Family - It's a Vivas Thing!

Sep 30 2010

Looking, when we don’t have to!

It's Just for the Joy of It over at Good, True and Beautiful. Love it!

Except, I'm a working mom now and don't get a lot of pictures and don't have enough time with my family. And that's ok.

But it's forced me to look for joy in new ways.

In the little precious moments like: singing with the Drama Queen on the way to work! We have a few moments of let's talk….while she anxiously waits to turn up the radio and see what fabulous song we'll sing together!

I look foward to the texts from my high schoolers that I know I'll get as soon as they are out of school.

And those moments when I get home from work and seek out the Smart One to find out how his day went.

Then there's the joy in hubby calling to check in with me at work and make sure I'm ok.

And there's always joy in Wednesday and Sunday, when we have our regularly scheduled guests who join us for lunch or dinner.

And of course, my oldest son always makes me smile when he shows up.

I have a the best family and friends.

and that's what brings me joy this week!

Sep 20 2010

Male Bonding

Yesterday was a pretty good day! Church was grand; choir went well even through the chaos and we even survived Walmart …and helped a lady in distress!

And then, we came home…and spotted a TON of baby spiders just hatched from a nest. And right at my front door, I might add!

Only, it was a nest of black widows. So my three manly men decided to take care of them.

How's that, you ask?

Well, it was decided they couldn't kill them with a shoe in the air. So, one of them was told to stay put and make sure none of them escaped into the house. The other was sent in search of a flashlight. And Dad? Well, he went in search of the torch!

Once the torch and the flashlight arrived, the son in charge of making sure no spiders entered the house asked if he should get the fire extinguisher; after all, what if dad torched too much and caught the house on fire? Same son was told to get a shoe. The mama black widow was huge and if the torch should miss her, a back up shoe was needed!

Seriously, I don't think I've ever witnessed such male bonding. So much so, that I started texting the Good Looking One thinking he might want to show up and join in with his brothers! He got a good laugh out of the whole thing, but never offered to come over.

Amazingly enough, my house survived any flames. The wooden chair smelled a little smoky, but no fire.

Vivas Men, score 1

Black Widow & babies, score 0

Sep 18 2010

Lions & Tigers & Bears, Oh My!

The other day, I walked into the kitchen to find this:

"What is it?" An egg; soaking in vinegar.

"Why?" Because, one of my children had decided to make a Naked Egg.

I wasn't sure which one, because weird things tend to show up in my house. Which led to this post.

It's no different then walking into the house one day to someone holding up a ziploc bag to my face and asking me, "Who put the snake in the freezer?"

Or walking into a dark house after a long day…thinking I'd quietly set my stuff down on the counter and then relax for a moment. Only instead, something jumped onto my chest and scurried across my shoulder; hopped off and ran across the counter and went through the window back into the boys room.

It was Gordo, the chinese water dragon, escaped from his cage.

Then there was the escaped hamster that showed up in my room in the middle of the night. You can read about that one, here.

I've been known to be sitting here, minding my own business…and have one of the boys walk up to me with a spider in an empty medicine bottle. Or a scrorpian.

Or a tarantula wasp. Don't worry…it was already dead.

As for myself? I've been known to make green eggs and ham. I've taught my children how to color carnations with food coloring (and splitting the stem to make them have multiple colors!) I've had no problem making…and then serving, chocolate covered meal worms to the Talented One's birthday guests for his 16th birthday. I don't mind bringing home lollipops with crickets in them; and I am not afraid to pick up a horned toad.

From my own childhood, my mom and dad instilled the love of wildlife. Mom was always taking care of some strange creature; from birds to a fawn to baby bunnies. Dad…well, he was more of the *catch a lizard and freeze it so it goes into hybernation; then let it warm up and run free* type of guy.

I'm not surprised anymore when my children bring me something they've caught. I'm not surprised to find a creature in my freezer. And I'm not surprised when they tell me about some new pet they'd love to have.

I'm not surprised when the dog brings a bird into the house; and I'm not afraid to ask my friend to help catch it!

And sometimes that comes in handy. Like yesterday when I had a crying 5 year old at work. He needed a distraction. And my stories of creatures are always fun!

I love the adventures of motherhood and typically, can handle what they throw at me. Rattlesnakes, not so much, but I am able to remain calm when my children are caught in the moment.

Lions and Tigers and Bears? Not yet…but it wouldn't surprise me!

Aug 31 2010

School

The Drama Queen started her first official day of school today. She was so nervous, but at the end of the day, she popped into my office and informed me, "This was the best day ever!"

Whew…I'm so relieved!

The Smart One is taking percussion; this means we have a xylophone that we rent for his percussions class. Only, apparently it is not called a xylophone anymore; these days it is called bells.

OK.

The Talented One seems to be happy with everything. That's great since he's in his last year of high school! I want it to be a great year for him!

And B-boo…she has a pretty good schedule herself, except for one teacher. Oh my! The Good-Looking One had this teacher years ago and it seems the teacher hasn't forgotten him…or his parents, I presume.

Over all, not a bad start to school.

As for me…well, we did have a bit of chaos at our school, but the staff was amazing and handled it well. I'm actually enjoying my job these days and hubby is amazing when it comes to being Mr. Mom!

Life isn't too bad in the Vivas house right now!

Aug 29 2010

Lost Get Found

Music is strong in our family. I’m really not that musical myself, although I did play the clarinet for 8 years and was pretty good at it. I love to sing and goof off, but I’m not real sure anyone would love to listen to me sing! Hubby plays the guitar. As a matter of fact, he’s been known to serenade me. When we first started dating, he came to my work with a guitar, blanket and the hood of his car! He brought me out, sat me on the car and proceeded to play and sing to me. My boss wanted to know why one of his *girls* was being serenaded in the parking lot!

My oldest son also plays the guitar. I have fond memories of he and his friends sitting on my roof, playing their guitars and singing. (Ok, and playing spoons, but that’s another blog!)

You’ve often heard of me talk about the Talented One. He is a musical genius in my humble opinion. I know I’m his mother and so there is a different swelling of pride, but when we were in Sedona last week, he gave us a mini concert the morning before we left. The resort had a grand piano, so he played. I swelled, thinking, “That’s MY son!” He plays so beautifully. There was a lady sitting on the couch in the room; tears streaming down her face. God has indeed, blessed my son with a gift.

The Smart One has even been picking up the piano. His teacher at school asked him to join percussion this year at school so that he can play in the jazz band next year.

B-boo is more like me….not really musical, but enjoys listening! And being a part of whatever children’s production we are a part of. She’s great at organizing, setting up, keep the ball rolling, etc. Great at taking pictures. She doesn’t think she’s musically talented, but she is on the dance team.

Our latest project was the Drama Queen and Punky. They’ve been having fun recording, “The Lost Get Found,” by Brit Nicole. Today, they sang it in church. I thought I’d share it with you. I love that Punky spends so much time teaching my child and that they have so much fun together. Thank you, Punky!