Spring Break, Part 2

After our Cousin Campout, we had a couple of (much needed) days of rest.  But then Friday we had Harper's birthday party at Leapin' Lizards, a great bouncy house place in N. Richland Hills.  Harper is one of our neighborhood friends that we go back over three years with.  She's in the pink leggins, getting down with Ziggy, the mascot of Leapin' Lizards.  Joel doesn't quite know what to think about Ziggy.

Saturday we got all gussied up in our green for the 3rd Annual Mansfield Pickle Parade and Street Party.  It's a merging of St. Patrick's Day and celebrating one of Mansfield's oldest and best businesses, Best Maid Pickles.  We met Gabriel's godmother Christine, her son Andrew and niece Holly and staked out a spot on the curb.  Christine's husband Keith and daughter Allison were walking in the parade with their softball team.  We checked out the street party, ate fried pickles and bought stuff for the kids to wave before the parade started.  It was hot!  But we really had a great time.  I'd always wanted to go to a real, small-town parade, with decorated floats and all that.  The boys had so much fun, they are still talking about it two weeks later!

Joel's first face-painting.  

Gabriel and Holly show off their painted faces.

My guys getting excited about watching our first-ever small town (sort of) parade, especially the fire truck, the Elvises on tiny motorcycles, and the Pickle Queens!

Sweet brothers.

Sunday afternoon, Gabriel went to the birthday party of his best friend at school, Kalilah.  It was at Chuck E. Cheeses.  I stayed home with Joel, but halfway through the party Jav texted me that when it came time for Kalilah to get into the big booth and try to catch tickets, she asked if Gabriel could go in there with her.  Jav made sure he understood that anything he caught was to be given to the birthday girl, and he already knew that.  I thought that was so, so sweet.  These two are two peas in a pod.  And they have a chance to go all the way through 8th grade together, with just one class per grade at their school.  

It was a fantastic week.

Spring Break fun, part one.

Whew, what a Spring Break week we had!+

I started off my week with a fun Girls Night Out at the movies.  Audra, Jana and I went to see Oz, the Great and Powerful.  I liked it, but thought that the main players tremendously overacted.  I had a renewed respect for the subtle but powerful performance of Margaret Hamilton, the Wicked Witch in the original film, after seeing Mila Kunis scream out, "Seize them!!!" for the tenth time.  The side players (especially the sidekick flying monkey, voiced by Zach Braff) stole the movie, in my opinion.  But I'm trying to remember that this is aimed more at kids than adults.  I think.  I wish the good folks at Disney could figure out that they don't have to dumb down movies at all for kids.  They don't do it for their animated movies, so why do it for the live action ones?  But we had a great time, as we always do when we get together.  We even had Abner, our mascot, at this get together.  He especially liked when the sidekick flying monkey pretended to be a cow.

Saturday night we went to Family Movie Night at Gabriel's school.  It was the first time they've done one, and it was fun.  They need to work on getting a bigger screen, though.  They wanted everyone to bring blankets, pillows and sleeping bags, but there wasn't enough room for everyone to see really well.  But the movie choice of Brave was a good one, even though I was amused that a Catholic school- sponsored event showed a movie with a bit of Celtic lore and a witch in it.  Way to be open-minded!


Sunday morning we decided to take the boys out for breakfast, something we don't do very often.  We ended up at Marquez Bakery, a favorite of ours.  One day we'll try someplace new, but since Joel had actually eaten a breakfast taco for the first time the week before, we were emboldened to take him somewhere and see if the miracle could happen again.  We also let them pick out one item from the pan dulce selections as a "dessert", something we never let them do after breakfast.  Then we went to Half Price Books so they could use their gift cards they got for Valentine's Day.  They picked out a huge Transportation book together.  I got a Louis Armstrong CD.  YAY!

Monday morning, my brother dropped off Cade and Macy to spend the night.  After I planned it, I was telling Jav about it and he informed me I was on my own that night because he was going to Sherman for business that night.  So I decided to just think of a bunch of fun things to do around the house and in the backyard.  I thought I would let them eat all kinds of great junk food, let them watch movies and stay up as late as they wanted.  

I made up an invitation, even, and listed some of the things I hoped to do with them.  They were so excited when they got it in the mail they called me right away.  I decided to name it the first ever Tri-Annual*** Cousin Indoor Campout and Lock-in.  Tri Annual because if it went well I was already thinking we should have one during Spring Break, one in the summertime, and one sometime in October to celebrate Halloween and all things spooky.  

First up, I started teaching them poker.  Just 5-card draw (the only kind I can remember now), but for prizes.  We played with our cards turned up, and everyone got a price on this first learning day.  Joel wasn't into it so kept sitting on our poker table.

Then we had a jam session.  Gabriel, Joel and I have been listening nonstop to the last Foo Fighters CD that came out.  It turns out that my brother, Cade and Macy have been listening nonstop to the Foos CD that came out before that one.  Who knew they were just as big fans as we are?!?!  My niece and nephew are both musical, and I hope one day will get to pursue some music lessons or something a little more.  They both have great voices.

