Are they too old, or am I too grumpy?

So, I  do realize two days before Easter is not the best time to start shopping.  What can I say?  I've been busy, and this has been a stressful year for holiday figures.  The existence of both Santa and the Tooth Fairy have become purely capitalistic collaboration by our kids.  While trying to Google-search the "right age" to put an end to the charade, I came across this funny post about negotiating Easter baskets with a teenager.  I could so totally imagine having that conversation next year!

Since we're still "in transition" at our house, I've eyed the packed baskets in the local drug and grocery stores, but passed them by for being too young for my boys, now 9 and 12.  The following are what they usually contain:

• Sidewalk chalk in egg shapes (got a ton which they don't use anyway)
• Pink plastic girly stuff--this eliminates half the stock
• Bubbles--nah, 3 years past that even for the youngest child
• Plastic ball with rackets, catchers, etc--we've thrown all those away recently, don't want to bring more into the house
• Matchbox cars--just got rid of a ton of those
• Coloring books
• The wrong kind of candy--not enough chocolate!

Barley has braces this year, and 6 recent extractions of baby teeth.  Jelly beans, marshmallow peeps, and anything else sticky is out of the question.  This leaves...chocolate.

OK, so I get that I'll just have to buy some of that.  But some kind of basket with some little toys would have been great.  I tried costco--no luck.  ToysRus was also out of stock.  I picked up a few items, then hubby called with a new video game suggestion.  So not what I wanted to give them to celebrate the ascension of Christ...but it would make them really, really happy.  I caved.

At the drugstore to buy candy to stuff plastic eggs with, I witnessed a perfectly predictable (but still awful to witness) total meltdown by a 4-year old who wanted Easter candy NOW!  Her poor mom was trying to check out, and calmly reassuring her that the Easter Bunny was likely coming Sunday morning.   That was way to far away to mean anything to this bedazzled child standing in front of a mountain of pastel edibles.  Crushed disappointed toddler, stressed-out mother, distraught bystanders.  Way too commercial, too sugary, too too everything.

I am just glad that we've finally found a welcoming church to go to Sunday morning.  While there will be some small Easter egg hunt, we will also enjoy a community potluck, and that seems like the right way to celebrate Easter to me--with lovely people, and remembering the original reason for the day.

What not to do in rainy weather

It is forecast for freezing cold rain the next few days, into the weekend.  We might even see snow in San Jose, but I'm not betting on it sticking.  I know my East Coast friends and relations will have no pity when I whine about the temperature, so I'll just put on all my woolens and try to stay wrapped up with the heater nearby.  Chicken stock is already in the thermal cooker for chicken noodle soup tomorrow.

Even expecting to host a pinewood derby playdate for Barley's friends and all the madness that will entail (we are setting the track up inside the house again), this weekend will be much more restful and relaxing than last.  I am recovering from the cold that had me fully in its grip last weekend.  And sniffling and coughing away, I sat in the pouring rain for several hours last Saturday to watch Barley play in a soccer tournament (in February?  Really?  Whose bright idea was this again?!).  The only thing keeping me from throwing a full-on pity party was the knowledge that my youngest child had to actually PLAY SOCCER in the freezing rain with no coat, no blanket, wearing shorts!  Then he and his father got to get up at 6am to play game 3 on Sunday (luckily there was no rain).  All that for 5 minutes of playing time in the last game. Sigh.

DH called home en route from Game 3, and told me they had lost. This meant they didn't make the championship game, and that would allow us to drive to Tahoe earlier.  I was relieved. (Does that make me a bad mom?)  We were meeting friends for a day of snow play.  The boys haven't seen snow for a few years, and opted out of ski lessons to just hang out instead.

 Monday, we found a neighborhood hill, and the boys commenced with snowball fights (Barley's favorite), building forts, burying each other in snow, and sledding.

I sat wrapped in blankets trying not to get sicker.  Then home again, to clean the house for this coming weekend, and a teaching gig at 6:30am the next day.  Big Sigh.  Glad to have that marathon behind me.

My personal weather forecast for this weekend calls for lots of hot cocoa.

The perils of flying

Visiting some friends in the city, we went to one of those awesome new attractions this weekend:  House of Air trampoline park in San Francisco's Presidio. The boys had a GREAT time bouncing off the walls (literally!) with their friend...for the first 8 minutes.  Then Barley bounced on a trampoline where an adult jumped right after him.  From what was described later, there was no actual collision, but the second bounce of the heavier adult jarred Barley in such a way that he twisted his ankle badly.  A supervising employee had to carry him off the trampoline floor, and we put ice on it.  His brother and friend, after making sure Barley's injury was being attended to, ran off to maximize their utility for the remainder of the hour.  Poor Barley was stuck with just the game apps on his dad's cell phone to wile away the time.

