Bedtime Stories

So, tonight I was reading to Rita, or I should say with Rita and she was cracking me up!  We have this Big Alphabet Book.  It has all the letters and one to three examples of the letter. For example A Apple, B Ball, Balloon and so forth.  So I am reading them to Rita and she says, "I can do it!" So I let her try.  She gets some of them right but at times she hesitates and looks at me.  I take that as a cue to help her so I say the letter or the word.  She then elbows me and says, "I can do it!".  OK, enough said. So I let her proceed.  But them the process repeats herself.  She gives me the mommy help me look so I oblige. But then it is followed by an elbow to the side, a smile and an "I can do it!."  So over and over and over we go.  I try to whisper it softer thinking that would be better but the elbow still comes.  Luckily she is little and I am tough.  It was pretty cute and some good mother daughter time!

Game night is good, right?!?

Game night is good, right? Well, that is what the commercials say at least.  So, in another effort of family unification I decided to try to play some games as a family together.  That can be difficult when that kids ages range from 1-11.  I bought Tommy one of those new Lego games yesterday so I thought that would be a good idea.  Guess I was wrong.  Tommy only wanted to play with me or at least 2 teams because it would take too long for 4 people to play.  Rita was screaming that she did not want to be on a team she wanted to play by herself.  So of course the yelling started. Tommy finally said the good old...."It is my game and you can't play!"  So I try to redirect to a more age appropriate game that all can play.  After carefully trying to be loving and calm with no yelling (on my part at least), we agreed on Hungry, Hungry Hippo followed by Book of Mormon Bingo.  Sounds good enough huh? Oh how you would be wrong.  Somehow there are only 7 marbles in the Hungry, Hungry Hippo game, which causes a real problem in how you play the game.  So being the clever person that I am I decide that I will drop one marble at a time on the game and we will all go after it, then the next one and so on.  Good idea, right? WRONG.  Well, it went good the first game or so until Rita decided that she wanted all the marbles. Then on course Sheridan could not be left out of the exciting Hungry, Hungry Hippo game and decided she wanted all the marbles. I mean, it is geared toward 9 yr old girls right? (insert sarcasm and rolling of eyes) I redirect the argument and after a little while we end that game and start on the Bingo.  Luckily the Bingo went pretty well, besides the fact that my kids can't stand to lose!  I blame that on the Schoens! I only can't stand to lose on Skipbo (inside joke). But really all you Schoens know that losing is not the best trait of the family. And if anyone has played a Schoen in a game they are VERY competitive.  This can be a good thing when it is harnessed for good.  Unfortunately it is my challenge to get my kids to use it for good instead of evil!  So far I think evil is winning.  But I must persevere right?  I will keep trying the family game night but I think I need to find a few more games that we ALL can play. Or, I need to clone myself that way I can play with each of them at the same time of course.  Because taking turns and sharing Mom are other things we need to work on, but that is another story!

Why do they call it Chicken Pox?

Well, in the wonderful world of immunizations you get used to not getting the "normal" childhood diseases. So Sheridan decided to shake things up a little and get good old chicken pox. That is right, I thought they were bugs bites at first. Afterall ,we are in South Texas and it is summer... summertime and mosquitos are synonymos. My Mom suggested chicken pox, but Sheridan has been vaccinated and even got a booster shot 2 months ago so I thought it had to be something else. But when I called the nurse she said to come in because if it was chicken pox they have to report it to the CDC! So we go and meet with Dr. Fischer. Our first time seeing him and he is very nice but sceptical that it would be chicken pox since she had the vaccines. She has about 25 "pox" on her trunk and I guess the full blown chicken pox are much worse and very obvious. So Dr Fischer say, " I am pretty sure it is chicken pox and should get better in 7 to 10 days. If it does not improve in that time we will look at something else." So I ask what else it could be. And good old Dr. Fischer says," Scabies." SCABIES?!?!?!?!? Oh how I hope it is chicken pox! Sheridan looks at me (I must have had a worried look on my face) and asks what scabies is. Now, I am not going to tell a 9 yr old little girl that scabies are mites that burrow into your skin, but I was not sure what to tell her. Dr. Fischer looks at her and says,"Oh, it is not big deal" and she was fine with that. Good thing he was there otherwise there would have been one little girl freaking out in the doctors office!

So the Schoen home is contagious! Luckily it is only spread by touch and all of her "pox" are on her trunk and are covered my her clothing. Plus the doctor gave her some medicine to help with the itching and it is wonderful! She takes it and does not even complain. She even only took it once today, so I think she is better. The bad thing is we were going to go the beach next week and we had to cancel it. The doctor did not want her around that many people even if the sores are dry swimming is a no no. The good thing is that it will save me a lot of money and Sheridan will have a story to get lots of attention! She likes attention if you did not know.