Next we played outside with one of their prizes:  a giant bubble wand.  What fun!!!  Tucker even played along, romping around the yard trying to eat bubbles.  For our first fun lunch, I had them pick out toppings for individual pizzas.  Then for dessert, I had icing and sprinkles so everyone could decorate their own cookies.  This really went over well and we'll be doing it again.  Then I had them each pick out movie so we could get them all watched while they were visiting.  They watched the first one while Joel was taking his nap on Monday.

Monday afternoon we went back outside for our Backyard Decathlon, something I made up during the Summer Olympics last year.  It ended up being a Septathlon, since we got tired after seven events.  But it was still really fun!  Shown are the Jumping on a Trampoline, Running Across the Backyard, and How Far Can You Throw This Stick? events.  

I forgot to take any pictures while the Decathlon was going on, so I had them reenact the events. These pictures crack me up.

My parents came over to join us for dinner, which was grilled hot dogs (go me - grillin' by myself!).  We also tried to make S'mores for dessert on the grill, but it had cooled off too much so I cheated and used the broiler.  But they were still yummy, ooey gooey.  The kids took turned being pulled around the yard in the wagon afterwards.

Isn't this picture fantastic?  

Then it was time for quick baths and showers and PJ's so we could watch a movie or two.

I had borrowed sleeping bags from my friend and neighbor Helen.  I laid them open and let the kids camp out with blankets and pillows on top.  I had to separate the sets of siblings because, of course, they kept bickering.  We watched Night at the Museum.  They all seemed so tired I thought I would get out of making the popcorn I had promised.  But Macy remembered and shouted it out, so everybody caught a second wind just for popcorn.  I've started making it on the stove top in my good Calphalon saucepan.  I add my own melted butter and Parmesan cheese.

After the movie, they all wanted to go to bed.  I think I finally collapsed on my own bed a little after 11.  I was going to go to sleep, but started checking just a few channels and caught The Breakfast Club, only about 30 minutes in.  Well, it's against the law to turn off certain movies if you catch them towards the beginning like that, so what was I supposed to do?  I didn't make it far, though, before nodding off.

I had promised chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, but I'm not sure why.  I've never made them before, but thought it couldn't be anything too tough.  I managed to pull it off, even though they were sloppy with melted chocolate chips all over.  I figured out that next time if I stir them in the batter ahead of time instead of just dropping them onto the cooking pancakes, I won't have such a mess.

Our fun thing to do Tuesday morning was to go on a walk down to the neighborhood duck pond and do a Scavenger Hunt while we walked.   I was going to give everyone the same list, but at the last minute changed my mind and gave them all different lists.  This ended up being a great idea because the kids helped each other to find things on his or her list.  It was a beautiful day, and we all enjoyed ourselves.  More playing outside when we got back, then lunch and another movie while Jojo napped.  I made them wait until he was sound asleep before they put in Willie Wonka, because he would have gone crazy about them watching his favorite movie without him.

They had another hour or so of backyard bubble time before my brother came to get them around 4.  I had done it!  And even though we made so many happy memories and all had a great time, I was TIRED.  A couple of days at work all of a sudden didn't sound too bad!

Lent. I finally get it.

I have shared my confusion about Lent on this blog before.  I always found it kind of silly to see people give up cokes or dessert for six weeks, in a strange effort to emulate the suffering of Jesus on the cross.  And don't get me started on the "no meat on Fridays" thing.  As I watched people pigging out on the wonderful meal at the Knights of Columbus Fish Fry we finally made it to this year, I did not see anything resembling fasting.

But, I did feel the fellowship of getting together with many other families and members of our parish to share a meal.

I also understand now that the fasting has another facet:  What would it be like to suffer hunger as a poor person?  This one hit me really hard this year.  I have been trying to do something I've never done before in my life:  only eat when I get hungry.  I've realized that I am a compulsive eater.  I eat more out of habit than I do because of hunger.  I sometimes would eat so that I wouldn't get hungry later.  What kind of sense does that make?  I have stopped eating so much between meals, and I've cut down on the size of my regular meals.  I fasted a little for the first time on Ash Wednesday.  I can't do full-blown fasting because I have low blood sugar and you will find me in a crumpled heap on the ground if I go more than about 6 or 7 hours without eating.  But I wanted to feel hunger.  I wanted to experience what someone feels when they don't know where their next meal is coming from.

And as a family, I'm trying to get by with less food each week.  Jav and I (and Gabriel most of the time) have given up meat except for on Sundays.  I've been trying to use up ingredients that have been in the pantry awhile, like canned beans and tuna fish.  It's worked so well, and I've made such good but simple meals lately, that I think we may continue this even after Lent.

I told the boys that all through Lent I will not be buying them little gifts at the grocery store, like I usually do.  Instead, I've been using the $3 to $5 I would've spent on them to buy food for the canned food drive the 1st grade is having at Gabriel's school.  We've donated something every week.  Joel has been dropping pennies in the giant penny-drop jar that the 1st grade also placed in the foyer of the school.

