Grasping the Opportunity

As my son and I sped along highway 71, homeward bound, at midnight, under the guidance of a brilliant half-moon (so bright I lowered the sun visor), after spending the entire day at the GymMasters Invitational gymnastics meet in Houston, my son's incessant stream of excited chatter silenced as sleep, having bided its time, finally pounced and held the boy snug in its clutches, my own body heavy with the fatigue that can only come from 8 hours of bleacher-sitting ... this is what I was thinking:

That was SO TOTALLY WORTH IT.

Here's what was supposed to happen. The boy and I (just the 2 of us because my daughter had a stomach bug) drive to Houston on Friday, spend the night, Jared competes on Saturday morning, we have lunch with my sister-in-law, and then we head back to Austin, home by4:00pm. A compact, sensible plan.

However, upon arriving at the meet, at the door I was asked if I would like to go ahead and purchase a ticket (at a discount, no less) for that night's competition featuring Jonathan Horton, member of the 2008 olympic bronze medal winning U.S. Men's Gymnastics Team, olympic silver medalist in high bar, 2009 Visa National Champion, AND my son's gymnastics idol. I said, "I'm not sure. Can I get back to you?"

After considering it for a little while and then calling my husband to discuss the matter, I had an epiphany. You know how Oprah has those "aha" moments? Well, mine was more of a "duh" moment.

OF COURSE I would like to purchase a ticket (at a discount) to see Jonathan Horton, member of the 2008 olympic bronze medal winning U.S. Men's Gymnastics Team, olympic silver medalist in high bar, 2009 Visa National Champion, AND my son's gymnastics idol, compete tonight. Duh.

It didn't matter that it meant sitting on hard metal bleachers all the livelong day. It didn't matter that it meant hanging around a Barnes & Noble on a sketchy street somewhere in Houston for 2 hours, just to kill time (I say this like it wasn't fun - in truth, hanging out at a bookstore with my son is a pretty darn good time.) It didn't matter that it meant dinner was an overpriced slice of Dominoes pizza and an overpriced coke. It didn't matter that it meant getting back home at 1:00 o'clock in the morning. I mean, how many times will a kid have the opportunity to see his gymnastics idol rock the high bar from less than 10 feet away? Just imagine if you had the chance to see your gymnastics idol, but your mom said, "I know we're already here and everything, but I just don't feel like sitting in this gym all day and I'd really rather get home this afternoon so I can sit on my cushy couch and do my crossword puzzle." That mom is lame.

So, not only did he get to SEE his gymnastics idol rock the high bar (and rings and parallel bars and pommel horse), he got to MEET him.
I believe the words, "dream come true" were uttered.

And something about the 2016 Olympics.

Sometimes I am crafty

In my post about the wonderful seashells we collected at the beach, I told you I would share some of my latest card creations with you. Well, here they are.

For this one I used one of the fan shells I found on the beach. It's nice and flat, which makes it easy to affix, and I love the colors in it. (Note: I think the color of this paper looks awful now that I've scanned it. In real life it was not so pukey-green looking.)

One of my favorite stamp sets from Stampin' Up! is the On the Beach set. Most of the cards I make have a beach theme. And most of the cards I make are sent to my mother, who lives at the beach.

Also from the On the Beach set. (It looks crooked because I didn't line it up well in the scanner.)

More On the Beach stuff.

And lastly, not a beach theme. I was just playing around with mulberry paper and a cute heart sticker I found.

Since this isn't a blog about my craftiness, or how to make your own cards, I don't feel bad about not listing all the paper colors and ink colors and sources of my stickers (I found the heart sticker in my craft drawer) and specific stamp sets and tools and techniques. I'll leave that to the truly crafty individuals. Me - I'm just a dabbler.

Rockin' the PTA Meeting

** WARNING **
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This post may contain statements that might be construed as bragging about my kid. Please discontinue reading this post if you are prone to nausea while reading bragging monologues about somebody else's kid.
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You've been warned. And I feel okay doing it, because I am convinced that whatever virtue this kid happens to have has absolutely NOTHING to do with me, my genetic material, or my parenting skills, which are gravely lacking. I know what you're thinking -- here's another mom-blogger spewing out some self deprecating statements, fishing for positive comments from the blogosphere. But I assure you, for every feel-good moment with my kids that I blog about, there are thousands of non-blog-worthy (more cringe-worthy) moments that I desperately try to put out of my mind and have no intention of sharing with the world. That's just the truth.

