Superheroes

Jet declared himself a superhero one day so I let him know he was "Awesome Kid." Since he was awesome kid, I told him I was "Super Mom." So we went around like this for a while.

Jet: Awesome Kid!

Me: and Super Mom!

Jet: Awesome Kid!

Me: and Super Mom!

Bonding Week

It's been a while since I've been able to do the one on one bonding time/Mommy-child dates with the four oldest kids. And some of them (and I) were really needing it. So I planned Bonding Week where I could make sure I had that time for each of them. Unfortunately one of the kids wasn't feeling well (there's been plenty of that with the heat we've had recently) so we still need to have our time.

Here's what I did with the other kids:

 

Jr. Jr. and I went out to Bicentennial Park where he made up his own versions of Fairy Tales and other stories as we walked around the woods. He spent the most time on "The Wizard of Oz." I love that kid's creativity. 

We did have some breaks to look at birds, including three Cooper's hawks. 

We also watched turtles in and around the pond and other critters.

 

Lucky and I played MarioKart together. He likes to do that every time we have our bonding time together. It's fun.

 

Nichole and I watched a girly movie and ate popcorn.

 

Still waiting to do something with Jr.

One on One Time

Jeremy and I have been talking about how we haven't had Daddy-daughter or Mommy-daughter or Daddy-son or Mommy-son dates in a while.  It's hard to schedule that kind of one on one time when you have so much going on- work, school, extra-curricular activities, scouts, mutual, Relief Society activities, homework, chores, errands to run, etc. etc. etc.  The list goes on and on and on.  We decided to do something about it this week.  Monday there was no school.  Instead of dragging the kids around birding as we sometimes do when there's no school we decided to have some one on one time away from home. 
First thing in the morning, Jr. and Daddy went to get an oil change in the car together.  It may not sound that exciting but it's kind of their thing.  Jeremy never takes any of the other kids.  It's always Jr. (when he can do it on a day Jr.'s around).  They sit together playing games or watching shows while they wait.  Sometimes they have snacks.  It's their bonding time.

When they got back, Nichole and I headed to the Orem Library.  We had a nice talk on the drive there.  We talked books and things while at the library (she even suggested a book I haven't yet read so I checked it out), chatted with a librarian, checked out some books and movies to celebrate some upcoming holidays, and we sat for a while coloring on one of those mandalas they print out for people to color. 

When Nichole and I got back, Jeremy took Jr. Jr. to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point.  He didn't ride on the camel at Vernal Holly Days so Jeremy took him to ride the ponies at Farm Country.  Jr. Jr. also got to feed the ducks.

When they got back, I took Lucky to University Place (I still call it University Mall) to ride on the escalators.  He thought it was so neat when we rode the escalators at the Conference Center on Saturday that he was very much in favor of riding others.  Unfortunately I could only find one set in one store, though it did go up three floors.  We did ride some elevators, though, including one where you could see out as it went up and down.  After walking around the mall for a while, I decided to take Lucky down to the other mall- Provo Towne Center.  It has many more escalators (not just inside stores).  We also rode in an elevator that had mirrors all around inside. 

So we all had fun with our one on one time/parent-child dates.  It was a good use of the kids' day off of school.  No birding, though I kept mentioning birds I saw as Nichole and I were driving and walking to the library.
It was good family time, though divided up between family members.

Violins and Bats

November 8 was Bram Stoker's birthday.
Nichole had an orchestra concert that evening.  Jr. and I dropped off the boys at a friends' house and had some Mommy-Jr. time watching the concert.
Nichole did so well.  She's really taken to the violin (she's always been musical).  She even got to play a fiddling duel with another student in the concert.  I'm so proud of her.

After the concert we all sat down to eat toast and read about vampire bats (because of the holiday).  Unfortunately, it was dark/night and Jeremy was out of town at a convention and... vampire bats. *shiver*

Don't get me wrong.  I love bats, but that night (and reading about drinking blood)- eek.  I was afraid we'd get nightmares.  So Nichole read to us about hippos.  Not nearly as eek.
I didn't get nightmares even though after the kids went to bed I watched the Doctor Who episode, "The Vampires of Venice."
None of the kids mentioned getting nightmares either.  Phew.

One of Those Busy Days

Jr. Jr. has been in need of a Mommy-Jr. Jr. date so we scheduled one for today.  We went out to a park, fed the ducks, played on the playground, and played in the sand.  Jr. Jr. had me getting my exercise by making pits in the sand and instructing me to jump over the pits and run around to certain areas.

 

 

At one point, Daddy and Lucky crashed our date.  O.K.  They didn't actually crash our date.  They were out doing there own outing and after they went to a different park to feed the ducks there, they came to the park we were at.  Jr. Jr. enjoyed having Lucky there to play on the playground with him for a while.  Lucky continued to play on the playground while Jr. Jr. and I had a snack and Daddy watched Lucky and took pictures of birds... and us.

After a while, Daddy and Lucky went home and Jr. Jr. and I stayed at the park for a while longer.  It was fun.

Then this afternoon, Nichole and Jr. both came home from school with medals and trophies.  They both competed in this year's Battle of the Books.  Nichole's team won 2nd place for 5th and 6th graders and Jr.'s team won 1st place for 3rd and 4th graders (Nichole has a 1st place trophy from when her team won in 3rd grade).

This evening after having our dinner of waffles (since March 25 is International Waffle Day), we all went to see a movie at the elementary school.  They were showing the newest Chipmunk movie so we had a nice family movie night at the school.  They had concessions there, too, so Daddy got the kids popcorn and capri suns.  That was a fun activity and all the kids did a good job while we were there (including the 2-year old).  Yay.

It was quite a day.
And now we have so much more going on this weekend and next week.  Busy Busy.  Wish us luck.

A Special Picnic

Jr. Jr. and I had the opportunity to go on a Mommy-Son date today.  He picked for us to have a special picnic and he wanted to do it at the duck pond.  So we did.  I let him know it was too cold to eat outside so when we got there I parked the car and hopped in the back seat where we ate our lunches together while watching the ducks in the water. 

After we ate, we took a little walk to say Hi to the ducks and enjoy the sunshine that emerged while we were eating... until it went behind the clouds again.

It was a good Mommy-Son date.  I love that little boy.

Quite a Date

We needed a date.  Jeremy and I needed a date.  Jeremy and Nichole needed a Daddy-daughter date.  Jeremy and Jr. needed a Daddy-son date.  Jeremy and Jr. Jr. needed a Daddy-son date.  Nichole and I needed a Mommy-daughter date.  Jr. and I needed a Mommy-son date.  Jr. Jr. and I needed a Mommy-son date.
So we had them.  This evening we had a special Daddy-daughter, Daddy-son, Daddy-son, Daddy-son, Mommy-daughter, Mommy-son, Mommy-son, Mommy-son date (and Mommy-Daddy date).  Lucky wasn't to be left out, even if he wasn't particularly needing a date.
We went to Brick Oven Pizza in Provo.  Haven't been there in years.  We hadn't been there since Jeremy was doing balloons there- way before I was even pregnant with Lucky.  He hasn't done restaurant work in a while.
So we went this evening.  And had pizza.  And root beer.  And a great time.  But no balloons.

It was made so much better by everyone talking about it being a Daddy-daughter, Daddy-son, Daddy-son, Daddy-son, Mommy-daughter, Mommy-son, Mommy-son, Mommy-son date.  Don't you agree that that's just fun?  Try it some time.  Don't go out for a family outing.  Go on a date.  That includes the whole family.  And call it something fun that includes everyone.


It was a fun family date.