And I am finally sorting out and bagging or boxing up Joel's outgrown clothes, crib sheets and blankets, and toys.  I've also been working on old things of mine I've been just throwing in the top of my closet for two years.  I also found FIVE boxes of boys clothes, sized from  3 to 18 months, up in the attic yesterday that I had forgotten about.  So I will have a nice big pile of things to take to Eastside Ministries soon.  I used to take things like this to Goodwill, but then decided that it would be more meaningful to donate things that will help out residents in the neighborhoods closest to us.  I will be taking both boys with me when I drop all of it off.

I hope all of this, along with what he's talked about at school, is giving Gabriel a sense of giving to those less fortunate. We have SO MUCH.  I think we've been doing a really good job trying to live on just a little less.  I'm very happy that the Lenten lightbulb finally went off.

V Day, fun and woes

We decided to decorate a little more than usual for Valentine's Day this year.  We put red ribbons around the front light post and the columns on our porch.  We wrapped a red garland and pink lights around the lamp post, and hung red sparkly ornaments in our little tree.  Only one other crazy family put up any form of Valentine's decorations in our neighborhood.  This helped to keep us in a Valentine's mood, and boy did I need help!

I just think the day has become a little overdone, shall we say.  Shouldn't Valentine's Day be mostly about your significant other in your life?  Throughout the week before the actual day, I had Gabriel make a card for his teacher, my Uncle Dave who was in the hospital at the time, his cousins and his dad.  We made the requisite Valentine's Box to hold all of his cards.  We also made cookies and were going to ice and decorate them for the neighbors, but we just ran out of time.  The day before I made Gabriel sign all 21 of his cards himself, but then taped the chocolate hearts to each card.  (Did you know that you can't get away with just giving people a card these days? ) After they went to bed, I got Joel's 12 ready, and taped a lollipop to each one.  I'm sure many, many moms (and dads for that matter) were doing the same thing I was that night.


When we were getting everyone ready to go the next morning, Jav asked me if I'd had a chance to get Gabriel to make a valentine for his mom.  I sort of lost it.  Well, not sort of.  I went on a 10-minute rant about all the stuff we HAD done and why I didn't think grandparents needed to get cards too.  But in reality, I felt bad that I didn't even think of it.  The boys always get cards and little presents or candy from their grandparents, and from Tia Sandie, and from the neighbors.  But I could literally work for the entire week before the holiday and still not cover everyone.  People, do you not realize that Hallmark and Whitman's have us all eating out of their hands?  As Jeff Bridges so eloquently says in "The Big Lebowski", "This aggression will not stand, man."  I refuse to let any holiday run my life.

Jav and I got over our Valentine's morning "discussion".  When I got home from work, I found a beautiful bouquet of daisies and tiny red roses, and some great cards.  We went out on our Valentine's date the following Saturday, with Tia Sandie and Michael coming to watch the boys.  We went to see "Argo" at the Angelika, and even though that movie's been out for a LONG time, we were shocked that there was not an empty seat in the theater.  It is really good.  It reminded us of "Apollo 13", in that even though we knew the outcome of the story, it was still a fascinating story to tell, and extremely suspenseful.  My stomach hurt after it was over, just from holding myself so tightly all through the last hour.  After the movie we went to eat dinner at Kuby's Sausage Haus, which is part German meat market and deli, part restaurant.  Jav's sister had been telling him it was really good for YEARS, and she was right.  There was an accordion player which added just enough ambiance to the room.  And the look of the meat market brought to mind the pictures I have of my great grandfather, who was a butcher in Fredericksburg.  It was a very fun night.

I threw away most of the candy the boys brought home, only keeping the chocolate.  Every once in awhile I let them have a piece after dinner.  I bought a few more sparkly red foil hearts to hang up somewhere next year.  Maybe I'll start having the boys make cards at the beginning of February to get everyone this time.  Or maybe I'll really rebel and just have the boys hand out Valentine's with no candy.

Aggression.  Won't.   Stand.    Man.

Drums!!!

Gabriel is changing drum teachers.  We got a little fed up with Mr. Weldon at the music store because he was trying to work two jobs AND was flying to New Jersey every two or three weeks to perform.  We were stood up completely two lessons in a row with no phone call or anything.  Not acceptable.  Plus I didn't like that Mr. Weldon refused to listen to, talk about, or teach any type of music other than rock. And he never really wanted to take time to teach Gabriel to read drum notes on a page.

 

Very young Gabriel playing a practice drum.

