Presidents' Day 2021

Another day, another holiday.  This month is full of great days!

In honor of this great holiday in honor of our great presidents and our great nation, we watched a great movie about a great man.

Tik loves to watch movies.

 

Especially ones that also count as homeschool.  He's a smart dog.



Popcorn!

I put kettle corn seasoning on mine, Connor chose sour cream and onion popcorn, and Lex picked dill pickle.  

I kept stealing Lex's popcorn.

Happy Presidents' Day!

In which we go to the park

On Tuesday last week, the entire city shut down because of a threatened snowpocalypse that never happened.  It was 20 degrees outside.  Literally freezing. 

This week on Tuesday, it was sunny and 75 degrees.  Crazy, right? And we would have been crazy to have stayed indoors on such a beautiful day.

So we met some of our favorite homeschool friends at the park.  They played at the skate park, they went for a bike ride. They played football.  We were there for hours.

After we were finally exhausted and sunburned (sorry kids, no one thought to apply sunscreen in the middle of winter), we headed to our favorite sandwich shop for sandwiches and milkshakes.

It was a wonderful day.

In which we go back to the dentist

This guy had two fillings done today.  They were his first.  I remember I got my first fillings in the 4th grade, too.  He was a little freaked out, so I promised to take him for a milkshake afterwards.  He also wanted to go see Boss Baby at the movies, and we ended up promising him that, too, if he cooperated with the dentist perfectly.  Of course he did, and I feel like maybe we shouldn't be rewarding cavities with milkshakes and trips to the movies, but that's where we are with this situation.  Whatever.  At least his teeth are good for now and everyone is happy.

In which we go to the dentist

Did you know that there is a correct way to swallow?  Did you know that you can do it wrong? Did you know that both of my kids do it wrong differently?  Mom failure.  I totally spaced on teaching them how to swallow when they were babies, because I kind of thought they could figure that out on their own?  Sorry, guys.  I dropped the ball on that one.

Anglophile Phase

Lex loves to watch videos on You Tube.  They are usually related to the games he is playing, and they are usually done by British people.  It started with Stampy and his Minecraft videos, and then it progressed to Squid and all the other games.  Today, he is watching some other blokes doing Ark Survival of the Fittest videos.

Well, he spends so much time watching these British fellows and listening to them talk, that he has started speaking with an accent himself.  He's actually pretty good at it.  It's like he moved to another country and learned a new language by watching TV.  Except it's still English, and he is still in Texas.

He asked me to make him some tea and crumpets this week, and I finally got around to it yesterday.  Only, I didn't really know what a crumpet was.  So, I found a recipe online and set to making them.  It was the first recipe in my search results, and it wasn't completely accurate.  But I didn't know the difference at first.

I'm sure that the batter was correct, but I didn't execute the baking part correctly, and I made English Muffins instead of crumpets.

But, they were delicious and Lex likes them, and next time I will make actual crumpets.  Unless I want English Muffins, in which case I will make these again.

Speaking of making these again, here is how it happened:

Ingredients:

1 tsp Baking Powder
2 1/2 tsp Instant Yeast
3 1/2 cups Flour
1 1/4 tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Melted Butter
1 cup Milk
1 1/2 cup Water

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in stand mixer on high for 2 minutes.  Cover bowl and let rise for 1 hour.  Lightly grease frying pan and spoon batter onto pan.  Cook like pancakes, only at a lower temperature so that the outsides don't burn before the middle is done.

P.S.  The batter was really sticky.
P.P.S.  These were really tasty and easy to make.  I might give up store-bought English Muffins.

When you are married to an engineer

This past week, my clothes dryer started acting up.  I would start it up, as per usual, and then I would sometimes notice that it would simply stop for a bit and then restart itself.  It didn't always do it, but I did mention it to Kevin.

Then, Thursday morning, it wouldn't turn on at all.

I figured it was just broken, and time to buy a new dryer.

For a minute, I got really excited about going to buy a brand new dryer.  I mean, the one I have now is the first dryer we ever bought, back in 2004.  It's old.  12 years old.

So, then, Kevin started doing some research to find out what size dryer we had, so that we would be sure to get one of a comparable size.  No one suddenly wants a smaller dryer.  But, while he was online, something caught his attention, and he decided to just take our old broken dryer apart to check things out.

And he found that the inside of the dryer had filled up with lint, and caught on fire.  And that he could fix it.

