Cheese

Cheese may be the word that best describes this boy. Maybe, ham. He absolutely enjoys the spotlight. We get this type of look many times each day.

His main goal in life is to be recognized. I was the oldest so this was never a problem for me. There is a certain confidence that come from being first. You just know that you are bigger and more capable. Your schemes are more likely to work. You know that the siblings all covet your position and want to be you. At least when they are the ages of my kids. And your parents make you stronger still by making you their go-to kid.

Despite this position of last, Timothy does not lack confidence. All he needs to be happy is to make the older kids laugh. He is just beginning to understand that if he can't make them laugh at him, there are other, less pleasant ways to gain attention. But pouring on the charm is always his first line of attack. He really knows how to work his eyes. And his impish grin tells us that he knows what he is doing.

If Tim were a role playing character, he would have an 18 charisma. He bewitches those around him, causing them to bend to his desires. While this is definitely a skill to be cultivated, it needs some refinement. He gets everyone around him to take care of him. Someone to change the channel. Someone to get his Graham crackers. Someone to play trains with him. He has identified the big hearted and uses his powers to take advantage of them. But he is old enough to do many of these things himself.

Which brings me back to the cheesy picture. The other night Tim was taking a bath. After I scoured the dirt from his skin, I left him to play. I stayed within earshot but tended to other nearby matters, like folding the heaps of laundry on my bed so that I could sleep in said bed later that night. When I returned to check on him, I found him washing his face with soap and a washcloth. Since I have more demands on my time now than when I only had one kid, it is way easier to just do it for him. I never thought to show him how to wash his face. Obviously, he is ready.

He may regret his initiative because it got me thinking. Now, I'm teaching him to dress and undress himself. He is expected to clear his dinner plate and load it in the dishwasher. And I'm not backing down when I ask him to clean up his toys. I know all this would be easier in two months when we are the only two home all day. But I can't risk two more months of bad habits. There will still be more to learn in the fall. I'm saving potty training then.

Alive and Well

Here he is. Alive and well. And enjoying camp.

He hasn't blown off any fingers with his rifle. He does have a superficial cut on his finger, that stings when you don't keep it clean - like getting salt in it at dinner, from trying to open all the blades on his knife at once.

He showers every day. Just without any soap. An after the pool rinse counts if you are 11. He has changed his clothes - twice. And he even brushed his teeth once since Sunday. He doesn't use sunscreen or bug spray, but seems OK anyway. I suppose if it were a problem then he would rethink his methods.

He likes the rifles. And they opened up another session of canoe for just his troop so he is doing both. He doesn't like the way the first aide instructor speaks.

He said the food is alright. They always serve white bread and salad at dinner, which seems to be his meal of choice. He liked the cinnamon buns for breakfast yesterday.

He was thrilled that we visited. It didn't hurt that we brought cookies. He gave us the grand tour of the camp. Now Ellen wants to be a Boy Scout.

T-Ball

Here she comes, rounding third. This week is all about Megan and T-Ball. 3 games in 5 days.


She thinks that she likes it but I know that she only goes for the snack at the end. She never wants to play at home. We're still working on throwing with one hand and stepping into it with the opposite foot. She got her first hit last night. Well, sort of. Despite this being the T-Ball league, they pitch during the third and final inning. Depending on the night, the coach throws anywhere from 3-5 balls per batter. If you haven't connected, then they bring out the tee. Last night she made contact. Even with her blistering speed (a slow trot), she was thrown out at first. But that is OK. This is T-Ball. Everyone stays on first and everyone scores every inning. So, the team with more players always wins, even though we don't keep score.


More surprising than the fact that she made contact with the ball was that she was thrown out. After all, this is T-Ball. Remember when you played? Were you the kid picking dandelions? Or were you the one sitting atop second base? Or were you so busy waving to your friend on the other team that the ball dribbled past you? If you were the typical player, there would be no spot for you on the team of our opponents.


Look closely at the picture. See the caps with the red bill? Not league issue. See the matching red baseball socks? Not league issue. Every single player donned black baseball pants and cleats. And they had team batting helmets that matched their caps. T-Ball doesn't even issue batting helmets. (It's an Illinois thing. They don't recognize that T-ball is probably the most dangerous sport out there for 5 year olds and at least the dandelion picking pitchers should have head protection.) Sure, Megan wears baseball pants. That is because a wise mother told me that they are well worth the $7 because then they have one pair of pants that they can get filthy and torn while sliding into every base three times per game. And a worthwhile investment they have been. Her polyester beauties are currently stain and tear free and in their 5th season.


