Eight

Scott turned eight on Thursday. Eight seems so much older than seven. It's the last of the early childhood years and for me, that's a biggie. Seeing as I'm "trained" in early childhood education, there's something mysterious about the years beyond eight. I suddenly find myself living with a child whom I can have both a meaningful conversation and a meaningful fight with. That may sound odd and yet, we all learn something from a fight around here. We may find that we appreciate each other a little bit more after the make up and can problem solve how to avoid that situation again. Ahhh, big kid years. Scott is entering them in earnest now and yet, I'm sure he will be completely different than his brother has been so we'll get to learn a lovely new set of big kid strategies. Since Scott's soul mates may reside at South Park, this could be an interesting ride.

Speaking of rides, Scott hosted a sledding, bonfire, S'mores birthday party. It was a wild ride and it was our best birthday party yet!

Ride on Scott! And enjoy being EIGHT!

Scott's best buddy since babyhood.

Scott's best buddy at home (when speaking), his brother.

Another buddy catching some serious air!

S'mores anyone?

The birthday gang 2010!

Snow Day

Today we had a snow day. It was lovely to wake up and know that school had been cancelled prior to getting out of our pajamas. And with an unexpected day of freedom for the boys and their friends, it has been a day full of boyish business.

Scott awoke with thoughts of his Kindergarten puppet creation of the story of The Three Bears. He's been asking for it all week and was certain that it was in the box of treasures I keep to remember his school years by. I suppose I didn't deem that particular creation worth saving since it wasn't there and although his disappointment was apparent, we agreed that today was a perfect day to create a new puppet show. Today's theme, The Turkey and the Three Pilgrims. Aside from the characters, the storyline was predictable.

I do love his creativity in the area of puppet making.

After hanging out all morning and most of the afternoon, we had a reprise of Nerf Gun war and an additional 5 boys. I didn't even attempt to get that on camera and as the chaos grew deeper, they were sent out to the bitter cold to wear out some boyness. Now they are all dispersing and finding their ways back home. Time for dinner, packing and mentally preparing for the Seattle Marathon. More on that another day.

Homework & Hot Cocoa

Tonight the boys played their violins until their fingers wore out. It was our first "violin-a-thon" with their violin studio. The purpose? To raise funds to provide a Christmas for a family in need. Grant, being the competitive soul that he is, decided that he was certainly going to be the last one standing. The prize for lasting the longest? A cake! To be awarded at a later date and from the baker of the winner's choice. Little did G know, he had some competition. Nope, not from his little brother but from a peer in the studio who was certainly not going to be beat by some boy. So we ended in a tie and Grant thinks that Stratciatella gellato sounds much better than cake. Scott bribed him into sharing, because why try to win if you can get your brother to share? However, they both know if they stick around and play nice, their violin instructor (http://www.stringsontour.com/) may likely give an extra goody before going home. Tonight, they came away with hot chocolate which we enjoyed as we finished up homework before bed.

Good night, sleep tight.

Peace Interrupted

The peace has left the house. A once quiet and peaceful brotherly morning has now been interrupted by an all out Nerf Gun war between 5 boys. There are two teams of two and one referee. There are bases, bombs, darts, and bullets. The ref calls the shots. Although the peaceful morning has gone, this is an alternative form of cooperative play. Bring it on boys!

Peace

It doesn't seem to happen very often, which I do find unfortunate, but when it does I find it purely blissful. The boys are getting along. I will say that as far as brothers go, they get along pretty well most of the time but they are polar opposites. Grant being the outgoing, active extrovert and Scott being the quirky, detail oriented introvert. In other words, they know how to push each others crazy buttons. But today, they are playing, truly playing and engaging in that cooperative type play that all the research says assists in the development of executive functioning.

As Grant gets older, he finds himself wanting to spend his time on the computer or iTouch and less time engaged in creative play (although that was never his strong suit...give the boy a ball already!). Scott on the other hand, is the master of imaginative play and is perfectly happy engaging in his schemes by himself or with others. So when Grant decides to actively PLAY with his brother, I've decided that this is an event worth documenting. Today, the theme is Percy Jackson/Age of Mythology Playmobil. They have set up Half Blood Hill and created all the characters making sure each one has the perfect outfit, hair and accessories. One of the horses even lost a head in order to make Chiron

Grant attemping to "direct" the play.

