Friendship - It's a Vivas Thing!

Sep 09 2009

Air Hockey

When I was much younger, I lived in a small town and went to a small school. Across the street was a little store. We'd buy burritos for lunch and play Space Invaders, Centipede, and Foosball. I'll admit it, back in the day, I was the reigning Foosball champion!

A few summers ago, at camp with out teenagers, another leader and I discovered we both liked Foosball. And Air Hockey. A lot. So we spent some time playing the teens. I'll admit it, I'm not the reigning champion anymore.

Last fall, I was at my dear friend's 40th birthday party and somehow we got to talking about things that we like to do and games that we like to play. I mentioned that I'd love to have an Air Hockey table some day. Turns out, one of them just happened to have an Air Hockey table sitting in their garage because they'd taken up Ping Pong. (Another sport I'm learning to enjoy!) Anyway, soon after, my family became the proud owners of an Air Hockey table. Yippee!

Yes, seriously!

The thing about our family and air hockey is that it's probably not quite what you imagine air hockey to be. First, we're a competitive family. Yes, it's true. We play to win. That means the adults will play against five year olds and still want to win. But we also know how to have fun, and we can laugh out loud and cheer for the others when they lose. Because we're just like that. And we make it to where the younger ones don't mind losing, because it was so much fun to play! And when certain…er…children beat someone older, well, they know it's because, frankly, they earned it!

Sometimes we have problems with our table. For some reason, when certain children/friends get excited, the plastic puck tends to leave the table. I'm not sure why. But the puck has been known to land in my Christmas tree, my hair, my forehead, behind my bookshelf, under the hockey table, and many other places as well. Sometimes the Drama Queen has to be redirected a little. She has to be reminded that while she is very excited, our ears can't take the screaming anymore and our faces can't take the plastic pucks coming at us at full speed. Really.

Oh, and that's another thing. When we play, it gets really loud. And the faces are hilarious! Because really, it's not just tossing a puck across the table, it's a family event.

Yup, it's just the way we are.

Sep 07 2009

Good Times

Today, we decided to have a family day. It's the first time in a long time that we've had the family home, with no school, work, appointments, or anything else. So we went bowling this morning before the crowds hit!

And we had fun! We laughed when the Smart One through his ball backwards and shared the story of when Mom did the same thing the first time she ever bowled…and how Dad laughed at her, just like we were laughing at him! And we cheered! And we begged the Drama Queen to please not scream so loudly each time she got a strike…and she got a lot of them, which was just unfair!

And some of us learned new things!

And for some, it took a bit longer…

But that's ok, because we had fun! And then we went home and hubby made amazing hamburgers while some of us painted, because painting has become a serious hobby for us! Seriously, those hamburgers were so good! And then hubby took care of..well, the bird that flew into our window while we tried to keep the dogs from attacking it, because, if there is one thing about our family, there just cannot be a day with absolutely no drama!

And then some of the kids did the Hannah Montanna Ho-down while we watched and laughed.

And then, after everyone was settled, B-boo and I, along with our good friend, watched Alias…like, three episodes…because, well, because we wanted to.

And there was nothing to interrupt us.

Because today was a free day!

Aug 17 2009

The Man in My Life

Over the past eight months, I've blogged about the Vivas Adventures, but I've never really wrote a post about who we are. So, I've decided over the next week (yes, we have that many in our family), I will write about those who are near and dear to my heart. Of course, that would have to start with the main man, the love of my life, you get the picture.

The other day, my middle son asked, "So mom, how long did you and dad date before he asked you to marry him?"

"Oh, well you see, son, just because we did, doesn't mean you should, um, you know."

His eyes widened as I told him we'd had one date, yup, one date. I went on to explain that he told me he loved me a couple of days later, and well, the next week, he proposed.

"But, son, I don't recommend that you do it that way."

"Yeah, mom, because I heard the first year is the hardest."

I met my hubby at church right after I became a Christian. I'll never forget the first time I met him. I was with my mom, and someone introduced us. He was wearing a purple shirt. My favorite shade of purple, my favorite color. And that was that.

Several months later, I was at a single's Bible study and in walks this guy. He was in black biker shorts and a t-shirt; he'd just ridden his bike over. Yeah, I admit it, I noticed the thighs. And that was that.

