Our Weekend

Ryan took his scout troop up to Woods Canyon Lake
for an overnight this past Friday & Saturday.
They're working on their fishing merit badge.

Ryan is not a fisher.
Good thing his assistant scoutmaster & quorum advisor are.
They had all the gear, and most of the boys caught fish.
They were out on the lake in canoes and kayacks.
Ryan kept busy de-tangling lines, helping them cast,
but he didn't catch any himself.
I'm sure the troop is anxiously awaiting the fish fry
at this Wednesday's mutual activity. Oh, yum...

While he was away with the fish and the boys and the
foil dinners and the campfires,
our numbers were down by three. Right after
we got Ryan
out the door on Friday afternoon, I loaded up
the peeps and drove Afty & Rowan over to their
cousins' house for their much anticipated sleep over.

I almost didn't let Rowan go.
I had such an internal struggle after the week we had,
but decided rather than "punish" her
(and simulateneously
disappoint her cousin who had been looking
forward to their slumber party all week long),
I could maybe turn the whole awful week into
some kind of learning experience. I wasn't sure how, though.
I talked to my mom about it earlier in the day while the
girls were at school. She gave me her best advice
under the circumstances:
"Good luck."

Well, we had a really good, long talk when she came home.
We set some new parameters. We talked about the big picture,
well as much as you can really do that with a six year old.
We came up with a plan. We offered some apologies.
She committed to try harder, be better, be kinder. Me too.

We even designated a new "thinking chair" for those times when the temptation to catapult her body into a flailing tantrum are just too much to resist. In theory, she agreed to go there without coersion should the moment strike.

It's been 2 1/2 days since that talk, and she hasn't visited the thinking chair yet. There was brief mention of it Sunday morning as we waited in the driveway before church and she almost couldn't hold back, but her mood abruptly did a 180.

I think we might have actually had a pivotal moment together in our unceasing battle of the wills. We went two whole days, not only not butting heads, but actually enjoying each other. She accompanied me to the grocery store on Saturday evening, just she and I. As we loaded up our groceries, I complimented her on her pleasant behavior. It was such a breath of fresh air.
She's pretty much been amazing since that talk. Hmmm...how long can this last??

I don't know, but I'm eatin' it up and milking it for all it's worth. Tonight's FHE might be the real test.

Since we were down to three on Friday night, Barrett & I rented"The Last Song" from Blockbuster and had a movie night in my bed. We saw it together in the theatres when it first came out. I cried almost as hard the second time. Barrett's a little less sentimental than me. She didn't shed a tear, but we laughed and drooled over Will together. Easton sacked out early,
so it was just the two of us.

Really, I was the backup plan since her real plans fell through with a grounded friend. But that was OK - I think we both enjoyed spending the evening together.

After my 5 mile run early Saturday morning, the rest of the day was really all about the kids. Drop offs, pick ups, swimming, play time. We managed to get the house pretty clean too.
I killed off 3 of my big "hot spots." You know, those places that are clutter magnets and never seem to go away. When Ry got home, he asked, "So what was the occasion for cleaning
the laundry room?"

He noticed. I conquered the heaping mail pile and already too tall stack of bring home papers from schools that had amassed on my kitchen counter. I also de-cluttered two upstairs hot spots.
I had great visions of knocking out the whole house that day, having a paper-free office desk,
all the D.I. baskets unloaded, bagged and on their way to a new home, all the overflowing dresser drawers freed from the too short jeans and too tight shirts and the mis-matched socks.
Oh, the dreams I had.

Not sure why I dream like that. I know better. Maybe a better word than dream is aspire. I aspire to complete.

But the hot spots, dishes, laundry and bathrooms was all I could tackle in one day. I had the energy to do more, but I was in kid concierge mode and the day flew by.

Saturday night was date night, and a good one at that. We ate Mexican, saw the movie "Salt", which I loved. Angelina Jolie is one tough chic.

Sunday was fabulous as most Sundays are. A double farwell in our ward, followed by a great Sunday school lesson. We played some games together after church, I tried my hand at a new delicacy from my Hershey dessert cookbook, and took it with us over to Mike & Shari's for some supreme Italian food and great company. We visited about the Grand Canyon -Mike has done the hike a few times, so he dished out some pointers and made me even more excited to go. I hope they go next year too. I think they might.

We ended the night with some scriptures & prayer. Easton sacked out on the floor after two verses, and Rowan wasn't too far behind. With 2 down and 2 to go, Ryan suggested a re-match of Ticket to Ride.

We should've just gone to bed,
but we're all so competitive.
We gave in.
One final game before bed,
even though bedtime had passed.
We were rebels.
Afton & I tied (seriously, how crazy is that!)
Tied!!
You know what that means?
Another rematch tonight.