$60 worth of parts and 24 hours later, he had fixed my 12 year old dryer.  That I had accidentally set on fire.

If I want a new dryer, it looks like I am going to have to do better than just accidentally set it on fire, because my husband, he can fix the things.

This is a joke.  Well, not the part about my husband fixing things.  Or the part about the dryer fire.  Or the part about me wanting a new washer and dryer set.  Or the part about me setting household appliances on fire to get new ones.  I mean, it worked for the microwave that one time.  But there's a joke in there somewhere.

Today We Went to the Neighborhood Splash Park

This afternoon we joined some friends and went to have a little splishy splashy fun at the splash pad.

While we were there, another little red haired boy, who seemed to also be named Connor, mistook me for his mom a few times.  He even brought me his shoes.  And I'll give it to him, his mom and I did look very similar.  We both had our hair done the same way, too.  I can't make this stuff up.



Lex and Connor played with their friends.  They had a rock, paper, scissors tournament, and they played catch with a spiral splash football.



I was sitting under a shade awning, but the sun must have moved, and I must have forgotten to spray my back with enough sunscreen.  I was wearing a strappy sports bra and tank top, so I have a wonderful pattern of red and white lines across my upper back now.

All of this is to say that it was a wonderful, typical summer day.

Lex: On Homeschooling, Life and Star Wars

Oftentimes, I will forget that Lex is a six year-old, because most of the time, he acts way older than that.  His vocabulary is amazing.  He is interested in older things.  He plays with Connor and keeps up on his level all day, every day.  He's very socially intuitive and aware of what is going on around him.  Most of his best friends are twice his age, and are going to be in middle school next year.  His other friends are Connor's age.

But every once in a while, he will get mad about something really trivial (to a grown up), like who got to take the suitcase off the conveyor belt at the baggage claim at the airport (I said I was sorry), and when I try to figure out what the heck just happened, I will have to actively remind myself that he is still only 6 years old.

For crying out loud, when I was 6, I was in kindergarten.

Then, when I remember that, it all makes sense again.

If we didn't homeschool, he would have just finished kindergarten himself.  But we do homeschool.  So, when he was four, and he was ready for kindergarten, we did it.  Then last year he finished first grade in less than a whole school year, and started on second grade.  So when I look at him, I see a little boy who is a second grader, who is going to be doing some second grade and some third grade coursework in the fall.  Because he is ready for it.  And most of the time, that's what he acts like.  Or older.  He's 6 going on 16.  Or 21.

He asked me if he could stay a homeschooler until he was old enough to drive.  I think he plans on going to college then.

Since we are talking about Lex (if you are reading this, I love you, buddy!), here is a funny conversation that he had with Daddy a few days ago (I wrote it down because it made me laugh):

Daddy:  "Lex, how many hours would you guess that you have watched on You Tube?"

Lex:  "One million."

(This is only a slight exaggeration.  I think.)

Daddy:  "And, what do you think of good verses evil?"

Lex:  "I guess I would say that I like the dark side because they get better colored light sabers."

(I didn't know we were talking about Star Wars here.)

Goodbye, Ants

Today, the ant farm and approximately 8 ants met their untimely demise.

Lex had set his beloved ant farm on the tv stand, which swivels, and today when I moved the tv angle, the edge of the tv met the top of the ant farm, and the poor ants were sent crashing to the floor.  And of course, the ant farm busted open and the thing shattered and then there were ants crawling around on the living room floor.

Which doesn't sound like a big, scary deal, except that it was, because these are stinging ants and I was barefoot.  No, I didn't get stung, but I did make the rash decision in the moment that the best thing to do was to kill the ants.  All the ants.

Fortunately, we had already killed most of the ants just by having them.  Being observed is apparently hazardous to the ant's health.  They are like little stinging ninjas that prefer to remain unseen.  So out of the original 30 ants or so that we had this go round, there were only about 8 left alive.  And let's face it, they were doomed anyways.  They would have eventually died in their little ant habitat, so I didn't feel too bad about squishing them.  Especially when I considered that if I didn't kill them, they might run off somewhere, and then I would be living in fear that there was an ant lurking under the couch, waiting to sting my feet while I was watching tv or reading the kids a story.  Ninja ant attack!

And so I ended the ants.

Now, since I was the one who broke the ant farm, Lex thinks that I should replace it.  But he doesn't want another little ant farm.  He wants a much bigger one, one with an entire ant colony, including a queen ant, so that the ant population will be sustainable.