And yet, even later, six months after the first time I'd met him at church, he asked me if I'd like to listen to some music with him while he worked on some audio stuff. Sure. OK. And so it began. I'll admit, I was a little panicked when he started to drive me out of town. And then up the mountain. Until we reached the lodge. Where we had a romantic dinner and talked and talked. And then we drove further up the mountain and talked some more. And saw several shooting starts. And he kissed me. And that was that.

Six months later, we were married. Our parents thought we were nuts. Who wouldn't? But, we were in love. And now, 17 years later, here we are! Still in love.

So, what is it about him anyway? It's in his kiss.

OK, but seriously, it's more than that!

He loves His God.

He loves me. Deeply. And he's not afraid to show it.

The man would do anything for me; and he has. He rarely tells me no; and when he has, it's usually because I am not good at saying, "no" myself, so he says it for me.

He does the dishes. A lot.

He'll do laundry.

I cook, he cleans. Sometimes he'll follow right behind me, cleaning as I cook!

He cooks, and he cleans.

He'll go to the store for me in the middle of the night. Even when I'm not pregnant and craving something.

Speaking of which, he put up with me through several pregnancies! That's not an easy task.

He makes the tough things look like fun!

He fixes things for me. A lot.

He's a soccer coach.

He'll plunge the toilet. That alone is worth an award after certain children mess it up.

He lets me mess up his garage…and only complains a little.

He puts up with my painting obsession; even if it's in the middle of the night with B-Boo & my best friend!

He puts up with coming home each night to who knows what chaos….or a houseful of children, or a houseful of animals, or….well, you just never know with me.

He's not afraid to have fun, or be silly, or laugh at himself.

He plays the guitar.

He sends me flowers for no reason. And chocolate.

He tells me he loves me, every day. Sometimes more.

He checks in with me every day; just to see how we are doing.

He loves our children. Deeply.

There's not enough space to tell of all the ways he's special.

Even less space to tell of the ways he shows how special I am to him!

There's so much I could say, and so much that I'll probably leave out.

I'm sure after I post this, I'll think of a hundred more things I should have said.

Or could have said.

But I'll leave it with this. I love him, and he's mine.

And I'm so thankful that God saw fit to save him for me.

Aug 16 2009

One of THOSE days!

This is one of those posts that I'm not sure how to really even start! Therefore, the best thing to do is to go back to the beginning…but where is that exactly? I guess it could begin a week ago when we tried the date thing that failed for the most part because I got the stomach flu. Or, when we drove the girls up to CCA camp for the week, which wasn't too terribly bad even though I still had the flu, because a wonderful woman helped drive me home after we dropped the girls off. We could begin with the chaos that happened at home while I was away that day, or we could begin at any one of the incidences that just kept happening all week long! But, I think I'll just fast forward to yesterday morning.

Yesterday I had to get up early, like 4:30 am, to drive to California to go pick up the same girls I'd dropped off on Sunday. I didn't get a great night's sleep because the Smart One got sick at camp on Friday, along with two other boys, so they were brought home a night early. And even though my hubby was wonderful and went and picked him up in the middle of the night so I could sleep, I still had that mom thing going on through my head and dozing, so restful sleep was not an option.

As I got up and headed out, the Drama Queen woke up and begged to go with me, so she quickly dressed and on our way we went! She promptly fell back asleep in the van, and so I cranked up my Christy Nockels cd and drove off into the sunset into the darkness. (I did get to see a sunrise though, in my rearview mirror later that morning!) I had 2 straight hours of reflection time while I listened the the lyrics, sang my heart out, and prayed. By the time I got to….whatever town it was, I felt better and thought that perhaps I can regroup and focus on Him and make it through these trials that keep getting thrown our way! The Drama Queen eventually woke up so we cranked it up again and we both sang out hearts out until we made our way to the camp.

At camp, I was able to spend some time with the girls counselor for the week because the girls had gone off to say goodbye to their camp families…or something like that. She mentioned it had been a tough week for them and we talked a bit about that, then went in search of the girls. We finally ended up circling back to the cabin only to find out the girls had been circling the camp trying to find us! After hugs hello and hugs goodbye, we started on our journey home. And we made good time, too. As we drove up to Barstow, I mentioned that I'd always wondered why they would stick that fancy outlet mall in the middle of the desert by itself. The girls wanted Taco Bell, which just happened to be next to the mall, so off we went. One of the girls had a birthday this past week and had birthday money to spend, so the girls decided they'd help her find school clothes with her birthday money. We finally made it to a parking spot and headed on in, thrilled that we'd found a PacSun, especially me, since I had $40's worth of pacloots. B-Boo also mentioned that she still had the money I'd given her for camp in case she needed it. I told her to keep it for later if we needed it, and we spent the next hour having the girls shop and model for us as we picked out school clothes.

