Paul Turns Eight

This past Thursday our Paul turned eight.  How crazy is that?  And yes, I'm aware that this happened nearly a week ago.  It's been a busy one, folks.  I'll catch up!

 Baby Paul on the couch at about four months.

8 Year Old Paul after swim lessons on his birthday - I love the big smile that is all gums - I used to do this!

Paul's birthday began with the building of his birthday train, a Bangsund Family tradition.

After the birthday train there were two small gifts from Mom and Dad.

 A little bit of LEGO...

 ...with a side of ham.

A cool craft kit that allows him to make these neato dragon things.

After breakfast and some LEGO building, it was time to go meet Grandma and Grandpa for second breakfast at IHOP, per the birthday boy's request.  Paul ate all five of his silver dollar pancakes, and then opened his gifts.

 It's a Minecraft sheep.  And Paul is utterly delighted.

 It's the Ender Dragon from Minecraft - in LEGO.  Really it's the coolest thing ever for most 8 year olds in the Western Hemisphere.

Checking out the back and showing it to the others at the table.  The adults were clueless but polite.  The older brother was probably a little jealous, but handled himself beautifully.

We went back to the house for a few hours before swim lessons, during which Paul built LEGO and Luke watched Paul build LEGO.  It really does work well, for the most part.  We headed for swim lessons at 12:15.  The boys are doing private lessons this year.  They just haven't ever learned much with thirty seven other kids in the pool.  It's not the best learning environment for folks who can get distracted by their own arm hair.  For. Real.  I was blessed to be whining about this predicament to a friend of mine who shared her solution to a similar problem in their family.  Private lessons with a college student who teaches the boys at the nearby high school pool during the adult swim hour.  It's empty, people.  Except for two or three elderly folks swimming laps, my dudes are the only peeps in the pool.  And they go one at a time so they can't even distract each other.  Good idea?  Yes.  Yes, it is.

I don't have pictures of Paul in the pool on his birthday, but here are a few from two days earlier, when he had his first lesson.  Teacher Nikki did a fabulous job getting him to put his face in the water by the end of his first day.

After swim lessons, Paul got to pick lunch.  Jack in the Box.  $1 for a grilled cheeseburger.  Yes, I know it's not a healthy choice, but folks, birthdays only come once a year.  And you can't beat $1!

We ran over to Fred Meyer to grab the birthday cake, and then headed home.  Regarding the lack of baking on my part - here's the deal - I had it in my plan and on my calendar to bake Paul's cake.  When the day came, Tuesday, I had delivered Paul to Canby to spend the night at my mom's place.  Luke was on his first overnight bike trip with Grandpa.  I got home at 3pm.  And I did not want to bake a cake with my free time.  So, I got online and noticed I could buy a cake for less than $20 at Fred Meyer. Terrible?  Nope.  Do I feel guilty?  Nope.  I played piano and sang for nearly two hours.  And when my husband arrived home I wasn't grumpy or crabby or stressed or overheated from having baked a cake.  I was relaxed and happy to see him and ready for our date.  I am so smart.

Anyway...we grabbed Paul's cake and headed home where I put the finishing touches on the basement for Paul's Minecraft party that evening.  Okay.  I want to be SUPER clear.  I hired my friend Vanessa to help me put all this together.  She has an amazing Etsy shop called Timber + Lace where she sells adorable and awesome party decorations.  I approached her about a month ago and asked if I could hire her to help me throw a Minecraft party for Paul.  I had spent about three minutes on Pinterest, and it only made me sweat and weep.  Crafting does that to me.  Vanessa said yes, and I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.  Sidenote:  If you aren't familiar with Minecraft, none of these pictures will make sense.  ;-)

 It's a creeper face made from square paper plates.

 Paul's birthday banner with Minecraft themed paper.

 Paul's finished Ender Dragon acted as our tables centerpiece.  There is a creeper head in the background, flanked by Paul's new sheep and ocelot.

