Choose the Right

Every year, all the of "Primary" children (ages 3-11) at church present a program to the congregation.  They sing songs and each have a little speaking part.  It is always a fun and touching Sunday.  This year's theme has been "Choose the Right"  so the presentation was centered what it means to make good choices and how we do it.

This year's program started off with a bang.  Ollie had the first line, and as he made his way to the podium, another little boy in his class started throwing a fit because he wanted to say his line first.  Everyone in the congregation always sincerely loves to see what will happen when you put 50+ children up there together and you could hear chuckles throughout.  The boy had to be restrained while the other kids in front of him spoke, and then he calmly stood up tall in front of the microphone and said, "I can choose to be reverent."  Laughter erupted with that line.

My second favorite (entertaining) part came later during one of the songs.  Ollie stood with his class at the front row of the raised podium area whenever it was time to sing.  By the time they were four or five songs in  he had dropped all attempts at singing and either sat there with a glazed look or smiled at me with all his might.  As they sang "The Wise Man" with hand gestures (beating a fist on a flat palm to show the wise man building his house on the rock), I gave him my best stage-mom grinned and gestured at him to do the actions.  He started mouthing the words with a huge mischievousness grin and wide eyes, then pointed to himself, pointed right at me, and made a motion like he was snapping a twig.  I laughed out loud and he beamed at me from the stage, eyebrows raised.

My favorite serious moments were hearing them sing a beautiful arrangement of "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus"  and hearing the Primary President speak of her love for the children. I loved hearing Gabe and Colin stand confidently and say their lines, so old and mature. I am so so grateful that my kids have so many wonderful and loving adults in their lives to teach them to make good choices, love their Savior, and love their neighbor.

Saturday night with the Colemans

Oliver, Carina, and Gabe are in bed. I know the little ones are fast asleep, but Gabe might possibly be laying in his bed, eyes open, with the blanket pulled up to his neck, as he does until he falls asleep. Or he may be finding a way to sneak and read the new Magic Treehouse book he bought today.

Colin is up later than usual, working with Chad to type up a project that is due next Tuesday about the North Carolina economy. We know he won't have much time on Monday because he has piano that day, so today has been get-it-done day. He is getting goofier by the minute and needs to go bed, and Chad needs/deserves a break!

They are using my laptop, so I typing this on my phone, waiting. Then I will edit photos as long as my tired eyes allow. I have three photo sessions waiting to be edited, and having that much pile-up makes me very uncomfortable.

Chaddy and I will probably catch up on some TV while I edit. Exciting times.

Chad and Colin just informed me that there are 138 "Colin Colemans" in the US. I think they officially need to get off the computer.

Election Night 2012

I took the kids with me today to vote. I didn’t want to wait ‘til Chad got home in case the lines were long, and I heard via facebook that there there were no lines around 2 pm, so I rounded them up and headed over. As soon as we got out of the van, I saw Bobby and Sabina pull up with all of their kids. It was a quick process. My kids had lots of questions to add to the many other questions they have had about voting over the last couple of weeks. Sabina was voting for the first time – she became a citizen since the last election, so I snagged a picture of her.

Now Chad and I are chugging Diet Dr. Pepper and sitting in front of the TV, bundles of nerves. I don’t think either of us have ever cared this much about an election, and I gotta tell you, I don’t like caring this much! I am supposed to be editing photos and planning preschool (for tomorrow)….I have SO much I should be doing right now, and I can’t. I think I am going to have to watch some Parks and Recreation on Netflix to get my mind off of it for awhile. Leslie Knope for President!

How about the rest of you? Are you staying up late or making yourself go to bed?

October Instagrams

Halloween 2012

I felt a little grumpy yesterday – still recovering from our vacation and struggling to be enthusiastic about my to-do list. After I put Carina down for a nap, I figured I would give Ollie one too, and I snuggled up with him and fell asleep. When I woke up, I ignored my to-do list, and instead decided to do this:

And then I drove through carpool and surprised the boys. It actually took them a view moments to realize it was me in line, and their reaction was worth the work. I know that someday stunts like this will only embarrass them, but that day hasn’t come yet. The staff member near them was laughing and they joined right in. I gotta tell you, I don’t have many opportunities these days to tap into my theatrical side – being able to sure cheered me right up.

Carina was originally supposed to wear a Tinkerbell costume I got on clearance a few years ago for a dollar or so. With the weather as cold as it has been, I decided it was just too skimpy. So just yesterday I called up Lindsey and asked if I could borrow the monkey costume that Mayan wore last year. It fit Carina perfectly, and after I dressed up as a witch I decided to make her my flying monkey.

At the beginning of the month, I knew that October was going to be really busy for me, so I decided I wasn’t going to sweat it trying to make the kids’costumes super creative. I dug out the costumes I bought on clearance last year and they each found one that they were more than happy with. Colin was a vampire, Ollie was a “shark ninja” and Gabe was a “ghost pirate.”


Chad went as himself, after a long road trip with me. A girl can only take so much Pink Floyd and MPG talk before she cracks!

My parents hosted a Halloween party and dinner for all the grandkids who are here in Charlotte. My mom had all her wonderful Halloween games, in addition to a very cool piñata that she made. As usual, the kids had a blast, even when the men took over the beanbag game.

