Ryan is 7

Ryan is 7. His birthday was yesterday, and boy was he excited. We had the hardest time coming up with a gift. He wanted video games. That is all. Well actually he also asked for a dog. But that is so out of the question it doesn't even count as a request. He has too many video games and he spends too much time playing so the answer was no, not a one. Which was hard on us - because they are so much easier to buy. They don't take up a lot of room or make a mess. They don't cost all that much and they don't require any assembly or very much help on our part. Other than playing video games Ryan spends his time pestering my other kids into letting him play with them. Without parental intervention the chances of Taylor or Dallin letting him play anything but Wii with them is practically nil. Anna and Rachel will usually let him in on a game of house or barbies. But buying him a barbie - even if it was Ken - just didn't feel right. He does like legos but I'd say in a contest to see who owns more Lego's - us or legoland - it would be a toss up. I have stepped on one to many in the dark and cleaned up 1000's too many. I vowed I would never buy another Lego - and I aim to keep that vow.

So Outside toys sounded like a good idea, but he has a bike and a scooter. We got a basketball hoop for Christmas (still in the box), we just got a new trampoline and we have a swing set. I thought about a skateboard or roller blades but considering his coordination and watching him on Dallin's rip stick nixed that idea. I looked into swimming pools but even if we could afford one chances are one of my kids would drown. Nothing was sounding right. Then Anna suggested a wiggle car. Several kids in the neighborhood just got them. It is a little ride on car that you make move by wiggling. They seem to be a hit with Anna's friends. So I decided to get one. Looked it up online and several stores sold them and the price was right. So I stopped thinking about it. Wednesday morning (day before his birthday) I got Rachel up and headed off to Walmart to buy his gifts, some cake pans, and a mario figure for the top of his cake. I figured I would have enough time to do all that and go to the temple before the kids got home from school. Trouble was Walmart didn't have any. Apparently the car was an online only item. Toys R Us, Target, Shopko, Kmart, Sears - same thing - only online. I was getting frantic.

I was too cheap to pay for new cake pans so I hit DI thinking I could find some for cheap. He wanted a tiered cake. All I have his 9" inch round pans so I needed a couple other sizes. They didn't have any. I did find a camping mess kit though that had several different sizes of round pans. So I bought them. Someone had drilled a whole through the center of one so but I figured a little foil would fix that. I did find the mario figures at Toys R Us for $26 for the one's he wanted - they had a couple for $8 I could probably get away with although they weren't the one he requested. But even $8 for a cake decoration was bit much. I was thinking he would have to make do with bottle of sprinkles when I did find a bottle of candies with a little toy mario on the top. Bought it, cut off the mario and the cake was saved.

Back to the wiggle car. I was losing all hope and realizing I would probably not make it to the temple if I couldn't hurry and find something to buy when I decided to call my friend, who had the car, and find out where she got hers. I had tried earlier but she wasn't home. This time she answered and not only told me where to go she also looked up the address online and then went outside (in her bathrobe) and looked through her recycle can to find the coupon that had come in last weeks paper. What a saint. I did have to drive quite a ways but I found one and was able to tell the clerk I had a coupon at home and he honored it anyway. So I got the car for less than I planned, made it to the temple only 15 minutes late and had a cake pans and a cake topper.

Got home feeling great. That feeling went away as I took the cake out of the oven. 4 out of the five layers had a big crater in the middle. 1 layer (out of five) slide nicely out of the pan onto the cooling rack. I never have so many problems baking cake. I decided to shove them all in the freezer and see if I can freeze the crumbs to the cake so I don't break it apart trying to frost it. I decided just to fill in the craters with frosting. After all the more frosting the better, I always say.

Next day I clean up (which takes a long time as it always does on Thursdays after I got to YW on Wednesday nights and leave Rick home with the kids) and then I take Ryan to lunch at McDonalds. That went well although the kids didn't eat their fries which means I did- which made me feel guilty all afternoon. Dropped Ryan back off at school and started decorating. I was really nervous, I got myself in over my head I thought. Then school let out and Dallin walked in the door. Wow he said, then ran back outside and called his friends in to look at "the cool cake my mom is making". Made my day. After a frantic rush to get the cake finished, kitchen cleaned up and the new trampoline mat on by the time the party started the kids began to arrive. 8 boys were invited and 8 boys showed up. They played, they ate, they made a mess and they had a great time. When it was time for cake I brought it out and set it on the table, Taylor says - "now who else has a mom who can make something like that" Sometimes I really do like my kids. In order to be honest I think I better post a picture of the cake. It's definitely not as good as my kids were making it sound, I was happy enough with it but it is not that great.

