mommypalooza™ ~ a daily dose of mommy mayhem.

A Friday funny: Gangnam Style.

Apparently, my 3rd grader and a few of his friends decided to do a gangnam style video on Halloween.

Enjoy!

 

{DIY Video}: Craft a Robot from Recyclable Materials

I have the most amazingly imaginative 8 1/2 year-old son.  So proud of a fun announcement he has coming soon, but in the meantime, check out the crafty creation he wanted to share with the world!

This is a great idea to add to your Summer Fun List as well! Enjoy!

 

 

Crafty robot-maker also suggests you can personalize your robot any way you like! Think: pom-poms secured with glue dots, pipe cleaner antennae, foamies or even the top of the water bottle that you cut off and use that as a hat! The possibilities are endless!

 

video and photo shot in HD with my Sony NEX-5

Breaking it to him easy.

I have to break my son's heart tomorrow.  A couple of weeks ago he applied to become one of 12 kids in the Kansas City area to serve on the Junior Construction Panel for the soon-to-be-open LEGOLAND Discovery Center in Kansas City.  And since that day, he's been asking and asking about when he would find out if he was picked or not.  Of course I kept telling him I wasn't sure since I actually wasn't.  He would of course reply to me, "I am pretty sure they're going to pick me, mom!"  At which point I struggled with how I would explain the let-down and dissapointment he would feel if he was wrong about that.

And here we are.  Tonight I received a form generated email from LEGOLAND thanking him for his entry and saying that out of 130 entries, their 12 have been selected and unfortunately, he is not one of them.  I read this and wept.  Not because I necessarily had my heart set on him being selected. No, only because I knew that my very real job of motherhood would soon meet a new milestone - having to walk my baby through feeling sad, disappointed and perhaps down on himself  for not making the cut. 

I've always been one to focus on and praise effort rather than outcome when it comes to achievements.  But I think it's hard for kids to really see the big picture of all of this.  They are so wired to gain things and have something tangible rather than just simply feeling good about trying and doing your best.  Ugh. Why does parenting -- the most awesome job on the planet -- have to be so hard?!

Just this past weekend I held my breath when he entered a LEGO building contest for the second year in a row. 

Last year he picked up 3rd place overall in his age division in this first-ever competition.  In this year's competition, which was held this past weekend, he recieved the only Honorable Mention in his age range.  Despite him not actually placing in the competition, you should have seen the look on his face.  I think he was just so darn proud to hear his name followed by the words "Honorable Mention".  I was SO proud!

This was the creation he received his award for:

 

"Zombie Attack" LEGO scene by my 8 year-old LEGO fan.

 

So about the only positive in having to tell him that he was NOT selected for the panel he auditioned for, is the fact that it's coming off the heels of this little LEGO competition that he received some form of recognition for. 

It's so important to me that my kids always try and never doubt themselves.  I never have.  I am hoping that these little "lessons" are more painful for myself since I am delivering them, than for them on the receiving end.  My hope is to inspire them to give it their all and always have that never-ending work ethic and to not think about the end result, but rather the process. 

Wish me luck in breaking the news to my little guy easy tomorrow.  I think an ice cream treat will definitely be in order by the end of the day!

And, if you're interested in viewing his audition submission, here it is below.  I should also mention there were SO many other deserving submissions as well and I am so very proud of how wonderfully creative kids are! It amazes me beyond belief!

 

The light of my world receives his Light of Christ religious award

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This past weekend my sweet almost 8 1/2 year-old received a wonderful Light of Christ award that he's been working towards since the Fall as part of his Scouting.

 

 

But, don't let these sweet photos fool you.  Although he's a sweet kid, he's still just a goofy 2nd grader.

Case in point:

 

 

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Appliances are toys, too!

Our 12+ year-old washer finally gave out last week.  I wasn't surprised.  We'd never done any maintenance on the thing and pretty much ran it ragged with loads upon loads of laundry.  Hubs and I had been talking about getting a new washer/dryer set soon anyway, so it was kind of a blessing in disguise.

So Friday afternoon we headed out to Best Buy to look at washer and dryer sets.  We were 99% sure of the one we wanted on Friday night but still I just wanted to think a bit longer.  I am not sure why I actually even needed to do that since I knew I would leave the decision up to the hubs who is better off at deciding things like this!

Friday evening we headed back out to Best Buy on our way back from dinner.  We made the purchase and setup our delivery.  I was SO excited!

