Nothing Beats a Hot, Sunny, Summer Day

Can I just say that I LOVE summer! There truly is no better time of year. Thanks to the heat, the sun, the fun activities and the break from school, my one goal each day can be to simply enjoy my kiddos. Sure, we are still doing a bit of workbook review and there are always appointments, endless doctor, dentist, and automotive appointments, but for the most part, our summer is filled with carefree, lazy days, and there is nothing I love more. Yesterday, for instance, was the perfect day. We kicked it off by attending to our real world responsibilities. Baby Girl went to the gym with Mr. Level-Headed (the gym has a great program running this summer where teens get to go for free!), we took the Loser Cruiser (the kids named it, not me) in to get an oil change and the summer tires put back on (I live in Canada. You just never know when winter is finished for certain), and the kids each did a math review and thirty minutes of reading (according to Elliot, this constitutes as cruel and unusual torture). Then when all that was finished, we hit the pool. Oh, how I love my pool, and oh, how I love my hubby for finally  putting it in last year! The kids and I spent a whomping four hours in it yesterday, and Mr. Level-Headed even got off work early and was able to join us. It was heavenly!

The other thing I love about summer is that by the time supper rolls around and everyone has spent the day outside in all the heat, no one feels like eating a big meal. So at 5:30pm, I dragged my water-logged body out of the pool, got my hubby to saute some shrimp in garlic and butter, while I made a spinach salad (I do eat healthy . . . sometimes!), and voila, supper was served. No fuss, no muss, and more importantly, no whining! Then, with Freezies in hand, we headed up to the soccer field for the boys practice, where I lounged on a bench talking to all the other moms and dads. Again, can life can any better?  After soccer, we were still feeling pretty sweaty and sticky, so we went for one last dip in the pool. Normally, after soccer practice, we have to rush home and get everyone to bed, but not in the summer! In fact, after our swim, the house was way too hot for sleeping so we all lounged around the living room watching a documentary on the Bones Brigade. How cool is that? In fact it was so entertaining that Mr. Level-Headed even stayed up to watch! Do you remember the Bones Brigade? They were that skateboarding team, whom we all adored and idolized during junior high school. Nothing screams junior high for me like the Tony Hawk bangs! It was great to see that many of them are very successful men now in both their business lives and their family lives. I love happy endings . . . 

 almost as much as I love spending lazy, summer days with these guys!

Avery tackling a little summertime review.

Elliot taking a stand against his mama's foolishness for setting up early morning appointments during summer vacation by refusing to get up.

Some random fifteen year old girl, floating in our pool. It is definitely NOT Baby Girl because we all know that all photos of Baby Girl must be pre-approved by the diva herself, and this mama would never want to do anything to upset her . . . tee hee!

Enjoy your weekend! It's gonna be a hot one.

Eeeek! I almost forgot that I have an important announcement to make . . .  the award  for being the first person to skinny dip in our pool goes to Elliot! Zoe thought it would be funny to steal his swim trunks, but unbeknownst to her, Elliot decided to embrace the freedom of his nakedness and spent the next half hour trying to give her a hug . . . tee hee! It was priceless watching that white bum swim across the water and Zoe frantically swimming away with a look of horror and disgust. 

Second place goes to Mr. Level-Headed and I . . . wink, wink. We missed the gold by only a couple of hours . . . tee hee! There is never a dull moment here at Shenanigans Inc. 

The Dreaded "B" Word

With Zoe finished school, no errands to run, and the sun shining, yesterday felt like our first taste of summer vacation. It was glorious! Sure the boys are still finishing up a couple of subjects, but since it is only math and grammar, our school day goes very quickly, and by 12:30 we were able to ditch the books. After our lunch of BBQ hotdogs (truly the most summer-ish food of all), we put our bathing suits on, lathered our bodies up with 60 spf sunscreen (does that meet your approval, Hilary?), and we dove into the pool. 

Truly, life can not get any better than it was yesterday! The kids splashed and dunked each other, while I lazily floated along the water. Ahhhhhhhhhhh! Then I swam a few laps. Ya' know, it takes a lot of work to keep this amazing beach body of mine in such pristine, super-model shape:

tee hee!

I have no shame.

We stayed in the pool for about an hour and a half, and then we made the long trek back up our hill. As the kids changed, I hung up our beach towels on the railing of our deck to dry them off in the sun. In the two minutes it took for me to do this, Elliot had changed, discovered that his one hour of screen time was already used up for the day, and began whining:

But mmmmmmooooooommmmmm, I am so bored . . . 

I could feel my inner mama dragon stir. My entire body tensed each time he let out another spleeny, weeny complaint. I wanted to yell and tell him that if he didn't stop right now that I would take all forms of screen (aka technology) away from him for the entire summer (yeah, I like to overreact like that sometimes), and then the most brilliant idea dawned on me.

