I'll probably get in trouble for posting this on the internet...
Monday, June 27, 2005
Family Day & Date Night
Monday is "Family Day" for the Callenders. We went a long time, out of necessity, with no real day off together - I worked on Adam's days off while he was home with the kids, and he worked on mine. Now that our situation has changed a bit, we've been very intentional in setting aside this one day every week. It's a day off for everybody that we hold almost sacred. I mean, whenever humanly possible we don't answer phones, we don't do work stuff - it's our Sabbath...That's not to say that we do something spectacular every Monday - in fact, it's often quite the opposite. It's often just a day to wear our pajamas around the house and be as lazy and comfortable as we can possibly make ourselves. I love that.
Occasionally, however, we do something special, like catch a movie together or go out to eat. Today we hit the beach. Being that we'd never really done that before (Yes, I know - what kind of parents go 6 years without taking their kid(s) to the beach? All I can say is that I have this thing about sand...) the kids were pretty stinkin' excited. We didn't head up that way until mid afternoon, so by the time we got there the worst of the heat from the "noonday" sun was over (it was still at least 90 degrees, but it was a dry heat...). The kids had a blast! They rolled in the sand, swam, rolled in the sand some more, ate some cookies, more swimming, more sand...We were only there about an hour and a half, but it was a great time, and lots of great memories were made. We'll be cleaning sand out of kids parts for the foreseeable future, but it was a great time.
Another great thing about Mondays is that it's DATE NIGHT! We alternate every other week with the McMullens - one week it's their turn, the next it's ours, and so on. There's nothing like having free (and exceptionally high quality!) childcare while you head out for some alone time with the love of your life. Tonight was our turn, so Adam and I got to dump the kids and run! ;) We went out to dinner (enjoying some fine service by a former cheerleader at Max & Erma's) and then checked out the new river walkway in Mishawaka. Let me take this brief moment to say that if you haven't been there to check it out - you need to go! We had a great time walking leisurely around the beautiful park, just talking and being together. It was awesome.
All this to say - you married people (with or without children) - if there were two things I would force couples to do to help their marriages, it would be those two things: Family Day and Date Night. They should be absolutely mandatory. Set aside a day every week that's strictly yours. Do something that makes it special - whether it's something fun outside the house or doing absolutely nothing. And find another couple (or more than one) that you can trade kids with. It'll help your marriage, and it'll help theirs. Do it. I mean it. Do it now.
Occasionally, however, we do something special, like catch a movie together or go out to eat. Today we hit the beach. Being that we'd never really done that before (Yes, I know - what kind of parents go 6 years without taking their kid(s) to the beach? All I can say is that I have this thing about sand...) the kids were pretty stinkin' excited. We didn't head up that way until mid afternoon, so by the time we got there the worst of the heat from the "noonday" sun was over (it was still at least 90 degrees, but it was a dry heat...). The kids had a blast! They rolled in the sand, swam, rolled in the sand some more, ate some cookies, more swimming, more sand...We were only there about an hour and a half, but it was a great time, and lots of great memories were made. We'll be cleaning sand out of kids parts for the foreseeable future, but it was a great time.
Another great thing about Mondays is that it's DATE NIGHT! We alternate every other week with the McMullens - one week it's their turn, the next it's ours, and so on. There's nothing like having free (and exceptionally high quality!) childcare while you head out for some alone time with the love of your life. Tonight was our turn, so Adam and I got to dump the kids and run! ;) We went out to dinner (enjoying some fine service by a former cheerleader at Max & Erma's) and then checked out the new river walkway in Mishawaka. Let me take this brief moment to say that if you haven't been there to check it out - you need to go! We had a great time walking leisurely around the beautiful park, just talking and being together. It was awesome.
All this to say - you married people (with or without children) - if there were two things I would force couples to do to help their marriages, it would be those two things: Family Day and Date Night. They should be absolutely mandatory. Set aside a day every week that's strictly yours. Do something that makes it special - whether it's something fun outside the house or doing absolutely nothing. And find another couple (or more than one) that you can trade kids with. It'll help your marriage, and it'll help theirs. Do it. I mean it. Do it now.
