Monday, May 9, 2011

The Mother's Day Roller Coaster

What did you get for Mother's Day? I got Portal 2 (for the Playstation 3)  -- well not really, but kinda.

The unseasonal rain in Southern Utah reeked havoc on my yard -- because my yard is rocks. Apparently when the wind blows and and the autumn leaves fall, they can create a layer of fodder below the rocks and above the weed blocker tarp. My front yard had grown unsightly due to milk weed and dandylions, but it was nothing compared to the field of foxtails that sprung up in the back yard. I couldn't even see the rocks for the vegetation. It looked like a Kansas wheat field. After church one day, my youngest announced that my backyard was not wheat -- it was what his teacher referred to as "tares".

But how to motivate my boys to help weed something that could have been mowed if not for the landscaping rocks?

This is where music comes in. After watching the following video, I asked my boys why they didn't want the game "Portal 2'



They assured me they did. So a deal was struck. If we got the weeds taken care of, Judea would buy me Portal 2 for Mother's Day. So five Saturday morning hours and two trash bins and 10 garbage bags later, Judea sprung for Portal 2 and Pizza (bonus). Of course late that night Ben beat Portal 2.

Still it has hours of coop fun to offer -- and once the Playstation Network is back on line, the kids may be able to play online.

Of course working your kids to death and then letting them stay up all night to conquer a video game is not a good recipe for a happy and harmonious Mother's Day. But after a tense barbque'd lunch by Joe, everyone hunkered down for angry naps, and we woke to a call from Macy and a rescued Mother's Day.

I also had the best ol' lady band practice ever on Mother's Day. We went through all of the songs we intend to play at our first gig (this Thursday). It is great to see how far we have come and how many songs we actually have under our belt.

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day!

4 comments:

  1. Good luck at your first ol' lady band gig! We have one in two weeks and the band is panicking. It's not going well! We'll see how our practice goes tomorrow!

    The uke video was cute. Aren't gamers such fun people?

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  2. sounds like the day turned out pretty good all around... y'know what would have improved it? Cupcakes! (hmmm, I probably should have shared mine a little more... I think I'm gonna be sick...)

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  3. What can I say? You though outside the box and got what you wanted. It's a win win. Loved the video.

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  4. Every past Mother's Day when the kids would ask me what I would like as I gift, I would reply that I didn't know. Since I started spending time each week in the Runs Through home for band practice, I have been caught up in their philosophy that every holiday is an opportunity to expand the family collection of musical instruments and accessories. So, a weeded yard is a big departure for Joan's gift "suggestion" (extortion?) this year while I had no trouble coming up with a few hints for music-related items I would enjoy. I am glad we are both happy with our wonderful children and their thoughtfulness on our special day. Now we just need to have my kids talk to your kids about setting you up with a traditional breakfast in bed of waffles, strawberries and whipped cream like I get every year. Yum!!!

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