Josh's First Pinewood Derby

Last night was Josh's first Cub Scout Pinewood Derby - very exciting.  In true Madsen fashion, Josh placed somewhere in the middle. (Just where we want to be - not dead last, but not in the top three so we don't have to go to on the the district level.)

Josh was very particular about his car - he wanted the San Francisco Giants, which we were able to do courtesy of my awesome Cricut. (As Josh would say, "Cricut POWER!!!)  The spikes are courtesy of Lance to make the car weigh more. I think it made it look pretty intimidating.

It was a pretty low-key derby; the crowd seemed kind of subdued for some reason. But the boys had a great time - especially this cute boy.

He enjoyed the races, but in all honesty I think he liked the refreshments best of all... :)

The races weren't the only entertainment of the evening: we also found some twins!

And of course Tess had a fit about something. Because it's not a church activity unless Tess has a loud meltdown over something. (In this case it was us not letting her hit us with her Hello Kitty necklace. We're jerks.)

Spencer's Doctor's Appointment and Other Miscellaneous Merriment From the Day

Spencer had his annual check up today. I love that we've had the same pediatrician and nurses for so long; all of them exclaimed about how big Spencer is getting. Where has the time gone? How can he be going into middle school next year? My sentiments exactly.

Spencer weighed in at a whopping 73 pounds and is 4 feet 10 inches tall. That means in the last year he grew 3 inches but gained only 5 pounds. No need to tell me we have a bean pole on our hands - finding pants that are long enough but won't fall off of his waist is becoming increasingly difficult. He certainly has the Roper physique!

Poor Spencer was surprised that he had to get 2 shots during the appointment. That's because I forgot to warn him. And that's because I didn't realize you had to get shots before going into 6th grade. (The doctor figured it was easier to give them to him now rather than drag him back in this summer with "all four of your brood". I love that woman.) While getting the shots I told the nurse about how when Spencer was a baby he almost never cried when getting shots, and then we teased him about crying now. He was a champ and only winced a little, which is saying a lot because one of those shots was a tetanus booster and those things sting! (I have to say that while it is easier to see your 11 year old get a shot compared to him as a baby, it's still hard. I always wince more than they do!)

After the appointment we decided to grab Spencer a bit of lunch since he said his class eats at 11am. He chose McDonald's, and as we walked in we realized he had left his coat at the doctor's office.  Doh. So we quickly decided that we would order and then Spencer would eat in the car. He decided to branch out from his normal Happy Meal and ordered a 2 cheeseburger meal - and snarfed it all down between McDonald's, the doctor's office, and back to his school. It was really quite impressive. He certainly has the Madsen appetite!

I had to race to pick up Tess and Cole on time. And when I got there I realized I had to hide all of the McDonald's evidence or I would never hear the end of it, especially from Cole who thinks we need to go out to eat for lunch every day. It was like covering up a crime scene - I wrapped it all up in a garbage bag, hid it in the trunk, and opened the windows to get rid of the smell. All at top speed because I was supposed to be inside the building getting the kids right then. I felt like I was living lots of the stereotypes of mom-dom that morning: chauffeuring kids hither and yon, marveling at how much kids can eat, racing from one place to the next, doing crazy things like hiding McDonald's bags in the trunk in order not to have to deal with the aftermath of a fast-food crazed five year old... (I was rockin' a good hair day, though, so that made it a little better.)

Spencer just got home from school and informed me that he had been mistaken - his class actually eats lunch at 12:00. (I should have remembered this from taking him out to lunch for his birthday. But I didn't because that was a month ago and I never expected to need that bit of information again.) ((Also, I expected my 11 year old to know what time he eats lunch. Obviously, I expected too much.))

Me: So did you just sit and talk to your friends during lunch?
Spencer (looking at my like I'm nuts): Nooo. I ate lunch.
Me: Wait - you had two lunches today?
Spencer (as if the answer is obvious): Yeah.
Josh: WHAT?!??!!?! I WANT TWO LUNCHES!! WHY DIDN'T I GET TWO LUNCHES?!?! WHERE DID SPENCER EAT??!???!??!
Me: Dang it.

It must be noted that I had warned Spencer not to let any of his siblings know about McDonald's for this very reason. It's on me that we had this conversation out in the open instead of hiding in my closet. Dang. Josh is, and I kid you not, at this moment pouting in his room over it, refusing to do his homework. (That boy LOVES junk food.) Stupid McDonald's and your delicious, golden fries...

