Bowling

We went bowling today as a "Plan B" activity for a ski/snow-tubing day that got inclement-weathered-out. We don't often visit a bowling alley, even though the kids seem to like it just fine, so this was a fun alternative to the originally scheduled activity -- and for me personally, just maybe a better one as I'm not all that partial to snow and hours out in the cold.

We went with other families who also had been planning to be on PA slopes and we all had a really nice time. Josie bowled a lane over from ours with the teenagers, and apparently won his first two games, and then tanked the last :-) 

I think he's practicing his Rico Suave pose in this photo...

Craig and I bowled with another couple while their children and Johngideon and Montgomery shared the lane adjoining ours. (I will not elaborate on the fact that Montgomery's first trip to the line ended up with her ball bouncing down a lane next to the one on which she was bowling.)

The scoreboard further above shows the amazing final score for Craig, who has not bowled in at least two years, and then probably not for at least two years prior to that, and then the same pattern for at least a decade back. Five strikes and two spares!?! What?

Here's the final outcome of that game.  I am the score at the top :~/ ...

I told Craig afterwards that I'm going to have to choose to sit out competitive games when we're going simply for the social joy of fellowshipping with other families...I'm just too competitive in my heart. I'd much rather simply enjoy chatting and getting to know everyone better, but competitive games really bring out the tiger in me (even if I possess the self control to beat it back from public view).  Craig was not really surprised, as he's always the slightly embarrassed spouse when we've gone to our kids' (well, middle school ages and over) sporting events.  I'm that yelling cheering parent -- loudly proclaiming "encouragement" to hang in there and fight to the end! (But, in my defense, I am never the crazy referee-threatening-obscenity-yelling-parent...I am not THAT guy.) Anyway, I don't like that competitive tiger that rises up on the inside when we're supposedly just having fun, so I think in the future I'll just sit out participation in games played in settings like that.

One of the reasons Craig was so excited about his score was that my mother is an 81-year-old senior citizen bowling aficionado, who has always beaten Craig in every game we've bowled in the nearly two decades we've been married. And even though it's not been that many games, I think it still bruises his pride a little (smile). And it doesn't help that she has, on rare occasion, been known to mail him the paper scorecard from her best games in her senior league (big smile). So, needless to say, he's really looking forward to making sure she sees the scoreboard above sometime in the near future!

I forgot to get a photo before the other teenagers left, so Josie joined in this one for me.

Here's another family we were bowling next to -- I love how these outings let all ages enjoy hanging out together.

We all ate way too much bowling alley fried and greasy foods (french fried, mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, pizza, hamburgers...) and spent way too many quarters on the junky toy and trinket vending machines (of which there were many), but we all had a good time and left looking forward to the next time at the lanes.  My mother's heart just hopes the college kids are in town for that one.

Much love. Take care.

Cold Snap

We had a cold snap this week, and Montgomery found herself chilly when she wanted to go help Johngideon take out the recycling after church. I haven't yet pulled out all of the winter necessities, so finding hats, gloves, scarves and the like in our home is nearly impossible this time of year, for a 5-year-old...

...needless to say, Montgomery made do.

I think Johngideon found her rather amusing...or is that incredulous?

...but he was happy for the help so he mostly kept his opinions to himself.

Gommy didn't seem to care either way...she was busily oblivious...and warm.

Take Care. Much Love.

 

Game Day

Craig really loves Sunday afternoons in the fall.

After church service he cooks up a veritable smorgasbord, dons his purple attire, and 

settles in to watch the BALTIMORE RAVENS kick some football butt!

CAW! CAW!

Today he even made a purple cake...

...which Gommy was only too happy to help him decorate...

...in her own special Gommy-Girl way...

...tutu required, of course.

And of course, we didn't have any difficulty finding homes for all those slices of purple cake!

And by the way, it was the Ravens all the way today, babeee...37 to 7!

 

Take Care. Much Love.

  

Swinging...?

This past spring on a playground junket, I turned around

and found Johngideon like this!

So, while Montgomery was playing in the standard playground fashion...

...doing things like this...

...and this...

And I thought Johngideon was playing like this...

...and this...

I paused to inspect some crawly bugs with Montgomery,

looked back around...and Johngideon was like this...

...joyfully stuck -- and I do mean stuck -- in the infant swing!

It took me and a total stranger dad who had pity on my struggling efforts

to get him pried out...to actually get him pried out!

(There are, of course, no pictures of this comically bizarre activity,

because every limb and appendix I possess was actively and strenuously 

engaged in the prying out effort!)

So, I thought being really stuck

(and him knowing he was really stuck)

would easily communicate the lesson.

Can you believe he actually seemed ready to try it again!

What next?

Much Love. Take Care.

 

Important Ability? Hmmm....

