Lago Sycamore

This last Tuesday we went out to my parent's cabin. They've worked and worked on it over the last couple years, and it is now quite a few steps above camping, but rough enough that you feel like you're having an outdoor experience. Which is to say, perfect for escaping from your hot house and distracting your children from the occasional monotony of summer.

The kids love going to the cabin, and they especially love swimming in the lake, As long as they're wearing their floatie swimsuits, I love it too.

For some reason there were a lot of large feathers along the shoreline, and these became integral to the whole "playing in the lake" experience.

Ready...Aim...

Art bought a few more PVC connectors, and he and Mim now have marshmallow launchers as well.

Here are my three sharpshooters.



Believe it or not, Art shot a marshmallow at me that actually left a bruise on my leg. He prefaced this action with, "Hey, tell me if this hurts!"

Yes, it does, actually.

So he and the kids set up a shooting gallery. As you can see, it has a slightly medieval flair. I took this picture at the exact moment that the parrot was falling off the top of the castle after another extremely accurate shot by Art.



There are marshmallows all over my hallway, and I'm sure there are still some escapees in the living room and kitchen. If I'm invaded by ants, I will have to have a discussion with the infantry.

Funny Zay Quotes

Zaya told me yesterday:

"I had a thought. Happiness is better than the thing that made you happy."

When Art asked him what he meant by that he said, "The happiness is better to God than the actual thing that makes you happy. Like me and video games."

I told him that was his first proverb, which made him very excited.

In a less philosophical realm:

Today the kids had their first gymnastics class, which they loved. Mommies were not allowed to stay, but Mim handled it amazingly well, despite her initial tears.

As we walked in, Zaya said, "I think I like karate better than gymnastics." (Except he pronounces it 'carry-ah-tee')

I told him, "Zaya, you've never been to a karate class. You don't actually know anything about karate."

He said, "Yes I do. I know - Hai-Ya!"

And that sort of proved my point.

He was thrilled with his gymnastics class by the end, even though he's the only boy there.

Summery Fun

A few pictures of some of summer's crazy hedonism as displayed in the Teeson home.

Swimming at a friends pool.



Mim and Zaya could do this for a lot longer than Daddy, but, to be fair, Daddy could do this a lot longer than Mommy could. I don't know if I could do it once, actually, but he threw both kids in the air over and over.



This is what happens when Mommy says, "Zaya turn around and smile for the camera."

Art's grandma found a book for Zaya that is all about building your own marshmallow launcher. He was so excited and we had to run to Ace Hardware today to buy the parts. You haven't seen funny until you've watched a six year old run up to the Ace help desk and say, "Do you have any Schedule 40 PVC?" It was priceless.

Actually, it was about $6.50 for 10 feet of 1/2" PVC and a few fittings and caps. I'd call that cheap entertainment. I've happily fostered the idea (it's not quite a myth, there's some truth to it) that Mommy is grossly incompetent with all handy-man projects, so the kids waited patiently for Daddy to get home from work. After supper they built this marshmallow launcher and the kids (and Art) have been playing with it ever since.



At least it's not a video game.



Here's Mim, coloring a marshmallow for Zaya. She's more interested in the aesthetics of most of their enterprises. I'm assuming that's because of the XX chromosomes.

Tomorrow they have their first gymnastics class. The city of W'ville is offering a month of classes through their Parks and Rec. department. Both kids are very excited, and I suppose I'm a little excited myself, remembering my first gymnastics classes and what fun they were.

Zoo Too

I have some pictures from our most recent trip to the zoo. (Last Wednesday)

We went with Art's extended family. (His parents, siblings and nieces and nephew.) It was hot, but fun. The children had much, much more energy than the parents did.

This post is mostly pictures, so if you aren't family, you may want to stop right here. I understand.

Here's Mim being very excited about something at the aquarium. The electric eel, maybe? I don't remember.





