Big Brotherly Teasing

Those of you who know Spencer well, will not be surprised to learn that he is somewhat of a tease.   Of course it is his siblings that get the brunt of his good-natured big brotherly teasing, but he is definitely not above also teasing his mother.   Luckily, in this instance,  I am glad for the fact that I'm usually the one holding the camera, so that there are no incriminating pictures of our semi-frequent nose tweaking duels. 

Cami, being the closest in age to Spencer, gets the vast majority of his teasing, 

that includes a fair amount of her own nose tweaking.

She puts her dukes up when he starts teasing about boys....

and reacts dramatically enough to ensure that the teasing will continue...

After Cami, the sibling who gets teased the second most is Ellie.   She is also a good reactor who enjoys his teasing affections.  Her favorite is when he calls her his cookie and pretends that he's the cookie monster. 

I try not to get irritated by the noisy squeals that always seem to accompany his teasing...

but then I remember it's their strong friendship that fosters this oft obnoxious teasing...

And, to be honest, I don't really mind the opportunities to play paparazzi  while they're too distracted to shoo away the camera. 

For the record, Glen wants it to be known that this teasing personality trait definitely does not come from his side of the family. 


My family pleads the fifth.


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Willpower and Rainbow Cakes

A number of years ago Stanford University performed a study that tested the self-control of preschool age children.  Each child was given a marshmallow and told that they could eat it now or if they waited a specified amount of time that they could have two marshmallows instead.   They followed the children for a number of years and found that those children who were able to delay gratification and resist eating the marshmallow (about one-third), were more likely to be effective, positive, contributing adults.  The children who ate it the most quickly were more likely to be troubled and less successful as adults. 

I was disappointed that I never heard of this study until my children were too old to try it out on, but I've speculated probable outcomes for each of my children based on how I remember them at that age.    (I think most of them would have waited.  Two I am unsure about.) 

Although Glen and I aren't much into dieting (please don't start laughing maniacally about what a shock that piece of info isn't), we do regularly go through periods of time that we avoid sugar.  At one point we went several months without.    In all those times, however, we never have felt the need to inflict the same restrictions on our children.  We just simply didn't want to make sugar the forbidden fruit.     

So this past Monday, when Ellie told me that she was having a sugar-free week,  I nodded my head and assumed she would forget about it the second a treat was presented to her.   It's not that I doubted her willpower, but rather figured that since the decision to do it was made 100% by her and she was the only one in the family doing it, that it would be easy to "forget" her goal.  That and the fact that she is only seven. 

On Thursday I had to bring all the kids with me to YW,  where we were learning how to make rainbow layer cakes (in the YW value colors).  We spent the entire time baking and frosting and waiting in anticipating for the finished product! 

It turned out beautifully....

And the girls were so, so excited to sample the finished product! 

Look at Ellie's face as she caught sight of that first piece being cut...

And look at her face when they handed her her own piece...

That is a look of consternation and disappointment as she realized that she was in the middle of her sweet-free week and couldn't indulge if she wanted to stay true to the goal she had set for herself.

All of the YW, the leaders, and her siblings were eating their pieces and yet she utterly refused to cheat on her commitment and decided instead, that she would wrap up her treat and put it in the freezer for another day.  Yep, I'm pretty sure she would have done just fine on that marshmallow test. 

She may only be seven-years-old, but her determination and willpower (among other things) are an inspiration to me! 


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Pink Out

Although it is a well-known fact that the seven-year-old in our house has a thing for wearing pink....

it's a bit stranger to wake up one morning and find my high school kids decked out in pink from head-to-toe.

For as much as Ellie would think it was pretty sweet if her fashion tastes are rubbing off on her older siblings...

in reality they were just a small wave in a sea of pink students at school that day, who had bedecked themselves in a "pink-out" in honor of breast cancer awareness month. 

Although wearing pink may not necessarily seem all that helpful of a gesture toward those with cancer, the school also donated proceeds from sporting events over the weekend  to fund breast cancer research.   Additionally it got my kids to asking about who we knew that had had breast cancer, which sparked a good discussion. 

Spencer posted this to his twitter account after that discussion: 

800th goes out to my Great Aunt Linda and anyone else currently or done fighting breast cancer #StayStrong #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth

And that's coming from someone who knows a little about fighting...

Cancer in its many faces, is horrible no matter the type. 

To those of our friends and family affected by breast cancer,
our hearts go out to you and we pray that you find
the same peace and support that we found through our own cancer journey.

A special shout-out to my high school friend, Monica, who is finishing up treatment
for her THIRD bout with cancer--each occurrence fought with grace and positivity! 

You inspire us!

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Random Weirdness

A few years ago, I had an elderly woman in a thick German accent  corner me in an elevator and praise me for having such fair-haired and fair-skinned children.   She went on to lament how infrequently she saw such beautifully fair children and reaffirmed how thrilled she was to see mine that day.  More than a little awestruck at the boldness of her use of the word "fair-skinned", I muttered some semblance of a thank you and got off the elevator quickly she could heil Hitler and show me her Nazi armband. 