So we switched to a place called Stage Notes which had been recommended to me by Joel's teacher from last year.  They teach piano, voice, guitar, violin, and drums.  It was a bit of a scramble to find someone to teach him drums, and when I saw the teacher looked like a 20 year old college student I had my doubts.  As it turned out, Miss Kristen was great at teaching Gabriel the beginning steps towards reading notes.  He had a book, and he practiced the songs she assigned, which were basically just rhythms repeated over and over.  The thing is, he didn't even touch a drum until the third lesson.  And only to play the songs from the lesson.  She never even bothered to see what he could already do.  When she came out and told Jav that she wanted Gabriel to practice on his legs with his hands instead of his drums until he got a little further along, that was the last straw.  We started putting feelers out to find a new local teacher who would both teach him to read music and let him play like crazy if he wanted to.  How else are you going to keep a six-year-old engaged and excited?  Sheesh.  There HAD to be a happy medium.

One of the people we asked was my brother's best friend from high school, James.  He is a drummer in a band, and had taught me guitar lessons for six months when Jav and I first started dating.  I didn't think he taught any more because he has a 5-year-old daughter now.  But the words I had been hoping to read came in the email, "Well, I'd love to teach him if ya'll are game for it."  I did the happy dance around the house for about 10 minutes.  James is a wonderful person, VERY funny, and super talented.

G with his first drum kit.

When we got to his house last week, Mr. James just wanted Gabriel to play for him so he could see where his skill level was.  I think he was pretty impressed.  It's something that has always come easily to G.  And I know Gabriel is going to love learning from Mr. James.  He has a full-size recording studio in one of the rooms of his house, a rack of guitars, and a brand new HUGE drum kit that he had just put together himself.  He does all of the music for the church where Gabriel went to and Joel currently goes to preschool.  I think his official title is "Technical Director".  Of course, all of his work there keeps him busy, and sometimes unexpected things come up.  Yesterday was supposed to be G's official first lesson, and Mr. James had to cancel on us.

BUT, already things are moving forward.  Mr. James had mentioned about wanting Gabriel to learn the Standard Drum Rudiments, which caused a big cartoonish question mark to appear over our heads (meaning that Mr. Weldon never even mentioned them).  James said they are the kind of thing that band directors eat up, and would be useful to Gabriel all through school for Stage Band and the like. So I looked them up and discovered they are 26 standard beats that every drummer should know.  I printed the first 13 out, and showed not only the printed page but a demo someone did on You Tube to Gabriel.  He was inspired to go and practice for about 45 minutes today!

We took a trip to Guitar Center last Sunday to get some new drumsticks for G.  We looked at guitars first, and the boy was practically drooling.  He wanted to hold several different electric ones, a mandolin, a ukulele, a dobro (kind of a steel guitar), and on and on and on.  When we got to the drum room, there was a set in the middle of the room that a guy was playing who was VERY good.  After he got done, I asked Gabriel if he wanted to play, not really expecting him to.  He said, "Sure!"  We got some demo sticks and Gabriel started playing.  The store clerk rushed over and said we had to switch to brushes, because he had no idea Gabriel was going to play them so hard.  The group who was with the original drummer formed a little crowd and wanted to know how old G was, and were all saying he was good.  Then more and more people started coming into the room and looking at each other.  He just kept playing and smiling.  I told Jav later that night that it was my favorite moment of that day.   G played in front of an audience with such confidence!  I was NOT like that at his age.  I was so shy and convinced that I wasn't good at anything.    I was really, really proud of G for knowing he is good at something and enjoying himself doing it.  And we gave ourselves a little pat on our backs too.  A small parenting success!

Music is always playing in this house.  When the boys were younger, if they had any spare time before going somewhere they used to ask if they could play with their little cars.  Now they ask if they can listen to music or play drums.  Both of them, two or three times a day.  And I almost always say "Yes".  When they become famous, and they're being interviewed because their band has had 12 top ten singles in a row, and the interviewer asks the wonder brothers the question, "When did you know you wanted to be musicians?", I can't wait to hear the answer:  "Growing up, from the time we were very small, our house was always filled with music."

Trees

The reason I fell in love with this house was not because of the house, but the yard.  My trees are like family members to me.  We had been saying we needed to get our trees trimmed for the last three years, since we had not done so since we moved into this house.  But deep down, the thought of my beautiful, tall family members getting touched in any way sort of turned my stomach.  But I finally had to give in.  We finally got our trees trimmed almost a month ago.  I was totally dreading it.  But Bob's Tree Service was ultra professional, and Bob Jr. taught me more about trees in the short 10 minutes he was here to get the crew going than I have learned my whole life.  We had explained that we didn't want branches cut off unless they absolutely had to be.  We have 16 post oaks, one cedar-elm and the Chinese Pistachio we planted when Gabriel was baptized.  It took a five-man crew 6 hours to finish, and the trees looked so healthy and beautiful when they left that I was actually glad we had it done.  Especially now that I know we don't have to do it again (or can afford it again) for another 10 years.

Here are some of the things we found out during this ordeal:

-Post oak groves are very special, because the only way they will grow is with a big water source underground.  You cannot go to a nursery and and buy an already-growing post oak.  It has to grow from an acorn, supplied by its water source.

-Many of our tress are over 100 years old.  This is a picture of the biggest, oldest tree in our yard.