So, about the boy. He's been playing the piano for a little over a year now. Because of time constraints and money constraints, however, we haven't been able to continue his formal piano lessons since last summer. Between school and his gymnastics, the child hardly practices. And yet, when given the opportunity to play in front of an audience, this is what he does:

(The vibrating sound you hear around the :05 mark and :44 mark is my phone receiving a text message from my husband that he cannot get into the school. Now, I ask you, what kind of school holds a PTA meeting and then KEEPS ALL OF THE DOORS TO THE SCHOOL LOCKED?? Seriously.)

I'm not bragging about my son, the virtuoso, playing a perfect piano solo. He's no prodigy. There are a few mistakes and he even omits the most difficult part of this piece (and fairly seamlessly, in my opinion as both a mother and a pianist). But he keeps going and he doesn't melt over the mistakes. Which is impressive given his tendency toward perfectionism (which particular quality he DID inherit from me.)

What I really enjoy and admire about this boy is his complete (over) confidence and insouciant attitude about performing. The kid was not nervous. Just absolutely, categorically, quietly, excited. Can you imagine?

Jared, you rock!

Road Trip Games

When our family travels, we go by car. And when we go, we go far. No sissy 3 hour road trips for us. If you're lucky enough to have your family close by, bully for you. We must drive! And drive. And drive.

Someday I will show you the laptop mounting device thingy my husband custom-built for our van so that we could watch DVDs. But, as they say here in Texas, that's a whole 'nother story.

I've always got my ear to the ground for new activities/games to play while cooped up together for 12 hours. When the kids were younger, I was much more proactive than I am now. For long trips, I used to pack a surprise bag for each child. Usually containing a spiral notebook, new markers or crayons, activity books, coloring books, puzzles, sometimes a new plushie travel companion. I was thrifty and found many of the items at second-hand shops or the dollar spot at Target. The point was not to get the kids some fancy new toy, just something novel to add some excitement and help pass the time. If you don't have one lap desk per child, get some.

One of the games my kids still like to play is the Alphabet game. I marvel that it never gets old to them. Because for me, when one of them says, "Let's play the Alphabet game!" I inwardly cringe and scream, "No! No! No!" Outwardly, I cheerily say, "Sure!" (Or if the screaming in my head is particularly loud, "Maybe later, sweetie.") Here's how it works. One person starts with the letter 'A' and might say, "My name is Alphonso and I am from Alaska and I like to eat anchovies." And so on. To alleviate some of the boredom that may set in, you can change the parameters - for example, instead of a food, list an animal who is your pet. There are lots of ways to change up this game. The trick is to keep everyone else from shouting out suggestions to the person whose turn it is. (Please explain why, when it was your turn on 'P' you were drawing a complete blank, but now that your sister is on 'Q', you are full of ideas that you just can't keep quiet - Quentin! Queenie! Qatar! Quiche! Quesadillas!)

Another game which is not really a game, per se, is the license plate game. Simple. See how many of the 50 states you can find while on your trip. Our record (achieved on our latest road trip) is 44. Which is pretty darn good when you are driving from Texas to Florida on I-10. This activity gives the kids something to look for while on the highway. If you know the song "Fifty Nifty United States" now is a good time to teach it to your kids and they will learn to recite the states in alphabetical order (an indispensable skill!) I find it strange that I have yet to get any takers on this suggestion.

We recently started playing a new game on our road trips. Perhaps you and your family have played it in some form or fashion. For lack of an actual name that I know of, let's just call it the Make-up-a-Story game.

It is a fairly simple and cooperative venture. Here's how it works. One person starts the story; for example, "Once upon a time there was a cat named Whiskey who liked to sail." Then you go around and around with each person contributing a new portion to the story. You continue in this way until either the story reaches conclusion or, as frequently occurs in our vehicle, somebody gets upset because they are not happy about how their brother changed the story right before her turn and she had such a great idea and now she doesn't want to play anymore. It's oodles of fun.

Anyway. We have discovered that it is best to limit each storyteller to one or two sentences max. This (theoretically) keeps one person from monopolizing the story and sending it randomly careening down a new and crazy path. Which is, really, part of the fun of this game. My husband has a knack for being able to completely twist a storyline in the briefest of sentences, sometimes making the entire story up to that point a dream sequence of a completely new character. And my son is learning to master the fine art of the run-on sentence and liberal use of conjunctions.

Maybe "oodles of fun" is overselling it a bit. But it is good for passing the time, fosters creativity and expands language skills. As additional side benefits, it provides a venue for the parents to learn how to exercise patience toward their offspring in a confined space and creates real-life conflict resolution experiences for the children.

Or you could just pop in a DVD.

Happy trails!

Cupcakes! You don't need a reason.

Although I did have a reason, on Thursday anyway. Today I didn't really have a reason, if you don't count the facts that I had a lot of frosting left over from Thursday and that we (okay, I) had not gotten to enjoy any of Thursday's cupcakes.

