Why do people like to be scared?

I am not a person who likes scary movies at all. I mean seriously, I hide behind pillows, plug my ears and cover my eyes on those few occassions when I am exposed to the horror/suspense genre. I endured The Sixth Sense(which I came to love), suffered through The Exorcist in high school because my girlfriends just thought it was so funny, watched I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scream and was genuinely afraid...I am a wimp. Scary is scary to me, not really thrilling. I purposely avoid movies I know will scare the bejeebers out of me, and for good reason...I am sane(most of the time!)

Yet lately I have watched my three year old flirt with the idea of enjoying things that scare him. He is OBSESSED with Scooby Doo as of late. You remember the show right?

The cast looks harmless enough, but they are always trying to solve a mystery. Lately, Z can be found walking through the house looking for "cwhoos" after he say, "My (insert missing object)is missing, its a mystery right Momma?" Which he quickly follows up with, "Let's go find it!"

The funny thing about this show is that he loves it even though it scares the hell out of him. When a scary monster shows up, he is off that couch in a flash, running for cover behind the couch and peeking over the cushions. (Sounds familiar). You know a scene like this(probably not that intimidating for a grown adult, but through the eys of a child...I remember those monsters were scary)

And even though I tell him I am going to turn it off because it is scaring him, he insists, "I'm not scared Momma, I'll sit and watch it." and he'll head right back to his spot and sit there glued to the screen. I have tried to change his mind, suggest another show, engage him in a game, but he loves him some scary Scooby Doo!

Recently we bought him a Scooby Doo game for his Fisher Price IXL and he is obssessed with the book portion. He will have that book read to him three or four times before he'll move on to Toy Story or Batman even. Not to brag, but his reading comrehension(listening comprehension really) is amazing. He gets all of the questions right at the end, even though they mix them up. I mean when a kid is this engrossed in a book, even one on a screen, who am I to interrupt?

Needless to say apparently even at a young age people seem to like to be scared. I guess that's a mystery, that might never be solved?

Hiding out...

I think it might be the fact that it is almost April, and there is still snow on the ground, but the boys have been hiding out a lot lately. Every evening it seems that the two of them are off, packing "food" and toys and heading to the "Cave". I must say, sometimes all I can do is laugh when I see four feet poking out under a mound of blue and yellow. It reminds me a bit of that weird scene in The Wizard of Oz where the house lands on the witch and all that is left is her feet. Actually, can you even tell in this photo that there are two boys inside?

If you head into the cave, you will find these two playing, in their own special way.

Usually it involves Mattie picking something up, Zach saying, "Hey, that's mine!" and taking if from his brother. A comment that always involves some Mom intervention, and a discussion on sharing and finding other toys to play with. Since he's gotten so used to wanting what his brother has, Zach has discovered that if he really wants something Matt has, he can usually trade him. He'll take the watermelon from his hand, and quickly leave an orange in it's place, with a quick, "Here you go Mattie!" and neither of them seem phased by the exchange.

To say that watching these two play together brings me joy is an understatement. It truly makes me down right giddy! I love that they have each other, and I also think that out of everyone in their lives, no one will ever take the place of their siblings.

Its their days of hiding out that remind me of the blanket forts my brother and sister and I used to build. I remember feeling like a team when we played together then, and in their own way, I think Matt and Z feel that way too. Maybe that's why I get kicked out for being too big! Whatever it is...I just love that they make the most of each day, and that they find time to relax and appreciate each other. It is so much easier when they are playing together instead of fighting over which one should play with what, and pushing and swatting at the others' head. Can you guess which one does what?

Siblings...you have to love them, even when they drive you crazy, because in the end, we are all truly blessed to have them!

A Leprechaun Story...A Little late

Now that the the grading fog has lifted, I wanted to share a funny story from this past week.

On Thursday I went to pick the kids up at school and all Z could talk about was how the "lep- pre- chins" had made a big mess. He was pretty animated about the whole thing and I had no clue what he was talking about, but I thought his pronunciation of leprechaun was pretty funny. The whole ride home, he kept telling me how his room was all messed up yesterday and he had to clean it up, "Right Mommy?" It was all a little baffling, but I played along.

When we got home the kids got to doing what they do best, run through the house and and rip out as many toys in a matter of five minutes that they can get their hands on. It is actually amusing to see who takes more toys out these days, Matt or Zach. I did what I do best in those first few minutes home. I unpacked from the day, look at the boys' artwork, and read the notes of the day sent home from school.

