17 posts tagged “family”
Last weekend my dad took Strider camping, along with 80% of the Dreschers. Then, on Saturday, my mom brought Rayna up for the day, too. Needless to say, both kids LOVED it. I've been hearing stories about it all week. And just like I used to, Strider gets most excited about the food when camping. (When dads are in charge, we all know what kind of "meals" are made) My favorite quote from Strider, though, was "Then for breakfast, Uncle J. made pancakes, and then he drownded mine with 2% maple syrup"
"2% maple syrup? What's that?" I asked.
He said, "That's what it said on the bottle! The other 98% is all chemicals."
So there you go.
Here are a few pictures of them loving the outdoors this past weekend...
Relatively speaking, our home has been a pretty happy place the last couple days, and I attribute that largely to 2 main things (aside from God's ever-present grace):
1.) A new behavioral system chart
2.) A teacher work-day today
The behavior around here had been slipping big-time -- to the point where Pete and I were getting quite desperate for some new ideas for how to get the obedience back. So after some brainstorming and consultation with other parents, we created a new behavioral point system (strangely reminiscent of the system we had to use when we were houseparents for court-ordered teen-age boys in Pennsylvania... ) We implemented it yesterday by posting it on the fridge, and the kids have been very receptive. Very receptive. I know this is likely to only last a short time until it too falls along the wayside, but for now I'm enjoying all of the pleasant attitudes and eagerness to help around here, as they try to "move up a space" on the chart. Strider was following me around all day yesterday asking me if I wanted more water or if he could get me some candy. Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!
And then I decided that we needed to take a "teacher work-day," a.k.a. vacation day from school so I could tend to some of the suffocating clutter around here. The first step was to make it all seem like Strider's idea. So a couple days ago I casually mentioned that Veteran's Day was Tuesday. He asked how people celebrate it and when I mentioned, among other things, that sometimes schools give that day off, he started jumping up and down asking if WE could have that day off. Step 1 accomplished, and I looked like such a giving, compromising mom.
So today we spent the whole morning shoveling out all kinds of toys and junk from our living room, and the kids' bedrooms. And even though "school" was not in session, I personally learned a couple key points: that removing 50+ pounds of toys and games from this house would not cause anyone to miss them, and that the approximately 50 pencils I had bought a couple months ago to start the school year had NOT all magically disappeared as we had been thinking. They were actually just in every single place they did not belong -- almost literally.
And now that I am pondering this, I think I might add a third reason for why this household has had a recent up-tick in happiness... Today after a work tutoring session I had, I stopped by a couple of stores to do about 45 minutes of browsing. It was the first time I had been in any store besides Super Wal-Mart in a couple months, so it was a delightful treat for me. I was in awe of all the bright shiny things, and thoroughly enjoyed walking the aisles with no one talking to me for a little while. I came home in a very pleasant mood. And as we all know, when Mommy is happy, the rest of the family is happy, too.
1. Peter's half birthday. He's now 25 and a half. Oh wait, that's not quite right, is it? He still seems like a 20-somethin' to me!
2. Rayna's friend Elizabeth's birthday. Rayna had been looking forward to this for a long time.... and she finally got to put her princess dress on!
They had a beautiful party... every little girl's dream, I think. The whole place felt glittery and fancy... and the girls got to paint their nails, make crowns, play "pin the crown on the frog," get jewels from a treasure box, eat a castle cake and fancy snacks and tea.... Very, very pretty and fun.
3. A final Christmas present for the boys: For Christmas, I gave Strider, Pete and Poppa tickets to a basketball game at UNC-Charlotte. So for the past 6 weeks, Strider has been eagerly counting down the days to the big event: UNCC vs. Richmond. Finally the day arrived!
The game ended up being as fun as they hoped, I think. It was full of all kinds of excitement, and a down-to-the-wire finish (as all college basketball games are) which made them have the full roller-coaster experience of emotions. (Sadly, Richmond won, but I don't think it dampened the guys' spirits too much.) Pete enjoyed going back to his alma mater, and Strider, as you can imagine, was full of all kinds of details and ready to give me the play-by-play when he got home! (Actually he told me a lot of it on the phone while he was still in the parking garage.)
4. And, who can forget, Groundhog Day!
Pete and I did sit down and watch part of "Groundhog Day" movie that night (only "part of" because we can never get through a whole movie in one night. We finished the rest on the next night). As we watched, we reminisced about our time in Punxsutawney visiting our friend Greg.... and we also tried to discuss the "metanarrative" of the film, as the Cole's would do. :) Unfortunately all we could come up with was that the movie's story was pretty dang shallow, and the Rita character has some serious problems if she can really fall in love in a day.