 Both boys pose with the Ender Man that they helped me create!  Yes, we did this together.  Vanessa was super inspiring and encouraging.  She also left me enough black plates and black streamer to make this happen.

With the basement ready to go, the guests began to arrive!  We did an evening birthday party on the day of the birthday so that our Daddy-Man could be there.  The Saturday after the birthday was not available.  In the future, we will find a way to have the party mid-morning.  Evening just isn't our best time of day, but we made it work this time!

The kids started by eating pizza.  Then we played a game.  Pin the tail on the Minecraft pig.  Pictures.

Pizza eaters with the pig in the background

 More pizza eaters

Each player wore the creeper head and pinned their tail.  This is the birthday boy.

This is the birthday boy's brother.  We are keeping this thing forever.

This is the birthday boy's five-year-old friend's dad.  Aforementioned five year old was NOT going to wear the creeper head.  So his dad said he would do it for him.  Awesome.

The Fred Meyer cake with the cool cake toppers Vanessa made.  Happy Birthday, Paul!

After the cake it was time to play an hour of Minecraft.  No pictures available because I was upstairs with the moms enjoying mom time!  Overall, the party was a HUGE success.  And I was SO happy when it was done.  One down, one to go!!

More Birthday Than I Ever Expected

Ever been surprised?  In a good way?  ;-)  As a stay at home mom, too often the things that surprise me aren't all that pleasant.  You put what into the dryer?!?  (a red crayon - not good)  You did what to the carpet?  (drew a map in marker on it)  You ate how many of the saltines in one sitting?  (Two packs) See what I'm getting at here?  Surprises can be a mixed bag around here.

Last Friday my husband surprised me in the BEST WAY EVER.  Let me explain.  I knew that we were going to be having a small, intimate dinner at my in-laws place in celebration of my birthday.  It was going to be us and two other couples from church, our pastors and their wives.  These are folks that we appreciate and with whom we rarely get to socialize.  In fact, the six of us had NEVER done anything without kids that wasn't ministry related.  So, my in-laws made us a beautiful dinner to celebrate my 40th.  So fun!  Wanna see the menu?

So nice

It was fancy, people.  Speaking of people, you should see them, too.  Here are the people pictures.

 The Vices with their salads

 The Monroes also with salads

The Bangsunds

Dinner was so lovely.  That is perhaps the hugest understatement of this post.  It was elegant and refined.  Our children were not present.  Oh, the pure bliss of uninterrupted dinner conversation.  It was good.

We finished our main course and prepared to retire to the veranda for dessert, as stated on the menu.  Lovely.  We walked down the hallway of the condo, and there on the veranda were stunning, shiny pink decorations, a table full of pink desserts and twelve of our closest friends in this life, blowing on party noise makers, wearing pins with pictures of me from childhood, and shouting, "Surprise!"  It was the coolest thing anyone has ever done for me.  And let me be clear, I walked right up to my husband and kissed him on the lips and told him, "Good job."  I know full well the sacrifice and effort this took on his part.  Yes, he had help.  Kirsten and Vanessa from Roots did all the decorating and dessert arranging.  But my husband went WAY outside his comfort zone and planned this amazing, beautiful surprise for me.  I was stunned and thrilled and so excited.  And I cried a little.  I love surprises...the good kind...and I had never been thrown a surprise party before.  It felt so special to know that people were thinking and planning to do something this wonderful for me.  I'm not sure which love language surprises fit under, but it's mine.  I don't think I knew that until Friday night.  Anyway...here are some pictures...I wish there were more, but the photo booth photographer is pregnant with her third and I am NOT going to bug her for the pics from that business.  If/when she gets them to me, you might see even MORE birthday business from my 40th.  It was that epic, people.

Okay, here's what I do have.

This is the moment!

 SO surprised and a little weepy.

I wore this tiara all evening.  It lights up and says, "Party Girl."  These people know me so well.

A selfie with my Holly

He's dancing.  I'm so happy I took this picture.

I am so blessed to know these folks.

