Backflips and Summer League

There is so much that I could say about the Patrick's swim season.  He's amazing and I am proud sum it up the best.
He's been in the pool Monday through Friday for two hours for swimming and water polo. 

All of his hard work paid off at the Summer Rec League Championships today.

That's a second place finish from the outside lane.  He improved every week and in total took 9 seconds off of his time from the beginning of the season.   He also made it to the finals in breaststroke.  Next year he will dominate in butterfly.

On top of all that he loved playing water polo this summer.  He even scored a whole bunch of goals. 

And read several books and made lots of new friends in between.   One swim season down, many many more to go.

Especially considering that his little sister is half fish.  Last week she taught herself how to do a backflip.  This video is on the big step but she taught herself how to do one off the wall too. She's swimming and she's ready to compete.

File it under "B" for "Bad Mommy"

Yesterday I lost Patrick.  For 3.35 horrifying minutes, I didn't know where my kid was.  I was 22 seconds away from calling Fresno PD and 8 seconds away from sheer and utter terror.

He was a few seconds closer to terror than I was because he couldn't find me where he thought I should be.  A simple miscommunication about pick-up had us on opposite sides of the building after art class.  He was a few seconds closer to sheer and utter terror and cried almost the entire way home.  He lost his mom.

Patrick spends most of his time with his face two inches away from a sketch pad or a thick novel.  He tends to miss things because he is in his own world.  But he has always been the kind of kid who stayed close, tethered to me by an invisible cord that only reaches so far (I know, the cord right?).  He's never been lost before.  Not like my Keith or my brother Robby who have both been lost in WalMart with the same panicky reaction.

three short minutes.   I became the worst-case scenario mom for three heart-wrenching minutes (kidnapped, he was kidnapped).   I totally could have strangled and hugged him when his little face came through the crowd toward us.  I just hugged him instead. 

He knew the safety procedures (kick, scream, yell), he was headed back to his class to a safe person, his teacher.  He remembered my cell phone number. 

It was just a misunderstanding.... Let's not do that again.

Bragging Rights

I think awards ceremonies at school are weird.  I can't tell you why but it is just weird.  Maybe because some of the awards are a little sketchy.  Like perfect attendance, they should just call it, "You Send Your Kid To School Sick" award.  Because the year Patrick won it, that's what I should have gotten an award for, convincing my sick kid that a little hot chocolate could cure anything.   And why am I always in the dark about the 3 (reading, math, and writing) grade level awards.  Should I know that my kid didn't meet one or any of these BEFORE the awards are handed out?  Does everyone else know and I'm just missing the memo every semester?

Kevin is reading a book called Not Everyone Gets A Trophy about Generation Y, not my kids generation or my generation but still a relevant concept.  Almost every kid in the room got some kind of certificate or ribbon or whatever.  That's cool but there are some top kids (not necessarily mine) that work their little butts off and deserve big trophies.  Super smarties who not only show up to school but work really really hard, and they get lumped in with everyone else.  Also, they get grades and no one talks about the kids with straight A's (still not necessarily my kid).  And that's what's weird about our academic awards.  The majority of the kids are performing at grade level, so the majority of the kids get an award (the same award).  It is kind of a mediocrity award if you think about it.  You are proficient!  Here's your certificate, I can't think of any other reason you should try harder because that's good enough!  Good luck, that certificate should get you into the college of your choice.

Yep.  That's it.  You helped me figure it out.  Maybe it is just in the primary grades and things will shift next year but we are perpetuating this culture of cheering on every effort, even when we should be pushing our kids to do better.  I'm nuts.... I know it.  This is a post about Patrick and I am ranting about the school.  But if you think about how competitive college entrance and employment are and will be in 10 years you will be a little nuts too.  Patrick wants to go to Hillman or CSU Monterey Bay.  I told him that he should go to the imaginary school and I would write an imaginary tuition check.  WINNER.

HERE I COME HARVARD!  I GOT MY CERTIFICATES!