Listen up kids, every time I hear one of you say "I am bored" this summer, I will give you a chore.

Being the type of kids who needs to experience something first hand before he truly understands it, Elliot said it again:

But, I'm bored, mom!

Awesome, Elliot! You can empty out the dishwasher for me. Thanks.

And so, while Elliot grumbled and complained about how I was the worst mother in the world, and quite possibly could have used the other dreaded "B" to describe me, Thing 4 and I took a nap out on the deck .

Ahhhhhhhhhh!

I think this is going to be the most fantabulous summer of all!

Oh, and to make it even better, these two have gotten into the habit of joining me in bed each morning after Mr. Level-Headed leaves for work. How adorable are they?

The cuteness factor in this bed is off the charts!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Ugh.

Make that Wednesday . . . 

Our Day at the Pool

Have you ever read "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls?  Well, you need to!  It is her memoir of growing up with two very eccentric, self-absorbed parents, who essentially neglect their three children and force them to live in poverty, even though the family comes from wealth, for the "experience" of it all.  The book is amazing because Walls does not victimize herself or her siblings, but rather shows how her bizarre childhood empowered her and helped her to become the successful woman she is today.  Love it!

Wondering how this all ties into the shenanigans of 4 Websters and a Skov?  Well, you know Mr. Level-Headed is quite eccentric and very wealthy . . . tee hee!  I'll get to it in a minute.

Yesterday, Zoe had spent the night at her friends' place so it was just the boys and I.  We started off the day preparing for a huge video game sale, which quickly fell apart after the boys realized they really were not prepared to part with their beloved games.  Then we moved onto arts and crafts.  Avery made a paper plane, tied it to a string, and ran throughout the house with the plane trailing him.  Elliot decided to do some painting.  He grabbed the watercolours because "all serious painters use water colours, mom", and set out to explore his creative genius.

Not bad, eh?

It is titled "Man About to Fall to his Death and Meet a Sea Monster".  I love how all of Elliot's pictures involve death, blood, and sea monsters. If you are psychologist, please do not analyze this phenomena.  I really do not want to hear that my precious boy is destined to become a serial killer known as the Sea Monster.  You can keep that little tidbit of information to yourself . . . tee hee!

Anyhoo, after lunch we picked up Elliot's buddy and headed out to the Dreamland playground.  Poor Avery tried calling 3 of his friends, but no one was home.  This is my kids' FAVOURITE playground of all time, and they love hearing how my family, along with a plethora of other families whose kids attended Fairvale Elementary School, helped build it.  Or at least, I think they love to hear that story because I just keep telling it over and over again. 

While the boys chased each other through the mazes of wooden tunnels in one ultimate game of tag, I sat down to read Jeanette Walls' "Half Broke Horses".  I was pleased to learn that this book was all about her grandmother, Lily, who grew up in an equally dysfunctional family as her granddaughter, but also managed to become an independent, resourceful woman.  I was shocked as I read the opening chapter because it starts off with three young kids, the oldest being Lily and she was only 10 (Elliot's age), roaming a field in West Texas all alone when suddenly a flash flood is upon them.  Lily pulls her two siblings to a nearby tree and the three of them climb up into it, while a wall of water comes bearing down upon them. The water remains high throughout the night so these three little kids cling to the tree all night long, without sleeping, to make sure they do not slip off and drown.  CRAZY!!

Back to playground.

After the boys had chased each other to near exhaustion, we went for a swim at the Qplex, the new community pool just a ferry crossing away from our home.  As I stood on the edge of the pool with an entire league of suburban moms and an army of lifeguards diligently watching the shenanigans of a sea of children splashing and swimming, I had to laugh at how different this scenario was compared to those found in the tales of Jeanette Walls.   Although this style of over-protective parenting is all the rage these days, I was left wondering if in fact it was better for our children, or are we simply denying them empowering experiences, which would in turn develop resourcefulness and confidence?  Are we raising them to be timid and fearful of the world with our constant reminders of not to run and covering their little bodies with a shield of armour before they embark upon a deadly day at the pool.   You know the shield of armour I am talking about: sunscreen, sunhats, and lifejackets.

I don't know.

I wish I was more like those few parents, who could grab their book and find a nice shady spot to sit in while the kids swim and squeal, but I'm not.  I'm a hoverer.

But then again, if I hadn't been a hoverer, I would have missed these shots:

And I would have missed Avery's moment of facing his fear and being triumphant.



Phew! The sea monster didn't catch him this time . . . tee hee!

I love this photo!  You can almost hear him saying: "I did it. I actually did it!".

In the end, I don't know which parenting method is the best, but my gut is telling me to simply be who you are because you is exactly what your kids need.