Bad Things, Man. Bad Things.

That was the memorable line in a really terrific commercial when I was a kid in the late 80's or early 90's. I think it was for Nike. Can't remember anything specific about it except that line and somehow it still seems appropriate to use after all these years.

Like when I'm trying to be more faithful to blogging and I'm just about to embark on a 10 day trip where I will be with PEOPLE.
You know what that means for the blog, right?
Bad things, man. Bad things. ;-)

So I thought I should at least post something before we go. Though I don't know what to say. I can't seem to recall anything remarkable about the past four days since I last blogged. Same ole', same ole.' School and housework. But it feels good, really. I'm all packed for the trip, both bathrooms are thoroughly scrubbed, the carpets vacuumed, the tile swept, the wood floor swiffered, the dishes done and kitchen clean. Except for the pile of STUFF I'm surrounded by the house is in GREAT shape. I love being able to go on a trip and then come home to a really clean house. :-) The only reason I'm still surrounded by STUFF is because I can't load the van tonight. Two reasons for that. 1 -- It's raining and I just don't want to deal with me and all the stuff getting wet and muddy. 2 -- James hasn't packed anything yet. He likes to do this thing where he waits until the very last minute (literally--he'll pack tomorrow morning) before packing his clothes. I have left space for him in the big suitcase and in the little suitcase (for the one-night stop that we have first), but the way our van is situated I really can't load anything up until those suitcases go in. Some of you may ask why I don't just go be a good wife and pack FOR him. You are the people who don't know my husband. :-) I AM being a good wife by NOT packing for him. It's better for our marriage this way. He doesn't exactly trust me to remember things (Can't imagine why. Just because he had to go buy underwear for our boys at Youth Convention two weeks ago because I'd failed to pack any for them...) and he would question me about every single item. "Did you get plenty of socks for me? What about pj's? I like the fuzzy fleece pants--is that what you packed? Where's my belt? Are my dress shoes in the right bag? What did you do with my shaving kit?" And so on until he is satisfied that I've not forgotten anything (I'm not sure we've ever reached that point) and I'm ready to scream. So see, it's better for our marriage for me to sit in a pile of STUFF and not load the van because James isn't packed than to pack for him and thus hurl us toward marital conflict.
I think it's called prudence. :-)

The only news I can think of that I keep failing to report is that I QUIT. Doing dishes, that is. I've always tried to have the kids help with chores around the house and clear their own dishes and clean up after themselves and stuff like that. But it seems like recently they have totally lost all grasp of that. The milk would be left out every single morning after they'd had cereal for breakfast. Boxes of cereal, too. Sometimes one of their bowls would still be on the table. The chips would be left out after lunch. I don't know how they got so LAZY about it, but I was nagging them ALL THE TIME about it. "Put the milk away! Who didn't clear their dishes? Why are the hot dogs still out???" About a month ago we had a pot luck at church. We had a TON of food, then split it up and everybody took home a little of everything at the end. James and I were still stuffed and didn't eat again that night, but the kids were hungry. I told them to get the left-overs out of the fridge, fix their plates and be sure to put everything away when they were done. About an hour later James walked through the kitchen and asked why all the food was still sitting out. I was not just real happy and told the kids to go take care of it. I KNOW they went in there, but apparently they got distracted with something because when I walked through the kitchen on my way to bed at nearly midnight, most of the food was STILL sitting out! It was one of those defining moments in the history of our family. "The night Mom snapped," I think is what the kids call it. I was soooooooooooooo close to dragging the three of them out of bed and making them come take care of it RIGHT THEN. I still wonder if maybe I should have (!), but I didn't want a one-time fix--I wanted them to LEARN to take care of things! So the next morning I sat them down and happily told them that I QUIT. I'm done cleaning up after them and I am especially done nagging them about the mess in the kitchen all the time. It is now THEIR JOB. All of it. I told them that they will be clearing the table EVERY time, they will be doing ALL the dishes, and they will be putting ALL of the food away. If they make a sandwich, they have to put the bread, peanut butter, and jelly AWAY before they're even allowed to sit down and eat it. And so on. :-) So I spent the next day or two simply hovering over them after each meal, instructing them and making sure they had everything taken care of just right. It's been GREAT!!! I didn't wash a single thing for probably a week or more. I do the cooking, they do the cleaning. It's a fantastic arrangement. (They help cook on occasion, too.) I've helped out with the dishes a few times when we've had company, but for the most part it's theirs. :-) I've actually done dishes a few times in the past week just because I WANTED to, if that's not strange. It just felt good to get my hands in some nice, hot, soapy water and wash some dishes! Who knew?! The kids have adjusted really well to the new arrangement. Well, some of them have. Katie has done GREAT and seems like a better kid all the way around--I'm sure it's because she feels useful and like a little lady. Sam does well most of the time and has a pretty good attitude about it. Joe is the one who's struggling to accept the change! He's usually none too happy about having to do the dishes and his attitude has even earned him the privilege of doing everything all by himself a few times. :-)

That's about it. We'll be leaving for Colorado in the morning. We'll be in a hotel in Salida tomorrow night (no people--maybe I'll blog!), then to the Hays house for a few days, then we're meeting Mom & Dad and Jon & Em and their crowd up at a cabin somewhere for our not-so-annual Family Vacation! Wa-Hoo!!!! We'll be visiting the Salida church this Sunday and the Pueblo church next Sunday. Looks to be a good, full, FUN trip! I'M SOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!

Before I go (and to make up for all of the blogging that I most likely WON'T be doing for the next week or two), I'll leave you with a few videos. The first one was taken at the Children's Museum a couple of weeks ago. We did one with James, one with Brother Dustin, and one with Sister Jamey... but somehow this one turned out the best...



And then there's Sam. I'm not sure when I recorded these clips. I couldn't pick a favorite so I posted all three. I just don't remember jumping-jacks being so difficult...