So he got some awards.  Yay!  He really does work extra hard in Math so DOUBLE YAY.  Notice the writing award is missing.  Turns out he's too creative for the district writing standards.  He free writes, goes off-topic, and makes jokes...... hmmmm..... no comment. 

He set a big reading goal for the first semester: 200 Accelerated Reader points.  He met it and exceeded it (3rd grade students need 20 points for an award).  He got pizza (top 4 third grade readers), donuts (25 points?), and tomorrow lunch at Carl's Jr. with the principal (top 2 primary and top 2 upper grade readers).  As much as I disliked (and continue to dislike) AR this is an area that he really loves and the rewards aren't even just the junk food.  His new reading level jumped up a full grade level (and a half?  I can't remember, I'm horrible with numbers) to just above a seventh grade level.  This is a direct result of the time he invests in reading (in the car, late at night, in the bathroom, at the table, every waking moment).



My friend (who is also a teacher at my kids' fantastic school) posted this on Pinterest and it is so true.   He's absorbed in a new series and already has almost 50 points for the second semester goal.  He's really a great kid, I love his heart and his mind.


 I am going for the Vacuum Master Award this semester, I'll let you know how it goes.

A Beautiful Mind

There is something about another person's junk that just irritates me.  Especially my kids' junk.  All three kids leave a trail of junk through the house all day long.  And the boys hoard massive amounts of additional junk in their rooms.  Ok, I know that I leave my own trail and I hoard my own junk but their junk is just more irritating.  You know why?  Because I don't.

Well, maybe because I know that I have to clean up their junk and their junk doesn't hold any meaning for me.  I cleaned their junk this week.  I was surprised by the level of hoarding that Keith had achieved.  But nothing ever surpasses the shock that Patrick's collections bring.  6 boxes and one drawer.  Bits and pieces of the most random stuff.  And you know what a lot of it was?  Garbage.  No lie, just plain old dirty tissue, old receipt, clothing tag garbage.  He doesn't have a garbage can in his room and is too lazy to walk his trash down the hall.  yep, my child.

But then he has his stuff.  His bits and pieces of things that have value.  He might not know where it came from or what it is for but he is saving it. Or maybe he does know.  Like his dad he saves every little doodad that might be useful someday.  Scraps of paper, secret battle plans, you have no idea.  His mind is amazing and I know I will never figure out how it works.....

And I've given up on getting upset about the junk, I just schedule it in with everything else.  Put it on the list... #14 Manage the junk.

Kindle Cuddles.

Kindle cuddles on a chilly fall Sunday.  A slow and quiet Sunday (at least for a few hours) allows this mama to cuddle on the couch with Patrick, blankets, and Kindles.  The house wasn't clean, the laundry wasn't done, projects weren't completed.... All the more reason to take a few minutes to cuddle and read.  I am SO thankful for these minutes.

It's just like a double-dog dare

Only I didn't actually say "I dare you", let alone with two dogs.  Your response was JUST like I double-dog dared you though.  That's because you are mine and nothing motivates you like someone telling you that you can't accomplish something. 

I didn't tell you that you couldn't read the whole book last night because I wanted to see you read the whole book.  I was just being Reality Check Mom who wants her boy to sleep. 

When you marched out of your room at 10:30 holding the 200 page book over your head in triumph, I could only laugh.  "See?  See?  You said I couldn't but I did it!" So there.  The book is done. 

.....and 9 hours later you are begging me for permission to haul a huge Harry Potter book to school. 

A Dragon! A Dragon!

I swear I saw a DRAGON!

Pete's Dragon?  Hello!?!?!

Patrick is dragon OBsessed.  I will admit to having a bit of a thing for dragons after reading (and watching) Game of Thrones (Books one and two! How did you spend YOUR summer vacation?)  He's read every dragon related kids' e-book that the county library owns.  So even though I was pushing hard for Harry Potter, he asked for a dragon birthday party.  Then he asked for a gods and goddesses party and I told him I would blend it together.