On Turning Forty

Let me be clear.  I love my birthday, and this year was no exception.  Turning forty has not freaked me out, bummed me out, or in any way bothered me.  I'm fairly certain it is because I have close friends on both sides of forty, some a decade ahead of me on the journey, some a decade behind.  All of them inspire me to do this well.

By "this" I mean aging, a word that many folks want to avoid and/or ignore.  I don't.  Age is not a state of mind.  It's simply a measure of how long your body has been on earth.  Right?  And aging is different for different people.  Some folks reach forty no wiser than they were at twenty.  Really.  I've met a few.  I can't claim to be all that wise, but I'm definitely wiser now than two decades ago.

Let me illustrate using a simple, real life example from the past six months.  I decided some time in January or February that I wanted my fortieth birthday to be a little more special than previous birthdays.  I am married to a man who loves me as Christ loves the church.  For real.  He chooses the highest good for me so consistently, a definition for love that I learned in Junior High and never forgot.  Love is choosing the highest good for the other person.  Erik does that.  And at the same time he is ADD.

What does that mean for birthdays usually?  Has Erik ever forgotten my birthday?  NO!  I would never let him do that. He would feel terrible.  I would feel terrible.  It would BE terrible.  I love him, people.  So, I help him remember the things that are important to me.  And when I want something to be special, I TELL HIM.  Toward that end, as I realized that I wanted my birthday to be more epic than normal, I started sending him ideas from Pinterest in February.  Not in a nagging, annoying way.  More like a "Maybe this" way.  People, I didn't start a board and pin all the ideas I wanted him to consider and then spend six months looking through it all.  I found one idea that I really liked and sent it to him.  About seven months in advance.  And then I forgot about it.  Honestly.  The forgetting part was pretty easy.  My memory is not that great anyway!

Let me fast forward to Wednesday morning this week.  I didn't actually sleep well on Tuesday because I was SO excited for my birthday.  It's true.  I knew I was going to be spending the bulk of the day with my dear friend, Holly, and we don't get to do that very often.  So, I woke up at 5:30 a.m., went out to the kitchen, started the coffee maker and headed to the living room for some quiet time. As I walked into the room, I noticed some candles on a side table that usually live on the mantel.  Not grumpy, but a little perplexed, I turned toward them to put them back where they belong.  That's when I noticed it.  Big.  Pink.  40.  It will be easier to show you.

Each sheet is from a different friend or family member and contains memories of time spent with me.  I was above and beyond surprised friends by this display.  And yes, I sent Erik something similar to this idea about seven months ago.  And then I forgot, so I was TOTALLY surprised!  Perfect.

Erik and I spent the morning reading through the pages and pages of memories as recorded by some of our closest friends.  Some of them were funny.  Some of them were poignant.  All of them were encouraging and edifying, reminding me of all the Lord Jesus Christ has done to save me and transform me over the past forty years.  You see, I have recently fallen into the trap of thinking untrue things about myself.  I'm not sure why, for whatever reason, it just hasn't been uncommon for me to be thinking thoughts like, "I'm not a great mom," or "I don't really have much to offer folks."  Those are lies, but if you've ever heard them, you know how easy it is to believe them.

Each one of these pages told me the truth about myself in Christ Jesus.  I have loved well in His name.  I have encouraged others in His strength.  I have shown His light in dark places through His power and not my own.  Oh, how I needed to read these things about myself.  What a great gift.  I was so blessed by my husband's efforts and the time my friends and family took to create this present.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Sidenote:  it was also easy on the budget (pink construction paper from the playroom plus printer paper from the office).  Nice.

Next stop:  Holly's house!  Time for another picture.

Isn't this lovely?  Holly and I enjoyed a late breakfast of scrambled eggs with pesto accompanied by a cup of English Breakfast at this beautifully appointed table.  My children were somewhere in this house or its adjoining yard at that point.  I don't really know where.  Perfect.