Scott, well, just being himself.

Enjoy young boys, it's almost time to get ready for church (the peace is about to erupt!)

Returning

It's time. It's been a while and my need for blogging is finding a resurgence in my soul. I am not going to make any attempt at playing "catch up with the fam" since my last post. Instead, I'd just like to pretend that I've been here all along and start right where we are at.

Where are we? Well, I'm making an attempt to slow down the ongoing revolving door of comings and goings and enjoy time at home watching my boys do their boy things. Grant is worrying his little head about the decrease in play dates on his calendar. He's beginning to loose his friends to sports and although he is also very involved in his own athletic adventures, he is realizing that contact with his friends is becoming reliant on being on a team with them. Now, instead of spontaneous play dates on a regular basis after school, he is needing to dig down deep and find things to do on his own. Anyone that knows Grant knows that this is a major challenge. He is a social being and engaging in self directed behavior is a major weakness and has been, well, pretty much since birth! The boy NEEDS people so learning what to do while there is no one to play with (including his brother who is off romping the neighborhood with his own gang of peeps) has been a challenge of monumental proportions. He is counting the days until ski team starts and dry land training isn't cutting it for him ("It's sooo boring Mom!"). So we'll hunker down and have some time together, learning how to appreciate being with ourselves.

Grant engaging in his favorite activity last winter and although his friends are busy with hockey and basketball, he knows his time is coming and as he waits, the snow falls outside! Be patient Big G, I'm sure we'll be skiing within a few weeks and you can reconnect with your "Winter Friends."

How Could I Forget?

I find it a bit interesting that I forgot one important milestone of this summer in my little catch-up session. EJ (for those of you who forgot what EJ stands for, that would be my "Endorphin Junkie" husband) had a big event occur this August. He turned 40! Forty years old! The big 4-0. Although I had thoughts of embarrassment, surprise and grand occasions, we decided to just go with a party at home with one small surprise. After all, I turn 40 later so I don't want any birthday backfire! So here you are, EJ at his 40th birthday bash.

This is EJ on the Surf Board. It was his little birthday surprise. Think electronic bull in the shape of a surfboard. It's crazy what you can rent out there! Fun for kids, fun for adults, but really just fun for kids. The birthday boy took a ride or two as did all the members of his department. The rest of the adult birthday crowd didn't have enough beer I suppose. Hmmm, we'll get them next time. Regardless of the lack of adult surfing, we had a grand old time and were happy to have a number of friends to celebrate the beginning of EJ's next decade with us.

Catching Up

It's been a while. I'm not even going to give an excuse. I'll just hope someone is still out there. If not, I'll chalk this time up to personal creativity.

I know we are into October so a summer wrap up seems inappropriate but I don't care. I'm going to do the summer wrap up anyway. We had an awesome, busy and fun summer. Here's a little wrap up to catch you up with the Larson clan. The fall wrap up will happen on another day, or month, hopefully not year. But we'll see, things happen.

JUNE

After I got suckered into working past my teaching contract date by attending a few conferences in June, summer finally started by heading to Dillon, MT for RATPOD. Ride Around the Pioneers in One Day is a fundraising event for Camp-Mak-a-Dream, a camp serving children battling cancer. I have watched Greg the past 3 years or so, green with envy as he participated. Luckily for me, I got a fancy, dancy, pretty green cyclo-cross bike for Christmas and got my wish to ride this year. Put a few road wheels on and I'm ready to go. Training was a bit of a joke but I squeaked in just enough to actually enjoy riding RATPOD instead of hating it. My motivation for this ride is the pie stop. Since this is a ride, not a race, you basically cycle to the food stops, at least that's how I think of it. It goes something like this...start to the breakfast stop, then the lunch stop, then the watermelon stop, then the pie stop, then you're done...127 miles later. Finally, the day ends with a BBQ with a great blue grass band and beer. As an added bonus this year, G-man rode 32 miles with his grandpa "FarFar." He totally flashed it then rocked out with the band on a loaner fiddle from a band member. Wish I had video of that one! Always an awesome event that I'll look forward to again next year!

