No TV, Day 1

Mario has been begging for years to be a tv-free family. But I always fight him on it because I like the news and I like sitting down to watch some movies and shows with the kids. We use Clearplay for all of our movies, so I try to justify that it is ok because all our movies are edited. Well, a couple weeks ago, I woke up about 4 am and I came downstairs and found Erin up watching tv. Then last night, I woke up about 11:30 and was surprised to hear the tv on downstairs. Eric couldn't sleep. Both times, the kids were watching "Seventh Heaven." So it could have been worse, but when I am sleeping, I expect my kids to be asleep also and not watching tv (or reading) in the middle of the night.

Well, I did something to make Mario happy this morning. I put away all the antennas (we don't even have cable) and the DVD players. I left the wii because I do have a lot of appointments and other things to do this week that will require the kids to be home alone. But I put a one hour limit on the games and they have to play together. Meaning, they don't each have an hour on it a day. One hour total the wii can be on while I am not home. Of course, the computer is always password protected while I am gone.

So I expected my kids to go through some electronic withdrawals. I know it is only day 1, but so far so good. We swam, rode bikes, played lots of games and enjoyed an electronic-free house today. The big kids are up now making up lots of weird games with a punching balloon and the water from the refrigerator door. I have no idea what they are doing, but at least they are having fun and getting along.

I have friends who only bring out the DVD player for family movie night or date night with their husband. I am seriously thinking about doing this in my house. Fortunately, Mario is very supportive. I may be the one in the family with most severe withdrawals. The kids go back to school next week so they will be too busy for tv anyway. But I will be home alone all day and without tv, I may be forced to actually accomplish some work around the house!

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Glow Stick

This is what Erin was using as her light source for reading her Kindle after she was sent to bed...to go to sleep. She must be desperate to read if she is willing to use this. I purposely didn't buy her a light for the kindle and I don't lend her mine because I don't want her reading after bedtime.

I busted her when I went to kiss her goodnight. Her covers were slightly glowing. She tried to quickly cover the glow with a stuffed animal, but was too late. I look forward to reading my blog with my grandchildren one day and telling about all about their mom's shenanigans...I won't feel a bit sorry for Erin when she complains to me that her kids won't go to bed on time or when they wake up grumpy the next day.

But, Mario always reminds me that there are worse things that our kids could be doing besides reading after bedtime. I guess I agree.

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Colombia and Dominican Republic

I had to say say goodbye early this morning to Mario. He is going to Colombia for a week. He'll fly back one day to spend with the family and then he is flying out to Dominican for another week. Before his deployment, these small trips were not a big deal, but now it is hard to say goodbye because it reminds me of the morning he deployed.

I was surprised he was coming back for one day. I thought he should just fly to Miami and visit his family there. But he insists on coming home. It is a lot of traveling and I know he will be exhausted. But then I realized that he will be home on Sunday night to give the kids back to school blessings since they start school the next morning, July 18. He will be able to drop off Erin, Nathan, and Zachary for their first day before he heads to the airport. High school doesn't start until that Friday, so I have a few days to spend with just Eric. I always look forward to one-on-one time with each of my kids.

These small trips aren't so bad. Plus they are a great time for him to practice his Spanish.


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Eric's Eagle Project

Eric has been working on his Eagle Project for the last couple months. We were having trouble coming up with ideas so Eric called the Veteran's Administration and asked them if there was a service project he could do for them. They suggested he collect household supplies for veterans. Eric created the flyer with this description: "Over 131,000 US veterans are homeless. Through a Veterans Administration rehabilitation program, many have found employment and housing. However, their new homes need common household goods. Your donations will help our veterans as they become self sufficient members of our community."

We have been very impressed with Eric because he put in many hours with this project. Hours were spent making dozens of phone calls, sending emails, making neighborhood maps, and finding a printer. Only once did he not want to make a phone call and that was because the man had just lost his wife the night before. He wasn't quite sure what to say. But he made the call anyway and when he couldn't get a hold of him, he went to his house. He found 20 families to deliver his flyers to their neighbors. Today he organized 20 people to pick up the donations. Now he just needs to deliver the items to the VA and write up his final report. Mario and I took him to Chili's to celebrate tonight. I am so proud of Eric and that he is doing so well. He has a couple merit badges to finish up and then he will be able to go before the board to get his Eagle.




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The Cousin's Visit

My sister and her two kids, Justin and Max, came for a visit for a week. This is the third year in a row that they have come to Tucson. Tucson is so boring and ugly (that's probably too harsh, it's just so...brown!) So I am disappointed that she didn't get to visit when we lived in really awesome, beautiful places like Guam, Hawaii, or Monterey. But I am glad they were able to visit. I just wish we had more to do here in Tucson besides look at cacti and sweat to death.

She and the kids flew into Mesa last Thursday. It was Mario and my 17th wedding anniversary. I was really sick from a sinus infection, but was feeling slightly better after the antibiotics the dr put me on. So Mario and I left the kids at home and enjoyed a lunch out and some sealings (what a great way to celebrate a wedding anniversary...it's almost like renewing your vows) at the temple before we got them at the airport.

The rest of the week is kind of a blur since I wasn't feeling well. But we did swim a lot, Mario took all the 7 year-olds to the movie to see Cars 2. Another day Melissa and I took all the kids to the dollar theater to see Soul Surfer. Eric and Erin enjoyed all the time they had with their aunt. Nathan enjoyed playing Legos all day with Justin. Poor Zach was left out a bit because although he likes Legos, he doesn't want to play 24/7. But we tried to entertain him by playing games with him.

My kids have been reading all summer with the library reading program and after 24 hours of reading, you get a free ticket to the waterpark. We were hoping to go with the cousins, but couldn't because I never felt up to it. Then on Tuesday, I broke out in hives from the Amoxicillin. So I couldn't go out in the sun on Wednesday, the day before they left.

We were sad to see them leave on Thursday and I felt bad that I wasn't a better host. But I think the cousins had a lot of fun together and that's what really counts. Justin is a sweet boy who we enjoy seeing each summer. Max turned into a big kid this last year. Fortunately he still has a cute little voice. I tried to talk him into staying with us but he was anxious to get back to Grandma Jeannie's house.

I am glad we had that week together. But since I was sick the whole time, I look forward to seeing them in Florida in September when I hopefully feel a lot better.


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Happy 40th Birthday

Wow! Forty! Good thing Mario's grandparents lived into their 90's. So hopefully he has a long life ahead.

Eric decorated the cake. But he's upset that he didn't make it in any of the pictures. Sorry...he usually avoids the camera.

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Scout Camp and Pinetop

This week Eric and Mario were supposed to attend Scout camp at Mount Lemmon. The camp is within an hour of our house. Due to all the fires in AZ, the Mountain was closed and the boys had to travel 5 hours up to Flagstaff and join another council's camp.

My friend, Rachelle, has a timeshare up in Pinetop, so we decided to take the kids on a little vacation while Mario and Eric are away. But then Mario decided Pinetop sounded like more fun than boys camp and so he decided to bounce back and forth between the two. Pinetop is a nice break from Tucson. It's cooler and much prettier. The desert landscaping gets old quickly! Unfortunately, they have closed all hiking up here too because of fire fears. Mario called the front office and they gave him permission to walk in the wood behind the lodging. So the boys got to go on a little hike. Mario took the kids out on a John boat this morning. The battery died, so the owners upgraded them to a Pontoon boat and Erin and Zach stripped down to t-shirts and their underwear and went for a swim. Nate got pushed in so he got a little swim too. My kids are accustomed to ocean swimming so the lake was a little "dirty" for their liking.

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