The Story Makers.

The Story Makers.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

FCAT Bonding ....

 This week starts the "dreaded" FCAT testing for Florida Students.
What school is all about these days.
The ever anticipated, hyped up week long state mandated tests that 
judge how our kids are doing in school.

Dumbo.
Huge waste, unfortunate, and all that.
But, just because I, and I'm pretty sure every other parent feels the same,
 means nothing.....they will still happen.
So around here, and everywhere that children are in public school,
I am sure these tests are built up,
and 
focused on like crazy.

One of the big tips is to have your children get
enough sleep this week.
 Also, to be sure to get a hearty, breakfast each day.
The rest of the days of the year.....what ev.....but these few days,
really be careful and attentive and whatever you do 
don't mess up.

Ok.
I'm down with that.

So I make the big announcement,
Kids, tomorrow expect a big FCAT breakfast.
I want your brains to be in full gear.
They all say the FCATs are easy, and don't seem to notice all the hubbub....
which I am grateful for.

Yesterday I woke them up with the wafting smell of bacon, eggs, and crossants.
Plus a mini super charged green spinach shake which they all appreciated.
We all sat at the table and enjoyed our breakfast together.....
minus K : ( he is back in Asheville.

Last night L says, hey mom, I don't have testing tomorrow, 
but could we have another FCAT breakfast in the morning?
Heck yes we can.

This morning we sat down to Colleen Johnson's best ever 
banana chocolate chip bread muffins 
(recipe will be provided!!)
Along with dark chocolate silk Almond milk K purchased.
Yummo!
So, here is the part I really wanted to write about:

We are again sitting together at the table with a cloth on 
and the whole shebang.
We are enjoying our hot muffins.....
and Lawson says,
Hey everybody, 
When was a time when something really painful happened to 
you that you remember?

(crickets)

We are all intrigued.
He has us reined in.
We aren't sure if this is leading up to a punch line,
or if he really wants to know.

I say that I have one.....
Do you guys remember the time when the horse stepped on my foot and I fainted 
into the barbwire fence?
Mom!!  You can't always use that one.
Ok, what about the time I dropped my jello in grade school and I 
hit my knee picking it up and fainted off the bench.
Are you kidding!!?  That is so long ago.
Ok, ok, wait.....oh yeah! 
Having all of YOU!!
That hurt pretty badly.
No, that doesn't count.
Finally having kidney stones was accepted.

M remembers the time that Ryker pushed her down
onto the bricks after she head butted him in the 
Stomach trying to be friendly. 
R reenacted that several times and we laughed our heads off.

L shared the time he had a painful pimple 
right on his nose.  
He had to pop in a huge rush because 
his friend was waiting outside for him.
It was the most painful day of his life so far.

R recalled the night he ran into the spicket at church playing
man hunt.  It tore his favorite jeans and he has the scar to
prove it.  Lawson showed us his scar on his leg from doing the 
same thing another time....

Ethan....we were all looking at him,
waiting....he said, well, it hurt pretty bad having Mursa and
going on the sling shot ride several years ago.
We roared with laughter,
and
amazement at how long Ethan went on not telling Kev 
and I that he had a huge boil like cyst on his rear-end.
It was so sad.
He was so embarrassed, and it hurt him so badly, he was limping,
(YES we asked obviously.....he told us it was from his bike crash,
which he really did have at this same time)
He would not sit on his butt.
I remember getting mad at him for always reading on his hands
and knees behind the couch.
I was like,
what is going on?
Let's take you to the doctor!.....NO.
I'm fine mom.
It is nothing.
He was so adamant.
One day K gave him a little swat on the rear, 
you know how sporty guys do.....
like to say, that a boy!
Ethan came unglued and went off on him.
We were all dumb founded.
Gee....K does not know his own hand strength.
The night of the slingshot ride in Orlando we had taken the kids 
on a "special" outing to see the live Pirate show.
All through dinner on the hard benches
Eth had to sit on one side and try to make it
through with out saying a word.
He never complained.
........
I have been baking bread, making favorite cookies....
all in the name of FCAT.
Not really.
Guess I am just feeling so grateful for our children.

 I am so broken hearted and afraid for the Provo, Utah family whose
little girl did not come home from school yesterday.
Charice Beaumont.

This could be any one of our stories.
Provo is a safe place.
Satellite Beach is a safe place.
I guess this is hitting me so hard because 
the little girl reminds me of M.
I know the place....
McCauley rides her bike to school often.....mostly with Lawson 
on his skate board, but occasionally she will ask if she can 
leave early.... sometimes I say yes.
I am back to riding with them.
Why wouldn't I?
Who cares what class I have coming up...
I have time to be with our children and soak them up.
While they are in my care.
While I can Behold Them and Learn from them.