It was weird and sad all at the same time. 

Although weird moments like that one tend to be few and far between, lately it seems like we've been running into more than our fair share.  Take these recent instances: 

• Listening to the radio on the way home one day, I  hear the DJ announce a contest where the winner would receive $100 and a dozen Georgetown Cucpakes.  I am stopped in traffic and decide that I'm going to call and try to win.  Weirdly enough I got through the first time I called and they start asking me my name, where I'm from, etc.  I am so excited, until they mention that in order to win the prizes, I have to win a trivia duel with one of the announcers.  Right before we're about to go on the air to play the game,  I conveniently remember how utterly horrible I am at Trivial Pursuit.  I suddenly know that, consolation prize or not, that I was about to make a big fool of myself in front of the whole world.   Wishing I had time to flash through to my sister, Heather, I panic, tell them I don't want to play anymore and hang up.   My family still wants me to bring them some Georgetown Cupcakes as a consolation for having such a weird mother! 

• We were crossing a busy street the other day when some guy rolled down his window and started screaming at us about how much Obama had messed up the world.   "Who's gonna pay for the trillions of dollars of debt that Obama's racked up in the last four years?  Who?!  What are YOU going to do about all that debt?..."  and on and on.    We were a little amused by this roadside political tirade, but the kids were totally freaking out at his loud and contentious tone of voice, so we kept on walking. 

• Stopped at a stoplight  with their windows down, some random guy questioned Spencer and Cami tonight as to whether they knew where the jail was, because he needed to go turn himself in. 

• I totally get car-induced narcolepsy, but check out this guy we followed for 10+ miles on the beltway without so much as a stir....  We could see him breathing, otherwise would have considered calling the cops. 

• Then there's the top-hatted guy driving a convertible we see regularly on the way from seminary to school.  No picture yet, although Spencer is determined to capture it soon. 

• And what may be the weirdest tidbit of all....
  
  
  {SIDENOTE: My facebook friends can stop reading now as this will be repetitive, but I know that if I don't get the pics onto the blog, they won't end up in my yearly blog books and will likely be lost forever.}

My absurd inability to see or even talk about a dam without spewing at least one dam joke.  Usually several (or a whole facebook album).    Normally not much of a swearer, my family is bemused by the fact that I find using "dam" as an adjective in front of everything remotely dam related to be wildly funny.  

Take this path for instance.  To you it looks like any other random woodland trail.

But look closer and you will see that that very same path takes you right in front of the dam, therefore it cannot be called a mere woodland trail anymore.  It is a dam trail. 

And standing in front of the dam, my family becomes cute dam family.  Or if that sounds a little  awkward, my dam cute family. 

And when Ellie starts acting all sweet and adorable for the camera, she becomes a dam cute girl...

And just plain dam adorable....

And lest you think that I get to escape being in any dam pictures....here I am... dam gray hairs and all....

Thank goodness my family is so dam understanding...

and they know that dam jokes are only allowed in the presence of a dam.  And that only mommy is allowed to use the other variation. 


PS  I promise not to visit any dams again for at least another year. 

Mystery Lights

Look! 

What are those glowing orbs in the night sky? 

Are they stars?  Or a UFO?  Maybe a couple of cats? 

Oh wait!  I see a face!  Is it a creepy alien?  

Or a couple of stalkers trying to see what my next blog post will be about? 

Nope....

it's just my hunny and a couple of kids sleeping in the tent set up in the backyard. 

They were supposed to be at a ward campout while I stayed home to get Spence and Cam off to their Saturday morning activities (SAT and cc meet), but DC rush hour traffic proved to be too much for these fair traffic campers and instead they watched "Brave" at the dollar theater and came home to do their camping.    Ellie opted to stay inside and sleep in Daddy's spot on the bed next to me. 

Everyone missed out on their annual Spam burgers cooked by Bruce, but I'd have to say that the nonstressful traffic coming home (approximately 22 feet) and spider free restroom facilities more than made up for that small sacrifice! 

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Conference SATurday

  A little glimpse at our  Saturday: 

• Spencer took the SAT test (for the first time)!    He said he felt okay about how it went.  The ACT is coming in a few weeks!

• Cami ran in a x-country meet. It was a hard, hilly course and Cami came home disappointed in her performance.

• Our dog got into the trash and ate a bunch of melted rocky road ice cream.  Since chocolate is highly poisonous to dogs, we called the vet who reassured us that the amount of chocolate in the ice cream would make it unlikely for him to react.  So far he is fine. 

• We played at a fun park while we waited for Spencer to finish the SAT. 

•  Ellie went to a birthday party.

• Cami went over to a friend's to do her hair for homecoming. 

• And we stayed home to watch General Conference on the internet (since our tv is still broken)! 

The kids are always a bit restless trying to sit still for so long, but we bribe them with candy....