This was definitely a bummer.  Barley was not able to walk on that foot the rest of the weekend, missing a soccer game the next day.  After spending an hour in urgent care, getting an x-ray, and doctor's exam, the conclusion was a sprain--wrap it, ice it every 6 hours, no running, no soccer for a week.

We sent Barley in to school with a note to that effect, only to have him come home today, saying his ankle felt good at recess so he played tag.  Go figure.  We'll see if he's singing the same tune when it is time to go to practice in the rain...

The Boy in the Yellow Shirt

Just back from our annual camping trip with a group of families that met when Teddy was born.  We reminisced about the absent family who had gotten us all started on this adventure, before they moved away.  Some, like us, had never camped before, and others had not been brave enough to try it with kids.  Our (mostly) boys were about 4 years old that first trip, and I believe 10 families came along.  I blogged about that epic first trip here.  We realized this summer that we've been camping 8 summers, Barley must have been a year and a half.  Even more kudos to us for braving the outdoors with an toddler!

Time has sure flown since then.  We realized that Barley is now the same age as the "older" boy whom Teddy latched on to that weekend.  Teddy wore a yellow shirt in homage to that first trip.  He had become "The Boy in the Yellow Shirt" and was just as dirty by the end.

Leafy Seadragon

We've been having a LOVELY weekend hanging out with my nephew who is visiting us from the East Coast.  He is an artist, in the fine art sense, and he has been encouraging my boys to draw for him on T-shirts and cards.  We took our East Coast relative down to the Monterey Aquarium for his first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean, and a gander at our exotic Pacific sea life.  He was blown away by the Weedy Sea Dragon, and we all grinned, knowing he would be even further impressed by its cousin the Leafy Sea Dragon.

Below is Barley's rendition of the Leafy Sea Dragon, executed at his cousin's request, since Barley specializes in dragon art.  It was fun standing by, watching the other visitors check out his handiwork over his shoulder as he drew.  I felt like the mother of a famous artist watching him work.

Whose Fools?

DH was in a quandary Wednesday night.

How to top last year's April Fool's joke, where he came very, very close to persuading the boys to wear their clothes inside out to school.  His reasoning was:

• It saves wear and tear on the clothing by wearing both sides evenly
• It saves on laundry if you turn the clothes wrong-side out after the first wearing and wear it again

Teddy, who aspires to a career in comedy someday, was all for it.  Heck, sometimes he wears his clothes inside out on purpose anyway!
Barley was the one who balked, and as he started to work himself into a fit about having to wear clothes the wrong way, DH revealed that is was an April Fool's prank.  They LOVED it!

So, what to do this year....?

He switched the contents of all the breakfast food!  The bags in the cereal boxes were switched, the pop-tarts were in the oatmeal box etc.  When the kids went to pour themselves cereal, they got the wrong kinds--oh, bedlam!

I am not so into the pranks, being the grumpy one in the house.  I tolerate the boys inviting me to see something in their room, so they can pull a plastic snake across the carpet, or when they hang a toy shark by the front door to swing menacingly as you leave the house.

However, it was certainly a day to savor little moments.  I think the boys will gleefully remember the April Fool's pranks for years to come.

Which reminds me of  Teddy's first ever April Fool's joke, when he was about 3:

"Mommy, there's a spider on your head!" 

That worked the first couple of times, but I did learn not to fall for it again.  Especially when the kid tried to vary the joke, replacing "spider" with "elephant", or "monkey"....

Pinewood Derby Part 1 of 2

The story starts last year, when our Cub Scout Pack's old wooden track was showing severe signs of old age.  Inherited from a forgotten past, no one in the current pack even knows when it was built.  It has been repaired again and again, with duct tape, glue, new paint, old paint, replaced brass joins, etc. keeping it going year after year.  When one of the 4 tracks became unusable last year (cars on the track were jumping off the lane, into other cars, damaging both), it was determined that a new track was needed.

All fundraising was dedicated to the purchase of a new fold-away aluminum track, which would no longer require anyone in the pack to dedicate their garage to storing the old behemoth.

DH and I saw an opportunity.  Enquiries were made as to the ultimate disposition of the old wooden track.  The response was shrugs.  No one else was interested in its fate, and most just saw it as a problem of disposal to be solved later.  DH's father was a carpenter, so he has a natural affinity for anything wood.  Our boys have a natural affinity for anything ramp-like for racing cars of all kinds.

We had already planned to sell all the Thomas the Train materials on Craigs List.  We made an offer to the Pack for the proceeds (sell lots of little tracks for one big track).  An agreement was reached.  A surprise was planned.

In the meantime, Barley had decided he did not want to participate in the Derby this year.  Since he has also made assertions (which have so far been ignored) about wanting to quit scouting, this was likely the last Derby for him.  Teddy is crossing over to Boy Scouts, so this is his last year too.  DH was very disappointed, but I  reassured him...wait until they see the track IN the house.  Barley will come around.

