Djeryd Turns Fifteen!

Oh, my goodness!  Is it really possible I have a child who is fifteen?  Oh me, oh my!  I think this birthday was a good one for my boy.  On Saturday Sean took Djeryd and several friends out to laser tag and then back home for pizza and a LOT of soda pop.

(My kids were in heaven with all that pop.)  The boys kept mixing all the flavors together and exclaiming repeatedly that their drinks tasted “just like Skittles!”  Hmmmm, I think maybe not so much.

Those boys were seriously the nicest kids ever.  And they were so quiet!  It was kind of weird actually.  It was nice for Djeryd, though, because he’s kind of a quiet boy and at all of his past birthday parties he has become very stressed within a very short period of it starting.  It all just gets too boisterous for him.  But this year seemed perfect.

His actual birthday was not quite so perfect.  We ran into a bit of a hiccup with his presents.  Because Djeryd’s birthday is so close to Christmas, we buy most of his birthday presents while Christmas shopping.  We stash them with the Christmas gifts and just don’t wrap them until Christmas is over and done with.  (Actually, we don’t wrap any birthday presents in this house – we use blankets and pillowcases and pretend we are “living green”.)  So, Djeryd’s birthday presents were squirreled away in the bottom of our closet with the last of the shipping boxes and shopping bags on Christmas.  Sean, in his wonderful ambition to tidy up the closet post-holiday may have perhaps accidentally tossed out a couple of Djeryd’s gifts with the recycling.  So all my poor boy had to open on his birthday were some dress socks for church and a tie.  So exciting.  Sean, feeling so very bad about the blunder, handed over the three bottles of sparkling cider we were all supposed to enjoy with dinner.  Djeryd gladly accepted and slurped them down himself.  Djeryd just kept laughing and laughing when we told him what happened and was so forgiving and gracious about it all.

And then he blew out his candles and we ate cake.

And the kids claimed their corners of the cake.

And Elle smiled.

And I counted my blessings that I get to be this boy’s mama.  Djeryd is so good.  He is kind and loving and tries so very hard to do what he believes is right – no matter what.  He gives me someone to talk to about history and literature and culture.  He is quick to help out, always happy to serve and loves to feel like he is making a real difference in the world around him.  Djeryd, I love you.  Thank you for being you and for being such a good example to all those little people in our family who are watching your every step so closely.  Just keep being the wonderful person that you are.  Love you!

Pinewood Derby

Is it a crime if I admit to heaving a huge sigh of relief Tuesday night after Djeryd's LAST pinewood derby? The next time he participates in any way will be as a father with his own son. Sean and I get to enjoy a two year hiatis (Erik is 6). Yippee, hooray!

I have observed a distinct arc of interest over the past three years. Djeryd's first race was very exciting for all of us. We planned, prepared, bought a cool skin for the car (camoflauge), wieghted and prepped the car days, if not a week, in advance. It was all quite thrilling. Year two was all about improving on the year before and Djeryd felt very "experienced" - he know how it all worked. This year was just a race to get through. Maybe it was the new baby and all the chaos and busyness surrounding our lives, but I don't think so. Where in previous years Djeryd couldn't wait to work on his car, this year he just didn't care. As Sean was frantically weighing the car 15 minutes before we were supposed to be at the church, Djeryd kept saying, "Dad, stop stressing; it's no big deal." (I really don't think Sean appreciated that. ("You're a good man, Charlie Brown."))

I think the high point of the evening for me was Erik actually sitting on my lap, for however brief a time. The picture below is one in a million for our photo album. It makes me so happy. (You will note my father to the left in the picture in full scout uniform - what a cool guy.)

Outside

A couple of weeks ago we finally got the trampoline set up, and the kids' area of the yard is taking shape. Last night marked the first major injury attributable to this lovely piece of equipment. Erik sprained (possibly fractured - they said treatment is the same regardless) his ankle. And so yet another trip to the doctor's office was made. I would tell you all the medical stuff we have been dealing with over the past four weeks, but it's all just too annoying. Chalk it up to life experience.

In other outdoor happenings, Djeryd has been studying the Oregon Trail in school. He has become obsessed with all things Trail. One day last week he came home from school on a very wet day and decided to make a tent like a pioneer. Since it was raining, I assumed he was speaking hypothetically or simply planning some fun things to do this summer. The next thing I know he had constructed what you see above and was actually lying down in it. Please keep in mind that is only a bed sheet over the top of him - hardly waterproof, and the blaket underneath him rapidly absorbed all the moisture from the very wet ground. Sean took the picture through a rain-soaked window pane, that's why it's so blurry. Djeryd does the funniest things. He is so creative and I love how he pursues things that interest him. P.S. He didn't stay in the tent more than five or ten minutes before coming inside - it was really wet and cold. Another thing I love about him is that when he came inside he was all full of ideas on how to make his tent work better next time.