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Sunday
- Slept until 9:30am
- Fed the kids some breakfast
- Got a coffee and read the newspaper
- Ran a couple of errands with the kids
- Lunch
- Adam got home :)
- Worked on my DT project for the month - due on Friday
- Family Time in the pool (which isn't quite big enough for the 4 of us, as far as I'm concerned!) which had to be about 85 degrees
- Dinner
- More scrapbooking and kids to bed
- Lord of the Rings
- Blog
Ahhh, Sundays...
Friday, June 24, 2005
Pick Your Battles
I'm not sure which wise person said that first, in reference to parenting, but that little piece of advice is right up there with "don't set the baby carrier on top of the car" and "don't let your child put small, round objects into any orifice of their body from which the object may not be removed."
Today was a "pick your battles" kind of a day - that became obvious when I announced that we were going to run some errands before meeting friends at Chic-Fil-A for lunch and Jacob approached me with a request to wear his Batman costume for the day. Envisioning a good deal of pointing and laughing on the part of every adult and most children we would come in contact throughout the day, I immediately answered, "No, babe, I don't think so. Besides, it's awfully hot for a Batman suit." His disappointment was obvious, so when he pleaded, "But mom, I really want to be Batman today!" what else could I do?? "Sure, kid - whatever you want."
So, to all the folks at Sam's Club and Chick-Fil-A who noticed a small, red-faced, sweaty boy in a thick, black Batman costume (complete with talking utility belt) with a HUGE smile on his face and thought, "What kind of mother would let her child leave the house looking like that?!" You know what you can do with that comment...(and if you can't figure it out, email me @...)
Today was a "pick your battles" kind of a day - that became obvious when I announced that we were going to run some errands before meeting friends at Chic-Fil-A for lunch and Jacob approached me with a request to wear his Batman costume for the day. Envisioning a good deal of pointing and laughing on the part of every adult and most children we would come in contact throughout the day, I immediately answered, "No, babe, I don't think so. Besides, it's awfully hot for a Batman suit." His disappointment was obvious, so when he pleaded, "But mom, I really want to be Batman today!" what else could I do?? "Sure, kid - whatever you want."
So, to all the folks at Sam's Club and Chick-Fil-A who noticed a small, red-faced, sweaty boy in a thick, black Batman costume (complete with talking utility belt) with a HUGE smile on his face and thought, "What kind of mother would let her child leave the house looking like that?!" You know what you can do with that comment...(and if you can't figure it out, email me @...)
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Welcome Alexis!
Alexis Lynn Verduin, born today, 6/23/2005 at 9:08pm - 10lb 5oz...HOLY COW! Congratulations Verduins!
Summer Fun!
I'm happy to say that I've been cutting back the hours spent at work, now that school is out, and finding some really fun ways to spend time with my kids. A couple of months back I signed the kids up for swimming lessons at Penn High School. It was a decent investment of time, energy and $$, but I'd heard great things about the program and knew it was something the kids would benefit from, so we dove in! (Pun fully intended.)
I can't begin to tell you how impressed I am with the program and with the student-teachers (literally - high school students, mostly members of the kick-butt Penn swim team, trained in Red Cross swim instruction). Abby and Jacob tested in at level 2 (not completely terrified of the water, but certainly not swimmers) and were put in the same group with instructor "Paul." They love him and trust him completely. They went from very nervous about getting in the big pool (Jacob cried the first day) to full-fledged, underwater swimmers! The transformation, in 2 weeks time, has been truly unbelieveable!
We have an "easy-set" pool at home and they will spend as much time in it as I'll let them - and as much time is spent under the water as it is above it! They're even "diving" to retrieve things that they throw to the bottom of the pool! Obviously, I'm quite proud of my little swimmers, and to prove my point, I'll provide you with photographic proof! Have you ever seen cuter kids??
I can't begin to tell you how impressed I am with the program and with the student-teachers (literally - high school students, mostly members of the kick-butt Penn swim team, trained in Red Cross swim instruction). Abby and Jacob tested in at level 2 (not completely terrified of the water, but certainly not swimmers) and were put in the same group with instructor "Paul." They love him and trust him completely. They went from very nervous about getting in the big pool (Jacob cried the first day) to full-fledged, underwater swimmers! The transformation, in 2 weeks time, has been truly unbelieveable!
