Weekend Recap

Friday night Big J had a flag football game. The weather has been perfect, so it has been nice to be outside during his practices and games. The boys entertain themselves rolling down hills and playing in piles of dirt, so it is a pretty relaxing time. Big J has never played football before, but I have a feeling he will probably want to do it every year. He really enjoys it. And Friday night he caught the first and only interception for his team...and then proceeded to jump up and down in a kind of victory dance holding the ball high above his head. It was cute.

Then we had a pretty busy Saturday. I ran in a 5k, then Big J had a Tae Kwon Do belt test, then I had a hair appointment - color and cut (it's dark again), and then that evening there was the big Relief Society broadcast and dinner that I went to while JC has his "boyfriends" over to play Xbox. I actually didn't make it to the dinner part and was 15 minutes late to the other part, but at least I tried.

I was a little nervous about this 5k because all week I have had insomnia and so at the times I could have run, I took a nap instead!!! And then Friday morning I woke up and got out of bed and nearly fell over because I had vertigo so bad. I had it until the afternoon. I don't know what the deal was, because that night I slept fine and woke up feeling fine. Maybe I have a brain tumor. Who knows. Anyway - back to the run. It was a beautiful morning and a pretty easy course (i.e. hardly any hills - yea!) and so it was fun to do. My time was about 28 minutes. I haven't looked yet at the official results to see where I fell in my age category.

The half marathon is on October 18th and although I know I am in better shape for it than for the one I did in March, I haven't been very good about doing my long runs. Like I should have done some 9, 10, and 11 mile runs by now and I haven't. I've done a few 8 milers and about twice a week do 5 -6 miles, and then either a shorter or longer run, but I haven't gotten close to that 13 mile mark since March when I ran the last one! And I haven't been very diligent some weeks about running at all. But I know I will finish it, I just don't want to totally suck it up.

Big J did well on his belt test and is now a green belt! We kept telling him to just do his thing and not look at everyone else, because when he doesn't look to check himself with those around him, he does great. When he starts looking at them he second-guesses himself and then gets messed up. So I was really proud of him for just getting out there and doing what he knows. Congrats, Big J!

Happy Birthday, BIG 8-YEARS-OLD J!

Today is Big J's birthday. We celebrated his birthday on Saturday with a Star Wars party. Yes, Little J had a Star Wars party earlier this year, also. I was surprised Big J wanted to do one as well, but he did. We did different things, though, since the weather is always nice on Big J's birthday and we can have his parties in the back yard.

It's amazing what happens when you put on the invitation that those coming can dress as Star Wars characters if they so choose. I could have just made the backyard available and left it at that and I think they would have entertained themselves! But despite the temptation to let it be a free-for-all the whole time, we did have some structure to the event.


The way our schedule has been, we had to do his party right over the lunch hour, so after kids got there we had pizza. Then we had our Jedi "training". First, they had to learn to use the force in order to determine which Star Wars character they were. They each had a sticker on their back with a character and they could only ask yes or no questions to figure out who they were. Next, they had to demonstrate their skills with a light saber and keep the balloon from touching the ground. The team that kept their's up the longest were deemed the true Jedis.

*I love Big J's face in this. He is always cracking up at something (usually himself).

Once they had demonstrated these skills, they then had to prove themselves once more by fighting Darth Vader. Lucky for them it was only Darth Vader's head in the form of a pinata. Unfortunately for us, Big J (the first to go) took a major swipe at it and sliced it open on his second swing and subsequently tore it right open on his third swing, so we had to just kind of put the empty pinata back up and let kids get their turn at beating it down. They had fun anyway.

*Yo, Vato! That strange headpiece is indeed the bandana to cover his eyes.

The pinata was followed by presents and cupcakes and then another round of free play while the parents came to pick up kids.

*I put this picture in purely for the close up on Little J's headdress. He wore the broken pinata on his head for the rest of the party.

*Oh, praise King Big J! Yeah, I don't know what I'm doing in this picture. But he looks cute.

Today I brought up chocolate donuts for him to share with his class and they had him all decked out with a special birthday button and sticker and sung Happy Birthday to him. Other than that, and a bunch of phone calls from family, we did pretty much the usual today. We do have some special gifts we will give him in a few weeks when he is baptized, though.

Big J makes me proud to be his mama. He is a good kid with a good heart and he tries hard to do what's right and to do a good job at whatever he is doing. Happy Birthday, Big J!

My Favorite Non-Words

The boys sometimes make up words. Not purposefully; they think they are using real words, and I guess technically most of them are real words, just not used properly, and no matter how many times I have said it correctly, they still continue to use them. I think it's cute, but I do wonder how long they will go in their life before they realize that no one else uses those words the way they do.

Here are my 2 favorite non-words they use and their definition according to my little men:

Verse - verb - derived from "versus"- meaning to compete against you.

"I want to verse you at Guitar Hero."