I'm not sure how to end this post or if there was really a point behind it. I guess I'll just summarize:

1. Spencer is growing like a weed and shows no sign of stopping. This is a good thing.
2. I will apparently go to great lengths to not have to deal with food-obsessed children. I *think* this is a good thing.
3. I am not very good at following through on the previously mentioned great lengths. This is a bad thing.
4. Josh is a punk. This is NOT a good thing.
5. I love being a mom. Good thing.

Lunch Date

Yesterday Josh and I went to the baptism of one of his friends. Afterwards I told Josh he could anywhere to go for lunch. His choice? The ever chic, ever crowded on Saturday mornings IHOP.

I'm not sure why, but Josh is slightly obsessed with the place. We never even go there, so maybe that's part of it. (I think he went once several years ago after a father/son camp out.)

We waited for a good 20 minutes for a table. I let Josh play on my phone and the boy was in heaven. When we got to our table he was delighted when I told him he could order anything he wanted from the menu. (This was an easy thing to do since I knew he'd order pancakes.)

He chose chocolate chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream on top. He put every kind of syrup on them, and plenty of it.  He didn't finish them all, but he came close!

He was so cute and sweet the whole time, and he thanked me at least three times. I love having little dates like this with my kids! (Even if they aren't quite the foodies I wish them to be!)

Equate That!

I just spent a good 15 minutes trying to Spencer to admit that I actually know a thing or two about algebra. Even - *gasp* - a bit more than he does.

The child refused to listen to reason. He refused to entertain the possibility that he might be wrong. He refused to believe I had the right answer. But that's the thing with this basic math - there's ONE right answer for each problem.  And I had it.

Eventually - EVENTUALLY - he conceded. And then started to argue with me over the next problem. I left the child to his own devices, because it was either that or smacking him around.

I feel like gloating and rubbing it in his face. And I know I shouldn't, but it can't be helped. Part of the problem is that I know that in just a few short years he will be doing math that I really don't know how to do. I took trigonometry and calculus, and do you know how much I remember?  Zero. Because how much do I use it on a daily basis? Zilch.

So I'll take this small, probably insignificant win. Because I know what the future holds: a kid who's better than me at math. And worse - he'll know it.

p.s. I take bittersweet consolation in the fact that I will probably always be better at writing and grammar. 

Piano Tuner

Having the piano tuned is enthralling. (Spencer was there, too.) They all just stood and watched and listened for a good 15 minutes, with the occasional "Don't touch, Cole!" from Josh and Spencer.  Who can blame him? Pretty fascinating stuff going on!

Momma's Little Truants

Today is Martin Luther King Day, and for as long as I've had kids in the Tippecanoe County School Corporation we have had this day off.  And I thought we did today as well.

Until, at 10:32am, I received a call from the school.

I freaked out a little bit when the school secretary asked where Spencer and Josh were. So I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Um, they're sick. With the flu. But they'll probably be okay tomorrow."  She accepted this, wished them well, and hung up.

I was mortified.

HOW IN THE WORLD DID I NOT KNOW MY KIDS WERE SUPPOSED TO GO TO SCHOOL TODAY?!?!?!?

Seriously, this would NEVER have happened to the me of five years ago.  Not even four years ago. (Three? Probably... stupid hormones and additional children.) ((Let's be honest. Are we all not a little surprised this didn't happen sooner?))

Also, how lame am I? They're sick? Why couldn't I have come up with something cooler, like "We're in Indy marching for civil rights because we believe in racial equality!" Followed by "Oh, and I have to pick them up early from school tomorrow because I also believe in good oral hygiene."

Well, I probably wouldn't have lied, and probably would have packed them up and taken them to school, but my friend Misty - who lives 2 hours away - was almost here for a visit.  How could I send these kids to school when their good buddies were almost here?!

So I went downstairs and explained to the boys what had happened.  Spencer was ecstatic and amused. Josh was mortified. We then all checked the school lunch calendar, and sure enough, there was lunch posted for the day. On the calendar. That I look at every time I open the fridge.

I am totally rocking this mother thing, am I not?

