Category: Family Time

He has 40 good years

Richard turned 40 this weekend. What a dashing age.

Mark suggested that Dad’s gift should be some more power cords for the closet in our bedroom. I tried to spy on Richard’s Amazon account to find what he had been viewing lately. This worked for me last year when I was shopping for his gift. Alas, this year there were no electronics in his internet history. Finally, on the day before his birthday, we just took him to Costco and said, “Pick one!” He found a Blu Ray player…with cords…and another remote! The birthday boy was so thrilled that he forgot to let us wrap the present when we got home.

The kids and I made Richard a 40th birthday music mix CD. We spent a pleasant weekend listening to Pandora and watching instant movies from Netflix. We could, because we now have a Blu Ray player. It still smarts to spell Blu without an “e”.

Richard’s birthday party was quite an event. We invited guests. I made a double layer chocolate cake. Richard smoked some chicken on the barbecue and we served an array of barbecue sauces. Richard’s homemade sauce beat Rudy’s in our taste test. We spent the late evening eating black licorice and enjoying more music and movies.

I like how Spanish speaking people answer the question of age by saying “they have” so many years.  Richard should be proud of each and every good year of his life. He’s a good man. And he grows more dashing every year.

Making it

This week we’re just making it.

We made pulled pork for a Cub Scout dinner for 80.

We made collages and 1 of us cried over it and 3 of us stormed off.

Paige made it to one day of seminary this week because she’s so very sick.

Timothy wrote an epic essay about Genghis Kahn. You never know what will inspire a kid to greatness.

Richard spoke in the Spanish branch on Sunday. He worked to get his talk translated into Spanish and then presented it with a slight Portuguese accent.

This weekend I’m looking forward to celebrating Richard’s birthday. Pretty soon I’ll be kissing a 40 year old.

Family Home Evening

We decorated cookies as part of our Family Home Evening activities. I taught the kids how to use royal icing for outlining and a thin royal icing for flood icing. Everyone had a good time making designs.

We hold a Show-and-Tell activity each week before our Family Home Evening lesson. Daniel showed us some rocks he bought at the gem show. These glow under a black light:

Radioactive? Probably.

We almost didn’t have a lesson because the black light was so very fun.

Community events

We have had the best couple of days.

There have been many homeschool group activities this week. Daniel began golf lessons. Some of us attended a play on Thursday. We took part in a homeschool valentine exchange and Mark addressed his first set of valentines. Timothy received a love note from his friend that I had to show you.

Yesterday we went to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show because we got in free for School Day. The boys felt like kings, buying crystals and petrified wood. The older kids had a delicious taste of independence from me as they joined with a group of friends to move through the exhibits. Paige and two friends traversed the floor and found matching charms and tiny carvings to please the female spirit. Daniel, independent as always, brought his own money and spent it on some carefully selected minerals. Timothy and Mark were my buddies. They were adored by the old ladies and given nervous looks by the uptight jewelry vendors. I heard accents from Russia, Germany, and China. We saw an enormous gold nugget. We ate nachos from El Charro with friends on the patio and the kids carefully lined up all of their rocks on the tables for us to admire. It was a great adventure for all of us.

Reporting for duty

Wittle Wichawd

The weekend was dreamy. I read Tolstoy. We went to the symphony and heard an amazing concert pianist. We slept in on Saturday and Sunday. There was a fishing trip. Richard shopped for yard stuff, which I am told is heaven.

So now it’s time to face it. It’s a new week.

Early morning seminary hit us like a frigid mass of arctic air.

Richard drove to work, forgetting his work computer.

And I have a dental cleaning. And lots of algebra to correct.

It’s time to get it together. The week has begun!

Wouldn’t it be nice…

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could spend the day making sure that people know that you love them? Mark spends his days composing notes for people. Here I caught him putting *another* note on Dad’s bedside table… with duct tape… which he cut himself with his new scissor skills.

Wouldn’t it be nice if all science experiments matched my blender from the 1960’s? Maybe not.

Paige extracted the DNA from split peas this afternoon. I may be the only one who was moved by the sight, but I’m o.k. with that.

Temple Trip

We drove up to the Mesa temple this weekend and Richard and I attended a temple session together. The kids came along and walked around the temple grounds for several hours during our session. They learned about citrus trees and played games in the shade. Mark composed this note while he waited for us. I reflected on the sacrifice that our children make when we go to the temple. They drive for 4 hours and wait for 2-4 hours once they get there. I never had to do that as a child. They are really good sports about it and I am proud of them.

Pinewood Derby 2011

Here’s the shiny Pinewood Derby track from last night. I filled in for our Cubmaster at this Pack Meeting. We did the cheese grater cheer, the race car cheer, the rocket cheer, and the big canary cheer. These photos were taken by Phillip Flores, one of our den leaders.

Here is Timothy with his awesome car. He has a Lego man inside.

Richard’s computer program kept track of race times and generated the order of races. We projected the race stats from the computer to a big screen. It was very cool.

Trying to contain his delight…

This boy won 4th place!

He earned his Bobcat, too!

A Few Thoughts

Richard took the boys hiking yesterday and then spent time with Timothy working on his pinewood derby car and with Daniel working on a computer programming lesson. What a man.

With all the time I had without family yesterday I cleaned the house and then read a book. I haven’t read Anne of Green Gables in years. Reading it now that I have a teenage girl of my own puts a new dimension on the words and feelings of Marilla and Matthew. I think I cried seven times.

My Sunday plans include more time reading and attaching stamps to a stack of letters and notes that have been accumulating for two weeks. I love sending and receiving letters.

I am no longer teaching the 3 and 4 year olds at church. I will never forget them, but they have already forgotten me.

Paige played music from the Phantom of the Opera on the piano all morning. What a nice thing to have children who can play the piano.