However, as we discovered this past Saturday, a lot can happen in one day!
(Mor-Mor and Grandpa, I'm mainly posting this for you, so you can hear about all the typical chaos you're missing.... WE MISS YOU GUYS!)
This afternoon the entire Wray extended family gathered at Mom and Dad's. It's been a couple years since we were all able to celebrate a holiday together, so it was extra-special. And, as to be expected, the day was not without some craziness and goofiness. Here are some of the high(low?)lights:
The official festivities were kicked off by a white elephant gift exchange to which we had all brought our junk-I-mean-special-gifts. The favorite items of the day were
- a fancy ladylike stocking filled with mint M&M's... and adorned with a picture of Dan wearing only a Speedo (taken on our beach vacation)
- a photograph of Pete and Dan in a questionable pose, in a heart-shaped frame (recycled white elephant from years ago)
- some Aveda hair products.... with a... shall we say, prophylatic (if any kids are reading this, hopefully you don't know that word) item packaged alongside.
- a framed award that John had received in high school -- a "sportsmanship award," complete with a photograph of him running in a cross-country race with, as Pete pointed out, "skinny spaghetti arms." (must have been taken before he muscled up)
- Mom's "Charting a Course" book that she wrote... she's promised to autograph it so it should be worth millions after she dies.
One of the gifts (a broken lamp) came in a huge box, so as you would expect, the box itself became the big hit with the kids. After seeing Rayna get a "ride" in the box, Strider begged for one, too. I saw him get packaged up in the box, and then several of his uncles carried him out of the room..... and the next thing I knew he came back in the room all wet! Apparently they had delivered him to a shower, and then turned the water on. He loved it.
Soon thereafter we sat down for dinner. (The "soon thereafter" part was filled with all the usual hustle and bustle as Mom produced, starred in, and directed the dinner-making production. Suffice it to say, this was the table before we sat down:
Another remarkable note concerning the dinner: it included a 25-pound lasagna! Yes, 25 pounds. We know because we weighed it. And because we are the Wray family, before we weighed it, we all wrote down how much we thought it would weigh. Guesses ranged from 23 to 37 pounds. James won the contest.
During dinner Dad gave us the assignment of going around the table and sharing our most favorite date we've had with our spouse since we've been married. (The latter part was added after someone asked if our favorite date had to be with the same person we ended up marrying) Thankfully the kids were sitting at a separate table, because some of us were a little too forthcoming with the details of the various dates! Lots of blushing going on in the general region of Karin... and Dad.
Moving on..... After that official conversation, the talk turned to the regular random discussions we have.... and by that I mean we played the "Try-to-talk-louder-than-the-person-next-to-you-is-talking" game. The din got louder and louder, until at one point I lip-read as Mom leaned over to Dad and whisper-yelled, "This is worse than one of those loud restaurants you go to where you can't hear anyone at your own table!"
After dinner we had a nice family Christmas Eve time during which we did some "Adorenaments" that Mom had bought. We took turns reading the different descriptions of Jesus on each ornament and then the heavily tattooed* kids took turns hanging them on the tree. And Colsen challenged Mom to a game of agility, as he ricocheted rapidly from one breakable item to another in the room, testing both her reflexes and knee strength. She held up fairly well, although had to call for backup from Uncle John a few times.
Finally we had a time of Cacophonous Christmas Caroling. Graham played a piano thing, Katie played a dulcimer, and Mom did NOT play her accordion despite the pleading of the group. And as we sang, Strider insisted on singing one measure ahead of us all the way through, Rayna insisted on singing a different Christmas song from whichever one we were singing, and Colsen kept bringing in random items from the kitchen, like cooking spray or salt containers. It was idlyllic and peaceful, as I'm sure you can imagine.
The Frank family then took their leave and proceeded home. Undoubtedly more hoopla and festivities continue on at 9305 Titus Lane, but we will have to hear about them tomorrow. In the car ride on the way home, Strider asked if I could make up a story about Christmas Eve. I told him I didn't know if I had the mental energy for that at the moment, so he said he would do it. He started out,
"'It was just another winter night,' Mary and Joseph thought as they walked through the woods to Bethlehem...." The story went on loosely fitting the actual Christmas story, until he remembered he wanted to make up a story, so then the storyline quickly changed to find the baby growing up to be a man who played football for the Dallas Cowboys, then became President, and then died when he was 93. Interesting.