Happy Cub Scout Birthday!

Last night was Djeryd's Blue and Gold banquet for Cub Scouts. Scouting is celebrating 100 years this year, which is really kind of cool. All of the boys and their dads were supposed to decorate the cakes for refreshments. I baked the cake (carrot), made the frosting (cream cheese) and then shut my mouth. It was so hard not to say anything. I think they did a pretty good job for having virtually NO cake-decorating experience under their belts.

Because he is Djeryd, the cake had Lego Cub Scouts at a picnic table with a campfire.

Sean did a good job letting Djeryd design the cake and supporting him however he could (like slicing up those yummy chocolate fire logs).

I hope they do it again next year.

A Lego Birthday

Djeryd wanted a Lego birthday party this year. My wonderful husband obliged coming up with all sorts of fun Lego games for the boys to play. I was left to simply take pictures and enjoy observing while Sean did all the usual party-work. It was so incredibly nice for me. Oh, and the kids had a fun time, too.

My sister's kids are some of my kids' best friends, so everybody had a great day as we had cousins to play with. (Do you see Anna's cute little CTR ring? Oh, my sweet Sunbeam!)

Erik and Emma played most of the games at the party, but I think they had gotten a little bored by the time the big boys constructed their final challenge - a Lego bridge that spanned three feet - quite a feat.

The Tree

Thanks to Djeryd our Christmas tree is up. This wonderful little man got home from school one day, tromped up to the attic (the attics are very accessible in this house - yea!!), and hauled down all the Christmas boxes, including the tree. He set up and decorated the tree, then hauled every last box back up to the attic and put everything away! What a great kid!

This year we decided (after getting the idea from some friends) to let every single person in this family put the star on the tree. It all felt rather silly to me to keep putting it on and taking it off, but it kept the kids happy. They were all satisfied, and that counts for a lot.

We also took a family picture in front of the tree this year which we have never done. I think it is a neat tradition that lots of families do, but we've just never thought of it before. It was actually rather exciting for me because we got to drag out the tripod and I got to use the delayed release on my shutter. Very fun to play with the camera. ;>

Mad Science Sunday

Meet Djeryd (a.k.a. the mad scientist host of Einstein Online). Something I love about Djeryd is that when something grabs his interest it becomes an intellectual passion for an adventure-filled interval of his young life. On Saturday he went to a chemistry workshop at a local grade school and came home wanting to mix every substance he could find in the house and document his ground-breaking discoveries. On Sunday we were privy to his first ever science show - Einstein Online (clever name, me thinks). He showed off his newly acquired knowledge, until Sean could take it no more and decided to dive in.

Yes, that is my love surfing "easy home science experiments" on his iPhone. Yes, I roll my eyes, but I love it, too. ;> Once Daddy got involved, Erik was right behind him as a handy assistant.

The results were (aside from a very fun Sunday afternoon for the entire family) a colorful illustration of density ("Lorraine, you're my density." - you go, McFly!)

Catching Up

We rearranged the office last week and I lost my camera cable for downloading pictures (granted, it was only lost to me; Sean knew exactly where it was and got me all hooked up again). So now I'm good to go and feel a strange compulsion to actually take pictures again, and then actually post them. Amazing! I have been blogging out of an obligation to record my family's day-to-day history for the past few months, not because I actually wanted to do it. It is nice to be getting back to myself.

And now, back to my post. On Monday we carved pumpkins. Strangely enough I did not remember to take a picture of everyone with their pumpkins when it was all done. Items of note were Erik's extreme disgust of pumpkin guts (shown above). I find this noteworthy because, being a little boy, Erik is fascinated by all things disgusting and dirty and gross - so why not pumpkin guts? This is baffling to me. Another item is Djeryd carved his very own pumpkin all by himself this year. "Big deal," some of you say, but it is a big deal because we don't have any of those fancy, safety pumpkin-carving kits around here. It's kitchen knives, or bust. I was terrified. Sean was pleased.

I also made my very first homemade cheesecake ever. It was so good! I've been making small batches of different sauces so we get a different flavor each time we sit down to a slice - strawberries, chocolate, and lemon-blueberry - delicious! It turned out really good, if I do say so myself. I only had one hang-up while making it. It is an English (meaning written in England) recipe and some of the ingredients (graham crackers - referred to as "digestive biscuits" (that term does not sound appetizing to me in any way)) were listed in ounces. Let's just say there was a minor miscalculation and an emergency trip to the store became necessary. It was all completely worth it, though. YUM!

