The Girls and Boys Are Makin' Noise

Sorry for the delay in programming. We have been on vacation and staying away from the computer.

On this episode of The Girls and Boys are Makin' Noise, Michelle and The King take their younger five children to Colorado and go out to dinner with their cousins at Casa Bonita in Denver.

"I don't know why my wife likes this place so much. She seems to think it is a great place to make memories with the kids. I think it's an utter waste of money. The food is not that great. I wish we would have found a good sushi restaurant instead." (The King)

"Yes, I agree. The food could be better, but it's not always about eating excellent food. But you do have to admit that the sopapillas are pretty good!" (Michelle)

"Sometimes what's more important than the quality of a meal is the company you keep, and the memories that are made. Besides, people don't come here for the food anyway. They come for the atmosphere."

"Who cares if your brother in law calls the restaurant Caca Barfnita, and your stomache aches for about six hours after eating the food? That shouldn't be reason enough to scare you away from patronizing once every ten years or so. Everyone who visits Colorado should experience Casa Bonita at least once."

"Because it's not every day you get to see cliff divers and cowboy shootouts in the middle of a restaurant."

"And then spend your hard earned money on tokens at the arcade." (Even The King enjoyed a little game of bowling.)

"Look at that score...21,000 points. Wow!"

"The kids had fun collecting tickets in hopes of being able to cash them in for some pretty big prizes."

"Maiden loved putting her tickets into the ticket counting machine."

"Look at those faces. Can you believe those smiles were bought with $30.00 worth of game tokens? In return they walked away with about $2.00 worth of cheap plastic toys (not each...two bucks total between the six of them). What a night to remember."

Credits:

Photography by Michelle

Directed by Michelle

Funded by The King

Special thanks goes to: The makers of Tums and Rolaids...for helping us all get through the night.

The Good Mother

I am a good mother. I love my children. I take good care of them. I photograph them so they will have fond memories of their childhood.

I follow them around and snap pictures of them when they play, and when they pretend to fall off their bikes.

I capture their faces when they are trying to fake they are in unbearable pain from such a devastating bicycle accident.

And then I get lucky...

It's not every day I have my camera in hand when an 'unfaked' biking accident takes place just seconds after a pretend one.

One just horrible enough to draw blood. But not too horrible to scar her for life. She will have no visual reminders on her knee of that fateful day.

If it weren't for her good mother, the memory of knee vs. gravel would quickly fade. Isn't she lucky? Ah, what fond memories of childhood my sweet girl will have, thanks to her good mother.

New Wheels

Jouster bought his first car. It is a 1993 Toyota Camry. He took our advice and lowered his standards to buy something with cash, rather than taking out a loan and making payments. We have adopted the idea of paying cash for all our vehicles. We choose to not go into debt.

Since we made the decision to buy our vehicles with cash, we've found that it's a whole lot easier to buy on credit than to pay for it up front. I don't know why. But when you've worked so hard to save, it suddenly becomes harder to let that money go.

Jouster realized that as he was looking. He had originally wanted something a little more sporty but as he researched used vehicles, he found that Camry's can accumulate many, many miles. He had more money, and could have bought something a little newer, but chose to hold on to some of his savings.

I'm proud of my son. He's becoming a very wise young man!

The Girls and Boys are Makin' Noise

Thank you for tuning in to the premier episode of "The Girls and Boys are Makin' Noise". The name comes from (drum roll please) PRINCE CHARMING. I had a lot of cute ideas for the name of our show, but it was just the other day that I heard those words come out of Prince Charming's mouth. I couldn't get them out of my mind. If you are going to have a reality show, then it better be real. Let me tell you, the noise around here is real!

Onto the show...

On this episode of "The Girls and Boys are Makin' Noise" we follow Michelle as she makes her weekly visit to the park with her children. Every Thursday Michelle loads up the kids and takes them on a 20 minute drive to meet up with other homeschooled children.

During the school year, the group meets from 1:00-3:00 p.m. Now that it is summer, the time to meet is from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m, so most families bring a picnic lunch.

"The moms sit and chat while the kids play. It's my (Michelle's) favorite day of the week. I use the excuse that I am to helping my children learn to socialize. But since this is reality, I must confess. I really go because I like to talk to my friends."

"Speaking of socialization, one of the most frequently asked questions concerning our choice to homeschool is, 'How will they ever learn to socialize if you shelter them from the world?' Never fear. My kids are the farthest thing from unsocialized. They can carry on intelligent conversations, play with kids younger than them, and have best friends who are years older. They make friends more easily than I ever did."

"I love that in homeschooling there is no age segregation . Just last week at the park, there were 15 year old's all the way down to 3 year old's playing kick the can together. It was a beautiful sight. If you want to read more about homeschoolers and socialization, here is a great article."

"Don't you wish you learned to socialize like this? I know I do."

