Lest things seem too perfect here, I offer up some behind the scenes not-so-magical moments from yesterday’s entry!
1. Make mud art…
I’ve saved these plates from an estate auction (the stack was a dollar!) to use for something whimsical for years. Shortly after taking these pictures, Alex threw a trowel at the stack that was left and broke them all.
Also, Jack destroyed Anna’s mud art and made her cry. I needed to come back out and mediate after I went inside and get everybody on the right track again!
We had our one year-old neighbor over the next day and Jack and Anna were both so wild I had to quietly take them each aside several times and remind them to dial it down a little — which didn’t work. Jack splashed and flung bubbles so wildly that he soaked the neighbor (the one year-old’s dad!) a bit and I finally got frustrated and sent him inside.
Okay, this was cool but there were still squabbles over who got to pour which layer and fussing about so-and-so jostling the table! You can see that the colors mixed in places from it getting bumped too often.
Jack talked the ear off the smiling lady next to him and accidentally dumped an entire bottle of water on his shirt and pants when he somehow missed his mouth! Alex happily (and unhappily) shrieked at inappropriate moments throughout the show! He especially loves to hoot to the horses. Grandpa and Grandma were not fond of Alex hooting at horses.
The girls had plenty of moments when they had to be reminded why they signed up for all that work. They are sad that it’s over and absolutely love being part of the pageant every year (this was their 5th season!) but see plenty of posts of mine from the past 2 months about what nights have been like while Daddy and the girls are gone until nearly midnight some nights with rehearsals and performances. The boys and I sometimes had to be very creative to make it to bedtime! 🙂
In this picture, Victoria has just gotten over sobbing because Annalee has accidentally elbowed her hard in the eye!
Victoria was annoyed at Anna for not playing frisbee well, Jack thought the water was too cold and Alex was scared of the whole business.
Okay, to tell you truth I don’t think a single second of unhappiness happened during hill rolling. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time until someone rolls onto a red ant hill or over a sibling, but it’s a pretty innocent way to pass the time! 🙂
We got a little bit hot after a while and moved to the back yard, but it was windy and kept blowing the cards away!
Other than the kids squabbling over who got to use the pan of beans, this one was pretty foolproof too. You have to prepare to sweep up spilled beans, but it’s a small price to pay in my book! Besides, I always tell the kids that spills are the only way my floor gets regularly swept and mopped! 🙂 It’s good for us!
I still count every one of those as magical moments though. I tell my kids to hold on to the good parts of the day and dump the rest. When we’re in those maddening moments, it can be pretty crazy-making. At the end of the day, I try to let the noises and messes and fights fall away and remember the good.
It’s imperfect as all get-out, but it’s still magical. 🙂
~Alicia