After our leisurely brunch, during which Holly's ten year old daughter willingly waited on us despite having been freed to go and play, we loaded the kids in the van to take them to free lunch in the park.   I love this program.  The kids arrive, wash their hands, and are given a bag lunch.  My kids are finally old enough to actually eat the food.  Luke ate his turkey sandwich and Paul ate his hummus and pita bread with a side of string cheese.  Holly and I enjoyed more conversation and the shade.

Our lunch table in the shade.

After lunch, we dropped all the kids back at the house (with the fifteen and thirteen year old in charge), made some quick iced coffee with caramel, and headed for the bead shop about seven minutes away.

This was Holly's birthday surprise for me.  We made bracelets together in the craft room at the local bead shop.  It was SO much fun.  I'm not crafty at all, but I can put beads on a string.  And so we spent a couple hours picking beads, stringing beads, and chatting uninterrupted by kids.

 Ready to bead it up kid-free!

 Planning my pink bracelet. I like pink.

 Nearly finished...

Done and awesome.

We headed back to the house where Holly put together another stunning meal of chicken salad.  I think I took a picture of that goodness...

Yep.  Pretty amazing, huh?

I cannot thank my dear Holly enough for making my day so very lovely.  I am grateful for you, friend.

The boys and I headed home, where Erik made pancakes and bacon for dinner with my mom as a guest.  Cheap and complaint-free were what I wanted for dinner on my birthday.  This meal is both every time.  We enjoyed my mom's award winning apple pie for dessert.  Okay.  She's never won any awards for it, but that's only because she's never entered it in any contests.  If she did, it would win.

Then I jetted out the door for the first evening of our Roots Women Summer Bible Study.  I was asked to co-lead that adventure and said yes, knowing the first meeting would fall on my fortieth birthday.  Why would I do that?  Simple.  I love the Bible and I love being with women to study it.  We had a blast.  We studied Mary and Martha.  I gleaned sweet, awesome truth from women who shared what God taught them through the study.  I shared what God taught me.  People, this is exactly the kind of thing I LOVE doing and getting to do it on my birthday was epic. There was also cheesecake.  And they sang to me.  So, that happened, too.  (Yes, I ate two desserts on my birthday, but it's okay because I didn't have any pancakes...)

 Overall, turning forty has been sweet.  Being forty?  So far, so good.  And I have a plan to help the goodness continue.  I'm going to take the birthday money gifted to me so very generously by my fabulous in-laws, and I am going to take piano lessons!  EEK!  I'm so excited!  I took lessons between the ages of eight and fifteen-ish.  Since then, I have also learned to play in a worship band and accompany myself if given a chord chart or a piece of sheet music that I can fake my way through.  A short while ago, I found myself talking to a friend about wanting to study piano again in earnest.  She was SO encouraging and even loaned me some of her piano books from her youth.  For the record, she started at the top of the pile with her most difficult books, and I kept her flipping through until we hit the books for junior highers.  I've been working my way through one of them, and it's a perfect fit.  We all knew I was still in junior high mentally, right? ;-)

Endings Mostly

We finished school back on June 13th.  Yes, it was a Saturday.  After taking a much-needed week off to take the boys to the cabin in May, I found myself a week behind.  And so, I crammed two weeks into one week at the end, but I needed an extra day to jam it all in.  Oh, c'mon.  The public schools are doing similar things.  I know.  I used to live there.

Anyway, last week was full to overflowing with jury duty, play dates, a piano recital,  and the OCEANetwork homeschool conference.  Is it any wonder that I only just today accomplished one of our end of the year traditions?  I finally took Luke's picture with his favorite books from the year.  I took Paul's last week sometime.  I'm not even sure which day.  Last week was just one big blur, folks.

So, pictures.  That's we care about.  Right?  Right.  We'll start with Paul and his favorite books from the year.  There are two pictures because I think my son is adorable.

 Lots of books, I know.  He likes books, and we read a lot of great ones every year with Sonlight.  It rocks.

 Same books, different face.  All cute.

This is what happens every time we start talking about favorite books from the year.  He has to stop and reread a few.  September was a long time ago.