As we headed back out to the van after our little shopping spree, we realized that we were actually in the wrong mall! We'd visited the older outlet mall and never made it to the mall (across the street) that we thought we were going to! No, I'm not really brainless, it was just part of that series of unforunate events that continues to plague my life right now. But we had a good laugh, were happy with PacSun and ready to travel the next 140 miles to take us home.

Until the air conditioning went out….and we still had a long, long, way to go. And we were in the desert…in August.

I called hubby and told him what had happened and that I planned on stopping in the next town to stock up on cold water and then we'd continue on our way home….in the heat…with no air conditioning. And we did…stop in the next town, I mean. Purchases our cold water, loaded back into the van, and started it. And promptly turned it off, before it blew up.

I'm glad I had the sense to go to the nicer, newer Chevron station that had, yes, Taco Bell in it. The girls went back inside to drink their water and take care of the Drama Queen, while I called the local mechanic…and hubby.

I'll save you the drama of the next 30 minutes, but suffice it to say, the van was undriveable for the rest of the trip. The mechanic said it had just enough in it to take it to his shop a block away. He also said he charged $100 for closing his shop to come look at the van, but he'd take it off the final bill. I understood. Then he informed me he'd only take cash. Um, ok, but I don't have $100 cash. There is no ATM in the gas station. He says he'll wait…he was very nice, not rude, just waiting…for me to figure out where I was going to get $100 cash. B-Boo took off running inside the gas station. In the next moment, the girls came running out, diggin through their purses and pulling every bit of cash that they had so that we could pay the mechanic. We paid him and I told him we'd meet him at the shop in a few minutes.

And then we took a few moments to compose ourselves. Because you see, I have the priviledge of working with an amazing group of teens! Teens who don't really have a selfish bone in their bodies and who will drop everything and step up when the occasion arises! These were my girls, and I adore them! And for a brief moment, they saw my human side drizzle after my terrible week…and their not so great week, so we cried for a quick sec…then laughed and went on our way…to the mechanic's.

After dropping off the van and calling for a ride home, we decided to walk down to the Valero gas station because it had bathrooms, air conditioning, and most importantly, Dairy Queen! I told the girls to get whatever they wanted since we were going to be there for a couple of hours and I'd pay with my debit card since we were all out of cash. They ordered; I tried to pay. With my debit card. But their computer was down, so they needed cash. I thought I responded well, through my laughter.

"What is this? A cash only town?"

The cashier responded that there was an atm next door at Valero's. And hey, it only costs me $5 in ATM fees, but I was not going to sit in Dairy Queen for the next hour or two and not eat ice cream!

So we laughed, played the card game, "Speed," laughed some more, and before we knew it, our rides were there!

And we finally made it home, 16 hours after I'd woken up to start my day!

And so here I sit, on a Sunday morning, with my van 100 miles away, my sick son sitting next to me, typing this blog. Yeah, it's been one of those weeks!

And to my triplet boys…yeah, I know, I'm supposed to be writing about you….it's just that THIS happened instead!

Aug 10 2009

So about that day?

It was a great dream, wasn't it? I got the stomach flu instead, but we did manage dinner before it set in for the rest of the night.

Yesterday I managed to make it to California and back, despite this yucky flu that has hung on longer than I'd like. A sweet friend kept me company on the way up and finished the drive back. We took five of our teens up to camp for a week. They'll spend the week having a blast and babysitting children that are part of the family camp. This is B-Boo's second year and I'm sure she'll have even more fun than last year!

It is also the Smart One's first camp! He REALLY wanted to go and it seemed like a great way to end his *children* years at church before he starts youth in another two weeks. It was fun to watch the two older teens give him advice on the do's and don't's of camp…what to pack, how to pack, what to do, what not to do, etc! We finally got him all packed and at the church when we discover that no, the flashlight battery wasn't dead, the flashlight was broken. As he frantically asked me what should he do, I replied,

"I suggest you make friends..and then borrow one!"

The teen girls were appalled at my answer, but then laughed about it on the drive up!

So…life this week should be interesting with only four children in the house, but it will be different for sure!