Pirate Day!

On Saturday morning, Hayden came into my room and exclaimed, "Mom!  It's Pirate Day!"  He was so excited because that day was the Children's Music Theater performance of their two pirate plays.  This year we had two casts--a middle school cast and an elementary cast and they each did a short play on a pirate theme because wanted to use the same set for both plays.  We changed things up a bit from previous years and did the whole thing start to finish in one week.  That's five rehearsals.  Wow, it was intense!  (Oops, I forgot pirates don't say "Wow."  I meant, "Blimey!")

But I was amazed at how well those kids did, and I am so proud of them for having the courage to get up on stage in front of lots of people and sing and dance and say their lines!   Here are some pictures of our adventures last week.

We got to use El Dorado High School, which was GREAT!  We had a large room to meet in for rehearsals and got to perform on a real stage!!!

The Elementary Cast

50 kids, ages 5-10

performed "Pirates! The Musical"

The middle school cast, (new this year) was really fun to work with .  They had a lot of their own creative ideas for staging and character development.  And we did a super fun musical called "How I Became a Pirate."  I constantly have those songs going through my head.

The Middle School cast

27 kids, ages 11-14 

"How I Became a Pirate"

my three little pirate performers

This wig of Bobby's just killed me!  (he was "Blackbeard")

Daphne had a little vocal solo that she did great at.  At auditions, we were having some of the younger kids sing together since they were too scared to sing by themselves, but when we got to Daphne she told us she wanted to sing alone and not with anyone else.  I thought that was so brave of her!

Sean only did this because I bribed him with a new car for his collection.  I think he had fun, but mostly he was just excited at the end of the week when he got his reward.

Dallin was "King of the High C's" and did a terrific job at his part.

Hayden was so sad that he didn't get to be in the play this year.  But he really wanted to be a pirate, too, in fact, he even sang this little song from the play, changing the words a bit, "Oh I wanna be a pirate.  But I need thom (some) pirate clothes!)  So we dressed him up and he helped us welcome the audience and introduce the plays.  He was a pretty adorable little scallywag, if I say so myself.

Independence Day 2011

This 4th of July, we discovered that our neighborhood puts on a super fun bike parade and celebration in the park.  So we decorated our strollers, wagons, bikes and scooters to go walk in the parade, and then had a super fun time at the park taking part in watermelon eating contests, sacks races, three-legged races, decorating cookies, and fake tatoos.  And the best part was that we got to hang out with family all day since Jewels and Eric and their little ones are here in Albuquerque, and Natalie, Brian and Kyrie drove out from California to visit for the week!!!  What a PAR-TAY!

BIKE PARADE

(I just realized these pictures look like we were the only ones in the parade--there were lots of other people there, but we definitely brought up the rear.)

WATERMELON EATING-CONTEST

SYDNEY AT THE WATER TABLE

TATOOS

COOKIES

CUTE HAIR

RACES

This picture makes me laugh because they were given the 2nd place ribbons by mistake.  Don't worry, we gave them to the rightful winners after we took a picture. 

Now, this ribbon, I am proud to say is NOT FAKE!  Can you believe I won 1st place in an athletic contest?  (And yes I do classify sack-racing as athletic ;)   My children are still so proud of me and whenever they see the blue ribbon which is prominently displayed downstairs in the big room, they tell me how awesome it was that I won!

CHILLIN' WITH WATERMELON

 

WATER BALLOONS

"Bomb-diggety"

Sugar high?

Watching Fireworks

 

                     

Once again, I have an awesome movie that I made and cursed blogger is choking on it.  Hopefully someday they can work out their issues.  And maybe my genius husband will find a way to override their system.

You'd think that with all this partying going on, I completely missed the reason we celebrate 4th of July. But believe it or not I actually wrote  a big long entry in my journal about my country.  Sunday night we watched "1776," as is our family tradition for this holiday, and every time I watch that movie it reminds me of the sacrifices made by our founding fathers to create a place where liberty abounds.  I just stand in awe at the strength of character those people had--at their commitment to the cause of liberty.  And I am so thankful that because of their heroic lives, I can raise my children in a land with unlimited opportunities, and relative peace and prosperity.  I pray that the people of this nation will ever choose good, wise and moral leaders who will be staunchly committed to the principles of liberty our country was founded upon, and work tireless to defend the constitution of this great land.

God Bless America!

Beads

I got this idea from my friend Erin, and this system has been working pretty well in our family.  I thought I'd share because I think it's good to have a variety of "incentive programs" so when the kids get bored of one, you have something new to try (or an old one you haven't done in awhile)--you know--keeps things fresh and exciting.  :)

Back in February, I decided we needed a chage from the Fuzzy Jar that we'd been using for awhile.  The Fuzzy Jar was a community jar, and everybody's good deeds earned fuzzies, and bad deeds got fuzzies removed.  When the jar was full we'd take the family to do something fun like ITz or Hinckle Family Fun Center or the Dollar Theater.  That worked fine for awhile, but I didn't think it was very fair, because what basically happened was Dallin & Daphne earned all the fuzzies, and Sean and Hayden got them taken out. 

So when Erin told me about this reward system, I thought we should try it out. 

