Teenagers

I love teenagers...yep, I said it! I do. My teenage years were great. I had great experiences and great friends. I think my parents handled my brothers and I close to perfect as teenagers. When I decided to get my degree in teaching/history it was a no-brainer that I would go the secondary over elementary route. My student teaching experience is actually one of the best experiences of my life. I know I say all this and my own kids will probably all be rebellious as teenagers and make my life miserable...I really hope not.

I have had the opportunity to teach teenagers for the last 4-5 years at church. I am now on my 3rd set of 15-16 year olds. I get a huge kick out of them. We are currently working on The Old Testament and I am always amazed at how much they know and how insightful they are. I attempt to "dumb down" the lesson a bit for, not them, but myself-lol! I get them for about 50 min. every Sunday and I come out learning something new every week. These last three groups are great kids. I can tell some are totally forced by their parents to be at church and some can barely keep their hands off their cell phones. I have had one that has a hard time staying awake and one that has even attempted to read novels during my class. Some are very socially mature while others are still pretty awkward. I have found that some have a hard time resisting peer pressure, while others aren't phased. I actually find all of this behavior very typical and I try my best to be sensitive to their age. They love to talk about their week and their experiences and I love to hear about it all. It is preparing me for when my own kids are teenagers. Mostly, the kids are all kind-hearted, friendly and respectful. Most have amazing, loving families which is most of the reason they seem so well-adjusted. I look forward to seeing where life takes them. In the meantime, I am praying for them to have the strength to make good choices. There is no doubt that it is scarey "out there."

Random

I have been a blogging fool these last few days! These are just some random things about the kids recently that I want to remember.

Faith-Faith was nominated by her chorus teacher to be a part of the children's choir for one of the local high school's spring musical, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat." We are all very excited about this except for the practices every Tues. and Thurs. night until May. Faith LOVES chorus!

Sawyer-Sawyer participated in his first ever chess tournament on Sat. They have chess tournaments throughout chess season but I didn't think he was ready since this is his first year playing. However, he told me wanted to do one so we signed him up for our school's invitational and final tournament. These are all day events that parents have to be at but can't watch. They lock you in a classroom to wait. Kyle opted to take him instead of taking the girls and Bex shopping. We knew Sawyer would play 5 matches and we warned him that he might not win any at all, that it was his first year and that a lot of kids had been playing since kindergarten. He told me he would probably get creamed but would wait until he got home to cry. So, he ended up winning 2 of the matches-THANK GOODNESS!!! I just didn't want him to be discouraged for next year. I guess his 1st match was really close but he lost, the 2nd he got creamed and was close to tears...at this point I wanted Kyle to pull him out-haha. He won his 3rd and 5th matches. We were really proud of him for giving it a shot. He ended up really enjoying himself. I think he will do more next season.

Eden-not much about Eden. She is healing up very nicely from her incident last week. All of her sass has definitely returned.

Bex-My pediatrician recommended that I have Beckett's speech tested at his 2 year well visit. He only has 15-20 words and virtually no two words together...only "choo-choo", MiMi (mommy) and Coo-Coo's (Blue's Clues). Easter Seals did two home visits to evaluate him and he didn't qualify. They want to see a 30% delay for treatment and they figured him to be a 20% delay. That was good news. He also started Kindermusik a few weeks ago and is really enjoying that! My most exciting news is that a friend told me about a pre-school that just started a 2 year old program. I was on the phone ASAP after she told me and got the paperwork and check sent in very quickly! He will start in the fall and go 2 mornings a week for just 2 hours. They asked me if I wanted to come and observe a class and I was like "um...no that's okay." LOL It actually is a pretty well-known pre-school and came highly recommended from a good friend. I would barely send Faith to pre-school or kindergarten and here I am ready to send Beckett at 2. I am getting old. Actually, besides me being selfish, it will be good for him. He really needs socialization and it will be great for his speech to be around kids his age that can speak. He will be over 2 1/2 when he starts. I am also looking forward to finally being able to help out at the elementary school in Eden and Sawyer's classes this fall!