Nudgie - noun - combination of "noogie" and "wedgie"- meaning, well, a noogie. "I am going to give you a nudgie!"

There are more, but I can't think of them right now, and those are my favorite. Who knows, stranger words have been added to the dictionary, so maybe one day we'll see these listed as well. Maybe if we all start saying them, we can start a trend!


Up next...pictures from Big J's 8th birthday party!!

The Tell Tale Signs

Do you know how to tell if you live in a house full of little boys? Here is one clue. When you are cleaning up your kitchen at the end of the day, on top of the regular stuff that is probably found in anyone's kitchen (except Maddy's ;-), this is what you will find in sundry places:

6 balls - 1 football, 1 baseball, 2 Nerf gun balls, 1 bouncy ball, and 1 Buzz Lightyear ball

1 baseball glove

1 bag of flag football equipment

2 Star Wars related items - in this case, a Millennium Falcon and a Clone Wars book

2 pairs of shoes - 1 Lightning McQueen, 1 Spiderman

1 camouflage wallet

1 Superman lunchbox

1 Wolverine action figure

1 action guy on a motorcycle

1 lone sock

And a swept up pile of grass and tiny pebbles that you could re-landscape half your yard with

So now you know. I could go into greater detail of other tell tale signs I find around the house, but I will leave it at that. I LOVE MY BOYS!

Homonyms - Kind of...

Little J was playing a game he made up while we were driving in the car. He'd give us clues about a word he was thinking in his head and we'd have to guess the word or phrase. This one cracked me up:

Little J: Ho

Parents: Uh....*thinking of things surely our innocent 5 year old was not thinking* Home, Hole, Hose?

Little J: No. What's on an animal's butt?

Parents: Wha?

Big J: A tail! Hotel!!

Little J: Right!

Your Right to Vote

**This is part of an email I received from my sister, but I know I didn't even know half of this story, so I thought I'd pass it on. Although I've always voted since I was of legal age to do so, I'd somehow always associated the whole suffrage movement with the "Votes for Women!" song off of Mary Poppins. It wasn't quite like that...

IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT OR WHO YOU VOTE FOR.....JUST DO IT!!

WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE

This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers; they lived only 90 years ago.

Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote. And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'

(Lucy Burns)

They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.

(Dora Lewis)

They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.

Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.

(Alice Paul)

When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because- -why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining?

Woodrow Wilson and his cronies tried to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. The doctor refused. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy. The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.'

We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote. History is being made.

Freedom is never free.

(http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/prisoners.pdf )

Social Butterfly...uh, I Mean Frog

So Little J found a little frog in my garden today and promptly scooped it up. I found an empty #10 sized can and let him put the frog in it. He threw in some rocks and grass to make him comfortable. He was itching so bad to go tell someone about his new discovery (I guess telling his family wasn't that exciting) that he was practically chasing down the UPS van after it dropped off a package. So I told him he could go show the kids next door.

He got his shoes on, threw on his Spiderman cap, grabbed the can and headed out the door. About 5 minutes later, Big J looks out the window and goes, "He's talking to the mailman!" So I peek out and sure enough, he's having a big conversation about his frog. He hasn't even made it to the neighbors yet.

He heads over next door. After a while, JC tells Big J to go tell Little J to come back. Big J finds him at our other neighbor's house (neighbors we know but don't really talk to much). I asked if they were out in the yard or something and he was like, "No, I just rang the door bell."

Then he begs to go show the little boy across the street, so he heads over there. Finally, JC went to meet up with him so he didn't infiltrate the entire block. He finds him two houses down at a different neighbor's house regailing them with his frog catching experience. I guess I should be glad he isn't shy!

Plagiarism - It's a Skill

In the car on the way home from school the boys got into a very serious discussion.

About super powers.

It went something like this:


Big J: I have sensing powers.


Little J: Nuh uh.


Big J: Yes I do! I can sense when you are behind me and about to hit me or something. And sometimes I know what you are going to say before you say it.


Little J: So? That's not a real power. Nobody really has super powers.


Big J: Uh, yeah, Jesus does. DUH.............


Little J: I mean on earth. Nobody has real powers. Not like being able to shoot lasers out of your eyes or ice out of your hands or something cool like that!

********************************

Speaking of powers, it is not uncommon for the boys to ask me to tell them a story whenever we are driving somewhere in the car. Usually there are stipulations to it like "tell us a story with Spiderman and Ninja Turtles in it", but they (meaning Big J and Little J) always have to be characters in it and they always have to have super powers and they always have to fight bad guys in it. I don't know - I think it's a boy thing. Anyway...

I use to try to be super creative and come up with these mini-action adventures, which I have to admit weren't half bad, but now I pretty much just plagiarize other stories and change them up a bit. I've told adapted stories from parts of books I've read or from movies I've seen. It makes it much easier to come up with good stuff.