It's the bead system.  Every child chooses a color and they earn beads for good things they do (chores, piano practicing, reading books, helping without being asked, etc.) and they have to pay beads to earn privileges like screen time.  Also, if they save their beads, they can earn big rewards.  100 beads earns them a special dessert out with mom and dad.  200 beads earns them dinner out with mom and dad.  At 300 beads, they can choose to go somewhere fun with mom and dad, or $20, or sometimes they negotiate for some other prize, like a special lego set they've had their eye on . . .

In our family, the kids all have different bead strategies.  Dallin works really hard and saves up his beads to 300 and cashes them in for the money. He's reached 300 twice since Februrary.  He gets enough beads to indulge in some screentime almost every day. 

Daphne earns her beads slower, but spends them slower too, since she doesn't care about computer games or playstation.  Just recently, she's become pretty motivated about earning the beads, and is almost to 300.  When she gets there she wants Mom and Dad to take her to HInckle Family Fun Center. 

Sean is motivated to earn beads purely for screentime.  He only earns up to 10 beads at a time whereupon he promptly turns them  in for 45 min. of computer or playstation.  Because of Sean we've had to add a few rules about screentime.  You can only redeem screentime once per day, and we never have screentime before lunch.  Since Sean only deals in increments of ten, he has become very brilliant at figuring out what numbers add up to ten.  He knows that if he has five beads, he needs five more.  Or if he has four beads, he needs three plus three beads.  I've tried to get him to save up a little, but he has no desire to get even 1 extra bead.  Maybe saving will come later . . .

Hayden is also motivated by earning screentime.  But his math skills are a little fuzzy, and sometimes he gives himself 10 beads for playing on the computer instead of paying ten beads . . . so we're winging it with Hayden a little bit.  I just make sure he does some work before he gets screentime.

So there you have it. 

What would probably make it better is if I had some other smaller rewards that they could earn besides screentime--Maybe books or inexpensive craft projects.  That will probably be the next evolution.  But I just thought I'd share because it's always nice to have ideas to help motivate the kids to do their jobs. 

June Quotes

Julianne:  So, Dallin, are you glad school is out?

Dallin:  Yeah!  It's like the best thing that ever happened to me!

Sean:  Mom, there's something big and black flying around downstairs.

Hayden:  Maybe it's poop.

Sean:  No, Hayden, poop doesn't fly.
(let's hope not, anyway!--by the way, it was just a fly.)

Daphne:  Don't worry Sean--everything that is scary in Scooby-Doo turns out to be fake.  The bad guy is always just somebody who dressed up like a monster.

After making his delicious macaroni and cheese which was rudely rejected by Hayden, Dallin said,   "Now I know how a cook feels when people don't want to eat their very best dish."

Sean:  Hayden, now you go on a mission to save Queen Malidada. 

(he was talking about a Jedi mission to save Queen Amidala)

Regarding an immodestly clad dancer on TV, Hayden said, "I don't like her outfit.  It'th yucky.  It'th immodest.  But I like her eyeth and her hair."

Sean:  What is a dog's favorite snack?

Hayden:  Um, bones.

Sean:  What is a mouse's favorite snack?

Hayden:  Um, cheese.

Me:  What is a zebra's favorite snack?

Hayden: uh . . . I think it's popcorn.

Sean:  What is an alligator's favorite snack?

Hayden:  popcorn.

(well, who doesn't love popcorn?)

When Arthur was taking down the tent after our camping trip, 

Hayden became very alarmed:  Dad's messing up our tent!!!

Also, he and Sean were singing a little song of their own making: 

"Tent-- tent-- tent-a-dee tent, oh tent--tent--tent-a-dee tent, oh tent . . . ( etc.)" 

It's actually quite catchy--I find myself singing it every once in awhile.  
The problem it doesn't have an ending so I always feel unresolved.

Ten minutes away from home, Hayden urgently announced, "I really have to go potty!"  Arthur told him, we were almost home and try to hold it for just a few more minutes.  As soon as we arrived home, I said, "Hayden, hurry and get out!  Run to the potty!"

He replied, "Oh, it'th okay.  I already peed my panth."  (pants)

I said, "WHAT?  Why did you do that?!"

"Becauthe Daddy didn't drive fatht enough."

Dallin:  I'm so glad someone thought up Father's Day, because now, when I'm a dad I'll have something to look forward to.  (hopefully that's not the only thing to look forward to, but yes, Father's Day is nice.)

Hayden:  Thdney has teeth now!

Bro. Carter:  Sydney has teeth?  Uh-oh, now you're in trouble.

Hayden:  Well, I didn't give her her teeth.

Sean freaking out about something.  
Me: Sean, use your words.  
Sean: If I use my words, I will still use my tears!

At the end of a long, tiresome day, it's awesome when your son tells you this, as he's kneading your belly with both hands:
 "Mom, thith ith tho, tho, tho-o-o thquishy!"  
(translation: this is so so sooooo squishy!)
Yep it is.  Thanks for the reminder.  

Hayden:  I like my heart.

Me:  I like your heart too.

Hayden:  My heart is in my tummy.  
(?)  

Sean:  What is big and red and eats rocks?

Hayden:  (thinking) Um . . . an ant?

Sean:  No, a big red rock-eater!

Dallin:  I love being a Mormon.

Me: Why do you love being a Mormon?

Dallin:  'Cause you get all kinds of blessings and stuff.