Heard recently from the lips of Johngideon:

"I know how to spell ALL the bad words!"

Dubious talent, no doubt, but better appreciated in context...(I think?)

Grandma Tee was visiting from New York for a few days, and Johngideon was sweet enough to keep me company while we ran an early morning errand with her. She and I were having a conversation in the front seat, when I heard Johngideon pipe up indignantly from the back, "I am not!"

Surprised by his outburst, Grandma Tee and I exchanged befuddled glances and I asked, "am not what, Johngideon?"

"What you said," he responded, "the 'B' word!"

Well, you know what "B" word immediately jumped to our minds, and not being a curser, I racked my brain to see what word I'd used in our front-seat conversation that could have sounded like the "B" word. At a loss, I asked Johngideon what the "B" word was.

"You know," he said, spelling with great emphasis, "B-A-S-T-A..."  Ohhhh, I thought, that "B" word. But knowing that's a word I never use, I looked at Grandma Tee in puzzlement. She reminded me that we had used the word "pastor" in our conversation, and I realized Johngideon thought we'd said his "the 'B' word."

Amused, I explained the misunderstanding to him, but thanked him for choosing to spell the "B" word rather than say it. Delighted by my compliment, he proudly declared these infamous words...

"I know how to spell ALL the bad words."

That really brought a smile to my face. Parentally appropriate? To tell you the truth, I'm still not quite sure.    :o)

Take Care. Much Love.

 

  

August Swimming...Lessons?

The kids and I headed to the pool again this morning, for Montgomery and Johngideon's swimming lessons. It was nice that everyone "wanted" to go...or at least they did by the time they got there.  ;o)  While Montgomery had her lesson, Maia continued with her water exercises, and the boys threw each other around in the shallow end, or rather the youngers attacked Job and he delightedly threw them around. I got to sit and chat with a friend I'd been trying to connect with for a couple of weeks, but we'd been delayed by things like life and the stuff of schedules.

After Gommy's lesson was over, it was Johngideon's turn. I think because it's August, a good number of families are on vacation, so Johngideon's lessons this week have so far worked out to be private affairs. Which would be a delight for a family of seven, such as ours, on a reasonable budget, such as ours, to have paid for group lessons yet wound up with private ones, except that Johngideon decided today (as he'd done Friday) that it was too chilly for swimming lessons, so spent quite a lot of time on the side of the pool, huddled into himself, while his two -- yes, I did say TWO -- instructors stood over him trying to cajole him back into the pool. (Needless to say, his mother was not amused.)

See, there he is above, the small bundle of red miserableness at the far end of the pool, between the two -- yes, I did say TWO -- instructors standing on either side, promising him all manner of things if he'll just get back in the water. (Meanwhile Maia is peacefully and thankfully obliviously swimming her laps.)

And again, hunkered down into a small ball this time (to the left of the lifeguard this time...who is watching this scene in amused disbelief), having brought one of his instructors to her knees (I think the poor girl just gave up!) (oh, for a better zoom camera to capture the expressions on their faces!)...

True, there was a bit of a wind today, but it hadn't seemed to bother him too much thirty minutes earlier when he was joyfully and shriekedly being thrown all over the water WWF-SmackDown-style by his big brothers. Hmmmm.....

While Johngideon was causing his instructors to think it would probably be easier to have a class full of twelve kids instead, Montgomery was snuggling under a big towel on a lounger by her other brothers, enjoying a little sun-warming time while they tossed a wet towel at each other.

When Johngideon finally had endured the full-length of the excruciating 30-minute(!) (really?!) lesson, he dragged himself (shivering violently for effect) back to a lounger and "thawed out" in the sun...which was exactly what his older brothers were up to by now. Isn't it funny how the boys' feet hang through the threads on the loungers...

Job was actually just trying to stay on the thing, I think, because he seems to have grown longer than it! Montgomery, meanwhile, had headed off to the kiddie pool to play with some new friends.

Speaking of Montgomery, Craig has been teaching her to swim all summer long, and wow, has she learned! She went from a kid just walking around in the shallow end, to a bonefide deep water dogpaddler! Last week in South Carolina, she was sliding down the slide all by herself and "swimming" to the ladder. And late last week at swim class (her first professionally taught lessons in months), she jumped off the diving board for the first time in her life!...

and "swam" to the side...in 11-feet-deep water!!...
(Maia was a super-smiling big sister watching from the water, you know, just in case.  :o)

and then Gommy lined up (chilly but proud) to do it all over again, and again, and again, and again...

(even though she was completely submerged with each jump)

until after the lesson ended...and again...and again...until we had to practically force her from the deep end!

I love it!

Take Care. Much Love.

 

Early Morning Collaboration

I awoke to a beautiful sight early one morning last week. The boys were all up and already outside, working on the treehouse together.