Today was finally the day.  Can I just say this thing looks SO much more beautiful in my laundry room than it does on a showroom floor?!  I am LOVING it thus far.  And, as witnessed below, my kids are loving it, too.  I am just glad I ran to grab my camera in time to capture some of this fun they were having with our new Whirlpool Cabrio Platinum washer!  Who'd have thunk that an appliance could make children so giddy?  Not me!  I can't wait till we get our new dryer later this week!

Wordless Wednesday: First Day of School

Here's to new beginnings!

Tackle football

Now that baseball season is over for my kids, we're seeing our oldest hanging out and about with his new equipment for tackle football.

Don't know who's more excited about it - me or him!!  Are you ready for some football?

First grade comes to a close

It was Nathan's final day to wear his school uniform as a First Grader.  My, how he's changed in just 9 short months since he started on this journey!

  

He's so bummed that school is ending, saying often that he wishes he could keep going everyday to see his friends, his teachers, and of course, to play kickball at recess!

I wanted to capture him one last time for this school year, in his school uniform.  This is what I managed to snap during drop-off this morning.

 

Of course he immediately found a friend of his as he exited the car.  They walked up the steps into the school together.  And, yes, he's carrying the Target goods I recently told you about.

And now comes the hard part -- trying to keep his wonderful noggin challenged enough so that he doesn't grow bored this summer!  Have I mentioned how not-cut-out-for-teaching I am?  Maybe that's why adore teachers so much.  Anyway, I am hoping to come up with some sort of system of scheduling our days of the week so that we can still focus on academics, religion, free play, and other educational goals.  So, here's to summer!

Modern day fairy tale

 

Nathan recently brought home a fairy tale project he completed at school.  I SO had to giggle at his storytelling and imagination!  The jist of the story goes like this:

Lonely boy loses five dollars.  Two nights later lonely boy loses one dollar.  Lonely boy sets up a camera to spy on person he suspects is taking said dollars.  Lonely boy finds out it is a robber. {gasp!}  Lonely boy sets out fake money to trick robber.  That night, robber takes fake money while lonely boy keeps real money.  They all live happily ever after.

Seriously I have no idea why my kiddo is writing fairy tales that have to do with robberies and money, but I still found it entertaining!  I think we're all ready for summer break, though!

So not-a-boring Saturday.

It's back.  The busy season of baseball.  This morning was a chillax one with a bit of sleeping in for me.  That is, until I was woken up to wipe a butt and then woken up again later because my kids were hungry.

I figured that was a good reason to finally get out of bed.

So after a nice little breakfast and some rockin' out to tunes from some of the artists at our favorite festival happening next weekend, it was time to start thinking soccer.  William had his final soccer game of the season today.  It was finally a nice enough day to be outdoors, thank GOD!  We spent most of this soccer season out in the cold wind!

After soccer, we decided to grab a late lunch (with coupons in hand, of course!) at Chick-fil-a.  Yum!  My favorite fast food joint, fo' sheezy!  I enjoyed some nice convo with my hubby while the kids played in the play area and got even more of their energy out.  Which is always nice.

Then the kids and I headed out on our own to canvas our 'hood with signage for the festival next weekend.  It's our yearly tradition.  Fun, fun!  The kids came home even more worn out and decided to veg out and play Club Penguin online until their evening baseball games. 

And then it was time.  Baseball.  Ahhhhhh!  I was disappointed I couldn't see both games but Nathan's game was at 7 pm as was William's.  Darn you, schedule!

I did, however manage to get a photo of Nathan before he headed out for the fields.

  

At any rate, it was totally fun watching my lil' big guy play.  He and his teammates had a blast!

 
 William had a fantastic game!  He was super stoked about catching a ball that was thrown to him just right in his glove!  The crowd cheered!  I saw him out there sort of doing an instant replay with his glove while grinning from ear to ear. 

Recently a friend and I were talking and she mentioned how she thought t-ball was boring so she didn't sign her son up.  At the time she said it, I kind of only thought, "well, I'm certainly not signing my kid up so that I can be entertained, so it being boring to parents shouldn't really be an issue!"  I mean, if I only signed my kids up for stuff that piqued my interest, I think they'd spend a good amount of time in computer and web design classes!  But now, after this weekend, I can honestly say this t-ball thing is anything BUT boring! It's actually a little more exciting for us as parents because unlike coach pitch or machine pitch boys' baseball, these t-ballers hit the ball nearly every time!  SO UN-boring!  So excited William is getting a chance to make new friends that will soon be in Kindergarten with him --- the kids were SO cute to watch!

After the two 7 pm games, we headed over to DQ for a LATE dinner with kids and of course some ice cream!  It has been a loooong day, but so NOT boring!  Grateful that the warmer weather and summer sports are in full swing!