Why didn't I get to enjoy Thursday's cupcakes? Because they were not for me. I had been wanting to take cupcakes to my daughter's 2nd grade class for her birthday. We had just enough for her classmates, her teacher, 3 other teachers, her brother and a friend.

Today ... today I needed cupcakes. I needed to bake. Baking is therapy. For some of us, eating is therapy. Not long-term effective therapy, but I'll take my enjoyment where I can get it.

When I decided to take cupcakes to the class, I had two parameters -- 1) I did not want to take store-bought cupcakes. 2) I did not want to make boxed cake mix cupcakes. Having queried the girl and finding out she wanted strawberry cupcakes, I commenced my search. And found this recipe for Pink Strawberry Cupcakes.

I think hers are prettier than mine, but no matter. They are delish.

I frosted mine with cream cheese frosting (simple recipe from Better Homes & Gardens). For the kids' batch I didn't tint it and just spread it on the tops plain jane style. Today, I tinted it pink and broke out my old Wilton decorating tips. Took me a minute to find my groove, but I like the way they turned out. I even got Emma into the decorating action (as if I could stop her) and she came up with her own unique designs (not pictured).

Enjoy!

Have I mentioned our trip to Disney?

I have? Oh. Well, this will be my last post about it. Promise. I just had so darned much fun.

First, the food. Oh, the food! (It's weird that the first thing I'm mentioning is food, isn't it?) I think I told you in my first Disney blog about all our desserts. Let's just say it's a good thing we had to do so much, so VERY much, walking.

One of my favorite meals was at the restaurant Sanaa at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. What's cool about this place is that there are giraffes and zebras and wildebeests and many other animals that come right up to the lodge. When the kids got bored waiting for our food, we just went outside and looked at the animals.
And here's the good thing about your 10-year-old being considered an 'adult' by the money-grubbing Disney machine: he gets to order off of the adult menu. Which is cool if your 10-year-old is an adventurous eater. Which mine happens to be. So he will have a big smile on his face when his entree of Shrimp with Green Curry Sauce, Beef Short Ribs, and Five-Grain Pilaf arrives at the table.I enjoyed the Grilled Pork Chop glazed with Ginger and Pickled Lime Sauce served with Warm Potato and Spinach Salad.I also relished my dessert of Orange-Sesame Cake with Passion Fruit Kulfi. Mmm-mmm!And that is why food is up high on my list of highlights. It could have been so much worse. (Anyone eaten at Sea World?)

Now, on to the fun stuff! If one day you find yourself and your brood at Disney's Hollywood Studios and you notice 3 men dressed up like the green (and I mean GREEN) army men from Toy Story furtively moving about the place, follow them. You won't be sorry. My husband spied them as we were leaving our encounter with Prince Caspian (of Narnia), and thankfully he followed them. When they began 'recruiting' kids, we shoved our boy front and center. (The girl would have none of that, to be sure.) We have snippets of their schtick on video, but I wish I had the whole thing. Hysterical!

If your kid is into Star Wars, then definitely do the Star Wars: Jedi Training Academy at Hollywood Studios. It is great fun for the kids and grown-ups alike. Kids get trained in the Jedi arts (or, mainly, the art of fighting with a plastic lightsaber) and even get to battle Darth Vader (or Darth Maul) one-on-one. Be warned, though - if your kid scares easy, this might not be for him/her. One little tyke had to be escorted off the stage and another girl was in tears while fighting Darth Maul (that guy was scary! He completely stayed in character). Looking back, I'm glad my daughter bailed out before the thing even started. I thought my 10-year-old was a tad too old for this make-believe, but he totally got into it. And at the end of the show, each kid gets a certificate. Very cool!

The other thing we really enjoyed doing together (also at Hollywood Studios) was a 'class' where you could learn to draw Disney characters. If your kids like to draw, this is a definite stop for you. We loved it! And you get to bring home your handiwork as a keepsake. You never know what character you will get to draw. We did it twice and got to draw Goofy and Donald Duck.At the end, our "teacher" asked if anyone wanted to share their pictures with the whole class. My son raised his hand and she displayed his Donald Duck on the big screen up front. She then asked if anyone else wanted to share. This is when my occasionally timid daughter shot up her hand, and in the picture below she can be seen rising from her seat, sketch in hand, steely determination written on her Minnie-Mouse-ears-framed face, making sure her picture would be chosen for all to see.
And it was. I told you she was awesome.

DISNEY! DISNEY! DISNEY!

Okay, so I totally didn't expect to LOVE Disney World. But I did. LOVED IT. So. Much. Fun!