Job had a work-related activity to attend that evening and wasn't going to be able to work on the project after he got home from his camp counsellors job, so they had gotten up early, like 6:00 a.m.(!!) to try and finish the look-out platform's base.

It warmed my heart to see them cooperating and valuing each other's input...and even hearing the youngers so cheerfully following Job's instructions. Everyone had a job to do and was eager to do it. Brotherly love abounded.

In the lulls where there was nothing readily available for an 8-yr-old to do, Johngideon would take a swing break.

Then he'd be right back in business when there was a job for him.

Just awesome.

Take Care. Much Love.

 

 



Penny Power

Johngideon discovered a new fun activity recently...counting and stacking coins, well pennies to be exact. Craig and I are very encouraging of this new found interest for him, as Craig is an intentional end-of-the-day pocket dumper and we usually have jars of change in several spots throughout the house. However, we're not frequent coin rollers and only tend to get around to it a couple of times a year.

As Josiah was preparing to make an errand for a promised all time favorite meatball marinara sub, I realized I didn't have any cash in the house to give him, and I didn't at all feel like running to a bank. Then I thought... aha, the change! So I quickly rolled up some quarters and off he went! However, change rolling, I've come to find, is rather addictive, and I found myself in the study for nearly an hour, stacking and rolling coins of all denominations.

Maia joined me for awhile, as did Josiah prior to his errand. But, the one that really found the activity irresistible was Johngideon, and after we'd ploughed through all of the "silvery" coins he went on for hours counting and stacking the seemingly endless quantities of pennies. I made him stop at some point to eat, and then he was right back at it. I'll tell you, that kid is a penny-stacking virtuoso! When he moved from floor stacking to table stacking, I knew we were nearing the end, which was a good thing because he didn't seem able to stop himself until all of the pennies ended up in neat stacks  and rows.

He was very proud of his effort, as were we! Such diligence and perseverance!

It took Craig and I a few days before we got the gumption to get all of those wonderful stacks and rows in to rollers, but they eventually all made it (mostly because we needed the table space in the study...and, because the stacks became too tempting for Montgomery's destructo nature to resist!).

Now we know who to call for help when the coins start overflowing their containers...Johngideon to the rescue!!

Take care. Much love.

A Fun and Unusual School-Nite Dinner

Tonight we stopped by Mama Cucina's, a neighborhood Italian restaurant, for Johngideon's school's fundraising night in support of the second grade. The restaurant donates a percentage of their Tuesday night earnings to the school, so the school rallies to get as many families there as possible. We have never attended a Mama Cucina's night before, and weren't quite sure what to expect.

Johngideon had a blast! When he walked in he was thrilled to see his awesome teacher, Ms. Rice, at a nearby booth and soooooo many kids from his class with their families. It was like a party atmosphere with the kids visiting from table to table...it kinda felt like dinner with a huge Italian family. The few other patrons there not from the school were either delighted by the energy, vibe and excitement, or were bewilderingly looking around at the gaggly ruckus of young people, not sure what was going on. The food took a loooooong time to get to the table, but nobody minded and it was really good when we got it. It was a fun, unusual way to dine on a rainyish school night.

Much Love. Take Care.

Art Class and Impressionistic Flowers

Johngideon learned about "cool" and "warm" colors at his latest art class,

and took a look at the style of Claude Monet and impressionistic flowers.

Gommy thought he'd done a great job with his paintings.

My delight goes without saying.

(Art class is winding down...rats!)

Take Care. Much Love.

 

Cupcake Joy

Recently seen in our travels...the awesome roving Icedgems cupcake van!

Perfect for an afterschool snack for the littles...mmmmmmmmm....yummy!

However, after dancing delightedly and excitedly with the insistence of the must-have pink cupcake, Montgomery decided after one lick that she only liked the cake part (!!) because the pink frosting didn't taste like bubble gum (!!!)...(for the record, I could have baked her some plain cupcakes when we got home!) So, all the pink frosting ended up smushed in a napkin in the trashcan...but, I guess as far as overpriced cupcakes go, it's all about the experience.

Johngideon loved every tasty morsel of his chocolate on chocolate on chocolate on chocolate treat!

Full disclosure: In their super-skippy-excitement, both Johngideon's and Gommy's cupcakes experienced a moment each of concrete pavement action...before the first bites were even taken. Who knew cupcakes were so slippery? (Or so hardy...the frosting was barely dented...they actually rolled...scary?)  We employed the five-second rule (well-known by moms everywhere!)...and a quick napkin swipe...no shame here (a little dirt-flavor adds to the ambiance of gourmet roving cupcake van sidewalk dining!)

...and "requests" for somewhat  more subdued dining movement.

And the biggers enjoyed the rest of the box of treats when they got home...mmmmmmm!

     Take Care. Much Love.