Zaya had a great time, but was difficult to catch on film, as usual. Every time I thought I had a good picture lined up, he would disappear. Here he is looking very serious. I don't remember him being serious, so it must only have been a transition from one excited expression to another.





This is my niece Addy. As you can see, she's super cute, and almost three. She also has unlimited energy.





And here is my niece Jaida, and Grandma Teeson. Grandma looks very tired in this picture, or maybe like she's asking for divine assistance to get through the day. Don't let it fool you, though. She enjoyed it very much; I'm just a terrible photographer and didn't tell her I was taking her picture.



Jaida and Addy check out a Lorikeet.

Don't Worry Mom, She's Fine

Is this a victim of Grimace?



No, it's a sleeping four-year-old. Last week Mim was quiet for a while, so I went looking for her. She had fallen asleep on the trampoline with one of her favorite blankets. I sneaked up onto the trampoline myself with an umbrella to try to shade her a bit, but she woke up.

We all rested on the trampoline for a while, staring up at the sky and watching some of the town workmen digging a hole in the field behind our house.

Sweet summer bliss.

Reminder

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

This is one of my favorite hymn passages. It always makes me tear up.

I needed a little encouragement today. Anyone else?

Go Play Outside!

I had to take this picture, because it cracks me up, but don't let it fool you. They really do love jumping on their trampoline too. They literally spend hours on it every day, especially Zaya.

Today it has been a gloriously 'outside' kind of day, with jumping, biking, splashing, sliding and generally living life to its fullest. I am looking forward, with cautious optimism, to the summer.

Only two days of school left, and they are really just picnics. All the parents and teachers are praying for good weather and happy children. Tomorrow night Zaya graduates from Kindergarten, complete with hat. Silly, but oh well. It won't hurt the little guys to feel some pride in their academic achievements.

Anyway, here's to summer, and all the sweet sunshine!



Guess what Mim is eating. Go on, guess. Give up? It's a bell pepper. She loves them. She told me today that there was no need for me to cut it up. She just ate the whole thing.

Checking In

School is almost over, which means that time is speeding up and slowing down at the same time, as usual for this time of year. I hope to have a few posts up soon. Until then, know that we have not dropped off the edge of the planet. We're just trying to keep up with our schedules.

I also wanted to mention that I've started a blog for writing prompts. (That's when someone gives you a brief idea of what to write about, and you use it to write a small poem, story or article.) Please don't feel obligated to read it. I'm just letting you know that it's there, and giving you the link so that none of my friends and family can claim that I never told them about it, in case I become famous someday.

OK, I'm kidding. Mostly I'm just telling you because I would want to know if my niece/friend/cousin/sister/grandaughter had another blog. In the interests of full disclosure, I must say that it does not involve cute stories about my children or pictures of them. I know, I know...I've already lost most of you.

Anyway, without further ado, I give you...

A Part of the Main

Please don't feel obligated to click on it, or read it. Really.

Track Meet 2010

We had our track meet this Monday, and, as usual, there was a mixture of heartbreak and victory.

Both kids lost their races. As in, they were the last kid to cross the finish line, and they were both in tears. Mim insists that she wasn't crying because she lost, but because she was scared, which I believe actually.


That's Mim in the pink skirt and brown shirt.



Mim got first place in the standing broad jump, though...


And yes, we did change clothes half-way through the day, because Mommy overdressed her daughter. I keep forgetting that she gets hot about 10 degrees before I do.

Zaya got second and third in the standing and running jumps respectively.




Check out those fantastic actions shots! First of their kind coming from this camera. I finally figured out how to wait for the right moment.

The jumps were always my favorite part of track meet, too, so we talked about that and they felt much better. Mim also received several other ribbons, but she was one of only four little girls her age, while Zaya was competing against 12 or 13 other little boys, so I tried to cheer them equally, and explain the difference.



Zaya doesn't have his ribbons yet in this picture, but he does have a gigantic lollipop, because there's nothing to console a despairing athlete like a piece of candy the size of his whole mouth.