And now, through the magic of the digital world, we will pretend I took Luke's picture the same day.  Okay?  Good.


Lots of books.  Luke could not pick fewer than this.  If you don't know what to read to your kids this summer, call me.  I have a few titles to recommend.  ;-)

And just because it cracks me up...the bookshelf with all the books from last year...




And the bookshelf after Luke picked his favorite books:

I have said it over and over.  Sonlight is awesome.

And now a new tradition.  I took a picture of my favorite books from the year.  And I might write a bit about them.  Scroll down if books bore you.  And call me.  Because I might need to get you into a 12 Step Program.



Sticks Across the Chimney by Nora Burglon is the sweet story of a brother and sister, trying to make a living and survive with their now widowed mother in rural Denmark.  Mystery and intrigue are coupled with innocence and ingenuity as they find creative ways to make money while also exploring the ancient Viking tomb on their land.  It's so fun!

Red Sails to Capri by Ann Weil - I'm not kidding...if you haven't read this...stop reading this blog and go get a copy.  It's delightful.  A boy living on the island of Capri welcomes three foreign men to his father's inn.  One seeks adventure.  One seeks beauty.  And one seeks to explain a mystery to the world.  What they discover together accomplishes all three.  I. love. this. book.

Catching Their Talk in A Box by Betty M. Hockett is the biography of Joy Ridderhof, a woman who traveled all over the world making recordings of the Gospel in different languages.  Her dependence on the Lord for all things and her willingness to allow God to change her plans impressed and convicted me.  Yes, this book was part of a homeschool curriculum meant to instruct my children.

Peter the Great by Diane Stanley - Did you know that Peter the Great traveled to Europe and worked as a common laborer for part of his life?  This picture book taught me that and plenty more about a very important Russian Tsar.  I would NEVER know this stuff if I didn't homeschool.

Michelangelo by Diane Stanley - Another amazing picture book through which I learned the great artist didn't really like painting and considered himself more a sculptor than a painter.  Dang.  Better than that, when one of the religious uppity ups criticized him for painting too many naked people, he added the dude to one of his paintings...naked, of course.  WHAT?!?  For real.  Don't mess with Michelangelo, people.

Good Queen Bess by Diane Stanley - Last picture book.  Elizabeth I was awesome.  I think I knew this before I read this book, but hearing the story of how she inspired the troops before the fight with the Spanish Armada...well...it was inspiring!

The Door in the Wall by Maguerite De Angeli - The story of a knight's son stricken by illness in the Middle Ages who loses the ability to walk, thus bringing his entire identity into question.  Without the ability to become a knight, what will he become?  A poignant and meaningful story that prompted important conversations about what defines us as people.

Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski is the story of two families struggling against poverty in Florida at the turn of the century.  The feud that is brought on by a difference of opinion about property rights again sparked great conversations in our house.  Who talks about stuff like that with their nine and seven year old?!?

The Little Riders by Margaretha Shemin - A young girl and her grandfather hide the town's treasure, The Little Riders, from the Nazis during the WWII occupation of Holland.  Suspenseful but not scary, we read the bulk of this book in one sitting!  And I cried at the end because freedom and liberty are beautiful things.

Okay.   End book reports.  :-)  On to the piano recital!

Luke's piano recital was a week ago.  He did great.  I took before and after pictures, but no during pictures.  I was actually waiting backstage for our duet.  :-)

 Luke points out something on his program to his seat buddy, whom he has known since they were two.  For real.

 Smiling for the camera.

After the recital with Mrs. Fox.  We love this woman.

A few more pictures because I took them and they are fun.  This is my friend and me at the OCEANetwork homeschool conference together this past Friday.  We are in the vendor hall.  It might be one of my favorite places on the planet.  

Then on Saturday, Erik and I took a selfie together...in the vendor hall...again.  YES, we attended sessions about homeschooling!  But we also spent lots of time in the vendor hall shopping!  :-)

And this is me with three other dear women whom I adore.