I posted this random picture as well. Every single morning Faith has Instant Breakfast and she ALWAYS leaves me this smiley face she creates from some of the remaining liquid and a straw. If she ever didn't do it I would worry. It got on my nerves at first but now I am thankful that she feels happy enough to leave it.

Faith and Sawyer's Friend B-day Parties!

I think I will pretty much be caught up with my blogging after this. Faith and Sawyer both had their friend parties this weekend. The kids really look forward to their parties and I have to admit that I do too. I know a lot of parents aren't that into giving their kids a party every year but we like the torture (well, I do). I just feel that they each get overlooked in certain areas of their lives more than I would like them too. I always wish I had more time for each one individually. So, I feel I can make it up to them a bit by giving them a party of their choice ONE time a year-make it THEIR day. My guilt works to their advantage. I am also not a huge "play date" mom so this is a great time to get their friends together.

Sawyer chose to do a hockey party. We have a "minor league" (not sure if that is what you call it) ice hockey team here in town and the games are very fun. I thought this was a great choice. The place actually did have a party package that included 10 tickets, a cookie cake (which wasn't very tasty), his name up on the scoreboard and a puck. We had the parents drop the boys off at our house (8 total including Sawyer) and we took them to the game. We sugared them up and they had a great time and were actually pretty good overall. A couple of the boys were pretty wild. The worst part was getting into the building in an orderly fashion and back into the cars after the game was over. Sawyer got a lot of great gifts, mostly Lego's, a Nerf gun and some cash. He was really happy with his gifts. I have learned that all 9 year old boys talk about are penises and chopping heads off.

Faith chose a gymnastics party this year. I REALLY like all of Faith's friends. They are sweet girls with great families. They are very silly together and have a lot of fun. They got to do an hour of gymnastics and then a 1/2 hour for cake and gifts. Unfortunately, one of Faith's guests injured herself jumping off of one of the in ground trampolines. She ended up getting a hairline fracture in her foot and has to wear a boot and use crutches for a couple weeks. We all felt so bad. Hopefully she will heal quickly! Faith got a lot of great gifts too. She got clothes, flip-flops, bags, a flat iron and some gift cards. She was thrilled. We are done with parties until October!!!

You should see the other guy...

Actually the "other guy" was the blacktop at school. The blacktop won. I got a call on Tues. from the school saying that Eden had had an accident on the playground. The school was very vague but said that I needed to come and pick her up. I was thinking to myself..."Why do I need to come and pick her up if she fell down on the playground?" They actually said she hurt her cheek. I asked if she needed stitches and they said "no." So, I went to get her. It was bad!!! She was bleeding from her mouth really bad and he nose was red and huge! Although by this point, she wasn't loudly crying but still very upset-crying and snubbing. They had her holding a sponge icepack with the super cheap, non-absorbent brown paper towels over it. I don't know why the school can't invest in some gauze pads or something. She had blood all over her shoes, coat and face. I asked Eden is she had fallen off the playground equipment (she couldn't speak). The nurse said she had fallen on the blacktop. I figured she must have been running but later learned that she had had her hands in her pockets and tripped over her BFF. To make a long story short, I had to take her to the ER and the dentist. Although her mouth bled for 2 hours straight, she didn't need stitches and her nose wasn't broke (kids noses are all cartilage). Her teeth were fine because, very fortunately, she is missing her two top teeth. The dentist said if those two teeth would have been in, it would have been bad. I think Eden was in shock and didn't speak for almost 2 hours after the incident. It was a lot to take in for a 6 year old. Although I wanted to cry...I was able to keep it in. Fortunately my mom was there that day and she was able to watch Bex during all of this. She stayed home from school the next day. She was very worried about how she looked and it hurt to eat. My mom and I took her shopping that day-it made us all feel better!!! :) I learned later that there was so much blood on the pavement that the janitor had to come out and clean it up. The only picture I have of her in the ER is on my cell phone but here are some others. I had to add this picture of her and our cat. Our cat doesn't care for anyone but her. She especially doesn't like to be held but somehow Eden can get away with holding her. Eden is doing much better now...almost fully healed. I take her to the dentist this afternoon for a follow-up. Oh the drama!!

