Joy School Reunion

Marie' and I first met in Philadelphia while our husbands were attending business school.  We each only had two children at the time and formed a Joy School with another friend Nary (I sure wish she could have visited).

During our time in Philadelphia the church had lent our family a '95 green aerostar Ford mini van for the use of helping transport church members to activities and meetings. When transporting the youth it was called the "ghetto bus" because we circled through several ghetto neighborhoods and packed in as many kids as we could fit.

When off duty we called the van the "joy school bus" and took it on several outings, field trips, and errands with our joy school clan.  On this last visit together we piled all our kids in and chuckled about how both our families and van have grown in size.  It was the return of the "joy school bus".

Unfortunately we became joy school drop outs because us moms spent more time together shopping, cooking, and serving in the branch than planning and executing lessons. But those were great times and planted the seeds of great friendship among both the children and the moms. Now if we could only plan a cross country trip and cram Nary and her kids in the big van - that would be a true Joy School reunion.    

Friendships and Projects

Our first stop was Pullman, WA to visit Marie' and her family.  The older boys have been friends since they were 2 and it is always a joyful reunion when we are together.  Just like their moms, they enjoy similar interests, Legos, science, art, and math.  During their last visit with us in UT they stayed up until 12:00 am discussing topics such as cube roots and variations of the preamble.  This time they stayed up late playing "infinity" questions (kind of like 20 questions) then woke up early to crack open their math book where they got the idea to make a paper icosadodecahedron (32 sides including 20 triangles and 12 pentagons).  These are two very unique boys and we still laugh at the memory of them age 3 arguing about who liked broccoli more.  Here they are engrossed in their own project.       
Here's what the moms were working on, wardrobe planning, designing, and pattern tracing.

The younger kids worked on making all sorts of messes but we were too busy crafting that we didn't get a picture of that. The visit was too short and Maryanna was in tears when it was time to leave her little friend Kai.

There is nothing like great friends who share similar interests and have kids that love being together. I sure wish we lived closer!
 

Free Range Kids

We have returned from our first road trip in the big van.  Besides for the fact that the CD player jammed only half a mile into the trip, the big van proved to be a great road trip vehicle.

Even without the entertainment of a DVD player or distraction from multiple CD's the kids were less whinny and less restless than they were on any of our previous road trips.  

The problem was they roamed the van as if the the fasten seat belt light had been turned off.  At one point during the drive I couldn't spot Peter and the boys reassured me he was just sleeping.  But where?  I asked.  I had to climb over two benches to take the above photo of him all curled up with his elephant on the floor under the bench.

Maryanna wasn't as restful, she took the liberty of unbuckling herself as soon as she saw me doze off.  I would wake just minutes later to a laughing and thumping as she perfected her flip over the benches (let's hope she doesn't attempt this this coming Sunday on the church benches).

The older boys were actually quite helpful with their seat belts unbuckled. They were able to pass out snacks, retrieve dropped toys and even buckle back in younger siblings.

It wasn't until the last 200 miles that I finally got through to them about the importance of staying buckled up. I don't know if I actually got through to them but each of them earned the Junior Mints that were promised to whoever stayed buckled. I suppose it may be hard to convince them especially after sharing all my childhood memories of traveling in a similar van.

     

What can you get for $60

Last weekend's garage sale escapade was a bit spendy, a lot more than I typically spend.  It was a good thing James was with me with his wallet because I had to borrow from him more than once (he charged me %1 interest for everyday I forgot to pay him back).

Here's what I got:

Zooper   Single Jogging stroller (barely used, retail $450) - $35

Bike attachment for young bikers to ride behind their Daddy- $5

Cowboy boots - $1 

Rain boots - $1

Stride Rite sneakers - $1

Salt Water sandals - $1

Gap Velcro sandals - $1

Vintage handmade cotton blouse - $.50

Pile of designer kid's clothes ($.50 a piece, including Ralph Lauren, James Perse, Gap, and Old Navy) - $4.50

bolt of vintage cotton trim - $4.00

Books, toys, and other misc. - $6.00 

Paul gets nervous every time I come home with a load of stuff because we still have to pack a moving truck. I on the other hand am convinced that I can find most stuff I need and want at garage sales, the girls still have several gaps to fill in there Fall/Winter wardrobes so that is what the hunt will be tomorrow - wish me luck!