Okay.  Last thing.  We had something end this morning that was a little sad.  Paul's beta fish, Jack, died.  We had some tears.  And then we went and bought a new fish for $3.99 at the pet store about a mile from our house.  Meet Blueflame.

We all like the red and purple combo on this guy. And he is adjusting nicely to life as a Bangsund. :-)

First Ever Standardized Test

Luke took his first ever standardized test today.  And not that these matter, but in the homeschooling world it's the law.  They must be taken certain years and this was Luke's first year of required testing.  Oh, friends.  I won't lie.  I was a little unsure how this would go.  He had never seen a scantron sheet before today.  We took a practice test Sunday, and it went great, but seriously.  A new building.  A person he doesn't know.  What would this look like for our boy?

I scheduled the test with Basic Skills, the independent, state accredited testing site located about twenty minutes from our home.  I chose to pay the extra cash for a private test, meaning it would just be Luke and the person administering the test.  People, he gets distracted easily.  Really easily.  SQUIRREL!  Right?  I mean, make the choice that makes sense for your person.

And then I did something that I ALWAYS wanted to do while teaching public school.  During the week that led up to testing, we did LESS school.  Yep.  We reviewed a few key math concepts that had shown up on the practice test, but overall, he did less seatwork this week than usual.  It was glorious.  We went on play dates.  He read books for pleasure.  (First three Redwall novels in three days. Perhaps a nine year old record?) Nobody would have guessed it was his testing week.  Perfect.

After a decent night's sleep, some piano practice (music relieves stress, people) and some protein, we headed out the door this morning with a calculator, a water bottle, and a Kashi bar.  They provide the pencils and scratch paper.  We arrived at 9:47 a.m. for our 10 a.m. testing slot.  After praying in the car for Jesus to give Luke both peace and joy during this process, we headed inside.  There was a little bit of paper work for me, but then it was time.  As Luke headed down the hall, I said, "Have fun, Buddy!"  And I meant it.  We were told he would be done by 11:30 a.m.  Okie dokie!

Paul and I headed out to visit our favorite homeschooling book store, Exodus Books, located about eight minutes from Basic Skills.  I perused the shelves while Paul played with the toys they put out for homeschool kids.  It's one of my very favorite places.  Curriculum I can touch and look though in an environment that is ultra kid friendly.  Happy Mommy.  Sidenote:  Exodus has the best summer reading program ever that includes fabulous grade level book lists.  You don't have to be local to participate.  It's seriously led us to amazing books that we might not have otherwise encountered.

I kept an eye on the time, deciding that I wanted to be back to Basic Skills closer to 11:15 than 11:30.  We put gas in the Volvo, bought a snack sized bag of potato chips for Paul (little brothers need something special on test day, too) and drove back up the hill to collect our Luke.

Upon our arrival, Jenny Bumcrot, the test adminstrator and co-founder of Basic Skills, popped out to tell me Luke had finished early.  She could tell I wasn't surprised.  She smiled at me, letting me know that she told Luke to triple check his work on each section.  That's how fast he finished.  I thanked her and she made a comment about how quickly he reads.  I didn't tell her about the Redwall read-a-thon (over 1,200 pages) this week.

I just laughed and said, "Yep."  What else do you say?  Then the surprise of the day came.

"His results will be available in just a few minutes."  One of the bonuses of paying for a private test is that you have immediate results.  I had been completely unaware of this fact.  So we sat in the lobby and made small talk with the other family there while we waited.

Sure enough within just ten minutes, our fabulous test administrator arrived with a basket of prizes from which both the test taker and the little brother were encouraged to pick.  She then invited the boys to sit  in the lobby (stocked with books and toys) while we stepped down the hall to go over Luke's results.

Guess what?  Luke did really well.  He took the California Achievement Test/Terra Nova 2 and scored in the 94th percentile overall for reading, language arts, and math.  And this dear, sweet woman who has been doing this a very long time, looked at me and said, "I just love to see children doing well.  You are doing a wonderful job teaching him."  I nearly wept.  She's an expert in her field, folks.  She sees homeschooled kids all day every day.  And those words of encouragement were gold to me.  Absolute gold.

