Happy Birthday Michael!

Who would have thought you would make it to 13! Hope you have a great day Little Man...We all love you!

"You'll shoot you eye out!" Mike is ready to play...Anyone up for a game?
Or are ya just scared!

Agust 10 ~ August 16

WOW! Only a few days left before school starts & life gets structured again...I am really NOT looking forward to school starting again. We had a good fun summer with few incidents that caused stress & contention around the house. Thank goodness :) Of course it was a busy week again with getting ready for school & making sure the older ones are in the right classes...boy was THAT a challenge! How can schools think that we as parents can change EVERYTHING (plans) just to change a schedule at the only time THEY will allow it?!?!?! Especially when it is because the teacher wants the child in that class????
Okay, let me explain: Thursday August 11 to do list: Visit teach, change Gina's schedule, change Mikes schedule, stop @ grocery store for MORE bread, take kids to pool, Izzy's violin fiddle festival, make card for neighbors Birthday & deliver with gift, Gina...yet ANOTHER drum line party. Sounded pretty easy. Had a great visit with Marilyn & was headed out the door to Jr. high with Gina, Mike & Laney in tow. Got his schedule & realized that he was put into the WRONG band class. Either the scheduling counselors screwed up OR Mrs. Elliott screwed up...again. Pf course are the counselors available to change this??? Technically...NO. LUCKILY the counselor for the k-z students WAS in and was very accommodating. Check #2 off the list. Grocery store...the usual with out the Laney meltdown that usually happens when there are the older kids with her. Check #3. High school...can you say IDIOT secretary??????? We TOLD her that we needed to change Gina's schedule that the counselor couldn't do on Tuesday due to not enough time & said "just come back on Thursday to finish this" Secretary tells us to go to the counselors office & says that they might be @ lunch still but should be back in 10 minutes. Okay so we go wait...and wait...and wait. Thank goodness there is an elevator to entertain Laney. Counselors FINALLY showed up 10 minutes late & they can't change her schedule until 6PM...same time as Izzy's fiddle festival...GRRRRR. Did I mention that the counselor NEVER told Gina it had to be in the evening??? Of course we could have come back next week & PAID for each class changed. At this point I have HAD it & we headed home. Time for plan Z. We axed the pool because we would have only had a few hours there & I was able to make the Birthday card. We ate dinner @ 5pm & the kids who were supposed to be home by 5 were LATE! I ran Gina over to the HS & it was a ZOO. We couldn't get everything worked out by 5:50 so I left Gina there, got the kids & headed to the park...Gina would meet us there when she was finished. Izzy did great but my phone died about the time it started so I couldn't text with Gina about the class changes she needed to make...GRRRRR. So just as the fiddle kids were finishing their last fiddle song, Gina is walking across the bridge to the park. She felt SO bad that she missed it. Oh well she had her classes changed & it was good that she did because she had to rearrange EVERY class just to switch from Jazz Band to Percussion ensemble...would have cost me around $70 to change had I needed to pay for it! All because the band teacher wants her in percussion ensemble & will just give her the music for Jazz Band...does that count as 2 credits??? LOL by the half year mark last year she had met all of her fine arts credits!
Can you say OY! I was SO happy that most of the day was over. Of course when the kids left the house a little later, Laney followed & I had to chase her around the pond. I didn't get to sleep before midnight which sucked because I had to work @ 6AM for the first time EVER! But I survived as did the rest of the family.

Just a thought

DISCLAIMER: these are just things that are running around in my head & I don't intend to offend anyone. That being said...
I am sure that most of America has been watching the Olympics, just like we have. Talk about mixed emotions as we watch them win & loose. It is all SO exciting though.
As I was watching the women's gymnastics & couldn't help but feel so bad for them as they made mistakes (this was Sunday nights qualifications I am talking about). I felt the same way as I watched the Men's individuals last night. Of course things like this ALWAYS get me thinking.
Mostly I was thinking about just how young these athletes are...especially the women. Heck most of them are Gina's age. I can't even imagine the amount of pressure on these young kids...especially at this age when they should be having fun with their friends. You know, hanging out at the mall shopping, going to the movies, having a goal of just getting a good tan this summer, summer vacation with the family, mini-golf, boyfriends, sleeping in until noon and staying up until after midnight. Instead they get up at the crack of dawn & head for the gym for a day of training. Most of these athletes spend more time training than people with full times jobs spend in their offices!
Now when I think of this it just makes me sad. Would we as a whole let a teenager go and work a 40 hour work week? NO! There are child labor laws against this...even if the child wanted to do that. These young kids give up SO much for their sport & I just wonder how healthy this is.
Now I know they CHOOSE to do this. Why though, do we allow it? Why do we let them put so much pressure on themselves at such a young age & let them work their childhood away? Why are we, as a whole, letting these kids have the pressure that a VP at the age of 36 puts on him/herself? They have no family life, no childhood, & their friends are the kids they compete against. Is this fair that they live this way...all in the name of being the best???
It isn't just these gymnasts & young swimmers that deal with this. I have seen MANY kids in my community risk injury or surgery at young ages, & give up their social life for accelerated sports. I have seen kids spend all of their time on their music instead of going to the movies with their friends. Is this really healthy for them?
The second thing I thought over was about the mistakes they were making. Now don't get me wrong, it is really cool to see the things these kids can do with their bodies, training & strength...but is it really good that they are doing such hard routines just to WOW the judges? I didn't see one clean routine...but in the scoring the difficulty of the routine makes up for the missed points because they took a step instead of sticking it, or they did too many balance checks, or bent their arms. When I see each of our gymnast teams with injured kids who CAN'T perform at the Olympics this just infuriates me. Would they have been injured if they hadn't been doing such difficult stunts? Especially when I KNOW just how much time these kids have spent to get to where they are...all in the name of being good enough to go to the Olympics.
It just breaks my heart so see them fail. I am sure that those watching saw it in their faces too. THEY were heart broken & disappointed & it just didn't leave their psyche as they continued on to their other routines. It effected each routine after that mistake. When I see this I KNOW that they are WAY too young to be under this amount of pressure. Their developing minds just aren't old enough to deal with it...heck most ADULT minds aren't capable of handling the pressure that is on these kids.
I never really thought about these things until now when I have kids the same age as these young athletes. I see the things that MY kids are doing & I see the things that those kids are missing & it makes me sad. I guess my whole point is, are these kids too young to be competing like this? Are these kids skipping important parts of their childhood & growing up too fast? OR would they still be doing these things if the minimum age was raised to say 21? Am I just not competitive enough to feel this is OK? It's all just a thought...

