Food Drive

This Saturday is our stake's "Day of Service" and our contribution to this service is participating in a food drive. Sam is actually heading it up for our ward so we've already been involved in collecting and distributing grocery bags and fliers for members of our ward to pass out, but today was the day we had designated to go door to door inviting our neighbors to donate.

We did a similar service project when we were in Long Beach last year and Reed must have had a really good experience with it because he was very excited to pass out the bags in our neighborhood. I must admit I was dreading it a little. Dragging three kids door to door asking for food donations just wasn't something I was eager to do.

However, when we finally did head out this evening I was surprised at what an enjoyable experience it actually was. (Perfect evening weather did help). I was even more surprised at how involved Reed wanted to be. As we approached the first house I told him that I wanted him to help and that we needed to tell them that we were doing a Food Drive and explain how we needed them to help.  I told him this, not really expecting him to be brave enough to do the talking, but to my surprise he said "I'll just tell them everything I remember and you just tell them the things I forget."

I was still a little worried about how this was going to go down and when the first person opened the door I was even more worried. At first Reed just stood there staring at the woman and then he said with a  shaky little voice, "We are here for a food drive....(long pause and little bit of a deer in the headlights look). "We need you to fill this bag with food and....put in on your porch..... We'll come back on Saturday to get it."  I don't know who was more nervous, Reed or me, but I'm pretty sure I was the only one that felt like they were about to cry. I think it was the combination of being a little nervous myself, wanting him to succeed in his attempt to confidently complete the task, and proud to see that my little boy was growing up in a good way.

Thankfully, the person he spoke to was very nice and even though Reed didn't deliver the information perfectly, she was very kind and told him that she would have food out on the porch. As the woman closed the door, Reed lept from the steps and started towards the next house and, holding his stomach, said, "Whoa...I was kinda nervous." It was just about the sweetest/cutest/funniest thing I have seen in a while. It was great to watch him grow in confidence with each delivery. In fact, I didn't end up having to  pass out a single bag.

When we were just about done, Max, who had been riding in the stroller the whole time, jumped out and said, "I'm brave enough to do one. I didn't get to do any!" I planned to take him up to one of the last homes on our route, but while I got caught up talking to someone along the way Max got away and took matters into his own hands. The next thing I notice is Max flying full speed from one of the nearby houses saying, "I was brave enough! I was brave enough!" When I asked him what he had done he told me had delivered the bag and flyer to the next house. I was more than a little surprised. When I asked him what he told them, he said, "Uhh...food drive....uhhh food drive." Oh..what I wouldn't give to get a recording of exactly went down on that door step. I can only imagine what the people at the door thought with a three year old  passing out flyers and grocery bags and mumbling something about a food drive.  I love those boys and I love to see them excited about doing good things and growing in confidence along the way.

Volcanoes

The boys have always loved volcanoes and thought they were super cool (who doesn't?), but right before Reed 'tracked out' from school he learned a song about Mt. St. Helen's and now talk of volcanoes is something that occurs on a daily and sometimes hourly basis in our home. So yesterday, when I suggested that our fun activity be making a volcano, they were thrilled. 

The first step was to gather all the supplies that I was hoping we just had on hand. It was nothing short of serendipitous that yesterday we received a package in the mail and a phone book on our driveway since the first two things we needed were a box and newspaper. Reed was a little concerned about using the phone book instead of newspaper. "But what if we need to call some of these people?” he asked. I told him that I was confident we wouldn't to which he responded, "Then why do they even give us these phone books." I told him I wondered the same thing.

The kids were meticulous in their coverage of the table with the newspaper. I'm pretty sure most of the table was about 10 pages deep.

Goodbye Campbells...Hello Volcano. 

Creating the "lava mixture." Reed really wanted to boil this before we put in our volcano so it would be "more like a real volcano". When I said no, he said, "How about just a simmer? "

The anticipated moment...

Even Ruby seems a little excited to see the eruption.

I know they were really hoping it would overflow, but no such luck.

While the "lava" was flowing Reed asked me, "So what plate was this volcano on, the Caribbean plate?"

After the initial experiment was over, I let them have the box of baking soda to continue the eruption.

I love how excited they get about little stuff like this. I will miss it when it takes more than a little baking soda and vinegar to make their day.

The song that inspired the obsession

Mini Golf

Since this is Reed's last week of being "tracked out", we decided we would try to do one fun/special thing each day this week. I have to keep reminding myself that with year round school "track out"is all the summer vacation we are going to get, so I want to make sure we have fun with the time we have. I let Reed help me pick the activities so on Monday for FHE we went to Pelican's for mini golf and snow cones.

The boys were so excited to get to the golf course. You can't see Max's face, but I love how his expressive body language says it all.

Seeing the driving range was a first for the boys. As we walked by the golfers Reed said, "Hey look they have shoes!  Oh...wait never mind."

This wasn't the most impressive course ever (not even close), but the kids didn't seem to mind a bit.

I'm not sure if Max is playing golf or hockey here.

Ruby cried in the car the whole way to and from golfing, but Sam said seeing her with this little golf club made it all worthwhile.

Getting snow cones was equally exciting as the golfing. Pelican's has a ton of crazy flavors. Picking one to try is definitely part of the experience.

When Reed saw that 'Fire Ball' was a flavor he needed to look no further. Cinamonn Spice things like Hot Tamales and Bid Red are his favorite. Unfortunately, it only took a few bites to realize that there is such thing as too spicy---even for a snow cone. Lucky for him he has a really nice dad who traded him for his chocolate oreo ice cream.

Max got Blueberry Bubblegum (could there be a more perfect flavor for him?) and I chose Key Lime Pie---much better than the Pina Colada I got last time that tasted/smelled a little too much like pina colada lotion.

