Stephen King Summer

This summer I decided to read as much Stephen King as I could. Why? Mainly because I had never read much by him before, except 11.22.63, which was pretty good but not classic Stephen King horror. Plus, Lance kept trying to get me to read the Dark Tower series, but apparently those are filled with references to his earlier books, so I figured it'd be good to read all the others first so I'd recognize them. Finally, Lance also called me a book snob. Which is kind of true, not that I only read the great classics or best sellers or whatever, but I did look down my nose at Stephen King. I don't even know why; probably because lots of the movies made from his books are so terrible. I dunno.

Anyways, fortunately for me our local library offers lots of Stephen King audio books and ebooks. So all summer I had a Stephen King audio book on my phone and an ebook on my Kindle. I read and listened and read and listened all summer. (You can listen to A LOT when you mow the lawn and clean the house!) Let me tell you, Stephen King is PROLIFIC. And fairly wordy - lots of his books are LONG. I never ran out of material.

And so?

I really like Stephen King.

Oh sure, he has his issues. Some of the stories aren't the best or end poorly. (Looking at you, The Long Walk.) And he can't write from a woman's point of view very well. At all. (*cough* The Tommyknockers *cough*) And I don't think he has a good idea of age appropriateness for kids - he'd write about 11 year olds and have them think and talk and do things as if they were teenagers. (It. SO MUCH IN IT.) And these books aren't for kids, that's for sure. I found myself skipping through parts every once in a while.

But otherwise, he is a master storyteller. He is AMAZING at fleshing out characters, giving their back stories and making you really like - or hate - them. Even minor characters feel like someone you know. So many of his stories take place in small towns and by the end of the book you know everyone in that town, their personalities and quirks. It's pretty amazing.

He's mainly known for his horror, but I really didn't find the books too scary. More just intense. I think they almost belong more in the fantasy genre, but maybe that's because I'm very rarely scared by what's considered horror. I find it interesting but more often amusing. (I don't believe in monsters or ghosts or the paranormal, so it's hard to be scared by it.)

I finished my last King book on the way back from Grandpa's funeral and didn't have another one loaded and so started Les Miserables, which has been on my must read list for years. Which was fine, because I was kind of getting burned out on King. Maybe I'll pick him up again next summer.

Here's a list of the books I read/listened to this summer, in no particular order:

Salem's Lot
Bag of Bones
It
Misery
The Shining
The Stand
Pet Sematary
The Body
Hearts In Atlantis
The Long Walk
The Tommyknockers
Revival
Under the Dome
And a couple of compilations of short stories

Cole Phases and Phrases

Cole is going through a phase right now. An eight year old boy phase. Both Spencer and Josh went through it, so it's not unexpected, but it surely doesn't make it any easier.

I LOVE Cole.

But the child isn't always lovable.

He's argumentative and NEVER wrong. No matter what. He's hypersensitive to anything his siblings say or do, regardless of whether it has anything to do with him. He hates homework. He hates reading. He hates chores. He hates any sort of responsibility.

He is obsessed with potty humor right now. To the point that even his siblings are tired of it - and that's saying something.

But.

He's also pretty funny. He's still just young enough that he says funny stuff quite often, without even realizing it. I love this and will mourn the day when he grows out of it.

For example, during the summer we went into Little Caesar's to pick up some pizza for lunch. As we were leaving Cole exclaimed "They had good pizza music playing. I like pizza music."

It took Spencer, Josh, and I a second to figure out what he was talking about. "You know, pizza music. They play it at places you buy pizza. Like Little Caesar's and Papa John's." And then it hit me: he meant the Latino music playing the background. And the boy's logic wasn't faulty - both places played the same kind of music whenever we went there.

And so now Latino music is affectionately known as Pizza Music in the Madsen family.

Then there was today. Cole ripped a hole in his church pants while we were at a baptism on Sunday. Not so happy about that, but pretty much thrilled that he told me about it on Monday instead of next Sunday morning. (Progress, people!) Having two older brothers, I knew we were bound to have some church pants that fit him somewhere around the house. I found some and told him to try them on. I walked into his room to discover him trying to put them on over his shorts. The epitome of laziness, right?

So I had to sit there while he changed because I didn't trust him to really take off his shorts and try them on unless I was watching. He pulled off his shorts and tried pulling up the pants, only to exclaim "They're just too small! They won't come up!"

"Um, Cole, come here."

He did.

I unbuttoned and unzipped the fly.

The pants slid on easily.

"You know, Cole, most people unbutton and unzip their pants before they put them on."

And in all sincerity and without any hint of irony he replied "Why would they do that?!"