So here's my take on the Dragon Party but first understand a few things.... 1) Game of Thrones features dragon eggs, a dragon mother (who is human), and violence.  I focused on dragon eggs.  2) The gods and goddesses let the dragons come out to play for Patrick's party.  They also sent ambrosia and nectar of the gods (at Patrick's request).  3) All Most of the crafting and cooking resources are on my Pinterest board. 4) I managed to do a HORRIBLE job taking pictures of the party stuff.  Off my game I suppose.  5) Finally, have you ever noticed that dragon's seem to be super cutesy or dungeons and dragons strange?  I was TRYING to find something in between....  Here are our featured dragons:

The blue dragon is Saphira from the Eragon series. She was featured on the Evite.  The Green Dragon was part of the blue/green/red backdrop.

Favors

I made dragon eggs with old Easter eggs, hot glue, and paint.  I filled the eggs with a little dragon from Michaels.
The kids also got a dragon's tooth and hand sanitizer from Bath and Body Works.
I printed directly on brown paper bags and added a glittery clothespin.

Decor
More eggs.  I made the big paper mache eggs myself (balloons, newspaper, flour, water).  I only point out that I made it by myself because my boys refused to get their hands dirty. The gold eggs are really hot because they are about to hatch (BEWARE!).

I also made Dragon Blood (glycerine and glitter) and Dragon Kibble (puppy chow).

 No pics of the food but I made:
Dragon Dip (french dip sandwiches)
Vegan Dragon Chow (Salad)
Ambrosia (that's what the gods and godesses eat Mom!)
Dragon Scales (Tortilla chips)
Dragon brains (Guacamole)
Nectar of the gods

And for the cake.  As you know, Kevin and I are cake partners.  This is our 5th cake... Kevin promises that he will continue to implement my vision and step up to whatever catastrophe challenge I dream up.  Patrick wanted an almond cake (um, ok? what 8 year old wants an almond cake? mine!).  So we made him a dragon almond cake.  I didn't scratch bake this cake (yeah, I know).  Instead I did the amped up white cake mix (extra egg, double the amount of oil and swap for melted butter, sub milk for water) with almond extract.  I love this cake!!!!

Kevin insisted that he had to do the construction and frosting.  He was pretty proud of himself and I was pretty impressed too.  Of course, that is our routine... I dream it and bake it and he constructs it and frosts it.  The hardest part of this cake?  The stupid fruit roll-ups for the wings and fire.  I don't buy fruit roll-ups but these were impossible all around! 

Happy Birthday Patrick

Dear Patrick,
There is something about you being 8 that makes me think that this is an absolutely picture perfect time in your life.  The other night I was listening to you explain something to Daddy (in your long-winded way.... that you totally get from Dad) and all I could think was where is the stage for this boy.  You are a performer at heart. 

This year is such a big year because you are becoming so much more mature.  But I love 8 because your heart is still innocent and pure.  If I could buy millions of Legos to keep you busy for the years to come I would.  But that's the thing about growing up, it's inevitable.  No matter how much I long to keep you in this world of a little boy, you have to grow up.  Unless you are Peter Pan and that's just not really a possibility at this point in your life because Neverland is too far away and I can't go there because I did grow up so you have to stay here.

As you grow up I want to remind you that you thank God for the gifts in your life every day.  I want you to remember that today you have more than most kids in the world could ever dream.  I want you to know that even if you don't have every toy, gadget, or hot thing, you have lots of people who love you and care about you (FOREVER).  And you have a brother and a sister who look at you with stars in their eyes. 


I know that I am a crazy mama and I am possibly the meanest mom on the block but I love you with every inch of my being.  We can always laugh together.  We can always have sushi together.  We can always watch Giada together.  We can always read quietly together.  I promise to always make time for you and do my best to show you that you are a very special boy. I love you!
Mama Lou

Kindergarten Readiness and Final Jeopardy

Why the heck do I have a blog if I can't brag about my kids?!?!