It was a great night and the perfect wannabe summer vacation.

Good Sunday

Today was a good Sunday. I'm not sure exactly what made it so nice, but it was. I could tell Reed was trying extra hard to do things he thought would please me. He sang primary songs in the car on the way to church to try and help keep Ruby happy, told me he was going to try to keep his shirt tucked in all day so he would look like a missionary, walked reverently to class when we got to church (and strongly encouraged Max to follow him), wrote notes quietly during sacrament meeting and on the way home told me he wished he could be a pioneer. When I asked him why he wanted to be a pioneer he said it was because the primary song says that "pioneer children quickly obeyed" and he wants to do that. How could I not love a day like that? And how can I get a repeat day?

Maybe it had something to do with Sam dressing up like Joesph Smith today. Sam was asked to be a part of some role playing as Joesph Smith in Primary today. I was surprised how into it he got. The primary said costumes were optional, but apparently they weren't to Sam. He was really wishing his his sideburns were longer. You can't really tell in this picture, but they are brushed forward as far as they would go.

Reed loved having Sam in Primary, but not all of the kids were as impressed.  One of the boys said, "You look like Reed's daddy," to which Sam aptly replied, "I get that a lot."

It was a Sunday without any other obligations after church (another thing that made it nice) so we were able to play a game of Old Maid.

Max definitely missed the concept of Old Maid. He was so disappointed when he was the first one to get all of his matches and run out of cards.

We actually tried to cheer him up at the end by giving him the unicorn (old maid). Silly boy.

Nana

We were lucky enough to have another visitor this week. My Nana--my kid's great-grandmother--came to visit us this week from Colorado. I know it's a long way to come, so I really appreciated her making the trip to see my kids and meet my little Ruby. She thought Ruby looked like a little doll and loved her "dark eyes and pretty lips."

She only spent a few days here, but my boys really enjoyed the time with her. They have only seen her a handful of times and loved getting reacquainted. Max was a little chatterbox wanting to tell her everything about everything.When Reed heard her speaking Spanish to our neighbors he was so surprised and asked her, "Where did you learn all those Spanish words?!"

During her stay Nana helped around the house and with the kids. (She even took the boys to Walmart on her own!) I think she had a little trouble sleeping because even with the different time zone she was up early. I usually awoke to find her sweeping my floor. She admitted to me that she doesn't sweep after dark because she's still a little superstitious. She explained, "My mom always told me that sweeping after dark invites the witches, and I guess it just stuck with me." I don't think I washed more than two dishes while she was here. Nana says she loves cleaning, and, having watched her work my whole life, I believe her.

In addition to all the help she provided around the house, we also enjoyed a couple of other activities while she was here. The weather was great so we took a walk to the pond. She loved all of the beautiful trees along the way. If there is one thing North Carolina has, it's trees.


The boys collected sticks, wild onions and flowers on the way home from our walk. Nana was kind enough to let Max unload some of his treasures on her so they would all make it home.




We also went to the local strawberry farm behind our house and picked strawberries. They weren't quite ripe and were a little more expensive then buying them at Walmart, but it
was still a fun outing.






The kids even got to feed the pigs and chickens there. I was surprised at how comfortable Reed was feeding the pigs. They were crazy rowdy little pigs. Max was a little less comfortable.


Nana and Ruby stayed away from the stinky pigs.


Max was thrilled to find a large stack of baled hay at the farm, however he was quickly dissapointed to discover that there was no horse to go with it.


They didn't have any horses, but they did have a teeter totter. I love teeter totters. I wanted to go on it with Max until he informed me that I was WAY too big ("It's not for big girlers").


Growing up, Nana lived only a mile or so away from us, so we saw her all the time and she was able to be a big part of my life. I wish we had family that close now, but until we do I'm thankful for every little visit we get.

A visit from Grandmother

We were lucky to get a slightly longer than average (as in more than 48 hours) visit from my Mom this past weekend. I don't think my kids or I realize just how lucky we are that my mom can and does visit so frequently for living on the opposite side of the county.

When I told my boys that she was coming a couple of days ago, Max said, "Oh..I like her! She does ding dong, ding dong." (She holds him upside down and swings him back and forth like a bell saying "ding dong, ding dong.") Reed also piped in, "She's so much fun. She teaches me things." I was happy to hear their excited reaction and to know that, even though her visits are usually very brief, they are long enough for them to realize that she loves them.

Visits with grandmother are usually very low key since they are so short, but since we had an extra day this time we were able to do a few extra things. After we picked up my mom from the airport we went straight to downtown Raleigh. I have wanted to try to take pictures in the city for a while now, so I took advantage of the company and extra set of helping hands to finally do it. I have taken a lot of pictures recently, but taking them in a new environment proved to be more difficult than I anticipated. I didn't get the pictures I had hoped for, but I was still glad to have had the chance to give it a try.





This picture makes me laugh. For some reason the way Max is standing reminds me of the way someone much older (specifically my Papa) would stand, so to me he looks like a very small adult.




I was surprised at how happy my boys were to participate as my subjects.


In fact, Reed got almost too into it. He was posing every few feet, leaning against anything he could find. I really appreciated how patient he was. Reed asked me, "How many more pictures are we going to take?" I told him, "Probably a hundred," just to tease him, but he just said, "Oh, right." and hit another pose.




My mom carried Ruby all through our city tour so I could be free to take as many pictures as I wanted to. It was wonderful. Thank you mom!


Ruby was pretty wonderful and patient too.


Walking the courthouse stairs.






After a while, though, Max was done...


and happy to run all the way back to the truck.


Ruby and my mom actually got to know each other pretty well this trip and my arms got a much needed break. Unless she was hungry, Ruby was happy to be held by her grandmother.


Thanks again for coming Mom---it was GREAT!