So then I did the natural thing that any mother would do: I started teasing them for playing hooky. Then I had to explain what "playing hooky" meant. Then I teased them for turning into truants. Then I had to explain what a truant was. Then I left them to their computer games and wondered how my kids had turned out to be so square... (Answer: their mother.)

The extra funny thing about this that my good friend Kanien is always trying to get me to take my kids out of school. We are kinda opposite in this way: she's willing to take her kids out for anything because she's a super-fun mom, whereas I had heart palpitations taking Spencer out of school for his birthday lunch last month. I don't know what it is, but I just never take them out of school just for fun! If I do take them out it's for lame things like dentist and doctor appointments, which I always schedule at the very end of the day so they miss the least amount of time possible.

I'm such a nerd.

Well, I was already in deep, so I emailed each of the boys' teachers, told them they were sick (and about the dentist appointments tomorrow - and apologized for that), and asked to have their schoolwork sent home with their friends.

Then Misty and her kids showed up and we spent the day chatting and playing. I had every intention of taking a picture of all of those kids together but it just never happened. Again. (Seriously, when am I going to get my act together?!)

Around 4pm the homework was delivered and the boys got to work. They didn't even complain or fight, which was unusual!

It only took them about 30 minutes to complete, and that was with a lot of chatting. Which makes me have to wonder how much they're really doing at school each day... (It also makes me feel a lot better about taking them out of school for a week in May for DisneyWorld, which I had really been feeling bad about. Not anymore!)

By the end of the day even Josh could see the humor in the situation. Everyone was behaving themselves, and as I was upstairs folding laundry I could hear all four kids playing so nicely downstairs together. It made me so happy! So I decided to top the day off with dinner out, kids' choice. (The fact that I wanted to play hooky from making dinner didn't have anything to do with it.) ((Yes it did.))

The kids chose Dairy Queen because, according to Josh, "It is fancier than McDonald's and Burger King... but maybe not Wendy's."  According to Spencer, "Dilly bar!!!"

So off to Dairy Queen we went. Lance pouted because he didn't get to play hooky today.

It was one of those rare evenings where all of the kids pretty much behaved themselves and were darn cute to boot. Tessie was in rare form, at one point looking at her wrist and then telling me, "My watch says it is 3 o'clock."

"I think your watch is wrong," I replied.

"Yeah, it must be," she reasoned.

Later, she gave me a crazy-cat-lady look and said, "I'mmmmm not craaaazy!  Look! My spoon is flying!"

Three-year-olds can be a hoot.

We all enjoyed our ice cream and declared that playing hooky - when done right - was pretty great.

Momma's unwitting truants.

Cole Springstein

I told him to look mean in this picture. In typical Cole fashion, he refused.

Cole loves to torment his siblings. I mean, LOVES. It's one of his favorite past times. And if he finds something that really gets under their skin, he'll do it. Over and over and over until everyone just wants to throw him out the door. You gotta give him this: he's a master at his craft.

**I feel that I should interject here that he's not a bad kid. And he doesn't torment all the time. Just enough that it definitely warrants a blog post.**

One of Cole's latest and most favorite things to do is answer "NO." in a very loud and authoritative voice whenever a sibling asks me something.

Tess was the first victim.  I don't even remember what she asked, but it was probably something very innocuous and to which I probably would have answered "Yes".  But before I could answer, there was Cole. "NO."

Well Tess just flipped out.

On the floor, weeping and wailing, inconsolable, sobbing "Why? Why? Why?!!??!" Cole was very, very tickled with his new discovery/power.

And since then, at least 2-3 times a day, we've had exchanges like this. No amount of rationalization and explanation that it does not, in fact, matter what Cole says will make Tess stop reacting the way she does. (And if she just stopped so would Cole.)

It's gotten so out of control that even Spencer and Josh fall prey to Cole.  How ridiculous is it that I have to remind my ELEVEN year old that his FIVE year old brother does not have the final say?

One day when we were in the car, Spencer, Josh, and Tess were all weeping and wailing because they had asked me some question and Cole had answered in his most commanding "NO." ever.

Seriously. Weeping and wailing.

The grin on that blond kid's face was both highly obnoxious and endearingly sweet.

Me: ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!? Why in the world do you even care what Cole says? He is not in charge!!!

Tweedle-Dee, Tweedle-Dum, & Tess: *continued weeping and wailing*

Me: Okay, seriously. Who is in charge here?! Do you really think Cole is in charge and gets to answer for me?