*Spoiler Alert: Small spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn't read and plans to read the Twilight saga. (Good books, by the way. I recommend them). Proceed at your own risk.**

For example, today's story consisted of our entire family who was forced to fight some bad guys to protect our youngest sibling. JC had super strength and could jump really high and far. I had the ability to put out a force field to protect not only myself, but anyone around me. Big J had the ability to see the future before it happened. Little J had the ability to hear other people's thoughts.... Are we catching on here? See - easy to personalize, meets all the requirements, and I already know the story is a hit. Just add a little fight scene where the bad guys lose and are taken to jail, and all points are covered.

So our lesson today in a nutshell is: Plagiarism is a highly valuable, time-saving, brain-cell-saving skill to acquire when shuttling small children to and fro, in a pinch when an "original" bedtime story is requested, or, when used correctly, a valuable distraction from any number of undesirable situations and behaviors.

Class dismissed!

Another One by Little J....I Love My Boy!

This morning there was one of those free newspapers thrown in our driveway and Little J and Little Man were looking at all the ads in it. Little J kept bringing me ads saying,

"Here is a coupon for something you will like" or sometimes more specific, he would say,

"Here, Mama. This is some nice lipstick you can get" or something like that.

Then he comes to me all excited and says, "Here are some really cool shoes you can get!" and then shows me the following ad:

Broken Yogurt and the Power of Advertisement

Little J to me: Mama, you need to buy that yogurt that has the monkey with the goggles on it.

Me: I don't think I've seen that yogurt, but why do you want it?

Little J: Because when you eat it, you blast off to a party in a friend's backyard. (Pause) I actually had one once, but it was broken. I didn't blast off anywhere.

The Definition of PURE CRAP

I have not watched MTV much since I was in high school - you know, back when they were actually airing music videos. I did watch a few Real Worlds in college before they became complete sleaze. But after reading about and watching small clips from last night VMAs, I will never ever ever even turn to that channel again.

I had only heard of Russell Brand once before - and that was in conjunction with an article about how he was a British comedian that has long been known as a sex addict/womanizer (I believe the word was "lothario" - I remember because I had to look it up). Anyway, he was the host of the VMAs last night and I am disgusted not only with him, but with MTV, with the audience, and all the other people involved with that show.

The two main things that completely offended me were 1) his spewing of political vomit and 2) his spewing of amoralism by taunting those who choose to stay clean (in this case the Jonas Brothers were his victims). And his other sex-related remarks.

First of all, I don't care who any celebrity figure supports for any election. Even if it is the same person I support. But, more importantly, I especially think that people from other countries who are guests in the USA should not offer their political opinion and especially not disparage any of our leaders who are currently in office. He had no place to come and make insults against our country and its leaders. It's inappropriate and extremely disrespectful.

Second of all, I think it is so irresponsible of him and of MTV to let him make jabs at a teen group that is actually standing up for their values and choosing to stay clean. Here is a group that tons of pre-teen and teenage kids look up to and have a great chance to be a positive role model for, and here comes Mr. Sex Addict shooting them down. There is enough baseness, crudeness, and vulgarity already in the world. Let the few who have the guts to stand up for something have their tiny glimmer of light. What's worse, is that he is a GROWN MAN (in the loosest sense of that word, I might add) and he is making fun of some kids that actually are trying to be a positive influence. And referring to a woman who could possibly be the first female VP of our country as a "VPILF" is just repulsive. (I'd feel the same if it was about Hillary ;-)

And what bothers me even more is that in a venue like the MTV awards there are all these young people who are watching and listening to this loser and thinking "Ok, Mr. Bedhead Drug and Sex Addict with the foul mouth, you are so cool so you must be wise, too...." Disgusting. Seriously, was there NO ONE else that was available to host the show?

If you agree with anything I just said, I challenge everyone to email, write, or call MTV and Viacom (the parent company) and the VMA sponsors so that they know that they have hit a new low and we don't appreciate it. Also, go comment on the Jonas Brothers site and Jordin Sparks' site (she stood up for them and said, "Not everyone wants to be a slut") and tell them thank you. Better yet, go buy their albums! (I'm sure you have nephews and nieces who would appreciate them....)

If the people who do care and do have values never stand up, then this kind of tasteless, crass, tawdry, offensive, disrepectful, deplorable, shameful (shall I go on?) crap will continue.

Here is the number to call: 212-258-6000 tell them you would like the VMA comment line. Here are the sponsor lines: Pepsi 800-433-2652 and Verizon's 908-559-3500.

Health Tip

Last night we were having grilled salmon for dinner. I'm not a huge seafood fan, but I have to confess I can grill a pretty mean salmon. The boys even like it. As we were eating, the boys began to have a conversation about the pros and cons of eating fish. The conversation went something like this:

Big J: You should eat lots of seafood because it's good for you.

Litte J: Yeah, but not seaweed.

Little J (after a pause): Or sand...

So there you have it.