Faith and Sawyer's B-day

I have many posts I need to catch up on!! Faith turned 11 and Sawyer turned 9 on Feb. 27th. Of course, as I say every year, I can't believe they are this old. It seems like yesterday that I gave birth to them. They are both amazing, wonderful kids. They bring our family a tremendous amount of joy and happiness. I am enjoying them so much as they get older. I love the experiences they are having in school and with their various activities. I love all their stories. It is so fun to see them become more independent and develop their personalities. They really are great kids and I love them more than words can say.

We celebrated on the 27th with the grandparents. G-ma Donna brought them a Dairy Queen ice cream cake. We ate at Monical's and opened gifts. Sawyer got Legos and DS games from us and $$$$$$$$$ from the grandparents. Faith got an ipod alarm clock and Zhu Zhu stuff. She got gift cards from the grandparents. Faith asks for gift cards because it is very difficult for her to part with her cash. Sawyer has no problem letting go of his cash. Check out the photos. I realize I just said what a great kid Sawyer was...and he is...but he was disappointed in one of his Lego sets and one of the DS games we got him and was sure to let everyone know it. This is why he looks so grouchy in the photos and why he is hiding under his coat. Sawyer sets his expectations pretty high sometimes. This happens at Christmas as well. Faith was very happy with her gifts.

Back to Magic Kingdom 2/20

We spent 1/2 of our last day at Magic Kingdom. This day was Sat. and I was pretty bummed it was coming to an end. We decided to get an early start and arrive at opening so we could hurry and get on the rides we had missed on Thurs. That ended up being a great idea as we didn't have to wait in any long lines! Kyle was insistent that we only spend 1/2 a day so he could take the kids swimming at our resort. It actually might have reached 70 degrees this day. Magic Kingdom is great. When we arrived and were waiting in line they had a live performance going to entertain everyone. When we got inside the park they had bubbles blowing out of the trash cans ... it really is the happiest place on earth. We rode a few rides, saw "Mickey's Philharmonic" in 3-D, which was really cute. The Disney parks offer a lot of 3-D shows but this was the best one, in my opinion. Beckett even sat through this one with his 3-D glasses on and tried to reach for everything...it was really cute. The girls and I had breakfast with the princesses in the castle at "Cinderella's Royal Table." It was great food and really fun. We finished our morning getting autographs from some characters and riding "The Jungle Adventure" ride. We let Bex play in this little "Winnie-the-Pooh" playground. This was probably the highlight of Beckett's trip-I think it was the only time he was "free". We went back to our resort so the kids could go swimming. They super heat the pools so you can swim any time of year so that was nice. Everyone had fun. Our last activity was going to the "Hoopty-doo Musical Review." This was a musical-dinner show. We actually had to take the bus back to Magic Kingdom and then take a boat to the "Wilderness Resort." I, personally, froze on the boat to and from. This show came highly recommended to us from some friends and it didn't disappoint. Very fun! They served all-you-could eat fried chicken and ribs. Kyle had bones stacked a foot high on his plate-this was his kind of food. I know I have misspelled names of rides and shows in these posts but once again...I lost my book :( This day was a great end to our trip. We had such an amazing time. We left really early Sunday morning to get home. The flight went well but we were very tired...almost zombie-like. Beckett would NOT sit in his seat on the airplane without throwing a fit and working his way out of the seat belt. Our flight attendant on this flight would not over look this and stalked me to make sure he was buckled. She actually tried to "reason" with my 2 year old telling him that the pilot wouldn't be able to fly the plane until he was buckled in....yeah, he understood all that-what the heck. Anyways, I forced him in while he screamed and then took him out once she was out of sight. I understand their rules and now I just wish we would have lied and said he was under 2. It would have saved us $200 and a lot of stress. I made Kyle sit with him when we landed and he managed to entertain him while getting his seat belt on - I am glad he could work his magic. We were glad to be home safe and sound with great memories.