Back to the other team. They not only look like a baseball team, but they can throw and catch. And they were very small compared to our team. This Nazi team is headed by Hitler himself. You get yelled at if you are not in the ready position. You must be in the correct spot on the field or you will hear about it. And don't think about standing incorrectly at bat. I think this group of coaches probably got together 5 years ago and decided that it was time to breed an all star team for all ages. They are like that around here. No doubt the dads all played on the same high school team and so will their sons. How fortuitous that they were able to create boys!


I am not alone in my judgement. Hitler ordered pizza for his team and invited us to join them after the game. No doubt a ploy to recruit any talent that we may have. I was not the only mother to tell my child in a hushed "if you make a scene I'll kill you" tone that we were not eating their pizza.


Just for comparative purposes, this is what a T-Ball team is supposed to look like.

Withdrawl

Ellen currently attends swim practice every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. She missed last Friday because Andy took the kids to the new Fantastic Four movie. Yesterday there was no practice due to Father's Day. I guess that was too long without a workout. Yesterday Ellen swam 128 laps in our pool. Her quick and dirty estimation was that this was a mile. Our more evolved calculation proved that it was darned close.

In another accomplishment, she got her letters today stating that she qualified for both the accelerated literacy and math programs in school next year. She is quite pleased and we are quite proud.

This kid rocks, too.

Scout Camp

Drew is off for his first ever week of sleep away camp. He's going to boy scout camp.

Camp is about an hour away. We met at a local grocery store to consolidate and caravan down. Good thing that scouts are prepared. No one brought the trailer for the gear. So the leader left to go fetch it. About a half hour later he was back with a trailer that had a flat tire. We changed the tire, and by we I mean the dads who were there.

During the wait we, this time I mean the moms, looked around and decided that the few remaining items that were not packed would probably fit in the vehicles that we had. But we must have the trailer. It's all part of the plan. So we waited.

Since we had time to weigh our options, we pulled a few things out of one minivan and stowed them in this necessary trailer. This made it possible for all 5 boys from Drew's patrol to fit in one car. And it meant that I didn't have to drive!

It is 96 degrees in the shade today. After 75 minutes in the parking lot, sans shade, they were off. Lets hope the chlorinated pool works magic on them because all bets say that the boys won't shower this week.

While at camp, Drew will be earning merit badges for first aid, swimming and rifles. Ironic as it seems to us, he didn't want to take rifles. I think he's a little afraid of the size of the firearm. I think that he will love it though. He's good at archery and bb gun shooting. I think he will excel at this, too.

Wednesday I'm off to family night at camp. I haven't figured out which family members will accompany me. It's kind of a late night for some of the kids and it is a board meeting night for Andy. I'll report back as to whether Drew has shot off any of his limbs and if he appears to have bathed since this morning.

A Balancing Act

Yes, I should have wiped the fingerprints before I took the picture. But it would only get dirty again very quickly. Anyway...

Ever since we moved, I haven't been able to make good cakes. OK, they weren't great before we moved. But here, every time I baked a cake, they ended up lopsided. I didn't notice right away. In fact, it took me almost 2 years to identify this problem. In my defense, I don't bake cakes often and 3 of the kids had birthdays in the first 6 weeks of our arrival. My mind was elsewhere.

So about Andy's birthday, I pull out another cake that is shallow on one side and thick on the other. My pans are old and a bit warped. I figure that my problem will be solved if I replace the pans. But I procrastinate.

About a month later, Ellen bakes a cake with the same skewed results. Only this time, I look at the oven. It always looked OK but I notice that the front is actually lower than the back, assuming that the counters are level - which is a big assumption. We got out a level and proved that the cook top was level enough. Maybe not perfect, but the bubble was within the lines. Hmm. So, we put the level on the rack in the oven. Problem. It's WAY off. And the racks are in correctly.

When I lift the over, the feet don't adjust. They are probably supposed to, but I can't made them turn and neither can Andy. So we shimmed them with cardboard. We're Polish. And voila! Drew had a cake of uniform thickness.

Happy Birthday, Drew

Cinnamon Rolls

I can't take credit for this recipe. I found it on the internet. But it is scrumptious. My kids request these for breakfast on their birthdays.