Maybe sometime.  But not today.  Today I am totally over the bugs.  And ninjas.  I don't want any of those around here today either.

The Best Christmas Ever Wrap Up

I will leave you with these final two Christmas photos:

My boys.  

Yes, we did go see Star Wars: The Force Awakens while we were on the island.  The boys loved it.

Connor in his Christmas jammies.  He got his first sunburn at the pool on Christmas day.

The Trouble with Vitamins

Okay, y'all.  We live in Amarillo which, you may or may not realize, doesn't offer a whole lot of shopping options.  So I order a ton of things online.  Which is great.  Thank God for the internet.

One of the things that I usually order online are the kids' vitamins.  It's really hard to find vitamins around here that aren't full of sugar or aspartame.  I don't know why.  Vitamins are supposed to be healthy, right?  So, I ordered their vitamins last week as per usual, but when they arrived, the entire bottle of vitamins had melted together into one big bottle-shaped lump, instead of being 90 separate organic gummy bear shaped vitamins.  It wasn't like the box was sitting outside for a long time either.  I signed for it, and brought it right inside, but the vitamins were already melted.  I'm not too upset.  It is 100 degrees outside.  And I got a refund, no questions asked.

But I figured that any additional vitamin orders would probably melt, too.  So, we decided to try to find some other vitamins here in town, at least until the weather cools a bit.

Yesterday we bought some new gummy vitamins for the boys.  I'm not entirely happy with them, but I figured that they are better than nothing.  They are natural fruit gummies, with no sugar added, and they have like half of the nutrients that I wish they had.  But better than nothing.

Until they had to eat them this morning.  Lex ate both of his (serving size is two here, folks), but he complained that they were too spicy.  They smelled like strawberry fruit snacks to me, so I don't know what he is talking about.

Connor, however.  Well, somehow I have raised quite a picky eater in Connor.  He didn't want anything to do with these new vitamins.  He even asked for the old vitamins, which he didn't like, but did eat, with only a little gentle prodding every day.

So, I explained that he didn't have to eat the vitamins at all if he would go ahead and have a serving of berries and broccoli with his breakfast.  No, he doesn't eat broccoli or berries on the regular.

Here's what happened:


Yes, I paid Lex a dollor in pocket change for eating that piece of broccoli.  Don't judge.  No, I didn't force Connor to eat either his tiny piece of broccoli or his second vitamin.  But I did make them clear their plates and load them into the dishwasher.  That counts for something good, right?

Disneyland

It's hard not be excited when you wake up across the street from Disneyland...



...and this is the view from your window.



After a nice hotel breakfast, we headed back over to California Adventure, bright and early.

The boys had decided the night before that the first ride they wanted to go on was The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.  So, that's what we did.  They have seen a few episodes of The Twilight Zone on Netflix, so that was good.  And they both did really well on the ride.  But as soon as it was over, Lex lost it.  It was like he had post-traumatic stress, and it all came out.  I felt so bad that he had been so scared.  Especially since he usually isn't afraid of anything.  So, in order to make him feel better, we went over to "a bug's land" and we rode all the rides there, which are carnival rides that make you feel like you are a little bug.  It was super fun.

Then, after consulting the map, the kids decided that they were done with California Adventure, and they were ready to head over to Disneyland!

I decided it was time to buy some Minnie Mouse ears.

We rode the train almost around the whole park, and we stopped one stop short of a full circle in Tomorrowland.  We had so much fun in Tomorrowland.  We drove the cars at Autopia, we rode the Astro Orbitor, and we defeated Zurg on Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters.

We also rode Star Tours, which was definitely a hit.





Then we went to the Jedi Training Academy.



Lex really wanted to get picked to be a Padawan, but he wasn't.  The show was still fabulous.



We tried to ride Space Mountain, but after about 35-45 minutes of standing in line, the stupid thing broke down.  So, we ended up getting dinner and leaving Tomorrowland.





We bought balloons, and then the kids decided that they wanted to go back to California Adventure to ride the Radiator Springs Racers one last time.  We had a fast pass, so we got on pretty quick.  But, in the middle, this stupid ride broke down, too, but this time with us on it!

After we finally got off the ride, we were given a fast pass to use on any ride in the park anytime in the next two days, to make up for all our bad luck.



But we decided to go back to the hotel and go swimming.  We planned to watch the fireworks from our hotel window.