I am sure you are praying for the family as well. 
...........................

M has become quite the responsible little mother's helper.
(L reverently snuck these shots for me.)
Last night during his Family Home Evening presentation R found 
this long attached hair.
It took him forever to pull it out.
(I'm kind of surprised he didn't recall this as his most painful event!)
The rest of us had a grand time watching and offering to hold
his under eye skin down while he pulled.
A great shot of L during Soccer.
 Sure love these guys.
.............

One more thing real quick.
Last night the most glorious thing happened.
I was saying good night to the boys.
I had gone over and said to Ryker, come here and give me 
a big hug....he did,
next thing I hear....or think I may have heard, but doubted it very much,
was 16 year old Ethan say,
hey, can I get one of those?
................
He did say it.
................


Wednesday, April 10, 2013

1st Annual Garden OFF!


Our Long Delayed,
first attempt at gardening in Florida,
has begun.
I have wanted to start a garden forever.
I have listened to friends gush and ooooooooo and awwwwww
about their mega successes. Their fresh thises and thats.
The constant glee over, we have thus and such
coming out our ears!

I am convinced they have all the answers and we have none.
(Well, really only one friend).
I have partaken and drooled over her families produce,
they are always generous in sharing.
I have felt pangs of jealousy and inadequacy.
I have always known we need to have a garden.
But I have just believed we don't have enough information to try.
What is the point of trying?
I know it's not going to work.
We aren't brilliant enough to garden in Florida.

OK.
Get over it.
Maybe it boils down to one thing only....
L. A. Z. Y.
....too Lazy to try.

Luckily,
Lawson needed a family project for his Family Life Scout merit badge.
So Boom!
We are going to be Gardeners!

Just one problem.....
his name begins with K.
This certain person would not conform to the right and proper way
of growing a garden beach side in Florida.
He does not "believe" in purchasing dirt.
God gave us all the dirt we need right here under our feet.

He will not concede, or trust that no plant will grown in our amazing, 
salt laden sand Heavenly Father provided for us.
He won't back down.
He won't believe me when I tell him about my friend's successful garden....
and about all of the notes I have taken.
I know what to do, lets not reinvent the wheel.
Let's follow a PROVEN PLAN for our area.
Here are the school's gardens and raised beds.
I also grilled our gardening expert there...
she told me the same things my friend did.
We WILL FAIL, our plants roots will die, if we plant in the dirt.

(Exibit #1 - School garden....purchased dirt, beds that separate FL dirt from touching garden soil.  Look how hearty, healthy, and strong)

He is sticking to the FACT that Florida is one of the top growers of 
carrots in the world!!
Do we....(the kids and I were all on one garden team) actually
believe that these huge gardeners go purchase bags of dirt?
Do we seriously think they lay down weed controlling plastic or newspaper?
That they raise their planting beds?!!!
Don't think so.

After a bitter struggle.
He won all of the boys over to his side.....and McCauley half way,
cuz she planted items in both Kev's garden and mine.

Ok, that is fine.

I am just happy that we have our own garden(s) to love and nurture 
and do our best with.
This is not about winning,
or whose garden does better.

Mine is the little one up on the table away from the 
contaminated ground.
I am so happy with the kid's feeling of stewardship over our new little babies.
They literally weed and fret over it every day, 
(the one on the ground, mine does not get weeds) 
WITH OUT BEING ASKED!
They go out together to check on it.
They play catch out by it.
Send progress photos and updates to K on his trips.
(Look at the new growth, the small corn plants pushing through for life, sun, and air....
such a miracle.  The blossoms, the beautiful detail.)

 We are struggling to keep a strawberry attached long enough to become
fully ripe.
Our Animal robbers are very active.
M had very good intentions of saving a little strawberry,
she built a brick barrier to keep the animals away.
It had a hole in the top for sunshine....
that plant died over night.
Hey, it was worth a shot.