We have an "easy-set" pool at home and they will spend as much time in it as I'll let them - and as much time is spent under the water as it is above it! They're even "diving" to retrieve things that they throw to the bottom of the pool! Obviously, I'm quite proud of my little swimmers, and to prove my point, I'll provide you with photographic proof! Have you ever seen cuter kids??
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Back to the world of the living...
As you may have noticed, I haven't been around for a few days...well, there's a very good reason for that. I've been sick as a dog! I'm one of those people who doesn't get sick often at all. In fact, I can't remember the last time I had the flu. But, when I get sick, I get sick. I mean, if you're going to do it, you may as well do it right, huh? Wow, did I do it right this time. I'm still so sore and achy (Yes, that's a word - just ask Billy Ray Cyrus...) that it hurts to sit here!
I'm sure I'll be back to normal tomorrow...besides, I have to be with half a dozen kids running around here! If you don't hear from me for a few more days, assume that the kids took advantage of my weakened condition, beat me to death with their action figures and barbie dolls, and have taken over the place!
I'm sure I'll be back to normal tomorrow...besides, I have to be with half a dozen kids running around here! If you don't hear from me for a few more days, assume that the kids took advantage of my weakened condition, beat me to death with their action figures and barbie dolls, and have taken over the place!
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Father's Day Activities
The Callender family enjoyed a leisurely morning at home. Adam was presented with his father's day gifts, neatly wrapped in the Batman paper that Abby picked out for him - a couple of Old Navy shirts, a jacket, and an iron. That's right, I said an IRON.
Adam left for work right around lunch time, so the kids and I hung out for a while before heading out to run some errands (returned a shirt I got for myself at Old Navy - it's a rarity that I can find anything there for myself anymore - and exchanged some pants at Kohl's). From there we jogged (not literally, as I am opposed to any form of rigorous physical activity) over to Movies 14 for the 2:50 showing of the"Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl - in 3D!" Now I remember why they don't make good movies in 3-D...because they can't. The movie was actually a little better than I expected, but that's probably only because my expectations were exceptionally low. The kids enjoyed it though, and they've been wearing their 3-D glasses ever since...to PIT (pages in time), CVS, out in the yard...that kind of entertainment might actually be worth the $15.75 (matinee price) we spent (not including the $11.75 concessions) to see the movie in the first place. $27.50. Wow, I must be insane.
Adam left for work right around lunch time, so the kids and I hung out for a while before heading out to run some errands (returned a shirt I got for myself at Old Navy - it's a rarity that I can find anything there for myself anymore - and exchanged some pants at Kohl's). From there we jogged (not literally, as I am opposed to any form of rigorous physical activity) over to Movies 14 for the 2:50 showing of the"Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl - in 3D!" Now I remember why they don't make good movies in 3-D...because they can't. The movie was actually a little better than I expected, but that's probably only because my expectations were exceptionally low. The kids enjoyed it though, and they've been wearing their 3-D glasses ever since...to PIT (pages in time), CVS, out in the yard...that kind of entertainment might actually be worth the $15.75 (matinee price) we spent (not including the $11.75 concessions) to see the movie in the first place. $27.50. Wow, I must be insane.
Saturday, June 18, 2005
i hate cleaning my house
And in case that wasn't clear enough to get my point across, here's a list of things that I would rather do than clean my house:
- go to the dentist (and those of you who know me understand what a big deal that is!)
- drive US31 to Indianapolis and back
- vomit
- change multiple dirty diapers
- dive head-first into the dumpster behind Red Lobster
- visit my gynocologist
- sit through another session with Ted Dekker
- read a textbook on nuclear physics
- watch my son wiggle his loose tooth (i get the willies just thinking about that!)
- stand in line in the Walmart checkout with two restless kids begging for things from the candy display
- balance my checkbook
this is the abbreviated list...believe me, there are more where those came from. Seriously, if i could afford one "luxury" in life, it would be to have someone come on a semi-regular basis to clean my house. and i don't mean that i need someone to follow me around and pick up after me (not that i'd complain if that were to happen), i'm talking just the big stuff - sweeping & mopping, bathrooms, dusting, vacuuming...you know, basically everything. ok, i'd be willing to do the laundry...if this other person would be willing to do the folding. and the putting away.
what i need is a wife...