Check out my new ride

Paul called it "The People Mover"

The boys called it the "The Unschool Bus"

But I have yet to name it and this one is mine.  I've been begging for it ever since we had 3 children.  I learned how to drive on one of these, my mom had 3 different models that she drove throughout my youth.  In it you can fit a lot of stuff and even more fun, a lot of people.

Paul drove this back from San Diego just yesterday - it was quite a funny ordeal so I hope he'll write about it sometime.

You may notice the windows are untinted. I didn't notice that when I saw the posting on Craig's list San Diego but I'm not in the business of impressing people with my ride, maybe it gives it more character. One thing I won't need is a series of those back stickers representing how many kids you have, passing drivers will be able to count and see the kids themselves, some with footballs, some with big bows and certainly a few screaming babies.

My mom also drove a big white van with untinted windows. One of Paul's earliest memories of my family was seeing that van pull up to the elementary school, kids jumping all over the place (this was before seat belt laws were enforced) and my mom passing out brown paper lunch bags as we all piled out.

My favorite van memories were the times when all the seats were taken out (again, before seat belt laws). We would van surf and see who could keep their footing around turns and over big bumps. On one occasion all the seats were taken out for a trip to the Pepperidge Farm factory. My mom bought enough day old bread to fill the entire back at least 2 feet deep. The bread was cheap feed for the sheep and pigs but those who accompanied her on this errand enjoyed not only the treat of eating as much white bread as we could but also the thrill of jumping and swimming in piles of loaves.

I can't wait to see what adventures and memories await us with the new van and if I ever got chance at  MTV's Pimp my Ride, I've got a lot of ideas starting with tinting the windows and perhaps an intercom system.    

Never leave children unattended

Even for a minute!

The above photo was recreated within arms reach of a responsible adult.  It had to be documented. 

The three youngest were content watching Baby Noah while the older three were outside. I needed to run upstairs to chat with my mom for just a minute and made the mistake of telling Maryanna (not yet 4 at the time) to watch Henry.  She went above and beyond, this is what I saw when I ran downstairs not more than 2 minutes later.  I gasped loud enough for my mom upstairs to come down and check on us.

If it is not clear from the picture, Maryanna some how balanced Henry on a baby folding chair on top of a side table on top of a child size rocking chair.  It took me two tries to recreate that because the rocking chair is so unstable.  Not only that Henry weighs 28 lbs and Maryanna had to somehow lift him well above her shoulders with out knocking down the stacked furniture.  I honestly don't know how she did it and I am still wondering what she was thinking at the time.  I want to laugh but I'm also grateful because I know someone else must have been watching out for him at that moment.

I believe guardian angels are one of the tender mercies allotted to us mothers of  very young children.  I believe my mom could write a whole chapter on it and hope she gets to writing her book soon.      

New linen skirt

For those who have not noticed or cannot tell from the picture above I've added a new little widget to my blog to show our growing baby - baby #7 is on its way!  We are so excited but all of my maternity clothes have been in storage.  I either figured we wouldn't be staying with my parents so long or I wouldn't get so big so quickly - probably both.

Just yesterday I took the kids to the BYU natural history museum and unable to zip my jeans I left them open with a long shirt and a fitted tank to cover. The one thing about a growing belly though it takes up length as well as width and the shirts rolled up more than once. I told myself I was not going out into public again until I had something appropriate to wear. I made this skirt when I got home (check out my sewing blog for more details about the pattern) and then begged Paul to commit to a storage unit errand.  He was a  hero and came home sweaty with just what I needed, it was in the back and under everything else we don't really need at this time.

I am happy to have my bin of worn out maternity clothes but recognize I could use a few fresh pieces.  I just may take apart my worn out favorites and use them as patterns and do a bit of sewing for myself for a change.

My ultrasound is in one week and I'm thinking about not finding out the gender.  On one hand it would be nice to plan and sew but on other hand it would be fun to be surprised.  What do you think?  I've already got everything I need for both.