We headed out to the lobby with Luke's test scores neatly folded into an envelope.  They will get filed in case the Educational Service District requests them.  Check that box for the year.  But we gained so much more from this experience.  Mrs. Bumcrot told Luke he did great and then encouraged him to thank me for being such a great teacher.  He grinned and gave me a big hug.  Good enough, Buddy.

We ate celebratory lunch with Daddy at Subway and took a trip to the park and the library to pick up four more Redwall novels.  Yep.  It's summer.  Wanna see a picture I took at the park of the test taker?  Sure you do.

I love the look on his face here.  Contemplative.  Quintessential Luke.

Solving the Problem of Picky Eaters

I have raised picky eaters.  I know this.  And I know that it is primarily my fault.  Lame.  Having picky eaters means that trying new recipes is always a rather hellish experience.  You find a recipe.  You buy the ingredients.  You spend time preparing the recipe.  It arrives at the table.  And people fuss and moan.  I tend to take this personally.  And suddenly dinner becomes an obstacle, something that makes me dread the end of the day.  No good.

My dilemma:  I want my kids to try new foods, but I hate the process of researching, buying, cooking, crashing and burning.

Two weeks ago during my quiet time (yes, I pray about stuff like this) I was ranting to Jesus about how much I despise dinner time.  And He brought to mind something that a friend has been doing called Blue Apron.  They send you recipes with all the ingredients.  There are online videos you can watch.  It's a different recipe every time.  New foods.  Less work.

I figured it was way out of our budget.  My sister-in-law uses the phrase "for rich people."  Right?  Nope.  For two meals a week, it was just a little more than what I would spend at the grocery store for the same stuff.  That's about how often I feel like I can get away with introducing new stuff to the boys.  Twice a week.  So I signed up, not really knowing how all this would shake down.

We received our first Blue Apron box on Friday and tried our first meal out on Saturday.  Erik actually did all the cooking because my sinus infection continues to lay me a bit low.  Our first recipe was Chicken Parmesan with Fresh Mozzarella and Spinach-Zucchini Pasta.  We made a slight variation for the boys.  Instead of topping their chicken with the diced tomato and onion saute, we topped theirs with plain tomato sauce with a touch of brown sugar, a variation of my much-beloved meat sauce.  We plated the food and made it look shiny.  Presentation is everything, right?

We also grabbed two marbles for each boy (worth ten minutes of weekend video game time) and put them on the table.  We explained to the boys that the marbles would be earned by trying everything and only saying positive things about the meal.  And it worked.  They totally ate the food.  Yes, they were unsure.  Yes, they balked a bit.  But they both tried the chicken and ate it.  Paul ate half of his chicken breast and loads of pasta.  Luke ate all of his chicken and all of his pasta.  SUCCESS.  I'm not kidding.  I nearly wept.

Tonight was our second Blue Apron evening.  We had spent some time talking with the boys about how Blue Apron nights are always going to be something new.  And we told them that our next meal was going to be catfish.  Yes.  Catfish.

Erik and I cooked together this time.  Dukkah-Crusted Catfish with Sugar Snap Pea & Couscous Salad.  I know.  I felt like it might be asking too much of them.  But I just decided to go with it.  The kitchen smelled amazing.  We plated the food again.  We put the marbles on the table, reminded them how to earn them, and prayed over the food.  They ate it.  For real.  My kids ate catfish.  They struggled more with the couscous because it was a larger variety than they are used to and we put lemon on it.  They don't love lemon.  Guess what?  I can serve the lemon wedges on the side and folks can lemon their own couscous next time, boys.

At the end of the meal, Luke actually said something like, "I like Blue Apron."  Me, too, buddy.  For sure.

 No, I won't stop and pose.  I'm eating.  (Our first night, Paul decimated his Spinach Zucchini Pasta.)