Now, for any of you that know me I am a picker. I am one of those people that can not stand to see someone with a blackhead especially the elderly. Some of those get HUGE!!!! So, staying at home has been difficult. Dealing with a child that now feels that it is all her fault that we had to cancel the trip has been difficult. But I think the hardest part has been not trying to pop the pox! This might gross you out but there has been some that are big with this perfect white tip. But, I have been good. I have resisted temptation and now most of the white ones are gone.

Now, I want to know why they call it Chicken pox. My thought is that the pox look like chicken skin, any answers?

Family Meeting

So between losing John and having our life turned upside down the family unit has taken a few hits. The perfect Mormon family with love for all, never fighting, always supportive, radiating the Savior's love, perfectly obeying mother all while looking perfect has not been us. I know, I know it is hard to believe, but I must confess it is true. It all came to a head this past weekend when the children turned into what I can only describe as devil children. It has been building between no summer schedule, me not used to being the main disciplinarian, and me trying to deal with losing John but still have enough energy to be consistent with boundaries/rule (which has not gone to well). So, after lots of yelling (not what I want for the family) and lots of tears on my part I decided that we needed to have a family meeting and figure this out together.

So picture this....Me and the 4 kids sitting around the kitchen table. I have paper, pen, the Scriptures, gospel art kit and we even start with a prayer! Good huh, almost textbook. We go around the table and each (except Miles) give a rule that we think the family should abide by. There is a little negotiating, or at least the kids trying to negotiate, about what constitutes "being kind" or "how many warnings do we get?" But it is going pretty well otherwise. Then as we continue the yelling and name calling starts! Are you kidding me? The first few rules are 1) We will be kind to each other 2) We will not yell 3) We will obey Mom. Well, all 3 of those rules were broken and the ink was not even dry! Fun times, fun times! Me being the Molly Mormon that I am decide to use my softest sweetest voice and try and redirect the kids back on topic while using words of kindness. Wow, I am good huh? Finally we are redirected and we continue on to Tommy's favorite part....hygiene chart!

I hope this will embarrass him when he is older, because that is partly why we have children right? We all know that Tommy is good if he takes a shower once a week and we are lucky if he actually uses soap! He actually tried to convince me that he did not have to take a shower on Sunday because he had been swimming on Saturday and that counted as "bathing"! Logic of a 11 yr old boy. Anyway, back to the meeting. I make a rule that everyone will shower/bath at least 3 times a week. Not a big deal for most of the family but the reaction I got from Tommy was priceless. He crossed his arms, gave a big huff, clinched his lips tightly and to complete it the glare that could kill! Is this normal 11 yr old behavior? I don't think my sister acted like this until she was at least 16 and I know I never acted like this! :0)

So, like any good Mormon mom I try to keep positive and lead the discussion in a spiritual direction. After of course I say to Tommy, "Seriously?!?" I am not perfect, I know! But I do give a little spiritual thought in about the Liahona and The Holy Ghost and how we need to be good so we can have The Holy Ghost guide us and be in our home. So, today was a little better and hopefully tomorrow will be even better. Tommy did take a bath in Grammy's pool and I did not force him to shower so all was well in his mind!

Working at the Carwash

So it is around 8:00PM and the girls wanted to play outside. Miles of course was following along looking like a "white trash" baby in a dirty shirt and pacifier in his mouth with a chocolate pudding ring around his mouth. The girls and Miles are out there when the neighbor Steven comes out with his 2 dogs Bear and Crash. The kids love playing with them and the dogs love it too. Steven decides he is going to wash his car and invites Sheridan and Rita to help him. They jump at the idea. I was waiting for them to ask how much he would pay them. Luckily they did not ask and apparently it is just me and Grammy that they expect to pay them! Weird huh? Anyway, they "wash" the car. By wash I mean get extremely wet, wipe it with a rag a little, stand on the top of the Tahoe and spray water EVERYWHERE!!! I think that was what Rita really wanted to do all along. Steven was soaking wet! Miles was toddling around getting wet, but still dirty as can be! Then Rita....my lovely Rita says, "Can I pee in the grass?" No Rita! "Can I pee in the street?" No Rita. "Can I pee in the bucket?" NO RITA! You get the point. On and on and on. I had the excuse her for her poor social skills and proceed to blame it on my mother! (Sorry Mom!) But Mom, you are the one that tells them to pee in the grass when they are swimming instead of going in the house! I can think of no other explanation! So Steven was soaking wet, Rita almost peed (sp?) in various parts of his lawn but the car was washed and Steven did not seem to mind (he is a very kind man). BUT....I am not sure if he will be asking for any more help washing his car again!