JULY

Ahhh, the cabin. We had a magical time at the cabin this summer. G-man learned to knee board, slalom ski, and wake board. I don't know it was luck, talent or pure determination. I think he has his dad's gross motor skills. Roo got lots of time on the tube behind the boat before building his confidence to knee board. He finally did it and would basically pull the entire length of the navigable river! I had a great time skiing, cooking, baking, reading, and just relaxing. EJ got his ski time in, and in, and in. As well as some cycling. We also had our nightly rounds of game playing. G-man has become a master of Scattergories and his brother is close behind!

AUGUST

August was full! First a trip to Bozeman for the Tour de Bozeman. Next, Yellowstone National Park where we saw an insane amount of wildlife! Two grizzly bears, 3 black bear, a fox, a rattlesnake, plus the plethora of elk and bison! The majority of that was all in one day. G-man is so spoiled now that he grumbled when we didn't see any bears the second day. EJ and I had to explain that in all our years in visiting Yellowstone, we had only ever seen ONE bear. To see 5 in one day was truly exceptional!

Next we headed to Salt Lake City for my 20 year high school reunion. We were able to hang out in SLC, including the boys in their cousin's little swimming pool. This photo was too funny not to post!

On the day of my reunion, which I torchered my husband into attending, he race in the Tour de Park City, a 170 mile road race...from hell. We were able to see him finish (here are the boys entertaining themselves as we waited) and I think his best comment afterward was on the way back to SLC. As we passed a golf course, EJ said, "I think I'll take up golf." Although a suffer-fest it was, his teammate drove back to MT right after the race and managed to win a crit race the next day. Maybe it wasn't as bad as they say. I'm not about to find out...I'll stick to RATPOD.

We don't look that old do we? My 20 year reunion was a blast. The opportunity to have my closest high school friends in the same room was wonderful. I have managed to stay in touch with all of them but we are never in the same room. It was great to see many other people as well and I was pleasantly surprised to have some great conversations with old friends I didn't expect to see. On the "awkward" side, as G-man would say, it was really awful to have to look at someones name tag before talking to them. Especially when they clearly didn't look at mine. Whoops! I guess it's not my fault they changed so much...

So now we are to fall. School started off with a big old bang. I am sure that every school year starts off with the chaos and craziness that this one has and that I just suppress it to the back of my head. Between flag football, par cour and violin for G-man and tae kwon do, soccer, and violin for Roo as well as implementing a new autism and social skills curriculum at work, I'd like to commit myself some days. But mostly it's all good and happy. I will admit that the boys have more going on that my comfort level allows but I'm not going to begin to explain how we got into it all and why. We'll just accept it and move on and hope we don't drive each other nuts in the process!

Happy Fall Y'all!

G's Spring Recital

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G-man entertaining you all with Gavotte in G-minor by Bach. Enjoy.

Roo's Spring Recital

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Roo's Allegro. Enjoy!

What Blog?

Oh yeah, I have a blog. I almost forgot. Okay, not really, since I check the blogs I follow almost daily. I guess I just haven't been inspired. I should be, I have a lot to say, I just find it easier to update my status on Facebook.

Facebook. FB. Timesuck.

I started this blog as a way to spend a more productive time on the computer in the evenings. Kind of a journal. A way to keep family and friends in the loop. A creative outlet. Humph. FB sucked that a way in a hurry. There's no creativity there. Networking, sure. Old friends found again, yep. Knowing more than you wanted to know about the guy you thought was cute in 10th grade, uh huh.

But now I'm sucked in. I'm sucked in bad. There is no productive, creative writing time occurring on my blog. I'm too busy checking the status of people I haven't see in 20 years. When I'm done with that, maybe a goofy FB questionnaire. Or just check out all the photos of people's kids who I didn't know had kids.

It's really pathetic, I know. But I have to admit that it is FUN. It is fun to see what my best friend from 9th grade is doing. It is just as fun to come to the conclusion that if we lived in the same city, I would still want to be her friend. It is fun to have an easy way to stay in touch with good friends who I don't see very often. And it's fun to wish a friend well when you see they've had a bad day.

So I apologize for my absence. I will try to find a way to balance FB and blogging because I really do enjoy writing. But if you don't catch me here...you can always find me on Facebook.

Keep Ski Tips Up

Today was ski day. G-man and his buddy who were riding the lift together decided to find out what happens when you don't keep your ski tips up when it's time to unload the lift.

You face plant, slide under the lift and cross your fingers that you don't get bashed in the head by the chair.

The only thing better for an almost 9 year old boy is telling the story at lunch.

