Boys vs Girls

No, I'm not referring to everyday life at my house:) 

I witnessed the cutest thing last week and had no other adult to share my snickers with so I had to blog about it!

Last Thursday, Luke had two buddies over to play: his cousin, Ethan, and his friend from MOPS, Carter.  We decided a trip to the park would be fun and this is where I witnessed the game of boys vs girls. 

When we first got there, we were the only ones at the park.  The boys were busily playing for a while when they finally settled into the tube...

While in the tube, they decided the game of the day.  Turned out that the tube was a space ship and each of the boys was a super hero (no big surprise considering Luke and Ethan were involved;)).  Moments after agreeing on the game, Carter peeked out of the tunnel and said "Girls are coming."  Little did I know that an informal game of boys vs girls was about to resume.

The boys left their space ship pretending to be their respective super heroes.  Shortly after, the girls went into the tube.  This got the boys going....they started talking about their ship being taken over and decided to lay claim to another jungle gym.  The girls over heard the boys and started playing along.  When the girls left the tube, the boys came to try to reclaim it.  Back and forth they went.  It was hilarious!  The funniest part to me was that they never even talked to the girls or agreed on playing their classic game of boys vs girls:)

Their game was certainly good entertainment for this momma:)

Oh yes, and after the rousing game of boys vs girls, the boys needed a treat to re-energize;)

Carter, Ethan, and Luke enjoying their frozen juice bars. 

When I Grow Up...

We had the following conversation at our house last night:

Brent:  "What do you boys want to be when you grow up?"  (Talking to Luke and Ethan, our 5 yr old nephew)

Ethan:  "I want to be a doctor.  They make lots and lots of money."

Luke: "I want to work at Think."  (Think is the bank where Brent works)

Brent (talking to just me):  "I can't believe Luke wants to work at Think when he grows up.  At his age, he should want to be a super hero or a professional football player."

Me:  "You are a super hero in his eyes, that's why he wants to work at Think."

Deck Progress

The beams are up!

But there's a bit more work to go:)

Jen's Sociology

People fascinate me.  We're each unique, yet we live our entire lives trying to fit in some way with the people around us. 

Because people fascinate me, I also have this thing about movies that depict "normal" life.  Yesterday I picked up the movie Everybody's Fine from the video store. 

 

It had a good cast (DeNiro, Barrymore, Beckinsale) and the movie summary sounded like a "normal" life kind of movie that I might like.  It wasn't an incredible story with action, humor, or suspense...it was exactly what I was hoping:  normal. 

My favorite part about movies like this is that they are based on relationships and how they develop through years of life together.  It's so interesting to me how our intentions and perceptions are just that, ours.  We may feel we have the best intentions in a relationship, but they could be perceived completely different by the other person. 

Everybody's Fine is about a dad's relationship with his adult children after the death of his wife.  The kids had always been closer to their mom and didn't know how to open up to their dad about their lives without disappointing him. 

Another thing this movie got me thinking about is how roles develop in a family.  The dad in the movie didn't intentionally separate himself from his kids through the years.  He worked hard supporting the family and what he thought were their dreams throughout the years.  The role of listener became mom's role; while the role of talker/motivator became dad's role. 

This all gets me to wondering what my relationship will be like with Luke as he gets older and how it will develop through the years as he matures.  Frankly it terrifies me.  At five years old, he still wants to be with me most of the time and likes "doing" life together.  But I know that life will change as he grows.  He will become interested in more things away from home and will be influenced more by other people, mostly friends.  I'm by no means saying that I want to isolate him to stop the inevitable, it just makes me wonder what the years ahead hold for our family. 

The movie also gets me thinking about the generations before me.  What all has fed into the lives of my parents and grandparents to make them who they are today?  Which then led to impacting my young life at home. 

That was a lot of rambling and I guess you've gotten a glimpse of the sociologist in me:)  And to think, I hate sociology in high school! 

Anyway, if you're interested in checking out any other "normal" life movies I've liked, here are a few:

• The Thing About My Folks - LOVE this one!
• It Runs in the Family

Looking Forward

I was thinking this weekend about how much fun stuff we have to look forward to so I just had to get it all out:)

This Week - The Olmsted County Fair.  I've spent my fair share of time at fairs as a kid, but we haven't gotten into going much with Luke yet.  I'm thinking this year he'll be more interested in the rides and I always like to see the animals:)

This Weekend - My sis, Bridge, and her fiance, Ross, are moving into their new house just a couple blocks from us!  We're all looking forward to having them in the neighborhood:)

Next Week - The Freeborn County Fair.  Now this is a page right out of my history book.  As a kid, I used to spend a few days with my grandparents during the "Albert Lea fair".  I've always liked this fair and they have great entertainment selection, especially if you like country music.  Admission to the fair gets you entrance to the concerts each night.  Cheap entertainment!  There are a few concerts I'd like to see this year, we'll see how the weather looks before making the trip.

August will certainly be fun-filled...

• Showers and bachelorette party for my sis
• Getting Luke ready for school
• Family reunion with my dad's side of the family.  Again, this one will be a trip down memory lane for me.  We'll be heading to Wells, MN for Kernel Days.  We used to hit this festival up every year and watch the parade when I was a kid, so I'm looking forward to bringing Luke and spending the day with family:)
• Enjoying our new deck which should be done mid-August

And, September brings many long awaited events...

• Luke starts kindergarten at Gibbs Elementary!
• Bridge and Ross's wedding - 9/17/11!
• My final year of MOPS, Mothers of Preschoolers, starting - I know, Luke's not a preschooler any more, but they let moms come even when they have kindergartners;)

October/November are a ways off, but we're in the process of planning a trip for our 30th birthdays to Florida to celebrate with friends (two of whom are also turning 30). 

So much fun to be had, now to be patient while we wait and to enjoy the moments when they arrive!

A Super Hero Kind of Day

Who said watching TV was a passive activity???

Luke & Ethan watching Avenger episodes on DVD...

Let the Deck Begin!

So excited for the first signs of our deck found on the driveway today!

Steve Kirk, of Kirk Builders, will be starting as soon as the end of this week!

If I seem overly excited about a deck, know that we've waited seven years in this house to build a deck, so we're really looking forward to it:)