Weekend Wrap-Up

Our weekends are always packed full. They are fun, but always busy. This weekend Mike took me out on a date, we saw Grandma and Grandpa for dinner, we had swimming, tumbling and two soccer games, a baptism, a few house projects, I did a ton of laundry, we exercised as a family, went to church, and we took the kids to see The Blindside.

The kids liked the movie. Jessi slept through most of it (which I expected.) It was a great movie and it gave us a lot to talk about.

We had not been to a dollar theater in a long, long time--we usually wait for movies to come out on DVD or go to the theater near our house. Mike taught the kids about dollar theaters. Andrew is very interested in all things financial, so he was really excited about the price. Mike explained that after the movie is in the regular theater it goes to the dollar theater. He told the kids that the theater might not be as fancy, the chairs might not be as comfy, and you can't get reserved seats, but that it is a lot less expensive.

I went with Andrew to the window to buy the tickets. I didn't realize it was cash only. Our total came to $12--such a bargain for a family of six. I had eight dollar bills and a bunch of change. We let some teenagers by while I counted out $4 in change in Andrew's hand. He kept hearing the people order tickets for our movie and encouraged me to hurry so they wouldn't sell out.

When we got inside, the kids all checked out their seats. The seats rocked back and forth and bounced a bit. After checking out his chair, Andrew declared, "These seats aren't bad at all--in fact, they are quite luxurious."

As we were leaving the theater, he told us that we should only go to movies at the dollar theater. I don't know about "only," but I think we will be going more often.


Other funny things the rascals did and said this weekend:


Jessi asked if Michael Jackson was in heaven with Heavenly Father. (She LOVES Michael Jackson.) Then she asked if Heavenly Father wears the same clothes everyday. (She LOVES clothes and fashion too.) We have some deep conversations while I do her hair.


Christian's teacher pulled me aside to tell me the following story: The kids were out running/walking on the track. Christian's shoe fell off, so he stopped to tie it. When he reached the teacher he was in tears. She asked what was wrong. He said, "My shoe fell off and none of those guys gave me any sympathy." Apparently they all kept bumping into him as he tried to get his shoe back on.

One night we could not find Tiger. This happens occasionally, and it has caused us to be late for church and school. She will sometimes hide out, but she usually comes when I call her in a baby-talk voice. So, it was bedtime and we couldn't find her. We finally went to bed. The next morning we were nervous because she was still AWOL. The whole family was searching. Finally, Bev saw her tail under the couch. Apparently she had crawled under the couch when the footrest was up. Before bed, Mike had put the footrest down and she got trapped. I suppose she liked it because she stayed quiet under there. So, we got her out and we were all loving on her when Christian got teary-eyed. He said, "Mom, sometimes I get emotional when I'm not supposed to." We reasssured him that it is fine to get emotional.

Now the kids--the boys especially--keep asking if Dad ever cries. Mike tells the kids that it is okay and normal to get emotional and cry, but I keep telling Mike that he needs to let the kids see him get tears. I'm not pushing it though. I know how it will go--he will break-out in a big pretend bawling session.

Beverly got up Sunday morning and Mike and I could hear her starting breakfast with the little ones. We listened to pans clanking and the fridge opening and closing. She was trying to "direct" the other kids to help get breakfast done. They were not cooperating to her liking. Mike finally declared that he better get down to help in "Hell's Kitchen."

I cleaned out all of the backpacks on Friday. I found indications that number three has a crush. It was a heart that said, "Bev + Apollo Ohno." I showed it to her and she quickly took it away. But then she recounted the story. The story I have heard a number of times since the Olympics ended.

She is deeply offended by Apollo being disqualified in his final race. She was so mad. (It reminded me of the time we were watching the final of American Idol and David Archuleta lost to David Cook. After that, she could not stand the near mention of David Cook's name, let alone hear one of his songs.) Anyhoo, we re-watched the race many times. It was obvious to us that Apollo had only placed his hand on the other racer. When the head judge (who is Canadian) disqualified him, Bev said, "Andrew, you are wrong--the Canadians are NOT our friends." She talked about the travesty a lot over the next several weeks.

She is like me in so many ways--she can get onery while "managing people" in the kitchen and she doesn't like injustice.


Andrew was telling our friend about the movie Where The Wild Things Are. I heard him whisper to her that Jessi cried at the end of the movie. Then he said, "Yeah, she is a very sensitive African American child."

They keep me hopping...and laughing.