Empty chicken plate.  Working on his pasta.  Also unwilling to stop eating and pose.  :-)

Green Belts, Sunriver, and Other Bits

We've had a full May so far.  I would love to wax eloquent about all we've been doing, but I have a sinus infection. So, I'll just post pictures and tell a few of the stories instead.

Two weeks ago the boys earned their green belts at Taekwondo.  They were so excited.  You might notice someone missing.  It's true.  I haven't been back to class since earning my orange belt (with a broken toe) in March.  That toe took awhile to heal, and my Friday mornings were often filled by an adorable three year old with a Daddy waiting for a heart transplant.  Providing childcare for my friend was more important.  Will I go back to Taekwondo?  I don't know yet.  It was fun.  But I also broke two toes in six months.  So...the jury is still out.  Here are the pics.

 Holding their green belts after testing.

Looking fierce with Master Nirangen.  I love how Luke is looking at his instructor...he thinks pretty highly of this man.  So do I.

Paul searches for bugs with our three year old guest.  By the way, his daddy got a new heart on May 1st, the day this picture was taken.  When his mom arrived to pick him up, we were among the first to hear that there was a donor heart.  After praying so hard for so long (about 100 days at OHSU) it was more than surreal to hear that the time had finally come.  The transplant was a complete success and Bob continues to do well with no signs of rejection.  We don't get to see our little man as often now, but we rejoice with him and his family. And Bob says he is going to start blogging, so look for that link soon!

Then we went for a hike.  Oy.  This post is evidence of the fact that Sudafed does weird things to me.  Sorry for the crazy, random writing.  Pictures.  Let's stick to pictures.

 I can't even remember what was upsetting Paul, but I just had to post this.  Sometimes this is what life is like.

 Later we found this cool tree and Paul was happier.

Then they switched places.

I got cute haircut.  Wanna see?

Before

After

Noel at Vanity Junkie rocks.

And most recently, the boys and I took a trip to Sunriver by ourselves.  Erik had to be in Vegas for his National Sales Meeting this past week, so we packed up the van and went on vacation.  It was such a brilliant idea.  Of course it wasn't perfect the entire time.  They are kids.  And I'm a flawed mom.  But seriously, no requirements on our time and lots of fun things to do made the week fly by.  We went to the SHARC, the totally awesome aquatic center, each day we were there.  And there were no crowds and no traffic.  Magic.

 Our first afternoon at the cabin.  Their faces say it all perfectly.

 Chess.  It's a big thing here now.  Luke is the one who loves it.  Paul plays because he loves his brother.  And I play because I love my son.  

 Our second day, a Wednesday, and they are the only kids in the pool.  Seriously folks.  In the summer this place is packed.  You can't move two feet without bumping into someone.  This is better.

 In the evenings we would clear the table together after dinner, do the dishes and then either play a game or watch a movie.  This was the night we ate mini chocolate chip cookies from Trader Joe's and I taught the boys to play Yahtzee.  Luke's quote for the night as the game progressed, "It's all just random, isn't it?"  I think chess is more his speed, but Yahtzee is more his mama's speed!  Poor child.

 So, I recently learned that coffee doesn't really stunt your growth.  At all.  And the caffeine might actually help the ADHD brain to slow down a bit.  Guess who got to try coffee on our trip?  Yep.  My kids.  To be clear, they are drinking about two tablespoons of coffee with two tablespoons of almond milk and a drop of agave.  They liked the idea of drinking coffee with mom, just like dad.  But in reality, they weren't really into it.  Oh, well.  Maybe in five more years.

The weather wasn't really all that great, but it didn't matter.  They put up their hoods and were just fine.  This is the rock climbing area outside the SHARC.  We spent time there when we arrived before it opened on Thursday.

Then we came home.  We have four weeks left of school.  We will finish later in June than the public schools, and we will start earlier in August than they do.  But having weeks in the middle of the year to do trips like this one is TOTALLY worth it.  Yes, we will still go to Sunriver in July, and yes, it will be WAY crazier. But Erik and I are already looking ahead to find some time in September or October when we can get away with the boys and enjoy the quiet of the cabin.