Well... summer is almost over. It's been busy, but I really don't have to say that. You know. It seems that if I can catch up on here once every three months, then I'm doing a good job.
Right now the kids are upstairs in my room together - Nayelli taking a nap in her crib, Mila on the iPod watching any kid video with girls dressed up, and Luke playing Minecraft on my phone. (I was just thinking earlier today... will I ever know what is "in"? Probably not. Because I don't allow the kids on certain things, and I don't download certain games, and we don't have all the money to spend... so no, we won't know what Fortnite or TikTok or anything like that is. We won't know the names of the dance moves. And... I'm not really that broken up about it either. Our kids are really well rounded and I'm proud of that.) So I'm downstairs in the quiet with Bandit resting for a second.
The latest news is -
We had a budget meeting. (I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but following the Dave Ramsey advice of a budget meeting was probably one of the best things we did as newly weds.) We talked about our income with the insurance, expenses and all the changes through the years. It was crazy to see the numbers associated with each childbirth, and each household. We were at mom's house for over 6 years and it feels like a little blip on a screen. Anyway, we decided together that Aldo wouldn't
Yesterday he got to see Luke show Bandit in the 4H dog show. We've been working up to this since January (unknowingly). We joined 4H only to get the free dog training. Who knew it would be so hands on...? Probably my mother. Ugh. (Side note: my mom is not the most empathetic. I told her today we might not do it next year because of the huge commitment, and she proceeded to tell me how it's nothing compared to what all my Grammy was involved in, and if she can do it with 4 children then I can do it with 3......... in not so few words. JUST WOW.) Anyway, we entered Bandit in Obedience Sub-Novice, Rally Obedience 1 and Pre-Agility. I didn't think Luke or Bandit were ready for Showmanship yet. Here's a quick explanation:
- Showmanship - Usually what you see on tv. The dogs are groomed and everything is looked at... ears, teeth, hair, nails. Behavior. The owner has to show them in a way that makes the dog look really high class. And the way they walk around the ring, the owner has to know how to turn so that the dog is always where the judge can see them (human can never block the dog).
- Obedience - Both the dog and it's owner are judged on how well the owner commands and the dog's response to it. So the judge says something like "recall your dog" and the owner should know to make the dog sit, stay, walk back as far as he/she can, call the dog to front position, and either choose to make the dog turn rotate to the left or circle completely around his/her body to the right to get back to heel position.
- Rally O - Same as Obedience, but instead of the judge telling you what to do, a sign tells you what to do. There are 17 exercises at minimum.
- Agility - This is the obstacle course. It has the "dog walk", tunnels, jumps, see-saw, and I forget what those multiple poles are that stick up and the dog has to zig zag through them really quick.
So we spent all day yesterday at the Leavenworth County Fairground for the dog show. First we watched Showmanship, then some of Rally O before it was Luke & Bandit's turn. They did really REALLY well. I thought it might be a little bit harder actually and we had been practicing all week! We knew coming into it that the longest Bandit would sit still for us was 30 seconds, so... he bombed the 1-minute sit and the 3-minute down exercises. Actually he turned upside down and got his belly rubbed for nearly 2 minutes of it. Luke won a white ribbon.
After lunch, Luke was the first to start the Rally O off. He had no one to watch how it was done... and, going into it Bandit seemed really excited to just be out of his kennel. My first thoughts were - ok, he's too excited.... another white ribbon. They did so well! On the spiral they went around the last cone twice, which the judge must have missed. After he completed a... I'll call it a "recall"... Luke lost track of the sign and had to peek at it again, then turned and asked the judge, "Did that count?" (1. You can't talk to the judge. So he was deducted a point for that. And 2. Band it was a little slow to complete the forward part of the exercise so a point was taken there.) And the other two points that were taken must have been for multiple commands. HIS SCORE WAS A 96 OUT OF 100!!! He got a purple ribbon! What's funny is, when he left the ring we went outside to let Bandit go to the restroom and I had this huge talk about how they did really well, but listed the things I noticed. And I said, "You know, if he gets a white, I'm ok with that. If Bandit gets a high score, we'll have to move him up a level and that's off leash." He seemed ok after that talk (the morning after receiving the white ribbon had been really emotional). So we watched the rest of the owners and their dogs - some wouldn't lay down at all, some went the wrong direction, some didn't pay attention to the numbering, some didn't walk between the final two cones to leave the ring! And next was just a fun costume competition. We were so focused on getting Bandit dressed up, that we weren't ready to get his purple. They called Luke's name and when he saw the ribbon, he looked at me and I looked at him. Shock and confusion. Sooo awesome. Then, in the costume contest, Luke and Bandit took 1st for Funniest. I can say that it was all Luke. It wasn't that funny compared to the little dog in the stroller, but when the judges came by Bandit hand un-banded his mask and was chewing on it. Luke quickly improvised and pretended like he caught the thief and was going to hand-cuff him. We have such a fun kid. <3
The whole day was quite an experience. I'm glad things are.... slowing down...? I say that, but we still have VBS ("Block Party") coming up the first week of August, mom's birthday day trip to Amish country this coming weekend, Mila's birthday in August, and working at County Fair with the final Agility competition.
