A Movie with a "Message"

Saturday night we went to the WALL-E movie that the boys have been waiting to see. It was a Disney movie so I didn't really even look to see what it was about...I just thought it would be good. Not so much....I should have known that it was going to be a rough ride when we had a Landon "incident" at the ticket counter. Since I had a ticket voucher left over from Incredible Hulk that was close to expiration we decided to get tickets to that movie and just go into the WALL-E show. No big deal right? We all stood there while Steve requested the tickets and handed over the voucher. The teen had trouble entering it so we stood there for a LONG time. I don't understand how a child who doesn't hear well suddenly has super sonic hearing at the ticket counter! If Landon said it once...he must have said it 20 times (literally!!!!) "I don't want to see Incredible Hulk ....I want to see WALL-E!! I already saw Incredible Hulk....I want to seeeeee WALL-E!! Landon said it over and over....lucky for us...the cashier was a teenager who obviously can't multi-task. Why does a kid who gets tons of speech therapy have a major break through in intelligibility at a time like this?! We went in....sat down and the show started....I swear the first 45 minutes didn't have any speaking parts...unless you count the whine of a robot. The message of the movie was taking care of the planet and the condition of the human race relying too much on technology and convenience. It had a good message although I think it would go above most kids heads. I could be wrong though because Logan leaned over and asked if that is what happens if we don't recycle. I wish that I could have just written a $50 check to greenspace.org rather than waste an 1 1/2 hours of my life or at least been warned! Oh well...space chimps has to be better right? The boys were glued to the movie and since we went for them that is what really matters in the end.

Airtastic!!

Saturday Landon was invited to a birthday party at Airtastic. Airtastic is a new place in town that is similar to Bouncetown (where Logan went to a party last week....) and Steve brought the other boys to play while Landon played with his friends. I like Airtastic better since the party room in larger and they have more things to jump in. The fact that my other kids can play at the same time doesn't hurt either!! Bouncetown is closed for open jumping when there is a party. Here is a photo of Landon on one of the Superslides (which happens to be my favorite to go down also!)

Our Sunday

We had a Sunday last weekend just like I had when I was growing up. It started by getting ready for church (not something that I typically have the energy for....getting 4 extra people ready is not a good time and I never did have the right shoes!!) We then got the boys to the appointed meeting spot for the practice for the VBS program and Lake completely melts down. He is not much for "performing" and even after a "talk" with Steve he didn't want to do it so I decided to take him with me. I totally "get" how he feels because public performances aren't my thing either. I remember in grade school I actually got sick for performances I was scheduled for in orchestra and band. So much for playing the violin or clarinet...the end of my music career!! LOL. So Steve, Lake and I proceeded to the sanctuary to wait the big performance. In walk the kids with Lawson clinging to the neck of the leader! Logan and Landon came in fine so I guess 50/50 isn't a total failure on our parenting!! AND Lawson wasn't crying...but he did look terrified! Again..he gets in naturally! The performance went off without a hitch and was really cute. The picture is a little blurry but you can see Logan with his hands up. After the kids performed they came to sit with us and I again remembered why we don't go each week. They were better than last time but still far from perfect! I guess it takes practice? After church...just like when I was a kid...we went our for lunch. Logan of course didn't want to go because he doesn't like "resternots!" He did go (what choice did he have?! and we had a good time. The boys love Red Robin and the little boys ate a lot of food! Logan had a milkshake and drank most of my freckled lemonade so he was happy in the end. They finished off the trip with a round of video games in the arcade area. Here are a few glimpses of that. We did stray from my growing up tradition of a nap (WHY did I hate that part back then?) but otherwise...it was the same!

Bike Riding

We have been trying to get Logan to ride a bike without training wheels all summer but he just isn't interested. This weekend we took him over to a grassy hill where some of the neighbors have had luck with their kids learning to ride....still no luck! He doesn't want to "get scrapes!" I really can't argue with his theory...there will probably be some scrapes! Ugh...I am going to have to go through this 3 more times AFTER I finally get him taught...this is almost as bad as potty training!

