favorite Thai restaurant.

Maybe baking cupcakes last week has triggered something in Ernie. I don’t know. I am absolutely impressed that he followed a recipe- it can be intimidating if you aren’t comfortable with cooking. It was delicious, I felt spoiled, and I loved the example that it set for the kids (especially the boys). I can’t wait to see what Ernie decides to cook next. Here’s to hoping that he cooks again soon!

Weekend Plans

I had such grand plans for this weekend. I was going to head to the gym tomorrow to make up the day that I missed when Little Ernie was throwing up. I was going to put meals in the freezer. (People interested in this can go here.) Ernie’s only working for a few hours tomorrow, so I was excited to spend a relaxed Saturday all together as a family.

I should have suspected that something wasn’t right when Max wanted to lay next to me while I read a book this afternoon and then he stayed for an hour. He seemed okay at first. We catalogued all his scabs and pretend hurts and I kissed his feet again- because that’s where the “ladybugs” (fire ants) bit him. Then I noticed that his head seemed a little warm. Ah, yes. He has a temperature of 101 degrees.

About 30 minutes later Emmaline came up to me and told me that she was “so cold”. Our house is currently 78 degrees. So I felt her forehead, and yes indeedy, she has a fever of 102.

I don’t know if we’re going to have any vomiting tonight, but I’m pretty sure that my weekend plans have just been turned upside down.

Day is Done.

I walked in the door tonight with 4 kids at 8:47pm (Ernie is working late), looked at the messy kitchen, saw the backpacks and school stuff strewn across the living room, stepped over the pile of dress shirts to take to the drycleaners, and put the kids in bed. Then I put myself in bed, where I am now comfortably blogging.

Some days there are just more important things to do than clean the house. Things like grocery shopping, exercising, laughing with an awesome husband, snuggling toddlers, listening to kindergarteners, and prepping large amounts of food for Relief Society in the evening.

The Relief Society activity was a success. Who doesn’t like to learn about freezer meals, I ask you? Everyone does, of course. So, the ladies in the Oak Grove Ward had a great time.

Today, for the first time in over a week, the fridge is full of edible food and the kids are excited to be taking lunch tomorrow. Max got lots of my attention today and the older kids came home happy from school.

Maybe the house looks like a tornado hit in the living room (and the kitchen). Maybe. But today I had other things to do.

My Day

My day looked like this today:

Fever all day, with nausea and vomiting.

Hopefully he’ll feel better tomorrow.

Dear teenager, spit out your gum.

Tonight Ernie and I sat through a painfully long awards ceremony for the 2010 Graduating Class of Sumrall High School in Sumrall, Mississippi. Ernie was there to present the daughter of one of his employees with a well deserved and hard earned college scholarship. Congratulations to Whitney and her family! But for the rest of the time, we sat through a lot of other students being recognized by other companies, organizations, and colleges. As they walked across the stage one by one, I really did start to think that it was never going to end. Like an actual high school graduation when you are just dying for the kids with last names starting with “W” to start getting recognized. Since we were in the front row, I had a lot of time to ponder the students that were walking across the stage. I wanted to give those kids some words of advice, but since I can’t tell them. I’ll tell you instead.

1. STAND UP STRAIGHT. Slouching doesn’t do you any favors. Good posture is indicative of self-confidence and it just plain looks nice.
2. Don’t chew gum. It’s unattractive and nobody wants to see you chomping like a horse. Even more importantly, it detracts from the really great reason that you’re being honored up on stage.
   
3. Don’t walk across the stage with a can of dip in your back pocket and a wad in your mouth. You may be 18, but chewing tobacco is a nasty habit and has no place in a graduation celebration.
   
4. Guys: Tuck in your shirts. It’s not that hard and it looks so much nicer. Also, wear a belt. And khakis or dress pants. Jeans are always to casual for this sort of thing.
   
5. Girls: Dresses that come to the middle of your thigh will come dangerously close to giving people a peek at your underwear when you are elevated above the front few rows as you walk across the stage. Also, showing cleavage is tacky and in an ill-fitting dress it just plain looks bad. If you’re debating between classy and sexy- always go for classy.
   
6. Everyone appreciates a good firm handshake.
   
7. Please appreciatively clap for every student whose name is called, not just the popular kids.
   

I can promise you this. When my kids are old enough to participate in events like tonight, they will absolutely be dressed appropriately, with good posture, and a firm handshake. (No dipping and no gum chewing are a given.)

Fishing Hole

For Family Home Evening tonight all the Cub Scout families met at the Trussel’s property to fish. Tonight was classic Mississippi: fishing poles, puppies, and a giant dirt pile.

Emmaline caught her first fish right away. Ernie practiced perseverance and wouldn’t give up until he finally caught a fish! Nigel and Max fell in love with the giant dirt pile and never really left it the entire night.

Ernie hooked himself in a somewhat precarious spot…

But we resolved that and by the end of the night he had this:

Emmaline showed up, threw that line into the water and made herself proud!

And then she showed off her “permanent tattoos”… she’s pretty proud of these:

Nigel made himself king of the hill… admired some good fishing… and looked super handsome in the clothes he picked out for school today:

And Max had a blast. I saw him fall and literally eat dirt when he was running down the hill. He got up and spit the dirt out (not a single tear or even a whimper) and then just kept on running. The only time he cried was when I put him in his car seat because it was time to go home.