As long as you find it funny!

Addendum

So if the last post wasn't enough. Here is the current update on Grant's most recent missing pair of gloves. You know, the ones he left at the neighborhood skating rink. I think I mentioned them.

Today was ski team day. Off we went for a chilly but fun ski day with a little informal racing through the gates. Both boys had a blast working their way through the gates and trying to beat their own times (and maybe some of their friend's times). Anyway, there we are, sitting at lunch, G-man sitting next to a teammate of Roo's and also a personal acquaintance when G says, "Hey, those are my gloves." Sure enough, we take a look at this 1st grader's gloves and there's G-man's name written on the tag.

Humph, G is now in possession of TWO pairs of his very own gloves. I wonder how many lost and found lives these things have left!

Lost and Found

As the holidays grow further and further away, I am coming to terms with the fact that the holiday post will probably never happen. If you are sorely disappointed in this development, let me know and I will succumb to the pressure of cheery Christmas photos for all.

Instead, I have come to realize how lucky a certain disorganized child of mine is and am choosing to post on this fact instead.

G-man is a really good guy. He adores his friends, is generally kind, does well in school, and is liked by many. That said, G-man is one of the most disorganized souls I know. I swear the child would loose his head if it were not attached to his body. I know it sounds cliche but really, I think this is a strong possibility!

With that in mind, when winter arrives with the need for hats, gloves, snow pants, sweatshirts and the like, it can be a challenge for the big G. Although I should clarify, it really isn't a challenge for him because he has no idea where anything is. He knows where it "lives" as I say or in other words, where it should be, but if he has misplaced something without our knowledge, there's not a lot to be done about it. Therefore, it is us, his parents, who find anxiety in the fact that he cannot locate his skiing gloves the morning of ski team. He just gives a shrug and says maybe he left them on the sledding hill. Humph. It's no wonder he never has money in his piggy bank, he constantly has to replace his gloves.

So with this background information, I present you with two little stories that also show what a great little neighborhood community we live in.

The first story involves our "backyard" sledding hill which really isn't in our backyard but links to the wonderful hiking trails behind our house. The boys love to sled on one of the hiking trails back there and have dubbed it "the bobsled run." It is appropriately named as it follows a narrow path that winds down the hill at a fairly steep rate. On this particular day, the boys were sledding with their friends, helmets on heads, as we require, and having a grand old time. (In situations like this, we often loan out ski helmets to friends to ensure safety for all). So boys are sledding, boys are laughing, boys are jumping and crashing, and eventually, all boys return home. At some point, there is a realization that one of G's helmets was left on the hill. Big surprise. I honestly don't even recall how much later this realization came about, it just came. However, being that G's helmet was tagged with his name, he lucked out to find it sitting on his desk at school a few days later. Humph, he (or should I say we)lucked out on that one. Some kind friend clearly found it on their daily hike and knew exactly where to return it. Now that certainly isn't going to teach him any lessons about keeping track of his things. However, I am very thankful to this anonymous soul who found and returned the helmet, I don't want to buy another one!

Story number two involves ski gloves. Big surprise there. We are constantly trying to keep track of his gloves. We typically keep two pairs in stock which translates to having one pair in stock due to one pair usually missing.

During the winter, the boys participate in a little local ski team at our nearby ski resort. It is a blast for them and a blast for us. They get to ski with fun coaches and we get to, well, ski. The environment is a blast, lots of friends and a bar with great pizza for apres ski socializing. A few weeks ago we were engaging in such after ski enjoyment with friends (doubly fun since our kitchen was dysfunctional, but that's another story) when as we returned to the car, we realized that one glove of G's was missing. Again, big surprise since he's been gallivanting all over the mountain with his peps. We went back to the bar, checked our table area, searched the lost and found, and spotlighted the parking lot. No glove. Feeling defeated, we headed home with hopes it would appear in the skiing lost and found before our next ski day. But as only G-man luck would have it...he found it on Monday...AT HIS SCHOOL'S LOST AND FOUND! Let me clarify that there is no real good place to put this child's name in his glove but there it was, at school ready for him to take home. Humph I say again. This child's luck with people returning his belongs to a place he can find them is not assisting in the lesson of personal organization. It is helping my pocketbook however, so thank you to those who are finding and returning our belongings. I love my little community and hope to pass the kindness along to others in one form or another. Maybe now his two sweatshirts and currently missing gloves (oh yes) will turn up soon. Let me know if any of you see em. Description upon request.