-Never plant something around a tree that is going to circle its trunk, like ivy (or in our case, Asian jasmine).  It will eventually kill it, because it stops the sap from moving up and down the tree.  I have been wanting to pull up the Asian jasmine for other reasons besides this one, but now I need to be on a mission.  I have a strong desire to find the people who decided that planting Asian Jasmine and monkey grass was a good idea and make them tear it up, roots and all, until it is GONE.

-One of our trees (the lone cedar elm, pictured above) had mistletoe growing in big clumps way high up.  Even though people make a big deal about mistletoe being poisonous, it's more like poison ivy in that it causes a reaction in some people, and others it doesn't.  Even though they cleared it all out, my dad has informed me that its really hard to get rid of and will probably come back.  As you can see, this poor guy has the tree form of scoliosis.  But they trimmed a bunch from it's left side so that the stress wouldn't be so bad from now on.

-And finally, about our newest addition.  We picked out a good Chinese Pistachio.  We planted it in February, 2007.  It has gone from being just a little taller than me (probably 6 feet) to about 18 feet tall.  It has the place of honor in the center of the yard, and has become the tree we decorate the most for holidays.  It makes a perfect little brother to its taller siblings.

I couldn't imagine living somewhere that had nothing but non-fruit bearing pear trees and crepe myrtles.  There is nothing than makes me happier than lying in the grass and looking up at these giants, and all the life they hold.  The broken sunlight coming through the leaves, a breeze blowing the leaves hear and there.  Any season their beauty never ceases to amaze me.                       

Getting caught up.

My goodness where have I been?  The last thing I posted was Christmas pics?!?!?!?  Good grief!

Well, for one thing Jojo had surgery.  I had a big long post halfway finished, then decided not to post it.  He had some issues with his boy parts, they also found a hernia when they were doing the surgery.  I didn't post what I had written out of respect to his privacy.  But since I had already asked many people to pray for him and us, and told them why, I decided to post it.  Hopefully he'll understand why and forgive me one day.  The whole episode was enormously stressful to me, but also made me realize how many wonderful people we have in our lives, people that truly lifted me up throughout the whole ordeal.  We were glad and thankful that he came through the surgery fine, but were a little upset to find out there were some developmental issues, and the doctor just didn't know whether everything will be ok for sperm production on that side or not.  So we decided to just have faith that it will be alright.  Mostly we were just glad it's over, and he seems to be feeling fine and healing from the surgery well.  We have a follow up visit next week to make sure.

Some of the things I remember from the day of surgery:

We were looking for things to lighten our spirits that morning, and laughed when the whole topic of "giggle juice" came up.  It's the stuff they give the kids having surgery to drink that relaxes them before they whisk them away from their parents to give them the full blown anesthetic.  They told us that they might be able to give it to him in the room we were waiting in, or they might take him to the Giggle Juice Room to do it.  Since Joel's favorite movie right now is Willie Wonka, the Giggle Juice Room seemed like something right out of the movie, and therefore needed to be avoided at all costs!  After the giggle juice was given to him he was supposed to stay really still and not walk around because he might be dizzy or fall down.  So we were relying on the TV in the room to keep him still.  They had turned it off of cartoons and left the channel on ESPN for some crazy reason.  I was about to go and complain, but then we realized that Joel was loving watching the college basketball highlights.  The boy loves all sports already.

While the surgery was going on, I walked the LONG walk down to Starbucks to get some coffee and something to eat, since I'd had nothing before we left the house at 6 am that morning.  I was ok walking down there, but for some reason walking back to the surgery waiting room it all hit me what was happening.  I felt like I was having my insides ripped out, to the point where I almost didn't make the walk back to the surgery waiting room.  The bond between a mother and her child is a very powerful thing indeed.

They had told us that once the surgeon came out to talk with us that it would be a half hour or so before we could go back to see Joel.  We turned around to go back to our seats after talking with the doctor, and they were calling us to go back.  When we walked around the corner, we expected to see a very sleepy and/or groggy boy.  What we saw was rather shocking:  a screaming boy being held by two nurses while another tried to reattach the pulse monitor he had ripped off of his finger.  Sigh.  Our little spitfire.  Even after I took over holding him and tried to comfort him, the screaming and ripping out of stuff continued.  One of the nurses finally thought of putting the monitor on his toe with his sock over it instead.  Problem solved!  Then some morphine, and finally all was quieter.

He was still pretty dopey on the way home from the hospital, which I'm sure was a good thing.  After about three hours, though, he was trying to jump around and we were having to make sure he stayed still.  The rest of the weekend he seemed good.  He would play like normal and then we wouldn't see him all of a sudden.  We'd find him curled up on his bed or even the floor, fast asleep.  Poor baby.  But after the weekend his energy level went back to normal.

I found out through this that I believe much more in prayer than I ever realized.  I had asked so many people to pray for Joel that it took me almost the entire time we were in recovery (2 hours) to get everyone texted that he was ok.  I also turned his name in for the prayer list at our parish.  I didn't do it in time, though, and his name wasn't called until the week after the surgery.  Oops.  But that's ok, prayer is always good and accepted from anyone, at anytime.