After the party, we went trick or treating in my parents’ neighborhood and then our neighborhood until around 8 or so when all the kids started whining.

It was fun to see Carina’s first real Halloween. When we first started trick or treating, it was her bedtime and she just zoned out in her stroller for awhile. Then she caught a second wind and I got her out to walk up to each door. She started to really get into it, and refused to let me hold her precious “buh-et” of candy. By the time it was time to go in, she was hyper enough to try and run into the street, so it was a good time to end.
We let the kids eat some candy while we watched some mom-approved Treehouse of Horrors, and then did showers/baths and beds. They all crashed pretty quickly, and this morning were up when I got up at 6:30, watching TV and eating candy. KIDS! Love ‘em.


The program that I usually use for blogging isn't working, and I had to completely re-do this blog post....ugh. Just when I decide to try and blog more!  Trying to format these pictures has made me remember why I stopped using blogger in the first place.

Pumpkin Carving

                   

We carved pumpkins tonight.  Once again, it is so nice when kids get older and are able to do some things by themselves.  After I cut the top off Colin’s pumpkin off, he cleaned it out, traced his design on it, and did most of the carving, with just a little help from Chad.  I love that he loves to try things by himself and show so much confidence when he does.  Chad and I did all the work for the other three, with Gabe choosing his design and Oliver showing me (in the picture above) what to draw for his pumpkin face.  Carina’s input was saying, “Mickey. Mickey. Mickey” over and over again.  She is a little obsessed right now, so she was pretty darn happy with her pumpkin.  It was a great night.

            

Keepin’ It Real Wednesday

We spent the morning as a family at Epcot.  Oliver was dragging, not wanting to walk at all, and we couldn’t blame him.  He was sick yesterday morning (after a less-than-stellar day at Magic Kingdom on Monday).  He is our kid who will throw up in the morning and be eating and running around by dinnertime, with no one else in the family getting sick at all.  Yesterday, sure enough, he was eating again by 11 am with no further incidents and we were just thankful it happened on our day off. 

While I rode Soarin’  today at Epcot with Gabe and Colin, Chad got the other two a snack.  Ollie said his stomach hurt and then laid down on the ground and almost went to sleep.  As soon as we got off the ride, we decided that Ollie, Carina and I would go back home for the rest of the day so Ollie could take a nap and regain his energy.  Chad would drive us back so they would have the van.  Right as drove down the street that leads to our condo, Oliver threw up all over the seat of our (month-old) van.  I scrambled back there and handed him the pool bag in desperation, and Chad got to spend the next hour taking care of the van. 

I have to tell you that I am disappointed.  Disappointed that our vacation has been invaded by sickness.  Disappointed that my little boy hasn’t had the time of his life.  Disappointed that I haven’t had the time of my life.  Disappointed that we came here in October to avoid the crowds and they are HERE. Disappointed that Chad is at Epcot with the boys without me.

It is silly though, right?  How can I be let down? To be able to spend a week with my family in a nice, spacious condo with a bed for everyone.  To spend four days at the Magic Kingdom without pinching our pennies.  I can’t really be disappointed in the easy life I lead, and the hours of fun we have still had.

When I sat and thought about that this afternoon, I realized that what I am most disappointed in is this:  that despite six months of planning on my part – researching tickets and condos, planning healthy meals, knowing when to ride what, coordinating matching colors each day (for crying out loud) – despite all my good intentions of trying to match this trip as smooth and AWESOME as possible, something happened that was completely out of my control to make it less than awesome. 

I hate that.  Don’t you?  It makes me a little sick to my stomach because it brings to mind my helplessness.  It makes me think about the fact that even when I do everything “right,”  bad stuff still happens…stuff way more serious that a couple days of barfing.  My heart starts to beat hard and loud in my chest with those thoughts. 

Identifying that fear helped me a feel so much better though.  Because fear can be replaced by faith every time.  And even though I hate to think that my kid had to be sick to bring me back to that faith, it did. For the first time this week, I took the time to sit down in the quiet, after Oliver and Carina went to sleep, to read my scriptures and pray.  When I did, my blessings lined up right before my eyes, dwarfing my disappointments.

 

Gabe’s “Club Penguin” Party

As soon as Gabe finished his Harry Potter party last year, he decided he wanted to do a Club Penguin party for his seventh birthday, and he sure enough, that is still what he wanted when it came around.  I used the theme pretty lightly, but enough that he was happy.  If you don’t have any idea what Club Penguin is, it is a website run by Disney.  Kids create a penguin identity and play games to earn points to buy stuff like cool clothes,pets, décor for their igloo, and stuff like that.  They are only allowed to play the computer on the weekends during the school year, so they aren’t quite as obsessed with it right now as they have been the past, but they love it.

I made Gabe an igloo ice cream cake.  We played “Java Jump” and earned some medals.  The kids played together and we had pizza.

     

His actual birthday was the next day, and he got the dinner of his choice (shrimp tacos), leftover cake, and some more gifts.  Here he is, opening up his card from Grandma and Grandpa Coleman and finding a check inside.  He was pretty excited. 

The main gift that he received from us was a watch – a “real” watch…no cartoon characters, no digital numbers, black straps…and he is pretty in love with it.  He didn’t know how to tell time when he received it, and after a 20 second explanation became a pro.  He is now our official time keeper.  He had a great birthday weekend and was so happy the whole time.