After they received their ribbons, we left to tour the local cemetary, because that's what they really wanted to do. They asked all sorts of questions about the graves, and we had various spiritual and biological discussions. What better way to put a little perspective on some silly games.

Dreams Caste-ing

Today was International Day for Zaya's Kindergarten class.



He was dressed as a man from India, and said "namaste" to people for a couple hours straight this morning. His good buddy, Thomas, was from Japan.



He wore his little outfit from karate class, thereby introducing the idea to my son that such a thing as "karate class" even exists. A momentous day which may live in infamy.

Then on the way home from school today and in the middle of an otherwise normal conversation, Zaya says, "Hedgehogs are born with soft quills, lucky for Mama! The quills start to harden an hour after birth."

Word for word, I promise. And no, he did not have a book in front of him. Apparently I gave birth to an encyclopedia about six years ago.

And then Mim pipes up with, "Mommy, am I dreaming?"

Um...no. But Mommy might be.


This picture was from Mim's last night at Cubbies, our Wednesday night church program for the 3 and 4 yr. olds.

Masked Avenger

Want to see something disturbing?



Want to see something flat-out creepy?



My sister painted that mask, and then my children discovered it when we went to visit her at her new home.

The Twilight Zone (Princess Style)

You never know what you might see when you walk into Mim's room. Here's what I saw this afternoon.



Apparently she decided to display seven of her dresses on the floor. She even had matching accessories scattered around. Oh, and she has worn at least three of those just in the last three hours. That's not counting the dress she's currently wearing, and several other outfits.

And here's another sight that isn't all too uncommon. This is Goki the hamster, trying, once again, to gnaw his way through the bars of his cage. They're metal this time, so I don't think he'll succeed, but you can see he's already worked the paint off.




At night, you can hear the gentle sounds of the breeze, the peaceful snores of sleeping children...and Goki trying to gain freedom with a judicious application of tooth to metal.

Who am I to deny him his dream?

Things That Made Me Laugh

Here are two great things I heard today.

One was from a student at the Academic Tournament where I was officiating this afternoon.

Question(asked by me): Spell the seven-letter word for the thing someone would "bury" if they wanted to end a dispute or argument.

The answer was supposed to be: H-A-T-C-H-E-T

A young lady buzzed in quickly and spelled: C-A-D-A-V-E-R!

Ummm. No, I don't think so. While that would definitely end the argument, it's not quite what they're looking for.

The other classic was from a certain person who shall remain nameless, but who was walking around town with our Junior High Youth Group this evening.

"Yep. Here's the exact place where I peed on Main street."

It doesn't get any better than this, folks!

This next line was from Mim when we went to the Wichita Mountains the other day.

She kept stopping on the trail to pick a green leaf from one of the scrubby oak trees and lay it carefully on the path.

Me: Mim, what are you doing?

Mim: I'm tricking people so they'll think a duck walked here.

What do you think? Tiny duck feet?



On the same trip I told Zaya that he shouldn't have made a certain jump from one rock to another, because he might have fallen and hurt himself.

He said, "Good thing I have my luck bar filled up!"

When questioned, he informed us that he has a luck bar in the palm of his right hand. When it's filled, life is easier. Specifically, when he asks me if he can play video games, I'll say yes.

Sounds to me like someone has already played waaaayyy too many video games!

Print on Print on Print on...

What can I say? She get's her sense of style from her mother.

The big mouth she gets from her father.

Except metaphorically. That would be me again.

Wichta Mountain Excursion

We went to the Wichita Mountains last Saturday, and it was wonderful. Exhausting, but wonderful. Sort of like parenting in general, now that I come to think of it.

We climbed Elk Mountain. Both kids did a great job, which is to say, neither had to be carried even once, and there were no major, or even minor, injuries. Success. Here they are on the peak.