Hollywood Studios 2/19

Hollywood Studios was our last park to visit. Is was also the least crowded...which was nice. Also, by today it had started to warm up a bit, which was nice. I really enjoyed Hollywood Studios. Although the kids really enjoyed it as well, I think it kind of appeals to older kids and parents. The highlights were the "Rockin' Roller Coaster." This was a good one...my favorite! Eden was too short to ride this one but she didn't really complain. Her highlight was the High School Musical Parade/Musical. I just can't express how much this child loves High School Musical. I feel bad for her because it is hard to find the merchandise anymore. We also really enjoyed the "Tower of Terror". It simulates being on a free-fall elevator. It is based on the "Twilight Zone" story. This one frightened Eden and she even cried-it wasn't the ride but the story. Needless to say, she didn't go on it twice. We ate in a really cute theme restaurant. It had a lot of the characters walking around from Playhouse Disney. My kids haven't watched Playhouse Disney in a long time but they still enjoyed it. Some of the characters dance with the kids every 1/2 hour or so. Eden really liked this and had no problems joining right in. Sawyer used to LOVE "Goliath" from "Jo-Jo's Circus" so it was fun to get a picture-he actually dressed up as "Goliath" for Halloween when he was three. The food wasn't the greatest here but it was still very fun. We ate dinner at a 50's kitchen themed restaurant. We were put in a room that resembled a 1950's kitchen and had to call our waitress "mom." "Mom" kept calling Kyle "Scooter" and the kids thought that was the funniest thing ever. This restaurant is where I left my beloved guide book :( A highlight of our whole trip was doing the "American Idol" experience. We are huge "American Idol" nerds so we loved this. You got to be the audience and they had 3 singers (who were park guests that tried out earlier in the day)...anyway, they had a "Ryan Seacrest" and three judges that all resembled Simon, Paula and Randy. The audience got to vote and then all the winners from that day got to perform at the finale that night. We went to one show during the day and then to the finale. The winner gets a "golden ticket" which puts them in the front of the line at any American Idol audition. Very fun!!

Magic Kingdon 2/18

Today was finally the day to go to Magic Kingdom! My kids had been anticipating seeing the castle and what new rides awaited us there. By this time, Eden is pretty obsessed with the characters (mostly Minnie Mouse) and the princesses. They were doing a live stage show/musical in front of the castle every hour or so and we were able to catch most of that. It was very crowded. We, once again used our "Fastpass" knowledge and reserved the best rides. Since it has been a couple of weeks since we have been home, my memory is starting to fade a bit. We really enjoyed "Space Mountain", "Thunder Mountain" and the "Haunted Mansion". We rode "It's a Small World" and some other family-friends rides as well. One of the first things we did was go to this Monster's Inc. laugh show type thing. I was like a cartoon where you sit in the crowd but it somehow interacted with the audience. Faith was sitting on the edge of our row, looking cute in her Mickey ears and she was interviewed by Mike Wasowski (on screen). She was asked some questions and some fun jokes were made. She did really well. I think a few years ago she would have refused to participate. She said later that day that it was her favorite part of her day. The food was good. We ate at a Presidential Restaurant. If I still had my stinkin' book I would know specific names for everything!!!! We stayed that night until 10 pm. The highlight of the day for me was the "Spectro-color Light Parade". It started at 9 pm and it was amazing. They had all these floats covered in lights with the characters and other performers on them with great music. Everything is over-the-top and extremely entertaining. We loved it. We asked the kids which park had been their favorite so far and they really couldn't answer-they loved them all. Oh yeah...Eden loved going through Minnie's and Mickey's houses. She didn't understand why they have different houses if they are married and wondered also why we couldn't see Minnie's bedroom AND why all the food was fake in her refrigerator.