Just Happy

So much to blog and so little time.

I'll fill you all in later.

It has something to do with a kitchen remodel and a new F word.

FRIDGE.

I suppose I also said I'd post a holiday blog. Hmmm. I'll get on that.

Until then, I couldn't let the day pass without acknowledging my happiness, joy, excitement, and complete giddiness after the events of today. I feel at peace with hope in my heart.

Today, I am proud to be an American!

Coming Soon to a Blog Near You...

a holiday update!

We were at the cabin for an amazing two weeks of relaxation on neutral turf with family. It was a wonderful time and I will update you all later. After being in an environment with no computers or wireless access for the holiday what do you expect me to do?

Now that I have unpacked, finished my first week back at work, and gotten my head on straight, I will consider and actual posting...soon.

Happy Birthday Roo!

So today was Roo's birthday. He's been anxiously awaiting it's arrival. This is a day we've been marking as a big deal for almost a year now. It seems that when someone reaches age six, they are no longer a little guy but working up to something bigger. With this in mind, we created a goal for Roo.

Stop sucking his thumb.

This seemed like reasonable goal for a six year old to obtain but his thumb is his prized possession, along with "Stuffy" his pillowcase. They go together, Stuffy and Thumb. They've been together since he was about one. Over the years we have tried, with great failure to curb this habit and to his credit, he has, on a few occasions, attempted to stop on his own. For about a day. So last year I succumbed to a trick my friend used to toilet train her son. "Roo, what would it take to get you to stop? If you could have or do anything what would it be. Because Roo, if you stop by the time you are six, we will do it/get it for you!"

Over the past year he has vacillated between an electric guitar and a drum set (the house is already loud so whatever). He even picked the color. So last night he went to bed, informed us that tomorrow he would stop sucking his thumb and went to sleep, right. At 1:30 am Roo crawled into our bed (I should mention that he was born at 1:20 am) and said, "Okay, I'm six is it time to open presents?" Then immediately grabbed Stuffy and started to suck his thumb. The deal is off and I have a suspicion that we have some large orthodontist bills coming our way.

Happy Birthday Roo!

What Child is This/Greensleeves Jig

Here's the video of Grant, it wouldn't load on my other post. Enjoy!

Winter Concert

This week the boys had their annual holiday concert at the mall. I must say they looked quite dapper. If you recall, we did not have appropriate attire for our spring recital and I was determined not to go down that road again. Especially since their violin instructor was threatening to withhold treats if they were not visions of holiday splendor. Well, I don't know if they were holiday visions of little sugar plums but since I had made purchases of appropriate recital/concert attire last spring, I think we passed the test.

Here is a handsome photo along with a clip of Roo playing Jingle Bells (his first year really being able to play with the group) and a clip of G-man playing What Child is This/Greensleeves Jig which he worked his butt off to be able to play with the group. (If you wonder why kids sit down in the middle of playing...they are asked to sit if they aren't keeping up with the group or if they are only approved to play certain parts of the song...way to go G-man, you did it!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We just finished a lovely Thanksgiving with so much wonderful food and amazing company. Almost every year we have lived here, good friends join us for Thanksgiving and this year we were lucky to have my parents join us too. We ate and drank and enjoyed our time together while feeling thankful to be so blessed.

This year, the boys also documented what they are thankful for in projects at school.

G-man...

My family, because they help me.

School, because I can learn.

Sports, because I like to play sports.

Crab, because I love to eat it!

My dog, because I like to play with her.

Food, because it keeps me alive.

Animals, because they are so "intertaining."

My rat, because I like to play with her.*

*Technically this rat lives in my classroom at work and he sees her a few times a year, but whatever, I'm glad he likes her.

Roo...

I am thankful for "I like my mommy, the best mommy!" (Awww!)

I am thankful for "Daddy. I like my Daddy."

I am thankful for "Osprey (his stuffed animal), he can make noise."

I am thankful for "Pandy (his stuffed panda). Sometimes he's bad but he still rocks!"

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for my boys. They have brought an energy and enthusiasm to our house that I didn't know could exist. Although it can often give me a headache, it also reminds me about enjoying life. So G and Roo, although you can drive me nuts, you still rock!