Friday, June 17, 2005
Food and Fellowship
i just came from having lunch at Chic-Fil-A with some of my favorite people ever - good times, good times...there's nothing like sitting around a big table with a bunch of friends and just talking about stupid stuff. i've mentioned my church a few times - well, these friends are from GCC, and a couple are ones who frequently appear on stage, and we were talking about past mess-ups. you gotta love a bunch of guys who can stand on stage in front of a few thousand people, completely screw up, get over it and then proceed to make fun of themselves for it. now that's a good sense of humor. for example, last night rob said something that he quickly realized made no sense whatsoever and had to correct himself...several weeks back jason mixed up his words in a worship song and literally laughed out loud at himself in the middle of the song...a while back, corey had a complete train wreck while leading worship and they had to completely start the song over...and i have certainly had my share of disasters on stage. we had a pretty good laugh at all of those and more. i love the humility of the people we see on stage there. of course, there's nothing like making a blatantly obvious error on stage in front of a large crowd of people to keep you humble. but with these guys, it's more than that. it's knowing that it's not about them. that's pretty cool, especially since these guys have their own groupies...and i'm one of them!
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Ahhh, Thursdays...
There are a lot of reasons that I like Thursdays...for one, they've always been my "day off." Of course, I should clarify that by saying that it's also the day that I watch my best friends 3 adorable children (hey Tam and Daryl!). For those of you who are mathematically challenged, that puts me at a total of FIVE kids.
Right now there are some of you out there going, "Yeah, so? I've got 8 of my own!" Well, I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to those of you who think, "Five kids?!? What are you, nuts??" That's right - you guys. Today was particularly interesting because I took 5 kids to swimming lessons at the beautiful Penn pool (ahh, the memories!). My two kids did the swimming, the rest watched. Then, this afternoon, my mom and I took SIX kids (we added one of my nieces) to the ZOO! Nothing like taking a bunch of smelly, lazy kids to see a bunch of loud, hyperactive animals. (haha - did you get how I switched that around like that? see, that's funny because the kids weren't really all that smelly...well, maybe a little...). And from the zoo, we proceeded to our traditional Thursday night supper club - the food court at the mall! Now there's fine dining for you! But hey, what would Thursday nights be without it? Like I said...it's tradition!
But I digress...back to the reasons I like Thursdays...NEW COMMUNITY! And more specifically, Thursday night worship. There's nothing like it - and I must say that Jason and Trace were particularly "on" tonight. Of course, a good amount of the credit for that is their incredibly talented sound guy... As difficult as it is sometimes for me to drag my exhausted self there after a very full day of KIDS (I don't know how else to say it!) and housework (what little I actually manage to do) there's nowhere else I'd rather be than standing in front of those guys while they lead us into the throne room of God. Thanks guys!
Now for some chocolate, a big glass of milk and BED!
Right now there are some of you out there going, "Yeah, so? I've got 8 of my own!" Well, I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to those of you who think, "Five kids?!? What are you, nuts??" That's right - you guys. Today was particularly interesting because I took 5 kids to swimming lessons at the beautiful Penn pool (ahh, the memories!). My two kids did the swimming, the rest watched. Then, this afternoon, my mom and I took SIX kids (we added one of my nieces) to the ZOO! Nothing like taking a bunch of smelly, lazy kids to see a bunch of loud, hyperactive animals. (haha - did you get how I switched that around like that? see, that's funny because the kids weren't really all that smelly...well, maybe a little...). And from the zoo, we proceeded to our traditional Thursday night supper club - the food court at the mall! Now there's fine dining for you! But hey, what would Thursday nights be without it? Like I said...it's tradition!
But I digress...back to the reasons I like Thursdays...NEW COMMUNITY! And more specifically, Thursday night worship. There's nothing like it - and I must say that Jason and Trace were particularly "on" tonight. Of course, a good amount of the credit for that is their incredibly talented sound guy... As difficult as it is sometimes for me to drag my exhausted self there after a very full day of KIDS (I don't know how else to say it!) and housework (what little I actually manage to do) there's nowhere else I'd rather be than standing in front of those guys while they lead us into the throne room of God. Thanks guys!
Now for some chocolate, a big glass of milk and BED!
am i the last one out there to get one of these??
I got an email from Corey Mann today...now he's got a blog. It's official. I'm the last one to do it. So, here it is. I have no idea what I'm doing, but that in itself should make this pretty entertaining for the 2 or 3 of you who might actually occassionally read this.
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