3T's: *sniffle sniffle* Yes!

Me: *speechless*

Cole: *evil cackle* (No, really. The boy has a super villain-like chuckle.)

Me: Cole is NOT the boss. He does NOT get to answer for me. I am the boss!  Cole is NOT the boss.

3T's: *continued weeping and wailing*

Cole: *continued super villain laugh*

Me: I give up...

Cole laments over the fact that even though he is the boss he still has to put away his laundry.

"Real" Bread

Josh is weird - he doesn't like homemade bread. Whenever we have homemade bread he asks for "Real" bread; i.e., the whole wheat bread I buy at the store.

So last night I decided to make some whole wheat bread to see if that was the issue, white vs. wheat.

It wasn't. He flatly refused to eat it. I told him to just try a bite.

"Auuuggghhh!!! It's warm!"

Because homemade bread is awful. But warm homemade bread? THE WORST.

That boy ain't right.

Ummm...

I sat down to blog but...

I can't think of anything to say.  What to say?!

Lots of snow and ice and cancelled school days.

And then Josh got sick with the stomach flu. AGAIN.

And then the water heater broke. AGAIN. For the same reason as last time.  So lots of boiling of water, lots of realizing just how often I use hot water. Lots of ANGER AGAINST THAT CRUMMY WATER HEATER!!!!

But the company did the right thing and paid for the new part since it was 12 days shy of being a year old.

And then we discovered a leak in the pipes down by the water heater.

But, now both are fixed and all is right with the world.

And Josh is all better.

But I still feel like I have nothing to say.

And you know what? That's okay. Sometimes it's really nice to have not much going on.

Shocking!

Figuratively:

Tess LURVES the Elsa dress she got for Christmas. She has never even put on the Anna dress... until today.

 
She must really like Millie to be willing to let her wear the Elsa dress! (That, and I kinda helped force the issue. Sharing is nice and all that...) I was pretty shocked she didn't freak out every time she saw Millie in the dress.

Kudos to Deidra for taking such a great picture of these two. It's pretty spot on - Millie, the glamorous, older sister Elsa; Tess, the goofy, rather impetuous younger Anna...

Literally:

During the Frozen Playdate I heard Tess in the basement howling with anger and pain. I could tell this wasn't a "Cole Has Traumatized Me Yet Again" kind of cry, so I decided to check it out. After a bit of investigation in trying to figure out why Tess said her thumb was burning, I realized that she had found a metal Christmas tree hook and had poked it into an electrical outlet.

Ouch.

I thought we were past this phase (which is why we don't have covers on the outlets anymore), but I figure now that she's experienced first hand what happens when you play with electricity she probably won't do that again. I was talking to Lance tonight and we both agreed that we were still pretty good parents because only 25% of our kids have stuck something into an electrical outlet. That's not bad. (Frankly, my money would've been on Cole or Josh to do something like this.)

I later realized that she had blown the fuse for that part of the basement. That must've been a pretty good zinger for Miss Tess!

And Kudos to Deidra, again, for coming up with the idea of now calling her TESSLA.

Scarred For Life

Once again the first two days back to school after winter break have been cancelled due to snow and extreme cold. (It currently feels like -18 degrees outside. Nice.)

Lance has wisely forgone this winter madness and is nice and warm at CES in Las Vegas. I'm totally kicking myself for not taking him up on his offer to take me. (No I'm not - Vegas just doesn't do it for me, even if it will be SEVENTY degrees warmer there today.))

Lance being gone meant I had to do all the snow removal. Which was fine by me, because I like shoveling and snowblowing the snow! And it was super soft and powdery, so it was an easy task. I came back in and got all unbundled, only to have Tess, Cole, and Josh demand to go out. So I got them all bundled up - what a process - and sent them on their way. Tess lasted about 10 minutes, Cole a good 30, and Josh won by staying outside for well over an hour!

I didn't have my snow gear on so I couldn't go tromping out in the deep (6") stuff with the boys and only got a couple of shots of Tess.

Classic pouting Tess.

Ornery "I Refuse to Smile" Tess.

And where is Spencer during all of this fun? On the computer, of course. The boy's an addict, but it's hard for me to force him off when he has 0% body fat and it's so dang cold outside.