According to Matt's teacher, Matt had had a wonderful day, and had seen his brother on the playground. He wanted to go over to him, but I guess he was too scared to go by the big kids. Aside from that, he had enjoyed circle time and playing with bubbles.

Zach's teacher had written: We had a great day today, making Shamrock collages in the am. Then we went out to play and the Leprechauns messed up our room. We had to spend time cleaning up all the Shamrocks they left behind. It was great fun!

Oh...light bulb!

There really had been Leprechauns that had made a mess of Zach's room...his school room, and he had helped clean up, not yesterday, but today. Apparently this is a popular "game" in schools for St. Patrick's day, but I was clueless. The best part of the story is that at some point in the day, they had colored in Leprechaun outfits made out of paper bags. I of course had to see Z dressed up as a Leprechaun:

Not to be outdone, I discovered that Matt also had some Leprechaun wear from school:

Actually I think Matt's hat looks more like a green pilgrim hat than a Leprechaun hat, but hey I'm no artist either!

While I was taking this picture of Matt however my other little leprechaun disappeared. I found him tearing everything out of the toy box in the play room. When I asked him what he was doing, he looked at me and innocently said, "I'm a leprechaun, I'm messing up the room, that's what Leprechauns do!" All I could do was laugh. I don't know about you, but I knew leprechauns were mischievous little creatures, I just didn't realize they could be so darn funny!

Just in case...

Anyone is wondering where I am. No I have not been abducted. No there is no major illness that has come to my family. No I have not given up blogging. No major life changes, all is basically status quo.

All, that is, except for the fact that I am in a grading haze. An enjoyable, but time consuming one. Apparently there is a reason why most teachers do not assign 10 poems and a reflection to over a hundred and twenty kids. That reason is because they are smart enough to realize that in order to grade them they have to read and respond to over a thousand poems. Maybe it doesn't sound intimidating, but it is. I have to be very gentle about my critique and very high on praise or these students may never long to write poetry again, and what a shame that would be.

I am working my way through a very high stake of papers, all while trying to work during the day, spend time playing and nurturing my sons at night, and then in my "me" time I am in the midst of poems.

It won't last forever, I know that! But,hopefully you'll come back when I am done, and I'm ready to be creative with more than just my comments to my students!

Wonder and Happiness...

And

Are what balloons bring!

(Which might be why I haven't been able to bring myself to POP them all week)

Because this smile:

And this smile:

Bring me JOY!

Birthday Part Part II...Celebrate!

Zach was really excited for his third birthday, not only because he got cake and cupcakes, but because all of his favorite people were in one place to celebrate. It is awesome having 5 boys in the families ranging from 7-1 and they all really enjoy each other. Getting them together is always entertaining. They love to run and play with each other, which makes picture taking a bit tricky. Here are some photos from the day:

Zach and Grandma Alice looking at the awesome Hulk cake:
And while Zach and Grandma Alice shared a moment, Matt got to do what he loves best...monopolize Grandma's attention: (She doesn't look at all like she minds...and trust me, he was attached to her hip almost all night!)

At dinner I was finally able to get a picture of four out of five of the boys:

And I could never forget to post a picture of my adorable little nieces, who just happen to be the sweetest little girls ever: After dinner Aunt Lisa helped organize the party activity. Cape decorating. I was so thrilled to get all of the kids their own capes to decorate from a great shop on Etsy. The kids(and parents) had a blast, and even Emma and Averie were able to get in on the fun.

The boys were so intense as Lisa explained what they were going to do:

As you can see, an adult per child was needed though to help with creating the capes.




The older boys made their own, but I helped Z and Matt with theirs. Ok...I made Matt's and then just put it on him for a picture...in my Mom's arms of course:

I was able to get a picture of Grant, Jack and Zach showing off their capes...actually they were temporarily entranced by Peter Pan (Thanks for that addition to our Disney vault Grams):

Then I snapped a shot off all the boys in their superhero capes:

Just before they powered up:

Averie also wanted to show off her cape after making it with Mommy:

Then it was time to sing "Happy Birthday"! I love that Zach joined in and sang to himself...it was sweet:

I also can't help but smile that Wayne and I are both trying to help blow out Zach's candles...I guess it goes to show, we just both want to make sure all of his wishes come true:

After we sang, everyone dug in, and I'd love to share pictures of the cake eating, present opening and other fun we had, but my camera went dead. For all of my planning I forgot to charge my camera battery before the party...oh well! I am sure my family will be happy to share the hundreds of pictures they snapped during the evening.

Thank you again everyone for coming and celebrating Zach's day!