When they saw how worried and upset I was before the surgery, many people told me that only one testicle is needed to have children, but my gosh people, he's only three years old.  What if something happens to the other side, since we know he's going to play sports?  They're not like females who have this huge supply of eggs.  They only have TWO, and now the ability of one is in question.  But both my boss and my brother, in different ways, encouraged me by saying basically the same thing:  Sperm, and therefore Life, will find a way.  It's how we're wired.

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas!

Christmas Day, 2012.  SNOW!  Lot's of it!  We were in Weatherford when it started.  I would say the kids went crazy with excitement, but truth be told, we ALL did.  It was unexpected, beautiful and magical.

Magical Holidays - Gabriel

My son likes surprises.  So it was no surprise to me that I didn't hear anything about his class singing in the school Christmas pageant until the week before it was supposed to occur.  Another entity that apparently likes surprises is his school.  They do not do a good job, in my opinion, of letting we parents (especially the ones new to the school) what is going on.  If they think that our Kindergartners are going to come home and remember to tell us stuff, they're a little crazy.  There had been a couple of handouts on the pageant mentioning rehearsal times and costumes in Gabriel's folder, but the youngest grade mentioned was 1st grade.  We were not even going to attend, but then Gabriel let it slip that they had been rehearsing (thank goodness!).  They were going to sing five songs, no less.  I made a mental note that we might want to tell grandparents about it.  Within the next few days, he mumbled something about his costume.  Me:  "What costume?"  G:  "Me and three other kids get to wear the special costumes."  My first thought was, "how much is this going to cost us?", but then Gabriel said that Ms. B had found the costumes for them out of stuff the school already had.  So after pondering all of this for awhile, I asked, "Gabriel, do you have any lines in this pageant?"  He just smiled really big and said it was a surprise.  Of course.

The day of the show, which was to begin at 7, he had a flyer in his folder that I luckily read before leaving the parking lot.  It said to bring the kids back up to school by 5:15 at the latest.  "Why so early?" I pumped Gabriel.  He had no idea.  I called the office, still sitting in the car in the parking lot, and asked when the start time was.  Ms. Hernandez, School Secretary, asked:  "How old is the student?"  Me:  "Kindergarten."  Mrs. H:  "Their pageant starts at 6 in the church.  The older kids go on in the gym at 7."  WHAT?????  Do ya think this information would've been helpful at some earlier point in the day, or perhaps week, or perhaps MONTH????????  They have a completely separate pageant?!?!?!?!?!   And it starts at SIX?!?!?!?!?   I started frantically calling Jav, told him to call his sister and mom, called my parents, then rushed home to give baths, snacks and get ready to go back.  ME:  "Gabriel, what do you need to wear back up there?"  G:  "I dunno.  I guess my school clothes?"  Sigh and double double sigh.  

We made it back on time, I remembered to bring the video camera, and Joel and I settled in to wait for other family members.  Jav almost didn't make it, wandering in to the church as the kids were lining up at the back for the procession in.  We saw our cute little brown donkey right away.  They marched in and began to tell the wonderful story of the Nativity, complete with narrators, angels and shepherds. Gabriel moved toward the center, where the microphone was, as they all started to sing, "The Friendly Beasts", a song I was not familiar with.  Jav was at the back taping, and I got my phone ready just in case.  Then something amazing happened.  My sweet 6-year-old, who had such stage fright two years ago that he refused to get up on stage and sing one song with his class, stepped up to the microphone.  By himself.  And started singing.  He sang a solo.  He sang with confidence, he sang on tune, but best of all he sang with joy.  He started off the four soloists of the song (and the only ones for the entire show, I might add).  I was so shocked/proud/happy/ecstatic that I really don't remember the rest of the show.  I remember my parents, and Jav's mom and sister just beaming.  My mom was practically laughing she was so proud of him.  

The kids returned to their classroom after the show to wait for us to pick them up.  I was in a daze as I agreed with other parents that they had all done such a good job.  After some other teachers came up and told me they couldn't believe what a great singer Gabriel is, I think I mumbled that I knew he could sing, but that I thought he had stage freight and therefore had no idea he was going to sing a solo.  Some parents heard me and said, "You mean he didn't practice?  Ours practiced over and over and over this weekend!"  "Nope, not one note".  When I picked him up, Mrs. B said, "Mom and Dad, I can't believe how musical he is!"  We praised him for days afterwards.  

Gabriel got to do another really cool event at school this Christmas, and it turned into a truly magical event before it was all over. Mrs. B (who is raising the bar so high as a teacher that I wonder how any future ones will live up to our/Gabriel's expectations)  sent permission slips home for the kids to go back up to school the night of the 21st, just their class, to watch Polar Express in their jammies and sleeping bags.  I knew Ms. B would need someone to help her with all of that Christmasy, frenetic 6-year-old energy, but I never would have guessed it would be the principal!  Maybe she HAD to be there since it was an after-normal-school-hours event.  Either way, i thought it was great because it gave her a chance to get to know her Kindergartners and future school leaders a little better.  