Credits:

Photographers...Michelle and Lisa

Consulting Director...Theresa (because she said it's not reality if I make Lisa retake a photo of me that made me look really fat...but it's my show and I reserve the right to crop, retake, and touch up any pictures I want.)

Special thanks goes to: Prince Charming for coming up with the name; all the homeschooled families who had no idea they'd be on this episode; the city park and it's wonderful playground equipment; and The King, who works hard so Michelle can spend every Thursday with her friends.

Friend of the Year Award

This is a picture of my friend, Rapunzel and I.  She's on the left.  That's her dog Bear in the front.  Her husband snapped this photo of us last fall on her 40th birthday.  (Now you understand why Bear is in the photo, don't you?)

I would like to nominate Rapunzel for 'The Friend of the Year Award'.  We became friends about 13 years ago.  We attended the same church and for a few years had nothing to do with each other.  I thought I'd have nothing in common with her.  She was a career woman.  I was certain she was way too busy for the likes of a stay at home mom such as me. I just steered clear of her.  In the meantime,  she had her own ideas about me as well.  She thought I was a goody two shoes...because I dressed so cute and had my boys' hair fixed just so.  She also thought we were 'the perfect' family.  Therefore, she stayed clear of me too.  (Women are such strange creatures.)

Then a mutual friend brought us together.  The rest is history.  I no longer think she's too much of a career woman to make time for me, and now she most definitely knows I am far from perfect.  We have so little, yet so much in common.  Is that possible?  I think of her as a sister.  In reality she is, she's my sister in Christ.

This year for my birthday she made me this gorgeous quilt.  Isn't it beautiful?  You have to hear the story behind the fabric.  She went on a quilt shop hop last summer without me because I wasn't able to get away.  She said she missed me and couldn't quit thinking of me the entire time she was browsing through quilt shops.  When she saw this hydrangea print fabric (on the borders and in the center of blocks), she had to buy it for me.  Then she made this quilt just for me.  I have never been so surprised in all my life.  She brought tears to my eyes.

But she didn't stop there.  Not only did she make me a quilt, but she made me this really cool prayer journal: 

And last but not least, she couldn't just buy a card with a cheezy, mushy friend saying.  She had to make me a personalized one.

Aren't I lucky?  She is such a dear friend.  Thank you, Rapunzel for putting up with me for all these years!  I am so glad you are a part of my life. 

Thank you Lord, for the day you blinded our first impressions of each other and made a way for us to come together.  You always know what I need, and you do nothing less than perfect.  You gave me the perfect friend...she is truly a gift from heaven.  Thank you for blessing me, Lord.  You are so good!

A New Reality TV Show

The past few weeks as I've been shopping, I have noticed Jon and Kate Gosselin's photos plastered on nearly every tabloid at the check out counters.  Jon and Kate are the reality TV stars in the show Jon and Kate Plus 8.  They have a set of twins and a set of sextuplets, thus the number 8.  

In doing research for my new job, I found a way to "see" the most popular key word phrases being searched for in Google.  This past week, various versions of Jon and Kate came up,  and one day the most searched phrase regarding the couple was, 'Jon Gosselin Divorce'.

Last Monday, the season 5 premiere of Jon and Kate Plus 8 on TLC, had 9.8 million viewers.  Compare that to 4.6 million viewers who watched the season 4 finale of their show in March.  I wonder, are their marital problems really real, or has it just been a huge publicity stunt?

Not that I really care.  I have seen the show a few times but I don't care to watch Kate.  She seems like such a nag which irritates me.  But that's not the point of this blog post.

I have decided it's time to cancel Jon and Kate's show, and find a new family to follow.  No, not the octo-mom with the gazillion kids.   I was thinking my family would be a good replacement.  At last count I had seven kids...only one less than the Gosselin's.  I'm pretty sure we'd make an interesting family to follow.  I would only do it for the benefits though.  I am not interested in the fame.   I want all the freebies.  Ever notice all the places Jon and Kate took their kids?  In the final credits those places were thanked.  That's what I want.  Free admission to zoos, museums, art galleries, amusement parks, etc.  My kids would have a blast, and my husband would be thrilled to not have to pay a dime for such fun.

What do you think?  I'll need a name for my new show.  Let's see....Life With Michelle, Isn't it Swell?  Or The King and Michelle, What's that Smell?   Maybe Seven Kids Forces Parents to Put on the Skids.  Obviously I am not very good at coming up with a name.  Can you help?  Post your ideas in the comment section.  If I choose the name you come up with, I'll thank you in the final credits of the premiere episode.  Maybe I'll even have you make a guest appearance sometime in the first season.

Our show will air right here, on this blog, on Monday's.  Next week will be our first episode.  I refuse to allow a camera crew into our home so you'll have to be satisfied with pictures only---maybe some short video clips.  It should be fun.  Aren't you excited?  I am.  Look out TLC, here we come!