Saturday, August 29, 2009

1st Day of 1st Grade

First things first. Today is the first day of my six year old's life where he will NOT be getting a snack at school. Hence, he has officially graduated to an ADULT bowl of cereal. We cannot take any chances with the kid bowl size. No Way. He is now an adult...going through the day with no snack. Good Luck Bugaboo.












With one kid gone, I thought I would have a better handle on my other two. Surprise, Surprise.




Let's be HONEST. cry cry cry. blah blah blah. YEAH! I was in heaven. These kids are driving me CRAZY. We have taken beating each other up to a whole new level. YEAH for 1st grade.

O.K. So I was pretty excited for school to start. As we were driving up to the schol drop off, William assured me that we could just "drop him off." "I don't need you to come in, mom."

I bit my lip. I'll let him do this I told myself. I knew he could do it, but I was more worried about all of the other parents thinking I was neglectful becausee it seemed as if the whole nation was crowding through the doors with video cameras and teary eyes. I swallowed my pride.

William got out of the car, By himself. I watched him. He stood there by himself for what seemed like forever. He became hesitant. The anxiety hit him.

He walked through the doors without us.
I couldn't do it. I pulled around to park and ripped the other two from their carseats.
I walked swiftly to his class to make sure he was O.K.
I got there just in time to see another mom helping my poor, sad, and almost teary eyed little boy. NOW I almost cried.

I announced as if I was the mother bear growling at an intruder that he was my son and that I could help him. I felt bad. He was my baby. I am ALWAYS suppossed to be the one who helps him. Who calms him. The first to see that little, scared face that I know within my heart. We helped him find his seat. We got him organized. We kissed him. And we walked out the door.

Yes, I am excited for school to start. But as I lay in bed that night I remember thinking that one day down the road, I am going to wish this day back again. So badly, that I will cry, and I will read this, and I will cry some more. Oh, how I love my babies.
With that said,
September 8th could not come fast enough. YEAH for Jake going to pre-K. I might cry.
We'll see.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Cookies, Brownies and Drink Sale






The boys are trying to raise money for "big boy" legos. (code=the small legos). Currently, the boys wake up in the morning and go straight to the computer to check out lego.com. They have to wait until Christmas to get some. They decided (well, William) decided to have a sale to raise money so he doesn't have to wait so long. Great idea.
Today was the day.

I spent the morning making chocolate chip cookies and brownies. We threw some of our Coke and Sprite in the cooler and headed to the front yard.
2 hours. Great neighbors. And some fun family bonding.
Our profit: $8
William was hoping for $99.99
That's how much most of the sets cost.
When asked if he wanted to earn $100, he responded:
"No, I just need $99.99. I don't need to make any more than that."
Quote of the Day:
We were setting up for the sale and William says,
"I wonder if the people driving down the street are going to stop. They might just think, I am not going to waste my time with those childish products and drive right past us."

Oh, yeah. And Jake thought that if he wore his Skelaton shirt more people might stop. It totally worked.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Memories of the Week


This is what we have been doing ALL week long. We have two huge boxes of dress-ups.
William is posing as an intimidating pirate, and Jake as an unruly king.


Scout is posing as, well...SCOUT.







1. When asked what state the kids want us to end up "forever" William replied, "Well, not Iowa." (where we attended medical school). "We would have to go back and live in our old house that was so small it was like a little hut. Our house now is a mansion!"

Daddy replies, "you're right. It's OUR mansion."

2. So I am on this old lady soccer team here is Akron. I laugh every week because my team is so stinkin competitive and we hardly ever actually win. I think of the co-ed over-the-hill league I played on in Des Moines. In Des Moines, I was more of a "person taking up space" because let's be honest, men just don't have faith in the opposite sex when it comes to athletics. They had to have three women on the field and I happened to make a pretty good warm body.
Now I play with all women. Completely opposite. I get the ball all the time and actually feel like I contribute. Here lies the rub. I have realized that with competitive older women, who aren't playing for anything other than for fun, at least that's what I thought I was doing, you are going to get your feelings hurt. Yesterday I felt like yelling, "look, I have never played defense before and I actually think I am doing a lot better job than you are so just keep your mouth shut." So I make a choice. Would I rather play with men and never touch the ball, or with women and get yelled at.
I choose women. I might get my feelings hurt...but oh, to touch the ball again just feels sooooooo good!
3. Jake: "mommy, mommy. I peed all over the seat but I cleaned it up. Are you proud of me?"
Jake has this thing where he loves to pee all over the wall, seat, floor, anywhere. It's just not very fun to actually do what you are suppossed to.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

My Parents


You are looking at a picture of my dad with the kids, in a tree house built with his very own hands...2x4's, nails, hammers, cement mixer, post digger, a measuring tape and lots and lots of Coca- Cola Classic. He donated nearly his whole week here building this masterpiece. No Tree House instructions needed. He just built it. The boys could hardly stay out of his hair long enough to wait for it. William just kept saying, "I am so grateful, I am so grateful, I am so grateful." Jake kept trying to get up there before it was safe for tiny toes. A lot of patience, a lot of love, and a heck of a lot of hard work. We present to you the newest member of the Ford Family: The Ford Family Tree house!