They ate hot dogs and drank hot chocolate, and had cookies for dessert.  What a special thing to do that close to Christmas!  But that wasn't the end of the story.  Right before Gabriel went to sleep in his own bed that night, he found a SLEIGH BELL under his pillow!  Just like in the movie!  He figured out that it had to be from Santa, and was so excited he could barely go to sleep that night.  And then he got to school the next morning, and guess what?  ALL of them had found sleigh bells under their pillows!  Talk about lighting up the Christmas spirit in a bunch of little hearts.   

I just can't help myself.

So, I must admit I have cringed when seeing pics of clever places that Elves on the Shelves end up.  But I just have to brag about ours, because he proved to us this Christmas that he is the absolutely best elf we could ask for.   

Dipsy's been visiting us for three years now.  Gabriel has always been a little afraid of him, with good reason.  We never know where he'll pop up, and he seems to always be there, lurking in the shadows and watching for bad behavior.  At least that is what we thought.  This Christmas, Dipsy figured out a way to bust that myth and show us that he doesn't come on December 1st to start watching and reporting to Santa.  He comes to make our holiday more fun!  He hid in some really cool places this year, the first of which was in the kitchen the morning after Joel's birthday party, cleaning up the leftover cake and icing crumbs.  

One morning Jav and I found him in our room, lounging on our big comfy red chair and reading Gabriel's Rolling Stone issue of the 100 Greatest Guitarists.  Dipsy is apparently a Who fan, because when we found him he was reading the article on Pete Townsend.

We knew at this point that he loved music, just like our boys.  So it was no surprise to find him hanging on the Christmas piano music, waiting for someone to play We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

Then we found him on the radio in the kitchen, where he had been enjoying a Christmas music CD, and probably a tummy ache from eating all of that chocolate!

At this point, Gabriel realized that he was no longer afraid of Dipsy, and that he was a pretty cool elf.  I started calling him our House Elf, sort of like Dobby in the Harry Potter books, but with nicer clothes.  (ANY clothes would have been nicer than Dobby's!)
Imagine our delight when we found out Dipsy played guitar!  Our wish was that he could move so that we could have heard him play.  But we know that it's impossible.

 I was glad the morning we found him wrapped and tangled up in ribbon and bows, because it inspired me to start wrapping presents for the whole family.  

The last morning Dipsy graced us with his presence was the best of all.  Gabriel's godparents got him a Toy Story train and track one Christmas.  The engine puffs what looks like real smoke and it has sounds and is REALLY cool.  The last two Christmases we put it around the tree, and started calling it the Christmas Train.  But for some reason we just never got around to it this year, and seemed to be running out of time.  I promised Gabriel we would put it up next Christmas, but I know he was a little disappointed.  Imagine our shock and delight when we woke up to see the train, all put together and going around the tree on the morning of Christmas Eve.  Well played, Dipsy!!!!    

He truly made our Christmas magical.  And I cried, just a few little tears, Christmas morning after Santa took him back home.  I just hope he knows how much I appreciate him helping to make the boys realize that Christmas is not about being good for a few months before Christmas so that you can get more stuff.  It's not really about the stuff at all, is it?  It's the joy, the happiness, the time with your family, the making of memories, and the magic and mystery all rolled into one big package.  

My proof that LOTS of people in this country have lost their minds.

This joker has hundreds of thousands of listeners (he even claims millions in this clip).  He's from Texas (big surprise).  And apparently a stark-raving lunatic.  How can those of us who want to have rational discourse about gun control compete against this kind of person, and all those who follow and agree with him?  Scary stuff.  And he is SO part of what's wrong with this country right now.









I promise I will stop talking about guns now.

Big guns and little guns

The tragic shooting in Newtown, CT has spurned some passionate gun debate in the last few weeks.  I have read many articles and pondered the issue until my head starts spinning.  Here are some random thoughts on gun control, or the lack thereof, in this country:

I don't think anyone needs to own an assault weapon unless he or she is in the military.  I also don't think anyone needs to be buying ammunition that kills multiple people at a time.  If the sale of these things cannot be banned altogether, then at least some MUCH tougher restrictions should be placed on the purchase of them.  The problem still exists, however, that it has been legal to purchase these things for some time now.  They are out there, and I have no idea how to lessen the number.  A buy-back program?  I just don't know.

The violent gun culture that has risen up (or has it always been here?), where guns and killing people are glorified in movies, TV and video games are a problem.  Maybe there should be a stricter ratings system in place.  But the bigger problem is parents who don't care if there kids see these things or not.  Parents who do not take the time to explain reality, and the difference between right and wrong.  On a side note regarding this issue, for months I was getting more and more angry at WalMart, who puts their "high and mighty" hat on when it comes to vulgar lyrics in CDs, but doesn't blink an eye when it comes to displaying cardboard cutouts advertising violent movies.  These can be found right by the front door, so that everyone and their kids can see them.  They were offensive to me, and I haven't seen one since the shooting.  I hope they decide to keep that policy going as time goes on.