Updates on the other two -
I've been getting things slowly together for Mila's 4th birthday. It's all things pink and going to be a tea party. She's going to have so much fun. I actually feel bad for her. Luke has Bandit and also watches Yu-Gi-Oh with Daddy. Nayelli is a baby and does baby things and gets Mommy's attention. But what does Mila get? How does she get our attention? I can't say. So... I've been really thinking about having a "school time" for her this fall. Maybe even ordering the material for the ACE pre-k that Luke went through. But I can't remember the pricing of the instructional materials. I know it was expensive. But my thoughts are, if I buy it now, I can use it for both Mila and Nayelli later. Right? But I also wonder if Mila is the type that has to learn from someone else other than her mother...
Nayelli's upper tooth on the left popped through. And then the rest of her mouth just looks inflamed. Ever since we got back from camp, she's been really clingy, so this hasn't helped. And we took her to the doctor the other day for a regular check-up - this is the age of parent separation anxiety (or whatever you want to call it). Oi. Her little personality is popping through. I can say - it's not little... just like her big brother and big sister. She loves music. Loves "Gangnam Style", "Man in the Mirror" and the theme music to Friends. She'll shake her shoulders back and forth, throw her hands up in the air, clap and also head bang. Don't ask where she learned her moves. I blame the siblings. They're usually the ones right???
Just some other things I wonder about -
I used to like blogging because I could get my thoughts down, and instead of writing it all out by hand, typing goes a lot quicker. It helped me get my emotions out and wrap my head around things. Let go of emotions. Nag and complain without actually having to go to those people about it. But I haven't been blogging as much, so I just got to keep stuff to myself, or unfortunately, Aldo gets to hear the brunt of it.
- I'm not so sure about the church anymore. I keep wondering about when we'll be leaving. Is that a normal thing to think about? When you are going to LEAVE the church that you are currently at? Even more, currently PASTORING at? I love the kids, and by no means want to leave them, or even the families. But I'm taken aback by the politics that have popped up. I understand that our pastor is getting older and that his family may take over the church, but I can't believe all the talk that happens behind the scenes. And should it be labelled GOSSIP? I don't know. And, since we don't have meetings between the department heads any more, most of the time I don't know what people are even talking about. And why do people ask me what's going on? I'm in back, dude! (They really don't. They more ask about how someone is doing after they lose their position. But like, did I know that?! How should I know? I'm in back!!!) I was daydreaming on the way home from church today. We've been talking about Elijah and how God provided for him. I totally believed that God put us in back for a reason. The kids. That's obvious. But I didn't think that he had more than one! Like, there's a protection that came from being in back. We're protected from all the politics in a way. Because what would have happened if we were in adult service while all of this movement was taking place? Pastor T and Miss C are no longer "associates", new worship leaders were brought in, the youth pastors were let go, the worship team was let go, we no longer have meetings, the youth were renamed and taken over again. It's like EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED. Thank goodness we've been in back. It's really been a safe place. I feel like we would have picked up some offense or offended somebody or gotten involved or been more apart of the "gossip". I feel protected and I'm really thankful for that. So I'm wondering what it's going to look like when we do end our time in the Children's area. Are we going to be asked to step down? Are we going to make that decision? Are we going to be at the same church? Are the same people we went in with going to be there? Will it be soon or in a year or in two or in five? Will we raise up someone to take over? It's just weird.
- Dad and his life. He's been talking to me more and more, like really talking and opening up. I love that he is, but at the same time I worry for him. I don't like seeing him stressed. He is in the middle of moving to an apartment because something happened with his duplex that broke his agreement (not on his part). It tore him up that he made the decision to leave because he had to let go of years of collecting things and memories. It felt forced rather than him having that time to be ok with it. Then, he recently found out that the company he works for isn't renewing their contract with the building they are in. So to keep his job in 2020, he either has to move to Colorado, work from home (if he has that option), or take a severance package.
I'll end with a final note. One day, while grocery shopping I came across the cold Suddenly Salad meals that we used to buy. They didn't have the Tuna Helper in that aisle any more, and I was like - my kids like macaroni... Suddenly Salad is another take on it, but cold. This will be a good alternative option. So the day came when I chose to cook it. I forgot that it took a ton of mayonnaise and had this ranch-y powder to combine with it. I tasted it first, just to know what to expect and prep the kids for something "new". UGH. First bite was disgusting. So I got up my nerve and scooped out the kids' bowls and told them - if you eat all your white macaroni, you can have ice cream! THEY DID NOT LIKE THE WHITE MACARONI. They didn't fall for the ice cream bit. At one point Mila went to brush her teeth, came back and said the macaroni tasted better. That's because she still had toothpaste in her mouth. It tasted better because all she could taste was mint. So... we don't talk about the white macaroni any more. Anything that is gross will probably be compared to the white macaroni incident of 2019, which ended with me dumping more than half the pot in the garbage.