Last, but not least, in the catching up category, I finished Djeryd's Halloween costume. The boy is set. I LOVE that gold satin. There is some beautiful (if I do say so myself) embroidery on the back. I don't want to give it all away just yet. I will be posting more pictures on Halloween with all the kids in full regalia. I wound up with a small hem problem that I have no intention of fixing, but that is my only complaint. I am extremely proud of this costume. I can't wait to show you more pictures in a few days.

Tidbits

I love fall. It's time to plant bulbs and enjoy apple cider and crisp, cool days with unbelievable blue skies. I get to break out my beloved jackets and sweaters (some of which I still fit in - at least for another month or so). I am really enjoying the kids being in school, although I was very worried it would make me cry everyday (not a tear!). It is a season full of change and promise and curiously fresh even as it is a season preparing for death. Fall does not make me miss spring or summer. I love fall in its own right, independent of other seasons. It is glorious in its uniqueness.

Halloween is just around the corner, and I have been spending every well-feeling moment concentrating on costumes. Djeryd's and Anna's are being constructed from scratch, essentially. Erik just needed a brown cape - no problem. Djeryd found me yesterday feverishly working on his quidditch uniform and asked if his costume was the most complicated. I said yes. His sly little smirk expressed his self-satisfaction over that one.

I LOVE making the kids' costumes every year. It is so fun and rewarding for me to figure things out and just to create. But I am always taken aback by the amount of money I spend creating a home-made costume. I could have purchased Djeryd's complete quidditch costume for half of what it is costing me to make it. But I must admit, the one I am making is gorgeous. Satin-lined quidditch robes are not available at costumes.com.

My last tidbit for today is my sweet baby girl who has recently decided to play with the dolls that have sat in the nether corners of her bedrooms for the past 10 months. Now I often hear the words "Look, Mommy. I'm a good momma." Today she was rocking her baby on the couch because she told me it got a black eye and needed a cuddle. Then she patiently changed her baby's "very stinky" diaper, which she said "made a mess all over the table" (yum). We had one brief discussion about appropriate baby beverages as she was caught trying to pilfer a juice box from the garage to "feed the baby". (Anna is notorious for opening a juice box - which is strictly forbidden as they are for school lunches ONLY - and drinking two swallows then leaving the juice to ferment on the counter untouched for days on end.)

Swimming Lessons

Yesterday was the littles last day of swimming, and Erik did not disappoint. He did no less than TWO flips this year (last year it was one). His poor little back got all red from the resulting back-flops. The flips were in amongst several cannon balls which "make a huge splash!" He also got a few turns on the rope swing, "Indiana Jones style".

Anna braved the rope swing only once. I thought she did a great job, but she dropped into the water a split-second before the instructor expected her to, and hence, got a little more water over her head than she would have liked. It scared her out of her second try.

My little Erik improved so much over the past month. To give you an idea. This little guy (only five, mind you - well for a few more weeks) dove off the diving board into 10' deep water, swam to the edge of the pool, and got out, all by himself. He did that over and over and over for about 20 minutes. Yea, Erik!

And my lovely little Miss Annabelle. So many of you have asked how the swimming lessons were going after that first blog last month. I am happy to report that she improved greatly with every trip to the pool. Not only did she warm up to her instructor, she warmed up to the water, and swimming in general.

It was so fun to watch my little munchkins learning and interacting with the outside world in such a positive way. I had Djeryd by my side on the bleachers each lesson. It was really nice to have a companion (although we will have to forego that in the future as it is Djeryd who really needs the lessons - no more sitting on the sidelines for you, buddy). Great kids. Happy day.

Playing Around

My kids have been on a game-playing streak. They have been playing board games for five days - straight. It's crazy! They play Chess, Othello, Guess Who, Chutes and Ladders, Stratego, and Uno. I'm sure there have been others, but I can't keep track. It is so fun to see them enjoying each other's company in such a calm, relaxing manner. I am also grateful their sportsmanship has improved and we don't have to listen to crying fits when someone loses.

I love it when Anna joins in the fun (or should I say when the boys let her join in the fun). She is a kick and really understands a surprising amount for a three year old. In Guess Who, she can ask identifying questions and give accurate answers, although she needs help knowing which people she has eliminated on her board.

Because the boys have been so buddy-buddy lately with all this "gaming", Annabelle and I have spent a considerable amount of time hanging out together. I guess this is preparing me for when the boys head off to school and it is just me and Anna at home. She is incredibly entertaining, so I am really looking forward to it.

This is her most current form of personal entertainment: singing on the living room table. She wiggles her hips and flings out her arms and sings "loudy". Her favorite song at the moment is: "I Don't Want to Get Off the Table". Like I said, she is extremely entertaining.