The media needs to stop turning these killers into glorified antiheroes by giving so much air time to them.  The victims should be the focus, but only if it's alright with their families.  The media should not be allowed to show anything from the actual site of the tragedies, because once again, many parents don't have enough sense to not let their kids see something so horrific.  Maybe it's time for the media moguls to step up and take responsibility for what they report, and how appropriate it is for the general masses.

There should be stricter and more punitive charges assigned to sellers of guns who skimp on the background checks, and especially if they sell to a person with a history or record of criminal or even unstable behavior.  The tougher question comes up when dealing with a seemingly stable person (one with no record to track).  How do you train gun sellers to watch for signs that a person has psychological problems?  Seems like it could lead to profiling, so I'm not sure how to tackle that problem.  The public as a whole needs to be made more aware of signs to watch for in our fellow humans that life (or something) is getting to them and they are about to go off the deep end.  And something must be done about state budgets for mental health costs, especially state-run mental hospitals, being slashed to nothing.  One of the biggest problems I see, though, is the stigma that getting therapy from a psychologist or psychiatrist means you are a looney or weak.  This came up with someone really close to us that truly needed some therapy to get through a horrible situation, but refused because of that stigma.  And once again, the problem seems too large to solve.

I DO NOT agree with the NRA's suggestion that teachers should become trained and licensed to carry guns in the classrooms.  Let's tackle the gun problem with MORE guns!!!   No.  I do think added security, like metal detectors and on-site trained police or national guardsmen, would not be a bad thing for schools.

So that's my thoughts these days about big guns.  And if you think these ideas are confused and convoluted, wait until you start reading about the next topic:  Little guns.

When I became a parent, I vowed to not let my kids play with toy guns.  We don't have guns in the house, and in the past you could even say I hated guns.  My thoughts about things are very confused now.  A while back I posted about this - HERE it is.  Maybe it's a bit paranoid to think that one day the boys would possibly have to know how to hunt to survive.  Those were my worries then, but now there are other motives for my changing opinion.

Jav thinks that the boys' attitudes about drinking alcohol could be somehow influenced by our attitude about it.  If we are laid back about letting them have some wine or beer at family events, when they are older and more curious about it, then perhaps they would be less likely to go out and get hammered because it wouldn't be a forbidden thing.   I'm not sure I agree with this theory, (it damn sure didn't work for me, but that's a whole 'nuther story), but the thought process started me thinking about guns.  If we tell the boys that guns are horrible and never to be touched, and don't allow them in the house, maybe the mystique about them would be so appealing they might seek them out due to curiosity.  If nothing else, it would definitely not work in their favor if they were to ever come across a gun at a friend's house.  In this case, what you don't know COULD hurt you, and possibly even kill you.   I have been feeling a little jealous of friends who have kids that have been raised around real guns and learned how to be safe around them from a very early age.  Once again, good parenting was involved.  These kids have no question about the difference between toy and real guns, and know how to respect the power a real gun can have.

So gun knowledge and safety is one issue I've been thinking about.  The other is back to paranoia.  We live in an area where there are more Tea Party loyalists than in any other part of our state.  Many of these people live and die by their rights under the Second Amendment, own a gun, or many guns, or a store of guns.  I know that the majority of these people are responsible gun owners and law abiding citizens.  But there are extremists in every group, and that's who scares me.  Who knows - something could happen in this country to cause complete anarchy and chaos, where those few gun owners who believe in the lawlessness of the Wild West could become gun-toting vigilantes, roaming around looking for helpless and gunless victims to push around or worse.  It just seems like owning a gun, having at least a basic knowledge of how guns work and learning how to fire them at a target has become a necessary evil in this crazy state we find ourselves living in today.

So to make a long story short (too late!), I have definitely changed my opinion on having toy guns in the house.  The Nerf pellet-shooting guns pictured above were gifts to the boys from Gabriel's godparents, and we'll be opening them up soon to let them shoot away.  As long as they follow OUR toy gun safety rules, like never shoot at someone who isn't playing and don't shoot anyone in the face.  I am even pondering letting them get BB guns when they are a little older, (if they seem interested in such things), so they can learn how to keep them clean and safely unloaded when not in use.

And, ever so slowly, my opinion on real guns is changing.  I still don't want a hand gun in the house.  But a rifle or shotgun?  I'm not so sure now.  Maybe.  I'm starting to feel like having a zero-tolerance of guns is a bit like an ostrich sticking its head under the ground.  I would love to learn how to hit a target with a gun.  I want to go to a shooting range or go skeet shooting.  I don't believe in hunting.  I love animals and could never kill anything unless it was about to harm someone I loved.  So having a gun would be more about learning safety and being able to use it properly, which seems right now like a good enough reason to have one.  Like it or not, this is our reality right now.