So you see, it's not all terrible. I just keep telling myself it's just a phase and it'll pass. And then we'll move on to another phase and I'll look wistfully back on this time. (No I won't.)

What I'll really do is endure it and love the child and silently giggle with glee when I watch him struggle when his own children go through the same phases.

It'll be worth the wait.

Mom & Dad's Bed

What is the magical power that mom and dad beds hold? It seems to draw kids in like a magnet.

Since school started Tess's favorite thing to do is watch YouTube videos on my laptop on my bed after school. I think it's how she unwinds from a rough day in first grade. 😄 She likes to close the blinds, pull the curtains, and close the doors so it's nice and dark and quiet.

A couple of weeks ago Cole discovered her and decided he needed to get in on that action. Tess did NOT like him watching her videos with her (he probably made fun of them), but she's fine with him playing on his tablet while wearing his headphones.

What a pair! They both claim that it's because my bed is so comfy. Which is true, at least compared to theirs. But it's also gotta be that magic something.

It's kind of annoying at times, but I remember being drawn to my parents' bed when I was a kid, too. It was still a favorite place to take a nap when I was in high school and college. It was so soft and warm and smelled good. I had some of my best naps there! And I don't remember my parents ever making a huge deal about it, probably for the same reason I don't with my kids right now.

Because while it might be kind of annoying to have to share my bed with my kids right now, I suspect that some day I'll miss seeing them in there.

Best Calling in Church

I've had the best calling in church for over two years now: Primary Pianist.

It really is a great calling. Minimal prep (except for those dang Article of Faith songs. They're so weird and hard!) I get to watch the cute kids and hear their funny comments. I get to listen to really good Sharing Time lessons, or perhaps read the Ensign or Friend magazines. And I get to play the piano, which is pretty fun.

But sometimes it's a lonely calling. There are times when I've really felt isolated from the rest of the ward; it's easy to kind of get forgotten when you're hiding behind a piano 2 out of the 3 hours of church. I feel like I know all the kids but none of the parents, especially all the new families in the ward. I'll go to RS activities and have new sisters in the ward ask if I'm new, too. (But that'd probably happen with any primary calling!)

But on the whole, it's been a good experience. I think it's probably the same for just about any calling in church; there's good and bad, and there's always a lot to learn. I'm just happy I'm able to serve.

My Little Pony Movie

Tess had a soccer game today - and they actually won! She was so pleased with herself, although I'm not quite sure how much soccer she actually plays out there. (She's more of a kind of run around and watch the others get in on the action kind of girl.)

Anyways, in celebration I agreed to take her to the new My Little Pony movie that came out yesterday and that she's been waiting to see for months. Not only that, I told her we could go choose snacks at Walmart first.

I'm pretty much the best mom ever.

Josh agreed to go with us, under the pretext that he would be making fun of the movie. But really? He's a closeted Brony. Actually, he used to really not care who knew he liked My Little Pony, but he's been more tight lipped about it lately. Anyways, he was the only other person in the family who wanted to go. (No judgment.)

The movie actually turned out to be... Not that bad. I mean, I don't think I'll be watching it again any time soon, but it really wasn't as bad as I anticipated. It even had some humor for the adults. Tess was enamored and Josh enjoyed it. I found myself checking my watch a lot at the end and wishing the seats were a bit comfier, but overall it was worth it to make Tess so happy.

If these are the kinds of sacrifices I have to make for my kids (spending an afternoon watching an okay movie), I'm okay with that!

Tall Spencer

I knew it was just a matter of time, but it still took me kind of by surprise when I realized last month that Spencer is now taller than me!

My mom was the shortest person in our family, and I'll probably have to get used to that in a few years, too.

Maybe. Perhaps I will always be taller that Tess! (She's so petite!)

Also, how cute is it that she wanted to get in on the "who's taller than who" action?

Tess's Soccer Season

Tess decided she really wanted to play soccer this year, so we signed her up for the Lafayette league. She was assigned to the Ladybugs team, which she really likes. I really like the league and her coach because they've been really good about not taking themselves too seriously - practices teach them skills, but are also really fun, and the games are well run but not SUPER strict. Just how it should be for 6 year olds.

After Tess's first game she exclaimed "I didn't know there'd be so much running!"

I don't think Tess loves soccer very much - she just likes the uniform and accessories. Someone's mom made hair ribbons for the girls, which Tess adores.

The games are about what you'd expect - lots of running back and forth in scrums around the ball. They're team has only won one game this season, but they seem to be having fun and are actually improving a bit.

I don't know if Tess will play soccer again next season, but she sure has had fun this year!