We came home and had our little candlelight traditions at home.
And then the kids went to bed.
And that is where I am headed now. So The End!
*Good ol' Aunt Katie bought the kiddos a color-your-own tattoo set, so they were soon very decorated children!
Thankfully, the weekend here ended up much better than it started. "Mommy" is happy again... ergo, everyone else is, too.
My parents had mercy on us and came over Saturday afternoon so Poppa could watch the Ohio State football game with Strider (who was talking non-stop about the game from Thursday until Sunday afternoon -- when he could finally switch over to his other topic of conversation: the NFL). The game went quite well, thankfully, and while Mom channeled Mor-Mor and ironed a bunch of Pete's shirts, I made a couple batches of cookies. All in all, a good fall afternoon.
(Speaking of cookies... I was just making some more this afternoon -- to take on our trip -- and ran out of eggs. I called Rayna down to tell her I had a special errand for her: to run over to our neighbor's to get an egg. Her whole face lit up and she was so excited.... until she told me what she was thinking and I had to tell her no, it was not a baby chick she was getting! Just an egg.)
Now we are busily preparing to leave tomorrow for our big trip up to Pennsylvania to see Pete's family. We'll be staying at "camp" -- Ligonier Camp, which is where Pete, his sister, her husband and I all worked at various times. All 22 members of the Frank family will be staying in bunk rooms and enjoying the camp facilities.... hopefully it really won't be as cold and rainy as they're projecting it will be!
The thing about keeping record of our family life in a format such as this is that it's easy to just touch on the highlights and fun things. But lest I someday look back at all this and think "oh, weren't those years so lovely and perfect?" I am going to take this opportunity to remind myself that there were also not-so-happy days. And yesterday was one of them.
Really, in the grand scheme of life, yesterday was really quite good: everyone is healthy, safe, and provided for. So, compared to many, many people, I know we have a wonderful life and yesterday is not an exception by any means. Compared to my other days, though, yesterday was not one a preferable one.
To begin with, Pete is gone (yet again) on a trip, and over the 15 evenings before our Thanksgiving trip, he is/was working or just "out" for 10 of them. So I'm already at the end of my patience rope. And, I started yesterday on 6 hours of sleep (definitely far below my needed amount), and my hormones were having a wacky heyday. Not a good foundation for anyone's happy day.
Add to this a harried trip up to my mom's church an hour away where I then tried to keep both Rayna and Colsen quiet for an hour, a trip to a restaurant where I didn't get to eat a single bite because I was occupied the entire time with getting the kids' food into them and/or taking them to the bathroom, a broken dishwasher which means I now spend literally hours of my day washing dishes, Colsen's messed up nap schedule, and a daughter who doesn't hear a single thing I say suddenly, and I was not a happy person. Thankfully my neighbor came over for dinner last night which I realized was just the buffer my kids needed between their potential-screaming-banshee mother and them.
I was counting down the minutes to bedtime last night, and just as I had gotten everyone ready for bed and we had read the last story and I was getting the stuff out to make Colsen a quick bottle......
... the protein powder container came open in my hand (thanks to Colsen and Rayna playing with it earlier in the day) and powder flew everywhere. Everywhere. Floor, chairs, counters, walls, and all over the items in the bottom 2 shelves of my pantry. All 3 kids had to see what was going on of course, and in my state of temporary shut-down caused by extreme despair, I didn't catch them quick enough and they started walking all through it. What a great end to the day.
Of course I eventually got to bed, but then this was my night:
10:45 or 11: fall asleep
12:45 Wake up to Colsen crying. Since he shares a room with Strider, this can only go on so long. So eventually I went in to get him and bring him in my room.
2:00: Wake up to Rayna telling me she needs to go to the bathroom. This wakes up Colsen, too, so I am carrying him around on my hip while trying to help her and get her back to bed.
2:45: Fall back asleep
4:15: Wake up to Colsen crying. From history (374 nights of it to be exact), I know that this cry will not end until he is fed. So I feed him.
6:40: Wake up to Colsen climbing on me. Thankfully this is later than yesterday morning, but still not late enough!
So, there you go Future Me. These years were not all blissfully happy and easy. But I'm still thankful for them.
Does the title sound like singing? That's what I was going for. How does one write in a sing-songy voice?? I need some music note characters on the keyboard here.