First of all, Patrick got Final Jeopardy this week.  Not on the celebrity show.  Not the college show.  Not the kids show.  For real Final Jeopardy that only 1 of 3 contestants got correct...  See if you know the answer/ question (It's at the end of this post)

A 2005 study reported that this animal named for an island has, pound-for-pound, the most powerful bite of any mammal

Second, Keith is very aware of numbers.  We play a complicated game of Slug Bug (without the violence) that includes double points, minus points, and restarts.  He keeps a running score all day.  The other day he was sitting at the counter randomly counting.  I wasn't paying attention to the numbers but he seemed to be repeating numbers.  Eventually, he declared, "Someone doesn't know how to count!"  I thought he was talking about one of his friends.  Turns out he was reading the numbers on the coffee maker 2-4-6-8-10-12 I get the biggest kick out of this kid.  I am so very excited that he is starting Kindergarten in 11 weeks.  I will miss him but I am happy for him because he is so incredibly excited about it.

And Lauren!  Well she is studying for the SATs and making her way through Tolstoy (audio of course, she can't read).  She says "Mama," for everything but seems to know how to run a household.  And next week she wants to start violin lessons. 

So, how much did you win in Final Jeopardy?  I didn't......



Tasmanian Devil

Patrick's Room

This weekend I came to a conclusion: Patrick's perpetually messy room is my penance and my test.  There is no other explanation for why my son's room is in a constant state of disarray.  The endless papers, stuffed animals, books, dirty clothes, stray socks, and random treasures are only there to test my resolve and mock me.  He is a world-class slob and sometimes I am in such awe of his slovenly ways that my head doesn't explode from anger and frustration (that's only sometimes, usually my head explodes and I get a trash bag a curse under my breath for 45 minutes). 

and for the record, there is only way place in our house that rivals Patrick's mess....

My Office.  This is a good day.

Patrick.... Not an idiot

This is Patrick.  He's my darling son.  Some days he does things that are so much like me that I want to scream.   Look at him, head in the clouds... no idea what is going on.   Other times he's just Patrick...

1. My knee is still sore from the run and I haven't done enough stretching to help my situation.  Sitting for long periods of time, not a great idea.  I'm creaking and groaning when I get up.  Patrick caught me getting up from my desk one day and tried to take pity on his poor mom, "Just make a list of what you need, write it all down, I'll get it and you can rest." 
No doubt he was planning on charging me $5 per task but seriously?

2. We are working on a big Accelerated Reader goal.  He brought a book out one night and was frustrated by the incomplete story.
Patrick: I didn't get to read all the pages!
Me:  It's a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book.  The story is different every time you read it.  That's the point.
Patrick:  So I should just start at the begining and read it all the way to the end?
Me: No, it skips around.  You can't read it that way.
Patrick: Well why don't they just write the stupid book the normal way.  How can I take a test on this? (throws hands in the air)
Me: You won't be able to take a test on it, it isn't an AR book.
Patrick: Wh-What?  (Growls and walks back to his room)

3. Patrick was going to movie night at school.  As Kevin was getting ready to take him, I was giving him my final mom mommyness.
Me: Have fun but please keep the over the top silly behavior to a minimum.
Patrick: What do you mean?
Me: I mean don't act like an idiot.
Patrick: But I'm not an idiot.
Me: Exactly.

Funny things my kids do

 The transition back to school was a little rough on the boys.   After two weeks of playing together hour after hour, four days of separation was hard.  When they did have a few minutes together they alternated between enemies and BFFs.  Case in point, a few minutes to play before homework time and they start constructing Legos.... on the same chair, even though we have six, they share a chair. 

 Lauren rarely gets juice and if she does it's prune juice (no further explanation needed.).  This morning the baby also needs her prune juice.

All three kids are currently having a wild rumpus in Patrick's room.  At some point I need to break it up and get the day going.  For now I'm laughing at their interactions and happy that they all love being in the same place at the same time.