Mind you, this wasn't my first time. The first time was way back in 1985 ... a vacation which will live in infamy. The involved parties know what I'm talking about.

I returned in 1993 with my childhood friend who just happened to live in Orlando at the time and just happened to have a friend who worked for Disney, so we got in for free. Awesome. (Two girls in their early 20's should NOT get this excited about meeting Mickey Mouse. Seriously.)

I returned again in 1994. Same friend. Same admission fee. Only this time we toted along her husband and 6-week-old baby. Because babies love Disney.

I did not expect to ever go back to Disney World. I just don't have that kind of moo-lah. Let's face it, I don't have any moo-lah. But this trip was a gift. And I am thankful.

It was a hastily arranged trip, expertly assembled at the last minute (thanks to my dilly-dallying) by my mother in less than a month. Three cheers for Mom! Apparently, those in the know plan these trips waaay in advance. Like a year or more in advance. Well, pack your bags because I am here to tell you, it can be done in less than a month! Just give my mom a call. (I'm just kidding, don't call her.)

I was appointed tour guide/day planner for our 4 days at Disney, and let me tell you I took it VERY seriously, spending most of the 8 hour drive to Orlando studying the 900+ page tome, the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2010. I was NOT going to go into this teeming mecca on its busiest day of the year without a plan. Give me a touring plan or give me death!, I shouted.

Yeah, I was near tears by bedtime, staring helplessly at my husband, my mind numb with park maps, attraction descriptions, touring plans, dining plans, transportation options, and show summaries, the prospect of waking early after our grueling drive hanging over me like a pall.

But the cramming was so worth it! I awoke refreshed. We had a plan. A flexible plan. We knew what rides we wanted to ride, what shows we wanted to see. We understood the Fast Pass system. We knew where to stalk find our favorite lovable Disney characters. We had dining reservations. Oh yeah!! Bring it on, Disney!

I'll just share here two of my favorite experiences (because I know you do not have the inclination nor the stamina to read through ALL of my favorites. Did I tell you I had a good time?):

Roller Coasters!

A great joy was watching my daughter, the cautious child, step up and not only ride the roller coasters, but revel in them! Our first foray was to Space Mountain. I was a little nervous because my girl is not a fan of the dark. I was prepared for her to bail out at the last minute. Right before we got on, I felt her little heart beating thump-a-thump-a-thump-a-thump-a-thump!

Did she bail? No way! She rode Space Mountain and that girl was hooked! She rode every coaster Disney had to offer, including the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster - also in the dark, but with the added thrill of loops and corkscrews and the adrenaline rush of being launched from zero to 60 in 2.8 seconds. I've said it before and I'll say it again - she is awesome!

She came. She saw. She conquered.
(Oh yeah, it's also her birthday, evidenced by her special birthday button. Nothing screams, Hello, world, I'm 8! like riding Expedition Everest 5 times in a row.)

Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!

Before getting in line to see the show, I approached one of the Disney cast members in front of the attraction to ask some inane, obvious questions (BTW, the vast majority of the Disney cast members are quite skilled at fielding your inane, obvious questions with a cheery, pleasant demeanor and without making you feel like a complete dolt who has just wasted 2 minutes of their valuable time. I really like this.) She spied my kids and began to ask me would they like to help kick off the show and could they speak loudly and clearly. I said, Heck yeah, they can! Will we get good seats? And then I briefly morphed into crazy stage mom, coaching the kids on their one line all through our 30 minute wait. I knew the boy would relish being on stage. It was the girl I was not so sure about.


I think she did just fine, what do you think?
(And, yes, we got good seats.)

Disney vacation - by the numbers

• Number of miles driven - 2,442
• Number of DVDs watched in the car - 6
• Number of pictures taken - 841
• Number of desserts on our Disney dining plan - 60 [burp]
• Number of times in a row the kids rode Expedition Everest - 5
• Number of times in a row Mom rode Expedition Everest - 2
• Number of times Mom should have ridden Expedition Everest - 1
  
• Number of Disney plushies Emma bought with her birthday money - 4 (Stitch, Bolt, Mickey & Minnie)
• Number of Disney character signatures in the kids' official autograph books - 58
• Number of times the boy asked for a fedora after watching the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and meeting the Indy stunt double - 5, at least
  
• Number of minutes (some) people (not us) are willing to wait in line to ride Space Mountain - 200
• Number of minutes we were willing to wait to meet Tinkerbell - 60
• Number of states spied in our license plate game - 44, a new trip record (only missing Delaware, the ever elusive Hawaii, Montana, North Dakota, Rhode Island, & West Virginia)
  
• Number of days in a row Emma wore her princess shirt - 3
• Number of hours of sleep needed to recuperate from our vacation - zzzzzzzz.