** Colsen turned 1 yesterday! It's so hard to believe our baby is growing up this fast. As Pete has said, this 1st year of his life has gone way quicker than Strider's first year did! But he's definitely a moving, grooving 1-year old now. We took him to the playground yesterday to celebrate, and he was a complete maniac -- climbing up everything, running around. He really loved the slide. We would put him at the top and he would fling himself down, laughing the whole way ---- and sometimes doing a 180 before he reached the bottom.
Here are some pics of the big boy.
And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Aunt Katie and Cousin Andrew, too! November 6th is a busy day!
**Note the lack of transition at the beginning of this paragraph! I always feel the need to have some sort of word, such as "So," or "And," or the scholarly-sounding "Therefore," or Pete's favorite, "Thus," or my way overused go-to word, "Anyway." But not this time! If this was an essay being graded for the SAT, I should attempt to have at least one Janus transition.... but since it is not, and I am not that fancy, there is NO transition at all. Unless this asterisked paragraph serves as very intricate segue after all... Aha, we've all been tricked.
Last night we celebrated the birthdays of Colsen, Katie, and Mom!
Nonna, Poppa, Karin, Ellie, Ava, Dan, Amy, Katie, and Graham all came over for the big bash... which included a baseball game, a soccer match, some zip line action, some swinging on the swingset, 2 types of chili, chocolate cake (a blueberry muffin for Colsen), and gift opening. It was nice and loud and crazy.
(Just a note.... I'm experimenting with the above "slide show" capability. But I have no idea what it means when it says to enter your email address so you can be added to the fan base. Don't put your email address in! I didn't tell it to do that! :) )
Some funny faces...
The kids all had fun with their costumes this year (all of which I got for $4 or less at a consignment sale!)... Strider was excited to be a ferocious dragon (I kept overhearing him tell Rayna that since dragons are so big they don't even see flowers and they step on them!) But Rayna was still thrilled to be a flower. And Colsen even seemed to enjoy his costume -- he didn't rip the hat off constantly like I thought he would.
In the evening we first met a bunch of friends at IHOP for dinner. There were 19 of us in the group, and even though the restaurant was basically empty when we arrived, we were pretty sure the wait staff groaned when we walked in. And they were right to be apprehensive: between the wild costumed children all playing and yelling about scary dragons attacking beautiful princesses, who were then (possibly) rescued by superheroes, and the 4 babies in high chairs repeatedly yelling and throwing anything within reach onto the floor, we were a very loud and messy group! (We left large tips!)
Afterwards, we came home for some quick trick-or-treating around the corner. All 3 of our kids were very into it... Colsen just thought it was great to be outside in the dark, Strider was intrigued by every costume and activity everyone else was doing, and Rayna thought she was visiting everyone at each house. I had to keep calling from the sidewalk, "Ok, Rayna, time to go!" She just wanted to stay and chat with everyone. It WAS fun to see all the neighbors and enjoy the excitement.
October is probably in my Top 3 Reasons For Living in North Carolina list.
(And August and September this year were quickly climbing my list of Least Favorite Things About Living in North Carolina, so this month came at just the right time!)
What a beautiful month it's been... Our windows have been open almost all day everyday (which I LOVE), and the best part is that we had almost no days that we ran the air conditioner, and have not yet turned on the furnace (although last night we probably should have).
AND, we finally got RAIN last week! I had really been missing rain (we all were). When I would watch TV and on a show it would rain, I would get jealous! But we finally got a couple of good, cozy rainy days last week, and although we are apparently still in major drought mode, at least we got to remember what rain looked like.
So fall is finally here, and with it's arrival we've done all the appropriate fall things: made some apple pies, made applesauce, picked out pumpkins, snuggled under a blanket on the couch to read books together, pulled out sweatshirts, collected leaves, etc. I even got to play soccer last night (definitely a good fall activity) when Strider's last team practice for the season involved a parents-vs-kids game. (And I scored! With my left foot! Proving that I am better than 7- and 8-year old boys. And that I'm still too competitive on the field.)
The only real downside to this new fall season is seeing all the socks start creeping back into the laundry as everyone wears their sandals less and less.
Oh, and the funny thing is that my backyard gardens look like this!
My white daisy-like mums FINALLY bloomed... I've been waiting for them since June! So between them and my pink rose bushes re-blooming, it looks more like spring than fall. (One note on the white mums... They are all over this bed and another one... and they all started from one little pot that someone brought me from a grocery store 2.5 years ago!)
Anyway, even though my gardens don't look too fall-ish, here are some pictures that do:
