Family in the House!

We cleaned.

They came!

And then even more came!

Nana, Pop, Jama, Patrick, and Shelby all visited for lunch. We ordered Chinese since Jama can't sweet and sour chicken from her dinner hall.

Pop brought Patrick's old Game Boy and Pokemon Yellow for when Shane learns how to read.

Shane taught Nana how to play the card game instead!

It's been a while since we'd seen everyone together. It was loud and exciting for me.

And for Jama! Either that or she ate too much. She took a nap after lunch!

Carrie napped some, as well. She dropped in midway and then retreated from the noise before coming back down at the end.

Patrick gave Shane a small, porcelain bank he painted as a young teenager. Then, Shane panhandled (He made out like a bandit, too).

Shane did NOT want everyone to leave. He clung to Pop's foot.

He might have cried when they drove off, but Henry was out and the hose was on.

Tay dropped by from up the hill when she heard the fun.

Carrie was worn out from cleaning and company, but she came out with us when we went out a second time. Guess who was out again?

Raheem came tearing around the corner on his bike not long after.

I'm extra tired from no electronics all weekend long. It's a lot of work keeping him busy without making a reward out of it. Shane has a sub on Monday. I hope he can snap the orange streak for the better soon! 

New Board Games

Happy International Tabletop Game Day! 

A day which I never knew existed, but then again there's a day for everything (And probably one wildcard day: International International-Day-of-Your-Choice Day).

Anyway, there was a sale the other week and I finally bit. It's been 6 months in between my last order. I made up for it with two orders from two different sites.

The first order included an old classic I played with Matze and his family in Germany when I was 18, Das Verruckte! 

Then I picked up a pair of cooperative games for young kids from a company called Peaceable Kingdoms. I figured Shane and Dylan could play and it would work out better if they were on the same team (Shane's a bad loser; Dylan's worse....and Shane's had the advantage of practice with me). 

Not that the turds wanted to play them.

Eventually, Shane and I did a run through of each at home. Hopefully, we'll play them again so that they're not only for decoration.

Labyrinth was the big hit out of the first bunch.

I even brought it to school.

Carrie remembered the game from her grandparents and another teacher recognized it, as well!

The second, more nerdy order came in a couple of days later. I haven't had much of a chance to play any of them yet, but I've read through a lot of rules.

That's all happened over the past week. For Tabletop Day, we stopped by a local game store, The End Games, on the way to Costco. I wanted to do something! I glanced at a quick demo for Clank! and Carrie and I may have made the most disastrous decision of our lives: We bought Shane a trainer deck for the Pokemon TCG.

He was stoked. It only cost $10, but if it was the gateway to something greater who can say?

I read the rules and Shane and I played a sample game. He loved it.

Carrie pulled out Blokus to give me a break after. Board games are great when it's 90+ degrees outside and only spring.

Lots of fun games here if anyone wants to geek out and play!

UPDATE:

7AM, before coffee:

Shane did not ask if I wanted to play. He was ready. I made him wait for me to finish my coffee. I took my time, but he never got up. I had to reward the persistence.

Later on, my family visited.

"Nana, do you want to play Pokemon?" Shane asked.

"She didn't hear you. Nana never liked games like that when I was a kid, but you can always ask again." I replied.

Well, I'll be....

Shane's lost every game I've watched up until now, but he's been determined and a good sport. Will wonders never cease?

Not yet, they won't! Carrie played a round before bedtime.

Shane begged me to play after she beat him. I'm impressed. 

I'm also getting bored with using the same old cards. I don't like the CCG format, but Shane has some Easter money left from Jama.....and even if it's not enough to cover what I pick out a few dollars to make things more interesting for me, too, isn't bad....

Favorite TV Shows Per House

Carrie and I typically have a series or show we watch together at night to unwind. I thought it'd be fun to pick out my favorites. It's funny how each of my favorites has become inseparable from our home at the time (it's the memories of time spent together more than the show itself).

Without further ado....

My first apartment in Herndon - Definitely Ranma 1/2. I had a ton of anime and I thought it would appeal to Carrie's sense of humor....if the boob jokes didn't get me in trouble first.

My parents' basement - Star Trek the Next Generation. Carrie's a huge trekkie and it was the first major series we watched as a married couple while we waited for the contract on our townhouse.

Our townhouse in Centreville - Stargate SG-1. "You are not the only one to suffer discomfort, O'Neil" Teal'c. We had to wait for the Netflix DVDs to be delivered each time. It was 10 seasons worth of shared time!  HONORABLE MENTION: Star Trek DS-9 (my favorite Star Trek!)

CARRIE'S HONORABLE MENTION: Avatar the Last Airbender. She watched almost the whole series while I was shoveling snow during the Snowpacolypse (Amazing series that starts off looking like "just" a kid's show, btw).

Our house in Chantilly - TOUGH CALL. We actually went through multiple series that were incredibly memorable. I'll go with Dr. Who (The 9th and 10th Doctors respectively). I remember a great date night where Carrie made sukiyaki and David Tenant had to rescue people trapped in a hospital transported to the moon). HONORABLE MENTIONS: Sword Art Online (Best anime I've seen in recent years, but hindered in that Carrie crushed it in a couple of days) and Star Trek Voyager (Very slow to start, but got a lot better once the Borg came into play).

Our rented duplex - Sword Art Online Season 2 or Daredevil. We didn't spend THAT much time there together. SAO 2 was the only series we finished together that I recall (Otherwise I might have said Daredevil since that kicked off all the Netflix comic book heroes). We also watched some Fairy Tale.

Our house - MASH. Hands down. Great series. I liked it much better after the initial party seasons ended and Hunnicutt and Potter came into the picture.

Currently, we're on comic book overload. DC, Marvel, Oh my! There's too much out there now in my opinion. Carrie's enjoyed Once, but I never got into it (though I've seen episodes in the background from each season due to Carrie's binge habits and because she's seen it more than once).

Cable Television Notes - I do have very fond memories of watching the Winter Olympics with Carrie in Centreville and then again in Chantilly. We learned the rules for curling. Food Network Star was also a fun show that I used to talk about with Mom-mom. 

Gaining Confidence

The routine has not changed in two months: Thursdays are swim lessons.

I did find a new place to sit. It's like sitting in tropical rainforest in the pool area. The AC in the main gym was much appreciated.

The real story happened after the lesson. Shane likes to play around for a little bit when he's done. He prefers the warm (and crowded) pool. However, the water gets too deep for him midway to stand and keep his nose above water. He ventured out (barely) too far once and a lifeguard had to reach a hand out and pull him back (he was near the wall, so it was no problem - both the guard and I were watching).

Today, Shane kept trying to crash a private lesson. He'd 'bonded' with the teacher before the lesson started (aka she smiled at him) and he wanted her to see him swim! I told Shane to hop out and went to get him a towel.

Instead of getting out, the stink relocated to the deeper side. He stopped in front of the lifeguard chair and looked across the water at me standing with the towel. Then he launched off the wall and started to swim across.

The pool is about 20 or 25 feet across. Shane's normally good for 5 or 10 feet before he stops and stands. The lifeguard looked at me and went on alert. She slid out of her chair and sat on the wall with her feet in the water. I stepped right up to the edge and did my best to look calm.

It was an ugly swim, but Shane was making progress! He'd flail forward, halt to breathe, and then duck his head and splash some more. As long as he didn't panic, he had a chance to make it. I crouched down ready to grab him when he was 3/4 across. Shane plodded along until I reached out and grabbed him. "Daddy! I did it!"

And he did!

I was both elated and on edge.

I tell you, Shane's swim was the most stressful part of my day. When he got halfway I started to calculate if I'd get there quicker or if the lifeguard would if he foundered.

I gave Shane and big cheer and made a mental note to sign up for another month of lessons.

Promotion Commotion: White Stripe!

Taekwando looked fun tonight! The kids played a lot of games!

Shane did great! Wear him out, Teach!

It helps when there are less kids. That gives Shane less time to get bored/distracted and stay out of trouble.

At the end of class, Shane got his new belt!

I made a point of telling him he worked hard to earn it. "Remember all those times we practiced your form? Or what about those times you didn't want to go to class, but I made you? It takes effort!"

Shane was pumped. I was pumped for him.

He also had an orange dot day at school for goofing off, so it was great to have an activity to go to! He's going to need all the practice focusing and developing self-discipline he can get. The kid couldn't put on his socks without 5+ reminders to 'focus!' He had a hangnail that he couldn't stop looking at.

It was a good night.

If you really want to hear what the instructors said:

Rough Bus?