Dough:

1T dry yeast

1C warm milk

1/3 C sugar

1/2 C melted butter

1t salt

2 eggs

4 C flour

Dissolve yeast in milk. Add remaining ingredients. Knead into a ball. Let rise until doubled. Roll out 1/4" thick. It will be about 9X13.

Filling:

1/4 C butter, softened

1C brown sugar

3T cinnamon

Spread butter on dough. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon evenly. Roll dough into a tube. Roll it from the long side. Slice the roll into 1" pieces. Place on greased pan. Let rise again until doubled. Bake 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

Hint: Slice with dental floss. Slip floss under the roll, criss cross the ends, then pull.

Icing:

1/2C butter, softened

1 1/2C powdered sugar

1 oz cream cheese

2T whipping cream

1t vanilla

pinch salt

Combine the icing ingredients and beat until fluffy. When rolls are hot, spread the icing on them.

To prepare these the night before, skip the final rise. Let them rise in the refrigerator overnight. Bake in the morning.

Character

Here is my only photo from Ellen's first ever swim meet. Being a prepared mother, she was armed with extra suit, towel and goggles, cards, video game and healthy snacks. I had snacks, book, and writing implements for myself. And I had my camera. With enough battery left to get one photo. She is in pink in the far lane.

These kids have such courage. Some of them are 5 years old. They look Lilliputian atop the starting blocks. But when the buzzer sounds, they dive in and swim with all their 40 pounds of might. This meet grouped the youngest into the same heat. One little guy, who could not have been beyond 6, swam the 50 Butterfly. The other boys were a little older and taller and much stronger in that stroke. Some had finished the race when this little one reached his half-way point. It took him 2:34 to finish the race. He pulled himself out of the pool very matter-of-factly. He didn't look sad that he was last by a mile. He looked as though he did the best that he could and that was all he needed. It may have helped that he practically received a standing ovation when he touched the wall.

This was all new to Ellen, too. She finished the 10 and under (10U) 50 Freestyle in 54.58 and was 6th of 9 on her team. 5th place edged her out by .05 seconds. She also swam 10U 100 Back, where she finished 3rd of 4 on her team at 2:06.59. 10U is difficult. It is the youngest age division and obviously includes brand new swimmers. There are also experienced athletes. We have a 9 year old on our team who has been swimming competitively for 5 years and does a 50 Free in 32 seconds. But the great thing about swimming is that you can always compete against your personal best.

I have to say that I didn't witness any nastiness from any swimmers, parents or coaches. We all cheered for the stragglers. The swimmers cheered their teammates. The more experienced competitors shared tips with the novices. And our 9 year old who blows everyone else on our team away cheered loudly for the opposition.

A Memorable Date

2 years since we moved to Illinois.

20 years since I graduated from high school.

Language Acquisition

Case 1:

Tim has learned his first knock-knock joke.

Knock-Knock
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?

Repeat 300 times

Knock-Knock
Who's there?
Orange.
Orange who?
Orange you glad I didn't say banana!

At this point he sometimes begins again. Only instead of banana he says red. Then he asks about every other color. He thinks he is hysterical.


Case 2:

During our return flight, Tim and I peered out the window of the plane. We looked at fields, farm houses and grain elevators. Tim commented that he was all done, meaning he wanted to get off the plane and stop traveling immediately. He's two. As this was an impossibility, we searched for our house. Another impossibility, but not if you are two. Eventually I asked him if he liked Illinois. His response: "No, I like Meganois."

OBX

The week before we arrived in Duck, NC, the weather was overcast and the temperatures were in the sixties. All week. Next week, they are expecting thunder storms and a tropical storm or maybe even a hurricane. But we got lucky. We saw approximately 5 clouds all week. They were small and puffy white and did not appear until Friday. The beach temperature was near 80 all week and the water was warm enough for quick dips. This is my picture of the sky, not Tim.

The house was right on the beach so the kids could go to the beach without us, as long as they stayed out of the water. One morning they went out at 7:30 to continue their Guinness Book of World Records hole. They also built a moated castle that survived the high tide. Here they are in the middle of it.

Just about every day the dolphins came to perform for us. They would swim by and sometimes splash with their tails. One afternoon they played in front of our house for two hours. Did I mention that they were about 25 feet off shore? Sorry, no telephoto lens. Just my 3X zoom. Maybe next time I'll have my dream camera.

We did drag ourselves off the beach a few times. We played mini golf, went on a nature walk, went boating and checked out Kitty Hawk.
But basically it was a great, lazy beach vacation. So lazy that everyone read at least one book while we were there.