We ordered room service dessert, and the kids both tried hard to stay awake long enough...



...but Lex fell asleep first, and then Connor fell asleep just before the fireworks started.  We tried to wake them back up, but they were too tired.  They had had way too much fun already that day.

Things We Say

We all talk a lot around here.   Some things we say strike me as more memorable than others.

Like today while in Target, Lex and Connor were arguing about something that had to do with Pokemon.  I wasn't really paying attention, but I did gather that the gist of it was that Connor was annoying his brother.  On purpose.  So I scolded him as follows:

"Deriving joy from the misery of your brother is despicable, and inappropriate.  Stop annoying your brother and listen to what he has to say."

Which is a very normal thing for me to say.  In fact, I know I have had to say that very thing to the boys in the past.  But what was different was that this time, another mom shopping in Target came up to compliment me on my mad scolding skills.  It was weird.  And epic.

Strangers always compliment me for yelling at my kids when I'm in Target.  That's the only place it ever happens.  (Yes, it has happened before.)



Other quotable moments:

Connor, discussing the upcoming presidential election:  "I wonder who all the candidates are going to be.  I wonder who is going to win.  I want to hear *all* the speeches.  And then we should vote for the one who is going to cut taxes."

He's seven years old, and he already has a firm political policy.  He would of have loved that whole "read my lips: no new taxes" shtick.



Lex, bemoaning his lot in life:  "When will we be done with chores?"

Me:  "What do you mean?"

Lex:  "Everday we have to make our beds and do homeschool.  When we will be done with that?"

Me:  "Oh, never.  And when you get older, you will have to do more things."

Lex:  "When I'm older, will I have to do the dishes?"

Me:  "Yep."

Lex:  "No, my wife can do that."

Me:  "What if she says you have to help her?"

Lex:  "Oh, Mommy, please don't say terrible things like that."



Connor, regarding our current location:  "Yeah, so, I'd like to move out of tornado alley."

This one was as much the way he said it as what he said.  Completely deadpan.



I love hearing the things that my kids say.  Sometimes they take me completely by surprise, you know?  I have this misconception that since I'm with them all the time, and teach them just about everything that they know, that I would know what sorts of things should be coming out of their mouths.  But that just isn't true.  At all.

The Time I Realized That I Need Glasses

And I don't mean that I didn't know that I couldn't see.

No, I've needed vision correction since I was a kid.  I first got glasses in middle school.  But it was middle school and they were glasses, so I never bothered with them.

I finally got contacts when I was 16 years old, so that I could learn to drive.  I've never really worn glasses since then, even though I have occasionally had a pair.

Well, now that we have a puppy, Connor gets up bright and early to take him outside.  He calls for me, and I help him get himself and the dog ready to go out.  One morning, it was particularly early.  Like 4 AM early.  So, I stumbled out of bed and held the dog and helped with the leash while Connor got his shoes and coat.  When Connor came back in, he said, "Mom, you've got to come outside and see this!"

He was so excited and happy.

So, I came outside and asked what I was looking at.  But I couldn't see anything but darkness.

Apparently the night sky full of bright clear stars was breathtaking.  And I missed it all.  Connor was super disappointed that I didn't see what he was talking about.

I think I need a pair of glasses for early morning doggy time.

Slumber Party Prayers

The boys had a little slumber party last night.

Before bed, all the boys said their prayers.

One of the boys thanked God for the Earth, clean water, and that he had a nice place to live.  Then he prayed that everyone that has cancer be cured.

Then my child thanked God for "really good Wi-Fi."

I'm equal parts proud and ashamed.



You can tell it was a boys' slumber party by the big pile of blue blankets.  Right?

Also, they stayed up until well after midnight, quietly sneaking Minecraft playtime.  I knew they were doing it, but they were being so quiet, and every time Kevin or I came to check on them, they pretended to be asleep.  It was pretty funny, actually.

I hate to tell you this, Mom...

That's how Lex breaks it to me.

"I hate to tell you this, Mom, but you lost track.  I'm not five, I'm six."

He has been telling me this story for weeks.

I've tried telling him that I am absolutely positively certain that he is five years old.  I've told him that I was there for all of his birthdays, including the day he was born.

I have even tried recounting to him all the different birthday party themes that he has had:

First Birthday Boy when he was 1;
Mickey Mouse when he was 2;
Scooby Doo when he was 3;
Octonauts when he was 4; and,
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when he was 5.