This bush is out front.
I purchased and planted it in this pot when we moved in thirteen years ago.
At one point I could see it was getting too large for the 
small container, so I wanted to replant it 
to give it a fighting chance.
I went to move it and realized right away that it had taken 
care of the matter on its own.
Its roots had broken through the bottom and were 
firmly rooted deep in the soil below.
I was thrilled.
Good job buddy!
I love this plant because just about every year I am sure it is the 
end of its days.
I just know it's dead.
It goes brown, very dormant, unattractive,
it really looks completely dead.
I get ready to replace it, and then just like magic....
the tiny green buds begin again.
This plant gets tons of beautiful bright yellow flowers
pretty much all summer long.
It tricked me again just this month.
I knew it was all over.
Dang it, I'm going to miss you little guy......
yet look at it now.
(yes, I am a slow learner.)
 You can see our first tomato below, 
(my plant....no big deal I just figured you were curious)
That tree out front has a twin sister we planted around 5 years ago.
I was 94% sure they would not make it.
How could they?
We don't know the first thing about taking care of trees properly!
Yet once again
nature takes over and is proving me wrong.
I love these trees, they are beginning to offer shade and beauty to our 
small yard.
These pink flowers are on the front porch....
I always check out the clearance section at Lowes.
I see what is half price and nearly dead.
Why pay full price when it likely will die anyway?

LOOK AT THEM!
GORGEOUS, Generous Blooms, plenty of life!
That big black pot on the bottom is from several years ago,
That one guy, my competition, purchased me an extremely thoughtful 
Mother's Day gift one particular year.
I was very surprised.
This container was jam packed with tons of lush, beautiful plants.
I have managed to keep a few of them alive.
It is amazing what a little watering can do.
I love that Heavenly Father provides such Bounty.
Such FOOL Proof ways for us to feel satisfaction and joy.

I hope to be like that plant I mentioned, the tree that dug its roots in for dear life.
Not to be swayed by the wind, or tossed.
Grounded. Alive. Faithful. Steadfast. Solid. Strong.


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Back to real life again.

Spring break has come to an end.
What a great, fun, unplanned, unscheduled week we had.
The week began with our big annual ward cake auction and spagetti dinner.
This is the one fund raiser we do each year to benefit the youth program
and help with high adventure trips, scout camps, etc.
My Choffy cake went for BIG BUCKS!!
It is a pretty hot ticket item around these parts.
Grab the RECIPE HERE if you'd like it. 
The pictures below are a few of the items we bid on and won.....
the I-Phone cake by one of our young women,
Ryker and Aaron's cheese cake (mom's recipe),
Giant chocolate cup cakes.....
There is Tina and Christi w/ Tina's S-more Cake....SUPER YUMMY!
Toby's Tower of Doom-nuts.
It was a fun night and a huge success. 
We also had a court of honor for our scouts.
Toby got his Eagle....Great job!
Ryker is in the pipeline for his.
 This is where the week got really good....
for me : ) anyway.
I was pulling jobs and projects out of my hat like a magician.
The kids would have been happy sitting the days away in front of the
computers and gaming systems.
But not I.
I certainly don't mind a portion of each day being taken up with that past time,
but while there is still breath in my body I will help them 
make other,
 better choices on how they spend the majority of their time....
even on Spring Break.

I had the gang out cutting, and hacking down dead wood in our yard,
they dug out stumps, 
Axed through limbs and carried them out.
I LOVED IT!!
(and truth be told....I don't think they minded it much)
This got them energized to put on their backpacks and ride to 
Walmart for something they needed for their gaming system....
cuz oooops, I'm stuck at home trying to get caught up on some important things.
ALRIGHT!!  See you in a while...You go boys!
Cookie was here with us for a short visit as well.
She is always a welcome guest.
The weather has been pretty chilly, but we managed one afternoon at the 
beach with friends.
It was so relaxing and enjoyable to sit and visit and listen to 
the waves wash in and out.
The kids had a blast creating this Lord of The Rings structure.
LoVE the work of imagination!  and Team Effort!
 Another Favorite project:
The ceiling of the play room.
I have been putting it off forever, because it is
soooooo hard and tedious.
Well, that is because last time I did it by myself, probably pregnant.
This time,
I demonstrated  how to wipe every slat and groove,
moving the ladder and rinsing the cloth often and squeezing almost all of the
cleaning solution out so it doesn't drip into your eyes, etc.
Then Ryker and Ethan finished the job!
Having older BIG KIDS IS A DREAM!!
When they have something they really want to do,
and all they have to do is get "mom's job list done first"
They are angels and extremely hard workers.
It's called LEVERAGE.
It keeps the peace and makes everyone happy in our home.
M dusted and vacuumed the entire house,
she is happy listening to my little ipod.
Look at the team doing dishes, they figured it could be done
quicker if one rinsed and the other washed.
GOOD JOB GUYS!
I Love spring break.
I get sooooooooo much done with these guys around.
I kinda hated to see them go back so soon.
Hope you had a wonderful Easter.