Getting Caught Up

It seems that this summer is going to be one week on, one week off. Either our days are packed full to the brim, or we're sitting around, staring at each other, bored out of our minds. This is one of the slow weeks, so I'll get caught up on stuff we did earlier that I didn't have time to mention.

Cub Camp. It was Drew's first year, my third. I went in previous years because of my church calling, but I only realized this time how suspicious I must have sounded to the other parents, particularly those from the non-LDS packs that would never consider volunteering for something their children weren't involved in. Why would anyone but a sicko want to hang out with 8-10 year old boys in the sweltering heat of day camp if her kid wasn't involved? I'm sure I got some strange looks.

But this year, Drew was there and I got to see how much fun he was having. That was great. So much more fun for me.

Searching for bugs at the nature walk station.


Bottle rockets. Before, during and after.




Drew telling a joke on stage during one of the end-of-the-day shows. Ask him to tell you the one about the mushroom at the party.


For a week we came home tired and sweaty every night, which is, after all, the sign of a great Cub Scout activity!

Dean is very patient

Dean's birthday was 3 full weeks ago. We just celebrated it yesterday. And he didn't complain at all about that. He really is a great kid.

Dean chose SunSplash as his birthday party this year. He got to bring one friend plus Drew. Aunt Beebe was gracious enough to watch the little blondies so we were free to roam the water park with reckless abandon, not worrying about whose turn it was to stay in the baby area.

And as luck would have it, the park wasn't as crowded as it normally is due to the air quality of Northern California this week. I guess there's a silver lining with all the fires? (I know, sounds a little self-centered to me, too.)


Birthday cake after a fun, water-slide-filled day.


Happy belated Birthday Dean!

My plea for help

I wasn't really thinking about quitting church until today. Nothing makes me want to turn apostate like an assignment to speak in sacrament meeting. I'm supposed to give the talk in 3 weeks, which is nice, I guess, to get that long to prepare, but that also means I'm shaking in my metaphorical boots for 3 whole weeks.

It's a difficult topic, too. One that "needs to be delivered with some tact," to quote the bishopric member who asked me. So that's where you come in. I need help! Every talk in July will be based on Elder Wirthlin's talk Concern for the One from last General Conference. Yes. Every talk for the whole month. I'm to focus my remarks on Showing Concern for the One Who Went Astray.

Huh? Why me?? Is one of my children going astray someday? Which one?? Can't I just lock them in a room with nothing but scriptures and church videos now and that will take care of it?? I'll let them out for church on Sunday, I promise. And if not one of my kids, then who? Pie was joking with me that it was him, but then I started picturing myself in the place of my friend who brings her kids on Sundays while her hubby stays home, and I almost started hyperventilating.

Obviously I need a little help. Any ideas, stories, etc. will be greatly appreciated. Really if you'd just write the talk and email it to me (annfardanesh at yahoo...), I'll be your best friend for life. About 15 minutes in length please.

Hitting the Snooze Button

My little blonde alarm clock woke me up at 5:00 this morning. Now, normally I enjoy getting up early, provided I've been allowed to sleep all night. I usually have lots of energy in the morning, and get most of my chores done before lunch. But 5:00 is pushing it. I mean, really.

So I resisted. I put Evan in bed with me and told him (repeatedly) "Go to sleep. Mommy is sleeping." It worked for a little while. He then began rolling around and when I got a face-full of soggy diaper I realized he was done. But I wasn't. I grabbed the 2 closest board books and tried to sell them to the little guy. "Here! A big book and a little book! Read a book!" That bought me about 5 minutes.

Soon, I was informed that Evan was "hun gee". At this point, I still wasn't willing to give up the fight. I got his milk cup out of the fridge and he enjoyed a nice breakfast in (my) bed. Another few minutes for me.

Evan did his controlled fall off my big bed and I was aware that he was exploring my room, but I wasn't ready to really think about any damage being done. I heard him pulling open a drawer of the bedside table and I decided I would rather pick it all up later than make him stop. He found a ball somewhere and played with it for a few minutes. He pulled back the curtain (letting the bright light in!) and talked about birds for a while. Next I heard him singing ABCs and I looked up to see he had found his way into the recliner and was rocking and singing to himself. Apparently I was satisfied with this activity because I fell back asleep.

The next thing I'm aware of is the flush of the toilet. Not exactly a comforting noise in this situation. I finally decided to get up for good when he brought me my wet toothbrush with wet hands and tried to help me brush my teeth. Gross, gross, gross!

I got myself a pretty purple toothbrush at Target today.

The Do's and Don'ts of Preschool Parties

Here are some helpful hints when inviting an entire preschool class to your little girl's 4th birthday party:

1. Do have the party at your local park fairly early in the morning. The park provides lots of (free!) entertainment for the kids and less clean up for you, and the early time means fewer uninvited park-goers.


2. Do invite your favorite neighborhood tween along to follow the toddler for a nominal fee of $2.50 an hour plus cupcakes. She will be a lifesaver when the party gets going and the little guy constantly tries to disappear.


3. Do bring small activities to the park like sidewalk chalk and bubbles. Everyone appreciates the extra fun.


4. Don't worry if it's too windy for candles. Even though the 4 year old isn't amused by her daddy's attempts to make the best of it, she'll soon forget about it when eating the cupcakes and opening the presents.


5. Don't worry. The play structure won't buckle under the weight of all those fun friends.

The day of birthdays

The big birthday day here at Fardanesh House is June 4th. Every other birthday day only celebrates one, but this one, you know, celebrates two! This year, both Dean and Edie really were interested in the time they were born, Edie at 1:35am and Dean at 4:58pm. Dean kept saying "You're already 4 Edie, but I'm not 7 yet. Not until dinner time" Dean and Drew watched the clock and blew those party horns with streamers at 4:58pm. It made me think that 7 years ago at that time, I wasn't exactly blowing party horns.

The kids got ready early so they could open presents before school:



Dean's grade went on a field trip to our park that day. He wanted me to come and bring birthday treats for everyone. All 80 first graders. So we decided Otter Pops would be fun and wouldn't break the bank. All the kids enjoyed it.



The birthday posts will be continued with pictures from Edie's party (where we invited her entire preschool class!) and Dean's birthday trip to SunSplash (which hasn't actually happened yet, but will soon)

Pinewood Derby

I know it's been quite a while since I last posted. We've just been so busy lately! All kinds of end-of-the-school-year activities, guests for the last 2 weekends, getting ready for Cub Camp and a Primary activity last Saturday, birthdays for the 2 middle children. And the Pinewood Derby! I'll get caught up on the other things later. Maybe tomorrow, or the next day, or... well. I'll do it. Soon.

We made the cars the day before the Derby. And when I say "we" I mean "me", of course. The boys helped as much as they could. But we used a hand saw to cut (UGH!) and there's only so much they could do before their muscles were exhausted. And I wasn't happy with their sanding, so I had to do a lot of that, too. Drew and Dean did all the painting and then we worked "together" to put the wheels and weights on. I think they turned out pretty well.

The boys had fun racing the other cars. Dean isn't a Cub yet, so he didn't get to participate in the official race. Drew's car made it about half-way throught the evening before being eliminated. (That's better than the Raingutter Regata at the beginning of the year when he was out after the first 2 heats!)


Drew's car won the award for the Most Sensational Car! Great, huh?! Actually, I was the Awards Committee and had to come up with good runner-up awards for the non-winners. The other catagories were better, like Best Paint Job and Most Realistic Looking Car, etc. I think Drew appreciated the cookies more than the award. I did, too.