But he says we missed one.  We somehow lost track.  He had another birthday, and he is six.

I hate to tell you this, Lex, but you are five.  Five years old.  FIVE.

I will be happy to celebrate your sixth birthday with you this fall, but don't you dare try to skip it and go straight to seven.  That's just not gonna happen, okay, buddy?

The Passport Drama

We finally went to get Connor's passport renewed.  And it wasn't that fun.

The passport agent was not nice, but I had the good sense to realize that I didn't want to argue with her, and I decided to try to kill her with kindness.  So I plastered a huge fake smile on my face and we got the passport application completed.

But she made Connor cry.  She was that nasty.  I mean, he didn't do anything wrong.  He is just a kid with an expired passport.  And I didn't do anything wrong.  I just wanted my kid to get a new passport.  Some people just need to not work with the public maybe.

And she wouldn't accept either of the passport photos we had taken.   She had to take her own.



I know no one has a good passport photo.  But.  This.  Look at how miserable she made him!  With both his Mommy and Daddy there to try to deflect some of it, she was still so mean.  She even made him turn his shirt around backwards so you couldn't see the Batman logo on the front.

Next time we need to see a passport agent, we might go to a different city.

Passports & Procrastination

So, Connor's passport expired, as passports issued to minors in this great country tend to do.  So, this summer, we got all ready to get him a new one.  We even got his passport photo taken.  And then, we never actually went to apply for his passport.

If you've never applied for a passport for a minor, let me tell you that it ain't easy.  At least, it isn't for us. Kevin and I have to take Connor, and all three of us have to appear in person before the passport agent in the one location in town during the five minute window that they have available to take passport applications each week.

So anyways, we decided that it was time to get serious about getting his passport renewed.  Again.  And I took one look at that passport photo and decided that there was no way that the passport agent would ever believe it was taken in within the last six months.  Especially since it is about seven months old, and the kid hasn't had a haircut in all that time.

So, I took Connor and had another passport photo taken.


The photo on the left was from June.  The one on the right is from January.

Now all we have to do is actually apply for his new passport sometime within the next six months.  I mean, right?

In which history repeats itself

Connor lost another tooth.

This is a mouth missing three teeth.

But it wasn't quite as innocent as all that.

You see, Lex kicked him in the face, and another one of his wiggly teeth came out, along with copious amounts of blood.

Are you having deja vu?  Because I am.

At least this time I didn't have to get the dentist involved.

Then, because I didn't want Connor to loose his tooth in the many hours before bed time, I set it carefully on the counter (after washing off the blood) and sent Connor to his room to build a LEGO tooth holder to keep it safe.

Here is the LEGO tooth safe that Connor built.  It took him about two minutes to construct, and I swear to the Tooth Fairy that his tooth vanished into thin air directly from the counter top during that time.  This exact spot on the counter, actually.

Why do we keep losing teeth?  What is it about this place that makes them suddenly disappear?

I mean, it was right there on the counter.  I even looked at it during the two minutes Connor was building the LEGO tooth safe, but when I looked again, it was gone.  GONE!

It's enough to make a person crazy.  That and the fact that Lex is knocking all of Connor's teeth out.  I mean, I know that they are loose anyways, but what if this trend continues after the baby teeth?  Fail.

So, Connor had to write another note to the Tooth Fairy explaining that he lost another tooth.

He wrote it entirely by himself this time.

It says, "Lost another tooth.  I mean lost lost.  This is a letter to the Tooth Fairy." 

My favorite part is the seven-year-old-boy handwriting.  That, and the ending.  In case there was any confusion as to the business purpose of this note.

And let's face it, the business purpose of the note was to ensure that the Tooth Fairy didn't skip over his toothless pillow.  It worked:

This kid is getting rich of off his lost teeth.

The Water Jerk

Tonight while getting ready for bed, I got Lex a fresh cup of water and handed it to him.

He proceeded to pour it down the drain.

So I took his cup.  He clearly didn't need it.

That's when he decided that he really wanted a cup of water and threw a big fit.

Yes, I could have just refilled the cup and given it back to him.  Gawd, that would have been easier.

But I want him to learn that he can't get his way by throwing a fit.

And I want him to think before acting in a wasteful and destructive manner.

So I told him that he couldn't have another cup of water until the morning.

He cried about the cup of water until almost 10:00 PM.

And I felt like a huge jerk.  Over a cup of water.

But I know I'm right.