Ryan loved his party. I got all cleaned up and called the kids to come up so we could go out for pizza. Ryan didn't come - I finally found him playing the wii. He said, "mom couldn't you just pick some up from Little Ceasers and we could eat here. I couldn't believe it, wii over going out to eat. Good thing I didn't get those video games. After dinner he opened his presents and was excited over them all. Although I think the one that got the biggest Hooray was the boxer shorts which he promptly put on over his jeans. Grandma and Grandpa got him a remote controlled car, and some cash which he loved. He rode his wiggle car down the sidewalk in the dark a couple times and managed to break 2 lawn darts we bought him on their first throw. All in all he was happy, and that is what I was aiming for.

Youth Speaker

I am not sure if Taylor is really my son. If he is he didn't get any of my genes - at least when it comes to speaking at church. Ever since he turned 12 he has been eagerly waiting to speak in Sacrament meeting. There are very few things below speaking in sacrament meeting on my list of favorite things to do. I would opt for a colonoscopy over a speaking assignment any day of the week. Well not so for Taylor. He asked me several times how come they hadn't called to ask him to speak. I told him he must be living right because he was being blessed. Well finally the day came. They asked him last Sunday to speak about Easter this week on Easter. He came home and started preparing his talk. He sat at the computer and read scriptures, searched the Internet and wrote and wrote and wrote. A few hours later he came out and read us is talk - all 20 minutes of it. It was very good, very thorough and insightful. I was amazed and impressed. But he is 12 and a youth speaker, so we told him he had to cut it down a bit. He said he would work on it later. Saturday evening I was out shopping and remembered his talk. I gave him a call and suggested he work on it and get Grandpa to help him. So he and Grandpa stated cutting. Today he got up and very clearly and powerfully gave a excellent talk on Easter and Christs atonement. My pride buttons were bursting. I honestly believe he enjoyed every second of it which absolutely blows my mind.

Rachel imparts her Words of Wisdom

Rachel's primary teacher pulled me aside the other day. "I've got a little story for you" she whispered. I got nervous when she suggested Rachel go play and waited till she left to start her story. Last Sunday during a lesson on the word of wisdom, she shared a little wisdom of her own with the class. The teacher asked, "what happens to us if we drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes. Without skipping a beat Rachel responded, "You go straight down to Hell." Good to hear our family home evening lessons on drug abuse are hitting home. Although I am pretty sure I never listed, "go to hell" as a consequence.

Ahha moments

We have been going to cub scout pack meeting for more than 4 years now. Every month the same basic thing. Flag ceremony, prayer, a little skit or game and then awards are given out. Boys who earn an award get to pick a cheer and the audience does the cheer. All kinds of fun little cheers, the barbershop cheer, butterfly cheer, policeman cheer and the list goes on and on. Well for as long as we've been going and probably for years before that the cheers were pulled out of a empty box of cheer laundry detergent. Well last week in pack meeting Dallin was sitting there on the front row a boy had just received an award and was picking out a cheer. The crowd was quietly waiting to here what cheer we'd be doing when Dallin speaks up and says why do you keep the cheer in an old soap box. I think the cubmaster didn't know quiet what to say - "it's the cheer box" she said. Dallin sat there a minute more. Then the light bulb went off. Oh I get it. Cheer box. And he started to laugh. There is nothing like an Ahha moment.

Rachel was chatting with Grandma on the phone a few days ago when Grandma asked her if it was raining at her house. Rachel stopped obviously confused, she went over and looked out the window to see a nice sunny day. It's not raining she told Grandma. "Well its raining at my house" Grandma said. Over the next couple minutes she rolled that around in her mind. It could be rainy at Grandma's house and sunny at her house. She'd never thought about that before. Weather isn't the same everywhere. She brought it up several times that day. "Did you know that the weather isn't the same at every ones house" she'd ask me. Or "did you know that the rain moves, it is here and then it goes somewhere else and it is sunny here. "Do you think it is rainy or sunny at Emma's house". The whole thing really surprised her.

Dallin Parks

A couple weeks ago we were heading up to Salt Lake. I told the kids to go out and get in the car. I finished getting ready and came out to find Anna and Rachel crying, Taylor screaming, Ryan kicking the back of the seat and whining and Dallin sitting straight as a rod, arms folded against his chest staring straight ahead as Taylor tried to pull him off the seat. "What is going on", I ask, knowing exactly what was going on. I have 5 kids and 2 front seat. The unfairness of it is a perpetual problem. "I was there first", "Dallin got to sit there last time", "Make him move". What is a mother supposed to do. There is no way to make every one happy and no way to always be fair. I threw my hands up and said will someone please move to the back of the bus. Dallin didn't flinch staring straight ahead he very simply but very firmly said. I am Dallin Parks. It took a minute to register but when it did I laughed and climbed in the back.