Bad Mommy Chronicles v.2598

There is a running joke amongst our friends, all of whom have kids about the same age as ours.  The joke is that we rely heavily upon Patrick and his inclination towards taking care of, protecting and "mother henning (every noun deserves a shot at being a verb)" the kids.  He often shows the moms up by corralling the kids and making sure they are all going in the right direction.  Saturday night and you don't have a babysitter?  Call Patrick.  Need to run into the office and you don't want to wake up the sleeping toddler in the car?  Call Patrick.  Can't find the baby?  Call Patrick.

He really is a very caring boy and has a sort of golden retriever quality to him.  anyway.  My JLF friend Emily (love her) made some yummy zucchini bread for our provisional brunch and sent some home with me to share with the people in my house who happen to love baked goods for breakfast.  One morning I was serving it up to my eager carb lovers and Patrick starts to scream at me! "That has pecans!  He's allergic to pecans!"

After some confusion on my part and a bit of consternation on Patrick's part I finally figured it out.  There were walnuts in the bread.  Some more confusion from me and I eventually remembered that last Christmas we discovered that Keith has a mild allergy to pecans.  i forgot 

Survey says.... 47 people think Patrick is a better MOM than I am.

Tank tops and zucchini bread

Big news

Huge news! 
Patrick got glasses!

Finally!

Isn't he handsome and grown up?{sniff}

Patrick's Birthday Party Round-up: Part Two

After a brief interlude (also known as a Saturday filled with soccer and a friend's birthday party), we were ready for Round 2.  We hosted our families for a Mario birthday BBQ.  Kevin has been on his game with the hamburgers lately (seriously, ask for an invite.  These things are yum.  12 adults ate over 4 lbs of these things!).  I made homemade potato chips, watermelon and salad.  Easy!

I have 6 nieces and nephews so this is sort of like throwing a full-blown party so we must play a game!  Tip Junkie had these super cute and fun Mario Bingo printables.  I printed the cards on card stock and had them laminated.  I had a sneaky suspicion that my boys would enjoy playing Bingo and I wanted the cards to last.  The markers I punched out with one of my scrapbooking punchers.  Totally easy and guess what?  My boys played several times in the weeks leading up to the party.  We also had fun identifying and naming the characters.
 

I bought tons of little prizes at Michael's.   All of the kids won at least once.  In Keith's case, he knew exactly which prize he wanted and took off once he had his disgusting fake teeth.

 

So the only thing left is the cake.  I won't say anything about how much the custom cakes cost because they are beautiful and yummy and straight.  I will just say that this is the first year that I made Patrick a birthday cake from scratch.  He wanted red velvet and I wanted to make him something that would put a big smile on his face before he even took a bite.  

So the Question Block Cake was born.  Let me know if you find a how-to somewhere out there in blogland.  Kevin and I winged it.  I knew that I could cover the cake with fondant and it would be perfect and smooth.  I also knew that I had never worked with fondant before and a huge cake like this would need a lot of fondant.  So I opted for the compromise: frosting with fondant accents.

I baked four layers of Bakerella's (cake pops ya know) fantastic red velvet cake.  I borrowed my sister's square pans and they worked perfectly.  I probably could have tripled the recipe.  I also made the cream cheese frosting and tinted it with Wilton icing color (golden yellow seemed a little orange to me...).  In the end, I had about 4 inches of cake, 2 inches of frosting between the layers and an improvised bottom half.

 Here she is just after I frosted it.  I bought an angled spatula this makes a huge difference.  Luckily Kevin was helping me and thought to put the cake in the freezer.  This saved it from melting.  The cream cheese frosting is very melty.

 Here's the block before the question mark. 

 Figures make a repeat appearance.

 Look at that!  Kevin cut out the question marks from fondant and glued them on the frozen cake with some frosting.

 Patrick loved it.

 Can you tell?

 I also added the 7-UP candles.  Only a 7 year old gamer would get it and I love it that way!