Just another stay at home mom trying to do it all, save the world, and not run out of coffee.
My published articles: exm.nr/gkA1yp Twitter: @CarolBruckmann
Since Caitlyn was aging out of Romp 'n Roll, we wanted to make the most of our last day of Open Gym. I knew we were headed to the first local Movies in the Park to watch Brave. (I was impressed when the children waited patiently in line to receive tattoos. Hopefully they don't have the same idea in a decade or so.)
They don't love to play by themselves unless I am watching. You can see that Caitlyn takes being a monkey on the monkey bars very seriously.
Elijah loves to take off his socks, put them on his hands, and pretend they are sock puppets. His basic storyline is, "Once upon a time there was a fuzzy caterpillar, and him ATE the other caterpillar!!" The cast of characters eventually expanded to include a dragon and a shooting star that shoots bullets.
But their favorite thing to do is play "What Time is it Mr. Fox?", especially when mommy is the fox chasing them around the gym!
I had to cut a lock of my hair when he mistook my head for a train track and the wheels of his electric train became helplessly entangled. Yesterday he climbed naked into the kitchen sink and started a water fight with his sister. He just pushed a stool and the trashcan to the fridge to pull down cookies from the top.
But in his defense, he shared the cookies with his sister. And he brought me this flower (and my glasses)...
We traveled to the mountains to visit my family for Memorial weekend. Helping my sister move, playing in the creek, and a bike ride with the big kids was the agenda. But of course any American holiday is an excuse to bring out the dangerous fireworks. My nephew and the hubs lit the fuses while the younger ones wrestled and watched in awe (or disappointment as the case may be). This one was the favorite of the night:
When we returned, I loaned my car to my friend. After a weekend filled with candy and devoid of rules, the kids were fighting like crazy with each other and me on Tuesday. I decided to take a cue from the teen wilderness rehab progams and make them walk as far as we could until my friend got off work. We made it a mile and a half. Get along or die, kids!! They were fighting over a tree root, but they tried to stop when I pulled out the camera for later evidence. The fake niceness did not last long. But they finally got along and received ice cream for a reward!
What is an "All American family" anymore? But May was filled with many "All American" activities.
Field Trips - our first field trip was to Patterson's Farm. We go every strawberry season. For the low low price of $8 each (ahem) we watch a movie about strawberry farming, milk a pretend cow, feed some of the farm animals, plant a green bean to take home, take a tractor ride tour, and pick a pint of strawberries. Elijah picked way more than a pint as most of the berries he pulled went straight into his mouth. I always pick extra for some yummy seasonal treats. Speaking of seasonal treats, Elijah's plea for "hice cream" was answered while the kids got filthy on the playground. Let's just say sliding onto a mattress in the red dirt, playing in a giant sandbox, and blue ice cream meant we had quite the bath when we got home.
Cookouts - Since Dad and I work with the youth, the kids tag along to a lot of youth events. Caitlyn rode her bike around the church parking lot for at least an hour while Elijah helped Daddy set up some fun outdoor games for the end of year youth cookout. The highlight of the day was when I finally found our black cornhole bag in the dark by kicking it with my toe. I let out a whoop that would make an Apache warrior envious.
Chuck E Cheese - I can see why they sell alcohol at this place. It is nervewracking on a Saturday while those birthday parties are going on! (Don't worry, Mom. I just drank water.) My friend was unwilling to hop in the ticket blaster with her daughter, so of course I took over her spot. The goal was to grab the yellow and red tickets worth more money. We were instructed not to grab from the floor, but the man said nothing about the door or ceiling. It's tough to grab anything but the big tickets from the air, so I plucked 1 golden and 2 red tickets that flew in front of my face. I swiped the smaller tickets stuck in the door and on the ceiling, so Caitlyn's BFF from church really racked up! Feel free to use my strategy in the future. Here are a few videos of the craziness.
Baseball - Our other May field trip was to the Kannapolis Intimidator's game. In the interest of journalistic integrity I must say that more focus was on playing with friends, snacks, the playground, and the amazing misting tent.
You can see more All American pics from May by clicking here.
This year for Mother's Day we drove up to spend the night with my grandmother. My mom was there as well, so two birds, one stone - ya know? Two of my cousins and I planned an over the top way too much food luncheon in the tradition of our forebears. I'm pretty sure the rule is that you don't get Mother's Day "off" until you have grandchildren. Caitlyn had seen a commercial that indicated you should bring your mom breakfast in bed on Mother's Day, but I convinced her that bringing coffee down to my mom's bedside was the next best thing since I am usually the earliest riser.
Despite my disappointment when my mom spotted the original Pinterest idea I borrowed to make some cute footprint flowerpots, she loved her gift because her grandkids helped make it. Not so crafty am I. I intended to get some sort of generation Mother's Day shot and forgot until my Mother left, so maybe someone can photoshop these things into a fake memory I will one day believe is real...
More Mother's Day pics can be found by clicking here.
The kids were so excited to go to Daddy's school to bring breakfast to his AP Calculus class. I baked three kinds of breakfast casseroles, loaded the food and the kids into the car, and left only a few minutes late.
However. (Isn't there always a however?) However, on the 20 minute drive, Elijah grabbed one of Caitlyn's books we had checked out for history. Today's Math lesson: Books + Moving Vehicles + Elijah = Trouble. Just as we crossed the bridge to Dad's school I hear, "I fink I gonna frow up." Yep. Right as I pull in the parking lot. So I called Jamie and had him send out a few trusted students to bring in the food. Since he is on the ground floor, he pulled Caitlyn through his window - the highlight of her day, especially when his students couldn't figure out how she beat them back in.
After cleaning Elijah up in the bathroom, I walked him through the halls with him clad in boxers and tennis shoes. Clearly this is not up to dress code, so the principal brought him a backup polo kept on hand for various wardrobe malfunctions. Eventually he switched it to Ancient Greek style, causing me to lead the Calculus students in a rousing chant of "To-ga! To-ga! To-ga!"
Upon returning home we noticed the pair of ducks that had been hanging around our neighborhood for a few days. We tired to coax them with crackers and chase them away from the street. No matter what, these guys always went back onto our busy road. The next day I saw a suspicious circle of feathers while driving to the library and chose not to mention it to the kiddos.
Speaking of the kiddos, does anyone know where Mr. Cool put my sunglasses? He seems to think they belong to him.
I'm pretty proud of this bunch of kids. They can be wild and noisy, but they really do a great job when showtime hits. They even rolled with the punches when the sound guy hit play before we said our memory verse. I'm going to miss my oldest girl and her kindergarten cohorts next year!
Watch those mouths form the vowels. Oh yeah - annunciation!
Sorry for the shakiness. I was recording while I directed.
When I think of all the preparation time that led up to this two minute video... well, I need a nap.