But can you teach a 3 year old new tricks?

So our little actress, other wise known as Laney, has a few tricks up her sleeve. Her favorite being: playing dead. I am not quite sure HOW this started. Could it be the older kids teaching her this? Could it be that she is OBSESSED with Tim Burton movies? Especially The Corps Bride. Could it be that she is very dramtic. Possibly ALL of the above? Not quite sure just WHAT it is but it sure is funny!

Ben Folds...Five???

So, it's a new week, a new band & we chose Ben Folds/Ben Folds Five. Ben is an AMAZING artist. His music is fun & depicts the funniest things in life...or some of the most important things in life. We have been listening to him for years, even before Brick hit the top 40 list. Gina caught on to him over the past few years & has shared his music with all of her friends. Ben Folds was her first concert too! Mathew took her out to Salt Air for his show this year...she was stoked. All of the kids have been able to learn his music on the piano & have fun playing it. It's fun to hear them play it...almost more fun than listening to Ben himself.
I chose The luckiest for the first song because it is how true love should be & then Gracie because it reminds me of Gina...she is our little Gracie...she STILL runs around on her toes! The rest are just great songs by Ben. Enjoy the music!

What a week!

First of all: HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABE!
Today is Gabes 10th Birthday. There were times when we wondered if he would MAKE it to 10. We sure are happy that he did. It's hard to believe that he has been a alive for a decade...time sure flies when you're having fun! So he had a sleep over Birthday party on Wednesday & had a lot of fun. Hope today will be just as good for him.
ANYWAY...
It was a CRAZY week here at Casa FamilyMoe. Sunday was my (MJ) Mom's birthday and I planned a surprise birthday party for Mom with all of my Utah dwelling siblings: Doug & Courtney with Alex & Ross & Angela with Allie & of course Dad, now that he is back in Utah. Mom was brought to tears & had a fun afternoon. Mathew was king of the grill again & BBQed some KILLER steaks. We visited, relaxed & even got some GREAT news: Doug & Courtney are expecting #2 in March! WOO HOO!
Monday started a LONG week for Gina: BANDCAMP! 8AM - 8PM with 1hour lunch break & 2 hour dinner break. All of their hard work is paying off & Salem Hills will have a great field show: The Beatles! Can't wait to see it Friday night at the family BBQ which of course coincides with other commitments!
Wednesday was Gabe's big sleepover & it was a hit! Chicken nuggets & french fries were eaten by all with a lemon cake to top it off.
Friday will be busy with celebrating Gabe's Birthday, the family BBQ & tunes in the trees. It is a part of the Salem Days celebration. All of the kids from her Suzuki studio will be playing fiddle songs at the park...at the same time Gina is performing her field show. Thank goodness we have 2 video recording devices...gotta LOVE digital!
Saturday will be Gina's 1st (of many) parades. We have primo seats on the parade route...we LIVE on the parade route :) Plus the huge firework show that night...can't wait! We didn't see any other fireworks this year.
Ahhh...next weeks just working will be a great break!

How to get a turtle out of it's shell

So a few years back, like about 6, all of the kids were out jumping on the tramp when they found a turtle underneath it. It was a good sized turtle but it wouldn't come out of it's shell. Hmmmmm could it be because the kids are so freakin' LOUD????!!!! Possibly. This really frustrated Gabe though. He REALLY wanted to see the turtle body not just the shell. He came into the house with this long, sad face. "Mom, I can't get the turtle to come out of it's shell" I explained that turtles hide when they think there is danger and if all of the kids would leave it alone and be quiet it would come out. Can you believe that they sat quietly for about 30 minutes???? I can't! Keep in mind they were ALL under the age of 10. Can I tell you how disappointed they all were when the turtle never came out of it's shell? Gabe was doubly disappointed.
That is until he came up with a BRILLIANT idea. He said "I know!" ran downstairs into his room and came flying out of the house with his alarm clock in hand. He had us set it for 1 minute then set it next to the turtle. Of course! The turtle HAD to be asleep since it wasn't out of it's shell, right. Oh how I LOVE the way kids minds work.
Anticipation covered his face as he stared at the turtle shell for almost I minute. As the alarm sounded I watched his face fall when the turtle didn't wake up. Momma bear took over me as I reached for him and hugged him close. "It was a great idea Gabe" I whispered into his ear. He just stood there dejected and broken hearted that this freakin; turtle would not wake up. Tears welled up in my emotional eyes as the alarm stopped ringing. It's moments like this that just tears out a Mom's heart, rips it to shreds and does a jig on the broken pieces that fell. Suddenly I felt my emotions changed as through my tears the turtle emerged out of it's shell.
He did it! He got the turtle to come out of it's shell. It was amazing. He was SO happy. He was the youngest of the kids and HE was the one who got the turtle to come out of it's shell. It worked, it worked, it worked. Never again have I doubted the way childrens minds work.