General Conference is a twice yearly opportunity for us to hear the leaders of our church inspire us and give us guidance for these days and times.    Ellie was very excited about it. 

We used our new General Conference journals.

We were more than a little rocked by the big announcement they made today that they were lowering the required age for young men and women to serve missions....

...which means that Spence could be going in less than a year.

A fact which makes me happy and sad at the same time. 

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Highlights and Lowlights

A little glimpse at the highlights and lowlights of this week: 

Celebrating: 
When I was a student driver back in the day, I couldn't get my driver's license until I went to the DMV and took a very stressful behind-the-wheel test which required driving through unusually configured intersections and parallel parking under pressure.  I remember a lot of my friends failing it the first few times they took it ...not me though!  I passed it the first time and and pretty much aced the parallel parking!   A fact at which I still will happily gloat about all these years later!  :)

Glen's experience was very similar, except that he can additionally boast that he passed the UK driving test the first time, which I understand to be a rare feat for gringo Americans. 

So with those expectations in our mind,  imagine our surprise when Spence came home from his last day of behind-the-wheel training (with the sleepy instructor) with a blue sheet of paper that wasn't just a certificate of completion as we expected, but actually his temporary license!    No behind the wheel tests at the DMV!   No parallel parking under pressure!   He is official and we celebrated with a little family excursion to Rita's (Spencer's new favorite frozen treat shop)!!! 

Being Neighborly:
Although my family loves to eat ham, we generally only have it on Easter....sometimes Christmas.     So imagine my family's absolute delight, when earlier this week our neighbor, Richard, showed up with a HoneyBaked ham as a gift to help us celebrate Spencer's recent clean check-up.  Glen and the kids weren't just happy about the ham, they were ecstatic!   Not only were they getting ham on a non-holiday, but they were getting a HONEYBAKED ham...our very favorite!  Our dinners and lunches this week have been ham-filled and delicious!   What a blessing to have such wonderful neighbors! 

Lots and lots of cupcakes:
 Cami baked cupcakes for another wedding!  This time it was 15-dozen mini cupcakes in her top 5 flavors (Greek yogurt with strawberry frosting, Andes mint, red velvet with cream cheese icing, carrot cake with cream cheese icing, and lemon).  We didn't hear how they went, but based on the goof-ups that we got to sample, I would guess that they disappeared quickly!

Fancy Breakfast:
When I told Emma that she could make  a hot breakfast for us this morning, I did not expect her to whip up a batch of cinnamon rolls from scratch!   Yum! 

A fun project:
I don't consider myself a very creative person, but I love to take other people's ideas and add my own little twist.  This fun project I did for YW and for my family took up a whole day and turned my house into a giant mess, but I loved every second of it! 

Lowlights:

R.I.P.
My fifteen-year-old  KitchenAid finally burned out and died.  Held together by duct tape for the last several years, this workhorse has mixed together countless batches of cookies, cakes, fillings, and bread, and this week it finally lost its will to go on mixing.  I will be mourning its loss every time I knead  together a batch of bread by hand. 

Ugly duckling apples:
Making our own caramel apples sounds like it should be in the highlight section and tastewise they would be, but since I had set out on a mission to make our caramel apples pretty this year, I have to put these ugly ducklings in the lowlights!

Not being prepared: 
One of my kids, who shall remain unnamed, gets an F- in Preparation 101.  Three late-night trips driving around town looking for forgotten ingredients and a hard-to-find, but necessary item (mini cupcake liners) did not bode well for sleeping this past weekend! 

Germs:
Down with a cold most of the week,   I am ready to be done with Kleenex and Benadryl.   Besides the lack of sleep, the worst part about being sick was missing book group.  One of my favorite opportunities  for intelligent conversation with other women, I was sad to have to stay home.  

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The Best Part...

The best part about a rainy, gray kind of day (when you're seven-years-old)....

is getting to don your beloved rain jacket and take your hand decorated umbrella to school! 


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Behind the Wheel

Spencer's behind-the-wheel course has been a long time coming and now that he's started he is truly the old man of the driving school.  By now he's been driving for over 18-months and it's painfully obvious that the instructor has little to say to Spencer in the way of actual instruction.  He merely directs him which way to turn, tells him to slow down when he even approaches the speed limit, and then stays pretty quiet. 

So the other day they were out driving and were almost back home, but still had about 5 minutes left of driving time.  His teacher instructed him back out to the main road, told him to take a few turns, then stopped talking. 

So Spencer kept driving....

and driving,

and driving....

until the instructor woke up, with alarm, and demanded to know why on earth they were in downtown DC.    They arrived back home almost an hour later than we expected. 

At first I was a little annoyed when Spencer told me this story.  After all we paid that instructor a whole lot of money to teach Spencer to drive, only to have him napping on the job...

then I remembered that it's no different than the driving instructor he's had for the last 18-months, who does the exact same thing every time she sits in the passenger seat.