We did find some time to head down to Kirtland. Always a good spot for visitors.





So...my parents. I was talking to one of my friends in Salt Lake and she mentioned how much she admired my parents for not being materialistic in a materialistic world. I guess she was saying that she appreciated how my parents could probably afford more materialistic possessions but have chosen not to. This got me thinking about my parents and their example to me. Here are my Top Ten:
10. O.K. First of all. My dad could have probably bought us a swing set for less money than it cost to build our new addition in the backyard. But there is a problem with that. Buying a swing set does not make you work for it. Nothing is life comes without hard work. As a result of a million 2X4's and nails, that tree house is NEVER coming down.
9. When we were younger we NEVER got name brand anything. I didn't even know what Girbaud's were (those really expensive M.C. Hammer jeans) until I realized I was the only one in the school without them.
8. My parent's do not own a Big Screen T.V. They have owned their two medium sized T.V's for about 15 years now. No need to upgrade. They still work. Kindof.
7. I don't know if my parent's have ever "sold" a car. It is hilarious. The only place their cars have gone is to the junkyard. Why buy a new car if your old one still works? My dad's old car you could hear coming up the road.
6. My mom never bought us anything "full price." Except my soccer cleats. Once they bought me red Adidas ones. They were sweet.
5. We were blessed to have remains of old cars when we were driving age. We shared. They were not "sweet rides" but they worked. Except my brother Sam drove the car with his knees instead of his hands, and that was pretty sweet. We were also expected to take care of these remains. I remember going in to the gas station and asking them for oil when I was sixteen. The guy kindof looked at me and said, "what kind?" "I don't know, I just need something so my car doesn't blow up...my brother told me I had to. It has an oil leak." He sold me some 10W30 and I was off. Once I was married, I had to teach my husband how to check his oil level. He wasn't amused.
4. The Ping Pong Table. My dad built this Ping Pong Table for us to play. Of course, he could have bought one...but why? This table probably cost more and weighed more than our house. It took my dad and all three brothers to move it. Furthermore, we left it out in the rain and as a result, it was horribly warped. Deemed...unplayable. But it still remains a family legend. I think it became the most expensive firewood ever.
3. I was "dating" kindof this guy in college. We went over to his house for lunch. Apparently I
made a bad impression. He mentioned to his friends how he couldn't believe that I would sit on the arm of the couch. I laughed. I guess it wasn't going to work out. Damn. He sure missed out on a catch. My parents house was the "the place" in high school. It wasn't because of the "things" they had. The ping pong table was great and all...but it was the way they made us feel. They talked to us freely about boys, making out, sex and anything else. We would always be sitting on the arms of the couches...anywhere to find a place to sit. As long as we dished the high- school dirt to my mom.
2. O.K. When we were young, my dad did it. He splurged. Well, not really. He decided it would be good for us to have a horse. Learn to ride it, train it, take care of such a large and beautiful animal. One thing. He didn't want to buy a really expensive, trained, horse. Oh, no. Let's train it ourselves. Remember: Nothing is worth it if it doesn't require a lot of hard work. Well, we couldn't catch the dang thing. I don't know if we ever rode it. Eventually he gave up. We sold it to the meat market.
1. The World's Best grandparents. Legos strewn across the house. Upstairs and down. Killing flowers. Catching fish...and letting them die. Dirt bombs being thrown in their face. Sand tracked all throughout their house...including the newly re-finished hardwood floors. Clogged toilets. Clogged bathtubs. A dozen eggs smashed on their kitchen floor. A movie library full of Backyardigans and Super Heroes. Marker Murals on their walls. A grand-kid room with video games and a trundle bed. A fridge full of hot dogs, whole milk and Popsicles. A soda table with drinks that make even the youngest child drool. Real live bunnies that eat lettuce from your hand. A Bird tree with a million birds that make obnoxious sounds when you push their belly.
I'm not sure if they are "living the dream" but they sure make our kids feel like they are.