Logan my worker bee.....

One of the most interesting things about having 4 children from the same two parents is watching the things that make them so different from each other. It constantly amazes me especially of the little boys of how different their personalities vary from each other and they have had the same upbringing, environment, exposure to things etc from day one. Besides being born on the same day they even were released from the hospital on the same day. (Vary rare according to the nurses!) Logan I can see being different because he was an only child for 14 months with lots of one on one attention and I really don't think that I ever put him down for the first year. The point that I'm getting at is that my boys are VERY different when it comes to their work ethic!! I'm not sure what this means exactly at the tender ages of 5 and 6 but it definitely is showing some discrepancies already! Logan is the worker bee....that kid works like a dog helping his dad with the outside work!! We had mulch delivered a few weeks ago and he was up almost before Steve was dressed and ready to go. He shoveled, he hauled and unloaded ALL day long! Steve would take a break and that little boy would keep working. He thrives on yard work. The other boys? Not so much....sure the dabbled a little bit digging a little here and there but really the worker was Logan. At the end he even got a paycheck. He made $20 when the work was done for the day. Steve called them all in and made a big production of praising Logan for his work and presented him with his money. And of course Landon as usual...."What about me?!" Lake and Lawson just grinned. Each of the little boys got $1. The funny part is that the lesson was lost because when we got to Target to spend the money...the Dollar Spot was a big hit! Now in case anyone is thinking that Logan is the perfect child...he is not. He is the same kid who will spend hours whining because he doesn't want to clean up the toy room when the job would have taken 20 minutes. He also typically asks for cash for doing it or any other inside job. If there is a toy he is wanting (and this kids wants a lot of different toys!!) he nags you to find him a job for extra cash but then rejects the job until he finds one he WANTS to do. A favorite request of his is washing my kitchen floor. Now that SOUNDS like a good idea but let me tell you it isn't! Washing my floor means that Logan gets the rags out...dips them in a bucket of water (or the powder room sink) and brings it back to the floor (without wringing it out) leaving it sopping wet. So in the end the floor is covered in water, the other boys are crying because they have fallen on it and the powder room needs cleaned up too all the while Logan is asking for his cash (in dimes no less!!) Today the boys helped Steve wash his car. I ran to do some errands so I'm not sure who did the most work on this project but I'm guessing my the wetness of Logan's shoes that he isn't improving on the wringing out a sponge of extra water but he IS still my worker bee.

Worst Mom ever...

As I've said my kids have been going to vacation bible school all week and on the 2nd day a leader handed me 4 iron on transfers of the week's theme. Well...I couldn't see going to the trouble of going to get shirts, washing the shirts, ironing on animated test-tubes that are going to peel off in a day and needing to wash them daily to wear the next day. Besides the boys didn't mention that they wanted to wear them and they knew that i had them. The boys have cute clothes in their closets...they can wear them. Fast forward to today....the actually ask to have shirts made. There is ONE freakin' day left of bible school but they asked so Logan and I went to buy shirts tonight. I get the shirts...wash and dry them and now I can't find an iron. I cleaned out the back hall closet earlier this year and put in new shelves...surely I didn't throw away the iron? Maybe I did....I don't iron typically...everything goes to the drycleaners....so here I am at almost midnight trying to decide whether i should run to Meijer (the only place that I can think of that is open and has irons) and buy a new iron. I've looked everywhere I can think of in the house....UGh....I don't want to explain to the boys in the morning why they don't have shirts. I'm a bad mom.

Edited to add: Borrowed Kelly's iron....did the shirts and here is a photo...do they look like they appreciate all of my hardwork?

My "graduates"

Every year I take a picture of the boys to give to the teachers with their end of the year gift. Here is this years. On a side note...I hadn't really thought of "graduating" from preschool but since we have gone to several graduation parties this year Landon apparently has given it some thought....His question...? "What about me Mommy?" I guess he thought food, cake and gifts seemed like a good idea!!