Carrie texted me Tuesday night. A text had been in limbo. She got a text from Shane's teacher that read:

"Good afternoon, just letting you know that Shane told me a student was pushing his head against the seat and window on the bus this morning. I immediately contacted the assistant principal and she came and spoke with him. He said that he was fine. But I will look to speak with the other student as well."

The text was dated April 13th, two weeks ago. I never heard anything from Shane or the school.

Shane's been fine about getting on the bus, though. He's never hesitated. If anything, he wants to be first. He'll try to cut ahead of Raheem and the new girl, Tay (I make him wait and let whoever was there first, be first). He's always seemed happy to me when I pick him up from CLASS, too. It felt like an isolated and/or resolved incident.

Still, it was something we wanted to check in with Shane on. I asked him some non-leading questions about how school was the next morning. Nothing came up to concern me. He hopped on like it was any other morning and had a big smile when I picked him up from school.

Crap's gonna happen. It's the world we live in. I believe it's how we react to and address those moments that really matters. Things that go hidden too long become big problems. This doesn't feel like one of those to me.

I remember the bus was pretty rough at times when I was a kid. There was a win-loss record kept for fights when I was in 4th and 5th grades. I didn't fight anyone...and that was probably partly me and my convictions and partly that I was friends with two kids who were willing to fight and good at it, Jesse and Brandon.

I know for a fact there are some rougher routes around here. Shane's not on one of them, but I'll keep my ears open for problems in the future.

Poop Pansy

I was afraid Nova was going to call 911.

Shane's stomach hurt. I told him to try and poop. He sat on the toilet and wailed. 

I wasn't very sympathetic. I shut the door and turned on the fan. Shane gets in his own head and works himself up. I didn't want to feed the drama. 

I ignored him for a while, but Shane cried and called me back. As he looked up to me with red eyes and tear-soaked cheeks, I told him a warm bath might relax him. Shane wanted me to carry him up the stairs, because his stomach hurt too much. 

"Walk or crawl. I'll see you upstairs." I left him behind.

He made it, though. The complaints didn't end. First, the water was too hot. Then, he cried when I said, "Use shampoo." 

A, "Fine. Then no electronics tonight," stopped that quick. 

Shane pooped a little bit later on. Our prayers were answered! 

Random Thoughts: The FauxHawk

We're really bad about remembering to spike that thing.

I'd buzz it, but Carrie and Shane like it as is.

Sunday Visits

Carrie was asleep, so Shane and I went to Dylan's without her. We had invited them to our place, but it was for the better they asked for us to travel. Carrie's nap would have been the first casualty.

Today, Eli wanted to paint his animals.

Giraffes don't naturally come in that color.

I had bought a new, co-operative board game for kids I wanted to show Shane and Dylan. I figured it would be fun and help with communication skills! Plus, Shane's bad at losing, and Dylan's worse. Co-operative meant it would be a team effort and a team victory!

The boys didn't go for it. They wanted monsters. In fact, Dylan wanted to not do teams, so that he could beat Shane. When I rolled really well, Dylan changed his mind and the boys formed an alliance to take me down (I'm no poor sport! I relished the challenge!).

There was some conflict between the older boys, but it was more them vs Eli today. He does his own thing some of the time and then wants to get right into the middle of whatever they're doing at other times. He'll try to sit on one of them if they're playing a game or what have you. The big conflict today was Eli threw a hot wheels that hit Dylan in the head while the boys were trying to use a car launcher.

It's all a learning experience.

The day ended with a couch cushion fort.

John probably cringed, because he likes things neat, but he hid it well. Hopefully, the kids were all worn out and slept well. John and Krista needed it. Eli didn't sleep much at all the night before, so they were half-zombies.

Speaking of sleeping, Carrie was up by the time Shane and I got home. If she's awake, she'll come next time!

Another Tooth Bites the Dust

It wiggled for two weeks while Mom was away. 

She returned; It was out the next day!

Time for another tooth fairy visit. Those are less drama and much cheaper than dentist visits!

Mommy's Back!

Carrie made it back Saturday afternoon! Hooray!

We've missed her.....and I think she missed us and sleep. Carrie took no less than three naps in two days.

And she always had company.

Not always the furry kind, either. Shane burrowed in like a tick to watch an episode. I made him sneak out when it was done.

We have her back for two nights, but then she's going to swing by the barn on Monday before redirecting over to Grandma and Grandpas. Carrie's going to help them part time with their business, because she's not allergic to travel.