Snow in San Antonio



SNOW IN SAN ANTONIO!!!!!!  Well they say it was snow but we got less than an inch at our house and most of it was melted by noon. But for these Texas kids that have NEVER seen snow it was awesome. The kids got up early. I was glad to see school was cancelled and figured I would let all the kids sleep and I would sleep in too. Well, of course when they do not have to get up they are up at 6:30AM. Every other weekday I have to basically drag Sheridan out of bed or yell that we are going to be late. And usually I have to dress Rita in her sleep and carry her to the car sleeping. But of course this is a snow day so up bright and early it is. Except for Miles....and me. I tried to stay in bed as long as possible and the kids went outside and played with the neighbor. Finally I figured I should go and check on them and make sure they had their coats on!!!! Luckily they did. The kids were playing with the neigborhood kids and our neighbor Stephen (the biggest kid in the neighborhood) and sledding down the driveways on the street.  There was a layer of snow/ice on the driveways and some of our neighbors have pretty steep driveways. 



The kids in their first snow ever. We only got less than an inch but we'll take it.

 



The family enjoying snow and staying warm.

 



Rita and Sheridan "sledding" down a neighbors driveway on a rubbermaid container lid. "Texas Sledding"


 Miles enjoyed the snow but he was the first one reasy to go inside.  The big kids stayed outside and tried to have snowball fights but there really was not too much snow for a successful battle.  Tommy did bring in a "piece of winter" otherwise known as a snowball and put it in the freezer to save for later.  I am not sure what he is going to do with it, but I guess he did not like the fact that the snow was melting.  Next week it is going to be in the 50's and Hopefully keep going up from there.  I enjoyed the snow but I really don't like the cold. Our winter is nothing like they got up on the east coast, but I am so spoiled with mild winters, that when it gets cold I just want to curl up under the covers and I don't get anything done!  So now I have to get to laundry and cleaning.  So much for the snowy fun, time to get back to the routine!

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!

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!

The Emporer's...I mean Rita's New Clothes

So since moving back to San Antonio we have been going to my Mom and Dad's house for lunch/dinner. Today was no different but I was having Home Teachers come over at 7 PM so we needed to eat early for sure. All went well and my mom made some wonderful gumbo, I took a short nap (nice, thanks Mom) and then I went to get the kids ready to go. Rita had decided to take off her dress and walk around the house in her underwear. Not a huge deal, but when I told her we were going to leave she would not get dressed. I decided to do the "I'm leaving even if you are not coming" and started to get Miles in the car. Sheridan and Tommy proceed to come out and all is going well. Then I look at the front door and Rita is walking, I mean strutting out of the house sans dress (underwear only) carrying one of my old purses. Oh, yeah and she has her high heel shoes on. Boy was it a site. I should have taken a picture. She proceeds to the car, gets in her car seat like it is not big deal. Kind of like the "Emperor's New Clothes". Maybe she did not realize she was naked? Who am I kidding, I have a 4 year old that like to be naked. Maybe I should be grateful she had her underwear on!!!!!

An eventful weekend

Tommy's cub scout pack was in the San Benito, TX Christmas parade. The boys dressed up as the nativity scene. Tommy was a shepherd. Sheridan had to get in on the excitement too and was also a shepherd. There were probably girl shepherds right? So Rita, Miles and I went to downtown San Benito and watched the parade. It was quite an adventure to say the least. I survived, but it was definitely weird doing it myself. I thought the cub scout parents would be together but most of the ones that went walked along with the kids in the parade. The kids had fun so it was a success. Luckily it was not too cold. Sheridan's hands did get cold because she was waving the whole time. Imagine that Sheridan sitting on a float, everyone looking at her and waving! She was in heaven!!! Next time we will have to make sure she has gloves.

The excitement continued on Sunday when Rita was standing on the ottoman and fell hitting her mouth on the coffee table. There was blood, crying, more blood and crying. She would not let me look at her mouth to see how bad it was. We put some ice on it and she fell asleep. After she woke up I was able to look at it and it looked pretty bad. The gum is all black, but luckily the tooth is not loose. I hope the tooth does not turn black. I am debating if I should take her to the dentist. There would probably not be anything they can do. She does have a lot of swelling. She looks like one of the who's from Whoville. The ones from the new Jim Carey version. Hopefully it will be better by tomorrow before her dance recital. If not it will make for a cute picture!