Speaking of Spencer and computers... last night I thought I was sending a flirty little IM message to Lance but accidentally sent it to Spencer.

Me: Hiya, sexy!
Spencer: ummm???
Me (in my head): AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
Me (online): Ooops. SOOOORRRY Spencer! That was meant for your dad! Don't be scarred for life!
Spencer: Okay.

Nice. After all the talks we've had about online predators, and it turns out his first one was his mother.  MOTHER OF THE YEAR right over here, people.

It's gonna be a long winter.

Tess the Sunbeam

Yesterday was Tess's first Sunday in Sunbeams. I tried to get a good picture before church to commemorate the occasion. These are the best two I got.

This is the first one I got. Then I bribed her with a Life Saver.

After several tries I finally got a smile.

At church she FREAKED OUT about not being in nursery. She did NOT want to go to Primary. This is ironic because last week she FREAKED OUT because she wanted to be a Sunbeam right then.  Ah, life with a crazy three year old. I placed her into the very capable (and patient) hands of the primary president (thank you, Kanien!) and went to preschool.

I found out later that she played dead on the floor for a while (her usual in situations in which she's not happy), but eventually warmed up and behaved herself.

Her teachers are the wonderful and very capable Melissa and Kris Livengood. (Melissa was my visiting teacher for years and years.) They wanted to get a picture of each child and - surprise, surprise - had a hard time getting a decent one of Tess. Melissa sent me a few.

It's kind of amazing to me that our youngest is in Sunbeams. It's like we're starting a whole new phase in our family.

WalMart Dinner Challenge

On Saturday we decided to do the WalMart Dinner Challenge - each person in the family was given a budget of $5 to buy whatever in the world they wanted for dinner at WalMart. (Idea courtesy of the awesome Wallin family!)

Spencer was a complete and total PRE-TEEN GRUMP during the shopping trip - we seriously considered leaving him there to find his own way home. But Tess, Cole, & Josh were pretty excited, so that kinda made up for it. We made our purchases and headed home to feast.

Cole chose macaroni and cheese and a corn dog from the deli, and a random blue triangle doughnut. Delish.

Tess had the same, only her doughnut had sprinkles. Also, she was not big on the idea of pictures.

Josh chose a full bag in Cheetos and three doughnuts. The child was in HEAVEN.

Spencer finally, reluctantly, tearfully, grumpily chose a rather large bacon chicken ranch sub.

And then cried when it fell apart while eating it. After I had offered to cut it for him. Several times. (Hormones are so, so very fun!) ((LIES.))

I forgot to take a picture of Lance's meal, which consisted of French bread, Doritos, and a Hostess Cherry Pie. I had chicken fingers and cookies, which I shared. (Because I had to, not because I wanted to.) ((Kidding.)) (((Not kidding.)))

Not exactly the most healthy way to start off the New Year, but it was pretty fun!

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve was a pretty low-key affair this year, which was actually pretty nice. I'm always up for some sort of party with friends, but sometimes it's pretty great to just hang out with our funny kids, too.

We decided to have New Year's Nachos, complete with El Milagro chips from Rural King at Josh's insistence. That boy is obsessed with those chips. They come in 3lb bags, and I have no doubt Josh could polish them all off in a weekend if I let him. (They are pretty tasty - so thin and crisp!  The fact that you buy them at Rural King makes them taste all the better.)

So we had our nachos, with a shrimp tray on the side because that's how we roll, and then got down to the work of playing Monopoly.  I am NOT a huge fan of Monopoly, but there's something about New Year's Eve that makes me willing to play. I think it's because we did it several times when I was a kid.

Josh was too stingy and didn't want to spend his money on silly things like properties. Spencer tried and failed at talkin' smack.

Tess dressed up as Princess Elsa and twirled around the room in all her sparkly glory.

Cole was on my team and rolled the dice for me.

We eventually put a time limit on the game so we could fit in a quick game of Jenga, which became quite exciting once Cole and Tess both got up on the table.

We all got in jammies and went upstairs to do our New Year's countdown courtesy of Netflix. (They had a little 3 minute clip to watch that worked out pretty well.

What is it about poppers and kids? They love 'em.

We got the kids into bed and got to watch Saving Mr. Banks, which I had been wanting to see for quite a while. It was a pretty great way to end a pretty great year!