I have a couple of posts planned for the kids individually. They were goofy. There was a troop of boy scouts on the peak, and their leader was telling them what a great job they had done and what a mighty accomplishment it was to get to the top of a mountain. Art said, "Do you think it ruined the power of his speech when they all saw a little four-year-old girl running around up there?" Probably. Funny though, you have to admit.

Then we went to visit the prairie dogs, of which I have no pictures. We stressed to the kids that they couldn't feed the prairie dogs, because it said so on all the signs. Then we ran into our neighbors and good friends from across the street, who were feeding prairie dogs. I prayed for a miracle, but God decided not to answer my plea, and Zaya informed the mother that, 'the sign said they weren't supposed to feed the prairie dogs.' right before we got away. Argh.

Then we took them to the Holy City for the first time. The last two times we went they were either closed, or we had too many people with us to make it a good idea. The Holy City is a replica of...mostly Jerusalem, with different buildings from the life of Christ. The kids loved it, and climbed all over, despite how many rocks they had climbed all morning.

Ah-Choo!

We took Zaya to the allergy specialist in the City today. It turns out that the poor little guy is allergic to just about everything, which I thought might be the case. Lots of trees, grasses, weeds, molds and pets. Including horses. Good thing he never really got into the whole "cowboy" thing.

Now comes the big question. The doctor there says that his allergies are "severe" and that the little otc antihistamines won't cut it. Which we knew. She recommends allergy shots.

Is it worth it though? They are expensive. Very, very expensive. It feels like maybe it's all just a bid for the money of worried parents.

So I want to know if any of our friends and family out there in internet land have had allergy shots (or your children) and can tell us if it's really worth the money. Do they work? Is it just a scam? Is it worth the pain of all the shots? Is it worth driving to the city a cajillion times for the first couple months?

Help!

Walt's Dark Side

The kids are running around playing Star Wars.

Zaya is Darth Maul



And Mim is Cinderella Darth Vader



Who must be a very, very confused individual, to say the least.

By the by, this is my 600th post. Yea me!

He is Risen

Screaming crowds call out his name
With shouts of joy and songs of praise
They honor and they marvel,
For they've waited all these years.

A quiet night of heavy dread
He kneels there, burdened, bows His head
They sit, they sleep, unknowing
As the angels wipe His tears.

Once again the crowds cry out
But now they jeer, they hate, they shout.
He bleeds, he prays, cries out, then dies.
Earth waits, dark, cold..and then it hears

One rumbling stone, one bright descending star
The cry of death, destroyed by Life,
Love's Avatar.

A Taste for the Spotlight

My son is not shy.

I've always known he wasn't shy, but I had further proof today.

We went to the nursing home this morning for the "Easter Parade". The Kindergarten and Pre-K from the local school sang two cute little songs about bunnies, and then they all listened to the Easter Story. Since my kids go to a different school, I wasn't going to take them this year, but my dear friend talked me into it, so we slapped on some dress clothes and ran up there.

They didn't really seem to mind that they weren't singing with the others, and they walked around saying "hi" to everyone afterwards. Granted, Zaya was saying it so quickly that the people didn't even have a chance to respond, and Mim was so quiet and shy that they probably didn't even hear her...but they did say "hi".

When Zaya came over to me and Granny (his great-grandma) he was singing something. The activities director heard him and said those fateful words, "You should go sing something for the other people." Well, that's all it took. I only had time to say "Sing Joyful, Joyful!" before he was gone, reaching for the microphone. (Because who knows what he would have chosen to sing if I hadn't specified. I can just see it, 'We all live in a yellow submarine...' at the top of his lungs.)

He belted out the Ode to Joy, and I'll admit that I loved hearing him sing it. OK, so pitch isn't exactly one of his strengths yet, but he put a lot of heart in it.

As I was talking to my friend afterward, I realized something. He probably would have done the exact same thing if he had no clothes on. He is not shy. At all.

And no, that's not all for the good. I never know what he's going to say to someone that he walks up to. He might tell them anything. Anything.

All that to say, "Mom, Dad. I'm sorry for my childhood."