Saturday, March 29, 2014

Crawdad Fishing...but no crawdads

 SO I take the kids crawdad fishing on a warm afternoon. We find sticks, tie some fishing line to it and a half a hot dog to the other end. The crawdads love it. However, we came up shorthanded on crawdads. Without fail...Jake didn't let us leave without catching something...two snakes. arggg.  This kid could catch a snake in his sleep.
 Will rocks as an older brother. He's teaching Luke the joys of fishing. Whenever I need a helper for Luke...I call out for Will. Thanks, Buddy.

$54 Field Trip

 A month ago, I received an email from Will's teacher. They would be re-enacting the Civil War! She expected full participation. And the best part about it was that this amazing experience would only cost $54. Seriously?? James and I about died!
 And we had to make cornstarch bullets to shoot out of his authentic rifle. I had corn starch all over my kitchen floor. Not to mention a 9:00 PM run to Safeway to buy cornstarch the night before they were due...
 They were acting out the Battle of the 2nd Bull Run...
I threw Jake, Naomi and Luke in the car to watch the re-enactment. It didn't help that it cost me another $8 to enter the park where the blessed event was taking place!
 Here goes Will in the Union Army to attack the Confederates...
 If you look closely, you can see the fallen soldiers...according to their birthdays, they had to "die" during different battle scenes. It took all day. I could have bought the professional video of the battle for another $35. I declined.
I picked Will up from school that day and he informed me of his opinion of the field trip. "I'm reallllly glad we actually re-enacted history instead of just watch some stupid, boring video about it. It was sooo cool." Alright. Fine. After all is said and done...a cool experience. Glad he got to do it.

Happy #9, Nine, IX

 My Mooch is 9!!
A small miracle. He's decided that he wants to try out Snowboarding! I'd been looking on craigslist forever. I couldn't find anything in his size. I finally callesd a Sports Authority miles away that had an old model board and boots that they were selling at the end of season closeout. I had 12 minutes to get there before closing. I jumped in the car. I pulled up 2 minutes before closing. I ran back to the tech shop. The tech was working on getting the bindings on for me. He looked at me and said, "you're getting a great deal. I don't think this board has ever seen the snow! I just found it in the back." I said a silent prayer of thanks as I payed $69 for a new board and boots...the perfect size for my little buddy!



James took him up boarding yesterday and he did Awesome! Much better than the day before when I took the kids up skiing. I sent the two boys up the mountain together while I stuck with Naomi. I noticed I hadn't seen them in a while! 40 minutes later my heart started racing. Finally I see Will coming down the hill. He skied over to us to tell us that Jake was on his way down. He had lost his skis at the top of the hill and couldn't put them back on. In classic Jake style, he ditched the skis and poles and started hiking down the mountain. 2 miles down. He hiked in his ski boots. A couple people asked him if he needed help and of course he turned down the offer. When he finally got to me, he stated, "well, at least I got lots of exercise today." His awesome older brother stayed by his side. Skiing slowly by his hiking little bro. Way to go, boys! I was so proud of Will for sticking by his bro, and I was so proud of Jake for getting up and moving forward. He could have just sat there and cried. But he got up and did the only thing he could think of. Move!
 Jake's other birthday present...a date with mom to his favorite restaurant...the Melting Pot. I honestly don't know how he heard about this place. James and I had never been. But he got the idea in his head that it was amazing!! So...off we went. My Mocch and Me. From cheese, to meat to chocolate. We did it all. A date with my son. He even held my hand walking up the stairs to the front door. I was in Heaven. My date couldn't have been any cuter. And funny. He kept me laughing all the way through lunch. A perfect date with a perfect buddy.

Friday, March 28, 2014

We're STILL here!!!

 Four Ford's in December
 I took Naomi to Disney on Ice with one of her best friends, Maddie. Just picture this: Intermission. You had just watched $40 worth of Belle, Ariel and Rapunzel skating on ice. And their Prince's in colored tights. Your daughter gets up and runs to the concession stand. Your mom had warned you that you HAVE to buy a commemorative sno cone cup for posterity. Ironically, that's exactly where your daughter and her friend stand waiting patiently for their mother's to pay the bill. $12. Seriously? You roll your eyes when the poor lady who sells significantly overpriced sno cones at Disney on Ice tells you that for $12 you don't get to choose your flavor. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit.  It's obvious she isn't thrilled her her employment status. It's obvious that I'm not thrilled with her. I hand over my credit card. Who knew I needed so much cash for a sno cone. I wasn't prepared. She slides my card. Then after I sign my name she happens to add, "oh, and if you want a straw...it's another $2." OK...now I am seriously rolling my eyes. $2 for a straw? My friend and I burst out in laughter. Well, I guess you kinda need one to eat a sno cone. I hand back my credit card so she can add the additional $2 for a blessed straw. Total price for the picture? $14. Two credit card transactions. And a Commemorative cup that sits in a corner of her room. I'm pretty sure she doesn't even remember it's there. Trust me, when she gets married and moves out...the cup is going with her!


 The commander and I waiting in carpool for the kids after school. Saying he is completely obsessed with my iphone and anything electronic would be an understatement.
 See??? If someone is on the computer...someone who weighs less than 25 pounds is somewhere close...

 Mattress slides. In a small house...we at the Ford house get creative. One of our favorite activities to relieve sudden boredom.
 Sleeping together in mom's bed is another favorite.
 Or building forts with all the pillows is also a good one.
 And than there's ALWAYS legos. Thank you, Legos. From my heart to yours.
 Jake got a guitar for Christmas. I don't know why, but I think he looks so cute playing it!!
 The commander who needs a haricut. Thanks to my mom, we left him with her for a few hours one night and we came home to a Grandma Nettie haircut. Grandpa Geoff left us a note on the fridge saying that he had absolutely nothing to do with it. He thought for sure we would have a heart attack...my nephew walked in the next morning and announced, "who gave Luke the "dumb and dumber" haircut"? We all burst out laughing!

 And what's Utah without a little skiing?? huh? Huh?