So much work shifting junk in the garage, hiding the parts in plain sight but under lots of old boxes, and the secret surprise present was revealed...

at 7:00am Christmas morning.

DH and I had been up until 2:00am putting the track together.  We made no pretensions about anyone but us bringing it in.  We heard the boys whispering disbelief to each other outside our door, and got out of bed to enjoy their incredulous reactions.

The track is about 35 feet long, and 5.5 feet high on one end.  As you can see from the photo, it took up our entire "hallway", blocking access to the kitchen and the stairway.  You had to walk under or over it to get through the day.  It was another 40 minutes at least before the toys from Santa got any attention at all.

The boys discovered that not only do pinewood derby cars roll well on the track, but so do hot wheels.  A new purpose for the diecast cars was discovered, augmenting the "crashers" game they've played with their cars for years.

Barley did indeed make a full turnaround in attitude.  He was now fully committed to making a new car for the derby, and willingly participated in a greater percentage of the overall work effort.  Some things are truly priceless.


Read Pinewood Derby Part 2 of 2 here.

To eat or not to eat

Teddy made this lovely creation after school.

It was part of the district's anemic after-school enrichment program.  There was apparently some structural engineering involved, as one teacher walked around with a hammer stress-testing the edifices.  Teddy's friend's roof cracked from the blow, so she gave up and turned hers into a Flintstone model from the stone ages.

I love the rose window under the eave, and the door with red knob on the front.  I had intended to leave it in a prominent location for the holidays, but Teddy became indignant at the idea.  He gave it to me and DH to EAT.  If it were just for decoration, he could have just used glue, you know!  (this is the same child who brought home his half-full pastry bag of leftover icing, fully intending to squeeze that all into his mouth!)

So, we tackled it after dinner the other night.  I'm not a huge fan of gingerbread...especially days old stale gingerbread with cement-hard icing.  Such delicate sensibilities did not affect DH, Teddy, or Barley from enjoying the spoils.

Perfect Gifts

On my trip away, I shopped for gifts/bribes for my boys.  These would be rewards for good behaviour for the week I was gone, or presents under the Christmas tree if they had not earned it.  Luckily for all involved, they behaved very well and they got the goods soon after I got home.

I had bought both the boys medieval action figures, but replaced Teddy's set with a magic kit at the last minute.  This proved to be a brilliant stroke, as it gave him the chance to show off and be the center of attention.  Not that the kid is a ham or anything.  His comedic skills were put to extra use as he pretended to goof up the trick, and then act all surprised when it really worked.

The funny thing is, he was dying to tell us the trick.  Thereby robbing himself of the pleasure of ever performing that trick for us again.  We tried to persuade him to take on Barley as a "Magician's Apprentice" instead.  This way he could share the secret with Barley, who is all about CONTROL anyway, and the 2 of them could yuck it up over DH and me.

Well, by the end of the evening, they had told us all of the tricks.  They don't seem disappointed at not being able to repeat the mystery...instead, every visitor to our house is now accosted with, "Do you want to see a cool trick?"

Barley's presents went over big.  He told me all about how his D&D knight character pinned an ogre to the wall with a giant lance, and acted out the scene for me with his new figures.  He posed them up on his bed, and gave me a big hug to thank me. 

He also got Mad Libs, and I think we will be buying a lot more of these in the future.  My non-verbal youngest was demanding nouns, verbs and adjectives from us, and then reading out long, multi-syllable words to share the funny story that results from the random words thrown in.  I think we've found a fun word game for this child who loves to be in control of his world!

Ren Faire

Earlier this month, we went to the NorCal Renaissance Faire at Casa de Fruta.  (I can hear my little brother rolling his eyes from here...land of "fruits and nuts" indeed...)   This weekend is the last one for the year.


Attending one of these is Geek Mecca....right up there with Star Trek Conventions!  Though lots of "straight" non-geeks attend too.  We had lots of fun, as usual.  As the boys get older, we find we experience different things as their interests change year over year.  

I have to give a thumbs-down to the turkey legs this year.  They are SO expensive, and we got 2 that were undercooked.  Very disappointing--I don't think Henry VIII would have tolerated that, but we did not have the option of ordering anyone's head cut off for the offense.  

Anyway, here are 2 fun reasons to attend the Faire...

Studly men carrying swords...even if they are just made of wood.  I love it when these guys come and banter with my boys. 


Of course this moment cost us the price of a new wooden sword for Teddy, who was not satisfied with his wooden dagger from previous years. 

And then there was this young man below, talking with the crowd from atop his horse after a rigorous joust.

I'll post more about the boys' first fencing lessons next week sometime.

What other period re-enactments can we find? 

There are a variety of themed dinner theatres, from Medieval Times, to Pirate Dinner Adventures, and Arabian Nights. Active Civil War re-enactments in Santa Cruz.  Dickens Faire at Christmastime.  Comment below and tell me what you've seen and done!