Bob

In case you were wondering who Bob is and why we were having a party for him let me tell you. Bob has become a real part of our lives. He is 7 years old, as of April 1st. He flies a U tale (like a space ship), he lives his life in pursuit of adventure, daily risking his life for stupid things like a binky or donuts. He has a crew of friends just as corny as he is. Bob is the star of bob comics. A figment of Dallin's imagination. Dallin created Bob about 1 year or 2 ago. Bob has his own website, pages and pages of comics regaling the tales his life, a fan club at Spanish Oaks Elementary and coming soon a full length movie or actually several really short ones. Dallin created Bob and Bob just keeps growing. The fifth grade loves Bob and he has quite the following. Dallin's teacher Mrs.Law told me at parent teacher conference that Bob was the classroom fad. So as April 1st approached Dallin thought it only natural that we should have a party to celebrate his birth. I was busy on April 1st so I made him put it off a week. He invited 8 of Bob's most loyal friends and talked me into getting pizza, soda, ice cream and snacks. The boys all had a blast. The ate more pizza and chocolate than I thought possible, played night games outside that got the neighbors calling to find out when I was going to shut those kids up. They moved their game inside, turned out all the nights and ran through my dark house scaring themselves and knocking pictures off my walls. They laughed and teasing and giggled likes girls. They drew comics, watched Napoleon Dynamite and several episodes of Kid History (now that is a show I can't begin to describe - if you haven't seen it You Tube it) They ended the night by making the latest Bob movie complete with background music. Which is actually just one of the boys playing the piano. Not so much playing as just pounding random keys, softly and first as the movie begins but as the plot thickens and the story intensifies so does the music. It was one intense movie. And one amazing party.

"La Fawnduh" and Me

We watched Napoleon Dynamite at Bob's birthday party. That is one weird movie. While I really am not all that into dumb humor I couldn't help but laugh and then wonder why I was laughing. Maybe it is because I could identify with Napoleon a little bit. Just a little. While I am no Summer Wheatly I think it is safe to say I am a little higher on the cool scale than Napoleon, but maybe I am over estimating my social standing. I never really payed much attention to "La Fawnduh"before but this time I felt drawn to her.

You wouldn't think "La fawnduh" and I would have something in common. But we do, when it comes to our men anyway. Not them personally - I have got a wonderful, hardworking, good looking, intelligent, kind man who is the envy of all the neighborhood - or at least he should be. And she has Kip - who is anything but any of those things... But Rick and Kip have one thing in common, their love of technology. They both spends hours online - admittedly Rick is working- not chatting with hot babes. But both their worlds seem to center on technology. In fact "La Fawnduh" has even got one up on me - while Kip admits he loves technology he sings about how he loves her more. Rick, I'm not so sure about. I used to think I was the love of his life, but then came along his droid. I am beginning to suspect he loves her more. Which isn't' all that hard to understand, she is amazing. His droid does it all, texts, calls, tracks, searches, takes pictures and video, streams music and movies, plays games and much much more. With a caress of her face or the sound of your voice she will find you anything you ever dreamed of. Truly she can make "all your wildest dreams" come true.

I really do think she has made it to the top of his list. After all she is the last thing he touches at night and he rolls over and reaches for her first thing every morning. While it used to be me he reached for each morning now it his droid laying right there in my place - literally. I used to have the right side of the bed but that all changed when the droid came. She needs to be plugged in each night to the computer. My side of the bed, (definitely the best side,) was closer to the computer... and the window and the clock and further from the noise, and the light and the door. So I got ousted, now Rick sleeps on the right side so he can sleep next to her.

It is not only in bed that she took over my place. Date night became a thing of the past. I got sick of going to a restaurant and watching Rick play with his phone, sitting across the table silently eating my dinner while he looked things up, checked him mail or sent a text. So I started refusing to go. At first I told him I wouldn't go to dinner, I thought a movie would be safe. Well he wore a hat and when the movie started he took it off and used it to shield the light from his phone so he could still use her while the movie was playing without getting kicked out of the theater. It wasn't' as bad as dinner since at least I was entertained, but I still felt like a third wheel. So I decided enough was enough. I swore I would not go out with him unless he left his phone home. He flatly refused. Valentines Day came and went. I missed my annual Valentines Day date that I look forward to each year. About 2 months later we finally compromised. I agreed to go to dinner with him if he left his phone in his pocket. It went ok. He only reached for it once, but one look from me and he put it back. It is not like I am asking him to be totally unreachable. I offered to let him carry my phone. But mine just doesn't do it for him. It is just a regular phone. Although I just recently got a texting plan which thrilled Rick. You see now Rick doesn't' have to focus his attention on me if I need to ask him something. It is a lot easier to just read a text from me and see what I want rather than have to stop what he is doing and focus on me. Well as his wife I miss the days when we wanted to stop what he was doing and focus on me. I hope someday those days might return, but if technology keeps advancing the way it has been I'm afraid it is a lost cause. I'm afraid technology has replaced me as the love of his life - 'Always and Forever."